Q. Are your anthologies a series? That is, are the stories in the anthologies The Eternal Highlander, Highland Thirst and The Immortal Highlander related?

A. My stories in the series stand alone, but the hero in the latest, Highland Thirst, is about the son of the couple, Eva and Connall, from The Eternal Highlander so you may want to read The Eternal Highlander first. However, I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary. Both stories stand-alone. And the story in The Immortal Highlander has nothing to do with the people in the other two except that he belongs to that clan. I try to make mine self-explanatory and stand-alone so that anyone who hasn't read the others won't be confused.

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Argeneau Book / Publishing Order:

Q. First books published out of order, why?

A. They were published out of order. When I wrote the proposal for the series it started with Lissianna's story, then Etienne's story, then Lucern's, then Bastien's. However, Dorchester, my publisher for the first three books, could only purchase three books at the time and chose the brothers. It was their choice to take the brothers and not the sister and their choice to publish them out of order. Now the series is at Avon and Lissianna was the first they published. From now on the stories will be in order.

Q. Reading order of Argeneaus, what is it and do they have to be read in order?

A. I try to write all of them to stand-alone but some stories, especially the most recent stories bring in A LOT of characters from past stories. It may be difficult for someone who hasn't met them before to keep them all straight. I don't think you HAVE to, but it might be better if you read a couple of the other stories first.

The reading order is:

#1 A Quick Bite (Lissianna’s story) - November 2005
#2 Love Bites (Etienne’s story) - January 2004
#3 Single White Vampire (Lucern’s story) - September 2003
#4 Tall, Dark & Hungry (Bastien’s story) - July 2004
#5 A Bite To Remember (Vincent’s story) - July 2006
#6 Bite Me If You Can (Lucian’s story) - February 2007
#7 The Accidental Vampire (Victor’s story) - January 2008
#8 Vampires Are Forever (Thomas’s story) - February 2008
#9 Vampire, Interrupted (Marguerite’s story) - March 2008
#10 The Rogue Hunter (Garret Mortimer’s story) - September 30 2008
#11 The Immortal Hunter (Decker Argeneau Pimms’ story) - March 31 2009
#12 The Renegade Hunter (Nicholas Argeneau) - October 2009
#13 Born To Bite (Armand’s story) - September 2010
Anthology Bitten By Cupid (Tiny’s story) - January 2010
#14 Hungry For You (Alex Willan’s story) - December 2010
#15 The Reluctant Vampire (Harper Stoyan’s story) - June 2011
#16 Under A Vampire Moon (Christian’s story) - May 2012
#17 Lady Is A Vamp (Jeanne Louise’s story) - August 2012
#18 Immortal Ever After (Anders's story) - March 2013
Anthology The Bite Before Christmas (Teddy Brunswick's) - November 2011
#19 One Lucky Vampire (Stephano Notte) - October 2013
#20 Vampire Most Wanted (Marcus Notte & Basha) - March 2014
#21 The Immortal Who Loved Me (Basil Argeneau & Sherry) - March 2015
#22 About A Vampire (Justin Bricker & Holly) - October 2015
#23 Runaway Vampire (Dante Notte & Mary) - March 2016
#24 Immortal Nights (Tomasso Notte & Abigail) - Sept 20, 2016
#25 Immortal Unchained (Domitian Argenis & Sarita) - Mar 28, 2017
#26 Immortally Yours (Scotty & Beth Argenis) - Sept 26, 2017
#27 Twice Bitten (Elspeth & Wyatt) - Mar 27, 2018
#28 Vampires Like It Hot (Raffaele & Jess) - Sept 18, 2018
#29 The Trouble With Vampires (Santo & Pet) - April 30, 2019

Printable version of the Argeneau Reading Order

Book cover version of the Argeneau Reading Order

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Argeneau Characters

Q. Anders's story?

A. Anders finally got his story and it's called Immortal Ever After. It was released in North America on February 26th, 2013. I quite enjoy this cover!

