erica hayes

This year, and what I did in it

faerylite — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 12:11:42 GMT

***Cross-posted from my Blogger blog***

First of all, just a reminder that today's the last day to enter my giveaway of Jenna Black's fabulous YA book GLIMMERGLASS. Giveaway closes midnight Thursday, California time.

Meanwhile, over at the Deadline Dames, the fabulous Rachel Vincent is blogging about what she's achieved this year, and I thought that was quite cool. So I decided to try it myself. Just to make me feel good, and prove that I do actually do something apart from eat chocolate and hang out on the internet.

Here's a little list of what I've done for the mighty cause of words-on-the-page this year:

- Wrote BLOOD CURSED, my August 2011 release. 106K. Remember yesterday's post, on keeping the conflicts simple? That's exactly what I didn't do when I started BC, and it took a really, really long time.

- In the meantime, I did edits for POISON KISSED (one word: ugh) and suffered through release day/week/fortnight/month for SHADOWGLASS. It may look like fun. Let me tell you, it's fun from the outside. On the inside, it involves madly writing a pile of guest posts where you're trying desperately not to say the same shit over and over, a few moments of OMG, this is the best job EVA!!! and then a month of sheer panic. Highly recommended, but not for the squeamish or thin-skinned.

- Then, I made a proposal for a sci-fi series, and outlined and wrote the first book. 85K. Actually, this was already a novella before I started, so it really only counts as 50K.

- Spent what seemed like the whole of July and August doing conferences. Disneyworld Orlando, Bondi Beach, Melbourne. Breathe.

- Did another pile of guest posts and an absentee release day/week/etc. for POISON KISSED, while I was on holidays in Europe for a month. See above. Good holiday. Bad idea. Note to Self: Self, next time, stay in your own time zone for release day.

- Outlined and wrote HUNTER'S BLOOD, a short vampire romance. 15K.

- Outlined and wrote CHERRY KISSES, a Shadowfae short. 11K.

- Outlined a new paranormal romance series (yay!) and started the first book. 40K.

I think I did okay! I've made... let's see... 220K plus, not counting outlines. It's never enough. But you can only stay awake for so many hours per day :)

What have you done this year that you're proud of?

Teaser Tuesday: Highborn by Yvonne Navarro

faerylite — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 11:56:46 GMT

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading:

1) Grab your current read.
2) Open to a random page.
3) Share at least two 'teaser' sentences from that page -- no spoilers, please!
4) Share the title and author so others can add it to their TBR if they like the teasers.

Basically, it's another opportunity for me to pimp some cool books I've been reading. Sensing a theme here?

'I was looking for a friend of mine,' Brynna explained.

'Then ring the damned doorbell instead of hanging around like a hoodlum!'

'I don't know his last name," Brynna said without thinking.

'Then you're not much of a friend," the woman snapped back. 'You get out of here or I'm calling the police. This is a Neighborhood Watch area!'

--From page 17 of HIGHBORN by Yvonne Navarro.

crossing over...

faerylite — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 22:41:09 GMT

Still having issues with cross-posting, folks.

As in, hey, LJ's email settings won't work, no matter what I do. It's a conspiracy! They're stupid instructions! I'm an idiot! All or any may apply.

So for the moment, pop on over to my other blog a chance to win a copy of this week's Friday Fancy: GLIMMERGLASS by Jenna Black.

blood cursed cover art

faerylite — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:10:59 GMT

***Cross-posted from my Blogger blog***

Is this awesome? Or is it, like, totally awesome!?!

This is my fourth Craig White cover and I love it. Love, love, love it. It is so much what the book is about that I can't think of anything I'd like better.

"Sigh. So... what's the book about, then?" you ask patiently? Behold, cover copy.*

Enter the fierce, fantastical world of the Shadowfae, where blood is a drug, magic is a crime, and love is the most dangerous weapon of all…

To a vampire, nothing is sweeter than bloodfairy essence -- and Ember is the most sought-after fairy on the underworld circuit. Selling her blood to the highest bidder -- and robbing her clients in the process -- Ember has unwittingly become a target of dark and dangerous forces. Her enemies are everywhere. And if she hopes to survive, she needs protection...

