1. Don’t Stop Believing by Journey. Just a small town girl living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train going anywhere. Just a city boy born and raised in (Santa Fe), he took the midnight train going anywhere. I’ve heard this song many times before I started writing about Nellie and Nathaniel, but the second I heard it after those two characters where in my head, it became their song. Nellie even has it as Nathaniel’s ringtone on her phone.
2. Little Lamb by Neil Dover. So where you gonna run? Where you gonna hide? You’re a little lamb and the wolf’s behind. Nipping at your feet and pulling at your hair. It’s a dead-end street, you’re almost there. In Dare to Dream Nellie calls the antagonist, the wolf and he calls her his little lamb. This song inspired the tension between the two characters.
3. Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran. I'm on the hunt I'm after you. Mouth is alive with juices like wine and I'm hungry like the wolf. Of course, this song helped to inspire Nellie’s wolf.
4. Every Breath You Take by Sting. Every breath you take and every move you make
Every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you. The perfect stalker song and inspired one of the chapters in Dare to Dream and Nellie’s little stalker problem.
5. If You Don’t Wanna Love Me by James Morrison. So I’m gonna stay when you just wanna fight and you’re closing your eyes, cause you don’t wanna love me. So I’m gonna stay, yes I will, you can’t push me too far. There’s no space in my heart where I don’t wanna love you. This song inspired Chapter 21 of Dare to Dream. It speaks right to the heart of Nathaniel.
6. Iron by Within Temptation. Raised in this madness, you’re on your own. It makes you fearless, nothing to lose. Dreams are a joke here. They get in your way. That’s what you need to fight day by day. This song inspired the first part of Endless Nightmare: The Origin of a Demon.
7. Nothing Ever Hurt Like You by James Morrison. You don’t get to taste the honey without the sting of a bee. Oh yes you stung me good, you dug in deep. But I’ll take it, I’ll take it, till I’m down on my knees. No song explains the characters in Dreams in the Dark, Empusa and Krael, and their relationship better than that one line.
8. Circus For a Psycho by Skillet. You push until I break and the anger turns to rage, why can’t you just leave me alone. Got your finger on the trigger, you think that you’re a winner. You’re gonna get kicked off of your throne. Inspiration for the relationship between Empusa and Zeus, and also inspired a really awesome cemetery fight scene coming up in Dreams in the Dark.
9. Thinking Outloud by Ed Sherran. And I’m thinking about how people fall in love in mysterious ways, maybe just the touch of a hand. Well, me, I fall in love with you every single day and I just wanna tell you I am. This song makes me all mushy every time I hear it. It also makes me think of Buer and Renata and their complicated but beautiful marriage.
10. Nobody But You by Tony Lucca. I can love nobody but you. No one makes my sun shine the way you do and after all the pain that I’ve but you through, I know it’s too late for what we once knew. So I guess I’ll wait, cause I can love nobody but you. This song inspired an entire book. From the beginning to the end and everything in between. It breaks my heart every time I hear it and makes me anxious to get to this particular story. But, we have to wait, cause I’ve got to finish working on the rest of the series first! Gives me something to look forward to though!
Dark Dreams Series
Book One
K. Margaret
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Date of Publication: 11/17/2015
ISBN: 978-1518886485
ASIN: B017OM7GJE
Number of pages: 210
Word Count: 72,835
Cover Artist: Ariel LeAnn
Book Description:
Nellie O’Malley has spent her afterlife hunting and killing demonoids. As a slayer she never faced one she couldn’t destroy, until now.
The hunter has become the hunted.
A nameless, faceless enemy stalks her every move. Nellie must find a way to stop the unstoppable before it kills her, or worse, goes after the one person she can’t live without.
He is her best friend, she is his soul.
Nathaniel Ogapoge has been in love with only one woman. Unfortunately, she sees him only as her best friend. With her life now in peril, he will stop at nothing to protect her. Even if it means putting himself in the direct path of evil and risking everything.
Excerpt:
“It is time for
another,” Renata, the Queen of the Damned, announced as she straightened the
flowing silk material of her silver gown so it draped perfectly around her.
Perched on the edge of a reflecting pool high up in her tower in the middle of
Gehenna, she glided her fingers over the surface of the water. The rippling
effect caused the face of a young blonde female to come into focus. “She will
be my newest creation and she will be perfect.”
