Prodigal Son (Lean Dogs Legacy Book 3)

Today we're just one week away from the release of Prodigal Son, the third book in the Lean Dogs Legacy Dartmoor spinoff series! 

Saturday, Dec. 15th, Prodigal Son will be available as a complete novel, and as Part Four of the serialized edition of the book. Both stories are the same, whether you choose to read in four pieces, or as a single volume, so it's totally up to you. 

You can pre-order Part Four here.

And the complete novel here. 

PS marks not just the third, but the final book of the spinoff series, and at its conclusion, the story ties back in to the main Dartmoor Series. There are more Dartmoor stories to tell in the next few years, so be on the lookout for the next installment, beginning with When In Rome, which releases in 2019. 

Happy Reading! 

#DragonSlayer blurb!

Official blurb below! 

***

In 1931, a golden-haired man in fine clothes appeared to a Siberian boy. An apparition in the snow.

In 2018, he guided a pack of misfits to his prison. A man made of sharp smiles, and smoke, who they can hear, but can never touch. He calls himself a prince, but how much does anyone really know about Prince Valerian of Wallachia? Is he friend, or foe? Is he real at all?

Val has spent the past 550 years as a prisoner, venturing where and when he can, dream-walking, using his powers of astral projection to escape the confines of his cell. His jailers call him “brother-killer,” and “traitor” – old rumors of the immortal realm carried forth by the sinister Ingraham Institute, a secret place hidden deep in the forest, bent on using the blood and powers of immortals to fight a gathering threat too terrible to reveal to the mortal world at large.

Now, Val’s brother, the infamous Vlad Dracula, is awake, hellbent on stopping the boys’ wicked uncle, Romulus, once and for all. But first, the boys will have to come to terms with one another – and perhaps finally come to understand the tragedies that played out almost six centuries ago.

In Book Three of the Sons of Rome Series, dream-walk to 15^th century Romania, to a Wallachia besieged by the Ottoman Empire, and two immortal brothers fighting for their lives. Inspired by the true story of Vlad Dracula, and his family, Dragon Slayer travels from the palace at Tîrgovişte, to the Ottoman court, to the siege of Byzantium. A tale of brothers, and betrayal; of captivity, and revenge.

The immortals of the world are gathering, and Vlad and Val, the original sons of Rome, stand poised to lead the charge against a timeless evil. If only they can keep from killing one another…

**This story is not a standalone, and should be read after books one and two, White Wolf, and Red Rooster. Book four, Golden Eagle, expected fall of 2019.**

Available Now

Prodigal Son Part Three now available on Amazon

#DragonSlayer - Early Read

Prologue and the first two chapters! It's time I face facts that this monster of a novel, pun intended, won't be available by Halloween, but I'm so pleased with its progress, and I can't wait for everyone to read it! Here's a Friday look-see. 

From:

Dragon Slayer (Sons of Rome Book Three)

Copyright © 2018 by Lauren Gilley 

*Warning for mostly raw text! 

Prologue

Tîrgovişte, Wallachia

1439

He woke to the pain of his brother’s elbow in his ribs.

“Val,” Vlad murmured, half-asleep. “Stop kicking me.”

“Oh.” Val blinked up at the ceiling, the faint shadows from the fireplace that flickered over it. “Sorry.”

The Man, The Myth, The Character

Vlad held his brother, and tipped his head back, gaze going to the weathered wooden cross that hung above the altar.

God help me, he prayed. Help me kill them all.

From Dragon Slayer

Copyright © 2018 by Lauren Gilley

You'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of Dracula. Whether they've read the book, watched one of the many film depictions, or have caught brief snatches of legends amidst Halloween-time documentaries, it's a familiar name in pop culture, and the literary canon. But, and perhaps Bram Stoker's novel is to blame, so often the Dracula we see in media is a heavily fictionalized depiction; a blood-sucking character straight from nightmare that shares very little with the real man himself. 

He was always going to be a part of my paranormal series - because how could he not be? I had a vague sense of who he was, and what he was famous - or infamous - for, and a headful of stark imagery: namely the "Forest of the Impaled." But it wasn't until I began researching and story-mapping in earnest that a heretofore unheard of, for me anyway, image of Vlad Dracula began to coalesce. Monster? Warlord? Fiend?

Or the product of a violent age and a tumultuous childhood? 

These aren't questions I have set out to answer. Rather, it's been my aim to take bald fact, and piece together an emotional framework for a character all too often reduced to a bloodthirsty beast in Western textbooks and fiction. I think he's fascinating, and I leave it up to my readers to decide whether they love or loathe him.  

