Laurie London text messaging to a new Vampire Series with HQN

Our winner is Loretta! Loretta email me your address! lisarenjones@aol.com

Today we have Laurie B London who has a rocking new Vampire Series coming out in Feb 2011. I just love the cover and the entire premise. I for one am dying for this series. And I love this call story because oh man — I so get the waiting and watching and 2pm! Read on and you'll know what I mean. Today we have a Better Homes and Gardens Rum Cake Candle to give away. LOVE these candles. My house is all rum caked up right this very minute. One of these tall jar candles will make your entire house smell yummy.

So comment to get your chance to win. Contest is as usual NOON TO NOON and yes I am a few minutes late today. So sorry. Had a rush of stuff happen right before I posted. PS about to post winners on the last two days contests!

So onward to the fun with Laurie!



About Laurie:

A former tester/programmer and underwriter for a Fortune 500 company, Laurie London now writes from her home near Seattle, Washington, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, BONDED BY BLOOD, the first book in her Sweetblood series, comes out February 2011 followed by EMBRACED BY BLOOD July 2011.

When not writing, she might be running, reading, tolerating her husband's reality television addiction, talking books with her kids who read more than she does, or riding and showing her horse. Someday she hopes to qualify for the Quarter Horse World Show – that is, if her horse doesn't get hurt again.

Her new Series



BONDED BY BLOOD:

Deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest, two vampire coalitions battle for supremacy—Guardian enforcers who safeguard humanity and Darkbloods, rogues who kill like their ancient ancestors. Now, Guardian team leader Dominic Serrano will be forced to choose between the vengeance he craves and the woman he can't live without…

Movie location scout Mackenzie Foster-Shaw has always known that she's cursed to die young. No one can protect her from the evil that has stalked her family for generations—vampires who crave her rare blood type. Until one afternoon in a wooded cemetery, she encounters an impossibly sexy stranger, a man she must trust with her life.

For Dominic, a man haunted by loss, Mackenzie satisfies a primal hunger that torments him—and the bond they share goes beyond heat, beyond love. She alone can supply the strength he needs to claim his revenge. But in doing so, he could destroy her…

The Call, or in my case, The Text

Having a book out on submission is really stressful. You're constantly checking email and you don't go anywhere without your phone. Not when you're cleaning horse stalls or in the bathroom or running out to grab something in the car.



If you live on the West Coast, you learn that 2pm is the magic number—the witching hour—because it's the close of business in New York. When you don't receive any news by two o'clock, you can pretty much count on the fact that you won't hear anything that day. You can relax, do other things (like eating and showering) until 5:00 or 6:00 the next morning when it starts all over again.

Usually.

On a Friday morning in October 2009, shortly before leaving for the Emerald City Writers Conference, my agent called. We had an offer!

I'm not sure if I squealed like a teenage girl or if I sounded rational. I do remember giving my husband the thumbs up sign as I fumbled around for a pen and paper to take notes while trying to breathe at the same time. Somehow I managed to do both because I didn't pass out.

"Oh, and by the way," my agent said, "you can't tell anyone except your immediate family."

"What? I'm seeing a lot of my writer friends in, like, two hours and I can't say anything?"

"Nope, not a word. This whole process isn't done yet. We should know more by next week."

Although the conference was fantastic and I even talked quite a bit to the senior editor at HQN, the weekend was sheer torture. I roomed with two other people and tried to act normal, hoping I didn't talk in my sleep.

With the sense that something was going on—maybe the glazed look in my eyes gave me away—a wonderful author friend came up to me and I spontaneously burst into tears. After a quick hug, I dashed off, afraid I'd accidentally say too much. Over coffee with a friend, I choked up over something dumb. Another author friend handed me her cell number and said, "I know something's up. Call me the minute you hear anything." (Note to self: writers are people-watchers and are very perceptive.) When I got home, I was an exhausted jumble of unexpressed, overflowing, and pent-up emotion. I took a Tylenol PM and went straight to bed.

The next few days passed in a blur as I waited for the outcome. When a non-writer friend called, wanting me to go out to dinner with her, I decided I could really use the diversion…and a drink. Because it was in the evening, I knew I wouldn't hear anything more that day.

Boy, was I wrong.

While at the restaurant, my agent texted me that she was at a party with the acquiring editor at HQN. What? It was way past 2pm here—at least 9:30 or 10:00 New York time. I figured another day in the life of agents and editors had passed with no news to report. However, I hadn't considered cocktail parties after work. Her next text to me said she had closed the deal—it was official—I could shout it from the rooftops now. HQN was buying my series!

I shrieked inside the tiny restaurant and called my husband. He was thrilled and excited. Then my friend and I toasted my first sale over Thai food and a fabulous pear/gin cocktail.

Visit her website at www.LaurieLondonBooks.com