Great moments in last night's reading: immersion vs travelogue in UF world-building

Gah! I've been so swamped, I haven't done one of my great moments posts forever, and I have tons of great moments I've made notes for to talk about. Okay, this one is from last month. 


Great Moments from Last Night's Reading
Book: The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod
Page: 61
Spoiler level: zero

There’s a certain sly element of cool in Suzanne McLeod’s The Sweet Scent of Blood. I was thinking today about how she achieved it, and in part, I feel like she does something that a lot of my favorite ultra-contemporary, high-realism cable dramas do, like THE WIRE, or the movie INCEPTION, for example, in the sense that you’re admitted into a world, but not given a whole travelogue about it.


This creates a sheen of otherness, and so part of the fun and dazzle is to behold all the people and strange goings-on and piece things together. By the end, you get the ins and outs and back alleys, and it’s kind of satisfying. 

I don’t mean that the plot is hard to follow, though it’s certainly more complex than most, but more that you get the world through immersion.

This is especially true with the small details—the surface details. I was absolutely thrilled with this underground ride our main character Genny took. These goblins come onto her car. Gazza is a jerk. We’ve seen goblins before in the book - as literal minded bodyguards - but suddenly there are these other kinds of goblins. Here, the passage:

...His white translucent ears flicked like a rat’s and he clutched a gold lamé satchel tight to his chest, almost obscuring the London Underground badge on his navy boiler-suit – a gold embroidered ‘G’ that marked him as a Gatherer.

He slid a thin grey finger down his twitching nose. ‘Rubbish, miss.’ 

My disguise wasn’t good enough to trick a goblin, or even a vamp – not that it mattered. It was only the witches I was trying to fool. 

I shook my head at the goblin, then touched my own nose in reply. 

He patted the flap of his satchel. ‘Thankee, miss.’ 

The goblin clomped along to Gazza, his trainers flashed green with every step. ‘Rubbish, mister.’ 

Gazza sneered again. ‘Bugger off, you little creep.’ 

The goblin grinned up at him, baring black serrated teeth, three of them studded with square-cut garnets. He opened his mouth wide, leaned forward and snapped his teeth together with a loud crack, right next to Gazza’s cheap PVC-covered groin. ‘Rubbish, mister,’ he demanded.

Huddling against the door, his eyes wide, Gazza fumbled in his coat pocket, found something and offered it warily to the goblin. A stick of chewing gum, still wrapped.

Thin fingers plucked at it, then tucked it away inside the gold lamé satchel. ‘Thankee, mister.’ The goblin stamped his feet, leapt onto a seat and curled up in a ball, his arms hugging tight around his bag.

And that, to my memory, is the first and last we see or hear of these freak-ay goblin trash gatherers. Why are they asking people for trash? Why do they have gold lame satchels? What is the deal with the goblin stamping his feet, leaping onto a seat, and curling into a ball hugging his bag?

You never find out, and I absolutely loved that, because it made this strange world truly strange. If this was key to the plot, I might feel mystified or even left behind, but it’s not key to the plot. So it just became this quirky, random world detail that really made me as a reader feel like I’d gained entrée to a new land.

McLeod definitely takes a risk with this, because it’s such extreme ‘show-don’t-tell’, albeit for an insignificant surface detail.

I think a lot of other authors, including myself, might have given Genny some opinions about these guys as a way to guide the reader, like, “I don’t know what these goblins did with their trash or why the underground union employed them, but at least the cars were clean. Some speculated that… bla bla.” But wouldn’t that be boring? It is way cooler just to have them show up, collect trash that’s not even trash, and exit.

Because, isn’t how that is when you’re traveling in a foreign country? I enjoyed this effect. 

Image: The Fra Mauro map. Part of China. 1459, from Wiki Commons.

Shoes, character breakthrough, and revised thinking on high punctuation within dialogue

Character breakthrough.
I was doing some plotting and reworking on a part of my new paranormal series and had this breakthrough. Do you know the fable of the grasshopper and the ant?  I realized my hero in this book is the ant type, jealous of the grasshopper, and my heroine is the grasshopper type trying unsuccessfully to be the ant. Oh, this helps me immensely, you can't even know.

