Friends as Characters: or why I was forced to make Pierce Brosnan a vampire

Friends as Characters: what a nail-biting and horrifying fantastic idea this can be.

First where do characters come from? It’s one of those questions that writers are often asked. My own characters arrive from various places: some stroll onto the page fully-formed complete with name*, description and dialogue; others start out as bit parts or walk-ons and then suddenly demand a life of their own and a much bigger slice of the wordage; and a few take a bit of investigating before they start to form in my head.

Genny Taylor – the main character in my books – was one who took a bit of hair pulling and banging of head on desk investigating. Although I knew a lot about her before I started to write, it took me a while before I found both her and her voice. In fact it took a whole short story**; one that takes place ten years before the events in The Sweet Scent of Blood at a very traumatic time for Genny. Seeing how she reacted from another character’s point of view really helped nail Genny as a person for me.

But there are other ways to find characters for your books! [cue dramatic organ music]




One thing I’d never thought I’d do was base characters on anyone I know [winces at possible litigation and rotten tomatoes], or anyone famous, except then my arm was twisted after a chat I changed my mind. The conversation went something like this . . .

Fiona: [best writing buddy] You know I really don’t like vampires, I just can’t see what the attraction is [shudders]
Suzanne: [wondering where this conversation is going and how anyone cannot love vampires] Uh-huh.
Fiona: Although there are exceptions I s’pose, I mean Pierce Brosnan*** would make a great vamp, don’t you think?
Suzanne: [cool, hot-looking in that sophisticated older guy way and with that Bond charisma thing going on] Sure.
Fiona: Good! I’m glad that’s settled, you can make him a vampire in your book and then I can be his girlfriend.
Suzanne: [reels in shock] but you just said you don’t like vampires.
Fiona: I do if they’re Pierce Brosnan and I get to be his girlfriend.
Suzanne: You really want to be a character in my book who dates a vampire?
Fiona: [Looks determined] Of course, but only if it’s PB.
Suzanne: Oh! [Sees the end of a beautiful friendship happening.] What if you don’t like you in the book?
Fiona: He’s PB! What’s not to like. [hands over a brochure] Now here’s the dress I have to wear, it’s a Chanel.



Oh and these are the shoes [flips page briskly] they’re Christian Louboutin.


Rubies added via fictional license

And PB should have that casual look going on; you know where he’s on the beach in that film – The Thomas Crown Affair – dark tousled hair, linen shirt, jeans … [stares dreamily into distance]
Suzanne: [starts mulling over the possibilities, rubs hands] Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Some time later . . .

Spouse reading book: [wry tone] I see Fiona got herself in the book then.

Writing group: [collectively hold hands up and gasp in horror] Fiona does what!!??!!

Fiona: Brilliant - all my chums at work are waiting for your book now - they have heard that I'm in it and get practically strangled by a ruby necklace. Makes you realize who your friends are *G*

And here’s where Genny first meets Fiona in The Sweet Scent of Blood . . .

‘Not at all, Ms Taylor. I can assure you that all of our customers are very satisfied.’

I swivelled towards the woman’s voice and saw luminous grey eyes, short white-blonde hair and salon-perfect makeup.

‘I am Fiona, the proprietor of Tir na n’Og.’ Her dress was spectacular, form-fitting black silk with what looked like very expensive ruby and diamond catches holding it together. There were more rubies sewn onto her elbow-length evening gloves.

...I followed Fiona up the stairs, or rather, followed her shoes: red suede courts with four-inch heels, studded with more rubies. The ruby extravaganza made my spine crawl. Fiona had hit my radar as human, so why was she blinged up like a witch or a goblin queen?

---

More recent conversation . . .

Fiona: [discussing The Cold Kiss of Death] umm . . . Fiona doesn’t get much of a mention does she? [steely look] I hope you’re going to give her more page time in book 3?
Suzanne: [looks shifty] umm . . . I’m not sure what’s happening with Fiona in book 3—
Fiona: [points an accusing finger] you’re not going to kill her off are you? You can’t! I won’t let you!
Suzanne: [mentally resurrects Fiona] ooh, alright then . . . maybe I’ll kill PB instead [evil grin].
Fiona: [narrows eyes] you are *not* killing PB either! End of! Oh, and I've found a picture of Fiona's ruby ring, there's such a romantic story about it [sighs]





The Worlds largest and most exquisitely faceted ruby, A 23.1 carat gem, is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Gem and Mineral collection in Washington, D.C.


