The copyedit has landed, so we are now clear to release the first chapter. Those of you who read the deleted beginning liked it so much, that we decided to rework it and keep it in the novel after all.
Enjoy! Excerpt of SAPPHIRE FLAMES.
PS. Thank you for being so kind in the comments of the previous post. I am so touched. Thank you.
So excited! Thanks for sharing and also for reworking the beginning!
I didn’t add my voice to the previous blog but I’d like to chime in and say I’d love to read about the adventures of Julie and Erra.
I also didn’t comment on yesterday’s blog, because so many people said it so well, but if/when you have moved on enough to feel comfortable tackling Julie’s story I will welcome it. And anything else you choose to write. Your worlds are a gift to your readers and I for one value them highly.
And I neglected to mention how fricking awesome this first chapter. I loved the way you increased the tension.
OMG YES THANK YOU
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OMG!! That was awesome! I’m loving Catalina! Can’t wait for the book!
Oh, thank you for this, just re-read the series to date so this was just a delicious little teaser!
I love it. I’m already invested. I can’t wait!
Thanks so much for sharing. Deeply appreciate your generosity.
Thank you! Looking forward to book this coming out!
Oh boy! So much fun! Eagerly waiting. And thank you!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! A much needed break from laundry…..
Anyone else hear a “Dun, Dun, Duuun…” at the end of this gift. Now I need to find a time machine. 🙂 Thank you for this.
Wow! Thank you for the unexpected gift! 😀 Happy dance, happy dance! Woop, woop!
Now I’m suspicious of Augustine…what is he up to?
Thank you.
WOw – i loved the snippet when you first released it and i love it even more now. Especially since we have met Runa before. You two are genius! Thank you!!
That was wonderful thank you. I can barely wait for its release.
You both are truly talented and I hope you are blessed with health and happiness.
Ahhhhhh! I LOVE IT! I can’t wait!
Thank you; the chapter is so awesome and sad and scary! It hit me right in the feels, all of them.
~One foot soldier of the Book Devouring Horde, ready for devouring-duty 🙂
Wow, so excited for this series. ❤️❤️♥️ Thx for sharing this chapter!
May I ask a question? Why did the security cameras show Augustine instead of Catalina? I thought upper level illusion mages could even fool cameras – which is why Nevada was able to see the demon-looking guy who attacked her in White Hot. Did Augustine simply choose not to use that level of illusion for the security guards?
“The recording restarted. We crashed. The illusion mage got out of the car and walked toward the camera, his trench coat flaring. A smirk curved his lips. Ugh.
The view switched to the internal camera. So nice of Rogan to let me know that every time I was in one of his vehicles, I was being recorded.
I sat petrified on the back seat, breathing fast through my mouth. My pupils were so large, my eyes looked completely black on a bloodless face.
“What were you seeing?” Rogan asked.
“A demon.”
WHITE HOT
Now, Augustine CAN do some extraordinary things like fool retinal scanners, but it requires a lot of power and some Prime-level expertise.
So, since Azazael fooled the cameras in Nevada’s car, then he must have had quite a lot of experience using that particular illusion, right? Because he was only a Significant.
Somehow, that just makes him more frightening. I don’t even want to know how he gained that much experience…
May I preface this by saying that I am not trying to argue, only understand?
In my Kindle edition of White Hot, this same passage reads:
“The recording restarted. We crashed. A demon got out of the car and walked toward the camera, his trench coat flaring. A smirk curved his lips, baring serrated teeth. Wow. True illusion. There were several kinds of illusion magic. Cloaker mages could make you invisible, but they accomplished it by affecting the minds of others, and a camera would still record you as you were. True illusion mages, like Augustine, not only affected minds, but also altered their physical appearance. Their reflection and pictures showed only what they wanted you to see.”
Did it get updated somewhere along the way and I missed it?
My ebook and print editions read the same as your quote, Jenette. 🙁 Sorry, Ilona, but we caught it.
