MOONLESS Cover Reveal!

Holy Heck this is one awesome cover!!! 

One of my amazing blogging, critique partnering peeps has a book coming out November 13th, 2013!!! How cool is that?

Major cool people!

Now, you probably want to know what this baby is all about. Lemme tell you.

MOONLESS: Alexia's nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the soulless.

MOONLESS is Jane Eyre meets Supernatural. (I just love that part)

Head on over and visit Ms. Crystal.  She'd love to have you creep on her blog.

Hows that for a marvelous Monday???

A Call For Submissions!!!

Illustration by the ever so awesome: Michael Di Gesu

Brand New Publisher Accepting Submissions!

And I am a part of it! I'm stoked beyond belief and also a little freaked out! No lie! After lots of research, chats, emails, reading, writing, interviews, and the whole works, a few friends and I launched BookFish Books LLC. 

I know, crazy huh? I still feel a little nauseous. Seriously. It's even crazier how it all happened, but I won't bore you with the details. In short, we love books and we love authors. For those of you contemplating self publishing, we hope to be an in-between for you. A way to get your project out there with a lot of help. Come visit us at BookFish Books. We're accepting YA submissions in all categories for Spring 2014 release. Feel free to spread the word. We will just heart you to pieces for the help! 

Happy Labor Day, people!

The Nuts and Bolts

Dudes! I've so missed creeping on all my blogging buddies. Time is not on my side these days, but I had to tell you, I saw The Mortal Instruments this past weekend with my nephew, Ty. It. Was. Awesome. Mostly. Ty loved it. Hid his face at all the demon encounters. He's almost ten so it was kind of gross. But being with the little guy reminded me how important it is to step away from the lair, and work and spend time with the kiddos. As we waited in line I watched young Ty hang from the railing outside the theatre. I convinced him the railing had diohpyt revef cooties, and he should let go immediately. His mouth fell open and he stopped in mid-swing. Standing up, he let go of the railing and wiped his hands on his pants. I then had to translate the meaning of the backwards words... typhoid fever brought to the new world decades ago by dyslexic monkey's. Fits and Giggles. (even the old couple behind us thought this was funny) After that, I ordered tickets in a terrible British accent. (I am not British, like at all) Fits and Giggles. Two seconds later, we were standing at the snack counter where I requested tea and crumpets. I swear the teen with the carrot dreads did a cocker spaniel on me right then and there. Fits and Giggles. Carrot boy translated my request into cookies and Coke Zero and then proceeded to tell us our movie would be shown in theatre number 2. No he did NOT say NUMBER 2. To a nine-year-old, saying number 2 is like the funniest thing in the whole world. Like ever. Fits and Giggles. Movie aside, there's nothing better than hanging out with a kid and being one yourself. I have no problem with this at all. Kind of made me feel like I'd gotten down to the nuts and bolts of life...the stuff that truly matters...being silly, being happy, and saying crumpets in a crowded theatre labeled Number 2. Good times! When was the last time you acted like a 9 year old? Do tell.

COVER REVEAL!!!

Today I'm happy to be a part of the cover reveal and sneak peek blog hop for Mary Waibel's novel, Charmed Memories, the second book in the Princess of Valendria series. Here is the lovely cover, designed by the talented Marion Sipe.

Blurb:

Prince Trevor has always placed duty to his kingdom above the desires of his own heart. But when his betrothed is lost at sea, he finds himself torn between honor and love.

After four years of searching for the missing princess, he begins to secretly long for Lady Bri, the Woodland Guide he works with each day. But the law says he must marry a princess, and Bri is barely a noble.

When Trevor learns that Bri was shipwrecked at the same time and place as the princess, he begins to believe he has finally found his bride-to-be. But his happiness is

short-lived. Bri has no memory of her past, and the princess wasn't the only girl who disappeared from the ship.

Desperate to prove Bri is his princess, Trevor unwittingly places the two of them

in grave danger. Buried in Bri's memories are deadly secrets someone wants kept

from the light of day, and learning who she is may cost more than either is willing to

pay.

Sneak Peek:

Prologue

Removing her from the picture was the first step, then he could set about removing the remaining obstacles and claim his rightful birthright. His hands sweated in anticipation as he opened the door. Today his reign began.

Charmed Memories is releasing this Friday, August 9th. More details are available at http://marywaibel.blogspot.com

Previous Excerpt

What?

Let me set this up for you. July 4th. The hubs throws out his back lifting a humongous bag of dog food (he's demanding I tell you he lifted a house off of a baby). Never happened, more like 40 pounds of dog food happened. The rest of the day, a complete wash, right? Seriously. Copious amounts of rain, cancelled fireworks, rivers overflowing, little sailboat bobbing through the backyard, the works. I know what you're thinking. Go to bed. Pray for sunlight.  No. We're way too interesting to allow rain to wash out this party. Cookout be damned. We ordered takeout (burgers) and then settled down to stuff our faces and watch a movie.

I found P.S. I Love You. Hello! A little Gerard Butler. Can you say, "Man Candy?" 

Hubs shook his head. 

"Jane Eyre?"

Blank stare. 

"The English Patient?"

Rolls eyes. 

"Does everything have to contain fire, ammunition, and a boob in order for it to be deemed a movie?"

Hubs says, "Yes. Yes it does." 

"But it's Jane Eyre."

"Who the hell is Jane Eyre?"

WHAT?

"She's a character in a novel written by, Charlotte Bronte."

"What's she doing on TV if she's supposed to be in a book?"

"They made a movie out of the novel."

"Why would anybody want to do that?"

My turn for the blank stare. 

I do love that man, but he may be the death of me. 

Was your fourth of July better than mine? I ended up reading ANEW, by Chelsea Fine while something exploded on the surround sound in front of me.

As for Jane Eyre? Challenge accepted. :) 

When to take the self publishing plunge.

For the past year, blogging has been in the trunk rather than the backseat. I needed more time to write, more time to cook dinner,  do the whole domestic thing. In addition to writing and revising, I've also spent a lot of time stalking and querying agents. You all know how time consuming this can be. Actually, I think it takes over your whole life. I don't understand why we can't just make appointments for mani/pedi dates with agents to discuss our stories. Talk about the perfect time for a pitch slam. I could get way more accomplished than this late night blinding scan of Publishers Marketplace, agent blogs, lame emailing, and website stalking. Just tell me how many YA books you've sold in the last 12 months, hand over the Sonic Bloom ( blush-worthy pink) for my tootsies. And, if you're not gonna eat your cucumbers, hand them over the second I sign your contract. Who wants cucumber juice on their contract, right?

Wouldn't that be dreamy?

Through it all, I've kept my mind open during the whole process. I've thought about what I would do if every agent on the planet sent me a form rejection. Worry not. I do not intend to dress up in my grandmother's housecoat, strap on a pair of stillettos, or take a nose dive off the city bridge during a hail storm. The thought hasn't even crossed my mind. I hate high heels. And heights. And my grandmother's housecoat. God rest her soul.

There are other options. Self pubbing is one of them. There's a lot of pros. A lot cons. A lot of fear. But the more I look into it, the more I see there are really pros and cons either way. I would love to hear about experiences you've had with self publishing. What made you decide that it was right for you? Do tell.

COMPLETELY OUT

It's been a busy couple of weeks!!! My writing time has totally been shoved aside, but I'm so okay with that. My daughter graduated high school this week. Woot! Woot! Great friends traveled in from Tennessee. A lot of food happened. A lot of catching up happened. A lot of much needed down time happened.

                           We even managed to wear out the dog. Poor Coop.

Eventually things will go back to normal...eventually. Your turn. Tell me what you've been up to?