Short Short Story and Amazon Gift Card at Literary Escapism

And so it begins...

Release day for Dangerously Divine is right around the corner (Tuesday the 28th!), so I'm going to be popping up all over the Interwebs with fun things and giveaways. Today I'm kicking off the Black Friday short short story blitz at Literary Escapism with a short story about Gregori which takes place right before the events of Dangerously Divine. The poor man is trying to find the perfect Yule gifts for three Baba Yagas, their husbands, a teenage witch, and little Babs. Where on earth could he ever find something perfect for such an eclectic bunch? Find out the answer HERE

I'm also giving away a $25 Amazon gift card over at the blog, so be sure to enter the contest after you read the short story. I'd love, love, love it if you'd come back here and tell me what you thought!

Speaking of contests, don't forget to enter the one here on my blog http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2017/11/huge-giveaway-for-dangerously-divine.html It's on through the end of the day Sunday. Or Monday. I can't remember. Either way, go enter now! (Check out the list of other giveaways on that post too.)

And the lovely Maria V. Snyder is doing a Thanksgiving giveaway of a few of her (FABULOUS) books, plus those of some of her favorite author pals. She surprised me by including a copy of Dangerously Charming as one of the giveaways. Isn't that sweet? Because the contests are for real readers, not just people who enter every contest they see, you have to answer questions to enter. But she said it was okay to tell my readers the answers, just in case they hadn't read her books (hint: you should, they're amazing). So you can use "Ari" and "Janco" or just put in "Deborah sent me" to enter. Maria's giveaway

If you haven't done it yet, you might also want to check out my new Patreon page. We're going to be doing lots of fun things over there, including a serialized never-before-seen humorous paranormal novel and monthly witchcraft classes, for people who sign up at certain levels. PATREON

But do come back here and tell me if you read the story, and if so, what you thought! Happy Black Friday all. I'm off to work at The Artisans' Guild.

RWA Report and Book Giveaway

I've been back from my trip to the RWA National Conference for a week and a half, but it has taken me this long to get around to reporting on it because A) as usual, I was exhausted when I came back and B) I've been really busy.

But here, at last, is a quick report on my trip.

It was good.

Oh, sorry, you wanted a little more detail? I got in Wednesday late morning, checked in, and caught up with my roommate, the fabulous Maria V. Snyder. (I adore her books. If you haven't read them yet, go run out and catch up.) The two of us ended up going out to dinner that first night with two of my favorite peeps from the Coastal Magic convention, author extraordinaire Carrie Ann Ryan and copy editor extraordinaire and Official Woman with the Coolest Hair Chelle Olson. We went to a fun brewery restaurant and shared tastes of all the different beers made in house. Also, yummy guacamole.

Chelle, Carrie Ann, and Maria

 One of the best things about going to this particular convention is being able to meet up with people I never get to see anyplace else. I had a great lunch meeting with my agent Elaine Spencer (which I somehow completely failed to get a picture of, dammit), met the glorious Tawna Fenske in person at last

The glorious Tawna Fenske

 Had breakfast and then other meet-ups with one of my favorite people, Harlequin senior editor Patience Bloom (who has the best red hair evah and is also a sweetie of the Nth order).

Patience!

One of the reasons I decided to go this year was because one of my very favorite authors was giving the keynote speech at the luncheon. I love, love, love Susan Wiggs' books (they're an auto-buy for me) and while we follow each other on Twitter, I've never met her. She was a great speaker, and when I got to meet up with her later at the Berkley party, it was absolutely the highlight of my con. (And AGAIN, no picture! Argh!)

Susan Wiggs

At these cons, you tend to run into the same people over and over again. At this particular one, that person was the lovely and charming Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I kept swearing I wasn't stalking her, but I'm not sure she believed me. Either way, she was absolutely gracious about it.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips. And yes, that book came home with me.

At the "Cool Kids" table for the awards ceremony.

 One of the highlights of the convention is the RITA awards ceremony. I actually got to sit at the Cool Kids table between amazing author Kristan Higgins and my lovely pal Patience.

The last night, I had fun in a photo booth with Princess Alethea Kontis (who I also know from Coastal Magic--seriously, you people want to go to THAT convention) at Sherrilyn Kenyon's book release party. It is possible we got a little silly.

