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Things are heating up, folks! The Bachmann Family Secret comes your way in a couple weeks. Today we get the cover reveal!! As always, NineStar Press hits it out of the park every time!!

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been introducing you to the primary characters in The Bachmann Family Secret as we gear up for its release later this July. First was our main character, Jaret, followed by his family, and then a local guy Jaret meets in Fremont, Steve. Today, it’s time for you to meet Darth.

If Jaret controlled this blog, he would have introduced Darth first and told you she is the most important character. You see, Darth is Jaret’s very best friend, one he’s had since a very young age. She follows him everywhere – they are inseparable. Yep, Darth is Jaret’s loyal dog.

And as Jaret confronts the myriad of problems facing him when he travels to his Gramps’s funeral, Darth stands by his side the entire way, ready to defend, console, and otherwise be there for her companion. Fun Darth fact: the copyeditor made a note to me in the margin at one point while going over my novel: “Darth is my favorite character.” I’m quite fond of her, too.

Continuing on our journey of meeting the characters as we move toward a July release of The Bachmann Family Secret, today I am introducing Steve! Our main character, Jaret, and his family, travel to his hometown for his Gramps’s funeral. Amid the grief of this loss, Jaret must contend with an angry ghost and struggle to come to terms with his sexuality.

And speaking of his sexuality, on an evening stroll through Fremont he runs into a local teen who insists on chatting with him – Steve. Jaret has no idea how to handle the hot football player in front of him! Run for the hills because he’s shy?! Get to know the hottie because Steve sends his hormones into overdrive?! And why does this guy act so sweetly toward Jaret and Darth? Is Jaret’s attraction reciprocated, or is Steve just a nice guy?

Jaret figures he might as well add the flutterings of a crush to the mix of issues he’s already dealing with in THE BACHMANN FAMILY SECRET!

In the continued build up to this summer’s release of THE BACHMANN FAMILY SECRET – today I introduce Jaret’s family. Last week, we met Jaret, the high school senior who is struggling to come out and learn about his hidden powers. Let’s meet his family!

Jenn: Jaret’s younger sister and best friend in the world. They confide everything to each other, support and love each other. More than anyone else, Jaret wants to protect Jenn as the ghost prepares to attack the family.

Lincoln: Jaret’s older brother, who Jaret looks up to and relies on for his humor and steady presence.

Mom and Dad: A pretty typical mom and dad, who love their children, worry about them constantly, but sometimes misfire on how to support them and believe in them because of the pressures swirling around. They have long worried about Jaret because of his claim to see ghosts.

Jaret’s aunt, uncle, and cousins also make an appearance! The Bachmann’s represent a loving, close family – and they will need all the nurture and care for one another they can muster to fight the legacy haunting their family.

The Bachmann Family Secret comes your way later this summer – a gay coming of age ghost story! To gear up for the release of this young adult novel, I want to introduce some of the characters over the next few weeks!

Today, introducing Jaret: A high school senior who serves as the main character. While struggling with the death of his beloved grandfather, he fights to deal with his power to see ghosts. And he has no idea what to do when the ghost of his grandfather visits him with a warning about the future.

To spice up his life even more, Jaret knows he needs to come out of the closet. A shy, sensitive young man who loves his family and dog dearly, Jaret must navigate the danger ahead while realizing his true self and discovering his hidden powers.

As we head into the summer, I wanted to remind everyone about sharing some time with gay vampires so they don’t get agitated and come after you. While we practice social distancing, we can still enjoy the warmer weather with a good book! Thank you for checking them out! Click on the title for the buy link!

The Vampire’s Angel

In The Vampire’s Angel, as Paris devolves into chaos amid the French Revolution, three lives intertwine that will either throw each person into complete chaos or save their very soul from the turmoil swirling around and within them.  Xavier, a devout priest, struggles to hold onto his trust in humanity only to find his own faith threatened with the longing he finds for a mysterious American visitor. Thomas fights against the Catholic Church to win Xavier’s heart, but hiding his undead nature will threaten the love he longs to find with this abbe.  Xavier’s sister, Catherine, works with Thomas to bring them together while protecting the family fortune but falls prey herself to evil forces. The death, peril, and catastrophes of a revolution collide with a world of magic, vampires, and personal demons as Xavier, Thomas, and Catherine fight to find peace and love amidst the destruction.

