Sekrit Project, sekrit no longer - Dead But Not Forgotten.

 

Woot! Sekrit Project, sekrit no longer! *Pops Bubbly* I'm thrilled and honoured and excited to be part of this wonderful anthology. It's filled with fab stories by lots of my fav authors - just look at that stellar line-up below - and, even more exciting, the stories are all about Charlaine Harris' (one of my writerly heroes!) amazing characters from her FANG-TASTIC Sookie Stackhouse books.

My story is about Luna Garza, werebat, and I was over the moon (sorry, couldn't resist *g*) when I was asked to contribute. I adore the Sookie Stackhouse world and it was super fun* playing in one of my all time favourite author's literary sandbox. It's also been a true honour and I'm grateful to Charlaine for asking me to do so. I hope I've done both her and Luna proud. :-)


Now, if you thought it couldn't get any better, just look at that AWESOME cover by Lisa Desmini!

And here (from the press release) is that stellar line-up of fab authors and the stories they've written about Charlaine's amazing characters! This is one anthology I can't wait to hear/read! (even if I wasn't in it *g*)

Charlaine Harris' smash-hit Sookie Stackhouse series may have reached its conclusion, but the world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, lives on in this all-new collection of 15 stories. Written by a killer lineup of authors, including New York Timesbest-sellers Rachel Caine, MaryJanice Davidson, Jonathan Maberry and Seanan McGuire, and with introductions read by Charlaine herself, Dead but Not Forgotten puts your favorite characters center stage.

The stories included in Dead but Not Forgotten are:
"Nobody's Business" by Rachel Caine (featuring Kevin Pryor & Kenya Jones)
"Tyger, Tyger" by Christopher Golden (featuring Quinn)
"The Real Santa Claus" by Leigh Perry (featuring Diantha)
"Taproot" by Jeffrey J. Mariotte (featuring Andy Bellefleur)
"Knit a Sweater Out of Sky" by Seanan McGuire (featuring Amelia)
"Love Story" by Jeanne C. Stein (featuring Adele Hale Stackhouse)
"The Million-Dollar Hunt" by Jonathan Maberry (featuring Mustapha Khan)
"Borderline Dead" by Nicole Peeler (featuring Desiree Dumas)
"Extreme Makeover Vamp Edition" by Leigh Evans (featuring Bev & Todd)
"Don't Be Cruel" by Bill Crider (featuring Bubba)
"What a Dream I Had" by Nancy Holder (featuring Alcide Herveaux)
"Another Dead Fairy" by Miranda James (featuring Claude & Claudia Crane)
"The Bat-Signal" by Suzanne McLeod (featuring Luna)
"The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars" by Dana Cameron (featuring Pam Ravenscroft)
"Widower's Walk" by MaryJanice Davidson (featuring Eric Northman)

Dead But Not Forgotten is narrated by Johanna Parker, the longtime voice of the Sookie Stackhouse audiobooks, with introductions read by Charlaine Harris, and was edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner.

Dead But Not Forgotten releases on May 13, 2014 through Audible - pre-order link is here. 

There's going to be a hardcover version released on Nov. 25, 2014, too. Cover right ---> :-)

Full press release in the Wall Street Journal here. (!!! *g*)


*Also, super-scary, nerve-wracking, but ultimately a fantastic challenge! I learned a lot about my craft writing Luna's story, and among other things, I now know a lot more about bats and Louisiana than I ever did before :-D

The Problem with Promises!

Happy Book Birthday* to the fab Leigh Evans for The Problem with Promises #3 in her awesome Mystwalker series.

 

*US today, and UK on Thurs 27th Feb 

US Cover

 

I LOVE the first two Mystwalker books, and this one is even hotter (in all ways! *g*). Hedi, Trowbridge, and their friends have to fight hard for themselves and what they want, and they do! And boy does it make for a heart-pounding, exciting tale. But hey, don't take my word for it. If you haven't started this series, get to it! And if you have then you're gonna want to read  The Problem with Promises!  :-)

 

Huge congrats, Leigh! *throws confetti*

 

If you've read The Trouble with Fate #1, and The Thing with Weres #2, and want a before-read-reminder of the characters and world, then Leigh's done a great one here.

