May 15, 2014

It's a whole other world ~ @evernightpub #urbanfantasy

* Today I'm here to share my story Open World which is now available at Evernight Publishing. The world of C.O.V.E.N. (Clans of Vegas – Endless Night) first appeared in Evernight Publishing’s anthology Keyboards & Kink (available here: Evernight Publishing & at other fine e-tailers) in Casey’s story, AFK. In AFK, we saw a peek into I-D-8 Entertainment’s in-production MMORPG: Clans of Vegas – Endless Night, also known as C.O.V.E.N. when Beth and another gamer got sucked into the game for real. Now, in Open World, the employees have joined together for a LAN party to test the game.

How'd you/your muse come up with this story?
* Like I mentioned above, the world of C.O.V.E.N. was introduced in an anthology. The call for that anth was about on-line relationships and since I'd been into MMORPGs I went that route when creating the story - what if gamers got sucked into a game and hooked up? Open World consists of two novellas that had been previously published, and they'd been repurposed to fit this theme. I'm so excited they found new life and a new home with Evernight Publishing!

Who's your favorite character in the book & why?
* There are multiple characters in the story. The bad guy Cor, the parents, the two couples Den & Hope and Faith & Tavis. There's also the cousin, Cassandra. Beth from the first story along with Rick make an appearance, along with some other new characters one of which is JT. JT will be one of the main characters in the next book. Love my JT. But when it comes to Open World, my favorite character is Cassandra. She, too, will be a featured character in the book that comes after JT's story.

What's your favorite line in the story?
* There are a lot of great lines in the book & I have several favorites. Here's one of them:
* “Hey, if you want to be bit by the CWU that’s coming up on you, feel free to continue standing there with your thumb up your ass.”

A look into the story
~ Blurb ~
* The world has broken out in wars. Las Vegas has been ravaged by chemical warfare and is now home to several clans and creatures.
* Welcome to I-D-8 Entertainment’s newest game: Clans of Vegas—Endless Night.
* Friends and family have gathered for a crunch time playtest of C.O.V.E.N.. When a horrible thunderstorm hits, everyone’s sucked into the game for real. In the MMORPG, Hope Collins is kidnapped by Buzz and forced to submit to his whims. Her boyfriend, Alden, has to delay his quest of defeating a clan’s prince to save her, but time and circumstance don’t seem to be on his side. Faith Collins is bombarded by strange dreams brought on by Buzz. Her boyfriend, Tavis, learns to dream walk, but can he help break the spell she’s under and save her before she’s lost to him?
* C.O.V.E.N. is more than just a game. It’s a whole other world.
~ Excerpt ~
* Her quiet statements almost rattled him. “Not again what?” he inquired with an edge of caution.
* She tried to move a couple strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail to behind her ear. “Might be something. Might be nothing. Don’t mind me. With all the computers, crystals, wires and such around me I get antsy when it comes to power surges and storms.” Beth glanced at the doorway, the monitor, the entrance again. She rubbed the back of her neck and repeated the actions of her darting gaze.
* “Seems like you’re more than just being antsy about a rain storm or Nevada Energy doing a rolling black out. What’s troubling you?”
* Beth drew in a long breath and then let it out in puff. “Well, it’s a bit of a story, but another player and I had some very unusual issues during a smaller test run when there was a storm going on. Very unsettling stuff.”
* Could Beth have been one of the testers online when I’d been on, too, during that storm? Den couldn’t recall anything out of the ordinary happening. Just the normal quirks a game in development had. But then again… Could what happened that night be part of what happened to me today? What I need to figure out? “Who knows about those issues you had?”
* “No one does.” She shifted her stance, looked toward the door again. “Except for a couple of programmers who needed to know. I just made sure to make it like there were lots of bugs that had to be fixed. Hopefully they have been. Maybe I’ll tell you about it all after the party gets started.”
* “That’d be great.” Every piece of information counted if he were to make headway with his issue.

Buy Open World here...
Evernight Publishing | Amazon | All Romance eBooks | BookStrand

Casey Moss is touring! There's a unique excerpt at every spot. :)
May 15: C.R. Moss | May 15: Beth D. Carter | May 16: Iyana Jenna | May 17: Ela Stein | May 18: Elodie Parkes | May 19: Nicola Cameron | May 20: Leigh Ellwood | May 26: Carlene Love Flores | May 27: S.J. Maylee | May 28/29: Evie Jayne | May 29: Doris O'Connor | May 30: Jessica Coulter Smith | June 4: Kastil Eavenshade | June 6: London St James