The dazzling diamond and ruby ring was a gift from Peter Buck, founder of the Subway Sandwich chain in honor of his late wife.

---


FYI: Part of this blog post was posted over at Karen Mahoney’s LJ where she was kind enough to have me as her guest on the 4th Sept 2008. Karen is brilliant new writer [of Urban Fantasy :- )] and her story Falling to Ash is published in The Eternal Kiss anthology – you can read the first six pages through Amazon’s ‘look inside’ feature here.

*Trivia! Walk on characters’ names are something I have an issue with; in the first draft of my book, I ended up with three characters all called Peter, and because they were such different people in my mind, I never noticed until after I’d written them in. Trouble is I still think of all three of them as Peter! So now a lot of my secondary characters start out as XXX until I can think of suitable [and different] names for them. *g*

**Currently undergoing a re-vamp :- )

***Profuse apologies to PB – it wasn’t my idea, but you really do make a fantastic vamp!

Friday Three - err . . . now Friday Five!!

Friday Three now Friday Five to check out! aka A Shameless Self-Promotion Post!

# 1 ~ My good writing buddy David Bridger is going to be a guest panellist on Litopia-After-Dark. David is an all round good guy [it's okay, he didn't pay me to say that, but he did bribe me with a mention of my book *beams*] Oh, and he's going to mention Personal Demons* by Stacia Kane**, and all sorts of other writerly goodness. So if you get a chance, go listen and cheer him on - even if he can't hear you :-)

The 45-minute live show goes out at 8pm London time (3pm EST & 12 noon PST) and you can listen here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Litopia-After-Dark

And this is where the recording will appear, two days later: http://www.litopia.com/podcast/~

# 2 ~ My other good friend Neil Ford [thank you Neil!] sent me these - The Cold Kiss of Death seen in Borders, Brighton [in pics 1 & 2] , and it looks like it might be on special offer*! Yay! So if you're in the UK and near a Borders, go get yourself a bargain. Pic 3 is in Waterstone's, Horsham, and both my books are shelved in the Horror section; not only that if you look closely, I'm sandwiched between Sunshine by Robin McKinley *Big, Big, Fan-Girl Squeee* and Richelle Mead [awesome writer]!


# 3 ~ The lovely Amber [no she didn't pay me either, but Wow! Do I owe her a big piece of the fab German Chocolate Cake in the Birthday Cake Winner's post here :-)] has reviewed The Cold Kiss of Death at ParanormalRomance.org and at her own great blog: Amberkatze's Book Blog.

Amber says . . .

'Genny is the Anita Blake of the Fae world mixed with Rachel Morgan. She is hot, independent and kicks major magical and paranormal butt . . . The series as a whole is dark, action packed and full of mystery. . . Fresh, unique and urban fantasy at its best, this is an author you need to check out if you are a lover of the genre.' Read the rest of the review here.

# 4 ~ The equally lovely Mardel has also reviewed The Cold Kiss of Death at the Rabid Reader [I'm going to need another of those scrumptious chocolate cakes - or maybe two, with her own shaker of Vampire Kiss Cocktail - just for Mardel, as she says such fantastic wonderful things *blushes*]

'Wonderfully done. I'm hoping Ms McLeod feels like writing more about Genny and her crew. I'm hoping Ms Mcleod feels like writing anything in the urban fantasy genre. She writes well, and most important of all- THE DIALOGUE IS NEVER LAME, NEVER DUMB. . . This book just flows, from beginning to end. Suzanne McLeod . . . has now joined my mental list of auto-buy writers.'

One of my favourite bits of Mardel's review is . . .

'I am usually able to read vampire books without feeling all gooey about the vampires { come on...they're dead! and usually cold, and the diet-kind of icky! } but I kind of like Malik, and Darius { the slut }, as well as the fae- Finn, and Tavish....and few others.'

I kind of like Malik, and Darius, and Finn, and Tavish too *g* They were a lot of fun to write :-) Read the rest of Mardel's review here.

