Nalini Singh's Blog, page 170

Photos From Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Back in March, I went down to Flaxmere for a great evening event. As my flight came in a little early, one of the lovely staff members from the Hastings Libraries, Carla, drove me around the area. 

Since it was a beautiful day, I got some great shots. I hope you enjoy!

You can just see a vineyard at the bottom of the mountains.
Closer shot of the vineyard.
Part of the ceiling of the Hawke's Bay Opera House. It's a stunning building - if you ever get a chance to visit, definitely check it out!

Friday Book Club

Book club time!
I finished reading Salmon Fishing In the Yemen by Paul Torday earlier this week - it's definitely not a romance, but I found it a compelling read. It's comic in a very sardonic, dark way. Have any of you read it? What did you think?
Okay, your turn. What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Excerpt: Tangle of Need

Never say I don't listen to you. As requested, here's another small excerpt from Tangle of Need. I had the choice between an intense one and a fun one, and I chose intense. I'll put up the other one late next week. 
This takes place during Hawke and Sienna's mating ceremony, and yep, you do get to see the entire ceremony in the book.
Hope you enjoy!
Excerpt from Tangle of Need
Matthias’s jaw brushed her hair. “No pressure, darling.” They danced in warm silence until Adria caught a scent that made her spine lock—right before Matthias said, “I think someone’s about to steal you away.”
Not wanting to make a scene and mar the celebration, she didn’t protest when Matthias stepped back. “Take care of my girl,” he warned.
Riaz muttered something pithy in Spanish that made Matthias laugh, but all Adria could hear as he took her into his arms was the frantic beat of her pulse, thudding in time to his own. Too fast, both of them, their skin too hot. 
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, her voice stripped bare.
Riaz’s answer sounded torn out of him. “I can’t stop myself.” 
He shifted her closer, the move so unexpected, she didn’t resist—and found herself plastered to the hard strength of him. His arousal pushed into her abdomen, the hot male scent of him seeping into her veins until she could taste the dark forests and biting citrus of him against her tongue.
Copyright (c) 2012 by Nalini Singh
 

Archangel's Storm

I'm currently going over the copy-edited manuscript of Archangel's Storm. I should have an excerpt for you with the next set of website updates! If you haven't seen the backcover blurb, you can check it out here.

How's your week going?

German Book Tour

I'm super excited to share details of the book tour I'll be doing in Germany in June this year, together with author Lara Adrian. I hope to see some of you at the convention and/or signings! :-)

June 2nd-3rdBerlinLove Letter Convention

June 4th, 6PM Mannheim Thalia MannheimP7, Auf den Planken68161 Mannheim
June 5th, 5PMTrierThalia TrierGrabenstraße 1454290 Trier
June 8th, 3PMLimburgThalia Limburg                                   Neumarkt 3-565549 Limburg
June 9th, 3PMDortmundMayerscheBuchhandlungWestenhellweg 37-4144137 Dortmund
Egmont Lyx Facebook Events Page

Podcast!

I did an impromptu interview with Sarah Wendell at RT and the podcast is now up! We had so much fun with this, and I think it shows. ;-) I hope you enjoy listening to it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Book Club

The Friday Book Club is now open! What are you reading and loving at the moment?
I've been on a historical kick and really need to post about some of the wonderful books I've recently devoured, including Blame It On Bath by Caroline Linden. If you like marriage of convenience stories, this is a great one![image error]

RT Roundup

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I'm home! We had such a stunning view coming in to land yesterday morning - I think the approach to Auckland Airport (above) is one of the most beautiful in the world. Once, I even saw horses running in the paddock below!
My first RT Convention was a wonderful experience. It's a very friendly, laid-back convention, and all the readers I spoke to - whether they were newbies like me, or regular attendees - said they'd loved it. So it's definitely something to check out if it'll be in your neck of the woods, even if you only go to the book signing on Saturday. I believe next year's location is Kansas City.
This year, of course, it was in Chicago - and here's a shot of the Chicago skyline from my hotel room.
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I saw so many people over the week, old friends and new, and when I was downloading the photos, I realized I took hardly any. Like at the Aussie/Kiwi dinner I attended the night I got there, and at the breakfast I had with several of the other Berkley authors the next day - it was a fantastic start to the convention. So apologies to anyone I forget to mention - there was so much happening, it's all a bit of a blur.

Onto the photos I did actually take!

