Behind the Scenes: A Million Shadows
May 31, 2019
I knew when Kyra Ellison came on the scene that she would need her own story. She’s beautiful, driven, and an all-around bitch, even beyond the werewolf sense. Here’s her first appearance in the series toward the beginning of The Mountain’s Shadow (told from Joanie Fisher’s point of view):
[Leonard’s] grin disappeared when the staccato clicks of black designer heels announced the appearance of a tall woman with emerald eyes. Her milk-white skin glowed in the half-light, and her black hair fell in soft waves to midway down her back. She, too, wore a light leather jacket, but underneath was a ruby red dress that left very little to the imagination. I couldn’t really see her purse, but a flash of light off its designer buckle told me it cost more than my car.
“Kyra Ellison, this is Joanie Fisher.”
“Doctor Joanie Fisher, actually.” I had to do something to get back on equal footing with this woman.
“Charmed.” She held her hand out for me to shake, but the limpness in her fingers told me she considered it—and me—a waste of time.
What could possibly be redeeming about this character? Well, like most interesting villains who become heroes, she has some deep wounds and insecurities in spite of her apparent advantages. It was fun to watch her struggle with and overcome her personal demons and past.
Here she is at the beginning of A Million Shadows, the Lycanthropy Files novella that she stars in. As you can see, she has a ways to go, but maybe she’s starting to come around to the fact that she’s going to need to let go of her old life and truly become part of a pack:
I’d come back to the small Ozarks community of Crystal Pines with my literal and figurative tail between my legs—at least on the next night I changed—and try to re-integrate into my pack. But my pack didn’t want me, even after I’d apologized for being such a bitch to the new alpha female when I first met her.
Oh, and they’d also figured out my parents weren’t dead, like I’d implied when I’d told everyone they’d left me the cabin.
Okay, maybe it hadn’t been a great apology, but I’d tried.
She ends up far away from the Ozarks pack in…Salem, Massachusetts.
How did she get there? I finally got the chance to tell Kyra’s story when I was invited to join a box set called A Wicked Halloween, all stories set in Salem. I’d been there in February of 2014 (see picture above) and found it to be charming and interesting. And maybe a little creepy since it was a gloomy late winter day. Sadly I don’t have any other pictures. It turns out that Kyra had a relative in Salem, and she ends up in her house. Kyra also ends up as the object of attention for billionaire Jared Steel, who has his own magical issues to work through.
Yes, I finally wrote a billionaire romance, too. It was so much fun!
I do hope you’ll check out Kyra’s story. The Lycanthropy Files will be getting new covers soon, and A Million Shadows will finally have one to match the rest of the series.
Witches, werewolves, and murder – oh, my!
Former model and heartbreaker Kyra Ellison is accustomed to making trouble, not being on the receiving end. When she’s kicked out of her family’s Ozarks cabin where she’s been taking refuge – okay, hiding – after a wicked ancient syndrome wrecked her old life, she’s forced to go to Salem, Massachusetts.
Yes, that Salem, where a murder, witches with secrets, and a handsome billionaire make danger irresistible. Kyra finds she’s not the only one with secrets and skeletons in her family closet, but some are more deadly than others.
A confrontation with ancient danger and a new foe forces her to choose between the old life she’s been craving and the new love she can’t resist.
A Million Shadows is a supplemental novella in the Lycanthropy Files, an urban fantasy series with the bite of a medical thriller. If you like magic, compelling mysteries that keep you up past your bedtime, and hot wizards who make you want to stay up all night, then you’ll love A Million Shadows.
Currently available on Amazon and free in Kindle Unlimited.
What place associated with magical beings would you most like to visit? Please tell me in a comment below. Cheers!
