New Year, New Book!

It's a brand new year and it's time to sweep out the cobwebs and get ready for a great time both reading and writing some fantastic fiction!

I'm pleased to announce that now that the "Blaze of Glory" superhero romance series is ended that I've been busy working not only on a sequel to "Blood of the Pride" but also to MORE books in the series!

Let's start off with an excerpt to "Claws Bared", book 2 coming out January 21^st from Carina Press…

...

I hadn't ordered any airline tickets.

I looked inside the open envelope with a mixture of surprise, dismay and confusion.

The bike courier let out a loud cough, covering his mouth with a gloved hand. I paused for a second, trying to figure out what he wanted. I'd already signed his clipboard and accepted delivery, expecting to find a court subpoena--I was used to having to testify on the stand both for and against my clients. Being a private investigator meant doing almost as much court time as investigating--the movies tend to leave that less glamorous part out.

Airline tickets weren't even on my radar.

He coughed again and wriggled his fingers. I caught on before he had to explain his chronic illness.

I dug in my pocket and found enough spare change to not embarrass myself. Handing it to the courier, I turned my attention back to the envelope.

The young man stuffed the coins into his pocket and threw me a jaunty salute before sprinting off through my small yard. He yanked his bike away from the rose bushes lining the front and jumped back out into traffic, the tires leaping in the air like some warped rearing horse.

I grimaced at the sound of screaming brakes coming from around the corner. Not hearing anyone calling for an ambulance, I closed the door and headed for my work desk. Running your business out of your home had certain advantages--like not having to worry about getting fully dressed for work. I wriggled my bare toes and sat down.

The drab brown envelope from a local travel agency held tickets from Toronto, Ontario to Pittsburgh, PA. Open return, one person in my name. Leaving that evening. I sat down at my desk and scowled at the elderly white cat sprawled over the file folders.

"This is your doing, isn't it? Revenge because I wouldn't let you be a little piglet and get sick on that tuna."

Jazz turned her steady gaze on me for another few seconds before licking her paws.

I turned my attention to the envelope. Standard brown envelope with nothing inside other than the travel agency's business card. No mention of who had sent it or who had paid for it.

I had a pretty good idea.

I lifted the envelope to my nose and inhaled. Human scent, nothing out of the ordinary. Multiple humans including my stinky messenger and a woman who wore way too much perfume.

The phone rang.

I snatched up the receiver, blowing away a wayward tuft of white cat fur. Jazz gave a short trill of approval.

"Reb." I clenched my fist at the low voice purring my name. "Glad to see you're home."

"Hi, Jess. Yes, just in time to receive this envelope." I tapped the thick folder on the varnished desktop. "I assume you've got something to do with this."

"Maybe."

"So why shouldn't I drop this into my shredder?" I snapped, harsher than I'd intended.

I was missing Bran something awful.

Jazz dropped from the desk and trotted out of the room, picking up on my mood.

"Reb, is that any way to talk to a Board member?" The snarl in her voice sent phantom pains over my back, where the scars were. I resisted the urge to sit up straight in my chair.

"Is that any way to talk to an outcast? I do you one favor and suddenly I'm on your mailing list? I'm not part of the Pride and I don't have to answer to you." I kept my voice steady despite the butterflies in my stomach. "You declared me outcast twenty years ago and threw me into foster care, banished me from the family. I haven't forgotten that."

Or forgiven. The scars throbbed, reminders of the thrashing I'd gotten at Jess's claws in a final test of my ability to Change.

I'd failed. Spectacularly.

.....

I'm also happy to say that "Family Pride", the third in the series, will be available in June with a fourth book tentatively scheduled for September this year!

I hope you'll come along for more adventures with a shifter who can't shift and the man who loves her…

 

 

 

 

Here Be News

Coming Soon

These titles are now available for pre-order. (Click on the image for link)
Also available on Netgalley for review!

    

  

Links of Interest

Great Quotes about Writing from Game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin

What's So Special about Fifty Shades of Gray?

Why Writers Need to be Resilient

The 13 Dwarves In The Hobbit, Ranked By Hotness Just for the record, I disagree with this ranking.

The Greatest Conversations To Ever Happen On Twitter Between Real Astronauts And The Cast of Star Trek

The Bestselling Books of 2012

Be-Witch-ing Characters

I love writing about witches, particularly practitioners of old-school folk magic. There's something about the cultural flavor, whether passed down through family tradition or discovered as a character explores her heritage, that makes the magic that much more fun. There are thousands of forms of folk magic, but here are few of my favorites...

