Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Happily Never After : Storytellers Need Satisfaction, Too

...and they all lived happily ever after.

Or did they?

Back when my writing career began, I pitched a book idea to my literary agent about Nicki Styx, a young woman who unexpectedly dies, comes back to life, and begins to see spirits. DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY sold very quickly to HarperCollins Publishing, who requested that I turn it into an Urban Fantasy/Mystery series about love and life among the undead. DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY was followed by DEAD GIRLS DON'T TELL, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I HAUNT, and SILENT NIGHT, HAUNTED NIGHT.

At just four books, it seemed as though the series was just getting started, but then my editor asked if I would interested in writing a spin-off series based on one of my favorite characters, the sexy yet sinister Sammy Divine. (SPOILER ALERT: He's the Devil.) I was excited to do some world building, to delve deeply into the worlds of myth and magic in order to develop and share Sammy's world with my readers, but doing so meant that I had to put Nicki Styx, her boyfriend Joe and her best friend Evan on hold for a while. Several books, anthologies and short stories later, surrounded by the unexpected yet ever-present vagaries of life, I carried with me still the nagging sense of a story left unfinished.

Now, finally, I'm very happy to say that I've been able to finish that story. After all, even though I was the writer, I wasn't sure myself "what happened next", because I hadn't written it yet: Did Nicki and Joe get married, or did she choose the dark side over the light in the end? Did Evan ever meet his soul mate, or just give up entirely and start wearing white after Labor Day? :)

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER answers those questions and more, and I'm very excited to share "what happened next" in this series with my readers. Thanks so much to all of you who've written me asking for more Nicki Styx stories, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this one.

Here's to love, laughter, and happily ever after,

Terri


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A Southern girl with an overactive imagination, Terri Garey writes award-winning and critically-acclaimed urban fantasy. Her novels have been described as "smoldering" by Publishers Weekly, and "sultry and upbeat" by Library Journal. Even though she's a big scaredy-cat who can't watch horror movies or visit haunted houses, she loves moonlit graveyards, moss-covered headstones and the idea that life goes on even after it's over. You can visit her on the web, friend her on Facebook and occasionally find her on Twitter.


6 comments:

Merrie Destefano said...

This series looks amazing and these new covers are KILLER!

Terri Garey said...

Thank you, Merrie! I love these covers!

Unknown said...

I have absolutely loved all your books!

Terri Garey said...

Thank you so much, Susan! I hope to write many more in the years to come!

Helen Lowe said...

This is such exciting news, Terri -- & doubly exciting as I adore the new covers!

Terri Garey said...

Thank you, Helen!