CBI ARC Winners

I was planning to give away 5 advanced copies of Caressed By Ice today, but there were so many entries to this contest that I decided that I'd have some extra made up and so I'm giving away 15!

The winners (picked randomly) are listed below - and I've also emailed each person to confirm that they've won, since some of the names were similar. And without further ado, the winners are:

Shaneh
Courtney U.
Angelle Trieste
Deborah W.
Kat B.
Jennifer T.
Jenchm
Guia
Katiebabs
Abby R.
Candice
PamK
Jennifer B.
Athena
Justine W.

Congratulations to the winners and hope you enjoy the book!

Reminder

The clock is ticking - if you haven't entered the ARC contest, you have less than two hours to do it! I'll pick the winners later today and post them up tonight if all goes well. Good luck!

Weekly Catchup & Robin D. Owens' Heart Dance

Today is weekly catchup day, but I've also got an OOTB blog tour for you today. Check out the details below! So what have you all been up to?

(By the way, if you haven't entered the ARC contest yet, you have one more day.)
__________________________________________________

HEART DANCE by Robin D. Owens

Berkley Trade, July 3, 2007

DuFleur Thyme is a scientist who's secretly experimenting with time. She'll allow no distractions from her work-not even from a HeartMate. Meanwhile, Saille T'Willow has sent his HeartGift out into the world in hopes of finding his HeartMate, who, it turns out, is DuFleur. Still, DuFleur wants nothing to do with Saille, especially when she discovers that it was his grandmother who brought about her father's ruin. Unfortunately, her body can't help but submit to the passion he stirs in her. But when a scandal threatens Saille's position as head of the family, will DuFleur stand by his side?

Excerpt

ABOUT ROBIN D. OWENS

Robin D. Owens has been seriously writing longer than she cares to recall, but is very happy with how her writing career is proceeding. She was named the Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers in 2004, and 2003 Writer of the Year by the Denver Area Science Fiction Association. Robin has been the librarian, contest co-chair, and President of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She has given seminars at Pikes Peak Writers Conference, the Colorado Gold Writers Conference, and Romance Writers of America as well as other groups.

REVIEWS

"Another fascinating visit with the dynamic people of the futuristic world of Celta."— Fresh Fiction

Website http://www.robindowens.com

Conferences and All

I'm going to send you over to the Writing Playground today, where the Playground Monitor has a great post up about conferences and how to handle them.

I, meanwhile, am going to head over to the post office to pick up a package. Ooooooh, what can it be?...

Caressed By Ice ARC contest

Contest now closed. Congrats to the winners!

Okay, here it is, your chance to win an ARC of Caressed By Ice. I think we have 5 left, and a bunch of folks have already won one through my newsletter, so chances aren't bad. Here's all you have to do to enter:

1. Be ready to read the book and review it during late August.
You can review it on your blog, myspace, on online websites like Amazon etc.

That's it. Read. Wait till the last couple of weeks of August. Review. (Though if you love it, you are welcome to tell EVERYONE you know at any stage *grin*).

The entry isn't through comments this time (no big reason why - I just don't want to be chasing down winners' addresses). To enter, EMAIL me at nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com (without the spaces), with:

1. CBI ARC in the subject line
2. Your name and address
3. Where you intend to review the book.

Contest closes NZ time, Sat June 30th, 12 noon (that's June 29th, Friday 8pm EST)

Reader Interview: Susan

Tuesday is reader interview day. If you'd like to participate (you know you want to), the details are here. Without further ado, today's reader interviewee is Susan (who has excellent taste in books *g*)!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am 33 years old and live in Ohio. For 10 years I sold and serviced 401K plans for a large investment firm. After we had our 2nd child I decided to stay home. Watching my daughter live everyday to the fullest, I decided to try my hand at writing (I wrote a ton in college.) Love it, but let it fall by the way side. I have some freelance work and a short story in progress.)

2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?

