Readers' Heaven - Dariel's New Year Reunion: Day Five

Hi, and welcome back to our New Year's Reunion! It's day seven, last day! Every day you take a look and comment, you'll receive extra points, so if you're new to the event, you'll want to take a look at posts from the last four days to catch up. Make sure you enter the Rafflecopter and include your email address in your comment. Don't miss a day, and have fun :-)
Mia Darien
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What’s Happening Now? Interview with Mia
·       First, looking back, how do you feel about your 2013 goals and how well did you do in reaching them? What helped or hindered your success?
Mia: I actually didn't really set any goals for 2013, so I feel great about reaching them, lol. I got a lot done this year, although life was crazy-busy and that definitely hindered! But I've met a lot of great people, readers and fellow authors, and they've been a help.
·       Life happens, and every writer is subject to its effects (positive or challenging). What personal (spiritual, emotional, physical, professional) life changes do you foresee affecting your writing this year?
Mia: In this coming year? Oh, goodness, I could not even BEGIN to predict that. This past year has been so eventful, and with things I could not have predicted, that I don't even want to jinx myself on this one!
·       What have you learned about yourself recently as a writer (one random thing)?
Mia: I'm easily confused and my characters are bossy.
·       How many books have you published (include anthologies)? Tell me about them (genre, bibliography)
Mia: Ever, or 2013? It's a long list if the former! I'll break it down by series to make my life simpler... There's the Adelheid series, which is four short novels (around 50K words each) and two "between the tale" short stories. These are paranormal suspense set in a fictional Connecticut town, where the US has made paranormal species legal. I have two novellas in Stories from Sanctuary City, which is post-apocalyptic erotic romance. I have one novella in Turnabout Tales, which takes fairy tales and kind of gender-bends your stereotypes. Then the standalone historical romance "Deeper than Skin" and the standalone sci-fi romance "Steel Wings." I also have stories in the anthologies "Wake Up Dead," "Sweet Dreams--The Lyndsey Roughton Anthology," "Darlings of Decay," and "Here, Kitty Kitty." Whew... This wasn't all in 2013, though! I'm crazy but not quite THAT crazy.
·       What can we look forward to from you in 2014 (special projects, books and anthologies of course)
Mia: For what's planned, there's a third Adelheid Between the Tales short and the fifth Adelheid novel. The second book in the Turnabout Tales series. A new romance anthology based around outreach workers with proceeds to the Red Cross. I very much hope to finish this epic fantasy I've been working on forever as well, but it's been slow going and time will tell on that one.
·       Which of your books would you suggest to someone new to your writing and why?
Mia: I think I'd suggest "Cameron's Law," which is the first book in the Adelheid series. It's a quick read. I think a fun one. It isn't the most intricate plot, I'll admit, but it's an introduction to the series, the town, and its citizens and opens up well into the rest of the series. It's paranormal, which I know isn't everyone's thing, but I try to find the humanity in the non-human, so I think it can appeal even to those who don't read a lot of paranormal.
·       What’s your favorite online hangout (complete link – only one)?
Mia: I...don't really have one, lol.
Jami Gray
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What’s Happening Now? Interview
1.    First, looking back, how do you feel about your 2013 goals and how well did you do in reaching them? What helped or hindered your success?
I had hoped to have at least one book out in print in 2013 which didn’t happen, yet on the bright side I got two written, plus a short story, so not too shabby.
Part of the reason I didn’t release anything was because I spent some time re-evaluating my writing career, trying to decide which publishing avenue I wanted to pursue and pondering how to get there. Plus, the query process is not particularly fast, so as someone who’s not comfortable submitting to agents/houses until my project is finished, that means there is a three to four month lag between when I type “the end” and it gets picked up.

I did get a short story, WRAPPED IN SHADOWS, as part of a winter anthology from Black Opal Books (Things That Go Bump for the Holidays) in print on Dec. 14th, so at least something got out there!
My biggest accomplishment, I had decided to stalk…errr..ask, some of my favorite writers to stop by my blog this year. I managed to get someone every month. We started out with Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid Chronicles), we had Christy Reece, Jennifer Estep, Seanan McGuire, JD Tyler, Kalypso Masters, and oh so many more. I had so much fun, I’m doing it again this year.

