The THRILLIONTH page

Simon novella: update

2012-01-25T09:43:00.002-06:00

This image is NOT the cover -
this is the Simon trading card.
I can't wait to see the cover,
which is being created now.

Finally, a title: I'm calling it DEVIL'S LUCK!

I'm really grateful to the handful of online pals I bugged for feedback on my title list. You guy really helped me narrow my list and get thinking clearly about it.

One of the things I love about the phrase Devil's Luck is that few people can agree on what it means. Even if you go online, definitions conflict. Some say it means luck that turns back on you, others say it means extraordinarily good luck, or amazingly bad luck. So, it was perfect for this story, because Simon's kind of luck is a thing all its own.

I had more arty titles like BEAUTIFUL LOSERS or THE ART OF RUIN in mind. I actually think those are awesome titles, but I'm trying to think like a publisher now that I'm putting this piece out myself, and those titles felt like they didn't nod to the urban fantasy genre. What's so funny is that, I originally resisted MIND GAMES as a title. It felt a bit common to me, and I wanted more pizzazz. But part of the job of a title is to suggest to people what is inside a book. *head slap*

As I was explaining it to my husband, it's sort of like hospital logos. Have you noticed most American hospitals have blue, teal or green shades on their logos and materials? (Not children's hospitals, but regular ones.) Crisp lines, often swirls or simple lines, a clean look, lots of white space. I find hospital logos totally boring, but if I was sick, I think I might be more attracted to a teal swirl logo than a logo with a spangle of red stars on a field of yellow, or an inky old world font...it just wouldn't look hospitally! A simple greeny blue image tells me there's a hospital inside.

I want people to get that Devil's Luck contains something magical and sexy and dangerous. Devil's Luck definitely does not contain a hospital.

I'm so excited for this novella I can't even tell you. I love the Simon character!! Fawna is in it, too, another favorite character of mine. I'm working with a wonderful editor, as well as a cover artist whose work I've long admired - I've never worked with cover artists or freelance editors, so I'm excited to see what they come up with - more on all that as it unfolds. The book will stand alone--even more so than the Sophia book. In series order, it's 3.5, taking place after Head Rush. Though, a reader could start with it, too.

I'm hoping to release the book at the end of February. That might be ambitious because there is a lot to do between now and then for it, but that is my goal!

Who is my Girl Crush? + author site redesign, day 2

2012-01-16T11:04:00.000-06:00

Girl Crush Monday at
Who Needs Neverland!

First, I'm over at fellow author Katherine Hawkings blog, 'Who needs Neverland?'

Her first book is coming out in February (The Sphinx Project!) and she also runs a feature called Girl Crush Monday where she and other authors post about their girl crushes.

Today, I'm there posting about why I think Patti Smith is so awesome. And, rather incoherently, I must say.

But, isn't that what a crush is all about? Who can be logical and reasonable about a crush? It would take all the fun away! Come say hi!

Author site!
In other news, I'm redesigning my author site. Of course I have to do it myself because I am a major DIY girl and massive control freak (You wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to hire an outside editor and a cover artist for my Simon novella.)

Anyway, I have just enough techie and coding skills to be dangerous on an author site.

My author site, day two. Aren't you SO impressed?

I use this Wordpress theme called Headway. It's a very powerful and flexible theme that lets control freaks control many things (ahem), but they did an update that changes things (for the better) but the learning curve for an unskilled non-techie like me is a bit steep. Part of that is because I'm trying to do a very unusual layout and scheme.

I thought I would make all sorts of progress yesterday, but spent the whole day getting a feel for the new tools. Pictured, a screenshot of my site after I worked on it for like SIX HOURS. lol

But, I feel like I have what I need now to achieve my very extreme and ~~insane~~ ambitious vision. There won't actually be animals on the site. I was just getting a feel for how to manipulate things. Wish me luck!

And, Happy Martin Luther King day to my fellow Americans! Yay MLK!!

Whose book is it, anyway?

2012-01-14T14:59:00.006-06:00

Back when I was an English Lit major in college there was some shocking tale going around about a conference where a professor was giving a big talk on a famous book (I can't remember the who's and what's).

The crow symbolizes chocolate,
dammit!

Anyway, the author happened to be in the audience. And this author stood up and corrected some assumption--a bird symbolized this and not that or whatever. And the professor giving the paper told the author to sit back down--nothing the author had to say was relevant. Like it didn't matter what the author had to say, what the author intended. Even though it was the author's book!

It seemed so brazen of the professor to shut the author up like that. I wrestled with that tale in my mind for a long time.

Eventually I came to love what it meant. It said to me that a book becomes its own thing in the world once it leaves the author's hands. The book, once published, no longer belongs to the author. It belongs to the reader.*

That idea seemed so revolutionary to me. And cool!

During writing, of course, the author brings things to the book. But then after it's published, it's the reader's turn to bring things to the book. There's no place for the author in that, because it's between the reader and the book.

Readers are always finding things in books that authors didn't intend, but if they are honestly there for the reader, then they are honestly there. I really like that, as an author and as a reader. Sometimes it's an intensely personal meaning, or a super-smart insight that a reader finds in a book. Other times, readers find things that are offensive to them, or tedious, or boring, or characters who push their buttons. And readers of different generations bring different things to books, just as readers of different political, geographical, and socio-economic circumstances do.

Just today, I had a twitter exchange with an author about a sex scene in one of her books. I had found the scene to be hot, but also profound for a specific reason having to do with the plot. She felt it was just sex. Sorry @authorfriend, I read the book, and the sex scene was hot AND profound.

Not that she's wrong. It's just one point of view, and it doesn't happen to be mine.

Hey Craigslist people, get your feet the hell off the couch!

I often think of this whole thing when these review kerfluffles break out, where authors become upset about reviews. (Even though, gah! a spectrum of reviews, both good and bad, help readers find books they like, and that's good for authors.)

I'm grateful for every review no matter what. These days. I'll read a review now and then if I'm invited. (And, I'm not going to act like I don't enjoy hearing people enjoy my books or reading a positive review - of course I do!) But in general, my thinking is reviews don't involve me and I don't seek them out.

Sort of like, if I sold a couch on Craigslist, I'm not going to go visit the buyer and monitor if they're putting their feet on it or whatever. Because it's just not mine anymore.

I guess that's why I'm writing--to add that point, because I find it freeing. I mean, it's been said over and over that authors should not respond to negative reviews (well, they can, but not in writing). It's been said over and over that authors should not troll for reviews. Turn off Google alerts. Focus on the next book. Reviews are for readers.

I guess I would go a step further, and say that a review, positive or negative, doesn't have anything to do with the author whatsoever! It's between the reader and the book. It's about the reader bringing things of their own to the book. You're no longer involved. This is a point that can be liberating for both readers and authors.

Or at least, it's been liberating for me!! LOL. Maybe it's totally obvious to everybody else.

Wow, how did this turn into such a screed? It was supposed to be a short anecdote. ~Crane eyes synopsis she was supposed to be writing this whole time~ Anyway, happy Saturday people!
__________
*Just to clarify, when I say a book belongs to the reader, I mean in terms of perception--I don't mean literally, as in the author doesn't deserve to be paid anything for their work.
Images: Otani Oniji by Toshusai Sharaku, Edo era, Japan, Wiki Commons; No. 296, 10x18 cm (4x8"), Woodcut / Hand-Made Paper, Edition 100 · 17.02.1983 - 24.02.1983 by Werner Stuerenburg. wiki commons.

Sam, Elena & Rhonda's awesome blog hop!

2012-01-10T18:32:00.000-06:00

Click to check out the hop & sign up!

As somebody who's got books out in all publishing formats - NY, small press and self-pubbed, you know I'm very into publishing diversity. I'm thrilled at how many ways there are for readers and authors to find each other.

So I really love the idea behind the new Small Press Treasures Blog Hop Giveaway created by the lovely bloggers of Sam, E and R's Awesomeness. This is a hop dedicated to blogs discovering sharing small press and indie treasures with each other. And, I was really thrilled to be named on Sam, E & R's roster of small press faves for my Head Rush release!

Do you have a few small press or indie faves you like to recommend? If so, this hop is for you! In fact, I have a bunch to recommend - I should prolly do it too! Once I figure out how a hop works. I'm a total hop virgin.

Anyway, the Small Press Treasures hop runs from March 17th to the 24th, and you do a giveaway related to small press and indie authors during that week. I'm looking forward to seeing the familiar and the new-to-me names that come up on this!

Interview at YMAKAC + giveaway!!

2012-01-06T09:03:00.002-06:00

How does this 'Wolf and 7 Kids' image relate to

my interview at YMAKAC? It doesn't!

I just like to have pictures with my posts.

This week I visited with the Julie from the highly entertaining blog 'Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks'

It was really fun, and she asked some excellent questions about everything from the convention we're both attending this summer to fave movies to scenes I wrote that made me blush. (A deleted angry Cubby sex scene may have been mentioned!)

Pop over and say hi! AND, you could win a signed copy of either Mind Games or Double Cross!

YMAKAC - it's all happening right here.

Illustration by Karl Fahringer (1874-1952) Wiki commons

Some reading/writing things I thought I'd never do that I now do all the time!

2012-01-05T10:01:00.004-06:00

Use ‘LOL’ or ‘ROFL’

I used to be soooooo down on LOL. An LOL hater! I felt it was dishonest, because, who among the people writing LOL truly were laughing out loud? Maybe 1%! And I felt sure none were ROFLing! So this made me not like LOL, or ROFL.

But now I’m a user—and some might say abuser—of LOL. Seriously! ROFL!! Especially on twitter. No, I haven’t begun to laugh out loud or roll on the floor, but my understanding of LOL has changed. It just means I think this is funny, or I mean this to be funny, in a medium that has no expression. I used to not see it that way, but I do now. These days, I love using LOL.

Aren’t you so glad you are reading this riveting post? Let us now move to the next exciting item...

Ever write 'tho' or 'thru'

I used to not ever use these sorts of abbreviations of though and through, even if it was on something for my eyes only, like I would lose my self respect as a lover of words and an English Literature person. It just seemed tawdry, lazy, and WRONG! But, now with twitter—argh!! Twitter, you have been making me use tho and thru! You have cheapened me in my own eyes! And now, today, while making notes on a paper manuscript, I used tho. Nooooo!

Actually, I’m not that upset about it. Language is always evolving, so, this is fine. I think some shortcuts truly ARE tawdry, lazy and wrong, but informal uses of tho and thru, I’ve let you into my life! Make yourselves at home. Go ahead! Heat up the leftover pizza. Put your feet up on the coffee table.

Use the thesaurus on Microsoft Word

I used to have eyes ONLY for the Rogets thesaurus. I have an awesome hardcover one here, a massive, classic, complete thesaurus. It really is wonderful. And I would use it when I needed the perfect word. Even when editing on the computer I’d have it nearby. And how I disdained the MS word thesaurus. Has there ever been a more pathetic thesaurus? Please! You can never find just the right word there. Or, I can't. MS Word thesaurus: when just any old synonym will do.

I felt thesaurus.com was okay, but definitely not anywhere near the fabulousness of the hardcover Rogets. Then, I sort of started using it. Not a lot, and still I would go to Rogets when I felt serious about a word. And THEN, every once in a while, I would use the hated MS word thesaurus!! I suppose at first it was just laziness, or if I was in a rush. But, my use of it crept up more and more.

I suppose now my thesaurus use is 3-tiered, with MS word for the low-hanging fruit, thesaurus.com for the middle of the tree fruit and glorious Rogets when I must have it right. Or, like, if I’m thinking of a title.

Aren't you totally fascinated? LOL also, OMG, how priggish do I sound? No, don't answer that, because there’s more!

Read multiple books at one time

As an author, I plant all sorts of little details and seriously, every sentence is there for a reason, and I think most authors are like that. So to stop reading a book to pick up another? Then another? Heresy! How does a reader remember all the careful little details the author wove in? For years I felt that each book must be my one and only, and a continuous read, unbroken by other characters and narratives.

You probably know where this is going. Right now I am reading three books. But, I like it, because I read according to mood. Oh, what will become of me? LOL

***

Confession time!
Are there any word or bookish things you thought you’d never do that you do now? Do tell!

Images: public domain images from wiki commons

Release month roundup

2012-01-03T16:27:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year, everybody!

Well, HEAD RUSH has been out just about a month now! I'm so happy and relieved it's out. Also, so so grateful for everybody taking time to tweet about it and facebook, and put up reviews on blogs and Goodreads and Amazon and, seriously, just to get and read it!

Muskratty the muskrat sez thank you

I wonder if you know how much that means to an author. You probably don't, so let me tell you: It means TONS!!! Thank you!

Some fun end-of-year round-uppy things in no particular order...
I have enjoyed seeing Head Rush and the trilogy pop up on some end-of-year lists:

>>The Disillusionists trilogy was named a top pearl for 2011 by "Pearls Cast before a McPig" (a blog with one of the most delightful blog names!) AND, you can win a signed book there!

>>HEAD RUSH earned a spot in the Top 10 of 2011 from Goldilox and the three Weres, another delightful blog with a most delightful blog name.

>>HEAD RUSH was also there among the Advent Calendar books of 2011 over at Book Lovers Inc. where they choose favorite books to overview and give away. Yay!

>>Justine Jones was named Best Heroine of 2011 in Under the Covers Book Blog!! So honored, UTC.

>>Finally, I was super stoked for the Disillusionists to be called Best Series of the Year at the awesome For What It's Worth Reviews. *yippee!*

....okay, I'm really bad at collecting these things, so if I have missed any end-of-year things, please do let me know! And thanks again, everybody for reading!!

Have a fun and safe week, everybody!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T10:27:00.002-06:00

Hello friends! I hope you are having a happy holiday, or if you don't celebrate one at the moment, then a deliciously relaxing vacation full of people you love and good food and good reads.

Above: a not very impressive picture of our tree! Mr. Crane and I have had an unusual holiday - a quiet and romantic Christmas. Almost every year we visit Wisconsin, home of the extended Crane family with my awesome mom and sisters and BILs and kids, but this year we stayed home for a change. We've both been frazzled.

Lots of ornaments from each of our childhoods came out of boxes. Several had to be immediately repaired, including a number of these diorama ornaments my sisters and mom and I made years ago out of cookie cutters and tiny figurines. They are my favorite ornaments. The one above was Heidi with a deer. There were some other very falling apart ornaments - glass and bits of metal - that couldn't be repaired, but Mr. Crane has very strong feelings about Christmas: he feels all ornaments must be put on the tree, because if not now, when? Or else thrown out. So there are a few very questionable ornaments on the tree.

It's fun to have a tree and pull out those old ornaments, though holidays tend to make me miss my dad, who passed away three and a half years ago. And seeing those old ornaments!! I think many of you know how that can be around the holidays. I am with you, sisters and brothers!

I wanted to put a cat up on top of the tree, as that would more accurately symbolize the hierarchy here at the Crane home, but that didn't happen...only because there wasn't one to put there. And of course, as I mentioned in a previous post, there was the coating of the lower branches with tabasco to discourage cats eating the tree. I ran this picture before, but it's one of my favorite Mr. Crane pictures, because he is so annoyed.

We had the kind of self-indulgent Christmas only two writers and their cats can have, giving each other books and notebooks and things like that, and then sitting with the cats and reading with candlelight and the tree. And eating coconut soup and chocolate. Here is one of the gifts I got from Mr. Crane: a pre-order of Lothaire! I love this cover Mr. Crane drew. I think it pretty much sums up what he thinks the book will be about!

Oh, I have to put this up, too: something a facebook friend found. It's a magnet. I may have to grab one for a prize at some point. Thanks RT!!

Anyway, happy holidays, friends! I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you feel happy today. ♡

Even the Omega deserves holiday cheer...not!

2011-12-23T10:30:00.000-06:00

Oh, my goodness gracious!

Gumby and Pokey, who make a brief appearance in my trilogy, are at Katiebabs spreading holiday cheer to the Black Dagger Brothers, Lothaire, and even the Omega and Dragos!

I don't know what really more to say about this post...except I may have been on Christmas burn-out at the time.

And Katiebabs has added some insanity of her own! lol Come say hi!

Talking Fight Scenes at WLP + there's a new Xmas tradition at Casa Crane

2011-12-14T07:59:00.001-06:00

An annoyed Mr. Crane carries out our new holiday
tradition: the coating of the tree with tabasco sauce.

Hey all! First off, don't fall off your chair, but I'm guest posting somewhere where I actually talk about writing. At the fabulous Wicked Little Pixie!!

Actually, I'm talking about fight scenes, my approach to them, and a shocking UFC fight that inspired an important fight scene in Head Rush. And there's a video clip!

