Raise your hand if you love the Tairen Soul series!
Raise your hand (and leave a comment) if you want to win a copy of this amazing, amazing book. One of my favorite books. One of my favorite series!
I don’t think I’ve shared enough exclamation points with you. Here are some more:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So it was more than five years ago when C.L. Wilson and I went out to dinner and started talking about our latest projects. Mine was an action adventure story aimed at the Silhouette Bombshell line (R.I.P. Bombshell, R.I.P. that book, except for one character, who I stole and put in Rampant). Hers was Tairen Soul. I started reading it that very night and oh my lord of the fading lands was I hooked. I never lost faith in this book as she went through the submission merry-go-round, trying to place an epic sword and sorcery fantasy that was at heart, a romance, trying to place a romance that really did need 400-500,000 words to do it justice. I knew that once readers got a hold of this story, it would grip them and never let them go.
I love being right. Go, C! Viv is very proud of you!
According to my friend Justine, whose fabulous new book, How to Ditch Your Fairy, is in stores today, I am a cynical pessimist who really needs to lighten up and look on the bright side.
Okay. Fine:
I love this commercial. I love the Discovery Channel. I love the actual channel, and I love the company itself, for its hard work in the name of science love and for its pivotal role in the revitalization of my town. If all commercials were this good, I might watch TV. But most of them are political lies these days.
Oh, crap! There goes that cynical pessimism again.
Hmmmm, now what will put me in a good mood? I know! How about a delicious new novel set in a world where everyone has their own personal fairy. How about giving away a copy of this amazing book?
I was lucky enough to be an early reader for this novel, back when it was being called “the great Australian feminist young adult Elvis mangosteen monkey knife-fighting cricket fairy novel.” No, really. When Justine sent it to me, all I knew was that she’d written a fairy book. Having just finished Holly Black’s wonderful books, I was expecting dark, brooding urban fantasy fairies.
Not so much. Justine’s fairies are one part “savvy” or “grace“, one part Pullman daemon, and one part guardian angel. And Charlie, a basketball and cricket player at New Avalon Sports High, really, really wants to get rid of hers. I was utterly charmed by this book, and instantly told everyone I could how great it was, and what would our fairies be.
Justine is on her publication tour right now, so if you’re in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Missouri, or Texas, make sure to check her out!
I’m so glad that the rest of the world finally has an opportunity to read this book! Go grab your copy today, or, leave your comment on this post to be entered into a drawing to win one of two copies of HOW TO DITCH YOUR FAIRY.
UPDATED on 9.17: THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE SEE 9.17 BLOG POST FOR WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT AND NEW GIVEAWAY!
I totally haven’t thought of a prize yet. But I will! Speakign of, do I owe prizes to anyone? I have a sneaking suspicion that I do. Everything was so crazy last month. Just drop me an email if I’ve been holding out on you.
And because it was too funny not to, we’ve got a special, Diana’s books themed runner-up. The creator hasn’t read Rampant, so he has no idea how apt this really is:
Patrick, who is probably too busy moving into his new house to even read blogs.
Rio is doing just fine these days. I went away for the weekend and I couldn’t believe it, but she grew while I was away! Unreal! Thankfully, she totally remembers me. We went swimming yesterday:
Every year, on the last day before they close down the community pool, they let the dogs in. It was a blast. Perhaps a bit overwhelming for our 12 week old, though. It took a bit of coaxing to get her into the water:
But she was as popular as ever. Look at all the people staring at the puppy!
The pool was filled with Goldendoodles, a golden retriever-poodle mix. (A ridiculous name that makes no sense, as there is no “D” in “Retriever.” SB thinks they should be called Goldenoodles. I think they should be called Goldenroodles. What do you all think?) Anyway, we were asked at least half a dozen times if she was one of those things. Apparently labradoodles are out, and this is the new hot mix. They had them made with standard poodles and with miniature ones.
