Break Interrupted! #WIN $100 and Two BIG Announcements!

Yes, reader-friends, I'm supposed to be breaking until next Monday...

But I'm back early because I have to share some BIG NEWS with you all!

First, check out this TWO WEEK STEAL of a DEAL!!!

ONLY 99 CENTS! 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

That's right! FOR TWO WEEKS ONLY the Indelibles has put together an incredible set of fifteen complete best-selling novels by Indelibles authors including...

The Iron Butterfly by Chanda Hahn: Escaping an experimental prison, Thalia tries to hide her past and her gifts, from her friends. But her past isn't always easy to escape, especially when it hunts you down.

Tremble (Celestra Series) by Addison Moore: Sixteen year-old, Skyla Messenger is a dead girl walking. When her newly remarried mother moves the family to Paragon Island, to a house that is rumored to be haunted, Skyla finds refuge in Logan Oliver, a boy who shares her unique ability to read minds.

Exiled by RaShelle Workman: Venus wakes to find herself no longer on her home planet of Kelari, but on Earth with a week to get back or she'll die.

Dragonfly by Leigh Talbert Moore: Gossip Girl meets VC Andrews in this contemporary family saga. Love, lies, and betrayal become the new normal when Anna enters the world of Jack and Lucy Kyser.

Open Minds and Closed Hearts by Susan Kaye Quinn: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Untraceable by S.R. Johannes: When Grace's forest ranger dad disappears on patrol, she fights town authorities, tribal officials, & nature to prove he's alive. Torn between a new hot boy and cute ex, she heads into the wilderness to find her dad. Soon, she is caught in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder.

How to Date an Alien and How to Break Up With an Alien by Magan Vernon: Alex Bianchi takes an internship at an alien operations center to pad her college applications but doesn't plan on falling in love with one of its residents. But as Alex's senior year progresses, everything changes and she can't figure out if it is interstellar or if it is just time to break up with an alien.

Flutter of Luv by L.M. Preston: Dawn, the neighborhood tomboy, is happy to be her best friend's shadow. Acceptance comes from playing football after school with the guys on the block while hiding safely behind her glasses, braces, and boyish ways. But Tony moves in, becomes the star Running Back on her school's football team, and changes her world and her view of herself forever.

Watched by Cindy M. Hogan: It takes more than a school trip to change Christy's life. It takes murder.

Clockwise and Clockwiser by Elle Strauss: A follow up to Clockwise, Casey and Nate travel back in time and race against the clock to rescue Casey's rebellious brother Tim from frontline battle in America's civil war.

Glimpse (Zellie Wells #1) and Glimmer (Zellie Wells #2) by Stacey Wallace Benefiel: While working together to figure out what their shared vision means, Zellie discovers that Benjamin is a worthy friend and mentor. If only he could keep his hands off of her - if only she wanted him to...
 

A Spy Like Me by Laura Pauling: After dodging bullets on a first date, Savvy must decide how far she'll go to protect the ones she loves.

Grasping At Eternity by Karen Amanda Hooper: An eternal soul mate, a supernatural family who has known her for centuries, and lifetimes of erased memories: this is Maryah Woodsen's life. She just doesn't know it yet.

Lacrimosa by Christine Fonseca: In the world of angels and demons, one thing is clear - some sacrifices should never be made. Even for love.

The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle: The town of Spruce Knoll hides many secrets--and many dangers, among them are that the untimely death of Eren's parents was no accident and that she is far more than she realizes.

Get 15 Winter Reads by 15 Bestselling Authors 

Now to January 11!

ONLY 99 CENTS! 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble 

**But what about that $100, you say? 

First, one last, quick Announcement...

My great friend and critique partner Kate Roth has a new book out, Natural Harmony!

Check out this HOT photo-teaser...

GET ME: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Paperback

I had the privilege of reading Natural Harmony before it was released, and it is FAB!!!

It's a romance set at a record label, so it's got fun stuff about the music industry and falling in love and finding out who you really are...

It's a total FIVE STAR book.

Get me!!!

Get it TODAY!

And Kate's hosting a #GIVEAWAY! Where you can #WIN a signed copy of Natural Harmony plus all sorts of SWAG!

Click here to enter!

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And now for the INSANE $100 Giveaway...

Here's the Rafflecopter so you can enter to #WIN... and yes, it's a longie~

a Rafflecopter giveaway


SHEW! Reader-friends, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted--LOL! Have a Super remainder of the holiday! Happy 2014!!!

Merry Christmas! Go to Greece! #WIN stuff! And a mini-break~

It's the most wonderful time of the year, reader-friends!