As always, I kept my goal to have bacon every day at the con. It's important to have goals in life, don't you think?

Dinner on the last night with roomie Maria. BBQ by the pool, yum!

Best roommate ever

 I always come home from these things with a million books. This time I swore I would limit it to ten, so I didn't have to pay to ship a big box home. Yeah. Not so much.

27 is the same as 10, right?

 Although in my defense, the three books in the middle are ones my agent brought me to read for inspiration on the current book I'm writing, and the pile on the right is for the cat sitters and some friends, and a giveaway. AND I had to mail home the rest of the swag I brought with me to give away.

 Oh, wait, did I say giveaway? I brought home a copy of Susan's last book, The Family Tree (I already have it in hardcover), plus a luggage tag with a picture of her upcoming book, A Map of the Heart. Plus, there are two tote bags! I'll probably also throw in some misc. bookmarks and such. Who wants to enter?

Goodies!

This is going to be a quickie giveaway, only on for a few days, so be sure to enter right away. Oh, and Magic the Cat would like you to know that she helped me pack.

She's never happy about me leaving, and you can tell.

Enter by filling out the Rafflecopter form. You get credit for anything you've already done, like following me on Twitter. (You've already done that, RIGHT?)

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Next up, a blog about my visit to Animal Adventure Park to see April the giraffe!

Heading to RWA Nationals

I am leaving on Tuesday afternoon for one of the largest writing conferences in the world, the RWA (Romance Writers of America) National conference, being held this year in Orlando, Florida. The location changes, although every four years or so it heads to NYC, since that is publishing central. I usually go to that one because I can get there by bus (5 1/2 hours!) but Orlando is close enough to manage, and it is the only place I get to meet up with my agent Elaine Spencer in person, so I decided to go this year even if it meant flying.

I'm going to be sharing a room with the lovely Maria V. Snyder, who is not only an incredible author whose work I adore and admire, but a very cool person to boot. So yay for that! I'm also going to get a chance to meet up with a bunch of author friends who I never get to see otherwise, do some networking, and take a few workshops that might help with some of the new directions my writing is heading in.

Thankfully, I have an amazing cat sitter coming to take care of Mystic, Magic, and Angus--she used to work at a vet's office, so I know that Mystic (who is doing quite well) will be in good hands. It makes it a lot easier to go than it would be otherwise. Thanks, Alicia!

On Saturday, there will be a Literacy Signing from 3-5PM. It is open to the public and the proceeds all go to benefit literacy (and there will be hundreds of great authors there, some of them WAY more famous than I am). I hope if you are local, you'll stop in and say hello.

Here are a few pictures from past conferences--I'll post an update with new ones when I get home. Are any of you going to be there?

Me and Maria in 2015

The lovely Patience Bloom--I can't wait to see her this year!

At the book signing in 2015

With favorite author Jennifer Crusie

Let me know if you're going to be there!

Book Giveaway: Long Black Curl

As most of you probably already know (unless you're really new to the blog), I read A LOT. I also have a lot of friends who are authors. As you can imagine, this works out pretty well. Except for my budget and my overflowing shelves...

Like most folks, I have some authors who are "must buys." Any time they put out a book, I get it automatically. Sometimes even in (gasp) hardcover, if I can't wait the extra time for it to come out in paperback. Not all of these authors are friends, of course, although many of them are people I have stalked followed online long enough that they at least know who I am. (Snort.)

Here is a pile of what I've read in the last couple of months (not counting the books I read on the Kindle at night before bed, when my eyes are tired). Luna clearly had her favorite. When I got the book I put it down on the couch next to me and when I turned around, this is what I saw. Isn't that adorable?

Long Black Curl with a short tortie cat

Large pile of books with a curious yellow cat

You can see from the pile of books that I read a fairly eclectic selection. The bottom two are British contemporary romances, then there is one by an American author (I'm very picky about which contemporaries I read, but I do have a few favorite authors). Then there are a couple of my "must buy" folks who write fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal romance: Maria V. Snyder, Devon Monk, and Lisa Shearin. Plus a new-to-me author I discovered at Rober-Con last year, Laura Anne Gilman. I'm currently binge reading her Paranormal investigations series.

