Cover reveal: EMBER!!!!!!

TODAY'S THE DAY! Happy Solstice to everyone!

I'm so excited to reveal the cover of Solstice Chronicles Book One--Ember's Secret. Without further ado, here she is in all her glory!

Ember only wants two things out of life: to be reunited with her sisters, and to see people come back to her café. Catering to people she never sees again, she experiences a loneliness that can’t be filled. As one of the last Whakamaku—a descendant of the Maori bird-god Tane—she has to hold on to the secrets of her tribe. Family first.

Gourmet TV personality Austin Garten, host of the popular show Back Road Eats, needs more in his life than Breadbasket America grilling. He’s tired of the safe routes, the easy and dependable foods that the Network loves to display. When his RV breaks down in Wyoming, and he learns about Kai, a Maori restaurant outside of Casper, his interest is piqued. Once he meets the proprietor, he realizes he’s wants more than just her food. He wants her.

Ember isn’t too sure. The Solstice, the Maori New Year, is fast approaching, and with the heat in her kitchen ratcheting up, she knows she can’t keep her secret for much longer. But will Austin be able to accept her? Or will her secret drive them apart?

Happy Solstice! Ember's Secret is due to arrive in February as part of Fated Desires' Gimme a Taste line. 

Let me know what you think!

New Cover Alert! Hot-Blooded - Kendall Grey

I am so excited for my friend Kendall's new book. Seriously excited. I adore both the woman and the worlds she creates, so I'm always on board to know what her crazy, demented mind has dreamed up. 

And her cover is pretty freaking awesome, too.

I guess you wanna see, huh? All right. No more waiting.

Here it is in all its glory! Created by Renee Coffey. 

Check it and see

If Robert Rodriquez (Sin City), Tony Soprano, and David Lynch (Twin Peaks) made sweet love to a Hawaiian version of The Bride (Uma Thurman's character from Quentin Tarantino'sKill Bill), the resulting spawn might look like Kendall Grey’s upcoming mystery/suspense/supernatural thriller, HOT-BLOODED.

The first installment in the Ohana series, HOT-BLOODED is set on the island of Maui and is wrapped in the light and dark watercolors of Hawaiian culture, history, and mythology. It's about guns, drugs, surfing, and tiki monsters. HOT-BLOODED tells the tale of a ballsy, half-Hawaiian angel-turned-demon, the duplicitous assassin who falls for her, and the blessings and curses of family—all wrapped up in freaky, supernatural gift paper.

Here's the description:

WARNING: HOT-BLOODED does NOT end with a happily ever after. It contains drug use and graphic sex, language, and violence. The story is intended to entertain, not to condone or glorify illegal or immoral activities. This book is unsuitable for sensitive readers and those under the age of 18.

*Written in 3rd person. Contains a massive cliffhanger and multiple POVs.

Ohana is everything…

When an accident claims her mother’s life, Keahilani Alana must take charge of her ohana (family) or risk losing what little they have. With an underage brother to care for and no education, she has few options. The door to a heavenly hellish opportunity opens when she stumbles upon a valuable secret her mother left behind on the slopes of an extinct volcano—a legacy that tempts the family with riches beyond their wildest dreams. But the secret is much bigger and more sinister than they realize. As reality unravels and exposes eerie truths about the ohana that should have remained deep under the mountain, Keahilani must either resist the call of her blood or risk being consumed by its darkness.

Blake Murphy is an assassin working to infiltrate a new Hawaiian cartel. His investigation reveals that Keahilani, the sexy surfing instructor he pegged as an informant, is much closer to the drug ring than he thought. Passion ignites between them in the bedroom, but their ironclad ties to opposing interests pit them against each other everywhere else.

When tensions reach the breaking point and her ohana is threatened, the only cure for Keahilani’s hot-blooded fury is a loaded clip with a body bag chaser.

They don’t call her Pele for nothing.

