Blogger friends' news

If you're looking for the Last Days of Freedom Blog Hop, click here or scroll to the post below this one. Thanks!
 
Congrats to Ciara Knight on the release of Weighted!

Here's the blurb:

The Great War of 2185 is over, but my nightmare has just begun. I am being held captive in the Queen’s ship awaiting interrogation. My only possible ally is the princess, but I’m unsure if she is really my friend or a trap set by the Queen to fool me into sharing the secret of my gift. A gift I keep hidden even from myself.  It swirls inside my body begging for release, but it is the one thing the Queen can never discover. Will I have the strength to keep the secret? I’ll know the answer soon. If the stories are true about the interrogators, I’ll either be dead or a traitor to my people by morning.  


Isn't that a gorgeous cover? Check Ciara's blog for details on how you can get your copy!


Congrats to Lorrie Struiff on the release of The COD Series!

Here's the blurb:

Winnie Krapski hugged a cherry tree during a lightning storm. The bolt slammed her, splitting the tree in half. The near-death experience bestowed her with a gift–one she’d rather not have.
Drafted into the C.O.D. Club (Call on the Dead) by Fat Phil Phillips, her mission is to grant the newly deceased’s ghost one last reasonable request. Can Winnie honor her oath?

Check Lorrie's web site for details on how you can get your copy!




Congrats to Maria Zannini on the (almost) release of Mistress of the Stone!

Officially, release day is August 28, but if you pre-order, you get a great deal - only $3.85 from Samhain Publishing.

Here's the blurb:

She was ready for his steel, but not for his flesh.
Luísa Tavares has a list of sins the length of the Antilles, but there’s no time to repent for them now. When a pockmarked Frenchman hands her Papa’s ring—still attached to his severed finger—she orders the Coral back to the Caribbean, despite her father’s earlier warning never to return.
It’s Luísa’s luckless fate that the only man who can help her is a blasted Inglés pirate hunter who’s more dead than alive and locked in a curse he doesn’t want lifted. Worse, his feral sensuality sparks a hunger she can’t ignore.
Xander Daltry hadn’t planned on kidnapping this wild woman—or succumbing to his uncontrollable desire for her. But he needs Luísa and the moonstone she wears around her neck to rescind a witch’s spell. His sister, long dead, and others like her have been cursed to remain in the mortal plane for eternity. Only the stone can set them free.
The only way to convince the reluctant pirate queen to help him is to withhold one small bit of the truth. For if she learns who really betrayed her father, the longing in her fiery eyes could easily turn to murderous wrath…

Check Maria's site for more details!

Congrats to Marva Dasef on the release of Setara's Genie!

Here's the blurb:

Abu Nuwas sits in the bazaar on his threadbare rug; a cup and sign proclaim him a teller of tales. For one small coin, he bids passers by to listen. A poor girl, Najda, sells spices from a tray. Would he, she asks, trade a tale for a packet of spice? Abu Nuwas agrees and begins the epic adventures of a girl and her genie.
As did Scheherazade before him, Abu leaves Najda hanging in the middle of each yarn to keep her coming back.
He relates the adventures of the bored daughter of a rich merchant, Setara, and her genie, Basit, as they encounter the creatures of legend and folklore: a lonely cave demon seeking a home; a flying, fire-breathing horse who has lost his mate; a dragon searching for his family; an evil genie hunting for the man who put him in a lamp; and a merboy prince cast out of his undersea kingdom.

Available from MuseItUp Publishing. Catch up to Marva on her blog tour.

All these titles feature strong female heroines, so they all appeal to me. How about you?

TBR launches today!

Today TBR features its very first guest - Maria Zannini! Maria has some exciting news, and I'm honored that she chose to announce it on TBR. Check it out!

Family holiday traditions

Do you have any? I'm sharing one of mine at Maria Zannini's blog today. Pop on over and share one of yours!

And visit till Dec. 22nd for posts on how to create cool crafts, or make mouth-watering dishes that'll curl even an elf's toes. :) 

Don't forget to check the Author Chat page!

My next guest is Maria Zannini! Help her celebrate her latest Carina release, the very cool Apocalypse Rising. You won't want to miss it. :)

On May 26th, stop by to chat with Paty Jager. Click on the Author Chat icon on the top right anytime to see the lineup of wonderful writers.

Check out my first Author Chat victim - er, guest!

I'm launching my new blog series, Author Chat, with Michael Lee West, author of Gone With A Handsomer Man.

Check out the chat here. She'd love to chat with you too - leave her a comment!

The schedule for upcoming chats is here, and links will stay active for the year as an archive. So be sure to check back!

My next guest will be Maria Zannini on May 5. You won't want to miss it. :)

True Believers for Teaser Tuesday

Here are two from Maria Zannini's incredible True Believers, a scifi romance:

Like fireflies on a breeze, the remains of the trapped souls drifted near her face attracted by something they could not understand.  As the specks drew closer, she pursed her lips and blew them away like a kiss.


Read more wonderful Teaser Tuesday entries here!