Diamond is a glassfairy who, for better or worse, knows his way around the vampire underworld. Smooth as silk and tougher than trolls, Diamond is Ember’s only chance to keep her magical blood inside her body, where it belongs. But he also poses a threat to Ember, a strange kind of danger she’s never experienced before: She’s falling in love with him...

Yay! I'm so excited. Release date is 2 August 2011, US and UK and Canada.**

And if anyone out there's doing their Cool New Covers of the Week post, or Awesome Homicidal Chicks in Tight Dresses or suchlike, please feel free to plaster this one all over it, should you so choose :)

In other news:

Today, I finished my demon-hunting witches short story! Yay! It's tentatively titled CHERRY KISSES. Coming soon to an anthology near you.

And lastly: remember, you've got until midnight Friday West-Coast-US-time to enter last week's Friday Fancies giveaway of Eve Silver's SINS OF THE HEART. It's a great book. You know you want it.

*This may not be the final cover copy. But it's near enough.
** Those are pre-order links. The more orders, the more copies they print. If you enjoy my books, you'd really be doing me a favour...

Market research, and how not to be misled

faerylite — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:32:41 GMT

***Cross-posted from my Blogger blog***

Welcome to Writing Wednesday, where I hopefully have something interesting to say about... well, about writing. Or publishing. Or agents. Or chocolate overload during a Supernatural marathon. Or anything to do with this crazy business.*

I'm in the middle of writing a short story, which is unusual for me -- I've written I think five... no, make that six... six novel manuscripts in a row, and only three shorts in that time, two of them in the last six weeks.

And one sad thing about getting published -- about deciding to do this mad thing called writing for a career -- is that I no longer have the time to write stuff I don't think I can sell. That means I'm always writing to a market, whether it's an established line at a single house, a collection of prospective houses or even just a genre, with all its conventions and no-nos.

So if I'm writing these shorts, they're for a specific market. You think agented writers and published authors don't have to do market research? Bzzt! Lose five points or your pants. It's even more important, because a story with no market is useless to us. A waste of our time. And time, sadly, is money.**

So, market research. That's to say: reading, right? Lots and lots of it. What's selling well in a particular line? What are the really popular big-time authors doing, and how can I do it too?

Right?

Wrong. You are the Weakest Link. Goodbye.

DON'T read the big-time authors in your chosen line/imprint. No no no no no. Don't.

Well... what I mean is, hell yes, read the big-time popular authors, because they're awesome! Just don't read them for research.

Because what they're doing, they've earned the right to do, with book after book, years of consistent sales, a profitable backlist. If their books go out on a limb, it's because the publisher trusted them to pull it off.***

I, on the other hand (and probably you, too) am a relatively new author, with only a short track record with a single publisher. Sure, I hand in manuscripts on time and do my edits without complaint and tidy up before the copy-editor. But the bestseller lists don't know me from a bar of soap. No house in their right mind is going to trust me to do jack shit.

So to whom should I look for research? The debut authors, of course. They're the ones who are selling from the slush pile, rather than on track record and a three-line pitch to the editor-in-chief from their agent. They're the ones who are dropping jaws at the editorial assistant's desk, lighting up the imprint editor's eyes and eliciting grins at acquisitions meetings.

They're the ones, in fact, who are writing what's selling, without the benefit of track record, RIGHT NOW. Not fifteen years ago when your favourite big-time author was a chicken.

Of course, in print publishing, RIGHT NOW is relative. It means probably twelve to eighteen months ago, minimum. But it's the best indication you'll get. And no one's saying the big-time authors aren't writing good books -- but bestsellers can generally write riskier books than newer authors, especially in category lines like Harlequin Whoever. If you're reading along and wondering how the hell the author gets away with first person present tense and Flashback Hell when the sub guides say third person past only and no flashbacks or we'll come around to your place and kill you -- chances are you're reading a more experienced author.

So read the new authors to find out what's selling last week. Read the big-time authors to find out what you can get away with, in a year or two when you've got credentials.

