It's here!!! Launch Day!!!

I'm so pleased to announce that Storm has joined Rift in the World of Arcstone series. From the back cover:

YOU'RE ONLY AS REAL AS YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE.

Welcome to Arcstone. Game loading, please wait...
Madelyne Laurent is Em, an elven warrior in the massively multiplayer online game, Arcstone. She’s made it safely back to the real world, but what does that even mean now that her father decided to stay in the game world? And who is Alex, really - is he Lex or someone altogether different and more sinister? In this Nanowrimo 2021-winning novel, Nancy E. Dunne takes us back through the monitor to the world of Arcstone, a world on the brink of a catastrophic storm. Em’s objective is clear until she again looks up into the Tyreanan Sky and treads the boards of the docks by that massive typhoon. Old longings resurface and this time it is up to more than just Em to figure out what is real...and more importantly, who?

Grab your eBook or paperback copy today, or meet me at an upcoming event to get a signed copy. I'd love to hear what you think!

Music Monday: 80s Throwback, Part 1

Confession time: I love Survivor. I mean, I love 80s music, don't get me wrong, but...their album Vital Signs by Survivor was a revelation for teenage me, and was Most Likely To Be Played At Every School Dance when I was in high school. I know it may come as a shock since I've NEVER EVER written romance into any of my books...but I'm hopeless in that category and these songs...just...

The video for I Can't Hold Back is 80s gold, complete with big hair, leather trousers, smoky dance sequences and, of course, well fitting blue jeans. The lyrics also resonated with me in terms of the current WIP, Camp Nano Take Two, which involves one of the most complicated couples I've ever written: Valentin and Henri. Have mercy. 

Valentin is very much like Taeben from my Orana Chronicles: a villain who is motivated by misplaced notions of love and control. Morally gray? Not so much. Morally deficient? Nope, not that either. Just men who were hurt by someone in their formative years with strange ideas of what love is.

Enjoy.

I Can't Hold Backby Survivor
There's a story in my eyesTurn the pages of desireNow it's time to trade those dreamsFor the rush of passion's fire
I can feel you tremble when we touchAnd I feel the hand of fateReaching out to both of us
I've been holding back the nightI've been searching for a clue from youI'm gonna try with all my mightTo make this story line come true
Can ya feel me tremble when we touch?Can you feel the hand of fate?Reaching out to both of usThis love affair can't wait
I can't hold back, I'm on the edge(I can't hold back)Your voice explodes inside my headI can't hold back, I won't back downGirl it's too late to turn back now
Another shooting star goes byAnd in the night the silence speaks to you and IAnd now the time has come at lastDon't let the moment run too fast
I can feel you tremble when we touchAnd I feel the hand of fateReaching out to both of us
There's a story in my eyesTurn the pages of desireNow it's time to trade those dreamsFor the rush of passion's fire
I can't hold back, I'm on the edge(I can't hold back)Your voice explodes inside my headI can't hold back, I won't back downGirl it's too late to turn back now
I can see you tremble when we touchOohh, and I feel the hand of fateReaching out to both of usThis love affair can't waitI can't hold back, I can't hold backI can't hold back, I can't hold back

Music Monday: No Rest for the Wicked

 I'm starting to plan my projects for the next few months (because let's be honest, I've been coasting since the holidays), specifically for Camp Nanowrimo next month, and I'm thinking of a second draft for Tairn's story in Red and possibly a new Arcstone. As always, I'm working with any inspiration I can find, and this oldie from my days of walking the many hills in Athens, GA working freelance gigs popped up in my playlist - and it works for either of those stories. Tairn thinks she is wicked and Val CERTAINLY is, so I'm still left with a decision. Anyone got a quarter I can flip?

Ain't No Rest for the Wickedby Cage the Elephant
(He was a)(You know it)(He was a)
I was walkin' down the streetWhen out the corner of my eyeI saw a pretty little thing approaching meShe said, "I never seen a manWho looked so all aloneOh, could you use a little company?
And if you pay the right priceYour evening will be niceAnd you can go and send me on my way"I said, "You're such a sweet young thingWhy you do this to yourself?"She looked at me and this is what she said
"Oh, there ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesI got bills to payI got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeOh no, I can't slow downI can't hold backThough you know I wish I couldOh, no, there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good"
Not even 15 minutes laterI'm still walkin' down the streetWhen I saw the shadow of a man creep out of sightAnd then he swept up from behindHe put a gun up to my headHe made it clear he wasn't lookin' for a fight
He said, "Give me all you gotI want your money not your lifeBut if you try to make a move I won't think twice"I told him, "You can have my cashBut first you know I gotta askWhat made you wanna live this kind of life?"He said
"There ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesI got bills to payI got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeNo, I can't slow downI can't hold backThough you know I wish I couldOh, no, there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good"
Well, now a couple hours passedAnd I was sitting in my houseThe day was winding down and coming to an endSo I turned to the TVAnd flipped it over to the newsAnd what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend
I saw a preacher man in cuffsHe'd taken money from the churchHe'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar billsBut even still I can't say muchBecause I know we're all the sameOh, yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills
You know there ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesWe got bills to payWe got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeNo we can't slow downWe can't hold backThough you know we wish we couldNo there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good