I'm being pulled in a lot of different directions right now and I've been feeling tremendously guilty about not updating the blog regularly. So I decided to go on a short blog hiatus and give myself permission to let that one thing go for a bit. However, as evidence of how chaotic things are right now, I completely forgot that today is the release day for... *drum roll*...
HOORAY!! THE SHADOW READER is finally on shelves!!
I had the opportunity to read an early version of THE SHADOW READER (back when it was titled FISSURED, in case any of you recognize it by that earlier name) and people, let me tell you: this is a seriously great book. In fact, I've read a few early versions of it and I still can't wait to download it to my Nook and read it again. It's that good.
Some humans can see the fae. McKenzie Lewis can track them, reading
the shadows they leave behind. But some shadows lead to danger. Others
lead to lies.
A Houston college student trying to finish her degree, McKenzie has
been working for the fae king for years, tracking vicious rebels who
would claim the Realm. Her job isn’t her only secret. For just as long,
she’s been in love with Kyol, the king’s sword-master—and relationships
between humans and fae are forbidden.
But any hope for a normal life is shattered when she’s captured by
Aren, the fierce and uncompromising rebel leader. He teaches her the
forbidden fae language and tells her dark truths about the Court, all to
persuade her to turn against the king. Time is running out, and as the
fight starts to claim human lives, McKenzie has no choice but to decide
once and for all whom to trust and where she ultimately stands in the
face of a cataclysmic civil war.
THE SHADOW READER has something for everyone - action, romance, humor. I really can't recommend it enough. It's one of my top reads for 2011.
So! Are you itching for a copy yet?? Leave a comment on this entry letting me know one of your top reads for 2011 (or whatever else you'd like to say) by the end of the day Friday, 10/28, and I'll draw one winner. Open to anyone, anywhere.
As many of you may already know, Leslie Banks, a.k.a. New York Times bestselling author L. A. Banks passed away this morning after a battle with a rare form of cancer.
I had the opportunity to meet Leslie briefly at the 2009 Romantic Times Booklover's Convention. She was a warm, friendly woman who had already seen a lot of success but was still eager to help any new writer she could. She was very professional without seeming standoffish. She had a big personality without being intimidating. She was the kind of woman who immediately made you think, "That woman Gets Things Done." I am deeply saddened by this news of her early passing and even more so by the fact that her family will have to shoulder the tremendous expense of her medical bills, which her health insurance did not fully cover.
I have an extra copy of the second novel in her Crimson Moon series, BITE THE BULLET, which I will be giving away to a random commenter in the hopes that it makes you fall in love with her writing and you will purchase more of her books, thus easing her family's financial burdens. If you would like to enter, simply leave a comment on this entry by the end of the day on Friday, August 5th. Contest open to anyone, anywhere. Book info below. Feel free to cross-post.
Bite the Bullet
Sasha Trudeau considers herself a soldier first and a werewolf second. But while her secret government-sanctioned task-force faces its greatest challenge so far, Sasha faces something much more primal: the undeniable pull of the moon—and her own desires.
With rogue wolves savaging both the human and paranormal worlds, Sasha’s team of elite operatives has one job: destroy the rogues and isolate the deadly toxin that’s poisoned their blood. But the challenge is far more complicated than Sasha could have imagined. Soon she is thrust into a full-scale supernatural war for supremacy—and the only man left who Sasha can turn to might be the biggest danger to her of all. . .and in more ways than one.
Some of the snow and ice melted this weekend! We knocked icicles off our roof! Hooray! Let's give something away!
FREAK. That’s what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna’s own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.
When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.
Alchemy's all about transformation and the search for eternal life. Leave a comment by the end of the day Friday telling me what you'd do with all your extra time if you found the secret to eternal life, and I'll randomly pick one winner to receive a copy of the US edition of THE IRON WITCH. Open to anyone, anywhere.
Hey everyone, there's a great giveaway going on over at Tricia Sullivan's blog. You can win a copy of her newest book, LIGHTBORN. Dudes, I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK. Tricia is an amazing writer - super talented, lots of heart, great voice. (And just a really, really cool person.)
Lightborn, better known as 'shine', is a mind-altering technology that has revolutionised the modern world. It is the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment - beamed directly into the brain of anyone who can meet the asking price.
But in the city of Los Sombres, renegade shine has attacked the adult population, resulting in social chaos and widespread insanity in everyone past the age of puberty. The only solution has been to turn off the Field and isolate the city.
Trapped within the quarantine perimeter, fourteen-year-old Xavier just wants to find the drug that can keep his own physical maturity at bay until the army shuts down the shine. That's how he meets Roksana, mysteriously impervious to shine and devoted to helping the stricken.
