Tag: the calling

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Wicked Wednesday – HONOR CALLS Available February 1

HONOR CALLS Available February 1 at EharlequinI’m really excited about HONOR CALLS, the next installment in THE CALLING Vampire novels. HONOR CALLS is a Nocturne Bite e-novella which will be available on February 1 at eharlequin. It’s exciting for me because I get to introduce a new character into the world of THE CALLING – Michaela Ramirez. Michaela has a tortured past and is a really unique character. She’s hiding a secret and bound by a code of honor which will one day put her at odds with the very interesting man that Michaela will meet in HONOR CALLS.

Who’s that interesting man? FBI Assistant Director in Charge Jesus Hernandez who you have met in several of the previous CALLING novels. It’s also exciting for me to let you learn more about Jesus. I am hoping that I will be able to devote a future full length book to Michaela and Jesus.

But for now . . . Here is your Wicked Wednesday excerpt from HONOR CALLS.

Frustration clawed at his gut as he stared at the picture of the latest victim who had been found torn apart in a downtown alley. As he flipped through the status report on the investigation, a familiar name appeared in the FBI case report.

The Blood Bank.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Jesus Hernandez expected that there would be a fair share of crime in a city like New York, but judging from how often the edgy Goth bar appeared in the reports provided to him, the Blood Bank appeared to be Crime Central.

He supposed the easy way to find out more about the club would be to ask Diana Reyes or any of the other agents in his bureau what to make of the place. But he hadn’t gotten to be one of the top agents in the New York City Bureau by taking the easy way. On the contrary. He believed in personally getting involved when it was necessary.

As he picked up the file again and examined the photo of the body parts found in an alley just a couple of blocks from the bar, he raked his hand through his short-cropped hair and blew out a disgusted breath.

It was definitely time for a visit to the Blood Bank to get his own impressions.

Memorizing the address, he rose from his desk and slipped on his suit jacket. For a moment he considered going by his apartment to change, certain he would look out of place in the expensive suit, then opted not to.

His apartment would be seriously empty since his last lover had moved out nearly a year earlier, complaining about the time he devoted to his job. Considering that in the past year he hadn’t had time to fill the empty spaces on the walls and that the living room still boasted only the recliner she had left behind, plasma television and other high end electronics, she had probably been right.

Plus, as he mentally reviewed the contents of his closet, he knew he had nothing suitable to wear for a Goth bar anyway.

Best just to drive by, scope out the place and decide what to do next, he told himself and for good measure, checked to make sure his gun was loaded and tucked snugly into the holster at his side.

That was the one thing he was sure about the Blood Bank.

It wasn’t the kind of place you went without protection.

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Wicked Wednesday – Wicked Writer’s Mind

😈 I know you’re expecting a wicked excerpt from something, but I’ve been debating about which book to discuss and decided I wanted to give you some insights from this wicked writer’s mind into the two main characters in the upcoming CALLING books – HONOR CALLS and FURY CALLS.

I think I’ve mentioned that the heroes in FURY CALLS are ones you’ve met before in TEMPTATION CALLS. Blake and Meghan became favorites way back then, so I’m very happy to finish their story, particularly Blake’s. Now, I don’t know about you, but I hate perfect heroes. You know the kind. Look good. Act good. Know the answers to everything.

Boring. I like my heroes to be imperfect with lots of flaws. Heroes who mess up on occasion, but somehow rise above their flaws to become bigger than life.

FURY CALLS by Caridad Pineiro, Silhouette Nocturne, March 2009Blake is one of those kinds of heroes. He comes from a poor upbringing and difficult times. He survived them in the most harsh of ways and has been paying the price for his actions for centuries. When Blake finally acknowledges his own inner strength, he realizes he can be a hero in the true sense of the word. Somehow that transformation is much more rewarding for me as a writer, and I hope you enjoy such changes as a reader.

Michaela from HONOR CALLS is similar in some ways. Different at birth, she has dealt with loss and alienation from an early age. To avoid the pain the world brings, she has shut herself off and embarked on a campaign that honor demands she fulfill. Like Blake, it will take an extreme act of self-awareness to make her more than what she is — a slayer. It will be that self-awareness that will lead her on a new path where the call of her honor may conflict with that of her lover.

Imperfect heroes, Blake and Michaela. You gotta love ’em.

So what do you think about such heroes? As a surprise for you, anyone leaving a comment by midnight EST on Friday will be eligible to win a copy of DESIRE CALLS and a CALLING T-shirt!

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Wicked Wednesday – FURY CALLS available March 2009

FURY CALLS by Caridad Pineiro, Silhouette Nocturne, March 2009This Wicked Wednesday treat is a little tidbit from my March 2009 release in THE CALLING Vampire Novels — FURY CALLS.

It’s such a WOO HOO 🙂 for me to be able to say THE CALLING is back and with not only a fury, but with a vengeance (LOL! – VENGEANCE CALLS will be out in 2010). It’s a series of my heart and I’m blessed to be able to continue it.

