It's time for the Friday Book Club! What reads are you loving this week?
Alt text: Look what we’ve unearthed! It turns out Venom lost a bet to Dmitri a few years ago and, as a result, had to grant an interview to a reporter from Immortal Insider magazine! Immortal Insider Magazine EXCLUSIVE! Have we got a treat for you! Thanks to the Tower, we have the FIRST EVER interview with one of Raphael’s deadly (deadly sexy that is!) seconds. After a spirited battle at the Immortal Insider office, Missy Lemon won the right to conduct this interview (though she did permit us to slip in a few questions of our own.) Without further ado, we give you VENOM!Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview Venom. Do you mind if I call you that? It’s my name. Of course! I’m just so, so delighted to have this opportunity to sit down with you. I’ve never been in the Tower before. It’s quite large. And there are so many powerful vampires. Don’t worry. We don’t snack on reporters. Usually. Such a great sense of humor! Okay, I better ask my questions. I know I only have fifteen minutes. So the first question comes from everyone back at the office. They’d like to know what you look for in a woman.
Alt text: I don’t have to look for women. They come to me. I definitely have no argument there. But how do you choose? Is it… to do with the taste of their blood? I was raised a gentleman. I don’t bite and tell. The girls are just going to swoon over that! And oh, wow, your smile. I need a cold shower right now. I think I’ve forgotten my next question. In that case, let’s end the interview and share a drink for the remainder of the fifteen minutes. You can tell me all your most wicked dreams. Goodness, you make it hard to concentrate, but I promised everyone an interview. Okay, I’ve found my question list. Working for the Tower is something many mortals and immortals alike dream of. Describe what it’s like working in the Tower? How is Dmitri as a boss? I don’t work in the Tower. I’m part of the Tower. It is as much in my blood as the land where I was born. As for Dmitri… I’m afraid that would be unprintable.
Alt text: Two covers of A Madness of Sunshine and quote from Publisher's Weekly - "...[an] exceptional first crime novel...".
If you haven't yet tried one of Nalini's standalone thrillers, A Madness of Sunshine is a great place to start! What if you knew one of your neighbors or friends was a murderer...but you didn’t know who... Who would you trust?
~Ashwini
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh welcomes you to a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer…
On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.
That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.
Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.
It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.
Alt text: Psy-Changeling Quiz: Sascha and Lucas. 1) Who is Sascha's mother? 2) What do the marks on Lucas's face represent? 3) What is their daughter Naya's full name? 4) Which type of animal does Lucas (and Naya!) shift into? 5) What is Sascha's Psy power? 6) Where is their pack's business HQ located? 7) How old was Lucas when he became alpha? 8) What sweet treat is Sascha's weakness? 9) Which DarkRiver sentinel is Lucas's closest friend? 10) Sascha is on the advisory board of which organisation?
How well do you know Sascha and Lucas? Post will be updated with the correct answers next week.
~Ashwini
1) Nikita Duncan
2) Mark him as a hunter
3) Nadiya Shayla Hunter
4) Black panther
5) Cardinal Empath
6) Near Chinatown, San Francisco
7) Twenty-three
8) Anything chocolate
9) Vaughn
10) Empathic Collective
Alt text - Paranormal Romance Royalty. Five Iconic Paranormal Romance Novels, Reimagined: Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh, Lover Awakened by J.R.Ward, The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter, Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole, Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston.
I’m incredibly excited to be part of the Paranormal Romance Royalty crowdfunding campaign, which has now launched!
Heart of Obsidian is getting a gorgeous collector’s edition hardcover and stunning new character artwork of Kaleb and Sahara!
The other authors in the set are some very familiar names: Shelly Laurenston, Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter, and J.R. Ward.
Click here for more information.
Alt text - quote from Archangel's Heart: "Never lose your heart, Elena. No matter if the world tells you it makes you weak. Immortals have so much power. It is good to have a weakness."