Q. Chris Keyes (C.K.)... will he ever get his own story?

A. Chris will likely never have his own story. He's based on a real person, my editor at my previous publisher, Dorchester Publishing, and the real CK just hasn't found his life mate yet.

Q. Christian Notte's story?

A. Christian's story called Under A Vampire Moon is scheduled to come out April 24, 2012. So far this is my favourite Argeneau story to date. <G>

Q. Dante & Tomasso, Marcus, Neil, Stephano... will they ever get stories?

A. While I'm sure they will all get stories, I can't guarantee it just now or tell you when. It all depends on whether readers keep wanting them and publishers keep publishing them. I do have ideas, but we will have to see if they make it to print.

Q. Drina Argenis, who is she?

A. The latest lady appearing in The Reluctant Vampire is a female enforcer from Europe, Drina Argenis. She's also a European relative to the Argeneaus, hence the name Argenis (basically the spanish variation of it.) Other than that m'dear, you will just have to wait to read the story... <WG>.

Q. G.G.'s story?

A. G.G. or the Green Giant is a hoot, isn't he? I do have plans for him, but can't yet say when they'll come to fruition. He hasn't fully formed and come knocking yet. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Q. Jean Claude, will we ever hear more about him?

A. I doubt I'll go into too much more detail concerning Jean Claude. A lot has already been explained about his character in A Quick Bite and Vampire, Interrupted and how he affected Thomas, Lissianna and Marguerite.

Q. Jeanne Louise's story?

A. Jean Louise's story called The Lady Is A Vamp came out July 24, 2012.

Q. Julianna and Victoria, Martine's twin girls - Any plans for them?

A. Julianna and Victoria are really young yet and I have no plans on finding them lifemates anytime soon but they may appear as secondary characters in future books.

Q. Justin Bricker's story?

A. Justin will eventually get his story but not quite yet. You will have to wait for his but in the meantime he will be the comic relief. Besides he’s pretty young yet and still enjoying life and all the liberties that immortality has brought him. He can handle a little wait.

Q. Leigh's baby, what happened?

A. Leigh lost her first baby because of a genetic problem, which nanos will not fix. Never fear though, she is pregnant again and this one will take. You can read what happens in Immortal Ever After.

Q. Martine, will we get to know her better?

A. The reason she's been such a minor character is because she's never spoken much and thus hasn't been forefront. Also Martine has a different family dynamic with her kids because many of them have moved away.

Q. Roberto Conti Notte, what is Roberto’s relationship to the Notte family?

A. Roberto Conti Notte was the lifemate of and married to one of Julius's sisters, Rosa. He gave up his own family, his name, and his mortal life to be with Rosa and become a Notte. By the time Rosa died Roberto had been a member of the Notte family for centuries. The Nottes are the only family he knows now and he was--and is still--considered a member of their family despite the death of his wife. Roberto is considered a brother to Julius and his other sisters even though, biologically, he isn't.

Roberto and Rosa had kids while she lived, they are half-siblings to his son, Neil, with Elaine and as far as they are concerned to Stephano as well (though he would disagree, but that's part of his story). Stephano was welcomed as a Notte the moment Elaine joined the family. She is now considered a Notte and even if Roberto died, would remain a part of the family. After a hundred years, they will probably think of her as a sister even though she biologically isn't. It's a function of the length of their lives and their relatively small numbers compared to the rest of humanity. But it's also a necessity amongst immortals. If they didn't think and act this way (for instance if they’d kicked Roberto to the curb when Rosa died) they would be raising the risk of those abandoned immortals becoming rogues.

Anyway, Roberto is still considered a brother to Julius, and his second life mate and any children gained through her have been embraced by the Nottes and are considered a part of the clan.

Q. Teddy Brunswick, the police chief from Port Henry?

A. Teddy Brunswick's story called The Gift was published in the anthology The Bite Before Christmas on October 25, 2011 and reissued in paperback on October 30, 2012.

Q. Revisiting characters that have already found a lifemate?

A. Many will reappear in future stories as a secondary character and you will hear about important events in their lives but I will not be writing another story with someone who’s already found their lifemate as a main character. There are just too many stories to write for me to revisit individuals that have already found life mates.

