Jeaniene Frost's Blog, page 44

Belated updates

Hi everyone. From the silence on the blog, you wouldn't guess that a lot has been going on lately, but it has. First, the reason for my recent hiatus: I'm delighted to say that Once Burned, Vlad and Leila's book, is now in my editor's hands. I finished it Tuesday night, then got up around 4am on Wednesday to start packing for a 12 hour drive back to Florida to visit my family. A note about me in the final legs of a deadline – I have total tunnel vision. If it's not something to do with completing the book, I'm not thinking about it. Since I finished the book and basically jumped into a car 11 hours later, I didn't do any of my normal pre-trip preparations. For example, it wasn't until after I arrived in Florida that I realized I hadn't packed any sleep wear. My husband thought this was a great oversight until I ruined things by going to the nearest Target and buying pajamas, lol.

I also neglected to put up the first three chapters of my story in The Bite Before Christmas anthology for a free preview (will have that done today or tomorrow).  Thankfully, readers gave The Bite Before Christmas a warm reception anyway by putting it on the New York Times and the USA Today bestseller lists (You're amazing!). I've also gotten many lovely comments about how much you've enjoyed the "reveal" of information I've long been itching to tell about Bones's past – and more "We want an Ian book!" comments than I've been able to count, heh. Maybe one day, Ian fans. I'm getting more hopeful about Ian as time goes on. Until then, glad you're enjoying seeing a more detailed view of him (and the secret in Ian's pants, heee!), Bones, Cat, Annette and the rest of the gang in The Bite Before Christmas.

Back to Vlad and Leila's book, Once Burned, for a moment. Here's a very condensed version of something that I may write a far too long post on the in future: Because the book wasn't turned in until November 1st, the release date has been pushed back from the end of March until June 26th. Basically my choices were these: rush to finish the book by October 1st and then have a less thorough edit done on it to make the March release date, or finish the book in the time necessary to give it my best effort and have the normal, multi-layered editing process done for an end-of-June release. I chose the latter. I've long said to readers that I can never guarantee that they'll love every book I write (tastes vary, and subjectivity is the spice of life!), but I can guarantee that I've loved the book and given it my very best effort. Having Once Burned release on the earlier date would have made me unable to say that, and that wasn't acceptable to me. So while I'm sorry that readers will have to wait a little longer, but I promise that you will get a much better book as a result.

I'll also say that even if I hadn't intended to write more than one book with Vlad and Leila before I started Once Burned, I would've insisted on it about halfway through writing their story. I haven't felt this plugged in to a couple since I started writing Halfway to the Grave over eight years ago, so it's a very happy time for me as a writer!

Speaking of Cat and Bones, once I'm done with revisions on Once Burned, I'll start writing the seventh novel in the Night Huntress series. As many of you know, Cat and Bones's storyline will end at book nine. These last three books will tie together lots of hinted-at information in the previous six novels, as well as reveal new information that will make it a rollercoaster ride to the finish. I can't wait to see what readers think of the finale that's coming. Not to tease – okay, I love to tease! – but when I told my editor two years ago how I intended to end the series, she said, "Wow. I didn't see that coming." Never fear, readers, this doesn't mean I'm killing off Cat or Bones. I've said from the beginning that readers who stick with the the series will see an eventual happily-ever-after for the couple. Until that final resolution,  however – game on! *wink*.

And in more Cat and Bones news, I'm flattered to say that This Side of the Grave is a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Paranormal Fantasy. It's in outstanding company, so I couldn't be happier. Vote for your favorite novel here.

Furthermore, One Grave at a Time has been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice award for Best Urban Fantasy. Excellent company in that category as well, so once again, I'm beyond flattered and pleased.

That's it for now. More updates soon! Hope everyone is having a nice fall season so far.

 

Mirrored from Frost Light.

Scavenger hunt!

How much do you know about Cat and Bones? Or me? Here's your chance to find out, AND win some cool prizes! To celebrate the release of THE BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS - out October 25th and contaning a long Cat and Bones novella along with a novella by Lynsay Sands – Avon Books is hosting a scavenger hunt throughout the day on Monday the 24th.  All you need to do is visit the blogs below at the time indicated where you'll get clues to questions about the Night Huntress books as well as Lynsay Sands' Argeneau series. Then go to Avon's Facebook Fan page and enter your answer.  Every hour, a winner will be selected from the correct answers.  Prizes include gift cards, books, an entire library by Lynsay Sands and/or me, all leading up to the Grand Prize.

