Larissa Ione's Blog, page 11
January 31, 2011
Guest Blogging and Giveaways
Happy Monday!!!!!!! 
No, I'm not really that excited about Monday, but I'm hoping the exclamation points and smileys will fool me into being thrilled.
Not so much. 
Anyway, a couple of quick things: First, I'm at Zoe Winters's blog giving away a couple of copies of Eternity Embraced, so pop on over!
Second, only six days left to add your ballot in All About Romance's annual poll. Get your favorite in!
Third, my Sydney Croft partner, Stephanie Tyler, is giving away books at Joan Swan's blog. If you like romantic suspense and hot military heroes, this is your contest! 
Have a great day!
January 30, 2011
Eternity Embraced at Barnes & Noble!
Just a quick update for those who have asked.
Eternity Embraced is now available for the Nook at Barnes & Noble! I'll let you know when it's up in the Sony store and Apple store, but all formats can be purchased at Smashwords in the meantime, and it's definitely up on Amazon.
Also, I'll soon be putting Bloodlust up at Smashwords so that it'll be available in multiple formats instead of just a PDF download. I'll let you know when that happens!
Happy Sunday, everyone!
January 28, 2011
The Coolest News…
So my husband and I have been married for 15 years. We met while I was working in the Galveston National Weather Service office, and he was an accident investigator with the Coast Guard. He was enlisted at the time.
We started dating, got married, had a son, and moved all over the U.S. We've lived in Texas, Oregon, California, Washington (twice), Michigan, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin. We've had crappy assignments and good assignments. We've had land stations, and he's been assigned to boats. We lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, but we've gained great friends.
All the while, the one thing Bryan wanted was to get command of his own ship. To reach that goal, he applied to Officer Candidate School, and in the middle of our move from California to Michigan, he found out he was accepted. So my son and I lived with my parents in Washington while he spent 6 months at the Academy. He earned his commission and we moved around some more, and though he got more assignments on boats, he always ended up second in command instead of getting to be captain.
When we moved to Wisconsin a year and a half ago, we knew he had only one assignment left until retirement. He turned in his "dream sheet" — called that because you're dreaming if you think you're getting any of your top choices — and hoped for the best. By this point, what he wanted most was to just get an assignment that was close by, because we decided that we didn't want to move our son again. He'd been in and out of so many schools and had a terrible bullying problem at our last assignment that we just wanted some stability for him in his high school years.
So the plan was that Bryan would go to his next assignment by himself, and I'd stay here with our son. We could handle it — it should only be a year…maybe two. So the most important thing was for him to be close. Sure, he still held onto that dream of getting command, but it had kind of been pushed aside by family needs and the wear and tear of the job. The main goal was to survive until retirement and be as close to home as possible.
Well, we just found out his assignment.
He not only got command of a boat, but he'll be stationed only six hours away, close enough to come home on holidays, long weekends, and in the event of emergencies. Finally…he got first pick of assignments and reached his goat of getting his own ship.
I'm so damned proud of him.
WAY TO GO, HONEY!!!!!!! We'll celebrate when you get home! 
January 26, 2011
Talking Covers…Need Some Input
Hi everyone!
First off, I have to say that I have had the best luck with covers, both for the US and foreign editions. My publishers are amazing.
So now my editor and I are discussing the US cover for Immortal Rider, which is the second book in the Lords of Deliverance series about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
As you can see, Eternal Rider features the hero, Ares, alone. The thing that's catching us on Immortal Rider is that the Horseman, Limos, is female, and the hero…is human. Oh, sure, he's a hot, badass demon-slaying military human, but he's not a Horseman. (He so has his work cut out for him with Limos, let me tell you!) 
So my question to you is…given that Limos is the Horseman, would it be odd to have just a hunky male on the cover? Would you prefer to see just a female? Or would a steamy couple be more to your liking?
For example, Lore in Ecstasy Unveiled got his own cover, and I think it worked because he was the Seminus demon hero in a series about Seminus demons. But then came Sin. She got a cover with with Con (which I freaking LOVED.)
Okay, so you know the background of this particular issue, but when you're at the store and browsing covers and know nothing about the books, what draws your eye? A cover with just a guy? A couple? Does seeing just a female make you think urban fantasy as opposed to romance?
And just out of curiosity, because I'm nosy that way…what color tends to draw your eye? Me…if a cover is blue, I'm all over it. I love blue covers. With a moon! My favorite cover of all time is Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World
…in fact, I was so enchanted with the cover, which was made into a bookmark, that I bought the book without even knowing what it was about.
That is the power of a good cover! (And, by the way, it's also one of my all-time favorite books, so I'm glad I judged that book by its cover!)
Inquiring minds want to know!
January 24, 2011
Back to Work!
Okay, so I powered through my deadlines, got my Facebook fan/reader page up and running, and got Eternity Embraced on virtual shelves. Time to buckle down and get to serious work on the third Lords of Deliverance book before revisions for the second book come back.