Glancing away
from the reflection, she peered up at Berith, Gehenna’s warden, who stood opposite
her, hands tucked into the front pockets of his jeans. His perpetual scowl
present across his chiseled face, Berith’s eerily-glowing orange eyes narrowed
on her with annoyance. Not that she gave him her full attention, her thoughts
were still lost in the vision appearing in the water. She didn’t particularly
care he was even in the room.
“Have you lost
your bloody mind?” Berith questioned. “I mean look at her. She doesn’t look old
enough to know how to use the rifle she’s holding, let alone be able to kill
demonoids. Is this what you are left with then? Is this where your abilities
have taken you? You now recruit scrawny females to do your bidding?”
Renata raised a
brow, watching Berith jab an accusing finger at the girl’s reflection. Too many
years had passed since she’d last been given a slayer, and at the moment she
didn’t need to hear Berith’s opinion on the matter. While her husband, Buer,
was in charge of capturing and keeping the deadliest of demons within the
confines of Gehenna, it was her duty to keep reign on the demonoids.
Two types of
demons inhabited in the world: the ones born that way and the ones who were
turned into such. The most dangerous, however, were the ones created. Those
creatures were known as demonoids.
Demonoids were
contrived from the darkest of all human souls. Ones so beyond redemption their
evil called to certain gods and demons. These gods and demons would feed on
those souls, transforming what once was a man into the deadliest and most
nefarious of creatures. The job of her slayers was to eradicate them; to make
sure no demonoid remained on the mortal realm or any other.
Renata dismissed
Berith’s comments with a flip of her strawberry blonde hair. “You know as well
as I do I have no choice in who is brought to me. At this point, I would take a
ten-year-old girl with bowed legs if that was my only choice. I haven’t
received a soldier in over a century and my troops on the mortal realm are
dwindling.” She glanced back down at the image in the water. Yes, the female was
young and not the usual soul given to her, but she would make do. All her
slayers were chosen for a reason and Renata would not question the decision.
All she concerned herself with was whether her new slayer would be strong
enough to kill the demonoids when they came at her.
The female about
to become Renata’s newest slayer was not a warrior or a soldier as she was
accustomed to. Those females were easy to convince to take on the duty of a
slayer.
No, this female
never fought a day in her life, but as soon as the breath left her body and her
heart stopped beating, the contract of services would already be signed. She
would belong to Renata until the day the Queen of the Damned decided to release
her of her duties. As of present, not one of Renata’s slayers relinquished her
duties.
However, the job
of her slayers came with its benefits. Renata bestowed one power upon them. A
power already lying dormant inside them. Upon their agreement of service, they
would also gain the abilities of speed and strength. Abilities to help assist
them in their tasks.
Berith’s low
growl snapped Renata’s head up, scattering her thoughts. She didn’t need to ask
what agitated with him. By the way he stood ramrod straight with a far off look
in his eyes, she knew he held a conversation with another in his mind. Only one
female could cause him to look both distressed and fascinated all at the same
time. A demoness, who happened to also be the bane of Renata’s existence.
“Oh just go to
her, will you? We both know if you don’t then you’ll become even more of an ass
than you usually are. I have to concentrate on this, and apparently you need to
find a way to lock the demon-whore up so she isn’t a constant distraction.”
The way Berith’s
eyes narrowed on her, along with the slow curling of his lip and twitch to his
left eye, proved her assumption on whom he conversed with. He hesitated for a
moment, as if trying to decide whether he should stay or go. Just as he turned
to leave, he crossed over and knelt down beside her.
“Don’t mess this
one up, Renata. Make sure she knows what she’s getting herself into. I would
hope you have learned from past mistakes.”
Renata refused
to acknowledge the statement. She always knew what she was doing. Swirling her
finger around in the water, she watched as the images rippled amongst the
waves. This one here would do just fine, and judging by the progress being
made, the time to meet her newest slayer neared. By the bright yellow sun
rising in the horizon, Renata knew the female’s time grew shorter. It wouldn’t
be much longer before her final breath escaped her lips. Renata wasn’t
heartless though, she mourned the loss of such a brave girl, but she knew the
ugliness of death must take place in order for others to be saved. That was the
motto of her slayers - to protect and serve those who could not protect
themselves.
About the Author:
K. Margaret is a paranormal romance author living in Georgia. Her love for words, storytelling, and mythology started as a teenager and continues to grow. When she isn’t sucking down pots of coffee and writing, or hanging out with her teenage daughter, she can usually be found in front of her TV watching football, her other obsession.
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