# 5 ~ On Wednesday I had a quick day trip up to London, where I signed stock books at both Goldsboro Bookshop [a beautiful, specialist bookshop with some drool-worthy books] and at Forbidden Planet [OMG such a cool place for SFF books and great stuff - check out their website!]. So if you're out and about and want your own signed copy, pop in a buy one. Or both shops have signed copies to buy online.

And now back to the writing cave :-)

*My books are Urban Fantasy as opposed to Paranormal Romance [they do have some *HOT* romantic subplots *g*], but heck, so long as the shops are putting them on the shelves [and not in the gardening section LOL] and anyone interested in buying them can find them, I'm cool :-)

** Stacia's new book Demon Inside is out on the 28th July! I loved the first book and I'm so looking forward to catching up with Megan and her own personal demons: Malleus, Maleficarum and Spud! Happy Early Book Birthday, Stacia!!!

Birthday Cake Winner!

This week's contest is now closed and Random.org has drawn the following winners ...

Winner 1 = No. 87 Pam P

Pam said: I have such a sweet tooth and love cake, usually some kind of chocolate. One favorite I don't get often is German Sweet Chocolate Cake.



Congratulations Pam! You've won your choice out of the 8 books here. Please send me your choice and your snail mail details to contest [at] spellcrackers [dot] com.

Thank you to everyone for taking part and for being with me to celebrate the release of The Cold Kiss of Death : Spellcrackers.com [2] : over the weeks leading up to it. Thanks to all my new followers, it's great to have you along. A special thanks to all of you who have linked and tweeted, it is very much appreciated. And thanks to all of you for making me eat more cake than is good for me telling me your fav cakes *g*. I drooled had a lot of fun reading the comments, and I wish we could have all have had a real-life book launch party with all the wonderful cakes, and cocktails from the Strange Brew Giveaway :-).

That's the end of my celebratory giveaways for now, but I'll be posting at least a weekly blog here, and I hope to do some flying visits to other blogs, so watch this space for details as and when. I'll be in the writing cave for most of my time from now until book 3 - The Bitter Seed of Magic - is finished, so wish me luck.

Birthday Cake Giveaway

Today's the official release day for The Cold Kiss of Death, and my last celebratory giveaway. So after the fab recipes for cocktails in last week's giveaways, I hope you'll all join me in raising a glass of your favourite drink, and toast my second book's release along with a large piece of cyber cake *g*.



But it's not just my book that is released this month - over at Fangs, Fur & Fey [if you haven't already found it, it's a great site to find new authors and info about . . . Fangs, Fur & Fey in fiction *g*]. These books have their release this month too! So a big congratulations to all of the authors! Whoo Hoo!







So onto this, the last week's giveaway*. To win your choice out of the 8 books above, please leave a comment telling me your favourite cake! Right now my fav cake [and this changes on a daily basis, after all this is *cake* we're talking about ~ LOL!] is New York Cheesecake! nomnomnom!

One winner to be drawn by Random.org. Contest open to all, and ends end of day [anywhere] Thursday 23rd July 2009.

I comment = 1 entry

Please help me spread the word about The Cold Kiss of Death and the giveaways with a mention of the giveaway on your blog/live journal/myspace/facebook/twitter/etc [post the link to the mention into the comments again] and win yourself more entries into this week's giveaway :-) 1 link = 1 entry

Which means you could end up with more entries into the metaphorical hat, so what are you waiting for? Get posting and linking!! Good Luck!!

x/posted to my LJ: leave a comment here or there.

* I'm retreating to the writing cave now as the deadline for The Bitter Seed of Magic - Spellcrackers.com book 3 - is fast approaching, so I won't be around quite as often, but keep an eye out for a couple more chances to win a copy of The Cold Kiss of Death in the next few week's on some other blogs ~ details will be posted here as and when :-).

ETA: Last night I was lucky enough to have a celebratory dinner with my good friend and fellow author Alex Bell for the release of her book - Jasmyn - and Yay! Alex and her mum had made these fantastic cup cakes!



*whispers* Some of them followed me home nomnomnom

Strange Brew : Winners

This week's contest is now closed and Random.org has drawn the following winners ...

Winner 1 = No. 29 Llehn

Congratulations Llehn! You've won a copy of Strange Brew, plus a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death; and The Sweet Scent of Blood if you haven't read it. Please send me an email to contest {at} spellcrackers {dot} com with your snail mail details.

