Where Stories are Made!

I'm over at the lovely Book Chick City's blog today, blogging about where I spend my writing days! Why not head on over there and see just what I drink my tea out of *g*

And don't forget I'm still a Dame for a Day over at the Deadline Dames where you can comment to be in with a chance to win a copy of The Sweet Scent of Blood!

Dames and Historical Deadlines!

I'm honoured to be a Dame for a Day over at the Deadline Dames*

where I'm blogging about London, its history, and these:

The Ravens at the Tower of London

but maybe not in the way you think *looks shifty*.

So why not head on over and take a look for yourself . . . oh, and if you leave a comment over there, you'll be in with a chance to win a copy of The Sweet Scent of Blood . So what are you waiting for? Go! Now! You know you want to *g*

*Yay! These Dames are some of my fav authors! Many thanks to the fab Kaz Mahoney for inviting me!

***

And now for something completely different! Yes, I threatened you with promised you tomato pic spam so here it is:

Three different varieties of cherry tomatoes

Look we have flowers already! WooT!

3 tomato plants of the same variety - cherry type again

Eggplant**, cucumber and melon

2 different chilli plants (1 red, 1 yellow) and 1 bell pepper plant!

** the eggplant (aka aubergine) suffered a snap set back on its first night in the greenhouse (perpetrator unknown, but probably either mouse- or fox-like in origin), but has now rallied and looks like it's going to make it *phew*

Winner: Magic on the Storm

And the winner of MAGIC ON THE STORM is

Nickie

who said: "I just started reading Kelley Armstrong's World of the Underworld Series, and I'm waiting to get my hands on the next book Broken. Love Devon Monk's books and they all have beautiful covers!"

Congratulations, Nickie! Please send your snail mail address to contest[at]spellcrackers[dot]com and Devon's book will be on its way to you :-)

***

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway and letting me know what book you're looking forward to reading next - there are some great ones there!

Happy Book Birthday!

Yay! My first book

The Sweet Scent of Blood: Spellcrackers.com #1

is released today in the US!

And it shares its book birthday with some fab books that I'm so looking forward to reading, some of which are below*.
I couldn't be happier for my book to be in such great company.
Happy Book Birthday to all!

I hope you all like my book over on your side of the pond, and don't forget to check out my current contests for a chance to win one of my books!

1. Thinking of buying The Sweet Scent of Blood, or have you recently bought it? Then enter my Thank You for Buying My Book Contest. (photo of purchase receipt required - date of purchase to be between 31st March 2010 - 31st July 2010)

2. The Sweet Scent of Blood - Spellcrackers.com #1 releases in the US on 27th April 2010. Join in the Virtual Book Tour and enter the contest to win a copy of my books. (no purchase required)

3. Already a Spellcrackers.com Fan? Then enter my I *LOVE* My Readers! contest. (no proof of purchase required)

Full details on how to enter here.

*I have massive cover envy for Lori Devoti's Amazon Queen *sighs*

Good News, Bad News, Tomatoes and a (giveaway) apology

First off, here's the Good News! I can now let you in on the blurb for

The Shifting Price of Prey

Spellcrackers.com #4

Genny's life has never been busier: the summer solstice is approaching, magic is going haywire, Spellcrackers.com is under inexperienced new management, and London is hosting this year's Carnival Fantastique. Then a unicorn is found horribly mutilated in Regent's Park, garden fairies start dying out of season, and an eminent wildlife activist and her young son are snatched from a Conservation Conference. Searching for answers takes Genny and her friends, Tavish the kelpie and the super-sexy vampire Malik al-Khan, deep into magical London to the decadent and dangerous Forum Mirabilis, the secret, bloody heart of the Carnival Fantastique. And it's not long before Genny and her friends are under attack from a millennium-old adversary as they fight to save both the victims and themselves . . .