I’ve never seen one dry, so I don’t know what they look like, but wet, they all look like afghan hounds. Long white-blonde wavy hair like Rapunzel. Long-haired and curly must be a tough combo. I don’t know why so many people at the pool thought Rio was one because she has short, fluffy, straight red hair. She looks more like she’d be a shepherd or border collie mix — but maybe if you don’t recognize the breed (which, edited to add, is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever) and all you’ve been hearing about is these Goldenythingies, you just guess that.
Updated to add: I love google. Here’s a picture of those golden thingies dry:
Kinda like bearded collies, if you ask me. Anyway, according to one site I read, they are often more “golden retriever” looking at birth, and their curly, poodle-like coat grows in later. Here’s a picture of a goldenythingy puppy on the left and my baby girl on the right:
I don’t see it. I mean, they are both small ginger pups, but aside from that…. must be the novelty.
And Rio is way cuter:
“I’m ready for my close-up, Mommy DeMille!”
Okay, before you all start hating on me for the non-stop puppytopia this blog has become, I’ve got some great book news — for you! Yes, you lovely reader! This week I shall be giving away four fabulous new releases, one each day. I’ve read them all and you’re going to love them! Which ones are they? Well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow and check it out!
[Note from Diana: Today, we have a special guest blog from Julie Leto, author of PHANTOM PLEASURES. Keep reading to see who won yesterday's giveaway and for another opportunity to enter!]
First, want to thank Diana for the opportunity to hijack her blog for a day. The release of PHANTOM PLEASURES is a really big deal for me because it has been a long time coming. Most writers expect a two or three year delay between story conception and publication, but how about fifteen years? That’s stretching it, even for me.
I started writing seriously in 1987 when, after much too much wine, a friend and I decided to write a historical romance. Even the next morning, we thought it was a good idea and proceeded to start researching, pre-Google. Oh, the hours we spent in special collections in the library. Oh, the money we spent on research books! After about four months of research, we started writing and a year later, had a completed novel.
It never sold and trust me when I tell you that the World of Letters is better off for it.
We wrote one more historical romance together and then after writing a few chapters of a third, decided our friendship would be better served if we didn’t write together anymore. She went on to pursue her dream of becoming a caterer while I continued writing.
I futzed around with many different story ideas in many different subgenres of romance until I finally got the idea for a story about a ghost on a haunted island. At the time, Silhouette was publishing a line called Shadows, which featured paranormal and non-paranormal stories in the vein of Nine Coaches Waiting, dark, romantic gothic stories set in the present day. I tailored the book to the line and finished it. After going through the query process, I had an editor who wanted to read it. I also placed in a contest where the senior editor (Leslie Wainger) requested the manuscript. I sent it in, very heartened. The editor sent me back a 13 page revision letter.
Now, you’d think this was bad news, but I’d been in the biz long enough to know it was not. An editor doesn’t spend the time writing a 13 page revision letter unless she was seriously interested. I called her. We chatted and all sounded well. She really liked the sexiness and the setting and the characters, but could I tweak a, b, c through z? No problem.
I did every revision. Checked them off like a good little doobie. I sent it in as quickly as possible…though it likely took me at least three months because I had another day job and a night job back then. I waited. I waited and waited and waited. Then finally, about three-four months later, I got a phone message from my husband, who home for lunch, called to tell me I had a package from Silhouette.
A package. No a phone call. A package. Again, I’d been in the biz long enough to know this was NOT good.
He read me the rejection over the phone. That self-initiated act of cruelty took all of two minutes. It was a form rejection.
Now, I’m a fairly thick-skinned person. I can take just about anything this industry can dish out, but I have to tell you, this one nearly did me in.
A form rejection? After all that work? And not even signed personally by the editor who’d requested all the changes! Or the Senior Editor who’d asked to see the book!
Long story short (too late, you say!) the line had folded. The editor who’d requested the changes had been reassigned or left (I can’t remember…I just know she’s an agent now) and the senior editor had moved on as well. I was likely a victim of very bad timing.
Or good timing, depending on your perspective.
Because while I tried several other times to sell that manuscript to other publishers, nothing came of it and the very next manuscript I wrote was the first one I sold. Then, twenty books later, I decided that the pendulum of reader interest had swung sufficiently to the paranormal enough for me to drag out that old story again.
