Wednesday, November 28, 2012

What?! We're in RT's Spotlight? But I'm In My Pajamas!!! Plus, a GLITCH Excerpt :)


WOOOOOOOOOO! 


*glances at nearest neighbor's house*  Was that too loud? Well, pfffft, I DON'T CARE.  You can tell I don't care because I'm wearing my I-don't-care face along with my Hello Kitty PJs.  Why am I doing all this?  Because the RT website is spotlighting A GALACTIC HOLIDAY! *throws confetti*  Why not hop on over to see what's going on? ^_^





I'm thrilled to see all the buzz about this anthology.  Of course, when I heard Carina Press wanted to do a mash-up of sci-fi romance with a holiday theme, I was all over it like white on rice.  I mean, how magnificent is that concept--taking the holiday spirit that embodies a sense of love, family and giving, and setting that in the frame of a time that's far in the future?  I LOVE things like that.  Which probably explains why I also adored the mash-up concept of a cute cheerleader named Buffy who was also a hardcore vampire slayer/superhero.  






For me, things that might seem counterintuitive at first glance have more impact when fully realized, because they're unexpected.  After all, it's not very impactful when, say, a mild-mannered, not-scary psychologist helps a kid deal with his ability to see dead people.  But it's a solid kick in the gut when it's discovered that the mild-mannered, not-scary psychologist is a ghost who's haunting this kid, and the person who has to work through the reality of death is HIM, not the kid.


Mash-ups.  They're BRILLIANT.


You know what's also brilliant?  Those fantastic people who get mash-ups. And that's why I'm loving the interest in A GALACTIC HOLIDAY.  I'm amazed that so many people get it.  Whether it's the Victorian era, contemporary times or the far-flung future, the need to come together to renew the bonds of family and friends, and bask in the spirit of giving is universal.  And when it's housed within a sci-fi frame, the meaning of the season--peace of earth and good will toward men, women and androids--is that much more impactful.


You've heard what my fave mash-ups are.  What's your favorite?


And as promised,  I've got another excerpt from my sci-fi holiday novella, HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS (it's the first-kiss scene between tough-gal Reina Vedette and the oh-so yummy Edison Wicke *SQUEEEE!*).  Hope you like it. ^_^

