First cover

OMG!
It's finally here - my first cover.


And a blurb to (hopefully) whet your appetite:

Betrayal and a broken heart have made Zaralyn determined to avoid romance at all costs. A chance rescue outside a nightclub by the mysterious Gideon Nite challenges her resolution and her heart.
Gideon is attracted to Zaralyn from the moment he sees her, but how can he prove he’s worth trusting when he has so much to hide?
What starts out as simple attraction spirals out of control when it becomes clear their lives are in danger. Because nothing is simple – even Gideon isn’t what he seems. He is a human with a twist – one of those who for centuries have been misunderstood and labelled ‘Vampyre’.
How can she love a man who isn't a man at all, especially when a killer is marking them for death?

RWNZ conference

This weekend is the Romance Writers of New Zealand conference.
I'm looking forward to getting together with a whole lot of other writers, published and unpublished, and sharing ideas and learning more about our craft and industry.

The organizers have arranged some wonderful speakers...
Two guests from the US: Mary Jo Putney, who writes historicals & paranormal historicals, and Melissa Jeglinski, an agent with The Knight Agency.
Plus from the UK: Mary Teresa Hussey, executive editor at Harlequin.
And from little ol' NZ: Fiona Brand, Nalini Singh, Sara Hantz, Amanda Ashby, Karina Bliss, Abby Gaines, Sandra Hyatt, Tessa Radley, Trish Morey, Yvonne Lindsay, Gracie Stanners, Robyn Donald & Daphne Clair. (Whew, I hope I didn't miss anyone).

I hope your weekend has as much enjoyment potential as mine :)

Music: Little Boots
Currently reading: 'Paradise' by Judith McNaught

Have a printer? Have a cat?

Do you have any electronic items e.g. a printer, that may not be working at their best. Do you also have a cat? Check this out. (I couldn't help a chuckle at the end).

Twitter

Here's a new on for me, Jayne Ann Krentz is writing/publishing an Arcane Society story featuring Fallon Jones, via Twitter! Twitter of all things. Now I really enjoy JAK's books but I'm not sure what you'll get from a twitter story. I can see a basic plot but for me good character makes or breaks a story and on Twitter....? I'm just not sure.

I'm going to be giving it a go (and hoping to be pleasantly surprised), and you can too. Even if you don't have a Twitter account, you can read it. Just go here: www.twitter.com/ArcaneSociety, then scroll down and push the "More" button. That'll open up the page and you can read everything she's posted to this point.

Since there was no post last week I thought I would add a bonus one today :)

Dial-up

Got dropped down to dial-up speed on the ol' interweb last week and in a hate session with lack of speed I didn't do a post.

To catchup I've been mooching around the web so I thought I'd share a few news snippets with you:
- How do you know when to lose weight? Well, it depends on whether your weight is working for you. For instance if you plan to hide a gun in your rolls of fat.
- Failed hypnotist fines for failed kiss. I bet there are people everywhere who dream of the power they'd have if only they could hypnotize their dates.
- is Narcissism an infectious disease? Okay it's not really about that despite the title, but it is a rant about the prevalence of Narcissism.
- Hooked on the survivor TV show, now you can live it - kind of. There's been Survivor Gabon and Survivor Tocantins now there's Survivor Resort. A nice resort without, well, the nice.
- Why we shouldn't be afraid to get older - research shows we're happier as we get older.

Have fun with those little time wasters :)

music: The Electric Confectionery Company
Currently reading: 'The madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie' by Jennifer Ashley

The President & the romance novel

"This looks sexy," the President said, looking at the book the author had just handed him.

President Obama was doing his hand-shaking thang this month when he was handed a book by Geri Krotow.
Krotow, former naval intelligence officer and Annapolis graduate, is the wife of the current naval attache stationed at the American Embassy in Moscow.



She is also the author of A Rendezvous to Remember. She said she signed the book for Michelle Obama and no doubt expected the President to simply hand the book on, however, he clearly couldn't resist a peak inside. He stopped, turned it over, read the back flap, and began thumbing the pages.

The reason I had to post this is the expression on his face is absolutely classic.

Any thoughts on whether he's going to be a new covert to the genre - or are you just dying to rush out and buy the book, if for no other reason than to see what could possibly have put that expression on his face. :)


Music: Bomb the Bass
currently reading: 'Firestorm' by Iris Johansen
Yes, 'Feast of Souls' has fallen by the wayside again - not an auspicious start.
Read 'Acheron' by Sherrilyn Kenyon again over the weekend - it has to be my favorite of her Dark-Hunter novels to date.

Marketing?

I know, I know, it's Friday and I'm now getting around to writing. So you ask, what have I been doing? It must be fascinating, exciting and time consuming to keep me from my weekly post. Well, here's the sad news - that is not the case. The truth is Friday simply crept upon me unawares.

Writing wise I haven't been as productive as I'd like. I've got a stack of editing to do, but without a deadline reading for fun as been eating my time. This weekend I plan to crack the whip and try and get through a few more pages.

Side note:
Check out cover pic, what are your first thoughts?
Oh, Dan Brown has a new book out. It appears to be called Deadline. Oh, wait, what's that other name. It must be called, Simon Kernick: Deadline. Maybe it's about a reporter called Simon who has a deadline.
(you look closer)
Wait, Wait... The book is BY Simon Kernick.
So WHY is Dan Brown's name bigger than either the author or the title?

The front cover, which proudly boasts that it is an “exclusive” to WH Smith, bears the legend: “Dan Brown. If you like your thrillers as fast, furious and unputdownable as Dan Brown, then we thought you’d enjoy…Simon Kernick. Deadline.”

My opinion: lazy marketing, and if I were Mr Kernick I'd probably be pissed off. Sure have it as part of your advertising, maybe on a tag near the book, or on a poster. Or in small type on the cover. But really, the way it's done here.... I'll leave you to draw you own conclusions.

Music: Beats International
Currently reading: 'Feast of Souls' by Celia Friedman
I got distracted by a few other reads and this has been on temporary hold