Stop the presses! I have revised my opinion on high punctuation in dialogue.
Re-reading Meredith Duran's Bound by Your Touch, a favorite book of mine. I usually hate high punctuation within dialogue (semicolon or colon) but I've changed my tune: now I hate it in all dialogue except a certain kind of playful facetiousness, like in this scene, such a fun one, where our hero, Sanburne is wasted at his own party and his sister, sitting down next to him on the stairs, tries to get his attention:

... Elizabeth's fingers fastened onto his upper arm, digging for attention. "Do you hear me? Are you awake?"

He was curious about that, too. "Are my eyes open?"

She made a noise of exasperation, then took his chin in her grip, yanking it up so their eyes met. "They are open," she said. "Behold: it is I." 

There could be no other punctuation there but a colon. The colon is perfect! Really, I just love this behold bit of hers. These two probably grew up reading books and seeing plays that contained that sort of language, maybe still do, and here it is as part of their humorous language, the way I sometimes sing to DH: Don't do the crime if you can't do the time from the TV show Baretta. (Yup, I'm in my 40s!) Anyway, I love when characters place themselves specifically in relation to their time, instead of simply being of their time.

Sometimes when I type these things out, I discover new wonderful treasures in the writing. Like those fingers, digging for attention. And the feel of this easy sibling relationship. You get so much out of this little exchange.

Shoes
I go wildly back and forth on these shoes I got from a secondhand store. They are leather, made in Mexico, and brown, a favorite shoe color of mine. Sometimes I love them, and other times, I'm not so sure.

I am a fan of buckles on things, that is part of the attraction. And they work with bare feet. Today I love them.

Hey, happy Saturday everybody!
I have a big day job project to work on this weekend, but plan to get some novel writing in, and some exercise, and some quality time with the husband. Hmm, we'll see how that all works out. What are you all up to?

The Disillusionists might become a TV show!

Like many Americans, I am a great fan of TV, and have many opinions and fierce attachments to various shows. So as you can imagine, I’m beyond thrilled that the Disillusionists has been optioned by the production company Fishbowl Media for possible development for TV!!

Here is the announcement from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Carolyn Crane's The Disillusionist Trilogy, about a psychological hit squad of misfits and neurotics who reform criminals by pumping them full of their negative energy, pitched as Heroes meets Inception, optioned to FishBowl Media, by Shari Smiley at CAA, on behalf of Cameron McClure at Donald Maass.

What what what will it be like?

Yippee!

When something gets optioned, it’s not actually sold. It’s more like the rights are rented for a year or some other specified time period. Fishbowl Media would use this time to work out and pitch the show to…um, I think networks. Then, if somebody picks it up, they would buy the rights.

I’m so excited to learn more about what they envision. I enjoyed Heroes, and I really REALLY enjoyed Inception. So I’m sure I’ll like what they have in mind.

Also, I’m burning with curiosity on how they’ll translate it to screen, because the books are quite psychological, but I'm sure they have ideas. And far more psychological books than mine have been made into shows and movies that I have come to love. My prime example is Remains of the Day. I was like, How the hell do you make that into a movie? But it was awesome.

Screenwriters and TV people bring new ideas and worldviews to books. Even though I would not be involved, I feel like they are sort of collaborators after my part is over.

Anyway, sometimes these options just run out and nothing happens at all, but still. Quite exciting! What are your favorite movies or TV shows that have been made out of books?

PS: I'm going out of town this weekend, so not around much. Also, don't forget to enter my contest below!

A very hexy release roundup...with contest!

So many exciting new releases by various pals, cohorts and people I admire from afar... Yee hah!  It's time for one of my roundup contests. And be sure and wear your anti-hex boots, because there is a definite theme here...

Hexes and Hemlines (A Witchcraft Mystery #3)

More from everybody's fave paranormal mystery series. I think I need to start shopping at Lily's store!!

Blurb: With her vintage clothing store taking off, Lily Ivory is finding that life in San Francisco suits her just fine. But her ability to sense vibrations from the past, so useful in locating secondhand gems, has landed her in the middle of a new mystery...

Lily gets called away from Aunt Cora's Closet when the police need a witch's take on a strange case. Malachi Zazi was stabbed to death in his apartment, under a ladder, surrounded by the number thirteen, a broken mirror, and a black cat—superstitions that the victim, as head of a rationalist society, was devoted to discrediting.