So after HONOR CALLS in February (a Nocturne Bites novella), you’ll finally get to see the conclusion to Blake and Meghan’s story. Those of you who have been with THE CALLING for awhile may remember their first appearance in TEMPTATION CALLS back in 2005 as well as Blake’s appearance in the free read, DESIRE CALLS.

Now I finally get to give Blake and Meghan their full and complete story and it’s become one of my favorites. I hope it’ll become one of yours as well.

So without further ado, here’s today excerpt from FURY CALLS.


Blake Richards shuffled the empty glass from one hand to the other across the pitted surface of the bar.

The remnants of cheap beef blood clung to the sides of the glass, painting it with thick fingers of red-violet. A vintage libation fresh from one of The Blood Bank’s regular human contributors would have left far less proof of the nature of the grisly beverage.

But then again, maybe it was that no self-respecting vampire would leave behind a drop of something so fine as fresh human blood.

Something so fine which was relatively lacking tonight, Blake thought and glanced around the interior of the bar. In recent weeks there had been a decided decline in the number of vampires frequenting the bar and that had resulted in a slowly decreasing stream of humans seeking the more dangerous fun and games for which the Blood Bank was known in Manhattan’s undead underworld.

Rumor had it that a goodly number of his fellow vamps had begun pairing off with some of the more intrepid humans and taken their business to Otro Mundo, the new hangout that Ryder Latimer and Diego Rivera had opened adjacent to Diego’s art gallery in Soho.

Otro Mundo provided fine dining and the possibility for other adventures in the kinds of decadent surroundings that the two older vampires had experienced over the course of their long lives.

Apparently the two human wanna-bes had struck a chord with a growing contingent of the undead, providing them and their human consorts with such opulence that the Blood Bank no longer held any interest. Not that he would know much about such opulence, he thought, recalling the hungry days of his youth in Wales.

After his father had been killed in a coal mining accident, his family had been forced to live off whatever they could grow on their small plot of land. Not nearly enough for the brood of six. At times his hunger had been so great that he would make a thin soup from whatever greens he could gather in the woods so that he could leave what little food they had for his mother and younger siblings.

Until he had found a way to earn some money. He considered now that starving might have been better.

Shoving those painful recollections away, Blake scoped out the occupants of the bar, needing to satisfy the hunger that the inexpensive beef’s blood had failed to quench.

As his gaze swept over the dance floor, he noticed the attractive blonde moving to the hard beats of the music spewing from the Blood Bank’s stereo system. Foley, the owner of the Blood Bank, was too cheap to hire live musicians.

When she turned in his direction as she danced, her gaze briefly skimmed across his.

He thought he detected a glimmer of interest there and so he rose, added a bit of swagger to his walk as he approached the dance floor. He weaved through the crowd of people gyrating and grinding to the deep bass beat until he was just an arm’s length from the blonde.

No doubt remained about her interest as he came near since she shot a knowing grin his way. He joined her in the dance, her luscious young body plastered to his, sweet firm buttocks caressing his front, but even as he did so, he knew the attractive chit could only fulfill one need — his thirst for blood.

Satisfaction of an emotional kind had eluded him for too long and as for the physical . . .

His recent interlude with vampire elder Stacia had taught him a thing or two about physical satisfaction. Despite how good it had been with the beautiful and powerful elder, it had occurred to him too quickly in the relationship that there was something lacking.

Something he hadn’t experienced since . . .

He drove thoughts of her away as the young woman eased up onto her toes, slipped an arm around his neck and drew his head near. She whispered into his ear, “Would you like to go somewhere more private?”

She inclined her head in the direction of the Blood Bank’s back rooms and he knew just what she wanted — a quick tryst and maybe even some painful play with the toys Foley kept in the rooms for his more daring clientele.

He smiled, slipped his hand into hers and quickly strode toward the vampire guarding the hall to those private back rooms, intending to fulfill the young woman’s needs and his own.

But even as he did so, memories sprang up of the last young blonde he had taken into that area. Of the joy and pain that tryst had brought.

He cursed beneath his breath as all desire fled.

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Wicked Wednesday – HONOR CALLS

FURY CALLS by Caridad Pineiro, Silhouette Nocturne, March 2009The next full length book in THE CALLING is FURY CALLS in March 2009, but in February there’s a great new novella that will be available in February — HONOR CALLS. The hero in this novella is someone you’ve met before — Jesus Hernandez, the FBI ADIC who is Diana Reyes’s boss. The heroine is brand new and quite interesting! I’m hoping to do a full length book with these two characters in the future, but for now, I hope you like this excerpt from HONOR CALLS.

Wishing you all the best for the New Year! I’ll be back on Friday as I have guests for New Year’s Day and will likely not be able to post!

Chapter 1

Michaela had been tracking the vampire since she had sensed the thrum of elder power during her scouting mission in Central Park.