Do stop by!! You could even win Head Rush!

It's all part of the mondo celebration, 13 Wicked Days of Xmas at Wicked Pixie, a time of year full of author visits, prizes and snark and mayhem - don't miss a day! Yesterday was Thea Harrison!

In other news...
We got our Christmas tree yesterday! We were so excited to decorate it. We haven't had a Christmas tree in years, because we're always traveling to Wisconsin to see the family. Anyway, the minute we got it in the door, our super naughty cat Oblio started chowing on it.

I immediately went to the computer to see if pine was toxic to cats, and guess what? It totally is.

What naughty boy chewed on
the new Christmas tree?

So, to the upper right you see Mr. Crane, pictured carrying out our new Xmas tradition: coating the entire bottom area of the tree with habenero Tabasco sauce, which is what we must use to coat power cords here, too.

Ah yes, nothing like the smell of pine slathered in Tabasco sauce to get a girl in the Xmas spirit!

But really, isn't it a nice tree?

Black Friday Celebration at Literary Escapism

2011-12-12T20:30:00.001-06:00

Will Justine and Shelby need choco
Santa after hitting the mall?

Just a quick note: I'm over at Literary Escapism today as part of the big BLACK FRIDAY celebration, with a wee script of Justine and Shelby shopping at a mall on Black Friday.

Oh, the fun they have. The holiday cheer!

This is part of a fun feature with tons of authors stopping by and lots of prizes - it runs all month, with different posts each day.

Come say hi!

Complaints about Carolyn Crane: The characters speak out!

2011-12-09T18:28:00.000-06:00

Today at Buckeye Girl reads: after years of silence, the characters of the Disillusionists trilogy air their grievances about me! Nooooo!

What could my characters possibly have to be upset about? Haven't I treated them well?

Find out at a Buckeye Girl Reads.

PS: don't forget about the awesome giveaway at The Qwillery, where you can pick up a supernatural sidekick and even win both books from my backlist!

7 Supernatural sidekicks for readers & bloggers + giveaway

2011-12-08T10:15:00.000-06:00

Don't you hate when you are reading a
fave blog or twitter and you stumble onto a
massive spoiler for a book you're reading?
Magical spoiler howling dog would not let
that happen! More at Qwillery...

Today I'm over at Qwillery continuing my series of supernatural sidekicks with some especially for bloggers and readers, because they need sidekicks, too!

It's all part of my wacky ebook release celebration.

Also, Qwill is throwing in PRIZES! - you could win Mind Games AND Double Cross - just in time for the holiday season!

Come by and say hi and enter!

Supernatural Sidekicks for authors...and hot Gumby action!

2011-12-07T09:08:00.000-06:00

This supernatural sidekick
pecks the author on the head when
she spends too much time on twitter.
More at Vampire Book Club...

Release week has turned especially wacky today. First, please allow me to draw your attention to the wonderful Vampire Book Club, where I am discussing a very important topic: Supernatural Sidekicks that authors could maybe use. The post could also be entitled Supernatural Sidekicks that I could maybe use.

Come by and say hi at Vampire Book Club!

Also, Katibabs has written a very moving post on her great passion for Gumby, where she blames me for her Gumby fetish (!!) shows the rare Gumby jazz hands, and is giving away a copy of Head Rush!!

Visit Katiebabs & Gumby and enter to win!

Also, I want to thank everyone for the kind words and well wishes and all the interest in the Head Rush, and for making my release week so wonderful.

Head rush ebook release day!

2011-12-06T10:07:00.000-06:00

Head Rush comes out in ebook today! Yippee! It is finally available in two formats: Audio and now ebook, and print hits later in 2012. I'm really excited and happy.

Now I'm dithering, not sure what to say. I get so excited on release day, I am sort of useless. There is Brie cheese in the refrigerator that I bought for a holiday party this weekend, and crackers in the cupboard to go with it, as well as chocolate in a drawer. Do you think these favorite food items of mine will last the day?

Oh! Here is a page on my site that has links to where you can find Head Rush, as well as links to directions on how to read ebooks without an ereader.

My top secret schedule for today:
I'm at the awesome Paranormal Haven today where I reveal my top secret release day activities! Which mainly includes being to excited to do much of anything..come say hi!

X-mas replay: The 13 gifts you should NOT get for werewolves this holiday + a visit with Smexy

2011-12-05T08:55:00.001-06:00

Important warnings at the League

Hey friends!
Two things are happening today - this morning, I'm over at the League of Reluctant Adults reprising an important werewolf gift alert...an oldie post from Christmas past, with a few updates. Come say hi!

***

This afternoon, I'll be at Smexy's rocking blog answering a very important question:

If you could pick one of your characters to go to NewOrleans with you, who would you pick and what would you do?

There will be other activities, too. It's part of the Authors After Dark spotlight - the convention is in New Orleans this summer! Yippee! Come say hi! (Also, this isn't connected with my visit, but Smexy and Fiction Vixen are giving away a Kindle Fire.)

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading: The Black Hawk

2011-11-29T10:02:00.003-06:00

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading

Book: The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne

Page: 41

Spoiler level: not at all

Note: both passages from heroine youth flashback.

A couple twitter friends and I were recently discussing the problem presented by a book by Joanna Bourne: do you read it slowly, savoring every awesome passage? Or do you tear through it, devour it, and THEN re-read? Also, if you are a writer, you have to try very hard for it to not make you feel inferior.

If you haven't read Bourne, start with The Spymaster's Lady and The Forbidden Rose, the two jewels in her crown, though My Lord and Spymaster is not so shabby, and features an awesome ferret sidekick and Lazurus, one of my favorite dark characters.

I am savoring her latest, The Black Hawk. Look how early I am in the book! I may be reading it through Christmas. So, without further ado, a short great moment from last night:

If Leblanc were compounded of farmyard dirt and rancor, Madame was spun of steel. She wore a pale lavender dress, cut so low across the bodice that her breasts were clearly visible. Her dignity was such that it did not seem indecent. It was as if she came from a pagan time when the human form was sacred and nudity was without shame. Her hair, black and smooth as ebony, was swept up with silver combs and allowed to fall free in the back. She wore no jewelry whatsoever. Not the least ring or trinket.

I just died over this description, especially the pagan time reference. I so get that, so have known people like that, whose personality or presence--or whatever ineffable quality--is so forceful that what might be uncool or uncouth on one person is transformed, altered, made right. Oh, but why am I trying to re-explain this lovely passage?

Now I'm remembering descriptions I was wild about last night instead of doing my own writing. Here, this one. The passage opens as, in reference to a the heroine Justine's earlier comment about not knowing what to expect, Hawker says:

"Let's go expect it somewhere else. I don't like the smell of blood unless it's a throat I cut myself."

Hawker was in many ways like a fine gun. At rest, well made, efficient and even beautiful. Pull back the cocking piece and the gun became deadly. This boy, elegant in motion, perfect in feature, cold as carved crystal, was the cocked gun. He was, in fact, rather frightening.

"One does not slit throats in a public square."

She had never, in point of fact, slit a throat, but she would not admit this to Hawker. He was the entirely genuine murderous spy, and she was not. With a small pang, she envied him.

He strolled beside her, his pace relaxed, his posture all ease and enjoyment. His eye were amused and sleepy. Lies, all of it. The energy contained within this skin hummed in the air between them like a sound. He was more alive than anyone she had met. It was as if he carried an invisible top in the center of his chest, spinning strongly, that made her own nerves buzz in sympathy. He was not a restful person.

Uh, I could keep typing out wonderful passages from last night! I just love where she goes with both of these descriptions: instead of cataloguing features, she reaches into imagination and the life swirling around these characters, and uses the things they'd be thinking about, or maybe have read about, or little bits from deep in the psyche of a street-smart French teen.

Head Rush Excerpt & Links

2011-11-23T13:46:00.001-06:00

Phew! I finally got the Head Rush excerpt up on my site!

Excerpt here.
Links & ebook pre-order info here
Right now, it's only $3.85 at the Samhain store - all formats!

OMG, every time I visit my site I start revamping it (and the more I revamp it, the more I realize I need to revamp it!) Someday, it will look really amazing, and things will be beautifully lined up.

So, it's Thanksgiving this week here in the States - I hope everybody here has a wonderful and safe holiday, and that everybody outside of the states doesn't get too sick of us going on and on about turkeys, parades, and what we are thankful for. But there is a lot of be thankful for.

I am especially thankful for all of you, my fabulous reading and writing friends!

My nerdiest Great Moments from Last Night's Reading post yet

2011-11-22T11:45:00.000-06:00

Wow, I haven’t done any Great Moments from Last Night’sReading in forever! For those new to the blog, Great Moments is a post serieswhere I discuss small writerly moves or specific scenes I admire in whateverbook I’m reading. This week (yesweek, because I’m the world’s slowest reader. I camp out with the sentences!) Iam reading If You Hear Her by Shiloh Walker.

Great Moments in Last Night’s Reading

Book: If You Hear Her by Shiloh Walker

Spoiler level: Low

I’ve actually been having quite a few great moments with IF YOU HEAR HER, thefirst book in Shiloh’s trilogy. Today, I want to talk fawningly about one of my favorite Shiloh Walker moves: how good she is at making the reflections of POV characters feel distinct from one another.

This book is written in multiple 3rd person POV (i.e. hesaid / she said). I’m abig admirer of authors who make the POV sections sound really different whenthey come from different characters’ minds (instead of all sounding like theycome from the author mind). Kresley Cole and Joanna Bourne are also really excellent at this.

Anyway, as I was reading this book, I was struck by howstrong the different narrative flavors are, and how realistic it makes thesepeople and their world feel.

One cool thing Shiloh does is allow speech patterns right intothe narration (i.e. not in quoted direct speech) In other words, randomreflections and descriptions feel like speech--it's a great trick and she never overuses it, mixing it with more conventional narration. It creates a really awesome effect. And then she tightensthe narrative flavor even more by staying really cognizant of the prioritiesand life experiences of these characters in the way they put things. This is atight POV ship!

Here is an example from a section from the POV of SheriffNielson, who is doing some private thinking during a conversation with thehero, Ezra.

The man in front of him might well be a cop—being on leavewas irrelevant—but he was also a man. It wasn’t just a cop’s interest that hadEzra in his office. Nielson knew it as well as he knew his own name, as well ashe knew his town.

Made things dicey.

I love thatlone line, all on its own on the page: Made things dicey. That’s what I mean bya reflection that feels like speech. It’s awesome for the masculine feel of it,as well as the feel that this is an experienced lawman who doesn’t need toelaborate. I know other writers do this but I think Shiloh really makes this little move work.

Also, I enjoyed how subtly the precedingparagraph characterizes, communicating long years ofexperience in a small town without ever feeling like an info dump. She couldhave said as well as he knew his hand, or his dog, but she used town. A lot of small things add up here.

Here is another example of a passage with interiorreflection that feels like speech, this one from the mind of Hope, who ishelping writer Law Reilly organize himself. She asks him about all thesepostcards he keeps.

“Possible book locations,” he replied, his tone absent. Hehad a glazed look in his eyes, almost hypnotized.

She lifted her brows. “You plan on writing a book in…Adair,Iowa? What exactly is in Adair Iowa?”

“Nothing…that I know of.” He slanted a grin at her. “That meansthere’s probably something. There’s always something, somewhere.”

“You’re strange, law. Very strange.

His only response was a grunt.

Looking back at the postcards, she grabbed a pencil and thenotepad she’d been using. If he was going to keep a running list of possiblelocations, he could keep them more organized, she figured. A photo album wouldhold them all just fine. Add that to the list of fifteen other things sheneeded.

The last paragraph is such a nice use of it, because it hasa mix of action and conventional narration and then that last line with its little subtle dialogue-y attitude. Add that to the list of fifteen other things she needed. If I was writing this, I would have been tempted to say She added that to the list of fifteenother things she needed, which wouldn't have half the fun narrativeflavor.

It’s the same animal as the Made things dicey from above,but feels so much like it’s from a different character’s mind.

Also, I partly put this passage up because I just LOVE whenwriters write about writers. Writing is such a lonely profession; it’s wonderfulto be invited into the intimacy of another writer's office. I enjoyedspeculating on what of this stuff Shiloh actually does, like if she collectspostcards. It’s not a bad idea! Novelist Law Reilly is the hero of the third book in this trilogy, but totallymy favorite character.

Anyway, as I said, I'm greatly enjoying the first installment for the many lively narrative flavors as well as characters, the world and story. (Also, FYI it’s very fresh interms of trilogy structure in ways I won't reveal here.) Looking forward to the next, If You See Her!!

Images: policeman by Brett Gustafson from wikicommons; writer at desk: Mary Pickford from wikicommons

Random things I'm thankful for + even more random Thanksgiving anecdotes

2011-11-21T11:56:00.001-06:00

Hey friends!
Well, we're into Thanksgiving week now, and I'm over at the lovely and fun Paperback Dolls with a special Thanksgiving-themed post as part of their Thankful Feature.

It's a fun week there, with lots of authors stopping by and posting and giving away goodies!

Also, while there, Day has reviewed Head Rush and there's a giveaway...of a signed Mind Games OR a Head Rush audible download.

Read the review and enter here!!!

Image: Chapbook cover by Bradley Will; public domain image via wiki commons

Contest, Q&A, and Cat pics!

2011-11-17T22:13:00.000-06:00

I'm over at Kindle-aholics today! As part of the festivities of her Disillusionist re-read, I'm visiting her blog and answering questions, and we're giving away a Head Rush digital ARC to one lucky commenter (to be delivered when ARCs become available, which isn't yet). You don't have to be part of the Goodreads reread group to enter, but you get an extra entry if you are!

Also, the Disillusionists re-read group she started on Goodreads is just beginning Double Cross, book #2, so if you want to join in or are just starting it, now is a great time. I understand they are having some fun discussions!!

And, what kind of a bookish girl writer would I be without showing you cat pictures?

Here is Oblio, admiring my new desk light from Ikea. He very much wants to to bite it here, but apparently it's not optimally positioned. This was actually a moment of truth, because if he had found it satisfying to chew, I would have had to slather it with habenero tabasco sauce. If you come to my house, you will find mysterious red stuff on all cords.

Here he actually is attempting to bite it. Luckily it didn't really work out, unlike, oh, my iPod recharging cord, which he bit in half yesterday. *sob* But, I think this is kind of a cool photo.

Hey, I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!!

Newsy Sunday items

2011-11-06T09:26:00.002-06:00

1. The Lady's Secret, by my critique partner Joanna Chambers, releases tomorrow! This is a fun sexy awesome Regency-set tale about a failed actress who decides to do some undercover sleuthing disguised as a young male valet, and gets a position with the devastatingly handsome, melancholy Lord Harland. Full of delightful twists, fun reveals, and interesting things about classes and servants. Read an excerpt here.

**~~Win this ebook~~**(ed: contest closed) Leave a comment mentioning The Lady's Secret - Tonight before I go to bed, I'll pick two random commenters to win their own copies.

2. Kindle-aholics Disillusionists re-read (or for some, initial read) has begun! She organized this re-read and discussion in anticipation of the ebook arrival of book #3, Head Rush! The group is here on her blog, and also a public group at Goodreads! So, anybody can join!! This is just the hugest compliment to a writer, to have anyone want to re-read! But don't worry, I won't be poking my nose in, so if you catch any worldbuilding flubs or decide you hate cucumber kebabs, rant away!

3. Daylight savings time! It's amazing how many of my clocks change themselves these days. Thank you computer and smart phone.

One of the 3 things.

4. Three things I never in my wildest dreams imagined I'd need or want as a writer - I'm over at the League of Reluctant Adults talking about these three things, one of which is pictured at left.

5. All my best to my nano-writing friends! I am so impressed with all of you, and I'd join in if I wasn't in an editing phase. And look! I have advice: It is not necessarily a waste of writing time to sit in your chair and daydream and scribble notes and try scenes out in your head in different ways. For some writers, myself included, spending the majority of time on beforehand-thinking actually results in the personal-best wordcounts. But, every writer is different - that's another thing to keep in mind.

UPDATE: winners of THE LADY'S SECRET contest chosen and emailed. Congrats to amyT865 & eveningreen!!

Contest winners

2011-11-01T17:43:00.002-05:00

Woo hoo!
Blodeuedd & Ladysmith have won the books of their choice. Congratulations, you two!! Good luck choosing.

New books I'm INSANELY EXCITED ABOUT !! (that you can win in the next 36 hours)

2011-10-31T10:53:00.007-05:00

Books, books! These are the books on my fangirl and friend radar, and I'm giving two lucky commenters who act before Tuesday night their choice. See directions below!

