Website Update: Short Stories - Pancakes, Making Dinner, Sunday Morning

If you missed out on the following short stories in the newsletter, they are now up on the website. Hope you enjoy!

Pancakes

Making Dinner

Sunday Morning

To join the newsletter, click this link. After filling in the form, you should get a confirmation link in your email. Once you click that, you'll get a Welcome newsletter with further free short stories. Any problems, email Ashwini (naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom - replace DOT/AT with . / @).

Catching Up & French Cover: Branded By Fire

Today's a catch-up day for me. Lots of small tasks that need to be cleared away before I can dive back into Archangel's Legion. I hope you're all having a fabulous week. What're you up to?

Also for your visual pleasure, I have the gorgeous French cover of Branded By Fire. Enjoy! :-)

German Covers

Check out my gorgeous new German covers!

July 2010

October 2010

March 2011

PEARL Extravaganza

Winners: Thank you for all the lovely messages of congratulations everyone! I've run the random numbers and the winners are as follows:

ORANNIA
ROBIN K
SHANNON
J

Congratulations!! If you left a contact email, I'll be dropping you a note. Otherwise, email me your mailing address: nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com.

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As some of you may have heard, several of my books won PEARL Awards recently. Woohoo!! I've been waiting for the right moment to make the announcements, and today is it!!

Blaze of Memory won Best Futuristic Romance and received an Honorable Mention in the Favorite Overall Romance category

Must Love Hellhounds won Best Anthology (award shared with the awesome Charlaine Harris, Ilona Andrews & Meljean Brook)

Angels' Blood won Best Fantasy/Magical Romance

Branded By Fire won Best Shapeshifter Romance

To celebrate, I'm going to give away a copy of each of these books.

To enter the draw, leave a comment with your answer to the question at the end of this post by Sunday 4th April 2010, 4pm New Zealand time.

I'll pick four random winners. To make it easier on me to allocate the books, when you answer the question, leave a note if you'd like any one particular book. (Also, please either leave some way for me to contact you if you win, or check back on Monday to see if you're a winner.)

Question: If you could take one fictional character home (for tea, for drinks, for wild and crazy hijinks...whatever you desire! *grin*), who would you choose?

RT Nominations, My reading year & Project Paranormal!

Some awesome news to start off with - I just this morning found out that both Angels' Blood and Branded By Fire have been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards!! :-)

Also, I did a really long post about my favorite books this year for Smugglivus - it was so interesting going back over the books I'd read the past year. As a Smugglivus present, I'm giving away a copy of Angels' Blood and one of Blaze of Memory (even if you have both books, I hope you'll swing by and join in the discussion).

And last, but not least, several new episodes of Project Paranormal have just gone up, including a segment all about gift suggestions for paranormal/urban fantasy readers. There may even be a highly professional *coughdorkycough* greeting from yours truly.

Deleted Scene from Branded By Fire

I love this scene. It's a little bit naughty so be warned!

THE PARTY

Mercy felt so deliciously loose and relaxed after her encounter with Riley that she had the urge to turn leopard and just curl up somewhere. It was as well that she had a standing date with the women of the pack that night.

Showering and sprucing up after her return from the den, she made it to the gathering half an hour late. It was being held at Annie and Zach’s house this time around—though Zach had been kicked out for the duration. Attendance fluctuated depending on work-shifts and the general mood of the pack, and tonight, after Nash’s successful return, there were well over twenty-five women in the small house filled with the delicious smells of chocolate, cocktails and friendship.

“Mercy!” Anu all but dragged her to a seat on the sofa. “I have something for you. Show me your toes.”

Grinning, Mercy did as bid. Ten minutes later, her toenails had been painted a vivid silver-blue that glinted in the light. “I like it,” she said definitively. Anu was one of her favorite people, being so infectiously good-natured that it was impossible to be in a bad mood around her. “How’s the baby?”

“Gorgeous. See?” The proud mommy pulled out a phone with an array of new photos.

Genuinely interested, Mercy spent several minutes looking at them. “She’s growing fast. Feels like only last week I held her and she was the size of a tadpole.”

“Tell me about it.” Anu turned to put her phone back into her purse. “Make sure you take home the rest of the polish for touch-ups.”

“Thanks.” Admiring her toes and feeling distinctly feline in her pleasure, Mercy nudged Anu.

“Where’s Annie?”

“Here.” A margarita was put into her hand. “Anu?”

“Better not—breastfeeding. Gimme that pineapple juice.” Taking a glass, she picked up her bag of tricks. “Time for my next victim.”

Mercy glanced up at Annie as Anu arrowed her way toward Poppy. “You know how to throw a party.”

