Hailey Edwards's Blog, page 85
February 2, 2011
Paranormal Romantics
Yep. Yep. It's Wednesday, which means I blogged over at PNRomantics. The topic this was was my favorite character from a series, plus my favorite that I've written. You can find my thoughts on Thomas Raith plus ramblings about Aiden and Nathaniel right here.
January 30, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday
Here we go again… 
Five years, I dealt with his death every morning while my mind teetered on the brink of waking or never waking. Every night when I cried until breath left my lungs and my soul wept for him.
God, I never would have… So many things I wouldn't have done, had I known.
Shame glazed my skin with a thin sheen of sweat. I'd failed this beautiful creature.
For more SSS goodness, check out the official blog here.
January 29, 2011
Interviewed!
I was interviewed by Linda at Fallen Angel Reviews this week. It's the most in depth interview I've given to date. *phew* I broke a sweat doing this one, plus I shared one my favorite recipes–for honey crunch pecan pie.
Read all about it here.
January 26, 2011
Paranormal Romantics
It's Wednesday again, which means it's my day to blog over at PNRomantics. Today's topic is using weather to enhance writing. I'm sure this shocks most of you…but I might have wandered off topic a bit. See how far here.
January 22, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday
I'm over the halfway hump! Wheeeeeee! (Sorry, I'm excited. Can you tell?) Here's more from Evermine, which has spun in my hands and turned into something completely different than anything I would ever have imagined.
I wanted to run my hands through the shaggy length, twine my fingers, tug his scalp and bend him to my lips. Would he taste of dates and cardamom? He had once, when we lived in another realm, in another time. Before the private war raging against his race's enslavement by mine held him prisoner. Before he ripped my sister and me from our homeland, saved us, brought us here to Earth to live among his people. Act human, look human, and all will be well.
For more SSS goodness, check out the official blog right here.
KJ in the Kitchen
KJ Reed posted a picture of the cutest cupcakes ever on Twitter a couple of days ago. They were so darling, I shanghaied her into giving me step by step instructions so that my daughter and I could tackle a batch next weekend. I know, I know.
Me and my cupcakes. What can I say? They're an addiction.
Wait until you see these. Resist? I think not.
I'll go ahead and turn the show over to KJ. Let's get decorating!
KJ: I first started with simple vanilla cupcakes that I baked earlier in the day and let cool. I'm lazy, so I just used the boxed stuff. 
I mean, if I was going to put this much effort into the decoration, why would I need to bother baking the cupcakes from scratch?!
I first iced the cupcakes with a layer of white icing from a can. Then I took a large marshmallow and cut it in half, diagonally, so that each half formed a triangle. I used icing to secure the half marshmallow to the cake for the tail. And then I used a donut hole for the head. Once I was sure both head and tail were secure with icing, I stuck them in the freezer to harden. (About 15-20 minutes worked.) If you want some duck butts, just put the marshmallow in the middle of the cupcake and don't add a head.
While that happened, I took one can of icing and dumped it into a glass measuring cup, then mixed in the yellow icing to the right color I wanted. I nuked it for about 40 seconds (stirring every 10-15 seconds) until it was the consistency of whipping cream. It should be slightly warm. Not hot. Definitely not boiling!
When the cupcakes were frozen, I took them out and held them by the paper bottom. Then I dipped them into the melted icing until it was covered and there were no spots that I could see through.
Set them aside until they harden. While they harden, take some orange starburst and roll them out thin. Mold some into beaks, others into feet. Then attach them with icing once the ducks are hardened and cooled. Using a little dollop of white icing to add brown mini-M&Ms for eyes, and you're done!
Duck Cupcakes – Recipe/instructions from the book What's New, Cupcake?
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Thanks for the instructions, KJ! I'll take over from here.
Two words: Duck Butt ->
This was my favorite. It tipped the cute scale into abso-freaking-lutely adorable territory.
To make this an even better tutorial, KJ videotaped herself preparing a batch of these little guys. I'll embed the video below so you can get the gist if you're a watch-and-go kind of baker. (I admit, I'm guilty of drive by decorating inspiration.)
January 19, 2011
Samhain Revamp
Yes, yes, I'm a couple of days behind blogging about the new Samhain Publishing revamp. A lot of that is because I wanted to wait out the kinks (you believe that, right?) Everything seems to be up and running now, and the site looks great. It's cleaner and brighter, just a very cool new design all around. Now–to to cool bits.