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This one's from when I had lunch with Ilona and Gordon Andrews, Jeaniene Frost, and the camera-shy Shiloh Walker. I'd met Jeaniene before, but it was my first time meeting Ilona and Gordon. While I always knew Ilona was from Russia, I never quite thought about the fact that she might have a Russian accent. She does! And it's adorable!
After lunch, Jeaniene and I were on a panel with Charlaine Frost (who is incredibly nice). We had a blast, and I think the audience did, too - so many people attended that the hotel staff had to enlarge the room by folding back a wall. So as someone said, we literally brought down the wall! The moderator Morgan Doremus, was brilliant. You can read a detailed writeup of the panel on the RT blog.

Not that day, but the day prior, I also had a chance to talk to the great group of booksellers and librarians attending RT. It was a fun chat, and the Q&A session went by super fast.
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This shot was taken in the Red Bar which was meeting central for pretty much everyone. I met this fantastic group of readers in there and had a wonderful time chatting with them. 
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This is a picture of Julie James' divine chocolate cake. I have no photo of Julie, but really, it's all about the cake. Julie found out she hit the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists while at the convention, so it was awesome being able to celebrate with her. (I split a chocolate ice-cream bar with Sarah from SBTB and it was delish.)
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What is this you say? It's the light fixture above the elevator bank at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare! How fabulous is it?!
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I took the above shot before the Giant Book Fair started on Saturday. That's why you can see all that space. Trust me, it wasn't there after the doors opened! I was placed between JR Ward and James Rollins. I had a chance to chat to JR Ward before the signing and she was just lovely. Her mom was also there, and she's a wonderful lady to talk to - especially since she loved the red shoes I wore to the RT Awards Ceremony. ;-)
The signing itself was insanity! Of the best kind! I heard from readers that some of them had been in line since six a.m. (the signing started at 10.45am) to make sure they got to the front of the queue and met their favorite authors. I have been told my line was just a wee bit crazy, but I couldn't actually see it as I was sitting down, signing. I appreciated every one of you who came! I had a brilliant time talking with you all.
Here is a photo from the signing that RT tweeted. I am obviously in very intense conversation (probably about the Ghost!). Talking of the Ghost, that was the topic I was quizzed on the entire convention. One reader sprung the question on me without warning at the signing - I think she was hoping I would just spit it out. Lol!

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I have to give a special shout out to all around cool person Angela James who stayed with me for two hours, helping to manage the line. She handed out sticky-notes to everyone to make sure I spelled names correctly...and I still managed to get one wrong (gah!). However, that book is now one of a kind, because I drew a brilliant artistic picture to cover up my error. *grin*

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I saw this board toward the end of the convention, and thought it was such a fun idea. If you click on the shot, you can enlarge it. Basically, it asked people to share the names of their favorite characters.
And last but very much not least, at the RT Awards, I was honored to be presented with a Career Achievement Award for Paranormal Romance. Kiss of Snow also won the RT Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance.

There is so much I haven't mentioned *cough-shopping spree with Angela and Jane-cough* so if you were there, feel free to jump in!
Oh, one more thing - lots of people asked me how long it took to fly to Chicago, so here it is: from Auckland to Los Angeles, it's approx 13 hours. From Los Angeles to Chicago, it's about 4. So 17-18 hours actual flight time. Add in the layovers and travel time to get to and from the airport, and we're talking well over twenty-four hours. 
However, there is an upside to all the traveling. I've had Cooper and Grace's story in my head for a while now, and I wrote some scenes during the convention, but yesterday and today, while I was waiting for flights, and during the trip itself, I started working on it in earnest and did something like seventeen thousand words. It's all very rough, but I'm fairly certain this is going to be a courtship story - let's just say Coop's got some moves.[image error]

Friday Book Club

...coming to you from another timezone today! What are you reading and loving at the moment?

My most recent read was a reread - Anne Gracie's The Perfect Waltz. It was my plane book, and I loved it just as much as the first time I read it.

RT

Like all conventions and conferences, this one is turning out to be centered around food - I've had coffee dates and dinners and next I've got a lunch date (with Gordon & Ilona Andrews). I shall have trouble fitting into my clothes at this rate. ;-)

After lunch, I'm on a panel with Charlaine Harris and Jeaniene Frost, and I'm really looking forward to it. 

I hope you're all having a good day...and eating as much as I am!!

p.s. I have taken some pictures, but I'm having some difficulties posting them, so I'll do that when I'm back in NZ.