(seriously, how do people do Wordless Wednesday without saying stuff. I want to SAY stuff about this picture, dammit. So I’ll at least say that I took this picture at the beach a few weeks ago.)

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Once upon a time…

I pulled a book from the slush pile. Okay, if we’re being really accurate, it was targeted for an anthology I’d put out a call for, but it was an author I’d never heard of and it was sent to the slush pile. So my story stands. Anyway! The book and the author captured me with its paranormal/urban fantasy tone, with the fun story, spunky heroine and imminently readable author’s voice. I knew immediately that I was going to acquire Kaye Chamber’s Tiger by the Tail and publish this debut author’s first story. That was two years ago and, as with all of my previous authors, it was hard to say goodbye to working with such a talented author whose voice I find delightful and fun to both edit and read.

So when Kaye contacted me to give me an opportunity to read her newest release, Blood and Destiny, I jumped at the chance. And I’m delighted to give her book a bit of space on the blog, to tell you a little about it, encourage you to buy it (it’s a fun read, I promise!) and to encourage you to enter her contest. In fact, when I learned of the contest, I told her not to bother sending me a copy of the book, I’d buy my own so I could enter the contest and win!

First, the book:

When the past bites, bite back.

Ladies of St. George, Book 1

For Destiny St. George, shapeshifting lioness and private investigator, her best friend’s looming wedding is little more than a reminder of her failed relationship with vampire king Marcus Smythe. Tired of being only one of many mistresses—and dinner entrees—she’s stayed away from the vampire scene altogether. Until a missing-person case forces her to seek his help.

Knowing that pressing Destiny is not the way to convince her to give their relationship another try, Marcus has been waiting her out—and his patience is rewarded when she steps into his nightclub. Now is his chance to lure her back into his arms. This time, he plans to keep her there.

Destiny’s not sure which is worse: working with Marcus, or trying to remember all the reasons she called it off with him. And when it becomes clear the case is an elaborate trap to avenge a millennia-old grudge, she finds herself caught between love and instinct—while the clock ticks down on an innocent victim’s life…

Product Warnings

Vampires determined to take more than a bite out of the heroine. A lioness sure that she’s going to have the last word.

You can buy Blood and Destiny at a number of places including: My Bookstore and More, Books on Board, and Amazon Kindle.

Now, for the contest from Kaye’s site:

Do you have an ereader?

Full details are on Kaye’s site. I’m led to understand that right now, the odds of winning look good. Heck, let’s be honest, this will probably be one contest where your odds are better than many, many (most) others and the prize is awesome. You don’t even have to buy the book to enter, but I think you should!

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Let’s do a lightning round of things I’ve been meaning to post about the past week:

In the past two weeks I’ve been in New York City, had my parents visit, been to Toronto and the Harlequin offices and been laid out by a cold. I think my body is formally protesting.

Have you visited the <a href=“http://www.carinapress.com/blog”>Carina Press blog</a>? We’ve been posting covers over there.

I hate Facebook Pages. That’s all.

Brianna’s mind is quick as hell. I can’t keep up. Earlier in the week she was firing off questions at me faster than I could keep up, including some deep theology questions (“where did God come from?”). My favorite: “Who borned the first person if there was no one to borne them?” (I had no warning leading up to this question). Second favorite: “Why don’t babies get borned from our mouths?”

She also caught me saying someone’s child was homely (and now all of you are wondering if it was your child. I assure you, it wasn’t) and she said “what’s homely?” I feel like a walking dictionary lately because she asks for the definition of everything. I wasn’t expecting to have to tell her what homely is when I’d just used it about someone’s child, though (shame on me). Thankfully, while I was looking up the most innocuous definition of homely I could find, she decided I must have said “lonely” and came up with THAT definition all on her own (“oooh, you mean she’s all alone”). Whew. Note to self: watch what you say!

My travel schedule is picking up. I hope I have time to visit the beach this summer. Is it summer yet? I’m happy to report that most of the snow has melted, though we do still have a giant pile in the front yard.

Last, while my parents were in town, I snapped a bunch of pictures. We went to the beach to collect shells (yes it was cold and yes we are crazy) and I got some great pictures of family, the wild ponies, other wildlife and a random seagull. Below is one of my favorites: my dad and Brianna. It makes me smile because it’s a perfect moment captured.

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I know I already complained about this once on the blog, but I am DONE with the snow. It’s not just the fact that it’s snowed more where we live than it did the previous five years. Or the fact that it’s snowing again. No, it’s the fact that these snow storms are also managing to coincide with my travel. Because, you know, hanging out in the airport and figuring out how to get to/from conferences via plane, train and automobile is JUST how I want to spend my time. You?