Yay! I hope you like the sound of it. I'm so excited to be able to write this book, I really love the story (even when I'm being an *evil author* to my characters *g*) and had a lot of fun writing the synopsis for it - which I actually did last July! Big thanks to Jo, my wonderful editor at Gollancz for buying it (and books 5 & 6 too *does happy dance*). The Shifting Price of Prey UK's pub date will be 16th June 2011.

Oh, right, the tomatoes *g* Well, I'm growing some, so expect to be spammed with Tomato pics soon :-) Hopefully mine will look as good as these *fingers crossed*.

Now for the Bad News :-(

Unfortunately the publishing date for The Bitter Seed of Magic - Spellcrackers.com #3 (UK) has been put back approx 2 months to the 18th November 2010. :-( I'm really sorry and disappointed about this, and there's no one reason as to why, but several* that all together mean this is the best thing for the book.

Lastly the apology. To say sorry I'm going to hold a giveaway for the new book of one of my favourite authors - Devon Monk - Magic on the Storm. I was lucky to win a signed ARC, and I can tell you this book is a fab-u-lous read! I *LOVE* it!

All you have to do to be in with a chance at winning is to leave me a comment telling me which book you're looking forward to reading next.

I also love this cover, I think it's the best yet of all of the Allie Beckstrom books. But the book to be won is another ARC (not my signed one, I'm keeping that ;p) so the cover is sort of plain yellow card, and not quite as pretty.

One entry per commentator.

Contest now closed Giveaway ends 29th April 2010 end of day anywhere.

International - open to all.

Winner will be drawn by Random.org and notified here on the blog

And don't forget you can also enter to win one of my books at the contests page at Spellcrackers.com!


* I injured my arm and shoulder while I was writing it. This in turn casued a bad flare up with my carpal tunnel and RSI problems, which sadly caused me to miss my deadline. Then Jo, my editor had her own health problems, which delayed the editing process. So although everyone is sorry, the decision was made to put back the pub date, but this means the book will be better for not being rushed through to meet the original date.

x/posted to my LJ: comment here or there

New Contests Page at Spellcrackers.com

Snowed under by RL here, so more later, but have managed to get the website updated with a new Contests page for the upcoming US release of The Sweet Scent of Blood - Spellcrackers.com # 1 on 27th April 2010.

Go check it out, it's here, and enter to win books!

Go on, you know you want to *g*

*********

And if you're looking for something great to read right now . . . then look no further than the fabulous Marta Acosta of Vampire Wire, and Casa Dracula fame - she's offering her full length YA book The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove free to readers. I read some of the first chapters of this some time ago on Marta's blog, and it's fantastic reading. So what are you waiting for! Go read now!

Ad made by Amanda at Love Vampires! She's read The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove, and said it's "Bloody brilliant." Yay!

The Mage in Black - Jaye Wells

If, like me, you loved this . . .

nominated for Best Novel on the British Fantasy Awards 2010 longlist

Then you'll *LOVE* this!!!

out March 30th

Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Read chapter one of The Mage in Black here - you really, really don't want to miss this one, so go now and read! Then go buy the book, if you haven't already! I'm not kidding you, The Mage in Black is one smokin' hot story . . . fun, fast, and packed with fantastic fang-filled action . . . did I hear someone mention Giguhl? Yep, well, the shopping channel addicted demon is back!!! Woot! And on top form; you're never going to believe what he gets up to, and with whom. *g*

Oh, and don't forget to check out Jaye Wells' blog for the GRRR (Great Re-Read Red month) where you can catch up on Red-Headed Stepchild, and leave a comment to win one of 4 copies of the fantastic The Mage in Black. Hurry though, the contest ends soon!

