Michelle Zink's Blog, page 28

Temptation Thursday; Meet Griffin Channing!

This week for Temptation Thursday I'm pleased to introduce you to Griffin Channing, Helen's protector and fellow surviving Keeper.

I love Griffin so much. Often in YA novels, it seems like it's the brooding bad boy who gets the girl. I really wanted to create a nice guy who stood a chance with Helen.

Griffin has lived alone with his older brother Darius (you'll meet him soon) since their parents were murdered by the very people responsible for the execution of Helen's parents. After their death, Helen finds her way to the Channing brothers and quickly learns that they're her best chance of survival. At first, Griffin seems to defer to Darius out of intimidation, but as Helen gets to know him better, she realizes it's a form of love and respect. Griffin is more than capable of standing toe to toe with his brother. He simply chooses his battles out of love for his brother.

Griffin has a soft spot for strays and sometimes squints. He needs spectacles — something Darius is fond of reminding him of — but insists he doesn't. He's a low-key kind of guy who usually takes things as they come, but when he wants something, he fights for it.

And he happens to want Helen Cartwright's love.

Actor Jake Abel (pictured above) is a very much how I picture Griffin. Here's an excerpt from the book featuring Griffin. Hope you enjoy getting to know him!

P.S. You can still enter to win a Temptation ARC, Victoria's Secret Bath set, gourmet chocolate, and assorted other goodies in the Be Tempted to Love Yourself Valentine Giveaway!

She looked for him in the library some time later, the fabric

of her strange new skirt brushing against her leg. After finding

the library empty, she searched the remaining rooms on the

ground floor until the only one left was the kitchen. She came

upon him there, crouched at the back door and muttering

something unintelligible to someone she couldn't see.

Approaching cautiously, she spoke softly so as not to star-

tle him.

"Griffin?"

"Huh? What?" He turned, clearly startled despite her best

efforts. "Oh, Helen! That was fast."

He shut the door quickly behind him.

She waved toward it. "Who is that you're speaking to?"

He feigned surprise. "That? No one. There's no one there."

She tilted her head, trying to place his strange demeanor.

"But you were talking to someone."

He shook his head, leaning against the door as if that would

prevent her from opening it.

She crossed to it in two long strides, reaching for the knob.

"Don't be ridiculous. I heard you speaking to someone."

She tugged on the knob, trying to open it, but he wouldn't

move.

"Griffin! Why are you acting so strange?" She continued

without waiting for an answer. "I realize we don't know one

another well, but surely you know me well enough to know

that I'm not leaving until that door is opened and I see for

myself who is on the other side."

He stared into her eyes for a second before stepping aside

with a sigh. "Very well. Have a look at my small companion,

then."

She held his gaze a moment longer, wondering at his choice

of words, before pulling open the door.

No one was there. She was standing on the same small

porch she had used to escape the house and follow Darius and

Griffin that first night, but it was completely empty.

At least, that is what she thought before she heard the

unmistakable meow at her feet.

She dropped her gaze, noting the black-and-white kitten

lapping cream from a fine floral dish. Then, she understood.

She looked up at Griffin, leaning against the door frame, his

face reddening slightly under her gaze.

He waved her off before she could speak. "It's nothing to

make a fuss over. The poor thing was bedraggled when it first

came to the door. Anyone in my position would offer it some

cream."

A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. "You feed the cat?

That's who you were talking to?"

"Well, technically, there is more than one of them. It didn't

seem right to turn away Mouser's friends." He bent to pick up

the kitten, now done with the saucer of milk. "Isn't that right,

Mouser?"

"Mouser?" Helen said, trying to suppress her smile.

He held the ball of fluff against his body as if he had done it

a thousand times before. "He needed a name." A note of defen-

siveness crept into his voice. "And he brought me a mouse the

first night he appeared on the step, as if he wanted to trade it

for some food."

"It's a fine name." Reaching carefully toward the kitten, she

let it sniff her hand before touching it gently. "And for the

record, I quite like people who take in strays." She met Grif-

fin's eyes with a smile, and something powerful and warm rose

in her as she stroked the animal's silky fur, her hand brushing

Griffin's as he did the same.

"I suppose we should work in the ballroom before night-

fall," he said, reluctantly putting the cat back on the ground.

