I’m getting all interviewed and stuff…
I Was an RT Con Virgin
So this was my first year attending the Romantic Times Con, and holy dancing Christmas, I can’t believe I almost wasn’t planning to go. I met so many amazing readers, authors, editors, agents, booksellers…*sucks in a deep breath*… and even many of the fabulous RT staff members that support both what I love to do as a writer, and what so many of us love as readers. Truly phenomenal.
And let me just say, I love ALL of you guys. Seriously. I can hardly think of a single person I met who wasn’t totally cool, friendly, and enthusiastic. ESPECIALLY the readers, and you guys are what it’s all about. Thank you so much. I particularly love the reader I overheard saying that she intentionally went up to each author’s table at the book fair to say hi, so none of us would feel like we’d been ignored. She didn’t manage to make it all the way around the room, and I don’t think she made it to my table (which is just fine!), but I thought it was the nicest thing that she was concerned for of our collective feelings. That’s a thoughtful reader, right there.
Laura Kaye organized a fantastic Name That Vampire gameshow-esque panel with Caridad Pinero, Laurie London, Lisa Kessler, Joyee Flynn, and myself. It was off the hook, and we had so much fun. People had to guess the vampires from passages quoted, and if they got it wrong they had to wear a vampire bite temporary tattoo. Some people guessed wrong on purpose just to get the tattoo!
I also managed to attend a couple of panels as well, although not as many as I would have liked. There was a lot of scurrying to and fro! Bob Mayer’s panel on military information for writers had some good nuggets though, and “Sex Scenes They Won’t Skip” with Damon Suede, ZA Maxfield, Marie Sexton, and Heidi Cullinan which was both informative and hilarious.
I met all the fabulous folks involved with my publisher, Sourcebooks. Awesome folks, especially my publicist, Beth! She really went the extra mile, and the RT staff said the Sourcebooks publicists are some of their favorites to work with! I had drinks with my release buddy, Tes Hilaire. Her paranormal, Deliver me From Darkness, came out the same day as King of Darkness! Do 
check it out–it’s awesome.
In between all the getting stuff done there was a teensy bit of downtime, and it was wonderful to meet authors and readers I’d corresponded with online but never met, and to see my critique partner, who I only get to hang out with a couple of times a year. Lack of sleep and blisters from pretty shoes aside, it was all good. Couldn’t have been more thrilled.
What a powerful, mind-boggling, exhausting week. I can’t wait to do it all again next year! I hope you’ll join me.
A Love Quote I Love
Love is the passionate and abiding desire on the part of two
or more people to produce together conditions under which each
can be and spontaneously express, his real self; to produce
together an intellectual soil and an emotional climate in which
each can flourish, far superior to what either could achieve alone….Unknown
Happy New Year!
A Vampire Without an Identity, and a Rock Star Without a Shirt…
Awesome news! I’ve been asked to be part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge at the Qwillery! The idea is to read at least 12 debut novels during the coming year. I think I may participate myself. I will be doing a guest blog post on Wednesday, 12/21 about a vampire in search of his identity. I hope you’ll check it out!
ALSO!! I’m hard at work on Prince of Power, the sequel for King of Darkness. One of the
things I do for each book is make a soundtrack, and one of the songs I’ve been listening to for Prince of Power is “Stereo Hearts” which features the voice of Adam Levine. And I have to tell you, hands down, that man is the hottest skinny white guy I have ever laid eyes on. Oh. Baby. He does things to me. I wanna sink my teeth into one of those biceps. Or…uh…whatever. I do. So here, to help wake you up on Monday morning, is a shirtless Adam Levine in all of his tattooed glory.
Happy Monday, and Happy Holidays!
King of Darkness
I have been so remiss in blogging it is downright embarrassing. I could make excuses and whatnot, but the bottom line is that I get pretty easily overwhelmed these days. But here to please you, I have cover art! And a blurb! And an excerpt! I SO hope it pings on your happy places. King of Darkness releases Feb 1 2012 
from Sourcebooks Casablanca for your vampire romance pleasure. It is available NOW for preorder from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Oh, and don’t forget to put it on your TBR list on Goodreads. 😉
Blurb:
ETERNAL COMMITMENT IS NOT ON HER AGENDA…
Scorned by the vampire community for her lack of power, Isabel Anthony lives a carefree existence masquerading as human—although, drifting among the debauched human nightlife, she prefers the patrons’ blood to other indulgences. But when she meets the king of vampires this party girl’s life turns dark and dangerous.
BUT TIME’S RUNNING OUT FOR THE KING OF VAMPIRES…
Dead-set on finding the prophesied mate who will unlock his fiery powers, Thad Morgan must find his queen before their race is destroyed. Their enemies are gaining ground, and Thad needs his powers to unite his subjects. But when his search leads him to the defiant Isabel, he wonders if fate has gotten it seriously wrong…
Excerpt:
“Jesus, T. What is this place?”
Thad Morgan scanned the sparse industrial interior of the massive warehouse turned dance club. From just inside the doorway, he passed his preternatural vision over the writhing crowd of humans. Most of the populace bounced in time to bass-heavy techno music, stopping only to grope their nearest neighbor. Some gazed upward in awe at a raised platform of fire-eaters, and still more worshipped at a DJ stand opposite the entrance as if it were an altar. A scrolling sign overhead announced something called the Crystal Method. The humans partied with abandon and apparently little regard for their eardrums.
“I think they call it a rave,” Thad murmured to his friend.
And apparently at 3:00 a.m., the night was still young for the party kids in Orlando.
Thad’s hands clenched and released. How were they going to do this? The club was friggin’ huge and packed to the gills, from the crowded floor full of scantily clad dancers with glow sticks to the teeming balconies where couples and even groups were involved in more intimate acts such as massage and… whatnot. It was hard to fathom how in the hell they were going to find the female they were looking for in this place.
Already overheated, Thad pushed up the sleeves of his leather jacket and fingered the scar on his forearm, tracing slowly over the two intersecting lines that flaredinto a Y at each end, like a crude Armenian cross. The
small patch of skin was even hotter than the rest of him
and throbbed in time with the pounding electronic music
that was drilling a hole in his skull. He could almost
swear the scar was glowing, but the haze of laser lights
and cigarette smoke made it tough to be certain.
“She’s in here, Lee. I can feel it,” he said tightly.
Once again, King of Darkness releases 2/1/2012 from Sourcebooks. The paperback can be ordered now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble (You can even preorder on Kindle and Nook and I THINK it will automatically download on the release date!!). And to everyone who’s already contacted me to tell me how psyched they are about the book, thanks so much! Y’all rock my world.