The Vampire’s Quest

The Vampire’s Quest brings back the beloved gay vampires, Xavier and Thomas, in the anticipated sequel to The Vampire’s Angel. In 1822, the Archangel St. Michel orders Xavier to go on a quest to America, a quest that violates the Vampire Council’s laws to the point of a possible death sentence. Worse, Xavier must abandon his lover, Thomas. Xavier runs to his aging sister and pleads for Catherine’s help as Thomas races after them. With Thomas and the Vampire Council vying for Xavier’s soul, Xavier and Catherine struggle to obey the former priest’s divine calling before their inevitable capture.

The Vampire’s Protege

In The Vampire’s Protégé, a sinister vampire offers Charon a choice he can’t refuse: play a deadly game of winner takes all, losers die. Charon relishes the competition and molds himself into a sexy vampire who defies vampire law, relishes his power, and embraces the role of villain. He also loves surrounding himself with hot young men. But what happens when an alluring vampire stalks him and threatens to turn him into the Vampire Council unless he helps with a seemingly impossible task? Will Charon risk his perfectly narcissistic life on this challenge? Does he have any other choice?

Exciting news: THE BACHMANN FAMILY SECRET finished up the latest round of edits, to correct grammar, for clarity, or gaps in my feeble logic. (My NineStar editor, BJ, kicks ass at fixing all the problems I create! And she’s super funny. I know her humor hardly matters to you, my readers, but it makes sprucing up even the worst mess I create a fun adventure.) It’s off to the next stage of preparation, on track for a July release. I’ll keep you posted!

In The Bachmann Family Secret, Jaret Bachmann travels with his family to his beloved grandfather’s funeral with a heavy heart and, more troubling, premonitions of something evil lurking at the Bachmann ancestral home. But no one believes that he sees ghosts, and no one else saw his grandfather’s ghost warning him to stay home except his dog, Darth. Grappling with his sexuality, a ghost that wants him out of the way, and the loss of his grandfather, Jaret must protect his family and come to terms with powers hidden deep within himself.

Cover 19 news is all consuming, and draining. It should be. People are dying and we need to pull together as a global community to fight this disease and to help one another.

But it can also overwhelm my system, and I imagine a lot of people have that feeling. So I also like to get away from it. And to focus on something positive, no matter how small.

This week, Akasha, Chewbacca, and I met some baby geese on our morning journey. We saw them everyday, from afar so that two dogs would not scare the crap out of them and their parents! It’s a peaceful scene, and I wanted to share it with you. They are a little hard to see, in the middle of the picture on the rock ledge.

I don’t have much else to report. Paul, the dogs, and I are plugging along with the Illinois Stay at Home Order. Be well, everyone.

My entry today concerns life at the moment, not necessarily my writing or books. No doubt, these emotions and realities will someday work themselves into what I write, but that seems like a distant future. For now, I wanted to share a reflection from this morning.

First, the context: Akasha, Chewbacca, and I woke this morning at 6:00 a.m. for our daily journey to this beautiful Christmas scene of our house:

If, indeed, I experienced this moment on Dec. 25th, I would find it picture perfect. But, alas, it happens to be April 17th . . .

However, the current global pandemic gave me a different perspective. In the past, I would probably have uttered a variety of cuss words, wanting spring to appear and put winter in the rearview mirror! But with so many out of work; so many ill; so many mourning the death of loved ones; and with a future unknowable – I better refocused my attention to a different emotion.

I recognized the beauty. Yes, it felt like Christmas – an ideal photo for a holiday card. The dogs and I traversed on our epic journey for the day, happy that at least April snow meant damp sidewalks, but not slippery treacherous cement. No one can control everything – we see that now more than ever. I stopped to enjoy something that previously might have annoyed me.

Now, Akasha is thirteen. She visibly explained her opinion of the snow, and it was not one of delight! But even she forged ahead, the joy of a dog in the moment, even somehow pleased that she communicated to me how she felt. Satisfied I knew she was displeased and that she blamed me for the conditions.

Be safe. Be well. Happy April snow from Chicago.

My publisher, NineStar Press, continues to rock! As the pandemic intensifies, with people stuck at home and the economy crashing, NineStar extended the 40% off all books indefinitely!

That’s right, you can now read about Thomas and Xavier meeting in The Vampire’s Angel; or about the divine quest upon which Xavier goes in The Vampire’s Quest! If those two goody, goody vampires bore you, then spice up life with Charon and his lust for living beyond any rules in The Vampire’s Protege! And don’t forget about Simon. You think the pandemic is bad, wait until he teaches you about the real nature of Santa Claus in Santa Is a Vampire! Here’s the link to my author page, where you can buy all of them: Damian Serbu Author Page!