Rituals, Interview and Giveaway!

Just a quickie post as I'm in packing and panic mode for leaving early in the morning to go to Tallinn! Eek! Getting ready to go away always stresses me out, however much I try not to let it; I'm always worried about forgetting things, and fitting it all in to the smallest bag possible, and not taking too much, and . . . well, you get the idea *sigh*.

So, I'm interviewed at the fantastic Over The Edge Book Reviews where I reveal something about my latest writing preparation ritual which might surprise you . . . *looks innocent* *g*

And there's a chance for two lucky folk to win a copy of The Cold Kiss of Death! If you've already got your own copy, you can always give it as a gift :-D So why not head on over there and check it out! Closes May 29, 2011.

Where I'm going tomorrow . . .

. . . is the HeadRead Literary Festival in Tallinn, Estonia! I'm superexcited about this as it's my first literary festival as a Guest! Yay! Huge thanks to the HeadRead organisers for the wonderful invitation.

So, I'll be around at the Festival (I'm not sure all of what's planned) but on Saturday 28 May at 12.00 the lovely Sash Uusjärv will be grilling me mercilessly interviewing me about my books, at the Estonian Writers' Union, Harju 1, Estonia. If you're around that way, then please, feel free to come and heckle listen :-D

Another reason I'm over the moon, is I've never been to Tallinn, and it looks an awesome amazing place to visit. The Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn is a UNESCO World Heritage Site*. And this year, Tallin is also the European Capital of Culture! Totally unsuprising when you look at this gorgeous aerial view of the Town Wall and St. Olav's Church. (courtesy of Tallinn City Tourist Office and Convention Bureau © Toomas Volmer)

click to embiggen

The third superexciting part of the Festival is VERE MAGUS LÕHN (a.k.a. The Sweet Scent of Blood) is being published by Varrak! *Mega Happy Dancing* And look at the fabulous cover! Huge thanks and kudos to Varrak and their fantastic Cover Gods!

Now, of course, I'm taking my laptop, after all, I'm still on the Deadline of Doom (TM) for book 4 - The Shifting Price of Prey,so I need to keep to my daily word count. And I plan* on taking lots of pictures, but I'm not sure what sort of internet availability I'll have, so if I'm even quieter than usual (re: Deadline of Doom) that's the reason!

* Of course, the Tower of London is a UNESCO World Heritage Site too - and coincidentally features in The Bitter Seed of Magic which is available with free worldwide delivery from The Book Depository!  #shamelessbookplug!!! *g*
* I always plan on taking lots of pictures, but it doesn't always work out that way - hopefully this time will be different! *fingers crossed*

Spellcracking Radio! Live!

I've been a bit quiet here, but not so much in other places *g*

I did my first live radio interview last Wednesday, for Southside Broadcasting on Siren, with the fab Alex Lewczuk, and if you're so inclined you can listen to it here. :-D

ETA: Now fixed! (Though I still haven't listened to more than the first couple of mins - #stillascaredycat )

It's about 15 mins long, and I'm still debating whether to listen to it myself *has palpitations*. I was really nervous, so hopefully I don't sound too much like a doofus, though to be honest, my mind always blanks things like this out (self-protection FTW!). Though, I do vaguely remember talking about who I'd cast as Genny in a movie (clue below!), so maybe I sounded okay . . .

Also the wonderful Gill Appleton along with Southside Broadcasting chose The Cold Kiss of Death as their Book of the Month! Which is all sorts of AWESOME! Huge thanks to Gill, Alex and Southside Broadcasting! You can listen to what Gill and Alex thought about it here.!

(They liked it, even it it was a bit gory in places  *g*) (The podbean is about 30 mins long, and the discussion stops in the middle for a couple of mins adverts, then carries on after.)

The Owl and the Pussycat!

I'm hard at work in the Writing Cave, so no real post here, but this made me smile . . . :-D

Signing Notes, Cupcakes and Winner: Magic Slays

So the signing on Sunday with Ben Aaronovitch! I had a fantastic time, the staff at Waterstone's Covent Garden were extremely well organised and corralled us in the window display so we couldn't escape had everything all set up for us: Sharpies, tea (me), diet coke (Ben), table, chairs, and of course, the most important, plenty of wonderful books* ready to sign for willing victims bribed with sweeties happy readers!