The winners of the special 'Thank you for Following' draw are

No. 102 chimera1973 - a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death
No. 81 BrigidsBlest - a copy of Strange Brew
No. 60 TinaChristopher - a copy of Dead and Gone [with thanks to Gollancz]
No. 123 shartyrant - Sir Simon Vampire Magnet
No. 35 Lexie - Samantha Witch Magnet

The following 'Thank you for Following' draw winners have won a set of two book cover magnets [The Sweet Scent of Blood & The Cold Kiss of Death]

No. 15 Everlight
No. 43 Cecile
No. 92 house_mouse88
No. 71 Lori
No. 119 pattepoilue

Congratulations and thank you to all of you. Please send me an email to contest {at} spellcrackers {dot} com with your snail mail details.

Thank you to everyone for taking part and for being with me to celebrate and for letting me know your favourite cocktails. There are some really fab recipes there; plenty to try out for lots of celebrations *g*. I had a lot of fun reading the comments and I'm sorry more of you couldn't win. Thank you again.

Remember to check back for the details of this week's contest later today!

The Cold Kiss of Death : Book Birthday!

Whooo Hooo!! Today is the day The Cold Kiss of Death officially releases*, so this is the SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION post *g*


Kimberly at Darque Reviews has given The Cold Kiss of Death a starred read!

'Ms. McLeod outdoes herself, and takes her fictional world to new levels. The Cold Kiss of Death is a refreshing escape that will keep readers glued to every page.'



Gareth over at Falcata Times says ...

'Great writing, enough sass to make [Genny] believable and above all a tale that makes us all want to visit to see the “hidden” side of this ancient city. . . making [Suzanne] perhaps Britain’s premiere Urban Fantasy Author.'

Lovevampires.com** has given The Cold Kiss of Death !

'The Cold Kiss of Death [is] an exciting and satisfyingly complex read. Throw in an imaginatively realised fantasy London with demons, sorcerers, satyrs, vampires, necromancers and a wide variety of faery beings and it’s clear that this book is a sure-fire winner for fantasy fans.'

Wow! What can I say but A BIG THANK YOU to all of them for reading my book and saying such wonderful things! I'm off to float away on Cloud Nine before my quickly expanding head gets too big to fit through the door *g*

But I'll be back later, so don't forget to come back yourselves to find out the winner of the Strange Brew giveaway; the details of this week's contest; plus the special thank you draw for those of you who have been kind enough to follow me :-)

* Available from The Book Depository with free worldwide delivery - and already received two days ago by one fantastic reader! Thank you, Mardel, I do hope you enjoy it :-)

** Lovevampires.com has a fantastic new look for their site - plenty of great books to see and read about, so why not go over and visit :-)

Gremlins Terminated!

!!!NEWS UPDATE ON THE GREMLIN FREEDOM FIGHTING LIBERATION ATTACK ON FALCATA TIMES!!!



Recent statement from Falcata Times: Just wanted to bring everyone up to speed, we've now regained control of the site from the Gremlins, thanks to Genny Taylor at Spellcrackers.com.

Check back later on Falcata Times for more news about Genny's latest adventures in The Cold Kiss of Death. . . as and when it hits!

Check out Spellcrackers.com via Genny's business card*.

Don't forget to enter this week's giveaway for a copy of Strange Brew to celebrate the official release of The Cold Kiss of Death on the 16th July, 09.

*Many thanks to Gareth at Falcata Times for the fantastic design of Genny's business card :-)

In The Wild!

Whoo Hoo! First sighting at Forbidden Planet, London - Many thanks to Neil Ford for the picture :-)







Placeholder post for pink ribbon picture

The Gremlin Freedom Fighting Liberation.

!!!BREAKING NEWS!!!

MEET THE LEADER OF THE GREMLIN FREEDOM FIGHTING LIBERATION




Want to know what's going on? Head on over to Falcata Times to catch the latest* . . .

And don't forget to enter this week's giveaway to win a copy of Strange Brew and a copy of The Cold Kiss of Death - now avialable to buy at Forbidden Planet, London and also shipping early from The Book Depository and Amazon.co.uk! Yay!

