This is actually an article from PW that I did and a fan saw it and suggested I post it for you guys to read (this is for you, Betty). She said that it helped her and that she thought others might want to see it too. I don't know if it will, but I told her I'd share it. If nothing else, I at least hope it semi-entertains you :)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon -- Publishers Weekly, 11/16/2009

I write simply because I hear voices of people in my head who won't give me peace until I convey their stories to the rest of the world. Seriously. They've always been with me. While other girls played with dolls, and my brothers with Hot Wheels, I was busy traveling through space or traipsing through graveyards with my imaginary playmates.

I honestly can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't writing. Before I knew what written words were, I drew pictures and told the stories verbally. It's really not that surprising since I come from a long line of verbal storytellers, such as my father, who could spin a humorous yarn Jerry Clower would envy. Most of his stories revolved around Southern life, growing up in rural Alabama, or army stories.

My mother fed my love of demons, science fiction, and paranormal. She was a devout horror movie fan who kept me up until the wee hours to watch Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Twilight Zone, and Star Trek. We lived to watch those reruns.

My father left when I was eight, and my mother was forced to move in with her parents. In an environment reminiscent of Flowers in the Attic (oh, to have had it that good), my world came crashing down and to quote my brother, “childhood was something we survived... barely.” Had it not been for my writing, I wouldn't have made it out alive, and I know that for a fact.

While books provided me with some escape from the mental and physical horrors of my early life, they were unreliable. Many times the protagonists suffered terribly and then died at the end. Those books to me were far more grisly than anything a horror master could produce, and I lived in fear of that being my life. Here lies Sherrilyn Kenyon. Her life really, really sucked and her death was even worse. Ha! says Fate.

But in my stories, I controlled what happened in a way I couldn't in real life. My characters lived through the horror and degradation of the cruelty of others and they not only survived, they thrived. They gave me hope and laughter, and they kept me going in spite of everything else. They were my heroes.

They still are. Even when I was homeless and on the street with an infant, I turned to them for help. Little did I know then that they really would be my heroes and would not only allow me to escape the horrors of my past but would finally lift me out of the brutal poverty that had made up the majority of my life. They have brought me fans from all over the world. And for that, I thank my readers every night when I saw my prayers. They are my family and I love them all dearly.

Hubby and I were eating the BBQ and polenta that I mentioned in the recipe when he asked me if I'd seen the movie Drag Me to Hell. I told him that I wanted to, but that I'm waiting to finish the book I'm working on first. "Have you seen it?"

I got that famous horrified  hubby look. "Alone? By myself?"

"Well, yeah."

He snorted. "Are you out of your mind? You're the only one I know who watches horror movies alone."

Then I gave my Snidely Whiplash laugh, thinking of all the times I'd run poor hubby out of the room with my taste in movies. He's never really cared for them even though he did take me to see the movie House (funny horror movie) on our first date. I'm weird. I admit this and one whole weekend while Kim and I worked on fan club packets, I didn't realize I'd actually tortured her with zombie movies which I adore. She doesn't. Oops!

Which is why I watch movies alone. Most of the people around me (kids, hubby and friends) don't like them. My mother and my older brother addicted me to them when I was a kid and they, along with SF, are my movies of choice. I remember being 8 or 9 when the first Halloween came out on cable. My older brother was a huge, muscular man and loved horror movies. It was around midnight and I was sound asleep because it was a school night. Next thing I know this bear of a man was standing over my bed, shaking me awake. "Sherri. Get up and watch this movie with me. I'm scared."

I looked up at him in disbelief. "What are you going to do? Throw me at the monster?" Of course my brother's philosophy had always been - I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you. So I got up, went to the couch and fell asleep watching Halloween. That was nothing unusual. I think I pretty much always fell asleep as a kid watching late night horror movies.

I actually still do that most nights when my characters won't be quiet. If I don't have another noise in the background, all I hear is them and I can't sleep at all. With any luck hubby is already asleep and doesn't have to groan (or sleep upstairs) because I go to sleep watching... horror movie reruns (If it's something I haven't seen, I start watching it so it has to be something I've seen a lot).

