Six Things Make a Post!

So the US edition of  The Cold Kiss of Death released yesterday! Yay! And there's a couple of places below where you could win a copy - and even if you've already read it (Thank you!), then why not enter anyway . . . you could always gift the book to friend if you win! (Books are always my favourite gifts, along with chocolate, of course *g*)

1. I'm interviewed at The Qwillery - head on over to find out about my strange writing quirks (involves hopping!) + there's a giveaway for one lucky commentator for The Sweet Scent of Bloodand The Cold Kiss of Death. (Int. Ends May 4). The Qwillery also reviewed The Cold Kiss of Death here (She liked it! Woot! *g*)

2. The wonderful Mardel over at Rabid Reader is holding a Book Birthday giveaway for winner's choice of The Sweet Scent of Blood or The Cold Kiss of Death. (Int. Ends May 6)

3. I had a brilliant, albeit short time* at Eastercon over the weekend! It was great to see old, and new friends, and meet some fab folk in RL that I've only e-met before. Sadly, because of my short time there, I missed meeting up with lots more folk, and only managed to get to one panel (Combative women in SF & F - which I thoroughly enjoyed). So I now have a plan for next year to make sure I go for longer!

My reading* went well (in spite of me never having read to anyone other than my crit group before). I read about half of 'Full-Scale Demolition' which is the prequel Spellcrackers short story that will be in the Home Improvement: Undead Editionanthology out in August.I think I only fluffed it a couple of times! Sorry, folks! And our audience were kind enough to applaud! Thank you to all who were there :-). I read with Dan Abnett (who writes some very cool, and funny science fiction). There's another pic of me over at Warpcoresf.

picture courtesy of Amanda at Floor to Ceiling Books

4. Is a reminder for the week's celebratory giveaway for Jennifer Estep's Tangled Threads (or winner's choice of an earlier book in her series). You can enter here until midnight (GMT) April 28.(Int.)

5. There's the bonus giveaway for the first six peeps in the US to send me pictures of The Cold Kiss of Death on an actual shelf, in an actual book store in the US! I'll send them each 6 Spellcrackers Bling Pencils (one of each colour available - and yes they are sparkly Swarovski Crystals on the ends!). Email your pics to contest at spellcrackers dot com (remembering to replace 'at' and 'dot' with @ and . :-)), with Spellcrackers Pencil Contest in the subject line. And don't forget to tell me which city the store is in, please. *curious*

6. And there's yet another chance to win a copy of The Cold Kiss of Death (or choice of lots of other cool books!) over at Preternatura (Suzanne Johnson's blog) in her New Releases post . (Int. Ends April 29)


*Yep, I know the post is short too; as I'm in Deadline Hell. Sorry!
*Apologies for forgetting the mini eggs and liquorice torpedoes :-( 
*The pics are inspiring me to do the diet and exercise thing. Sitting around and hitting the keyboard is just not conducive to keeping the pounds off. And no, I don't need to be all sylph-like, but I really do need to fit into, and feel more comfortable, in my clothes.*sigh*

Paparazzi my book! + Tangled Threads - Jennifer Estep (giveaway)

So this week's giveaway post is going to be a shortie! I'm off to Eastercon (scroll down for my schedule) and have a ton of things to do, not least of which is the dreaded ironing, and getting my fringe(aka bangs in the US) trimmed*, since it seems to have grown an inch overnight!


I've heard that The Cold Kiss of Death (out April 26 US - only 4 days to go!!! Yay!!) might actually be out in some book stores now! Now there's nothing like seeing a book you've written in an actual book store! Much Happy Dancing and book rearranging ensues (and then the store assistants start to look askance, and ultimately ask you to leave - not that it's ever happened to me *looks innocent*). But as I live in the UK I can't check out any US stores :-(

So here's a bonus giveaway for peeps in the US. I'll send Spellcrackers Bling Pencils (one of each colour available - 6 - click to embiggen - and yes they are sparkly Swarovski Crystals on the ends!) to the first six folk to send me pictures of The Cold Kiss of Death on an actual shelf, in an actual book store in the US. Email your pics to contest at spellcrackers dot com (remembering to replace 'at' and 'dot' with @ and . :-)), with Spellcrackers Pencil Contest in the subject line. And don't forget to tell me which city the store is in, please. *curious*

So, onto this week's celebratory giveaway which is for Tangled Threads (Elemental Assassin, Book 4) by Jennifer Estep which releases April 26 in the US and the UK.

