Archive for the 'Contests' Category

Page 2 of 6

Guest Post and Contest with JULIET BLACKWELL!

Hello my lovelies! Today we have a special treat–a guest blog by the lovely Juliet Blackwell! I’ve been so lucky to get to know Juliet, and I absolutely adore her books. Her latest, Hexes and Hemlines, came out this week. There’s information about that book in this post, and there’ll be information on how to enter a contest to win one of Juliet’s books after she’s done talking. ;-)

But first of all, let’s have Juliet’s very awesome bio. She’s done so much and she’s definitely one of my heroes.

Nationally bestselling author Juliet Blackwell writes the Witchcraft Mystery series (Secondhand Spirits, 2009; A Cast-off Coven, 2010; Hexes and Hemlines, June 2011; Obsidian). If Walls Could Talk launched the Haunted Home Renovation series in 2010; Dead Bolt, the second in the series, comes out in December. As one-half of the sister duo dubbed Hailey Lind, Blackwell wrote the Art Lover’s Mystery Series–including Agatha-nominated Feint of Art and the most recent, Arsenic and Old Paint (September; Perseverance Press). A former anthropologist and social worker, Juliet has worked in Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Italy, the Philippines, and France, and is now a painter in Oakland, California. She served two terms as president of NorCal Sisters in Crime.

Contact her through her website, www.julietblackwell.net, and join her on Twitter @JulietBlackwell and on Facebook!

 

Misunderstandings and Magic: Why Bring the Paranormal into the Mystery Genre

It’s such a pleasure to be asked to write for the blog of a good friend…and Nicole’s the best! Do we have conference tales to tell…;-) Thanks for having me, Nicole!

I’ve been asked many times: why muck up the mystery genre by adding the supernatural? Why bring witches and ghosts into a classic mystery story?

(Besides the obvious, of course, which is that paranormal themes are cool, and fun, and interesting. And you get to hang around extraordinary people like Nicole Peeler…)

But as a writer, the very best thing about bringing the world of the “paranormal” into the mystery genre is that it opens up a whole new world of mysterious possibilities in fiction.

It couldn’t have come at a better time: The advent of modern technology has killed off a huge chunk of old plot stand-bys.

Cell phones are a particular bane. Consider the free-floating angst that motivates so many storylines, all those misunderstandings that could have been cleared up with a simple phone call: In Casablanca, what if Ilsa had just been able to call Rick and explain why she didn’t meet him at the train station? Or in An Affair to Remember, if Deborah Kerr’s character texted Cary Grant from her handy Blackberry to tell him she’d been hit by a taxi?

In a mystery novel, let’s face it: anyone investigating a murder these days would probably make sure they had their cell phone with them, and that it was charged. How often can you manage to get your protagonist stuck somewhere without the possibility of calling for rescue, or back-up, or a simple clarification? There are only so many dead zones.

And don’t even get me started on the internet…what happens to all those wonderful scenes where characters used to need to track down reclusive experts or ancient libraries to dig up arcane information? Now so much of that info is available with a few clicks of a mouse…and unfortunately, to paraphrase author David Sedaris, “tapping at a keyboard is not an inherently dramatic activity.”

It’s boring. And boring has no place in genre fiction.

A little magic throws a fabulous monkey-wrench into the banality of modern life. The cell phone doesn’t work because…um, yeah, it throws off a witch’s vibrations, so she won’t use one. That’s the ticket! Besides that, maybe someone cast a spell to bend time, and there are a few ghosts and maybe a demon or two lurking, and they sure as heck don’t adhere to conventions of modern physics. And there’s only so much information available on Google when it comes to things like that.

Suddenly, a person finds herself with a plot.

Often in novels that feature so-called “amateur detectives”, one doubts motive: normal people don’t often get involved in murder investigations, and if they do, they work with the police, and/or wisely halt their snooping as soon as they’re threatened/ shot at/beat up. But bring magic into the mix…and suddenly there’s a crime that the all-too-normal-human police can’t figure out, and maybe a hex or two left on doorsteps, and what’s a witch to do but step in and take care of matters?

