Mia Thompson: On Stalking Sapphire's newest episode, fun in Helsingborg, and captive company with a literary hero.

Today, I'm visited by author Mia Thompson, one of my fellow writers at the Prose Cons blog. She's getting ready to release the latest title in her Stalking Sapphire series. I had the pleasure of getting to know her better and I think you're going to love her, too.

Welcome, Mia! Tell us about your series, Stalking Sapphire, and the latest installment, Sentencing Sapphire.

Mia: The series is about Sapphire Dubois, a Beverly Hills heiress/vigilante who secretly captures serial killers. Stalking Sapphire, the first book, picks up right before an inciting incident catapults Sapphire’s life into an irreversible change. Essentially, the books are about the two lives she leads and what happens when the wall she has put up between them starts to crack.  

We both write New Adult fiction. Recently, we chatted about my thoughts on the genre…let's talk about your view. What draws you to the audience and why do you write NA?


Mia: I love the boldness of NA. I don’t like to walk on egg shells when I write and, to me, New Adult is a genre that is meant to push boundaries. The readers, usually in their twenties, are now free of parental supervision and are pushing and breaking boundaries to figure out who they want to be. Writing for them feels natural for the way I write.

The ages-old question is "what came first: chicken or the egg?" Let's twist it and ask: what comes first, the story or the genre? Did you set out to write NA stories or did you develop your idea first then decide the best audience for it?

Mia: The story came first. I think I was twenty-three when I started it, so it felt more organic to build everything around a MC in her early twenties. Once I was writing it, and started researching books similar to it, I realized how few there were. New Adult had barely been coined back then, so I didn’t even know what my book was until my agent told me.

You were born in Sweden which automatically makes you cooler than me. Just so I can vicariously live through you, let's pretend I'm visiting Sweden and you are my travel agent. Tell me about your favorite must-see location, your favorite Swedish dish, and an activity I couldn't do better anywhere else.

Mia: Ha! I’d send you to Helsingborg, the harbor town I grew up in. It’s about 1000 years old, and only a twenty minute ferry ride away from Denmark. People often don’t even get off the ferry; they stay to eat good food and drink pilsner as the boat goes back and forth between Sweden and Denmark. It’s a phenomenon we call “Tura” and it’s a Must-Do in Helsingborg.

I’d send you there in August, just in time for the crawfish fest. Basically, we put on funny hats and eat crawfish that’s been resting in cold dill brine—delish. Every two minutes or so, someone will raise their schnapps and start singing a drinking song, at the end of which everyone around the table must empty their glasses. By the end, you’ll be full and drunk as a skunk. 

I think I'd really like that--it's been a long time I went on a crawfish binge. Never had them in a dill brine, though... dill is one of my favorite scents so I know I'd love it. Think I'll be Goodling a recipe later on today... 

Do you have a hero author? If you could spend a day with them doing anything you wanted, who would it be and what would you do? One caveat: you only have 100k to spend (so save it for bail money if necessary).

Mia: It’s a tough choice, I have several hero authors, but I have to pick Marian Keyes; I’ve devoured her books since I was a teen.

It would be a simple Talk & Tea session in her chic kitchen—I imagine her having a very chic kitchen—while we enjoyed some biscuits. However, five hours later, three of which she had spent asking me to leave because two hours is quite enough, I’d be hauled out the door by the police and charged with “Excessive and Invasive Brain Picking.” In which case the money would, indeed, become useful for both bail and upcoming fines. 

Well, that's only if she doesn't drop the charges. And, who knows, it might make for a good story after the restraining order is lifted...

Has anyone ever asked you if your stories are based on your own life? (I get asked that all the time, even though I write about vampires, werewolves, and other mostly-improbable creatures.) How do you answer them?

Mia: All the time. If I’m in a good mood, and they don’t know my books, I’ll respond: “Let’s hope not; I write about serial killers.” If I’m in a bad mood, and they do know my books, I’ll respond: “Yes, they are. I wrote them from prison.”

That would be awesome on a t-shirt :) Time to fire up PhotoShop!

I'd be a happy typer if being a writer meant 100% of my time went to, well, writing. (No such luck.) Do you have a tip for writer time management?

Mia: The bad news: Besides from prioritizing, I have nothing. The good news: I’m currently building a machine that freezes time for everyone but writers. As soon as I can get the cardulator, the dinklehopper, and other made up words to work, we’ll all get the writing time we need. Hell, we may even get to have a life!

I have a wild imagination, but even I have a hard time believing that "have a life" nonsense. This is all we get: writing, reading, and hanging out with other writers online as we muck on through. Where can we stalk find you online?

