Charlaine Harris' UK Tour - Yay!

Details* taken from Waterstones.com

An Evening with Charlaine Harris

A Touch of Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Collection

The Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BY
Tuesday, 9 March 2010, 6:30PM
Tickets £8 available from The Prince Charles Cinema in person, or box office 020 7494 3654 or www.princecharles.com

Meet the author of the bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series, filmed as TV's 'True Blood', at an exclusive London talk & signing event. Terms & conditions may apply. All details subject to change.

Further details: 020 7494 3654


Meet The Author Charlaine Harris

A Touch of Dead: A Sookie Stackhouse Collection

WATERSTONE'S NOTTINGHAM BRIDLE
Wednesday, 10 March 2010, 12:00PM - 2:00PM

Charlaine Harris, the horror virtuoso & creator of the True Blood series will be in store signing copies of her books. Please join the queue early to avoid disappointment, two books per customer only.

Further details: 0115 9484499


Meet Charlaine Harris

Grave Secret

WATERSTONE'S MANCHESTER DEANSG
Wednesday, 10 March 2010, 7:00PM

We are absolutely delighted to welcome the True Blood creator to Deansgate for her first UK signing. Please arrive early to avoid disappointment, access to the queue is on a first come first served basis.

Further details: 0161 837 3000


Yay! My ticket is booked already [for the London event]! So looking forward to this, should be a fantastic evening - is anyone else going?

*[which explains the slightly weird formatting - :-)]

Winner : Lex Trent V The Gods

And the winner of LEX TRENT VERSUS THE GODS is

Coistycat

Congratulations, Coistycat! Please send your snail mail address to contest[at]spellcrackers[dot]com (replacing [at] with @ and [dot] with . *g* ) and Lex will be on his way to you :-)

***

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway!

Happy Book Birthday Giveaway : Lex Trent versus The Gods

I've been a bad blogger recently [recently? - okay for a while now, but I have my reasons*] so to make up for it I'm doing a random giveaway to celebrate the release of . . .


A wonderful, action-packed, magical adventure about a lovable, but sneaky scoundrel, written by my good buddy and brilliant author Alex Bell. Now if you've read either of Alex's previous two books* this one's a little different [but still carries Alex's inimitable style]. You can read an extract here





Law student Lex Trent’s world is inhabited by fearsome magicians, ageing crones and a menagerie of Gods and Goddesses. And while Lex is seemingly dedicated to his legal studies he’s always enjoyed a challenge – which is why he leads a double life as the notorious cat burglar ‘The Shadowman’ who has been (luckily) evading capture for years.

But Lex’s luck is about to run out because the Goddess of Fortune has selected him to be her player in the highly dangerous Games. Losing is not an option for Lex (particularly as it so often involves dying) but can he really win each of the perilous rounds? Given that the reward for doing so is money, fame and glory – all things that Lex is quite keen on – he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he will... and he’s certainly got good experience of cheating.



Alex's previous two books - The Ninth Circle, and Jasmyn



!!!Happy Book Birthday, Alex!!!

To be entered into the giveaway, please leave a comment wishing Alex and Lex a Happy Book Birthday. Giveaway closes end of day [UK time] 10th February. Open to all.


News

I've been invited to submit a short story** to an anthology! Yay! *major happy dancing here* But happy dancing aside, it's been a few years since I've written a short, so thinking up a plot to fit in with the word count has given me some sleepless nights . . . but I think I've 'cracked' it now :-). The story will be a Spellcrackers.com job that Genny and Finn take on, and it will involve a pack of mischievous pixies, probably some dangerous vampires [since most of what Genny does involves vampires :-)], and [...deleted]. I'm really looking forward to writing it.


* Reasons: finish writing The Bitter Seed of Magic, the holidays, family stuff, day job stuff, and reading - more on the reading later hopefully

**more details once I've written the story, and had it accepted. Sorry for all the teasing :-)

New Cover - The Cold Kiss of Death

Yay! I haz the shiny new cover* for the



Thank you, Gollancz
*Happy Sigh*


*UK paperback edition due 8th July 2010

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Warmest wishes for health, happiness and all the best for 2010 to all.

Read a Story - Give dosh for GOSH

Read a funny, heartwarming story with elves, goblins, snowmen, polar bears and of course, Santa and Rudolph! [just look out for Sputnik *g*] and donate some dosh for the kids at
Great Ormond Street Hospital. GOSH

*


A Christmas Crisis

by Fiona J Mackenzie

Once every thousand years, Old Father Time travels to the North Pole. At the Grand Ceremony of the Claus, on the stroke of the millennium, he hands the famous velvet and fur trimmed robes to the next generation of Santa Claus.

