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Saturday, December 29, 2012

2012

I hope all of you are finding a bit of peace amidst the holiday bustle. My children have been shipped off to grandparents, while my husband and I fled the country. It's been a deliciously lazy week. This is the view from our balcony:
 
 And my big decisions have mostly concerned whether to have the next margarita poolside or on the beach.
I earned this rest! Aside from a very busy year in my day job, 2012 was extremely active for publishing too. How busy? Here's a rundown of the year:

  • Equipoise was self-published
  • "Act One" appeared in Men of Steel
  • Good Bones was published
  • "Violet's Present" appeared in Dreamspinner's time travel anthology
  • "Care and Rehabilitation" appeared in Animal Magnetism
  • "Tyler Wang Has a Ball" appeared in Don't Try This at Home
  • Speechless was published
  • "A Great Miracle Happened There" appeared in Dreamspinner's holiday anthology
  • Brute was published
  • "Joys R Us" appeared in Silver's holiday anthology

But that's not all! Here's what's slated for 2013 already:
  • Venetian Masks (novel) releases in January or February
  • Night Shift (novella) releases in March or April
  • "No Place Like Home" will appear in the Snow on the Roof anthology in February

And! I've just submitted a sequel to Good Bones and I've begun a new novel, a contemporary set in a defunct mental hospital in rural California.

See? I told you I earned those margaritas!

Thank you all so much for your support and I hope 2013 is filled with peace, joy, and love!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Brute blog tour winners

Congratulations to Rush, strive4best, Juliana, and Urb, the winning commenters during the Brute blog tour. And thank you very much to all of you for visiting with me. Happy holidays to you all!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Today is your last chance to win a copy of Brute on the blog tour! Here's the list of blog entries: http://kfieldingwrites.blogspot.mx/2012/11/december-tour-giveaways-and-releases.html

Every comment gives you another chance to win!

:-)

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Almost vacation

As I prepare to drag myself and my family all over the place for the holidays, I thought I'd share two photos with you. The first one is my younger daughter working on peppermint bark (recipe in my last post).
You can tell from her expression that she takes pounding very seriously. Careful drizzling is even more crucial to her.

And this is Xena, Warrior Princess. She lives outside my office building, where she is very well-fed. Sometimes she lets people pet her. She was the inspiration for Elwood, the cat in Speechless. Xena has been blind in one eye since she showed up as a kitten, but not too long ago she actually lost that eye completely when she got into a fight with a fox. She's a pretty tough cat.
 
And I need to mention: Dreamspinner is discounting everything by 25% from now through Christmas. So stock up! I just did. :-)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Peppermint Bark


The weeks leading up to the holidays are really busy ones for me. I’m a university professor, so I’m always spending that time grading exams and term papers and dealing with all the end of the semester chaos. So although I like to bake I generally don’t have much time for it in December. This year is especially crazy because I have three new fiction releases this month, plus I’m in varying stages of working on two different textbooks.

Sleep? Sleep is for wimps.

But there is one holiday treat-making tradition I never miss: making peppermint bark with my daughters. We always make a few batches to give as gifts to teachers and neighbors. My kids love pounding the candy canes and drizzling the chocolate (the younger one’s a pro at that), I love how quick and easy the project is, and everyone loves to eat the stuff.

So here’s the recipe, which I think I adapted years ago from Martha Stewart. I recommend whipping up a batch and curling up with some bark, a beverage of your choice, and one of my new releases. J

 

Peppermint Bark

8 large candy canes

2 packages (12 oz. each) white chocolate chips

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Line an 11x17 baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the unwrapped candy canes inside a ziploc bag. Crush them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until pieces are less than 1/4 inch long. Melt white chocolate chips in medium bowl in microwave at 50%, stirring often. When chocolate is completely melted, stir in crushed candy canes and peppermint extract. Mix well. Using a spatula, spread mixture evenly in baking sheet. The mixture should cover about 3/4 of the sheet. Melt semisweet chocolate in microwave, using 50% setting and checking and stirring often. When semisweet chocolate is completely melted, use a spoon to drizzle and splatter atop white chocolate mixture. Place baking sheet in refrigerator until bark is hardened (about 30-45 minutes). Break bark into pieces (I use the point of a large knife to crack the bark). Package--or eat yourself! For best results, store in refrigerator.