***
 

Putting her free hand to his chest she levered her hip against his and made a limping beeline for the toy store’s front door. “Why didn’t you wait in your car, you idiot?”
“Because one, I was trying to get the damn sales droid to let me in early so I could get a jump on our meeting with the manager and two, I didn’t know that when it’s minus-fifteen degrees out, the synaptic response-time of the nanites fused with my muscles slows down to a slug-like crawl. By the time I realized I was in trouble I couldn’t make my legs move back to the car without keeling over, so I’ve been freezing my ass off out here ever since.”
“You need a frictionsuit.” The rusty, Tin Man movements of his body, almost twice as heavy as that of most humans thanks to his military-grade hardware, made her stagger as at last they reached the automatic doors. “A frictionsuit, or a transfer to Costa Rica.”
“Costa Rica? Pretty random, Vedette.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit Costa Rica. I hear they put umbrellas in their drinks.”
“Yeah well, rough-and-tumble Chicago suits me just fine, and I could never look as good as you do in a frictionsuit.” A sigh of relief escaped him as they made it into the store’s vestibule, ignoring both the welcoming pink-eyed sales droid and the saccharine-sweet cheerful Christmas music screaming overhead. “Let’s face it, that gorgeous body of yours owns that look.”
The admission punched the breath out of her lungs, and for a suspended moment she suspected the validity of her hearing. “I can’t tell if you’re flirting with me, or if your neurolinks have frozen over,” she finally managed, all the while praying his amplified hearing didn’t pick up the sudden chaotic drum roll of her heart. Blame it on the exertion of getting him into the store, she told herself frantically. Or on the freezing weather. Or…
Or on the fact that he was the hottest damn man-morsel she’d ever come across.
“Is that so?” His voice roughened around the edges, either a sign of distress or growing desire, she couldn’t tell which. “Obviously I’m going to have to work on my technique. Damn, I can no longer feel my hands.” Then he hissed as they suddenly curled into twisted, spasming fists.
“Just as soon as I have a free moment I’m going to write a strongly worded email to the bod-mod manufacturer about this.” Genuinely worried now, Reina propped him up in the vestibule’s corner behind the droid and out of the way of pedestrian traffic, then pulled off her gloves so she could sandwich his cramping hands with hers. “Cripes, do you think your system could be malfunctioning? Your skin is like ice. What about hypothermia?”
“I don’t think I’m that bad off yet.” But he closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wall, his face tight with pain. “I just need a few minutes to warm up and I’ll be ready to roll. Your hands feel good.”
“Yours don’t. They’re turning mine into a couple of ice cubes.” She did her best to chafe them into a relaxed state, but it was a losing battle as her own hands chilled. After a moment’s hesitation, she tugged him upright by his coat lapels. “Switch places with me.”
“What? Why?”
“You’re bigger than I am, so you make a better blind.” Executing a quick one-eighty, Reina put her back in the corner and took his sluggish body along for the ride. “Okay. Just stand there.”
“Reina, what are you doing?”
“Don’t get excited. This is for medicinal purposes only.” With that stern warning leveled at both of them, Reina tore open the Velcro collar overlapping the suit’s zipper pull.
Even half-paralyzed, Edison still managed to jolt in surprise. “Reina—”
“Relax, you prude. I have clothes on underneath.” Though it was only a thin camisole in her favorite shade of pink and a pair of low-riding briefs. At least she wasn’t going commando. “Give me your hands.”
Without a word or hesitation he did as he was told—probably the only time in his life he’d ever done so—and she heard his breath hitch as if he’d been stabbed when she slipped them inside the toasty confines of her suit. It was a strangely magical moment, almost like she was at last realizing a dream she’d never allowed herself to weave. There was no doubt Edison Wicke was the stuff fantasies were made of, so maybe her reaction wasn’t that far off-base. With his cocky smile, impossible swagger and burly warrior’s body that made her hands burn to explore, it was all she could do to keep herself from swooning like a simpering Victorian miss.
Then his hands shifted, and she tried to inject a little reality into the moment. “Cop a feel and I swear I’ll kneecap you, Wicke.”
“It’d be worth it.” The knots that were his fisted hands burrowed against her sides before coming to a rest on the flare of her hips. “Geez, this is the worst kind of torture. I don’t know which is worse—the cramping or not being able to feel you.”
“You poor thing, this just isn’t your day, is it?” If only she had the same lack of sensation, she lamented with a distracted sigh. His hands and forearms were as cold as glacier ice and certainly not the most comfortable thing she’d ever experienced. But concentrating on that less-than-pleasant sensation was preferable to losing herself in the increasingly bold press of his powerful chest and the unapologetic way he slipped his thigh between hers.
“Um. Detective.” She heard his muffled snort, which confirmed her suspicion that standing on formality at this exact moment in time was, in fact, hilarious. “Remember when I told you this was strictly medicinal?”
“Uh-huh.” Edison leaned into her with a heady threat so blatantly masculine it made her heart trip over itself. Then he rubbed against her in an all-over body caress that made it scorching hot within her frictionsuit, and as giddy excitement surged through her like a drug she had to reconsider the whole swooning business as a viable option. “Praise me. I’m taking my medicine like a big boy.”
Big boy. Reina’s mouth went desert-dry as she tried not to notice a bulge starting to swell against her abdomen. But facts were facts. As his body warmed, there was no doubt that Edison Wick was indeed a big boy. “Here’s the thing. I also said not to get excited.”
“Yeah…about that. I’m going to have to disappoint you on that score. And in my defense, you have to take some of the blame for being so damn sexy you should be declared illegal.”
“I’m just trying to warm you up.”
“Congratulations, you’re doing a bang-up job of it.” His head lowered, and his eyes drifted shut as he brushed his face over her hair. “God, Reina. I didn’t know you smelled like heaven and sin all rolled into one. If I had, I would have done this a lot sooner.”
She pulled in a breath to ask him what he was doing when his mouth slid down her cheek to unerringly capture her lips.
 




Interested in more of HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS?  Check out the blurb on my BOOKS page, or take a look at its detailed storyboard on Pinterest.