2.    Life happens, and every writer is subject to its effects (positive or challenging). What personal (spiritual, emotional, physical, professional) life changes do you foresee affecting your writing this year?
Time. It’s the biggest challenge when you’re a writer who has to find that awkward balance between the day job, writing and your family. My goal is to get two books completed in 2014. If I manage that, I can get two titles out a year (one on each series).

3.    What have you learned about yourself recently as a writer (one random thing)?
When writing two different series, be sure to give yourself a break in-between projects. Otherwise the voices start to overlap and you may end up sporting a lovely white jacket with buckles.

4.    How many books have you published (include anthologies)? Tell me about them (genre, bibliography)
I currently have two full-length novels and one short story in an anthology out. By end of 2014 I will have a total of five full-length novels and one short story in an anthology out.

I have two series, one Urban Fantasy/Paranormal, the other is a Paranormal Romantic Suspense: The Kyn Kronicles and Cypher Team.

SHADOW’S EDGE, SHADOW’S SOUL, SHADOW’S MOON, SHADOW’S CURSE all belong to the Kyn, a race made up of all those stories you grew up with, living side-by-side the human race.

HUNTED BY THE PAST will be my first title in the Psy-IV Team series, an intriguing group of ex-military psychics.

5.    What can we look forward to from you in 2014 (special projects, books and anthologies of course)
2014 will be BUSY for me…I have three titles releasing and I’m making a trip to New Orleans for the Romantic Times convention in May (which, I’m really, really excited about!).

Spring 2014:  SHADOW’S MOON, book 3 in the Kyn series, will be release by Black Opal Books.  (I have to share, this book was a finalist in the 2103 Golden Claddaugh Contest.)

Summer 2014: HUNTED BY THE PAST, is the first title in my Paranormal Romantic Suspense series (Psy-IV Team). I’d love to say who I’m publishing with, but until the ink is dry on the contract, I have to refrain.

Fall 2014: SHADOW’S CURSE, book 4 in the Kyn series, will be coming from Black Opal Books.

Of course, in-between all that, I’ll be writing away…

6.    Which of your books would you suggest to someone new to your writing and why?
Depends on what your preference is: dark fantasy? Go for Shadow’s Edge and step into the world of the Kyn.  Paranormal suspense? Pick up Hunted by The Past in Summer 2014 and don’t look back.

7.    What’s your favorite online hangout (complete link – only one)?
Umm, just one? I tend to respond faster on Facebook, my answers don’t have to be shortened to unreadable abreviations.

Maya Pruett

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Following in the footsteps of Britney, Lindsay and the likes, Callie Bryant, Hollywood's newest bad girl, comes to town as the lead in the much awaited Romeo and Juliet ... the rock opera.
When Callie actually dies on stage, Lily, Holly and Spooky (two psychic sisters and one psychic cat) get together with the irkily handsome, yet musically inclined Detective Richardson to solve the crime.
Set in San Francisco, The Cat Food Chronicles is a story of cats, crime, cuisine, and lol comedy.
You can buy The Cat Food Chronicles in two ways.
Part 1-6 for .99 cents apiece ... or the complete novel for $3.99
Save two dollars when you buy the complete novel!