"You'll need good light to train with the sickle."

She had to suppress the urge to protest. She did not want

to work with something so sharp and dangerous. Now, as they

made their way through the kitchen, she wanted to apologize

in advance for the fiasco that would surely be her training with

the sickle.

"I'm not very good with anything physical . . ." she began as

they turned down a hallway she had never seen.

He flashed her a grin as they walked. "I find that hard to

believe."

Be Tempted to Love Yourself Valentine Giveaway!

Sometimes, Valentine's Day makes me sad.

Not because I'm single and haven't been on a date in four years. On the contrary, being single these past four years has been a choice. It's allowed me to focus on my children,  my work, and myself.

It's been strangely gratifying and liberating and yes, even FUN.

Which is what I feel sad when I see people feeling lonely on Valentine's Day. This is especially true of young women, because in previous generations, it was common to equate a significant other with a sense of self-worth. But now? In 2012?!

Girls!! The world is your oyster! You can do and be anything you can possibly dream or imagine. You can do it on your own terms, without rules dictated to you by society or family or a spouse. You can choose someone to be a partner, not because you NEED one, but because that particular person adds something special to your world. Something no one else can bring to the table. And you know what?

You can buy your own damn Valentine! Because — and I'm letting you in on a little family motto that I frequently repeat to my children and all the young people in my life –no one can take care of you like you.

Let me say that again; NO ONE CAN TAKE CARE OF YOU LIKE YOU.

You know what you need and when you need it. You are uniquely equipped to care for yourself, be gentle with yourself, be GOOD to yourself, and that's true whether we're talking about a box of your favorite chocolates, a cup of tea, a bubble bath, a girl's night out, a movie curled up in bed with ice cream, an awesome book, a walk in the woods.

Only you really knows what YOU need.

So this Valentines Giveaway is all about YOU loving YOU. As I do every year, I'm going to help get you started by offering up this awesome Be Tempted to Love Yourself Valentine's Day Prize Pack.

It includes;

A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS ARC (advance reader copy)

A Victoria's Secret set with makeup bag, body spray, bath gel, and body lotion in Pure Seduction.

A vanilla candle

Nail polish in High Roller

A box of Lindt Chocolate truffles (there are some GOOD ones in there!)

A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS bookmark

A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS postcard with message from moi

A bath loofah

I hope whoever wins will use these goodies to plan a special day or night just for herself, complete with pampering and no-guilt consuming of chocolate.

You can take a bath, cue up a chick-flick (or an action flick, if you're like me), paint your nails, and eat chocolate to your heart's content! And I hope anyone who DOESN'T win will be inspired to do something nice for yourself not just on Valentine's Day — but anytime you need and want the TLC. Because you deserve it!

And if you're a dude, you can add this stuff to the already awesome stuff I'm SURE you're doing for the special woman in your life.

Entering is easy! You get one point for the following;

Leave a comment sharing something you do to take care of you

Post a link to the contest on Twitter (1 entry for each tweet)

Post a link to the contest on Facebook (1 entry for each post)

When you're done, email your total number of entries to prophecypress@aol.com. Giveaway is open to entrants in the US and Canada and runs now through Sunday, February 12th at Midnight EST.

Promises, Promises…

Love this week's song, nominated by one of my dearest friends, Winsome. Winsome and I have been friends since fifth grade when we would sit on her canopy bed with the curtains drawn and listen to Devo and The Knack.

How fitting that she would be the person to nominate a song! Love her to death! She's the one who taught me how to swim in the ocean and that clam chowder always tastes better on the pier after a long day of swimming.

And I have to say that I've never been a huge fan of Incubus, but this is very different for them. Really like it! Thanks, Winsome!

Also want to let you guys know that for tonight only there's a promotion on Twitter to win one of the last three A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS ARCs. All you have to do is tweet with the hashtag #atemptationofangels between now and Midnight. You can enter as many times as you like, one entry for every tweet with the hashtag.

You can enter to win an ARC on Goodreads, too, but only for about 10 more days so hurry!

Tomorrow I'll kick off my annual Take Care of Yourself Valentine Giveaway. I have some awesome goodies for you guys, because you don't need a significant other to have or do nice things for YOU.

Superfan Winners – ALL of You!