When the police identify a suspect from the Serpentarian Society, Lily is shocked to learn it's someone she knows. But with bad luck plaguing all its members, she begins to wonder if there's more at work than mere coincidence. And while there aren't many clues from the crime scene, Lily finds evidence of dark witchcraft and a hex on her friend's doorstep. With her friend's safety at stake, Lily is determined to use magic to find the murderer before everyone's luck runs out... Excerpt

Hexed - An anthology with novellas by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn , Allyson James, & Jeanne C. Stein

Blurb: Four of the bestselling names in romance and fantasy come together in this collection of thrilling novellas featuring powerful women who know how to handle a hex or two.

From Publishers Weekly - Bestsellers Andrews, Galenorn, James, and Stein serve up stories set in their established magical worlds in this entertaining urban fantasy anthology. In Andrews's Atlanta-based "Magic Dreams," shape-shifting white tiger Dali Harimau battles a dark force to save the man she loves. In Galenorn's "Ice Shards," Finnish house sprite Iris Kuusi travels to the frozen Northlands to break a curse and confront the evil shadow of her former lover. Stormwalker Janet Begay struggles to save herself and her friends when they become trapped in a cursed Arizona hotel in James's "Double Hexed." Stein rounds out the anthology with "Blood Debt," in which San Diego vampire Anna Strong saves an innocent man and winds up on trial herself. 

~not to be confused with...

Hexed by Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid Chronicles Series #2)

Hits the shelves to the sound of rubbing hand and squeees...the fun continues...

Blurb: Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Hunter’s Fall (Hunters #5) by Shiloh Walker

Oh, Hunters series! Determined, embattled characters, great romance and inventive worldbuilding. 

Blurb: Nessa lost her memory following a near-death experience. Dominic is a Hunter dealing with his own problems with memory and sanity. When the two are put together to battle the forces of darkness-while trying to restore what they've lost-their all-consuming passion becomes an even greater unknown.

From Publishers Weekly: Nessa is an old, powerful witch thrust into a sexy new body still occupied by the taunting presence of its previous owner and possessed by murderous urges. Young vampire Dominic is plagued by erotic dreams about a beautiful woman who is both familiar and mysterious, much to his frustration and confusion. Aided by characters from previous series titles, Nessa and Dominic attempt to discover the truth behind their psychic connection before evil forces destroy them both. Complex personal histories and a very solid paranormal world add detail and intrigue as beautifully well-rounded characters reach for clarity…  Excerpt

Chicks Kick Butt (anthology) - eleven original stories by various fabulous authors, including my talented galpal Jeanne Stein!!

Editors note/blurb: Chicks are awesome—and never more so than when they are kicking some serious vampire/werewolf/demon/monster butt. Chicks Kick Butt is an anthology that features one of the best things about the urban fantasy genre: strong, independent, and intelligent heroines who are quite capable of solving their own problems and slaying their own dragons (or demons, as the case may be).

- Rachel Caine (with a story from her bestselling Weather Wardens universe)

- L.A. Banks

- Rachel Vincent

- Karen Chance

- Lilith Saintcrow

- Cheyenne McCray

- Susan Krinard

- Jeanne Stein

- Jenna Black

- Susan Krinard

- Jeanne Stein

- Jenna Black

- Elizabeth Vaughan

- Carole Nelson Douglas

- P.N. Elrod

- Nancy Holder

Nightfall by Ellen Connor (Dark Age Dawning #1)

Ellen Connor is the collaborative pen name of Carrie Lofty and Ann Aguirre. Shhhhhhhh! I'm really excited to check this out.

Blurb: First in a stunning new post-apocalyptic paranormal romance trilogy.

Growing up with an unstable, often absent father who preached about the end of the world, Jenna never thought in her wildest nightmares that his predictions would come true. Or that he would have a plan in place to save her-one that includes the strong, stoic man who kidnaps and takes her to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

The mysterious ex-Marine named Mason owes a life-debt to Jenna's father. Skilled and steadfast, he's ready for the prophesied Change, but Jenna proves tough to convince. Until the power grid collapses and mutant dogs attack-vicious things that reek of nature gone wrong.

When five strangers appear, desperate to escape the bloodthirsty packs, Jenna defies her protector and rescues them. As technology fails and the old world falls away, Jenna changes too, forever altered by supernatural forces. To fight for their future, she and Mason must learn to trust their instinctive passion-a flame that will see them through the bitter winter, the endless nights, and the violence of a new Dark Age.


