Christine Rains's Blog, page 104

Colonization Blog Tour - Guest Post with Aubrie Dionne

Please welcome sci-fi romance author, Aubrie Dionne.Colonization is her newest book, and by far, my favorite of all her stories.You can read my review of it here.Take it away, Aubrie!

Why I Love Working with Inkspell Publishing:
When Inkspell publishing agreed to take Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed last spring, I was ecstatic. I’d had two offers from two different publishing companies, and Inkspell won hands down. Their website is gorgeous, their covers are phenomenal, and I loved the sound of the stories they had coming out. I thought my book would be a perfect fit.

Not only that, but they have a print contract for most of their books, which is hard to find nowadays with small publishers. Having a print book is a great marketing tool. You can only do a Goodreads giveaway if the book is in print, and some reviewers won’t take ebooks, not to mention book signings, so print definitely opens more doors.

As I got to know the people at Inkspell, I loved the company even more. They are polite, courteous, and always get back to me as soon as possible, unlike other companies I’ve dealt with that don’t return my emails at all. They make me feel special, and they support my book wholeheartedly. I think it’s important to find a company that believes in you and your work.

As I started to read the ARC’s coming out of Inkspell, I was amazed. Want by Stephanie Lawton was so irresistible, I couldn’t put it down. I ate it up like chocolate balls and ice cream. Frozen by Annabelle Blume was another steamy hit. Book after book that I read I liked. I knew I’d truly found a home for my YA books.

Aubrie Dionne is an author and flutist in New England. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. Her newest YA sci fi novel with Inkspell Publishing titled: Colonization: Paradise Reclaimed, was released in October. When she's not writing, Aubrie teaches flute and plays in orchestras. She's a big Star Trek TNG fan, as well as Star Wars and Serenity.

Visit Aubrie at her website and her blog. You can find her on Goodreads and Twitter.

Colonization is now available on Amazon, B&N, and Inkspell Publishing.

Blurb: Finding a new home has never been so dangerous.

Andromeda has spent all seventeen years of her life aboard a deep space transport vessel destined for a paradise planet. Her safe cocoon is about to break open as Paradise 21 looms only one month away, and she must take the aptitude tests to determine her role on the new world and her computer assigned lifemate. As a great-granddaughter of the Commander of the ship, she wants to live up to her family name. But, her forbidden love for her childhood friend, Sirius, distracts her and she fails the tests. The results place her in a menial role in the new colony and pair her with Corvus, “the oaf”.

But when Andromeda steps foot on Paradise 21, her predestined future is the least of her worries. Alien ghosts from a failed colonization warn her of a deadly threat to her colony. And when Sirius's ship crashes on the far ridge in an attempt to investigate, she journeys to rescue him with Corvus.

Andromeda now must convince the authorities of the imminent danger to protect her new home. What she didn't expect was a battle of her own feelings for Sirius and Corvus.

Can she save the colony and discover her true love? 

GIVEAWAY TIME!  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Five for November 30, 2012

1. I'm a NaNoWriMo winner! I didn't finish before Thanksgiving, but a virus attacked me. Knocked me out for two days. I still made the goal with time to spare. I haven't managed to find time to get back to the story and finish it yet, though. It's been such a busy week.
2. Most of my Christmas shopping for the family is done. We're on a tight budget this year. I'm doing a photo theme. We had a family portrait done. It's... um, department store quality. Every family needs at least one cheesy department store photo, right? Everyone's going to be looking at my son anyway. That's what I tell myself. I also made up calendars with pictures of my son on Shutterfly. I love their site. It's easy to use and such prices for products people really love.
3. This past month I've been dealing with a health issue that secretly weighed heavy on me. I have no idea why I was quiet about it and brushed it off even with friends and family. During my recent mammogram, they found a lump. I went in for an ultrasound to confirm it and then had a biopsy done. I told myself and everyone else I wasn't worried. Yet when the results came back that it was benign and truly nothing to be concerned about, I felt so light and relieved. I guess I was more worried than I let on even to myself. I believe it's so important for women to do regular self exams and have mammograms starting at the age of 40. If there's history of breast cancer in the family, they should start younger than that. I also learned that finding a lump is more common than I realized. So many of my friends came out and told me the same thing happened with them. I had no idea. Why do women never talk about this amongst ourselves? There's no shame in it and no woman is alone in it. There may be a month dedicated to breast cancer, but talk still isn't happening as it should.
4. My mom is coming for an early Christmas visit next week. We'll be picking her up at the airport on Sunday afternoon and then going to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Mmmm. There will shopping. A lot of shopping. I'm exhausted already!
5. I've been working on posts for my 1301 blog tour. I'm so excited. I have the schedule locked in and I have fantastic hosts. If you'd still like to be part of any of my blog tours for the 13th Floor series, you can click on the tab above to find the dates for each book.
Here is my 1301 blog tour lineup:Dec. 13 - Cherie Reich and Livia Peterson
Dec. 14 - Nick Wilford
Dec. 15 - Tania Walsh
Dec. 16 - M. Pepper Langlinais
Dec. 17 - Aubrie Dionne
Dec. 18 - Clare Dugmore
Dec. 19 - Kyra Lennon  and Jackie Felger
Dec. 20 - Shannon Lawrence
Have a great weekend! 

Blindsided Christmas Photo Bloghop

Kyra Lennon wants to see our Christmas photos. All dressed-up or acting silly. It must be a new photo or taken over the last few years. No childhood pictures. Just post your picture between November 26th and December 7th. There's prizes! Click on the badge for details and the linky list to visit other participants. It's going to be so much fun!

Okay, you're not going to see me in these pictures. I don't remember the last time I wore anything festive. Sorry. My son is much, much more photogenic anyway!