In my latest Witchcraft Mystery, Hexes and Hemlines, natural witch Lily Ivory steps into a murder investigation that has the police stumped: the leader of a local rationalist society is murdered amidst symbols of bad luck: a black cat, a broken mirror, on the thirteenth floor. As someone with special paranormal talents, Lily is in a unique position to help suss out whether the man’s death had anything to do with tempting the fates. And when the main suspect turns out to be someone Lily knows, and a friend is threatened by an evil practitioner, and an aging Satan worshipper enters the mix…a witch might be compelled to use magic to find the murderer before everyone’s luck runs out.

Lily may not have a cell phone, but she’s got a direct line to ancient powers. In fiction, as in life, that’s a lot more interesting.

How great is this post? As an urban fantasy writer, I’ve thought a lot about what bringing the supernatural into “our” world does for writers, but I’ve never thought of it from the “genred”-perspective of the mystery writer. It’s so true about how much technology has mucked up the author’s job, and I love Juliet not only for applying this to the paranormal-trend in today’s fiction, but also that she effortlessly quotes Sedaris’s “Nutcracker,” one of my all time favorite essays.

So Juliet rocks, her books rock, and I hope that this post not only made her fans smile but also made some new readers want to pick up her books. To facilitate this call to Juliet, I will hold a contest to win any one of Juliet’s books, including the new one, Hexes and Hemlines. The winner chooses!

To enter, please comment below with one thing you like about adding paranormal elements to fiction! I’ll choose a wiener at random next Friday, June 17th. I know you’ll love Juliet’s books as much as I do!

Published on June 10, 2011 in Contests and Guest Blogs. 25 Comments Tags: , , .

A Blog Post on my Excitement Over a Dearth of Mermaids, a Book Rec, and a WIENER!

Hello mah lovelies! I’m back in PA, finally, and getting back into the swing of things. It always helps to get back into “author mode” when I discover something cool that’s book related. And luckily for me, Germany’s come through with an awesome cover for book three:

There are NO MERMAIDS! And she’s dark-haired! It’s perfect! Plus I love the translation of the title. So that made me happy!

I never thought I’d be so happy to see a dearth of mermaids. ;-)

The other thing I wanted to tell you about is an author that rocks my casbah. Her name is Sarah Waters. She writes literary fiction, but they’re also rousing good stories. I’ve loved all of her books, but I read her latest, The Little Stranger, on the plane and it was gorgeous.


Waters’ prose has been called “neo-Victorian,” and although this is set post-World War II, the tone is very elegiac, and nostalgic of a more formal, pre-Modernist style of writing. It’s very much like the prose of, say, Henry James or Edith Wharton. This uncanny ability to mimic the style of different writing periods is Waters strong suit, but it’s never a cheap imitation. She really understands these styles: their limitations, their strengths, and how to play with each one in such a way that it’s never parody, but a sublime exploration of how various generations have attempted to communicate their life experiences using our limited, human tools of communication.

The Little Stranger is, primarily, an exploration of the British class system. But it really explores very universal ideas about how we glom on to ideas of things, and how those ideas rule our lives, even if we don’t want them to.

As with many of Waters other stories, this is also very much a ghost story. Like Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, however, Waters writes ghost stories in which it’s  never clear  whether the ghosts are genuinely paranormal or actually psychological. Indeed, I think that most of her books argue that this distinction doesn’t matter. A haunting–no matter what the origins–is about ideas. If you think about it, it’s never “random burst of light” that haunts people in stories, it’s a ghost that’s either related to the hauntee, or that has a terrible story of its own. We’re haunted by the ideas ghosts represent: by the cruelty of mortality, or the loss of a loved one, or the violence we beget upon one another. So hauntings are as much about ideas as they are about incorporeal beings that say “boo,” and so, in some ways, The Little Stranger is about the danger of ideas and ideologies. In this case, it’s the ideologies that built, upheld, and still buoy the British class system. But we all have our own dangerous ideologies that haunt our lives or our societies.

So it’s a great book. It’s not fast–it’s written in the style of a generation that would have been horrified by one of our contemporary thrillers. But the writing is beautiful, and the story is intriguing. I highly recommend all of Waters’ work, and this book is no exception.

Finally, I think I owe you guys a WIENER! The wiener of my contest to win one of Kat’s Greywalker books is LOLITAM! Congrats, LolitaM! Email me at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com, giving me your address and which of the books from this list you’d like.