Mia: You can find me at...
http://authormiathompson.com
http://twitter.com/mia_thomp
http://facebook.com/authormiathompson

You can also find me at wattpad.com/user/authormiathompson where I’m currently running the book clubs for both Stalking Sapphire and, the second book, Silencing Sapphire.

About The Author
Mia Thompson is a Swedish-born author living in Sacramento, California. Her international bestsellers, Stalking Sapphire and Silencing Sapphire, were published in 2013, and followed by the third book in the series, Sentencing Sapphire. Mia is currently working on completing the series’ last two installments, due out through Diversion Books in 2016 and 2017.

Differences Between Professional & Amateur Writers: On Inspiration #writerstip

I recently read an article an author had written on the five differences between professional authors and amateurs. Good article, but I kept coming back to this line:

When beginning writers approach me, they often want to know where I get my ideas (Pottery Barn, I tell them) or my inspiration.  By contrast, I think published novelists understand that you can’t really get help with inspiration.

I don’t know why, but this kinda rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe I took it the wrong way. I do that a lot, because as a published novelist (ergo professional writer), I always immediately reject the most obvious meaning and delve on through to the fourth or fifth possibility. That keeps things exciting and unexpected. (#writerstip)

But seriously. Why is asking about inspiration the mark of an amateur? I ask other writers all the time, and I’m not an amateur. I know where I get my inspiration from, and I’ve written extensively about it. It’s my innate curiosity that drives me to ask other writers what makes them tick. If I wasn’t curious about almost everything, I probably would be a very boring fiction writer. (bonus #writerstip)

Even beginning writers know where their own inspirations come from. If they weren’t inspired, they never would have made the switch from Advanced Reader to Beginning Writer. Writers at every level of experience are sensitive to inspirational things, which seed the creative subconscious and stimulate the growth of ideas. Asking another writer what inspires them isn’t the same as asking for a lesson on How To Become Inspired. It’s an inquiry to see if someone as big as a “professional” writer shares the same idea processes as they do.

Kind of like when Kid President asks his interview guests if they toot.

We all toot. We’re all human.

Professional authors are human, too, just like the wee amateurs. And, whether pro or amateur, we’re all part of a community of artists. Asking that question may be a way for a beginning author to validate his belief in himself, to remind him that his idea process is just as valid as that of the multi-published professional. Every one of us needs a big up now and then. I’m sure even the most seasoned professionals have heroes, and wouldn’t mind knowing if they share the same ilk.

I think a better mark of the professional author would be the ability to serve as a mentor to the beginners. Experts teach the innocent. Professionals should teach with a certain sensibility that fosters the less-experienced within our ranks.

Don’t forget: the word “professional” means many things.

Definition of professional (adj)(Courtesy of Bing Dictionary)
 pro•fes•sion•al [ prō féshən'l ]

1. of profession: relating to or belonging to a profession
2. following occupation as paid job: engaged in an occupation as a paid job rather than as a hobby
3. businesslike: conforming to the standards of skill, competence, or character normally expected of a properly qualified and experienced person in a work environment

I tend to focus on the third definition, with emphasis on character. Answering an emerging writer’s earnest question with disdain or a non-answer or the attitude that the simple act of asking a question will forever condemn them to the amateur team is, in a word, unprofessional.

Especially when you consider definition number two. The moment you are paid to do something, you are a professional. That means the same for all occupations, from ice skaters to freelance writers. The day I received a token payment from an ezine for a poem was the day I made pro. Money’s a bit different when you compare it to novel sales by a Big 5 publisher, but the distinction is the same.

Professionals don’t talk down to other professionals. That’s not just unprofessional--that’s jackassy.

And I’m sure that the point he was trying to make was certainly not that professionals no longer get inspired, that the trick of writing your eighth or ninth book isn’t the result of an uninspired plug-and-play formula. (That suspicion was maybe seventh down on my list of possible interpretations—see first #writerstip)

Professionals are subject to inspiration, just as amateurs are. The difference is that professionals look for inspiration and set to work crafting a product out of it, whereas an amateur often is struck by an inspiration, which jars them so thoroughly out of their everyday life that they are driven to write about it. In short: professionals use inspiration as a tool, the same one that amateurs must learn to wield.

What I did find helpful, though is the reference to Pottery Barn. I adore the photos on that website and I think that any author who needs to add a little setting to their characters’ internal environments should stop by. Whether your heroine lives at the sea side or deep in the rustic northwest, you can catch glimpses of inspirational home furnishings and room shots that will immerse you in your scenes and feed your muses. (best #writerstip in the bunch)

So, thanks are in order, after all, Mr. Author. All of us writers—from the amateur to the professional—appreciate a pointer now and then. We are never so far at the top of our craft that we won’t benefit from a lesson from one of the pros.