As the military invades street by street, Xavier and Roksana discover that there could be hope for Los Sombres - but only if Xavier will allow a lightborn cure to enter his mind.
What he doesn't know is that the shine in question has a mind of its own ...
Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway for Marjorie Liu's A WILD LIGHT. Congrats to Kayleigh, who (according to the random number generator) won the book with her entry on my LiveJournal account.
Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway for a copy of Marjorie M. Liu's latest amazing installment in her Hunter Kiss urban fantasy series, A WILD LIGHT. My review of the book and giveaway details here.
Now I'm going to try to get some words in before a day out and about.
I posted the winner of the Carrie Jones contest over at my LiveJournal account, if anyone is interested.
And now, a Friday Five, random edition...
1. Last night? No slicing and dicing. No Absolutely Alice. *crai* But there was good, Life Stuff(tm) that was done in its place and both things shall be atoned for today.
2. I'm slowly giving up coffee. This is terrible. *crai crai crai* This week, I was on morning coffee only, tea in the afternoon. Next week, I'm going to drop a day off the morning coffee and replace it with tea. Have I mentioned how sad I am? How much I love coffee? Acid reflux, I hate you!!!!
3. I was invited to a writing group by my friend Erik . We had our first get together last Sunday and are meeting again this weekend. Very exciting! Words were made, writing talk was, um, talked, and I'm very much looking forward to our next meeting.
4. Does anyone have LEGO Rock Band? Can you please, for the love of rhinos, tell me why 99% of the songs completely suck ass? I mean srsly, ppl. Who was their target audience here???
5. Baby nephew started walking! I thought it wasn't possible for him to get any cuter...then I received a new batch of photos from my sis-in-law. Ri-diculous. We're having family portraits taken on Sunday. I hope he's in a good mood! :)
My agenda for this evening: make dinner, slice and dice WIP to holy hell, paint nails with OPI's Absolutely Alice nail polish (pictured below) in preparation for seeing Alice in Wonderland Friday night. I'm a bit preoccupied with the middle one, so I'm afraid I don't have much more to offer in the way of a smart and/or witty post. Tomorrow I'll have a winner, though!
Hey everyone! Just a quick post before I head out to work to remind you that you can enter to win a copy of CAPTIVATE by Carrie Jones *and* send treats to her dogs Tala and Scotty by checking out the contest here.
So exciting! I'd like to welcome back two very special guests: My dog Logan and Carrie Jones's dog Tala. Logan has a massive crush on Tala is very interested in Carrie's latest, fantastic, NYT bestselling release CAPTIVATE and begged for a chance to interview Tala again.
This is Logan:
This is Tala:
This is CAPTIVATE:
Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.
A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure -- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life -- and his.
Without further ado, I turn the blog over to Logan and Tala!
Logan: What was it like for you while Carrie was writing CAPTIVATE? Was it any different than when she was writing NEED?
Tala: DUDE. She was so distracted. It was all, “Revise. Revise. Revise.” I would nudge her hand while she was typing, looking for a good scratch behind the ear and it was all, “Tala. Not now.”
Logan: Terrible. Note to self: Beware sequels.
Tala: On a positive note, she would procrastinate a lot, which meant longer walks.
Logan: CAPTIVATE opens up Zara’s world to something new: Norse mythology and some guy named Odin. (Humans are so complicated.) How did that come about?
Tala: I wish I knew. I don’t understand the whole Norse mythology thing. The only gods I pay attention to are the gods of Snausages.
Logan: And Greenies. Don’t forget the Greenies gods.
Tala: I do remember her staring at the computer and shrieking, “Odin! Odin! Of course!” She then smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, which made me bark. I thought maybe Odin was a new kind of way of calling me for food. You know? Like “Oh-din-ner.” No such luck.
Logan: CAPTIVATE also introduces a new boy, Astley—a Pixie king who insists that Zara is his queen. Did Carrie name him after Rick Astley?
Tala: Yes. She did. It’s all about the Rick Roll**. He doesn’t look like the 80s pop singer though. He looks more like Chris Pine, the new Kirk on Star Trek.
Logan: Thank the Greenies gods. So, are you on Team Nick or Team Astley?
Tala: I am on Team Nick. Canines have to stick together.
Logan: Speaking of which, on page 103 of CAPTIVATE, Carrie refers to Wolverine. Everyone knows that I’m named after Wolverine. *wag* That was totally a shout out to me, wasn’t it?
Tala: Totally! That’s how much we love you. I insisted on it, actually. I was all, “We need a shout out for my main dog man, Logan.”