For the rest of the weekend I’ll be cleaning, laundering, writing, and sweating at the gym or the yoga studio. For the wages of booktour sins must be paid in hard labor! ;-)

Finally, let me know in comments if there’s something you’d like me to talk about. I’ve been so busy with end of school, the tour, and book five I haven’t given much consideration to the blog. But let me know if there’s anything you’ve been hankering for. ;-)

And have a great weekend!

Published on May 27, 2011 in Contests, Cover Love and Reviews. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

Update and Guest Blog from KAT RICHARDSON!

Hello lovelies!

I’m updating you from a hotel room in Baton Rouge. Snark-La-Tex has been a BLAST. Seriously, it could not have gone better. We had fun turnouts in awesome bookstores, and we’ve had so much fun together. Everyone’s asked, “Have you killed each other yet?”, which couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve had an awesome time, laughing our way through everything.

There has been a lot of eating, a lot of snarking, a ridiculous amount of swearing, and a tattoo. Whose? Where? You’ll just have to wait if you don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter. ;-)

I’ll blog the whole tour soon enough, when it’s over. Tonight we have our last signing in Shreveport, at the Barnes &  Noble on Youree, at 7pm. Be there or be square.

But now I’ve got a special treat for you, a guest post from Kat Richardson who has done a very cool walking audio tour for her books. Kat’s books are set in Seattle, so if you’re a visiting fan these tours have to be a must-do on your list!

Here’s Kat!

Playing Tourist in Harper Blaine’s Neighborhood

Nikki, being the fab human that she is, asked if I’d say something about the walking tour I put together recently for YodioTours.com. Well, OK, because I’m always one to toot my own horn if someone is fool enough to ask.

Which is kind of how the whole thing started—Clay Loges asked me if I’d like to make a tour based on my Greywalker books for his new service and since it was a chance to get some more exposure in a new way, I said “sure!” Clay had been referred to me by the staff at Seattle Mystery Bookshop who are the best book-pimps money can’t buy. I just love those guys.

So I walked around, took photos, wrote the script, edited the script with Clay’s help and then recorded the audio once we’d got all the photos and the script set to our satisfaction. It was fun to take a look around the neighborhood again since it had been a while since I’d spent much time in Pioneer Square. The books had started out there, but the later ones had often gone out on vacation to other parts of town or even other towns and I’d almost forgotten some of the things that had made me love the historic district to begin with. So I guess I’m back in love with my character’s old stomping grounds. It’s nice when a new project reminds you how much you loved the old ones.

If you want to take a look, the tour is up at YodioTours.com (http://www.yodiotours.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=35&Itemid=164) and you can view it online or download it to your phone and follow along, when you visit Seattle.

Thanks to Nikki for letting my squat in her blog like this—she’s the best!

I AM the best, Kat. ;-) But seriously, thanks for posting and this walking tour is such a great idea. In fact, I’m so psyched about this idea that if you comment about which other series of books you’d think would make a great walking tour, and why, I’ll enter you into a contest to win the book of your choice from Kat’s Greywalker series. Sound good? So comment on this blog post, and if you win then you can pick any of Kat’s Greywalker books and I’ll have it Amazoned to you. ;-) If you’ve never tried this series, I think you’ll love it. I’ll draw the winner next Friday, May 27th.

So comment away and thanks for blogging, Kat! I’ll blog myself soon about the tour (the tats and the plans for Poonstache 2012). But if you miss me that much, you can finally see my debut post at Pens Fatales, on carpeing your diems. ;-)

See all you Shreveporters shortly!

Published on May 20, 2011 in Appearances, Contests, Guest Blogs, My Travels, Over at Pens . . . and Signings. 9 Comments Tags: , .

Update and a WIENER!

Hello mah beauties!

I hope you’re well! I’m fighting off a bit of a cold I picked up at JFK. I swear, every time I fly through that airport I get sick. I can’t complain too much, though, as this is just a head cold. That last time I went to London through JFK, I picked up what I think might have been ebola, and spread it all around to friends in the UK and then back to my colleagues in PA when I returned. They claimed I was the Outbreak monkey, and they are, realistically, correct.

But DC was wonderful, and it was lovely to spend time with my parents. My dad sat at the hotel while my mom and I wandered around the city. And by “wandered,” I mean walked for miles and miles and miles. It’s a fabulous place though, and it was great spending quality time with Rella.

As for me, I’m working slowly but surely away at Tempest’s Fury, and finishing up all my grading for the end of the year. I’ve got one class done, and just three big things to grade before I’m finished! It’s still quite a bit of work, but totally doable.