Anything but an Archetype: Remembering Carolyn Kaufman

One of my favorite writerly endeavors has been writing for the Query Tracker blog.



Carolyn Kaufman

I remember the day I got an email from the blog’s coordinator, Carolyn Kaufman. I knew who she was, being a frequent visitor to the QT forum; I respected her as knowledgeable and generous in her advice to aspiring writers. She posted under the nickname Archetype, a theme that she used throughout her writings on the subject of psychology.

At the time, I was maybe three months into my career as a contracted novelist, nose-deep in editorial work on my first book, head spinning at the thought of establishing myself as the author I’d always dreamed of becoming. Carolyn said she knew me from the forums, that she was familiar with my posts and perspectives, and thought I’d make a good addition to the blog. I was floored. Me? A good addition?

Like so many writers, I doubted myself. I knew that blog. I followed it since the day it made its glorious renaissance. I knew the past bloggers, authors who I’d read on the forum, authors whose work I admired. I’d watched them travel the path to representation and publication and I was sure of one thing: I’d be a poor follow-up to such talented writers.

Carolyn didn’t see it that way.

Knowing it was an honor and too good an opportunity to pass up, I tried to push doubt aside as best I could and I let her talk me into it. I agonized over a suitable topic, then agonized over the writing, and agonized over the editing. I sent my first article to Carolyn for approval, and sweated into the keyboard until she wrote back. She said she loved it. I was flabbergasted. (I still am.)

On September 7, 2011, my first article was published on the Query Tracker blog.

Since then, I’ve written dozens of articles and Publishing Pulses, and each time I agonized whether it would be good enough for the blog. I never wanted to bring down the enterprise I respected most. Carolyn often assured me I never would.

Carolyn did more than encourage me and make me feel like a worthy contributor; she became my friend. We emailed, chatting about our projects and our personal lives. She allowed me to read her WIP, and she was kind enough to offer her fathomless and brilliant advice on mine—my main character is a social worker, so Carolyn and her book have been an inexhaustible reference for me. In fact, I made major alterations to the manuscript because of what I’ve learned from her. It’s made my book better.

She’s made me better.

A mutual friend recently described her as intensely private and all I could think was: not with me. Never with me. Although I never knew the sound of her laugh, or the color of her eyes, or the warmth of her hug, I knew she was truly my friend, always just a note away.

I’ve spent just as much time agonizing over the acknowledgements for that WIP—I wanted to dedicate the book to her and publically thank her for her support and her inspiration. I knew I’d have to keep it as a surprise because she’d never seek the praise. But now I find myself looking over that paragraph, wondering how I can find the strength to delete the word ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and type in the words IN MEMORIAM.

On September 7, 2013, two years from the very day Carolyn posted my first Query Tracker article, she passed away after a brief and unexpected illness.

The world lost a beautiful person and a talented author. We lost a tremendous source of encouragement and inspiration. Many of us lost a dear friend. Tonight I take my comfort in knowing that she left behind a wealth of words, so that we can continue learning and growing and persevering.

That was her gift to the world—her words. And, thanks to them, Carolyn will always be with us.

God rest you, Caro. You can never be forgotten.

Pre-Launch Event…Bleeding Hearts G!veaway

If you like paranormal love stories or beautiful porcelain jewelry, then this is a giveaway you don't want to miss.

I'm getting ready to review the ARC for BLOOD RUSH--the second book in my Demimonde series. It's scheduled to release in May and I am getting the pre-release jitters already. With the sequel release so close at hand, I thought it would be fun to put this nervous energy to good use and have a little giveaway--open INT, of course.

Shiny things have always captured my attention…and the Franz porcelain bleeding hearts are no exception. I've been stalking them online for some time now. Today, I took the plunge and bought them--and I'm going to share them with YOU if we can reach 500 adds on Goodreads for my upcoming release, Blood Rush (Demimonde #2).

What I have to give you:

• A signed copy of BLEEDING HEARTS (Demimonde #1)

• A Franz porcelain bleeding heart pendant, eerily reminiscent of the cover art.

I bought a pair of Franz earrings with the intention to remove the hooks and convert them into pendants. I also have a mind to replace the hanging pearl with a red Swarovski tear drop crystal. All the better to wear my book, right? J

And one of you can, too. I will give away one of the pendants to a lucky reader. The winner may choose the original pearl drop or the red crystal alteration.

• Demimonde swag: magnets, bookmarks--who knows what I'll find in my swag basket?

BONUS: If we hit 1000 adds for Blood Rush by May 6, I'll add a $50 Amazon GC to the pot!