Depends. Your books I hoard. Alison Kent & Lora Leigh I hoard. Others, sometimes yes and sometimes. I am blessed to have a great library nearby, so I borrow alot now.

3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?

Not in my nature to stalk.

4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?

Very. I love dark chocolate

5. Favorite book? Why?

The Time Travelers Wife.

6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?

Notebook to write in. Some really good sun block & moisturizer. A good book.

7. What did you eat for breakfast?

Cherrios w/ soymilk and dried cherries

8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?

6

9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

I like an alpha man, but not one that is overly arrogant. I think a man can have a strong sense of himself, and still be a decent guy and not cocky. Cocky usually mask insecurities. Arrogance the same. A really confident man does not need to hide behind those two traits.

Blood Lines - Eileen Wilks

If you're not reading Eileen Wilks' fabulous paranormal series featuring the lupi prince, Rule Turner and detective Lily Yu, why not?!

Seriously, this is a great series. I've just read Blood Lines (more like devoured it). You'll probably enjoy it more if you read the series in order - Tempting Danger & Mortal Danger come before Blood Lines. Weirdly, I've somehow missed reading Mortal Danger (I blame it on moving countries), so I'll be catching up on that but books 1 & 3 hooked me from page 1. Awesome books, both of them!

If you want to find out info about the series, check out Eileen's website.

So, any books you want to squee over?

Links

Jennifer Estep had an interesting post up at Romancing the Blog about nibbling vs chewing at books. When I have the time, I gobble up books in chunks, but I've taught myself to nibble too. Lots more books get read that way. What about you all?

Staying with the chewing theme - if you chew a lot of gum, you might be interested in this article: Chewing gum habit 'poisons' woman.

On a more serious note, Skyla Dawn Cameron has a post up at Dionne Galace with details about the Nothing But Red project/protest.

Sasha White is telling her First Sale story and giving away a book at Dear Author.

Candy & Sarah at SBTB have just announced a book deal.

Jaci Burton is giving bloggers a chance to win an advanced copy of Hunting Demon Island.

And to end on a high, two of my Sil Desire releases - Bound By Marriage & Craving Beauty got awesome reviews at Kwips & Kritiques! :)

Have a nice weekend folks.

Weekly Catchup

It's catchup time - what've you guys been up to this week? I went shopping. Through choice. Amazing, I know. I even bought something. What is the world coming to?!

(And yeah, I gave away some ARCs of CBI to newsletter subscribers but I shall also be giving away some on the blog next week, so make sure you swing by.)

Caressed By Ice

I do believe this is the first online review of Caressed By Ice! (Scooper won the meme contest I ran for Visions of Heat and part of the prize package was an ARC of CBI). And she says she loved it!

I'm also going to send out another excerpt of CBI to newsletter subscribers today, but don't worry if you're not the newsletter-joining type. The excerpt will also be put up on the website as part of the July updates.

And the game's still going so join in!

Games

Today's a bit of a flyby so how about we play a game? I saw this on the Romance Divas forum. Basically, you start with a word (four letters), then each person changes one letter to make a new word. You can't add any extra letters (ie. it always has to be four letters long).

Like this:

Neat
Seat
Seal
Sell...(okay, next person!)

Reader Interview: Jennifer K

Tuesday is reader interview day. If you'd like to participate (you know you want to), the details are here. Without further ado, today's reader interviewee is the hysterically funny Jennifer K!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Well, I’m a never-been-married spinster in her mid-30s who’s becoming one of those cat ladies you see getting busted on Animal Planet because they have, like, 300 cats. At least, that seems to be what some people in my family seem to think. *rolls eyes* I have 3 cats … THREE. That is such a far cry from 300 that it’s ridiculous.

I love books and reading and my idea of a great vacation would be to stay in a haunted castle in Scotland or to take part in one of those mystery tours. You know, the kind where you’re on a train or something and somebody gets killed. Then it’s up to you, an intrepid private investigator or reporter to interpret the clues and solve the crime. Who done it?