Then again, what the hell? Maybe your wacky idea will sell gazillions. If you don't try, you'll never know :)

* Yes, of course watching Supernatural for hours at a stretch is part of the writing business. You can't work ALL the time... anyway, did you and I have that little chat about Sam? Yeah, well. I meant it. Hands off.
** Well, yeah. That's not to say it's very much money. If I worked out how much I get per hour, I'd give up and work at Starbucks. Just don't do those sums, people. They aren't worth it.
*** The book, that is. Not the limb. Mixed metaphors 'R' us.

a new week...

faerylite — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:20:38 GMT

***Cross-posted from my Blogger blog. It's not working in real time yet. But I'm determined...***

Spent the weekend watching cricket (eek!) and doing my civic duty as a Romance Writers of Australia contest manager. Any of you entering the Valerie Parv Award this year? You'll be dealing with me, bwahahaha...

I'm in the middle of my new short story (demon-hunting witches, yay!) and it's going pretty well so far. It's a challenge to write to a theme, yet keep the story true to the world-building I've already done. It's a Shadowfae story, in case you're wondering. New characters, new messes, same horny fairies. Amen :) All things going well, you'll see it in a St Martin's Press anthology later in 2011.

Writing a 10K short is challenging, too, when you're used to 100,000 word novels. The outline has the same shape - it's just a lot smaller, and everything has to be simplified. World-building has to be slimline. And as for backstory -- forget it, unless you can work it seamlessly into the story. You don't have time for flashbacks or paragraph-long ruminations on what just happened. Efficient scene-cutting (as in, deciding where you start and finish a scene) is crucial... hey, I just had an idea for my writing post on Wednesday! I'll shut up about it now :) you'll have to wait for my wisdom. Sigh. Oh, well.

Meanwhile, don't forget to enter last week's Friday giveaway -- Eve Silver's SINS OF THE HEART.

And here's an interesting link: one author's take on what it's really like to get published. I'd have to say I agree, though I'd never have believed myself two years ago -- selling is the easy part, folks.

Don't get me wrong. I'm the last to whine about how hard it is to have a contract with an advance and an awesome editor and a big publishing house distributing my books. Wow, this diamond up my ass really hurts, y'know?

But pre-contract, all you have to care about is how good your book is, and researching markets. That's it. Once you sell, there's so much more at stake. So much more you can mess up. So much more you have no control over. You think rejections are frustrating and beyond your control? Wait till you have to deal with sales figures, and reviews, and why your book is or isn't in stores, and why your book is or isn't an ebook...

But hey, I wouldn't give it up for anything :)

in the meantime...

faerylite — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 22:40:18 GMT

I'm spending the weekend watching the cricket (ahem... someone get these guys out sometime soon, please!) and working on a new short story. It's for an anthology called HEX SYMBOLS that's coming out some time next year. Demon-hunting witches, yay!

In the meantime, pop on over to the Other Blog, where I'm chatting about horror romance, and giving you the chance to win a copy of Eve Silver's most excellent SINS OF THE HEART.

yeah, I knew that...

faerylite — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 04:35:33 GMT

Okay, so I didn't set up cross-posting properly. My bad. I believe it's fixed now.

For those who missed my first Blogger post (yay!) -- my new Blogger site is http://erica-hayes.blogspot.com. Come over and follow me there if you like!

I'll be cross-posting everything to this LJ, at least for a while. And I'll be starting some new features on the blog.

Friday Fancies, for instance, in which every couple of weeks I gush about a recent book I really liked, and then give you a chance to win a copy.

And Writing Wednesdays, in which I impart my latest wisdom on the strange world of writing and publishing.

Noticing an alliterative theme here? Pop on over to my new site and tell me what you think would be a good M-topic for Mondays. Monsters? Mad Manatees? Man-titty?

the dark side told me they had cookies...

faerylite — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 06:58:53 GMT

Just a note to let you know I'll start cross-posting to this blog from a Blogger site real soon. Yeah, I know... but various factors have compounded to convince me it's the thing to do. And hey, Blogger's stolen so many features from LJ and Wordpress that they're all pretty much the same these days.

But, so long as you wacky LJ peeps are still here, all my posts will still come to this blog. I'm exporting all the old stuff to Blogger, too. And to bribe you all into liking me again, I'll be kicking off my shiny new Blogger blog with a few sweet giveaways of recent books I think are cool.

