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Thursday, July 31, 2014

Christmas In July

The 1892 opera, Werther by Jules Massenet included a scene of children rehearsing a Christmas song in July. The character’s response—“When you sing Christmas in July, you rush the season.”
I think we crave the goodwill and congenial feelings that are epitomized during the holiday season. So what is the history of Christmas in July? Is it more than a marketing sales tool?
  • 1933 – Camp Keystone, a girls summer camp in North Carolina, celebrated with a Christmas tree, presents, and a visit from Saint Nick. Perhaps the girls, who only see each other during the summer wanted to chance to celebrate the holiday with the unique summer camp family. 
  • 1940 – The concept was given national attention in the Hollywood movie, Christmas in July with Dick Powell and Ellen Drew. In this story takes place in July, Dick Powell’s character is led to believe he’s won $25,000 in an advertising slogan contest. He buys presents for family, friends, and proposes to his girlfriend played by Ellen Drew.
  • 1942 – The Calvary Baptist Church in Washington D.C., celebrated Christmas in July with carols and the sermon Christmas Presents in July. It garnered an outpouring of donations. The program was held each summer.
  • 1944 – The U.S. Post Office and U.S. Army and Navy promoted Christmas in July as an early mailing campaign for service men and women overseas during World War II.
  • Today – American advertisers have been using the Christmas in July theme since 1950. We can find re-runs of Christmas programs on television and many stores run sales. 
  • My offering for Christmas in July? Timeless Keepsakes: A Collection of Christmas Stories. 

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Win-A-Book Wednesday with...David Bridger!

David Bridger



David Bridger settled with his family and their two monstrous dogs in England's West Country after twenty years of ocean-based mischief, during which he worked as a lifeguard, a sailor, an intelligence gatherer and an investigator in the Royal Navy. He writes science fiction and fantasy novels for teens and adults.

Four weeks ago she was a normal schoolgirl looking forward to the summer holidays. Now she's her family's only hope, with several lifetimes of experience in her memories and a dangerous battle ahead. 


When sixteen-year-old Jessica's reclusive great-grandfather bequeaths her a haunted castle in the Welsh borderlands, she's thrust into a world of hostile strangers, troublesome Romany tenants, and a strange gift that shows her disjointed visions of the past. And that's only the start of it. She thinks she's going mad, until old family stories and the superstitious fears of locals convince her that something sinister really is going on a Kidd Castle, and all the while the gift keeps drawing her deeper into the secrets of her ancestors.

The only person who seems to understand what's happening to her is the young Romany street artist, Joe. In the face of deadly danger to them and their loved ones, Jessica and Joe must master the gift before the past imposes its terrible will on the present.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Here Be News

New Releases


If there's one thing Warlock Marcus Shifter hates it's the Delwinn Council, the governing body of the magical community. Between the grudges many on the Council harbor because he walked away from magic, and his suspicions that someone is working to undermine a twenty-year peace with the non-magical Normals, they really don't get along.

Marcus has spent months hunting the traitor, infiltrating the Council and helping with "menial tasks" like repairing unstable rifts in the fabric of reality. But when he accidentally thwarts an assassination attempt at Delwinn HQ, the Council does the unthinkable: they appoint him the poster child for the peace movement.

Now Marcus has to not only figure out how to control his resurging powers but also navigate the potentially fatal waters of fame. Between the growing number of protestors, news-hungry paparazzi, and nightmarish beasts hounding his every move, he'll need more than a camera-ready smile to uncover the traitor and keep the peace.

Get it today!

**

Book three of Last of the Shardyn

Only scattered groups of exhausted heroes remain...

Veteran police chief Skip Walkins has really done it this time. After crossing realities to fight the onslaught of the Drynn, the spawn of the Underworld, he's one of only a few motley survivors of an epic massacre. By his blood, he's sworn to unite with Shardyn Knight Gavin Blackburn against the armies of Asmodeous the Pale, Lord of the Underworld and ruler of the Drynn. The two must seek resistance fighters wherever they can--even in Vambrace, among those who killed Gavin's father.