 

What you can do to enter:

• Add Bleeding Hearts (Demimonde #1) and Blood Rush (Demimonde #2) to your Goodreads shelf
• Like/tag Bleeding Hearts on Amazon

You can also:

• Follow me on Facebook (because I am a good time)
• Follow me on Twitter (because I love to promote other writers and bloggers)

• Tweet about the giveaway (because sharing the love is a nice thing to do)

• Join the Demimonde (by following my blog)

 Of course, I made it all so much easier by making a Rafflecopter form :)

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This event will run until Monday, May 6…a week before the big BLOOD RUSH release!

(And then it's time for an entirely new set of giveaways….but you gotta get in them to win them.)

I hope you'll enter the giveaway and lend your support to my books. If you haven't had a chance to read Bleeding Hearts (Demimonde #1) yet, stop by the Goodreads page to read some of the reviews before visiting the Amazon page.

And be sure to share this event with your friends...look for the Facebook event and invite your social media masses. This is totally a case of bigger equals better, because the prizes get better the bigger we get!

Meet my demivampires…you'll like them as much as they would like you.

COVER REVEAL: Redgates Secrets by Kim Koning

I'm thrilled to be a part of my writer friend Kim Koning's cover reveal for her book REDGATES SECRETS. I love books that tickle my dark side so I'd like to introduce you to her work.

Redgates Secrets

(The Redgates Secrets #1)

 

The Redgates Secrets where shadows become monsters and the chilling truth is revealed in secrets better left untold…

 

Alicia and Joseph Jackson are a couple at cracking point. After years of trying and failing to conceive, Alicia has finally fallen pregnant. But worried for her safety, her doctor prescribes a complete change of pace. What better change of pace but to buy a mortgagee sale smallholding in the country-side? The house has a name: REDGATES. Alicia is immediately charmed by this beautiful sprawling mansion. She can see her baby being born and nurtured here. Joseph is taken with the mysterious history of this old homestead. But digging around in the house’s past may uncover more than just cracks in their marriage. Some secrets are better left untold. Some nightmares hide in the shadows of the day. The locals have another name for the house: The House of Blood & Secrets.

 

Like The Redgates Secrets on Facebook!

 

 

Kim Koning

 

Kim is a dark fiction writer with the heart of a poet and the soul of a gypsy while the ancient rhythms of Africa, the birthplace of storytellers, courses through her veins. Wanting to be either a pathologist or a criminal psychologist, life took her on a few twists and turns while studying journalism and after a couple of meandering offshoots that did not involve fiction, fiction finally chose her when she was asked to write a short story for a NZ anthology (which was a National Award Winner). Kim now lives on the beautiful East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island and is lucky enough to call the Pacific Ocean her backyard. She can often be found wandering the cliff tops above the crashing ocean and walking through the lush farmlands that surround the area. But with a heart caught between two lands, the sunburned, ancient Africa and the lush, green islands of New Zealand, she finds her true home within the white pages covered in ink. Her fiction is caught between the dark and mysterious, the truth and the what ifs, secrets and reality, shadows and light. Kim really does see ghosts and her loved ones believe ghosts and extreme weather phenomenon follow her around. She grew up spending holidays and weekends at her grandparents’ large old farm homestead which had a hidden wing that was haunted. These early experiences with haunted homes ignited her imagination and started a spark that made her question what else is out there that we couldn’t see, what is around us observing us? Why could she see these ghosts/spirits and many others couldn’t? The spark was lit and the stories started coming as fast as she could write them down. One of these real life experiences sparked The Redgates Secrets, Kim’s debut 6 part novella series.

 

Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads

Pretty Shadows, Wicked Smiles, and Book Blogs

I know what you are thinking…

"I'm in the mood to read a great book blog. I'd like book reviews, blog-of-the-week spotlights, and interviews delivered to my inbox. And, while I'm fantasizing, might as well wish for a great giveaway, too!"

Well, I'm not the only one who can read minds. :D
Meet Dark Franny, head mistress of the Mind Reader Blog. She's recently given her digs a new 'do and, to celebrate the new look, she'd like you to stop by and take a look around.

She has a real thing for books of beautiful darkness, including but not limited to urban fantasy and paranormal romance. When she's not reading and reviewing, she's interviewing authors and featuring other great blogs.  And she doesn't stop there...she uses her considerable talents to promote authors through Dark World Books. (She did an amazing job with my BLOOD RUSH cover reveal tour this past December!)

Stop by the Mind Reader blog, peer into the pretty shadows, and wink at the wicked ones smiling at you from within them.
AND--Don't forget to enter the giveaway! She's got some great books to surrender to a lucky winner.
Come on. We both know you want to…

Terri Rochenski Interview (Make Believe Blog Tour)

 

Today, I'd like to welcome author Terri Rochenski. She's excited to promote her story in the new MAKE BELIEVE anthology and she's here to share a little more about herself. 