 
 

Brute

by Kim Fielding

 

Brute leads a lonely life in a world where magic is commonplace. He is seven and a half feet of ugly, and of disreputable descent. No one, including Brute, expects him to be more than a laborer. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and when he is maimed while rescuing a prince, Brute’s life changes abruptly. He is summoned to serve at the palace in Tellomer as a guard for a single prisoner. It sounds easy but turns out to be the challenge of his life.

Rumors say the prisoner, Gray Leynham, is a witch and a traitor. What is certain is that he has spent years in misery: blind, chained, and rendered nearly mute by an extreme stutter. And he dreams of people’s deaths—dreams that come true.

As Brute becomes accustomed to palace life and gets to know Gray, he discovers his own worth, first as a friend and a man and then as a lover. But Brute also learns heroes sometimes face difficult choices and that doing what is right can bring danger of its own.

 

Buy links at Dreamspinner Press:




 


 

As part of the Brute Blog Tour, I am running a contest. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this entry, stating your favorite holiday treat. Please leave your email address in your comment. You can comment at multiple blog tour entries for multiple chances to win! Click here for the full list of tour stops. Winners will be chosen on December 25. One person will receive a paperback copy of Brute and another person will receive an eBook copy of Brute.
 
 
 

 

Monday, December 17, 2012

Guest blogger: Jana Denardo

Today I'm very pleased to welcome Jana Denardo as a guest.




When I started my novella, The Darkest Midnight in December, it was actually a short story aimed at Dreamspinner Press’s Advent Calendar, but it took a darker bounce. I worked it into a novella, getting the chance to research and write some of the harsher Christmas legends.

This, by no means, is indicative of my feelings for the holiday. I think the ideals of Christmas, Hanukkah and Yule, at least those dealing with the ideas of peace and love for all mankind, are wonderful, and should be practiced year-round. But for this story, I got to look at Christmas through the eyes of the Soldiers of the Sun, my four young demon hunters. Caleb, the default leader, who is partnered both within the demon hunting organization and as a lover with Agni, the most placid member of the group, who arrived in the organization via Bombay. Temple is the youngest and most boisterous of the group. He comes from a long line of demon hunters, but defected to this group from the much more repressive Knights Templar. His partner and lover is Fu Li from China.

With such a diverse group, I was able to explore all the facets of the holiday. Caleb, growing up partially in an orphanage, has less excitement than Temple. Temple, on the other hand, had a strict childhood and he still covets the things he missed out on. Li and Agni, being non-Christians, have a different perspective on the whole holiday.

Back to those darker myths I mentioned, one of the two demons the Soldiers of the Sun have to face before any more children go missing in Economy, has his roots in those myths. Some time in the last hundred years, the legend of Santa Claus was cleaned up a bit, and bad boys and girls were forced to make due with lumps of coal. In centuries prior, it was possible they’d be faced with Santa’s evil counterpart. Whippings, kidnappings, even being eaten up was on the table for ill-behaved children. Krampus, Le Père Fouettard and Zwarte Piet all fall into this category, though, given Temple’s French background, I went with the French version. I probably would have been much better behaved if I thought some guy was going to sneak into the house with a whip on Christmas Eve.

There are the more traditional gift giving and family moments in the story as well, but I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not always a “sweet fiction” author. I’m very fond of my action-adventure stories and this is definitely that, set against a background of Christmas in the Great Depression.

My love of history and folklore filled in many of the remaining blanks. I didn’t know all that much about the 1930’s, so in my writing, I had a lot more work to do for this than I did when I wrote the short story, Snowbound, for the same characters. (Snowbound appeared in Dreamspinner Press’s anthology, Necking).

It’s tricky working time for intimate encounters into a story where not only babies are going missing, but there is almost a certainty that it will continue unless Caleb and his team are able to stop the supernatural creature taking the babies and the couples.  It doesn’t work if the characters seem insensitive to the drama unfolding around them in order to make time for sex, but their own fears and concerns about surviving this dangerous assignment serves to bring them together in a more organic, holistic way.

I moved away from the Pittsburgh area years ago, but in my stories, I keep going back to that area. The city and the towns around it make for great settings, and I enjoyed putting Caleb, Temple, Agni and Li into the city’s history. For me, they are vibrant characters, and religious lore and mythology, not mention my own imagination, allow for a vast array of demons for them to fight.

