Maya Banks's Blog, page 7

Holiday Themed Stories

So here's a question. When do you start looking for, wanting to read holiday themed stories? Early? Last minute? Somewhere in between? I'm working on A Colter Christmas and it's not ALL about Christmas. Christmas occurs but it's not all Christmassy throughout the entire story. But I'm trying to decide when to release it so I could use your feedback! :)

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

Top Ten Random Things That Annoy Me

Eh so this is a post poking fun at me and the things I find annoying. Note: Most of them are ridiculous, nitpicky or just plain weird. But hey, who knows why people are annoyed by the things they are :)

1. Reviewers who take multiple names/accounts so they can post multiple reviews of the same book while appearing to be different people. How creepy and stalkerish is that? I admit I'm puzzled by why people do the things they do. I just find it weird and awfully time consuming. I can't imagine why anyone would invest that kind of time focusing on one book/author. (and yes this does happen. Really!) I'm always left with the same question. What do they get out of it? What's the payoff?

2. Authors who preach at other authors about how they should behave/act/react whatever. I find mostly that authors who complain the most and point the finger the most are usually the ones most guilty of stupid and or unprofessional behavior.

3. On twitter, people who post vague tweets in response to something that happens on a closed loop. I mean why? Your followers aren't on that loop and they don't care about your self righteous response to something they have no clue about. Nor are they interested in your attempt to make yourself look good at the expense of mocking or criticizing someone else.

4. On Facebook, people who have their twitter feed posted to their facebook. And little else on their page. You aren't talking to your Facebook followers. You're talking to your TWITTER followers and Facebook people don't have a clue nor are they interested in eavesdropping on your twitter feed. If they wanted to read your tweets, they'd sign up for twitter and follow you. Facebook people want to talk to you via Facebook. Not twitter!

5. People who try to tell me what I can or can't do, or that my choices aren't valid because they aren't choices they themselves would have made. Just…go away.

6. Gas stations that haven't raised their credit card limits accordingly to the huge increase in price per gallon. Hell, I can only put half a tank of gas into my SUV at a time. Get with the program. At almost 4 bucks a gallon, your "limit" is chump change.

7. Unmotivated, lazy people who rail at their lack of success and yet won't do a damn thing to change their circumstances. This is particularly relevant in sports. I see this and it's really annoying when say half a team works hard and wants to win and learn and the other half could give a crap. This is also relevant in well just about everything. Is see it in publishing a lot. Authors like to whine and complain about how this and that isn't working or they can't sell books or they can't write because of some reason or another and there's always an excuse for failure and reasons why they can't do something.

8. When my children follow me from room to room as I run with my laptop trying to escape to somewhere silent so I can get my word count in for the day and they follow me like a pack of wolves who've scented blood. Yes, I'm being dramatic. No, I'm not lying. I think the wolves might be quieter at least.

9. People who don't respond. Now this sounds vague or general but really it's a pretty broad annoyance in any field. Whether it's a phone call, email, whatever. I admit I'm not the most patient person in the world. It's a fault of mine. But when I can't get information or a response or SOMETHING from someone after repeated attempts, emails, phone calls or whatever? It's a pretty sure thing I'm going to be pissed. And grumpy. And extremely irritated.

10. People with a sense of entitlement. Now really this shouldn't need any explanation. It too applies to a broad spectrum of people and circumstances. I see it a lot. It annoys the shit out of me. People want what someone else has. They don't want to put in the work that someone else has. But they want it. Think they deserve it. They should have it for no other reason than they feel entitled.

Feel free to add your own if like me you needed to vent a little steam. It's either that or develop an eye twitch *g*

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

Pressie winners!

Yes, I'm late. It's been that kind of week. I've been up late working every night but up early because my daughter has softball camp this week. I'm a slobbering mess. I need sleep!

Anyway, here are the winners of the book giveaway!!

Almost Home winner, Hope!

Breaking Point winner, Carlyn McKechnie

Chosen By Blood winner, Megerfly

Deadly Dreams winner, Alex D!

Savage Nature winner, Dannielle

Dragon Bound winner, Kathryn

Summer at Seaside Cove winner, Amber R

The Emily March trilogy winner, Alison

If you're a winner please email me your mailing address to mayaATmayabanks.com so that your book(s) can be shipped out to you

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

Pressie giveaway!

I'm a bit late with this. I recently went to NYC for meetings with my publishers and I promised to bring back pressies for my readers! I raided my editors' offices (boy was that fun) and I also asked them for suggestions for you guys. So many of these were picked by my editors for me to give away :)

Here's what I have to give away!