So, are you up for a steamy, violent descent into tropical-island madness with a supernatural twist? If so, you can add HOT-BLOODED to your Goodreads TBR here. The release date hasn't been announced yet, but Kendall is shooting for the end of June or early July. Stay tuned!

You can stalk Kendall on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, or her web site. 

New Release Alert! Essenced by Connie L. Smith

I AM SO EXCITED, INTERNET.

Why? Because my bffffffffffffffffffffffff's debut novel, Essenced is now live! I've had the pleasure of beta reading this one, and I love it. I hope you guys will love it too, and give her some support!

Years ago, demons were forced out of the earth’s realm by a band of supernatural fighters, banished from the place and its people in the aftermath of a horrific war. It should’ve ended there – would’ve – if not for the final demon’s fingernail snagging on the open portal. What felt like victory became only a reprieve, the winning warriors understanding that the tear would spread, and the demons – eventually – would escape exile. It was only a matter of time, and a need for future defense, a question of genetics and essences, magic and power.

Now centuries later, a new army must bind together – one of teenagers with inhuman potentials and abilities…

AJ went to bed Sunday night an average teenage girl, clumsy to a fault and athletically lacking. So when she wakes up Monday morning with super-strength, she does what any rational person would do: She goes into denial. When a smoking hot guy in a suit shows up, rambling about the end of the war and demons spilling through some kind of rift, she refuses to listen, telling herself he’s insane. Except weird things just won’t quit happening, and the guy keeps popping up in her life, trying to explain the changes suddenly happening within her. Is she crazy, or is this guy…. not so crazy after all?

Curious? You should be. You can purchase Essenced at Amazon.

About the Author:

Connie L. Smith spends far too much time with her mind wandering in fictional places. She reads too much, likes to bake, and will be forever sad that she doesn’t have fairy wings. And that she can’t swing dance. When she isn’t reading or writing, there’s a good chance she’s goofing off with her amazing, wonderful, incredible, fabulous nieces and nephew, or listening to music that is severely outdated. She has her BA from Northern Kentucky University in Speech Communication and History (she doesn’t totally get the connection either) and likes to snap photos. Oh, and she likes apples a whole big bunch.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CLSmithBooks

Blog: http://connielynnsmith.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clsmithbooks

Cover Reveal - Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller

For anybody not on the Query Tracker forums, #1 SHAME ON YOU, and #2 you are missing out on some super-amazing, incredibly talented people. One of those people, Ms. Kimberly Ann Miller ("Kimmy" on the QT forums) has landed a book deal with Spencer Hill Press, and her debut novel Triangles comes out next June. For those who don't know, Kimmy is a fantastic lady who is always ready to jump in with query help, advice, or good ol' fashioned cheerleading. We're all extremely happy to see her *finally* get her book deal.

Now, without further ado, here's Kimmy's book cover:

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong? 

In the Bermuda Triangle—a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who’s practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser’s suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she’s full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that these "alternate realities" could become permanent.

She just has to ask herself one question—how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?

Sounds great, right?

Drop Kimmy a line at her blog, on Twitter, or over at the QT forums! And add Triangles to your Goodreads to-read list.

Exciting news, everyone!

Just in case you've been hiding under a rock or not really active on Twitter, I need to fill you in on a couple of things. Number 1, guys in kilts are hot. Number 2, Cyndi Tefft's Between is a great read. Number 3, we've got an announcement for you.

Who are we?

 Well, you can read the awesome. And you can thank Lindsay Cox at http://www.violethourbr.com for creating this wonderful logo!

You see, there's a site full of above awesome going live today. If you've ever wanted to have the delicious Aiden MacRae, Between's bekilted Grim Reaper, to be your very own, you're in luck. Why?

Because there's A STORE.

SQUEE!

Now you can show off your status as one of Aiden's Angels. Coffee mugs, shirts, shot glasses...Perfect for the Grim Reaper lover in your life, just in time for Christmas!

