Litopian David Bridger is celebrating after securing a first publishing contract for his paranormal romance, Medium Rare.

It will be published later this year as an ebook by Liquid Silver Books, and David claims the critiques the story received within Litopia played a major part in his success.

‘I always put my opening chapters through Litopia for crits,’ David explained. ‘I have three brilliant crit partners, one of whom is a Litopian, who stay with me for the whole journey, but I find the early House crits invaluable. The mood of the piece is important in Medium Rare, and several crits in the Houses helped me get that just right before I progressed further into the story.’

Medium Rare follows the story of Saul the Bastard, a fallen angel who works as a bounty hunter for powerful urban demon families, and Rebecca Drake, a modern day demon princess who is being hunted by dangerous desert demons. When Rebecca’s family hires Saul to protect her, they are both unhappy with the arrangement, but before long sparks fly as they try to resist their strong mutual attraction. For the first time in living memory, Saul has someone to love; someone he is scared of losing; someone the desert demons have marked to be their next sacrifice.

David is as excited about the book’s next stage as he was writing it.

‘I’ve just been introduced to my editor and we’re about to start the first round of edits, so publication is probably about four to six months away,’ he said. ‘I loved writing Medium Rare last year, and now I'm excited all over again as I get ready to work with my editor and make it the best it can possibly be.

‘The contract is just for Medium Rare, but I’m enjoying the people and the process at Liquid Silver Books a great deal and intend to submit more work there, including the first book from a series idea I’m developing.’

David added: ‘This is my first contract for long fiction, and I’m thrilled to bits. I’ve had some success in poetry and short fiction competitions, and my first two paying gigs were in non-fiction. But I’ve considered myself to be a novelist ever since I started learning how to write for publication, so I’m bouncing round like a kid full of E-numbers right now!’