Hi all!  I wanted to give a quick shout out for Erin Kellison’s FIRE KISSED, which is finally out today!  I’ve been waiting for this release and can’t wait to read.  🙂

Fae Fire

It is Kaye Brand’s power to wield. But outcast from her kind, she’s been selling herself to the highest bidder – money for her survival in exchange for a magic glimpse into the flames of the future.               

Angel Ice

One of the angelic Order, Jack Bastian has no use for alike Kaye, as provocative and unexpected as her blazing beauty. Yet he has no choice but to hire her to uncover the secrets of his sworn enemy and her former fiance, Ferrol Grey.               

Magekind

War is inevitable between the defenders of the Order and the mage Houses who threaten to engulf the world in Shadow. For Jack, mage-born Kaye is off limits, no matter how hot the impossible attraction between them. But in the coming darkness, beset by danger and desire, everything is about to change…

To find out more about FIRE KISSED, go to:  http://erinkellison.com/books/firekissed.html 

Hi all!  Sorry about the dual post today – I don’t usually do that.  But…had to let you know…there’s an awesome scavenger hunt going on today and tomorrow where you can win tons of stuff.  Several of us paranormal authors have formed a group blog called DARKER TEMPTATIONS, and we’re starting things off with a bang.  GIVEAWAYS!

Go to the blog for directions on how to win.  To tease you, here’s a list of prizes:

• From Sayde Grace – two digital copies of her books
• From Cynthia Eden – an ARC of Angel of Darkness or a digital copy of Never Cry Wolf
• From Danica Avet – digital copy of any one of the Veil series and a set of Romance Trading Cards
• From Rebecca Zanetti – signed copy of Fated
• From Kristin Miller – digital copy of Intervamption
• From Marcella Burnard – signed copy of Enemy Gates
• From Katie Reus – digital (or audio) copy of Deadly Obsession and a digital copy of Destined Mate when it comes out in October
• From Erin Kellison – signed copy of your choice from the Shadow series

Well…I’m back from New York and have been working on page proofs for CLAIMED, which will be released in November.  I thought I’d take a break and talk about New York and the conference.

LOVED IT!

I went a few days early with Debbie and Stephanie (you’ve met them in earlier happy birthday blogs) and Jessica, our friend. We toured Ground Zero (Cried and am so humbled by the heroism of many Americans), the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building; Macy’s…Time Square and so on. 

We also went to Rock of Ages, which was awesome!  The singing rocked (pun intended)—and I’d go again right now.  Here’s a rather funny picture of Jessica and Debbie – I hadn’t read the sign on the wall when I sent the picture to Tony.  He thought it was hilarious.

© Paul Hakimata

Debbie and I jumped on a train (the wrong train) to head to New Haven, Connecticut to see our cousins Neil and Jennie.  Turns out we had to change trains.  We couldn’t
find the other train…ran all over the station in Stamford…up and down nonworking escalators…and finally found it. Yeah, Neil…it was no big deal.  🙂

We hung out with our cousins Jimmie and Molly in NYC.  Molly is friends with the owner of an Irish pub, SWIG – so we spent some time there with the Irish folk and ah, vodka.  Lots of vodka.

The girls left and the conference began.  The literacy autographing was amazing—it was held on the sixth floor and the line started on the first floor of the Marriott Marquis.  I sat next to the wonderful Rebecca York, and we chatted in between people buying our books. 

Being a Zanetti, I was at the end, which worked out quite nicely because the really big authors are against the far wall, and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s line went by my table.  Many of her fans stopped by, intrigued by the cover of FATED.  Yeah, Kensington’s graphic arts department does an amazing job.

The opening session was awesome with questions answered by Best-Selling Authors Steve Berry, Diana Gabaldon, and Tess Gerritsen—who all said…don’t give up.  I sat with my buddies from the Pacific Northwest, Åsa Marie Bradley and Teresa Woodworth–see pic.  We tried to meet up again, but our schedules were crazy.  I’m hoping to see these two at the IECRWA meeting this weekend and compare notes.

I went to lunch with my editor, the magnificent Megan Records…who always manages to find a fun restaurant with amazing food. I even had apple pie.  The Kensington party was held at the Kensington offices and it was AMAZING.  It was the first time I really saw how tight-knit the company is and how it is a family owned company.  I toured the offices, saw the excellent art work…and all the books. The views of NYC are spectacular.   Books are everywhere in the office.  I knew they would be…but it’s different seeing books lining every hallway, on every desk, in every corner.  I could live there.  Seriously.  Here’s a rather blurry picture taken at the event with my phone.

At the party, I hung out with the uber-talented Erin Kellison…and even managed to snag an ARC of her upcoming SHADOWMAN release from her editor, Alicia Condon.  If you haven’t read Erin yet, you really should.  Her books are
fantastic.  She’s also a sweetheart and a lot of fun to hang with.

I finally met Caitlin in person, too!  She’s been my agent for about a year and a half…so it was wonderful to sit down and talk to her.  We talked about my characters like they’re real people…which was so much fun!  My sisters gently remind me once in a while that my characters aren’t real.  Caitlin thinks they are!  🙂  After lunch we walked down to the Liza Dawson Agency, where there was a tea with Nancy Yost and her clients.  I got a chance to chat with both Robyn Carr and Marie Bostwick—very funny ladies, and a bunch of editors showed up as well.

The Kensington book signing on Friday was the first ever Kensington book signing at
RWA, and I was very honored to be included in the signing.   Here’s a picture of Kate Douglas I managed to take before things got crazy.  I sat next to MingMei Yip, and her books were gone before I could grab one.  Mine went pretty fast, too.

With all of the meetings and lunches (yeah, it was rough :] ), I didn’t make it to as many workshops as usual.  But I did sit in on Jennifer Crusie’s workshop on writing and Wonder Woman.  It was fantastic.  If you ever have a chance to see Jennifer speak, GO!  She’s one of the most inspirational and just plain funny presenters I’ve ever seen—you walk away with tons of new knowledge and a smile every time.  She reminded us all that we’re Wonder Woman (in full uniform) and we put on the business suit to go out and promote…but that underneath it all, we always have brass boobs.

It was a wonderful trip—though I’m glad to be home.  🙂