In Latin America there are curanderos/as (m/f)--sacred healers who are often still Catholic. They channel magic to heal their community, sometimes assisting in births or deaths, protecting children and helping adults make decisions as a wise woman (or man) of the community. They are always ready with a charm to guard from ojo, the evil eye, and frequently are herbalists that can help with natural healing.

Brujos/as (m/f) are the "black" arts practitioners of Latin America. This can refer to any practitioner of witchcraft, and has a less friendly connotation than curandera. If a curandera has to heal someone from the evil eye, it's possibly a brujo caused it. Brujeria doesn't have to be evil, though. It is often (but not always) a religion in itself, using ancestor worship and relying on the gods and spirits of the Mayans, Aztecs, Incas and Olmecs. Often practitioners of so-called left-handed paths such as this are not evil, but they may have an ends-can-justify-the-means sort of attitude. They're the questioners who don't follow rules and would rather pay the consequences for mistakes than play it safe.

In Voodoo (a religion with several distinct branches that blends traditional African faiths with Catholicism) houngans (priests) and mambos (priestesses) serve the Loa, powerful spirits who work as intermediaries between Bondieu, the creator god, and humanity. The Loa are called in group rituals. A participant in the ritual will be possessed by a Loa. The Loa is identified and appeased according to their own personality, fed and feted, and then  s/he can give advice and grant boons to the participants. Afterward, the Loa leaves the host and the ceremony ends.

Voodoo also uses magic, particularly in the New Orleans style. This is where voodoo dolls and gris gris bags originate using sympathetic magic to affect their recipients. Sympathetic magic is the belief that if you have an item similar to a person (say, a doll dressed up like him/her) or "contagious" to him/her (this refers to toenail clippings, locks of hair, etc.) you can cast a spell on the person through the item. The magic is stronger the more you have, so voodoo dolls stuffed with a lock of the person's hair or daubed with their blood would be more effective than just a doll. Sympathetic magic can be used in healing and other positive purposes. Those practitioners willing to use sympathetic magic to hurt another person are called bokors, and they can cause all sorts of magical mayhem--including the infamous evil of raising a zombie slave to do their bidding!

From European traditions, a hedgewitch is a solitary folk magic practitioner who may or may not practice religion in association with her craft. Hedgewitches are herbalists who perform scrying (and other forms of future prediction) and protective charms, such as blessing a house or crops and driving off curses. Some hedgewitches are willing to cast curses as well, so it's best not to get on their bad sides! Hedgewitches usually have a garden in which they grow their own magical herbs. Kitchen witches are a subset of them that create magic through food and home crafts. A hedgewitch often has a familiar (though not necessarily a cat) that she is intimately tied to. Celtic mythology is often the biggest influence on hedgewitches, though they can rely on any mythological roots.

Folk magic is often such an inherent part of culture that we forget we're doing it. Do you avoid walking under ladders, fear breaking mirrors or hope that black cat turns around instead of crossing your path? I know I do! Folks magic makes common life a more magical and fascinating place to live. I'd love to hear about forms of folk magic practiced in your area. Have any stories, charms or superstitions to share?

On this day...

I heard someone say that by January fourth roughly fifty percent of people have given up on their New Year’s resolutions.

Hmm. While I can’t vouch for the accuracy of that statistic, I can say that January fourth happens to be National Trivia Day.

For fans of the show ‘Supernatural’, you might be interested to know that Samuel Colt apparently sold his first revolver pistol to the United States government on January 4, 1847

Sputnik 1 fell from orbit and burned up upon re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere on 4 January 1958. A year later, Luna 1 became the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the moon.

It also happens to be the birthday of folklorist, Jacob Grimm (of the Brothers Grimm).

My point is, I’ve only listed a fraction of the general awesomeness that’s taken place on previous January fourths. You’re certainly welcome to feel bad, and beat yourself up over not maintaining your resolutions...But if you’d rather feel good about the three hundred and sixty one days left in the year, how about brushing yourself off, deciding to do something that’s both good for you and fun, and then attacking that goal with gusto?

Oh, and if that resolution happens to be something along the lines of reading more awesome fantasy, urban fantasy, steampunk and the like, allow me to direct you to the books on the right of your screen. We have a slew of great stories and characters to help you keep that particular promise!

(And if you need a little bit of extra help keeping up momentum on any other resolutions, there’s an app for that - in particular, I’d suggest the Lift app from Lift.do.)

Cheers to your resolution reboot, and to a fabulous 2013!