*

Plus if anyone's looking for any more book recommendations, then look no further than the British Fantasy Awards 2010 longlist for Best Novel. There are some fabulous books nominated, and these are ones I've read and can thoroughly recommend. Which leaves me with a few still to get my reading teeth stuck into :-)

BONE CROSSED, Patricia Briggs
CONSORTS OF HEAVEN, J.N. Fenn
FROSTBITTEN, Kelley Armstrong

JASMYN, Alex Bell
LIVING WITH GHOSTS, Kari Sperring
RETRIBUTION FALLS: TALES OF THE KETTY JAY, Chris Wooding
SIXTY-ONE NAILS, Mike Shevdon
THE AWAKENING, Kelley Armstrong
THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, Carrie Ryan
THE NAMING OF THE BEASTS, Mike Carey
THICKER THAN WATER, Mike Carey
TURN COAT, Jim Butcher

oh, and . . .

THE COLD KISS OF DEATH, Suzanne McLeod. Yay!

Many thanks to whoever for the nomination. I'm grateful and proud to be in such great company. Many congratulations to everyone on the list!

Full disclosure: Jaye and I crit for each other, so I can honestly tell you that I've seen this book 'drafts' and all. It was great then (damn her *gnashes teeth*) now it *shines*! :-)

New Deal (with titles)!

Woooooooooot!!!

PRESS RELEASE

Jo Fletcher, Gollancz’s Associate Publisher, has acquired World Rights in three more supernatural thrillers by Suzanne McLeod. The agent was John Jarrold.

These books continue the Spellcrackers.com series set in London and star Genevieve Taylor, a Sidhe who runs into supernatural crime, dark romance and trouble at every turn. The provisional titles are THE SHIFTING PRICE OF PREY, THE HIDDEN RUNE OF IRON and THE SHARP BITE OF RITUAL.

Wow!! I'm over the moon!! With many thanks to John, to Jo at Gollancz, and also to all the fantastic readers who have bought my books - with all of you being so wonderful, I now get to write more adventures about Genny, Finn, and Malik and you all get to read them!! *Does the mega happy dance*

Charlaine Harris Interview & Event

If you’ve been reading my blog, you can’t fail to have noticed that I got to interview Charlaine Harris during the UK leg of her current tour thanks to my wonderful publishers, Gollancz. I was absolutely thrilled to meet Charlaine and chat to her, and also very nervous, but I really needn’t have worried as Charlaine is a wonderful lady, very down to earth, very funny, and totally awesome.

This is how my day went.

I caught the train up to London, arriving early as you do for anything important (those leaves on the line can cause problems when you least expect them :-)). Being early, I’d arranged to meet up with tweeter @Has_Bookpushers to collect our tickets for Charlaine’s evening event so we wouldn’t have to brave the queue later on. Hasna was super and let me drag her off to the nearby Japanese Café (a great place for sushi!) where we had a quick lunch, with a healthy side order of ‘Bookpushers’ Book Chat’! During said ‘chat’ I teased Has horribly with my ARC of Charlaine’s upcoming book Dead in the Family, and she smartly retaliated by producing Patricia Briggs’ Silver Borne – which she’d lucked into buying early – and which somehow found its way into my bag. *looks innocent*

US Cover shown

Then I left Hasna at the cinema where she spent a happy fang-filled afternoon with Edward, Bella and Jacob while they sparkled, loved and growled their way through New Moon. A film high on my Films To Be Watched list #1, so I almost felt green-eyed with jealousy about Hasna’s afternoon plans . . . if it wasn’t that I’d already got a better offer.

‘C’mon, get to the good bit,’ I hear you shouting!!

Right! Well, I waved goodbye to Hasna, walked round the corner into Leicester Square and—

—bumped right into Charlaine Harris!!

Charlaine, along with BFF Paula, and @Jon_Weir (Gollancz’s fantastic publicist #2) were on their way to the BBC for an interview. Jon introduced us all, and we all said some lovely hellos [with me looking rather shell-shocked, apparently :-)] then said we’d all see each other later, and off they went.

Feeling bouncy and happy that I’d actually met Charlaine, I went in the opposite direction to Gollancz’s offices to meet up with the fabulous Jen, whose job it was to look after me (which she did exceptionally well, thanks, Jen :-)). Jen took me to the hotel where I was going to be interviewing Charlaine – a beautiful, classy place in the heart of Covent Garden.

