Tengger Desert - China

I took this during my trip to China several years ago. From memory, this shot was taken at dawn. :-)

This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

(i.e. If you'd like to repost, pin this photo etc, you're free to do so, as long as the use is non-commercial, you don't make any changes to the image, and provide a link back to this blog or my website. If you're not certain your usage is non-commercial, shoot me an email to discuss).

Friday Book Club

Book club time! What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Of Heroes and Rain

It's a rainy, rainy day in my neck of the woods and I've just finished writing a letter to readers talking about Archangel's Storm. The letter will be appearing on my publisher's website during release week - I'll put up a link once it's live so you can swing by and read it. :-)

Part of the letter talks about Jason as a hero - with his wings of black and spymaster's ability to keep secrets, he is intense in his quietness. But when he does speak, he commands the attention of the archangels themselves.

I've wanted to know his secrets from day one - and more, I've wanted to see what would happen should that fascinating, compelling restraint snap.

I've also been working on Walker and Lara's novella, which will be releasing next year as part of Wild Invitation (March 2013), and Walker, too, is a man who guards his words - and yet there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he is a power.

That got me to thinking about quiet, powerful heroes in general. I think done right, these heroes can be incredibly intriguing.

Can you think of some examples of quiet heroes who aren't stuffy (though we know I love those, too! Mr. Darcy, be still my heart), but simply prefer to keep their silence? Do you like reading about these intense, contained heroes?

Ring of Kerry - Ireland

This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

(i.e. If you'd like to repost, pin this photo etc, you're free to do so, as long as the use is non-commercial, you don't make any changes to the image, and provide a link back to this blog or my website. If you're not certain your usage is non-commercial, shoot me an email to discuss).

Friday Book Club

It's time to talk books! What are you reading and loving this week?

Edited to add: We've picked a new winner for the Swag contest as the original winner didn't get in touch. The new winner is Toot! Please email naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom with your mailing address.

Bollywood: Main Hoon Na

I haven't posted a Bollywood song for a while - here's one from an older movie that's a lot of fun. Main Hoon Na is more than a little tongue in cheek, and very cute.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Archangel's Storm ARC Giveaway...

...at my agent, Nephele Tempest's blog! (Giveaway closes Thursday, August 9, 2012, at 5pm Pacific Time - full details on Nephele's blog).

Good luck! :-)

Waterfall, Blue Mountains - Australia

I've realized I have thousands of photographs that I haven't had a chance to go through, so I've made it a project to post at least one new image every week.

I'm also playing with some photo software to sharpen and intensify the colors of some of the images - this might turn into an addicting kind of hobby. ;-)

Hope you enjoy!

This image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

(i.e. If you'd like to repost, pin this photo etc, you're free to do so, as long as the use is non-commercial, you don't make any changes to the image, and provide a link back to this blog or my website. If you're not certain your usage is non-commercial, shoot me an email to discuss).

Popular Romance Project

While I was at the RWA Conference in Anaheim, I had a chance to see a small piece of the documentary film titled "Love Between the Covers" currently being made by film-maker Laurie Kahn. You can see the preview now on the Popular Romance Project website.

I highly recommend you go by and have a look - the preview received a standing ovation in Anaheim and with good reason. I've met and been interviewed by Laurie, and really felt that she's trying to make a film that truly shows the heart of the romance community in an unbiased and most importantly, non-condescending, way.

I'm excited to see what the final film is going to look like.

Laurie asked me to let you know that through August, she's running a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 to go toward the completion of the film. She's lined up a number of different gifts/rewards for those who make a pledge to support the project, including for example, dvds of the finished film and, for writers, offers of critiques from a number of authors and editors. You can see full details on her campaign page.

I hope you're all having a great weekend and that you enjoy the video. :-)

Friday Book Club

Time to talk books! What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Edited to add: The random winner of the Swag contest has now been posted!

Gunmetal Magic - Ilona Andrews

Link to Excerpt

My super professional review: This book is awesome!!!!

I love the voice of writing team Ilona Andrews, and inhale their books. This one was no different - the plot is fascinating, and Andrea and Raphael make an explosive couple. (For those of you who've read the book already, I have one word for you: carpet. :D)

Gunmetal Magic is set in the Kate Daniels world, but even if you haven't read the other books in the series, I think you can pick this up without problems, as it focuses not on Kate but her best friend Andrea. Of course, the entire series is amazing, and if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend you check it out. You can read more about the books here.

Spoiler note: If you have read Gunmetal Magic, please keep any comments spoiler-free or sneaky so folks aren't accidentally spoiled. Thanks. :-)

Here's the backcover blurb for Gunmetal Magic:

Some people have everything figured out—Andrea Nash is not one of those people.

