Samantha MacLeod's Blog, page 36

Awesome Book Recommendation

Ha, check out this email I just got from Amazon:

Yup, Amazon thought I might be interested in my own book.

And you know what?

It is an awesome book.

Here it is on Amazon. And you can read an exclusive excerpt here.

 

The Trickster’s Lover Reviews

I’ll update this post to give you, dear reader, links to all the reviews I can find of The Trickster’s Lover.

Even the unflattering ones.

I promise!

Bring on those reviews!

Caldwell Books reviewed The Trickster’s Lover last week. (I love you guys, too!)

Moving Day!

Well, after packing a bazillion boxes and then loading the biggest U-Haul available, the family is finally ready to move!

Did I say a bazillion boxes? That may be an understatement…

Buffalo, it’s been great. I planned on writing a nice, long blog about how wonderful you are. And some glorious day I may still do that.

This day, we ride!

The 27-foot-long U-Haul towing a car!

TO VICTORY!!!!!!!!!

The Trickster’s Lover is on Amazon!

Wow, The Trickster’s Lover is on Amazon.

I’m a legit published author.

Hell yeah.

LEGIT!

The only version available at this very second – 9:05 on Tuesday, August 9 – is the print version. Which is beautiful and costs $17.99. (CreateSpace wouldn’t let me sell it for less.)

Did I mention it’s beautiful?

If $17.99 seems like a bit much to pay for the greatest paranormal romance about Norse gods ever written, hang in there! You’ll be able to pre-order a Kindle version for $2.99 in a few days.

Yeah, I wanted to have it available today, but…

And I didn’t realize it takes 72 hours for Amazon to process a book.

So hang in there, friends!

Oh, and remember you can enter my Goodreads giveaway to win a free, signed version.

Helpful Moving Tips

Well, friends, I’m officially one week away from renting a massive U-Haul and  moving to Maine!

Which means I’m in that super fun stage of vacillating between panic that we won’t get everything packed, and wishing I hadn’t just packed the damn soy sauce because now I can’t make dinner.

But I figured I’d take a break from packing, in August, in a house with no air conditioning and roughly half a million books, to share a few things I’ve learned about the moving process.

Tip 1: Don’t. Move.
This could be you.

Really. Don’t.

I’m knee-deep in boxes labeled “Misc. HEAVY” and I’m here to tell you: It’s not worth it!

We’re moving because my husband got a teaching position outside of Portland, Maine. Portland’s a 10 hour drive from Buffalo (our current home base) and I’m seriously considering asking him to commute.

It would be easier.

Tip 2: The Liquor Store is Your Friend

I know, you didn’t need me to tell you this, right?

But seriously. You know what liquor stores have in abundance? That’s right – boxes. Tons and tons of boxes. And, unlike U-Haul or Home Depot, our local liquor store gives those boxes away for free.

Maybe it helps that we’re on a first name basis with the guys at our local liquor store (isn’t everyone..?) or maybe they’re just happy to get rid of some boxes. Whatever the reason, those free booze boxes are the best thing since reusable packing tape dispensers.

Why?

They’re perfect for books!

Booze and books – what more do you need?
Tip 3: Kids Don’t Help

I’ve got two small children. And it turns out kids love boxes.

Empty boxes, that is.

So, every time I fill a box, the kids empty it for me. Or they cry because I’ve destroyed their “little house” or their “racing box” by filling it with useless books.

Also, if you’re packing up a house with small children underfoot, you’d damn well better remember where you put each and every stuffed animal. Because when your kid wants Gray the Dinosaur, “He’s packed!” is not an acceptable answer.

Gray the Dinosaur is no longer packed.
Tip 4: Get Rid of Everything

My aunt once told me moving is so hard because, as you pack, you re-live every decision you’ve ever made.

Oh, look, a ticket stub from the night train to Rome in 2001! Hey, a letter from an old boyfriend! Wonder what he’s up to these days – maybe I’ll just pop on the old Facebook and check it out…

This is great. For about a day. And then I reached the stage where I’m going to throw it all away.

All. Of. It.