So I was going through the Superfan entries, trying to decide whether to use the Random Number Generator to come up with the 50 winners or whether to try and choose them, and you know what?

There's NO WAY I could choose either.

Your messages to me were so heartfelt. Many of you have been with me for years. You've convinced friends to read my books. You're tweeted about my books. You've posted Facebook statuses about my books.You've left glowing reviews on Amazon, B&N, and Goodreads.

Basically, you have done everythign possible to support my dream of writing for a living.

In my book, you're ALL Superfans. Which is why I'm giving Superfan prize packs to every one of you.

You heard me! EVERY ONE OF YOU. If you left a comment on the Superfan Giveaway post before Midnight EST last night (Friday), you get a Superfan pack. All you have to do it email your full name and address to prophecypress@aol.com. We're going to reach out via email to those of you we don't hear from, but with so many winners, it would greatly help us if you could just send your email info.

It will take a few days for Rebekah to pack everything up, but we'll get everything out to you asap. Thank you for all you do to support me and to spread the word about my books. I appreciate it — and you — more than you know. I can't wait to share the A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS release with you very, very soon!

Friday Poll; What kind of books do you REALLY want to read?

If you're a regular follower, you're probably scratching your head and wondering if it's your imagination that you've seen this poll before.

It's not.

I run this poll every six months or so because the market changes just that fast (and sometimes faster) and because it's a matter of professional curiosity for many authors. The truth is, we're all told not to write to the market, that we should write the story we want to write and trust that it will find an audience if it comes from the heart.

But you know what? It's kind of bullshit. Don't get me wrong, sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we write the story of our heart and it DOES find an editor and a publishing house and a readership. Just as often, it doesn't Just as often (and really, maybe MORE often, because I don't know too many writers who AREN'T writing from the heart anyway), we write a story from the heart and are told the moment has passed for a particular genre, the market is over-saturated, people have supernatural/paranormal/Dystopian/contemporary fatigue. Even for those of us who have a significant audience in a specific genre, it isn't at all uncommon to be told editors don't want to see XYZ genre right now.

Which kind of sucks. Because I want it to be about the reader. I want it to be about what YOU want. But publishing a business, and if publishing houses fear a trend is winding down, they're going to hedge their bets by making a very hasty exit from said genre.

Then we have to face the very harsh reality that a book we loved, a book we slaved over and literally pulled from the depths of our soul, is going to remain on our hard drive, unread, forever.

I don't know what the answer is. Certainly, it isn't to chase every market trend. The publishing business moves so slow that by the time you write something, get notes back from your agent, revise, sub the damn thing, and see it on shelves, chances are that moment has passed anyway. I think the only thing we CAN do is to write from the heart and keep our fingers crossed, despite the obvious (and sometimes financially crippling) downside.

Which doesn't do anything to alleviate the near-constant speculation. Right now, this very second, authors and agents and editors are trying to figure out what the next big thing will be. It's almost universally acknowledged that paranormal/supernatural is on its way out (and in the words of some; dead). Ditto Dystopian. With the exception of a few big names, contemporary still seems to be spinning its wheels. If not those things, then what?

Tonight, again, I'm asking YOU, dear reader. What do YOU want to read? What would make your ears perk up with excitement? You can choose as many answers as apply. And trust me, you've got authors hanging on your every vote right now, so please weigh in with this week's Friday Poll!

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Temptation Thursday!

Today there's about six weeks to the release of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS.

Six weeks! Didn't that go by fast?!

Last week I introduced you to Helen, TEMPTATION'S main character and heroine extraordinaire, and gave you a tiny teaser.

This week, you'll get a much bigger excerpt of the book and a little intro to Darius and Griffin Channing. Which is good preparation, because NEXT week you'll get to meet Griffin up close and personal.

In the meantime, the Superfan Giveway is live for about 24 more hours. 50 of you will win TEMPTATION prize packs just because I love you.

;D

You can also enter to win an ARC of A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS from Penguin on Goodreads.

Hope you enjoy this week's teaser!

It took her a few minutes to dress and find the staircase lead-

ing to the main floor.

The house was eerily quiet as she made her way through

the halls. She was used to the rushed voices of her parents,

the ticking of the grandfather clock, the scuffle of the servants

above and below stairs. Even in the dark of night, her home

had rarely been silent.

