Suzanne Johnson's Blog, page 77

New Releases Dec. 27-31, Reader's Choice Contest, Weekly Winners

Merrypost-Christmas and pre-New Year's…or something like that. We're back foranother short week on the blog, with a new Reader's Choice contest and amedium-sized list of new releases—but this list has some awesome choices inurban fantasy, paranormal romance, YA, and science fiction. What to choose,what to choose... (And next week's list…Ginormous!)
First,congrats to the winners from last week's contests. If you see your name, pleaseemail me HERE and send me yoursnail-mail address if you...

Going All Non-Politically Correct with Aaron Neville

Whatever your religion or culture, happy holidays to you.

But, as the title says, I'm going all non-politically correct today to wish you all a Merry Christmas with my favorite "reason for the season" song, by New Orleans' own Aaron Neville.

Preternatura is on hiatus until Monday, December 26, when I'll be back with a finished first draft of a novel and a big old honkin' end-of-the-year Reader's Choice award. Until then, Joyeux Noel, y'all.

From the ROYAL STREET Photo Album: Christmas at Tujague's

Before I head to New Orleans, a quick note: Over at the Booksake blog, Jessica is featuring Royal Street as her Waiting on Wednesday feature. Thanks, Jessica!

Now....DJ, the wizard heroine of my upcoming Sentinels of New Orleans series, is quite talented when it comes to mixing potions and devising magical rituals. Cooking? Not so much.

So, DJ goes out for Christmas dinner every year--and where she goes is Tujague's, the second-oldest restaurant in New Orleans behind the venerable Antoine's...

Sharing the TBR: ALL MEN OF GENIUS by Lev AC Rosen

We start a new occasional feature at Preternatura today!
I'mon a heavy writing schedule between now and early spring, finishing up the thirdbook in my upcoming Sentinels of New Orleans series (yeah, I know, crazy,right? I'm finishing book three and book one isn't out until April!). So what Iwant to do is continue to share the love with some books from my TBR pile thatI just don't think I'm going to get to in a timely manner. So I'm giving themto you! Comment at the end to win the day's...

New Releases Dec. 17-23 and Reader's Choice Contest

You'dthink the week of Christmas would be the really slow release week, but we havea pretty decent list of new speculative fiction releases this week after lastweek's drought. So…see what appeals to you—and one reader will win his or herchoice. As always, international entries welcome.
*Genrekey (at the end of each listing): SF=science fiction; F=high/epic fantasy;UF=urban fantasy; H=horror; PNR=paranormal romance; YA=young adult; MG=middlegrade; alt history=alternative history...

From the ROYAL STREET Playlist---And Did You Win a Contest This Week?

HappySunday!
Today,from my Royal Street playlist, I'dlike to share a holiday song from New Orleans' own Aaron Neville called "LouisianaChristmas Day." So, here's my Aaron Neville story. I had gone down to theFrench Quarter a number of years ago and had some time to kill, so I decided to walk over to theTower Records store on Decatur Street (which "ain't dere no more," as thelocals would say). It was raining. Just as I was walking in the door, this huge guy came barreling out and we had a...

Last Chance to Enter This Week's Contests...BRAINS

 I'm going to keep giveaway announcements on Sunday untilthe first of the year, so….
There's still time to enter this week's contests if you haven't already. Justkeep scrolling down, or hit the links—well, don't hit them. That might hurt.Just click on them.
Enter to win:
To win a bar of "Zombie Repellent Soap," click HERE.
To win your choice of "silver bullet" earrings or some "animalistic" werewolfsoap, click  HERE.
To win a copy of Ellie James' Shattered Dreams, a YA set in New Orleans, click

And Finally, the Ultimate Zombie Gift Guide

Okay, okay, I'm almost done entertaining myself this week. Today, in the public interest, I'm wrapping up Preternatura Gift Guide week with the ultimate Zombie gifts. You'll notice that, unlike Wednesday's Vampire Gift Guide and Thursday's All  Things Werewolf Guide, today's will not end with a sexy zombie. Because, to me, sorry, zombies aren't sexy. I mean, okay, I have an undead French pirate in my books, but he's not a zombie. Repeat after me: Zombies. Are. Not. Sexy.

But, for those of you ...

Is That a Werewolf in Your Stocking? A Shopping Guide

Yesterday, we looked at vampire shopping...but what if you like a little more fur than fang? A little body heat instead of cool comfort? A little...okay, you get the picture.

In response, here's your werewolf shopping guide for the 2011 holiday season...and just to spice it up, I'll draw one commenter for a nice, wolfy prize. Most of these items can be found at Etsy, which has to be the coolest site on the web. Read on....

1. The "Are You a Werewolf" GameTo play with those hairy friends you...

Preternatura Holiday Guide: Shopping for the Vampire Lover

The holidays are almost here, and if you're like me, you've just begun shopping. What, you're done? You started in July? Gah!
So I thought I'd pull together a few gift guides for those of us prone to the less-plain-vanilla side of life, beginning today with some fun toys and trinkets for the vampire...er, I mean the vampire-lover...in your life. What do you like? Seen other vampire things you want to share a link for? (Coming up soon: the werewolf shopping guide, the zombie shopping guide...