Chapter One
Spooky
I know this sounds weird, but I can read lips. Of course, you’re probably thinking, why would a cat want to read lips? A fair question and the answer is I don’t. The fact is, I can’t hear so great. I can read minds though; how’s that for a wing-dinger? Yep, I’m telepathic, so really the hearing impediment thing isn’t much of a problem, and well, actually I tend to only read lips if I’m preoccupied. Guess who was preoccupied?
I was all curled up on the Lazyboy under the big palm watching my favorite show on the boob tube. Lily was on the phone, imagine that, and things were getting a little nutty for Batman and the Boy Wonder.
It seems Batman and the Boy Wonder were just about to be sawn in half when I happened to glance up to see Lily say that she needed a CAT Scan. At first, I thought she said ‘cat scam’; I mean, who would she need me to scam? I’m not that kind of cat anyway, how dare she even insinuate such a thing. But then she said it again.
“Yes, I’m sure, Holly, a CAT Scan!”
Holy scantonese noodles, Batman, what the hell do you think I need to be scanned for? I’ve got all my shots. I’ve been de-wormed twice this year, and this is the fourth time I have made my claws grow back.
I can make my claws grow back. I have serious mental powers, plus I read a book by Ernest Holmes called The Science of the Mind, which gave me some great ideas like growing my claws back. I’d recommend it to Oprah.
I hopped off the Lazyboy and went into the kitchen and circled around Lily’s legs, but Lily just kept blabbing away about scanning me. I glanced at the TV where a giant maniacal saw was whirling steadily toward the dynamic duo. It was too much; I couldn’t concentrate; CAT Scan overload—so I beat it out of there.
I sprinted out into the cool night air, glad to be away from even the idea of a scanning. I was hungry, as usual, which meant I needed a San Francisco treat, and let me tell you, I wasn’t thinking about Rice a Roni. I licked my soon to be grubby little paws and made my way down the north-face fire escape.
I live in an area that many years ago housed dockworkers and fisherman. The area is called Telegraph Hill, and there are a lot of cats in the neighborhood.
The building I live in is called The Old Brown. Lily and Holly inherited it. They’re lucky as hell too, boy, because this is prime San Francisco real estate. We more or less remodeled The Old Brown ourselves. It took us about twelve years. Holly lives up top and Lily lives bottom side.
I was thinking that it’s always nice to get out of the house when I came to The Greenwich Stairs. I looked around really good; the coast seemed clear but, just in case, I shot down ‘em like a rocket.
The stairs are The Greenwich Street Stairs, and they’re famous. About three months ago, some ass-lip kicked me down them and my ribs still hurt from the tumble. Humans are often cruel. Anyway, I don’t want to think about that. I want to think about Batman.
I luv Batman; he’s hot, although he looks like a cat to me, in fact, he looks like this cat I know who lives down in Chinatown. This cat’s got the longest ears ever, real pointy too. But dig this—his owner makes him wear a black cape during the winter, hence Batman. It’s waterproof, so that’s good since it’s always frickin’ raining, but the poor dude looks ridiculous. People are weird.
Thank God it wasn’t raining tonight. I stopped on stair one hundred and thirty-two, or whichever, lifted my nose to the moon and smelled the city, boy what a city. I don’t ever count the stairs. Holly counts them every time she walks up or down them, how OCD is that?
I thought about going into Chinatown but I was feeling a little too wacky still. Chinatown at night is nowhere to be for a cat. Anything can happen in Chinatown, like cat chow fun for one.
I joke, but I really dig the way the Chinese do medicine. Think about this, the Chinese have had some three thousand odd years of holistic healing. That’s some serious shi … atsu!
Okay, so I decided to head up to North Beach and kill two birds with one stone. Italian called. For the nine lives of me, I can’t figure out why most cats like to eat birds and all that other foul crap. No pun intended. Truly though, why eat a bird when you can eat a slice of pizza?
Yep, North Beach it is. I figured I’d do research for Lily’s newest entrepreneurial exercise, which could actually make us rich. And let’s be clear, that’s a goal in our household.
Lily and Holly are super cool. They look exactly alike, but they act completely different. Still, no matter how differently they behave, they sure got that twin thing going.
I can’t really call them my owners and I doubt they would call me their pet; we’re more like best friends. I’m welcome to stay at their house anytime and eat whatever I want. So I have … for about the last nineteen years.
We all met the year after the girls graduated from high school. Lily had been dating this guy who was a Scientologist. He was really super cute, Rob Lowe cute, except he had long wavy hair. Lily likes rockers. It didn’t last though, because it was pure lust on Lil’s part.
One day, he asked her to marry him. She said yes, but on their wedding day Lily lost her nerve and told him, in good conscience, that he was beautiful but she did not love him. He took it hard, yet was really quite cool about it.
Now this is where I come in. The cutie Scientologist had gotten her a cat because Scientology wedding tradition suggests a cat as a wedding present. They also suggest a pan, and a comb … I was in good company.
Lily was quite touched that he still wanted her to have me as a nonofficial wedding present, and they remained friends for many years until he moved to Hollywood to be a movie star.
I don’t think that panned out, although we did see him on a soap opera for a season. He wasn’t a bad actor, but he had cut his beautiful hair and it made Lily cry every time we watched him.
Okay, I’m getting side tracked. Let me tell you a bit about myself and then I’ll tell you about how I am going to make Holly and Lily rich. I am a small and unusual looking cat. I have honestly never seen a cat that looks like me. I’m hard to explain but I’ll try.
First, I am not much bigger than when she got me, so I look like a kitten, though I am by no means a kitten. I look underfed, which is a laugh, and I incite feelings of pity in most people, except the jerk-off who kicked me down the stairs. My eyes are rather piercing in my very small head, and they are the precise color that you see on the advertising poster for the musical Cats.
True story, I once met a transvestite wearing a shiny gold lame’ jacket the same color as my eyes. His name was Geoffrey and he draped me over his shoulder and wore me to a block party in The Castro. I was a huge hit.

