Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

The Wallflower Is Out Today...

… and I’m still in love with the characters. Max and Emma are still making the occasional appearance in my head, which means I’m not done with the Halle Puma series, not by a long shot!

Dr. Max Cannon left Halle to pursue his degree. Little did he know that the teenager he’d felt stirrings for, and left behind, would grow up to be his mate! A “kidnapping, with food” leads to a bite to remember, and now the luscious Emma Carter will forever be his.

If, that is, she’s strong enough to prove she has what it takes to keep her Alpha!

***

I first heard about Samhain through some research on the internet. When I saw that they had an open call for submissions for a Cat Shifter anthology, I said, “_Oooohhh_, I love shifters! And cats!” So I started writing a story, about a mage who was also a cat shifter, who was trying to bring his true love to him through magic, and when he succeeded he had to deal with a long-time rival who tries to kill them both.

Which is not The Wallflower.

The story didn’t gel for me. I couldn’t work on it. Max and Emma kept banging on the door of my imagination and yelling, “Hey! You’re doing it wrong! You need to tell our story!”

“No, I don’t,” I replied, trying desperately to hold on to my hunky mage, all ten fingers firmly locked on my keyboard.

“Oh yes, you do!”

And, taking a page out of my four year old’s book, I replied, “No I don’t! So there.”

“He’s lame.” Max crossed his arms and frowned at me through the big glass door.

“He is not!” I waved my hand at the monitor, totally outraged. “He’s hot, he’s sexy, he’s magical. What more could I want?”

“Me.” And Max broke the door down and proceeded to take over my imagination. Emma marched in right behind him, muttering things like “Captain Caveman” and “Haven’t you ever heard of a doorknob, for God’s sake?” and “Wow. That’s a lot of glass. You have a dustpan around here somewhere?”

Oh, the mage is still there, waiting for his true love. I have every intention of giving him a story. He’s a shifter too, or at least he was. He’s still debating that, you see. And maybe that’s why his story didn’t gel, because I tried to make him do something he didn’t want to do.

Max and Emma just barreled in and did what they pleased, despite groveling and repeated attempts at bribery on the part of their author. But that’s okay; some of the best stories I’ve ever read are the ones where you hear the author talking about the characters doing just that. You look up from the keyboard, a glazed expression in your eyes, and say, “Wow. Thanks, guys.”

Dana Marie Bell
Dance with an alpha in the pale moonlight…

***
Excerpt From The Wallflower, book one of the Halle Puma series
Part of the Hunting Love Anthology

“Simon?” The voice on the other end of the phone drawled Simon’s name with an amused authority that had Max’s eyebrows rising into his hairline. He waited for Simon to put the woman in her place.

Simon rolled his eyes. “Hey, Emma.”

Max blinked. Emma? Emma Carter?

“Your stained glass Madonna is late. Reverend Glaston is getting antsy.”

Max blinked again. That sexy voice was Emma?

“I’ve been…distracted.” That last was said with a quick glance at Max. He’d been the one keeping Simon busy. As Beta, Simon took care of a great deal of Pride business, something Emma wouldn’t know about.

“Well, could you please ask your distraction to go home so you can finish the reverend’s window?”

Her tone of voice raised Max’s brows back into his hairline. His Beta’s reaction had his jaw nearly dropping open.

“Emma,” Simon nearly whined, “I’ve been working night and day, here. Give me a break!”

Emma?!? Plump little wallflower Emma?

“Just who have you been working, Simon Holt?”

Emma, who couldn’t look him in the eye, making double entendres?

“No one, damn it! I’ve been working on…other things.” Again, Simon shot Max a quick, furtive look.

Emma? Emma had his Beta shaking in his sneakers?

“Well, get your thing back under control and finish the reverend’s window, okay?”

The irreverent authority in her voice stirred his interest. A vision of a dark-haired girl in a sunset colored prom gown flashed through his mind.

“Damn it, Emma!” Simon sighed, leaning back against his workbench. “Where’s Becky?”

The entreaty in Simon’s voice barely registered. Max was waiting to hear Emma’s voice again.

“Oh, no, don’t think you can get out of having that window finished today by sweet-talking Becky. I’m on to your tricks, buster.”

Simon winced. Max’s cock twitched.

Emma?

Hmmm. Emma.

“Okay, okay. I’ll have the damn window done today. Anything else, Little General?”
Simon’s shoulders were quaking with laughter, his voice filled with respect. Max frowned at the affection in his Beta’s voice.

“Mm-hmm. Becky and I will be going to the masquerade. Just thought you’d like to know.”

Emma would be at the masquerade? Suddenly he was dying to see her. How had she turned out? Was she as sexy as her voice implied?

“Oh, yeah.” The purr in Simon’s voice had Max frowning. The small, predatory smile had his eyes flashing gold in protest as a wave of possessiveness rose inside him. The owner of that voice was his.