Questions and Comments from Readers

Over the last couple of weeks, I received questions and comments from readers. These are things I need to add to the FAQ list at some point, but I'll address the two most prominent ones here.

"I'm disapponted you didn't stick to your 2011 release schedule."

Let me tell you guys that you aren't the only ones. I admit I screwed up big time. This is a whole new career for me, and I'm still figuring out what works and what doesn't. I learned my lesson about overscheduling my time, and I think that's reflected in my 2012 schedule in my last post. The last thing I want to do is disappoint any of my readers.

"What's the correct reading order of the Bloodlines series?"

Each Bloodlines novel is a self-contained story, but there is an over-arching plotline that will be resolved in the ninth and last full-length novel. If you're a series chronology nut like I am though, the proper reading order of the novels is:

Blood Magick
Zombie Love
Zombie Wedding
Amish, Vamps & Thieves (coming soon!)
Blood Sacrifice (coming late 2012)

Thanks for the questions and comments, folks!

Cultural Mash-ups

They don't call America the Great Melting Pot for nothing.  Our culture is a hodgepodge.  Heck, my family seriously hodged the podge.  My dad's family is primarily German; Mom's is Irish.  I've got cousins on both sides who have Japanese ancestry.  Then there's cousins from Costa Rica and cousins who vacationed next to the Kennedys.  Most of my paternal grandfather's neighbors were Amish. Then there's me, a neo-pagan, who's married to a Methodist.  My Luthern uncle performed the ceremony.

So I have a tendency to write characters from all over. In fact, one of my friends accused me of throwing in everything but the kitchen sink after reading the holiday scene in Blood Magick.  Of course, this is the same friend with an Anglo father, a Mexican-American mother, and a Chinese-American husband.

So, readers, I'm curious.  Does mixing cultures in books bother you?  Why or why not?