B. R. Kingsolver


Broken Dolls was released September 29, 2013. It’s a paranormal thriller set in the world of The Telepathic Clans. The cover is by Mia Darien.

Blurb:

Private investigator RB Kendrick makes her living nailing cheating spouses, digging up other dirt to help in a divorce, finding long-lost relatives, and occasionally sniffing out criminal activity and fraud.

When she takes a job to find a missing girl, she has no idea she is headed for the most dangerous case of her career. Usually, her ability to read minds gives her an edge. But when the people she’s hunting are also telepaths, that advantage is limited.

The search takes her into the dark underbelly of telepathic society, where anything, and anyone, is for sale. She discovers that telepathic women and girls are being trafficked as the ultimate sex slaves.

With people trying to kill her, she’s on the run, not knowing who she can trust. Will she find the missing girl, or become a victim herself?

(The book has language and adult subject matter that is not appropriate for younger readers, although there is no erotic content.)

Email address: brkingsolver@yahoo.com

Book Title: Broken Dolls
Author Name: BR Kingsolver
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Suspense
Publisher: BR Kingsolver
Date of Publication: September 29, 2013
ISBN: 9781301813568 (ePub)
ASIN: B00FGK0KQ8
Number of pages:
235 (ebook)
280 (print)
Word Count: 79,700
Formats available: ePub, Mobi, PDF, Print
Purchase Links:
Kobo

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Smashwords

Apple

Author Bio:
BR Kingsolver is the author of the Telepathic Clans series (The Succubus Gift, Succubus Unleashed, and Succubus Rising) and Broken Dolls, a paranormal thriller.

I grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, among writers, artists and weird Hispanic and Native American myths and folklore. I've lived all over the U.S. and earned a living doing everything from making silver and turquoise jewelry, to construction to computers. I currently split my time between Baltimore and Albuquerque.

I love the outdoors, especially the Rocky Mountains. I’ve skied since high school, with one broken leg and one torn ACL to show for it. I’ve hiked and camped all my life. I love to travel. I’ve seen a lot of Russia and Mexico, not enough of England. Amsterdam is amazing, and the Romanian Alps are breathtaking. I was in Paris and Iceland this summer.

Author web links: (web, blog, twitter, facebook, goodreads, etc)
Link for 10% preview PDF download:

Excerpt:

