Samhain Books I’m Looking Forward to

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Random posting time! Here’s the two books I’m most looking forward to from Samhain:

First, Viv Arend’s first print release. I was gonna buy the ebooks, but the print is out next week. Yay!

“Under the Northern Lights PRINT” by Vivian Arend1618

Read An Excerpt Online
Genre: Paranormal Romance

ISBN: 978-1-60504-794-2
Length: 224 Pages
Price: 14.00
Publication Date: August 3, 2010
Cover art by Angela Waters

A split second is all it takes to pull the trigger on destiny.

Wolf Signs
Robyn’s deafness doesn’t stop her from taking the backcountry trip she’s been craving. Meeting a hot, ripped hunk-of-male at the Yukon cabin starts cravings of a different kind. And raises questions about wolves, mates, and duels to the death.

He wanted a quiet retreat before challenging for the pack Alpha position. Keil wasn’t planning on meeting his mate or discovering she’s not aware she has the genes of a wolf to go along with her attitude…

Wolf Flight
Tad’s workaholism keeps his bush-pilot company in the air, and his inner werewolf in check. Letting it loose would mean compromising his human principles. Then Missy re-enters his life, and their chemistry is off the charts, pushing him closer to the step he’s not sure it’s safe to take.

A wolf pack is a dangerous place to have secrets, and Missy’s corrupt Alpha has sniffed out her carefully hidden Omega powers. Her only choice is to get to Tad, and hope like hell his untapped powers are strong enough to negate her own…

Warning: Contains nasty Alphas, secret Omegas, and yup—predestined mates. Includes dangerous use of sarcasm and hot wilderness nookie.

Second, Wild Cards and Iron Horses. The cover for this is awesome, and I’ll probably end up buying the book twice because I want to hug that cover. And check out the blurb. Steampunk, an honor bound hero, card games, redemption … yes, please!

“Wild Cards and Iron Horses” by Sheryl Nantus

Read An Excerpt Online
Genre: Western Romance, Fantasy Romance

ISBN: 978-1-60928-151-91578

Length: Novel
Price: 5.50
Publication Date: August 10, 2010
Cover art by Kanaxa

Their love rides on a spring and a prayer…

During the recent Civil War, a soldier risked his life to save Jonathan Handleston—and lost. With the help of an advanced metal brace on his crippled hand, Jon now travels from one poker tournament to the next, determined to earn enough money to repay the man’s debt.

Prosperity Ridge is supposed to be the last stop on his quest, but his brace is broken and he needs an engineer to repair the delicate mechanisms. The only one available is Samantha Weatherly, a beautiful anomaly in a world ruled by men.

Sam is no fool. Jon is no different from any other gambler—except for his amazing prosthetic. Despite a demanding project to win a critical contract to develop an iron horse, she succumbs to the lure of working on the delicate mechanisms. And working with the handsome Englishman.

Like a spring being coiled, Samantha and Jon are inexorably drawn together. Sam begins to realize honor wears many faces, and she becomes the light at the end of Jon’s journey to redemption. The only monkey wrench is Victor, a rival gambler who will stop at nothing to make sure Jon misses the tournament. Even destroy Jon’s and Sam’s lives.

Warning: Contains crazed card games, gears and springs galore and a wild ride that’ll have you panting at the end of the book.

Outlines are Scary

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I am what is affectionately referred to as a panster – someone who writes by the seat of their pants (also know as a “discovery writer” since they discover the story/characters as they write). The other type of writer is a plotter, someone who outlines a story before sitting down to write it (also known as an “outliner”). Some people present this as an either/or situation – one is a panster or a plotter. I’ve seen a few people treat it as a continuum, with pure pantser and pure plotter as extremes with nearly everyone falling somewhere in between. I rather like this view, although I’m definitely over on the panster side of things.

Outlines scare me. Even thinking about them makes me a little nervous. I have an idea of where a story is going and a few key points along the way, but if I sat down and tried to write a neat little outline it would almost surely kill my interest. I need to figure things out as I write, learning about the characters and seeing how they react to and effect the plot.

I know some people can fill out detailed character sheets and know person A’s mother’s friend’s dog’s name and what the first picture they drew in Kindergarten was before they sit down to write, but I can’t do that either. I have an idea of personality and a bit of history, and I learn about the character as I go. It’s a little like meeting the friend of a friend and sitting down to chat.

When writing a first draft, I need to run wild and free. It’s an adventure. I might know what happens in the story today when I sit down to write, but not what happens the day after. My brain tends to work a little bit ahead, although sometimes I think I know what’s going to happen and it ends up changing. Maybe I stumble around for a bit, but this is the way writing works for me. An outline would feel like shackles, and the last thing I need is another excuse to keep me from writing.

But after saying all that I do outline – after the first draft is done. An outline is part of editing, when I need a more structured picture of the story.

