Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Winners of The Valespian Pact Blog Tour
A huge thank you to everybody who followed and participated in the blog tour for the Valespian Pact. Y'all Rock! So without further ado, here are the winners of the blog tour!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, June 1, 2015
Pretty in the Mailbox
This is a hectic week. I feel like I'm running around with my head cut off because I'm trying to finish a bunch of projects before I leave for vacation on Thursday. I'm working on fixing Ruby Red. I have a slew of interview forms and blog posts to write, otherwise Will find me and string me up by my toes. (Not really... maybe...) And I have to pack--which I will put off until the very last.
But amidst all of the hubbub I received some pretties by email. One of them is the cover for Surrounded by Crimson. A bright spot when I feel like I'm losing my mind. In thirty days, it will hit the shelves.
Publisher: Less Than Three Press:
Release Date: July 1, 2015
Cover Artist: London Burden
Genre: Fantasy/Gay/Paranormal/Poly/Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9781620045749
Length: 48000
Available for Pre-Order at: Less Than Thee Press
Blurb:
Tristan has agreed to bond with Ushna, but there is still much to do and returning to Tribe Enkidu puts everyone on edge. Tristan is being stalked like prey, all the while fighting depression as he mourns the loss of Nikita, and enduring a battle of wills with the Elder Council over his birthright. The pleading of his adoptive daughter only adds still more stress to the situation.
Stumbling onto a secret prison while searching for Ushna leads Tristan to risk everything to free a lost God. But breaking the tie to his Flame has more repercussions than Tristan knew and the assistance of a forgotten Goddess and a centuries old lover may not be enough to save him.
Publisher: Less Than Three Press:
Release Date: July 1, 2015
Cover Artist: London Burden
Genre: Fantasy/Gay/Paranormal/Poly/Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 9781620045749
Length: 48000
Available for Pre-Order at: Less Than Thee Press
Blurb:
Tristan has agreed to bond with Ushna, but there is still much to do and returning to Tribe Enkidu puts everyone on edge. Tristan is being stalked like prey, all the while fighting depression as he mourns the loss of Nikita, and enduring a battle of wills with the Elder Council over his birthright. The pleading of his adoptive daughter only adds still more stress to the situation.
Stumbling onto a secret prison while searching for Ushna leads Tristan to risk everything to free a lost God. But breaking the tie to his Flame has more repercussions than Tristan knew and the assistance of a forgotten Goddess and a centuries old lover may not be enough to save him.
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Rainbow Con Goodies Have Arrived
I almost forgot to order stuff for Rainbow Con. K-Lee Klein gave me a poke about the grab-bag swag and I had a moment where I thought I was sitting pretty--only to crash.
Scrambling, I went to my favorite place to purchase my favorite pens and that was a bust. The company updated their website and when I went to check out they tried to charge me 5x the amount. I did everything the IT dudes would tell you. Clear your cart. Log out and back in. Reboot. Clear your cookies. After several attempts I did the chatbox thing with their customer service.
They said they could take the order for me. We had the chat about when the pens would get to me because I'm leaving town and wouldn't be here to receive the package if it arrived after a certain date. I also had to divvy up the pens and send them to the Rainbow Con coordinators. If it took them the max time to print and then for the postal service to deliver, then I would have a little window to work with. My order didn't qualify to be expedited, but I told them to go ahead because these were great pens. Everybody loved them. People who didn't read my books remembered who I was because they had one of my pens. They all said the same thing, "I loved the pen."
Anyways, I tell them to go ahead and place the order. Then they come back and say that there's a problem. The cost is 5x what it should be. They wanted me to clear the cart then log in and out. I already did that and told them so.
They exited the chat.
I'm so not kidding. They basically hung up on me. I had been trying to place an order for three days and they hung up on me. And here's the thing. Even though I was frustrated, I was nice to them. I always am to the CS people because they aren't the one who caused the problem. They are the ones who help you out. So I'm nice. Nice got me nowhere that day.
