DarkLight On... Juanita Kees & Raven Corbin!

 

Welcome Juanita / Raven!

You write small town romance as Juanita Kees and paranormal mystery as Raven Corbin. What attracted you to these genres?

Small town romance found me before I found it. I grew up in a community where everyone knew everyone, where the local pub was the centre of the universe and gossip travelled faster than the internet ever could. That world never left me. There's a warmth and an intimacy to small town life that I wanted to capture on the page, the idea that love can find you in the most unexpected places when you're not even looking, and that community is its own kind of character.

Raven Corbin, though, she came from a different part of me entirely. I've always been drawn to old buildings and the stories they carry. Walk into a heritage-listed property and you can feel the weight of everything that happened there. I started asking myself, what if someone could actually hear those stories? What if the past wasn't finished with us? The Gothic mystery genre gave me permission to explore that, to write about injustice and forgotten voices and the kind of history that powerful people would prefer stayed buried.

In a way, both pen names are chasing the same thing: the truth of human connection. Juanita Kees finds it in the warmth of community and romantic love. Raven Corbin finds it in the obligation we owe to those who came before us. They're two sides of the same coin.

Is your writing process the same for both genres?

Absolutely not, and I think that's the great joy of writing under two different names. They demand different things from me.

When I sit down to write as Juanita Kees, there's a lightness to the process. I know my characters are going to find their way to each other. The tension comes from the journey, the misunderstandings and the slow burn and the moment when they finally choose each other. I write those books with a smile on my face more often than not.

Raven Corbin is a different creature entirely. The research is heavier, the atmosphere has to be carefully built, and the emotional stakes feel more urgent because they're tied to historical injustice. I find myself sitting with those stories for longer before I write a single word. The characters carry wounds that need to be understood before they can be placed on the page. There's a responsibility there that I feel quite deeply.

What stays the same across both is my absolute commitment to character. Whether I'm writing a small town heroine trying to outrun her past or a woman who discovers she can speak to the dead, I need to know who these people are at their core, what they're running from and what they desperately need, before anything else can happen.

You will be sharing Bitterport Mysteries with other authors. Can you explain how that came about and what each of you will bring to the series?

The Bitterport Mystery series is genuinely one of the most exciting things I've been involved with. It came about through a conversation between myself, S.E. Gilchrist, and Kerrie Paterson, three authors who share a love of Tasmania's extraordinary atmospheric potential and a deep respect for what the state's history has to offer storytelling.

We wanted to create something richer than any of us could do alone. A fictional Tasmanian town with its own history, its own secrets, its own recurring community of characters, written by three different voices but feeling like one cohesive world. We each bring our own strengths to Bitterport, and the result is a series where readers can inhabit the same town through very different lenses. It keeps the world feeling alive and multi-dimensional rather than a single author's vision. I think readers who love Tasmanian settings and mysteries with real emotional depth are going to find something to love in what all three of us are building together.

Are you a plotter? Pantser? Or somewhere in-between?

At heart I'm a pantser, though Raven Corbin has forced me to develop plotting muscles I never knew I needed.

As Juanita Kees, I write the way I think most pantsers do: I know who my people are, I drop them into a situation, and then I follow them around to see what they do. The happily ever after is non-negotiable, but how they get there is very much a discovery. Some of my favourite plot moments in those books arrived as complete surprises to me. The characters simply refused to behave as expected, which is usually a sign that something good is happening.

Raven Corbin requires more scaffolding. With a mystery, the clues need to be planted early, the red herrings need to feel genuine, and the historical elements have to be woven in with care. I do a significant amount of research and structural planning before I write Chapter One. The emotional beats and the character revelations still surprise me, but the bones of the mystery are mapped out before I begin.

I think the honest answer is that I'm a pantser who learned to plot under duress, and I'm not entirely sorry about it. Raven Corbin has made me a better writer across both names.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

Write the story only you can tell. That sounds like a cliche until you sit down and really ask yourself what it means. There are thousands of small town romances and hundreds of paranormal mysteries, but there is only one person with your specific combination of experience, obsessions, heartbreaks, and perspective. That's your competitive advantage. Use it.

Read widely, including outside your genre. Some of the most useful things I've learned about pacing and atmosphere came from reading and being edited by a professional editor. Get comfortable with bad first drafts. The first draft is not the book. It's the raw material. Give yourself permission to write badly in order to write at all.

And this one is perhaps the most important: take your characters seriously. Readers can feel when a writer doesn't fully believe in the people they've created. Know your characters' wounds before you know their eye colour. Know what they're running from and what they're running toward. Everything else follows from that.

How do you fill the creative well?

Travel, whenever I can manage it. There is nothing like standing in a place with centuries of history behind it to make stories feel urgent and necessary. Tasmania specifically has been extraordinary for the Raven Corbin work. You walk around some of those heritage sites and the past feels genuinely present.

Long walks with no particular destination. I do a lot of my best plotting on foot, when my conscious mind is occupied with putting one foot in front of the other and my subconscious is quietly working out the knot I couldn't unpick at my desk.

Conversations with other writers, particularly the Bitterport collaborators. There's something about being in conversation with other creative people who take storytelling seriously that recharges something in me.

And honestly? Allowing myself to be bored occasionally. We're so quick to fill every quiet moment now, but some of my best ideas have come from sitting with nothing to do and letting my mind wander.

What is next for you?

As Raven Corbin, the immediate focus is finishing Murder at Millmerran House and getting it into readers' hands for the mid-2026 launch. There are more stories in that world waiting to be told, and Misdeeds at Moorstone Lodge is already taking shape as the next book in the series, bringing a different kind of darkness and a new set of voices to Bitterport.

As Juanita Kees, I have a new small town story simmering that I'm very excited about, one that deals with returning home after a long absence and discovering that the place you ran from might be exactly where you were always meant to be.

And the Bitterport collaboration itself has legs. The three of us have talked about where the series could go, and the possibilities are genuinely thrilling. Bitterport has a lot of secrets left to uncover.