Annie grinned. “I think Zach’s having visions of coming home to find drunken naked women all over his lawn. Actually, I think he’s hoping for it. Except for his sisters, of course—I have strict instructions to save him from that trauma by warning him to stay the hell away.”

Laughing, Mercy took a sip of her margarita and watched as Annie moved to put the rest of the drinks on the low table a couple of feet away. The small brunette was immediately shanghaied by her sister-in-law, Jess, and Sascha, into a heated debate that pitted Mr. Darcy against Heathcliff. Mercy was leaning forward to listen to Annie’s take on things when Tammy waved to her from the other side of the room, where she was being offered something that had her red-faced and laughing. Curious, Mercy made her way over.

Her eyes almost crossed when she saw the array of objects on the table in front of the healer. “Tammy!”

“Hey, don’t blame me.” Tammy wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes. “This is all Faith’s fault.”

The F-Psy looked incredibly demure when she answered the charge. “How was I to know what Lurrrve Motion produced? When they said they were sending me samples to help me tune my mind for forecasts, I said fine.” She glanced at long, green and very...flexible, Lurrrve Toy, her eyes dancing with laughter. “I never had to worry about things like this when I was working exclusively for Psy companies.”

Mercy was trying to figure out how another toy worked when it came buzzing to life in her hands, turning six different colors in as many seconds before bouncing out of her grasp and across the table to fall into Talin’s lap. Tally took one look at it and said, “Do you think Clay would know what this was if I took it home and gave it to him as a present?”

Seriously naughty suggestions came from all sides, and by the time it was over, Mercy was laughing so hard, her stomach muscles protested. This, she thought, was life, was joy. She couldn’t imagine a future in which her pack didn’t play an integral role. DarkRiver was part of her soul through her blood-bond to Lucas, but her packmates were part of the very fabric of her heart.

More Good News

Branded By Fire hit the Publishers Weekly Bestseller list, and is still also on the New York Times Bestseller list :)

Also, don't forget to swing by for Friday Book Club tomorrow - I've got a really cool interview for you. And as always, we'll be talking books, books, books!

Breaking News :)

Branded By Fire hit #14 on the New York Times bestseller list. Thank you to everyone who supported the release! You all rock!

Now let's party! :-)

Links & Spoiler Thread

First up - I'm at Silk & Shadows talking about 10 ways to tell if a book is written by me.

And as promised, the Spoiler Thread for Branded By Fire is now open. Follow the link in the sidebar (under Links for Readers header). -->

If you prefer a forum format, there's a spoiler section at the fan forum.

Happy reading and discussing :)

Branded By Fire Release Day!!

Thank you everyone for making the countdown to Branded By Fire so fabulous!! I hope you all had a fun time and that you enjoy Mercy and Riley's story!!

Thank you also to everyone who's dropped by the blog to comment, and/or written to me about Branded. I'm so absolutely delighted by the response to the book! Because so many of you have written re a spoiler thread, I'll open one up on the blog tomorrow! (There'll also be a spoiler section going up on the fan forum).

I've got a few release day links I wanted to share.

I was interviewed by the lovely Jax Cassidy for Hooked on Romance. Swing by and say hi (there's a book and a super-duper magnet *grin* up for grabs).

Several awesome reviews of Branded have just gone up around the web. Here are some snippets and links!

I closed Branded by Fire at 11 PM, having skipped making or eating dinner until then so I could finish reading Mercy and Riley’s story. Sexy, intense and riveting, this book was also deeply satisfying. I couldn’t put it down.

~ Janine for Dear Author

And from the first chapter when they finally share total skin-to-skin privileges and then some, the pages burn up with passion, lust, anger, tenderness, sensitivity, claws, teeth and all when these two interact in and out of the bedroom.

~Sandy M for The Good, the Bad and the Unread

I've always loved how Singh doesn't simply portray her changelings as people who just happen to be able to shift into animals. Rather, the fact that a they are animals as well as humans influences her changelings even when they are in human form. "Their animal" is still there, and will react to events and feelings, giving changelings' emotional reactions a certain wildness which I love.

~ Rosario's Reading Journal

You can buy Branded By Fire everywhere! Here are some links to get you started: Borders, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, Powells, IndieBound, Book Depository (worldwide), Fishpond (NZ).

E-book: Books on Board, Fictionwise, Amazon Kindle, All Romance Ebooks, Penguin Website, Diesel E-books, Sony.

If there's a link I've forgotten, let me know :-)

Now let's party like it's July 7th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 1 day to go!

Winners! The random numbers have rolled and the lucky folks are:

Ginny - The Scot and I by Elizabeth Thornton
CrazyCommaMomma - Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop

Congrats! Please email me your addresses (nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com).