Oh, and on the more realistic front, I work as a copy editor/layout person at a newspaper in this area. We’ve got a circulation of about 23,000 to 24,000. I’m in the foothills of North Carolina, USA, by the way.

2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?

I mostly hoard. But, really, I’m not one of those crazy cat ladies. I hoard books. I COLLECT cats. Um, I mean, I rescue the occasional cat. And actually, my having three cats? Very weird because I’m so a DOG person. How did I end up with 3 cats and no dog? I better put my brillant observational, analytical skills to the test to figure that one out.

3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?

Oh, I could be a stalker chick for LOTS of authors. Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, You, Nalini, Jayne Ann Krentz, Lora Leigh, Nora Roberts, Jory Strong, Linda Howard … those are just off the top of my head.

4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?

It depends. Are you offering some to avoid the stalking thing? Actually, I don’t like pure chocolate, but I’ll eat it happily if it has stuff in it. For instance, chocolate with caramel in it? Delicious. Chocolate with rice krispy stuff in it or nuts or cream cheese? Good lord, I’m drooling just thinking about it.

5. Favorite book? Why?

Hmm, that’s a hard one. I’ve read so many over the years, that I’d have to really sit down and think about it. I can say that one of my favorite series of all times is Linda Howard’s Mackenzie family stories. I loved Wolf and Joe’s story was even better. They are all great and I’ve read them multiple times. Alpha heroes, feisty heroines …

6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?

Lots of bottled water … unless this island just happens to have a pure water source that can be used; lots of sunscreen; and my books -- at least one of which is the “Making It Out Alive When You’re Stuck on an Island for Dummies” book.

7. What did you eat for breakfast?

Two small boxes of raisins. I’m kind of on a diet, which I totally blew out of the water earlier by eating a Milky Way bar … hey it’s got caramel in it … yum!

8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?

Only a few. Maybe three or four. I go through books pretty fast, so they don’t stay in a TBR pile for long.

9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

Smart, caring, funny, compassionate and willing to see things through to the end.

Empathy Experiment

When people say "I feel your pain," they do not mean it literally, but certain people really do feel something that appears to be an extreme form of empathy, British researchers have said.

From "Study May Explain Roots of Empathy"

Pretty cool. I've always thought we have the capacity for more than we know - perhaps one day, my Psy stuff will be real in terms of the strength of what we can do with our minds (except without the murderous Psy Council and all). Any of you ever have an extrasensory moment?

Links

Another wonderful first sale story from Ruth Ryan Langan. I love reading these!

Author Colleen Gleason gives the top ten reasons why her heroine Victoria Gardella Grantworth is not Buffy Summers.

Diana Peterfreund has done a brilliant two part Publishing Primer with all sorts of info for writers.

For those of you who are planning to pitch your story to an editor or agent at a conference, the brilliant Nephele Tempest (my agent!) gives some tips on the Perfect Pitch.

Kira, from The Writing Playground, a fellow member of the Brainstorming Desirables, just made her first sale this week. Go read about The Call!

And if you haven't seen, my website's been updated for this month with some good stuff so check it out.

Hope the weekend treats you well! :)

Weekly Catchup

This week has zipped by like a bullet train. I seriously can't believe it's Friday already. I've been working - on another first draft (a novella). It's set in the Psy/Changeling world but a few centuries back from Slave to Sensation. More to come on that later.

Tell me your news people. What's happening in your corner of the world?

Of Thievery & Exercise

I exercised today. Exercise is good. It keeps me from turning into a potato. But man is it tough to get out of bed for it!

However, since I am an intergalactic woman of mystery, I must make the effort. You didn't know I was an intergalactic woman of mystery? Well...let me tell you story. It all began after I read Ilona Andrews' Magic Bites. As I try to do with authors I enjoy, I dropped her an email to say how much I liked it. Guess what happened next? Ms Andrews promptly stole my name - go here to read about Nalini, the woman with blades and poison!

I feel I must now steal Ilona's name - hmmm....