And then on Sunday, I leave for Dallas, to join Jaye Wells for our SNARK-LA-TEX tour. If you’re in Louisiana or Texas, we might be near you next week!

We’ll have Mary Lois, our Turtle, with us, so hopefully she’ll take lots of pictures. You got a camera, ML?

Our goals for the tour are to have a) a buttload of fun and b) not get arrested. Although Jaye keeps reminding me that we also want to sell a lot of books, so that’s c) sell a lot of books (while having fun and not getting arrested).

I’m very excited to be back in the South, and especially to spend some time with my friends in Shreveport after the tour.

So that’s the next few weeks of my life! Typically busy, crazy, and fun…hurrah! I hope to see some of you on the tour, and for those of you who can’t make it, I’ll try to blog lots and remember, you can always email me at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com for a signed bookplate.

But speaking of books, I know what you really want . . . to know who won a signed copy of Kevin Hearne’s Hounded!

The contest can has spoken!

And the wiener is Damaris T!

Congrats to Damaris. Email me at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll forward your info to Kevin.

Thanks everyone for playing. You all had great entries, some of which I’m still giggling over.

See you soon, and come play if you’re in LA or TX! ;-)

Published on May 10, 2011 in Appearances, Contests, My Travels, Signings and SNARK-LA-TEX. 2 Comments

I’m SO CHEAP! And a WIENER!

Hello mah friends! I was super chuffed to see the HUGE numbers who came over to say hello and enter the contest I ran last week. Before I share the wiener of that contest, I have a couple of fun things to announce:

First off, guest blogs!

You can find me guest blogging over at Richelle Mead’s site, where I talk about “How young is too young?” in regards to reading, and you can also find me at Vicki Pettersson’s site, talking about my rather ridiculous mental version of Las Vegas. Vicki also says such nice things about me she made me go all vaklempt.

Kat Richardson also made me blush with what she said before my guest post at her site, about truly inspirational places to live. Next, I’ve got a guest blog up at Kevin Hearne’s Writer’s Grove, regarding butts that can crack walnuts and the urban fantasy heroine. It makes more sense when you read it. ;-)

Finally, you can catch me talking NOLA cuisine over at Suzanne Johnson’s Preternatura. She’s even offering a NOLA gift bag as a contest prize. Fun!

I’m wandering around to other people’s blogs partially because, for the month of March (and a bit of April), if you live in America you can OFFICIALLY call me cheap. Because Orbit’s offering its US readers the chance to download my first book, Tempest Rising, for only $2:99. Click on the ad below for more info:

So if you want to give Jane a shot, and you live in the states, she’s gorgeously cheap. Yay for cheap!

But now onwards and upwards to our wiener. THE CONTEST CAN HAS SPOKEN!

And the wiener is . . . . . . . . . . . . *drum roll* . . . . . . . . . . . JESS TOWNSEND!!!!!!

Congratulations, JESS! Email me at iheartelkies(at)gmail(dot)com, telling me which of the two books you’d like that are on offer, as well as your address, and I’ll have them sent your way!

Thank you ALL for playing. I loved reading your comments and it was great to have you here at the Emporium!

Published on March 11, 2011 in Contests, Over at Orbit Books . . . and Tempest Rising. 1 Comment

A WIENER! And a Thing I Liiiiiike . . .

Hello mah friends!

Before I announce the wiener of Sophie Littlefield’s AFTERTIME, I want to introduce you to something new I like. Well, only half new: Y’all should know by now that I loves me some Airborne Toxic Event. They’ve just released their new video for the song “Changing,” and it is amazing.

And by amazing, I mean that on the scale of shagability, pretty much everyone in this video is a perfect 10, up to and including the drum set. So much eye candy! And such a great song! And it’s so fun! Here’s the video:

Isn’t that fun!

But even more fun is being a WIENER. The Contest Can has spoken!

The wiener of Sophie Littlefield’s AFTERTIME is Kt! Kt, email me your address at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll have Sophie send you your book. Congrats!

And thanks to everyone for playing. It was great fun! Don’t forget there’s now another contest, underneath this post.

Ciao for now!