<--- Then Vistaprint had a sale going on so I purchase some special swag. A few hats and T-shirts, in a limited quantity to give away. I wish their pens were more affordable. Although, they are the only place I found that does a good job putting my book cover on pen barrels. I also have some mouse pads and a couple of spiral notebooks and a canvas tote.
The special prize is the two USB jump drives I bought that will have all my books loaded onto it. ^_^ Very cool.
So if you're going to Rainbow Con, make sure you look me up for some goodies. I don't know how long they will last!
Here is my schedule. When I'm not there, I will probably be at my table or at the Queer Sci-Fi table filling in. ^_^
Thu 1pm - Fiction: How Much Sex is Too Much Sex?
Thu 2pm - Hard vs Soft Sci-Fi
Fri 10am - Why Won't You Die: Vampires and Zombies
Fri 11am - My God, It's Full of Gays!
Fri 2pm - Warning: Too Many Warnings
Sat 11am - Author Signing
Sat 1pm - Anthro Sex Sat
4pm - Shifter Sex
Sat 5pm - Beyond the Wolf: Non-Canine Shifters
Sun 11am - Fifty Shades of Fantasy
Sun 12pm - Author Reading
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!!
Friday, May 29, 2015
Wrap Up For The Week
First I want to thank The Writer's Minion for organizing this tour for me! The highlights for this week's blog tour with guest posts, interviews, and reviews, make sure to check out:
Wicked Faerie Tales And Reviews - Guest Post
Divine Magazine - Interviewed
MM Good Book Reviews - Guest Post and Review
Decadent Delights - Interviewed
Cate Ashwood - Interviewed
Amanda Stone - Interviewed
Molly Lolly - Interviewed
Stop by and give some love to the websites that were kind enough Spotlight The Valespian Pact this week.
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, The Writer's Minion, Multitaskingmomma, Hearts On Fire Reviews, My Fiction Nook, Rainbow Gold Reviews, M/M Romance Book Reviews, Kristy's Brain Food, Gale Stanley, BDF Book Blog, Zathyn Priest, Scattered Thoughts And Rogue Words, Three Chicks After Dark
If you haven't already entered the giveaway, there's only a couple of days left to do so.
 |
| Prize Package #1, Alpha Trine Prints |
 |
| Prize Package #2, Striker Prints |
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
MM Memorial Day Scavenger Hunt
Hey Guys! I'm participating in a scavanger hunt blog hop that starts today, May 25 and runs through June 3rd. I'm on the very last day (points to schedule). There are a ton of prizes and giveaways going on.
So let's go! The starting blog is BFD Book Blog.
| May 25, 2015 |
| BFD Book Blog |
| Author Cardeno C. |
| Author Kade Boehme |
| May 26, 2015 |
| Author Cate Ashwood |
| Prism Book Alliance |
| Reading is FunN'mental |
| May 27, 2015 |
| Hearts on Fire Reviews |
| Author Lissa Kasey / Sam Kadence |
| Author Nya Rawlyns |
| May 28, 2015 |
| Carly's Book Review |
| Author Jessie G |
| Two Chicks Obsessed with Books and Eye Candy |
| May 29, 2015 |
| Author Annabeth Albert |
| Author M.A. Church |
| MM Good Book Reviews |
| May 30, 2015 |
| Author Amanda C. Stone |
| Author Amy Lane |
| Author Aria Grace |
| May 31, 2015 |
| Author Kindle Alexander |
| Author Sara York |
| Author Taylor Brooks |
| June 1, 2015 |
| Author Andrew Grey |
| Divine Magazine |
| Author Kai Tyler |
| June 2, 2015 |
| 3 Chicks After Dark |
| Author Brenda Cothern |
| Author Sloan Johnson |
| June 3, 2015 |
| Author Felice Stevens |
| Author Lexi Ander |
| Vampires, Werewolves & Fairies Oh My! |
Thank you for stopping by and reading
The Valespian Pact Audiobook Tour
This week is the Valespian Pact Audiobook tour, running from May 25th thru May 29th. The blog tour stops are:
Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents
Monday, May 25th:
Multitaskingmomma
Hearts On Fire Reviews
Wicked Faerie Tales And Reviews
Divine Magazine
Tuesday, May 26th:
Wednesday, May 27th:
MM Good Book Reviews
Kristy's Brain Food
Gale Stanley
Cate Ashwood
Multitaskingmomma
Hearts On Fire Reviews
Wicked Faerie Tales And Reviews
Divine Magazine
Tuesday, May 26th:
Wednesday, May 27th:
MM Good Book Reviews
Kristy's Brain Food
Gale Stanley
Cate Ashwood
Thursday, May 28th:
BDF Book Blog
Amanda Stone
Zathyn Priest
Friday, May 29th:
Molly Lolly
Scattered Thoughts And Rogue Words
Three Chicks After Dark
|
| Prize Package #1, Alpha Trine Prints |
|
| Prize Package #2, Striker Prints |
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Guest Post & Giveaway: Angel Martinez with You’re Allergic to What…?, Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters
Whoot! I'm excited to have Angel on the blog today talking about odd and common allergies and brought along an excerpt to her new release, Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters.