So yep, as I type this, I’ve made it from NYC to Philly and I’m in the Philly airport. Right now my flight home is just delayed, not canceled yet. Yet. I’ve been here for an hour and it was so tempting to just assume the flight would be canceled and to go ahead and rent a car. I could be home in just a few hours. But I’m waiting and we’re under a 45 minute delay right now. I expect more to come. Whee!

On the other hand, I did have a fantastic trip to NYC where I was attending and presenting at the Tools of Change conference. I gave two presentations at the conference, and also got a chance to go to the Harlequin NY offices and meet with some of the editorial staff there, and talk about Carina. My favorite thing! Tools of Change is a conference that I love, because I get to meet up with and talk to people from all areas of publishing. Three days of talking about publishing and listening to how others are innovating? Fascinating and energizing.

I’m hoping to share a bit more about what I did there (including more about my presentations) when I’m more fully rested and not stuck in an airport wondering if I’ll ever get home!

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The Olympics, I mean. I’m a self-admitted sports fan. I love watching a variety of different sports, from US football to Nascar. I’ll even watch bowling on occasion (oddly, I don’t like baseball and it’s the one thing I won’t watch). So even aside from country pride, the Olympics are right up my alley, watching the world’s talented athletes show their stuff and compete for public glory. I love it. Love it! I even turn the TV on mute during the day to watch sports like hockey and curling. And it’s not just the US athletes, I’m happy to cheer for athletes from other countries who compete well. I just love something about the excitement of the moment at the Olympics. Maybe someday I’ll get to see them in person, as some of my Canadian friends have been doing this week.

But if you’re not watching, you’ve missed some amazing moments for the US team. The men’s 1500m short track speed skating. Ohno was not going to medal, it was going to be a Korean sweep and then…two of the Korean skaters took each other out in the last turn and allowed Ohno and a US teammate to skate to silver and bronze.

Yesterday’s events were also exciting. Lindsey Vonn skied to gold on an injured leg. Shani Davis became the first man to get back to back gold medals in the 1000m. And Shaun White wowed the world with his snowboarding prowess. Seriously, if you watch nothing else from the Olympics, watch the clip here, of Shaun White’s first and second run (second run is at 3:40 on the video so you can fast forward). Even if you don’t know anything about snowboarding, you can see his talent and feel his joy as he wins. It’s a perfect representation of an Olympic moment.

For photos and videos of other “Golden Olympic Moments” you should visit the NBC Olympic site. Take a moment to celebrate for the athletes whose hard work paid off!

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Last week I mentioned I’d been using Goodreads to track my reads and my thoughts on some of the books. Some of you said you liked my reviews, thanks! One of the things I wanted to ask in that post, and didn’t, is how you use Goodreads. I often feel like there’s a lot more potential I could be getting from the site that I’m not, because in the past I’ve focused on just tracking my books, and I feel a little overwhelmed about venturing outside my own library.

For instance, I know there are discussions that occur there, but are those only in group areas or are there non-group areas? And how do I track people’s reviews and get notified of them? By following? It appears that I have lots of friends, but am not following anyone. What does following do?

Also, what groups do you recommend? When I first joined Goodreads, I wanted to use it to track what I was reading. I moved “up” to adding mini-reviews when I felt moved to do so. It’s nice, because any time I’ve reviewed here on the blog, I’ve always felt like I need to have a lengthy, more detailed and formal review. On Goodreads, I can just slap a few thoughts down, mostly for myself but if someone else finds them useful, yay!

I guess what I’m looking for is to hear from some of you as to how you use Goodreads, other than just tracking your own reading. What are some of the best features of Goodreads, in your opinion, and what do you wish more people would take advantage of, that they might not know about?

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As part of All Romance eBooks’ 28 Days of Heart campaign, I’ve been featured as the 12th of 28 romance bloggers. You can check out the interviews of all 28 here, or scroll to day 12 to read my interview!

Read on for more about the 28 Days of Heart Campaign:

In conjunction with our 28 Days of Heart Campaign to raise funds for, and awareness of, heart disease, All Romance is also taking the opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the wonderful romance blogs that help make the eromance reading community thrive. Every day in February, our newsletter will be profiling some fantastic romance blogs that we know you’ll love as much as we do.

During the month of love, when everyone’s attention is focused on matters of the heart, All Romance eBooks (ARe) is helping to fight the number one killer of women, heart disease, with their 28 Days of Heart campaign.