Then the new Santa solemnly takes his Legend of Christmas oath, to uphold the traditions and joys of the Yuletide, to be guardian of the Christmas Grotto, and to bring happiness to all the children of the world.

But this year, Santa has a problem.

It was Christmas Eve. Silent snow drifted against the windows of Santa Claus’ great log cabin, wood fires slumbered and the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg spiced the air.

Nicholas glanced yet again at the twenty-four ticking clocks that covered the end wall of his office, but it didn’t matter which one he looked at, there was only a short time left. He paced up and down, trying to ignore the palpitations and cold sweat that chilled his skin.

It was no good. He couldn’t go through with it. He would have to cancel Christmas.

Read the rest of the story and donate** here



Now bring on the cute . . . A baby reindeer . . . Awwwww, he [or maybe she] is still waiting for his red nose *g*



More pictures of the Waverley Herd Reindeer here courtesy of the BBC


* Picture not representative of the story - A Christmas Crisis does not contain reindeer with cell phones, shades or glocks. *g*

** donations via credit cards or paypal. Story can be read without donating.

Winning Birthday Books!

Help a fellow book lover celebrate her birthday in style* with a chance to win one of these fabulous books**
over at One Book Away From Heaven.

!!!Just look at what you could win!!!

laidbare_200x300 SOULLESS-gail-carriger-634x1024

vicious circle The madness of lord ian mackenzie

the sweet scent of blood staked-Lewis


Click here to enter contest. Closes 13th December '09.

*Happy Birthday Pattepoilue!!

**I'm thrilled that Pattepoilue has named The Sweet Scent of Blood as one of her favourite reads of 2009! Yay! Thank you! *beams*

Floating Heads FTW!



Wow! I'm honoured to report that the cover* for The Cold Kiss of Death has been nominated in the 1st Annual Urban Fantasy Cover Art Awards in the 'Best Floating Head Cover' category! Yay!

Now *bats eyelashes pleadingly* anyone who wants to vote for my book can go here, or you know, if you want to vote for any of the books, that's cool too . . . there are some fab, fab covers: this one below is possibly my favourite. I loved, loved, loved the book, and now Fade Out is currently sitting on top of my TBR pile as my treat for finishing writing The Bitter Seed of Magic [I'm days away from typing 'THE END' so watch this space . . .]

Voting is open from now until 30th December '09. Plus there are prizes for voting too - check them out here :-).



Back to the writing cave now . . .

* Kudos goes to Gollancz' art department! :-)

Child of Fire : Harry Connolly

Got any good turkey leftover recipes?

Want a chance to win this book?



Check out Harry Connolly's blog


Ray Lilly is living on borrowed time. He's the driver for Annalise Powliss, a high-ranking member of the Twenty Palace Society, a group of sorcerers devoted to hunting down and executing rogue magicians. But because Ray betrayed her once, Annalise is looking for an excuse to kill him-or let someone else do the job. Unfortunately for both of them, Annalise's next mission goes wrong, leaving her critically injured. With the little magic he controls, Ray must complete her assignment alone. Not only does he have to stop a sorcerer who's sacrificing dozens of innocent lives in exchange for supernatural power, he must find-and destroy-the source of that inhuman magic.

I haven't read it yet, but it looks a fantastic read - one for the wishlist :-)

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it. Hope you had a good one.

Claudico



Via Fiona J Mackenzie:
Meet the enchanting ‘Claudico’, who is having a seriously bad day! Claudico was created by Fiona's lovely friend, Amy Furey.

Happy Hallowe'en

Happy Hallowe'en everyone - wishing you all a spooky one!



Wow! Long time no blog! In my defence, I've been working/writing hard, and have had my reasons*, so this is just a short Hallowe'en post.

~ Seeing as it's Hallowe'en, I've added a short article - Magical London - to my website on how different places in London have influenced my books, along with some interesting links. Among other things, the article talks about real myths and magic in London. Grab yourself 5 minutes and a tea/coffee/cocktail, and pop on over for a quick read :-)

~ Insert blatant self-promotion - The Cold Kiss of Death takes place in the week leading up to All Hallows' Eve so is ideal scary reading for this time of year *g*.
And for those who have a Kindle: The Sweet Scent of Blood - Spellcrackers.com 1 and The Cold Kiss of Death - Spellcrackers.com 2 - are now available.**




~ Cover Tease! I've seen an early preview of the cover for The Bitter Seed of Magic - Spellcrackers.com - and I *LOVE* it! The Gollancz art department have done a fantastic job. Sorry to tease, but I'll share as soon as I can.

~ Writing news! I'm still writing [slow writer here *sigh*] The Bitter Seed of Magic, and I'm very happy with how the story is going [on my good days - on the bad days . . . well then it all feels like everything is sooooo bad that no one will like it :-( ]

Anyway, here's a small unedited quote from The Bitter Seed of Magic - enjoy!

