Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop 2012!

Welcome to the Mistletoe Madness! I was lucky enough to be involved with this last year and it was so much fun, I just had to do it again. And lucky you, you have a chance to win a brand knew Kindle Fire preloaded with books from some pretty awesome authors. There are also many other wonderful prizes being offered on several other blogs. 

 

What do you have to do? Enter to win the grand prize here on PJ Schnyder's blog and/or comment on this blog for a chance to win my holiday give-away package. Because I think the perfect way to spend a winter afternoon is with a hot cup of coffee and a good book, the package includes a $5 gift certificate to Starbucks, an  e-copy of Altered Destiny, and a magnet for your refrigerator. 

At the end of this post, you'll find a link to all the other participating authors.

So come on, meet some new talented authors, visit with some old friends and enter to win prizes! The contest is open from December 14th to December 21st.

Here's a bit about Altered Destiny so you know what you're playing for: 

Selia has run her family's tavern since she was fifteen and can hunt and fight the equal of any man. When she rescues a badly wounded man and nurses him back to health, she has no idea she's about to change not only her life, but also the destinies of two peoples...

The battered warrior is Svistra—a race of bloodthirsty savages determined to destroy her homeland. Or so the stories claim. Jaden reveals a different truth: how his ancestors were driven into the barren northern mountains. Now they are strong and war parties are pushing south wanting their land back.

The son of a Svistra Commander, Jaden is looking for a way to bring peace to both humans and Svistrans. He tries to ignore his growing passion for Selia, but when she is captured he has to decide what he would be willing to sacrifice to save the woman he loves.

Good luck and have fun!

Participating Authors

Altered Destiny

WON THE RT READERS CHOICE AWARD!!!

Just a few awesome books. ; )

Like bare-chested cowboys? Cynthia D'Alba, fellow blogger at Everybody Needs a Little Romance, has released an awesome book called the Texas Two Step.

Check out her interview here and enter a contest for a chance to win Altered Destiny! : )

And the winner is!

I am so late in posting this. Fortunately, I already contacted the winner. ; ) 




The winner of the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop is Monica Vargo. 


Congratulations Monica! A copy of Altered Destiny is on it's way.


Hope everyone is having a wonderful end of 2011. : )

SQUEEE!

ALTERED DESTINY was nominated for  RT's October Seal of Excellence!

There be Monsters!

Today I'm over at Katie Reus's blog talking about vampires and things that go bump in the night. Please stop by and say hi!

(PS: helps when I put the link in, doesn't it?)

Selia

I wrote Selia with one purpose in mind: to make her different.

I didn't want her to be a typical kick-ass heroine, although I did want her to kick some ass. Stereo-types are sometimes hard to avoid, but I really wanted to do my best.

So the first thing I decided, in honor of my sister, was to make her half black. (there is no Africa or America in ALTERED DESTINY so...) However, that is just who she is, so I didn't stress or highlight that fact. But go through the book with that in mind and it's obvious.

The second decision was to make her a virgin. To be fair, I fought it. I mean I write some pretty spicy stuff under a pen name, it felt...weird. But as I examined her situation and character, I couldn't deny that if felt right.

I didn't want Selia to be beautiful. I wanted her striking with a sure knowledge of who she is, and who she isn't. Confidence comes from knowing who you are, not pretending to be more than you are. I think that is beautiful in its own way.

Selia is also a study in contractions. She spends a good part of her life proving to others that she is not her mother's daughter, yet she loves her mother. She is strong because she has to be, because there was no one else to be strong, yet her life is catapulted into chaos by the decisions of others.

 Selia has a determination I admire. Tell her she can't do something and she'll say watch me. That quality also gets her in a lot of trouble.

I have a clear image in my head of what Selia looks like, but I couldn't find anything online that comes close. Well, with the exception of the woman on the book cover. So, for the next month, send me what you think Selia looks like. If there is more than one response, I'll randomly chose one and send the winner a $10 Amazon gift card! Sound good?

Contest will run until November 3rd!

Llamas and squirrels.

Yes, I said llamas and squirrels. What do they have in common? Come on by CJ Redwine's blog and find out!