Beginning February 1, 2010, ARe, the digital bookseller that owns All Romance (www.allromance.com) and OmniLit (www.omnilit.com), will release one new novella per day for twenty-eight consecutive days. All proceeds from the sale of these shorts, which will be offered exclusively on AllRomance.com and OmniLit.com as individual eBooks, will be donated to the American Heart Association.

The stories cover all the genres, from Gay to Interracial, Paranormal to Historical, Contemporary to Sci Fi. They were generously donated by both best selling and up-and- coming authors from some of your favorite publishers including Kensington, Berkley, Pocket, St. Martin’s Press, Ellora’s Cave, Cerridwen, Samhain, Total E Bound, Loose Id, Phaze, Liquid Silver, Torquere Press, Siren, Amber Quill and more!

The stories range between 10,000 and 20,000 words, so they are a perfect sweet (or more accurately spicy) Valentine treat. Each includes a forward by author Charlaine Harris (of True Blood fame) as a show of support for the charity the stories will benefit. Indulge yourself this year for Valentines Day—enjoy one of each, and know you are helping a worthy cause at the same time.

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Though I haven’t been updating here about my reading, and actually took those widgets off my sidebar because they were populated by LibraryThing and I’ve been using Goodreads instead (link to my Goodreads account), I have been reading what I think is an impressive amount (for me). Considering that I’ve still been reading submissions, and that I’ve taken two trips in 2010 already (and I read very little when traveling), I’ve still managed to read 34 books to date in 2010.

As I said, I’ve been tracking my reads on Goodreads. I did a fairly decent job of it in 2009, but right around the time all of the upheavel happened in my professional life last fall, I also stopped updating Goodreads. However, since I read mostly digital, I was able to browse my Fictionwise, Kindle and Calibre records and fill in most of the gaps from September to December. When I was done, and knowing there were books missing because I hadn’t been diligant about keeping up my Goodreads records, I discovered I’d read at least 220 books in 2009.I was happy with not only that, but the variety of genres I’d read. I felt like I pushed myself last year to read a little more outside my comfort zones and I managed to do that. This year I’m also going to be specifically tracking the genres I read.

So what have I read so far in 2010? A lot of Charlaine Harris, apparently. Not the Sookie books, I’ve already read all of those several times, but I read the Lily Bard and Harper Connolly series. Neither of which I actually liked that much, but I found something oddly compelling about them. Weird when that happens. Also, true to form, I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy. Last fall I discovered Karen Chance’s Dorini Basarab series but had not read her Cassandra Palmer series, so I got to catch up on that these past few weeks. Also read Eileen Wilks’ and Nalini Singhs’ new books. Two of my favorite authors, and I loved these offerings.Oh, and I bought some Amanda Quick and Jayne Ann Krentz digital backlist titles from Fictionwise, so I’ve been indulging in those. I’m a little disappointed in the quality of the Amanda Quick books (they were obviously scanned from print and not proofread for scanning errors) but the stories remain good for me!

Now I’m patiently waiting for the next JD Robb book to release in 2 weeks. And the Patricia Briggs book in March. Another two of my favorite authors.

Right now I’m in between books (I was catching up on back episodes of Chuck last night). I have a significant list of books TBR but I can’t decide what to read. What are you reading?

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I hate to be boring and talk about the weather, but really, this is ridiculous. I posted some snow pictures early last week. We had snow, plenty of it. Turns out, we got another 14-16 inches this past weekend. Something our city is ill-equipped to deal with. No side roads are getting plowed. You should see the hideous piles of snow on our street. Parking is atrocious. People can’t walk on the sidewalks anywhere in town, so they’re walking in the street. Yes, even on the busy roads. It’s beyond dangerous. People were/are without power, living in shelters and generally unable to cope with this much snow. We haven’t had a full day of school in surrounding areas in almost two weeks. And now, on top of it? It’s supposed to snow again. Argh.

Look, there’s a reason I moved from North Dakota. There’s a reason I’ve lived here for almost a decade. Because we’re not supposed to get much snow. That’s how it works, that’s the deal. I hate snow. I lived with 5 plus feet of it every winter for several decades. I had enough. Please no more. Pleeeaasssee.

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Hi all! Jane from Dear Author here. I’m privileged to be able to give a presentation at this month’s Tools of Change conference along with Sarah Wendell from Smart Bitches Trashy Books and Editor Angela James from Carina Press. Our presentation is what readers want and it is based on conversations we’ve had with ebook readers for over four years on our blogs, in email and on message boards. But folks like hard numbers along with anecdotes so we’ve put together a survey and would love for you to fill it out. If you do fill it out, you’ll be entered to win $250.00 toward books or an ebook reader of your choice.

Survey Link Here

It’s an opportunity for your voice to be heard.

THANK YOU!

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