Published on March 5, 2011 in Contests and Things I Like. 6 Comments

Pimpage and a Contest

Hello my beauties! It’s pimpage time here at the Emporium, and the pimp hand is smacking down stronger than ever, thanks to all that zumba I’ve been doing. Check out some of the books written either by Leaguers or those beloved of me:

How to Knit a Heart Back Home by Rachael Herron (Cypress Hollow Books #2)

Blurb: Lucy Harrison sells books by day and volunteers with the Cypress Hollow fire department by night. Her life is just the way she likes it—full, even-keeled, and smooth—until bad-boy ex-cop Owen Bancroft comes back to town. Lucy has always been fearless, never scared about diving in to help others. When it comes to risking her heart, however, she realizes she’s absolutely terrified.

In a small town like Cypress Hollow, everyone knows your business—and there is nowhere to hide. Then Lucy and Owen are thrown together by the discovery of the lost work of local legend, knitting guru Eliza Carpenter. Now Owen, adrift and struggling to redefine himself as a civilian without a badge, will have to learn how to open himself up to life’s new possibilities . . . while Lucy decides just how much of herself she’s willing to gamble on love

 

Never Again by Michelle Bardsley (Wizards of Nevermore #1)

Blurb: Welcome to Nevermore, Texas, population 503, where witches and wizards live side by side with humans, and where witch Lucy Rackmore is in trouble. Ever since her former lover snuffed out her magical abilities, everyone in town is looking to settle a score with her family. And Lucy’s only hope for survival may be her ex-brother-in-law-whom her sister betrayed and nearly killed.
“4.5 Stars! Top Pick! “This edgy and sexy series provides more evidence of Bardsley’s supreme storytelling chops!” ~ RT Book Reviews
Excerpt and more at Michele Bardsley’s site.
Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy (The Accidental Series book #5)
Blurb: Katie Woods never thought she’d be forty-one, divorced, and thrust back into the dating world. To start fresh, Katie uproots her veterinary practice to upstate New York-not exactly the hottest dating scene on the planet. But when an unconscious cougar appears at her clinic, Katie’s newly single life gets a much needed jolt of the supernatural kind.
After Katie examines the cougar and leaves him caged overnight, she’s shocked to find a big strapping specimen of young, hot man in its place. And when the scratch she got during the exam results in some unnatural side effects, Katie has more to deal with then her animal attraction to a much younger guy-she has to figure how to stop herself from becoming a cougar of the four-legged variety.
Hell to Pay by Jackie Kessler (Hell on Earth #4) 

Blurb: In this fourth and final Hell on Earth novel, everything changes.
After turning her back on Hell and becoming human, the former demon Jezebel – now the mortal dancer Jesse Harris – is ready to settle down with her true love, Paul Hamilton, and make with the Happily Ever After. But that’s not in the cards. Jesse is accidentally wielding her former Hellish power – with devastating results. Another former succubus has targeted Paul. Someone is killing the dancers at Jesse’s club. And the King of Hell is leading the world to the brink of Armageddon. All in all, it’s not looking good for Jesse, or for anyone she loves. And there’s going to be hell to pay.

Available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and probably lots of other places…$2.99!

Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead (Dark Swan #3)
Blurb: Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear. . .
Dead Waters by Anton Strout (Simon Canderous #4) 

Blurb: Simon Canderous, of the Department of Extraordinary Affairs, is used to fighting vampires and zombies. But the strange murder of a professor has everyone stumped. And it’s making some people crazy. Literally.
“Simon Canderous is a reformed thief and a psychometrist. By turns despondent over his luck with the ladies (not always living) and his struggle with the hierarchy of his mysterious department (not always truthful), Simon’s life veers from crisis to crisis. Following Simon’s adventures is like being the pinball in an especially antic game, but it’s well worth the wear and tear.”  – Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series

Check out Anton online here

Green-Eyed Demon by Jaye Wells (Sabine Kane #3)

Blurb: The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. Her sister has been kidnapped by her grandmother, the Dark Races are on the brink of war, and a mysterious order is manipulating everyone behind the scenes.
Working on information provided by an unlikely ally, Sabina and her trusty sidekicks–a sexy mage named Adam Lazarus and Giguhl, a Mischief demon–head to New Orleans to begin the hunt for her sister. Once there, they must contend with belligerent werewolves, magic-wielding vampires and–perhaps most frightening of all–humans.
But as much as Sabina is focused on surviving the present, the past won’t be ignored. Before she can save those she cares about most, she must save herself from the ghosts of her past.
“From the opening page, the story hurtles along at full throttle. Yet it is not without its funny moments, like the evolution of ‘Team Awesome.’ A seriously wild ride! 4.5 Star Top Pick!” ~Romantic Times Book Reviews
Blackout by Rob Thurman (Cal Leandros Book #6)