Money Shot by Susan Sey
My own hometown RWA chaptermate Susan Sey has been getting tons of buzz for her smart, sexy, fun work. I'm excited to crack open this book, set on a frozen island in the middle of Lake Superior. I love the idea of a female Secret Service Agent, too.

Blurb: Secret Service Agent Maria "Goose" di Guzman is assigned to Mishkawa Island on a goose-chase of a case when she encounters a greater mystery in sexy park ranger Rush Guthrie.


From Fiction Vixen: After reading Money Shot, the second book from Susan Sey, I can say for sure that she writes easy to love heroes, has a talent for writing some good fun snark, and leaves me marking her books all over the place with possible favorite quotes.  Excerpt here

Goddess with a Blade by Lauren Dane (ebook)

I'm really curious and excited to read this new UF by one of the most vertsatile and sexy writers around.

Rowan Summerwaite is no ordinary woman. Physical vessel to the Celtic Goddess Brigid and raised by the leader of the Vampire Nation, she's a supercharged hunter with the power to slay any vampire who violates the age-old treaty.

A recent string of murders has her at odds with Las Vegas's new Scion, the arrogant and powerful Clive Stewart. The killings have the mark of Vampire all over them, and Rowan warns Clive to keep his people in line—or she'll mete out her own brand of justice.

Though her dealings with Clive are adversarial to say the least, Rowan is intensely aware of her attraction to him. But she can't let it distract her from her duty—to find and battle the killer before more women die.

Shimmerlight by Jill Myles (a 99-cent novella; a companion to the erotic time travel novella Mirrorlight)

Loving the sound of this plot! Freaky and fun...

Blurb: Chloe Sorenson's just started a brand new job at Ms. Muffet's art gallery. However, no one told her that the latest auction piece - a sculpture of a handsome Roman soldier - comes to life. Think it's hard to explain to your boss why you're fondling a statue? Try explaining to the statue why you're holding his, uh, fig leaf. Chloe never thought that touching the statue would turn him into a sexy, aroused man, but she's not saying no to this delicious Roman soldier. The curse requires that she touch him at all times? Such a hardship...

But there's a problem in their lust-fueled relationship; she's falling dangerously in love with a guy that cursed to be hard as a rock - literally - unless she can somehow free him. And the statue of Titus just went up for auction. If she doesn't do something, he's going to be out of her life and trapped for all eternity... available for here, here and elsewhere soon!

Giveaway time! 

Okay, you can win one of these books! (Or the first book from one of these series, if you haven't started the series yet).
ADDED: Anne Aguirre has generously offered up a copy of Nightfall! So I'll pick two random winners - one to win NIGHTFALL, and one to win any book of their choice. Thanks Anne!

Directions:

1. Leave a comment, any comment - you can talk about any or all of the books, or you can talk about your cat or fear of hexes or anything! Your comment doesn't have to say what book you'll choose.

2. You have to leave your comment here on the blog - if you are seeing this on Goodreads or Facebook, come over, cover over, Red Rover!

3. Make sure your email is in the comment, or else that I can find it by clicking on your name.

4. Live somewhere in the world where book depository ships.

I will choose a TWO winners next week (June 14th) when I sit down with my tea and oats. I will email those people then. Hey, Happy release day everyone! 

A completely narcissistic post about ME!

So, you bloggers out there probably know how this goes, when it's been soooooo long since you blogged, you just feel all voodoo about it. Like, I have to get something amazing up! I have to pre-write a bunch of posts and bank them! Really get back in the swing!

 How did it get to be TWO WEEKS since I blogged? Well, this is one of those posts where I just post any old thing to get back in the blogging swing. A life update!

The MOVE

The fabulous Mr. Crane in our not-yet-fabulous living room.

Part of my reason for not blogging: we moved across town. Exactly 2 weeks ago. Oh, what a trying two weeks. We're still partly in boxes, but mostly unpacked. As you see from this photo, we have kind of slopped our furniture in a circle while we put away other stuff. I guess the aesthetics will come last!

Before this, Mr. Crane and I were renting a lovely apartment in a kind of fabulous and fancy area of Minneapolis, and we just bought this condo in a less fancy area, but it is so much funner here! And we are living in almost half as much space, but it's ours, dammit! And we are really loving it. And there are awesome coffee shops and restaurants around here. Last night I said to Mr. Crane, we should go sit on our stoop and play Scrabble. That's not something we would have done in our old neighborhood. Our old neighborhood was mostly young upscale families; our new one has has people of all ages and backgrounds. The only downside is that it's not within walking distance of a supermarket.