They're my comfort food and I love nothing better than to go to sleep to Nightmare on Elm Street, Constantine, Demon Knight, Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Resident Evil, 28 Days, etc. When Kim travels with me, I tone it down to either Constantine or the Mummy movies because she does get scared. Go figure. They honestly don't bother me at all and never have.

And I can always tell when hubby has really missed me on a trip. I come home and he has a horror movie waiting :) He's so cute that way, even if he watches half of it with his eyes closed.

Hugs!

Here's the awesome new Born of Ice video. They're going to release a full one that has scenes from all three books the day before BOI is released (Nov 30). The long one is absolutely to die for.


..

Don't forget, Dianna and I will be in NM this Saturday to celebrate BOF being #1! This is my first time there and I hope to see some of you who've been asking me to come. Hugs!

Nov 14 , 2009; 6 PM
Albuquerque, NM,
NM Booksigning
Venue: Booksigning/Q&A
Location: Borders

More info: --November 14 at 6 PM Borders 2240 Q St. NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Phone: 505.884.7711 .

At the behest of you guys begging for recipes. Here's the first one and it's one of my faves. German potato salad

Ingredients:
1 bag of sliced potatoes (or you can use 2 large drained cans or cut your own)
Hormel Bacon Bits (You can also use cooked bacon that's broken up)
1 Large Onion
1 tsp of Garlic
4 TBS of Apple Cider Vinegar
3 TBS of Sugar
2 TBS Water
Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute onions in olive oil until transparent (3-4 mins) with garlic and bacon. Add sugar and vinegar until the sugar dissolves then add water and potatoes and salt & pepper. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes (until the sauce has thickened).

If you use precut veggies and onions, it only takes 15 minutes to prepare.

Fie & enjoy!

Hugs!

I’ve been trying to write this down since last night when the list news came out. Wednesdays are always a hard day when you have a new release and you’re waiting to hear what your list placements are. You try to work, but everytime the phone rings or a new email comes in, you’re holding your breath, hoping for even a small inkling of where you’ve landed. I wonder if Patterson and Grisham still worry? I wonder if I’ll ever stop being nervous on those days? I actually hope not because I think that would be like not being happy on Christmas and I enjoy the shriek of happiness and then running around, telling everyone the good news. That rush of adrenaline, that gushing gratitude that I feel for my fans– I don’t ever want to lose that. It’s the same endorphin rush I still get whenever I see a new cover with my name on it or the finished book when it’s finally on the shelves.

Anyway as Murphy would have it, anytime I have a book out, the lists are posted late.

Really late.

I knew on Monday that we were the #1 mm at Borders, Barnes and Noble and the extremely important Walmart. But the Times and USAT lists are tough. Real tough. This time, as it always seems to be whenever I have a new release, was a really tough week. By that I mean there was a lot of heavy competition. Grisham, Patterson, Koontz, the new Splinter Cell and all the others who have much better placement and displays in the stores than I have. If the competition isn’t as fierce, then you can tell where you’re going to fall, but with so many big books out...

There were no guarantees.

I got the USAT news first. We were 13 on the list that compiles all books whether they’re nonfiction, hardcovers, YA, etc. 13 is darn good (especially given all the new books out this week) and better yet, Born of Fire was the first mass market on the list, but only two places ahead of Debbie Macomber, who sells a whole LOT of books. No clear cut clue there about the Times. So I nibbled my nails and fretted and paced.

Why was I so nervous, aside from my normal nervousness? Because Born of Fire is the first printing of one of the first ebooks pubbed in the mid 1990's. I was the first New York pubbed author to write and publish an ebook. And that was back in the day where ebooks were thought to be vanity press and once you pubbed one, no “legit” publisher would touch you. It was like you’d become some kind of back alley sell out and no one wanted to have you around for fear you’d taint them. Seriously. (Silke did you ever think we’d come so far? THANK YOU for pubbing that book when no one else wanted it. You and Bonnee were the best). It thrills me to this day to see how far ebooks have come and how well embraced and thriving they are today.