So stay tuned. I'll be testing the cross-posting thingy-jig shortly. Here's hoping it works...

UK release, we haz it

faerylite — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:50:22 GMT

Just a note to say that POISON KISSED is now available in the UK!! So if you're one of those folorn, left-out folks who can't access the US Amazon or Book Depository sites, you can now order from Amazon UK or BD UK.

Also check out my latest interview and giveaway at Nocturne Romance Reads. Ever been dying to know what the Shadowfae Chronicles theme song is? Sure you have.

In the meantime, I've been working on a vampire short story, and kicking a few proposals for novels into shape. They don't look much like novels yet. But they're getting there.

I start with some random idea, about a turning point or a character dilemma. But novels need plots, and I have neither the time nor the reckless hubris (you know who you are, folks) to begin writing on a project when I don't know for sure there's a decent plot in it.

An idea is not a plot. A scenario or a pile of world-building is not a plot. 'And then they fall in love and defeat the bad guys and save the world' is not a plot. Even if a few six-figure-advance YA authors seem to think it is.

So if I seem unproductive for a while, it's because I'm spending time plotting. And I plot because I don't have time to waste. Strange, but there it is.

the big reveal, and how i can make it work

faerylite — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:17:02 GMT

I'm outlining some new books, see, and that on top of some recent reading got me thinking about the Big Reveal.

You know: the Big Secret that comes out and changes the book. Things aren't what the main character (or the reader) thought.

And yeah, I'm working with a Big Reveal idea. No, I won't tell you what it is. Sigh. There's always one, isn't there?

Anyway. Seems to me that the BR (we're friends now, the BR and I, so I can call him that) the BR is all about timing. Whether it works depends on where in the book you put it. And where in the book you put it depends on how much gets torn down by the secret coming out.

There are first act BRs, the kind that start the story. Neo takes the pill, and finds out the world is a lie. Or: surprise! you're the fairy princess. Now come with me to Fairyland and save the world. Or: you know that old ring you've got lying around, Bilbo Baggins? Well, let me tell you something...

Think about it. These can't sustain a second act climax. If the story's about the fairy princess saving Fairyland, she'd better get started right away or it'll be boring. Ditto with Bilbo's ring being the RING OF POWERRRR. The only place for that BR to go is right at the beginning -- it's the initiating incident.

But we can do second act climax BRs. This is what modern mystery/thriller writers do. The hero finds out who the killer is, and spends the third act chasing the killer down. No earlier than second act, or it won't be a mystery. WIthout the reveal, the purpose of the book is defeated.

And your second act climax BR better be like that -- it's the purpose of the book. It's earth-shattering. Luke, I am your father.

That's not only the 2nd act climax of The Empire Strikes Back -- it's the 2AC of the whole trilogy. It's that big. It changes the way Luke looks at everything. It makes sense of information we've been fed for two films.

There are third act climax BRs -- the twist ending. Think Robert DeNiro and Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart. Wondering why you can't find the killer, Mickey? Wondering why these murders keep following you around? Open your eyes, son, and smell the blood.

Brrr. Just thinking about that one gives me shivers. Love it. But the point is that this BR is the 3AC. It's too late for Mickey to do anything about it. He's already in too deep. If he'd figured it out earlier, the situation could have been saved. But not now. Game over.

Good twist endings are rare, for the simple reason that they're hard. It's like writing a story with 2 opposing yet plausible interpretations, keeping everything consistent along the way -- and the twist has to matter. We have to care that Mickey's... well, that Mickey's what he is, in case there's someone poor deprived soul out there who hasn't yet seen Angel Heart. You know who you are. DVD store. Get thee.

We even have epilogue BRs, otherwise known as the Dirty Twist Ending You Rotten Screenwriter. Think you know who Keyser Sose is? Think again. But the false solution's already packaged up so neat and tidy that no one will ever believe Chaz if he told them, and in any case there's nothing he can do. Again, very difficult.