And of course, if you haven't read Between, you need to. It's great.

It just figures that the love of Lindsey Water's life isn't alive at all, but the grim reaper, complete with a dimpled smile and Scottish accent. 

After transporting souls to heaven for the last 300 years, Aiden MacRae has all but given up on finding the one whose love will redeem him and allow him entry through the pearly gates. 

Torn between her growing attraction to Aiden and heaven's siren song, Lindsey must learn the hard way whether love really can transcend all boundaries.

And when you need another Aiden fix, check out Book 2, Hell Transporter:

Aiden MacRae has been given a new life after being stuck transporting souls to heaven for the last three hundred years. He doesn't know the culture, the times or the slang, but there is one thing he does know: he didn't come forward alone. 

The master of hell has other plans for the Scottish Highlander and has a transporter of his own to get the deed done. Will Lindsey be able to save him or get caught in the crossfire?

Cyndi Tefft lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest where the weather is overcast and rainy, much like the Highlands of Scotland. So she was right at home when she got the chance to visit Eilean Donan Castle.

A self-proclaimed Scot freak, she loved every bit about the trip to Scotland: the people, the kilts, the accents, the fish & chips, the haggis...well okay, not the haggis.

You can hang out with Cyndi on Twitter and follow her adventures at her blog.

Guess what????

I have some exciting news, peeps!!! Sometime in the next few weeks, the awesome Lucienne Diver will *hopefully* be guest posting here! Isn't that awesome???????

I haz a happeh!

Anyway, not much to report on the writing front yet. Yesterday at work we had a power outage that lasted an hour and a half. Being at a hotel during a power outage sucks. Being the one working the desk during a power outage sucks worse...  BUT my resume has now been professionally done by my awesome sister, so hopefully I will get a new job, which means:

• I won't be poor.
• I'll have contests again.
• I'll be able to mail out those things I promised 8 million years ago.
• I'll have BETTER contests.
• I'll be able to read more.
• And I'll be able to afford printing out things. Things you'll like.

SO! Keep your fingers crossed. Cuz a better job for me means awesome stuff for you ;)

UPDATE


Lucienne emailed me her guest post, so that will be going up on Thursday! Come read about Lucienne's latest exploits in the authoring world as she discusses her newest series and the strange--but entertaining--people who live in her head. Cuz we all know how that feels ;)

Woo Hoo!!!! Liar Society!!!!

All right, peeps. Feb 22 actually marked the beginning of what promises to be an exciting 2011 for debut authors. The super-awesome Leah Clifford's debut A Touch Mortal hit shelves (check out her blog here), and let me tell you, I am SO FREAKING STOKED to read this book. *Especially since I won an autographed copy via Operation Awesome.*

And in 4 days (?)....OK, on March 1st, the Roecker sisters' The Liar Society drops, and it's already receiving great reviews. And the Sisters have been kind enough to answer a few questions for me. And they also promised swag. Aww yeah.

So since it's only a few days until the Sisters Roecker, I'm going to post one of the interview questions every day, culminating on our Best Lie You Ever Told (or Wish You'd Told) Contest for swag and a copy of the book.

Here we go:

What made you decide to write together? I'm fairly certain if I tried to write with mine, I'd kill her.

We had always wanted to write a book separately, but until we got together, we couldn't make it happen. The idea of writing an entire book by ourselves seemed ridiculously overwhelming. But having someone to bounce ideas off of and fix your crap writing is absolutely golden. We wouldn't have it any other way.

All right. Check back in tomorrow for a couple more questions!

BEST. WEEKEND. EVAR!

Oh man. OK, let me start with saying that no, I didn't get a request or anything like that. I got something better.