More than that, this was the book I wrote after my career had tanked so badly. It was a book I never thought anyone would read and it’s part of a series that I took one of the bloodiest noses imaginable on (one day, I will tell that whole story). This series put me through four of the worst years of my professional career (I hope I can always say that, cause God knows I don’t ever want to go through anything worse *knock wood*) and left a brutal scar on me. And working on it does open old wounds.

But it’s a series I always believed in and one I had to abandon because there was no market for futuristics. In the early 1990's when I sold Born of Night (Jan 1992 - you know there’s a story here because it wasn’t published until 1996), there were plenty of publishers wanting them and there were a couple of authors who were trying to build the genre, Anne Avery, Kathleen Morgan, Marilyn Campbell, Patricia Roenbeck and of course Johanna Lindsey who was the only author out of us to put one at #1 in 1993.

Born of Ice which was originally titled Paradise City (the third book I sold) was pubbed alongside many other wonderful futuristic authors such as Sharice Kendyl (not me), Nancy Cane, Christine Michaels, Jayne Castle, Flora Speer, etc. 

And then after us came a few more: Kristen Kyle, Stobie Piel, Dara Joy who carried the genre for a few years after the rest of us had lost our contracts, Patti O’Shea, Robin Owens, et al. But by 1999 the genre had withered and died and there was no real place for it. Like the early 1990 paranormal market I’d also pubbed in, it was gone and no one was able to carry it to the bestseller lists. Those lists are important because that is what enables a genre to grow. It wasn’t until we early paranormal authors: Feehan, Hamilton and I started putting vampire novels on the top of the lists again that publishers began looking for others to grow and the market exploded, kicking open the doors for Harris, Meyer and the rest who followed us in.

For years, I’ve wanted to return to these early books and to see what could have been.

Yesterday, you guys gave me that dream and I can never, ever thank you enough. Born of Fire is #1 on the New York Times. It’s the first time since 1993 that a futuristic has occupied that place.

THANK YOU. From the deepest, most battered part of my heart, thank you. I really feel like I’ve walked through the fires of hell with these books and I can’t even think about it without tearing up.

For those asking, this is NOT the end of the Dark-Hunter books by a long shot. I have many, many more ideas planned and have no intention of leaving that world behind.

The League books are the third #1 series I have now, and Born of Fire is the eighth book I’ve had to reach #1 in the last two years - a feat only two other authors can claim.

THANK YOU. And yes, I hope to keep writing in this universe. After Born of Ice, because I’m only one person LOL, I won’t be able to do more than one a year, but I do intend to do one League book a year. The next one up will be Caillen and then Hauk or Nero (you guys know how that goes).

The next Dark-Hunter book will be Infinity (Nick’s first Chronicles of Nick story out in June) and Dev will follow in August with No Mercy and his heroine will be Samia one of the DH Dogs of War. Then the next BAD Agency book: Silent Truth will be out in April.

Today, I am happily working on the next Lords of Avalon book Darkness Within which will be out in March.

Giant hugs to all of you!! THANK YOU SO MUCH again for your support of Born of Fire and for embracing The League books the way you have (In Morte Veritas). You guys totally rock! And here’s hoping that you’ll be looking for other futuristics- there are other writers out there such as Patti, Dara, etc and you can still find their books. Please support your local futuristic authors :)

Now back to work for me. I have a lot of books to write and I thank you for that too :)   

Oh and if you’re around Albuquerque, NM remember Dianna and I will be there this weekend for a signing.

Nov 14 , 2009; 6 PM
Albuquerque, NM,
Venue: Booksigning/Q&A
Location: Borders
More info: --November 14 at 6 PM Borders 2240 Q St. NE Albuquerque, NM 87110 Phone: 505.884.7711 .

HUGS!!

To her complete stupefaction, he slid his blaster out of its holster faster than she could blink and opened fire on Rits. He pulled her back toward the docking bay as Sway covered their retreat.

“What are you doing?”

“Fucking up my life again, I’m sure.” He fired more rounds behind them.

“You can’t do this.”

He snorted. “Little late for that now. I don’t think an ‘oops, my bad, my weapon accidentally misfired two dozen rounds’ will work to get me out of this.” He cursed as his link started buzzing.