Here, there was not a sound until she reached the bottom

of the stairwell.

Murmuring drew her down the hall to the library door. The

marble was cold underfoot, but she was glad she had left her

shoes behind. They would have made too much noise on the

hard floor.

The voices grew louder as she came closer to the library.

She stopped just before reaching the doorway. The hall, spare

and without furnishing or ornament, did not leave many

places to hide. Glancing around, she settled for a deep shadow

in the corner where the hallway met the entrance to what

looked like the kitchen beyond.

Aided by the utter silence of the house, she picked up snip-

pets of conversation from the library.

"She has the pendant. She's one of us, Darius. Why are you denying

the obvious?"

She could hear the frustration in Darius's voice, even from

afar. "Because I don't want it to be true. She'll be nothing but a bur-

den. She hasn't even reached Enlightenment."

"It doesn't matter. We have to protect her."

"We can hardly protect ourselves, Griffin. She would be safer in

hiding while we find out who's responsible." There was a shuffle

from within the room, and she leaned farther back into the

shadows, still listening as Darius continued. "Let's go see Gali-

zur. He probably already knows, but we should be sure."

Boot steps sounded across the carpet, and she pressed as

far back into the shadows as she could, holding her breath and

willing herself to become invisible, yet again.

The brothers crossed the threshold of the room, turning,

and passing her without a glance. They did not head toward

the front door but to the back of the house. She waited a few

seconds before following in their footsteps. She had never fol-

lowed anyone before, but it seemed only wise to keep as much

distance between them as possible.

The click of the door somewhere beyond her line of vision

freed her from the shadows, and she hurried through the door-

way which did, indeed, lead to a cavernous kitchen. There was

only one exit. She made her way to it with as much speed as

possible. It would not do to lose the brothers in her worry

over being caught following them.

The door opened to the back of the house. She had the

sense of a garden or grounds beyond, but it was too dark to

make out anything other than the steps leading downward.

Taking them as quietly as possible, she continued down a path-

way at the side of the house. She could not be certain this was

the direction Griffin and Darius had traveled, for they were

already out of her line of sight. But the only other possibility

was the backyard, and she was quite sure the brothers were

not taking tea in the garden.

The path led her to the front of the house. She saw the

streetlight under which she had stood some time ago, trying

to decide whether or not to ring the bell, and stood back from

it, not wanting to be seen. She had a moment's panic as she

surveyed the streets, black save the pools of light seeping from

the streetlamps. What if she was too late? What if they were

already out of sight?

But no. As she looked to the right and spotted the broth-

ers making their way down the smoky walk, relief flooded

through her. She followed them down the street, trying to

maintain enough distance that they would not see her shadow

or hear her footsteps, though this was likely an unnecessary

precaution. She noted with satisfaction that her bare feet made

nary a sound on the stone.

It was not easy, trying to keep up with the long-legged

stride of the two men while trying to mind landmarks so

that she would not be lost on her way back to the house. She

was skirting a light post when a dark figure appeared out of

nowhere, standing in the shine of the lamp.

"Oh, my goodness!" She clamped a hand over her mouth

even before the words had escaped entirely.

"You must be joking." Her shock at the sudden appear-

ance of the figure was outdone only by her surprise at the

dry—and now slightly familiar—voice that came from its

direction.

She leaned toward him, peering through the fog. "Darius?"

He sighed, tipping his head so that she could make out his

features. "You shouldn't sound so surprised, given that you

were following us. Unless you're in the habit of following

strangers?"

She shook her head. "But you . . . I . . . That is, I was fol-

lowing you."

"I think that has already been established." The voice came

from behind her. She knew without turning that it belonged

to Griffin.

She blinked a few times, trying to clear the fog that seemed

to have drifted from the street to her mind. "I was following

you. That means you were in front of me."

Darius folded his arms across his chest, his expression

growing as dark as the streets around them. "That's generally

how following someone works." His gaze drifted to Griffin.

"She is a clever one, brother."

"No need to be snide," she snapped. "You know what I

mean."

She looked up the street where they had been walking only

moments before. She knew they had been there. She had seen

them. And yet now Darius was right beside her as if he had

appeared out of thin air.