 Thanks for joining us, Terri!

~~~~~
 

Tell us about your story in the newly released Make Believe anthology.

I’m totally going to cheat here & give you the blurb. I worked too hard on it to try and reword!!

Sacrificial Oath
An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place. 

With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

How did the opportunity to take part in this project come about?

Someone in my writer’s forum Scribophile made an announcement that J. Taylor Publishing released an anthology call based on a picture prompt. I got lucky and that photo became the beautiful cover.

You can tell a lot about a writer just by looking at her writing space. Describe yours.

Ha! First it’s my clipboard & pen, then I move to the kitchen table where my laptop gets shoved around amidst Play Doh, My Little Ponies, and crayons.

Tell us one strange (or fun) thing about your reading/writing habits that your fans may not know.

It used to be that I write by hand, but that strangeness has been uncovered.

I’m extremely organized. Every story has its own notebook. Every novel ends up with a 3-ring binder with all the research pages in page protectors.

What's the next project we can look forward to from you?

My fantasy novel is currently in beta readers’ hands. Hoping to get it submitted to my publisher before this post goes live! *fingers crossed*

A few years ago everything I believed in was swept from beneath my feet, leaving me questioning my faith. This story started as an outlet for my disappointment and anger. I’m hoping its underlying theme will resonate with readers or perhaps help them heal from their own hurt.

Here’s a thrown-together blurb:

As the only Native to escape imprisonment by the human High Priest, Hyla turns to her faith for help and answers, learning life is much more complicated than she'd ever dreamed.

 

~~~~~

 

Thanks for stopping by, Terri. I really resonate with the sound of that last blurb and I can't wait until you share it with us.Best wishes for your continued success!

 

Readers can find out more about MAKE BELIEVE by

checking out this post for links and ordering information.

 Also, enter Terri's giveaway by filling out tbe Rafflecopter! (Thanks, Terri, for a great giveaway!)


 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dark World Books Launch: Boutique Services For Authors

Introducing DARK WORLD BOOKS!

 

Dark World Books is a new company that offers author promotion services and was the creative force behind my recent Cover Reveal Tour for Blood Rush (Demimonde #2).

 

Dark World Books offers customized boutique services for independent and published authors of Urban/Dark Fantasy, Dystopian, Steampunk, YA Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance and Dark Erotica genres.

 

To celebrate their own launch, they are hosting a MASSIVE giveaway. Get your name in the hat to win! (And by hat I mean Rafflecopter form. :D  )

 

To join us in the celebration of Dark World Books’ launch, Wynne Channing, Louis Corsair, Rebecca Hamilton, Krista Holle, Ash Krafton, Jana Oliver, Elle J Rossi & Thomas Winship are kindly offering all the gifts listed below to one lucky winner!

an eBook copy of What Kills Me + a signed What Kills Me bookmark

a paperback of Absolution + bookmarks

a signed paperback of The Forever Girl

a signed paperback of The Lure Of Shapinsay + swag and a large T-shirt

a signed paperback of Bleeding Hearts + swag

a Demon Trappers swag

an eBook copy of Chasing Fate & The Luminary + bookmarks

signed paperbacks of Vaempires: Revolution, Vaempires: White Christmas & Vaempires: Zombie Rising

 

For your chance to win this amazing prize pack, all you need to do is fill the Rafflecopter form below. The contest is open internationally and will run until January 23rd, 2013.

Please note that in order to be eligible for the giveaway, all the mandatory tasks must be completed.

Cover Reveal: Silenced by Raebeth McGee

The Demimonde Blog welcomes Raebeth McGee, author of Silenced.

 

 

Genre: Young Adult
Coming Early 2013

Amber Brown spent her entire existence believing Dave was her father. When her mother reveals this is untrue, she goes through an emotional spiral with depression. It's hard for her to believe her mother had lied to her all this time.

A move to a new home and town causes Amber to be consumed by her "darkness" and reverts to cutting to free herself from her pain.

When Casey, her new friend enters her life, she introduces Amber to parties, drugs, and Amber's new boyfriend Landon. The secret of cutting begins to take affect on Amber as she tries to hide it from her friends and family. In the mist of everything, Amber has the desire to find out who her biological father is.

Follow Amber through her trials of depression and cutting, along with the discovery of love.

 

Author LinksBlog
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter
Website

Vampire Book Realm Authors to Chat on November 30

Today, authors of the Vampire Book Realm

will be hanging out in the Latte Lounge...

come and chat!