Only it no longer existed, except in my mind. Not even the diskettes remained. I had a hard copy of the first three chapters, but that was all.
So I started from scratch. And man, am I ever glad I did!
So much came back to me–and that has to mean something. The hero, the setting, the castle, the curse. The heroine, whose name had to change because I’d used her original name in another story, grew into someone a lot less tragic and a lot ballsier, though her profession and motivation remained the same. But now that I’d written over twenty books, my skill set had grown into such that I could really weave a more complex story into the simple tale I’d written previously. The villain totally changed. I added secondary characters. I changed the time period for the brothers…heck, the hero didn’t even have brothers before! And I added the gypsy theme because I’d learned writing my RITA nominee, “Surrender,” and the companion book, UNDENIABLE, that I really loved gypsies and gypsy lore.
Fifteen years later, a story that haunted me is finally hitting the stands.
And by the way, Valoren (as referenced in the title) is the name of the fictional gypsy colony in PHANTOM PLEASURES. If you’d like to read the opening scene that takes place in 1747 Valoren, click here. You can follow that link to seven more excerpts. By then, you’ll know if the book interests you.
And thanks again, Diana, for the opportunity to guest blog with you! ___________
Diana again. Thank you, Julie, for coming onto my blog. I love this book, and I love the story behind it, too. It’s one of perseverance, ingenuity, and being in the right place at the right time!
Now, the giveaways. Yesterday’s winner is KAREN LINGEFELT. Karen, email me, if by some strange change, you do not already have a copy of this book.
Another chance to win today! Leave a note in the comments about a time that you stuck with something and it paid off!
My first foreign edition, from AST Publishers in Russia. Isn’t it exciting? Translation of the cover copy care of some good friends currently living in Latvia:
“Secret Society Girl”
First of Diana Peterfroynd’s stories about the “Ivy League” – light and funny student reading.
Diana Peterfroynd graduated from Yale University . She lives in Washington , D.C. This is the author’s first novel.
A Yale student, the ambitious Ami Haskil, editor of the university literary journal, has received an invitation.
This girl was sure, that they want to accept her into the literary society “Quill and Ink.” But what a surprise it was for Ami when she found out that she got into the most influential university club, “Rose and Coffin!”
This club is famous for the fact that only young people from the highest levels of society are allowed to join.
How will this experiment end?
“A peek through the keyhole at secret, elite universities… a brilliant plot!”
________________________________________
In other news, the winner of yesterday’s giveaway is petite. Petite, please email me your address to receive your prize.
In addition, I’ve still not heard from Trish Ryan about the last giveaway (for the ARC of Rites of Spring (Break)). Trish, email me!
Finally, I’m giving away another copy of PHANTOM PLEASURES. To win, simply leave a comment in this blog about you favorite part of the Russian cover and/or cover copy.
This weekend, at the conference, I was talking to erotica author Megan Hart about the current popularity of paranormal romance, and we touched upon the subject of picking your paranormal creatures with care, because of the insurmountability of certain conflicts.
Vampire: “He’s an immortal bloodsucker and I’m a human woman.” Most vampire books on the market today resolve this conundrum by turning the human woman into a vampire, or into a vampire-like creature of the book’s world choice. Because it’s not an HEA if she dies a few years down the road and he mourns for an eternity. Only very, very rarely in the current market is the vampire cured of vampirism through love of a good woman.
Werewolf (or other animal-human hybrid or shapeshifter): Usually the conflict here involves the acceptance of the other, with a real world correlation of marrying into a different culture. The human has to learn to accept the pack and pack ways, or vice versa. Sometimes the human is turned into a werewolf, too, but most often, they just go on with their lives, with the understanding that occasionally, dude’s going to shapeshift. Ditto with the aliens.
Demon (or Angel): Same problem as vampires, but the guy is usually “cured” and turned into a human.