What is your upcoming release and your inspiration behind it?

My upcoming release as Raven Corbin is Murder at Millmerran House, due for release mid-2026 and the first book in the Bitterport Mystery series.

The inspiration for this one began with a question I couldn't stop asking: what happens when a house refuses to let its secrets stay buried? Millmerran House is a grand Victorian mansion in Bitterport with a wartime history that someone, even now, is determined to keep hidden. When London hotelier Aiden Bellingan inherits it, he expects renovation headaches. What he doesn't expect is Elvira Brown, the former resident who disappeared in 1945 and has very definite opinions about what he should do with her home.

I kept asking myself, what would it take to hear those voices now? And the answer that came was: someone who could literally hear them.

Enter interior designer Marielle McGregor, who knows she should turn down the project. Millmerran House has a troubled history with her family, and her father recently went missing while researching the mansion's secrets. But there's something about the house and its charming new owner that makes walking away impossible. What unfolds is a mystery woven through with wartime secrets, family feuds, and a conspiracy that someone is still willing to kill to protect. Elvira, it turns out, is a surprisingly helpful ghost when she chooses to be.

The book is about inheritance in every sense of the word: the properties we acquire, the histories we stumble into, and the things passed down to us whether we wanted them or not. It's also, at its heart, a romance between two people who find each other in the middle of chaos and chandeliers and a ghost with strong opinions. Perfect for readers who love Victoria Laurie, Juliet Blackwell, and Sofie Kelly.

Bitterport as a setting gave me so much to work with. There's something about Tasmania's atmosphere, the old buildings, the sense that the past is never quite finished with you, that makes it the perfect home for a series like this. I can't wait to share Millmerran House with readers.

Juanita Kees writes small town contemporary romance. Raven Corbin writes Gothic paranormal mystery.

Murder at Millmerran House is the first book in the Bitterport Mystery series, due for release mid-2026.

Latest release

It Might Be You

A Bindarra Creek Christmas in July Romance

(multi-author series)

Haunted by the silence in her city apartment after her mother's passing, Bonny Taylor throws herself into her work as a principal violinist for the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra, seeking solace in music. Until a chance encounter with a charming stranger offers an unexpected escape.

Trading the city's noise for the warmth of a small-town celebration, Bonny finds herself captivated by weddings, winter festivities, and the undeniable pull of attraction to Adam McGuigan, the farmer from Yarraman Downs.

As she falls deeper into the magic of the Bindarra Creek community, can a world-renowned musician trade her concert hall for a farmer's field in rural Australia or will the lure of her career prove too strong?

Buy

Juanita Kees

Writing fun, action-packed, sexy stories filled with feisty, caring characters ready to risk everything for love.

Juanita graduated from the Australian College QED, Bondi with a diploma in Proofreading, Editing and Publishing, and achieved her dream of becoming a published author in 2012 with the release of her debut romantic suspense, Fly Away Peta (recently re-released as Under Shadow of Doubt).

Under the Hood followed in 2013 as one of the first releases from Harlequin's digital pioneer, Escape Publishing.

In 2014 Juanita was nominated for the Lynn Wilding (Romance Writers of Australia) Volunteer Award, and was a finalist in the Romance Writers Australia Romantic Book of the Year and the Australian Romance Readers Awards in 2014 and 2016.  Her rural romances have made the Amazon bestseller and top 100 lists. Juanita writes mostly contemporary and rural romantic suspense but also likes to dabble in the ponds of Paranormal with Greek gods brought to life in the 21st century.

She escapes the real world to write stories starring spirited heroines who give the hero a run for his money before giving in.  When she’s not writing, Juanita is mother to three boys and a Daschund named Sam, and has a passion for fast cars and country living.

Find Juanita at: juanitakees.com.    

Raven Corbin

Some authors find inspiration in coffee shops or quiet libraries. Raven Corbin found hers in moonlit cemeteries and the whispered legends of abandoned towns.

Growing up on family vacations that other children might have found terrifying, Raven was enchanted by crumbling headstones, forgotten settlements, and her father’s spine-tingling campfire stories that brought the past to life. But it was her older sister’s home — an historic dwelling dating back to 1814 — that truly opened Raven’s eyes to the world beyond the veil. Living alongside restless spirits, including one particularly dramatic poltergeist, became as natural as morning coffee.

These early encounters sparked a lifelong fascination with the deeper mysteries behind supernatural phenomena. Raven discovered her true calling: helping tormented souls find the peace they’ve been seeking for decades, sometimes centuries, by uncovering the truth behind their tragic stories.

Raven masterfully weaves together historical mysteries, paranormal encounters, and small-town secrets in her atmospheric novels. Her Bitterport Mystery Series, set in the hauntingly beautiful but abandoned Tasmanian town of Bitterport, will captivate readers worldwide with a perfect blend of ghostly intrigue, buried secrets, and heartwarming romance.

Drawing from her background in professional editing and publishing, Raven crafts emotionally engaging stories where every creaking floorboard and mysterious apparition serves the larger purpose of justice and redemption. Her paranormal mysteries are for readers who appreciate stories where the supernatural meets the deeply human.

When she’s not communing with spirits or researching historical mysteries, Raven travels extensively, seeking inspiration in the world’s forgotten corners. She shares her adventures with her partner who has learned to pack sage and salt alongside the usual travel essentials.

Raven believes that every ghost has a story worth telling, and every mystery deserves to be solved — preferably with a happy ending for both the living and the dead.

“I don’t write horror stories. I write healing stories that happen to involve ghosts.” — Raven Corbin

Find Raven at: raven-corbin.com

DarkLight On ... Christina Phillips!

Welcome Christina! 

You write historical romances. What attracted you to this genre?

I’ve always loved history and growing up in England I was lucky to be surrounded by Roman remains and medieval castles. I’d always wondered what secrets those ancient walls held and imagined the people who had lived there during the centuries.