Monday, November 26, 2012

One Week To Go Before A GALACTIC HOLIDAY Releases--Let's Celebrate!


Welcome to the first day of A GALACTIC HOLIDAY's blogfest!
*throws confetti*
 



To kick off the excitement, Sasha Summers, Anna Hackett and I are over at Ye Olde Inkwell today, talking about how A GALACTIC HOLIDAY was first put together.  We're also doing a giveaway with three prizes at the end of the blogfest on December 21st.  The more you enter, the better chance you'll win!  Good luck!

Also throughout the week I'm going to be posting excerpts from my novella, HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS.  In this scene, Detective Reina Vedette and her rival in the department, Edison Wicke, are at the scene of a crime, but it's unlike any other scene they've come across.  Instead of finding chaos, loss and misery, the two discover what could possibly be the beginnings of a Christmas miracle.  Enjoy the excerpt!


***

“Wow. A real tree.” Reina leaned in to sniff appreciatively, and he wanted to run a finger down that cute little ski-shoot bump she called a nose. “Call me sentimental, but I love that scent.”
“Sentimental,” he obliged her, then drank up the pleasant tingle when she slanted those inky black eyes his way. “Want to hold hands and sing Christmas carols? I know all the words to ‘Gimme, Santa, Gimme’.”
“I think ‘O Tannenbaum’ would be more appropriate.”
“I’m not singing about shit I don’t even know how to say.” Narrowing his eyes, he went online and did a quick Christmas carol search. “Okay, now I do. Feel like singing?”
She fished a small rectangular item out of a zip pocket and thumbed a button. In an instant the clear crime-scene investigation visor—the same kind he’d used before he’d gotten his bod-mods—sprang from its compact state. “Thanks, I’ll pass.”
“Vedette, you have no sense of adventure.”
“Hmm.” Visor in place, her attention veered back to the tree. With an air of curiosity, she touched the string of popcorn swirled around it. “Real tree, real popcorn. A red and green paper-chain, paper doily snowflake ornaments and a star made out of aluminum foil. What does this remind you of?”
“I told you—‘Gimme, Santa, Gimme.’”
“I can’t believe I forgot you suffer from an incurable case of smartassery.” She shook her head as though lamenting this tragic flaw in his personality. “Are you ever serious, Detective Wicke?”
“Seriousness is overrated. And we’ve known each other a couple years now, yeah?”
She pursed her lips. “Let’s see. My first memory of you was when you ate the pistachios given to me by the family of the last victim of the Lake Shore Drive Cannibal. This occurred a couple months before that twitchy university professor wired his campus’s science building to go up in a nuclear flash. As I recall, you were hyped up about sniping him straight out, while I thought it might be a great idea to find out why he’d flipped his lid.”
“My plan had merit.”
“Except for the fact that the detonation trigger was biomechanically hard-wired to his body. Your plan would have turned Chicago into a mushroom cloud. Mine uncovered the fact that the student he’d been obsessing over was going off to spend Spring Break with her boyfriend. A couple sweet-nothings from her via vid-chat, and he was as docile as a lamb.” She shot him a frown. “Is there a point to your question?”
“The point is, we’ve known each other for a while now. When are you going to start calling me Edison?”
“Maybe when you tell me what you and your bionic brain come up with when you look at this tree.”
There was a challenge in her tone he couldn’t help but answer. He plugged the screencap of the tree into a search engine and let it roll. “This is an Austrian pine tree, standing at a height that would be consistent with a tree that is approximately three to five years in age and could therefore be considered a sapling. The needle tips are showing the first signs of Diplodia, a blight-like disease that hits Austrian pines living primarily in urban areas—”
“God, I hate all the trivial garbage search engines vomit out.” If he had been plant life, the look she gave him would have been just as devastating as Diplodia. “Try to look at this object with human eyes and tell me what you see. That is, if you can even remember how that’s done.”
With a curse, he closed the internal search window. “Someone has a really bad sense of Christmas style?”
“This is a child’s tree.” Though she still looked as irritated as he felt, her tone softened as if a part of her was slipping away to another place. She brought a gloved finger to one of the doily snowflakes as if it were made of the finest crystal. “I used to make these when I was a kid. Same with the paper chains. Though I have to admit mine never came out as symmetrically perfect as these little geometric wonders, no matter how hard I tried.”
“Yeah?” There was something in her expression, an echo of sadness that didn’t jibe with the conversation. “I can see you shooting for perfection, even as a rugrat.”
“It’s not my fault I’m detail-oriented. Did Ms. Seldon notice if any of her household items were used to make the decorations?”
“She says no. She didn’t even know what a doily was, and quite frankly neither did I. Who knew there was such a thing as doily snowflakes?”
“My parents.” She hunkered down to examine the base of the tree. “This material wrapped around the tree’s base looks like that sheet hanging up at the window, complete with a sun-bleaching on one side. Unlike the ornaments and the tree itself, this tree skirt didn’t come from outside. This was already here.”
“Tree skirts, doily snowflakes.” He shook his head, watching the intriguing play of emotion drift across her face. What he wouldn’t give to link with her now. “I don’t even know the names of these things. You must really go all out for Christmas, yeah?”
She shook her head and lifted the sheet to examine what was underneath. “Not since I was sixteen.”
“What happened when you were sixteen?”
“How amazing that a level five detective would have to ask something so obvious. Guess they don’t make level fives like they used to.”
“You’re the one who told me to simply ask you about stuff, rather than be invasive,” he shot back, while his already-iffy mood hit the skids to land him in a place where putting his fist through a wall seemed like a fine idea. “Don’t get pissy because I’m a level five now. I earned it, make no mistake.”
She ducked her head almost to the floor, doing something under the sheet with her free hand that seemed to have all her attention. “I will admit, you are a better detective than, say, level three Manu Obie.”
“Damn, you know how to insult a guy.”
 ***
 