Because no matter how carefully I plan my moves (and there have been many, many moves), I always reach that point where I look at all the wonderful possessions I’ve so carefully collected and think, “Do I actually like this stuff enough to haul it across the country?”

NOPE!

All right, that’s it for my helpful moving tips.

I’m going to have a gin and tonic.

 

Being With You: A Poem

Being with you

felt nothing like home.

 

Being with you

was the opposite of home

was fleeing from home

running barefoot through the forest,

lips red with wine

or with blood.

 

Being with you

was to laugh at home

to laugh at cold,

discomfort,

to laugh at those who need

some sort of map

to find their way.

 

We did not waste the moon,

you and I.

 

It’s not the kind of thing

that lasts.

I’m in the midst of a cross-country move right now, so I haven’t had a plethora of time to devote to my writing. 

Hence, poetry!

I’m not nearly as comfortable with poetry as I am with, say, erotic short stories. Or literary short stories. Or, you know, novels about Loki. But when I do come up with a poem, I’ll post it here – let me know what you think!

What Can You Get for .99?

Not much, right?

Not a cup of coffee.

Not even the world’s worst vodka.

BUT this weekend only you can get….

A fabulous, sexy anthology of erotic fairy tales, including my short story, “The Ballad of Tam Lin,” about a trip to Scotland, a crumbling castle, and a mysterious stranger, for less than a dollar.

Happy reading, my friends!

Thor wants you to have a sexy weekend

 

Win It Before You Can Buy It!

Hey, I’m hosting a giveaway on Goodreads!

I know, I know – it’s that exciting!

Yes, this means you could win an actual paper copy of my book before it’s released.

I’ll mail it to you, lucky winner.

And I’ll even sign it!

Wouldn’t this look good sitting on your bookshelf?
Yes. Yes this would look good on your bookshelf.

Check out the giveaway here ~ maybe you’ll get lucky!

(oh yeah, I totally meant that to sound dirty…)

The Ballad of Tam Lin

A trip to Scotland.
A crumbling castle.
A mysterious stranger…

Sound good? It is!

You can now order Lustily Ever After, the anthology that includes my erotic short fairy tale, “The Ballad of Tam Lin.”

Awesome cover, huh?

AND you can order it for $3.99!

As in, less than the latte you had this morning.

That’ll be $4.95

Now, I love lattes as much as the next writer-type.

But seriously, what’s going to give you more pleasure? A latte you’ll finish in fifteen minutes… or an erotica anthology you’ll take to bed for hours…

That’s what I thought.

Book Review: Destroyer of Light by Rachel Alexander

I loved Rachel Alexander’s first book, Receiver of Many, so freaking much she could’ve charged $40 for this sequel. I would have paid it. Happily.

Yes, her first book is that damn good.

And I’m happy to report I loved the sequel just as much.

Plot remains a strong point of these novels. There were a few things I saw coming – a bad guy who needs to be stopped, the seeds of a certain fruit which are pretty damn crucial to the myth. But overall, this book kept me up way too late (again!) because I cared so much about her characters and, while I may have known roughly where they were going to end up, I had no idea how they were going to get there.

Rachel Alexander also continues to delightfully ignore the romance genre’s conventions. I recently read that Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, claims all romance novels are courtship stories. When there’s a marriage, she apparently said, the romance ends.

I’m guessing Diana Gabaldon hasn’t read Rachel Alexander, because these are romantic, erotic love stories about what comes after the marriage.

If Receiver of Many was about Hades and Persephone learning to live with each other as equal, loving partners, then perhaps Destroyer of Light is about the King and Queen of the Underworld learning to live with the rest of the world.

Hades and Persephone become a bit less human in this book, but their struggles – to trust one another, to work things out with the in-laws, to deal with temptations – remain relatable and deeply moving. Even the secondary characters, like Thanatos and Demeter, grow, deepen, and change during the course of the novel.

There was even one scene that had me crying tears on the Kindle. Yes, actual tears.

And apparently there’s a third book in the works. Which I will be ordering the second it comes out.

You can check out Destroyer of Light here.