At its base, the story isn’t a traditional romance. It’s definitely more action/adventure. However, both sets of couples do find time to indulge their passions. For me, some of the most romantic moments of the novella aren’t in the bedrooms, but at the times when they risk injury and death to keep their partners safe. This story gives them ample opportunity for that kind of sacrifice and at the end, there is a tender and happy moment for them all.

I wanted to say thanks for having me here on your blog today, and thanks to everyone who stopped by.
 

You can find The Darkest Midnight in December here: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2951&cPath=55_202.  ebook from Dreamspinner Press

Or


Excerpt from The Darkest Midnight in December

 

“How many babies have gone missing?” Li asked.

 

Caleb tapped the briefcase holding a stack of files given to him by General Taglioferro before they left their headquarters in Pittsburgh. “Three and several couples. The local priests and police think it’s all the work of demons.”

 

“I was too busy packing.” Temple patted the box that held his Tommy gun and ammunition. “I didn’t get a chance to check out what the Order already knows about what’s going on here.”

 

“Once again, Li, your partner was napping.” Agni leveled a look at Temple who wrinkled his nose.

 

“We’ll bring him up to date once we get there.” Li pulled his coat tighter as the truck taking them from train station to hotel lurched down the road. “I just want to know why we have to ride in the bed with the luggage.”

 

“We all wouldn’t have fit.” Caleb shrugged. “And the driver they sent didn’t want any demon hunters in the cab with him, like we’ll infect him with our ability to see the demons or something.”

 

“Idiot. Who does he think is going to save this dumb town?” Temple grumbled.

 

“I also think he wasn’t too keen on our partners.” Caleb glanced over at Agni, the Hindu’s dark skin peeking out of the scarf wound around his hooded head.

 

Temple snorted. “Big surprise. One of Father’s biggest complaints about me joining the Soldiers of the Sun and not the Knights Templar was that we welcomed all faiths, all cultures. I thought he’d go apoplectic when he found out I have a Chinese partner,” he said. The wind nearly whipped away his whispered, “Too bad he didn’t just die from it.”

 

The four demon hunters hunkered down, trying to keep out of the wind as the truck wound its way through Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The store fronts winked by with promises of Christmas treasures on offer. The holiday was only a few days away. None of them, Temple in particular, had wanted to leave home before Christmas. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t be spending the holiday holed up in their hotel, nursing demon-inflicted wounds.

 

The brick hotel looked hospitable enough from its exterior.  The truck driver was quick to help them off his truck and inside, away from him. It wasn’t an entirely new reaction. As Soldiers of the Sun, they had long since gotten used to people being wary of them. The hotel staff shunted them upstairs just as swiftly to adjoining rooms. Temple scowled at the twin metal bed frames in the room he shared with Li.

 

“These beds better be movable,” he grumbled.

 

“If you keep me awake, that adjoining door will be a pathway to your doom,” Agni warned grimly.

 

Glaring, Temple leaned against the wall. “Tell me what I missed of the report. Three missing babies?”

 

Caleb sat at the rickety desk crammed into the corner near a radiator that knocked and banged, but offered up toasty steam heat. “And several couples. No bodies have been found.”

 

“They could have been eaten,” Li pointed out. “Demons are best known for doing that.”

 

“That’s one of the reasons the Order was contacted,” Caleb replied. “We’re to meet with the local police tomorrow.”

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Pubic Shaming

It's that magical time of the year again! No, not the holidays. I mean that it's the end of the semester, when I can collect bloopers from student essays and term papers. Every one of the following sentences was written by one of my (university) students this semester. I have reproduced them verbatim for your reading enjoyment. Which is your favorite?

Also, to demonstrate that students aren't the only ones who make my head hurt, at the end you'll see a garment tag that manages two errors in one short sentence. You'll also see an assignment that I found in one of my classrooms, which shows that some intructors aren't much better than the students.


·         A victim or the people need layers.

·         Toward the end the jury finally find the accused either guilty or not guilty, and than at the end the lawyer sais a smart quote.

·         Every rule broken or every maid up law is there to be able to make the show more intense.

·         They are a tight nit group of members.

·         As of rite now it’s waiting for a new season.

·         They used litigation before carceration to the suspect.

·         For this assignment I chose to go with a classic movie from 1996 called Set it Off.

·         Jerry and the three children stayed at the house meanwhile Patty exploited of anger took her purse and the cars key and left the house.