HEART OF STEEL by Meljean Brook (Iron Seas Series #2)

•Out November 1•

I am feverishly excited about this one--these characters are a couple of my faves from THE IRON DUKE, which was one of my top three favorite books of the year last year. Yes, I will be running to the bookstore to get this in paper so I can underline stuff and dog ear the pages and moon over it and totally ravish it as only an author fangirl can. This series rocks, and I'm not just saying that because Meljean is also my antho buddy.

Top pick from RT Magazine: “Rising star Brook has created two completely mesmerizingcharacters whose journeys in this gritty and treacherous world make forheart-stopping fun!”

Back blurb: Return to the gritty, alluring world of steampunk with the New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Duke.

Growing up in the dangerous world of the Iron Seas, the mercenary captain of the airship Lady Corsair, Yasmeen, has learned to keep her heart hard as steel. Ruthless and cunning, her only loyalty is to her ship and her crew-until one man comes along and changes everything...Treasurehunter Archimedes Fox isn't interested in the Lady Corsair-just the captain and the valuable da Vinci sketch she stole from him. When it attracts a dangerous amount of attention, Yasmeen and Archimedes journey to Horde-occupied Morocco- and straight into enemy hands.

THE LADY'S SECRET by Joanna Chambers

•out November 7th•

The amazing debut from my brilliant critique partner! I'll have a full write-up next week when THE LADY'S SECRET releases, but I wanted to put it in this group because I'm double-dip excited.

This is the twisty and fabulously fun tale of Georgiana, who goes undercover as a boy valet to the devastatingly handsome, melancholy Lord Harland. Fun, sexy, awesome. And there are interesting things about classes and servants. And danger! And hugely fun reveals! Oh, this book! This book!

Blurb: London, 1810

Former actress Georgiana Knight always believed she and herbrother were illegitimate–until they learn their parents were married, makingthem heirs to a great estate. To prove their claim, Georgy needs to findevidence of their union by infiltrating a ton house party as valet to LordNathaniel Harland . Though masquerading as a boy is a challenge, it pales incomparison to sharing such intimate quarters with the handsome, beguilingnobleman.

Nathan is also unsettled by Georgy’s presence. Firstintrigued by his unusual valet, he’s even more captivated when he discoversGeorgy’s charade. The desire the marriage-shy earl feels for his enigmaticemployee has him hoping for much more than a master-servant relationship…

But will Nathan still want Georgy when he learns who shetruly is? Or will their future be destroyed by someone who would do anything toprevent Georgy from uncovering the truth?

Releases November 7th. Excerpt here. Pre-order from Carina, for the Nook, for the Kindle.

BEAUTY DATES THE BEAST by Jessica Sims (Midnight Liasons #1)

•out now•

Jessica Sims (aka Jill Myles, my other anthology galpal) has a wonderful way of creating delightful and sexy set-ups - and then totally delivering. So I am eagerly waiting for this one to arrive (there is a lost book shipment out there with the Crane name on it). BEAUTY DATES THE BEAST is about a paranormal dating agency, and our heroine, Bathsheba has to date all these guys to protect her sister. *rubs hands*

From Publishers Weekly: Jill Myles (The Succubus Diaries) debuts as Jessica Simswith a funny, sexy, and lively first book in a shapeshifter series. BathshebaWard’s mission in life is to protect her sister’s secret: Sara was bitten by awerewolf in a vicious attack six years earlier. Both work for the paranormaldating service Midnight Liaisons. After Bathsheba fills in on a broken datewith cougar shifter Beau Russell, head of the Russell clan, her boss threatensto out Sara unless Bathsheba agrees to date a variety of paranormals who lustafter her Alliance-certified virginity...

The blurb: WANTED

Single human female to join charming, wealthy, single malewere-cougar for a night of romantic fun—and maybe more.

Me: The tall, sensuous, open-minded leader of my clan.

You: A deliciously curvy virgin who’s intimately familiarwith what goes bump in the night. Must not be afraid of a little tail. Prefer awoman who’s open to exploring her animal nature. Interest in nighttime walksthrough the woods a plus.

My turn-ons include protecting you from the worst thesupernatural world has to offer. Ready for an adventure? Give me a call.

Vampires and doppelgangers need not apply.

SWEET MAGIC by Penny Watson

•out November 4th•

It has become my own little Christmas reading tradition to pick up the latest in my author friend Penny's series - she's working her merry, sexy way through all of Santa's sons (this year it's extreme sporter Oskar Klaus) while tirelessly working to raise awareness of the sexiness of beards!

Blurb: Oskar Klaus' job is killing him. Not even his favoritehobbies (extreme snowboarding and browsing old bookstores) are enough to snaphim out of his funk. It's not easy living in the shadow of four successfulolder brothers and a father named Santa. Little does he know that a kiss on NewYear's Eve is about to turn his life upside-down.

Kiana Grant's Manhattan life is a world away from her childhoodin Oahu. She traded sunsets and surfing for a respectable career in libraryscience, but Oskar Klaus is a temptation that's hard to resist. Before sheknows it, she's in the midst of an outrageous adventure in the North Pole,dealing with mischievous elves, wicked demons, and a devastating attraction toSanta's youngest son.

There's just one problem...a bitter elf hell-benton revenge threatens the future of everyone in the North Pole, even Santahimself... Ebook only. Releases this 11/4. Information and excerpt here.

IF YOU HEAR HER by Shiloh Walker

•out now•

Confession: I love plots about curious regular people who get involved in mysteries, and I also love the work of my galpal Shiloh Walker, so this is an oreo sandwich I shall not be resisting. (My lost book shipment out there has this book in it, supposedly coming my way.) I couldn't be more psyched!!

From Publishers Weekly:

First of a projected romantic suspense trilogy, this hefty superheated exercise in uninhibited abandon alternates between a serial psycho-killer musing over his unlucky victims and a titillating fling between sexy blind chef Lena Riddle and sexier state cop Ezra King in smalltown Ash, Ky. Ezra, trying to recuperate from wounds to body and soul, is so attracted to Lena that he can’t help plunging into an informal investigation of screams she hears outside her rural home in the middle of the night…

Blurb: A CRY IN THE WOODS   The scream Lena Riddle hears inthe woods behind her house is enough to curdle her blood—she has no doubt thata woman is in real danger. Unfortunately, with no physical evidence, the locallaw officers in small-town Ash, Kentucky, dismiss her claim. But Lena knowswhat she heard—and it leaves her filled with fear and frustration.

Ezra King is on leave from the state police, but he can’tescape the guilty memories that haunt his dreams. When he sees Lena, he isimmediately drawn to her. He aches to touch her—to be touched by her—but is hetoo burdened by his tragic past to get close? When Ezra hears her story of anunknown woman’s screams, his instincts tell him that Lena’s life is also atrisk—and his desire to protect her is as fierce as his need to possess her.

THE BLACK HAWK by Joanna Bourne

•Out November 7th•

Okay, this has only been one of my most anticipated books SINCE 2008!! Two other books in this series, Bourne's Spymaster's Lady and The Forbidden Rose are a two of my all-time favorite books, two of the best books in all the world. I don't feel like you have to read these in order. Some may differ. I understand from Katiebabs that THE BLACK HAWK is nothing short of fabulous. I am hyperventilating RIGHT NOW. I must have it. You must have it!

Back copy: Attacked on a rainy London street, veteran spy JustineDeCabrillan knows only one man can help her: Hawker, who also happens to be theenemy. With London crawling with hidden assassins and someone out to frameHawker for the assault, the two spies must work together to find who's out todestroy them...

From the Library Journal

Attacked and badly wounded by an assassin's blade, formerFrench spy Justine DeCabrillac ("Owl") struggles through the rain tothe home of the only man she can depend on to save her, English agent AdrianHawkhurst, her longtime adversary—and unforgettable lover. But Justine is notthe only one in danger; the killer is out to bring down Hawk as well. And itwill take all of their finely honed skills and wary, hard-won trust tounearth—and destroy—the elusive, brutal villain.

Vivid, illuminating flashbacksfill in the missing years of our protagonists' bond, developing the passionate,deeply conflicted relationship between Justine and Hawk with unparalleledinsight and craft. VERDICT Beautifully flawed, intensely human characters, adeadly puzzle, and a love that survives incredible odds combine to make thisanother emotionally riveting page-turner from Bourne (The Forbidden Rose),whose novels always deliver. Fans of historical romance will be all over thisone.

HOW TO WIN:

1. Leave a comment, any comment - you can talk about any orall of the books, or you can talk about your cat or anything!Your comment does NOT have to say what book you'll choose.

2. You have to leave your comment here on the blog - if youare seeing this on Goodreads or Facebook, come over, cover over, Red Rover!

3. Make sure your email is in the comment, or else that Ican get it by clicking on your name.

4. Live somewhere in the world where book depository ships.

I will choose a TWO winners Tuesday (November 1st) before I go to bed. I will email those people then and they will each get to choose what book they win, in what form. Hey, HappyHalloween everyone!

Disillusionists' haunted house... & LB Gregg...oh nooooooo!

2011-10-28T10:41:00.001-05:00

The Disillusionists have made a haunted house!
Imagine my surprise to see how busy my characters have been, planning out their own haunted house.

Stop by at the fabulous Paranormal Haven today to see how each of the Disillusionists would decorate their haunted house room for maximum scariness! And, you could win a signed copy of Double Cross!

Visit the Disillusionists Haunted House at Paranormal Haven here.

If LB Gregg was not cut off from
all social media, she would remind you
that this book is out today!!

LB Gregg...oh noooo!
My galpal and sometimes partner in crime, LB Gregg (recently dubbed "the Jayne Ann Krentz of gay fiction) got the opportunity to travel to China this month. Sure, she has a book release today, but she figured she could tweet and remind her fans from there. Right?

WRONG! She is totally cut off from access to twitter, facebook (mostly) and her blog and even the Thrillionth Page is censored!

So, I am helping her to remind folks that Dudleytown her sexy, krazy fun, M/M romantic comedy is coming out today! Excerpt here. Read about it and buy it here.

Goblins, Demons & Spirits for your modern life

Don't forget to visit over at the fabulous Bastard Books, read about how YOUR life can improve through demons, spirits and goblins...and win! Check it out here.

Head Rush release: a handy field guide

2011-10-25T09:34:00.001-05:00

Head Rush is releasing in stages...like a rocket!

I'm so excited that HEAD RUSH is finally coming out..little by little. You can't imagine how eager I have been to have it be in the hands of ALL readers who want it THIS INSTANT. Well, that will be soon.

Audio: All three books in the Disillusionists trilogy – Mind Games, Double Cross, and Head Rush – are now out in audio on audible.com. Here is the link to Head Rush. And you can hear a sample, too! I think the narrator is great.

Chapter 1&2 excerpts: In the meantime, 'Head Rush chapters 1&2 will be up on my site--in about two weeks (I’m still finalizing the ebook end of things with Samhain.) I'll post here, on my site, and on facebook when those excerpts go up. Oh, and it will be in my newsletter, too.

Ebook: The ebook will come out on December 6th. It’s not yet available for pre-order, but it will be in early November, in online stores like Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble, ARE and others and I’ll have a link for them here and elsewhere.

Print: Out sometime in 2012 – check back!

ebooks and audiobooks...what's the deal?

There's information and links on how audiobooks work, and also how to read ebooks even if you don't have an ereader, on the books page of my site.

♥♥♥♥
I can’t begin to say how appreciative I am for all the goodwill through this, and everyone for being so patient and awesome through the crazy and very non-linear journey of book #3!! An author couldn't ask for better, more supportive readers.

Goblins, spirits & demons for your beautiful modern life

2011-10-24T08:36:00.003-05:00

Read about the Badi and other potentially useful spirits
and demons at Bastard Books!

One of the things I've noticed in recent research: People in the olden days blamed spirits for a lot of what went wrong.

It makes me sad we don’thave many spirits to blame stuff on these days. Lucky for you, I've found some that you might be able to use...

Today, I'm at Bastard Books having some crazy fun. Come visit. And, you can win something, too!

Come on over to Bastard Books and say hi!

I'm over at sffworld! Interview & roundtable

2011-10-19T20:04:00.004-05:00

New Interview at sffworld.com now
I'm super honored to be over at sffworld.com for an interview today! sffworld.com is a massive site for all things Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror and more. There's always something interesting going on there.

JA Pitts will be at the
roundtable with me.

We discussed the characters and relationships, and talked about Faustian bargains, Midcity and lots more.

Come and say hi if you get a chance.

Roundtable starting tomorrow
I'll also get the chance to take part in a contemporary fantasy (which includes UF) roundtable there starting later this week - along with authors John Levitt and J.A. (John) Pitts, and possibly another author.

J. A. Pitts is the author of Black Blade Blues and Honeyed Words and the upcoming Hearth and Home (2012, Tor) This is the Urban Fantasy series featuring Sarah Beauhall, a tough-as-nails blacksmith, movie props manager and medieval reenactor in Seattle, WA.

The books fuse Norse Mythology with the modern world. And who doesn't love a lesbian blacksmith heroine? And reenactor? So cool.

John Levitt will also be
at the roundtable.

John Levitt is the author of the urban fantasy series featuring Mason, whohas magical abilities, and his trusty companion, an Ifrit – a spirit familiar named Louie that takesthe shape of an animal, in this case, a dog.

He’s also a jazz guitarist who used to police other magic-users, and he gets dragged back into it by violentevents. Well, I always say, hooray for a magical musician with a dog familiar. Books include Dog Days, New Tricks, Unleashed and Play Dead.

I think these roundtables are really fun and interesting ways for authors and readers to interact beyond just surface questions. And, both of these authors are doing exciting work and will have lots of good things to say (and hopefully I will, too. I'm a little nervous!)

Our rountable is right here, going on now through the next week or more. Do drop in!

Kindle-aholic declares a Disillusionists re-read & Jaye Wells declares her own damn holiday

2011-10-18T08:15:00.005-05:00

Disillusionists Re-read!!
I was psyched to learn that blogger extraordinaire, Kindle-aholic, is running a Disillusionists re-read during the month of November in preparation for the release of HEAD RUSH.

It looks like a really fun group, with some people who are brand new to the series and some doing the re-read.

You can participate right on her blog or through the Goodreads group she's set up for it. (And, in addition to all the crazy fun, one participant will win a Head Rush ARC!)

Jaye wells declares a holiday
My author pal Jaye has declared October International Urban Fantasy Month, and she's celebrating it on her blog by giving away a HUGE bunch of awesome prizes - and by awesome prizes I of course mean tons of books. And lord knows what else she'll get up to. Be sure to drop in.

Image: From one of my trading cards. You can get a set by emailing me with your snailmail addy! carolyn (at) authorcarolyncrane.com

Bookshelf porn...and Gumby-finding help

2011-10-16T08:31:00.000-05:00

Good morning friends! I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their weekend.

So, first off, I'm over at Book Lover's Inc. for their big 1000 follower celebration with bookshelf porn. It's like a tour through my bookshelves.

If you haven't been there this past week, tons of authors and bloggers are getting all nerdy about books. And there are many many giveaways!

Come say hi!

Also, I know it is hard to find the shadowy head of our little green friend on my new cover.

And, it's not even green. So, here is a wee clue.

I wish for all of you a lovely day of good books, good people, and to-do lists full of crossed-out items!

HEAD RUSH: Cover art and back cover copy!! Yippee!

2011-10-14T17:41:00.004-05:00

I'm so happy to have my cover! It's by award-winning cover artist Kanaxa (aka Nathalie Gray).

I think it is just marvelous! And also, my new back cover copy.

JUSTINE JONES FACES HER ULTIMATE ENEMY: HERSELF!

Book Three in The Disillusionists Trilogy

In an attempt to put her unhappy past behind her, JustineJones throws herself into nursing school and planning her wedding to OttoSanchez, the man of her dreams. But something is off. Random details aren’tadding up…and is it her imagination, or are her friends and fiancé keepingsecrets from her? And what’s with this strange sense of unease, and her odd newheadaches?

Justine tries to stay upbeat as Midcity cowers under martiallaw, sleepwalking cannibals, and a mysterious rash of paranormal copycatviolence, but her search for answers leads her into the most dangerous mindgame yet.

With the help of unlikely allies, including her paranoid dadand best frenemy Simon, Justine fights her ultimate foe…and unravels the moststartling mystery of all.

HEAD RUSH will come out as an audible.com audiobook (10/25) and on December 6th, 2011, as an ebook (available wherever ebooks are sold), and at some point in 2012 in print(available from the usual suspects online and select bookstores). A wild and wacky publishing schedule for the wild and wacky wrap-upof the Justine Jones saga! Thanks everyone for hanging in there with me!!

