Category: books

Faythe Reclaimed COVER REVEAL!

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I’m beyond proud to be doing a cover reveal for Lisa Sanchez’s Faythe Reclaimed. She’s an amazing writer, what-would-I-do-without-her critique partner and great friend.

Her two books in the Hanaford Park series (EVE OF SAMHAIN and PLEASURES UNTOLD) are smoking hot and kept me on pins and needles, waiting for a third in the series.

Here (FINALLY–I’m so excited for this one to come out!!) is FAYTHE RECLAIMED, Book #3 in the Hanaford Park Series:

Isn’t is absolutely, drop dead gorgeous?!? I’m thrilled. THRILLED. For you to get your hands on this copy and read about Gabriel and Taylor. I have to admit (and I haven’t even told Lisa this yet) that Gabriel is my fav hero she’s written to date. 😉

Read on to find out why…

Blurb:

Running through a strange forest with a bloodthirsty demon hot on her heels wasn’t Taylor’s idea of a rockin’ evening. Then again, neither was soaring backward through time and space. Time travel chafed and left a rank, nasty aftertaste. So, when she finds herself floundering amidst a sea of Commandment-loving holy rollers who fling accusations of witchcraft and bedevilment like hotcakes in a diner, finding her way home jumps to the top of her to do list. Too bad she can’t remember who she is or where she came from. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Taylor realizes she’s fallen for Gabriel, the mysterious Latin warlock who came to her rescue.

Battling an identity crisis and lost in a time that’s not her own, Taylor is determined to find her way back to twenty-first century Hanaford Park. But first, she and Gabriel must work together to uncover the dark scourge lurking in the shadows of Salem Village, and in doing so, save their lives, and the lives of countless innocents from a lethal date with the hangman’s noose.

To find out more about Lisa’s other titles go here:

Author website: http://www.lisasanchezromanceauthor.com
Tulipe Noire Press: http://www.tulipenoirepress.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13552986-faythe-reclaimed

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Kindlegraph!

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Talks of e-books and the e-revolution buzzed around RWA national this year. Everywhere you turned, people were talking about the “future of publishing” and what that meant.

No one had any solid answers.

BUT one very valid concern did grind my brain more than others: What will happen to book signings and author autographed copies of books once the world turns digital?

Kindlegraph has answered the question.

www.Kindlegraph.com allows authors to electronically sign kindle copies of their books! How cool is that?!?

I’ve already signed up both Dark Tide Rising and InterVamption. I’ve already had a few requests for both books–even before I signed up. Aww, shucks, you guys. Nothing like making a girl blush.

Now, I guess, the only question is how this process is going to work when readers want the same experience of waiting in line to meet their favorite authors and get that coveted autograph. Will it be the same? No. Probably not. I think Kindlegraph is simply the first phase of many…one part of the transition of the e-revolution…but what a great one it is!

It’s also super easy to sign up. All you need is your kindle/amazon email. I’ll be checking my Kindlegraph account regularly…hope to see your request there! 😀

Photo Diary of My Week at RWA’s 2011 National Conference

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Registration Goody Bag:

**Wanna know something cool?!? The Conference was partly sponsored by Avon, my publisher. A thumb drive was part of the registration package. On that driver were four sample pieces of work…one was MINE and the other was my fellow SFARWA member and conference roomie, Rachael Herron! How sweet is that?!?

Me, in front of the Harper Collins office:

*I was sooo nervous for the Avon sponsored Digital Day, can you tell? I’m uber-glad Rachael was nice enough to come with me and show me the ropes. The Digital Day was great. I met everyone from the editors, to the marketing team, to the cover artist who designed my FABULOUS cover, to other lovely Avon authors. It couldn’t have gone better.

Holding up my t-shirt at the Avon Signing:

**Wasn’t that sweet of them to print it up?!? Totally made my morning. Can’t wait to be a part of the signing next year!

Avon Author Spotlight:

*Wanna know the coolest thing about the spotlight? Seeing my cover on the bigscreen. Hearing my wonderful editor, Esi, gush about the book. It feels amazing to know that someone loves my work as much as I do. Oh, and hearing the crowd ooh and aah over the cover and blurb wasn’t too bad of a feeling, either. *wink

A little hole in the wall Italian restaurant my roomies found on the last day of the conference:

*It was the BEST Italian food…

…but the company made it better:

*That’s A.J., Rachael and me. They seriously made the trip the AWESOME experience it was. We got along so well–it’s too easy to LOVE them–that every night I laughed till I cried. I’m gonna miss those slumber-party nights…

The LOOT I ended up taking home:

*Forty-eight signed books in all. $374 worth of top-notch reading material for a $25 checked bag fee. Not too bad, eh? My TBR pile is enormous. Can’t wait to dig in.

More to come tomorrow…

The NEW COVER is here!! And a RELEASE DATE!

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I’m sooo excited this morning!!! I can finally post the cover, title, and release date for the first book in my Vampires of Crimson Bay Series. It’s dark. Sexy. Mysterious. Ominous. Just like the book itself.

I’m absolutely, positively in love with it.

Ready?