What Five WIPs Looks Like

Last Monday on Insta, I mentioned I was working on 5 WIPs at once...

Because I hate myself, apparently. 😂😂😂

But the awesome news is that 5 WIPs means there are 5 books in the works that you will eventually get to read! So there's that!

Most of my focus (I have a firm >2k a day rule in effect) goes toward Dragon Slayer: 

“Shall I fetch you a tray from the kitchens?”

Val sagged back and let the bed hold his weight. What about his studies? His lessons with the other boys? His training and exercise and endless archery lessons?

Deep down, he knew the answers to these questions. Lessons and training were for hostages who would be sent home. Wards turned carefully to allies who could return to their kingdoms and principalities to rule as puppets of the empire.

Meals in bed and slave-drawn baths were the indulgences of mistresses.

Of a ruler’s favored pet. 

He closed his eyes. His stomach growled. “A tray, please,” he whispered.

But there's also this:

After an indeterminate number of minutes, garage noise echoing around them like the world’s worst soundtrack, Michael said, “Situation.” It wasn’t a question – he didn’t care enough for it to be one.

And this:

“We need to get on the road,” Fox said. “We can’t linger. I won’t ask you to come with us…but I wish you would.”

“Ah. You don’t have to be worried about an old man. No one wants anything to do with me.”

Fox straightened. “Fine. Suit yourself.” He heard the hard edge in his voice but couldn’t get it under control. Frustration built like heartburn in his chest. Why was this old bastard so stubborn? Just like Dad. Were they all like this? Maybe the world would be a better place without them.

And this:

If Nikita clenched his jaw any tighter, he thought it might crack. Dima had always called him a martyr. He’d said it fondly, usually followed it up with a light smack to the back of his head. And Nikita knew that he was.

Lanny wasn’t wrong, but Nikita wanted to punch him in the face anyway. Maybe because he was right.

And this:

Her skin prickled, goosebumps rippling down her arms. “You’ve said that.”

“I’m saying it again. It’s dangerous.” His eyes: big, dark…scared.

Softer: “Tommy, I know. I’m getting involved willingly.”

One corner hitched up in an attempted smile. “I wouldn’t have asked you to risk yourself and get involved if it wasn’t really important.”

“I know that, too.”

“At…at some point. Okay, this is important.” He fidgeted. “So listen, okay?” He waited for her to nod. “At some point, I’m gonna tell you to let go.”

She waited for him to explain.

He said, “And when I tell you that, I need you to let go. No questions, just do it.”

“Let go of what?”

“You’ll know. Trust me.” He set the cup down and slid gracefully to his feet, grabbed his jacket off the back of the booth.

He was leaving. This was really happening, and he was leaving, and she was about to go back her things, and go to a safehouse, and –

“Tommy?”

He flipped his collar straight and tossed a handful of bills down on the table. The nervous vulnerability he’d shown was concealed now, his mask firmly back in place.

“When will I see you next?”

He grinned, his sharp bad boy grin. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll find you.” Then he turned and ducked out the back.

Jodi took a long moment staring at their dirty dishes, just breathing.

“Well,” she finally said to herself. “Guess it’s time to get started.”

(To clarify, this is NOT the Tommy from Dartmoor. It's another book/universe entirely) 

Truth told, I actually like having multiple projects going. When I start to feel stuck with one, I can jump to another. In any event, there's lots to look forward to!

Just Some Author Things

Hello, good morning! By the time I finally finish writing this, it will probably be afternoon, but we'll cross that timetable bridge when we get to it! 

This is a post I've been wanting to write for a while - in fact, it's one I think I might need to write - but hadn't worked it into my schedule yet. I had a comment exchange on my FB page this weekend, and it underlined my urge to write this. Please, if the commenter is reading this, please know that I am not at all upset or offended, nor do I want to call you out; our exchange gives me a chance to examine my own thoughts and feelings, and hopefully address many questions/requests/concerns all at once. I tend to get asked similar questions frequently, across all my social media platforms, and I thought a blog post might be a great way to not only get everyone on the same page, but also to shed some light on the book publishing industry in general, and my approach to authorship specifically. I think authors across the board like to peel back the curtain and shed light on their processes and reasoning, but I still think there are some misconceptions about what authors can reasonably do, and what we should be expected to do. 

Some things I hear all the time:

"Will you write a book for X character getting his HEA?"

"I wish you'd made this longer."

"I hate/refuse to read stories in installments."

"Can you put this in audio?"