Adding on to the illusion mage discussion, Nevada says “True illusion mages, like Augustine, not only affected minds, but also altered their physical appearance. Their reflection and pictures showed only what they wanted you to see.” (this is in the context of the camera showing the demon in White Hot).
However, it seems straightforward to have them watch the cameras and for Catalina to see herself drive up in the Bentley. It would all be straightforward from there.
And thanks so much for the preview; fascinating to see the evolution from the snippet you posted earlier.
Arggh, I missed the full quote from Jenette; apologies. I will note another nit. Runa sanitized/depoisoned/some word like that the cake for the wedding, but she didn’t really save any lives. They were already pretty sure that the cake had been messed with, after the caterer contacted them.
That is weird as hell.
Ha! ::wipes egg off face:: Good catch, Jenette. It’s not in our base file, it’s not in the world notes, but it is in the published version. Okay! This was my bad.
Hey, Jenette, do you want to read the manuscript to see what else you can find?
Is it too late to change my name to Jenette?
+1000
I snorted.
Yep, sorry. I’m rather fond of it.
Please, please please!!! Can I? PLEASE!!!!!!
>”Why did the security cameras show Augustine instead of Catalina?”
What do you mean? I just read the excerpt, it says, “A silver Bentley Bentayga pulled up to the booth. The passenger window of the car rolled down, revealing me….The fake Catalina nodded.”
The security footage does show Catalina, not Augustine. Was the excerpt edited after it was posted and after your comment was made?
I fixed it.
I see, thanks for the reply!
To be honest.. I am almost afraid to read this. You guys are so… so good at what you do. I’m going to be crankily and greedily waiting for this book… even more than I already am. But who am I kidding, not clicking? Not going to happen. Thank you!
First of all. I am among those incredibly angry on your behalf, no one should have to put up with harassment at all, much less that level of entitled hate you guys have been dealing with. I am so sorry you all have been through it. I’m also upset on our behalf, because I’m really anxious and excited to read more about Julie and your story.
And in 2nd, that was amazing and even better than the last version of the chapter. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
So excited for this new release. Can’t wait to to read!
This is so INCREDIBLY good. I’m not teaching anything like this at the moment, but I’ve found myself on a streak lately of reading some brilliant first chapters and I almost want to put together a workshop that focuses solely on deconstructing excellent first chapters and figuring out what makes them tick. Were I ever to do that, this book would absolutely be part of the class materials. Thank you for sharing!
Oooooh! Marvelous idea – if I where still in the classroom, I ‘d totally snatch this up. Ask the BDH what their favorite first chapters are?
Sounds amazing! Going back to the Julie debate I would love to here more and whether she gets closer to Derek who knows what could happen!
Amazing, mesmerizing, captivating, just like Catalina. Thank you, great Overlords.
*happy dance*
Thank You! ?
OOOOHHHHH – so good. Thank you for the pressie! Looking forward to being able to devour the whole book 🙂 🙂 🙂
Oh bloody hell!!! Now I really want the book…….. and the next one after that…… And the one after that one!!! ? ?
Love it!!!! So looking forward to getting my hands on this!! Thank you.
OOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH
Thank you. I’ll read whatever you guys write!
On a separate note. I love Julie!
Fantastic; and exactly what I needed today. Thank you for sharing. I didn’t know my level of excitement for this book to come out could increase!
Whew! What a relief! Not only has the painful waiting been lessened, but, any anxiety over a story focused on Catalina instead of Nevada and Rogan has been banished. I’m seriously looking forward to this book.
That said, a book or two (in the future) reverting to Nevada and Rogan would always be welcomed. **showing puppy dog eyes**
Especially when the day comes and Nevada tells Rogan she’s pregnant. 🙂 Oh to be reading Rogan’s reaction will be priceless.
Thank you 🙂
So that’s why she’s involved with Runa in other snippets.