Habits by Maria Mena

This week's song, Habits by Maria Mena, is brought to you by Travis who recommended last week when I did my shout out on Facebook. It's so simple but so beautiful. Really love the piano and the woman's voice. It reminds me a little of Allison's in A Fine Frenzy (one of my favorites!).

Hope you guys enjoy it!

And don't forget that the Superfan Giveaway is up and running through Friday. 50 of you will win, and this is a no strings attached giveaway. Just my way of saying thank you for all you do to support me.

 

Superfan Giveaway – 50 Winners!

It's finally time! And I shouldn't say finally, because usually I do one of these a year, right before each book releases. But Circle of Fire released just six months ago, and here I am, preparing for the launch of another book.

Which means another Superfan giveaway! WOOT!

Those of you who have been fans for awhile know what this is, but for those of you who are knew to my posse, let me explain;

You all know that I do a TON of giveaways. I enjoy doing it and like connecting directly with readers, so rather than spending money on formal advertising, most of my personal marketing budget goes into awesome swag which I then give away to you guys here, on Twitter, and on Facebook. Most of the time, those giveaways require that you do something to win, i.e. change your Twitter picture to a book cover, tweet the link to a contact, refer a friend to my website, etc., because well…. it's promotion! That's kind of the point.

But I happen to think I have the best fans EVAR. So once a year, I do a no strings attached giveaway in which I give away 50 (yes, 50!) Superfan prize packs just because you're awesome and do so much to spread the word about my books throughout the year.

This Superfan giveaway is all about A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS.

Each winner will receive;

6 Temptation Bookmarks (1 for you and 5 to give away, leave at your library or bookstore, etc.)

Signed Temptation bookplate (to put in your book when you get one or give away to a friend)

Gold angel wing picture frame

Are You Tempted? candy tin with chocolate hugs or kisses

Signed postcard from moi

Entering is easy! All you have to is leave a comment explaining why you're a Superfan. Please make sure your email is valid so we can send you a notification if you win. Following me on Twitter and leaving your Twitter handle helps, too, because when all else fails, I can send you a message there letting you know you've won.

That's it! This giveaway runs now through Midnight EST Friday February 3rd and is open to fans in the US and Canada. And while you wait for the winners to be announced, why not mosey over to Goodreads and enter to win the A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS ARC up for grabs from Penguin/Dial?!

Thank you again for all you guys do for me. It's only through your support that I'm able to do for a living the thing that I love most.You make ALL the difference.

Things I Love – Thrift Stores!

I have a secret; I'm not a fan of shopping. That is, I'm not a fan of the kind of shopping where you go to a generic mall and spend hours hoofing it through antiseptic stores with muzac streaming from the speakers.

I do, however, love shopping at thrift stores. It's a totally different experience. You never know what you're going to get and everything is more compact and concentrated. Plus, I always feel better about recycling clothes this way instead of consuming new stuff that ends up getting taken to the thrift store a couple of years later anyway.

And I'm totally not picky about the thrift store. It doesn't have to be a fancy, hipster store. I'm perfectly happy with Goodwill or the Salvation Army.

Case in point, Rebekah and I made a trip to our local Salvation Amry today and totally cleaned up for Rebekah. This is what we got for $50;

2 jackets, 2 dresses, 3 sweaters, 1 pair burgundy velvet pants, 2 skirts, 4 blouses, and 1 pair vintage Mary Janes.

Crazy, right?!

So, this week, thrift stores are what I love!

Friday Poll; Coke, Grape, or Root Beer?

Last week's Friday Poll was all about how you prefer to spend a cold, winter night. More than 70% of you said you preferred curling up in front of a fire with a good book.

I KNEW you were my people!

 

Before we get to this week's poll, let me just say that I don't drink soda very often.

Honest!

It's, like, evil incarnate for the body, what with all that high fructose corn syrup. Most of the time, if I feel like something other than water, I drink seltzer.

But EVERY NOW AND THEN, you just gotta have it. Tonight was one of those nights. Rebekah actually made an "emergency" run to the store because, we all agreed, it was a Coke kind of night.

I figured it would be a good topic for this week's poll. So what say you? When you REALLY want a glass of soda, what do you usually reach for?

Weigh in with the Friday Poll!

And in case you missed it, you can meet the main character in A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS here and get this week's sneak peek with a free excerpt of the book.

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