Heart of Obsidian & DABWAHA & Archangel's Shadows

Thanks to everyone who voted for Heart of Obsidian in the DABWAHA. We didn't win, but we made it an awesome battle!

I'll be writing that Kaleb/Sahara short story for you after I hand in Archangel's Shadows. Give me a few weeks. Right now, it's all about Ash and Janvier and the NYC gang - you see lots of everyone in the book, learn more about the Legion and about Naasir.

DABWAHA - Elite 8

Heart of Obsidian's made it into the quarter finals of the DABWAHA Contest, woohoo! Voting's now open for this round, and it's up against Captive Prince by CS Pacat today.

Swing by and add your vote!

DABWAHA is a fun contest and has a grand tradition of bribery, so if Heart of Obsidian goes all the way and becomes the DABWAHA Champion, I'll do something special. I've got deadline brain (final stretch on Archangel's Shadows), so I'm not quite sure what I'll do... Maybe a brand spanking new scene featuring Kaleb and Sahara? :-)

Friday Book Club

Time to talk books! What are you reading and loving this week?

Also, I have a quick interview today in USA Today's Sci-Fi Encounters where I talk a little about Shield of Winter, and about Bluebell. :)

RITA, Silhouette Desire Deal & Eye Candy

I have a story to tell. First up, I'm kind of a night owl, because often, that's when my brain seems to kick into high gear. Last night, I was up till 4am working on ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS.

So, when the phone rang at 7am, I answered it, had a perfectly rational conversation and hung up. Ten minutes later, my eyes flicked open and I thought: Did she say HEART OF OBSIDIAN has been nominated for a RITA Award?!

I checked the list of finalists on the website and yes, Kaleb and Sahara's story is a finalist in the Paranormal Romance section of Romance Writers of America RITA Awards! Wooho! I ate a peanut butter cupcake with dark chocolate icing for breakfast to celebrate. :D

Alas, I ate it too quickly to take a photo, but here's a photo from the last time I baked a batch. And here's the link to the recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction. (Warning: the site is a vortex - once you enter, you will find it difficult to escape. I say that as someone who looooooves baked goods! Her recipes work really well for me - both the usual version and if I substitute gluten free flour.)

Click the link to see the full list of RITA
nominees.

~

Also, A few hours ago, it was a UK deal, and now I have a North American deal - one of my Silhouette Desire books is on sale for $1.99: SECRETS IN THE MARRIAGE BED.

Check it out if you'd like to get a glimpse of where my career began. The six Desire novels I wrote are all short contemporary romances, no paranormal elements, but they're still me. :-)

So far the deal's showing up at Amazon. I'll keep an eye out for other links but if you spot it first, please leave a note in the comments for other readers.

Here's the excerpt link.

Also, if you're hunting up the Desires in paperback, I've been told two (Awaken to Pleasure and Awaken the Senses) will be reprinted in one volume later in the year in the US, under the title AWAKE.

~ 

And last but not least, some eye candy! This gorgeous, gorgeous photo was brought to my attention by Under the Covers book blog on Twitter. The reviewer asked me if he was a good representation of Vasic. Answer: Oh my goodness, YES! (The model is: Goran Jurenec).

UK Kindle Daily Deal: Heart of Obsidian

UK folks - it looks like HEART OF OBSIDIAN is a Kindle Daily Deal. It's been slashed to a super low £2.99, so grab it now if you wanted an e-copy and haven't yet got it. Link to Amazon UK's Heart of Obsidian page.

Link to Heart of Obsidian page on my website in case you'd like to read a two-chapter excerpt.

This deal's totally out of my control, so alas I can't make it worldwide, but I'll continue to share anything like this I spot! :-)

March Newsletter

The March newsletter, complete with an excerpt of Shield of Winter is currently going out (give it a couple of hours to make it to your Inbox, as the program tries a few times if it's bounced).

If you're a subscriber and you didn't receive it, check your spam folder to make sure it's not stuck in there, then drop Ashwini a note and she'll see what's up. Same goes if you joined too late to receive this newsletter. Her email address is: naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom (replace the words DOT and AT with . and @).

The excerpt will also be available on the website with the next set of website updates. 

I hope you enjoy!

Shield of Winter ARC Contest

Contest now closed.

If you'd like to go in the random draw to win one of 5 Advanced Reading/Review Copies of Shield of Winter, send an e-mail to naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom with:

- "Shield of Winter ARC Contest" in the subject line; and

- your mailing address

By 7pm, March 31st 2014,  New Zealand time.

Please follow the correct format for entry re the subject line, so your e-mail goes into the right in-box. (Your e-mail address will only be used to contact you should you win, and your mailing address to post out the ARC if you win.)

Since this is an Advanced Review Copy, if you win, I'd ask that you please post a review somewhere before the release date (June 3rd) - on a blog, on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads...it's up to you, but it would be much appreciated if you'd post your thoughts somewhere. The contents of the review are, of course, totally up to you.