·         After, he goes to the spot where he hood the diamond and almost faints when he sees the site in now a police station.

·         By analyzing the criminals mind it allows them to enter the criminal mind.

·         The deception of Criminal Justice was accurate in some areas.

·         They came across a job like this but they instead of helping them they told them to get there them self’s.

·         While patrolling the park they noticed a skeptical group of people dealing with drugs.

·         Clyde is suspected suspicious of the death of the two men but no evidence has been further found.

·         A constable was in charge of tides and there were also sheriffs.

·         Children and wife’s were the property of the father.

·         In the 1920,s New York City started mass usage of cars in its city and ford took the title of police cars.

·         Cameras that are presents in stores help deter crime and reduce the level of crime.

·         As previously stated, some of the countries provide a death penalty for Blasphemy while others simply give Blasphemy.

·         It was coined the term “war on drugs” by President Nixon in 1971.

·         Prohibition can be defined as a statue or order that forbids a particular action.

·         In addition to chain gangs having diminutive freedom, the first group went through “harsh disciplines and punishments”.

·         The Supreme Court of the United States took a chance to review the Eigh Amendment in a concordat ion that chain gangs definitely violate the Eigh Amendment.

·         The bad guys run rampid.

·         It was an idea so great that it was shared by many other parts of the world as well, who followed suite.

·         The offender had to wear a barrel that had wholes that were cut in the sides for the hands and head to be in.

·         The purpose of public punishment was to correct their behavior and put them to shame in pubic.

·         People had to walk with a letter such as A for mining adultery.

·         Flogging was very common. It involved the wiping of the people.

·         Burning at the stake was only used for witches and people that didn’t believe in the pope.

·         Punishment historically has been done as a method for society to formally state what the normal behaviors are because for the most part society is afraid of things.

·         Capital punishment is the last of the poplar punishments used in early criminal justice.

·         For example, woman who wore an “A” on their dresses were labeled as a Scarlette.

·         The worst time to have a death punishment is back before the 18th century, before laws.

·         This was harsh punishment because other towns did not trust wonderers that came into their town.
 
 

Friday, December 7, 2012

Just a quick reminder that the Brute Blog Tour is in full swing. Drop by and leave comments for the chance to win. Today Matthew Lang interviewed me: http://www.matthew-lang.com/

Here are all the tour stops: http://kfieldingwrites.blogspot.com/2012/11/december-tour-giveaways-and-releases.html

Also, Dec. 7 is the last day to get Equipoise on Kindle for free.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Brute is here!

Brute is available now! And to kick off the blog tour, I'm interviewed at Slashsessed. And there's a contest!
Brute at Dreamspinner
Brute at Amazon
Brute at All Romance

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Rainbow Awards cover contest

I had to share some wonderful news! The cover that the amazingly talented Anne Cain made for my novella Speechless tied for third in the Rainbow Awards cover contest! There were initially many hundreds of entries, so this is quite an accomplishment. I am so very thrilled. Not that I can take any of the credit, of course.


The other covers are gorgeous, so if you haven't peeked at the finalists yet, I encourage you to go take a look.

Friday, November 30, 2012

A Great Miracle Happened There

 
This winter, Jude Bloch can't decide what bothers him more—the crowds of people or the holiday revelry. Even meeting handsome chef Mac Appel fails to cheer him up because Jude knows the most he could hope for is a one-night stand. But one night turns into two and then more. Maybe Mac can bring some warmth into Jude's holiday season.
 
 
In the mood for a Hanukkah story with miracles and sex and pastries? Available now, only $2.99.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Next Big Thing Blog Hop

The talented Jessica Freely invited me to participate in this and it sounded like fun. I have several projects in various stages of progression, so I've decided to answer these questions about a novel that will be released in February or March.


What is the working title of your book?
Venetian Masks

Where did the idea come from for the book?

The book is set in Venice, with forays to other places in central Europe. The idea came to me last year, when I was lucky enough to live in Croatia and to spend a week in beautiful Venice.

What genre does your book fall under?

Contemporary m/m romance with a suspense twist.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?

Jeff would be a young Paul Bettany, I think, but with a California accent.
And Cleve looks a little like Raffaello Balzo, only with sleeve tattoos and an American accent:

I'd never actually heard of Raffaello Balzo before, but that link up above has some really nice photos. :-)

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?