If a book is in this pile, you can safely assume I am recommending it wildly.

And then there is Alex Bledsoe, whose book, LONG BLACK CURL, Luna is so enamored with. Alex and I go way back--we both had stories in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction--and although we haven't yet gotten to meet in person due to distance (he lives in Wisconsin, I live in upstate NY), we truly are friends. In fact, if you have a copy of WICKEDLY DANGEROUS, his name will probably look familiar to you. That's because he wrote one of blurbs on the back. (He called it "Paranormal romance at it's best"!)

Alex has a couple of fabulous series out. LONG BLACK CURL is the third in his "Tufa" novels. Here's the summary:

Long Black Curl: a brand-new tale in Alex Bledsoe's acclaimed urban fantasy series, where magic is hidden in plain sight and age-old rivalries simmer just beneath the surface

In all the time the Tufa have existed, only two have ever been exiled: Bo-Kate Wisby and her lover, Jefferson Powell. They were cast out, stripped of their ability to make music, and cursed to never be able to find their way back to Needsville. Their crime? A love that crossed the boundary of the two Tufa tribes, resulting in the death of several people.

Somehow, Bo-Kate has found her way back. She intends to take over both tribes, which means eliminating both Rockhouse Hicks and Mandalay Harris. Bo-Kate has a secret weapon: Byron Harley, a rockabilly singer known as the "Hillbilly Hercules" for his immense size and strength, and who has passed the last sixty years trapped in a bubble of faery time. He's ready to take revenge on any Tufa he finds.

The only one who can stop Bo-Kate is Jefferson Powell. Released from the curse and summoned back to Cloud County, even he isn't sure what will happen when they finally meet. Will he fall in love with her again? Will he join her in her quest to unite the Tufa under her rule? Or will he have to sacrifice himself to save the people who once banished him?

As always, Alex is going to send me my very own signed copy. (Woot!) But I couldn't wait to read it, so I bought one for myself...which I am now going to give away to one lucky reader! [Because it is a hardcover, and therefore heavy, I'm afraid I'm going to have to restrict this giveaway to USA only. Sorry foreign peeps.] I loved this book beyond measure. Alex is one of the best writers I know, which is really saying something. The Tufa are a fascinating mixture of fairy lore and Southern rural life, all wrapped up in magic and music. You WANT to read this series.

To enter, you can follow Alex on Twitter and/or leave a comment here. Tell me if you have a favorite author or authors, or if you have read any of Alex's books. This is a short one, so don't wait to enter.

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Two Guest Blogs and Feline Friday: The Helpful Cat Version

I'm all over the Interwebs today :-)

Come visit me at Maria V. Snyder's Blog, where she asked me the best interview questions ever (you might even learn a few new things about me) and where we are giving away a signed copy of Wickedly Dangerous to one lucky commenter (including international readers).

Then pop over to see the fun (and very positive, thank goodness!) review at Talk Supe, where I answer the question: What are the 5 Top Fun Fact about Baba Yaga?

Any guesses?

As you can tell, the pre-release promo has moved into high gear, and I really appreciate the author friends and bloggers (including many I don't know at all) who have invited me to visit, or are otherwise spreading the word. Not to mention all of you! I hope you'll go visit some of these blogs, and keep spreading the word.

I'm not doing many book signings, but there will be one at my local Indy bookstore, The Green Toad on Saturday, September 6th from 1-3. If you live anywhere nearby, I hope you'll come say hi! [I will also be at a SF Con in Binghamton, NY the last weekend in September--more info to follow.]

Can you believe that the book comes out in FOUR DAYS????

I'm thinking about doing one more giveaway on release day itself--what do you think? Are you bored with contests, or do you want one more shot at winning a signed book and some Baba Yaga swag? Inquiring minds want to know.

Now--Feline Friday pics! The theme for this week: Cats being helpful. (And if you have cats, you know that this is sarcasm...)

Magic the Cat, helping me take a picture of the two posters Berkley sent me for book signings

Magic the Cat helping me make the bed. (It is a little tough to put on the top sheet and comforters this way...)

Magic the Cat helping me to package up giveaway winnings. Yes, Magic is UNUSUALLY helpful, even for a cat.

