Suzanne Johnson's Blog, page 69

From the ROYAL STREET files: The Historical Undead

Weekly book winners announced below!

Royal Street, or Rue Royale, is a well-known thoroughfare in New Orleans' French Quarter, but the title of my novel came not so much from the street itself as from the concept of the Historical Undead. The idea is that the dead are never truly gone, but that they live on in our memories. Except in my magical world, famous people LITERALLY live on through the magic of collective human memory, although they live in a shadowy half-world across the metaphysical...

COVER REVEAL: After Royal Street comes River Road

This is sort of an after-the-fact reveal, since it went up on my publisher's Facebook page in January and I hadn't seen it.But it wasn't a total shocker because I'd seen the rough sketches. Now, here it is in all its green, swampy glory, with a cover by the ever-talented Cliff Nielsen. I'm prejudiced, of course, but I think it rocks!

Now, you might ask, why is DJ standing in a swamp with a glowing staff, covered in mud? And is that an alligator heading her way in the lower right? Well, you'll ...

Q&A with UF Author Dakota Banks and HUGE Friday Giveaway

You guys are in for a treat today! We're welcoming urban fantasy author DakotaBanks, whose third Mortal Path novel, Deliverance, comes out on March 27. Butyou don't have to wait. The winner of today's giveaway will win a Mortal PathSwag Bag (see photo next to the contest entry info), which is a great tote bag containing signed editionsof all three Mortal Path books, as well as pens, bookmarks, magnets, even acalculator. And this is an international giveaway. Sound good?
ABOUT DELIVERANCE:  A...

Meet YA Author E.C. Myers and win FAIR COIN

First, a commercial message. I tried to blog over at Wag the Fox today as part of Gef's Urban Fantasy Marathon, but my wizard heroine DJ hijacked my blog post. Come on over and comment, and you can earn an extra entry to win today's feature book, Fair Coin! You can get there from HERE .


Now...Today, I'd like to welcome a fellow "Class of 2012" debut author, E.C. Myers. His YA fantasy, Fair Coin, was released March 6 by the fine folks at Pyr Books. The "E" in "E.C." is for Eugene, and he...

Preternatura Book Club: MOON CALLED by Patricia Briggs, Chapters 13-14

Welcometo this week's "meeting" of the Preternatura Book Club! Today, we're looking atChapter 13 and 14 of the first book in Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, Moon Called.
Whenwe last left Mercy, she had just shared with the Marrok, Bran, her suspicionsabout who was behind the attack on Adam and the kidnapping of his daughterJesse. The wolves had gone to a house where they thought the kidnappers mightbe, and Mercy is getting worried.
MOON CALLED,Chapter 13-14
Mercy'sworried about not...

Q&A With UF author Deborah Coates and Win WIDE OPEN

Today,I'd like to welcome fellow Tor Books debut author Deborah Coates to the blog.Deb's new urban fantasy, Wide Open,comes out today. We love release days! Deb lives in central Iowa and works atIowa State University, but she grew up on a dairy farm in western New Yorkstate. You can learn more about her at http://www.deborah-coates.com.
ABOUTWIDE OPEN:  When Sergeant Hallie Michaels comes back to South Dakota fromAfghanistan on ten days' compassionate leave, her sister Dell's ghost iswaiting...

New Releases March 10-16 and Reader's Choice Giveaway

Isyour TBR pile as ridiculous as mine? And yet…Monday has rolled around yet again,and it's time to look at the week's new releases in speculative fiction—and youget to pick which one you'd like to win! Some interesting titles this week,including the new Dark Divine book from Bree Despain—I really like this YAseries. A new title in Cat Adams' great Blood Singer series. A great-looking newurban fantasy from debut author Deb Coates, who'll be a guest here on the blogtomorrow. And I keep looking...

Did You W*n a Book This Week?

Yes, that * is intentional...long story :-)

First, a preview of a fun week ahead:
--On Monday, we have a medium-sized New Release list and Reader's Choice contest...some really interesting titles in both adult and YA books.

--Guest authors galore! This week, we'll have visits from Deborah Coates (who has a new urban fantasy, Wide Open, releasing this week), Julianna Baggott (whose YA post-apocalyptic story, Pure, has been getting a lot of buzz since coming out last month), and Dakota Banks (who ...

From the ROYAL STREET Files: The Magical World

(Yes, and a reminder that you still have time to win thisweek's contests, below.)
One of the fun parts of writing fantasy is building aworld, and one of the fun things about writing a fantasy series is making thatworld deep and rich. Over the next month, I'll be tossing out occasionalintroductions to the world of Royal Streetand the Sentinels of New Orleans series.
Today, welcome to the world of wizards!
The wizards are highly organized. A hierarchy chart mightlook like this:
Other than the...

Freestyle Fiction Friday: Q and A and win Michael Palmer's Oath of Office

First, a word from our sponsor (oh, wait, yeah that's me). Thanks to Damaris over at the Good Choice Reading blog for an amazing review of Royal Street! It sure got my Friday off to a good start :-). You can check it out HERE. Keep an eye on this blog for other authors who'll be at Authors After Dark 2012 in August.


Okay, commercial over.


Thisis a new feature I want to throw in occasionally to look at a book outside myusual spec fiction genres. Gasp! Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but I...