*UK title - The Thing with Wolves

NEVER MAKE A PROMISE…

Robson Trowbridge, the Alpha of Creemore and my gorgeous mate, tries to protect me, Hedi Peacock, half-fae, half-were, from all the trouble I get into. The thing is, my past is pretty messy and bad guys keep knocking down my door. Witches, thug bikers, the North American Council of Weres, dark magic fae, and even an evil wizard are all after me. The Old Mage is the only one I really care about: He has my dear twin brother captive on the other side of the Gates of Merenwyn—not cool. So my alpha love is helping me to keep my promise to free my brother…

UK Cover

YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO KEEP.

Unfortunately, everyone who helps me ends up in a heap of trouble too—including my Trowbridge. How much longer he’ll be mine? Who can say. Now, I admit I’ve had my moments as a shivering coward, hoping he will come to my brave rescue. The whole Prince Charming thing is hard to shake. But these bad guys after me mean business. You know that ‘last straw’ metaphor? That was two straws ago. It’s now or never. Again…

Leigh was born in Montreal, Quebec but now lives in Southern Ontario with her husband. She's raised two kids, mothered three dogs, and herded a few cats. Other than that, her life was fairly routine until she hit the age of 50. Some women get tattoos, Leigh decided to write a (brilliant) book. A little tardy, but then again, her Mum always said she was a late bloomer.

Check out The Problem with Promises blog tour here!

Find Leigh:
Website: http://www.leighevans.com/

Happy Book Birthdays!

Happy Book Birthday to two fabulous books by my awesome writerly friends!

Queen of Nowhere (Hidden Empire #5) by Jaine Fenn 

When paranoia is a way of life, trust doesn't come easily. The Sidhe look like us. They live amongst us. What they lack in numbers they make up with their fearsome mental abilities and the considerable physical resources at their disposal. And their biggest advantage? No one believes they exist. 

Almost no one.

Bez, the best hacker in human-space, is fighting a secret war against them. Always one step ahead, never lingering in one place, she's determined to bring them down. But she can't expose the Hidden Empire alone and when the only ally she trusted fails her she must accept help from an unexpected quarter.

Just one misstep, one incorrect assumption, and her Sidhe trap - her life's work - could end in vicious disaster. Worse, if Bez fails then humanity may never have another chance to win free of the manipulative and deadly Sidhe . . .

***
The Trouble with Fate (Mystwalker #1) (UK Edition) by Leigh Evans

WHAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW MIGHT KILL HER: Hedi looks normal. Yet that’s taken effort. Her fellow Starbucks baristas don't see her pointed ears, fae amulet or her dark past, and normal is hard for a half-fae, half-werewolf on the run. Hedi’s life changed ten years ago, when her parents were murdered by unknown assassins. She’s been in hiding with her loopy aunt Lou since, as whatever they wanted she’s determined they won’t get it. 

Things change when wolves capture Lou, forcing Hedi to steal to free her – for if she can offer up a fae amulet like her own they may trade. But it belongs to a rogue werewolf named Robson Trowbridge, who betrayed Hedi on the night of her greatest need. Over forty-eight hours, Hedi will face the weres of Creemore, discover the extent of her fae powers and possibly break her own heart in the process.

Top Ten Vamps, Best Books of 2012, and Future Reading!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday, however you celebrated. Ours was quiet with the family, and Bella the Hound. As you can see she loved her squeaky reindeer, even falling asleep still clutching it; she's such a puppy :-D

I've also been around the internet (despite being quiet in some areas :-))

I'm over at the fab Nudge on Book Geek with my Top Ten Vampires. (And I was good and don't talk about Malik, though, of course, he is my Numero Uno Fang Guy *g*) Bet you can't guess who I chose as my substitute #1?

I'm here at the awesome Wicked Lil Pixie for her 31 Days of Xmas. Find out about my fav holiday food, the weirdest thing I collect (not that weird :-)), and my fav books of 2012. And there's a GIVEAWAY (Int: winner's choice of one of my books)! And there are loads of other fab authors in the event, with giveaways too!