Logan: Aw. Big, wet, face slurpies for you! But, listen: Zara is faced with some pretty tough decisions in this book—the kind that, no matter what you decide, mean you’ll have to give up something important. Did Carrie know right from the start what Zara would do?
Tala: She knew what would happen. Zara is the type of person who would do anything for her friends, absolutely anything. She’s a hero kind of girl and there was no question.
Logan: Did Carrie ever ask you for advice?
Tala: She did not ask me for advice. My advice would have been, “Have Zara wag her tail and bark and make big puppy eyes. That always works for me.”
Logan: Me, too. Doggie superpowers rock. Speaking of superpowers, CAPTIVATE and NEED both landed on the NYT bestseller list! Congratulations!! What did you guys do to celebrate?
Tala: We danced around the kitchen and barked. We didn’t even have a party. Carrie stinks at celebrating. I was hoping for steaks at least, but nope. Someone needs to talk to that girl.
Tala: Logan, let me tell you. There is no competition. Carrie adopted Scotty, a rescue dog, and he’s always trying to be pet and the other night he peed on the Littlest Human’s fake white Christmas tree (she has it in her room because it is so kitschy) and let me tell you: I was not impressed. I barked at him because he was trying to hone in on my bed space, and he just freaked the heck out. * shakes head * He doesn’t hold a candle to you, baby.
Thanks Logan and Tala! And thanks, Carrie! Now for the contest...
I'll give away one unsigned copy of CAPTIVATE or NEED (winner's choice) to a random winner. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Additionally, for every place you cross-promote CAPTIVATE and/or this interview (e.g., your LJ, blog, website, Twitter), Logan will send a pawful of treats to Tala and Scotty. Just leave a comment in this post with a link to your cross-promotion and Tala & Scotty get treats! All comments must be left by midnight EST one week from today, Wednesday 3/3. Wanna buy CAPTIVATE? Barnes and Noble | Amazon | IndieBound **Awww yeah. The Rick Roll:
Anyway. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions on how to get more out of my day. The winner of DESTINY KILLS is boreal_owl! PM me with your address and I'll get the book in the mail next week.
Now, five things on a Friday:
1. My xmas shopping is done. I repeat: done. WHOOOOOO!
2. We're going to try a new Indian restaurant tonight. Please, Goddess of Indian Restaurants in CT, let this one understand that when I ask for my food to be spiced "white American girl mild," I mean it literally.
3. Ben and I will be volunteering at the gift wrapping table at a local bookstore for one of our favorite charities tomorrow. Last year when we did this, a good 60% of the books I wrapped were authored by Ms. Meyer. I'm betting this year will be split between her and Dan Brown. Anyone else care to wager?
4. Great news on the HIV / AIDS front (not): the Ugandan president has proposed a law that would force individuals who test positive for HIV to face the death penalty. Will this stop the spread of HIV? No. This will stop people from getting tested for HIV. Then they can just continue to pass it on to others without even realizing it. Way to go, Ugandan prez! Btw, homosexuality is already illegal there (because, of course, you can make laws about such things and that will solve the "problem") but under the new laws, gay sex = life in prison or a death sentence.
5. We watched Coraline last night. Awesome!! Loved the story, the animation, the music (LOVED the music)! A must see. Very cute with added bonus of a great message.
I have a long list of things I want/need to do and I'm convinced there's a way to wring enough time out of my days to fit them all in. I don't think it's unreasonable to want to be able to work the Day Job, write, read, scrapbook, spend time with family and friends, volunteer and blog regularly. And, okay, perhaps [activity redacted for Kaz xmas gift spoilery] occasionally.
Today, I'm doing a good job at fitting in the Day Job and volunteering. I'm doing okay with writing and spending time with family/friends. I'm trying to blog more regularly. Reading and scrapbooking? Not so much. And for the love of hippos, if I don't make quicker word count on this book soon, I'm going to implode.
I've been thinking about ways I can accomplish this. You know, things like going back to writing on my lunch hour at work, "accidentally" maiming myself at a large corporation and suing for millions so I can quit the Day Job, weaning off sleep entirely--that sort of thing.
Got any suggestions? I can use the help. Leave a comment by the end of the day Thursday, giving me a suggestion on how I could find more time in my day and I'll draw a random winner on Friday to win a copy* of Keri Arthur's DESTINY KILLS. Already read it? You can pick something else out of my not-so-limited collection.
1. My dinner. Ben's supposedly bringing Indian food home but I might die of hunger before he gets here. Srsly(tm). Teaser: (Mmmm. Channa Masala and garlic naan.)
2. Monday's interview and contest for The Eternal Kiss! Here's a hint: My Logan (dog) is interviewing 's Karen Mahoney's Logan (cat). Teaser: (There may have to be a Logan cute-off.)