Bandana grinned wider. ‘You should thank me, sidhe. You tried to swallow too much magic and it was ripping you apart, if it hadn’t been for my hold on you, you would’ve have faded.’ His long ankle-length brown coat split into a cape of thin whip-like willow branches that shifted in the spring breeze. I suppressed another shudder as the sensory memory of his branches tightening around my arms and legs surfaced, then pushed Finn away as my stomach roiled and I vomited up a stream of brackish-tasting liquid.

‘Oh and I poured salted river water down your throat while you were out of it.’ I heard Bandana say happily past the noise of my own retching. ‘Didn’t want the magic to have any nasty lingering after effects.’

Sadistic bastard. I wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my denim jacket, wishing not for the first time that I’d blasted all of him into wood shavings five months ago, instead of just his appendages.



That's all for now, so Happy Hallowe'en, and may you all have a fun-filled, scary time, with more treats than tricks!

* Whinge alert! - I've had some minor health problems which have meant my RSI and carpel tunnel problems have resurfaced. I'm fine, I've got all the correct medication and various splints etc, so it's all under control. But it's meant [along with my impending Deadline of Doom - is there any other kind? *g*] that I've had to be careful about resting - so the blog has fallen by the wayside. Sorry everyone.

** Both books are also available as Ebooks here.

Friday Five

Emerges from The Writing Cave, looks around, blinks . . . thinks *it's Friday*, and blogs :-)

1. Chapters Bookstore in Dublin asked me five questions for their blog - Go check it out and read a small hint about The Bitter Seed of Magic : Spellcrackers.com #3 : Plus the blog has lots of other great posts to check out, including five questions with Sara Rees Brennan, brilliant author [and really fun person] of The Demon's Lexicon.

2. Read the first three chapters of Fire - Kristin Cashore online for free!

3. This next one is so cool! The Sweet Scent of Blood has been nominated in the 101 Best Fantasy Books. A BIG, BIG THANK YOU to whoever nominated it, the love is very much appreciated! Yay! I'm so honoured to be on the same list as some of my favourite and most admired authors. So go vote - [not for me, unless of course you want to *smiles hopefully and flutters eyelashes*] and you could win the number one book! More Yay! Voting closes September 14th.

4. The Writing Cave update - writing on The Bitter Seed of Magic is going well [if slower than I want or need with the DEADLINE Of DOOM looming . . . *bites nails* ] which is, of course, why I'm not here very much lately. I promise I'll be back more regularly once I get to THE END :-) But despite the slow going, I'm really happy with the book [unless I'm having one of those 'this is such a load of crap, days' *sighs*] New and interesting characters have appeared to surprise me [1], the usual characters are getting into hot water . . . and out again LOL! and my BFF and writing buddy who sees everything I write first has given it the big thumbs up, while nagging me for more, more! [Thank you, Fi :-)]

5. The Naming of The Beasts, the new Felix Castor book by Mike Carey is out!! Yay! I'm superexcited about this, and can't wait to read it [But in case my editor is peering over my shoulder, I want to assure her I will be saving it - along with the rest of my TBR pile - until after the DEADLINE OF DOOM is done - go here [where my editor talks about high heels and whips!!! *bites nails again* I'm a good author, truly!] for why!





Thinks *caffeine* [3] and *whips*, and scuttles back to The Writing Cave via the kettle . . .

[1]I'm sort of what Jaye Wells [4] calls a Planster when I write. I know the overall plot, I know the main characters and their motivations[2] and as I write I uncover the road my characters have to take to get to THE END. And it is that journey where the really fun bits come in, when events/characters I don't expect appear out of my subconscious and the road twists and turns in exciting and unusual ways.

[2]I always write my characters with this great advice from Kurt Vonnegut in mind - Every character should want something even if it is only a glass of water.

[3] Please note: any errorrrs or inconsissssstencies in this post are due to caffeine and sleep deprivation.

[4] My fantastic CP and awesome author - Look at her new fabulous cover for The Mage in Black This book is so, so good, even better than Red-Headed StepChild with all the wonderful characters that Jaye has created returning, plus some really fab, fab new ones - be jealous that I've already read it *evil laugh*



Sabina Kane doesn't have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, leader of the vampire race, wants her dead. So when she arrives in New York to meet her mage relatives, the reunion puts the fun in dysfunctional. Not only is mage culture completely bizarre, but everyone seems to think she's some kind of 'Chosen' who'll unite the dark races. Sabina doesn't care who chose her, she's not into destiny. But the mages aren't Sabina's only problem. In New York's Black Light District, she has run-ins with fighting demons, hostile werewolves and an opportunistic old flame. Sabina thought she'd take a bite out of the Big Apple, but it looks like it wants to bite back.
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