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Isn’t it GORGEOUS?!? Avon’s graphic design team really outdid themselves.

Intervamption will be released from Avon Impulse July 26.

It’s right around the corner! How’d that happen?!? I’m glad you won’t have to wait long to get your copy. If I were shameless I’d say it’s super smokin’-hot good, but I’m not…so I won’t.

I will say that I’m uber proud of this book. Esi, my fabulous editor, and I worked hard smoothing kinks and making the pararnormal world really Pop! I can’t wait to give a teaser. I can’t wait to skip around the net on my blog tour. I can’t wait for you all to meet Slade, my shapeshifting assassin hero, and Dylan, my Vampire Rehabilitation Specialist heroine. You’ll love them…

Whatcha think?

Top Ten Tuesday: Things I’m loving right now while I plow through Book 3 in the Crimson Bay Series

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10-How long this freakin’ blog post title is. Yowzer. Guess my brain is so fried I can’t come up with anything more concise.

9-Ben Harper

8-Devil’s Food chocolate cake.

7-Last week of school for my munchkins=no early morning alarms

6-While I’ve gained 3-5 pounds writing each of my books, this one is different. I’m LOSING weight while writing. No, I don’t have one of those treaddesks. I’m writing in the mornings and spinning in the evenings. Seems to be working.

5-Early summer rain. My muse is flowing even though everyone is grumbling about the rain sticking around later than normal.

4-I can’t stop thinking about RWA National. It’s in New York City at the end of June and I’M GOING. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it this year. Finances got a little tight. My daughter’s birthday lands smack dab in the middle of the trip. We’ve resolved those issues–albeit with a lot of mommy guilt. Wanna know what I’m most excited about? Traveling alone. Last year I went with critique partner Lisa Sanchez and had a BLAST. But there’s nothing quite like showing up to the airport, checking in, finding a corner to sit and read or write all by your lonesome. Very freeing feeling not knowing anyone. It’s like taking yourself on a date–dinner and a movie. LOVE it.

3-Deadliest Catch. It’s my all-time favorite show and the season just started.


My obsession over the show is no surprise to those who know me well. I love the ocean. I’m fascinated with ice, ice fields, ice bergs. I love anything and everything revolving around ships. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with adding a little gruff in the form of crabbing alpha males.

2-Finding The First Book Ever Written. Yup. I cleaned out my desk yesterday and found Nine Days in Joliet, the first book I ever wrote. I laughed, combed through it, Ooh’d and Aah’d. I can’t believe how far I’ve come in a few years. No wonder I received rejections from everyone in the business. Sheesh. Needless to say, that manuscript is now lining the burn barrel in our backyard. (I have a thing for burning old work–very liberating. The day of my college graduation I went to the beach with friends, lit a massive bonfire, and tossed in all my notebooks.)

1-I got the cover for Book 1 in the Crimson Bay Series! Can’t share it yet, as I’m not sure if the image they shared is the final cover. As soon as I get the go-ahead, I’ll post it here. *grin

I’ve fallen in love with Fallen

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I’ve had the most gloriously relaxing last couple days. I haven’t gotten much done around the house other than reading, editing, and writing, and I feel guilty…but oh so right.

After a few hours writing yesterday (I broke through the Chapter 17 hump!), Bailey assumed his usual position:

He was probably wondering what took me so long to slide back into our daily groove. He didn’t seem to have as many problems cuddling right up to his position beneath my chair. Doesn’t he look content?

After writing an accidental 5000 words (when, really, I was just editing and cleaning scenes up and adding little things here and there), I decided to take a break and read a bit.

I picked up this:

Isn’t that the most gorgeous cover you’ve ever seen? (Other than mine, of course. *Ahem) (WHICHREMINDSMEDARKTIDERISINGCOMESOUTINONEMONTH!ONEMONTHPEOPLE!AHHHH!)

Sorry. Back on track.

I had never heard of Fallen until I walked by the gorgeous cover in Borders a few months back. I stopped in my tracks. Picked up the book. Stroked the cover. (Oh yes I did.) And then I put it back on the shelf. I was still deep in the conflict of Immortal, Beloved and I can’t usually read any one else’s work while writing my own. I thought I’d pick it up again once I was finished writing my own novel.

But the premise of the book stayed with me. The idea of a guy (later known to be a fallen angel) walking the earth for eternity, waiting miserably for his soulmate to return to his arms is so…romantic. Torturous, yes, but those times they get to be together? Heaven. The idea that they CAN’T be together, yet are still pulled to each other like magnets was enticing. Soulmates. I can tell that they’ll be together eventually, and just can’t wait to see how that plays out.

I’m already IN the story and I haven’t even picked up the darn book.

So guess what? I asked for the second book in the series, Torment, for Christmas.

(Equally beautiful cover, don’t you think?)

You might be wondering why on earth I asked for the second book as a gift instead of the first…well, as it happens Fallen sneaked into my shopping bag when I was leaving Borders a few days before Christmas. (YES I paid for it! I just didn’t mean to buy it. I mean, I was buying presents for other people! It’s Christmas! I wasn’t supposed to buy for ME. But I did. And it felt great.)