Q. Argeneau, what is the origin of the name?

A. I came up with the Argeneau name from argentum, which is Latin for silver. In early times people were named for notable attributes (i.e. strength, blonde hair, etc.) and as the Argeneaus all have silvered blue eyes I decided their name would be based on this. They have had various versions of the name over time such as Argent, Argentis, Argento, and Argeneau depending on the time period and where they were living. I decided on the French version for the modern day family.

Q. Many of your character are Canadian, why?

A. I am Canadian and I know Canada. I write about locations that I have at least visited, as I need to have some knowledge about the area before I can describe it. I also lived in England for two years after meeting my husband who is British and visited other European countries which is where I got the research for the stories based in Europe.

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Argeneau General Qs

Q. Family tree, why are some characters missing from it?

A. I will not put new characters in the family tree until after the book is released and even then updates to the tree may take some time.

Q. How did you start writing about Vampires?

A. The idea came while MSNing with some writer friends. One of them suggested doing a vampire anthology, with each of us doing our own take. With my track record in romantic comedy, I said if we did that, my character would probably faint at the sight of blood or something. I then threw out various other ideas. The anthology never came to pass, but the ideas lingered in my mind, taunting me until I sat down to start writing the series and the Argeneaus were born.

Q. Argeneau series are not just romance stories.

A. Because that would be boring . . . at least for me it would.

I actually get a lot of readers who cross over from other genres. There are fantasy, horror and science fiction readers who all seem to like my books. I've also been pleasantly surprised by the number of men who read them and I sometimes wonder if my publisher would be better describing my books as something other than romances and then perhaps a wider audience would try reading them.

Q. Pronunciation of Argeneau, Etienne, Bastien and Lucern?

A. Argeneau is Ar-zsa(as in Zsa Zsa Gabor, the actress)-no.

    Etienne is spoken as Et-ee-en.
    Bastien is Bass-chen
    Lucern is Loose-urn

Q. Rogue Hunter series vs Argeneau series, are they different?

A. The Rogue Hunter and Argeneaus are all one series, but my publisher changed them to the Rogue Hunter series as an overall title because neither Sam nor Mortimer were Argeneaus. Shrug. I'm sure when I start writing about the Nottes, they'll call it the Notte series but again it will still be all one series. LOL

Q. Why haven't the Argeneaus been made into a movie / t.v. series yet?

A. Authors don't really have any say in whether their books get turned into movies. It's actually Hollywood and others in the movie industry who make the decision about which books to use. And while I'd love to see some of my characters on the big screen (played by the right actors and actresses of course) I haven't yet been approached by anyone making any suggestions that they would like to film my books.

Q. Are e-book formats available for the Argeneau books?

A. Yes. They are available for iPad, Kindle, the Nook, Kobo, Sony e-books.

    Kindle
    Nookbook
    Sony e-books

Q. Can you tell me what Argeneau books were published in hardcover?

A. Both Rhapsody and Double Day Book Clubs have published some Argeneaus in hardcover format.

    Rhapsody Book Club
    Double Day Book Club

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Argeneau Immortal Biology:

Q. Why my immortals are not the classic, living-undead vampires?

A. I couldn't do the dead soulless version as a hero, so had to come up with an alternate source for them. I looked around at what was possible, picked nanos and went from there. Nanos that could be used to repair injury, fight illness, and would repair damage caused by age or sunlight using blood as a propellant and to make the repairs. I wanted my vamps older though and so Atlantis came into play since it's legendary for being advanced technologically. So I combined it all and then added that when Atlantis fell, the nanos evolved it's hosts to have fangs and be stronger and faster to be better predators and get the extra blood they needed (nanos use more blood than a mortal body can produce to do their work). They also gave them better night vision so that they could avoid sunlight, which caused damage and led to more needed repairs. It all just kind of came together for me. I guess that old saying that "necessity is the mother of invention" is true. I needed a different source for my vampires to be able to write them with any sort of believability for me, and that necessity led to the Argeneaus.