Although I’ve always loved historical romances it didn’t occur to me to actually write one for publication. But after years of submitting to Mills and Boon, working with editors on revisions but never quite managing to hit what they were looking for, my CPs dared me to write a historical PNR short story that had been haunting me for years. Much to my delight, my witch and vampire romance was published by The Wild Rose Press. 

Tell us about the hint of mysticism you add to these stories. 

My first historical romance series, The Druid Chronicles, is set in 1st century Britain during the Roman invasion. Not a lot is known about the druids, apart from the biased reports of the Romans, so I really let myself lean into the mysticism. My heroines worship the ancient goddesses, who are not happy with how the Eagle is wiping out the old way of life. I had so much fun weaving in myths and legends as my heroines fell in love with their deadliest enemies, while trying to remain loyal to their powerful goddesses.

In the past you’ve written paranormal romances. Do you think you’ll ever return to the genre?

I’d love to return to the Realm of Flame and Shadow, with my archangels, demons and vampires. I love that world so much and there’s so much more to explore. First on my list next year is to finish the final two books in The Highland Warrior Chronicles (set in the 9th century, this series weaves in the old gods who are being slowly crushed by the advent of a new religion from Rome), but after that my plan is to write the next book set in my realm of immortals.

 

Are you a plotter? Panster? Or somewhere in-between?

My latest books are with a publisher, so I had to hammer out a half decent synopsis for them, but I always find it fascinating that it’s only once I start writing that the real story emerges. With Forbidden, the first Druid book, I had no clue how it would end, and to this day can still see the whirlwind of chaos the gods wrought in my mind as I typed desperately to keep up! (I wish that happened more often!) Generally, I write bullet points and vague notes about what needs to happen at some point and go from there.

 

What is your latest release and your inspiration behind it?

My latest release is Abducted by the Highlander, the third and final book in the Daughters of the Isle series. This is a series that wasn’t supposed to have any hint of mysticism in it. But before I knew it, my three sisters had a druid foremother who had passed down an edict from mother to daughter for 900 years, a warning; but the meaning had been lost during the centuries.

My inspiration for this series comes from the myths and legends that surround the Isle of Eigg, one of the Small Isles off the west coast of Scotland. Until the 16th century it was known as the Island of the Powerful Women and of course that sparked my interest. Going back in history, who were the powerful women?

Druids.

And then there is the terrible massacre that took place on the Isle in the 16th century, where only one family escaped, and so the seed of an idea was born.

Thank you for having me!

Abducted by the Highlander

Book 3, Daughters of the Isle

Release date: 2 December

She dreams of a future with her noble Scot—only to discover he’s an outlaw from his clan.

Roisin MacDonald lost her heart to Hugh the day she met him, but despite his promises to return to her, after he left her isle, she never heard from him again. And yet she cannot forget him and harbors the secret hope that one day their paths will cross again.

Traveling in the Highlands to visit her sister, Roisin’s party is ambushed. When she tries to escape, she’s horrified to discover one of the bandits is none other than Hugh Campbell. She scarcely recognizes this menacing stranger and yet there’s no denying the passion that still blazes between them.

He saves her from ruin, but who will save her from him…

Commanded to spy for the Earl of Argyll, Hugh Campbell leaves everything to go undercover in a rebel MacGregor clan. Forced to survive as a mercenary, it’s only the memory of sweet Roisin MacDonald that keeps the darkness at bay. One day, he hopes to make her his, but as he falls deeper into the shadows of subterfuge, he despairs he’ll ever escape this life, never mind be worthy enough to seek her hand.

Hugh can’t believe the one woman he hoped would never discover this side of his life is now ensnared with the rebels. Every moment she stays with him puts her in peril, and he swears he’ll protect her and return her to her kin. He’ll keep her safe whatever it takes, but his pledge to keep his distance from her shatters with their first illicit kiss.

As danger closes in, Hugh knows he must risk everything to ensure Roisin survives.

But how can he let her go, when he knows it means they will never see each other again?

Tropes you'll love:

• Protector hero
• Touch her and die
• Forced proximity
• First love
• Unrequited love
• Fish out of water
• She falls first, he falls harder
• Rekindled romance

Pre-Order

Christina Phillips

Christina grew up in England and spent her childhood visiting ruined castles and Roman remains and daydreaming about Medieval princesses and gallant knights. When she wasn’t lost in the past, she was searching for magical worlds in the backs of wardrobes and watching old Hammer Horrors from the safety of behind the sofa. She enjoys writing historical romance, historical romantasy, paranormal romance and contemporary romance where the stories sizzle and the heroine brings her hero to his knees.

She now lives in sunny Western Australia with her high school sweetheart and their two cats who are convinced the universe revolves around their needs. They are not wrong.

Find Christina at christinaphillips.com and Facebook. 

DarkLight On ... L.A. Monteiro!

 

Welcome L.A.!

You write paranormal romance, most notably monster romance. What attracted you to this genre?

I was celebrating my completion of an emerging writers' program and went to a dinner with people who'd completed the program within the past 3 years. NONE of them were still writing. That was shocking to me because the program itself took 2 years to complete. I realised the best way to make sure that didn't happen to me was to make my ADHD brain happy with dopamine and write what I felt like, which was short works and monster romance, both of which have a really playful, fun vibe. It worked, I'm still writing!

Are you a plotter? Panster? Or somewhere in-between?

I'm an extensive planner which includes plotting. I use spreadsheets for my novels now that mark up my favourite beat sheets (save the cat, romancing the beat) with their approximate chapter in the book, and when I'm writing a new genre or length I look to my favourite comparable books and chart them in the spreadsheet before I plot my own book. It will change in the writing, but the beats help me keep pacing in frame and I use comps to help guide elements like length of chapters, point of view balance, 75% conflict etc. 

In another tab I keep a character grid with their archetypes (from Heroes and Heroines 16 master archetypes), goals, flaws etc (from 'take off your pants') and tags and traits (from Jim Butcher's blog). 