Reformed sociopath Donovan Smith has traveled to Vambrace for his own reasons--the new voice in his head claims that there he will learn how he came to be the Antimage, impervious to the deadliest magical attacks.

Donovan's secrets may hold the key to defeating the Drynn, but they may upset the delicate alliance of the Blood Sworn in the process. And if Skip and Gavin can't fight together as one, the Drynn will attain total victory over Earth and its magical twin, Theia.

Get it today!

Group Announcements


Congratulations to Shona Husk for placing in the Dark Paranormal category of the PRISM Awards with For the Love of a Goblin Warrior and to Jeffe Kennedy for placing in the Fantasy category with Rogue's Possession!


Sunday, July 27, 2014

Failed Novels



I’m feeling nostalgic today. According to my diary, I started writing my first novel almost exactly thirty years ago. I’ve written thirty-four novels—someday I aspire to catch up to my age! Not all of those books are published. In fact, *cough*, less than half are.  

Why so many unpublished? Most can be chalked up to learning my craft, some are from genres or subgenres that I had a yen to try but didn’t quite fit my style and so were abandoned. And then there are the ones where became distracted by a bright, shiny new idea and simply never got back to the old one.

So, for the amusement value, here are my failed novels, and some that are languishing in a trunk somewhere:

1/ Picture from the Past – On the advice of my older cousin I took some fantasy princesses and transplanted them into a romantic suspense tale. I was thirteen and a nerd. My idea of a big romance scene was “She thought he would kiss her. He did.” Enough said. Status: abandoned
2/ Ribbons Red – Can you tell I was big into alliteration? Another stab at YA romantic suspense, though I couldn’t resist putting in a few psychic bits in the rewrite. Amazingly, I actually got an offer on this one, but it was never published because I made the mistake of submitting a different, stronger novel, which they decided to take instead. I’m still quite proud of the opening hook: I was the only who cried at Vincent’s funeral. Ironic, isn’t it, that I should be the one to cry? I, who had hated Vincent since childhood and had often wished him dead. Status: abandoned
3/ Mirror, Mirror. YA fantasy with a dab of historical fiction (the main character had several reincarnated lives). My first fantasy novel and a sufferer of 'kitchen sink' syndrome. I must have rewritten this one eight times because I loved it so. Alas, it never sold. Status: abandoned and cannibalized for parts
9/ Beyond the Barrier. YA SF, dystopian. Status: abandoned, also cannibalized for parts, the best bits going into Jayne’s Keeper and my favorite character Lance transplanted into the sickly hero of Gate to Kandrith
10/ The Wallies Are Waiting. YA paranormal. Originally, the middle book between Dreamfire and Dreamline, featuring the middle sister, who didn't have any paranormal powers. What was I thinking? Status: abandoned and cannibalized for parts
12/ Missing Time: YA SF, featuring aliens and the Bermuda Triangle and so very, very cliched. Status: Abandoned, though the prologue did inspire a scene in Obsidian and Ice
13/ Shadowfall: SF, my first attempt at writing for adults. (I was 18 and so not ready.) Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful, featuring twins with reversible names who lived on opposite sides of a weird platform world. Status: abandoned
15/ Jayne’s Keeper: YA SF, or possibly New Adult, definitely dystopian. My only male first person point of view novel. Status: in the trunk, but not abandoned. Why didn't I pitch this one when Hunger Games was hot?
18/ Cross My Heart and Hope to Die. My attempt to follow up on Running on Instinct with a similar thriller. An editor liked this one, but it didn't pass Acquisitions. Status: in the trunk but not yet abandoned
19/ Finding Faerie. YA fantasy. Status: first draft, in the trunk for two decades now and may soon by abandoned
20/ Four-month Husband. Contemporary romance. My first stab at a romance novel, a la the Harlequin Presents novels my mother loved. Terrible. Status: abandoned. If I’m clever I will delete this so no one ever reads it.
21/ Besieged by Demons. SF, alternate history. My what-if-aliens-invaded-in-1210 AD novel. This one languished in a trunk for years, but will soon see the light of day due to my lovely editor Stacy Boyd. Just received the copyedits and it will be coming out this fall. Huzzah! Status: forthcoming
22/ Distant Beating of Wings. Paranormal romance featuring a telepathic heroine in a wheelchair, angels and a serial killer. My second stab at a romance is better, but still problematic as one third of the text is flashbacks to their childhood. Status: in the trunk
23/ Overdue: SF, aliens invade and a librarian saves the day. (Why, yes, I do have a library background, however did you guess?) Status: first draft, in the trunk
25/ Path of Power. Fantasy, featuring a Queen who is pretending to be simple-minded. Status: 2nd draft, in the trunk, but closer to the top. (I also have some notes on a sequel)
28/ Where Lost Things Go. Paranormal romance (or possibly urban fantasy), based on an idea I cannibilized from Mirror, Mirror. Status: finished ad quite pleased with it, will shop around once I have more breathing room as there is also a planned sequel
29/ Ear-Wax Prince. Middle-grade fantasy. I wrote this for my son when he was deep into reading Magic Tree House and Secrets of Droon. By now of course he is a hulking teenager, and I've decided I much prefer YA. Status: first draft, near the bottom of the trunk
33/ Unscripted. Science fiction romance novella. Status: first draft, not sure if this is a direction I want to pursue
34/ Feral. YA fantasy, werewolves this time, an expansion of my published short story of the same title in Tesseracts Fifteen. Status: first draft, awaiting its turn for revision