 

The Latte Lounge is a Yahoo group

hosted by Coffee Time Romance. 

Cover Reveal: World of Shell and Bone by Adriana Ryan

The Demimonde Blog welcomes Adriana Ryan, author of World of Shell and Bone

 

 

 

Coming December 7th, 2012

In a world ravaged by a nuclear holocaust, Vika Cannon knows there are no guarantees: no guarantees of safety, no guarantees that your neighbor is not actually a spy for the government, and no guarantees you’ll be allowed to emigrate to a new life in Asia.

New Amana is dying. Food and water are scarce, and people suffering from radiation-caused mutations—the Nukeheads—are the new class of homeless.

Vika has just one purpose: to produce healthy progeny using a Husband assigned by the Match Clinic. Unhealthy children are carted away to Asylums to be experimented on, just as Vika’s little sister Ceres was, eight years ago. Parents incapable of producing healthy progeny are put to death in gas chambers.
When she’s assigned a Husband shortly after her twentieth birthday, Vika expects him to be complacent and obedient. But Shale Underwood has a secret. He is a member of the Radicals, the terrorist group intent on overthrowing the government. And Shale has information about Ceres.

As she learns more about the Rads’s plan, Vika finds herself drawn to Shale in ways she’d never imagined. When freedom calls in the way of a healthy pregnancy, will she betray her government and risk death for Shale and Ceres?

Author Adriana Ryan

Bio: Adriana Ryan lives and writes in Charleston, SC. She is currently at work on a dystopian and an urban fantasy series. A huge fan of spooky stuff and shoes, she enjoys alternately hitting up the outlet malls and historic graveyards.
Adriana Ryan is a member of the Romance Writer’s Association (RWA).

Connect with Adriana!

 

Adriana@adrianaryan.com
http://adrianaryan.com
www.facebook.com/authoradrianaryan
www.twitter.com/adrianaryansc

Upcoming BLOOD RUSH Cover Reveal Tour

 

 

 

Join us December 5, 2012 when Dark World Books hosts my cover reveal for BLOOD RUSH: Book Two of the Demimonde!

 

BLOOD RUSH (Demimonde #2) is forthcoming with Pink Narcissus Press May 14, 2013.

 

Dark World Books offers customized boutique services for independent and published authors of Urban/Dark Fantasy, Dystopian, Steampunk, YA Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Historical Romance and Dark Erotica genres.

 

 

Blood Rush Cover Reveal Hosts’ list:

Adriana Ryan | All The Fun Starts After Dark
Chapter by Chapter | Darkest Sins | Happy Tails and Tales
Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories
Mind Reader | Miz. Reader | Much Loved Books
My Seryniti | Naomi’s Paranormal Palace
 Rabid Reads| Proserpine Craving Books
Sapphyria’s Book Reviews | Scribbler’s Sojourn
Shadows Of Romance
TanaRae Reads | The Jeep Diva | The Writing World
TToria | White Sky Project

 

 

New to the Demimonde? Click HERE to see what readers are saying about BLEEDING HEARTS: Book One of the Demimonde.

 





Goodreads G!ve@way Time!

It's that time again! Let's have a Goodreads giveaway!

I'm amping up for my first appearance at the end of the month... Balticon, here I come. I gots my wicked cool stilettos, my killer tee shirts, a gameplan for big awesome hair...and maybe presents for my editors, whom I shall meet in the flesh for the very first time. I get to hang out with my publisher! WOOTS.

The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention

Memorial Day Weekend     

May 25-28, 2012

But...Balticon is a sci-fi/fantasy con. Do I really want to be sitting behind a table when there will be so much other geekfood around? I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

Going to Balticon? Look for me at the Pink Narcissus Press table, where I'll be promoting Bleeding Hearts: Book One of the Demimonde along with my Pink Narc sib, Lyle Blake Smythers. He's getting ready to release his novel Feasting with Panthers. We'll be kissing hands and shaking...wait, no. That's not it. Breaking hands and kissing babies? Eh, whatevs. We'll be there doing that thing that we do.


Or just watch for a huge pile of reddish-blonde hair walking around very slowly. :) Those shoes are going to be killer.

I'm holding a Goodreads Giveaway that will run to the end of the month. Wanna copy? Get your karma in...

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Bleeding Hearts

by Ash Krafton

Giveaway ends May 31, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

If you're like me and never win a damned thing, there's a second-chance thingie you can consider...Book bloggers can get out my Request a Review Copy page (tab is up on the top) in order to get a review copy of Bleeding Hearts. All you have to do is ask! I don't bite (<--a lie. I really do bite. Bad Habit. Sorry.)

Thanks for entering...and hope to see you in Baltimore!