I was to interview Charlaine in the hotel’s ‘Tiffany’s Library’: a snug, wood-panelled room with a roaring fire, heavy floral curtains to keep out the chill, and comfortable, overstuffed furniture that begged you to curl up with one of the Sookie Stackhouse books conveniently left lying around *g* ... oh, and not forgetting the camera, a big, grey furry microphone, various lights and other unidentifiable (to me anyway) equipment that the film crew had positioned strategically around the room.

Once Charlaine arrived back and everything was ready, the film crew positioned both of us strategically too!

Charlaine sat in a cosy chair next to the huge fireplace, while I sat opposite her, with the cameraman and his camera almost perched on my shoulder. Since there was only the one camera, Charlaine was going to be filmed during the interview, while I was to be filmed later. This set-up was quite a relief for the anxious, camera-phobe me and meant I could concentrate on Charlaine and asking the questions. *phew*

First off, Charlaine and I were asked to chat so that the crew could get the sound levels right for recording our voices. Of course, nerves meant I sat there with my list of questions clutched in my hand while my mind short-circuited, but Charlaine put me right at ease when she asked about my two dogs. We talked a bit about them, her own three dogs, and London :-).

Once the crew were happy with the sound levels and had adjusted the various lights, we started the interview. I know my first couple of questions were quite jerky; after all it’s not every day I get to interview an all time favourite author of mine, especially while being recorded. But Charlaine was lovely and very encouraging, and it wasn’t long before I relaxed and began enjoying interviewing her. She gave some really great and fun answers, despite the fact that many of the questions were ones she’d no doubt been asked many times before (like who *is* Sookie going to choose! ) and not just in the past, but that very same day. #3

Now I would have loved to ask Charlaine all the questions from my blog – many of which I wanted to know the answers myself :-) – but there wouldn’t have been enough time. The questions I did ask (which had been thought up by FX and Gollancz, along with a couple from my blog) were great. There were some general ones about the books, True Blood, and Charlaine and her writing; some about Dead and Gone (the 9th Sookie book); and some about Dead in the Family, (the 10th Sookie book due out in a couple of months, and a fantastic book). And of course, there were questions about Sookie, Eric and Bill— their families, their pasts and their futures!

Which was where it all got very interesting! How do you ask a question, and more importantly how does Charlaine answer, without giving too many spoilers away? Well to find out how, you’ll need to watch the videos of the interview when they go live.

Once the interview was over (all too quickly it seemed :-( ), Charlaine very kindly signed one of her books for me, thanked me for the interview and then hurried off to get ready for her evening event.

Which left me at the mercy of the film crew.

Since the camera had been on Charlaine during the interview, and so that I wasn’t going to be just some disembodied voice asking questions, the crew now wanted to film me! Luckily by this time, I felt so relieved that the interview had gone smoothly, that my camera phobia took a back seat for once. Which was a good thing, as this was where it all got slightly surreal. I ended up sitting on the sofa, and prompted by Jen – who had taken careful notes about my ad-libbing – I asked all the questions again. Then after each question I stared into the eyes of Miles (one of the film crew) while I nodded #4 and smiled and pretended he was Charlaine answering me. Which was sort of fine . . . once I got used to it . . . and he stopped pulling faces at me *giggles*.

After all that came the more relaxed part of the day (for me anyway) – Charlaine’s evening event at the Prince Charles Cinema. I met up again with Hasna, and her friend Jen (who took all the pics of the event here – Thanks for letting me use them, Jen :-)), and also said hello to pals @LizUK, @Gergaroth, @jberlyne, met their friend @Esssjay and had a great chat with Michelle, another big fan of Charlaine’s.

Hasna & Jen (and my shoulder on the left there :-) )

The event started around 6.30 with a short clip from an upcoming episode of the fab True Blood series, after which Charlaine took the stage and gave a very interesting and entertaining talk about her books, True Blood, and her writing. Then Charlaine answered the audiences many questions (including the one about whom Sookie might choose . . . and if you were expecting a spoiler . . . well, Charlaine didn’t spill the beans!).