PS: Ebook will be available for pre-order in about 2 weeks!

PPS: Hidden secret thing: One thing I love about this cover is that Justine's dashboard pal Gumby, who has a small but key part in the book, is represented just fleetingly...if you look hard at the lower left hand corner. Can't find it? See this post.

Yes, authors, you CAN respond to a negative review!

2011-10-05T10:55:00.003-05:00

Hey everybody!! I'm over at the League of Reluctant Adults today blogging on responding to negative reviews...complete with helpful illustrations.

Come on over and say hi!

Random weekendy photos and happy Monday!

2011-09-19T09:00:00.004-05:00

Good morning friends! I hope everybody had a good weekend. It was deliciously autumnal here. I got caught up on a day job project with a hot deadline, some novella writing, though unfortunately no cleaning.

This photo from Friday night. The scene when I got back to bed from brushing my teeth. The cats love to be under the covers, and they stayed posed like this a miraculously long time while I got my smartphone. My twitter friends have seen this picture. Because of course, I must show everybody.

Mr. Crane and I made coconut soup. It has tomatoes and onions and zucchini and miso and a bunch of other stuff - I can give the recipe if anybody wants it, but you really do need to open a few young coconuts with a machete. When the orange and white cat, Oblio, even hears the machete come out of the drawer he runs and hides, though sometimes he comes into the kitchen and cries in victimy protest while Mr. Crane is hacking away. You would think we routinely chase him around the place with it, but I swear, we never do! The soup was damn delicious.

In addition to the mystery book from the post below, I am reading Dark Road to Darjeeling, #4 in the Lady Julia Grey series. So love being back in this series! And I organized my Goodreads shelves. As I noted on Twitter recently, advice to new Goodreads users: set up your shelves early in the game. Don't put all your books onto the same massive shelf like I did. Come be my Goodreads friend here!

Our storage room in the basement. We were talking about putting up some more of our pictures. Unfortunately, no home decoration bargaining chip is large enough for Mr. Crane to accept the having Little CJ (my childhood portrait painted by an elderly aunt) or the unicorn and unicorn baby pic up on a wall, and I no longer have my own office to hang them in. I have vetoed plenty of his pictures, so it's only fair.

So I was looking at my poor pictures in the storage room this weekend. It is very sad. Also, one wonders what the neighbors think when they walk by.

Somehow, though, I hold out hope that Mr. Crane will suddenly change his mind. Perhaps some mysterious force will compel him to go down to the storage room and get Little CJ and put her back up. What do you think?

So what did you guys do this weekend? What are you reading?

Craft nosiness, ape-men, scaffolding, and digging up corpses

2011-09-18T13:14:00.005-05:00

DNFs

I DNFed a book last night, but I will still read it, though I quietly took it off my Goodreads shelf. This is a really popular historical romance, and I have loved others written by this author (and that's all I'll say, so don't ask, my friends!) But in my mind, this one of hers went all wrong - for me, anyway (and if it went wrong for me, it went wrong, since I can only read and write for my tastes). Anyway, it felt paint-by numbers, as though the life didn't spark. I've read books that have the same general set-up, some I've loved to death, but this one fell.

What makes one book work and one book not work, especially when they are similar? What makes a book a living thing? I think there is a kind of magic in the best books, but there's more than that.

So I'm going to keep reading this DNF - I'll F it for the same reason people in the middle ages dug up graveyards and cut apart dead bodies--out of a keen desire to know what the heck went wrong!

It will also show me what went right with the books of this author that I have loved and embraced. I think sometimes good writers get under pressure to produce too fast, and my favorite writers take risks sometimes too - ones that don't work out - but that spirit of risking is what make them good, and I always look.

It's a kind of nosiness, I suppose. And hell, maybe I'll come to like the latter part of this book better, and I'll get the writerly learning experience along with some readerly pleasure. Maybe the book will spring up and run around and be okay. It will still show me something. Do other authors do that? Read for what went wrong? I guess I assume so. Maybe not!

Awesome Armstrong in a
minimalistic mood.

The less popular series: hidden dimensions
Another thing I enjoy, which is kind of along the same writerly nosiness lines, is that I look at the less popular series of authors I love, because sometimes those books show me how they pull things off in a more plain and straightforward way than than their popular series do.

For example, Kelley Armstrong's wonderful hitwoman series - the Nadia Stafford Series (an awesome series that I'm dying for her to continue beyond two books) - gave me a lot of insights into how she differentiates characters with language. It's almost like you can see the scaffolding of her character magic; part of this, I think, is because the hitwoman books are quite simple and minimalistic, and about humans, too.

Same thing with Charlaine Harris' less popular series, the Grave Series (reputed to be the author's favorite of her series, and it's certainly my favorite of all her series).

The other Bon Temps

These books gave me a strong sense of the underdog and embattled character themes that are present on a more subtle level in her Sookie series. It is also interesting to get this dimension on small towns from Harris; it's as if the Grave series is the small town dark side of Bon Temps. The Grave series is far riskier, and the hero is a total beta. Is that why it didn't fly like Sookie?

Anyway, an author's body of work shows me things about individual work. What I mean is that the Grave Series shows me things about the Sookie Series that would not be revealed in the Sookie Series alone. This small town bit, for instance. Oh, wow, have people fallen asleep yet? Is anybody reading this sentence? Do you ever feel like that on blog posts? ahem, back on topic!

Hello ape man?

The first books: ape men
This week I finished Dreams of a Dark Warrior by one of my top favorite authors, Kresley Cole, and I then did something I've been meaning to do forever: I ordered Kresley Cole's McCarrick brothers series.

After that, I'll read her Pirate series. You can't imagine how excited I am to read them. I've noticed that in early books, authors can sometimes be viewed trying out themes and exploring techniques that they later perfect and smooth out.

I'm sure I'll enjoy both these series - it's unimaginable to me I wouldn't enjoy something Cole writes, but will reading her early stuff be like the missing link? The ape-man version of what is today her very highly-evolved writerly wonderfulness? Let's hope! I am nosy that way!

Stiltwalker image: Masquerade on the pumpkin festival (Festa della Zucca) in Verzone, province of Udine, region Fruili-Venezia Giulia, Italy by Johann Jaritz

Title news & guest post/giveaway scoop!

2011-09-09T09:41:00.002-05:00

Head Rush. Game on!

Hey everybody! First, thanks so much to everyone who stopped by my title poll. It was fun and also really helpful to get your input. I was torn between HEAD RUSH and PSYCH OUT, and it was heartening to see that both seemed to work for most people, and that they were basically a tie. It showed me they are both strong good titles. (And, good also, to have THE ART OF FEAR put to rest so decidedly.)

Anyway, the title is going to be HEAD RUSH. (Which I understand was originally the brainchild of Amy Boggs - @notjustanyboggs - baby agent at Donald Maass, during a brainstorming session there. Thanks, Amy!) I'm really happy about it.

A title is a collaboration between the author, editor, agent, and others, and it helped to have a reader perspective. Soon, I hope, there will be a cover. I've seen some gorgeous covers coming out of Samhain lately.

The book: my personal Rorschach Ink blot.

Is the book good, or does it suck?

An author goes through phases about books (or at least I do). There will be weeks where I'll love a book that I've written and think it's so great, and then I'll hate it and think it's terrible, the worst dreck on earth, and then I go back to thinking it's wonderful, the best thing I've ever written, and then back to terrible, what schlock!

All the while, the book pretty much doesn't change. Clearly my different perceptions mean more about me than the book. Like an ink blot.

Anyway, I'm on the upside of that right now with Head Rush (the book itself, not the title). Loving it! So excited! Joyous. That will change and I will get all critical about it, but what the heck, it feels good for now. Also, I noticed on Goodreads, it has the highest rating of all my books so far, even though it has not yet been released in any form whatsoever. LOL. Goodreads and I are both on the upswing about it in a conceptual way.

Release info

Come stop by Stella's. We're all about
the pleasures of novellas today!

So, HEAD RUSH will release as an audio book from audible.com (also Amazon.com, the itunes store and possibly elsewhere--must investigate) in early November (all 3 books come out at once in audio). It will release as an ebook on December 6th (available where ebooks are typically sold - Amazon, B&N, ARE, Sony Reader store, etc. as well as Samhain) and as print in 2012 at some point, available from the usual sites and some bookstores)
I have posted about audiobooks on my website. Thanks so much to Liza (@mslizalou) and Melissa (@MelLhay) for questions that led me to this post.

GUEST POST/GIVEAWAY SCOOP:
Realizations of a former short story and novella avoider...post, discussion, and giveaway at Stella's!
Today I'm over at Stella Ex Libris, with a post about my reformed ways as a reader and writer of shorter fiction, and novellas in general. I'm also giving away a copy of Wild & Steamy to one lucky commenter.

Come vent or gush about short fiction, just say hi, and maybe win!

What does this writerly screed have to do with my grandmother's notebook?

2011-09-05T05:00:00.003-05:00

I’ve been carrying around this old notebook of my grandmother’s forever—it's sat in the bottom of a bookshelf in every place I live. It was entirely blank and unused, aside from one page of something random (and the front, where she wrote her name and ‘knitting book.’) Isn’t it cool? So cool, that I felt like I needed to wait and find a really important use for it.

So, I didn’t write in it for years, waiting for the exact perfect use for it. Something monumental. And of course I simply never used it.

There is this bad habit writers can get into, or at least, I can get into, which I think of as ‘scarcity thinking’ which is where I’ll think of an awesome event or realization or twist, and I think, I need to hold that for the pinnacle of the book.

Whenever I find myself thinking that I need to keep something to spring later, I try to do the opposite — I make myself blow the cool idea early in the book.

It’s because I have this writerly superstition that holding things back for the right time implies that there aren’t millions more cool ideas, and I think it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy—that is, waiting to use the good stuff makes the good stuff scarce. Holding back the candy makes it so that I have less candy, whereas if I spill all my candy right away, more will be there waiting for me later. That's the superstition I have, but I really think that's how it works.

There is another form of it where I’ll hold off on getting my characters in worst-case-scenario trouble until later. I think that’s really bad for a story to let worst case scenarios hang out there forever. When I find myself doing that, I’ll try and spill that candy, pull that trigger, push the nuclear option button.

I'm not successful at it yet. It's a discipline I'm working on. Striving. You know how it is.

Have you ever watched the Sopranos? It’s this whole drama about Tony Soprano, the mafia boss. Not to criticize it, I mean, it was an excellent, bold, groundbreaking show, and I couldn’t have written it better. But, my husband and I would get so frustrated because they kept almost getting Tony in trouble, and then withdrawing the trouble. He never got arrested, convicted, toppled by another Mafia boss, nothing. They kept the Sword of Damocles suspended over his head—season after season after season, just wiggling around now and then. And I think that’s why the show got stale.

The opposite is Joss Whedon, who’s perfectly willing to go there, wherever there happens to be. Joss is a total hero to many writers, including me, and I think a lot of it, for me anyway, is his abundance thinking, which is the opposite of scarcity thinking. He’ll kill characters (sometimes twice) let people radically transform, even plunge the planet into apocalyptic chaos. He doesn’t hold back on going to the ultimate place. He’ll go there - it’s as if he knows that when he comes out the other end, there will be a new ultimate place to go.

Actually, Kresley Cole does that really beautifully, too, in a different way. She lets things get big and crazy and terrible and spills candy all over the place. Sometimes, I look at the events in just one of her chapters, and in other hands, I could see it filling a whole book. I think she is amazing.

So this is a big thing for me that I’m always working on, to get away from scarcity thinking, and always looking to my favorite writers for their example of it. Like, what would Joss or Kresley do?

I was thinking about it this past winter, and thinking about other places in my life where I do that.

I have favorite clothes that are so favorite that I coddle them and, I limit how much I’ll wear them, like they’re too precious. Why do I do that? I actually have another grandmother thing—these little Christmas candles from the 40’s that I never burn. Sometimes at Christmas I take them out but they get dusty if you leave them out too long. But I think I’m going to burn them this Christmas!

And this notebook of my grandmother’s, of course. So I thought, no more scarcity thinking with that notebook! I’m going to use it. I decided to use it for brainstorming notes on short stories and novellas. And it’s been really great, because the thing is in use, laying all over my office, in the living room, wherever. I look at it 1,000,000% more this year than my whole life combined. I’ll eventually fill its pages but why not? It's there to be used. So, that's my big thing.

So do you do that scarcity thing, too? Or do you have the opposite problem?

Images: Sword of Damocles by Richard Westall; Jelly Babies by Father Jack

New releases && etc

2011-08-29T21:54:00.001-05:00

There are quite a few amazing releases this Tuesday. A few I'm looking forward to:

Crossroads by Jeanne C. Stein (Anna Strong #7)
Oh, Anna! Anna!
Publisher blurb: As a bounty hunter, Anna Strong knew how to find trouble. But now that she's a vampire, trouble seems to have a knack for finding her...

The death of Anna's old vampire mentor is causing ripples in the mortal world. His forensic report has brought up some anomalies and people are asking questions-questions that no vampire wants to answer. Anna needs to lie low, but the sudden discovery of a slew of drained bodies near the Mexican border brings an old flame back into her life and with him, a new challenge. Then, some stunning news from an unexpected source sends Anna and her friend Daniel Frey on a journey that may change both their lives-forever. Get Chapter one here

Aftermath by Anne Aguirre (Sirantha Jax #5)
Sirantha! Noooooo!

Publisher blurb: DEAD HEROES GET MONUMENTS. LIVE ONES GET TRIALS.

Sirantha Jax has the right genes—ones that enable her to “jump” faster-than-light ships through grimspace. But it’s also in her genetic makeup to go it alone. It’s a character trait that has gotten her into—and out of—hot water time and time again, but now she’s caused one of the most horrific events in military history…

During the war against murderous, flesh-eating aliens, Sirantha went AWOL and shifted grimspace beacons to keep the enemy from invading humanity’s homeworld. The cost of her actions: the destruction of modern interstellar travel—and the lives of six hundred Conglomerate soldiers.

Accused of dereliction of duty, desertion, mass murder, and high treason, Sirantha is on trial for her life. And only time will tell if she’s one of the Conglomerate’s greatest heroes—or most infamous criminals…

Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead (Georgina Kincaid #6)

Georgina! Be careful!!!!!

Publisher blurb: Georgina Kincaid has had an eternity to figure out the opposite sex, but sometimes they still surprise her. Take Seth Mortensen. The man has risked his soul to become Georgina's boyfriend. Still, with Lucifer for a boss, Georgina can't just hang up her killer heels and settle down to domestic bliss. In fact, she's being forced to transfer operations. . .to Las Vegas.

The City of Sin is a dream gig for a succubus, but Georgina's allies are suspicious. Why are the powers-that-be so eager to get her away from Seattle—and from Seth? Georgina is one of Hell's most valuable assets, but if there's any way out of the succubus business she plans to take it—no matter how much roadkill she leaves behind. She just hopes the casualties won't include the one man she's risking everything for. . .
Want more release news? Here's a giant release list, courtesy of writer Suzanne Johnson.

Titles Update:
Thanks so very much to everybody who commented and voted on titles. As you see, HEAD RUSH and PSYCH OUT were pretty much tied. Honestly, reading people's thoughtful comments and reactions, it made me feel good about both of those titles. (And thanks for all the kind comments about me naming it anything and you'll read it! xox) I'll let you know when a final decision is made. Which should be soon.

The winner of the gift certificate was one Ms. Jess Macallan. Jess, check your email box!

Please help me with my decision!

2011-08-25T20:57:00.003-05:00

Decision Tree. Perhaps you will make one just like
this to help me with my decision, but I don't expect
or require it!

Are you wondering what the title to the third and final book of the Disillusionists trilogy is? Well you're not alone, my friend. Hellllllllp!

It doesn't matter if you've read the first two books or not; either way, I would be so grateful to get your reactions to these titles. Sometimes all my titles get rejected, but I want to strongly recommend one.

And there's a prize!
One random person who both comments and does the quiz will win a $10 gift certificate to any online store they choose! And, the rest of you will earn my intense gratitude. Wow, this blog is just prize central this week.

Keep in mind the titles of books #1 & 2
Bk #1: MIND GAMES
Bk #2: DOUBLE CROSS
Bk #3: ?

Okay, so for the third and final book, which do you prefer?

Option #1: HEAD RUSH
Pros: Totally goes with the first two titles. Accurate to the book without giving important things away.

Cons: The first two titles are more interactive, they imply relationships and things between people, whereas Head Rush is a solitary affair. Also, may wrongly suggest an emphasis on a hypochondria storyline.

Option #2: PSYCH OUT
Pros: Again, makes a nifty set with the first two titles. Accurate to the book without giving important things away. Kind of fun.