A good-looking man, tall with dark hair, stepped in front of me. He smiled.
“I haven’t seen you in here before,” he said in Italian-accented French, “and I would have noticed.”
“Do you spend so much time here that you know all the patrons?” I asked, also in French. I speak Italian, but the accent in parts of southern France is heavily influenced by Italian. I hadn’t heard him speak enough to know whether he was Italian or southern French. He was very handsome, and if I weren’t working, I might have welcomed his attention.
He laughed. “I’m in here often enough, I guess. This is the happening place.”
“I guess I’m a bit out of touch,” I responded. “It’s been some years since I’ve been in Paris.”
“And where are you from?”
I hesitated. With my coloring, I could claim a number of northern European countries.
 “St. Petersburg,” I finally replied.
“And how are you enjoying Paris?” he asked in terrible Russian.
“Very much,” I answered in the same language. “And where did you learn Russian? Have you spent much time there?”
“Some. In St. Petersburg and in Moscow.”
“Your accent is terrible,” I said. “Your girlfriends really should spend more time teaching you the language and less time on other things.” I gave him a poisonous smile. In French, I said, “Please excuse me.” I brushed past him and proceeded to the loo.
After I changed, I headed for the bar. When telepaths are making an effort to get drunk, not detoxifying the alcohol and drugs in their systems, their shields tend to get sloppy. This seemed like a perfect place to pick up on the trail of sex trafficking. I had already identified at least a dozen women working as escorts.
As I neared the bar, my friend with the Italian accent sidled up to me.
“May I buy you a drink?” he said in French.
“No, thank you,” I replied in Italian. I let a thought leak through my shields, I’m trying to cut back on date rape drugs this month.

Lia Davis

Blurb:
Trained to hunt rogues and protect the human race from the threat of shifters, Christa Baker is beginning to rethink her career choice. Especially when her niece and nephew—who she’s raised on her own—end up in the crossfire. Now she’s looking for a way out and disappear off Shield’s radar for good. She never thought her out would be a gorgeous wolf who kidnaps her after raiding Shield HQ.
Hayden Raines has always followed the rules. As the Ashwood Fall wolf Marshal, he has to set the example for those working under him. When he sets his sights on the beautiful human hunter things go downhill, fast. Fate has a funny way of turning things inside out—because the woman he kidnaps, the enemy he might need to protect his family from, just happens to be his mate.

Warning: Contains one woman on a path she’s not ready for, a man who thought things would be different, and a heated exchange that turns out to be the best thing ever.

What You'll Love About Hayden and Christa
From “Divided Loyalties” by Lia Davis
What not to love about two strong willed people coming together?
Hayden is the wolf Marshal of Ashwood Falls. It’s his job to see that the Alphas (for those who are new to Ashwood Falls, it is a merged Pack of leopards and wolves) and the Pack are protected. He is the leader of the enforcers and sentries. He’s not use to working with someone who is as stubborn and sensual as the human hunter, Christa Baker.
Christa is a hunter for the human rebel group, Shield. She has a few secrets though and has decided that a career change is needed. She strong, independent, a little stubborn, and a compassionate, caring guardian over her niece and nephew who she has hidden from Shield for years.
Together this couple brings tension, passion, and a journey that may change a few things in both their worlds.
Divided Loyalties, Ashwood Falls, #4
By Lia Davis

Find it in eBook: Amazon Barnes & Noble | ARe
Find it in paperback: Amazon
Ashwood Falls reading order:
About the Author:
Lia Davis is a mother to two young adults and two very special kitties, a wife to her soul mate, a paranormal romance author, and co-owner to Fated Desires Publishing, LLC. She and her family live in Northeast Florida battling hurricanes and very humid summers. But it’s her home and she loves it!
An accounting major, Lia has always been a dreamer with a very activity imagination. The wheels in her head never stop. She ventured into the world of writing and publishing in 2008 and loves it more than she imagined. Writing is stress reliever that allows her to go off in her corner of the house and enter into another world that she created, leaving real life where it belongs.
Her favorite things are spending time with family, traveling, reading, writing, chocolate, coffee, nature and hanging out with her kitties.


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Comments

I loved the Ashwood Fall series!! I've you haven't read any - check them out!!! Starting with Winter Eve!
Unknown said…
Happy Sunday :) Finishing a series by Cheyenne McCray and will be looking for a new story to begin. Can't wait, wish there were more of me to absorb them all more quickly. Don't want to miss out on any. AnnePeni1@gmail.com
Samantha said…
I have not read any of these but they look really good.... :O) S-WOODS@COMCAST.NET
Donna Reynolds said…
I have not read any of these but found a few I would like to Thank you for putting this together. mrscrabbyfan@gmail.com
Unknown said…
Thanks for the great giveaway!! jasdarts at hotmail dot com