Blurb: Half-human Cal Leandros has always walked a bloody line between keeping his mortal soul free and clear (sort of) and unleashing the horror of his otherworldly heritage. The one thing that’s always saved him is the memory of his brother, Niko, his friends, and those he loves… until now.Cal wakes up on a beach littered with the recently slaughtered remains of a variety of hideous creatures that were obviously looking for trouble. The fact that he was the one doing the slaughtering doesn’t bother him. The fact that he feels like a natural-born killer doesn’t either. What bothers him is that Cal doesn’t remember Cal anymore…

Inevitable by Michelle Rowen
Blurb: Paranormal investigator and erotic novelist Emma Black is at a masquerade ball and looking for a coveted lust potion. Unexpectedly, she bumps into her former partner, the ridiculously sexy (oh so sexy!) Ryan Shephard. And, for added bonus temptation points, the rare lust potion is splashed on both of them—with instantaneously hot results!

But is the incredible, mind-blowing sex between them only the result of the potion? Or are Emma and Ryan simply giving in to the inevitable?

“4 Stars! If you’re not afraid to set foot in X-Files/Fringe territory, you’ll enjoy this hot, sexy paranormal romance.” –RT Bookreviews

 

ANTHOLOGIES!

AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR
Includes Anton Strout & Jackie Kessler

Blurb: Science fiction and fantasy readers have long shown an affinity for a good “bar story”. Now some of today’s most inventive scriveners have decided to tell their own tall tales-from an alewife’s attempt to transfer the gods’ curse to Gilgamesh, to Odin’s decision to introduce Vikings to the Ur-Bar, from the Holy Roman Emperor’s barroom bargain, to a demon hunter who may just have met his match in the ultimate magic bar, to a bouncer who discovers you should never let anyone in after hours in a world terrorized by zombies.
Those who Fight Monsters
Includes Jackie Kessler!

Blurb: Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives, is your one-stop-shop for Urban Fantasy’s finest anthology of the supernatural. 14 sleuths are gathered together for the first time in all-original tales of unusual cases which require services that go far beyond mere deduction!
Whedonistas: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them
Including Jeanne Stein and Jackie Kessler!

Blurb: In Whedonistas, a host of award-winning female writers and fans come together to celebrate the works of Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog). March 15! By discussing the impact of Whedon’s work, their involvement with his shows’ fandoms and why they adore the worlds he’s created, these essayists aim to misbehave in Whedon’s rich, fantastical worlds. Essay topics include Sharon Shinn (“Samaria” series) and Emma Bull (Territory) elaborating on the perfection of Firefly, Jeanne Stein (the Anna Strong Chronicles) revealing Buffy’s influence on Anna Strong, and Nancy Holder (October Rain, The Watcher’s Guide) relating on-the-set tales of Spike menacing her baby daughter while Riley made her hot chocolate.Other contributors include Seanan McGuire (October Daye series), Elizabeth Bear (Chill), Catherynne M. Valente (Palimpsest), Maria Lima (Blood Lines), Jackie Kessler (Black and White), Mariah Huehner (IDW Comics), Sarah Monette (Corambis), and Lyda Morehouse (AngeLINK Series). Also featured is an exclusive interview with television writer and producer Jane Espenson.

So many books! So little time!
But just to facilitate your reading, I’m going to do a CONTEST. It’s very similar to the CONTEST that Carolyn Crane is running, over at her site, because everything that Carolyn does, I want to do, too. That’s how much I adore Carolyn.
It’s also because I cribbed a lot of this release information from her website, as it’s that time of year again, and I’m in my grading oubliette. But I am citing my source, which is Carolyn Crane.
Anyway, the contest is THIS:
Comment here about which of these books you’re most looking forward to, and I will let the Contest Can choose a weiner NEXT Friday, March 11th, 2011. That weiner can pick any TWO of these titles, and I will have them Amazoned straight to you. You can also choose from any of my three titles that are currently in print, just in case you’re some straggler who wandered over here not even knowing who I am.
This contest IS international, so start a-commentin’! And don’t forget, you have until TOMORROW, Friday, March 4th, to comment on Sophie Littlefield’s guest post, below, to enter to win a signed copy of AFTERTIME!
Published on March 3, 2011 in Contests and Pimpage!. 121 Comments

Guest Post: The FABULOUS Sophie Littlefield!