So that’s twelve books published, three forthcoming, eight abandoned, and eleven in the trunk—some of them much dustier than others. What’s hiding in your trunk? Do you ever put the best bits of abandoned novels into later ones?

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Win-A-Book Wednesday with...Jane Kindred!


Jane Kindred

Jane Kindred is the author of The House of Arkhangel’sk trilogy, the Demons of Elysium series, and The Devil’s Garden. Born in Billings, Montana, she spent her formative years ruining her eyes reading romance novels in the Tucson sun and watching Star Trek marathons in the dark. She now writes to the sound of San Francisco foghorns while two cats slowly but surely edge her off the side of the bed.

You can find Jane on her Twitter account and Facebook page—both of which are aptly named “janekindred"—and on her website, www.janekindred.com.

Master of the Game*

Master of the Game, available August 5 from Samhain Publishing, is the third and final book in the Demons of Elysium series: a blend of m/m BDSM erotic romance and epic fantasy with a paranormal contemporary twist. This is your chance to win an Advance Copy!

Here's what people are saying about Demons:
“A spicy erotic fantasy that submerges the reader into a tempestuous relationship that speaks of dark desires and wicked delights. Kindred tucks her burgeoning romance inside an intriguing story filled with deception and betrayal as luscious angels and demons all vie for the ultimate prize. Drenched in a decadent haze of pleasure, pain, discipline and punishment, Kindred’s voice captures readers, leaving them panting for more.” ★★★★  — RT Book Reviews
“This world is freaking awesome. ... Once I thought I had a hold on where Kindred was going with this story it would take another turn. I was glued to the pages of this book till the very end.” 4.25 stars — Crissy, Joyfully Jay
“What a seductive, devilishly delicious tale... Steamy, solid entertainment!” ★★★★Rainbow Book Reviews
“The second installment in Kindred's wickedly erotic, BDSM-based Demons of Elysium series immerses the reader in the dark and tempestuous relationship of Belphagor and his fire demon lover. Pain and pleasure vie for dominance as Kindred takes their relationship to a new level—a level that will make or break the fragile love that exists between them. Kindred does a splendid job of balancing the decadent romance with an engaging conflict filled with lust, lies and revelations.” ★★★★ — RT Book Reviews
*Note: If new to the series, winner of the giveaway has the option to receive Book 1 (Prince of Tricks) instead.

Love is the ultimate game changer…and this time it’s winner take all.

 

Now that his lover is back in his arms, Belphagor is taking his own sweet time to say the words Vasily longs to hear: “You’re my boy.” And savoring the sweet torture of driving the firespirit into a frenzy of unfulfilled need.