For a closer look at HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, please visit my BOOKS page for the blurb.  You can also view its detailed storyboard on Pinterest.
 
 

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A GALACTIC HOLIDAY Will Be In RT's Spotlight November 28th!


Can you gimme a WOOOOOHOOOOOO? That's definitely what I'm saying after finding out from Carina Press's Digital Marketer, Tara Stevens, that A GALACTIC HOLIDAY is going to be spotlighted on RT Book Review's website next week! This is a big honor, so my sci-fi antho sisters and I are over the moon on this.

This is what A GALACTIC HOLIDAY is all about:



Do androids dream of electric sugar plums?

A detective who refuses to modify her body teams up with her cyborg rival to track down a burglar who is putting toys into homes. A solitary ice miner finds love and friendship while stranded on the surface of Galileo. And two hardheaded negotiators put their differences aside to evade an assassin and save their planets. Enjoy these visions of Christmases yet to come with three science-fiction novellas from Carina Press.

Edited by Angela James, this anthology includes:

How the Glitch Saved Christmas, by Stacy Gail
Galileo's Holiday, by Sasha Summers
Winter Fusion, by Anna Hackett

Stories also available for purchase separately.

86,000 words





Another exciting thing happened yesterday. A fantastic book blog by the name of Wicked Little Pixie gave my holiday novella, HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, a 4-star review! As a reader, I found this web site a loooong time ago (long before I became published), so to have one of my projects reviewed by WLP is such a tremendous honor.  The last line of this review is probably my favorite:


"HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS did what any good Christmas story is supposed to do--it made me smile. No, more than that, it made me feel good, and it gave me a tiny bit of hope for the humanity in us all."

Gah!  I'm. So. HAPPY!!!  *BoingBoingBoing*



If you're interested in HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, here's a quick peek!



BLURB:

Reina Vedette chose principle over position when the Chicago police department ordered her to accept performance-enhancing body modifications or lose her rank. Demoted to a level one detective, Reina's stuck chasing a bizarre, Grinch-in-reverse break-in case with fiery bod-mod enthusiast and level five top detective Edison Wicke.

Wicke has had his eye on Reina for ages, and as the two of them hunt down the benevolent burglar, they take turns warming each other with body heat in the subzero Chicago winter. Despite professional friction and their opposing views on bod-modding, Reina soon has to admit that she and Wicke are perfect for each other.