Sophie Littlefield has quickly become one of my all time favorite people. I was lucky enough to meet Sophie, Juliet Blackwell, and Rachael Herron almost a year ago, at Romantic Times. Basically, we ran into each other a few times drinking (as one does, at Romantic Times), and they said, “You are are ours now, Nicole.” I’ve never been so happy to be claimed.

Sophie is brilliant, outrageously talented, and hilariously funny. Her Bad Day crime books are gritty and riveting, and she recently came out with a YA  novel, Banished. Now, however, she’s coming home to mama with the release of her own urban fantasy novel, Aftertime.

So let’s welcome Sophie to the Emporium! Here’s her guest post, and she’s been generous enough to offer a contest, the details of which I’ll post at the end.

Welcome Sophie!

Sophie’s Post

I was at Target today with my daughter, waiting in line to pay and listening to her describe the essay she is writing for her English class titled “The Use of Metaphor in Ayn Rand’s ANTHEM”, when I received two emails in a row. **

The first was from Nicole, inviting me to be a guest on this blog (yay!)

The other was from my friend Meredith Barnes, a fantastic young agent I’ve gotten to know in the last year or so. I’d been whining to Meredith that I didn’t feel very inspired lately, so she wrote me back a list of words meant to inspire me (“you might use these as metaphors in the pithy posts you’re about to write” she suggested). The list included: Onion, Horse, Gastrointestinal Tract, Fate, and Shopping. ***

So here, without further ado, courtesy of Nicole and inspired by Meridith – “Metaphor in AFTERTIME.”

Onion – In the book AFTERTIME, most of the nation’s crops and plant species have been wiped out by bioterrorism. The failing government seeded the land with an engineered plant called kaysev, which provides full-spectrum nutrition and keeps people alive – but an all-kaysev leaves people hungry for variety. When, after several months, plants from Before (including the humble yellow onion) begin to return, they are met with great joy as a symbol of rebirth. (Incidentally, the second book in the series is titled REBIRTH and will be out in August ’11.)

Horse – Interestingly, I don’t care for horses. Horses and chickens. I grew up rural so I can tell you with authority that these are not smart creatures. Give me a pig, a goat, a dog any day, but horses – no thanks!  One of the cool things about writing fiction is that you can make the world WHATEVER YOU WANT. Ergo, in the fictional world of AFTERTIME, there are no horses.

Only…as often goes with my kneejerk reactions, I started to feel a little guilty about my rigid stance. My kids like horses. Horses are pretty. It’s entirely possible my attitude about horses goes back to a certain unfortunate episode involving a pony ride in 1974. So…when I started the third book in the series (HORIZON! Out in March ’12! Look at me, doing promo!) I put in a horse, as a sort of nod to my own hypocrisy.

In this case, the horse bears a rider with news from the east. That’s plenty evocative of legend, right?

Gastrointestinal Tract – So when you’re living in a zombie-ridden post-apocalyptic world, medical care is hard to come by. When I sat around imagining this world, I kept thinking about all the ways that modern medicine has improved our lives. My daughter’s burst appendix and a blood clotting episode would have been mortal without it. My husband’s kidney stones would have literally killed him.

In the third book, I’ve introduced a character with an unknown but worsening malady that affects her stomach and appetite. Because there are few doctors, no equipment, and little medicine, all she can do is wait and see what happens to her. So her gastro tract has become a symbol for the greater unknown, which leads us to…

Fate – I have some fun with religion in the series, if you can call evil cults and power-abusing priestesses and ever-present crises of faith “fun”. The truth is that I was playing a lot with ideas about destiny and how we, mere humans, can choose our own. Fate and faith are, for me, irrevocably intertwined. (Blah blah blah – I do go on so.) So what symbolizes the Hand of God in the books? Perhaps a little giant sequoia seedling that Cass and her lover stumble on early in AFTERTIME – it’s vulnerable, and yet inevitable.