Time Traveler: It varies. Most often, the time traveler returns to the present, person from the past in tow. Occasionally, the time traveler ends up with a descendant or reincarnation of their old love in some sort of strange, last-minute switcheroo. Rarely does the time traveler stay in the past with their lover.
Time travel tends to leave a bad taste in my mouth because of the commonly-used reincarnation trope. I was talking to my friend Julie Leto about this the other day, and she said the problem was, if you marry the reincarnation of your medieval Highland warrior, it’s not really him. It’s a dude who grew up in the 80s, listening to rock music and playing Nintendo.
Which leads us to the Ghost Paradox. Ghosts are not a popular trope in the current paranormal romance market, and the reason for that is, there is no “cure” and for the human female to join said ghost, she’d have to die. Doesn’t sound like such a happily-ever-after to me.
But then I read Julie Leto’s newest book, Phantom Pleasures, in which she solves The Ghost Paradox. The hero of the book is a spectral, magic-wielding being from centuries past, but he’s not dead. He’s cursed, thereby allowing for the “ghost” trope without that sticky insurmountable conflict biting you in the end. Brill, huh?
I’m giving away copies of Phantom Pleasures this week. To win today’s copy, leave a comment to this post saying what your favorite type of paranormal romance is and why.
Today I’m guesting at the blog of debut writer, Sara Hantz, who is celebrating the release of her first book, THE SECOND VIRGINITY OF SUZY GREEN. Check it out! Win cool prizes!
Probably won’t be posting again for a while, due to a moderate family emergency. Rest assured: everyone will be fine.
Meanwhile, we are still having a giveaway of Secret Society Girl, the paperback, this week. Leave a comment in this post to enter.
In passing, winners from the last two weeks, Susan Hatler and Crystal G, have yet to contact me to receive their prizes. Since my access to email is spotty this week, let’s give them until Friday and then I’ll draw new names.
I’m tremendously behind in what’s going on in the world, on email, on loops, on blogs, etc. right now, but I do know these things:
1) Justine Larbalestier won an Andre Norton Award for her debut novel, Magic or Madness. Wow. Go, Justine! I am completely blown away by this and would be more eloquent except that I haven’t slept in thirty hours. (Justine, if you’re reading this, I am buying our next round in celebration.)
2) Gemma Halliday’s debut, Spying in High Heels, is currently in development as a television series on the USA Network!!!
Justine, never one to shy away from the Big Questions in Life, asks:
If you could only choose one which would you choose: the publishing house with a wonderful editor who brings out the best in you, or the house with fabulous publicity, marketing and sales departments?
And then the opinions pour in. From editors, some of whom said “publicity,” having felt the sting of editing wonderful books that died on the vine; from writers who longed for that genius revision letter, and others.
Best quote in the discussion was from Doselle Young, who said:
If you want great publicity, just leave copies of your book at the scenes of violent crimes with your key passages of sex and violence underlined. That’ll pretty much always work.
As a conspiracy theorist by trade, I must say, I adore this idea. If only I weren’t so adverse to hanging out with serial killers (except for maybe Sylar. I don’t have special powers to entice him to eat my brains, and he’s so cute).
So, let’s play a game. Say you are going to leave a copy of Secret Society Girl at the scene of a crime. What kind of crime would you choose? What key passages would you underline as potential clues for the media to pounce upon?
I’m thinking a probably a museum heist of some sort. And probably the bit on page 133 about what kind of stuff Rose & Grave has hidden in their tombs.
Anyone else have an idea? Best entry wins a prize, TBD by Sailor Boy. Leave your comments here.
Really busy this week. Plus Sailor Boy is on Spring Break, so there’s a bit of an expectation of spending quality time with him as well.
Unfortunately, he’s currently using my computer to watch Heroes so that Julie will also buy him a nice dinner (kidding! kidding!) so I can’t get to my files or my list of giveaway books. I know we’re giving away Valiant, On Writing, and Dipped in Chocolate, but I’m not sure about the fourth, or if there is a fourth. Those might be our choices for the week.
O Happy Day, caloo, calay! King of Sword and Sky is OUT!