Halloween fun with Maria Zannini

Cate: Please welcome Maria Zannini. Maria, will you please share a short bio with us?
Maria: I used to save the world from bad advertising, but now I spend my time wrangling zombie chickens, and fighting for a piece of the bed against dogs of epic proportions. Occasionally, I write novels.

Cate: Sounds hazardous! At least the Chupacabra hasn't stalked you, lol. Tell us about TRUE BELIEVERS and where it's available.
Maria: TRUE BELIEVERS is now out with Carina Press! Here's the quickie blurb:
Mix one cynical immortal and one true believer and throw them into the biggest alien-hunt the world has never known. Rachel Cruz is a Nephilim masquerading as an archeologist and she's stuck with an alien who believes she can lead him to his ancestral gods. Black Ops wants to find these gods too. They want them dead.

Cate: Congrats! Please tantalize us with a story blurb or excerpt.
Maria:
Rachel rattled the bone fragments in the palm of her hand then seeded them back to the ground. Her university would be pleased. She found exactly what they were looking for, but that wasn't the only reason she was here.
The first shard, anonymously mailed to the University of Cairo, was ten thousand years old, and it matched the pieces found here precisely. But it was the rock drawings and dwellings that came as a shock. An ancient people lived here, and their writing spoke of Anu and his sons, progenitors of the Nephilim.
Her people.
She didn't like it when the humans got too close to the truth.

Cate: You hooked me already. How do you develop your plots and characters?
Maria: It starts with a logline and I ask three questions. Who are these people? What's at stake? And how can I make their problems 10 times worse? That and copious amounts of Coke Zero will usually do the trick.

Cate: Do you feel as if the characters live with you as you write? Do they haunt your dreams?
Maria: Only if I drink enough.

Cate: What's next for you?
Maria: I'm glad you asked! Pop over to RT Reviews where you'll find my third novel, MISTRESS OF THE STONE in the throes of a winner-take-all contest. Readers are asked to vote for their favorite excerpt. (That'll be mine, right?)
By the time this post airs, the first round will have been over, but there are five rounds of elimination, so you'll get a chance to vote again next month. (Hopefully, I'll still be in the running.) If I am, stop by RT Reviews web site and cast your ballot for MISTRESS OF THE STONE. I thank you, my chickens thank you, and my dogs thank you. Woof!

Cate: You have my vote. Any other published works?
Maria: My first novel is called Touch Of Fire, a post apocalyptic romance set 1200 years in the future. Look for the sequel, Apocalypse Rising coming next year from Carina Press.

Cate: Very cool. Describe your writing in three words.
Maria: Film at Eleven!

Cate: What’s the most challenging aspect of writing?
Maria: I suppose that would have to be the annoying groans of starvation from my husband and two dogs. They know where the kitchen is. And while they're in there I could use a sandwich. Roast beast on wheat—don't forget the pickle.
But do they ever make me lunch? Noooo.
Cate, you can back me up on this. A working writer needs to eat regularly. We're too busy destroying fictional lives and dealing in multi-dollar contracts to do anything as menial as cooking or housework.
Besides, it's not like my guys are doing anything important. The last time I saw them they were scrambling over a mountain of laundry, fighting over the last bag of Doritos.

Cate: Food sometimes takes a back seat to writing, but always wins out in the end.
What’s the most interesting comment you have received about your books?
Maria: "Maria! Does your mother know what you do for a living?"

Cate: What frightens you the most?
Maria: The other day I woke up to answer the door and found this hideous woman staring at me with these bloodshot eyes, drool running down her chin, and this rat's nest of wild hair. I rubbed my eyes because I knew I had to be seeing things. But no, there she was, plain as day. It was then I realized I was looking at the bathroom mirror.
I hate when that happens.

Cate: I don't believe it. I think a zombie chicken had you under its spell! Where can you be found on the web?
Maria Zannini's blog
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter
Buy True Believers

Cate: Is there anything you’d like to ask our readers?
Maria: Do you the government is keeping the existence of aliens secret? Or are there no aliens?

***

Contest time! Every time you leave a comment, tweet or mention "Maria Zannini" anywhere with a link to my blog, your name goes in the hat for a chance to win a Texas sized prize. Go here for more information.

Cate: Sounds exciting! Thanks so much for being my guest Maria.

Author Chat with Maria Zannini

Grab a cappuccino and let’s chat. Unless you have another favorite drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?
I’m not a coffee drinker, but I’ll gladly clink an icy glass of Coke Zero with you.

Cheers! Fur or feathers, petwise?

Definitely fur, with eight paws and two wet noses. Have I introduced you to my boys? There’s Tank, brawny and a little intimidating, but a true gentleman. And then there’s Iko. :shakes head: Iko is my penance on Earth. Fortunately, I think he’s outgrown his teenage insecurity. I haven’t lost a piece of furniture in months.