12th July ETA: I'm going to be M.I.A. again for the next couple of days [not even reachable by email so ...] . Have fun without me, and don't forget to pop on over to Falcata Times to see what else those Gremlins get up to over the next few days *g*


*Falcata Times have spoken off the record - They are hoping to have the situation under control as soon as possible - rumour has it they are calling in the experts . . . no names have been mentioned . . . yet . . . but I think we all know who the expert is going to be :-)

Strange Brew :: Giveaway

There's just over 6 days left [as I write this] - whoo hoo - until The Cold Kiss of Death :: Spellcrackers.com book 2 :: is released. And two exciting things happened today! 1. I got my author copies in the mail! WooT! and 2. The Book Depository started shipping the pre-orders for The Cold Kiss of Death! So there might still be 6 days left until the 16th July, the official date, but ... my second book could be out there in the wilds of book shops even sooner! Yay!



Which means it must be celebration time!
Cue the party poppers, the balloons and the cocktails!






And not just any cocktails, but Hallowe'en cocktails LOL!

1. Evil Spirits 2. Creepy Crawly 3. Vampire Kiss :: Recipies under the cut

In Genny's London, the local vampires have turned themselves into A-list celebs and opened the Blue Heart: a hot vampire club right in the middle of Leicester Square. The Blue Heart has its own signature cocktail - yep, you've guessed it - The Blue Heart *g*.


Extract from The Sweet Scent of Blood

The waitress indicated a tray of wide-mouthed glasses. ‘Would you like a complimentary Blue Heart cocktail? It’s a mixture of blood oranges, raspberries and blueberries.’

The glasses contained a dark red liquid that looked like tired old blood. I picked one up and gave it a tentative sniff, managing not to poke my eye out on the blue paper umbrella. ‘No alcohol?’

She shook her head. ‘We don’t serve alcohol at the Blue Heart. It’s part of our healthy living policy to prepare ourselves and our bodies for the Gift.’

‘Sounds great,’ I said, eyeing the neat punctures on her neck as I handed her the glass back, ‘but I think I’ll pass.’

Extract from In The Cold Kiss of Death

Now I stood in the Blue Heart’s foyer. I looked around with detached interest. It was Saturday night, and the place was heaving. Humans stood in long queues at the semi-circular payment booths, waiting for their entry stamps, and others waited with bulging baskets at the checkout point in the bat- and pumpkin-decorated gift shop. Yet more gathered at the Blue Artery Bar, where a dark red sludge-like smoothie swirling with toxic orange – enticingly labelled Carotid Cocktail + Scary Shot – appeared to be the hot-ticket item.

Personally I prefer my own cocktails with alcohol *g*, and my all time favourite cocktail is a Margarita! Yay! I always have at least one when I'm on holiday [okay, sometimes more than one, but hey, I'm on my hols :-)] So now onto this week's giveaway for a copy of Strange Brew, an anthology with stories from some of my favourite authors: Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and more.




Here's what and how you can win: leave a comment telling me your favourite cocktail** and the commentator drawn by Random.org will win a copy of Strange Brew, plus a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death; and The Sweet Scent of Blood if they haven't read it. Contest open to all, and ends end of day [anywhere] Wednesday 15th July 2009.

I comment = 1 entry

Follow me = 1 entry [see here for info on the extra 'thank you giveaway' for followers]

Please help me spread the word about the release of The Cold Kiss of Death and the giveaways with a mention of the giveaway on your blog/live journal/myspace/facebook/twitter/etc [post the link to the mention into the comments again] and win yourself more entries into this week's giveaway :-) 1 link = 1 entry

Which means you could end up with more entries into the metaphorical hat, so what are you waiting for? Get posting and linking!! Good Luck!!

x/posted to my LJ: leave a comment here or there.

** Cocktails can of course, be virgin - My fav is a Gentle Sea Breeze
Shake a mixture of equal measures of cranberry juice and pineapple juice, and strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Recipes under the cut

1. EVIL SPIRITS
{via Rachael Ray}
Yield: 12 cocktails


Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups vodka
Juice of 6 lemons
1 cup grenadine
Club soda, chilled


Directions:
Fill a pitcher with ice cubes. Pour in the vodka, lemon juice and grenadine and stir until chilled. Strain the mixture into martini glasses and top with club soda.