But when they track down their philanthropic quarry on Christmas Day, an unexpected glitch in a homemade android brings out Reina's emotional side, and she and Wicke must decide whether love between a Neo-Luddite and a "walking toaster" is a gift that either of them can give.

34,000 words



And lastly, I found out when the 2nd book in The Earth Angels series is coming out!  SAVAGE ANGEL will be released by Carina Press on February 4, 2013, a mere two weeks after the 1st book in the series, NOBODY'S ANGEL, releases.  Needless to say, I'm starting the New Year off with a bang!

That's this week's news from my corner of the world.  What's been going on in your life?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Review: GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING = My New Favorite Thing!


GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING by Chloe Jacobs is a book I’ve been looking forward to since I first heard about it, and the anticipation was well-warranted.  I sped through it in two sittings; I'm now a third of the way through my first reread.
 
 
 
First, the blub:
While trying to save her brother from the witch three years ago, Greta was thrown into the fire herself, falling through a portal to a dangerous world where humans are the enemy, and every ogre, goblin, and ghoul has a dark side that comes out with the full moon. To survive, 17-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape. But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil being knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the boys she finds stranded in the woods will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back . . .
 
Now, to the book.  The author, Chloe Jacobs, did her homework on folklore, and that’s something I LOVE to see.  In European mythology such beings like trolls, ogres and goblins kidnapped human children to their world to be used as servants (or in some of the more gory stories, eaten).  Almost always these children are never heard from again; they’re considered lost to a world that is both alien and harsh.
 
The book starts out in just such a world—Mylena, a frozen-over snowball where day-to-day life is a struggle even if you're a native.  Greta isn’t; when she was thirteen she and her brother were lured to a cave in the Black Forest in such a way it reminded me of Hansel and Gretal (no doubt purposely by the author, and I loved the cleverness of the twist on the fairy tale!).  Greta suffers through the process of being sucked into the parallel world of Mylena, but at least she has the comfort of knowing she saved her brother Drew.  Lost and alone in a frozen world, things get more complicated when she learns that in this new world it’s believed humans are responsible for the Myleans’ cursed existence and are hunted and murdered without mercy.
 
Sidenote: I loved this.  How unfair can you get???  Greta didn’t ask to be kidnapped from the life she loved and in her own way tries desperately to cling to; the last place she wants to be is Mylena.  Yet the moment she’s brought there she discovers she’s a member of a race thought of as “monstrous” by a world full of beings who grow fangs and claws and kill everything that twitches when there’s an eclipse.  I just got so indignant on Greta’s behalf, you have no idea.  I’m on your side, Greta!
 
The world-building Ms. Jacobs does is fantastic.  Yes, it’s frozen, and yes there are two moons and two suns.  But we discover this alien place is far more than just cosmetic differences, and we learn this through Greta as she struggles to escape the enemies pursuing her.  We also discover Greta has had to become like the brutal inhabitants of Mylena—trained to be a cold-blooded bounty hunter who has no problem with the “Dead or Alive” thing, and deliberately cutting the emotion-driven human part of her out of the equation. 
 
A perfect introduction into Greta’s complex character is displayed in the opening, where she hunts down a ghoul that has kidnapped a small goblin boy.  Her first concern is making sure the boy gets out alive, not because of a tremendous swell of compassion for another living being—she needs the kid alive to collect the full bounty.  The battle between Greta and the ghoul also displays her do-or-die combat abilities, which have made her a bit of a local legend.  There is a strong sense that Greta is a hardened warrior with an unrelenting will to survive, and a heart that has become as frozen as the Mylean landscape.
 
The loss/burial of Greta’s humanity is so beautifully showcased by Ms. Jacobs.  She wasn’t obvious about it like so many other stories out there—“Character-A refused to give into his/her weak human side” kind of writing.  Rather, the author revealed how Greta has had to deaden that part of her through a series of dreams brought to her by the Goblin King, Isaac.  Through these dreams we get a glimpse of a cute, slightly pampered blonde-haired girl from suburbia, with a pink backpack and snazzy sneakers, who loved hanging out at the beach and didn’t want to do something so boring and uncool like visit her grandfather in the Black Forest.  It's heartbreaking, getting these glimpses of this sweet kid;compared to the seventeen-year-old ice-in-her-veins bounty hunter she's been forced to become, this younger version of Greta is almost unrecognizable.
 