It might seem a bit overdone, but my 3 top Clifton Strengths are Learner, Arranger and Focus. I'm into learning new stuff then using it to arrange "pieces and resources" for maximum productivity to obtain a long-term end goal. 

 

What is your favourite part of the writing process?

Planning is my favourite part now. It really draws on everything I've learned about book marketing (which is mostly about positioning your book in the market) and I know it saves me time on rewrites. I rewrote my first book 14 times and I never want to do that again.

I not only have 'this is a good idea for a book' lightbulbs now, I also start thinking about the 25%, 50% and 75% conflicts, the character archetypes, and what's in the market that looks like my idea. I also think about my voice and whether I can write it well. And then I get to read books for research, which is pretty fun lol. By the end of the process, I know I'm not going to waste my time or get stalled if I write the book.

What is next for you?

I released 12 short indie titles last year. It was like a hands-on Masters degree in publishing, both fun and stressful. After I finished writing the final book in my orc romance series in January, I reassessed why I'm writing and what I want to write. I realised I'd never written something I was really passionate about and I'm more interested in improving as a novel writer right now than making money.

I made a list of things I hate in the world and things I love to help guide me. I drew from my 'id list' which is things I love in books like characters, tropes, settings etc. Marketing was also a consideration, but I wanted to write a book I could write better than anyone else (I think I read that in an Elana Johnson book and it stuck with me). When I got closer to an idea then I went into planning mode, which I wrote about above - considering and mapping out comps. 

I spent 3 months researching and planning (while doing a million other things like the ADHD squirrel I am), 6 months drafting, and 2 months polishing and pitching (to Penguin, Harper Collins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster) an 80k novel. As part of my process I picked a title, designed a cover and created a playlist to help land the tone. (More planning!) It's a 'Buffy meets Bladerunner' vampire romance and it's a significant shift from my previous work. I have not got a contract as yet, but have had great feedback on pages after only a couple of weeks. The speed of the feedback is a great sign because it means my book is well-placed in the market so I nailed my positioning and pitch. If this book doesn't get picked up I am likely to do the same process next year. 

Latest Release

Claimed by the Orc

Book 6, Seasonal Spice

He can't trust her. But could she be the queen he needs?

The villainous orc Evan has betrayed everyone who once cared for him. Seeking redemption, he takes back his orcish name Gevrank, and returns to his home world to kill the Southern King who enslaved his people. But Tessa, a witch with her own dark past, follows him to seek her own revenge. When she fails, their fates entwine as Tessa's true mystic nature comes to light.

This enemies to lovers monster romance is the sizzling conclusion to the Seasonal Spice series, featuring orcs, mating, heats and shape-shifting. It can be read as a standalone but refers to events in previous books.

Buy

L. A. Monteiro

L. A. Monteiro is a fantasy romance author based in Australia.

She’s an Eurasian second-generation Australian and an expert at living between worlds. Her stories tend to feature a diverse cast of characters that reflect her lived experience.

For ten years she used her communications degree to write for other people. Then (to prove she could) she started writing fiction. Now she works part-time to allow time for the stories in her head.

In 2020 she won the KSP Writers’ Centre ‘Spooky stories’ competition and was a finalist in Writing WA’s ‘Flashing the cover’ competition. She was selected for the Peter Cowan Writing Centre’s emerging writers program in 2021 and came first in the Romance Writers Australia Spicy Bites short story competition in 2023. 

She writes contemporary romance, urban fantasy, paranormal and monster romance.

​Visit L.A.'s  website: ​authorlamonteiro.com

DarkLight On... Enisa Haines!

 

Welcome Enisa!

What attracted you to both speculative fiction and romantic suspense?

Justice. It’s the ‘good vs evil and good wins’ – I’m very big on that – and romantic suspense is full of it with police officers, security guards, special agents and lawyers, so I’m always looking at that subgenre in bookshops when looking for a book to read. 

My love of speculative fiction grew from a huge interest in all things paranormal that came to be via an event in my father’s past when he was in his early teens. His home town (my home town too) back in Bosnia is a historic city with medieval fortified city walls, fortress and castle. Having underground catacombs, too, it’s not unusual to find houses with ancient graves in the basements. The house next door to my father’s home was one such house and everyone around knew about it – and knew about the ghost that roamed the house. Not everyone saw the ghost. My father did. He came to the house one day. Passing the staircase leading upstairs, he heard laughter. A man was sliding down the banister and grinning at him. My father just stared. He didn’t know this man. Then the female neighbour came and seeing my dad looking at the banister, said, “You’ve met the ghost. Don’t worry. He won’t harm you.” When my father turned to leave, he heard the ghost laughing again and told his mother. She wasn’t surprised, she’d seen the ghost too. That story got me hooked on the paranormal, as did The Twilight Zone and X-Files so turning to paranormal and speculative fiction was easy. 

Home town in Bosnia

Is it difficult separating the two?

No. I can switch from speculative fiction to romantic suspense and to just romance without problems. Reading a wide range of romance subgenres from a young age, I think, helped me see the differences in those subgenres.  Being familiar now with those differences helps keep me in the subgenre I’m immersed in at the time of writing a particular story.

Are you a Plotter? Pantser? Or something in between?

In the early days of my writing, I tried being a Plotter and gave that up quickly. Planning a story in full detail and knowing what happened from beginning to end before writing it, I lost all enthusiasm to get the words on the page.

Pantsers discover the characters and plot of a story as they write. That’s not me. Before I write, I need the spark of an idea or an inkling of a character. Having only the basic outline of a story, I’m learning more about it as I write, and that gives me the freedom to go off on tangents if needed.  That’s how Plantsers work, but I’m not truly a full fit there, either. 

I am very visual. I see random scenes. A character, say a guy all in black riding a motorbike along a winding road, and the questions come. Who is he? Where is he going? Why is he going? Or I see a woman running panicked through a thick forest in the dark of night. Who is she? What’s she running from? Is she guilty or innocent? Scenes such as these and the questions that immediately come give me the bones of a story.