Anyway. My point is the if you're using a BR, you have to look at where to put it. Ask yourself: how much of a mess does the information make of the situation? What are your characters going to do with that information? How does it change the way they behave? Does it require immediate action? And what's already done that can't be undone? What's happened that the MC can't take back, and must now deal with?

Is it a story-starter, like Neo taking the pill? Does all the story's action stem from the reveal? Is everything before it just the set-up? Is it the kind of reveal that you'd put in the back cover copy, to explain what the story's about? If so, it belongs in the first act.

Is it the kind of secret that you'd never put in the back cover copy, because it'd 'give the story away'? Is it the purpose of the story, like the killer's secret identity? Is it the Fact that Makes Sense of the Whole Thing, like the fact that Iron Man's trusted friend is the bad guy, and now he must go and put things right? If so, it belongs in the second act, and the 'putting things right' is the third act.

Or is it too late for anything to be done -- is the action over, and the BR just makes sense of it all, for good or ill? Then you're looking at a third act BR.

And please, please: don't make it the 2AC when it should be the initiating incident. That spells lame. OMG the hero is a VAMPIRE!!! Sorry. You're a few years late with that one. Make it the start of the story, and run with it.

Anyway. Them's my thoughts. Gotta go plot my book now :)

YA romances, and what I didn't get until now

faerylite — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:21:30 GMT

Been reading a few YA books, just because they happened to reach the top of my TBR. Some really enjoyable ones. Some not my thing. But I figured something out:

You don't write a YA romance the same way you write an adult romance.

Wow. Yeah. The big issues, huh? This may not seem like rocket surgery to some. But I figured out that the reason I get so frustrated with a lot of YA romance -- here you can picture me cursing and throwing things at a really big screen showing the New Moon movie -- is that THERE'S NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

We keep getting TOLD how much in love Edward and Bella.. umm, I mean the characters in a YA novel... we get TOLD they lurve each other and will DIE without each other and can't LIVE for a MOMENT APART... but we're never shown why. We're never shown what she thinks is so great about him. There's no basis for any real relationship.

My epiphany was this: in a YA, no one cares.

In a YA, love is meant to be mysterious. The heroine isn't supposed to understand why she thinks the Mysterious Boy is so hot, or why she feels drawn to the half-angel-demon-fairy-vampire-witch boy who's trying to murder her/drag her to hell/suck her blood/use her skin as wallpaper. It's meant to be all perfect and dreamy.

In an adult book, you would never get away with this. Beyond a few chapters of insta-lust, that is. Readers want more.

So yeah, I get it now. Doesn't make it any less frustrating to read, though. The YA romances I like best will still be the ones where I get to see them like each other.

What do you guys think? Do you buy into instant YA lurve? Ot do you prefer to see more than just 'there was something about him that drew me in', etc.??

i'm interviewed at smexy books!

faerylite — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:38:57 GMT

Does this mean I'm famous? Yes, yes, I believe it does...

I'm interviewed by the lovely Tori at Smexy Books today, talking about the Shadowfae series, snake shifters and what else I've been working on, among other things. Come by and have a chat, and leave a comment for a chance to win POISON KISSED.

Yo can also check out Tori's 4-star review of POISON KISSED, wherein she says:

"Fast paced and smoothly written with plenty of action, danger and internal conflict, Hayes writes an addicting dark and erotic urban fantasy that appeals to the darker side of our nature. The part of us that we like to keep hidden and safely under wraps. I will definitely be reading the next one in this series."

Awesome! Thanks, Tori!

In other news... I'm home from vacation. This means I have to get back to work. What am I working on, you ask? Bit of this, bit of that. Maybe more Shadowfae. Maybe something else. When I find out, you'll be the first to know...

who's your favourite bad guy?

faerylite — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:54:05 GMT

First, on the topic of good guys: I saw the Pope today. Cool! I'm not even in his club, but it was still cool. Check out his Benedictness in the Pope-mobile in St Peter's Square at my Facebook page.

Moving right along... I'm guest posting at Dirty Sexy Books today, where the lovely Rebecca has kindly given POISON KISSED a four-star review. She says:

'...it's dark, sexy and dirty, and it's also fearless. Her stories go places that many writers fear to tread, and I appreciate the wicked eroticism that she injects into every scene."