Win a Moira Rogers eBook!

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It’s contest time again! This time you can win ANY Moira Rogers ebook published by Samhain, except for Cry Sanctuary. Why not that one? Because it’s FREE on Barnes & Noble and Amazon for the next two weeks. Check it out!

I’ve known the Bree half of Moira Rogers for years, and through her I met her BFF Donna, the other half of this fantastic and prolific team. We even used to write together (for fun). I’m super thrilled that now we share a publisher, and I’m excited to share one of their books with you.

So, after you’ve downloaded a FREE copy of Cry Sanctuary, come back here for a chance to win another book. How about one of the other books in the Red Rock Pass series – Sanctuary Lost, Sanctuary’s Price or Sanctuary Unbound? Or either Crux or Crossroads from their Southern Arcana series?

Just leave a comment telling me what book you’d like and why, and on June 22 I’ll pick a winner. 🙂

Faith

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This is the flip side to my post about fear last week.

Since I was 13 I’ve had faith that if I worked hard enough someday, somehow I was going to get published. Last year I had faith that two of my stories might be publishable. The shorter of the two got rejected, once with a very nice note. The other one was Darkness at Dawn. When I got the offer letter, I stared at in disbelief. Samhain might be small, but they have a good reputation (and they’re smart which I love them for.) So here was an editor basically telling me my story was good enough that they thought they could make money off it. That’s what an offer like this means, not so much this story is good although that’s certainly part of it, but we think we can sell this. When that aspect of it sunk in, I was even more stunned. Talk about an ego boost!

I choose to put my fear aside and have faith that I can repeat my success. Maybe not everything I write will find a home at a publisher, but I believe that some of it will.

Another part of faith is the faith that I can even write a story in the first place. I’m a pantser, also known as a discovery writer. I don’t outline. The idea of writing down an outline before I start writing sounds like story death to me. Writing detailed outlines and character bios and story arcs might be fun for some people, but not me. I get an idea and usually have some sort of ending in mind so I have something to aim for, and then I just write. I get more ideas as I write and the story starts to take shape. I might jot down some notes, but it doesn’t come close to an outline. Here’s the really cool thing: sometimes pieces start fitting together all on their own. In the story I’m working on now, things that were just “there” in the beginning suddenly became part of the plot. When moments like that happen, it’s just beautiful.

And it gives me faith that I can weave a story.

Today I choose faith over fear. I hope you do, too.

The Road to Release Day: Fear

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Ok, I don’t want to be downer but this is a legitimate feeling and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like this. Other than one very short story in a magazine that paid me in copy, I haven’t had anything published. Three weeks from tomorrow, my first release with Samhain comes out. While that’s super, super exciting, it’s also scary. People are actually going to read this, and they’re going to judge it. My baby is all growed up and going out into the big scary world. I don’t expect everyone to like it, that would be silly. But I’m afraid that maybe most people aren’t going to like it, that maybe one or two people will think it’s neat, and the rest will read it and think “This is crap!”.

I’m also afraid that no one’s going to buy my book, that I’ll sell ten copies to family and friends and everyone else will just ignore me.

And even if the book does do well, and people do like it, I’m worried that this is the best I’ve got. That the next thing I submit, and the next and the next will get rejected. Maybe Darkness at Dawn was a fluke and all my other stuff just isn’t good enough.

I keep telling myself not to worry about it, and most of the time I don’t, but that little voice still whispers. I’ve found ways to shut him up (like working on a new project), but unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way to get rid of him. He just hangs out in my head, looking for weaknesses. Creepy little bastard.

Werewolf Bootlegger Layeth the Smacketh Down!

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This may come as a shock, but …

I’m on Team Werewolf. Find out more.

Now, I’ll admit that the idea of a vampire lumberjack is neat. Funny. Interesting. But up against a werewolf bootlegger? I’m sorry, but in that case you spell vampire lumberjack L-A-M-E. C’mon, a guy who hangs out in the woods and chops down trees versus a guy thumbing his nose at the law while racing around in a car full of booze? And did I mention the tommy gun? Well I just did.

In a fight, there’s no way a vampire lumberjack is winning. He’d be mowed down before he brought his axe up. I imagine it would look something like this:

Layeth the Smacketh Down!

Notice Werewolf Bootlegger standing triumphantly over the fallen Vampire Lumberjack.

You know what? The werewolf bootlegger doesn’t even need a tommy gun. He can whoop that vampire’s ass with his bare hands.

GO TEAM WEREWOLF BOOTLEGGER!

This post is a part of Moira Rogers’ Creature Feature Kindle Throwdown Contest. By leaving a (meaningful) comment, you will be entered to win a Kindle from Amazon.com, or an alternate grand prize of $275 to spend at an online book retailer. For a full list of rules and more ways to win, visit the contest page.