Has & Jen & Audience!

Both the talk and questions were filmed by the same film crew as at the interview, so hopefully there will be a video of the event to look forward to, sometime soon; although I don’t have any insider info on that yet. After the talk and questions, came the book signing for all the audience— which made for a long, long, loooong queue of very patient fans.

And then after a really fabulous day, I said goodbye to everyone and it was time to go home . . .

Sadly I had a camera-fail day, and this is the only picture I have of me with Charlaine, but hey, I look happy :-)

#1 - I know, New Moon's been in the cinema for a while, but I’m more your DVD type of girl. And please don’t hate me, all you Team Edward people, but even though I’m a total fan of the fang , I’m sorta leaning towards Team Jacob.

#2 - @Jon_Weir is fab, as anyone who’s met him knows, and is so open to bribes *g* I begged asked him if I could meet Charlaine while she was here – hey, if you’ve got connections, no harm in using ‘em, right? – and he finally said yes when I promised to Tuckerise him in my next book . . . so long as he could be hot, hunky and heroic (not that he isn’t already ) Of course, I said yes! And he’s even keen to die horribly, like hot, hunky heros are want to do . . . when evil authors let their imagination run away with them. *cackles* A win-win situation for me .

#3 - Before my own interview with her, Charlaine had been to the BBC, done a phone interview with a magazine, and also filmed a piece with Sky TV. She’d already had a very busy day (not to mention a busy week!) but she answered every question with such thoughtfulness and humour that you’d never have known.

ETA: Here's the link to the BBC interview Charlaine did that day :-)

#4 - Which will explain why I might occasionally have this weird look on my face and why I’m doing a good impersonation of one of those nodding dogs you see staring out at you from the back window of the car in front

Winners - Dead in the Family ARCs - Charlaine Harris

The winning question as chosen by Orion/Gollancz was asked by Sandra from Long Beach, CA.

Sandra aka Sweet Lady asked:

If Sookie was a real person whom she knew personally, what advice would she give her about her love life?

Sandra's question was asked of Charlaine during her evening Q&A session at the Prince Charles Cinema. Sandra wins ARC # 1 courtesy of Orion/Gollancz.


The winner of ARC # 2 [my carefully pre-read copy :-)] as drawn by Random.org is Lee W.

Lee said:

Question: As it seems like the with each book we grow closer to the unthinkable "end", do you find it hard to end the Sookie saga? Or is something you just know and it's gotta be that way?

I know some of us would like to follow sookie through her life, until she's old and gray (and the vampires are looking as hot as ever) but i think that might be one of those "too good to be true" things. Can't Wait

Many congratulations to both of you!! Please send your snail mail addresses to contest [at] spellcrackers [dot] com - replacing [at] with @ and [dot] with . as usual - and your books will be posted out to you. Please send me your details by Wednesday 17th March 2010. Thanks.

Thank you to everyone else who entered, and commiserations to those who didn't win. There were some fabulous questions which made the choice very difficult. Not to mention there were quite a few about a certain favorite vampire [did someone just mention Eric?? and did that someone, or someones want to know more about him and his past?? ... well, if so, then Dead in the Family is going to be the book you will want to read!

Which is a very small spoiler, and a very big tease ... sorry folks *g*

Charlaine is a wonderful, lovely, funny lady, and I was thrilled to meet and speak with her. I'll post more about Charlaine and my meeting her soon.

Thanks again everyone for entering :-)

The Bitter Seed of Magic : Spellcrackers.com #3 - Cover Released

Here's the cover for The Bitter Seed of Magic : Spellcrackers.com # 3 - isn't it gorgeous?

That's the White Tower - the oldest part of the Tower of London - behind Genny. The White Tower is the original square fortress started by William the Conqueror around 1080. Perched on the wall next to Genny are two of the Tower's Ravens. And yes, they play a part in the story :-)

Yay! The cover gods a.k.a. Gollancz' art department have been *good* to me! Thank you, Gollancz!