Cons: Is it too fun? Will people think it sounds silly? The series is vaguely humorous, but not certainly not a comedy series.

Option #3: THE ART OF FEAR
Pros: I love it and think it's cool. Highly accurate for the entire series arc.

Cons: Doesn't go with the first two. Series books often have titles that sort of make them into a set. So, powers that be may not go for it. Still...

How to win:
1. Comment and do the quiz. (<--quiz over there in sidebar)
2. Make sure I can get your email addy by clicking on your name, or just leave the addy in your comment.
3. I will pick a winner Monday morning CST when I sit down to my computer to start my day of writing, I will aim to pick this winner at some point after I have my coffee, but before the boy brings me my flask of whiskey, tranquilizers, dirty magazines and opium set-up, and definitely before the dancers arrive, because I am usually too distracted by then.

Images: Not my book cover, by me, and decision tree, by T-kita from Wiki Commons

The Renfield Syndrome releases! + quickie contest

2011-08-23T20:28:00.002-05:00

Hey! Happy release day to J.A. Saare, for her fabulous The Renfield Syndrome.

Book #2, out today!!!

The Renfield Syndrome (book #2 of Rhiannon's Law Series) is a total urban fantasy feast of unpredictable action and sassy fun, plus an inspired time travel aspect that I just loved. I savored every bite of its hot and twisty deliciousness. I also enjoyed its fun, high-energy, nearly stream-of-consciousness narration.

If you’re on twitter, you’re probably sick of hearing about how awesome the book is. (I wrote a blurb for it. It’s such a joy to blurb a book you feel strongly about! Plus, you get to read it before everyone else and rub your hands and feel smug and snickery.)

The Renfield publisher blurb:

Vampires, and werewolves, and demons, oh my.

Rhiannon thought facing off against a deranged child vampire was the most dangerous task she would ever have to undertake, but she's about to discover making a deal with a demon is far, far worse. Sent forward into another reality, one in which vampires are now dominating nearly extinct humans, she realizes the sooner she returns to her vampire lover, Disco, the better.

Unfortunately, time changes a lot of things, including those most trusted around her. When she's faced with a loss and betrayal unlike any she has ever known, her focus shifts from severing the debt between the demon that wants to kill her, to exacting a revenge that will bring forth consequences she never could have fathomed. By reaching out to the darkness lingering within her, she'll find the strength to push forward despite the circumstances that would see her dead and buried.

After all, when it's all said and done, all that she has left to lose is her soul.

This is book #1, and
you can win it here.

My own blurb, totally honest, too!

"Yow! I loved the new places this book took me, and the inspired twists along the way . . . The Renfield Syndrome roars with fun, danger, and sexy intrigue."

Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between is book #1.

Wait, what?

You haven’t started the series yet? There is still time to catch up.

Which brings me to my CONTEST! If you’re wishing you’d started the series now that The Renfield Syndrome is out, there’s still time! It’s only book #2! And I’ll help you out.

I’ll give one random commenter book #1, so you can be all caught up and get yourself some Renfield goodness.

An interesting side note: when I was poking around to find an image of the book cover, I went to Barnes & Noble.

The book isn't up yet there, but look at the thing I found - on the lower left hand side, is a little link to something about a real life Renfield Syndrome. I clicked it excitedly. I was like, really? Who would name a syndrome the Renfield Syndrome?

I was like, is there really a Renfield Syndrome?

Yeah, apparently not. As you can see, I rarely click on sponsored links. See below

Uh, I was kind of excited. Don't you hate that? But, cheer up, because there is still my awesome get-caught-up-with-the-series contest!

Rules:

Comment if you want a chance to win Book #1: Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between.
Make sure I can find your email addy from clicking your name, or just leave it.
International okay!
Contest closes on Friday when I sit down with my morning tea and vittles.

More about The Renfield Syndrome, and ordering links here!

Update: CONTEST CLOSED: Winner is Anna! #8! Congrats, Anna. I'm emailing you.

Back!

2011-08-15T12:36:00.000-05:00

Phew! back from the con! It was so much fun. I'm sneaking out of my monday re-entry to post a few pics from the AAD con...

This is me and Lea, from closerwriter, and now, Bookloversinc.com, a lovely and wonderful woman. I've known her forever out and about online, so it was exciting to meet in person! Lea, what a great surprise - I didn't even know you'd be there! How is our picture blurrrrry? But I think you got one.

The first day - a blast meeting people. Here's Jojo of Jojo's Book Corner, me (looking worse for wear! Larissa from Larissa's life, author Nicole Peeler, and Pam/Spaz, reviewer at Wicked Lil' Pixie.

Here we are, Nicole (who was my roomie for the event) Pam from Wicked! and me. Pam was such a trooper with her casted, post-op foot.

99¢ AAD sale, book signing, & sweet giveaways around blogtown!

2011-08-09T20:58:00.000-05:00

Hey woodland buddies! So, I'm off to Authors After Dark (AAD), a reader/author convention in Philadelphia (a city name that is almost as hard to spell as Phoenix, I have discovered!)

You actually don't need this card to get
the 99-cent deal - it's the price everywhere
during AAD. But, the card makes it funner!

Special AAD Wild & Steamy deal
Both Meljean Brook and I will be at AAD, and we have cooked up a special AAD deal for our anthology, where it will cost only 99¢ during the conference! We have these nifty cards we'll be handing out with QR codes that take smartphones to our Wild & Steamy site. (But, everyone can get in on the 99¢ AAD sale by buying it the regular way! It's just funner with the cards.)

Signing
It will be a weekend full of book-related fun: panels, parties, games, meeting readers and other authors. If you're in the Philly area this weekend, there is a big AAD multi-author signing downtown at the Doubletree Hotel. It's Saturday from 2-4, and completely free and open to the public! I will be there, handing out my trading cards and the Wild & Steamy card, and signing books. And here's a list of other authors who will be there.

Out and about: fun things & giveaways

Book Editor extraordinaire Beth over at CC2K went to Borders recently and grabbed some faves, and created a Fare Thee Well Borders book giveaway. Up for grabs: Outlander by Gabaldon, Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane, Feed by Mira Grant, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, and Mind Games by you know who. Go forth and enter.

Book Faery Tori's Battle of the Sexies: Sidekick edition fun rages on--also with some serious prize action!

Do real-life things ever seem vaguely like they belong in an urban fantasy book? Then my post this week over at the League of Reluctant Adults is for you: Everyday things that seem vaguely UF - will illustrations!

I hope everybody has a safe and excellent week. I will try to post pictures. I will, I will!

Wild & Steamy, our $2.99 ebook novella antho: Live!

2011-08-04T09:01:00.002-05:00

Wild & Steamy has finally gone live…in most places. It’s $2.99 on Kindle, and on Smashwords, and All Romance Ebooks, (where you can get epub, pdf, mobi and other formats) the Nook and I think it will be on Sony and iApple, and elsewhere soon.

Wild & Steamy is a collection of three novellas that the three of us banded together to publish on our own. It contains an Iron Seas novella by Meljean Brook, and a werefox novella by Jill Myles, and a Disillusionists novella by me (it can be read all on its own without reading the series, but in series order, the action happens after Double Cross).

Threeall-new novellas of the supernatural and steampunk kind...

"TheBlushing Bounder" by Meljean Brook - A Taleof the Iron Seas - While the search for a killer puts Constable Newberry’s lifein danger, he faces a danger of another kind: to his heart, by the woman forcedto marry him. What will it take for this prudish bounder to convince his wifeto stay? (13K words)

"Vixen"by Jill Myles - Miko’sdenied her were-fox nature for far too long and turned her back on her vixenheritage. But when she meets two very sexy cat-shifters, she has to decide ifshe truly wants to give up on her frisky side, or embrace it. Because thewere-fox in her doesn’t want to choose between both men…it wants them both.(15K words)

"Kitten-tiger& the Monk" by Carolyn Crane - ADisillusionists Novella - Sophia Sidway, Midcity’s most dangerous memoryrevisionist, seeks out the mysterious Monk in the wasteland beneath the Tangleturnpike, hoping for redemption…but it turns out that the Monk is not all thatpious, and the turnpike is no turnpike at all. (20K words)

My Favorite Sidekick...
In other news, I'm over at Book Faery talking about who my #1 favorite fiction sidekick is, as part of the Battle of the Sexies: Sidekick edition!

Come stop by!

Carter's rage-aholic-y travel guide to Midcity!

2011-07-30T13:41:00.000-05:00

Wow! There's some crazy action over at All Things Urban Fantasy today... Disillusionist Carter, whose specialty is rage, is giving travel tips on:

Eating out in Midcity
Getting around in Midcity
Places to shop
Safety tips!

And giving away a copy of Wild & Steamy, which contains a stand-alone Midcity-based novella. Come join the fun!

Where is Wild & Steamy? The shame...and the contest!

2011-07-26T07:34:00.006-05:00

Dear readers,

Perhaps you are wondering: WHERE the heck is the Wild & Steamy Anthology? The supposed Steampunk and Supernatural trio of novellas that a certain trio of supposed authors has been crowing about all these months? Wasn't the release date supposed to be JULY 25th???

Yet it doesn't seem to be on Amazon, or Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords, or All Romance Ebooks or Apple or anywhere!! How can it be??

*shamefaces*
It's not ready!!! We are sorry.

Release date: between now and August 3rd
Guess the time & date and win a copy!

We're editing, revising, proofing and formatting like crazy. We so badly want it to be perfect and awesome, and we underestimated the time we'd need. We really do apologize for putting an overly ambitious date up there. We're soooo close to done, we nearly made it, but we don't want to just slap it up there to make this deadline. We need...an extension.

When will Wild & Steamy be released? We are sure we can comfortably have it out by August 3rd, 11:59 CST. Probably sooner, but August 1st is just to be safe. Which brings us to the contest!

Guess the new release date and win a copy contest!
All we know is that Wild & Steamy will go up for sale between now and August 3rd, 11:59 CST--as soon as we have it right we're putting it up. But when? Take your best guess. We're giving away FIVE copies of the book to the FIVE readers who make the closest guess of when it will finally go up for sale out there! Enter the contest here.

Where sold: At some point before August 3rd, it will be available for Kindle at Amazon, Nook at Barnes & Noble, Smashwords & All Romance Ebooks (many formats)

Rules:
1. Guess the day and the time (CST) you believe the elusive Wild & Steamy will finally go up for sale. (example: July 28, 3:15 pm) in the comments on Jill's site here.
2. DO NOT MAKE YOUR GUESS HERE! Make your guesses on Jill's site - One guess per person.
3. Make sure we can get your email address by clicking on your name, or else put your email addy with the guess you make.
4. Winners will get to pick the format and so forth. If you don't have an ereader, you can choose a pdf if you like, and read it on a computer or tablet. The winners will be announced when it goes up!!

Again, our apologies. Please know that we're hopoing to make it worth the wait.

Comments closed because you need to go to Jill's site to make your guess for a chance to win!

Random items of a Friday evening...

2011-07-22T20:42:00.004-05:00

It may be old and dirty, but it works great,
and by god, it's kitty-proofed!!

Hot
Well, there's one advantage to having a somewhat wee condo - you can cool it down with one window unit air conditioner and a fan. And as I said to a friend recently, chocolate does taste better in the heat. Melty chocolate!!

Don't laugh at my fan - it is an awesome fan. It's like 20 years old, and just so powerful. The plastic slats in the back got brittle and started breaking off a few years back, which wouldn't be that big a problem, except I worried the cats would stick their paws in, so, using the principle of darning socks, I kitty proofed.

Mr. Crane scorns this fan. He went out and got another fan a few years ago, a shiny new plastic thing, and it has already broken, but not this baby! It is now hard at work circulating the air. Can you believe this heat? I went running today and I still don't feel right. Totally brutal.

Elsewhere
Do you do this - go through word phases, and you take a shine to a certain word and use it a lot? I'm going though that with the words wee and elsewhere. Wee I like for its subtle comic value. Wee really has tons of attitude; you find this out when you start using it.

But Elsewhere! This is a hell of a word. Coy and powerful. It forces sentences into a specific and singular order, and then it arranges their collar and makes them sit up straight. Like a mean, mysterious nanny. I am so into the word elsewhere.

Deadly Destinations
There's a really fun event this month over at All Things Urban Fantasy and Dark Faerie Tales called Deadly Destinations. It's authors being sort of summer tour guides to their novel settings and giving away tons of books. I'll be there in a week, giving away a copy of Wild & Steamy!!

More excellent series-kickoff books for temporary sunshine prices for kindle!
With all my ballyhooing of Nicole's cheapie dealio (see last post) I didn't realize TWO other leaguers have cheapie deals right now. Sunshine is on many shoulders!

Richelle Mead's Succubus Blues is only $3.99
Jaye Wells' Red-headed Stepchild is only $1.99
And there's Nicole's Tempest Rising: $1.99

I will admit this is a particularly insane detail;
note that a piece of the back is simply hanging
by the string. Well, it just is.

Three great opportunities to give three excellent, popular series kick-off books a test drive. I've heard this lasts through Sunday, and also, until the 27th. I don't know which thing is right.

A rare moment in the Crane household
I'm about to finish edits on the still-not-named book #3 which will fly into my agent's hands on Monday, and I recently finished a major part of a different new series project that is elsewhere.

So basically, on Monday, I will have a totally clean fiction plate, and I don't think the day job will be crazy. I think it's kind of a rare occurrence, and I'm excited for it. It means I can write whatever the hell I please during my special morning writing time. I have an idea for the best-ever new series, but I'm also thinking of doing a Simon novella, or doing a Christmas novella of some sort. I think I'll decide when I get there.

Adrian!!!!!!!!
I'm such a fan girl of Joanna Bourne, I had to trot out to her blog to see just when the heck Adrian's book is coming out, a book I've been waiting for since like 2009 when Spymaster's Lady, one of the best books ever written, blew my socks off.

I found a treat there: the Adrian cover. And an excerpt. And it will be out in November!!! The heroine of this book is named Justine. A fine name, Ms. Bourne! Godspeed to you on the edits!!

Sunshine...on Nicole Peeler's $1.99 shoulder!

2011-07-20T21:19:00.003-05:00

Good news! Nicole Peeler's first book, Tempest Rising, is a sunshine deal at Amazon for Kindle* - a steal at $1.99!! But only for the next week - it turns back into a pumpkin, albeit a delicious one, but a more expensive pumpkin, on July 27th. But right now, it's $1.99.

FIVE reasons to try this series:

Awesomeness. This series has taken its place in my pantheon of shiny, sexy, go-to series, right next to Kresley Cole's and Charlaine Harris's. Nicole is my galpal, but that's not why I'm saying all this - some of my galpals double as authors I love, and happily, Nicole is one of them.
Engaging heroine. Jane True is a vulnerable, fascinating and totally compelling heroine. I enjoy her careful intelligence, as well as her unabashed love of eating and other sensual pleasures.
Absorbing luv triangle. This book featured my favorite kind of love triangle, where both options are hugely attractive, but you definitely know who the hero is. A very low-angst triangle that lets you stop and smell the roses. Smutty goodness all along the way.
Smart, surprising worldbuilding. This is a strong world. Nicole brings lots of knowledge to UF, and isn't afraid to toy with the tropes and pull out some very crazy kinds of creatures, either. So enjoyable.
It's just 1.99 at Amazon!!

*You know what's funny? Ten years ago, the phrase "sunshine deal at Amazon for the Kindle" would have been total nonsense to me. But, then, so much would be. If I travelled back in time, I could really freak myself out!!)

My new skirt, a passive-aggressive conflict at the store, and a bit of flash! + a question

2011-07-18T21:36:00.000-05:00

First of all, I hope everybody is feeling sorry for us poor folks in Minnesota - It was like 100 today, but the heat index was 120!!!

Okay, please wipe your tears now, because otherwise you won't be able to admire my awesome new woodland scene skirt!!! I so love it. I got it at the used clothing store today. Somebody handmade it...I'm thinking out of curtains. It just feels like that.

I totally think the heat is affecting people. Today at that store...okay, I'll set the stage: it is pretty cramped in there, with racks all along the very long walls and the middle. There was this woman looking through the racks, making her way right to left, and I was going the opposite way, left to right. Granted, I started looking after her, but there was a good deal of tundra between us when I started. Maybe ten feet!

Then, I'm, you know, riffling through the racks, making my way down, and I notice her just to my right, standing still as a statue, and sort of a step back from the rack. And I feel her eyes on me, burning into my neck, and I'm like, is something wrong? And she goes, You're looking right where I was going to look! And she was super mad. Usually at this store, you just swap positions, but she seemed really to think I was messing with her. So I said, look, I'll skip down. And she said, No, you can look there, and I'll just wait here. That didn't sound very fun to me, so I skipped this whole section of rack.