 

Here's the schedule (AGAIN, contest doesn't start until Monday the 24th):

9AM (ET): Avon Books

10AM(ET): Smexy Books

11AM(ET): Romance Reader at Heart

12PM(ET):Babbling about Books

1pm (ET): Vampire Book Club

2pm (ET): RT Book

Reviews

3pm (ET): Dear Author

4pm (ET): Smart Bitches Trashy

Books

5pm (ET): GRAND PRIZE WINNER

ANNOUNCED

 

Sorry, my publisher says this contest is open to US and Canada residents only.

Good luck, everyone!

Mirrored from Frost Light.

ComicCon signing schedule, reminders

Hi everyone! Still busy writing Once Burned, but I finally have my full schedule for New York ComicCon this month. If you're going, you can find me in these places:

 

Saturday, October 15th, 6pm – 7pm at the HarperCollins booth #944 on  the main show floor.

Signing "A BITE BEFORE CHRISTMAS" (special early release!) and "ONE GRAVE AT A TIME." Books will be available for purchase.

 

Sunday, October 16th, 1pm – 2pm at the HarperCollins booth #944 on the main show floor.

Signing "First Drop Of Crimson." Free giveaway of book.

 

Sunday, October 16th at 2:30pm-3:30pm, Room 1A23.
Panel: WE'RE NO ANGELS - The Leading Ladies of SF/F

Beware the women of Sci-Fi/Fantasy…and their kick-ass heroines. Danger just might be these girls' middle names. But no amount of bad guys can keep these ladies from doing what's right. Whether standing up for friends and family, or just plain kicking some ass, these girls don't shy away from a fight. Femmes Fatales on the panel include Patricia Briggs; Alison Goodman, Kim Harrison; Jeaniene Frost; Marjorie M. Liu, Sabrina Benulis and Kristen Painter.

 

Also, a reminder that the special $1.99 ebook edition of Halfway to the Grave with Bonus Materials is available from now until October 25th. Go back to the beginning of the Night Huntress series with lots of additional bonus material. These include never-before-published scenes featuring a hunt with Cat and Bones, a scene with Bones mischievously tormenting Cat during her makeover, a new sex scene, and an alternate villain at the end. Plus, it also includes the first four chapters of One Foot in the Grave, an excerpt from the upcoming The Bite Before Christmas anthology, and an excerpt from the upcoming novel Once Burned, book one in the new Night Prince series with Vlad and Leila. Ordering links: Kindle, Nook, iTunes, BooksOnBoard, Diesel Ebooks, and Kobo, or check your favorite ebook retailer.

Don't have an e-reader but still want to get in on the fun? You can download software for free to read on your computer or other mobile device. Click here to see how.

That's it for now on my end. Hope everyone is having a wonderful October so far! (and am I the only one who can't BELIEVE it's October already??)

 

Mirrored from Frost Light.

Blog Talk Radio tonight

Hi all. Still busy writing Once Burned, but tonight, I'm taking time out to chat with, well, anyone who shows up . A while back, author Kat Holmes scheduled me on her Blog Talk Radio show, Kat's Writing Pen, for a chat. Due to some conflicts, Kat won't be moderating the chat tonight, but her friend Delilah Stephans graciously agreed to.

So if you're free at 6pm tonight and you want to chat about the Night Huntress series, characters, Vlad's book, vampires, writing, or the paranormal in general (really, I'll talk about almost anything) come on over to Kat's Writing Pen at Blog Talk Radio. You can call in or type your questions/comments. The information is below. Hope to see some of you there!

Link to show is here.

Call in line: (619) 393-6798

 

Listen to internet radio with KatXs Writing Pen on Blog Talk Radio

Mirrored from Frost Light.

Happy 4 Year Anniversary, Halfway to the Grave! Special $1.99 edition

Well, it’s not technically the 4 year anniversary of Halfway to the Grave’s release until October 30th, but the celebration starts early! How?

From now until October 25th, you can buy a special ebook edition of Halfway to the Grave that includes never-before-published bonus features for only $1.99!

*throws confetti* What are some of these bonus features? I’ll give you a hint: Another hunt with Cat and Bones, a scene at the beauty salon with Bones tormenting Cat during her makeover, a new sex scene, and an alternate villain at the end, plus some additional extras. Okay, that was more than an hint, but I’m excited to finally share them . To celebrate this limited-time discounted ebook edition, I even had a book trailer made for Halfway to the Grave. Click below to watch:

So if you’ve heard of the Night Huntress series, but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet (or you’ve chatted it up to a friend who hasn’t tried it yet) now’s your chance to pick up the first book for less than the price of a cup of coffee. Here are some ordering links: Kindle, Nook, iTunes, BooksOnBoard, Diesel Ebooks, and Kobo, or check your favorite ebook retailer. Don’t have an e-reader but still want to get in on the fun? You can download software for free to read on your computer or other mobile device. Click here to see how.  And in the very near future, look for a special contest to further celebrate the anniversary of Cat and Bones’s first adventures. Thank you so much, readers, for making the past four years as an author wonderful for me!  **Side note: Apologies for all the dots separating the paragraphs. WordPress likes to strip line breaks from the page when I go from Visual to Html and back again, sigh. 