Q. Why don't nanos keep immortal kids from maturing?

A. The job of nanos is to keep the host at their peak condition, not to prevent their maturing so while the nanos will repair and rejuvenate immortals who are turned at a later age, repairing the damage caused by sun and environment and the simple passage of time, it will not prevent an immortal child from aging until they reach their peak in their mid-twenties to early thirties.

Q. Can nanos fix genetic problems?

A. Nanos do not fix genetic anomalies because they don't recognize a genetic issue as being something that needs repairing which is why Victor and Vincent both have to feed directly from donors as opposed to bagged blood . . . because it's a genetic anomaly that they have, not something needing repair.

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Q. Will you do a sequel to The Loving Daylights?

A. I’m considering it though there’s nothing definite yet.

 
Q. What were the names of the other stories in the B.L.I.S.S. series?

A. Two other authors published 'spy' stories under the B.L.I.S.S. series. One was Nina Bangs (From Boardwalk With Love) and the other was Lisa Cach (Dr.Yes). All of our main characters worked for the same agency, B.L.I.S.S., but that's where the similarity ends. Our stories aren't based on one another.

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Q. Madison series, when will Lisa's story be coming out?

A. Lisa's story called The Husband Hunt is scheduled to be released on February 28, 2012. Sorry about the wait but unfortunately, as authors, we have little say in the release dates.

Q. Lady Helen and Rolfe, will they get a story?

A. Though I don't have any immediate plans to write a continuation to The Chase, I have thought about revisiting some of the secondary characters from my older historicals. So maybe is the best answer I can give at this point.

Q. Rolfe, what stories did he appear in?

A. Rolfe appears in The Deed, The Key and The Chase, which is Seonaid's story (Duncan's sister from The Key).

Q. Robert (Lord Ramsey's friend) from The Reluctant Reformer, Osgoode from The Brat, Reginald from Love Is Blind... will you write a story on any of them?

A. I have been thinking of revisiting some of the secondary characters from the older historicals I wrote for Dorchester. So maybe is the best answer I can give at this point.

Q. Will you do another Pirate novel?

A. I'd quite like to do another pirate story, Lady Pirate was great fun to write.

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Q. Why do your characters seem so real?

A. My characters are often based, at least partially, on real people so it's not so absurd to think of them as real people.

Q. Your stories are usually pretty light… why don’t you write darker stories?

A. So far I can't do dark and dreary. Too depressing, and life is far too short for me to be happy deliberately depressing myself.

Q. Why don’t you put more sex in your stories?

A. I can't do all sex because . . . well . . . there's more to life than that. Actually, I often used to forget to include the sex, or to put enough in and was asked to add more. Now I usually check for three sex scenes before sending it in to my editor.

Q. How do you come up with ideas for some of your titles?

A. I suck at titles. The best ones have come from friends and my editors.

Q. Are e-book formats available for your books?

A. Yes. They are available for iPad, Kindle, the Nook, Kobo, Sony e-books, etc.

    Kindle
    Nookbook
    Sony e-books

Q. My book is falling apart/missing pages. What should I do?

A. Any new books that are missing pages or falling apart should be returned immediately to the bookstore where you purchased it. They should exchange it for you.

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Q. Do you map out your stories or do you just let them come to you?

A. Each story has it's own rhythm and tempo. Some just flow in one burst of ideas, others start flowing, then have to be mapped out, and still others are mapped out from the start.

Q. Do you get writer's block and if so, what do you do about it?

A. Occasionally, and when I do I tend to go to a coffee shop and write the old-fashioned way with pen and paper. It usually loosens the block.

Q. I want to write a book, how do I go about it?

A. You sit down and write. It's that simple.

Q. What advice can you give a writer that is stuck on a story?

A. I can only give you advice based on my own experience. If the story is going well then you'll know as the ideas will come faster than you can even write them. If, however, you have a problem with a story and it becomes difficult to write then you should do a few things.