Ah, Isaac.  Since Greta has had to “pass” as a sprite for the past four years, she’s kept a low profile in Mylena, but she makes a mistake.  She crosses paths with a cute goblin boy who, unbeknownst to Greta, is a prince.  The magic surrounding this royal family is such that if a person says Isaac’s name, it’s considered an invitation for him to enter their dreams whenever he wishes.  Worse, if a person asks for Isaac to make a wish come true, he grants it, but as a terrible cost—their soul becomes his, a concept Ms. Jacobs likens to the Chinese saying that if you save a life, you become responsible for that life for all time. 
 
Both in Greta’s dreams and out, Isaac’s interest in her is palpable.  The last thing the secretly human Greta needs is the attention of a powerful prince—who soon becomes the king of the goblins—but there’s no avoiding Isaac, or the train wreck of events his interest unleashes.  Soon all of Mylena is hunting for her, and the mystery of how and why she'd been kidnapped begins to unravel, with a terrifying demon waiting at its core.  It’s going to take all of her skills—and that beautiful, buried humanity she’s tried so hard to hide—to get to the bottom of what’s profoundly rotten in the world of Mylena.
 
I’m giving this a 5-star rating on Goodreads an Amazon, and I can’t wait for the next book.  Write faster, Ms. Jacobs, please!



Buy GRETA AND THE GOBLIN KING on: Amazon  B&N   Powell's   Kobo


Thursday, November 15, 2012

ONE Audible(DOT)com book...Wait, TWO...No. THREE?!?

So, I made a TOTAL fool of myself on Twitter day before yesterday. :P  This is how it went.

Email notification from Carina Press:

Hi, I’m happy to tell you that your upcoming December Carina Press title (or titles) has been selected by Audible to be produced as an audiobook for their collection (see below). Congratulations! 
I.LOVE.Colbert. That is all. <3


I checked the list and YAY!  A GALACTIC HOLIDAY sci-fi holiday anthology is on the list! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! *happy dance*
 
Some heavy-hitters are on that list as well, like Shannon Stacey, Jaci Burton, Dana Marie Bell and Vivi Anna.  Since I'm so new to the publishing business, I'm still amazed a spazz like me could ever be on a list with unbelievably spectacular authors like these ladies.  Because I was so happy about this, I announced the great news on Twitter!
 
Me: I'm so excited A GALACTIC HOLIDAY has been selected to be on Audible(DOT)com!
 
 
 
Then, as I go back to reread this email (reveling in the joy), I notice there's what I first thought was a duplicate email next in line in my inbox.  After all, it was from the same person from Carina Press, having to do with Audible.com, so it could have been accidentally sent twice.  But I suddenly notice it has to do with January/February releases, not December.

 
My heart stopped.  Oh, my stars and garters, I have a January release.  Could it be...?
 
 
Hi, I’m happy to tell you that your upcoming January and/or February Carina Press title (or titles) has been selected by Audible to be produced as an audiobook for their collection (see below). Congratulations!
 
 
SQUEEEEEEE!!!!  My four-part paranormal romance series, The Earth Angels, gets kicked off with NOBODY'S ANGEL, releasing January 21st, 2013, and it's been picked up by Audible! Yay, yay, yay!!!!
 
 
Naturally I had to share the news, so again I hit Twitter:  Yay! Audible is picking up not one, but TWO of my upcoming releases-A GALACTIC HOLIDAY (12/03/12) and NOBODY'S ANGEL (1/21/13)!
 
 
I couldn't be any happier.  NOTHING could harsh my buzz.  And then...
 
 
angelajames:  I'm thinking now I know you can't count...or you're one of those people who don't read to the end
 
 
Wait.  What?
 
 
Derp.


 
 
I rush back to the email that I didn't finish reading.  Or, to be more accurate, I didn't really read well at all.  Yes, I certainly have a January release, and yes, NOBODY'S ANGEL had been chosen by Audible to become an audio book.
 
 
But!...
 
 
I also have a February release scheduled from Carina Press.  And the email did say, I’m happy to tell you that your upcoming January and/or February Carina Press title...
 