*Pre-ordering books. You can now pre-order titles up to thirty days prior to release and receive a 30% discount in the process. I gave it a try first off, and I'm waiting to see how the notification system works. I love having release days stress removed from the equation. I prefer to click and order/pre-order the second something shiny catches my eye.
*Discount for buying on-site–I'm not sure about percentages, but I see paperbacks going for $10 and eBooks discounted by a dollar or so. Niiiice. My wallet likes that already.
*I think the third "big deal" in the revamp is the announcement of the Horror Line. Sam makes it official in the submission section that Don D'Auria is heading up their new venture. Sounds cool. I'm interested to see if opening the door to mainstream horror leads to anything else of interest.
*If you're an author, then a nifty feature is coming soon where we can check our sales on-site. For whatever reason, I have access to the feature now, and it is rather cool. Hopefully, it will be live for everyone else soon.
I think that's about it. The best thing for it is, of course, cruising around the site yourself and having a look around.
January 16, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday
This Sunday, I'm happy to report that I'm one-third finished with this MS.
(Is there an echo in here? LOL)
Since most of my work is around 60K, I stop every 20k and re-read. I like to make notes on threads I've left dangling in case I forget, and it really just works better for me in terms of pacing and that sort of thing.
On that note, it's rare for me to read something I've written and be truly happy with it. It's happened exactly once before now, with the first chapter of Wicked Kin. The newest new first chapter of Evermine is the second time I've finished a scene and thought–this is it. It doesn't get any better.
Now that the first third is shining, it's time to move into phase two. Exciting stuff.
He chuckled as I stared, captivated by the flush of scarlet through his carmine wings. Glamour made him human, handsome with his black hair and blue gray eyes. Without it, words failed me. His burnished ebony skin fed into thick, leather wings. Fathomless eyes returned my gaze, rimming silver around his irises. His midnight hair, darkly tousled.
For more SSS goodness, check out the official blog right here.
January 14, 2011
Detoxification
I finished reading Poison Kissed a few days ago. I've kind of sat on blogging about it, because I was already suffering withdrawal symptoms before I turned the last page. Shadowfae hooked me. Shadowglass, I really enjoyed. But Poison Kissed is my hands down favorite.
I did wonder how well I would like a snake hero. I've seen them around, but never read one. Well, let me tell you—Joey is a sweetheart. He melted my butter faster than any other character in the series. Oh, sure. He has that tough as nails exterior, but you see his soft underbelly whenever he's around Mina. His uncertainty where she's concerned is precious, and his shame makes you ache for him. It doesn't hurt that his partial shifts were strangely erotic.
More than any of the other books in this series, PK floats a lot of sexual tension. It got to a point where I was so full of "Jump him! Now!" I was willing to change my name to Mina if it got us there faster. (I might still be willing to wear a blue wig and pretend. Just sayin')
If I had one nitpick about this book, it would be the focus shifted from Joey/Mina more often than I would have liked. I'd have to say, that's probably due to the fact Joey had me wrapped around his little flipper. I missed him when he wasn't around. He was an unexpected sweet spot in an otherwise dark and deliciously twisted novel. I could not get enough of him.
I should also mention we're introduced to another character in PK that really tickled me. His name is Diamond, and he's a glassfairy. If you've ever hung around with me in chat, you probably have a good idea of how Diamond talks. He's probably the only guy I know who makes up more words on the fly than I do. Good, good stuff. He's also the hero of the next novel, Blood Cursed, which has me rubbing my greedy little hands together in anticipation.
Sadly, now I've polished off the series up to this point, and I'm in detox. Seriously.
Ending Poison Kissed and picking up the next book in my TBR pile was like stepping from a Technicolor film into static black and white. Nothing measures up. Nothing has the kind of sensory overload this series has made me crave. That, my friends, is what makes this series magical. It's a different animal than anything else out there. And I can't wait for August. 
Beyond the veil of magic, a fairy otherworld pulses with glamour and dark beauty. It's a place where passions run deep and dark — and death is just one kiss away…
Mina is a banshee whose greatest power lies in her siren song. She's beholden to her boss Joey, a snake-shifter who once saved her life and now employs her as a gang enforcer. She refuses to upset the fragile balance between them by admitting that she longs for him, that his embrace is the only thing she craves more than revenge for her mother's death…
When Mina learns that Joey may have been involved in her mother's murder, fury threatens to spill out of her, note by vicious note. She and Joey have always trusted each other to stay alive, but now she's not sure what to believe. The evidence stacked against him — or the one man who haunts her dreams and burns in her blood…
For more information on the author, check out her website or her blog.