Also, don't forget to leave a comment. Luck lucky people will win their choice of backlist Angel Martinez's books!
*~*~*
You’re Allergic to
What…?
When I was a kid, no
one seemed to be allergic to anything. We played in the dirt, ate
whatever the hell we wanted, ran around like crazy people in the
humid, pollen soaked air, and somehow we were just fine. Oh, sure,
occasionally, it turned out someone was allergic to bee stings and
had to be rushed to the ER, but that was high drama for us.
Somewhere along the
line, slowly, gradually, this changed, probably due to environmental
factors and things in our food but suddenly we started to hear about
kids being allergic to peanuts, to shellfish, to milk, to soy, to
eggs, and so on. Heck, I even developed a shellfish allergy later in
life in sympathy. But regardless of why it happens, food allergies
are our immune systems being drama queens. The immune system
misidentifies certain proteins in food and it overreacts, sending out
the histamine troops in packed battalions and overloading critical
systems, causing things like runny noses, hives, itching, and oh,
issues with minor things like breathing. Allergies can develop at any
time, young or old, and are sometimes linked to odd causes, like tick
bites.
No, I haven’t been
smoking anything good. Tick bites. The Lone Star tick has been linked
to an increase in what was once an exceptionally rare allergy – an
allergy to meat. Sometimes the allergy is only to mammal meats, but
not always. It sometimes extends to poultry as well. Not all meat
allergies are cause by tick bites, certainly, but the dang ticks have
made it into the news and increased awareness of an allergy that’s
particularly difficult to manage in this country. Why? Because it’s
often a delayed reaction allergy, difficult to diagnose, and because
Americans put meat in everything, to one extent or another.
A friend of mine
struggles with this every day and I’ve watched how this affects
every food decision. Did you touch that with your meat-contaminated
hands before you handed it over? Does the restaurant use a separate
grill for meat? Separate utensils? Mashed potatoes…but they have
bacon. Fried okra, but it’s made with bacon fat. You get the idea.
Suddenly you have to be aware of everything surrounding food
preparation and not just the food.
So Kyle Monroe, the
hero of Lime Gelatin, gets a meat allergy. Because it’s a thing
that happens to real people and he wanted to be as real as possible.
It’s his own fault.
*~*~*
Offbeat Crimes 1
(part of Amber Allure’s
77th Precinct Pax)
Blurb:
Officer Kyle
Monroe’s encounter with a strange gelatinous creature in an alley
leaves him scarred and forever changed, revealing odd abilities he
wishes he didn’t have and earning him reassignment to
Philadelphia’s 77th Precinct where all the cops have defective
paranormal abilities.
Just as Kyle’s
starting to adjust to his fellow misfit squad mates, his new partner
arrives. Tall, physically perfect, reserved, and claiming he has no
broken psychic talents, Vikash Soren irritates Kyle in every way. But
as much as he’d like to hate Vikash, Kyle finds himself oddly drawn
to him, their non-abilities meshing in unexpected ways.