Awesome! My work here is done :) you can read the rest of Rebecca's review here.

Of course, I'm giving away a free copy - come by and tell me which bad guy (or girl) you'd love to see get their own book or movie for a chance to win.

guesting at fiction vixen

faerylite — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 16:49:12 GMT

I'm a guest with the fabulous Fiction Vixen today, talking about what I love in urban fantasy and the cliches we'd love to put to rest. And giving away a free book, of course. Come check it out!

fantasy book giveaway winner!

faerylite — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:08:00 GMT

Sorry for the slight delay, but I've been busy gawking at St Peter's basilica... got here too late to see the Pope. Maybe next time :D

There's much more security here than there was ten years ago when I last visited -- back then, there was no metal detector or anything. You could just walk straight into the church. Still, it's better than the alternative. This place is a work of art, and anyone who tries to damage it is a scumbag, I don't care what religion they are.

Anyway. Without further faffing about... the winner, chosen at random, of my fabulous fantasy book giveaway is...

Jennifer Schmidt Helmerick!!!!

Yay! Congrats! Jennifer wins a book pack containing these fabulous books:

Thanks so much to everyone for entering, and welcome to all my new Facebook and Twitter friends!

I'll be doing some more giveaways on Facebook soon, so stick around.

the steamy side of UF

faerylite — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:34:42 GMT

I'm guesting today (Thursday) at All Things Urban Fantasy, talking about the steamy side of UF and why you should get into it. And giving away a copy of POISON KISSED, of course!

Come by and check it out!

Also, don't forget to enter my fantasy book giveaway, which runs until this weekend. Ilona Andrews, Jennifer Estep, Merrie Destefano, J.K. Beck and me. We're fantasy. We're hot. You know you want us. Git on over there and enter!

UF vs PR -- what's your fancy?

faerylite — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:57:35 GMT

I'm guest posting at SciFiGuy today (Tuesday), talking about the difference between romantic UF and paranormal romance -- which do you prefer? Who are some of your favourite couples? Come over to SciFiGuy and tell me, and have the chance to win a copy of POISON KISSED.

Also a reminder abut my fantasy/romance book giveaway, ending this Saturday. I'm giving away books by Ilona Andrews, Jennifer Estep, Merrie Destefano, J.K. Beck and moi. Check it out on yesterday's post here.

fantasy book pack giveaway!

faerylite — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 07:14:01 GMT

To celebrate my release week, I'm giving away a book pack of some awesome fantasy and romance books that released this week too. Here's what I've got:

AFTERLIFE by Merrie Destefano
VENOM by Jennifer Estep
WHEN PLEASURE RULES by J.K. Beck
BAYOU MOON by Ilona Andrews
POISON KISSED by Erica Hayes (that's me!)

That's a whole pile of really cool books, and they can all be yours!!!

If you live where the Book Depository ships, you can enter. So leave a comment here, telling me what you've done out of the following (one entry for reach):

- Friended me on Facebook (that's the Like button at the top of the page, folks)
- Followed me on Twitter (I'm @ericahayes)
- Tweeted this contest (you can RT my tweet if you like)
- mentioned this contest on your blog/sidebar (include the link so I can gloat!)
- any burning questions you want to ask me, about books or anything at all.

If you really hate FB and you don't have a FB identity, tweet me @ericahayes with an anti-FB rant, and I'll include you in the contest too :)

Contest is open until... oh, let's say, next Saturday 9 October, midnight EST. Winner chosen at random.

Let the fun begin :)

P.S. I'm on the internet sporadically at the moment, like once a day maximum. So don't be offended if I don't reply immediately. But I will reply :)

guest posting and giveaway madness

faerylite — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:04:18 GMT

In case I screw myself over with no internet for a day again... yeah, book release week is a great time to be in the dark ages. I so recommend it. Uh...

My Bitten by Books event is still open, until 29 Sep midnight Chicago time. Come chat with me (slow time, but I will reply) about what kind of UF heroine you'd like to be, and the chance to win some Amazon gift certificate goodness!

Wednesday's post is at the Romance Writers of Australia blog; I'm talking about overwriting, what it is and how to fix it, and doing a book giveaway for Aussie readers.

