Tag: King of Darkness

I Was an RT Con Virgin

By Elisabeth GeneralParanormal Romance April 19, 2012 0 comments

At the giant RT book fair, Pimping King of DarknessSo 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.

Thank you, thank you! Now win Free Stuff!

By Elisabeth GeneralGuest Blogs February 5, 2012 3 comments

I absolutely must start this post with a huge, squeezy hug thank you to everyone who has ordered King of Darkness. Pre-ordering a new book from a debut author in this economy takes a tiny leap of faith, and that leap means quite a lot to me. I just want to let you how much that means to me. I write because I love to read so much. I want to be taken on a journey and to experience a new world. I hope to give you the same enjoyment.

And to you folks who have emailed asking for bookmarks and trading cards so you can hand them out to your friends and spread the word? I can’t tell you how amazing that feels, THANK YOU! Someday when my kids tell me I’m a loser, I can be all “I’m not a loser, once upon a time, I had my very own street crew!” And then they’ll roll their eyes at me and walk away, but whatev. You people rock, and I adore you. Thanks so much for spreading the word. Moreover, I’ve got bookmarks coming out my ears so thanks for taking them off my hands. 🙂

Okay–NOW! On to the blog tour deets!! I’ve got stops going on all month, some of them with free stuff being given away, so please do come along with me (I’ll be updating this list when I have more info):

  • 2/5/12-Today we’re building our own paranormal boyfriends at Book Monster Reviews. Stop by and comment for a chance to win a free copy of King of Darkness!
  • 2/6/12-Night Owl Reviews–Blogging about vampires and wine (exclusive excerpt of King of Darkness+giveaway until 2/27!)
  • 2/6/12-Book Savvy Babe–I’m being interviewed for this one. 🙂
  • 2/8/12- Reading Between the Wines Book Club–I talk about what sparked my interest in writing about vampires.
  • 2/10/12-Launch party at the Sourcebooks Casablana Authors Blog and BOOK GIVEAWAY
  • 2/10/12-SOS Aloha – ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!
  • 2/13/12-  Debs Book Bag–awesome review of King of Darkness, and a giveaway for two more free copies (contest open until 2.27)!!
  • 2/15/12- A Bookworm’s Haven
  • 2/17/12-Dear Teen Me — I was asked to write a letter to my 13 year old self. I gotta warn you, it’s a grim topic but maybe one that doesn’t get brought into the light often enough so I shared it anyway.
  • 2/20/12 – My Book Addiction and More – Interview and GIVEAWAY
  • 2/22/12 – Urban Girl Reader – well I thought I wrote an article for this site, but maybe it didn’t get submitted in time or something. They DID post a lovely review for King of Darkness, though.
  • 2/22/12 – Fresh Fiction – book giveaway and coffee trivia!
  • 2/23/12 – Romance University – Writing article about deep point of view and a book giveaway!
  • 2/27/12 – Love Romance Passion – Get in bed with Elisabeth Staab!
  • 2/28/12 – Tote Bags n Blogs – What is it about Vampires, anyway? Plus a giveaway to win a signed copy of King of Darkness!
  • 3/10/12-I SMELL SHEEP – Swagday giveaway! Guess my favorite Dr. Seuss book and enter to win a signed copy of King of Darkness and a coffy mug, plus oodles of swag from other zombie/scifi/paranormal authors!
  • 3/14/12 – Urban Girl Reader – article about my experiences as a blogger, and a GIVEAWAY! International, and you get your choice of print or ebook until 3/29!
  • 3/14/12-Interview with Tracy Livesay at the T-spot!
  • 3/23/12 – Savvy Authors–Aural Sex–Craft Article on using sex in love scenes and other scenes

A Vampire Without an Identity, and a Rock Star Without a Shirt…

By Elisabeth General December 19, 2011 2 comments

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 thethings 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

By Elisabeth Paranormal Romance December 5, 2011 2 comments

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.
And if  you would like to be kept in the loop on future goings on, I would love for you to join me on on Facebook and Twitter.

My lesson in “$h**t happens.”

By Elisabeth Author AdviceGeneral July 31, 2011 2 comments

So I’m still pretty behind the ball these days, but I wanted to take a moment to stress a point that was stressed to me before I got my first writing contract: prepare as much as you possibly can, because once you have deadlines, sh**t WILL go wrong to keep you from meeting them.

All the seasoned writers who gave me that warning? You folks were right. Boy, were you ever.

Because even though people told me–lots of people–I didn’t quite grasp it. So here’s the deal. KING of DARKNESS comes out in mass-market paperback in February and I am super-mega thrilled, but there’s been a lot of hurry up and wait in the process. All the way back in January of 2011 I signed the contract with Sourcebooks, and it wasn’t until…I want to say late May that I finally had a lovely talk with my editor (Deb Werksman, who I just LOVE) and she told me very nicely that she felt I needed to re-conceptualize a fairly juicy chunk of the novel. Ideally, in about 3 weeks.

Yikes.

But, “Okay, no sweat,” I said. It seemed tight, but doable. I am the at-home parent to 3 kids, but those kids were in preschool part-time, and hubby would help if he could on the weekends. We had a sitter who came a few hours a week. So we’d work it out. Well, then our air conditioning died, so for a week I got nothing done because it was too hot to stay in the house, and the kids couldn’t sleep. Then, the preschool was closed for a school holiday. The babysitter got food poisoning, so there went my childcare help during the weekdays for awhile. Hubby had some work issues that ate up the weekends. Ugh! Oh, yeah, and I was rear-ended by a Lexus SUV while driving my friend’s Honda Civic and then sitting to type was painful due to getting banged up in the fender-bender. I mean–seriously?? If it could go wrong in those three weeks, it did.

But I did make my deadline. Not easily, and not without losing a lot of sleep. Not without swallowing a lot of ibuprofen. But I searched every nook and cranny I could for people who could help me watch the kids, and when my babysitter was back on her feet after my manuscript was in, I paid her to come watch my kids so I could SLEEP. I thanked my lucky stars that Amazon delivered coffee straight to my door. A LOT of coffee.

And I prayed that I could still deliver a good book, despite all the insanity.

So what else could I have done, in retrospect? I would have lined up some backup babysitters, for one thing. Maybe asked the preschool if they had any extra enrollment days once I knew what the deadline was going to be. There might not have been much, but there *were* things in retrospect that I could have done to be more proactive. Ah. Well.

So…planning, folks. It’ll save ya a lot of anguish.

I’ll know for next time. Though God willing it’s not another car accident. Or the central air.

Please.