After being kicked out of the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, Andrea’s whole existence is in shambles. All she can do is to try to put herself back together, something made easier by working for Cutting Edge, a small investigative firm owned by her best friend Kate Daniels.

When several shapeshifters working for Raphael Medrano—the male alpha of the Clan Bouda and Andrea’s former lover—die unexpectedly at a dig site, Andrea is assigned to investigate…and must work with Raphael. As Andrea’s search for the killer leads her into the secret underbelly of supernatural Atlanta, she knows that dealing with her feelings for Raphael might have to take a back seat to saving the world…

 

Swag-orama

Contest Now Closed

Winner: And the random winner is Kui!! Congratulations. Please email your mailing address to naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom

New winner chosen as we didn't hear from the first: Toot! Please email your mailing address to naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom

I'm back home in NZ and catching up. It was great to see so many of you in Anaheim!

As promised, I picked up some swag for you - these include bookmarks, excerpt booklets, some neat little promo items, and books, plus a conference bag. Just like when you receive a swag bag at a conference, I won't tell you what books are included - it'll be a surprise. ;-)

If you'd like to go into the draw to win the swag, just leave a comment on this post (If you're reading this blog on a feed, for example at Goodreads, please comment on this post on the main blog) by 5pm New Zealand time, Friday 3rd August 2012.

The fine print: Contest is open internationally. One entry per household. No purchase necessary to enter. One winner will be chosen randomly using random.org and his or her name posted on this blog late on Friday 3rd August 2012. If we don't hear back from the winner within 72 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Chance of winning dependent on number of entries received. Void where prohibited.

Contest Now Closed

Friday Book Club

...coming to you from the RWA Anaheim Conference! I hope you all had a great week!

I was just down having a look at the swag in the Goody Room, and I met Tessa Dare. She mentioned she was going to do a swag giveaway on her site, and I realized I had room in my luggage this year. So I picked up some swag, too.We'll do a giveaway when I get back! (Thanks for the idea, Tessa!)

Okay, onto the books. What are you reading and loving at the moment?

Walker & Lara, and Anaheim

I've just completed the current draft of Walker and Lara's novella.It's not yet final, but it's getting there. I'm hoping to work on it further on the flight to Anaheim - it'll be good to do a read-through start to finish.

Talking of Anaheim, I'm looking forward to seeing some of you on Wednesday! Full details of the super-duper gigantic book signing here.

You might have noticed we've made some changes to the blog - I hope you all like! Please test out the comments - they should be working fine, but if not, shoot me an email (nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com).

And in the spirit of comment testing, here's a tough question for you: Shapeshifter or vampire? Reasons?

Archangel's Storm ARC Contest Winners

We had an amazing number of entries for the Archangel's Storm ARC contest. Thanks to everyone who entered. The random numbers have spoken, and the winners are:

Erin F.

Janna U.

Donna S.

Congratulations! Official confirmation emails will be heading out to you within the next hour. 

If you didn't win, don't despair - keep an eye on the blog in a week for a heads-up on another chance to get your hands on an ARC. ;-)

Friday Book Club

...now open! Time to talk about your favorite books this week. :-)

Too Adorable not to share

Brie tweeted me this link - trust me, you want to look! I bet you end up smiling! :-)

Twin Baby Panthers Have Coming Out Party

Catchup

I've been a bit scarce online this week as I'm hoping to get this draft of Walker and Lara's novella completed before I leave for RWA next week. If you're in Anaheim and attending the Literacy Signing, do make sure to come by and say hi!

What are you all up to?

Friday Book Club

Before I kick off the book club, a heads-up that my agent, Nephele, is giving away copy each of Burning Up and Angels of Darkness on her blog, so drop by and enter the draw if you'd like to win one of the anthologies.

Now, onto the books we've been reading this week! What are you enjoying at the moment? I'm focused on the Wild Invitation novellas at the moment, so I've been spending time in Psy/Changeling lands. 

Okay, your turn!

Interview, Smiles, & Newsletter

Hope you're all having a great week everyone! I have some links for you today.

I did an interview with Casey at Literary Escapism at the RT Convention, and it's now live. It's a long, relaxed interview, so hope you enjoy.

I posed this amazing link on Facebook yesterday, after finding it on Meljean Brook's blog, and thought I'd share it here as well: 21 Pictures that will restore your faith in humanity

And last but not definitely not least, the July newsletter went out earlier this week, with lots of news, including an update on Wild Invitation and a new excerpt of Archangel's Storm. If you missed it, you can now read it at this link. If you'd like to get the newsletter from now on, you can sign up on the Contact page of the website (on the bottom right).