Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Teaser Tuesday

If you're over on Facebook, you may have already noticed that a bunch of authors are tossing around teasers today for upcoming books and works in progress.  Since I'm working on Karma's edits at the moment, it seemed topical to share a little Naughty Karma snippet.  Here's a sneak peek!



Tempest in a Tea-Length Dress

The shop door crashed open and slammed against the far wall, shuddering on its hinges. Prometheus caught it with a mental hand when it would have ricocheted off the wall to retaliate against the woman who’d struck it. He froze the door in place before it could wreak vengeance on that pretty—livid—face. Cracks probably spidered through the frosted glass from the force of her entry, but he didn’t bother to take his eyes off the woman on his threshold long enough to check.
Karma Cox. Owner and benevolent dictator of Karmic Consultants, paranormal problem solvers. A magical Mussolini in heels.
She was here.
“You bastard.”
And she was pissed.

***
For more teasers, swing on by The Face Book and check out some other participating authors.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Naughty Karma Cover Reveal!

I am sooooo excited about this book, I can't wait another second to show you the pretty, pretty cover.  Naughty Karma, Karmic Consultants #7, coming to you October 2013.  BEHOLD!



What do you think, boys and girls?  You like?

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Write What You Know

This is one of the oldest writing cliches in the book.  Write what you know.  I've always had a pretty loose interpretation of this particular saying - in a sort of write what is honest and true to you rather than you may only write about your own areas of expertise and I still prefer that interpretation.

But... well, there's something to be said for experts.  So, maybe I'll change this one up a bit and say, if you're going to write about something you don't know about, go for it!  But please be edited by or beta read by someone who is an expert - because no matter how much research you do, you will get things wrong.  Little things.  Tiny things.  But things that will make it clear you don't know what you're talking about.

I come across this most often in books about Alaska (moose don't come in herds, darlings) or Hawaii (there is no "b" in the Hawaiian language, so that island you just made up? Give it a different name), but my current Oh Dear is baseball.  I'm a baseball junkie.  I'm reading a really, seriously excellent romance that happens to feature a baseball player hero.  And I'm loving it.  Except when a sentence appears and my brain says to the author, "Oh no, you don't really know anything about this sport, do you?"

Catchers do not have "pinpoint control, commanding both sides of the plate"; pitchers do.  RBIs are not an average, they are cumulative, so you would never say "an 120 RBI" (it's "120 Ribbies").  Your hero can't get a walk-off triple on a road game.  Your starting pitcher can't "hold a save" in the seventh inning (or ever, saves are for closers).  This extremely talented author is cribbing phrases from the right places, but applying them in just slightly the wrong way.  Tiny little things.  Tiny things that throw the in-the-know audience right out of the book. 

Funny enough, I had a similar issue when I read the same author's book about a professional snowboarder.  Loved the book, but kept getting thrown out by things that were just a tiny bit off.  (The stuff about living in a snow culture was spot on, but he read like an alpine skier to me rather than a boarder.)  It's a small thing (and god knows, it's hard to find an expert to beta read everything you write), but the devil really is in the details.

Of course, I cheat and write about paranormal worlds with shifters and psychics and demons and whatnot, where I get to just make everything up and I probably still get it wrong, so I'm not really one to talk.  Kudos to those go for it.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Dang, Girl

Real life sisters (and playing them on TV) Lennon and Maisy Stella are just wicked talented, y'all, and performances like this are why I'm addicted to Nashville.  Observe the awesome:

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Trick to Bad Boys

I'm over at the Ruby Blog today talking about how to turn a bad boy villain into a bad boy hero.  Dexter, Snape, Lothaire, Barons... who's your favorite bad boy and what makes you love him?

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Giving Newbie Writers a Hand... Literally

I'm not much for writing advice because everyone is different and what works for one person might be the absolute wrong thing for someone else, however this might be the best collection of writing advice I've tripped across yet, so I wanted to share.  Behold:  27 Pieces of Advice for Writers From Famous Authors.  

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Midnight Justice Book Birthday!

Happy Midnight Justice Book Birthday, everyone!  It's here!  The touchable, pettable, take-home-and-cuddle-able, print anthology of superhero hotness has arrived at a bookstore near you!  (Or an online retailer near you.  It's even 30% off at Samhain right now.)

When the sun goes down, the bad boys come out to play.

Blade of Moonlight by Kimberly Dean
Court reporter by day, by night Luna fights crime with moon power. When she awakens after a hunt gone wrong, she’s surprised to be alive—and tied to a notorious villain’s bed.
Luna has no business on his turf, and Scythe plans to enjoy administering punishment. Yet somewhere in the night, pain turns into pleasure…

Breaking Bad by Jodi Redford
After uncovering the secret half of her gene pool, Ruby sets out to break the Shadow Czars’ hold over Earth—if she can figure out how to use her powers.
Teague hides his heritage until he has to use his powers to save Ruby. Their wary alliance turns into circuit-blowing attraction, but with an army of minions after them, they may not survive the night.

Superlovin’ by Vivi Andrews
When Darla’s boyfriend dumps her, she takes her superpowers to the skies, and woe to the villain dumb enough to pick tonight to crack a government vault.
Lucien almost has the information he needs to free his baby sister when DynaGirl catches him elbow-deep in a top-secret safe. The only way to distract her? Kiss her senseless. Except he’s the one taking the fall…

Product Warnings: Pow! Contains villains that don’t play nice. Bam! Mind-control soda, excessive use of Spandex. Kablooie! And enough epic battles, bustiers and leather to melt your e-reader.

Print release days are always a bit odd for me since the follow the ebook release by almost a year.  The story is already out there, so it's easy to forget that for many readers who still prefer print it's still brand new.  So here's to the newness!  The first timeness!  Or to revisiting it in print form if you're like me and like to have both paperback and ebook copies of everything (it's an addiction). 

Happy release day, boys and girls.  May it be beyond super for all of you.