WINNER

Congratulations to Georgie Lee, you won the Starbucks gift card from my Release Day contest! Georgie, pls email me or post your email address so I can get you your prize!

RT REVIEW

You know that kind of stunned excitement that makes you want to sit down? Yup. I read this as I was running out the door and because I was late, as usual, it really didn't sink in until I got the school. Where I promptly sat down. ; )

It's like all that hard work, the doubts, the fears, the hopes cumulate after the book is published.

When I got home, I sat down to type out this blog and I don't know what to say. Just Wow! Thank you every one who has taken the time to read and review ALTERED DESTINY.

RT Book Reviews

Jaden, love him or, well, why wouldn't you?

I thought it might be kinda fun to introduce you to some of the characters in ALTERED DESTINY. We're going to start with Jaden, the hero. 

Jaden. What can I say about Jaden?

Jaden was in the initial scene that inspired ALTERED DESTINY. I pictured a woman going somewhere important and along the way, she saves a man, only to find out he wasn't a man. This was the first dialogue written. (as in a I jumped off my treadmill and wrote it on a scrap of paper.)

“In payment for my life. I owe you fealty.”

She didn't glance back. “You owe no debt, and I need no servant.”

“You could do worse than having my loyalty, especially in this day and age.”

She turned to examine him. “I wasn’t aware your kind knew any form of loyalty, especially in this day and age.”

As you might know, this is a little different than the dialogue that appears in the book. You see, that was Jaden's scene. One of only two. I had plans to bring him back at the climax to repay his debt. But that's it.

Jaden had other ideas.

He stole the scene, the book and even the girl. Nathan was the original male protag. Poor Nathan. ; )

I always have a crush on my heroes. I figure if I don't fall in love with them, why should my heroine. But Jaden is special. Jaden is... more. He's not quite human, which I love. Also, with most of my male characters, I know what they look like. I've never actually "seen" Jaden's face.  I do know exactly what his upper body looks like. The picture in this post was my screen saver the entire time I was writing and editing this book.

Recently, someone sent me a picture of what they thought Caleb, one of my male heroes in my Lynne books, looked like. I was shocked how similar the picture was to my idea of Caleb. So I'm curious, if you've read ALTERED DESTINY, what do you think Jaden looks like?

It is Romance!

Today is my very first interview for ALTERED DESTINY~ Please stop by Isn't it Romance  where Joanna get's to scoop on some of  my thought processes as I wrote this book.

And don't forget, there are still 6 days to enter the contest to win a Starbucks gift card. Just comment on the post titled Release Day!  : )

The Call

It's unique to every writer. Stop by the Carina blog where I'm telling my call story. ; )

And don't forget, comment in the post below for a chance to win a Starbucks gift card!

Also we're at #2 on the Carina site for sales!!!  *happy dance*

RELEASE DAY!!!!

Wow. Yeah I know, I'm a writer, but I honestly don't know what to write. How about THANK YOU!! Thank you to every person who is reading this blog. Without you, it wouldn't be nearly as fun to write!

Thank you to everyone at Carina Press for publishing Altered Destiny. The author is only one member of a team and every player in that team is valuable!

Thank you, Crystal, for making me look good. I love you mucho!

Thank you to every CP, every eye that read the early forms of this book and helped make it better.

Thank you to my husband who has never once wavered in his confidence and has eaten frozen food a time or two for the greater good. ;)

Ah, you really don't want to hear all this. LOL It sounds like a dedication. Well, I guess it is.

Without further ado, the star of the show:

Available TODAY!

Normally I don't do many contests, but I'm so excited, I have to share with you all. So, post a link to this blog anywhere on the Internet, then put the link in the comments and I'll pick one of you to win a $5 gift certificate to Starbucks. Winter is coming. Coffee, a warm blanket, a good book? Can't beat it. :)

Let's see... how about I pick someone on Sept 27th. That's my hubby's birthday. :)

Count down to Altered Destiny: 1 days

Jaden describes the place of his birth.