When Jeff Dawkins is dumped by his boyfriend, he takes a solo trip to Venice, where he meets mysterious Cleve--a handsome and potentially dangerous man.

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
Dreamspinner Press will be publishing it, with a February or March release date.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Roughly one month.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre.
That's a tough one--and I don't have a good answer!

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My own travels inspired me. I love traveling and do it as much as possible. When I do travel, I like to plan, but I also am prepared to go with the flow and deal with surprises. But even I feel a little anxious when I visit someplace new, so I imagined what an overseas trip would be like for someone who'd never gone before, and who was pretty hesitant about dealing with the unexpected.

What else about your book might interest the reader?
Aside from Venice, there are scenes in Zagreb, Ljubljana, and Trieste. And a short glossary of Italian and Croatian terms!
Next week's bloggers, posting December 5:

Friday, November 23, 2012

December tour, giveaways, and releases

December is going to be a very exciting month for me, with the releases of one novel (Brute)  and two holiday-themed short stories (A Great Miracle Happened There and Joys R Us). To celebrate, I have a busy calendar of events, including a blog tour and book giveaways. Here's the calendar as it stands now; there may be additions as we go, so please check back.

I'll be giving away one e-copy and one print copy of Brute during the blog tour. To enter, just leave a comment on my post at any of the blogs below. You can enter multiple times by commenting on mutiple blogs. I'll choose winners on December 25.

I hope you can join me!


ALL MONTH: Silver Publishing Scavenger Hunt Promo

DEC 1: A Great Miracle Happened There available from Dreamspinner Press

DEC. 3: Brute available from Dreamspinner Press
              Guest interview at Slashsessed

DEC. 3 through 7: Equipoise is free in Kindle format!

DEC. 4: Guest blog with Charlie Cochet

DEC. 5: Guest blog with Cate Ashwood

DEC. 6: Guest blog with Lily Velden

DEC. 7: Guest interview with Matthew Lang

DEC. 8: Guest blog with Ana Bosch

DEC. 9: Guest blog with Anne Barwell

DEC. 10: Guest blog with Shira Anthony

DEC. 11: Guest blog with Jana Denardo
               Nice & Naughty Interview at Between the Covers

DEC. 12: Guest blog with Butterfly-O-Meter Books

DEC. 13: Joys R Us avaliable from Silver Publishing
               Guest  blog with Jacob Flores

DEC. 14: Guest blog with Augusta Li

DEC. 15: Guest interview at Spankingworld

DEC. 16: Guest blog with J.R. Loveless

Some time between Dec. 17 and Dec. 21: My post appears for Long and Short Reviews Christmas Blogfest

DEC. 17: Jana Denardo guest blogs here

DEC. 18: Guest blog with D.J. Serani

DEC. 24: Guest blog at Guys Like Romance, Too (with an extra giveaway!)

DEC. 25: Winners in Brute giveaway chosen




Wednesday, November 21, 2012

I'm so thrilled!

Wow!! Speechless made it to the final round of the Rainbow Awards cover contest, thanks to your support! This is a huge deal because there were hundreds of covers to begin with, and now we're down to the final 10. And boy, there are some gorgeous covers! Please go vote for your favorite 3 (you vote by leaving a comment).
http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org/3357238.html

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Dealing with student whining

I sort of outed myself to one of my classes today. Here's how the conversation went:

Students: [loud and assorted whining about the 15 page term paper that's due next week--which I assigned to them in August]
Me: I don't want to hear it. I've written 55,000 words in the last 20 days. That's over 100 single-spaced pages.
Female Student 1: Why?
Me: November is National Novel Writing Month. For the fourth year in a row, I'm writing a novel in a month.
Students: [various impressed noises]
Male student 1: What's your novel about?
Me: A werewolf.
Female student 2: You mean it's Twilight?
Me: No, definitely not Twilight.
Male student 2: But is your werewolf gay? Ha ha ha.
Me: As a matter of fact, yes.
Students: [surprised silence]
Pause
Male student 2: So then is your gay werewfolf like Twilight?
Me: No, mine is a architect and generally keeps his shirt on.
Students: [laughter]

Then we started talking about execution methods in ancient Egypt.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Promo



December Promo Scavenger Hunt With Free Holiday Story Book Give Away and Site Wide Discount Code Scramble


Happy holidays! Silver Publishing wants to give our fans more than 60 chances to win either a free Holiday Story from our 25 Days of Christmas Releases or for a lucky random five 20% off codes! And if you are really dedicated there is a Word Scramble included that will provide a discount for titles purchased during the last week of December!

