Chrissy Munder's Blog, page 57

Trick or Ho Ho Ho? All Xmas stories 25% off at Dreamspinner Press. Oct 15-31!

You're seeing the right image. Catch the 2008 Dreamspinner Press Advent Set on final sale for $44.99 through October 31st.

While you're there, go ahead and pick up their other Christmas Stories for 25% off as part of this special discount.

And, for a complete list of all my Christmas Stories at Dreamspinner, go ahead and follow the cut.


Better with Sprinkles: College student Tom Molina isn’t too interested when his roommate Derek tries to convince him to leave his books and help out with the campus LGBTA Center’s annual Christmas cookie sale. But Derek has an ace in the hole to score the center Tom’s grandmother's sugar cookie recipe: fellow volunteer Jeanette’s cousin just happens to be the organic chemistry T.A. Tom’s been dreaming about. Now Tom just has to hope Isaac is as interested in baking cookies as he is in chemistry and HIV awareness.

The Reason for the Season: All college student Adam Everett is trying to do is get to his sister’s house for holiday break. First his car breaks down, then his ride takes off to Vegas with his gas money, forcing Adam to come up with a Plan C. His last hope is a campus ride exchange, where he ends up with the reluctant Michael Brennan. When a “snowpocalypse” forces them to share a motel room, they soon find out there's more than one reason for the chance happenings of the season.

Season's Greetings - Russ Manners writes greeting cards for a living, except Christmas is fast approaching, there's no snow, and he's fallen behind on his big Easter Card project. He's blaming the new guy, Ian Fiorillo, because ever since Ian was hired, Russ spends all his time writing bad Valentine rhymes to Ian's best asset. What Russ doesn't realize is that Ian would love to help him appreciate the wonders of Christmas in Florida.</p>

A Gift of Ash and Frost - (Historical Romance) When new residents come to the Grange, Mathias applies for a job at the house and is hired on at the housekeeper’s request for the Christmas season. He finds there a temptation of the body and heart in the form of the house’s master, one that he is ill-equipped to handle or resist … not that he has the desire to do so.

Giving Gifts - Seth is having a scarily good time at the office Christmas party this year. He owes it all to his hoped-for boyfriend, Oscar, who turned him into a carefree programmer from an uptight nerd. If Mr. Saroc, the company CEO’s assistant, would quit dogging his steps at work, Seth believes his happiness with Oscar will be complete in time for kissing under the mistletoe.

Santa's Little Helper - Left in the lurch without a Santa, Rob grabs a gorgeous guy he sort-of recognizes from the office to wear the red suit, and it's immediate attraction on both their parts. But Rob's ex, John, knows something important about the jolly ol' fellow, something he hopes doesn't ruin the holiday magic.

Clare London writes horror to Perfection.

One of my favorite Clare London Shorts, the erotic horror gem titled PERFECTION is being rereleased this month at JMS Books   with some stunning new cover art. I've waved my pom-poms over this story for ages, and if you haven't yet read it, well please, buy!buy!

You can also enter to win a copy at Chris's fabulous blog Stumbling Over Chaos . Just leave a comment to be entered for a chance to win, now until OCTOBER 19.

S-u-r-e ...

I came across this video on Yahoo, so I can't embed it here. But I did laugh at the oh so serious delivery of "The only six things you need in your wallet".

And then I looked at my carry-on bag sized purse.

At least when the zombie apocalypse arrives I, unlike those with only six things in their wallet, have a greater chance of survival.

HOW many free books is DSP giving away in October?

Pulling out my rather rusty math skillz and turning them toward the Dreamspinner Press #TweetAway Event.

Let's see, there's 31 days in October, and Dreamspinner is giving away 2 or 3 books a day each day ...

Well, that's a lot of free eBooks!

Be sure you visit @dreamspinners and look for their #TweetAway posts to download your free eBooks and celebrate #OctoberGanza with Dreamspinner Press.

October Excerpts - A Halloween Tail

It's beginning to smell a lot like chocolate a/k/a Halloween! The beautiful fall weather and the lure of the haunted holiday sent me in search of suitable excerpts to share. Including some of my older works and characters that don't get much play other than once a year. 

It also gave me a chance to post this beautiful image from DaniJace over at the Wana Flickr Commons. Thank you for allowing others to use your photos.


I'm starting off this month's round of special excerpts with a snip from my short story, A Halloween Tail,  available from Dreamspinner Press. I love the characters and the tone of this story. Where else have I written lines like these:

Dark, curly hair. A soft growth of beard. Lines of character, lines of pain. And the eyes… I sighed. The man was a god. Hands down. No questions asked. Genetics had conspired to put together this perfect package that was lit from within with a kind of incandescent electric charge. At least, I felt like I was getting zapped.

Oh, that was just the Snickers bar under my ass. I shifted a bit to get more comfortable.

But as much as those lines make me laugh (and some days, it's not hard to do), that's not the excerpt I'm posting today. Sorry. Let's get back to the point of this post which was to start out my October excepts. BTW, if you'd like to read a review, you can click here .