Merry Christmas!!! 

I hope all of you are getting ready for the holidays. My little brood and I certainly are... see how excited we've gotten --->

Since the girls will be off until after the new year, I've got a few announcements, and then I'll be calling it a Blog Break until 2014!

Here we go:

#1-Fabulous writer-friend Jessica Bell is organizing her amazing Homeric Writer Retreat again in Ithaca, Greece!

I swear, this is a dream getaway. Writing, talking shop, and meeting with literary agents! Please go here for all the details (link)!

#2-Amazing writer-friend Susan Kaye Quinn is still hosting a Fab Giveaway for the release of her new BollyPunk novel Third Daughter (link)! Go here to enter (link)!

#3-ALL of my books are in the Kindle Matchbook program (link)! This means if you buy the print version of any of my books on Amazon, you can get the ebook for Free or 99 cents! Check it out (link)!

#4-You still have time to WIN a SIGNED SET of the Dragonfly series! Go here to enter (link).

That's all I can think of... LOL!

I'll still be updating my Author Facebook Page (link) through the holidays. Please follow along and keep in touch!

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season, my friends. Thinking of you all and sending warmest wishes and ((huge hugs))~

Steampunk goes Bollywood! And TWO ways to #WIN!!!

Only Susan K. Quinn could think up a steampunk novel set in India that has a Bollywood vibe.

It's called "Bollypunk," and it looks and sounds fantastic (much like Bollywood!)

Of course my long-time writer-friend and critique partner is on top of it. Finger. On. The. Pulse. And I'm super-THRILLED to be helping with the launch. Personally, I can't wait to get my greedy little hands on it.

At the bottom is how you can #WIN! 

Here's the scoop:

GET ME!

Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs Trilogy #1) 

by Susan Kaye Quinn
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Steampunk

The Third Daughter of the Queen wants her birthday to arrive so she’ll be free to marry for love, but rumors of a new flying weapon may force her to accept a barbarian prince’s proposal for a peace-brokering marriage. 

Desperate to marry the charming courtesan she loves, Aniri agrees to the prince’s proposal as a subterfuge in order to spy on him, find the weapon, and hopefully avoid both war and an arranged marriage to a man she does not love.

Third Daughter is the first book in The Dharian Affairs Trilogy (Third Daughter, Second Daughter, First Daughter). This steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance takes place in an east-indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

**Enter to #WIN:

--20x “Third Daughter” mini M&M packs  (US only)
--A steampunk key necklace (INTL)
--"Third Daughter" East-Indian style bridal jewelry (INT)

Photos are on the Rafflecopter (link)--Click here to enter!

And there's a superfun "Launch Party" happening on Facebook--Go here to check it out (link)~

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But wait! I said there were TWO ways to #WIN! 

Enter to #WIN!

The second is a 12 Days of Christmas-themed giveaway I'm participating in with the girls over at Indie Ignite (link)!

EVERY DAY You can WIN a signed book! 

My day is Day 7--win a signed set of the Dragonfly series!!!

Go here to enter (link)!

I'll also be posting on the Indie Ignite blog (link) next Thursday about something Christmas-ey.

In the meantime, have a SUPER weekend, reader-friends! Stay warm~

New Adult, Schmoo Adult

I almost titled this, "Why Categories are for Dummies." But that seemed a bit contrived...

Two important things you should know about me before reading this post:

#1-I used to be a high school English teacher, and
#2-I used to manage a book store.

Both of those jobs I only held for one year in my 20s, but I learned a lot about books and why we need fancy labels for them that seldom fit properly.

NA? YA? Who knows.

Over the weekend, I had a brief, unplanned mini-chat with writer-friend L.M. Augustine (link), who writes really funny romantic comedies. I'm sure you've heard of Two Roads (link).

(Aside, if you haven't, get it--Two Roads is FAB.)

He asked me if it would be okay to include one of my books in a list of "New Adult Books with Nice Guy Heroes and Little or No Sex." (link)

[**Free Tip, writer friends: If a writer-friend ever approaches you about promoting your books for free, the answer is always YES. And always, always follow up with a big THANK YOU.**]

Back to categories. The question became, "Which book?"

New Adult was such a charged category this time last year. Was it "sexed up YA"? Was it a genre dealing with the college years (which were pretty much unexplored at that time in commercial fiction)?

Get me; I am FAB!

Writer-friend Tammara Webber caused a commotion July 2012 with her self-published blockbuster Easy, which focused on a (gasp!) college romance and made the case for the latter definition.

But what about self-published sensations Hopeless by Colleen Hoover or Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay?