You may not be able to tell this from this picture,
but one of Adam Ant's main obsessions was pirates.

So later, she's disappeared, and I revisit the section I skipped, and just then, she comes around a circular dress rack right behind it, and we're yet again on a collision course. I was completely in her way again. It was sort of funny, because, she really did think I was messing with her. I do think it's the heat!!

My skirt is quite flash, don't you think?
I don't know if I'm using that word right. I am reading Meredith Duran's amazing, glorious and riveting A Lady's Lesson in Scandal right now. I am richly enjoying every aspect of it. Especially the details of the working girl life, and the working girl slang. I love when the heroine says a thing is 'flash' like, oh this is a bit of flash, or, that skirt is real flash.

I was thinking that use of flash belonged specifically to that time period, but then yesterday DH and I were working out to Adam and the Ants and Adam used the word flash just like that in a song. Was Adam using it as an older word, or is it a modern UK usage? Do people walk around calling things flash? I think the song was about pirates, one of Adam's main obsessions. Maybe he was using the word flash as pirate lingo. Is this a word of pirates and guttersnipes of old, or what? UK friends, please advise.

Confessions of a torrid eye cheater!

2011-07-16T12:26:00.013-05:00

As a writer, I used to be a total snob about cheating on eye descriptions. Part of it comes from having worked for some years with a very exacting writing mentor. A brilliant and highly trained English fellow (and really, the best teacher ever) who would very nearly mock any liberties I took with eyes.

I used to be so pure about eye
descriptions. Now, not so much.

I can picture him now, my offending pages clutched in his hands: “His eyes were sad? What does it mean that his eyes were sad? His eyeballs, do you mean? Tell me, how do eyeballs look sad? They don’t get sad. Eyeballs are inanimate! Were there tears glistening upon them? Then you say that. Or is it the skin around the eyebrows that changed shape, creating a sad effect? Was his brow furrowed? Certain kind of frown?”

This whole thing made me really sensitive to writers cheating with eyes. Even some of my favorite writers, those I consider towering in their brilliance, cheat a bit. Even major huge NYT best-selling writers cheat quite boldly. This isn’t a real line, but stuff like this: “There was a stormy look in his eyes, chased by sorrow, and then a dawning recognition of what had come to pass in that room, after which his eyes were shuttered with hate.”

I would sometimes be darkly impressed by a line like that, a total sleight of hand that’s a blatant form of telling disguised as showing. A writer pretending to describe outward appearance, but telling a state of mind. And nobody made her rewrite it! And here I would be slaving over tears and hardened facial planes squinching eyes.

I really kept to my purity around eye description for a long time. I don’t believe you will find any eyeball liberties whatsoever in Mind Games, where I tended to rely a lot on widened and narrowed eyes, as well as gleaming eyes, and sometimes sides of eyes with little wrinkles of happiness.

I recall doing one or two eye cheats in Double Cross and being thrilled nobody stopped me, because it really is convenient to cheat like that when you have a lot going in a scene. I didn’t cheat horribly, stuff like “a surprised light in her eyes.”

I have drunk the eye-cheat Kool-aid. It's quite delicious!

Light was kind of my gateway cheat. In real life, people can have a light in their eyes, but adding surprised is the cheat part—I mean, if you showed a lineup of eye photos, you wouldn’t be able to tell a surprised light from an angry light without the context of the face or situation. There simply is no such thing as a surprised light.

Anyway, I’m doing edits on book #3, and I was just laughing the other day, because I have totally started eye-cheating! Here, a selection of my cheats:

I keep a frantic eye on the air overhead.

Packard turns to me, and there’s a lonely light in his eyes.

Otto sits up, brown eyes glittering darkly.

Packard's lonely light is the boldest one--basically, I'm telling the inward state of the man by pretending to show it in the eyes. Okay, glittering darkly is pretty bad—that’s really about something going on in Ottos's face that I didn’t feel like getting into. Even that frantic eye on the air overhead is pretty slippery. My narrator is frantic, but the eye isn't. All in all, total cheater ways of sneaking state of mind into a physical description. But oh so convenient.

My name is Carolyn Crane and I am an eye cheater!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not condemning writers who eye cheat. (Especially since I have started!) I mean, you can walk into any museum and see a good portion of beloved paintings that aren’t realistic whatsoever, and nobody’s going around like, that’s not a even what a hand looks like!

There are books on my loftiest keeper shelf (penned by writers whose feet I would kiss in a second if that sort of thing wouldn’t make me persona non grata at conventions) that contain the phrase “eyes were shuttered…” Different writers are up to different things, and have different goals, and if an eye cheat works, it works.

I just think it’s funny, because, if you knew how pure I used to be around it, you would totally laugh about the lonely light in Packard’s eyes, too. But, what the heck! I am keeping that lonely light line, and I might write more just like it.

Public domain images from wiki commons: Anton van Dyck self portrait, The Eye by Haley Davis, Charles V at Muhlberg, eye detail, by Titian, Gjord i Paint.net Jagsjalv

Gasp! Disillusionist trilogy coming to audiobook soon!

2011-07-07T20:07:00.008-05:00

What will audio Justine be like?

Well, the summer of exciting things (or at least, exciting-to-me-things) continues with Audible picking up the Disillusionist trilogy!

Which means that they are probably currently casting somebody to be the voice of Justine Jones.

What will this Justine be like? I have her voice in my head, but I could not tell you what it sounds like in the world. This is just so exciting. A voice actress will bring a whole new dimension of interpretation to the books. She will have to make choices on how to say each line. She will sort of have to decide what kind of person Justine is. The whole thing is both scary and wonderful.

All three audiobooks will be out this October. Which means, if you are an audiobook aficionado, the release of book #3 is a bit over a month early - digital comes out December 6, and later in 2012 for print.

I know the different release times of #3 may seem wacky, but my main aim has always been to make book #3 the best damn book I can write, and that the book would be available to the most readers in the most forms, and this is how I put it together…non linear as it may appear! And let me say, I am feverishly excited about #3.

All three books will be available through audible.com (and, I think, all other online bookstores where Mind Games and Double Cross are sold, but I'm not entirely clear on the details - I'll post when I have more.)

Anyway, that is a new awesome thing at Casa Crane. If I get a sneak snippet of Justine's voice, I'll post it if I can. Eeeep!

All sorts of release week insanity at the league!

2011-07-06T10:37:00.002-05:00

It's a major release week over at the League of Reluctant Adults!

Read all about it, including Diana Rowland's tattoo challenge, which I'm sort of horrified-ly fascinated with. (She'll get the tattoo pictured right if she hits the NYT list with her White Trash Zombie novel!)

Plus, the lowdown on releases from Michelle Rowen, Kevin Hearne, KA Steward and Dakota Cassidy! Come on over for the deets.

Mind Games & Double Cross International ebooks on sale this weekend!

2011-07-02T08:17:00.002-05:00

Just a quickie update before I start my day: Mind Games and Double Cross ebooks are available for just $3.49 each - this weekend only - in whatever digital format you choose.

Now, these are the international editions, so, if you live in the US, Canada or the Philippines, this sale doesn't work for you. (Sorry!) Still, I think it's great that international readers get an advantage for once.

At right, this is what my international ebook covers look like!

Go here for book #1, Mind Games

Go here for book #2, Double Cross

UPDATE: Sale ended July 4th

What do tortured masterminds wear to the beach?

2011-07-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

Come on over to Larissa's bookish life for a rare and kind of wacky summery interview with Sterling Packard!

It's part of the Bookish Haven Summer Vacation Event, hosted by Larissa's Life and Paranormal Haven.

We're at the tail end of this event, but there is still plenty of fun--and prizes up for grabs--at both these awesome blogs. And come say hi to Packard and me here!

Release day! Kindling the Moon by Jenn Bennett

2011-06-28T16:01:00.002-05:00

I had the pleasure of devouring this very awesome book ahead of time, and look! It's finally out! Our newbie author Jenn is enjoying the breathless, nerve-wracking, can't-concentrate-on-anything, gimme-that-chocolate release day experience!

The only way I would love this book more is if my blurb was on the FRONT like Karen Chance's and Ann Aguirre's. Am I not more famous than those two losers? What? I'm not? Not at all? LOL.

Here's my blurb:
"Delicious characters, funtwists, and fiendish risks…this smart, stylish debut really delivers. Lovedloved loved it!" ~Carolyn Crane

I was so not being full of crap on that blurb. I found this to be ariveting and highly swashbuckling read with great characters, plus a magicalstoryline that took me off the beaten UF path. Really, I thought the worldbuilding andthe engineering of the magical workings were just wonderful. Then there’s thesingle father hero who has absolutely great chemistry with our intrepid heroine- I really enjoyed him! There is also a fabulous frenemies storyline that Ifound to be understated and very hilarious. And of course, a fine and twisty plot.Hello! Can’t wait for this next one.

Okay, the official blurb:

Meet Arcadia Bell: bartender, renegade magician, fugitive from the law. . . Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and allegedmurderers) isn’t easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia “Cady” Bell knows howto make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she’scarved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendlyTambuku Tiki Lounge.

But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillancefootage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence orsurrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusiveÆthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with LonButler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells andan arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires.

Their research soon escalates into a storm ofconflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, aruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outsidethe law. If Cady can’t clear her family name soon, she’ll be forced tosacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.

INSTANT CONTEST ALERT!!! Leave a comment and I'll draw one winner tomorrow afternoon at 4 pm CST and send them a copy of this awesome book (International welcome).

The rest of you will have to buy it from your neighborhood bookstore or online. Luckily, it's easy! A measly eight bucks for hours of pleasure. Buy links from Jenn's page: AMAZON | BOOK DEPOSITORY| BARNES & NOBLE | BORDERS | BOOKS-A-MILLION | INDIEBOUND | POWELLS |MYSTERIOUS GALAXY | CHAPTERS (CANADA)
PDF Download of First Chapter here. More on the elusive Jenn Bennett here. Read a review here.
PS: why do my fonts and spaces look so crazy and messed up? *shakes fist in mute anger at Blogger*

Monday things: Interview, antho release dates & kitties!

2011-06-27T08:11:00.004-05:00

July 25

Interview! I'm over at the awesome Romance Books forum doing a fun interview - Alix and I are talking superhero skills, having scandalous thoughts about anatomy (at least I am; Alix wisely stays mum!), the difference between writing a novella and a series, the song I will always sing aloud when I hear it, and some of the thinking behind Mind Games, Double Cross and the Disillusionists Trilogy...and so much more. Come say hi!

Release dates: The two anthologies I'm in have new release dates. The wonderful, wonderful Wild & Steamy will be coming out July 25th (if not before, but for sure by then).

And, Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance has been pushed back to summer of 2012 - a year later than planned. *sob* I was really excited for it to come out, because it was the first non-disillusionists thing I'd written for publication and also, the first short I've written since the dawn of time. (I actually called my writer friend to ask what the goal is with a short story - she had this whole explanation on everything turning on a moment.) And, when you're a writer (or at least, when you're me) you want to instantly share everything you have written, because that is exciting and fun (unless people hate it!). Well, when Ghost finally does come out, maybe it will be like finding a forgotten Kit Kat candy bar in my purse.

Kitties: I had a busy weekend, but not as busy as the kitties, who were working really hard on their cuteness skills. Momma is so proud!

Have a nice week, everyone, and if you're going to RWA, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful time (she says as her complexion turns ever so faintly green). I await pictures! I will live the dream through your pictures!

Great moments in last night's reading: immersion vs travelogue in UF world-building

2011-06-25T10:21:00.003-05:00

Gah! I've been so swamped, I haven't done one of my great moments posts forever, and I have tons of great moments I've made notes for to talk about. Okay, this one is from last month.

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading
Book: The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod
Page: 61
Spoiler level: zero

There’s a certain sly element of cool in Suzanne McLeod’s The SweetScent of Blood. I was thinking today about how she achieved it, and in part, Ifeel like she does something that a lot of my favorite ultra-contemporary,high-realism cable dramas do, like THE WIRE, or the movie INCEPTION, forexample, in the sense that you’re admitted into a world, but not given a whole travelogue about it.

This creates a sheen of otherness, and so part of the fun anddazzle is to behold all the people and strange goings-on and piece thingstogether. By the end, you get the ins and outs and backalleys, and it’s kind of satisfying.

I don’t mean that the plot is hard to follow, though it’scertainly more complex than most, but more that you get the world throughimmersion.

This is especially true with the small details—the surfacedetails. I was absolutely thrilled with this underground ride our maincharacter Genny took. These goblins come onto her car. Gazza is a jerk. We’ve seen goblinsbefore in the book - as literal minded bodyguards - but suddenly there arethese other kinds of goblins. Here, the passage:

...His white translucent ears flicked like a rat’s and he clutched agold lamé satchel tight to his chest, almost obscuring the London Undergroundbadge on his navy boiler-suit – a gold embroidered ‘G’ that marked him as aGatherer.

He slid a thin grey finger down his twitching nose. ‘Rubbish,miss.’

My disguise wasn’t good enough to trick a goblin, or even a vamp – notthat it mattered. It was only the witches I was trying to fool.

I shook my headat the goblin, then touched my own nose in reply.

He patted the flap of hissatchel. ‘Thankee, miss.’

The goblin clomped along to Gazza, his trainersflashed green with every step. ‘Rubbish, mister.’

Gazza sneered again. ‘Buggeroff, you little creep.’

The goblin grinned up at him, baring black serratedteeth, three of them studded with square-cut garnets. He opened his mouth wide, leaned forward and snapped histeeth together with a loud crack, right next to Gazza’s cheap PVC-coveredgroin. ‘Rubbish, mister,’ he demanded.

Huddling against the door, his eyes wide, Gazza fumbled in hiscoat pocket, found something and offered it warily to the goblin. A stick ofchewing gum, still wrapped.

Thinfingers plucked at it, then tucked it away inside the gold lamé satchel.‘Thankee, mister.’ The goblin stamped his feet, leapt onto a seat and curled upin a ball, his arms hugging tight around his bag.

Andthat, to my memory, is the first and last we see or hear of these freak-aygoblin trash gatherers. Why are they asking people for trash? Why do they havegold lame satchels? What is the deal with the goblin stamping his feet, leapingonto a seat, and curling into a ball hugging his bag?

Younever find out, and I absolutely loved that, because it made this strange worldtruly strange. If this was key to the plot, I might feel mystified or even left behind, but it’snot key to the plot. So it just became this quirky, random world detail thatreally made me as a reader feel like I’d gained entrée to a new land.

McLeoddefinitely takes a risk with this, because it’s such extreme ‘show-don’t-tell’,albeit for an insignificant surface detail.

Ithink a lot of other authors, including myself, might have given Genny someopinions about these guys as a way to guide the reader, like, “I don’t knowwhat these goblins did with their trash or why the underground union employedthem, but at least the cars were clean. Some speculated that… bla bla.” Butwouldn’t that be boring? It is way cooler just to have them show up, collecttrash that’s not even trash, and exit.

Because,isn’t how that is when you’re traveling in a foreign country? I enjoyed this effect.

Image: The Fra Mauro map. Part of China. 1459, from Wiki Commons.

Shoes, character breakthrough, and revised thinking on high punctuation within dialogue

2011-06-18T10:38:00.001-05:00

Character breakthrough.
I was doing some plotting and reworking on a part of my new paranormal series and had this breakthrough. Do you know the fable of the grasshopper and the ant? I realized my hero in this book is the ant type, jealous of the grasshopper, and my heroine is the grasshopper type trying unsuccessfully to be the ant. Oh, this helps me immensely, you can't even know.

Stop the presses! I have revised my opinion on high punctuation in dialogue.
Re-reading Meredith Duran's Bound by Your Touch, a favorite book of mine. I usually hate high punctuation within dialogue (semicolon or colon) but I've changed my tune: now I hate it in all dialogue except a certain kind of playful facetiousness, like in this scene, such a fun one, where our hero, Sanburne is wasted at his own party and his sister, sitting down next to him on the stairs, tries to get his attention:

... Elizabeth's fingers fastened onto his upper arm, digging for attention. "Do you hear me? Are you awake?"

He was curious about that, too. "Are my eyes open?"

She made a noise of exasperation, then took his chin in her grip, yanking it up so their eyes met. "They are open," she said. "Behold: it is I."