To truly define the writer I am, I’d say I’m a Plantser/Scener, and with scenes coming randomly I write in random order and then arrange them in the linear order that makes sense for the story. Sounds a bit scattered but it works best for me.

What is the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

To handwrite the draft. When sitting at the computer, the internal critic every writer dreads would appear at times and nag about the writing, push and push me to fix it, until more words stopped coming.  Then I found this course at the Writer’s Centre focusing on halting writer’s block. Handwrite the draft. Stopped that inner critic as soon as I wrote with pen on paper, and it’s nowhere around since.

How do you fill your creative well?

I live in a Sydney suburb surrounded by rivers and nestled in bushland. Yes, it’s a fire zone and I’ve lived through four fires in the last 25 years, but here I can go for walks where there’s only nature and fresh air. I also love sitting in silence with a candle flickering, or looking at affirmation cards (I have a number of packs). I love colouring pictures in an adult colouring books. I’m a rock chick from way back. A constant diet of rock concerts from pre-teen years, and the radio permanently set on Triple M. Time out with friends and drinking coffee (I will admit to drinking a lot, an addiction started at the age of two when with my grandfather in the local café). Looking at my list, I’d say I’m very blessed with creativity inspirations. 

What is the story you most enjoyed writing?

I can’t say there’s one story that I most enjoyed writing. As I mentioned above, justice is important to me, and writing stories focused on justice is what makes me happiest. Didn’t know it would when I first started writing but justice has appeared as a theme in everything I’ve written. Going on from that, I always write about tortured heroes who can’t escape their troubled pasts until the heroines come into their lives. I love writing intense emotions.

What are you currently working on?

Earlier this year I did the six-week Virtual Breakout Novel Intensive with agent Donald Maass. So glad I did. Showed me how to make my writing ‘breakout novel’ worthy, and using what I learnt, I’m currently reworking, as per suggestions by Donald Maass, the first book in a paranormal trilogy. It’s not a quick job but I’m loving how the story’s improving.

A Very Aussie Christmas anthology

Restore your faith in the power of the human spirit with warm-hearted romances from Breathless in the Bush writing group. Celebrate the joy and occasional heartache of the festive season, where love shines through against the odds.

Buy

Enisa Haines

Founding member of RWA (one of 8 and the only one still involved with the association - 2 unfortunately have passed away, the other 6 have left to pursue other interests). Started reading romance at age 9. Blame the 'happily-ever-after' fairy tales of younger years for that. When it comes to writing, though, my passion for justice led me to romantic suspense, a genre I have pursued for many years. 

Have always had a great interest in all things paranormal - my favourite shows are The X-Files and Supernatural - but had not thought to write in the genre. Then two years ago my father passed away and the strangest thing happened. A story popped into my head (as they do). Not romantic suspense but otherworldly and suddenly I was consumed by the need to immerse myself in the paranormal genre.

Doing that had a profound effect on me. I realised that, yes, I do love romantic suspense, but my real love is the paranormal genre, with leanings toward the speculative side of it. And that is the line I'm targeting with my own writing today.

I’ve had success in writing competitions, winning and placing with both romantic suspense manuscripts and paranormal romance manuscripts. I am a co-author in self-published anthologies. Aiming also for publication with a traditional publisher, I am currently immersed in a paranormal romance trilogy and, as per suggestions from an agent, enthusiastically editing and rewriting parts of the first book before submitting.  

Find ​ Enisa on her website or blogging at Breathless in the Bush.

DarkLight On... Mel Teshco!

 

Welcome Mel Teshco!

You write science fiction romance and contemporary romance. What attracted you to both of these genres?

I’ve always loved reading both these genres in all their forms (I especially love YA sci-fi and might even give it a go one day i.e. finish off a story I started years ago…), but though it makes sense to stick to one genre and build an audience I ended up paring my writing down to these two genres. I didn’t want to dull my creativity, so this was the best I could come up with ☺ 

Is it difficult separating the two?

Not at all. I’ve built up a bit of a readership with my sheikh and mafia contemporaries, and might stick with those to hopefully keep my fan base happy. My science fiction stories are much more diverse and range from aliens to dragons and DNA hybrids. I love the freedom of these and enjoy giving my characters superpowers and strengths as much as I do their weaknesses. 

 

You have such a busy release schedule. How do you maintain this?

I put up pre-orders and plan ahead so that I have no choice but to meet my deadlines. Having said that, as a mostly self-published writer now I don’t have a fixed word count, so as long as the story doesn’t lose any impact I’ll write shorter where necessary. I definitely write faster under pressure, though sometimes I itch to write a completely different story (which I often do, much to my peril lol!). I’ve begun making my pre-orders farther apart just so I have more freedom to write other bits and pieces as the mood strikes. I do have to remind myself to clean the house though so it doesn’t look like a bomb hit it. 

Are you a plotter? Panster? Or somewhere in-between?

Though I’ve plotted in the past for publishers (RE: my ghost writing where I’ve had to give a chapter by chapter summary) I don’t enjoy thinking too far ahead. I do at times have a bit of an inkling of the ending, or sometimes while I handwrite I’ll do a brief summary of an upcoming scene as it occurs to me. 

Do you have advice for aspiring writers?

Enter competitions (the advice can be invaluable, as can your ranking which gives a good idea of how close you are to being publishable). Do workshops, both online and at conferences. Read some of the bigger selling novels and look out for what readers want. Find a critique partner who ‘gets’ you and who helps make your work shine and vice versa. Above all don’t self-publish until you’re well and truly ready, you need a thick skin in this business at the best of times and there are some harsh critics/readers out there (some lovely ones too!)

How do you fill the creative well?