And on Thursday, I'll be at Sidhe Vicious, talking about banshees and why they're cool.

So come share the joy! And when I next pass a McDonalds (is there no other wi-fi in this strange place called Europe??) I'll come meet you :D

poison kissed release day

faerylite — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:07:10 GMT

Yay! POISON KISSED is in stores today! I hope you all enjoy it. This is the one I've enjoyed writing the most so far. It has a banshee heroine, and a ravenous newly-made vampire and a rusty ironfairy as the villains.

A few FAQ: Yes, it has a new cover, different from the others. But it's the same series, the same world, the same everything. The cover and the new mass market format are a new look, but that's the only change.

And yes, Kane is in it :) he and his demon rival, Delilah, have a confrontation in this one. It's messy :)

Remember, you can check out Chapter One online at my website here. And the trailer is here. Enjoy!

Blog tour news: today, I'm at Bitten by Books for a bit of release day madness!! I'm talking a bit about the book, and you'll get an exclusive snippet from Chapter 2. Also giving away some gift certificates for prizes! So you can expand that book collection.

And on Thursday, I'm at Sidhe Vicious, talking about banshees, and why Mina, my banshee heroine, is a bit different.

blog tour and giveaway goodness

faerylite — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 10:07:42 GMT

POISON KISSED hits shelves (thud!) in three days. Cool! So I'm doing a bit of a blog tour. I'll keep you updated.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm guesting with the fabulous Deadline Dames!! I'm talking about the coffee shop, and why I write there when I'm such a stickler for order and silence. Giving away a free book. Yu know how it is. Drop by and leave a comment! Make me feel wanted.

And on Tuesday, I'm throwing a release day party at Bitten By Books.

I'm chatting about the book and other stuff, and giving away some Amazon gift certificates as prizes.

You can RSVP and get extra entries here: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30904

I'll drop by to chat, but I'm on vacation without internet (right now I'm sitting in Macdonalds on some French country town) so it might take me a little while to make a reply.

trailers and excerpts, we haz them

faerylite — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:02:12 GMT

My website is updated, and you can read Chapter One of POISON KISSED here!

And here's my new book trailer for POISON KISSED. Oyy... Feel free to share if you think it's cool!

And now, I'm on holidays! Yay! Off to the airport this arvo to get on the big plane. Will be sure to post pics from exotic locales and make you all envious -- the SD Card of Death has been replaced and troubles me no more.

Can't wait. Been hanging out to do some reading and now I've got loads of blissful, uninterrupted hours ahead...

the facebook, he is here

faerylite — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 23:46:56 GMT

I've got a brand new author page on Facebook! Do come by and friend me, or like me, or whatever it is we do on Facebook this week.

Oh, and some fun news: you can currently get Shadowfae for Kindle for US$2.99!!

Awesome!! Even I could afford that!* So if you've been wanting to check the series out -- or you just love cheap ebooks -- get on over there. Special promotion, not for ever etc..

* If I could buy it in this country. Which I can't. But hey. I would If I could.

worldcon madness

faerylite — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:04:27 GMT

WorldCon was cool.

I mean, a lot of conventions and conferences are cool. But WorldCon was a bit different from others I've been to, which have mainly had a romance focus. Obviously, they talk more about specfic and less about romance - but they're also more opinionated. They're not afraid to say they don't like something, or disagree, or think that Writer X or Show Y or Book Z is full of shit.

Where at some romance cons I've been to, everything is sacred. We're so immersed in being supportive, and promoting the genre, and not stepping on anyone's toes, that our right to a dissenting opinion -- to voice it in public, that is, not the right to dissent itself -- gets diluted.

Refreshing. I think each approach has its merits. But on with a few pics

This fluffy green Cthulu at the Masquerade cracked me up,
especially beside tiny Rorschach.

Tracey O'Hara and Tez Miller taking it easy at Koko Black

NZ fantasy author Helen Lowe, Tracey and me

More pics next time, when I bribe them off Tracey's camera...

And a quick shout out for Among the Muses, where I'm doing an interview and giving away a copy of one of my books, including if you choose my October release, Poison Kissed.