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Mercy and Riley release tomorrow! (Or the day after if you're in another timezone ;-)) If you'd like to have a glimpse behind the scenes of Branded By Fire, I've written a special letter to readers that you can read by following the link!

How are your party feet? Ready to keep on dancing? Today's cyber launch giveaways are a copy of Elizabeth Thornton's The Scot and I, and a copy of Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop. (As regular blog readers know, I'm a huge, huge fan of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels books, and I attempt to pass on the addiction wherever possible. Daughter of the Blood is the first book.)

Entry rules are the same as Monday. Leave your answer to the day's burning question and you're in. Bring a friend and I'll give you another entry. And don't forget to note if you've already got one of the books.

Today's burning question: Which book or series do you love so much that you're constantly trying to get other people to read them? Or conversely, has a friend convinced you to read something that you never would have on your own?

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 2 days to go!

Winners: The random winners today are:

Christine - Dirty Sexy Knitting by Christie Ridgway
Maritza - Immortal Outlaw by Lisa Hendrix

Congrats! Please send me your addresses at nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com.

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Only a couple more days to go until Branded By Fire officially hits the shelves!

Fellow writer Jaci Burton posted about Branded yesterday - here's a snippet from her blog:

This book was powerful, hot, sexy, and filled with all sorts of changeling goodness...Every new book opens up this world even more to give us a glimpse into amazing worlds, incredible worldbuilding and characters you can’t help but fall in love with.

And look, Romance Junkies just gave it a Blue Ribbon Favorite Award!

Today's cyber-launch party giveaways are a copy of Immortal Outlaw by Lisa Hendrix and a copy of Dirty, Sexy Knitting by Christie Ridgway.

Entry rules are the same as Monday. Leave your answer to the day's burning question and you're in. If you bring a friend or tell others about the party, I'll give you an extra entry.

Onto today's burning question: How much to covers affect your book-buying? What are some of your favorite covers--recent or otherwise?

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 3 days to go!

Winners: And the random winners are:

Pissenlit - Touched by Light by Catherine Spangler
Katie S. - Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James

Congratulations!

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The things I do for you guys. Today, I went on a daring raid and *borrowed* Curran from Ilona Andrews' Livejournal. Under no circumstances is anyone to tell Ilona. We'll give him back...maybe *grin*

Oooh, look at those eyes.

Branded By Fire featuring another hot and brooding male, officially hits the shelves on Tuesday, woohoo!!

To celebrate the cyber-launch, today I'm giving away a copy of Touched By Light by Catherine Spangler, and a copy of Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James. We chatted about Just the Sexiest Man Alive at this Friday Book Club :)

Entry rules are the same as Monday! Leave a comment answering the day's burning question and you're in. Bring a friend or spread the word about the party and I'll give you an extra entry or entries. Also, don't forget to let me know if you've already got one of the books.

And today's burning question - well, with all this testosterone on the blog today, it can really only be this: Who do you consider the sexiest man in the world?

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 4 Days to Go!

Winners: The random numbers have spoken and the winners are:

Rob - Witch Fury by Anya Bast
Yogagrrl - Sweet Persuasion by Maya Banks

Congratulations!
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I can't believe Branded By Fire will be officially out next week! Here's a snippet from a recent review by BookThingo:

The way Mercy and Riley’s relationship is unfolded, broken, repaired, strengthened and resolved is done so beautifully. Their conflict isn’t trivial, and the push-and-pull for control is both fun and excruciating. I was barracking for both of them the entire time, and not once did I feel like one should surrender to the other.

I hope you guys are all enjoying the cyber launch party. I thought it was time to pass around some drinks. (The pic's from my last dinner at the 2008 RAW conference).

Today, I'm celebrating by giving away a copy of Witch Fury by Anya Bast, and a copy of Sweet Persuasion by Maya Banks.

Entry rules are the same as Monday. Leave a comment with your response to the day's burning question. Bring a friend or tell folks about the party and you get a second entry. (And don't forget to note if you already have one of the books).

And what is today's burning question? Since Branded By Fire kicks off with a love scene (!) - the first time I've ever begun a book that way, let's talk about heat: What makes a love scene work for you? Conversely, what would make you skip a love scene?

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 5 Days to Go!

Winners! The random winners are as follows:

Mech - Alyssa Day's Atlantis Unleashed
Maggie (thir...@yahoo) - Talk of the Ton

Congratulations! Please email me your addresses at nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com.

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Branded By Fire releases next Tuesday! Here's what KMont at Lurv A La Mode had to say about Mercy and Riley's story:

Seeing them try to keep their alpha tendencies walled up and defending their emotions was both amusing and heart pounding when they began to crumble.