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seven total. Seven beautiful little bundles of squeaky joy. This is Tebow.---->

At 2:43 yesterday morning Bella went into labor. Under my parents' bed. I had a freaked out Daisy in my bed not long after that, and as I staggered downstairs to get the children away from me, I heard Mom in the kitchen. "WE HAVE BABIES!" she said. I was too groggy to be excited, and then when I got back into my bed, I thought about all the things that could be wrong, because they're premature. Eventually I went back to sleep and got up around 930 or so. Immediately made a bee-line for my parents' room. And then I heard them. PUPPY NOISES! I. Love. Puppy noises. I bent down to look under the bed, and there was Bella with 3 little babies nursing away. There was a fourth that we thought was stillborn. After all, this is Bellie's first litter, and babies don't always make it. We got Bella some food and water and left her to her business.

A little while later we went to check on her, and to retrieve the little stillborn one. I was the only one who could reach him, and he was SO COLD when I touched him that it felt like he was frozen. But when I got him out, he moved his little leg! I squalled, Mom grabbed her bathrobe, and I sat with him for hours to warm him up. After a quick call to the emergency vet, Mom picked up puppy formula and a bottle. While she was gone, #4 spent the next 30 minutes sucking on my fingers (I had to try to keep him stimulated...or something). He was strong. Just not able to move around like his brothers and sister.

Mom returned. And thus, Operation Save #4 began.

After about 3 hours, #4 warmed up. He lay snuggled over my heart, wrapped in a small dishtowel, Mom's robe, and the electric throw. I couldn't stop myself from fawning all over him. It'd been so long since we'd had itty-bitties that I just fell in love with him immediately, but I was worried. What if he didn't make it? What if something was wrong with his systems and he wasn't fully developed or something?

Yeah...the marvelous thing about wee ones is that they're resilient. And this little guy is resilient as hell. He took his bottle and drank a little bit, then curled up to sleep on me. He ate about every 1.5-2 hours like clockwork. And he was LOUD. Oh my goodness, he's a loud little guy! I didn't worry about his lung development after that ;) Then he'd make cute little soft baby noises and curl up and go to sleep. We repeated this all day, until Mom got the doggie bed. I put him in there while we ate dinner, and then Precious got him out in the floor so she could 'take care of him.' Calmly, I put him back in his bed and covered him over (since he gets cold easily) and moved the bed to the chair by mine at the dining room table where Precious tried to get him again. So did Sophie. And Daisy. And Lila. Riley left him alone long enough to eat, but when I got him back on the couch with me, she gave him a bath. He was not happy.

But he tried to stand up. He moved around a lot. He's functional. He peed on me. Life is good.

Oh and his five brothers and one sister are doing great, too. So's Momma dog.

Blogging too much? NEVAR!!!!!!

I've recently been thinking about little things that happen that shape our lives or change our perspectives, partly because of my recent fixation on parallel universes and partly because of...well, you know.

I PROMISE that eventually my posts will have nothing to do with the horror thing. But it was a BIG deal. And sadly, I realized that I may never see some of those people again (translation: I'm so mad at myself for not getting a pic with Julian).

But anyway. I was thinking about my last post, and it dawned on me just how much things we do or say can affect people. I'm sure that Julian, Malcolm, and George (yeah, we're all totally on a first name basis, you know) have no idea how much they affected people when they were there over the weekend. I'm sure they felt like they were just going through the motions, doing a job, etc. They probably have some inkling of how excited people were to meet them (and/or almost passed out ;) ), but very few of us know just how far-reaching those effects actually are.

Take Nathan Bransford for instance. For a huge amount of people, his decision to leave agenting felt like losing a best friend. He's been really blogging since 2007. He's been sharing vast amounts of info with strangers for 3 years, and I doubt he realizes how many minds he's actually eased, how many spirits he's picked up, or how many writers he's helped become authors because of posts like this one.

We can choose to help or hinder, but everything we do has an impact on someone, however far-reaching that impact might be and however positive or negative it might be.

And now, I'm going to try to be productive. We'll see how that goes.