Reading two wonderful books

 I'm reading two wonderful books right now: J.A. Saare's DEAD UNDEAD OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN and Meredith Duran's WRITTEN ON YOUR SKIN. Both delicious and excellent in their own ways. One of these days, I'll update my goodreads account with all the books I've been reading.

A good book of the kind I won't read again 

I recently finished a very gripping suspense book, I guess I'd call it romantic suspense, but edging on regular suspense. Kind of serial killer suspense by a well-known author everyone loves. I think I need to think hard about what kind of romantic suspense I read. This one was really dark, like the movie SEVEN. And, while I hugely admired how well paced and excellently written it was, and I was really compelled by it, looking forward to reading it--gripped by it, even--it nevertheless felt like a joyless, even soulless read. Have you ever had a read like that? Where you're consuming this dark content, and it's compelling, but not necessarily good for you?  

The stretch of days I was reading this one book, I felt uninspired at writing, and was in a kind of glum overall mood. It could have been the stress of moving, but part of me blames that book. It's funny, because there's romantic suspense I love, like Jill Sorenson's stuff, or Shiloh Walker's, which both tend to be more character focused. But this was too much, I think, for my temperament.  

I have these two grocery bags full of books I'm going to sell to the best used bookstore in all of the Twin Cities, the Paperback Exchange (and snap up every Anne Stuart and Laura Kinsale in the place!) and I put this book in, as well as the next book in her series, unread. Okay, now I'm rethinking it. It was a really compelling book...but I think it's better this way. 

WTF! I'm talking to YOU, CDs!
So, I unearthed a good deal of forgotten items during the move, including cassette tapes from the pre-CD  Pleistocene erae. One of them was this Leonard Cohen tape I hadn't played in years, with The Only Ones on the other side. I'd probably played it thousands of times, and I played it three times more and it still sounded fabulous. Lord forbid I try to play an old CD. Half my CDs have gone to hell from overplay, but that has NEVER happened to a cassette. Who of you are old enough to remember thinking CDs were a big scam? Guess what: they WERE!

Weather

This is the worst winter and spring in Minnesota  ever. Horribly cold, followed by horribly gray and rainy and cold with a dollop of tornadoey. I had the space heater on this morning! Back when we were renters, we would be like, let's move away to California, dammit! But now that we have a condo, we can't play that game. 

This is what I wish I'd had for dinner instead of a salad.
Three bags of popchips, or else a pizza.  

Carolyn so crabbins
I spent the winter eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and now I'm all complainy...I'm sure you can guess why. Tonight I really wanted to eat pizza, or else popchips, but instead I had a salad for dinner. I am very unsatisfied. Sometimes it's a good idea to ignore those cravings, but tonight, I should've given in. I feel like my dinner was cold and wet, and I wanted needed some form of hot /crunchy/salty.

As long as I'm going down this more shallow subject area road, I will say that the lighting in our new bathroom is NOT flattering. I was thinking the other day, well, maybe that's what I really look like, and my old bathroom lighting was falsely flattering. But, I think I want to get back falsely flattering lighting. Because...why the hell not?

Writing
I am polishing up the still unnamed book #3, which I am really excited about. I have come to think of this book as a combination of Robin Hood and Sleeping Beauty. But with lots of sex, violence, and paranormal goings-on.

I have two new series in the wings, and I am having a hard time deciding which to work on next, because I want to write both of them immediately. Wild & Steamy, the anthology I'm doing a disillusionists novella for, which also features Meljean Brook and Jill Myles, will likely be coming out early July instead of June now. I'm really looking forward to that. And I also have crazy-exciting-to-me news that might not be anything and I can't talk about it yet!

Whew! Look! This is a MAJOR blog entry! I have broken the no-blogging spell! Thank you dear readers, for bearing with me!

I hope you all have a fabulous and safe Memorial Day. XXOO Carolyn

Various moving dramas & casualties...with tell-all photos!

Moving week. Feeling strangely calm about it all, even though things are so chaotic. Also, I finished a major phase of a novel, so this is a natural stopping point. At least my writing life is ship-shape.