And finally…

Shopping – After civilization falls and Beaters start eating people, there’s no money, no banks, no stores, no commerce. And yet, the human spirit is unquenchable, so before long, commerce renews itself in various forms. In the Box – a walled city where Cass takes refuge – you can trade valuables (nonperishable food, water, medicine, clothing) for drugs, alcohol, sex and more. A form of shopping, yes? – so I suppose that shopping represents the immutability of human behavior: you can give folks kaysev, shelter, even love, but at the end of the day, they’re still going to want to make a deal.

**My daughter wants me to point out that if she actually called an essay “The Use of Metaphor in Ayn Rand’s ANTHEM” she would get docked for a lack of originality. The essay in question was eventually titled “The Middle Ground: An Achievable Utopian Society.” I stand corrected!

*** I sure hope I’m not giving out FinePrint Literary Agency trade secrets!  Oh wait – if you do want to know their trade secrets, look no further!

Thank you so much to Nicole for inviting me, and join the discussion if you’d like your own copy of AFTERTIME – signed by the author!

Thank YOU so much, Sophie! To win an autographed copy of Aftertime, I want you guys to come up with your own “original title” for an imaginary essay of your choice. For example: “Nomming Towards Destiny: Images of Eating in Tempest Rising” or “A Pretty Day For Female Empowerment: How Sophie Littlefield Imagines the Feminine Capacity for Violence.”

Don’t worry, the essay title is just to enter and to make me giggle, so they can be as silly or ridiculous as you want to make them. I’ll pick the winner, at random, next Friday, March 4th.

And if you haven’t read Sophie’s books, believe me–you are missing out! I couldn’t put down her Bad Day series, and I’m so excited for Aftertime! Yay Sophie!

Published on February 25, 2011 in Contests and Guest Blogs. 15 Comments Tags: , .

Today’s American Literature Day! And a Weiner!

Okay, so it’s really Valentine’s Day. But I’ll be spending my Valentine’s Day teaching my American Literature night class. I’m sure my students are THRILLED about that. Meanwhile, I’m fine about teaching tonight, as once again I’d be spending Valentine’s Day alone. Let’s all hear a collective “awwwww” for Dr. Peeler.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s day anyway: corporate, too busy, we should be loving ALL year, etc. But the holiday does still serve as a little lemon juice in the papercut that is my completely stalled love life. So, in return,  I’m going to give it a big middle finger. Who’s with me?

The above image is actually from a doggie shirt, which you can see if you click on the heart. So even your pets can hate Valentine’s Day!

Next I’m linking you to a song. It’s my ultimate non-love love song. It’s Debauchery, which I talk about in Tempest Rising. It’s about a couple who meet on a ferry and go have very drunken sex. I adore it on a number of levels. Unfortunately, all I could find was this single link to the full, real song (which I think stops being for the full song after you listen once).

David Grey’s Debauchery

Finally, before I give you your contest weiner for Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, I’ve got the ultimate anti-love novel ever written. If you don’t read this and immediately want to move to a cave alone somewhere, where you’ll never again have to deal with the cruelties of society . . . Well, you’re a more optimistic person than should be allowed.  It’s Jean Rhys’s Good Morning, Midnight:

So if you want to have a stonking great depressing Valentine’s Day, dress your dog in that t-shirt, put on “Debauchery,” and read Rhys. You’ll want to push your love life out the window in about ten minutes. OR teach American Literature 1915 Onwards to a roomful of people who want to stab you as they’re young and fresh and deplorably un-cynical and consequently DO have significant others.

One person who I’m hoping has a slightly better Valentine’s Day because of this post is the weiner of the contest for Andrew Shaffer’s Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love. The contest can has spoken, and the weiner is BECKY LEJEUNE! Email me at iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize.

So all y’all who are in love . . . have a good Valentine’s day for the rest of us. For those of you who are alone tonight, do NOT watch Prince of Persia. I did last night, and it was terrible.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Published on February 14, 2011 in Contests and Day Job!. 13 Comments

Great Philosophers (and at Least One Author) who Failed at Love…

Hi, everyone! Today I have something a little different. Andrew Shaffer was kind enough to send me two copies of his new book, Great Philosophers who Failed at Love:

Below you’ll find my review in vlog form, along with some natterings about love, and details for a contest in which you can win a copy of Andrew’s book. Just follow the instructions, and see you in comments. ;-) Thanks!

Published on February 4, 2011 in Contests, Reviews and Vlogs. 9 Comments Tags: , , , .