***


2. CREEPY CRAWLY
{via cocktailtimes.com}

Yield: 1 Cocktail


Ingredients:
1 oz Brandy
1 oz Blood Orange Puree*
2 oz GranGala Triple Orange Liqueur
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
Glass Garnish:
1-12 oz Bag of Dark Chocolate Chips**
1 Orange Truffle or Chocolate-Dipped Orange Slice
1 Plastic Spider (optional)


Directions:
Using 8 to 10 chocolate chips for one drink, heat in the microwave for 20 seconds until almost melted. Take chips out of the microwave and stir with a spoon until completely melted (this method creates best chocolate consistency for making the web). Place the melted chocolate in a squeeze bottle and 'draw' a spider web on the inside of the martini glass (glass can be prepared in advance**).


In a Boston shaker, add the rest of the ingredients and shake well. Pour into the decorated martini glass. Garnish with an orange truffle or chocolate dipped orange slice. Plastic spider is optional as an alternative garnish or decoration.


***


3. VAMPIRE KISS


Yield: 1 Cocktail

Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Finlandia Vodka, chilled
1.5 oz Korbel Champagne
.75 oz Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur


Directions:
Pour vodka and half of the Chambord in a martini glass, top with Champagne and pour the remaining Chambord over the back of a spoon to make it float.

Cocktail recipies taken from here with thanks.

The Naming of The Beasts : Winners

This week's contest is now closed and Random.org has drawn the following winners ...

Winner 1 = No. 58 Caffey

Congratulations Caffey! You've won your choice out of: All four of Mike Carey's Felix Castor series [generously donated by Orbit, but not including TNOTB] or your choice of one of the Felix Castor books including The Naming of The Beasts*** along with a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death or The Sweet Scent of Blood. Please send me an email to contest {at} spellcrackers {dot} com with your choices and your snail mail details.

Winner 2 = No 18 Tonya

Congratulations Tonya! You've won whichever prize Caffey doesn't choose :-) Please send me an email to contest {at} spellcrackers {dot} com with your snail mail details and I'll let you know which after Caffey has been in touch.

Thank you to everyone for taking part and for a great turnout in letting me know your favourite demon. And now I remember even more of my own favourite demons LOL! I'm sorry more of you couldn't win. I had a lot of fun reading the comments, and although the rest of life is still eating a lot of my time, I hope to get round to answering all your comments at some point. Thank you again.

Remember to check back for the details of the next contest to win Strange Brew later today!

*** To be posted out later once it is available from the printers.

Soul Fire : R. F. Long - Happy Book Birthday

Happy EBook Birthday* to Soul Fire : R. F Long!
Yay! I'm so looking forward to reading this one! After all, it's got hot faeries**!
What's not to love :-)

ETA: Visit R.F.Long's blog to enter her own celebratory giveaway for two prizes: a copy of the ebook and a beautiful enchanted acorn pendant as worn by the faeries :-) Go now! *g*


“Iron born and iron bred.

Trust not iron, it will see you dead.”

Rowan Blake could really use a magic wand to keep her struggling art gallery afloat. But the faerie key she stumbles across is far from a lucky charm. It’s a magnet for danger, and by touching it she’s unwittingly put herself in the middle of a war between the forces of light and dark. And in the arms of its rightful owner, Prince Daire.



While searching for his brother, Daire finds himself trapped in the Iron World with a mere mortal woman who ignites his passion like no other. Each stolen kiss deepens their attraction and sends him spiraling closer and closer to the edge of his inherent dark desires. Desires that act as a homing beacon for the Dark Sidhe, who are intent on forcing him to fight on their side.


The longer he lingers in her arms—and in her bed—the closer his enemies get to her door. And the greater the risk that the gateway to the Faerie Realm will shift, destroying not only his power to protect her, but his very life.





Read an excerpt from Soul Fire - Paranormal Romance Ebook

*Okay, blogger hates me, this was supposed to post automatically tomorrow, but ... umm looks like I've pressed the wrong button, so Happy Early EBook Birthday! LOL!

** Warning: Contains enchantments, danger, some very scary monsters, a trip to the dark side and hot, soul-transforming sex with an immortal prince.