I was sad to have to put this awesome chair (above) out on the curb, because I've always loved the blocky mid-century shape of it, (plus, it's corduroy!)  but it's pretty destroyed, and actually, not that comfortable. When I have clothing I haven't worn and enjoyed  in a year, it's time to give it to the thrift store. That goes the same with furniture, and Mr. Crane and I never really sit in this chair. And the cat eats the stuffing out of it. 

Pictured on the chair are my orphan socks! I have been hauling around a GIANT bag of orphan socks through many moves. The bag has grown and grown, to the size of a basketball. That stops here! I have a dream of washing all socks and mating them or out they go. Will my dream come true?

Oh, how the movers will love us! Here, Mr. Crane's wall of books, packed. And, I'm slowly adding to this from my own bookcases. Sometimes I put boots and shoes in with the books because I feel sorry for the movers for the heaviness of these boxes. 

I spent the last couple years with the second bedroom as my own private office, and Mr. Crane had a corner of the living room. In our new condo, Mr. Crane gets the second bedroom as his office and I get a corner of the living room. Because that's how we roll! Share and share alike.

The only problem: ART. As readers of this blog know, Mr. Crane finds Little CJ (above, the portrait of me as a child painted by a great aunt) to be super creepy. He feels my childhood eyes follow him around the room. Little CJ has hung in my office these past years. Where to put her now? 

Carolyn: Let's put her in the living room!

Mr. Crane: No way are we putting little CJ in the living room.  

Carolyn: How about the bedroom?

Mr. Crane: Not if you ever want to have sex again. 

Above, a pictorial representation of Mr. Crane and my art tastes. The gray areas on the right represent art and photos I enjoy and Mr. Crane does not enjoy. Little CJ would fall into this area. On the left gray side, art and photos that Mr. Crane enjoys that I do not enjoy and do not want to sit around staring at. The white area is where we agree, and the subset of art and photos we may have in shared spaces. 

Above, an old, hand-drawn medical chart a friend rescued from a garbage behind the University Medical school building. There were a bunch of them, all apparently drawn by long-ago students for some important project. It is one of the coolest pieces of art I own, and takes up a great deal of wall space in my office. These little drawings are strange and fantastical to me. I don't know what they are (and I don't want to, so if you know, please don't tell me.)  

Detail from my Echin0dermata chart. #12 puts me in the mind of Horton Hears a Hoo. #13 feels sort of Star Trek. One of the most mysterious ones is #20, lower right corner. I just love this piece! Unfortunately, this awesome thing will be joining Little CJ in a dark storage space. 

 My ironic Unicorn-with-unicorn-baby-in-a-glade picture. I don't have to tell you where that is going.

I feel okay about rotating art. We have lots of excellent stuff we both love to look at to put up on the walls. The time for these pieces will come around again. Okay, I'd better back to packing. Wish me luck!

Monday stuff: Disillusionist ebooks available globally, genre cats, & the awesome Harper Blaine tour!

Disillusionist ebooks - now available all over the GLOBE!

This is the international ebook

cover for Double Cross

Doesn't it sound massive when I say it like that? But, it is massive, to me. For way too long, people living outside of North America and various related territories were unable to purchase and download Mind Games or Double Cross ebooks. 

This is the international ebook
cover for Mind Games

That is all changed! My books are now (or any day now, depending on the site) available on all the major international sites where you can get ebooks, and they are available NOW right here at Untreed Reads for just $4.99 each. You can choose whatever format you please, and buy them if you live in the places where it wasn't originally published.


I'm grateful to Untreed Reads for putting them out like this. It was a tricky operation (to me, anyway) because, they had to be reverse geographically restricted, that is, not available where the other versions were available, because that would infringe on my original publisher's territory.

Genre Cats

I love Tez Miller's new Tumblr site, Genre Cats. It's all pictures of genre authors and their kitties. One of these days, I'm going to get Mr. Crane to do some photos of us. I realized I have millions of pictures of my babies, but none of us together.  

Every time I write about my cats, I think, I need to stop talking about my cats so much. But as you can see, I can't seem to. 

Walking Tour of Harper Blaine's neighborhood in Seattle! 

Kat Richardson has made a Greywalker walking tour of Private Investigator Harper Blaine's Pioneer Square neighborhood! It's  pictures and voice over of various places in Seattle that feature in the series (which I would highly recommend. After being dead for two minutes and the resuscitated, Harper Blaine finds she can interact with the 'grey' - the layer between our world and the supernatural one. This talent of hers makes her a very unusual private detective. Awesome UF gumshoe series.)