Imagine my surprise when I actually got Torment! Using the few days after Christmas as wonderful vegging/de-Christmasing time, I picked up Fallen and glided through its pages. It’s so lovely in so many ways but the connection between the hero and heroine are what had me hooked. Ever felt pulled to a person and have no real reason behind it? Like the middle school crush on the jerk that you know isn’t going to play out but you can’t stop staring at him over your lunch table? Yeah, that’s what these two are all about.

I read the book in two days (all 460 pages) while still managing to plug away at my own novel (which was a first for me). I put down Fallen. I picked up Torment. And now I can’t wait to read Passion, the third book in the series, when it comes out this summer.

I’m about 50 pages from the end of Immortal, Beloved. The heroine has been kidnapped. Vampire elders have already been slain. The hero just realized his destiny…and hers…and realizes that although he’d give his life fighting for her in this final battle, once she’s safe they can’t be together. Steep price to pay for the sins he’s committed. And the hero and heroine from the third book in The Crimson Bay series, creatively titled “Third Book in the Crimson Bay Series” have just met. Sparks are flying. She hates him. He’s hooked.

Ah, I love this writing gig.

Hope your holidays were great!

Gratitude

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Writers and authors are officially the coolest people on the planet. Okay, so I don’t know enough of them to make a blanket statement like that. Let me reprhase.

Allison Brennan is the coolest author on the planet.

She commented on my last blog post.

Seriously.

I hope she doesn’t mind that I copy what she said into a separate blog post–I don’t think she would being that she’s the coolest author on the planet and all. It simply made my morning so I had to share…

Allison Brennan said…

Hi Kristin:

Because I’m a neurotic author (most of us are) I have a google alert on my name. I rarely comment when I read something, but thought you might be interested in my pub story.

First, great blog. You already know the moral of the story: this is your journey. Every author’s journey is different.

So I had over 100 rejections from agents before I landed one. I noticed you have an agent!! Yeah you, that tells you that you have the talent and the voice, because agents don’t sign everyone who says they want to be a writer.

I had the shortest rejection on the planet (aside from no response.) On my first full request, the agent rejected it by sending me back my cover letter with one word double underlined: SUPERFICIAL. :/

It took me five books before I found an agent. I ended up selling quickly, but getting to that point was hard and sometimes disillusioning.

Now, on a personal note, your name is so familiar I think we may have met. And then I see you’re from Nor Cal and I KNOW we’ve met! 🙂 Don’t stress.

Original Comment Posted October 8, 2010 7:27 AM

First, I don’t know if she’ll read my blog again or not, but I want to say THANK YOU. Part of me is rejoicing that it’s not as easy as it seems. Writing is such a solitary hobby/job/joy. It’s sometimes too easy to think we’re the only ones struggling with the process.

And we have met! When I went to RWA Orlando I knew there were a few people I really wanted to meet. Allison Brennan being one of them. We have mutual friends in the business, we live close to one another, belong to the same RWA local chapters, have the same taste in books (hello Saul and Koontz), and she seems like a down to earth writer who believes in helping others. After taking time out of her busy schedule to comment on my little blog, the last part is super clear.

Any famous, award winning, New York Times Bestselling Author who takes the time to reach out to a writer like me is one of The Greats…for more reasons than great writing. If you haven’t read her books, you should. You really should.

Amazon.com Widgets

Amazon.com Widgets

2009’s Mr. RT and Fresh Prince Get It Right

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A childhood friend of mine (who happens to be 2009’s Mr. Romantic Times {hello Mr. Paz!}), linked this on his Facebook page a couple days ago. (He’s also agreed to be the Spotlight Interview for September.)

I watched the video. I listened. Something about what the Fresh Prince said struck a cord within me.

Take a look.

Did you hear what he said? When you decide what you want to do, and who you want to be, the Universe moves out of your way. It realizes this is war and you will get what you want at all costs. Suddenly the road becomes smooth. The clouds part. New goals take shape.

The difference between those who reach their goal and those who fall short are the ones who give up along the way.

So break through that rough spot. Re-prioritize your options, deciding what you will not compromise…and what you will. Re-work that problem scene. Get to it. Challenge the Universe to stand in your way.

I know I am. *grin

If you’re interested in reading the book Will Smith mentioned as his favorite and beyond inspirational, click here to be carried away to amazon.

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Bree Tanner: The New Twilighter

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Stephenie Meyer fans around the world rejoice! Publisher’s Weekly announced a few days ago that Stephenie Meyer will publish a novella titled The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Bree Tanner was a minor character in Eclipse and will be breaking out into a larger role for the film which comes out in June.

The novella is scheduled to show it’s face on shelves June 5th. Stephenie Meyer has reported that she originally intended the work to be used as a writing tool while editing Eclipse, then decided to toss it into the Twilight Guide. After it became too large a story to fit the companion she (and the folks over at Little Brown) decided to publish it all on its own. It will also be available for free online (Did you hear that? Free.) from June 7th to July 5th. The official website is www.breetanner.com.

I don’t know about you all, but I’m waiting for her to finish writing Midnight Sun. That puppy had potential, leaked onto the internet or not.