I take the time to read, even when I get home from work in the early hours of the morning I’ll usually read for at least 10 or 20 minutes. (Watching TikTok has also become a bit of an Achilles heel lol) I also tend to daydream a bit while driving to and from work. It’s a good time to think through storylines and dream up characters. I’ll often blast the music, put on my seat heater (good for my back muscles and general relaxation) and sift through all the ‘stuff’ in my head.

What is next in the future for you? 

I’ve got a whole series of sheikh stories to write (book 2 is out today). I’ve also started on my next sci-fi series with genetically altered characters, with the first book His Asset coming soon.  I do have a few books that aren’t up on pre-order as yet, which I really want to get to. These might be on next year’s schedule.

 

 

Tell us about your latest release and your inspiration behind it.

My latest release is actually a re-release—Incandescence—which is why it’s a paranormal suspense genre. This one was published through Totally Bound. I can’t remember the inspiration behind it, but I must have been going through a bit of a vampire stage. I’ve always enjoyed the alpha side of a vampire hero. I wrote this one in first person pov, which I hadn’t done a lot of until I started my mafia series. Some stories just seem to want to lean more into that style.

Latest release

Incandescence

Escaping the nest of their vampire master is an amazing triumph. Surviving will be the greatest challenge of all.

Alexander.

I've been a blood slave to my vampire master for forty-six years. My rare blood makeup gives my master the perfect nutrition. My addiction to the couple of drops he feeds me in return ensures I have no compulsion to leave. I'm a willing blood donor, an immortal slave. Then my master brings yet another blood slave to his nest, and I can't tear my eyes away from her.

Maya.

I can't believe I've been kidnapped. I definitely can't believe vampires are real. But I soon learn they're not just real, they're cold and brutal, and will do anything for their bloodlust. Everything within me burns to escape, and if I have to use the other blood slave to do just that, I will. If I'm all too quickly seeing past his addiction and good looks to the man beneath, that's just too bad. Survival is my focus. Love and desire have no place in this nightmare I'm living. Do they?

Buy

Amazon | Other

Mel Teshco

I’m an award winning author who loves to write scorching hot contemporary and science fiction romance—stories I love to read. I love working from home, where my office window looks out over our ‘block’ of fourteen acres with gorgeous mountain views. After enjoying a stint as a foster carer for cats, I now have seven felines to entertain me, along with two dogs and a horse. But only when I’m not distracted by my three gorgeous daughters and two grandchildren. As for my very patient husband…he’s still waiting for retirement.

Visit Mel's website: melteshco.com

DarkLight On... Helen Walton!

Welcome Helen!

You write fantasy romance and paranormal romance. What attracted you to both of these genres?

I’ve been a huge fan of vampires since I can remember. Buffy is the best show ever and I just completed a rewatch for the zillionth time. As for fantasy, who doesn’t want to disappear to another world where castles and magic are the norm?




You also have written contemporary romance. Was it difficult separating this from your speculative fiction work?

I enjoy reading both contemporary romance and speculative fiction so separating them while writing wasn’t hard. Sometimes it’s easier to write what we know, but sometimes it’s easier to write something magical and out of this world. I’ve been enjoying the fantasy worlds lately so I might stay writing in these for a while.




Are you a plotter? Panster? Or somewhere in-between?

I’m a total pantser. Sometimes I start with an idea for a book, or a scene, or even a character, but I never know what is going to happen until I sit down and write.




Do you have advice for aspiring writers?

Honestly, I listened to so much advice when I first started that it was too much. So my advice is to listen to yourself. You know what you want to write, so do it.




How did you find the recent book signing Wild Out West (in Perth) where you were a signing author? What was your take-away from it?

Wild Out West was an amazing time! Louisa West and Julie Weaver put on a fabulous event for the authors and readers. Saturday night we had an exclusive author mingling hour before the VIP readers joined us. Drinks, food, lots of laughs and entertainment from the Drag Queen host Sassie Cassie, who I was lucky enough to have read out a part of my book. Sunday was book signing day and the many readers were so lovely. I even had my first reader bring a book from home for me to sign.

How do you fill the creative well?

Well, at the moment, my creative well is stone dry. My day job sucked up every last drop of precious imagination, but I have a new job now, so I’m hoping the well will start trickling again. As for filling it, I think that comes from everything around me, books, television, nature, animals, family, and a bit of free time to let my imagination run wild.




Can you tell us about your latest release?

Elise in Werewolf Land is a twisted Alice in Wonderland retelling and book 2 in the Vampire Tales series. Elise is one of a kind, a witch turned into a vampire, and in hiding from her evil family. Asher is a bad boy werewolf with a tortured past trapped in a curse made by her family. To free them both, Elise and Asher have to work together to escape Werewolf Land. A whole lot of crazy adventures ensues that brings them closer together, and the cocky werewolf and sassy witch find the sort of unconditional forever love neither of them thought they deserved.




What was your inspiration behind it?

Book 1 in the Vampire Tales, Isabel and the Werewolf Beast, is a twisted Beauty and the Beast retelling, so when the side character Asher said I have a story too, I sat down to think about what other fairytale retelling I could do. A few came to mind, but the one that stuck was Alice in Wonderland. I just love the craziness of the original story and knew that twisting it up would fit with book 1.

Elise in Werewolf Land

Book 2, Vampire Tales

Two broken souls, one impossible love. Will it save them or destroy them?


Elise

For so long, I’ve remained hidden. My very existence should be impossible. Yet here I am, one of a kind, a vampire witch.

All the magical power of my witch heritage at my fingertips, combined with the strength and immortality of a vampire means I’m almost indestructible, but my sire is too protective. Too determined to keep me safe from my evil family.

An instant spark of awareness hits me the moment my sire delivers a comatose werewolf to my secret chamber. Then he reveals my brother’s dangerous magic has cursed Asher and they need my help. If I break the curse, I’ll end the last of my bloodline and I’ll finally be free.