Firing another round, he answered it. “Hi, Mom... yes, I know my heart rate’s dangerously elevated.” He ducked a blast that almost pinned his head to the wall. “That sound? I’m being shot at, Ma. Gotta go now. Love you much. Hugs and kisses.” He tapped his ear to close the channel. “Where the hell’s Sway?”

Before she could respond, Vik came out of nowhere. He ran past them to find and shield Sway while she and Devyn ran for the ship.

Four enforcers were already there, waiting. Devyn finally let go of her. At a dead run, he went for them. They shot at him while he dodged the blasts. Amazed at his skill, she watched as he fell to his knees and skidded between them, shooting as he slid.

Two went down and the other two dodged for cover.

Devyn jumped to his feet as he reached the ship and popped the controls to extend the ramp. He shot at the two enforcers to keep them pinned down. “Alix! Move it.”

She ran as fast as she could into the ship where Nero was waiting.

“Get the ship ready to launch,” he ordered between clenched teeth. He flashed out hopefully to help Devyn with the others.

She headed for the bridge to fire the engines and start the preliminaries. As she worked, she looked out to see Devyn, Sway, Vik and Nero fighting off the enforcers.

For her.

Tears swam in her eyes. For the first time in her life she felt like she had a family. One that was willing to die for her.


Out Dec 1, 2009

Chapter 1


Nine years later


Devyn Kell is the devil himself. He will not take mercy on you and he will kill you if he finds out who you are and why you’re there. Trust me. I’ve buried every agent we’ve sent in after him- male, female and everything in between. Since he can spot an operative three seconds after he meets one, maybe a civ can bust his ass wide open.

Do not fail. 

Alix Gerran held those words close to her heart as she entered the hangar bay where Kell’s ship was docked.

I don’t want to do this...

But she had no choice. It was either find the evidence to bring Kell to justice or watch her mother and sister die. She had three weeks before the Ritadarion Chief Minister of Justice executed them. And every day that passed, her family sat in a prison cell, rotting.

She was their only hope.

You can do this.

She still didn’t understand why Merjack just didn’t kill the man if he hated him so much. But the CMOD had been adamant that Kell have a public trial and execution. For whatever psycho reason an assassination contract wasn’t good enough for Kell.

Maybe Kell had run over Merjack’s dog...

We’ve already taken care of his engineer so he has an opening on his crew tailor made by us for you. You are to bring him to justice, alive for trial, or so help me, I’ll rape your family myself and then throw you to the class three felons and watch them take turns with you.

Whatever Kell had done to the CMOD had to have been fierce. There was no other reason for a hatred so strong.                       

“How did I get in the middle of this?”

But then, she knew. Her father had been a freighter until six months ago when his first mate had absconded with all of their savings. With no reserve, her family been forced into smuggling.

Unfortunately, her father had seriously stunk at that career and had been apprehended a week ago and executed within twenty-four hours of his conviction. Because she, her mother and sister were slaves, they’d been bound for the auction block to pay for his trial and execution.

Until Merjack had seen Alix.

Apparently, she bore a striking resemblance to someone in Kell’s past he’d cared about and that alone had kept her from being sold to a brothel.

So here she was...

I’m so going to die.

Stop it, Alix. You can do this.

She was getting tired of that worn out litany. The least the voice in her head could do was not sound so despondent when it said it.

You can do it!

Yeah, now she sounded like she was on drugs.

Swallowing her fear, she headed for bay Delta Alpha 17-4 where Kell’s ship, the Talia was docked.

Just don’t let him kill me three seconds after meeting me. It would seriously screw up her already messed up day.

She passed numerous freighters and fighters, the majority of which were outdated and barely legal for flight. Typical really. Most of the people who visited the Solaras Station were outlaws, grifters, prostitutes, fringe dwellers or pilots who needed the extra hazard pay that was offered to anyone dumb enough to fly through the Solaras System. Money for them was every bit as tight as it was for her.

But as she rounded a corner, she froze at the sight of what had to be the prettiest ship she’d ever seen. Her jaw dropped.

What I wouldn’t give for something like that...

It was absolutely stunning with gentle lines and no sharp angles anywhere on her. Painted a dark vermillion with gold highlights, she dominated the hangar. That ship was definitely a lady who shamed every single spacecraft that was docked here. For that matter, she shamed every ship Alix had ever seen outside of ads and online catalogues.

