I started writing the Gems of Night series because there was one writing itch the Soulshares don’t scratch. The boys let me play with urban fantasy and erotica, probably my two favorite genres to write, but ever since I was a teenager (and books were scratched on rocks instead of being delivered wirelessly) I’ve loved the stories of Tanith Lee. If you haven’t read her work, do yourself a favor and run, not walk, to your nearest bookstore (or you can do the wireless thing, though most of her books don’t appear to be available that way). I highly recommend The Birthgrave, Red as Blood, and White as Snow. She takes even the most familiar situations and stories and invests them with a sensuality that sticks with you long after you finish reading. Not ‘sexuality,’ though it’s an element in some of her books. Sensuality. Her books bring every sense you have alive, and wake up a few you didn’t realize you had.

That’s what I want to do with the Gems of Night stories. They’re intended to be a walk on the darker side, ranging from erotica to erotic romance to straight-up fantasy, with a mythic cast to them. Stories that could be legends, myths, fairy tales… but maybe not. If I’ve managed to catch you up, let you live for a little while in a world that’s not your own, where the colors are richer and the wine stronger and the light masks as much as it reveals, then I’ve done Tanith Lee proud.

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