Anyway, you can download the cell phone tour here and actually walk it if you're in Seattle, or you can just view the embedded version. This is such a boon for Greywalker fans! It's a kick to see where Harper Blaine works and the sites of various events and hear Kat talk about them. Also, you learn a some interesting things about Seattle. More on Kat's site. 
  

Happy Saturday giveaway of recent releases on my radar...

I haven't done one of these for a while, and some very exciting books have been popping up, written by pals, cohorts, and a few authors I'm plain old fangirlish on. Hooray for a bounty of books! 

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

This new release by fellow leaguer Kevin Hearne has been getting total rave reviews for awesomeness and hilarity...and I understand that Little CJ is hoping to get an interview with him soon.  

The blurb: 

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod (Spellcrackers #2)

I recently started the first Spellcrackers book, The Sweet Scent of Blood, and I'm really into it. I love the main character, as well as McLeod's awesomely inventive version of a London that contains trolls, goblins, fae and more. I have to say also, McLeod really knows how to interestingly raise the stakes! Oh, I totally didn't mean that as a pun. 

Anyway....

The blurb: When sidhe-blooded Genny Taylor's friend is murdered and all evidence points to her, she goes on the run. But she's being pursued by some of the most powerful supernaturals in town-and one of them is most certainly the killer.

Three to Tango by Emma Holly, Lauren Dane, Megan Hart and Bethany Kane

I have been very interested in checking this one out, all the more so since Susi and Lea over at Book Lovers Inc. called it one of the best anthologies they've ever read. Yee ha!

The blurb: Four of erotic fiction's most talented authors carry readers away with all-new tales of ecstasy that prove that the most delectable things in life come in threes...

In Emma Holly's FLIPPING FOR CHELSEA, Shay and Liam shared an unforgettable night with their lifelong friend, Chelsea, awakening a rush of forbidden feelings--feelings they have to reckon with when the three reunite, and the unrequited lust between them is too much to bear.

Though Ava left her hard-knock Georgia childhood behind, she never forgot Luca and Angelo. Together they were best friends with a bond that could never be broken. But when she returns, the three must decide whether to face the fires that burn between them, or forgo their desires forever in Lauren Dane's DIRTY/BAD/WRONG.

In Megan Hart's JUST ONE NIGHT, fun-loving couple Kerry and Jeremy find themselves in a triangle of trouble when Kerry's old crush, Brian, returns for a school reunion, and Jeremy gives her his enthusiastic approval to seduce him. But while Jeremy has no trouble sharing Kerry, Brian isn't sure he can handle what's coming.

Years ago, Walker walked out on Madeline when she needed him most. Now, the ex-Secret Service agent is back--hired to protect Madeline by her billionaire boss, Tony. Madeline is determined to make him pay for denying her desires--and she's not above bringing Tony in to sweeten the deal in Bethany Kane's ON THE JOB.

Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman (Gavyn Donatti #2)

The Djinn series by fellow leaguer Sonya, who is also my agent mate! I just got the first book in this series. I feel certain that if my agent embraced this series, I will too. Also, I'm really in the mood to read about Djinn!

The blurb: A DEADLY CULT. AN UNBREAKABLE CURSE. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: LEARN TO KILL . . . OR DIE.

Luck has never been on Gavyn Donatti’s side. Anyone else with magic abilities inherited from a distant genie relative would have it made, but not Donatti, descendant of a cranky, shape-shifting genie named Ian. The prince of a murdered kingdom, consumed with revenge and driven by an unbreakable curse, Ian is determined to hunt down and destroy every last one of his enemies in the power-hungry snake clan—at any cost, including his life. Or Donatti’s.

Obsessed by his own rage, Ian has never really taught Donatti how to use his abilities. So when a powerful cult of magic-users captures Ian’s wife, the princess Akila, and then Ian himself, Donatti is left alone to take on dozens of half-djinn and their mysterious leader with designs on world domination.

Facing an impossible mission, Donatti is forced to turn to an enemy for help—one who claims to know how to unlock his true potential. Trusting a snake might be the last mistake Donatti ever makes—but if he doesn’t learn to wield the power inside him, everyone will pay the ultimate price.

Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare

I gladly, lavishly, happily give in to peer pressure at all times! Which is why I've got this long-awaited re-up of the big wild favorite of a lot of my online pals on top of my TBR pile. I have been wondering from afar what makes people so crazy about this hero, and soon I will find out. I am in the mood to be crazy about a hero.   

The blurb: One bad corpse can ruin your whole day.

No one knows that better than Rhiannon Murphy. She’s left behind the flash and sass of Miami for the no-nonsense groove of New York City, eager for a clean slate and a fresh start. A bartender by trade, a loud mouth by choice, and a necromancer by chance, she’s managed to keep her nifty talent hidden from those around her--until now.

The deliciously good-looking vampire Disco knows her secret, and when he strolls into her bar to solicit help investigating the mysterious disappearances of his kind from the city, she discovers he’s not the kind of person that appreciates the significance of the word no. But in a world where vampires peddle their blood as the latest and greatest drug of choice, it’s only a matter of time before the next big thing hits the market. Someone or something is killing vampires to steal their hearts, and unlike Rhiannon, this isn’t their first stroll around the undead block.

  

Shady Lady by Ann Aguirre (Corine Solomon #3)

I'm heavy into this series, and I've been reading that people are considering this one the best of the bunch. I love when a series just ramps like crazy.  

The blurb: Whenever Corine Solomon touches an object, she immediately knows its history. But her own future concerns her more and more. Now back in Mexico, she's running her pawnshop and trying to get a handle on her strange new powers, for she might need them. And soon.



Then former ally Kel Ferguson walks through her door. Heavily muscled and tattooed, Kel looks like a convict but calls himself a holy warrior. This time, he carries a warning for Corine: the Montoya cartel is coming for her--but they don't just pack automatic weapons. The Montoyas use warlocks, shamans, voodoo priests--anything to terminate trouble. And Corine has become enemy number one...

Sleeping with the Frenemy by KT Grant!

KT! My galpal KT, one of the loveliest and now most prolific
authors I know. Okay, like so many above, I haven't read yet this...but who can resist a good starting-a-new-secret-life F-F romance?  

The blurb: Deborah Murnay has a life most women would die for. She has a loving wife of four years who gives her anything she wants. But, Deborah hides a dark secret. Her wife Genevieve not only enjoys kinky, dangerous sex, but is insanely jealous and possessive. When a violent argument between the two leaves Deborah bruised and battered, she has no other choice but to run away.

Through some intricate planning on Deborah’s part, she’s able to trick Genevieve into thinking she’s dead. Deborah becomes Sharon Wade and ends up hundreds of miles away in the small town of Woodberry Creek where she can start over again, even though she lives in fear that Genevieve will find her and kill her.

When grade school teacher Bridgette Woodberry notices her new neighbor, she quickly figures out Woodberry Creek’s new resident is hiding something. Deborah knows she can’t have a future with Bridgette, but finds herself attractive to the kindhearted redhead whose kisses and warm embrace makes her feel protected.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole (Immortals After Dark #10)


My favorite ever series...and look, another book in it! What can I say but sigh. Gasp. Sigh sigh sigh. Actually, maybe I'm a bad fan since I haven't even started it yet. But I think about it a lot.

HE VOWED HE’D COME FOR HER . . .

Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives.

SHE AWAITS HIS RETURN . . .

When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals—unaware that he belongs to their world.

TO SATE A DESIRE MORE POWERFUL THAN DEATH . . .

Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan’s torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?

Giveaway time! 

Okay, you can win one of these books! (Or the first book from one of these series, if you haven't started the series yet). Directions:

1. Leave a comment, any comment - you can talk about any or all of the books, or you can talk about your cat or whatever you want! Your comment doesn't have to say what book you'll choose.

2. You have to leave your comment here on the blog - if you are seeing this on Goodreads or Facebook, come over, cover over, Red Rover!

3. Make sure your email is in the comment, or else that I can find it by clicking on your name.

4. Live somewhere in the world where book depository ships.

I will choose a winner next Saturday (May 14th) when I sit down with my tea and oats. I will email that person and ask what book they want. Hey, Happy Saturday everyone! 

At the league...discussing my super-brilliant early writing career!

I'm over at the League of Reluctant Adults blog today blogging about writers with side jobs, my advertising writer side job in particular, and some of my sillier creations in my first year when I was an intern at this one agency.

This post came about when I was cleaning out an old filing cabinet in preparation for our move...oh, it's a long story, all told here...