In case you missed it over the weekend, Eternity Embraced, while it might be a couple of months overdue, has released! Here's a repeat of the info:
Right now it's only available in two places — Amazon and Smashwords.
Smashwords will be distributing it to all the major ebook retailers including Barnes & Noble soon, but for now, it can be bought in Kindle format at Amazon and at Smashwords in all formats including Kindle.
So…what is Eternity Embraced? It's the short story originally printed in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, but it has been tweaked and expanded for its digital release. For those who prefer to read in print, you can find the added chapters (two of them) here. (But don't read them if you haven't read the print version yet! Spoiler!)
For some reason, I can't adjust the description on Amazon yet, so please be aware that this IS a short story, a little over 13,000 words, so please don't be expecting a novel.
Also, over on my Facebook page, winners of the big contest have been announced. If you missed it, didn't win, or don't have a Facebook page, fear not, because I'll be holding more giveaways here on my blog and on the Writeminded Readers group.
Happy Monday and happy reading, everyone!
January 22, 2011
Eternity Embraced Releases!
Hi everyone! So excited to announce that my novella, Eternity Embraced has FINALLY released!
Now, there's a teeny catch. Right now it's only available in two places — Amazon and Smashwords.
Smashwords will be distributing it to all the major ebook retailers soon, but for now, it can be bought in Kindle format at Amazon and at Smashwords in all formats including Kindle.
So…what is Eternity Embraced? It's the short story originally printed in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance, but it has been tweaked and expanded for its digital release. For those who prefer to read in print, you can find the added chapters (two of them) here. (But don't read them if you haven't read the print version yet! Spoiler!)
For some reason, I can't adjust the description on Amazon yet, so please be aware that this IS a short story, a little over 13,000 words, so please don't be expecting a novel.
Also, over on my Facebook page, I'm still running the contest all weekend. You really have to scroll to find all the contests — it's like a big treasure hunt! Lots of reader comments between the contests have buried them a bit. Just keep scrolling! When you get to the second Jaci Burton contest, you've come to the end.
Okay, I think that's it for today. Have a wonderful weekend!!!!
January 21, 2011
Huge Facebook Giveaway!
Hi everyone!
Over on my Facebook fan page, I'm having a huge unfriend/like event! Okay, so what is an "unfriend/like" event?
Well, I'm trying to move everyone from my friend page, which has hit its limit of 5,000 friends, to my reader/fan page, which will have unlimited potential. I'm asking people to "unfriend" my friend page because in order to deactivate it but keep my fan/reader page, I can't have any friends, and I need to manually unfriend people, which will take days. So if people do it themselves, it'll save a lot of work.
Anyway, I'm giving away a gob of stuff, something every hour and sometimes on the half hour. I've got a whole bunch of author guests giving away ARCs, gift certificates, and goodies! (I've got an AWESOME lineup of authors!)
So pop by and "like" my fan page and then comment on the individual contests to enter. You might also have to "like" or friend the guest authors too as part of the deal, but hey, that's part of the fun!
If you don't have a Facebook page, don't worry…I have contests on my blog too. In fact, I'll be having one very soon.
So come on over and party!
P.S. Most contests are open internationally! You have all weekend to enter the contests, and winners will be announced Monday!
January 18, 2011
$#!% My Husband Says…
…when reading my books.
On Eternal Rider: "If my cock stirred as much as Ares's does, I could make cookies with it."
While reading Ecstasy Unveiled: "What is it with you and couplings of dubious consent?"
On Passion Unleashed: "You based Wraith's character on me, didn't you?" (He wishes…)
In general: "Your books aren't good bathroom reading material for guys. Too many sex scenes." (I had to think about that one for a minute…)
On Eternal Rider: "How come Cara is always wearing pajamas? Oh, wait…you must have based her character on you."
On Eternal Rider: "I just got to the first pseudo-sex scene, and in true Larissa fashion, consent was iffy." (Okay, in my defense, my husband has been working in sub-zero temperatures for weeks. His brain in frozen. That scene isn't iffy AT ALL. Now, the kissing scene before it…and maybe the kiss scene before that…)
January 17, 2011
The Coast Guard At Work…and Play!
For those who don't know, my husband is an officer in the Coast Guard, and he spends winters bopping around the Great Lakes on his Coast Guard boat, breaking ice.
This is him standing in the middle of Lake Michigan…with his boat behind him. It's about 4 degrees outside, and really, I think he's crazy. And cold.
January 16, 2011
Frostfire Winners
Hey, everyone! Thanks so much for wishing Lynn well on her release of Frostfire
! I have winners…chosen using the widget at Random.org. Love that widget!
Anyway, if you are a winner, please contact me using the "CONTACT" button above in the main menu, and send me your address, as well as your choice of format — print book or Kindle download. (If Kindle, I need your email address to send it to instead of your mailing address.)
Congrats to:
#5 Judie Bouldry
#17 Kristine
#67 Daisyduck
Happy Sunday, everyone!