3. Richelle Mead's THORN QUEEN, Book 2 in the Dark Swan series, which released this week. Teaser: (Okay, it's not really a teaser, just the cover. But you can read the first chapter on Richelle's website.)
4. RITUAL, a brand new comic illustrated by a very talented friend of mine, Shawn McCauley. Shawn will also be stopping by for an interview soon. Teaser: You'll have to click on the RITUAL link to see the cover or Shawn's link to see other samples of art. Sorry! :)
5. The next 59,603 or so words in my book. *big grin*
Teaser: A rabbit hopped lazily into view, nibbling the sparse grass that was at eye-level with my basement window. Maybe that was the answer. Did rabbits ever want for grass to eat or water to drink? Did they ache when their mothers tumbled into the bellies of wolves?
I wrote the first paragraph of the new book tonight. It felt...amazing. Terrifying and rich and normal and extraordinary. And good. Really, really good. It's been a long time--too, too long--since I've written new words and even longer since I've been in a new world with new characters. This book is new and different for me in a lot of ways and it's definitely letting me know. *wry grin* Pretty much everything I thought I understood about the way I worked has been challenged so far with this story. (Plotting? Pffft. We don't want to wait for no stinking plotting! And so on...) It was really starting to freak me out and it was such a pleasant relief to find that the writing feels just the same.
This one really feels like I've just wandered into the labyrinth (as Marjorie Liu might say) and I'm loving it as much as it's scaring me. How do your beginnings make you feel?
I'm posting this ridiculous word meter because I'm so deliriously happy to have begun, even though I've made so little progress (numerically speaking) it doesn't even register.
115 / 60000 words. 0% done!
Oh, and be sure to check back here on Monday for a very special interview and a chance to win a copy of The Eternal Kiss!
First, thanks so much to everyone who provided name suggestions. I decided on several names, each of which was THE NAME until the next one slid into my brain. :) I'm (mostly) certain the character's name is going to be Megan. So, thanks again on that. But! I need your help again! Only, this time, there will be a prize. :D
If you could never speak again (literally) and you could have ten cards with words or short phrases on them to assist you in communicating as you traveled through your life, what would your ten cards say?
This question is related to my New! Shiny! project (which, incidentally, is the Newest! Shiniest! Most Exciting! project ever) but I think it's a really interesting conversation piece and a neat way to get to know people. So, I'm genuinely curious to hear your answers as well as "research" for my new book. ;)
Leave a comment on this entry by midnight EST on Sunday, July 12th with what your cards would say and I'll pick one winner to receive a $10 iTunes gift certificate. Because, really, music is just one more way that we express ourselves and communicate with others*. This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. You don't have to list all ten words or phrases but you may not list more than ten. Please cross-post if you're so inclined.
*See what I did there? The post title is a song title that also speaks to the contest about words for which music is the prize. Heh? Heh? Get it?
Yesterday was a very important day in my career as a writer: I received my first official rejection! You may be asking yourself, "Why the hell is she writing about this publicly and why is there a happy little exclamation point at the end??" Well, here's the thing. Rejection is something every writer has to deal with, all throughout his/her career. From the evil internal editor voice that wants you to know in no uncertain terms that whatever you're working on is crap, to constructive feedback received from your critique partners, to agents and editors letting you know your work isn't for them. Rejection can take many forms and a writer who wants to be in this for the long haul needs to be ready to deal with them all.
So, when I received my first "no thank you" from an agent yesterday, I didn't freak out. I took it in stride and thought about how I had just experienced an important rite of passage. I allowed myself some time to think about the ways that rejections can be stumbling blocks: they can make us feel less confident, make us question our self worth, make us question our skill level and doubt that bright, shiny future we've been imagining for ourselves.
Then I spent more time thinking about the ways they can be stepping stones.
When I think back on the various types of rejection I've experienced in my life, most of it resulted in a better, stronger version of me somehow. Sure, the journey that began with the rejection (or, arguably long before the rejection but stick with me here) and resulted in the new! improved! me was sometimes long and painful, but the end result was almost always worth it when I look at the situation objectively and holistically. Those rejections became stepping stones on a path of growth and improvement that has brought me to the place I am today--a place I'm very, very happy to be in.
So! I'm holding a little contest to celebrate this latest stumbling block stepping stone. Leave me a comment by the end of the day Friday 5/22, telling me about a stumbling block you turned into a stepping stone and one random winner between here and my LJ will receive a hand-written letter from me on a homemade card with my thoughts on how you make the world a better place. This contest is open to anyone, anywhere. Dig deep, people. This is as much for you as it is for me. :)
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