The lovely Melliane at Between Dreams and Reality has both The Bitter Seed of Magic and The Shifting Price of Prey on her Best of 2012 list! *blushes* Huge thanks, Melliane! Plus she's having a GIVEAWAY (Int: winner's choice of any of the books on her list, and there are lots of AWESOME books on the list, so why not check it out?

And wonderful Ellie at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm has The Sweet Scent of Blood on her Best of 2012 list, in some fabulous company. *blushes again* Thanks so much, Ellie!

As for my own Best Books of 2012 - they're all here on my Goodreads. Most are next books in my fav series, or by Authors I Love, and a few are by new, or new-to-me authors that I'll mention here. (Note to self: read more new authors).

The Trouble with Fate by awesome Leigh Evans (out now in the US and releases Jan 3rd in the UK).

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering, until a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet.

I was lucky enough to get an early read of this fab book! Hedi, the heroine is a likeable, light-fingered heroine with smarts; Bridge is a tough, sexy hero with troubles; and there's a glimpse into a fascinating fae world that will have you howling for the next book. I loved it and can't wait for the next one!

***

Elsewhere, Midnight Girl, and Nevernever by Will Shetterly. These are linked novels of the Borderland series, set in Bordertown - A hybrid community of misfits, oddballs and runaways. Where humans, elves and halflings co-exist. Where magic and the brutal realities of survival clash and mix. 

One of my all time fav books is War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. Reading that lead me to Finder, her novel set in the Borderlands (which has some of the same characters as Will's novels) which is another love. As soon as I read it I wanted more of the Borderlands world, but this was in the olden times when the print books were hard to get hold of here in the UK, before the Rise of the eBook! But now Will's Borderland books (and others) are on Kindle (which is my current e-reader of choice, but not the only one available :-)). #VeryHappyReader

ETA: Books read this year 70+
Currently reading: The wonderful A Tangle of Magicks by Stephanie Burgis - LOVE
***
And here's two books that I'm hugely looking forward to reading in 2013.

Between by Kerry Schafer - out Jan 29 US, and UK (I think)

Vivian Maylor can’t sleep. Maybe it’s because she just broke up with her boyfriend and moved to a new town, or it could be the stress of her new job at the hospital. But perhaps it’s because her dreams have started to bleed through into her waking hours. All of her life Vivian has rejected her mother’s insane ramblings about Dreamworlds for concrete science and fact, until an emergency room patient ranting about dragons spontaneously combusts before her eyes—forcing Viv to consider the idea that her visions of mythical beasts might be real. And when a chance encounter leads her to a man she knows only from her dreams, Vivian finds herself falling into a world that seems strange and familiar all at once—a world where the line between dream and reality is hard to determine, and hard to control…

***
Seven Kinds of Hell (Fangborn series #1) by Dana Cameron - out March 12 US, and UK.

Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself. Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She’s a werewolf and a daughter of the “Fangborn,” a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil. To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.

***

Me, Mr Mc and Bella are celebrating Hogmanay with shortbread and a wee dram, as always. Hope everyone enjoys their own New Year celebrations and wishing you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2013!

Sláinte!
 See you next year!

The Next Big Thing Meme

I've been tagged in The Next Big Thing Meme by the lovely Helen Hollick who writes wonderful historical fiction and (Hawt) pirate-based adventures. And since I'm so lucky (eek, sorry for the Kylie earworm . . .), I've also been tagged by the amazing Sarah Pinborough who writes fabulous supernatural stories, fantastic films, and awesome TV stuff (very precise, I know, so check out her website for details :-D)

So, what's the meme about, I hear you ask!
(I have very good hearing ;p)

Well, you're so lucky (cue Kylie again!), because it's all questions about ME!