Now, if Kyle and
Vikash can learn to work together, they just might be able to stop
the mysterious killer who has been leaving mutilated bodies along the
banks of the Schuylkill.
*~*~*
Excerpt:
Kyle sat up
straighter, shifting to see between the heads in front of him. Soren
looked like a poster boy for the model police officer, tall and
straight, uniform crisp and sharp. He stood at parade rest beside the
lieutenant, impassively surveying his new colleagues. A little knot
of resentment lodged in Kyle’s stomach. At his own introduction to
the 77th, he’d been nervous and fidgety, freaked out by the
collection of…freaks. How can he be so calm?
“Officer Soren
transferred from the Harrisburg PD—”
“Don’t they
have enough freaky shit of their own up there?” Wolf called out in
his rasping growl.
“Since
Harrisburg is in our jurisdiction,” she continued with a quelling
glance. “He’ll start out partnered with Monroe.”
“What does he
do, ma’am? That it’s safe to put him with Kirby, er, Kyle?”
Shira Lourdes asked as she flicked nervous glances across the room at
Kyle. An empty chair slid away from her and fell over. Her partner,
Greg Santos, shook his head and righted the unfortunate piece of
furniture.
“Officer
Soren’s abilities are his business, which he may or may not choose
to share if you ask. And don’t bully him about it either, any of
you.” Lieutenant Dunfee swept the room again, pinning each of her
officers with her needle-laser gaze like captive butterflies.
“Monroe, my office after briefing. Info on your current case.”
She dismissed
them, stalking from the room with thunderclouds in her eyes. Kyle
found himself approaching the new guy and trying his best not to be
awkward. Did he offer to shake hands? Was it safe? Would the guy
flinch like so many people did at the sight of Kyle’s scarred
hands? Soren was even taller up close, six-foot-three of lean
inscrutability, his blue eyes startlingly bright against smoky bronze
skin.
“Um, hi, I’m
Kyle Monroe.” Kyle fidgeted when Soren didn’t offer his hand
either. “You’re with me, I guess. I’ll show you our spot in the
squad room.”
Soren followed
him silently and Kyle was starting to wonder if he was like Krisk in
the not-speaking department until he finally spoke in a smooth, soft
baritone, making Kyle startle and miss a step. “Why do they call
you Kirby?”
“You’d hear
it sooner or later, I guess.” Kyle shrugged. “It’s this thing I
do, absorbing other people’s talents temporarily. If they’re
close to me. Or touch me. Like Kirby, the little pink dude in the
video game.”
“Ah.”
Just that?
Soren didn’t edge away, or change expression at all. Was he made of
stone? “It’s a thing. Everyone here has a thing.”
After a few more
steps, Soren asked, “Always?”
“What… Oh,
was I always like this? Who knows? I mean, maybe I’ve picked up
stray thoughts or something, but no. It’s pretty recent. Knowing
that I do this.”
Kyle took a wide
arc around Vance as he entered the squad room, pointing to the double
desk in the far corner, well removed from everyone else. “That’s
ours. Coffee’s over there, but you might not want that coffee. Let
me grab my file and we’ll go see the lieutenant.”
“So what’s
your story, Soren?” Vance called across the squad room. “What
flies your freak flag?”
“Yeah, what do
you do?” Jeff Gatling stopped ’porting his banana from one corner
of his desk to the other.
“I don’t
really do anything,” Soren answered as he hefted the empty
coffeepot. “Guess I’ll make fresh since I’m the new guy.”
He opened the
top to remove the filter and every human voice in the squad room
yelled out, “No!”
Most people
would have startled, maybe dropped the carafe. Soren just blinked at
the roomful of people gesturing wildly. He took the filter out and
emptied it over the trashcan. “Why not?”
“You don’t
want to do that.” Kyle stayed by his desk, a nice safe distance
from the coffee station. “That’s Larry’s job.”
“Larry’s not
keeping up then.”