Both of them feature main characters who are seniors in high school, but were classified "New Adult."

Personally, I considered them YA in which the characters are dealing with heavy subjects not usually addressed in YA... But hang on just one minute. Is that true?

In my experience (see way up there ^ ^ ^), the most successful YA books often deal with heavy subjects. Anything John Green? Or the Hunger Games? (Actually, I think THG is now being targeted at middle school kids.)

Last week, I was part of a round-table discussion with my buds at YA Confidential (link) on literary vs. commercial fiction and how do we distinguish?

Someone tossed out the idea that "literary" is more character-driven and "commercial" is more plot-driven.

And then we tried to apply that rule, and we all started arguing about how it doesn't work in reality, and then we drifted to male vs. female writers, and then we got into "gratuitous diversity," and then I started rapping.

It was a productive round-table! (My good buddy Matt MacNish is a member, so yanno. I love those guys.)

What's it all about, Alfie? I don't know.

But L.M. Augustine has compiled a great List of "New Adult books with Nice Guy Heroes and Little to No Sex." (link)

We decided The Truth About Letting Go should be a part of the list. It's pretty sexy, it has characters who are both in high school and college, and it deals with heavy subject matter...

New Adult? Get me & decide.

It also has the truest nice-guy hero I think I've ever written in Jordan.

LM also asked "where have you been?" Well, I'm in the cave working on a Top Sekrit Project, reader-friends. I hope one day to share it with you.

In the meantime, here are some Fun Reminders:

-Dragonfly is only 99 cents now! Get started on this fun series that's either New Adult or mature YA... I don't know. (The series grows up with the characters.)

-I have a SWAG STORE! If you want merch or posters or postcards or iPhone cases featuring the covers of any of my books, Go Here (link).

Have a super week, reader-friends! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Paperbacks make great gifts. (wink wink, nudge nudge)

((Hugs)) to all of you! Enjoy your books, regardless of category~

All I Want for Christmas, #SWAG, and a #WIN!

Just fyi, reader-friends, I have both a cement truck and a table saw going outside my window right now, so this one's bound to be a bit rambly...

Perhaps my Christmas Wish List should start with #1-A nice, quiet writing space. (LOL!)

No, all the noise is from the construction on the house next door--I should be wishing for awesome new neighbors. (Or at least ones I get along with!)

I'm a writer in case you haven't noticed, so I'm always chasing trains of thought in my head, thinking about how humans interact with each other, contemplating how one different decision might change the outcome of any given situation.

It's fun! And I hope it's what keeps my characters and stories authentic. That's what I'm going for anyway.

I've been observing my interactions with the workers next door these last several weeks, imagining what they might think of the mole-lady who is often irritable when she has to ask them to move their equipment and crap so she can get out of the driveway to fetch her children from all their activities.

Lately, I've also been thinking a lot about how much has changed in publishing since this time last year. Back then, the type of romance stories I write were easy to market. Bloggers were excited to read them and schedules weren't so full.

Two things have changed--schedules are very full, and sensational eroticism seems to be the order of the day. It's prompted me to consider lying low until the pendulum swings back again.

If you're here, you've probably read at least one of my novels. They're all a bit different, some are much steamier than others, but some things are constants: I don't enjoy stories where the lovers are mean to each other or humiliate each other. I don't think abuse is sexy. I don't care for my heroes to call their lovers "sluts" and/or worse, I hope to make you smile and/or laugh at least once while reading...

It's kind of got me sitting and thinking a lot... just thinking. Nothing more.

You see, I prefer strong women--even if it takes them the course of the story to get there (Anna), it's coming. Stay with me.

Perhaps that's #2 on my Wish List--A reading majority who feels the same way... LOL! I bet every writer would ask for that. I'm probably just struggling with growing pains.

Pay no attention to the mole-lady behind the curtain. So other types of stories are enjoying the spotlight right now. What's a gal writer to do? Well, I'll tell ya...

Just keep swimming. Isn't that what we've been saying for years? It's still the truth.

And what's all this about Swag???

Well, I've created an Online Swag Store filled with fun book-cover stuff like posters, iPhone covers, etc.

Here's the link if you'd like to check it out (link)!

And if there's an item you'd like included, let me know! It only takes a day to whip it up and have it available.

* * *

Also, the HUGE Black Friday Giveaway is still going on... You can WIN FOUR $50 Amazon Gift cards!

Go here to enter (link)!

And Dragonfly is still on Sale for 99 Cents!

Enjoy the season, reader-friends! I know it's stressful at times, but remember what it's all about. Good friends, good food, and good times~

Have a SUPER week! I'm trying to find a quiet spot...