As the undisputed master of Heaven’s gaming tables, Belphagor never plays unless he’s certain of winning. But this time, political machinations send the game—and Vasily—tumbling to the brink of even his formidable control.

Vasily can’t deny enjoying their delightfully edgy play—until the airspirit auctions him off for a night to the one demon with a gift for taking things too far. Seductive Silk, tight-lipped about the end of his relationship with the sweet submissive Phaleg, may also be involved with a new faction threatening the pregnant queen of Heaven.

Belphagor couldn’t be less interested in the games angels play, but when angelic and demonic intrigues overlap, he’s drawn in against his will. And forced to break his one inviolable rule: Never gamble what you can’t afford to lose.

Warning: Contains more than a mouthful of m/m ménage, with intense D/s situations featuring intricate rope work, balaklavas, and a flurry of snow.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Here Be News

New Releases


Book three of Country Roads

Thirteen years ago, Webb Hawkins and Clay McCreedy were best friends, more like brothers than business partners. Determined to push Hawkins Hardwood into the future, their lives were intertwined on every level. Until Webb came home and realized little Molly McCreedy had had grown up.

Stay away from my baby sister. It was the one thing Clay had asked of Webb, but it was a promise Webb couldn't keep, and his actions did more than ruin their friendship--it changed everything. Now Clay is dead, Molly is pregnant after a night of memories and alcohol, and a guilt-ridden Webb needs to put things right.

As what begins as a marriage in name only slowly grows to include the love Webb and Molly have always kept carefully buried, a series of fires erupts across Black Cherry Canyon. And an infamous eco-terrorist sets his sights on Molly--the ultimate pawn in his vendetta against Hawkins Hardwood. To save one, Webb may have to let the other go...
Get it today!

Announcements

FREE READ: The Adventures of Cassius Flynn and Molly McGuire by Eleri Stone is about a pair of semi-reformed airship smugglers and their attempt to take down a corrupt politician in a world where zombie-like Reapers roam the plains of the American west. Read it for free! 

COVER REVEAL:
Veronica Scott reveals the cover for her new science fiction romance, Mission to Mahjundar, which will be released August 18th. For more details and the book blurb, visit the cover reveal article at USA Today Happily Ever After!

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Going Off Cable


We did it. A few months ago we shut off cable. The only person using it was my husband. It took some hand holding and lots of reassurance but he survived. He now knows how to use the internet and has not uploaded a virus to my laptop...yet.

I observe my kids and their generation with their Youtube obsession and wonder what the future will hold for entertainment. Some Youtube personalities seem as popular as movie stars. I, personally, am a Netflix junkie. (And other such services like HBOGO). I like to watch a show when I want to and have the whole series available if I want to binge.

This is my present list of shows. I haven't started the last two but I'm sure by the end of summer I will have started.

Shows on my watchlist:

The Leftovers
Tru Blood (catching up)
Hemlock Grove
Carnivale
Beauty and the Beast


We also do a retro movie night at my place, where hubby and I show the boys our old favorites. Sometimes it's torture for them, sometimes they surprise me. We just finished going through all of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns. They loved The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I never would have guessed my techno geek boys would love cowboys movies.

Movies on our watchlist:

Fright Night
The Frighteners
King Kong (the old version)


So it's my birthday this week and every year I celebrate with a giveaway! I'm giving away signed copies of both Ravenous and Scent of Salvation plus a $10 GC.




Annie Nicholas

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/yt8Kv






Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Win-A-Book Wednesday with...Jeffe Kennedy!

Jeffe Kennedy




Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans decades. Her works include non-fiction, poetry, short fiction, and novels. She has been a Ucross Foundation Fellow, received the Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship for Poetry, and was awarded a Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Award. Her essays have appeared in many publications, including Redbook. 
Her most recent works include a number of fiction series: the fantasy romance novels of A Covenant of Thorns;  the contemporary BDSM novellas of the Facets of Passion, and an erotic  contemporary serial novel, Master of the Opera, which released beginning January 2, 2014. A fourth series, the fantasy trilogy The Twelve Kingdoms, hit the shelves starting in May 2014 and book 1, The Mark of the Tala, received a starred Library Journal review and the June Seal of Excellence from RT Book Reviews. A fifth series, the highly anticipated erotic romance trilogy, Falling Under, will release starting in July.  