Angels

While working on the first draft of Angels' Blood, I went hunting angel pictures (for no reason but that I had angels on the brain) and look what I found. Ooooooh...

Reader Interview: Bridget Locke

Tuesday is reader interview day. If you'd like to participate (you know you want to), the details are here. Without further ado, today's reader interviewee is Bridget! (A very practical woman...see the answer to question 6 *g*)

1.Tell us a bit about yourself.

Well, my name is Bridget Locke (pseudonym :)). I'm 30, single, and live in Portland, Oregon. I'm a reader of books; usually romance, but I also love fantasy, history, biographies, etc. I try to keep myself informed of trends, so I also have a subscription to Entertainment Weekly. :) I'm also an aspiring writer. I seem to write anything that comes to mind, so I don't see myself just writing one type of book. I've written erotica, comedic first-persons, whatever. My only problem is that I never seem to be able to finish anything. I sure would like to know why. :)

2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?

I tend to hoard, until my bedroom gets so overrun by books that I HAVE to give them away. I have a lot of keepers though. I'm a huge Nora Roberts fan, so most of my books are hers, though I also have all of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, Cindy Gerard's Bodyguard series, Harry Potter and Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. I try to keep series together. I like knowing I've got the whole thing.

3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?

LOL! Probably Nora Roberts, though I'd say there are really a lot of authors I love.

4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?

Very! Chocolate is my comfort food. It's what I use when I'm PMSing or really depressed. It seems to help calm me down. :)

5. Favorite book? Why?

Oh, this is a horrid question! I've got so many favorites. I have to say that one of my very favorite books of all time is a historical (which is shocking, because I'm not a big historical fan). It's called Years & it's by LaVyrle Spencer. It's this wonderful love story that just comes alive for me. I've read it over a dozen times & love it each and every time I read it.

6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?

An everlasting supply of toilet paper, a neverending pad of paper (with pen) and hopefully some sort of container to store water. :)

7. What did you eat for breakfast?

I normally don't eat breakfast. I'm not really a breakfast kind of girl. :) I had a granola bar though, once I got to work. Joy. :)

8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?

I actually don't have a TBR pile. I'm the fastest reader I know. I can read a 500 page book in maybe 2 hours. When I go buy a book, I read it in one sitting and that's that. :)

9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

Hmm…my perfect hero. When I'm writing a hero, he usually ends up as an Alpha-type, but I seem to go for more of a Beta-type in real life. The things I look for in a real life man are very specific. He has to be tall (I'm 6'1", so this is VERY important), preferably with dark hair. He has to be funny, intelligent, and like me for who I am. He can not be a jerk. If he mistreats women, children or animals, he's on my poopy list. As for heroes in books...I like reading about me who are strong, not perfect looking and who love the heroine with everything in them. I love the idea of a very strong man who shows vulnerability to the woman he loves. It just makes me all warm & fuzzy on the inside.

Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews

This is an awesome book. I closed the last page and immediately wanted to read the next one.

The story focuses around Kate, a mercenary who hires herself out to deal with magical nasties in a world where tech and magic are competing for the upper hand (the magic's winning).

Then we've got vampires, shapechangers and an all-around cool world. I just really liked the whole setup. For a more detailed review, swing by Dear Author, which is where I saw this book first mentioned. And here's a link to the excerpt on the author's website.

So, how was everyone's weekend?

Links

PR Coach Louise Knott Ahern is taking questions over at Fog City Divas.

Lara Adrian tells her first sale(s) story over at Dear Author.

Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series is going to kick off with three back to back releases next year. Very cool.

Samhain editor Angela James has an interview up here.

And that's all the links I have today. Hope all of you have a fantabulous weekend!! (And if you see an interesting link online, feel free to add it in the comments).

Weekly Catchup

It's catchup time. What've you guys been up to? I've just finished a very rough draft of Angels' Blood! :) Okay, your turn.