To make it even more exciting, the authors participating may offer new and interesting content or contests of their own to help distract from the frantic pace of the holidays.

So, how does it work?

In a nutshell: Find all the snowflakes every day, email us at promotions@spsilverpublishing.comwith the author name/date for each snowflake you find, check our blog daily to see if you won and then use the pertinent snowflakes to spell out an additional discount code to use at the end of the month.

Not in a nutshell: Participants go to the following blogs every day in December and find the hidden snowflakes. There will be at least two, sometimes three snowflakes to be found among the list of facebook/blogs/websites below for our authors. The snowflake will look like a variation of this:




Find them all for the maximum amount of chances to win.

Once you find the snowflake, note the letter, number or character as well as the numerical indicator (if present) on the snowflake for the scramble. The numbered snowflakes will line up to spell out your discount code.

Email us at promotions@silverpublishing.comwith the name of the blog/website where the snowflakes were hidden on that date.

Important email format: Please put only the name of one author and the date in your subject line - for maximum chances to win, each snowflake/author found should be its own email for an increased daily chance to win.

If your email subject line includes the correct answer you will be entered into a random drawing to win the Christmas Release for the day you found the snowflake. There will be at least 2 winners per day; five days there will be 3 winners.

Winners will be notified in our new BLOG here: http://bit.ly/Wi7uyq= (bookmark this link so that you can check back each day.) If you are the winner for that day, email us with your email address and format desired to promotions@silverpublishing.comso that we can get your prize to you quickly.

Helpful hints: Some authors will have more than one snowflake during the event. But authors will only post one snowflake per day so search them all every day. Don’t leave any out for maximum chances to win.

Once you have found all the snowflakes, line up the letters, characters and numbers based on the numerical indicator (when present) to spell out our Holiday message and receive a discount code that will be active from Dec 25 – 31st.

Not every participating author has a Holiday release but you’ll want to collect the snowflake on their site for another chance to win the story being released that day. And…they might have one of the five valuable discount snowflakes we’ve hidden with your chance to win that day.

If the authors are running additional contests, take advantage for additional ways to win throughout the month.

Here is your list and GOOD LUCK!




Kim Fielding - author of Joys R Us

Link: http://bit.ly/105Kz8z



Silvia Violet - author of Needing a Little Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/XmrQIb



Elysabeth M. VaLey - author of Punishing Santa

Link: http://bit.ly/T8ECGK



Freddy MacKay - author of Snowed

Link: http://bit.ly/UMqEfI



Annabelle Jacobs - author of Snowflakes and Strangers

Link: http://bit.ly/S23OxE



Pelaam - author of Christmas Magic

Link: http://on.fb.me/Wjy5Lw



Rebecca Leigh - author of The Angel's Fall

Link: http://bit.ly/ZP8wBK



N Phillips - author of The Christmas Mix Up

Link: http://on.fb.me/108x33S



Grace Roselyn - author of The Treasure of Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/QlEWCG



Ellen Heights - author of Three Men and a Christmas Goddess

Link: http://bit.ly/XokyDJ



Mathilde Watson:

Link: http://bit.ly/U73dvb



Andi Anderson

Link: http://bit.ly/QQzKGO



Lillian Frances - author of When Love Flue In

Link: http://bit.ly/T8EYNw



Azura Ice - author of Wrapped Around Your Handlebars

Link: http://bit.ly/TQx5tz



Ashlynn Monroe - author of A Most Unexpected Gift

Link: http://bit.ly/UMrwRz



SJD Peterson

Link: http://bit.ly/TKh8mv



EM Lynley

Link: http://bit.ly/QlFDMi



Gregg A. Endless

Link: http://bit.ly/SUVXPH



Elinor Gray

Link: http://bit.ly/Xmt06v



Emma Paul

Link: http://bit.ly/105QUBM



Caitlin Ricci

Link: http://bit.ly/T8FWt6



Vona Logan

Link: http://bit.ly/U737nB



M.A. Stacie

Link: http://bit.ly/S25gA1



Dawn H. Hawkes

Link: http://bit.ly/SUWfpG



Meredith Russell

Link: http://bit.ly/QPvCae



R.J. Scott

Link: http://bit.ly/UMshK8



Lisa Worrall

Link: http://bit.ly/RKzzKe



Trillium

Link: http://bit.ly/Uyvhnv



Jessica E. Subject

Link: http://bit.ly/XQIgaW



RC Bonitz

Link: http://bit.ly/T3dRjD



Lexi Ander

Link: http://bit.ly/TQylNf



Sarah Bella

Link: http://bit.ly/Q2OBwD



William Cooper

Link: http://bit.ly/Q1QWb8



D. McEntire

Link: http://bit.ly/U0T8Ow



T. C. Archer

Link: http://bit.ly/ZPeanw



Tarah Scott

Link: http://bit.ly/S5NQ3S



The Mischief Corner

Link: http://bit.ly/WjBZnv



Lily Harlem

Link: http://bit.ly/T8sdSe



Maria MoonStar

Link: http://bit.ly/U0QJDC



S.A. Garcia

Link: http://bit.ly/Q1RgXj



Marie Ashley

Link: http://bit.ly/QlHvVl



Eve Tesoro

Link: http://bit.ly/RKyiCQ



Silver Blog

Link: http://bit.ly/Wi7uyq



Scarlet Blackwell - author of Homeless at Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/105J6z4



NJ Neilsen - author of A Moon-Runner Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/T8ETth



TN Tarrant - author of A Not So Straight Christmas

Link: http://on.fb.me/U72w5h



Karly Maddison - author of A Puppy for Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/T8rHDE



Toni Griffin - author of A Very Holland Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/QPwBXG





Cheyenne Meadows - author of Christmas with Mesa

Link: http://bit.ly/ZPfDKx



Heidi Lynn Anderson - author of Christmas Longing

Link: http://bit.ly/U0Rnkq



LM Brown - author of Someone Like You

Link: http://bit.ly/UMtXnb



Vicktor Alexander - author of Chocolate Vanilla Swirl

Link: http://bit.ly/RKyO3J



Jannie Lund - author of Clear as Glass

Link: http://bit.ly/SCpA7T



Piper Whitney - author of Fractured Heart

Link: http://bit.ly/T4jzlg



Nicole Dennis - author of 7 Days of Christmas

Link: http://bit.ly/SW7Rc6

Friday, November 16, 2012

Brute available December 3!

I am very excited to announce that my next novel, Brute, will be available in print and e-versions on December 3! I think it would make an excellent holiday gift for your m/m fantasy-loving friends (or yourself!). You can preorder from Dreamspinner Press here.

Brute leads a lonely life in a world where magic is commonplace. He is seven and a half feet of ugly, and of disreputable descent. No one, including Brute, expects him to be more than a laborer. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and when he is maimed while rescuing a prince, Brute’s life changes abruptly. He is summoned to serve at the palace in Tellomer as a guard for a single prisoner. It sounds easy but turns out to be the challenge of his life.

Rumors say the prisoner, Gray Leynham, is a witch and a traitor. What is certain is that he has spent years in misery: blind, chained, and rendered nearly mute by an extreme stutter. And he dreams of people’s deaths—dreams that come true.

As Brute becomes accustomed to palace life and gets to know Gray, he discovers his own worth, first as a friend and a man and then as a lover. But Brute also learns heroes sometimes face difficult choices and that doing what is right can bring danger of its own.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Ana Bosch on Love

Today I'm very pleased to welcome a guest: the lovely Ana Bosch. I had the pleasure of meeting her last month, and she is not only an extremely talented writer and artist, but also a really nice person. I may be slightly jealous. ;-)




Love Shouldn't Have to Cure All

Ana Bosch


To me, one of the least romantic notions in the romance genre is the idea that love cures all. This is the idea that all you have to do is love someone, and perhaps pull a few strings to trigger some sort of revelation, and your target will somehow become prime dating (or marriage) material in the span of 60,000 words.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not a fan of that trope. My problem with it isn't the fact that it's unrealistic. (If I cared that much about realism, I wouldn't be writing a series of novels about the undead.) Rather, my problem with "love cures all" is that it sucks all the spice out of formerly interesting characters, leaving behind homogenized mush. It's the perfect recipe if what you want at the end of a story is a cookie cutter Prince Charming, but sometimes a beast is more fun than a Prince Charming.