Here's Ben and I showing off our books! Please note I have one more than Ben . . . *gets competitive*, though Ben's photographic stance is much more practiced than mine; you can see both his books in full, and read the titles! (I was going for the artistic effect! Note to self: stick with plain and simple in future! *g*)

Thanks to Neil C Ford for the picture

Ben is a pleasure to sign with, and a very witty guy (though, if you've read his books, you'll already know that :-D) - and despite my rabid jealousy over him being a Sunday Times Bestselling Author, signing more books than me, and my frequent threats to summarily despatch him to the fiery pits of author hell with one of my Spellcrackers pencils much chat and fun was had by all. It was brilliant to see some familiar faces - *waves* at Neil, Michelle, Liz, Mark, Marc, and others (you know who you are :-)), and exciting to meet lovely new readers! Thanks so much to all of you for coming, and thanks to Waterstone's for being wonderful bookshop hosts!

And a huge thank you to the awesome Jackie, (visit her website to see more Fabulous Cakes she's made!) who is an absolute star and made us these super scrumptious cupcakes for us! With miniature copies of our actual books as decorations! Wow!!! Jackie, You Rock, Lady!!

Click to embiggen and see the cupcake fabulousness in all its glorious detail.

A close up!

*I know I'm being shameless here, calling my own books wonderful, though Ben had books there too, and his really are wonderful :-D

Giveaway!

Awesome Author Carolyn Crane has a giveaway where you can win your choice of some fabulous books (inc.The Sweet Scent of Blood or The Cold Kiss of Death! Yay!) so why not hop on over and enter! (Int. Ends May 14th)

Winner of Magic Slays

Thanks to everyone who left comments about their favourite part of a wedding - some of you even shared my enjoyment of the cake, toast and bubbly bit *g*

And now for the winner of  Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, Book 5) UK by Ilona Andrews!

Random.org has spoken . . .

and the winner is

Deb

Who said...

When my aunt got married, an orange tabby cat jumped on the train of her dress and played with the flowers that the flower-girl dropped. We always joke around that the cat was trying to steal the bride because she was so pretty. :D

I think my favorite part of weddings (at least in this case) is the infectious laughter. Everyone is happy and smiling. The little things that make a wedding unique really bring out the joy of the occasion. 

Congratulations Deb! An email is on its way to you!

What's Happening Next!

Thanks again to everyone for entering this giveaway, and all the other celebratory giveaways! (And especially for buying my new books!) I hope you all had fun, and look out for more some time in the future! Until then, normal blogging will be resumed, which translates as - The Deadline of Doom is Looming, so I'm chained to my laptop in the Writing Cave, so posting will hopefully be weekly, but is likely to be a bit more intermittent than that, while I spend time torturing my characters in order to fully live up to my Evil Author persona. *g*

Signing + Puppets + New Russian Cover

This Sunday, 8th May, Ben Aaronovitch and I will be signing at Waterstone's, Covent Garden between 2 pm and 4 pm. So if you're out and about in the vicinity, then please, do come and say hello! We won't bite, honest :-D.

I'm happy to sign any of my books, or anything else (within reason *g*), so no need to buy new, unless of course, you've got friends you think might enjoy either of our books *hints* :-D. But feel free to buy other authors' books if you see anything you like (hey, it's a bookshop, there's always going to be lots that look great!) and help keep our bookshops thriving :-).

Ben is the author of the fabulous Rivers of London(Midnight Riot in the US) and Moon Over Soho(both out now in the UK and US), featuring Detective Constable Peter Grant. Ben did a mouth watering guest post here on the blog not so long ago where he talks about The Gumbo School of Writing!

Facebook event page here.

And if you needed any more incentive to come, the wonderful Puppet Fayre is on in Covent Garden :-).

***

COVER NEWS!

Here's the awesome Russian cover for The Cold Kiss of Death a.k.a. Холодный поцелуй смерти.  Isn't it gorgeous? *Bounces* I'm not entirely sure what date the book actually releases, but hopefully soon!

With grateful thanks to the cover gods at Azbooka. I absolutely love the cool blue colour, and the background, and the bats*! Yay! I've been so lucky with new covers recently, and this one is going to look freaking fabulous next to The Sweet Scent of Blood, as you can see . . . *g*

WIN BOOKS HERE!

And just a quick reminder that this week's celebratory giveaway is for A story about Magical Apples and how they bring two lovers together: Magic Slays (Kate Daniels, Book 5) by Ilona Andrews! Giveaway is international and ends 9th May, so there's plenty of time still to enter!

Plus the marvellous Mardel over at Rabid Reader has a giveaway for The Cold Kiss of Death until the 6th May! (Int) So why not head on over and enter; even if you've read, it'll make a great gift for a friend, if you win *g*

*Yes, I know there are no bats in my books  . . . yet! *teases*