The Hindi-Bindi Club - Monica Pradhan

I picked this up after reading the blurb about it:

Between mothers and daughters
lies a very special world:

Follow the relationships of two very different generations of women with everything to learn from each other...

For decades, they've gathered together, dressed in saris and sweater sets, to share recipes, arguments, and laughter. They are the Hindi-Bindi Club, a nickname given by their American daughters to the mothers who left India to start life anew. Daughters, now grown, and facing struggles of their own.

Kiran, Preity, and Rani are coming home for the holidays. Home to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., and of course, to the Hindi-Bindi Club. For what holiday would be complete without their mother hens' mouthwatering food, their gossip - and their unsolicited advice? For Kiran, a successful career can't fill the void left by her estrangement from her parents. Five years and one divorce later, she's ready to mend fences... and find a new husband the old-fashioned way. Good girl Preity's marriage is nearly perfect, but lately she's haunted by the memory of her first love-and her mother's interference in that romance. Then there's Rani, the wild child with the brains of a rocket scientist - and the weight of a dark burden she's carried all her life.

Now, as East meets West across time and tradition, six women will take their first steps toward true sisterhood, shattering long-kept secrets, sharing joy and tears, and allowing the real power of the Hindi-Bindi Club to take hold.

I really liked this book. First of all, while there are romantic elements in it, the story is founded firmly on the relationships between mothers and daughters. Each of the six main characters gets a turn at being the narrator, and I enjoyed seeing inside the head of each one, as well as seeing how they were perceived by the others. The tone also changes with the narrator, which worked for me.

While the story is set within the Indian culture, I think the themes are universal. In terms of understanding references etc, the author does a great job of explaining things (actually, my only (minor) complaint would be that perhaps not all the explanation was necessary, but then again, to be fair, this could be because being of Indian descent, I knew a lot of things already). It's definitely very accessible and the writing is so easy to read.

Also, The Hindi-Bindi Club's subtitle is "A Novel with Recipes" and there are lots of recipes in between the chapters, which might be of interest to the cooks among you. :) Overall, this was a fast, easy read for me but one with emotional heart - I found myself tearing up at one point, laughing at another. And the romantic in me was totally grinning over the eventual solution to Kiran's husband search. I'd highly recommend this if you're wanting to read something a little different.

Guest Blogger: Jennifer Lewis on BEA 2007

The fabulous Jennifer Lewis, whose first book, The Boss's Demand, releases July, recently attended Book Expo America. I thought it sounded like a fantastic time (how can you go wrong with free books?!) and asked her to give us the lowdown. Please welcome Jen to the blog everyone!!
_______________________________________

Book Expo America 2007

On Friday, June 1st I had two firsts: I got to hold my debut Silhouette Desire The Boss’s Demand in my hot little hands for the first time, and I did my first book signing. Both of these events occurred at the massive celebration of all things bookish that is Book Expo America. Nalini asked me if I’d chat a bit about my experience there, and since I’m still giddy from the excitement of it all, here goes…..

I was invited by my publisher, Harlequin, to sign books in their booth during “Sexy Hour” at 2:00 PM along with Carly Phillips, Brenda Jackson, Cara Summers, Hope Tarr and Anna DePalo.

The event took place at the Javits Center—a huge, black-glass convention megalith on the far West side of Manhattan. I don’t know how most people got there, as it’s convenient to nothing, but I walked from Grand Central Station. Since it was close to ninety degrees I was, um, glowing, by the time I got there. Inside it was also rather warm as the heat of the sun and all those warm bodies had overwhelmed the air conditioning. Definitely wasn’t going to need the jacket I brought with me!

I had some time to kill before my signing so I wandered around a bit on the vast Publisher floor. It’s set up like a giant bazaar, where each publisher has a “booth” and you can go in and fondle their wares. I quickly became overwhelmed and when I came across the Romance Writers of America booth (set up like a French café with wrought iron chairs and tables) I stumbled into it like a desert oasis. It was fun to meet Nicole Kennedy of RWA, and Nicole Burnham who’s on the RWA board, and I chatted with them until it was time to head for the Harlequin booth.