BREAKING NEWS - Orbit have generously donated books 1 - 4 of Mike Carey's Felix Castor series for The Naming of The Beasts giveaway so there will now be two lucky winners. First winner chosen by Random.org gets their choice of either books 1-4 [Felix Castor] or their choice of one of the five Felix Castor books including The Naming of The Beasts along with a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death or The Sweet Scent of Blood. Whoo Hoo! Thank you to Orbit for their excellent extra prize!

Gollancz Newsletter aka shameless [blood-splattered] self-promotion

This is the latest Gollancz [my publishers] Newsletter! Not only does it feature the wonderful Charlaine Harris and True Blood and this video snippet [can't wait to see this!], but my books are in there too*! Yay! I *heart* Gollancz



And if you haven't already, don't forget to enter this week's celebratory giveaway to win your choice of Mike Carey's Felix Castor books, including his new one The Naming of the Beasts, plus a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death or The Sweet Scent of Blood.

* As if you needed reminding! LOL!

The Naming of The Beasts :: Giveaway

Only 14 days, 4 hours 14 mins and 14 seconds - whoo hoo - [as I write this] until The Cold Kiss of Death :: Spellcrackers.com book 2 :: is released. I'm so excited, it feels like I'm waiting for . . . Hallowe'en* which is a very significant date for Genny in The Cold Kiss of Death, although for her, All Hallows' Eve comes much too quickly and brings with it some terrifying and unwanted adversaries. Yep, Genny's life is full of dangerous surprises - like ghosts deciding to haunt her, vampires wanting her to paint the town red, and let's not mention the witches! So she really doesn't have an easy time of it in book 2 [although she didn't exactly have a great time in book 1 either *evil author cackle* LOL!] . Now onto this week's celebratory giveaway to help get the word out :-).




'The Naming of the Beasts' :: Mike Carey [book 5 his Felix Castor series] comes out 2nd September [which isn't a minute too soon for me :-)] Mike Carey[#1] is right there at the top with my other favourite authors and I love the Felix Castor books. They have a fantastically different take on ghosts, zombies and were-beings [not to mention demons!] Felix a.k.a. Fix is a freelance exorcist and he is such an interesting character, one who grows and changes with each book as he comes to terms with his own inner demons. Add in really cracking stories, some wonderfully elegant plotting, and prose that begs to be read over and over** . . . Oh, and Fix's occasional partner is my all time favourite kick-ass demon, Juliet [Ajulutsikael] a succubus trying to go straight, or sort of anyway *grin* . . . and so coming to the end of a Felix Castor book makes you desperate to read the next one; or failing that, turn back and start from page 1 again. You can read an extract from The Devil you Know here.





Yep, you've guessed it, I'm a total fan-girl, but you don't have to take my word for how great the Felix Castor books are, check out this review of Thicker Than Water at Falcata Times or this one at My Favourite Books. Then leave a comment here to enter the giveaway to win your choice out of the five Felix Castor books including The Naming of The Beasts*** along with a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death or The Sweet Scent of Blood.

BREAKING NEWS - Orbit have generously donated books 1 - 4 of Mike Carey's Felix Castor series for The Naming of The Beasts giveaway so there will now be two lucky winners. First winner chosen by Random.org gets their choice of either books 1-4 [Felix Castor] or their choice of one of the five Felix Castor books including The Naming of The Beasts*** along with a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death or The Sweet Scent of Blood. Whoo Hoo! Thank you to Orbit for their excellent extra prize!




So what do you have to do to win? - Just leave me a comment telling me your favourite or scariest demon from fiction, TV or film. Contest ends end of day [anywhere] Wednesday 8th July 2009.

1 comment = 1 entry

Follow me = 1 entry [see here for info on the extra' thank you giveaway' for followers]

Please help me spread the word about the release of The Cold Kiss of Death and the giveaways with a mention of the giveaway on your blog/live journal/myspace/facebook/twitter/etc [post the link to the mention into the comments again] and win yourself more entries into this week's giveaway :-) 1 link = 1 entry

Which means you could end up with more entries into the metaphorical hat, so what are you waiting for? Get posting and linking!! Good Luck!!

x/posted to my LJ: leave a comment here or there.