She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with two Maine coon cats, plentiful free-range lizards and a very handsome Doctor of Oriental Medicine.

Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com, every Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog, on Facebook, and pretty much constantly on Twitter @jeffekennedy. She is represented by Connor Goldsmith of Foreword Literary.


Knowing all too well the damage online trolls can inflict, game designer Emily Bartwell takes privacy seriously. Living in solitude and working remotely under a male alias gives her a sense of security. The sexy writer renting the house next door ignites desires she’d forgotten she had, and when he invites her to play games of a very different sort, Em is ready and willing. Even if it means breaking all her own rules to abide by his. Undercover tech reporter Fox Mullins is so close to the biggest scoop of his career: finding the elusive programmer Phoenix. An increasingly erotic adventure with his reserved but passionate new neighbor is the ideal way to heat up the chilly Pacific Northwest nights as he tracks the brilliant gamer. At first Fox is happy to help Em explore her newly awakened kinky side, no holds barred, no strings attached. But as they push the limits of intimacy, both physical and emotional, Fox discovers he’s not the only one keeping secrets. And revealing hers may mean betraying the one woman who embodies everything he desires.

“Kennedy shows her talent for organic relationship-building in this erotic romance; both Emily and Fox display emotional growth and maturity, and their relationship develops from tentative flirting to domination to equality without feeling forced or implausible.”
“Fox and Em dance around each other in a way that manages to be witty, clever and extremely sexual, proving that they are equally matched.  Going Under is an exciting idea that showcases the changing roles in online gaming and the boundaries lovers explore when lies no longer keep them prisoner.”
~RT Book Reviews. 4 Stars
“Seriously go buy the book. Now.”
“This is a delicious read!”

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Hero's Journey and the Magic Mirror

Between yesterday's Here Be News, my scheduled post today and Win-A-Book Wednesday tomorrow, the first half of this week on Here Be Magic is all about my new release, Going Under.

Ironic, since it's a contemporary erotic romance with nothing magical or speculative fiction about it.

Mostly.

See, this story is about, Emily, a woman who designs role-playing video games. She's brilliant at it, but she created a game that pissed off the online trolls. They went after her with a vengeance, intent on destroying her. She ends up fired from her job, divorced - and terrified. Going into hiding, she assumes a secret identity - that of "Phoenix" - a reclusive and enigmatic game designer everyone assumes is a man.

Because Emily lives in the world of storytelling and fantasy, her own tale is full of those metaphors. She's created layers of identities for herself, avatars that she wears in real life also, to protect her secrets. As she begins to fall in love, it becomes clear that the gaming metaphor she's created - of the hero facing him or herself in the mirror, passing through and coming out changed in some way - speaks to her own life, her own journey.

We often talk here on the Here Be Magic blog, about the fantastic being a metaphor for our daily lives. We read and write it both to escape, but also to see ourselves and our problems in a different light.

And to emerge full of hope.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Here Be News

New Releases

Knowing all too well the damage online trolls can inflict, game designer Emily Bartwell takes privacy seriously. Living in solitude and working remotely under a male alias gives her a sense of security. The sexy writer renting the house next door ignites desires she'd forgotten she had, and when he invites her to play games of a very different sort, Em is ready and willing. Even if it means breaking all her own rules to abide by his.

Undercover tech reporter Fox Mullins is so close to the biggest scoop of his career: finding the elusive programmer Phoenix. An increasingly erotic adventure with his reserved but passionate new neighbor is the ideal way to heat up the chilly Pacific Northwest nights as he tracks the brilliant gamer.

At first Fox is happy to help Em explore her newly awakened kinky side, no holds barred, no strings attached. But as they push the limits of intimacy, both physical and emotional, Fox discovers he's not the only one keeping secrets. And revealing hers may mean betraying the one woman who embodies everything he desires.

