Oops, I did it again?

Year of Genesis: The Truth About Blood.

So I did it again. I published another book in 2020. The second in The Merci Lanard Files, The Truth about Blood.

Talk about a year of genesis. In keeping with the theme of this year, I thought I might tell you why I love this sequel as much as I loved the first one. Why creating this one really was special. 

The Truth about Night (available everywhere!) was my heart baby. I worked my tail off to get that book done. And I love it. I love the main character. I love the slow burn romance. I love the tightly plotted murder mystery. I love being back in the Wanderer universe. 

I always knew there was going to be a sequel. 

But when we didn't find a publisher for the first book, I thought I was done. Until I realized that not having a publishing brand to uphold, I could do whatever I wanted with the series. Without being bound to a contract that would just want the same type of book over and over and over, I could tell the story that I really wanted to tell with Merci.

And then the promise of book two got so much better. 

TheTruth about Night was a classic paranormal mystery with a big city, big murders, and a big world to build. The Truth about Blood is more of a cozy mystery with lots of Women's fiction but still with the dead bodies and werewolves. Its genre-blending at it best.

Now in saying that, it still had the rough edges of Merci Lanard, the smart and strong Rafe MacCallan. We still have dead bodies. We still have kissing. We still have her demonic Charm that spins her around in all directions.  There are still whiskeys and full moons. 

But not having the expectations of a publisher allowed me to write the book that I wanted to read, and that was different from the first adventure. I needed something that hit on all aspects of being Merci Lanard. She is more than a journalist and trouble magnet. She is a girlfriend, a daughter, a grieving friend, and she is also a Lilin, a demon-blooded Wanderer. I wanted a book that needed her to be evolving in all aspects of her life to be able to solve this super wonderfully horrific crime. 

Oh yeah. I could have gore in it too!

This book makes me laugh, cry, and cringe. And I wrote it!

So I hope that you will check out the second installment in the Merci Lanard Files. Because there is going to be a third book, The Truth about Shadows, and its even another twist on the paranormal mystery genre as well.

Until next month, Keep Reading, Creating, Caring. 

Amanda Arista

Author

The Merci Lanard Files

Diaries of an Urban Panther series (new editions coming 2021)

www.amandaarista.com

Twitter/insta- @pantherista