The moment I use my magic, I know I’ve miscalculated the curse. Something pulls me into the darkness and now I’m stuck in werewolf land with no clue how to get out. Worse, I’m trapped with a werewolf who doesn’t know what I really am. I’m also a vampire, sworn enemy of werewolves, and related to the man who’d hurt him. If he finds out, the results could be disastrous.

Then there’s this incredible pull towards him…


Asher

I’d thought becoming a werewolf would make me strong and powerful, but it wasn’t enough to save me from the warlock’s attack. I’m not sure if I’m dead or alive… or trapped in something worse. Then a beautiful woman appears, a witch who says she’s come to help me.

The longer we stay in this strange place, the more it tries to harm us. If her magic wand can’t get us out, do we even stand a chance? But the longer I’m with her, the less I want to leave.

She’s beautiful, clever, and strong. Everything in me aches to kiss her and claim her as mine. I can’t help feeling if we escape this place, everything I feel about her will disappear, too.

Is this what it feels like when a werewolf finds their mate?

Alice in Wonderland meets the witches, vampires and werewolves of Vampire Diaries in this forced proximity, fated love, spicy paranormal romance.


It features a standalone romance with a happy ending for the main couple and completes the series.

Read the complete series

Isabel and the Werewolf Beast

Elise in Werewolf Land

Helen Walton

Helen Walton is a tea drinking, chocoholic, romance writer. Stories are her obsession. She adores creating sweet and sensual romances containing a sprinkling of humor and the all-important happy ending. She lives in South Australia with her family, and menagerie of quirky animals where they all take her away from her book world and demand to be fed. Lucky for them, she enjoys cooking but prefers baking.

​Connect with Helen on her website helenwaltonauthor.com

DarkLight On... K.E. Turner!

Welcome K.E.!

Are you a plotter? Panster? Or somewhere in-between?

I'm most definitely a pantser. When I first started writing I was as extreme a pantser as you could imagine. Which is bizarre, because I'm otherwise a very organised person. I would start with a simple idea and just run with it. It might be scene I visualized in my head, or an idea for a character, male or female. For Wolf's Keep it was the idea that there was a medieval knight (or chevalier as I ended up going with 10th C France) who was keeping this woman in his keep. He's supposed to be the bad guy, but it turns out he's really the good guy. Then, as I started writing, he became a werewolf and she became a 21st century archaeologist stuck in the past.

Now that I'm a few books into my first series, I do have a bit of series bible because I have so much world building, so many characters and plot threads I have to keep track of. But in typical pantser style, I have a traitor in my series that even I didn't know the identity of until I was about halfway through book four (to be released in September). 

There are times when I do wish I was more of a plotter. Some books have taken me on a lot of wild goose chases. Some I've needed to do a lot of work in the editing phase, removing or rewriting complete chapters, or adding new ones. I've also had revelations happen in Chapter 32, that mean Chapter 2, 5 and 17 have to be rewritten because said revelation has changed something.

It also makes it hard to do a series synopsis for my publisher. I'll often know who my main characters will be for each book at the beginning of the series, but as I'm discovering their characters as I go, I don't have much else to give them like as plot, tropes etc. Or, the plot changes by the time I get to that book. Book 5 of The Wolves of Langeais, which I'm writing the first draft of now, is a perfect example. It was meant to be MF romance. Now it's MFM (a menage). Thankfully, my publisher was okay with the change.

I have attempted to plot, but it's always ended up an unmitigated disaster. So now I stick to what I know works for me, and allow more time for editing.

What has been the story you’ve most enjoyed working on?

It's really hard to choose a favourite story. They all have things I like about them—favourite characters, plotlines, particular scenes—but I think the one I had the most fun writing was Wolf's Redemption- The Wolves of Langeais Book 3. I'd been looking forward to writing Ulrik's story. He was the naughty boy of my wolf pack and he had a past I was eager to get into, but it was the heroine, Bek, that made writing that book so much fun. She's a little bit crass, she says what she thinks, and she's not really afraid of anything. She's tattooed and pierced, with her own morally-grey back story. She calls Ulrik on his BS often. I guess I got to live vicariously through her and say things I, personally, would never be brave enough to say. And she led him on a bit of a chase, too, literally. She steals his clothes while he's swimming in the pond, then takes off on foot, hiding his clothes and boots in several different places in the forest. I still get a laugh out of that scene.

Do you have advice for aspiring writers?

There's lots of advice out there for aspiring writers—a lot of it really good—but not every piece of advice works for every writer. 

What I have found to be of a huge benefit to me, is joining a writer's group. I joined the RWA Aspirer's group and it was the best thing I have ever done. Writing can be such an isolating process. Not everyone understands the drive to write, and even if they are supportive, they don't understand the industry, grammar, writer's block or our desire to share the good and the bad writing days with people who understand. 

I learnt so much about the industry, about writing, and about writing tools from other writers in the Aspirer's group. I'd never heard of Bookfunnel or Mailerlite. I'd never used Canva or Bookbrush, before I joined. Even more important, I found my beta readers in the Aspirers group. There are numerous posts in writer's Facebook groups looking for beta readers. Horror stories of writers hiring someone from Fiverr only to have their work run through Chatgpt, or pay and get very little in return. I have two AMAZING beta readers with who I have a reciprocal arrangement—they read mine, I read theirs—and they are worth their weight in gold. They pull me up when my writing becomes repetitive. They find plot holes I've missed, and they're also there to support me and cheer me on. I don't know what I would do without them.

What I wish I'd known, or done right from the beginning, was develop my brand. I don't come from a marketing background. Graphic design is NOT my forte. When I first started posting on social media, I really had no idea what I was doing. I was told you need to have a presence on social media. I've recently seen that used to great effect by a writer who now has an agent and a book deal. For me, I started randomly posting...stuff. Even when my first book, Wolf's Keep, was published, my promotional posts were a dog's breakfast. There was no rhyme or reason to them. The images were random. There was no colour scheme. It took me a long time, and following a lot of clever writers with marketing backgrounds, or who were very good at marketing, to really get my head around what my brand was, what it should look like, and how it could work for me. I'm still learning, but I hope it looks a lot more polished now than it did back then.