Get it today!

Announcements

Veronica Scott was named the 2014 National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award winner, in the "Paranormal and Futuristic" category, for her novel ESCAPE FROM ZULAIRE. Here's the story for the book, which also won a 2014 SFR Galaxy Award:

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.
Rebel fighters attack the village and raze it to the ground. Deverane escapes with Andi, and on their hazardous journey through the wilderness, Andi finds herself fighting her uncomfortable attraction to the gallant and courageous captain. But Deverane’s not the type to settle down, and running for one’s life doesn’t leave much time to explore a romance.
Then Andi is captured by the rebel fighters, but Deverane has discovered that Zulaire’s so-called civil war is part of a terrifying alien race’s attempt to subjugate the entire Sector. If he pushes on to the capitol Andi will die. Deverane must decide whether to save the woman he loves, or sacrifice her to save Zulaire.


Saturday, July 12, 2014

It Takes a Village



There’s a stereotype of the writer, laboring alone in an attic in a solitary effort to be discovered in a cold, cold world.  It is true that most writers work alone in the actual drafting stage (the exception being those that write in collaboration, and hats off to them, as I can’t imagine how they avoid homicide.)  But there’s a lot more to bringing a finished book into the world than the laying down of words, so today I want to sing the praises of all those hidden people who help make books what they are.  Some of them are unpaid as well as unsung.  Those that are paid often give of their time, their hearts and their souls a value far beyond their fee.

From the beginning, there are the writers that have gone before that have inspired us and the teachers and mentors who taught us how to get the story on the pages to match the one in our heads.  Let’s not forget all the specialists that take time out of their busy day to help us with our research.

Then there are the beta readers.  Some of them are fellow authors, some are just readers whose opinions we respect.  Because it’s next to impossible for most writers to step outside our work and see it as a reader would, betas are the ones who help us avoid over-explaining or under-explaining, and a myriad of other crimes.  When the work is as polished as we can make it, it goes past one or more editors.  (There are different kinds of editors, but sometimes one editor wears more than one hat.)  Content editors are like betas on steroids; they catch everything—from character inconsistencies to anachronistic language.  I’ve had serious discussions with an editor on the precise word for a certain shade of red.  The writer has the final say, but good writers think hard before rejecting their editor’s advice.  

The copyeditor is often a separate person, especially in a large publishing house.  Copyeditors have amazing skills at catching every little typo that the author and content editor managed to miss in their many passes through the book.  Truly, they have a rare and special talent, the worth of which is often overlooked.

Cover artists make a book look good (hopefully).  Sad as it seems, people do judge a book by its cover.  I was fortunate that Carina Press asks for writer’s input in the cover planning stage, and very fortunate that The Stolen Luck came out with such a gorgeous cover.  For my indie work-in-progress, a sequel to Ravensblood, I have the privilege of working even more directly with a talented artist.  The conception stage was very much a collaborative process, and she was very patient as I insisted this version of the raven looked too hopeful, that version too angry.

We may not always agree with our reviewers, but most of them are motivated by a sincere love of books.  We can't deny that they help us get the word out, and that counts for a lot.

Above all, we owe gratitude to our readers for their support.  For indie writers, that support is quite literal, as many indie novels only see light of day through crowdsource funding such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo.  In fact, the aforementioned cover artist for Raven’s Wing was paid for by a generous reader, even though the official crowdsource campaign has not begun.  Science fiction and fantasy writers are especially blessed with a vocal and supportive fandom.   Writers rely on readers to spread the word about our work through social media, blogs, and word of mouth.  A bit of fan mail can give us the umph we need to go on, and knowing that readers are waiting for the next book can drag us out of bed and to the laptop.  Let's face it, without readers, we'd be talking to ourselves.

Though it’s the author’s name on the cover, it takes a village to raise a book.


Shawna Reppert is the award-winning author of  The Stolen Luck and Ravensblood.
author website: http://www.shawna-reppert.com/