>Okay, here goes...

>Okay, I know some of you have been waiting awhile for me to reveal some details about my new adult series. That time has come. But first let me apologize for the wait. I’m kind of nervous about this. These new books are a very big departure from the Shifters series, and an even bigger departure from the Soul Screamers series.

Part of the reason I’m nervous is that while my blog following isn’t huge, usually when I make an announcement (new sale, list placement, new cover, etc…) it finds its way to many other parts of the internet, which then bounce back to me through Google Alerts and forwards from friends and readers. I don’t mind this. I like it, in fact. The more the word spreads, the better my chance of reaching new readers. Which will improve my chances of selling more books and (hopefully) getting to be a writer for the rest of my life.

But those echoes of my own words online also remind me how very big a place the internet is, and how nothing ever truly disappears once it’s appeared online. So if I phrase this announcement badly, it’ll follow me. It will be referred to, questioned, analyzed, criticized, and (hopefully) enjoyed. So please bear with me and keep in mind that because my editor hasn’t even had a chance to read the whole book yet, we’re still in the very early editorial stages, and some things could change, including names, titles, and world-building details.

That said…here goes:

Series name: The name of the new series is “Unbound.” As in, “An Unbound novel, by Rachel Vincent.” Or something like that.

Title: The first book, currently scheduled for September 1, 2011, will be called BLOOD BOUND.

I know, I know, there’s already a Patricia Briggs novel of that name. (I read it years ago. It was awesome.) But because my novel is coming out years after hers did and because the subject matter of my book is NOTHING like hers, I’m not anticipating much title confusion. My original working title for the book was “Bound In Blood,” and we went through literally a dozen or more title possibilities with the awesome people at Mira before finally deciding (unanimously, as far as I know) that nothing else captures the feel and subject matter of this book better than BLOOD BOUND. So, BLOOD BOUND it is.

Genre: The Unbound series is paranormal. It’s a little more romance-heavy than the early Shifters books are, and about in line with romance/relationship content of the last couple of Shifters books.

Audience: The Unbound books are intended for adults. As my editor said, BLOOD BOUND is “twisted.” (Is it wrong that her quote makes me smile? ) If this first book is any indication, these books will be very dark and gritty, violent, and tense, but with some humor (mostly dialogue) to take the edge off.

The world: The idea behind the Unbound world-building is simple. The execution is a little more complicated. For me, it all started with the cliché “a man’s word is his bond,” then grew to include, “the pen is mightier than the sword” and the concept of “word of mouth.”

“What…” I thought, as I was brainstorming, “…if those clichés could be taken literally?”

What if a person’s word really was his or her bond? What if, once given, a promise could never be taken back? Would you be more careful what you say? Wouldn’t we all, if we were bound to our words?

Then I took it a step further. If the spoken word carries that much power, how much more would the written word carry? What about words written in (or sealed in) blood? What about words written in (and sealed in) flesh? Tattoos and graffiti take on a whole new meaning, huh?

Needless to say, once I headed down that thought-path, the world-building exploded—there’s much more to it now (but I’m not going to give you any more just yet). The story lines grew from the world-building possibilities and conflicts. The characters developed based on the experiences they would’ve had, growing up in this world.

The bad guys are bad (twisted, according to some…), but they have very human motivations.

The good guys are…not exactly wearing white hats. But the innocent are still innocent, and someone has to fight for them. (This may, in fact, be the only thing Shifters has in common with Unbound.)

The characters:

Olivia Warren owes her friend Anne a favor. Anne needs someone found and brought to a very quick, private justice.

The catch? Olivia must work with Cam Caballero to complete this favor. The problem? Cam is Olivia’s ex—the man prophesied to either kill her or die by her hand. It’s a tense reunion, at best.

As Olivia and Cam chase their target through public streets, private lives, and a dangerous criminal underworld, everything they thought they knew comes into question. In the end, they can only be sure of three things…

No one can be trusted.
Everyone’s lying.
And someone’s going to pay.

—–

Okay, what do you think? Anyone interested?

I’ll be answering questions on my Facebook page over the next couple of days, when this post is cross-posted there. Feel free to come read/ask…