Vulnerable
Little Goddess | Book One
Working graveyards in a gas station seems a small price for Cory to pay to get her degree and get the hell out of her tiny town. She's terrified of disappearing into the aimless masses of the lost and the young who haunt her neck of the woods. Until the night she actually stops looking at her books and looks up. What awaits her is a world she has only read about—one filled with fantastical creatures that she's sure she could never be.
And then Adrian walks in, bearing a wealth of pain, an agonizing secret, and a hundred and fifty years with a lover he's afraid she won't understand. In one breathless kiss, her entire understanding of her own worth and destiny is turned completely upside down. When her newfound world explodes into violence and Adrian's lover—and prince—walks into the picture, she's forced to explore feelings and abilities she's never dreamed of. The first thing she discovers is that love doesn't fit into nice neat little boxes. The second thing is that risking your life is nothing compared to facing who you really are—and who you'll kill to protect.
2nd Edition
And then Adrian walks in, bearing a wealth of pain, an agonizing secret, and a hundred and fifty years with a lover he's afraid she won't understand. In one breathless kiss, her entire understanding of her own worth and destiny is turned completely upside down. When her newfound world explodes into violence and Adrian's lover—and prince—walks into the picture, she's forced to explore feelings and abilities she's never dreamed of. The first thing she discovers is that love doesn't fit into nice neat little boxes. The second thing is that risking your life is nothing compared to facing who you really are—and who you'll kill to protect.
2nd Edition
So, some of you will know what this means to me.
I started writing Vulnerable in 2001--in fact, I turned in the twenty-five page story in October of that year, as part of my masters level creative writing class. I dropped out of the masters program because I had two (at the time) small children who needed me, and because the world got suddenly uncertain, and spending time away from them for what amounted to a vanity degree just didn't feel right anymore.
But I kept writing. And after a little bit of time, I had a book. I sent it out--and it is probably holding up a couple of desks (if it hasn't been long since incinerated) in some agent's office, because the original manuscript was in heinous shape. There's a lot of reasons I didn't know how to punctuate a sentence of dialog back then--I won't go into them now, but they seemed perfectly reasonable then. My husband was impressed with me-- Goddess, so very impressed. "Let's publish it ourselves! We'll get free copies, give one to the relatives--it'll be great!"
Well, it was, until that first, "Holy God, what idiot wrote THIS crap?" review, and then suddenly I realized I'd brazenly walked out into the literary world with my dress shoved up my pantyhose, and then I'd bent over to pick up my wallet.
The last ten years have been a struggle and a fight to get better.
When Lynn and Elizabeth offered me a chance to re-publish Vulnerable and the entire Little Goddess series under DSP Productions, I cried. Oh, Goddess-- a chance to see my girl gussied up and made ready for company?
I was happy and apprehensive and proud and embarrassed-- Anne Bradstreet had it right. Setting your brainchild loose on the world is a terrifying thing, and it's never the fault of the father, but of the mother who forgot to smooth its hair and button the pinafore and buckle the shoes.
This is my first baby. She has her flaws, but I still think she's beautiful.
I am so proud.
This book has a fandom already-- and the people who love it are fierce and wonderful. Jennifer Morris, who runs the Coastal Magic convention is sharing in my cover reveal. Mary Calmes and Damon Suede wrote an introduction for it that made me cry. They're proud of me too.
You can find Vulnerable: The First Book of the Little Goddess on presale at DSP Publications--and it will be available on amazon.com on March 3rd.
I hope people love it all over again, I really do.
Especially because I'm writing the 5th one in the series right now-- like I promised years ago. It's been a long time coming--bless you all for waiting. And for folks new to the idea? Welcome to Green's Hill. It's everywhere I've ever wanted to be.
I adore you, Amy. Your description of the pantyhose/dress/wallet. Perfect. And, from that awful moment, look where you've come. You have an entire FANDOM - I repeat - you have a FANDOM that adores you. Not just your books - YOU. That cover is gorgeous! I just hope I live long enough to read ALL your books! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI read the book blurb and thought that sounds familiar. I went into my Amazon Kindle contents and I have Vulnerable, bought in 2011. It's one of my 45 Amy Lane books, fan much. I'm going to have to re-read it before getting the second edition. It's going to be fun so see how the changes.
ReplyDeleteI loved Vulnerable! So glad it's being re-released. I have my copy pre-ordered and then four more books to look forward to. Can't wait to visit Green's Hill again.
ReplyDeleteAll of our work is like a baby to us; precious, conceived in a fertile mind and a wishful heart. I am so excited to see this...and while I have the originals (even signed by THEE) I can hardly wait to put in my pre-order with DSP.
ReplyDeleteWho knows? Maybe when I get my rose garden up and going I can hybridize a tea rose...just for Adrian. :)
Oh, Amy! I'm so happy for you. Even more so, I'm happy for me! I've been asking you about Quickening for years over on Goodreads. I can't wait to reread the other books in their bright, shiny new forms. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteThat cover is gorgeous, and I'm so looking forward to reading this series as its re-released. Yay!!
ReplyDeletePs..love the dress in the pantyhose imagery *smishes and hugs*
Congrats! 😄I can't wait to see the re-release...and I am sooo stoked the next book is coming*does Happy Dance* I seriously love Cory & her many loves, in fact the whole world of Little Goddess. Now I must revisit the whole series again!
ReplyDeleteBtw thank you for being brave enough to share your brainchild....those who could only see its flaws missed out on so much.
Awesome! Hoping a whole new audience learns to love Cory as much as Nicole and I do!!
ReplyDeleteYay! I've (We've) been rather im/patiently awaiting the birth of Quickening...so not only am I glad to hear it is gestating as we speak (oh boy, what's with me and the puns today....yikes), but I am very interested to see what a 2nd edition Vulnerable looks like. I spent some time defending your work against the vicious denizens of Amazon, people who judge not by the content of your characters, but by your grammatical mistakes...bitches (oh sorry, did that slip out?). Anyway, excited to see all that comes next.
ReplyDelete