What is the title of your next book? 
The Hidden Rune of Iron. It’s the fifth book in my Spellcrackers.com series and this one sees Genny Taylor, the main character of the books, looking for an Iron Rune (unsurprisingly, given the title :-D) for more than one reason (no spoilers here!), but the main one is she needs to find the Rune to help her friends.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
It comes from where Genny's story needs to go next after The Shifting Price of Prey. Each of the Spellcrackers books have a complete story that sees Genny dealing with a problem and a ‘baddie’, and with Genny coming up with a way to kill, err, sorry, deal with both the problem and the ‘baddie’. But the series as a whole has an overarching plot that moves on towards a point where Genny will be [redacted for spoiler *g*].  And The Hidden Rune of Iron is the next story towards that point :-D
(Yep, I know, I haven't really told you anything . . . what did you expect? Oh, and baddies aren’t necessarily bad, well, not in their own eyes, anyway. Plus, yesterday's baddie could always be tomorrow’s hero, who can tell . . . other than the author, obviously. Yep, I’m messing with you. *winks*)

What genre does your book fall under?
Urban fantasy.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Hmm, I don't usually picture actors when I write characters and, even when I look for ones that might fit, my internal image of them changes day to day, but here are today's possibles:

Genny – Cassidy Freeman (Sage who made Damon (Woot!) in The Vampire Diaries).

Malik – Jon Foo an English actor and martial artist who starred in Tekken.

Finn – Jensen Ackles (with longer hair, and horns - oops, where did they come from, as here).

Tavish – Ryan Gentles (if he was slightly greener *g*)





Pictures all sourced from the actors' pages on IMDb with thanks.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Genny has to travel to find The Hidden Rune of Iron in order to save her fae friends. (I could say more but, you know, spoilers!)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will be published by Gollancz.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m still writing it but hoping to finish it soon . . .

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Can I say my own? Well, I have now, so . . . if you like the other Spellcrackers books, then I think you’ll love this one (*hints* lots of page time for a certain vamp . . . *g*)

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
My love of all things vamp and fae, and I wanted to find out what happens next with Genny and Co. :-D

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?
Genny’s going to be coming up against some characters who appeared briefly in previous books, some of whom she gets to know better, and some she doesn't want to *insert evil author cackle*, along with some brand new characters and, of course, she’s going to have to deal with the fallout from The Shifting Price of Prey. Dum dum dum DUM!

And that's enough about me, so here are the other authors tagged by Sarah (first 3) and Helen in their own words (copy and paste is a wonderful thing :-D).

Bill Hussey is an awesome YA author whose grisly Witchfinder series is well worth reading! Kids everywhere love it – adults too. Strange that someone so chirpy can write the death of children so well. That’s probably why I like him.
Jonathan Green is a prolific fiction and non-fiction writer who has covered a range of styles and genres in his time. He’s a steampunk king and a disco diva. I heart him.
Alexandra Sokoloff is a kick ass writer who grabbed my attention with her first novel The Harrowing, and we have been firm friends ever since. She’s blonde and mental in all the best ways. What’s not to like?;-)
Debbie Young : Her new book is Sell Your Book - hints and tips for new writers on how to get your book noticed
David Ebsworth : His novel Jacobites' Apprentice was nominated UK Indie Editor's Choice for the Historical Novel Society Indie Review
Richard Denning : Historical Adventure and Fantasy writer for young adults
Beachy Books : Excellent interactive books for young children - ideal Christmas Gifts!


And here are the lovely authors I've tagged to tell you about their Next Big Thing on the 21st Nov!


Tom Lloyd
Tom's a great pal who writes the epic and glorious Twilight Reign fantasy series, about Isak, a white-eye, who's born bigger, more charismatic and more powerful than normal men… but with that power comes an unpredictable temper and an inner rage.(You can bet there are fireworks, and battles, and all sorts of bloody, gory stuff in these books *g*)

Leigh Evans
My lovely Canadian friend Leigh writes the awesome Mystwalker urban fantasy series about Hedi Peacock. Her first book - The Trouble with Fate - is out at Christmas (US) and New Year (UK). I've read it! It's brilliant! You'll want to read it too!:-D

Elspeth Cooper
The wonderful Elspeth writes the superb fantasy, The Wild Hunt Quartet, with witches, church knights, the Hidden Kingdom, and the Songs of the Earth in which novice Knight Gair can hear music no one else can, beautiful, terrible music: music with power. (And you can bet that doesn't go well for him *g*)

And I tagged Samit Basu, writer of superheroes (such a great writer, damn him!), but someone else nabbed him first! *curses*. His Next Big Thing meme is here!

My thanks to Helen and Sarah for Tagging me.