Summary: When Lionel gets strong-armed into baby sitting and taking his niece trick-or-treating, he suffers the humiliation of the big purple costume and follows through. Little did he know that the hideous purple tail would catch the attention of one black-dressed god!

Click on the cut to read the Excerpt:

It’s not that I didn’t like Halloween.

I did.

I do.

Really.

It’s just that this year, instead of going to an absolutely fabulous party at my favorite club (called Lowlands, by the way – no reflection on the clientele) with an absolutely hunky date, I was at my sister’s house watching while she and her husband got dressed up to go to their Halloween party.

“This is not shaping up to be a good idea.”

My tone was well modulated, firm and resolute. The only problem was that she wasn’t paying any attention to me, not that she ever did.

“Maybe I’m not the best person to do this.” I tried again with the voice of reason.

“You’ll be fine.” My sister murmured in a half-hearted attempt to placate me. Her thoughts were already filled with the fun she would be having later this evening as she finished applying her makeup. MY thoughts on the other hand were filled with dread.

“My ass looks fat in this costume.” When all else falls, go for sheer vanity. Hey, sometimes it works. It didn’t look like tonight was going to be one of them.

“It’s only for four hours. 240 minutes. And that costume fit me fine last year.” My sister’s full attention was now turned my way and her exasperation was evident. I hate to say I did derive some small measure of satisfaction from the way the lines on her face detracted from the make-up job she’d just spent so much time on.

”Can’t someone else take her Trick-or Treating?” I was almost embarrassed at the whine in my voice.

“You’re Anne’s Uncle and my brother. You are doing me this favor so that I can go out with my husband to my first Halloween party in ages. You are also doing this because you lost the bet we made about your last so-called boyfriend. “

I’ll give it to my sister. She can be absolutely ruthless when the need arises. Apparently the opportunity to go socialize with other adults instead of ten-year-olds qualified for need. I mean, honestly, don’t you think it was a pretty low blow to bring up Xander? How was I to know that wasn’t his real name but just something he borrowed from a cheesy television show to impress me?

And no, we won’t discuss just why that name impressed me.

“Besides, you have start doing something to make up for coming over every year, going through her candy bag and stealing all the good stuff. THAT’s why your ass looks fat in that costume.”

Did I mention my sister was heartless as well as ruthless?

“But….”

“No buts. I’m going to a party with Mike. You are taking your niece out Trick-or Treating. You will watch her. Walk beside her. And you will not talk to any strangers.”

“Shouldn’t you be telling her that?”

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle turned her piercing gaze back upon my complaining frame. “I’m telling you. No strangers. Not when you are watching your niece. I don’t care what their costume is.”

She walked off uncaring of my muttering that trailed behind her. Leaving me alone with my niece. An orange pumpkin head flashlight in my hand and the costume from hell on my back. It was going to be a great night. I could tell already.

Free Books all month as part of the Dreamspinner Press #TweetAway #OctoberGanza Event!

Freebie Alert!! Are you catching the free book posts from @dreamspinners ? I've just downloaded 2! All part of their #OctoberGanza   #TweetAway event.

Per the DSP Blog:

As part of our October Extravaganza, we will be offering flash sales via our Twitter account, https://twitter.com/dreamspinners. Two or three times a day, we will announce one-hour free sales of books by our generous authors. Follow us on Twitter so you don’t miss out!

Misty Morning Wishful Thoughts

If today is Friday, then this is what I want to see tomorrow morning.

Celebrate all October with the Dreamspinner Press Halloween Extravaganza!

Dreamspinner Press celebrates Halloween in style! Visit their website throughout the month of October where they will be offering the following special discounts:

 

October 1-4: All eBooks in the Angels and Demons category will be 25% off.

October 5-7: All eBooks in the Shifters and Vampires categories will be 25% off.

October 8-11: All eBooks in the Fantasy, Fairytales and Other Paranormal categories will be 25% off.

October 12-14: All Yaoi eBooks and eBooks by their authors who are attending YaoiCon in Los Angeles will be 25% off.

October 15 - 18: The 2008 Advent set will be available for 44.99 through October 31. It will go out of print on November 1, so don't miss your last chance to get it! All Christmas eBooks will also be 25% off.

October 19-21: All eBooks by authors attending GayRomLit will be 25% off.

October 22-25: All Foreign Language titles and audiobooks will be 25% off.

October 26-31: All eBooks in the Ghosts and Spirits category will be 25% off.

 

In addition, watch their Twitter and Facebook for special flash sales and other fun opportunities to win prizes from Dreamspinner Press!

Sharing some Sunset Love

Saturday evening. View from the Pere Marquette River.

photo copyright 2012 by Mr. Munder

Do we celebrate, or just observe? Banned Books Week Sept 30-Oct 6.

Based on the tagline for the official website, www.bannedbooksweek.org we are "Celebrating Our Freedom to Read".

Launched in 1982, Banned Books Week is the national book community's annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events.

Check out their list of events, participate in the Virtual Read-out, or visit your local library and bookseller to see what's shaking. If you're active on Twitter, you can follow all this week at #bannedbooksweek

More info also available at the www.ala.org website.