Harlequin’s booth was the biggest I saw, a semi-enclosed room with beige carpeting (most booths had navy carpeting) and several minimalist countertops surrounded by posters and racks of books behind glass. I had no idea where to go, so I headed for an authoritative looking woman at the main countertop. She asked me if I wanted a book, and I said I was there to sign, then she gave me an indulgent look and asked me if I wanted a book anyway. I looked at the book, then at her—I’d just offended Tara Taylor Quinn! I apologized and she was very gracious about it. People always say that at RWA conferences you should just go up and introduce yourself to strangers. I’m the one who’d go up to a redhead with a cigarette and ask if she was a writer (Jen smacks head).

My “handler” was the very lovely Anita Sultmanis of Harlequin. She set me up at the main countertop with a stack of books. In front of me there was a snazzy picture of me and my book cover set against a city scene, and one of my books mounted in a rack. I actually didn’t realize this until later as I was overwhelmed by the site of my book—which I had never seen except as a jpeg of the cover image—right there in the flesh! I fondled it lovingly for a moment, then suddenly it was two o’clock and people were queuing up waiting to lay their hands on my book too!

Since we were giving it away, it wasn’t a hard sell, but I was kind of blown away that so many people wanted the signature made out to them like they were planning to actually keep it. Anita kept stacking more books on the counter, and I kept signing them. My editor and the Desire Senior editor introduced themselves at some point but I barely had time to gush at all as I was so busy scribbling. It was actually a challenge writing fast enough and trying to make my signature look both legible and vaguely consistent. I was developing a cute, curly ‘s’ on the end by the time we ran out of books forty-five minutes later. I’d printed out some business cards with my upcoming titles and website on them, and Anita came up with the idea of popping one in each book. I regretted not making more, as we soon ran out.

It was great fun chatting with people as I signed. Nearly all of them were booksellers and librarians. One hilarious older lady collared me and said “Does the heroine have some backbone?” I assured her that my heroine demonstrates plenty of backbone from page one and that I thought she’d like her. She went on to tell me that she can’t stand wimpy heroines. Her friend, when pressed, admitted that she liked wimpy heroines, so I guess it takes all kinds!

After the signing I’d agreed to do a podcast for Malle Vallick of Harlequin, who’s in charge of digital content. While I was waiting, Desire author Anna De Palo approached me and we chatted. She’s one of the many romance authors (like Nalini) who are former lawyers, so we laughed about that. When Anna and I sat down to record the podcast, Malle asked me if I had a copy of my book with me. I went into my bag to fish out the one copy I’d managed to salvage from the signing, and instead I pulled out Nalini’s fabulous Visions of Heat, which I’d brought along to read on the train. I’m afraid I pushed the delicious jaguar-spotted Vaughn back in my bag and said “Hmm, that’s not mine” but Nalini was there in spirit :)

Anna and I answered all kinds of questions about Desire and our own writing methods, and Anna observed that we are both Ivy League college graduates. One question that surprised me was whether being a romance writer is a good career for women. As mothers of young children we both wholeheartedly agreed. It really is the ultimate set-your-own-hours job—not to mention the most fun work I can imagine. I hope Malle managed to get something useful out of my babbling. Although I usually sound very American after twenty years here, my vestigial English accent makes me pronounce some vowel sounds rather strangely and I’ve discovered that words I cannot pronounce the American way include Podcast, Boss and Demand. Since my book is called The Boss’s Demand, I’m now resolving to say all my titles aloud before I choose them!

The whole experience was a blast and I’ve been tripping on a natural high ever since! For more info about the book, or about my upcoming books, visit my website at http://www.jen-lewis.com.

Reader Interview: Ashley

Tuesday is reader interview day. If you'd like to participate (you know you want to), the details are here. Without further ado, the inaugral reader interviewee is Ashley! (I think I want to have breakfast at her house!)

