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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.

 Available on AMAZON Nook Kobo All Romance eBooks  iTunes   Xin Xii  Google Play

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/

Win-A-Book Wednseday with...PG Forte!

PG Forte

PG Forte inhabits a world only slightly less strange than the ones she creates. Filled with serendipity, coincidence, love at first sight and dreams come true…it also bears an uncanny resemblance to Berkeley, California.

She wrote her first serialized story when she was still in her teens. The sexy, ongoing adventure tales were very popular at her oh-so-proper, all girls, Catholic High School, where they helped to liven up otherwise dull classes. Even if her teachers didn’t always think so.

Scent of the Roses

Scent of the Roses, the first book in my Oberon series, is also my first published romance. Authors talk a lot about ‘books of the heart’ and Scent has definitely been that for me.

The story began as a single sentence that popped into my head while I was driving along Route 80 one day on my way back to Berkeley from San Rafael. "Scout Patterson had been running away from home for twenty years." 

Who was Scout? Why was she running? It would take me several years and nine very long books to answer those questions! 

The series is set in the fictional town of Oberon, California—a place that combines everything I love about my adopted home state. The town became so real to me that, even now, I will sometimes find myself in one of the places I "borrowed" for Oberon and will experience a moment of disorientation as real-life and my fictional world collide. I’ve been so enamored of the town that I’ve warned my daughter that when I’m old and senile I will probably believe I live there. She’s agreed to play along with me.

There’s something magical about the tiny coast town of Oberon, California…

When a slumber party prank goes awry, magical forces are unleashed that will forever alter the lives of four teenaged girls. Twenty years later, Scout Patterson has finally returned to Oberon in search of answers. What she finds instead are lies and betrayal…and a second chance at her first love.

But Scout’s homecoming is marred by a series of deadly attacks, and officer Nick Greco must rush to solve an all-but-forgotten crime or risk losing her again—this time for good. 

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Magic in the city

One of the things I wanted to do with the Magic Born series was explore magic from a different angle. Most books with witches as central characters cover fairly familiar territory. Wands are hand-carved from wood. Grimoires full of elaborate rituals are passed down from generation to generation. Spells are cast with herbs and other natural ingredients. Energy is drawn from natural elements like fire, earth, air, and water. If there's a Pagan flavor to the story, witches dance under the full moon at esbats and mark the turning seasons with sabbats.

But what if the story is set in the future? And witches have been stripped of basic rights and segregated into urban zones, away from the "natural" world that Normals believe helps feed magical power? And they have few texts left and the old traditions have all but died out? In a situation like that, witches would have to adapt. Some would still be more inclined to whatever natural magic they could still practice, but some might develop new magical abilities and practices that stem from urban life.

Trancehacking was the first thing I thought of. It's the ability to use astral projection to enter cyberspace. Spells interwoven with code led to magical apps. Then slightly different elements: neon and streetlights, concrete and steel, cyberspace and electricity, the emotional fabric of the city created by its citizens. Rather than calling on the old gods and goddesses, a witch in this world might call on the Madman of the Wires (Nikola Tesla) or the Enchantress of Numbers (Ada Lovelace).

In the city of New Corinth, the Magic Born live in a zone known locally as FreakTown. One of my favorite scenes in Trancehack is an esbat. It takes place on the night of a full moon, but it's inside FreakTown's notorious club, Sinsuality. A mirrorball stands in for the full moon, but the rite closely follows that of Drawing Down The Moon. For Witchlight, I wanted to show something a little different, so I started going over ideas for an urban sabbat. Turns out, I didn't have to make one up, just alter an existing event slightly.

Manhattanhenge, named by famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, is an event that happens four times a year in New York City. At dusk the sun will align with the city's street grid, and those streets will fill with people and their cameras out to capture the golden rays shining through the canyons created by tall buildings. If that's not a thoroughly modern, urban Pagan rite, I don't know what is. Thrilled with the pictures I found, I adapted this to the Magic Born's urban practices and need for spirituality. It made for one of my favorite scenes in Witchlight.

In 2066, the Magic Born are segregated in urban reservations. The laws do not protect them, or their allies.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Marsden is a powerful player in New Corinth politics, but a closely guarded secret could destroy her life—she’s a hidden Magic Born. Her family has gone to great lengths to erase all her magic-related records, until a trancehacking outlaw discovers the last remaining one…

Vadim Bazarov smuggles Magic Borns through the underground railroad and threatens to reveal Elizabeth’s secret unless she helps him access blank ID cards. Elizabeth wants to hate him for having a stranglehold on her life, but can’t help being attracted to someone so sure of who and what he is.

Vadim initially sees her as a political ice queen, but is intrigued by her suppressed magical abilities. He trains Elizabeth to use her magic, and before long finds himself falling for her. But their newfound love may be shortlived; an anti-magic ordinance forces one of them to make a choice that will change both their lives for good.


Purchase at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers.

Trancehack is on sale for .99 through July 19. Get it at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online retailers.

Here Be News

Jeffe Kennedy's fantasy novel, The Mark of the Tala, has received the RT Seal of Excellence for the month of June! From RT Book Reviews: "Each month the RT editors select one book that is not only compelling, but pushes the boundaries of genre fiction. This book stands out from all the others reviewed that month, in the magazine issue and on the website. June 2014's RT Seal of Excellence — the editors' pick for best book of the month — is awarded to Jeffe Kennedy's fantasy romance, The Mark of the Tala."