Three Emily March titles: Angel's Rest, Hummingbird Lake and Heartache Falls. These covers are so gorgeous. I love them. And I've heard such good things about this trilogy. My editor thought you guys would really enjoy them!

Almost Home by Mariah Stewart

Breaking Point by Pamela Clare

Chosen by Blood by Virna DePaul

Deadly Dreams by Kylie Brant

Savage Nature by Christine Feehan

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Summer at Seaside Cove by Jacquie D'Alessandro

Okay, so here's what YOU do to in. Tell me which book (or books as in the case of the Emily March trilogy) do you want? Easy right? That's it. Just tell me what you want to win. I'll leave entries open until this weekend some time and I'll post winners Mondayish?

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

Sweet Addiction blurb!

This time he won't walk away…

He awakened a need within her…

Cole is successful beyond his dreams. He can have any woman he wants, but there's only one he can't stop thinking about. His childhood sweetheart, Renita. He's never forgotten his first taste of innocent love and the desire that consumed them—or the pain he brought upon her…

But now she belongs to another…

Her long ago brush with submission awakened a longing in Ren that drove her to walk the darker edge of desire. She's become a beautiful woman at ease with her sexuality and unapologetic about her need for a dominant man. When Cole finds her again, he's gutted that she belongs to another. Ren's current master agrees to give her to Cole for a short time, but then she must return to his keeping. And though Cole agrees to this bargain, he knows he will never be able to let Ren go again…

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

Whispers in the Dark back cover copy!

Tadah! I finally have the back cover copy for Whispers in the Dark. I'm so excited!

She came to him when he needed her the most

She came to him at his lowest point. The voice of an angel, a whisper in the dark. She's the only thing that gets Nathan Kelly through his captivity, the endless days of torture and the fear that he'll never return to his family. With her help, he's able to escape. But he isn't truly free, because now she's disappeared and he's left with an all-consuming emptiness as he struggles to pick up the pieces of his life. Did he imagine his angel? Or is she out there, needing his help as he'd once needed hers?

Now he rushes to save her before it's too late

Shea has been on the run from people who will stop at nothing to exploit her unique abilities. She never wanted to drag Nathan, who'd already suffered so much, into danger, but she doesn't have a choice so she reaches out to him for help. Finally face-to-face after having already formed a soul-deep bond in hell, their emotional connection is even more powerful than their telepathic one. Nathan refuses to consider ever letting her go again, but she worries they can never have a life free of the dangers that dog her every step. He'll protect her with his every breath, but can he convince her that they are meant to face these threats together?

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

MB Bookstore is now open!

I've had so many readers ask how they can get autographed copies of my print books and I promised them I was working on it :) I've been working on getting my bookstore up and running since last year and we're now ready to open. Yay!

You can find it at http://www.mbbookstore.com

There are two things you need to know about the store. In the past I've released "ebooks" through Samhain and then I have books I release through other publishers like Berkley (The Sweet and KGI series) and the Harlequin Desires and those all release simultaneously in print and digital. Going forward, any NEW digital only releases that I publish will be released through MB Bookstore.com

Now this doesn't apply to books published by Berkley, Ballantine or Harlequin. This only applies to shorter releases, like the upcoming A Colter Christmas!

And before you ask, yes, you will absolutely still be able to purchase my digital only releases from Amazon, Barnes and Noble etc! MB Bookstore will be the "home" store and you can always find information about new digital only releases either at MB Bookstore.com or on my website MayaBanks.com

In addition to new digital releases, you will also be able to purchase autographed and personalized copies of my print titles direct from the store.

Go poke around!

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

ARC Giveaway!

The folks at the Romance at Random Facebook page are giving away an ARC of In Bed with a Highlander. Hop over there for an opportunity to get an early peek at this book :)

http://www.facebook.com/RomanceAtRandom

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

KGI news!

I waas in NYC all week for meetings with my publishers and one of the things that Berkley wanted to talk about was moving up Whispers in the Dark to January 2012. I had a good idea that this was going to happen but I wanted absolute confirmation before I told everyone. So, anyway, yes, Whispers in the Dark (Nathan's book) will be published in January instead of February and it's also very likely that Echoes at Dawn (Rio's book) will be moved up as well.

So while it's still a bit of a wait, you WILL be getting that book sooner :) My publisher and I both wanted to make sure this book is going to be just what we want for my readers so we're working very hard to make that happen.

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.

How about some new covers?

Today was a bounty of riches in my email! I got the covers for Whispers in the Dark AND Sweet Addiction. Tell me what you think!

©2011 Maya Banks: Southern Sin. All Rights Reserved.

.