It’s the big day: PBW’s ebook challenge is here and it’s trick or treat online as authors throughout the blogosphere make free ebooks available. Night Rhythm, the free companion to Night Music, has been uploaded to the free reads page. Enjoy! And Night Music is now on sale at Samhain. Wheeee! 10% off the first week of release, too.

New reviews for Night Music:

From Fallen Angel Reviews, 5 Angels!

“Night Music is a continuation of The Sirens’ story that was begun in The Gripping Beast. This does not disappoint. Meghan is a fantastic character that refuses to let life beat her down. Romney is the perfect sensual match for her and offers her a chance to make sweet music for eternity. Charlene Teglia introduced a few wonderful secondary characters…I hope she decides to tell their stories as well.” - Serena

From JERR, 4 Stars!

Charlene Teglia’s Night Music is the second story in The Sirens series that she started with the full length novel, The Gripping Beast. The love scenes are explosive…Ms. Teglia is a gifted story teller and I suspect this may not be the only instance in which I will find myself wishing to read more about those wonderful characters she brings to life for her readers. If you are a fan of Ms. Teglia or if you simply want to quench your thirst for a quick vampire paranormal erotic short story, make sure that you include Night Music in your TBR pile.” - Mireya Orsini

Once upon a time I thought it would be hysterically funny if vampires really existed and had “day jobs” as programmers. What better cover identity for creatures who work all hours of the night, never see the sun, and are known for various personality quirks and eccentricities? A creature of the night would blend right in.

So Romney and Valentine entered the scene. Their original short story, “Night”, never sold. Possibly because I peddled it to the SFF mags and the plot centered around a vampire falling in love with a bass guitarist so it struck them as too romancy. (Or maybe it was just lame.) But I still loved the idea. Eventually I decided to scrap the original but recycle the concept as two longer stories, one for each vampire, this time as romances.

Since I had Romney lurking in my files and I’d sold The Gripping Beast to Samhain, when it came time to propose Samhain themed stories for the Beginnings anthology, I pulled “Night” out and worked up a short proposal. It sold. Then I had the fun of taking the core idea from the orignal story, significantly expanded and altered, and making something entirely new from it. I think maybe 1K of the original wound up in Night Music.

Night Music takes place a few months after The Gripping Beast in The Sirens’ timeline. Night Rhythm picks up where Night Music leaves off, with Valentine and Lisa reunited. The stories are intended to stand alone or be read in any order.

Playlist for Night Music:

• Behind the Wall of Sleep, Smithereens
• A Little Night Music, Mozart
• Possum Kingdom, The Toadies

Playlist for Night Rhythm:

• Kiss From A Rose, Seal
• Making Believe, Social Distortion

Fun fact: Lisa Atkins, heroine of Night Rhythm, first appears in Miss Lonely Hearts which takes place before The Gripping Beast in The Sirens’ timeline.

The stories turned out more emotionally charged and complex than I expected from my orignal hilarious idea, but I’m pleased with the end result. I’ve enjoyed bringing the vampires into a new “life” and I hope readers enjoy them, too.

Here’s the result of all the pumpkin carving (and non-eating):

From Two Lips Reviews, Night Music rates Four Kisses!

“Charlene Teglia created a wonderful story in Night Music. It is a short story packed with emotion. Meghan’s reactions to her cancer and death were so well done. Her desire to spare her friends the grief of watching her die moved me. Romney is a man worth dying for. His desire for Meghan is deep and his willingness to allow Meghan her choice is noble. When Romney finally approaches Meghan on Halloween, their passion is volcanic. Charlene Teglia combines incredible characters, out of the world passion, and superb writing into a book not to be missed.” - Tara

:)

Pumpkin muffins, baked. Jack-o-Lantern carved. (Toddler appeased by muffins, resigned to not eating Jack. Probably biding her time.) Halloween candy, bought. Valentine and Lisa, getting ready for the big night. Rom and Meghan, happy to have advance reviews.

Found a hidden treasure! We’ve been driving to nearby trails like the area before Rugged Ridge or around Bogachiel. Yesterday a ranger of 50 years experience tipped the husband off to a gem of a local trail and we hit it last night after dinner.

Fun! Log bridges, switchbacks, steep climbs, all sorts of challenge on a beautifully maintained trail with a trailhead five minutes away. Sweeet! There are several ways to hike, with loops, so it can provide a lot of variety in one spot. We’ll be spending lots of time there. Because sometimes you just want an hour’s hike without driving to get there.

Print books are on sale at Samhain’s My Bookstore and More. You have to click on the book to see the discounted price, but they’re all marked down for the sale. An excellent time to get a copy of The Gripping Beast.

Otherwise, it’s writing and pumpkin carving and maybe making some pumpkin cookies or muffins around here. The toddler is way more excited about eating the pumpkin than carving it.

Us: “Next we finish scraping it out, then trace on the pattern, then carve it.”

Toddler: “And then we eat it!”

I always get spammed, but just recently it’s shot up to ridiculous numbers. To the point that I’m actually worried I’m going to exceed my email limit and get my mailbox shut down…from the sheer amount of incoming spam. The husband found out why spam has suddenly increased: a new Trojan virus.

The Spamthru Trojan is actually setting itself up on PCs and turning them into spam machines, sending out spam galore through the infected PC. Bastards.