Mirrored from Frost Light.

NY Comic Con 2011

Hi everyone! Sorry for the blog silence lately. The recent release of One Grave at at Time plus writing Once Burned has kept me very busy. Thanks to everyone who came out to the signings. It was great meeting you and seeing some of you again. Also, a huge thanks to ALL my readers for One Grave at a Time’s fabulous reception. It debuted at #15 on the New York Times mass market bestseller list, #11 on the New York Times ebook list, #13 on the New York Times combined print and ebook list, # 20 on the USA Today list, #13 on the Publishers Weekly list, and #46 on the ABA Indiebound list. Awesome!

Speaking of being busy, I thought I was done traveling for the year, but when my editor emailed to ask if I wanted to be on a panel at NY Comic Con talking about strong heroines, I said yes, of course. So if you’re going to ComicCon (October 13th – 16th), here’s the panel information. I’ll also be signing books, but I’m not sure the date/time of that yet. I’ll post the information as soon as I have it.

Sunday, October 16th at 2:30pm-3:30pm, Room 1A23.
WE’RE NO ANGELS: The Leading Ladies of SF/F

Beware the women of Sci-Fi/Fantasy…and their kick-ass heroines. Danger just might be these girls’ middle names. But no amount of bad guys can keep these ladies from doing what’s right. Whether standing up for friends and family, or just plain kicking some ass, these girls don’t shy away from a fight. Femmes Fatales on the panel include Patricia Briggs; Alison Goodman, Kim Harrison; Jeaniene Frost; Marjorie M. Liu, Sabrina Benulis and Kristen Painter.

Hope to see some of you there!

Mirrored from Frost Light.

Signing stops and new ebook out

I had a great time last week with Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong as we toured around NC in what we dubbed the Mini Cooper mini-tour. Yes, picture it: Three authors. Three bags of luggage. One mini Cooper. I still have bruises, lol.

But as I said, we had a wonderful time. Our first official signing stop was at Malaprops in Asheville, NC. If you attended the signing, so glad you came out! If you missed it but would like to see it, Avon Books livestreamed the entire event. Go here to watch: http://ow.ly/6dDUy .

The next signing stop was Barnes and Noble in Charlotte. This is the second time I’ve been to Charlotte for a signing, and thankfully, this time there wasn’t a terrible gale outside. We had a great group and it was a lot of fun. We even convinced author Carrie Ryan to join us on the panel! Our final signing stop was Chapel Hill, where I had a wonderful time meeting with several members of Frost Fans before the signing (thanks again for the cupcakes!). The signing itself was also a blast. Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the three events! You made it fun for us.

Aside from the three official signings, we also stopped by several stores along our route to sign stock. So if you’re interested in ordering signed books from me, Kelley Armstrong, and Melissa Marr, here are the places where you can find them:

Fireside Books and Gifts, Forest City: 828-245-5188

Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill: 919-942-7373

Barnes and Noble, Asheville: 828-296-7335    (Does NOT have One Grave at a Time signed)

Malaprops, Asheville: 828-254-6374

Barnes and Noble, Charlotte (The Aboretum): 704-341-9365

Park Road Books, Charlotte:  704-525-9239

Barnes and Noble, Burlington: 336-584-0869

Barnes and Noble, Durham (South Point): 919-806-1930

In addition to One Grave at a Time releasing last week, I had another book come out: Magic Graves, an e-only anthology I did with author Ilona Andrews. Since Ilona and I each have a recurring word in our titles (“Grave” for me, “Magic” for Ilona) it gave us a laugh to combine them with this title. Description:

New York Times bestselling authors Jeaniene Frost and Ilona Andrews bring you two short stories of the paranormal.

Jeaniene Frost’s story, One for the Money, features vampires Cat and Bones trying to protect a spoiled heiress with a price on her head and an undead hitman on her trail. Previously published in Death’s Excellent Vacation. Also includes the first three chapters from Jeaniene’s story in The Bite Before Christmas anthology, as well as a sneak peek at ONCE BURNED, the first novel in the new Night Prince series.