***

About the Author
Born in South Africa, Natasha moved to Canada in her 20s and settled just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. This meant she was surrounded by an abundance of amazing natural beauty, interesting people from around the world to talk to and a fair bit of rain (which, oddly enough, she rather enjoys). She's always up for a good adventure, especially if it involves ‘stumbling upon' movie or TV shoots, hunting for G1 My Little Ponies at local thrift shops, meandering through book and toy stores, or looking into paranormal phenomena.

She can be found mostly on Twitter, Flickr, at her blog, on Facebook, and very occasionally on YouTube.

The Lost Souls series is available from Carina Press; Barnes & Noble; Amazon; Kobo; the Sony Reader Store and Audible.

It's that time of year again

Resolutions. Goals. Plans for the new year. Normally, I'm not into this stuff, but 2012 was...not my year. So I've decided to make a few goals for 2013. Really, I just want to get back on track lol! I can divide them into 3 general sections.

 1. Get organized. My day, my kid's schedules, the house. All of it kinda slid into oblivion in 2012 and it's made me nuts. No more.

2. Pay off debt. In August, my girls will be a senior and junior in high school and between the 2 of them taking 4 dual enrollment college classes. Then in another year, the full time college starts. I'd like to be as debt free as possible when that happens lol!

3. Start writing again. I wrote in 2012, but not nearly as much as I usually do. Unfortunately, that means I only have one new release scheduled for 2013 so far. This hasn't happened since...well, since I sold in 2006 it's not happened. To be honest, it makes me very nervous. But I am looking at it as an opportunity to really explore this year, also. I have a couple series that I want to wrap up, and some new stuff I want to try.

How about y'all? Do you make resolutions or goals? If you do, what's on your list for 2013?

The Magic of Resolutions

 Happy New Year to all our Readers! To start 2013 off right, some of our Here Be Magic authors are discussing their take on making resolutions:

JODY WALLACE & MEANKITTY: I saw on Facebook the idea of storing little notes about positive and happy instances in a jar and reading them on New Year's 2013. That's as close as I'm going to get to a resolution -- making a "Hurrrah Jar" for the family and trying to put a few things in it. I can't make a "Boo Jar" to balance it out because, knowing my cynicism, it would be 3x as big, heh.

SHAWNA THOMAS: I don't make resolutions. Probably because I beat myself up too much when/if I don't keep them. I'm also a perfectionist so I put enough pressure on myself during a routine day. It also seems like resolutions are extreme. "I will exercise every day." when I already know I just don't have time to make that a priority. 

I do, however, try to make goals for the year. This year I want to start my new series and this year I really want to be more active online. I also do want to lose 15 lbs but that's another story. :-)

JAX GARREN: Last year I succeeded in my New Years Resolution of learning how to keep the house (reasonably) clean. At least, I did for the first half of the year. Then my life drastically changed. This year I shall revamp the resolution to: "I will learn how to keep the house reasonably clean with two children living here." I will take all the luck (and advice!) anyone can send...

JENNY SCHWARTZ: This year my New Year's Resolution is nothing but fun. I've signed up for the Australian Women Writers Challenge.  You can, too! It's about reading, reviewing and being part of a supportive and enthusiastic book-loving community. http://australianwomenwriters.com/ 

NICOLE LUIKEN: For many years I've made the same resolution: to get something published that year.  Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't.  My fantasy novel Soul of Kandrith is coming out March 2013 so I've already made my goal!  This year my new resolution will have to be to sell something for 2014 instead. 

ANGELA CAMPBELL:

Instead of making resolutions I'll probably forget in a few weeks, this year I'm keeping it simple. My New Year's resolution for 2013 is simply to write more! And eat less potato chips, but that will never happen, so...

VS sez: Do you have a Resolution you make every year? A special one for 2013? 

Best wishes from all of us for a very Happy New Year! 

Here Be News

Happy New Years Eve!

Just a few quick announcements this week:

Jody Wallace's urban fantasy novella, Tangible, will be released in May 2013 with Samhain Publishing. If Zeke, a damaged dreamwalker, can't tutor stubborn new dreamer Maggie without getting attached, her nightmares could become his own--and everyone else's to boot. Tangible is the beginning of a series set in a world where dreams don't come true, but nightmares do. FMI: http://jodywallace.com/books/tangible.htm

I'm participating in a New Year blog hop this week. Starting tomorrow, stop by EleriStone.blogspot.com for a chance to win an Amazon or B&N gift card from me. Commenting on the hop post will also enter you into the contest for the grand prize.

Best wishes for a happy new year!!!