There could be no other punctuation there but a colon. The colon is perfect! Really, I just love this behold bit of hers. These two probably grew up reading books and seeing plays that contained that sort of language, maybe still do, and here it is as part of their humorous language, the way I sometimes sing to DH: Don't do the crime if you can't do the time from the TV show Baretta. (Yup, I'm in my 40s!) Anyway, I love when characters place themselves specifically in relation to their time, instead of simply being of their time.

Sometimes when I type these things out, I discover new wonderful treasures in the writing. Like those fingers, digging for attention. And the feel of this easy sibling relationship. You get so much out of this little exchange.

Shoes
I go wildly back and forth on these shoes I got from a secondhand store. They are leather, made in Mexico, and brown, a favorite shoe color of mine. Sometimes I love them, and other times, I'm not so sure.

I am a fan of buckles on things, that is part of the attraction. And they work with bare feet. Today I love them.

Hey, happy Saturday everybody!
I have a big day job project to work on this weekend, but plan to get some novel writing in, and some exercise, and some quality time with the husband. Hmm, we'll see how that all works out. What are you all up to?

The Disillusionists might become a TV show!

2011-06-09T21:48:00.004-05:00

Like many Americans, I am a great fan of TV, and have many opinions and fierce attachments to various shows. So as you can imagine, I’m beyond thrilled that the Disillusionists has been optioned by the production company Fishbowl Media for possible development for TV!!

Here is the announcement from Publisher’s Marketplace:

Carolyn Crane's The Disillusionist Trilogy, about a psychological hit squad of misfits and neurotics who reform criminals by pumping them full of their negative energy, pitched as Heroes meets Inception, optioned to FishBowl Media, by Shari Smiley at CAA, on behalf of Cameron McClure at Donald Maass.

What what what will it be like?

Yippee!

When something gets optioned, it’s not actually sold. It’s more like the rights are rented for a year or some other specified time period. Fishbowl Media would use this time to work out and pitch the show to…um, I think networks. Then, if somebody picks it up, they would buy the rights.

I’m so excited to learn more about what they envision. I enjoyed Heroes, and I really REALLY enjoyed Inception. So I’m sure I’ll like what they have in mind.

Also, I’m burning with curiosity on how they’ll translate it to screen, because the books are quite psychological, but I'm sure they have ideas. And far more psychological books than mine have been made into shows and movies that I have come to love. My prime example is Remains of the Day. I was like, How the hell do you make that into a movie? But it was awesome.

Screenwriters and TV people bring new ideas and worldviews to books. Even though I would not be involved, I feel like they are sort of collaborators after my part is over.

Anyway, sometimes these options just run out and nothing happens at all, but still. Quite exciting! What are your favorite movies or TV shows that have been made out of books?

PS: I'm going out of town this weekend, so not around much. Also, don't forget to enter my contest below!

A very hexy release roundup...with contest!

2011-06-07T22:02:00.008-05:00

So many exciting new releases by various pals, cohorts and people I admire from afar... Yee hah! It's time for one of my roundup contests. And be sure and wear your anti-hex boots, because there is a definite theme here...

Hexes and Hemlines (A Witchcraft Mystery #3)

More from everybody's fave paranormal mystery series. I think I need to start shopping at Lily's store!!

Blurb: With her vintage clothing store taking off, Lily Ivory is finding that life in San Francisco suits her just fine. But her ability to sense vibrations from the past, so useful in locating secondhand gems, has landed her in the middle of a new mystery...

Lily gets called away from Aunt Cora's Closet when the police need a witch's take on a strange case. Malachi Zazi was stabbed to death in his apartment, under a ladder, surrounded by the number thirteen, a broken mirror, and a black cat—superstitions that the victim, as head of a rationalist society, was devoted to discrediting.

When the police identify a suspect from the Serpentarian Society, Lily is shocked to learn it's someone she knows. But with bad luck plaguing all its members, she begins to wonder if there's more at work than mere coincidence. And while there aren't many clues from the crime scene, Lily finds evidence of dark witchcraft and a hex on her friend's doorstep. With her friend's safety at stake, Lily is determined to use magic to find the murderer before everyone's luck runs out... Excerpt

Hexed - An anthology with novellas by Ilona Andrews, Yasmine Galenorn , Allyson James, & Jeanne C. Stein

Blurb: Four of the bestselling names in romance and fantasy come together in this collection of thrilling novellas featuring powerful women who know how to handle a hex or two.

From Publishers Weekly - Bestsellers Andrews, Galenorn, James, and Stein serve up stories set in their established magical worlds in this entertaining urban fantasy anthology. In Andrews's Atlanta-based "Magic Dreams," shape-shifting white tiger Dali Harimau battles a dark force to save the man she loves. In Galenorn's "Ice Shards," Finnish house sprite Iris Kuusi travels to the frozen Northlands to break a curse and confront the evil shadow of her former lover. Stormwalker Janet Begay struggles to save herself and her friends when they become trapped in a cursed Arizona hotel in James's "Double Hexed." Stein rounds out the anthology with "Blood Debt," in which San Diego vampire Anna Strong saves an innocent man and winds up on trial herself.

~not to be confused with...

Hexed by Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid Chronicles Series #2)

Hits the shelves to the sound of rubbing hand and squeees...the fun continues...

Blurb: Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, doesn’t care much for witches. Still, he’s about to make nice with the local coven by signing a mutually beneficial nonaggression treaty—when suddenly the witch population in modern-day Tempe, Arizona, quadruples overnight. And the new girls are not just bad, they’re badasses with a dark history on the German side of World War II.

With a fallen angel feasting on local high school students, a horde of Bacchants blowing in from Vegas with their special brand of deadly decadence, and a dangerously sexy Celtic goddess of fire vying for his attention, Atticus is having trouble scheduling the witch hunt. But aided by his magical sword, his neighbor’s rocket-propelled grenade launcher, and his vampire attorney, Atticus is ready to sweep the town and show the witchy women they picked the wrong Druid to hex.

Hunter’s Fall (Hunters #5) by Shiloh Walker

Oh, Hunters series! Determined, embattled characters, great romance and inventive worldbuilding.

Blurb: Nessa lost her memory following a near-death experience.Dominic is a Hunter dealing with his own problems with memory and sanity. Whenthe two are put together to battle the forces of darkness-while trying torestore what they've lost-their all-consuming passion becomes an even greaterunknown.

From Publishers Weekly: Nessa is an old, powerful witch thrustinto a sexy new body still occupied by the taunting presence of its previousowner and possessed by murderous urges. Young vampire Dominic is plagued byerotic dreams about a beautiful woman who is both familiar and mysterious, muchto his frustration and confusion. Aided by characters from previous seriestitles, Nessa and Dominic attempt to discover the truth behind their psychicconnection before evil forces destroy them both. Complex personal histories anda very solid paranormal world add detail and intrigue as beautifullywell-rounded characters reach for clarity… Excerpt

Chicks Kick Butt (anthology) - eleven original stories by various fabulous authors, including my talented galpal Jeanne Stein!!

Editors note/blurb: Chicks are awesome—and never more so than when they arekicking some serious vampire/werewolf/demon/monster butt. Chicks Kick Butt is an anthology that features one of thebest things about the urban fantasy genre: strong, independent, and intelligentheroines who are quite capable of solving their own problems and slaying theirown dragons (or demons, as the case may be).

- Rachel Caine (with a story from her bestselling WeatherWardens universe)

- L.A. Banks

- Rachel Vincent

- Karen Chance

- Lilith Saintcrow

- Cheyenne McCray

- Susan Krinard

- Jeanne Stein

- Jenna Black

- Susan Krinard

- Jeanne Stein

- Jenna Black

- Elizabeth Vaughan

- Carole Nelson Douglas

- P.N. Elrod

- Nancy Holder

Nightfall by Ellen Connor (Dark Age Dawning #1)

Ellen Connor is the collaborative pen name of Carrie Loftyand Ann Aguirre. Shhhhhhhh! I'm really excited to check this out.

Blurb: First in a stunning new post-apocalyptic paranormal romancetrilogy.

Growing up with an unstable, often absent father whopreached about the end of the world, Jenna never thought in her wildestnightmares that his predictions would come true. Or that he would have a planin place to save her-one that includes the strong, stoic man who kidnaps andtakes her to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

The mysterious ex-Marine named Mason owes a life-debt toJenna's father. Skilled and steadfast, he's ready for the prophesied Change,but Jenna proves tough to convince. Until the power grid collapses and mutantdogs attack-vicious things that reek of nature gone wrong.

When five strangers appear, desperate to escape thebloodthirsty packs, Jenna defies her protector and rescues them. As technologyfails and the old world falls away, Jenna changes too, forever altered bysupernatural forces. To fight for their future, she and Mason must learn totrust their instinctive passion-a flame that will see them through the bitterwinter, the endless nights, and the violence of a new Dark Age.

Money Shot by Susan Sey
My own hometown RWA chaptermate Susan Sey has been getting tons of buzz for her smart, sexy, fun work. I'm excited to crack open this book, set on a frozen island in the middle of Lake Superior. I love the idea of a female Secret Service Agent, too.

Blurb: Secret Service Agent Maria"Goose" di Guzman is assigned to Mishkawa Island on a goose-chase ofa case when she encounters a greater mystery in sexy park ranger Rush Guthrie.

From Fiction Vixen: After reading Money Shot, the second book fromSusan Sey, I can say for sure that she writes easy to love heroes, has a talentfor writing some good fun snark, and leaves me marking her books all over theplace with possible favorite quotes. Excerpt here

Goddess with a Blade by Lauren Dane (ebook)

I'm really curious and excited to read this new UF by one of the most vertsatile and sexy writers around.

Rowan Summerwaite is no ordinary woman. Physical vessel tothe Celtic Goddess Brigid and raised by the leader of the Vampire Nation, she'sa supercharged hunter with the power to slay any vampire who violates theage-old treaty.

A recent string of murders has her at odds with Las Vegas'snew Scion, the arrogant and powerful Clive Stewart. The killings have the markof Vampire all over them, and Rowan warns Clive to keep his people in line—orshe'll mete out her own brand of justice.

Though her dealings with Clive are adversarial to say theleast, Rowan is intensely aware of her attraction to him. But she can't let itdistract her from her duty—to find and battle the killer before more women die.

Shimmerlight by Jill Myles (a 99-cent novella; a companion to theerotic time travel novella Mirrorlight)

Loving the sound of this plot! Freaky and fun...

Blurb: Chloe Sorenson's just started a brand new job at Ms.Muffet's art gallery. However, no one told her that the latest auction piece -a sculpture of a handsome Roman soldier - comes to life. Think it's hard toexplain to your boss why you're fondling a statue? Try explaining to the statuewhy you're holding his, uh, fig leaf. Chloe never thought that touching thestatue would turn him into a sexy, aroused man, but she's not saying no to thisdelicious Roman soldier. The curse requires that she touch him at all times?Such a hardship...

But there's a problem in their lust-fueled relationship;she's falling dangerously in love with a guy that cursed to be hard as a rock -literally - unless she can somehow free him. And the statue of Titus just wentup for auction. If she doesn't do something, he's going to be out of her lifeand trapped for all eternity... available for here, here and elsewhere soon!

Giveaway time!

Okay, you can win one of these books! (Or the first bookfrom one of these series, if you haven't started the series yet).
ADDED: Anne Aguirre has generously offered up a copy of Nightfall! So I'll pick two random winners - one to win NIGHTFALL, and one to win any book of their choice. Thanks Anne!

Directions:

1. Leave a comment, any comment - you can talk about any orall of the books, or you can talk about your cat or fear of hexes or anything! Yourcomment doesn't have to say what book you'll choose.

2. You have to leave your comment here on the blog - if youare seeing this on Goodreads or Facebook, come over, cover over, Red Rover!

3. Make sure your email is in the comment, or else that Ican find it by clicking on your name.

4. Live somewhere in the world where book depository ships.

I will choose a TWO winners next week (June 14th) when I sitdown with my tea and oats. I will email those people then. Hey, Happy release day everyone!

A completely narcissistic post about ME!

2011-05-29T20:52:00.001-05:00

So, you bloggers out there probably know how this goes, when it's been soooooo long since you blogged, you just feel all voodoo about it. Like, I have to get something amazing up! I have to pre-write a bunch of posts and bank them! Really get back in the swing!

How did it get to be TWO WEEKS since I blogged? Well, this is one of those posts where I just post any old thing to get back in the blogging swing. A life update!

The MOVE

The fabulous Mr. Crane in our not-yet-fabulous living room.

Part of my reason for not blogging: we moved across town. Exactly 2 weeks ago. Oh, what a trying two weeks. We're still partly in boxes, but mostly unpacked. As you see from this photo, we have kind of slopped our furniture in a circle while we put away other stuff. I guess the aesthetics will come last!

Before this, Mr. Crane and I were renting a lovely apartment in a kind of fabulous and fancy area of Minneapolis, and we just bought this condo in a less fancy area, but it is so much funner here! And we are living in almost half as much space, but it's ours, dammit! And we are really loving it. And there are awesome coffee shops and restaurants around here. Last night I said to Mr. Crane, we should go sit on our stoop and play Scrabble. That's not something we would have done in our old neighborhood. Our old neighborhood was mostly young upscale families; our new one has has people of all ages and backgrounds. The only downside is that it's not within walking distance of a supermarket.

Reading two wonderful books

I'm reading two wonderful books right now: J.A. Saare's DEAD UNDEAD OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN and Meredith Duran's WRITTEN ON YOUR SKIN. Both delicious and excellent in their own ways. One of these days, I'll update my goodreads account with all the books I've been reading.

A good book of the kind I won't read again

I recently finished a very gripping suspense book, I guess I'd call it romantic suspense, but edging on regular suspense. Kind of serial killer suspense by a well-known author everyone loves. I think I need to think hard about what kind of romantic suspense I read. This one was really dark, like the movie SEVEN. And, while I hugely admired how well paced and excellently written it was, and I was really compelled by it, looking forward to reading it--gripped by it, even--it nevertheless felt like a joyless, even soulless read. Have you ever had a read like that? Where you're consuming this dark content, and it's compelling, but not necessarily good for you?

The stretch of days I was reading this one book, I felt uninspired at writing, and was in a kind of glum overall mood. It could have been the stress of moving, but part of me blames that book. It's funny, because there's romantic suspense I love, like Jill Sorenson's stuff, or Shiloh Walker's, which both tend to be more character focused. But this was too much, I think, for my temperament.

I have these two grocery bags full of books I'm going to sell to the best used bookstore in all of the Twin Cities, the Paperback Exchange (and snap up every Anne Stuart and Laura Kinsale in the place!) and I put this book in, as well as the next book in her series, unread. Okay, now I'm rethinking it. It was a really compelling book...but I think it's better this way.

Cassette tapes dominate over CDs
...because CDs were a scam after all!

WTF! I'm talking to YOU, CDs!
So, I unearthed a good deal of forgotten items during the move, including cassette tapes from the pre-CD Pleistocene erae. One of them was this Leonard Cohen tape I hadn't played in years, with The Only Ones on the other side. I'd probably played it thousands of times, and I played it three times more and it still sounded fabulous. Lord forbid I try to play an old CD. Half my CDs have gone to hell from overplay, but that has NEVER happened to a cassette. Who of you are old enough to remember thinking CDs were a big scam? Guess what: they WERE!

Weather

This is the worst winter and spring in Minnesota ever. Horribly cold, followed by horribly gray and rainy and cold with a dollop of tornadoey. I had the space heater on this morning! Back when we were renters, we would be like, let's move away to California, dammit! But now that we have a condo, we can't play that game.

This is what I wish I'd had for dinner instead of a salad.
Three bags of popchips, or else a pizza.

Carolyn so crabbins
I spent the winter eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and now I'm all complainy...I'm sure you can guess why. Tonight I really wanted to eat pizza, or else popchips, but instead I had a salad for dinner. I am very unsatisfied. Sometimes it's a good idea to ignore those cravings, but tonight, I should've given in. I feel like my dinner was cold and wet, and I ~~wanted~~ needed some form of hot /crunchy/salty.

As long as I'm going down this more shallow subject area road, I will say that the lighting in our new bathroom is NOT flattering. I was thinking the other day, well, maybe that's what I really look like, and my old bathroom lighting was falsely flattering. But, I think I want to get back falsely flattering lighting. Because...why the hell not?

Writing
I am polishing up the still unnamed book #3, which I am really excited about. I have come to think of this book as a combination of Robin Hood and Sleeping Beauty. But with lots of sex, violence, and paranormal goings-on.

I have two new series in the wings, and I am having a hard time deciding which to work on next, because I want to write both of them immediately. Wild & Steamy, the anthology I'm doing a disillusionists novella for, which also features Meljean Brook and Jill Myles, will likely be coming out early July instead of June now. I'm really looking forward to that. And I also have crazy-exciting-to-me news that might not be anything and I can't talk about it yet!

