Postcards from Monster Haven

I can't believe I'm saying this already, but book four of the Monster Haven series, Golem in My Glovebox, came out earlier this week. Seriously. That's insane. It's all happened so fast. And developmental edits are coming in next week for book five, then the following week I start writing book six.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret: Most days, I feel like a big lazy slug who doesn't do any work. Then I look back at the last two years and I can't believe all that's happened.

Maybe that means I need to work even harder. Hmm.

Anyway. Book four, Golem in My Glovebox, is a road trip book. Zoey finally gets out of Northern California and sees something new. Over the past few weeks, I posted some postcards of her trip on my Facebook page. I thought it might be nice to put them all up together here to give you an idea of what's in store for our wardrobe-challenged heroine and her reaper boyfriend.

These are actual places from the story in the order they're visited. Zoey and Riley are in for a wild ride. (Click on the pictures to read the messages from Zoey.)

Center of the contiguous United States, home of the Hidden government. Of course you can't see it! It's disguised by a time-loop bubble. As you can see by the note, Zoey thinks she'll be home soon. Ha!

What's better than spray painting ten nose-deep Cadillacs in the middle of nowhere? Finding a dead body there. Just across town is the Bug ranch, where someone duplicated this marvel of modern art with five VW Beetles. Zoey still thinks she'll be home in a few days. Bless her heart.

Bright lights. Live entertainment. Kitschy museums. And the Leprechaun Mafia with a new scam. Those guys are so slimy. Poor Zoey doesn't even realize she's now driving away from home.

There are entire websites dedicated to the exploration of defunct amusement parks. When I watched a video of this place, made years after it was closed down, I knew Zoey needed to go. In the dark. With the bad guy laughing from inside concrete caves with peeling paint. Will Zoey even make it home?

For better or worse, this is where it all leads. If you've been reading the books so far, you might know what's so important about this location. Will Zoey get everything she's been longing for? Will she be in time? Will she be able to save anyone, including herself? 

Join us on the long trip. Misery loves company! Visit with old friends, meet a bunch of new ones, and see some of the stranger parts of America. Golem in My Glovebox is on sale now wherever digital books are sold.

Rachel's head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and sometimes recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she's living in the Heartland, planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two grown kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn't have time for a real dog.


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Win-A-Book Wednesday with R.L. Naquin

R.L. Naquin

Rachel’s head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She's terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and often recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she’s planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two grown kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn’t have time for a real dog.

Golem in My Glovebox A Monster Haven Story (Book 4)

In her role as Aegis, Zoey Donovan has rescued and cared for hundreds of monsters and mythical creatures. Now humans are the ones in need of her help. Someone with a personal vendetta against the Board of Hidden Affairs has kidnapped all the other Aegises in the country—including Zoey's mother.

With the Hidden government in shambles and a string of deadly clues to follow, Zoey and her reaper boyfriend set out on a cross-country chase to stop the kidnapper from killing the captured Aegises. Along the way, they pick up a miniature golem who's on a quest to find his humanity…and may be the key to solving the grisly clues.

If Zoey succeeds in defeating this new evil, she'll finally be reunited with the mother she lost over twenty years ago. But if she fails, she'll become the final victim. (80,000 words)

***

This is the latest installment in the adventures of Zoey Donovan. Golem is a little different from the previous three, since it takes place on a road trip across America instead of in her home town. It comes out Monday, April 21st, so you can win it while it's still shiny and new. The virtual ink won't even be dry yet!

But you know what? If you haven't read the previous books in the series, you can choose any one of those instead. The first one, Monster in My Closet, is on sale for $0.99 until Saturday, April 19th, in case you want to start catching up right away. Lots of options. I'm flexible. Well, not like I was flexible when I was younger. I'd rather not pull a muscle. 

But I totally will if it'll make you happy. 

Thanks for stopping by and entering!

Rachel

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Out of Order!

My whole life, I have lived in ignorance of the ways of others. In fact, I didn’t even know such things were possible.

People read books out of series order.

Seriously? We’re allowed to do that? I thought there was some kind of law. No?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a book that looked really good, but it was the second or third in its series. The first book was nowhere to be found. With a sad heart and a full wallet, I put the book back on the shelf.

Golem in My Glovebox, book four of my Monster Haven series, comes out next month. Writing a longer series has forced me to really think about this idea of reading out of order. Sometimes I see reviews of book two or three and people say they really liked it, so they went back and read the rest of the series.

I’m thrilled! I’m grateful! I’m so pleased they liked the book all on its own! But I still don’t understand how the books were acquired this way. They’re digital, so anywhere someone got book two or three, they could’ve bought book one instead.

I’m not complaining. Honest. I’m trying to understand. I’m also kind of mourning all those books past-Rachel put back on the shelf and never read because of a deeply held belief that if you read out of order, demons will eat your soul.

Mine aren’t meant to be stand-alone books, so it worries me. Yes, you can read them alone, but they’re written with a story arc that goes chronologically through the books and grows in tension with each one until the finale of the last book. It seems to me that book one would feel kind of wimpy and disconnected if you started with book three.

And yet, it seems to work for some people. I’m wondering if I’m trying too hard to build tension in increments. Or if maybe I should write less books in my next series. Or if maybe I should stop taking the whole thing so seriously and just chill. My readers are awesome. They’re chill. I should be chill.