First, take a break from it. Don't think about it at all for a while, live a little and then go back to it. Stories can't be forced. Well at least that's what I have found.

Second, if it still isn't going then maybe you have a problem with the story. Maybe something is not sitting well in your mind. If so, then resolve it if it can be.

Third, and I hate to say this as it is painful, but start fresh. Sometimes I've forced a story along and eventually it just comes to a jarring halt and I have to go back to the beginning.

Q. I want to be a writer, should I try for an agent first, or try to get published first. And do you have any other advice for aspiring writers?

A. Hmmm, agent or publisher first... that's a tough one. Agents can be as hard to get as publishers. Harder sometimes. I tried to get an agent after my first book was purchased, but no go. It was my sixth book before I got one. On the other hand, a good agent can also be invaluable. Whether you go for one is up to you. A lot of publishers will not even look at a book unless an agent backs it. In fact, I only know of one or two who will. So, you might be best with an agent.

Q. Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

A. Start with a query letter. I'd suggest you go to the library and pick up a book called The Writer's Market, try to get the latest edition, one is put out every year. They have a section in there on writing query letters and who accepts unagented, unsolicited manuscripts.

And NEVER EVER take a rejection to heart. You have no idea what was going through their mind. Your hero may have the same name as their nasty, obnoxious, noisy neighbor, or the heroine could have the same name as the bimbo they caught in bed with their last boyfriend/girlfriend. You just do not know what turned them off. Heck, they might have grabbed a stack of queries on their way out the door to catch a plane to go see their dying parent and simply rejected everything they took because of their situation and mood.

And don't write for money. Good Lord, the average writer makes very little money. Make sure you are writing for love. If you love what you are writing, the reader is more likely to love it as well, and then the money is more likely to follow. Good Luck!

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Q. Signed photographs, can you send me one?

A. I don't have autographed photos. I don't think authors do that. At least none of the ones I know do. That’s an actor’s thing I think.

Q. Do you donate to charities?

A. I will, but I do so on my own time and of my own volition. If you are requesting free things for your own purposes ("Can I get an advance copy of the next book?") it will not get answered. If you are requesting free things for a charity ("We want you to donate a free book to our charity auction!") it will likely not get answered. I get so many requests now that I don’t have enough books to fill current demand. All requests are reviewed by Tori and those that are substantiated may get forwarded on to me.

Q. Do you send out signed bookplates, signatures, autographed photographs or books?

A. No. For legal reasons I have been advised not to sign anything but books any longer and I only sign books at books signings.

Q. Will you sign books that get sent in?

A. No. The only way to get a book signed is by going to a signing or by winning one of my contests.

Q. When's your next book signing?

A. I often attend the annual RWA conference (Romantic Writers Of America) and sometimes the RT convention (Romantic Times) and both of these events have book signings, which are open to the public.

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Q. What happens to story ideas sent in by readers?

A. My contracts stipulate that my stories are based on ideas wholly my own. Legally, I couldn't and wouldn't use ideas sent to me. That being the case, I have an assistant that goes through my emails and letters beforehand to make sure that I don’t inadvertently read other’s ideas. So if you send an idea in, I won’t even read it. Sorry!

Q. Will you read my story?

A. No. I get this request a lot and I always have to say no. It’s for legal reasons. I’ve been advised not to read stories that are not already contracted to be published. Those I can read for quoting purposes. Otherwise, however, I cannot read stories.

Q. Do you accept manuscripts?

A. I do not accept unsolicited manuscripts of any sort. This is for our legal protection. If someone submits an idea that happens to be similar to a future novel, that person may feel that they are entitled to some form of compensation. The only way to ensure this does not happen is to destroy all unsolicited manuscripts unread.

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Q. Does Lynsay read any of the fan email?

A. I read most of the fan email. Terri, my administrative assistant, reads all the fan mail and forwards to me only those which are considered ‘safe’. Safe means any emails that do not contain story ideas, stories, unsolicited manuscripts and that are not deemed demanding, obnoxious, or rude.

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