The container of
sweetener packets began to rattle. It shivered across the counter and
leaped to a messy end, ceramic shards skittering across the floor.
The desk that Krisk and Wolf shared rose from the floor several
inches and slammed back down. Wolf fled with a squeaking yelp just
before the desk flipped on its side.
Soren glanced
toward Kyle. “Larry’s not a cop, is he?”
“He is…he
was! A dead cop. Larry’s a ghost. He gets ticked if anyone else
makes the coffee. Put the stuff back, please!”
“Larry?”
Soren raised his voice but to all appearances remained completely
unruffled. “I’m new here. I’m very sorry I invaded your
jurisdiction. See? I’m putting the carafe back. Closing the top.
Are we good, Larry?”
A breeze ruffled
through a stack of papers, but no further mayhem ensued. The carafe
slid from its pad on the coffeemaker and floated to the water cooler
where Larry, who never manifested in a visible form, whistled
tunelessly while he filled the carafe.
From his dim
corner of the room, Carrington said in his dry, genteel way, “Welcome
to the Island of Misfit Freaks...”
*~*~*
Giveaway:
2 commenters will be
chosen at random (’cause I have a formula to do that and
everything) for their choice of backlist Angel Martinez book!
*~*~*
About the Author:
Angel Martinez
is the erotic fiction pen name of a writer of several genres. Her
experiences as a soldier, a nurse, a banker, and an underpaid
corporate drone give her a broad view of the world and a deep
appreciation for the astounding variety of people on this small
planet.
She currently
lives part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware and full
time inside her head. She has one husband of over twenty years, one
son, two cats, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible
addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.
To contact Angel with
praise, adulation, sarcasm, and complaints to the management (any
management, she’s not picky, but it might not solve your flight
reservation issue) please try these linky things:
Email:
ravenesperanza@yahoo.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/amartinez2
Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/angelmartinez
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Friday, May 22, 2015
Busting Some Knee Caps
This has been a hellova week. Last Friday and Saturday I made a some huge head way on Releasing Chaos and was pretty pleased with myself. Earlier last week, I had sent Fate And Destiny to an editor and after some discussion on a couple of things I needed to change, I hopped in to make the fixes. In and out and I'd be finished. I get about half way through and the prose fell apart. O.O It looked as if I hadn't edited my manuscript at all. I was horrified and then so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the desk. I remembered I finished editing the story last year but the changes that I recalled making weren't there. What happened?
Unfortunately, after trying to fix it quickly and reviewing all my saved copies in the five different areas and reading my notes, I ran across where I was reminding myself of the information that was lost when my system crashed... I had remembered some specific changes which I wrote down but at the time I had a couple of other projects that had come in to I had to edit. Then it all came back like a bad memory. I had planned on going back and refinishing, but I had put it off because returning to that medieval head space was hard.
Then I forgot all about it.
Later, I remembered I needed to do some self editing and I'd always start at the beginning, get to certain point and then other projects took my attention away. After a year had gone by, all I recalled off the top of my head was that I needed to look it over before I sent it off to the editor. Earlier this year I contacted one and said, hey no hurry whenever you're ready. I'll look it over in the meantime. I started from the beginning and got to a certain point and then other things took precedent. What I looked at was fine... and assumed the rest was on the same page. The editor said, "Send it my way." And I did.
The laugh was on me. I thought I would die of embarrassment. I had this anxiety attack last Sunday, wondering what in the hell had I done.
Now again, Fate And Destiny has been put off because I received the edits for Salvaging Toby's Heart. Then a couple of days later I received the edits for Ruby Red Booty Shorts And A Louisville Slugger. I think the galley for Starting Fires will be coming any day as well.
Oh, oh, oh! Let's not forget, I'm prepping for the blog tour for Surrounded by Crimson--it looks like I have about 15 posts to write. Before all of this happened, I picked up a reopened DRitC story over at GR which is due July 13th. I still have to complete Releasing Chaos. Which leads me back to Ruby Red.