A note about the ARC - it's substantially the same as the final book, but since ARCs are printed prior to the final round of edits, there are some errors in the text that aren't in the final book.

-Ashwini : ) 

                        Contest now closed.

The fine print: Contest is open internationally. One entry per household. No purchase necessary to enter. Winners will be chosen randomly using random.org and their names posted on this blog on Wednesday April 2nd. Void where prohibited.

Friday Book Club

It's book club time! What books are you loving this week?

Here and There...

Today, I'm rounding up pieces of info I've posted here and there.

~

Did you know I have a Tumblr? Here's the link! For book info, it's still best to follow the blog and join the (super awesome) newsletter list. I use the Tumblr to reblog fun/interesting things that catch my attention.

~

Have you heard of DABWAHA? It's an extremely fun tournament hosted by Dear Author and Smart B*tches, Trashy Books, complete with awesome prizes (including a Psy-Changeling Starter pack and an ARC of SHIELD OF WINTER). 

It pits 64 books against one another, until only one is left standing. HEART OF OBSIDIAN is one of the 64. Woohoo! 

Follow the link to get all the details on how to fill out your bracket and join in - basically, you have to guess which book will be left standing at the end. Don't worry if you don't recognize all the books - flip a coin and join in. Most of all, have fun!

~

And here's a photo from my years in Japan. Taken during a Hanami (cherry blossom viewing) party. :-)

Friday Book Club

Time to talk books! What are you reading and loving this week?

A Glimpse of Archangel's Shadows

Okay, it's super early for a snippet of Archangel's Shadows but since you have to wait till November for the book and I've had requests for a sneak peek, here's a glimpse. This is from the scene that flashes back to the battle and to a part where Ash is wounded.

This is from my current draft.

An instant later, her attacker's head was just gone, sliced off by a fluid steel blade that wasn't a sword or a knife but something in between, sharp as a scythe and as deadly. "No apologies between us, sugar," Janvier said and scooping her up in his arms, ran up the stairs.

No point in protesting. Wounded as she was, she'd only slow them down if she insisted on getting out of this on her own two feet. Shifting position in his hold instead, she pointed both guns over his shoulders. "Your ears are going to take a beating."

"I'll live."

She pressed the trigger on each gun, the sound huge in the small space.

- from ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS / November 2014

Cat & Dog

A reader shared this video on my Facebook page, and I had to share it on. Hope you enjoy!

Friday Book Club

...coming to you on a New Zealand Saturday this week! What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Have an awesome weekend everyone. :)

Cover & Blurb reveal: ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS!!

The cover and blurb of ARCHANGEL'S SHADOWS (Guild Hunter #7) is now out! Check it out at DearAuthor! I hope you love! I adore it!

Engelslied Now Out!

The German edition of Archangel's Legion is now out!

Writing

I'm currently going over the final typeset pages of SHIELD OF WINTER, trying to catch those sneaky typos.

What are you up to?

Interviews, Donuts, & Photos

I posted some links on Facebook today, but I know not everyone follows FB, so here they are for you all!

First, I yummy recipe link! 

So I have a bit of a baking hobby. Recently, I made some donuts because I had to test out my new donut pan (so neat!), and I thought I'd share a delicious recipe for chocolate espresso donuts that I found at Gluten Free Canteen. This recipe is gluten free, but I have tried the results on gluten-loving humans who have pronounced it divine. The donuts are extremely rich and moreish.

The original recipe calls for espresso or coffee, but I'm not a huge fan of the flavor in my baked goods, so I substituted hot chocolate for a very chocolatey taste. And oh, I didn't mix up the special flour noted in the recipe, just used GF all purpose flour).

Next up, a couple of interviews

Audio Interview: I did a Skype voice interview with PNR Radio's Arial Burnz late last year, and the interview is now live. We talk books, writing, and travel, among other things. 

Here are the links (also, I noticed the Itunes podcast says Explicit on it - lol! Alas, I'm pretty sure the most explicit thing in the interview is the word "pantser" ;-)). Link to PNR Radio website where you can listen to the interview online, plus here's the iTunes podcast link.

French Interview & Travel Photos

 
French readers - I recently did an interview with Les Rebelles and it's now online. I hope you enjoy!

The interview is in French, but even if you don't speak the language, you might enjoy the photographs from my travels.  I'll caption them for you in English:

Page 42: #1 Snapped from a boat on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary  #2 Taken from the TranzAlpine train in the South Island of New Zealand

Page 43: #1 Amber Fort, India (inspiration for Neha's Archangel Fort in "Archangel's Storm" - incidentally, you can see more shots of Amber Fort in my Travel Diary on the website)  #2 Wild horses in Kagoshima, Japan (as mentioned in "Archangel's Legion")

Page 44: #1 Culture Parade, Frankfurt, Germany  #2 Jaffar Gorge, Morocco (it was scary sitting on the edge!)  #3 One Tree Hill, New Zealand in winter  #4 San Francisco tram, USA

Page 45: Yosemite National Park (changelings!), USA