Ilona Andrews’ story, A Questionable Client, is a prequel to her award-winning Kate Daniels series. In a world beset by magic waves, Kate Daniels works as a mercenary. She is tired, hungry, and there is foul-smelling blood on her boots. All she wants to do is to go home, but when Mercenary Guild offers her a job she can’t refuse, she finds herself protecting a man against Russian wizards. Previously published in Dark and Stormy Knights. Also includes the first two chapters of FATE’S EDGE, book 3 in the Edge series, and first two chapters of Magic Grieves, a Kate Daniels novella.

You can order Magic Graves for only $2.99 at Amazon and B&N. iTunes link will be up next week. Hope you enjoy!

That’s it for updates at the moment. Back to writing Once Burned!

Mirrored from Frost Light.

Banners and signing stops

Readers familiar with the Frost Fans forum will know that every day since the beginning of August, we’ve been posting a random quote from One Grave at a Time for readers to guess who said what – and why. The fabulous Syd Gill even made banners for each quote. In case you haven’t seen them, here are the quotes and the banners (sorry for some of them blurring into the news column):

 

And on Tuesday, the wait is finally over and One Grave at a Time hits the shelves. To celebrate its release, I’ll be at the following places:

Malaprops Book store, August 30th at 7pm (this event will be livestreamed! Go here to see it online live: http://ow.ly/6dDUy )
55 Haywood Street
Asheville, NC 28801

Barnes & Noble, August 31st at 7pm
3327 Pineville-Matthews Road
Charlotte, NC 28226.

Flyleaf Books, September 1st at 7 pm.
752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

BookMarks Festival of Books, September 10th
Winston-Salem, NC
Please go to BookMark’s site for directions and a list of other participating authors.

Quote of the Day banners

Readers familiar with the Frost Fans forum will know that every day since the beginning of August, we've been posting a random quote from One Grave at a Time for readers to guess who said what – and why. The fabulous Syd Gill even made banners for each quote. In case you haven't seen them, here are the quotes and the banners (sorry for some of them blurring into the news column):

 

 

 

 

 

And on Tuesday, the wait is finally over and One Grave at a Time hits the shelves. To celebrate its release, I'll be at the following places:

 

Malaprops Book store, August 30th at 7pm (this event will be livestreamed! Go here to see it online live: http://ow.ly/6dDUy )

55 Haywood Street

Asheville, NC 28801

 

Barnes & Noble, August 31st at 7pm

3327 Pineville-Matthews Road

Charlotte, NC 28226.

 

Flyleaf Books, September 1stat 7 pm.

752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd

Chapel Hill, NC  27514

 

BookMarks Festival of Books, September 10th
Winston-Salem, NC
Please go to BookMark's site for directions and a list of other participating authors.

 

 

 

Mirrored from Frost Light.

New ebook out

I'm happy to say that Devil To Pay, my novella originally published in the Four Dukes and a Devil anthology, is out tomorrow (Aug 23rd) in ebook form for only $1.99.

Description: Blake Turner had it all—until a demon decided to take residence in his soul. Plagued with constant black outs and a trail of dead bodies in his wake, Blake thinks vampire Elise is his best chance at ending the nightmare. It's just too bad he's fallen in love with the gorgeous vamp right before he has to die… Featuring characters from New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress world.

 

The idea behind Devil To Pay originally came from a dream. Yes, I get lots of ideas – good and bad – from dreams (if only I could call sleeping "research!"). In the dream, I was humming the lyrics to Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, of all things. The song starts with, "Hello…is there anybody in there?" In my dream, as soon as I said those words, from inside me I heard what I knew was a demon's voice reply with, "I am." Scared me immediately awake! Demonic possession isn't a new concept, of course, but the idea of being possessed and yet still in control of yourself part of the time stayed with me. So, months later when my editor asked me if I was interested in writing a "devil" type of story, I thought back to this dream and said yes. My hero, Blake, is possessed, yet he has periods where he is in control. He thinks the only way to stop the demon is to kill himself, but when he attempts to throw himself in front of a train, vampire Elise saves him. Elise is fighting her own internal battle, and in her attempts to find another way to rid Blake of the demon without killing him, the two are drawn to each other.

 

Familiar characters such as Mencheres, Bones, and Cat also show up in Devil To Pay. For regular Night Huntress readers, the events in this story take place between At Grave's End and Destined for an Early Grave, but it is a stand-alone so you don't need to read those first to understand it. I really loved writing Devil To Pay and if you're inclined to check it out, I hope you enjoy reading it!

 

Now, back to writing Once Burned. Leila is starting to realize that Vlad might be the scariest man she's ever met, but she still wants to play with fire (har har! ).

Mirrored from Frost Light.