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

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
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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.

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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!