Christmas 2010 in Santa pajamas

  Christmas 2011 in a Christmas sweaterand sharing a treat with a friend 
 December 2011 wearing jingle bells

Blindsided Blog Tour - Guest Post on Romance by Kyra Lennon

I'm thrilled to have the lovely Kyra Lennon here with me today.She's celebrating the release of her new contemporary romance novel,Blindsided.Take it away, Kyra!
Blindsided is all about a holiday romance. Those words usually bring to mind sun, sand, cocktails, and making out on the beach with an oiled up hunk. But in Blindsided, the holiday isn’t on an exotic island, it’s in dreary old London in December. And it’s Christmas! Even so, there is no shortage of romance, and it is, I think, enhanced by the season.

So what is it about Christmas that brings out the romance in people? Is it the overall message of love that seems to resonate in the air at this time of year? Is it just that everyone seems to be happier once the snow begins to fall, and Christmas music is being blasted from every speaker?

For me, it’s all about the cold. There is something magical when the air turns crisp, and all you really want to do is drink hot chocolate and snuggle up with your special someone. Of course, there are other ways to keep warm when the weather turns cold *wink wink* but it’s not ALL about that. It’s just knowing there is someone beside you to share that special time of year.

For Jesse and Isabelle, well, there are a few things happening there. For Isabelle, it’s the first stirrings of young love, for Jesse, it’s the realization that not all girls want to date him because he’s got money. But the beauty of London in winter, and the excitement of doing festive things like ice skating in Hyde Park add to the magic of their romance.

What do you think makes Christmas so romantic?
Author Bio: Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. After years spent working in retail, where she met enough versatile characters to write hundreds of books, she finally took the plunge and quit her day job. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012. While fiction writing has always been her passion, she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites. 
Blindsided blurb: After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter’s cousin, Isabelle.

Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they’ve gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He’s everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?
Buy Links:  
Amazon.com
Amazon.uk

Find Kyra online
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads 

Teaser Tuesday with The Wind Through The Keyhole

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!A new addition to Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I was a little worried about it, but I slipped easily into the world again. It's a story within a story within a story. When you read it, it makes sense!
Here's your teaser:
"The new plug's a lot deeper than the old ones, and everyone knows there are demons in the earth. Mayhap one of the miners struck on one, wakened it, and was done a mischief by it." (page 64)

In NaNoWriMo news:

The end is near!

I'm at 47000 words. So close!
I lost two days because I was sick. Some weird Thanksgiving virus. The turkeys are striking back! I'm going to try to push myself today and make the goal. It might also be the end of the novel. Not a long one this year.

Okay. I'm taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

Write!

1301 tour, tabs, NaNo update, and reminders

Thank you to everyone who responded about the 13th Floor blog tours. You guys are awesome! I have the second, third, and fourth book tours filled, but I would love to have a few more for next month. If you have a day open between the 13th and 20th, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it. I will also happily do a couple of stops on the same day if you're interested in helping with one of the tours next year.

You might have seen I learned how to create tabs on my blog. (Thank you, Stephen Tremp!) I have one specifically for The 13th Floor series. I have all the dates up there for all the cover reveals, release dates, and blog tours.

I'm doing well with NaNoWriMo. I'm over 45000 words, and I'm writing the final battle. I hope to complete the novel by the end of the weekend. For those of you who've hit 50000, congratulations! And for those who are still typing away, keep going. There's still one week left. You can do it!

Don't forget the Writers4Writers Group has their first monthly event on December 6th. It's a great way writers can help their fellow writers.

Next week, the marvelous Kyra Lennon starts her Blindsided Tour. She'll be stopping by here on Wednesday. Yay!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving toall my American friends and family!I'm thankful for all of you.May this season bring you wonderand awe as if seen througha two-year old's eyes.  

Wicked Wednesday - The Dragonslayer

1303 - The Dragonslayer
Dragons never went extinct. They evolved with human society, taking on mortal forms, and slithered their way into positions of great influence and power. The dragonslayers, too, changed into something new. They became men who live in the shadows and carry guns rather than lances. No longer celebrated heroes, they are the outlaws now. Just as the dragons wish it.
Perching on the rooftop of neighboring building, Xanthus Ehrensvard fires and misses his target, Governor Whittaker. How he missed the shot, he doesn't know, but in fleeing the scene, he picks up an unwanted passenger. Gorgeous reporter Lois King saw Xan's face, and she believes it's the story to make her career. Except he can't let her walk away knowing what he looks like. Xan has to show her the Governor is a bigger threat to the world than he is.
It's no easy chore proving to someone that dragons still exist, and even more so, they're disguised as famous people. Xan must convince Lois or find another way to silence her. An option, as he gets to know her, he likes less and less. Even as he battles Lois' tenacity, he must make a plan to slay the dragon or risk its retribution.

(Blurb subject to change!)

The idea of a modern day dragonslayer has long been in my head. What if some of those infamous assassins we know from history were saving the world from something worse?

I also imagine dragonslayers still hold to a rigid code. No more gleaming suits of armor, but they're still paladins nonetheless. Honorable, chivalrous, and dedicated.

Teaser Tuesday with Dark Currents

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!Jacqueline Carey is one of my favorite authors. If you haven't read her original Kushiel trilogy, you need to get your hands on it now. Incredible dark fantasy romance. Dark Currents is her newest book in a new YA series. Lots of paranormals you usually don't get to see are in it. It's a lot of fun so far.
Here's your teaser:
Ultimately there was always a spark missing, a level of passion I hungered for that went beyond the mere mortal. And yes, there was usually a point where they freaked out on me, and yes, it had a lot to do with the tail. (page 61)