I started on the edits for Ruby Red yesterday. I pulled up what I remembered of the play list for the story, the Brian Setze's Malaguena (the video at the top) was one that I had looped while Diego was busting some knee caps. It reminded me of the fun I had writing the story. I finished the majority of the edits today I had left a couple of comments to go back and address because I needed to clarify some things. Then I get to the editors final comment on her suggestion for the story, and I'm nodding my head in agreement to them all. She had pointed out several places were there were issues and I had planned to go back and see how I could fix them but there was much more which she addressed at the end.
So if you're one of the few who has read Ruby Red before, then expect some changes. Possibly some big changes. The sequence of events is going to be rearranged and the story lengthened to fix the gaping plot holes, scrub out the telling when it comes to Diego's background and his abuela, insert some romance between him and Beck--well, insert a relationship period. There is a good chance that it will be a completely different story. The gist will still be the same, the plot arc for the big bad won't change but there are holes that needed to be filled in.
The next couple of weeks are going to be jammed packed. Next week there is a blog tour for The Valespian Pact audiobooks. I'm taking a trip on June 4th to see a friend and then jumping over to Texas to visit with family. I'll return home June 10th or 11th. So that is a week with very little work going on. With luck, I'll have Ruby Red back to the publisher before I go or at least have it written so when I return home I can run through a self-edit one more time before turning back in to the publisher. I have to get my things together for Rainbow Con and I'm hoping that by July I'll have the DRitC story finished so that I can spend a couple of weeks going through Fate And Destiny. I may end up taking Releasing Chaos with me to Rainbow Con. And holy cow, I'm tired.
I'm going to take a page from Diego's book and start swinging away to knock out some of these projects as quick as I can. I'll be scarce on social media, so if you don't see me for a while, I'm slaying my own Bruja Blanco. Wish me luck as I bust some knee caps (metaphorically speaking)!
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Rainbow Con 2015 Schedule
I had seen everyone on Facebook talking about their panel placement for Rainbow Con and I was like, "I don't have mine yet, but it'll come." Well last night I noticed someone said spam and I check and there was my email, six days old. Awesome.
But I was looking at this and started laughing. I totally forgot about forgot about signing up for the Author Reading. There are a lot panels I'm on and several were about different kinds of sex which made me immediately think of Salt-n-Pepa.
Thu 1pm - Fiction: How Much Sex is Too Much Sex?
Thu 2pm - Hard vs Soft Sci-Fi
Fri 10am - Why Won't You Die: Vampires and Zombies
Fri 11am - My God, It's Full of Gays!
Fri 2pm - Warning: Too Many Warnings
Sat 11am - Author Signing
Sat 1pm - Anthro Sex Sat
4pm - Shifter Sex
Sat 5pm - Beyond the Wolf: Non-Canine Shifters
Sun 11am - Fifty Shades of Fantasy
Sun 12pm - Author Reading
I really like the line-up. Now I can start getting prepared. :)
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
News: Ruby Red Booty Shorts And A Louisville Slugger
Now I feel like I have a reason to show off the cover again. I adore this cover so fucking hard, y'all just don't know how much.
Blurb:
Eager to escape the shadows of a tragic loss, Diego built a new life with his best friend, Beck. When he finally decided one night to admit that he's in love with Beck, that new life takes a new, hot and happy turn. But happiness is easily shattered, as he's learned all too well, and this time it's ruined by the arrival of a mysterious package and the arrival of men bent on violence.
Memories of a dead brother and an untouchable drug lord rise inevitably to the surface, and Diego dreads that the man he loves is mired in the world that Diego tried to escape. But Beck's secrets aren't so simple, and neither is the world in which Diego has been living…
Blurb:
Juan's budding romance with Magi Gregori is brought to a sudden halt when Stan, Gregori's childhood friend and former lover, arrives unexpectedly at the ranch. Their romance is threatened completely when Stan makes it clear that he wants Juan gone and is not above using any means necessary to make sure it happens. Caught in the middle, Gregori must choose: the old flame or the promise of a new fire.
Thank you for stopping by and reading!!
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