Thank you!! I am intrigued by this and Augustines little tricks. He is persistent. Cant wait to read the rest.
I want to know Rogan’s reaction to Augustine being able to turn invisible, assuming he didn’t know before. After all, he had to start using dogs at his location because Augustine can’t change his scent. Now he’ll have to have the trainers trained to understand a dog reacting to Augustine’s scent even if the guards can’t see him.
Also, I feel sorry for the guard who didn’t follow procedure and check the log to make sure Catalina wasn’t already checked in. I don’t imagine Rogan is going to be too happy about that.
I believe Leon is the one who will handle the security for House Baylor.
I’m betting Rogan is still providing the physical security around the warehouse, since he bought all the surrounding property.
Ilona, world question… Nevada states during the trials that she was going to enter into a mutual aid pact with Cornelius’ family. She didn’t mention any pact with Rogan House, but she did announce her engagement. Rogan said he wasn’t going to have a contract with Nevada, but I was reading that as a prenuptial agreement. Do house generally enter into contracts when someone in the two houses gets married, or is it just assumed that they’ll support each other? I’m thinking the latter would have made things awkward with the Capulets and Montagues.
It depends on the Houses. I hesitate to go into too much detail to keep from spoiling Sapphire Flames, but yes, all sorts of contracts take place. For example, Runa’s father entered House Etterson and took his wife’s name, while Rogan’s father basically bought his wife from his father-in-law. There are prenuptial agreements, contracts, and other complex silliness if the parties desire to write it all out.
Thanks for answering!
This is gonna be awesome! Thank you!
Gimme gimme gimme, opps that was rude. There seems to be a dearth of good new books lately and I am re-reading my favorites Can’t wait for this one, the family Baylor is awesome and Catalina has her own unique voice. Can’t wait.
Falling in love with this story already! Thank you.
I can hardly waiiiit!
Wowzer. You didn’t just rewrite it, you kicked its ass to the next level and then some. I LOVE IT. I am now completely devastated that the book isn’t out yet so I can keep reading.
Thank you, that was even better than the original. So excited for the book! ?
can’t hardly wait for the monsters to poke their heads out of the dark…
But then, isn’t Arabella a monster? Catalina certainly has experience on that score. Of course, monsters often come in very pretty packages.
Can’t wait….
Augustine must be superpowerful since the camera picks up his “perfect” illusion. I think he may be a bad guy now since it’s been written he’s like a shark and in the other books his building even looks like a shark fin……off to google shark behavior now
OMG!! Love it! Can’t buy it fast enough.
Also who ever hates Julie just has other problems or is one of those people who just complain to hear the sound of their own voice.
Did anyone else get flashed back to Nevada & Augustine’s ongoing ‘I am not a bad man’ argument from Burn For Me?
Aaaah. I think I love the explanations of the uses of power the most. What was your source material? Machiavelli? Sun Tze?
First, I really liked the original draft you shared of the first chapter but I frickin LOVE this one! I wish i could offer you more than profuse thanks although I will most definitely be purchasing this book! Second, this is a perfect example of “Be careful what you wish for!”. I sit around, craving another fix of the AuthorLords’ genius but when it arrives I speed through it in no time and am them left pining (sp?)away for more! Do you find it easy to write for Catalina because her power is so similar to your own? Wait, did that come across as a compliment or creepy?…..
*Looks at clock, “Errands can wait.” Reads snippet.*
Thank you!! I eagerly await Catalina’s story, and am happy you were able to rework this opening and keep it.
This is so good. Life sucks at the moment. I can hardly wait for the rest of the story to escape into. Thanks for the snippet.
Such lovely start to my day. Thank you <3
Plus, I do love Julie and if you write more books about her I would absolutely read them. She's had a hard life, but she has wonderful role models in Kate and Curran, and I would love to see what she grows up to be.
I can’t wait to see if this is the beginning of an Augustine redemption arc. The ALs made us like Hugh, so anything is possible!