I also wished I'd thought to get everything in place—website, newsletter, Bookfunnel, domain, email, branding—before I got a contract. These things can be time consuming, and stressful. Don't get me started on the difficulties I had authenticating Mailerlite (it involved a lot of swearing and an IT guy from Fiverr to sort it out). Once you have a contract—or in the case of Indie authors, your book on preorder—you have time constraints and responsibilities.

Publishing your first book is exhilarating...and overwhelming. There's so much to do, even for Trad authors. There's going through rounds of edits- with my publisher it's usually two rounds- then working with them on the cover. I don't have a huge amount of say in my covers, but I have to provide mood boards, and all sorts of main character information for the cover designer and the publisher to go through. There's so many places you have to update about your new release, there's marketing, cover reveals, ARCs- yes, as a Trad author I am responsible for all of my own ARCs. There's giveaways, promotions, newsletters to go out. You really don't need to add to that by trying to set everything up. Especially not for your first book release. 

Yes, I was given this piece of advice numerous times, but I figured there was no point having a website if I didn't have a book to put on it. Right? Most things, website included, can be set up ready to go but not be made live until you are ready. In hindsight, had I done all of that before I got a contract, I think it would have taken some of the pressure off.

What can we expect from you in the future?

My new series, The Descendants, is next for me. It came about because I wondered what my Langeais wolves would look like in the 21st century. And once that idea arose, I couldn't let it go. It's spicier, and it does have a lot of links with my Wolves of Langeais Series. Some side characters in The Descendants, will also be in the Wolves of Langeais series. But it will be able to be read as a standalone series.

The Descendants-The Wolves of Langeais- are from an ancient pack, born out of myth and legend, and while they have come a long way over the centuries, two things haven’t changed. They are still the only true werewolves with a bite that can turn humans. And their enemies, with their roots in the pack’s medieval past, are as determined as ever to wipe them from the earth. 

 The Langeais Wolves will go anywhere and do anything to protect their pack, but with their true mates out there somewhere in the world, they’ll need to put more than their lives on the line for their pack to survive.

Book 1, The Wolf and His Witch, releases on July 22nd. It's a second chance Christmas romance (for Christmas in July) following head of pack security, Gabriel Montagne and his fated mate, San Franciscan witch Annabelle Jackson.

Three years ago, in Paris, Gabriel left Annabelle standing alone on the Champs Elysees. On Christmas Eve. His pack had needed him. Gabriel hadn't told Annabelle he was a werewolf, or that she was his fated mate. She hadn't told him she was a witch, or her real name.

When the fates of the San Francisco Bay coven and the Langeais wolves collide, Annabelle and Gabriel are thrown together again. Trusting Gabriel isn’t on Annabelle’s agenda, but with the coven divided, and Annabelle’s suitability to rule it questioned, she’s forced to work with him. There’s more than broken trust and power struggles at stake. The fate of witchcraft and the Langeais wolves hangs in the balance. And this time, Gabriel is not walking away.

Tell us about your latest release.

My latest release is Wolf's Redemption- The Wolves of Langeais Book 3

It follows the story of Ulrik Voclain- resident bad boy of the Langeais wolf pack. He drinks too much, he flirts too much, he's alienated most of his pack, but he's got his demons. In book 1, he sacrificed himself to save his alpha and his alpha's mate, and ends up in the underground dungeon of the Comte de Anjou, bound in silver. He's prepared to die there, until along comes Rebekah Clarke. A 21st century down-on-her-luck barmaid, Rebekah's trying to get her life back on track. She has no time for bad boys. Been there, done that, has the parole papers to prove it. She's most definitely not going to fall in love, or lust, with the one chained to a wall. Even if he is every one of her darkest fantasies come to life. But if she wants to escape and find her way home, she's going to have to trust him. 

This is a redemption arc story times two. Both Bek and Ulrik are looking for their redemption. It's a fish out of water, forced proximity, fated mates story with a dash of he would die for her.

Blurb

He’s no saint. She’s no angel. Together, they might find redemption.

​​Rebekah’s penchant for bad boys has gotten her nothing but trouble—a brush with the law, a tyrant landlady, a job in the worst pub in London and a sleezy boss who’s best mates with her hardass parole officer. She’s desperately trying to start over and make a better life for herself.​​

Not returning the little gold amulet wasn’t her best idea. Translating the weird inscription on the back… She may live to regret that stupidity. Now she’s in more trouble than ever, stuck in the past, in the dungeon of a 10th century keep, with a guy who’s every one of her darkest fantasies.

​​Ulrik Voclain, 10th century chevalier and werewolf, has made his fair share of bad decisions. They’ve cost him his family, his friends and the respect of his pack. Sacrificing himself for his alpha and getting thrown into the Count of Anjou’s dungeon wasn’t his greatest idea, but it’s one he doesn’t regret. He’s not averse to escaping, though, when a chance presents itself. Especially when that opportunity is a woman with curves in all the right places.

​Ulrik needs the strangely attired beauty’s help to break free of the dungeon. Rebekah’s only chance of survival is with the raspy voiced man chained to the wall. He understands the danger they’re in. She’s not prepared to trust another outlaw.

​​On the run, his enemies closing in, Ulrik is determined to change her mind. Rebekah is hell bent on resisting him. When the chemistry between them explodes, there’ll be no turning back.

Buy

K.E. Turner

K.E. Turner can't remember a time when she wasn't writing stories or reading books—as a teenager in class instead of doing math, in her lunch break at work, or at home when there's housework to be done. With a love of history, suspense, paranormal, and romance, she enjoys combining more than one element in her stories. She writes spicy paranormal romances with strong but good-hearted heroes, smart, sassy heroines, and an unexpected villain or two, to shake things up.

She lives with her husband in Western Australia.

Visit K.E.'s website: keturnerbooks.com