Here's the blurb from Amazon:

I’d rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings.

But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Grayson’s front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesn’t shy away from my past—or my present. And right now I have a bull’s-eye on my forehead. Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me. Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means there’s a fifty-fifty chance one of us won’t survive this battle. I intend to kill LaFleur—or die trying—because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea I’m her long-lost sibling . . . or that I’m the murderer she’s been chasing through Ashland for weeks. And what Bria doesn’t know just might get us both dead. . . .

Ooh! Sounds exciting! Can't wait to read it, though I do have a bit of a EEK! Oh noes! reaction when it comes to the Gin books . . . Yep, as a life-long sufferer of arachnophobia, that whole spider thing gets to me. Just the mention of the word makes my pulse splutter and shudders run down my spine. *takes a moment to calm herself* And as I can't force myself to have a pic of ELF (eight-legged freak) on the blog, here's one of the Escaped Easter Bunny from the London Experience (one of the places in The Cold Kiss of Death  - see this blog post for dets) who is terrorising London this Easter Weekend!

So what do you have to do to be in with a chance of winning Tangled Threads (or your choice of an earlier book in the series)? Just leave me a comment telling me if you have a phobia (and what it is), or not! Simple, heh!


How to enter:

Leave a comment saying if you have a phobia (and what it is), or not.


Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) 28th April 2011.

Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post here.

You can get an extra entry by tweeting about the giveaway. Leave the link to the tweet as an extra comment.

And don't forget to check out the Giveaway Schedule here. And so you don't miss out on a chance of winning any of the wonderful books in the coming weeks, why not follow me? (following is not a condition of entry).

Please note: My usual blog policy is that I try to reply to all comments on the blog, but for ease of admin I won't be replying to any comments made on any of the giveaway posts during the 16 weeks. Sorry, but it makes it much harder to sort out the winner. However I do read and enjoy all the comments, and will, of course, continue to reply to comments on any other post, so if you have a question for me, leave it on one of those, thank you :-)

All book links lead to Amazon (UK/US) or the Book Depository, and contain affiliate links. I've decided to go affiliate as I love giving books away (and not just as a way of shameless self-promo), but boy, does it get expensive.

Eastercon Schedule

I'll be there from lunchtime Saturday until mid-morning Sunday. I'm doing a reading* with Dan Abnett at 15.00 on Saturday. I'm not sure who's going first, but I'll be in the room from 15.00. At other times I'll be in the Dealers' room at the Gollancz table, in the bar, or wondering. Please do say hello and chat, and please forgive me if I don't immediately match you in RL with your online persona, if I know you. I'm not very good at that sort of thing. But feel free to give me clues, and add to my embarrassment as I try and guess who you are :-D

I was all on my lonesome at my first, and until now, only reading (Fantasycon 2008), so please come and see me. I'll be bringing Cadbury's mini eggs, liquorice torpedoes, and Spellcrackers Bling pencils. *offers bribes and looks hopeful*


*I'm lucky, my SiL is a hairdresser, and is wonderful for these sorts of panicked emergencies :-)

Okay so the post isn't that short - what can I say, I'm a writer *g*

Eastercon Schedule

So it all starts tomorrow! Eastercon that is; the 60th British National Science Fiction Conventsion, celebrating science fiction, fantasy and horror in literature, film, comics and other media. Yay!