Some might think I'm unromantic for hating the idea that love cures all. For a while, I really believed that my disregard for all these romance rules made me as "cold" as my ex claimed I was when I refused to pay for his Viagra after two dates. But the more time I spent toiling over my bubbling cauldron of flawed characters, the more I came to understand why I like writing such characters, and why I hate the idea that love cures all.

The bottom line: love isn't just for perfect people. I don't think people need to be cured in order have love in their lives. And as much as I consider myself a realist—maybe even a cynic—when it comes to my own love life, perhaps it's the idealistic, romantic part of me that believes that even someone as flawed and backward as the rest of us is still worthy of being loved. Perhaps for every person, there's someone out there who knows how to challenge them to be better, without taking the reins from their hands.

When I began work on Art of Death and its sequel, Bonds of Death, I intentionally started with two characters that I thought had no business being in a relationship, and I decided that while both would grow, neither would ever be "fixed." Riley is stubborn, independent, secretive, and at times uncooperative. Westwood, an undead, has all the rough edges that come with being stripped of one's humanity. He was once a violent monster and is only partially reformed. Neither one of them is comfortable with the level of trust that's required in a romantic relationship.

I certainly wouldn't want to date either of them. But I never judge—or write—a character based on whether I'd get along with them in real life. And I know that even though Riley and Westwood are two messed-up individuals, they're right for each other. Westwood will never feel comfortable expressing his love with words, but Riley knows that words are cheap, and there's more honesty to be found in whatever is left unsaid. Riley fears intimacy and would more readily risk his life than his heart, but Westwood is grudgingly patient enough to help guard Riley’s life until his heart is ready to open on its own. Over time, they both learn how to challenge each other and navigate the resulting twists and turns.

Bonds of Death was released last month. With one more book in the works, these two characters will face some of their greatest shortcomings and grow as a result. But Riley and Westwood will always be Riley and Westwood. You can't turn a steaming cauldron of flaws into a cookie cutter Prince Charming, no matter how much you tweak the recipe. And really, why would you want to? A Prince Charming cookie will only give you cavities, but pop a few antacid pills, and a spicy bowl of Flaw Soup will keep you warm through all of winter.
 

 

 

Blurb: Bonds of Death

 

Sequel to Art of Death

Fresh out of a messy breakup, starving artist Riley Burke has found happiness with Westwood, his new undead lover—enough happiness that when his friend Porter warns him that the undead only see humans as flashy playthings, Riley looks the other way. After all, he only wants a bit of fun. It's not like he's asking Westwood to put a ring on his finger.

Once a brutal and violent criminal, Westwood now atones for his past by punishing the undead for crimes against humans. But his job doesn't make him popular with his undead brethren—and someone has a thirst for revenge.

That someone has uncovered Westwood’s weakness and is on the hunt. To withstand an attack, Westwood must bolster his strength by taking on a human worshipper. He turns to Riley, but Riley is terrified of the bond Westwood's ritual will create. He would rather risk his life pursuing Westwood's attacker than risk opening his soul to a man who doesn't respect him. But time is running out, and if Riley and Westwood can't come together, one of them might pay the ultimate price.

Monday, November 12, 2012

My long weekend

I spent a lovely weekend in Sausalito with friends. We relaxed, we ate, we shopped. I reviewed the galley proofs for Brute. Here's the view I had as I was sitting in a cafe with the galleys:
Yeah, well, that's hard to beat, isn't it? I've traveled a fair amount, but I believe that San Francisco is one of the world's most beautiful cities.

This was the view from down the street. The gull reminded me of the cover of Flux. Which is a photo I took in San Francisco, actually.

In fact, I took the Flux cover photo just a few yards from the restaurant where we had this for dessert on Saturday. Key lime flavor. Possibly the most fun dessert I've ever eaten. The waiter informed us that it's made from organic sugar, which, he said, is important because the body tastes organic sugar differently than the regular stuff. I'm skeptical. But where else in the world could you take a ferry to lunch, eat clay pot chicken as your main course, then eat organic key lime cotton candy for dessert? All with a view.  I think every meal we ate over the weekend had a water view, and 2 restaurants were on piers over the water.


And this is what my older daughter and her friend did to their hair today. While they were doing that, I was sitting in the nearby Starbucks with younger daughter, and I was finishing those galleys. Now back to NaNo!