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But I didn’t want that for myself. I wanted to write more books. More and more books! I wanted a backlist.

My coauthorship, Melany Logen, was contracted by Ellora’s Cave for our first book from that partial we submitted. It was exciting and I was now multi-published. But I needed/wanted to have Mechele start working a backlist as well.

Only how should I follow up Blood Kiss? I didn’t have anything like it under the bed. The other two books I had finished were different genres. And I felt I should continue in the genre I was beginning in. Get a foothold there before doing anything else.

Ahh, but I had other ideas. I had another vampire idea. Something that was my own and I thought it was pretty radical, where a particular person’s blood can increase a vampire’s strength exponentially.

I had one vampire book. I had another vampire idea. Why not combine the two and make a series!??

So that’s what I did.

I wrote my editor and said, “Yes, I didn’t know Blood Kiss was part of a series…but I think it will be. Could we name the series, Blood Lines?” She agreed, and I frantically worked on the next book, Conduit. Copper was the conduit to the vampire, Bastian’s growth of powers. Conduit was gritty from the start much in the same vein as Blood Kiss.

The original idea of the premise I’d written down was about twins. And that worked well for the book I wanted to write. And gave me an idea for yet a third book. Because I couldn’t leave the twin, Crimson, hanging. She needed her own story to be told.

Conduit was accepted by Loose Id. I wasn’t a one hit wonder! And soon after that, Crimson’s Rose was accepted as well. I was on my way to having a backlist. Especially when Henri, a character we hear from in all three Blood Lines books, began speaking in my ear and telling me, his story needed to be told.

It’s funny to me how one book springboarded into a whole series. I have an idea for a final book for Blood Lines but it’s almost sad to be leaving that universe behind. It was the first serious universe I created to play in, though others (like Settler’s Mine and Curses) have followed.

Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.melanylogen.com