To read the full review, follow the link!

The cyber launch party continues today with the giveaway of a paranormal romance - Alyssa Day's Atlantis Unleashed, and a historical anthology - Talk of the Ton!

Entry rules are the same as Monday. Leave your answer to the burning question in the comments! And if you bring along a friend to the party, it'll give you another entry for the day's giveaways.

Today's burning question is inspired by the anthology above: If you could live in any time period, past, present or future, which would you choose?

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 6 days to go!

Winners: The random winners are:

Erika - Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan
JOYE (Anon #1) - Kiss & Hell by Dakota Cassidy

Congratulations! Please email me your addresses (nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com)

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I'm over at the Book Smugglers talking about Inspirations and Influences, so come say hi. The Smugglers are also giving away a copy of Branded By Fire!

And talking of Branded By Fire, here's a snippet from Kati's review of the book for RNTV:

I have to say that I’ve always been very partial to the alphas in this series, Lucas (especially) and Hawke. But Riley’s tortured past; his deep well of feeling, so well hidden got all of my emotions working. The treat of the book, for me, was getting to know him, learning about his past, and how it’s shaped him as a man, and how hard he falls for Mercy. He flounders quite a bit, which is unnerving for someone as ordered as Riley.

Today's cyber launch giveaways are a copy of Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan and a copy of Kiss and Hell by Dakota Cassidy!

Entry rules are the same as Monday! In short, leave your answer to the day's burning question to go into the random draw. If you bring a friend, I'll give you an extra entry :) (Don't forget to tell me if you've already got one of the books).

Today's burning question is: We've talked about heroes, now it's time for the heroines. Which heroine would you like to be for a day or a week? Reasons why?

Oooh, so many choices...

Countdown to Branded By Fire: 7 days to go!

Winners! The random winners are:

Elizabeth G - Kissing Midnight by Emma Holly
Karah - Fair Game by Jasmine Haynes

Congratulations! Please email me your address (nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com).
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Seven days to go until Branded By Fire hits the shelves! The Book Smugglers just put up their review of Mercy and Riley's story. Here's a snippet:

Notable Quotes/ Parts: Just about every single interaction between Riley and Mercy. Also, between Mercy and her pack members. Actually, make that all the scenes between Riley and his alpha, Hawke and between Hawke and Sienna. Crap. the whole book is freaking notable.

To read the full review, follow the link!

Today's cyber launch party giveaways are a copy of Kissing Midnight by Emma Holly and Fair Game by Jasmine Haynes.

Entry rules are same as Monday, so have a look at that post if you've just arrived at the party. And welcome! (Don't forget to note if you already have one of the books).

Now, onto today's burning question: Who are your favorite couple(s) from books? Why?

It doesn't have to be a romance. One of my friends really loves the hero & his dragon from the Temeraire books. As for me...hmm...

Countdown to Branded By Fire

I've got some fun stuff planned for everyone as we count down to the release of Branded By Fire, so make sure you come by tomorrow! :)

Catchup

I'm working on something fun for the release of Branded By Fire - only two weeks to go until it hits the shelves! I can't wait! :)

Also, Meljean Brook is giving away an ARC of Must Love Hellhounds. You can enter here.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Get up to anything interesting?

Hellhounds, Branded & More

If I could write odes to this little beauty, I would. If I could hang out under its balcony and sing it sweet songs, I would. If I could bake it a cake the size of Texas, draped in miles of frosting ribbons proclaiming Branded by Fire as the best Psy/Changling novel yet, I would. Then I’d eat it. The cake that is. Hmm, maybe the book, too.

From KMont at Lurv A La Mode's review of Branded By Fire! She loved Mercy and Riley's story so much, she's giving away a pre-order of the book. Go forth and enter :-)

Dear Author and SBTB are holding a giveaway, fundraiser and auction in memory of author Edith Layton. In honor of Ms. Layton's love of animals proceeds will go to support animal charities. One of the items up for auction is a bound galley of Must Love Hellhounds, which contains novellas by Charlaine Harris, Meljean Brook, Ilona Andrews & yours truly. Follow the links for more info.

There's a great profile of author Dean Koontz in USA Today.

The Knight Agency is having another Take Home Tuesday.

Jackie at Literary Escapism is hosting author Anna Katherine, giving away a copy of Salt and Silver and talking lies.

Deidre Knight and Gena Showalter are holding a Kiss & Seduce party here.

Bitten By Books is holding a "Who is your heroine?" poll.

And talking about polls, it seems like many of you think Kaleb isn't a bad guy. Interesting...