Win an ARC: Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris

Contest now closed!

Thank you to everyone for your questions, there are lots of great ones in the comments. Please don't leave any more questions for Charlaine as they won't be counted.

Don't forget to check back on the 10th to find out who wins the ARCs.

Read about my interview with Charlaine Harris here!


Want to win one of TWO ARCs*

'DEAD IN THE FAMILY'

by Charlaine Harris?

Dead in the Family is book 10 in the Southern Vampire Series featuring Sookie Stackhouse. Not published until May, this is your chance to get your eager, readerly hands on an early copy and find out just what happens next to Sookie, Eric, Bill and all our other fav characters after the end of the brief but deadly Faery War before anyone else.

Is that y'all screaming saying 'TELL ME MORE' ??? *g* Then here's what you have to do ...

Charlaine is coming to the UK for a short tour [details here] and yours truly is going to have the honour of interviewing her on the 9th March before her London talk and signing event.** Yay! The interview will be videoed and will be posted at a later date on the Gollancz website for all to watch. Double Yay! :-)

Now where there's an interview, there needs to be questions, and who better to ask them than my fellow Charlaine/Sookie Fans :-).

So, to enter to win an ARC of Dead in the Family, leave me a comment stating what question/or questions [max 5 per person/comment] you would like me to ask Charlaine about her Southern Vampire books on your behalf, including any questions you might want to ask about her new book, Dead in the Family. ARC 1.


Okay, now here's the rules ...

1 comment which must include at least one question, up to a max of 5 questions in that one comment, and only one comment per person - please leave your name [real or cyber] and place - e.g, Sarah or Snookies from Manchester - so if your question is the winner I can tell Charlaine who the question is from :-) = 1 entry

Help spread the news about the contest with a mention of the giveaway on your blog/live journal/myspace/facebook/twitter#1/etc - Each link = 1 entry.

Email the link/links to the mention to: contest [at] spellcrackers [dot] com - [please replace the [a] with @ and [dot] with . as per usual :-) ] Do not post links in the comments section. This is VERY IMPORTANT - any links posted into the comments section will be deleted and will not count as an entry. Only Emailed links will count#2. All I want in the comments are questions for Charlaine please - anything else will just be confusing for my meager organisational abilities, sorry.

Contest is open to all, and open internationally. Contest closes 5 pm Sunday 7th March UK time.

The winning question will be chosen by Gollancz and myself. The prize will be ARC 1 of Dead in the Family. Our decision will be final. Please remember that Charlaine might not answer the winning question if she feels it could be spoiler'ish.

There will also be a random draw from all the entries/links via Random.org and that person will also win an ARC of Dead in the Family. ***ARC 2.

Winners will be announced here on my blog after 10th March. If prizes are not claimed within 7 days, then new winners will be redrawn by Random.org.

ARCs are for personal use only - not to be re-sold.

Any and all questions could be asked of Charlaine, not just the winning one. If your question is not the winning one, but is used as well, this will count as an extra entry in the random drawing.

So, not only do you get a chance to win the newest fabulous Sookie book and read it before anyone else, but you also get a chance to have Charlaine answer those burning questions you've got about her Southern Vampire books. Now, what are you waiting for - go leave me your questions, and get posting!

Read chapter one of Dead in the Family

ETA: There is another chance to win an ARC here at Dear Author, plus Patty Briggs, and 3 of my first book! Yay!

***

* Advance Reader/Review Copy [Cover is different to that shown]

**OMG! I'm going to be interviewing Charlaine Harris, one of my all time favourite authors!! *squeees while doing the manic happy dance* A dream come true thanks to my wonderful publishers - Gollancz!

*** This one is my copy and has been read [carefully] three times [yes, it is *that* good!! *g*]

# Just send a link to the first tweet - multiple tweets count as one entry.

#2 Email addresses will not be kept after the contest and will not be used for anything other than the contest.