But what about reviewers? With book four coming out, I hesitate to go on a blog tour and try to attract new reviewers—book four is a terrible place to bring someone in. We’re more than halfway. How can they possibly like the book if they don’t know how the characters got to that point from the previous three books?

I’m at a loss. Do any of you read books out of order? Does it work? Are you still satisfied?

Should I try it?

Rachel's head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and sometimes recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she's living in the Heartland, planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two grown kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn't have time for a real dog.


Sign up for her newsletter for news, extras, and exclusive stuff: Newsletter

Hang out with her here: Website Blog Facebook Twitter

Buy her books here:  Amazon B&N Carina Press

Here Be News

New Releases

Master of the Opera, Act 5: A Haunting Duet

In the fifth erotically charged installment of Jeffe Kennedy’s scorching Master of the Opera, a daring young woman follows her reckless desire for the perfect lover-to the point of no return. . .
He is more than just the man of her dreams. He is the master of her destiny. A mysterious masked stranger who haunts the darkened tunnels beneath the Sante Fe Opera House, the Master is like no other lover Christy has ever known. He has lured the beautiful intern to the very brink of ecstasy-and beyond. He has pushed the boundaries of her sensuality and tested the limits of her passion. But now the Master wants more. If Christy accepts his challenge, she must be willing to go further than she’s ever gone. She must surrender to his every desire. She must submit to his every command. She must expose herself body and soul-or bear the scars of a broken heart forever. . .
Tonight is the night she must make a choice: to free herself from one man’s obsession. . .or bind herself to him for life.

Buy

Cover Reveals

A Monster Haven Story, book 4

In her role as Aegis, Zoey Donovan has rescued and cared for hundreds of monsters and mythical creatures. Now humans are the ones in need of her help. Someone with a personal vendetta against the Board of Hidden Affairs has kidnapped all the other Aegises in the country—including Zoey's mother.

With the Hidden government in shambles and a string of deadly clues to follow, Zoey and her reaper boyfriend set out on a cross-country chase to stop the kidnapper from killing the captured Aegises. Along the way, they pick up a miniature golem who's on a quest to find his humanity…and may be the key to solving the grisly clues.

If Zoey succeeds in defeating this new evil, she'll finally be reunited with the mother she lost over twenty years ago. But if she fails, she'll become the final victim.

Coming April 21, 2014. Pre-order: Amazon B&N

Pulling a chariot for the goddess Freya is no picnic, but Hall and Avarr don't mind protecting her from all harm. They're waiting because they've been promised a rich reward for their loyalty—Eira, a stubborn valkyrie who drives them to distraction. Unfortunately, they’ve been told they can't have her until they're ready. And they've been ready for fifty years.

Eira is disappointed that Freya's huge guards are so dull. They won't fight, they barely talk, and to her knowledge they've never used a bow or spear. It's embarrassing, and such a waste of two such mighty specimens. But when she spies them having at each other, suddenly they're not so boring. Or embarrassing. They’re freakin’ hot. When they unleash an enormous rage on Freya’s enemies, proving they really are the bad-asses of legend, she’s not sure that boring is bad. Because they’ve set their sights on her. And battle cats have been known to toy with their prey…for an eternity.

Beasts of Burden   Available May 2014 from Fated Desires 

Coming April 7, 2014
from Carina Press
Read the first 2 chapters &
pre-order here!

Twisted Miracles by A.J. Larrieu
First in a new urban fantasy series: The Shadowminds - Book 1

Cass Weatherfield's powers come with a deadly price.

Cass knows it was her telekinetic gift that killed a college classmate five years back, even if no one else believes her. She's lived in hiding from her fellow shadowminds ever since, plagued by guilt and suppressing her abilities with sedatives. Until the night her past walks back into her life in the form of sexy Shane Tanner, the ex-boyfriend who trained her…and the one she left without saying goodbye.

When Shane tells her that his twin sister, Mina—Cass's childhood friend—is missing, Cass vows to help, which means returning to New Orleans to use her dangerous skills in the search. But finding Mina only leads to darker questions. As Cass and Shane race to learn who is targeting shadowminds, they find themselves drawn to each other, body and soul. Just as their powerful intimacy reignites, events take a terrifying turn, and Cass realizes that to save the people she loves, she must embrace the powers that ruined her life.

Group Announcements

Here Be Magic contributor Veronica Scott's first "Sci-Fi Encounters" column for the USA today/Happily Ever After blog has now been published and will be appearing at HEA on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.  Veronica plans to talk about science-fiction and fantasy (SF&F) romances (with a little paranormal thrown in from time to time).  She’s thrilled about the opportunity to give a "signal boost" to SF&F romance of all kinds. She’ll provide a mix of news, author Q&As, reviews and reader views.   For her first column Veronica interviewed best selling SFR author S.E. Smith and featured five books including Fighting Cat (Carina Press) by P. J. Schnyder.

Win-A-Book Wednesday Winner

Congratulations to Erin, the winner of last week's Win-a-Book Wednesday! Seleste DeLaney will be contacting you soon about your prize.

This Wednesday we'll have another mystery giveaway; stop by for more chances to win!