Congratulations, Jeffe!

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FREE READ

Enjoy a Reapers short story by Eleri Stone with a new chapter each weekday from July 7 to July 23. The Adventures of Cassius Flynn and Molly McGuire is about a pair of semi-reformed airship smugglers and their tumultuous relationship as they attempt to orchestrate the downfall of a corrupt statesman. Read the first chapter here.

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SALE!

 

So my cat thinks I have beautiful hair, and other reveals from a psychic

I'll be completely honest and admit I had no idea what to blog about today. It hasn't been the greatest summer for me. So far I've been in a wreck that has left me carless (my car has been at the body shop for two weeks being fixed) and that left my body banged up (seriously, whiplash is no fun). For a while I was working insane hours at the day job to cover for a person who quit and another who was on vacation, so I couldn't even take time off work to recuperate. And now I'm preparing for my father to have heart surgery again. Hopefully, it's only minor heart surgery, but still. It's heart surgery. I'm  pretty sure I probably look like this a lot these days.

Geez, sorry for that woe-is-me downer intro, but I wanted it to put into perspective all that follows. It might seem a bit rambling, but I promise, er, well I hope it all comes together at the end. Plus, I'm on pain meds right now, so...

Anyway. I do have a book releasing soon, the third in my series, but its release date has been pushed back. Right now, I'm very grateful for that because I don't have time to deal with much promo. Then it hit me that I DID have something to blog about today! I thought I'd share an interesting story with you that kind of relates to my books, being that my current series follows the adventures of a group of sexy psychic detectives. Shoot, I even have audio for your listening pleasure (and a few laughs, I'm sure)!

Here's the story: My silly little clown car rental comes equipped with satellite radio. (Seriously, though, a Chevy Cruze is not built for a woman who is 6'2. I feel like Big Bird driving a clown car. Oh, and I heard that model has just been recalled, too. Go figure.) Point is, Sunday, I realized renowned pet psychic Sonya Fitzpatrick has a show on Sirius Stars 106. First of all, I love Sonya from her show on Animal Planet years ago. Thoroughly entertaining. I thought it would be fun to talk to Sonya and get a reading from my cat, Dusti. So I called the hotline, expecting not to get through (my luck lately hasn't been all that great). Miracle of miracles, someone answered, asked me what my one, brief question for Sonya was and told me to hold. Holy corn nuggets, I got through!

After waiting about 45 minutes, Sonya came on and asked me what my question was. First of all, I was super nervous. Second, I sound like a kid and say "um" a lot, which is very embarrassing for a grown woman, but still. And with hindsight, I think I gave some leading information, but I also know Sonya hit a couple of things on the nail that had no leading information whatsoever.

My very spoiled cat, Dusti

I'll post a link to the audio below for anyone interested enough to take a listen at my cat's reading. I will say that I was totally thrown off loop by Sonya's first words to me — "Who's the black cat, Angie?" — because last Thursday, I found a stray black kitten in some bushes and spent most of Friday trying to bribe a rescue group to take it in. The black kitten, I understand, is doing quite well now.

Anyway, according to Sonya, my very spoiled cat Dusti realizes she's very spoiled, and that I am "a worrier" (so true, and obvious by my question, I realize). She also "told" Sonya that my friend who comes to help me cut her nails has very different hair from mine (she does — it's very short while mine is long) and thinks my friend would look better if she grew it out like mine because I have "beautiful hair." Bahahahaha.

I swear I'm not making this stuff up! Listen for yourself.


So do I believe in psychics? Definitely. There are a heck of a lot of charlatans out there, but yes, I think a rare few do possess the ability. Real or not real, one thing is for certain: I have a blast writing about psychics, and imagining what animals think and would say. My book, "On the Scent," and my upcoming release, tentatively titled "Spirited Away" are heavy on pet antics.

What's your opinion on psychics? Are you a believer?

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Find out more about Angela Campbell and her psychic detective series at www.angelacampbellonline.com.

Win-A-Book Wednesday with...Sonya Clark!

Sonya Clark

Sonya Clark grew up a military brat and now lives in Tennessee with her husband and daughter. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance with a heavy helping of magic and lot of music for inspiration. 

WITCHLIGHT

In 2066, the Magic Born are segregated in urban reservations. The laws do not protect them, or their allies.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Marsden is a powerful player in New Corinth politics, but a closely guarded secret could destroy her life—she’s a hidden Magic Born. Her family has gone to great lengths to erase all her magic-related records, until a trancehacking outlaw discovers the last remaining one…

Vadim Bazarov smuggles Magic Borns through the underground railroad and threatens to reveal Elizabeth’s secret unless she helps him access blank ID cards. Elizabeth wants to hate him for having a stranglehold on her life, but can’t help being attracted to someone so sure of who and what he is.

Vadim initially sees her as a political ice queen, but is intrigued by her suppressed magical abilities. He trains Elizabeth to use her magic, and before long finds himself falling for her. But their newfound love may be shortlived; an anti-magic ordinance forces one of them to make a choice that will change both their lives for good.

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