Samhain helping me write. At last, something really useful! If you like to read gibberish.

I hope you all have a fabulous 3-day weekend (those in the USA that have one, anyway). I'm actually going to have a small Book Release Celebration Party at my house on Sunday. I wish you all could come!

Blog Hopping with Maria V. Snyder

 Author pal Maria V. Snyder invited me to take part in a blog hop. Each author thanks the person who invited them (thank you, Maria!) and then answers a few writing related questions, then passes the "hop" on to someone else.

Here is Maria's contribution (I love her books--she's one of the people who inspired me the most when I got serious about my own writing, so if you haven't read her yet, you might want to start!)

Maria's blog hop post

And here is mine...

Question One: What am I working on?
Answer:
Well, there's the Sekrit Project I can't talk about yet (soon, I promise), but mostly I am working on a new novel, which I am provisionally calling One Born Every Minute. It is a complete departure for me, since it is a humorous contemporary romance, rather than a paranormal romance or an urban fantasy. I love writing with humor (there's always at least a little bit, no matter what I write) and I'm having a ball writing something that is out and out funny.

Question Two: How does my work differ from others of its genre?
Answer:  My paranormal romance books (the Baba Yaga series) aren't quite as grim or sexy as a lot of the books out there now (not that I have anything against grim and sexy--it's just not what I write), and there is always a hint of humor. The Baba Yaga books are loosely based on a bunch of Russian fairy tales, which isn't exactly the norm either. Also, I have dragons disguised as dogs. Go ahead, find someone else who has THAT.

Question Three: Why do I write what I do?
Answer: I suppose that the simple answer is that I write the kind of books I love to read. I adore books about witches (especially ones that break the normal stereotypes) and I really like modern retellings of old fairy tales. (Check out Jim C. Hines Princess Books to see what I mean.) I like kickass female protagonists who mostly rescue themselves, with maybe just a little help from the good-looking guy who shows up. Not to mention dragons that turn into dogs. Or is it the other way around?
I also write what I do because that's what shows up in my head. I might say to myself, "Gee, I'd like to write a humorous romance next." But what shows up after that it pretty much out of my control.

Question Four: How does your writing process work?
I always love reading other authors' answers to this question, since no two authors I know work the same way. My friend Alex Bledsoe tend to get up very early, to write before his kids are awake. Maria said in her post that she works from 10 pm to 3 or 4 am--if I tried that, all you'd get would be drivel!

Every book is a little different (they all want to be written in their own particular way, believe it or not--some can be outlined in detail, others prefer to be mostly made up as I go along...it's very annoying). In general, I tend to start with an idea (what if there is a woman who is the only honest one in a family of thieves, who is forced to work with an uptight cop and pretend to be a thief?), then create the main characters, figure out the basics of the plot, then delve deeper into the protagonists, which usually introduces me to the secondary characters. I try to write up a "blurb" for the story (like the one you would find on the back of a book jacket), to sum things up, then write up detailed character studies and a basic outline before I start actually writing.

Once I'm into the story, I write almost every day, usually from about 6:30-7pm to about 9:30-10:30 pm. At which point I clean a bunch of litter boxes and stagger off to bed. When things are really rolling, I often do two stints on the weekend days. (No, I don't have a life. And your point?) I aim at producing at least 1,000 words a day, although on a good day I can get two or three times that much, and on a bad day, I'm happy to produce a page (about 300 words). In theory, I can write the first draft of a novel in about 3-4 months, then I send it out to a few folks, including my fabulous critique partner Lisa, and my equally fabulous agent Elaine. Revisions take about a month, not counting waiting-for-responses-time. Then, if the book is already sold, it goes off to my editor, then I do MORE revisions. Oh, the joy. Then I have a glass of wine.

And eventually, the finished book comes out, and I celebrate!

Next up on the blog hop, be sure to check out the lovely and talented Nancy Holzner, author of the Deadtown books (which I LOVE). Nancy has had a tough year, with the loss of her husband, and hasn't been blogging at all. Hopefully this little blog hop will be a easy way for her to hop back to it. (Yes, I did that. I'd say I'm sorry, but of course I'm not.) She'll be posting her piece of the puzzle sometime next week.