Letting out a slow, appreciative breath, she forced herself to not even dream about that one and started looking for the Talia.

It’s probably a rusted out tanker or freighter no better maintained than your father’s ship had been. You’re definitely going to have your hands full keeping her in space.

Just let Kell not be as disgusting as my father’s crew.

That was the worst part about runners and smugglers. They were a low hygiene bunch. It was like a badge of honor for them to out stink each other.

Look on the bright side, at least this way you don’t have sleep with his smelly hide.

True. With this mission, she only had to find or fabricate evidence to convict Kell before he killed her.

Go me!  

Pushing that frightening thought away, she counted off the bays as she passed them. “One... two... three...” She stopped as she came even to the ship that had caught her eye.

No. It couldn’t be.

She double checked the numbers and sure enough it was.

The Talia.

Whoa... A rush of excitement went through her until she remembered that she wasn’t really here to work. She was here to either frame or apprehend a vicious felon.

A killer.

“Dammit, Vik. How can you not know what’s wrong with this thing? Can’t you commune with it or something?”

She hesitated at that deep, rumbling voice that sounded like thunder. Lightly accented, it sent a shiver down her spine. Her heart thundering, she peeked around to the back and froze dead in her tracks.

If she’d thought the ship was something, it was nothing compared to the group of men who appeared to be its crew...

Oh. My. God.

The one who’d spoken had to be a good six foot four in height. Built in perfect proportions, he was lean and ripped. Broad shoulders tapered down to narrow hips and to what had to be the finest butt she’d ever seen in her life– she could bounce a credit off that.

Or break a tooth biting it...

His black hair was cut short, but the front of it fell down into a pair of eyes so dark they blended perfectly into his pupils. Dark brows slashed parallel to sharp cheekbones and a jaw that had a becoming tic in it.

Ooo that was totally lickable, too.

Power and strength bled from every pore of his body. An image that was perpetuated by the black Armstich suit hugging every dip and curve of his muscles, and the holstered blasters that were strapped to his hips.

Yeah, this guy meant business and was ready for trouble.

And the men with him were no different. There was one, a Hyshian by the looks of him, to his right. A few inches shorter, the Hyshian was no less ripped. His black hair fell in long braids to the middle of his back. He seemed to be around the same age as the first man she’d noticed.

Instead of black, he wore dark brown with even more weapons strapped to his body. His long coat was sleeveless, showing his bulging arms. Thick gold bracelets encircled both of his wrists and one thin band wrapped around his left biceps– a mark of marriage in his world.

Yeah, he was every bit as deadly.

The third she suspected was a mecha. A good two inches taller than the one who’d spoken, he had dark blue hair and lighter blue skin. With his skin tone, he looked like a Rugarion, but their lips and eyes were black instead of the darker blue his were. As with the others, he was absolutely gorgeous. Well muscled and perfectly sculpted.

He also seemed remarkably peeved– something impressive since it was hard to get emotional programming perfected in an AI.

The mecha glared at the one who’d spoken. “My name is not ‘Dammit Vik’ and I find it ironic that you think I can commune with all metal beings when you can barely communicate your point of view with your own parents. And they birthed you. I did not give birth to this ship. Last time I checked, I was male and that would be impossible on a multitude of levels.”

The other man laughed. “What do you think, Dev? Can we make a mod on Vik so that he could give birth?”

The mecha scowled at him. “Careful, Sway, I could easily lock you in your room again... accidentally of course.”

The Hyshian pulled out a blaster and angled it at his head. “I knew it, you metal bastard.”

Dev let out an irritated breath before he disarmed the Hyshian. “Are we just going to stand here taking pot shots at each other? Or can we focus our collective ADD on getting us off this shit hole?”

Sway glowered at him. “Look, no one wants off this hole worse than I do. I’m open for suggestions, Captain I-can-do-it-myself. Do you have any idea what’s sending off a warning?”

Dev gave him a droll stare that sent a chill down her spine. “Yeah, the malfunction system that won’t let us launch.”