Whew. Glad the eight paws and two wet noses are on separate doggies. And those boys look like workers!
Best life lesson?
A long time ago, when I was just a kid, a beggar came to my grandmother’s door. He was dirty and hungry and I probably would’ve sent him away out of fear and suspicion. But my grandmother didn’t. She made him this humongous sandwich and stuffed a shopping bag full of fruit and bread. In the forty years since, I’ve never seen a man more grateful.
When she caught me watching, she explained that how we treat others says more about us than any glowing words or bald praise. I never forgot that lesson. We can sugarcoat our words all we want, but it’s our actions that define us.

Wise woman. Favorite quote?
There are forty million reasons for failure—but not a single excuse.

What’s your ideal day like?
A productive morning writing, an afternoon napping with my husband, and an evening sitting on the sofa reading while hubby cooks a gourmet meal (and washes the dishes afterward). You did say ideal, right?

That does sound ideal!
If you could live out any fantasy, what would you do?
One of the items on my bucket list is to travel the world, but not the regular touristy locations. I want to eat with Mongol nomads inside a yurt, ride elephants in India, and traipse through the rainforests in the Amazon. And while I’m fantasizing, I’d also like a new knee and fifteen years shaved off my body. :-)
You wouldn’t happen to know anyone who could do that for me, would you?

Wish I did, he'd be a popular guy! And ah yes, I always wanted to accompany Michael Palin on his travels too. He went exactly those places. And he'd be a cool travel companion. :)
Do you have a music playlist for your book?
Only for love scenes and fight scenes, and I only play them before I write, not during. I listen to Toby Keith, Lady Gaga and Nickelback. And I have to thank you for introducing me to Adele. ‘Rolling In The Deep’ makes a great soundtrack when I’m trying to envision angst and revolution.

I finally broke down and bought the Adele CD. She's amazing.
Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and why?

Greyhawke Tams, the hero in Apocalypse Rising. There’s nothing I like to see more than rippling muscles at the dinner table. LOL. I’d also like to invite Bone, the dog from the same story. He’s a hero in his own right, despite being abandoned and down on his luck. Pooches are always welcome in my home.

Both are welcome in my home as well!
While creating your books, what was one of the most surprising things you learned?
Social networking really works. In the early days, I shunned Twitter and Facebook as if they were flesh-eating bacteria, but I knew I couldn’t avoid them forever.
But what to do? I was afraid of coming off like a fish monger hawking his wares. Yet, if I remained silent, I’d be all but invisible.
After some serious debate, I decided to use my blog and Facebook to tell my stories about the little things that happen to me on the homestead. On Twitter, I retweet other people’s books and blogs. Slowly, people started showing up and we were having relationships instead of drive-bys.
I discovered I didn’t have to put on airs or constantly pitch my brand. All I had to do was be myself.
It’s a slow way to reach an audience, and it won’t appeal to everyone, but I prefer it to the in-your-face-rabid-monkey dance. I want to keep my readers for a long time, not just for one book, but for a lifetime. If they like my voice and true life stories, chances are good they’ll like my books too.

Well said. Where can readers find out more about you?
Follow me on my blog: http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mariazannini
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MariaZannini
Buy link for Apocalypse Rising
Buy link for Touch Of Fire

Both are on my TBB list! You know I loved True Believers.
Please share a book blurb and/or excerpt.
Here’s a conversation between our heroes, Leda and Grey with two strangers (Tom and Cassandra) who claim to know them.
“If our theory is correct, the portal should send you twelve hundred years in the past, just before the apocalypse.”
“The apocalypse?” Leda leaned toward him. “Is that when the end times appear?”
Tom blew out a breath. “It happened so subtly most people never knew what hit them. But you’ll be well prepared. You know how to live without machines.” He looked over at Grey. “And you know how to fight.” Tom grabbed a short branch and scratched out a crude map on the dirt. “You’ll come out in a forest. And there’ll be a freshwater spring just north of it.”
Grey shook his head. “The portal is inside a rocky crag halfway down a cliff. There is no forest nearby, let alone a spring.”
Tom gathered the soft bundle of green paper and tucked it into an old leather sleeve. “Things change, Grey. The forest was there. So was the spring. Twelve hundred years ago.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, his soft hazel eyes crinkling like dried leaves in winter.
Leda studied the older couple, but without the aid of auras, their secrets remained buried. “Why are you helping us?”
Cassandra smoothed Leda’s hair away from her face. “Because you helped us once, darlin’. Twelve hundred years ago.”

Bio: Maria Zannini used to save the world from bad advertising, but now she spends her time wrangling chickens, and fighting for a piece of the bed against dogs of epic proportions. Occasionally, she writes novels.

Apocalypse Rising blurb: The only place to hide was in the past. Leda and Grey have one chance to escape a madman and that’s through a portal to a time before the apocalypse. But nothing has prepared them for 21st century culture, and every misstep draws them closer to the End Times. The world is teetering on extinction, and they may very well be the cause of it.

Apocalypse Rising is the sequel to Touch Of Fire. I hope you’ll try them both.

Very cool. Thanks so much for being my guest Maria! A cyber toast to you on your latest release. Best of luck!