Merrie Destefano's Blog, page 11

Guest Blog Posts on Organic World Building, Story Ideas, The Quest for Immortality and more...

Just in case you missed these, below are some guest posts I wrote during the AFTERLIFE blog tour.

SciFiGuy: The Intersection of Faith, Science and the Supernatural

Literary Escapism: Where Do Story Ideas Come From?

Speculative Faith: Organic World Building, Or Avoiding The Stereotypical Speculative Fiction Wormhole

Dark Faery Tales: Short story titled, "Chasing Spring-Heeled Jack"

Bookgasm: The Afterlife Evolution

Dark Faerie Tales: The Quest for Immortality

Guest Blog Posts on Organic World Building, Story Ideas, The Quest of Immortality and more...

Just in case you missed these, below are some guest posts I wrote during the AFTERLIFE blog tour.

SciFiGuy: The Intersection of Faith, Science and the Supernatural

Literary Escapism: Where Do Story Ideas Come From?

Speculative Faith: Organic World Building, Or Avoiding The Stereotypical Speculative Fiction Wormhole

Dark Faery Tales: Short story titled, "Chasing Spring-Heeled Jack"

Bookgasm: The Afterlife Evolution

Dark Faerie Tales: The Quest for Immortality

Red Hot Books hosts a Cool Giveway

I just found that Red Hot Books is giving away a copy of AFTERLIFE. Woo hoo!! AND they're giving away a copy of Tracey O'Hara's DEATH SWEET EMBRACE.

So, I highly recommend that you check out their blog and their giveaway!

Better late than never (that's what she said)

It's no secret that I love to read. I mean, I REALLY love to read. So, I thought I would let you all know what books I fell in love with in 2010. I know, everyone else made their lists months ago. No excuse here. But late's better than never, right?

I'm taking your silence as a yes.

So, here's my list of fab, couldn't put them down books:

1. The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
2. Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett
3. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
4. Origin: A Novel by Diana Abu-Jaber
5. Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
6. The Breach by Patrick Lee
7. Ash by Malinda Lo
8. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
9. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I posted a partial list over on The Supernatural Underground last week, but then I realized, Hey, this really needs to be a Top Ten List. As I mentioned in my other post, every one of these books ranks five stars for me. You'll note that I enjoy a somewhat diverse selection of books, but they all have one thing in common.

They're all fantastic stories told by incredibly talented writers.

That's always Number One in my list of preferences. I hope that you discovered some new authors this year too and that you continue to look for new things to read. And I'd LOVE to hear about your favorite books. Really. Let me know your faves in the comment section. I'm always on the hunt for What To Read Next.

Killer Apple Crisp (yes, it's really THAT good)

As promised, here's one of my all-time favorite dessert recipes. This one will be definitely be included in the Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Cookbook.


Killer Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
4 Jonathon apples
2/3 C brown sugar
¼ C sifted flour
½ C rolled oats
¾ tsp. cinnamon
¾ tsp. nutmeg
1/3 C margarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Wash, peel and core apples. Slice each ¼ apple into 4 slices.
2. Grease 8" x 5" pan. Put in apples.
3. Blend remaining ingredients until crumbly. Use spoon to spread over apples.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes.
5. Serve warm. Can be topped with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

The Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Contest

It won't be long before my second novel, FEAST, will have its official Coming Out Party (June 28, 2011 to be exact—Notice the way cool countdown widget to the right). I want this celebration to last for a VERY LONG TIME—so I'm starting the festivities TODAY!! What better way to get the party started than with a dessert contest?


First of you all, you must know that the creatures in my next book LOVE sweets. They really do. In fact, that's the only human food they like to eat. Right now, we aren't going to discuss their Number One Food of Choice, but let's just say that HarperCollins has rightly dubbed my main character, The Lord of the Hunt. And that title SO fits Ash, my gorgeous rascal from another world. (Pardon me while I drool.)

Sigh. Back to the contest and all the sugar-drenched fun.

FIRST, here are the prizes:
One Grand Prize Winner will receive the following: A FEAST tote bag, a signed copy of FEAST and a signed copy of AFTERLIFE, plus a one-pound box of yummy See's candy.

Four Runner Up Winners will each receive the following: A signed copy of FEAST, plus 5 FEAST/AFTERLIFE bookmarks.