He wasn’t the one she sought, but the heightened beat of his power told her he had just killed. Reason enough to track him until she found the right vampire and dispatched him. Then and only then could she leave New York City for a kinder gentler place.

She discovered the elder vamp’s victim just beyond one of the jogging paths. The kill was fresh, the remnants of the elder strong on the female runner who had been tossed into the underbrush like garbage. As she bent to examine the jogger’s body in its shredded clothes, she realized the vampire had not just been content to drain her of blood. The woman had been sexually assaulted as well and in the most brutal of ways – ripped apart by the vampire sating his lust.

Michaela opened her senses to pick up every last scintilla of the elder’s trail, from the metallic taste of the victim’s blood on his breath to the unique wake of energy the immortal left behind.

She reached the southern end of the park and something ahead of her spooked one of the horses attached to a hansom cab waiting along Central Park South. The animal reared up, hooves flailing at the air.

She darted behind the hansom cab as the driver attempted to calm the animal and caught a glimpse of a blurry figure speeding through Grand Army Plaza. As she raced to the fountain in the center of the square, the pulse of undead power beat at her more strongly, signaling that she was getting closer to the ancient vampire.

Another indistinct flash weaving through the scattering of pedestrians on Fifth Avenue confirmed the immortal was within reach.

She focused on that vague shape, keeping a watchful eye and a respectful distance as she chased after him. She could not engage the vampire elder out in the open where either humans or other vampires might see what was happening. To do so might expose her presence in the city and possibly bring down the wrath of the vampire council.

At some point the elder must have sensed that he was being followed.

He increased his speed and movements, weaving in and out of the humans on the sidewalks; climbing up to the rooftop of a building in lower Midtown Manhattan and leaping from one structure to the next before dropping to the ground once again. The vampire moved at an almost frantic pace, as if he knew the nature of her mission.

Michaela kept up her determined pursuit, patiently waiting for the moment when the time would be right. Dodging pedestrians and vehicles as the vampire attempted to elude her. Well aware that she had to act before the immortal reached the safe haven of the Blood Bank.

If he made it there, she would have to pull back and wait for another night. There were too many undead in that place to risk a confrontation within its doors.

Too many and she was just one against them.

She drove back the crush of loneliness that nearly choked her, reminding herself that there could be no other way. Her life was filled with too much death and destruction for any kind of personal commitments.

The few people she had allowed to get close had either ended up dead or run away when they discovered the truth about her existence.

The truth about her.

In Union Square, the vampire geared down to human speed, using that pace to lose himself amongst the many mortals still present in the park. The beat of the humans’ life forces and their scents served to disguise his presence.

Michaela paused at the far edge of the square, examining the walkways. Attempting to set apart the humans from her undead prey, but she was unable to pin down the immortal amongst the many humans in the park. She waited, hopeful that once the elder moved beyond the boundaries of the crowded area, she would be able to pick up his presence once again.

Her wait was futile.

Long minutes passed with no activity that she could discern.

She finally acknowledged that she had been bested by his subterfuge, but that didn’t mean the chase was over.

She knew just where the vampire was likely to go.

If she could beat him there, she still might be able to take him out before he reached the safety of the club.

Hustling at a breakneck speed, she arrived at the mouth of the small cobblestoned street which led to the Blood Bank. At the club’s door was the ever present vampire bouncer and crowd of humans waiting to go within and mingle with both wanna-be and real vampires. Not to mention the occasional shapeshifter or two that was brave enough to cross into bloodsucker territory.

Michaela had never understood the human fascination with the undead. The almost veneration for the amoral creatures who had taken so much from her and others.

Vampires weren’t meant to be idolized, she thought.

They were meant to be exterminated.

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Thoughtful Thursday – Technology Woes

As you guessed by yesterday’s message, something was in the works technology-wise, namely my moving this site to a new hosting company!

I’m happy to say that the service I’ve gotten from my wonderful friend is exceptional. For anyone interested in a new site or hosting, check out my great web designer – Crocos Designs – and their hosting company. Fast service. Amazing support.

Unlike my last hosting company who shall not be named.

The amazing thing to me is how much we’ve all come to rely on technology. I may kid my daughter that she’d be lost without her gadgets, but that apple did not fall far from the tree.

Take away my computer and I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. Heck, when I’ve been working on a computer related project, I’ve had stereo computers – one at each hand (in my other life I have to manage Information Systems for my office).

Ask me to write a book without a computer – NO WAY!!! I type so much faster than I write and having been pre-med in college, my writing is illegible. I definitely aced Chicken Scratch 101. LOL!

How about you? Can you imagine putting away all your tech gadgets for a month? For a week? For even a day?

Not me.

On another note, in the shift to the new hosting company, we did lose the post with the wonderful new cover for FURY CALLS, my March 2009 Nocturne, so here it is for you again. I so love this cover!

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