Vik snorted. “I suggested we hire a new engineer, but someone ignored me.” He slid his gaze to Dev.

Dev grimaced. “And what was I supposed to do? Shit one out? In case you haven’t noticed, there’s not a plethora of engineers here.”

“Plethora?” Sway mocked. “What kind of girl word is that?”

Dev went for his throat, only to have Vik come between them.    

Vik shoved the Hyshian back. “Sway, do not bruise the sacred entity. I don’t want to get dismantled because you desecrated the magic seed. Now both of you behave like you’re actually grown men.”

Alix scowled. It was like watching a group of kids on a playground.

Deadly, scary kids, but...

You have to get in there and get on his ship.

I don’t want to go.

Just do it.  

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to walk forward. Please don’t let them shoot me.

“Excuse me, scary people. Your rear stabilizer’s down.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to her with an intensity that was absolutely terrifying. She had to fight the urge to run.

Instead, she held her ground as she faced them.

Out Dec 1, 2009

What writers influence your writing? That is probably one of the most commonly asked questions that always baffles me because when I ask for clarification, the interviewer always wants to know what fiction authors made a difference in my work.

The answer is simple. None.

While I’ve read fiction all my life and have many, many fave authors, none of them have ever made a difference in my writing in any way. I’ve never tried to mimic anything about them and even though their characters and books have stayed with me and lived in my heart alongside my own, they’ve never held any kind of influence over me. Yes, I’ve admired the beauty of how Oscar Wilde and Chaucer, as well as countless others turn a phrase, but that’s their style and while I love and admire it, it’s not my style or my characters’. Writing for me wasn’t like art where I studied another artist and tried to duplicate their expertise. I give other authors their due while I continue on my own by doing things, right or wrong, my way.

But as I was doing an interview earlier today, I realized something. There are actually writers whose works have influenced my writing. But not the way most people think. Since the day I discovered Descartes’s Passions of the Soul in sixth grade (I really was a precocious little monkey who read above a college level by fifth grade), I became enamored of philosophy, and, more importantly, philosophers. No, I didn’t understand everything back then, but I kept returning to those books and mulling their words, gaining more insight and understanding with every reread.

Over the years, I didn’t absorb and believe all their theories. Some of them just don’t work for my own philosophy and ethics (Rand jumps immediately to mind), but others such as Hobbes, Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard, etc. appealed to me at my most fundamental level. More than that, they taught me to think and to evaluate human behavior for myself. I went from philosophy to psychology where I explored Jung, Pavlov, Skinner and countless others. That ability to understand the complexities, duality and most importantly the dichotomy of human behavior has influenced my writing heavily because it has influenced my cognition and forced me to evaluate every aspect of not just me, but every character I create.

Another great influence on my writing was a paper I wrote in college. My dissertation was simple and yet extremely complex. It was that human personality and individuality are defined not by our consistencies, but by our inconsistences. Those weird quirks we all have- some for a reason and some simply innate. That is the cornerstone of humanity. And that is what I use in my writing.

Each and every book, each and every character, for me, is an exploration of the various, and often opposing, philosophies and theories I was exposed to by those writers. Without their work, mine would not be the same and so I guess in the future, I need a new answer whenever an interviewer wants to know what writers have influenced me.

The only problem now is figuring out the ones who made the most impact. Hmm... maybe I should say Homer and Hesiod, and of course, Plato... definitely Plato :)

Hi everyone,

Got up at about 5:30 this morning. Still can't sleep for Kaziel. He, Avery and Loki are making me crazy :)

Anyway, a quick tour- I started the morning off with cappuccino in one of my fave mugs.


After the sun came up and it warmed to 54 degrees, I moved to the back porch to work on my laptop. The deer came out, but ran off when I went to grab the camera :(




This is my coffee/tea bar. As you can see, I take my tea and coffee very seriously :)





And no, these aren't my Halloween decorations. These are my dishes year round :)




Now I'm off to get back to Kaziel and crew :)

Oh and for those asking about Facebook, my friend page is maxed out, but we have a fan page here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sherrilyn-Kenyon/72100221443 you can sub to that one and I put the same info on both pages :)

Hugs!