Whew! Look! This is a MAJOR blog entry! I have broken the no-blogging spell! Thank you dear readers, for bearing with me!

I hope you all have a fabulous and safe Memorial Day. XXOO Carolyn

Various moving dramas & casualties...with tell-all photos!

2011-05-12T09:06:00.000-05:00

Moving week. Feeling strangely calm about it all, even though things are so chaotic. Also, I finished a major phase of a novel, so this is a natural stopping point. At least my writing life is ship-shape.

I was sad to have to put this awesome chair (above) out on the curb, because I've always loved the blocky mid-century shape of it, (plus, it's corduroy!) but it's pretty destroyed, and actually, not that comfortable. When I have clothing I haven't worn and enjoyed in a year, it's time to give it to the thrift store. That goes the same with furniture, and Mr. Crane and I never really sit in this chair. And the cat eats the stuffing out of it.

Pictured on the chair are my orphan socks! I have been hauling around a GIANT bag of orphan socks through many moves. The bag has grown and grown, to the size of a basketball. That stops here! I have a dream of washing all socks and mating them or out they go. Will my dream come true?

Oh, how the movers will love us! Here, Mr. Crane's wall of books, packed. And, I'm slowly adding to this from my own bookcases. Sometimes I put boots and shoes in with the books because I feel sorry for the movers for the heaviness of these boxes.

I spent the last couple years with the second bedroom as my own private office, and Mr. Crane had a corner of the living room. In our new condo, Mr. Crane gets the second bedroom as his office and I get a corner of the living room. Because that's how we roll! Share and share alike.

The only problem: ART. As readers of this blog know, Mr. Crane finds Little CJ (above, the portrait of me as a child painted by a great aunt) to be super creepy. He feels my childhood eyes follow him around the room. Little CJ has hung in my office these past years. Where to put her now?

Carolyn: Let's put her in the living room!

Mr. Crane: No way are we putting little CJ in the living room.

Carolyn: How about the bedroom?

Mr. Crane: Not if you ever want to have sex again.

Above, a pictorial representation of Mr. Crane and my art tastes. The gray areas on the right represent art and photos I enjoy and Mr. Crane does not enjoy. Little CJ would fall into this area. On the left gray side, art and photos that Mr. Crane enjoys that I do not enjoy and do not want to sit around staring at. The white area is where we agree, and the subset of art and photos we may have in shared spaces.

Above, an old, hand-drawn medical chart a friend rescued from a garbage behind the University Medical school building. There were a bunch of them, all apparently drawn by long-ago students for some important project. It is one of the coolest pieces of art I own, and takes up a great deal of wall space in my office. These little drawings are strange and fantastical to me. I don't know what they are (and I don't want to, so if you know, please don't tell me.)

Detail from my Echin0dermata chart. #12 puts me in the mind of Horton Hears a Hoo. #13 feels sort of Star Trek. One of the most mysterious ones is #20, lower right corner. I just love this piece! Unfortunately, this awesome thing will be joining Little CJ in a dark storage space.

My ironic Unicorn-with-unicorn-baby-in-a-glade picture. I don't have to tell you where that is going.

I feel okay about rotating art. We have lots of excellent stuff we both love to look at to put up on the walls. The time for these pieces will come around again. Okay, I'd better back to packing. Wish me luck!

Monday stuff: Disillusionist ebooks available globally, genre cats, & the awesome Harper Blaine tour!

2011-05-09T08:19:00.010-05:00

Disillusionist ebooks - now available all over the GLOBE!
This is the international ebook
cover for Double Cross
Doesn't it sound massive when I say it like that? But, it is massive, to me. For way too long, people living outside of North America and various related territories were unable to purchase and download Mind Games or Double Cross ebooks.

This is the international ebook
cover for Mind Games

That is all changed! My books are now (or any day now, depending on the site) available on all the major international sites where you can get ebooks, and they are available NOW right here at Untreed Reads for just $4.99 each. You can choose whatever format you please, and buy them if you live in the places where it wasn't originally published.

I'm grateful to Untreed Reads for putting them out like this. It was a tricky operation (to me, anyway) because, they had to be reverse geographically restricted, that is, not available where the other versions were available, because that would infringe on my original publisher's territory.

Genre Cats
I love Tez Miller's new Tumblr site, Genre Cats. It's all pictures of genre authors and their kitties. One of these days, I'm going to get Mr. Crane to do some photos of us. I realized I have millions of pictures of my babies, but none of us together.

Every time I write about my cats, I think, I need to stop talking about my cats so much. But as you can see, I can't seem to.

Walking Tour of Harper Blaine's neighborhood in Seattle!

Kat Richardson has made a Greywalker walking tour of Private Investigator Harper Blaine's Pioneer Square neighborhood! It's pictures and voice over of various places in Seattle that feature in the series (which I would highly recommend. After being dead for two minutes and the resuscitated, Harper Blaine finds she can interact with the 'grey' - the layer between our world and the supernatural one. This talent of hers makes her a very unusual private detective. Awesome UF gumshoe series.)

Anyway, you can download the cell phone tour here and actually walk it if you're in Seattle, or you can just view the embedded version. This is such a boon for Greywalker fans! It's a kick to see where Harper Blaine works and the sites of various events and hear Kat talk about them. Also, you learn a some interesting things about Seattle. More on Kat's site.

Happy Saturday giveaway of recent releases on my radar...

2011-05-06T21:50:00.010-05:00

I haven't done one of these for a while, and some very exciting books have been popping up, written by pals, cohorts, and a few authors I'm plain old fangirlish on. Hooray for a bounty of books!

Hounded by Kevin Hearne

This new release by fellow leaguer Kevin Hearne has been getting total rave reviews for awesomeness and hilarity...and I understand that Little CJ is hoping to get an interview with him soon.

The blurb:

Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully inArizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time tohunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that thishandsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality,he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from theearth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known asFragarach, the Answerer.

Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, andhe’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked himdown, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddessof death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartenderpossessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—tokick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.

The Cold Kiss of Death by Suzanne McLeod (Spellcrackers #2)

I recently started the first Spellcrackers book, The Sweet Scent of Blood, and I'm really into it. I love the main character, as well as McLeod's awesomely inventive version of a London that contains trolls, goblins, fae and more. I have to say also, McLeod really knows how to interestingly raise the stakes! Oh, I totally didn't mean that as a pun.

Anyway....

The blurb: When sidhe-blooded Genny Taylor's friend is murdered and allevidence points to her, she goes on the run. But she's being pursued by some ofthe most powerful supernaturals in town-and one of them is most certainly the killer.

Three to Tango by Emma Holly, Lauren Dane, Megan Hart and Bethany Kane

I have been very interested in checking this one out, all the more so since Susi and Lea over at Book Lovers Inc. called it one of the best anthologies they've ever read. Yee ha!

The blurb: Four of erotic fiction's most talented authors carry readers away with all-new tales of ecstasy that prove that the most delectable things in life come in threes...

In Emma Holly's FLIPPING FOR CHELSEA, Shay and Liam shared an unforgettable night with their lifelong friend, Chelsea, awakening a rush of forbidden feelings--feelings they have to reckon with when the three reunite, and the unrequited lust between them is too much to bear.

Though Ava left her hard-knock Georgia childhood behind, she never forgot Luca and Angelo. Together they were best friends with a bond that could never be broken. But when she returns, the three must decide whether to face the fires that burn between them, or forgo their desires forever in Lauren Dane's DIRTY/BAD/WRONG.

In Megan Hart's JUST ONE NIGHT, fun-loving couple Kerry and Jeremy find themselves in a triangle of trouble when Kerry's old crush, Brian, returns for a school reunion, and Jeremy gives her his enthusiastic approval to seduce him. But while Jeremy has no trouble sharing Kerry, Brian isn't sure he can handle what's coming.

Years ago, Walker walked out on Madeline when she needed him most. Now, the ex-Secret Service agent is back--hired to protect Madeline by her billionaire boss, Tony. Madeline is determined to make him pay for denying her desires--and she's not above bringing Tony in to sweeten the deal in Bethany Kane's ON THE JOB.

Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman (Gavyn Donatti #2)

The Djinn series by fellow leaguer Sonya, who is also my agent mate! I just got the first book in this series. I feel certain that if my agent embraced this series, I will too. Also, I'm really in the mood to read about Djinn!

The blurb: A DEADLY CULT. AN UNBREAKABLE CURSE. THE RULES ARE SIMPLE:LEARN TO KILL . . . OR DIE.

Luck has never been on Gavyn Donatti’s side. Anyone elsewith magic abilities inherited from a distant genie relative would have itmade, but not Donatti, descendant of a cranky, shape-shifting genie named Ian.The prince of a murdered kingdom, consumed with revenge and driven by anunbreakable curse, Ian is determined to hunt down and destroy every last one ofhis enemies in the power-hungry snake clan—at any cost, including his life. OrDonatti’s.

Obsessed by his own rage, Ian has never really taughtDonatti how to use his abilities. So when a powerful cult of magic-userscaptures Ian’s wife, the princess Akila, and then Ian himself, Donatti is leftalone to take on dozens of half-djinn and their mysterious leader with designson world domination.

Facing an impossible mission, Donatti is forced to turn toan enemy for help—one who claims to know how to unlock his true potential. Trustinga snake might be the last mistake Donatti ever makes—but if he doesn’t learn towield the power inside him, everyone will pay the ultimate price.

Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare

I gladly, lavishly, happily give in to peer pressure at all times! Which is why I've got this long-awaited re-up of the big wild favorite of a lot of my online pals on top of my TBR pile. I have been wondering from afar what makes people so crazy about this hero, and soon I will find out. I am in the mood to be crazy about a hero.

The blurb: One bad corpse can ruin your whole day.

No one knows that better than Rhiannon Murphy. She’s leftbehind the flash and sass of Miami for the no-nonsense groove of New York City,eager for a clean slate and a fresh start. A bartender by trade, a loud mouthby choice, and a necromancer by chance, she’s managed to keep her nifty talenthidden from those around her--until now.

The deliciously good-looking vampire Disco knows her secret,and when he strolls into her bar to solicit help investigating the mysteriousdisappearances of his kind from the city, she discovers he’s not the kind ofperson that appreciates the significance of the word no. But in a world wherevampires peddle their blood as the latest and greatest drug of choice, it’sonly a matter of time before the next big thing hits the market. Someone orsomething is killing vampires to steal their hearts, and unlike Rhiannon, thisisn’t their first stroll around the undead block.

Shady Lady by Ann Aguirre (Corine Solomon #3)

I'm heavy into this series, and I've been reading that people are considering this one the best of the bunch. I love when a series just ramps like crazy.

The blurb: Whenever Corine Solomon touches an object, she immediatelyknows its history. But her own future concerns her more and more. Now back inMexico, she's running her pawnshop and trying to get a handle on her strangenew powers, for she might need them. And soon.  

Then former ally Kel Fergusonwalks through her door. Heavily muscled and tattooed, Kel looks like a convictbut calls himself a holy warrior. This time, he carries a warning for Corine:the Montoya cartel is coming for her--but they don't just pack automaticweapons. The Montoyas use warlocks, shamans, voodoo priests--anything toterminate trouble. And Corine has become enemy number one...

Sleeping with the Frenemy by KT Grant!

KT! My galpal KT, one of the loveliest and now most prolific
authors I know. Okay, like so many above, I haven't read yet this...but who can resist a good starting-a-new-secret-life F-F romance?

The blurb: Deborah Murnay has a life most women would diefor. She has a loving wife of four years who gives her anything she wants. But,Deborah hides a dark secret. Her wife Genevieve not only enjoys kinky,dangerous sex, but is insanely jealous and possessive. When a violent argumentbetween the two leaves Deborah bruised and battered, she has no other choicebut to run away.

Through some intricate planning on Deborah’s part, she’sable to trick Genevieve into thinking she’s dead. Deborah becomes Sharon Wadeand ends up hundreds of miles away in the small town of Woodberry Creek whereshe can start over again, even though she lives in fear that Genevieve willfind her and kill her.

When grade school teacher Bridgette Woodberrynotices her new neighbor, she quickly figures out Woodberry Creek’s newresident is hiding something. Deborah knows she can’t have a future withBridgette, but finds herself attractive to the kindhearted redhead whose kissesand warm embrace makes her feel protected.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole (Immortals After Dark #10)

My favorite ever series...and look, another book in it! What can I say but sigh. Gasp. Sigh sigh sigh. Actually, maybe I'm a bad fan since I haven't even started it yet. But I think about it a lot.

HE VOWED HE’D COME FOR HER . . .

Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlordAidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and againinto new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives.

SHE AWAITS HIS RETURN . . .

When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier,she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive,intending retribution against all immortals—unaware that he belongs to theirworld.

TO SATE A DESIRE MORE POWERFUL THAN DEATH . . .

Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, forAidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself fromDeclan’s torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they onceshared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?

Giveaway time!

Okay, you can win one of these books! (Or the first book from one of these series, if you haven't started the series yet). Directions:

1. Leave a comment, any comment - you can talk about any or all of the books, or you can talk about your cat or whatever you want! Your comment doesn't have to say what book you'll choose.

2. You have to leave your comment here on the blog - if you are seeing this on Goodreads or Facebook, come over, cover over, Red Rover!

3. Make sure your email is in the comment, or else that I can find it by clicking on your name.

4. Live somewhere in the world where book depository ships.

I will choose a winner next Saturday (May 14th) when I sit down with my tea and oats. I will email that person and ask what book they want. Hey, Happy Saturday everyone!

At the league...discussing my super-brilliant early writing career!

2011-05-05T10:50:00.001-05:00

I'm over at the League of Reluctant Adults blog today blogging about writers with side jobs, my advertising writer side job in particular, and some of my sillier creations in my first year when I was an intern at this one agency.

This post came about when I was cleaning out an old filing cabinet in preparation for our move...oh, it's a long story, all told here...

Yay! New books and trading cards!

2011-04-30T16:25:00.010-05:00

1. Book #3 is coming!
I have an awesome new publisher, Samhain, and a December 6th release date for the third and final installment of the Disillusionists trilogy...and soon, a title and a cover. More info on my site. So excited for this book!

2. Wild & Steamy is coming!
Wild & Steamy will contain three novellas that Meljean Brook, Jill Myles and I have banded together to publish in digital form. The novellas are spin-offs from our respective series. This should be available in June, and I think it's just a fabulous collection.

My novella (see description below) is basically a disillusionists book 2.5 (but you can read it at any point - it relates only remotely to the main story arc). Here is a bit more about the novellas contained in Wild & Steamy:

Mina Wentworthand the Blushing Bounder byMeljean Brook - An Iron Seas novella: Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth isn'tpleased when she discovers that her new assistant is the prudish ConstableNewberry. With a brutal murder to solve, the last thing she needs is to beshadowed by a disapproving bounder. But while the search for the killer putstheir lives in danger, Constable Newberry faces a danger of another kind: tohis heart, by the woman forced to marry him. What will it take for this prudishbounder to convince his wife to stay?

Vixen by Jill Myles - A Midnight Liaisons novella:Miko's denied her were-fox nature for far too long and turned her back on hervixen heritage. But when she meets two very sexy cat-shifters, she has todecide if she truly wants to give up on her frisky side, or embrace it. Becausethe were-fox in her doesn't want to choose between both men...it wants themboth.

Kitten-tiger & the Monk by Carolyn Crane - A Disillusionists novella: Sophia Sidway, Midcity'smost dangerous memory revisionist, seeks out the mysterious Monk in thewasteland beneath the Tangle turnpike. She's hoping for redemption...but it turns outthat the Monk is not all that pious, and the turnpike is no turnpike at all.

Trading cards are here...

Check it out! I made trading cards for the Disillusionists to give out at conventions like AAD and RWA.

I loved making these. I want to make them for all my characters - who knows when that will happen, but for now I have 5. The backs, not pictured, are all different and tell about the characters.

Do you like them? Send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and I'll pop a set in the mail for you.

Email me at

carolyn@authorcarolyncrane.com to get the sekrit instructions to follow.

Uh! Can you believe the way this post is laying out? I cannot control blogger today. But, you get the idea, right?

Over at the Mind Meld talking non non-genre influences

2011-04-20T09:18:00.000-05:00

I was so flattered to be asked to participate in one of SF Signal's Mind Meld features, which is where they ask a lot of different authors the same question. Today's question was:

What non-genre books influenced you in some way? How?

I picked out three books, and tried to think of specific and general examples of how they influenced me. Actually, I had a lot of fun reading the other writers' responses, too. It was just really cool to look at what books they treasure and learn from.

What did I pick? All is revealed here...