I've got off lightly this year with just the one panel, strangely enough it's about Urban Fantasy [can't think why they picked me to talk about that! LOL! and then of course, there's Rock Band! So come and heckle listen to my mumblings wonderful words of wisdom on all that is Urban Fantasy and my Cool Chick Rock Band™ [warning - as I’m likely to crash and burn, this is *not* recommended for those of a sympathetic nature]. Other than the two ‘events’ I will be there from sometime on the Friday evening to when the clock strikes twelve after Rock Band on the Sunday night and I have to do the Cinders thing. So feel free to come and say hello, chat, ask me to sign books *hopeful face* or anything else [within reason *g*].


Sun 15:30 Urban Fantasy

"What exactly is it? Is supernatural romance it, does it have to have
supernatural creatures in a realist urban setting? Is Buffy the
prototypical urban fantasy? Is it a growing subgenre of its own? What
about a fantasy city not in our world?"
Freda Warrington, Tim Powers, Suzanne McLeod and Liam Sharp

[The following entry stolen from David Devereux cos it says it all :-)]

Sun 22.00 Rock Band

I've already talked about this, but that's not going to stop me talking about it some more. You'll find a sign-up form in your con pack, so just geet together with some mates, put the form in the box at Registration and turn up. Then go Full Tilt Boogie and try for our Fabulous Prizes, courtesy of Forbidden Planet, Gollancz, Black Library, Titan Books and a list of other wonderful people.

I've been hearing rumours of all sorts of teams coming together as well, so you can definitely expect to see some industry figures gettinng up to play. I'm not to confirm or deny anything you might have already heard by your own methods, but I'm expecting to see some all sorts of nonsense take place.

One other thing to mention is that Harmonix have sent us Rock Band 2, which isn't available over here yet, and have given us the OK to put it in the charity auction once we've rocked our socks off. This means you can go own to be one of the first people in the country to show off with your mates when you get home, so bid early and bid often!

My very sincere thanks, by the way, go to John Drake at Harmonix Music for providing the games and their controllers, and to Ben Smith & Julie Bogaert at Sony Europe, who've banded together to provide everything from a PS3 to the PA and screens we'll be using. And I can't not mention the mighty Danie Ware of Forbidden Planet - for being my partner-in-crime and helping make sure everything came together from prizes to flyers to several of those possible surprises we've got lined up for you. What a rock star!

Rock Band - Rock Chick anyone???

So you know those conversations that you think you've imagined? The ones where you wake up and breathe a sigh of relief that they probably happened in some sort of alternate reality where you're the Rock Chick who Can. Do. Music. And. Other. Such. Cool. Stuff ?

Turns out they were reeeeeeal! Who knew?

So thanks to David Devereux at Eastercon, along with Jaine Fenn I will now be performing in this . . .

*confession time!*

I've never played Rock Band, in fact I think the last computer game I played was space invaders!!! *panicked phone call to nephew!* eekk!

Then it turns out twittering can get you into even more trouble . . .

@Suzanne: Enjoyed Evolution, Wrath of God and Death yesterday at the OLF!
@Big_Jim: You enjoyed evolving!? Have you become some sort of superhero Suzanne?
@Suzanne: Superhero? Of course, I can fly . . . *jumps up, flaps arms, doesn't leave ground* oh wait, umm, maybe not, so it's back to the amoeba stage for now . . .
@Big_Jim: Ahh! You evolved but didn't get the features you wanted? So you're going to start again! See you in 6 billion years . . . also, in 6 billion years, I expect to see you with glorious wings! How would you see yourself, with bird wings? Butterfly?
Suzanne: *ponders* *Googles* *tweets*
@Suzanne: In 6 billion years - I might just manage this!

*Pic ganked from http://fc05.deviantart.com/...

But for two weeks time for Eastercon? As promised by Danie Ware

*headesk*

So if you're going to Eastercon, come and see if I can squeeze 6 billion years of evolution into two weeks *desperately Googles angel wings* and join in the Forbidden Planet Rock Band fun, and Win. Wonderful. Fantastic. Prizes!!!