Reviews, News, & Interviews for the Demimonde!

Today, I put myself into solitary confinement to get BLOOD RUSH polished up and ready to go.

There's a lot at stake on my sequel. It seems my editor, whom we call La Principessa, has grown emotionally attached to my original story. She tells me she loves my book. Well, my book loves her back. The sequal is just as much for her as it is for me, now.

I can't let La Mia Principessa down!

So, I've cut myself off from morning television until the ms is in the mail. I've only missed the first few minutes of Good Morning America and already I am jonesing. How can I go a month without Tweeting @SamChampion? He's my Twitter buddy! We have a THING!

Oh, Blood Rush. You're really going to make me work for it, aren't you...

It's not only La Mia Principessa who wants the book...it's also the head editor. I named her My Lord Editor pretty much right at the beginning of our relationship (come to think of it, I also think I promised her blood and souls in the contract...I better check that thing out again). My Lord Editor has decreed that anyone who's given Bleeding Hearts a favorable review--and there are many of you, *hugs* *MWAH* *squee*--may get a Blood Rush ARC when they come out this Fall. See? I'm not the only one who truly loves and appreciates my Demimonde!

I'm also becoming more Blogger savvy...see the different page tabs at the top of the blog? (Yep, I'm pretty proud of myself, too.) Anyone wishing to receive a copy of Bleeding Hearts in exchange for honest review can find my contact details there. Hit me up any way you want. I'm easy like that.

Since I may receive a review or two this month, I'll be setting up a GOODREADS GIVEAWAY of a print copy of Bleeding Hearts. It'll be up soon and run until the end of May so there's plenty of time for you to enter. I'll post the link as soon as it's up.

Finally, saving the best for last again...Niina of For The Love Of Reading mailed me and said she wanted to chat again. She's posted a lovely review of Bleeding Hearts on her blog last month...take a moment to peek at her beautiful blog! Our conversation was even more fun because I included a sneak peak at Blood Rush. Hope you enjoy it...

Looking forward to lots of writing, lots of editing, and my break on Saturday when I go to see LACUNA COIL...my musical muses. Can. Not. Wait.

(Also, I have pit tickets. I need to remember to wear flat shoes this time.)

Have a great week!

Hey, Rafflecopter...Pick me a winner!

So, my kids are driving me batty today...becasuse they keep me DRIVING.

To school. From school. To band. To volleyball. To Scouts. To play practice. To home again.

And it's not always that simple because from time to time, they like to mix it up. The combinations are endless--to play practice, from play practice to the pizza shop for a slice, to band, then home.

Today, it's to the bus stop, back home because bus went early (FML), to school, then back home--and, when I turned into our lane, I got a text saying "I frgt gym clothes bring them pleeeeeeeeeeez" so it'll be back up to town.

Driving. Me. Batty.

So, between Mom-Bus runs, I popped into the blog and saw...the Bleeding Hearts Blog Tour Really Really Big Prize drawing has stopped accepting entries.

Know what that means?

It means...stay posted to find out who my big winner is! Someone is going to be very happy soon. Will it be you? Fingers, toes, eyes crossed!

I just have one request...please don't ask me to deliver it. :) I'm tired of driving.

Tricia Schneider: Final Blog Tour Stop for Bleeding Hearts!

Wow...that makes me kinda sad...the LAST book tour spot. I can't believe it's over.


I'm happy, though, because it means I get to spend the day hanging out with my friend Tricia Schneider at her blog, Shadows of Romance. If the tour has to end, let it end with fireworks!

I met Tricia in the place where all lasting friendships are forged: at the mall. :) Actually, we were both working at the mall, although she definitely had the cooler job because she worked at Waldenbooks. I can't believe the store actually closed--there are no big bookstores left in our county so, unless you know of a great privately-owned bookstore, you have to drive almost an HOUR. I know that Amazon is just a website away, but it's just not the same. And so, we drive...


Tricia Schneider is an author of paranormal and gothic romance. Before the supernatural took possession of her pen, she worked for several years in a Waldenbooks store as Assistant Manager and bookseller. Since the closing of her beloved bookstore, she now writes full-time while raising her 3 young children. When she’s not writing romance, she’s busy researching all things paranormal, as well as the many fascinating time periods in history (just so she’s prepared in case she ever has the opportunity to travel back in time!). She lives with her musician husband and 2 neurotic cats in the coal country of Pennsylvania. And she’s a dedicated chocoholic.

Thank you, Tricia, for helping me end this tour the right way--with someone I genuinely call my friend. Writing is a solitary effort...but it doesn't have to be lonely. :)



Be sure to check out the other fantastic writers and bloggers who are so generous in their support of my first novel launch. Don't forget to enter the mini-contests on each day's blog stop and, of course,THE END-OF-TOUR GIVEAWAY! Time is running out to get your karma in!