“But there was a problem,” Jaden continued. “Svistra take on the characteristics of their prey. This is not a concern when our diet is varied but for a hundred years, while the Svistra kept the human prisons, they fed on rapists and murderers, the dregs of human society. The change was slow. If children were a little more violent than their parents and grandchildren a little more bloodthirsty, it was just a sign of the times. Eventually, criminals were not enough. Svistra began attacking travelers, then villages. The kings responded, and the wholesale slaughter of Svistra began anew. We were driven far to the north where the air is cold even when the sun’s high in the sky. It is a rocky, desolate land where nothing grows and all things die quickly, even hope.”

Count down to Altered Destiny: 2 days

It's getting close and I'm getting nervous! Here's an excerpt that gives you a glimpse of the gods in Altered Destiny. This is a conversation between Jaden and Selia.


“Humans don’t know of the Weaver?”

“No. But he sounds a little like the Trickster.”

The flames continued to play with the planes and valleys of Jaden’s face as he crouched on the other side of the fire. “I’m familiar with your Trickster. I’ve seen altars scattered through the forest.”

Selia nodded. The Trickster had no temple because his priests couldn’t be trusted. Instead, people built random altars and left them to the elements. No one knew who received the offerings left on the altars. That was the Trickster’s concern.

“There are pronounced differences between them,” he continued. “The first being the Weaver is female. Another, she is blind.”

“Blind?”

"Yes. She weaves the strands of our lives with impartiality.”

“I see.”

“Do you? How else could she mistakenly weave a human and a Svistra together?”

There was definitely bitterness this time.

Count down to Altered Destiny: 3 days

This is one of my favorite details about Selia and Jaden's world: The White Forest. One of these days, I'd love to expand on it a little.


The White Forest stretched out from horizon to horizon. The sun’s early light failed to penetrate the mists. Grasses in the meadow crunched beneath her boots as though the blades were frozen or dead. Selia didn’t stop to determine which; her gaze didn’t waver from the tall bleached trunks surrounded by the swirling pale, almost silvery mist.

Her curiosity grew with each step. She understood why they said the forest was dead. The trees resembled bones more than branches, but their nakedness was only an illusion. Thin, almost transparent pale leaves shuddered on the white branches. Unlike the trees in winter that shed their leaves and wore a mantle of snow for a season, these trees didn’t bear the promise of life. Yet the forest felt far from dead. As she drew closer, a sensation of expectation increased. It waited for her.

Count down to Altered Destiny: 4 days

And today is my birthday! To celebrate, here's a glimpse at the antagonist, Keldar. : )


Noe stood, draped in layers of sheer lavender cloth from shoulder to sandaled feet. The cloth softened the outline of her body but did nothing to hide it.

“Are you curious why I’ve brought you to my chamber?” He didn’t miss her glance toward the bed.

“You’ve found Jaden—”

Keldar bared his teeth, his nostrils flaring to catch the new burst of fear behind Noe’s bravado. “Jaden is dead.”

Her expression didn’t change. “And you think to make me yours.”

“I always liked your intelligence.”

Count down to Altered Destiny: 5 days

This one is in Jaden's point of view.


She was one of the most remarkable humans he’d ever met, they both were, and he’d been lucky to meet a few. Of course, he wasn’t sure the humans he had befriended would count themselves lucky. With the exception of Selia and Oren, they were all dead.

Count down to Altered Destiny: 6 days

Here's today snippet of Altered Destiny. Enjoy!


A few more horses thundered in from the south. Her limbs went numb. Slung across one of the horses was a large familiar shape. Oren.

Selia shook off Abel’s hands and ran toward the prone form. “By the gods, if you’ve hurt him.” She reached Oren’s side and touched the blood trailing down his face.

His eyes fluttered. Relief surged through her limbs. Strong hands grasped her arms and pulled her back. “That one had some fight, he did. Must be his woman.”

The soldiers laughed.

She struggled to free herself from the man’s grip to no avail. “Let. Him. Go.”

“I’d be a mite more concerned about yourself right now, missy,” her captor whispered in her ear.

Selia twisted hard, kneed the man in the groin, and then punched him in the jaw. “I said, let him go.”

She looked up in time to see the leader’s horse charge, a flash of steel, then darkness.


Got questions, comments? I'm more than happy to answer them for you. : )