A reminder about two upcoming New Zealand events, happening tonight and tomorrow night:
*We Read Auckland: Sinners & Secrets, with Nalini and fellow author Chris Blake, hosted by Fiona Sussman. 6:30-7:30pm, Thursday 6 August, Glenfield Library, Auckland. This is a FREE event but registration is required. Click here for more info.
*Hamilton Book Month: Hearts & Pages, with Nalini and fellow author Catherine Robertson. 6:30-8pm, Friday 7th August, Central Library, Hamilton. This is a FREE event, no registration required. Click here for more info.
~Ashwini
Alt Text: centre image of a stack of three newspapers, with a cup and saucer next to it filled with a hot drink with steam rising from it, with text "Nalini's Newsletter" above it, surrounded by five "clouds" with the following text inside them: Reading Recs!, Appearances!, Travel Photos!, Breaking News!, Exclusive Extras!
The August newsletter goes out in approximately 14 hours and may include a new short story...
If you want to be sure you get all the news and updates from Nalini, make sure to subscribe (it’s free to join via the blog or the front page of the website, and you can download two ebooks worth of free newsletter shorts when you sign up).
~Ashwini
It's Hamilton Book Month! Join Nalini and fellow author Catherine Robertson on Friday 7th August at 6:30pm at Central Library, Garden Place, for their chat event, Hearts and Pages. This is a FREE event, no registration required. Click here for more info.
~Ashwini
A while ago I did a Facebook post asking readers to vote for Angels' Blood in New Zealand bookstore chain Whitcoulls Top 100 list. I said that if it made it onto the list, I’d take photos in Whitcoulls stores complete with wings? Well, it has begun!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for voting!! I can’t believe that my 2009/2010 (international) book baby is on the list!!
Huge thanks also to Lucy from Whitcoulls St Lukes Mall (Auckland) who was so welcoming and asked me to sign all the Guild Hunter books they had in stock. Go grab your signed copies before they run out!
In case you were wondering, I was not the least bit normal while taking these photos. See pics to get a few glimpses of my shenanigans.
More photos to come over the year, because these wings, they’re traveling.
Join Nalini and fellow author Chris Blake, in conversation with novelist Fiona Sussman, discussing their thrillers, Such a Perfect Family and Softly Calls the Devil. Happening on Thursday 6th August at 6:30pm at Glenfield Library, Auckland. This is a FREE event but registration in required.
~Ashwini
Alt text: Image from a high point of a beautiful blue green sound (similar to a fjord), with still water in the center and mountains all around, some topped by clouds. The water weaves through the sound, in and around the mountains and the small island in the middle.
A pic from my most recent adventure around New Zealand. There was hiking involved. I have to say the views made it worth the effort! What’s your idea of a fun vacation…and does it involve hiking boots?
Alt Text: Detective Notes. Date: Dec 3rd. Time: 08:10. Subject: Second interview with Jason Musgrave. Man immediately began to shout that if hte accident was suspicious, we needed to look at "that f**king Romeo who conned her out of at leas a quarter of a million! He probably thinks he's in her will!" Per Jason, the name of the "Romeo" is Tavish Advani. Detective Notes. Date: Dec 5th. Time: 20:18. Subject: Case Status. Forensic mechanic refuses to speculate on anything to do with the Musgrave vehicle, but he did admit that he's already spotted signs of tampering. Case is now a homicide in my books. Perez agrees. Detective Notes. Date: Dec 21st. Time: 14:27. Subject: Lunch with Detective Gina Garcia. Gina did look at Advani as a suspect in the Jocelyn Wai case. Off the record, she stated that "If he did it, he a brilliant psychopath. Scariest thing is he was only twenty-three when Jocelyn died. If you're right about him being involved in Virna Musgrave's death, that's two women in the space of, what, three years? What's the word for an unmarried black widower?" - Uncover the truth in Such A Perfect Family.
Meet Tavish Advani. Handsome enough to be a movie star. Sweep-you-off-your-feet romantic. And with a fatal track record in love...
Huge thanks to Tony Mauro (art) and Rita Frangie (design)!!