 
Now that everyone knows I don't read emails to the end, I finally did so, and... SAVAGE ANGEL, the second book in The Earth Angels series, is going to be an audio book! YAY!
 
 
But by then, half my Twitter feed was laughing at my inability to count. :P  All I can say is, I've learned my lesson to read emails alllllll the way to the end, and when it comes to counting how many Audible.com books I'm so honored to get, I LOVE TO COUNT!
Three! Three Audible books! Ah-ah-ahhhh! :D
 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Modokker's Hot Cover Monday Spotlight, Amazon Buy Link and AAD Bookie Awards


I'm so excited!  One of the coolest book blogs around, Modokker's Book Picks, is shining a spotlight on my January 21st, 2013 release, NOBODY'S ANGEL!  Why not drop by and take a look?  Better yet, why not hang around and give this blog a good, long look?  It's just about guaranteed to brighten anyone's Monday. :)  Don't forget to drop in on the Comments and say hello!




One last thing about NOBODY'S ANGEL -- the Buy Link is already up at Amazon! *happy dance*  It's so new there isn't even a picture yet, but hey--Modokker has taken care of that for you this morning, so you're already covered there, right? (See how that all works out?)




The good news just keeps coming around here!  Authors After Dark (AAD) have announced their Bookie Award finalists, and the anthology I was in last year, A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS, has been nominated for Best Anthology!  Better still, my antho sister, JK Coi's novella FAR FROM BROKEN has also been nominated for Best Steampunk Novella--wooooohoooooo!  This is great, but we need your help.  Please take a couple minutes to drop in and vote for A CLOCKWORK CHRISTMAS and FAR FROM BROKEN at the Bookie Awards site, as well as other, very deserving books/writers.  Every vote counts!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Book Cover Spotlight and Favorite Lines of the Day


Hey, guess what?  I'm honored to have my lickolicious cover of NOBODY'S ANGEL spotlighted on one of the coolest book blogs around, Modokker's Book Picks this upcoming Monday!  Feel free to drop in and drool, and don't worry--she's used to that. ^_^  Also, while you're there, you might want to take a look around her blog, as her reviews pretty much run the gamut when it comes to the romance genre.  Enjoy!





And now, for something completely different...





I'm doing my rag-tag version of NaNoWriMo to finish the fourth and final book in The Earth Angels series, DANGEROUS ANGEL.  Though it's been a somewhat rough week, the writing itself is going surprisingly well.  Up to this point I've only had one screaming fit where I swear I'm never going to write another word that doesn't belong on a grocery list.  That's pretty good, considering I usually tell myself that I have to be frigging cray-cray to think of myself as a writer (come to find out, writers are very much like the figure skaters I teach--they can be their own worst enemies *le sigh*).




As I read through the first draft, there were a couple phrases that 1) caught my eye, and 2) I don't really remember writing. O_o  But I liked them!  So much so that I wanted to share, so here they are, completely out of context and totally random, three favorite lines from the wip, DANGEROUS ANGEL:





Kyle couldn’t stifle an impatient huff.  Nothing like being cut down to size before he had a chance to scrounge up his first cup of coffee.





No doubt about it, the Seraphim part of Sara was in fine form today.  (Sara from SAVAGE ANGEL appears in DANGEROUS ANGEL.  In fact, they ALLLLLLL show up for the final book.  Ensemble story, FTW! ^_^)






“I want everything of you. I want the taste of you on my tongue, while knowing you’re savoring the flavor of my body with yours. When you need to be touched, I want you to come to me because no other hand will do. I want you to give me your mouth because you can’t stop yourself from drowning in my kiss. I want to be your greatest need and your favorite memory and the one thing you can’t live without. Sex? That’s just the beginning.”



Okay, that last one was kind of a long quote, but I liked all of it so much, I didn't want to bust it up and break the mood.  This is definitely a no mood-breaking zone!




All right, that's pretty much it from where I am (under the laptop).  I hope everyone else is having fun with NaNo!




For more on DANGEROUS ANGEL and all my books, please feel free to visit my storyboards on Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/stacygailauthor/




Saturday, November 3, 2012

COVER REVEAL TIME AND EPIC AWARD FINALIST NEWS!

