What's New?

I have put The Seven Names of Desire on hold while I continue working on my historical romance, which now bears the cheesy romance title Claiming Ariadne. Yeah, yeah, snort all you want. This project will not be finished under the pseudonym L.E. Bryce, but under another, so should it be published, any subsequent information would be listed on a different webpage. Until then, dear readers, you'll just have to bear with me as I go into my research, my artwork (shown right), my collection of Minoan items, and my current progress. For those who dread het, you can skip that section to view this month's featured title, the latest new cover art, and Molly's Last Word.

Cover Artwork

West of the Moon, third and last book in The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars trilogy, is coming out in June. The cover artwork, in an amber tone to compliment the deep red and royal blue of the first and second books, finishes out the series. Moon is a departure from the other two books in several ways. First, large sections of the book take readers from the familiar settings of Rhodeen and Khalgar into the vast, wild Turya-lands. Second, this book incorporates as one of its point-of-view characters a woman, Zhanil's mother Ketalya. Women have always had important roles to play in the trilogy, and this time is no exception. Joining Ketalya as a new viewpoint character is Kalmeki. Sephil and Zhanil return, as does Dashir. You'll be hearing more about West of the Moon as June draws closer.

Current Publications

This month we have two titles to feature. One, House of the Swallows, you already know, as you have (hopefully!) gone out and purchased it. Set on an island about to be devastated by a volcanic eruption, it's a hot quickie and is getting great reviews from Fallen Angel Reviews, and Whipped Cream Reviews. The Red Sash is set fifty years after the volcanic disaster of the first book, on a nearby island plagued by earthquakes and other natural disasters. The noble Tamasin owns three catamites, each of whom vies with the others for the right to wear the red sash, a sign of their master's favor, on any given night. But when disaster strikes and the idyllic peace of his villa is shattered, Tamasin will learn which of his catamites is truly loyal to him. Irdun and Thissol from House of the Swallows do not appear in this one, but at some point in the future I may write about what happened to them. You can read an excerpt from The Red Sash right here on my website, and purchase the book directly from Phaze.

Claiming Ariadne, or Het This Way

This is the part where I discuss my latest project. Claiming Ariadne is proceeding at a rapid clip, with 26,000 words finished in 3 weeks. When it's complete, expect a novel that runs at least 50,000 words, if not more. Readers who enjoy Bronze Age historicals should be intrigued that this is not the story of that Ariadne, the daughter of king Minos. This one is the High Priestess to the Great Mother Goddess, initiated at twelve, the mother of four children by nineteen, and disillusioned by a succession of young, insensitive Sacred Year Kings. However, the new Sacred King, who dispatches his rival and predecessor in ritual combat, is not another Cretan youth, but a thirty-year-old Mycenaean warrior named Taranos, a scion of the royal house of Tiryns, who knows his way around women as well as he knows his way around a battlefield or the sea-lanes of the Aegean. And what he wants is beautiful Ariadne, who most assuredly does not want him. Will Taranos succeed in claiming Ariadne's love before a Mycenaean invasion from the mainland overtakes Knossos? Will he succeed in making a future with her before his time as the Sacred King runs out? You'll just have to wait and see.

Molly's Last Word