SECOND, here are the rules for entering The Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Contest:

1. Post your favorite dessert recipe on your site, then post a link to the recipe in the comment section below.
2. Give your dessert a fun name, like Vampire Kiss Cookies or Full Moon Cake or To-Die-For Brownies.
3. Also include the following in the comment section below: Your e-mail address, your name and your state. You can use your first name if you prefer not to share your last name.
4. Link to this contest on your site.
5. DO NOT INCLUDE four letter words or off-color language in your dessert name or your entry will be disqualified.
6. If there are any duplicate recipes (for instance, if I get 5 recipes for chocolate chip cookies), only the first entry will be counted. The others will be deleted. So make sure you look at what previous people have posted.
7. You MAY enter the contest more than once. Just make sure that you post two different recipes.
8. IMPORTANT: After the contest is over, I will compile all the recipes—those that win and those that don't—into a PDF Virtual Feast Cookbook that will be available to all my blog readers as a FREE download. By entering this contest you are agreeing to be part of the cookbook with no compensation. Your name and state will be included, right below the title of your dessert.
9. The contest will run from April 20th through May 20th. Winners will be announced on this blog on Monday, May 23rd.

So a sample comment/entry would look like this:
Killer Apple Crisp
[link to recipe on your site here]
Submitted by Jill Smith from Wisconsin
E-mail: jillsmith@smith.com

By the way, I will be posting some of my favorite desserts too. You know, just to whet your appetite for the impending FEAST. *grin*

I can't wait to see all of your fabulous recipes!! You better believe I'm going to be trying some of them out. Yum!!

Help share the love for FEAST and we can drink the stars together!

If you'd like to help SHARE THE LOVE for my upcoming book, FEAST, you would be my BFF forever!


Below is a fancy-nancy, makes you want to dance-all-night-long countdown widget. All you need to do is click on the Get Widget button and you'll get the code to embed this shiny widget on your own site. Like in your sidebar. Or in a post.

And if you are kind enough to post this clever little widget creature on your site, please let me know in the comment section below. That way we can dance and rejoice and drink the stars together!! *

Get the Countdown Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)

* That was a somewhat obscure reference to a tale that claims that Dom Pierre Perignon, a Benedectine monk, invented champagne. His supposed, but nonetheless beautiful, quote was, "Come quickly. I am drinking the stars!"

The Lord of the Hunt

I just wanted to share the amazing copy that the folks at HarperCollins wrote about FEAST on their site. You can read it below:

"With her brilliant debut novel, Afterlife, author Merrie Destefano earned herself a place of honor at the banquet table alongside today's top authors of sf and urban fantasy. With Feast, she serves up another heaping helping of thrills, shivers, wonder, and glorious invention while spicing up the recipe with dark romance in the bestselling vein of C.L Wilson, Marjorie M. Liu, and other paranormal superstars. A spellbinding fantasy of supernatural intrigue and forbidden love, Feast blends vampire and fairy lore, with the resulting dish offering a sumptuous new take on both, as a troubled storyteller returns home to the mysterious autumn woods just prior to Halloween, to find her life and her soul captivated by a cursed immortal, the Lord of the Hunt."

I especially love that last phrase, "The Lord of the Hunt." Wow. Wish I had come up with that. (Don't tell anyone, but I might just steal it and use it on some of my FEAST promotional materials!)

STAY TUNED: The first of my Virtual Feast contests and promotions is coming up in a few days. And this one is delectable! I'm going to launch a Virtual Feast Dessert Contest with fun prizes (like books and tote bags and CHOCOLATE!!) and I'm also going to take all the submitted recipes and use them to make something REALLY COOL just for you!!

If this is my blog, then why am I posting somewhere else?

Okay, that was really a rhetorical question. Of course, I post on other blogs. One in particular. The Supernatural Underground. If you didn't already know, I post there once a month, along with other HarperCollins authors like: Terri Garey, Pamela Palmer, Kimberly Derting, Melissa Marr, Tracey O'Hara, Karina Cooper, Tera Lynn Childs, Sophie Jordan, Kerrlyn Sparks, and believe it or not, the list just keeps going. It's a fantastic group and we all chat about a wide variety of topics. You should stop by. Really.

Wanna a taste of FEAST?

This is just a quick reminder for anyone who hasn't signed up for my newsletter yet (and if you haven't, why not? It's actually quite shiny and fun). In the next several issues, my subscribers will get EXTRA special sneak peeks into my upcoming book, FEAST.

For instance:

In my next newsletter, which should be coming out in a few days--definitely before the end of April, since it will technically be my April issue--I will be sharing an awesome deleted scene from FEAST.

In fact, it's possible that no one has ever read this scene but me.

And it was one of my favorite scenes in the book.

So, I'm really excited to finally share it with someone.

Sign up now in the little box on the right side of my blog. Very easy. No down payment. No blood ritual. No thievery of first born children. I promise.