Calling all Reader Girls!

Laurie's my host today at the Reader Girls' blog www.readergirlsblog.com. Read an excerpt and see why I chose this special selection. Anyone in the mood for a little Panic at the Demivamp Disco?

I love the Reader Girls blog because it's a family affair...being a reader mom with reader kids of my own, I can totally appreciate this kind of book blog. It's truly an all-ages event there.

My husband is a huge fantasy fiction fan so it's no wonder we ended up with book worm kids. We're also all tech geeks--my husband and daughter prefer ebooks, even though my son and I are still of the analog variety. We're all computer nerds, though, so I always love it when my kids find something to do that doesn't require a power source.

This past week, the young lad was indoctrinated into the world of Dungeons and Dragons, courtesy of my brother-in-law's family. Uncle Jamie said the kid's a natural--he's been playing video RPG's for a long time and he took to the *gasp!* pen and paper version like a duck to water. Uncle is geekly proud of him.

It's been a nightmare ever since because my son is now in AD&D withdrawal. The poor kid is only eleven. He's too young for this torture!

To help him, my husband went into his "dungeon" and brought up all his own books. I laughed when I saw the dice--I'd forgotten that I embroidered a velvet dice bag for him, maybe twenty years ago. Funny--maybe my husband hasn't played since the late eighties, but he doesn't seem to have forgotten anything.

Well, at any rate, it looks like we'll now be doing D&D night once a month with Uncle Jamie's clan. Hopefully, it'll be completely off-line...I do prefer the analog books. =) Here's to family that read together, that enjoy books together, and that walk hand-in-hand with imagination together.

Be sure to check out the other fantastic writers and bloggers who are so generous in their support of my first novel launch. Don't forget to enter the mini-contests on each day's blog stop and, of course,THE END-OF-TOUR GIVEAWAY!

Bleeding Hearts Blog Tour Stops At Sapphyria's Book Reviews!

We're wrapping up another week of the Bleeding Hearts Blog Tour...

So many great stops on this leg! If you're just joing the tour you can look at this past week's schedule and the entire tour so far.

This week, I was interviewed via phone for the first time by my hometown newspaper. If you've never been interviewed over the phone before, I can now offer advice: if the reporter stops typing, you're talking too much. :D

It was a fun and terrifying experience and I can only hope on Easter Sunday when the piece is printed I find a golden egg and not a rotten one.
Today I'll be at Sapphyria's Book Reviews! She'll be reviewing Bleeding Hearts  as well as letting me share a guest post.

Be sure to check out thes other fantastic writers and bloggers who are so generous in their support of my first novel launch. Don't forget to enter the mini-contests on each day's blog stop and, of course,THE END-OF-TOUR GIVEAWAY!

Reminder: I joined Kindlegraph so that I can scribble my name on even MORE books. Hit me up anytime!

Bleeding Hearts Blog Tour: Query Tracker Blog and Robin Badillo!

We're starting this week off right with a Two-Fer.

Shouldn't we start more things off with a Two Fer? Like, Starbucks would taste so much better if they handed you two cups instead of one. And what about BOGO sales? I say buy one, get TWO free. And payday? I wouldn't mind two paychecks. (Shoot, sometimes I feel like I wouldn't mind ONE. :) Always overworked and underappreciated.)

This Zen of Two-Fer has been proven long ago when they started selling awesome shoes in PAIRS. The rest is history. Let's learn from it, people.

Today's blog tour is a Super Two-Fer:

First, an interview with Carolyn Kaufman on the Query Tracker blog...

 ...then I'll share an excerpt with Robin Badillo on her smexy blog!

Carolyn is my good friend from Query Tracker. She indulges my need to ramble and allows me to vandalize the Query Tracker blog a few times a month. I love being part of the QT team because I'm really excited about helping other newbie writers find their way. After all, it was the folks at QT who helped me get to where I am today...and I believe in paying it forward. Without QueryTracker, I may never have found the means--or the courage--to get my book out on submission.

I met Robin when I won her book in a TBR contest earlier this year. Later, I saw she was one of my Triberr mates...and contacted her about a guest spot on my tour. She was absolutely wonderful! (And I LOVE her cheesey sense of humor.) My relationship with Robin is a great example of how new writers can network with others...and how they can develop new friendships, too.

Thanks to both these great ladies for being today's hosts on my tour. Please stop by the blogs and show a little comment luv!

Don't forget...enter the Bleeding Hearts Blog Tour Giveaway. Wanna get lucky? You gotta get your karma in...