After a month of NEVER-ENDING EDITS on three separate books, I have a lot to catch everyone up on.  Ready?  Here we go...


Last year's steampunk Christmas novella CRIME WAVE IN A CORSET, published by Carina Press, is now an EPIC Award finalist!!!



Yeah. I'm framing this baby. I'm such a dork. *blushes*
 

Winners will be announced in March of 2013 at EPIC-Con, located this year in Vancouver, Washington.  I'm so excited!


Also, I have new covers to show off!  The first one actually comes with a specific release date of January 21st, 2013, and between you and me, I cannot WAIT to launch this series.  I'm working on finishing up the fourth and final book now (thank you NaNoWriMo), so hopefully I'll be able to get the manuscript on my editor's desk before Christmas. *crosses fingers*

But enough of my blathering--it's time for a cover reveal!  Ladies and gents, allow me to present the cover and blurb of the 1st book in The Earth Angels series, NOBODY'S ANGEL!

Cover art by the goddess known as Angela Waters

BLURB:


Book one in The Earth Angels

 

Investigative journalist Kendall Glynn is horrified when a friend and colleague signs off permanently during a live newscast, jabbing a pen into his jugular. Kendall's no expert, but judging by the strange white veil in the anchorman's eyes, she would swear he was a man possessed.

 

A descendant of the accursed Nephilim, Zeke Reece prowls San Francisco by night, keeping the city free from paranormal phenomena. But even he is no match for whatever malevolent force is behind a recent rash of murder-suicides. And when a beautiful tenacious reporter becomes the next target, Zeke has no choice but to stay close to her, until he can find the evil spirit and cross it over.

 

The closer Kendall gets to the truth, the more danger she's in. Fortunately, a sexy and mysterious masked stranger keeps swooping in to the rescue. Kendall's life depends on finding who or what is responsible for the killings, before it finds her.

 
33,000 words


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Is this not the most lickolicious cover in the history of everything???  Well, okay, maybe not EVERYTHING.  But close. Hmph.


The 2nd cover Angela Waters put together for The Earth Angels is quite possibly the most accurate cover I've ever had (and I've adored every single one of the covers I've been lucky enough to receive, believe me).  With a tentative release date in February, here's the cover for SAVAGE ANGEL!

More of Angela Waters' magnificent work



UNOFFICIAL BLURB:

Book two in The Earth Angels


Feel nothing. Sara Savitch’s personal mantra has been hard to live by ever since her torrid one-night stand with Army doctor Gideon Mandeville. Descended from the Seraphim, angels known as heaven’s soldiers, Sara may be an expert fighter, but she’s an amateur when it comes to relationships.

Physically unharmed, but still battle-scarred, Gideon has returned to Dallas in the hopes of regaining his faith in humanity—and in himself. Instead he’s walked into a nightmare. His father is on a serial killer’s hit list and has hired a personal bodyguard—the very woman who has haunted Gideon’s dreams for a year.

As Sara works to build an impenetrable fortress around her client, she yearns to tear down the one around Gideon's heart. With his bitter rejection of warriors, will he ever be able to accept her true nature? Sara must find a way to trust Gideon with her secret as the killer closes in…

55,472 words

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ta-da!  and last thing on the agenda...the contract for WOUNDED ANGEL is a done deal, folks!




Because I'm a paranoid freak, I removed some of the Agreement # and addresses. Heh.



WOUNDED ANGEL is the 3rd book in The Earth Angels series and tentatively scheduled to be released in May, 2013.  I also have a contemporary romance coming out in July that got a rename, but I'm saving that for another post.  There's enough in this one to be getting on with, me thinks. :D


So, what does that mean?  I now need to post a PUBLISHING SCHEDULE!



December 3, 2012 -- HOW THE GLITCH SAVED CHRISTMAS, A Galactic Holiday Anthology
January 21, 2013 -- NOBODY'S ANGEL, 1st book in The Earth Angels
February, 2013 -- SAVAGE ANGEL, 2nd book in The Earth Angels
May, 2013 -- WOUNDED ANGEL, 3rd book in The Earth Angels
July, 2013 -- Contemporary Romance novel published by Carina Press.



Yup.  That'll keep me busy. :)