by Mindy | Feb 19, 2019 | front page, new release, washington warders series, washington witches series
Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft is one of my most popular books. It tells the story of a librarian who finds out she’s a witch. Along the way, we meet Jane Madison (the librarian), her familiar, her best friend, her doting grandmother, her crazy mother, and her Imaginary Boyfriend (the library patron she has a mad crush on.)
We also meet her warder, David Montrose. David is Jane’s astral protector, assigned to keep an eye on her magical workings. He shows up in a bad mood, and things go downhill from there.
Through the years, I’ve speculated about why David is in such a bad mood. Later books in the series make it clear that he has a lot on his plate, including political machinations that Jane can’t imagine. The more I contemplated David’s character, the more I realized he needed to tell his story — including his encounter with Jane. Thus, The Library, the Witch, and the Warder was born.
Jane and David only share half a dozen scenes in their first books. Each has a fulfilling life outside the scope of the other. But the more I thought about those shared lives, the more I realized Girl’s Guide and LWW needed to be published together. Readers can flip between the stories. They can search for the same words of dialog and read the common scenes from each character’s perspective. They can get two books for not much more than the price of one.
So? What are you waiting for?
Get your copy of Magical Washington: Witch and Warder today!
by Mindy | Jan 8, 2019 | front page, new release, washington medical vampire unit series, washington vampires series, washington warders series, washington witches series
One of the most common questions I get is, “Which of your books should I read first?”
The answer is, “Whichever one sounds most interesting to you! And you can read the first chapter of every one of them, for free, on my website!”
But a lot of folks still wonder what order to read the Magical Washington books. I have a fun little chart that tells people the way the books relate to each other. But some people don’t know if they should read about witches first. Or vampires. Or warders. Or the magical hospital where all of them go to recover from threats to their supernatural health.
So, I decided to make things easy for folks. I decided to put the first book in every Magical Washington series into one boxed set.
A librarian who finds out she’s a witch—Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft.
A clerk of court for the vampire night court—Fright Court.
A warder who juggles work, warfare, and protecting Washington’s witches—The Library, the Witch, and the Warder.
A witch who loses her powers the night a Secret Service agent vampire appears in her hospital’s emergency room—The Witch Doctor Is In.
A little romance… A lot of magic… These four complete novels will show you the paranormal power behind the scenes in the nation’s capital!
Magical Washington: Four in Hand is available in stores today. I hope you’ll check it out! (And once you own this great boxed set, you can start with whichever book you’d like!)
Buy your ebook today:
by Mindy | Mar 20, 2018 | front page, new release, washington warders series
Once upon a time (as the story goes), I had an idea for a novel. I sketched out the concept, and I sent an email to my agent with a two paragraph summary that began, “Jane Madison has a problem. Or two. Or three.” I ended up writing Girl’s Guide to Witchcraft.
While I was writing Jane’s book, I thought it was a fantasy novel. When it was published by Red Dress Ink, it was called a chicklit novel. “Chicklit”, though, became a dirty word in publishing, so when I released it with Book View Cafe, I called it a light paranormal novel. Skip forward a dozen years, and Girl’s Guide is now firmly rooted in the “cozy paranormal” genre.
I’ve had an amazing time writing Jane’s story, which has spun out to five full-length novels, a couple of novellas, and a short story (with more to come!) Along the way, though, I started to ask myself: What about David?
I knew from his first Mr.-Rochester-esque appearance that David Montrose was Jane’s warder, her astral protector who guides her in her quest to use her powers. He was somewhat stiff in Girl’s Guide, a guy who followed the rules — until he didn’t. He kissed Jane when he had no business kissing her. He taught her the basics of witchcraft when he absolutely should not have taken on the role of instructor. He read her the riot act multiple times, until he didn’t show up at one of her key magical workings.
So, what was going on in David’s life?
David Montrose only appears in half a dozen scenes in Girl’s Guide. I had a lot of space to explore his independent story. From the Washington Witches Series, I knew he had a long-standing conflict with his boss at Hecate’s Court. And I quickly realized he was estranged from his father, one of the most respected warders in the history of American witchcraft. Before long, I discovered David’s best friend was a wolf shifter. And then the fire-wielding salamanders came into focus…
I ran into a few challenges writing The Library, the Witch, and the Warder. The timeline needed to match Jane’s story exactly. David had to make his appearances in Girl’s Guide, saying exactly the same lines at exactly the same time. But he also needed to meet his obligations to friends and family. He had his own substantial problems to resolve. And he had to have an excellent reason to miss out on Jane’s most important show of magical power.
My paramount concern was that David’s story had to stand on its own magical feet. It had to be read-able, separate and apart from the Washington Witches Series (or the Washington Vampires Series, my other books set in my Magical Washington Universe). Readers had to be able to enjoy David’s tale without being obligated to read all the rest of my cozy paranormal novels.
When I finished writing David’s story, I summed it up for the back of the book. I’d known the first sentence of that blurb from the moment I started writing The Library, the Witch, and the Warder: “David Montrose has a problem. Or two. Or three.”
Here’s the complete blurb:
Former warder David Montrose has a problem. Or two. Or three.
He’s been fired from his job protecting the witches of Washington DC. Now, he’s stuck working a dead-end job at Hecate’s Court while he tries to redeem his reputation and put his life back together.
Which would be a decent plan if things weren’t so…complicated. His new boss is a tyrant. His father says he’s disgraced the family name. And instead of sympathizing, his best friend is trying to drag him onto the front lines of an all-out supernatural war.
Just as David gets a glimpse of the elusive work-life-magic balance, he’s summoned back to warder status. His unexpected new charge is a captivating witch who possesses the strongest powers he’s ever seen. David already has enough on his plate. How can he possibly juggle work, warfare, and warding Jane Madison?
He’d better figure things out soon. Jane’s safety—and all of magical Washington—depends on him!
You can read the first chapter by clicking or tapping here.
And you can buy your copy today:
Buy your print book today:
Preorder your ebook today:
0