* The Cold Kiss of Death is set around All Hallow's Eve, so forget about the July sunshine, go and buy it now [pleeeease :-)] and give yourself an early Hallowe'en treat!
** Beautiful prose that I wish I'd written *sigh*
*** If you choose The Naming of The Beasts I'll get the book to you asap, but I currently can't guarantee it any earlier than its publication date, so unfortunately it won't arrive until September. My own book will be posted out to the winner straight away :-)

#1 - The Felix Castor books are Urban Fantasy at its best [and set in London too! Yay!] but Mike is also well known as a writer for Marvel and DC comics, as well as several other comics publishers. His works include: Batman, Hellraiser, Red Sonja, Vampirella, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, X-Men and check out the rest here!

For more info and another great contest with Mike Carey hop on over to SciFi Guys place :-)

Forthcoming Attractions + Kiss Winners!!

This week's contest is now closed and Random.org has drawn the following winners ...


121 Chris


Congratulations Chris! You've won your choice out of The Eternal Kiss & Mean Streets, plus a signed copy of either The Cold Kiss of Death, or The Sweet Scent of Blood. Please send me an email to contest {at} spellcrackers {dot} com with your choices and your snail mail details.


31 - Austenfan


241 Moira


122 Lori-Ann


95 Hagelrat


15 Dragonladych


Congratulations to all the above winners! You've won a copy of The Eternal Kiss or Mean Streets [first person to choose Mean Streets in decending order on the list will receive it, or if no one chooses it, then dragonladych will win it :-)] Please send me an email to contest {at} spellcrackers {dot} com with your choice and your snail mail details.



Thank you to everyone for taking part, there were over 250 entries with links/followers etc which is a fantastic amount and I'm sorry more of you couldn't win. Thank you also to all the authors in The Eternal Kiss who helped get news of the giveaway out into cyber space.


And a big thank you to everyone who has visited the blog/LJ/twitter in the last few days and special thanks to those of you who are now following me. I'm delighted to 'meet' you all, and I'm so enjoying reading everyones' great comments, and for your help in getting the word out about The Cold Kiss of Death. I want to answer all of you individually, but sadly 'real life' has munched big chunks out of my time *sigh* so forgive me as it will take me a while, but for now . . .

Come on in, pick a comfy seat, have some popcorn and while you're waiting for the main event, let me tell you about my forthcoming attractions ...

*Cue exciting music*

Right now [if you're quick] you could win one of 5 copies of The Eternal Kiss [its got vampires, so what's not to love *g*] plus a signed copy of The Cold Kiss of Death for the first name drawn, or a copy of Mean Streets. This giveaway ends, end of day Wednesday 1st July, anywhere - which by my careful calculations involving the current alignment of the planets and measuring the exact distance to the sun extremely unscientific and arbitrary decision means noon on 2nd July, GMT London time. The winners will be announced today at 3.30 pm [ish :-)] right here, so don't forget to check back.

'BUT WHAT'S NEXT???' shouts a heckler from the back row*

With only 2 [exciting] weeks until The Cold Kiss of Death releases ... the next giveaway - going live later today - is for your choice of a copy of one of Mike Carey's new Felix Castor books including the new one out in September - 'The Naming of the Beasts' . This one runs until 8th July, end of day anywhere.

Then with only 1 last week to go, I'm giving away some of my fav authors** in a brand new cocktail of wonderful stories - Strange Brew! Yay! This one runs from 9th July to end of 15th July, anywhere.

16th July 2009! Release Day for The Cold Kiss of Death and start of a week long vitual launch party with daily winners - for a hint about the prizes go and look at pretty covers displayed on the Fangs, Fur & Fey July releases sidebar!

Now this is where being a follower*** of my blog comes in handy :-)

All followers automatically get one entry into every giveaway, whether they comment or not [comments/links etc will of course get you more entries]. Not only that, but there will be an extra 'thank you for following me' giveaway [again automatic entry - no need for followers of the blog to do anything] on the 16th July. So what are you waiting for, come and follow me :-)

* there's always one, isn't there :-)

** Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Patricia Briggs and more! Can't wait to read this one! [actual authors not included!]

*** Not everyone has a blogger ID -

Twitter followers count - but please send me a @Suzanne_McLeod message to let me know you want to be counted in [to weed out the autobot and 'prOn' followers *sigh*]

LJ users who friend me/are friends on LJ, and who comment/have or will comment on any of my giveaway posts will be counted.

Followers on Google reader - leave me a comment to let me know you're following me or send me an email to contest [at] spellcrackers [dot] com.
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