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Ashley, I'm 24 and I have a 5 year old son. I'm currently a lurker at your blog but I hope to change that. I love to read, it is something that my mother started me on when I was very young and I've never stopped. Some of my favorite memories of her are of the both of us sitting at the table just reading our own books. I'm currently trying to share my love of books with my son.

2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?

I use to be a big time hoarder. It was next to impossible for me to get rid of books. Over the past few years though, I have learned to share. I have a group of friends and we trade books with eachother. My keeper pile has gotten much smaller, but I know I will eventually replace the books I've traded lol

3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?

Can I pick more then one? It would be hard to pick between Jim Butcher, Gena Showalter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, you, and MaryJanice Davidson..just to name a few.

4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?

Very! It's a gift from the gods.

5. Favorite book? Why?

Again it's hard to pick just one. The first that comes to mind is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. It hit home and it's just an amazing book to me. Another more recent favorite would have to be Slave to Sensation and I'm not just saying that to suck up. I've been reading tons of paranormal romance books in the past few years, but none of them hit me like STS. I cried and I laughed, and I have never felt more connected or more emotion for a character then I did for Sascha.

6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?

Hmmm..that's hard.I would take a photo album with all of my son's pictures. . Second I would take Pepsi because I can't live without my soda. Third I would print out all of my ebooks and make one giant book.

7. What did you eat for breakfast?

Frozen pancakes with butter and syrup.

8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?

Around 820, not counting around 1000s ebooks. It's sad really lol

9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

He would be tall with short dark hair and emerald green eyes. Muscular but not so big that he looks like the Hulk's twin. He would be brooding and dark, a man who speaks when he has something to say, and answers to his own moral code. He would have to be quietly confident. Someone tortured but without it becoming an obsession. I think that's it lol

Toy Boys

In its promotional material for the speed dating night at the Aurora Lounge in Sydney's CBD, organisers tempted single men and women with lines including "Prefer to get them young and train them?" and "Boys, do you prefer the allure of experienced older women? Perhaps harbouring a Mrs Robinson fantasy?"

Mrs Robinson Night Launches in Sydney

So, what do you guys think of the older woman-younger man scenario?

Links

Today's edition of Links was supposed to be all about interviews, except I didn't spend much time online this week and only picked up three links. So this Saturday you get some interviews and some other interesting stuff.

First up, have you seen the Romantic Advances site? The aim of the site is to gather details about upcoming romance books in one place so readers don't have to search out that info. Cool!

Here are the interview links I did manage to grab:

Sharon Cullars at Alyssa's Book Blog

Barry Eisler at Lust Bites

Jo Leigh at Dear Author

And of course, my Reader Interview - have you done it yet?

Other interesting stuff:

Meljean Brook shares her first sale story: Geek Girl Makes Good

Sandra Schwab talks about writing gothic over at RRAH

Nice Mommy-Evil Editor is running a book giveaway

And last but not least, my June newsletter with an excerpt from AN ENCHANTED SEASON is about to go out (i.e. as soon as I get off the internet and go finish it!). As always, it'll be available in the archives if you join later on.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Calling all readers!!

Okay, I have a new idea for the blog. I'm going to interview you guys. Here's how it'll work - if you're interested, just answer these questions and email the answers to me at nalinisinghwrites @ gmail.com (without the spaces). Put Reader Interview in the subject line.

I'll stick all responses in a separate folder and post up one every week on Tuesday until I have no more (unless of course no one replies, in which case, we vill never mention it again). If you're a writer and want to do it, go ahead - just put on your reader hat.

Questions

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?
3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?
4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?
5. Favorite book? Why?
6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?
7. What did you eat for breakfast?
8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?
9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

p.s. Think I should add any other questions?

Extra reader submitted question(s)! Answer at will :)

* Which character in a book do you relate most with?
* Where do you live?
* So what would people think was a perfect heroine??
* If you were in the Psy/Changeling World, what side would you be in?
* Seen any good movies lately?