Sekrit Project Announcement! Magic Times Two

I've been working on a sekrit project for ages with my friend, author Mindy Klasky. Mindy approached me with the idea when we were both at the RWA National Convention in NYC last July, so I have kept this under my hat for a LONG time! Today, we finally get to share!

Here it is!

Yes, that's right--it's two times the magic and two times the fun! (For the price of only one book, which is even better!)

Magic Times Two: Two Books for the Price of One!


A Unique Duo of Humorous paranormal romances by USA Today bestselling author Mindy Klasky and award-winning author Deborah Blake.

Vampires! Witches! There’s magic afoot!

In Mindy Klasky’s Fright Court, Sarah Anderson has found her dream job: Clerk of Court for the District of Columbia Night Court.  Dream job, that is, until she’s attacked in the open courtroom by a vampire defendant.  And until she’s forced to take self-defense lessons from her boss, the enigmatic vampire James Morton.  And until she learns she can’t share the truth about any of that with her best friend, Allison Ward – even over delectable cupcakes from the Cake Walk bakery. Soon, Sarah is surrounded by vampires, griffins, and sprites – all members of a secret supernatural court.  And when a deceptively easy-going reporter starts to ask questions, Sarah wonders just what answers she is supposed to give…. Will Sarah be able to create order in the court?

In Deborah Blake’s Witch Ever Way You Can, Deirdre Connelly is a modern witch who accidentally becomes the reluctant guardian for the Star Stone, an ancient mystical crystal. With the aid of handsome actor Robert Daniel Addison and a mysterious spiritual guide, Deirdre uses magic, ingenuity, and determination to fight a deranged billionaire for possession of the Star Stone and its power.*

Magic Times Two will be in stores on August 18. Between now and then, keep an eye out for giveaways from both me and Mindy, plus one BIG joint giveaway on launch day!

*Those of you who have been with me since the beginning may recognize this title. It is my first novel, which I briefly had out on its own but took down when the Baba Yaga series came out. Since many of you have asked about it, I decided to release it again, in this special form!

Some Happy Thoughts

Here are a few things that made me happy in the last couple of days:

A reader posted a lovely review of Witch Ever Way You Can over on Amazon.uk  [Here's the GREAT REVIEW if you're curious.] It completely made my morning. And reminded me that I don't really promote this book enough. Have you read it? If so, what did you think? And did you spread the word?

Yesterday afternoon, my editor at Llewellyn, the amazing Elysia Gallo, sent me the cover proof for the upcoming mini eBook, A Witch's Dozen. This is the one that is coming out as a companion to the new Everyday Witch Book of Rituals, due out in October. [Holy crap--October is soon!] The cover for the eBook was so cool, I can't wait to show it to you. I think you're going to love it as much as I did!

Clearly I need to start thinking about promotion for the new book. Anyone have any suggestions? (That don't involve travel or large expenditures of money...)

Speaking of promotions, for the first time I am doing a Goodreads giveaway for a new release. I wasn't sure if there would be any real interest in a witchcraft book, so I was really happy when I went to check on the contest yesterday and discovered that 321 people had already entered! *insert happy author dance here* If you want to win a free copy of the ritual book, be sure to enter. The contest runs until October 1st.

In general, I'm also happy that the sun is shining, it isn't 90 degrees out anymore and I am slowly clearing my desk of all the nonfiction obligations (articles, guest blogs, and such) so that I can back to work on the super sekrit novel project.

What's making you happy today?

Happy Birthday to Me! (And a gift for y'all.)

Yes, it's that time of year again. No, not National Hot Fireman with a Cute Kitten Day, although it should be
You're Welcome, Ladies . In point of fact, it is my birthday. Tomorrow, April 28th, I will be 32 um...42 older than you are, probably. Definitely older than that fireman, more's the pity. Ahem.

Anyway, I started celebrating today with a lovely lunch with pals Ellie (who runs The Artisans Guild with me) and Bobbie (from Blue Moon Circle). We all went out to a great Cajun restaurant, where we ate way too much yummy food, including this guy:

(The owner, Bryan, had just gone to visit his family in Louisiana, and came back with some genuine Louisiana crayfish. Seriously--yum.)

Tomorrow, I will be going with my friend Ellen to a Beltane celebration outside of Binghamton. I may even dance around a May Pole. I'll let you know :-)

In the meanwhile, my fabulous critique partner Lisa sent me an amazing Tetsubin (a small Japanese cast iron tea pot--one of which is featured in her great YA series, so she wanted to make sure I knew what her character was talking about--lol)

Isn't is pretty? You can't quite tell from this picture, but it is a beautiful lavender color.

And I'm rewarding myself for finishing the novel revisions in time for my birthday by starting a book I have REALLY been looking forward to The Garden of Happy Endings by Barbara O'Neal.

I am having a lovely birthday, so I arranged with my fabulous webmistress/epub expert/newsletter goddess Robin Wright to use one of our remaining free days for my epubbed short story. (When you put a story up on Amazon under certain circumstances which she understands but I don't, see above, you get a total of 5 days when you can give the story away for free.) So, if you weren't around when we gave away Witch Upon a Star the last time, now is your big chance! From midnight EST tonight to midnight on the 28th, you can go to Amazon and download the short story (a paranormal romance set in the Star Stone series that starts with the novel, Witch Ever Way You Can ). Feel free to tell all your friends; I am happy to share. Happy birthday to me--and thank you all for another great year!

NEW Short Story WITCH UPON A STAR

Witch Upon a Star is a short story that follows the events in my paranormal romance novel, WITCH EVER WHEN YOU CAN. For those of you who read the book and asked "what happens next?" here is the answer! (Or at least part of it.)

And the good news? It is only $.99 -- FREE if you have Amazon Prime! Whoo hoo!

Here's a brief description of the story:

What could be worse than having your sexy actor boyfriend phone to cancel your long-awaited weekend together? Having to call on the mystical power you swore you’d never use again and praying to the goddess that it will help him save a mysteriously failing wetlands.

Deirdre would do anything for Rob. And she’d do anything for Mother Nature, since she’s a Wiccan. But maybe they’re both asking more than she can give. Unfortunately, there’s only one way to find out.

The story of the Star Stone continues…

If you weren't sure if you wanted to fork out a whole $2.99 for the novel, for less than a buck you can check out the short story and see if you want to read more...

I'd really love to have a GREAT first week with this book (believe it or not, these things matter with Amazon ratings and such), so PRETTY PLEASE spread the word to all your friends. Where else can you get something so cool for less that a dollar?

Hey--why are you still here reading this when you could be reading the short story? Follow the link below to check it out. And thanks as always for your support.

Witch Upon a Star on Amazon

And here is the novel, if you read the short story and can't wait to see how Deirdre's and Rob's adventures began...

WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN on Amazon

Happy reading :-)

Nag, Nag, Nag...a Few Gentle Reminders

I've decided to make Tuesdays "Nag My Readers Day." No? How about "Blatant Self-Promo Day"? Otherwise known as "Remind me not to go to Deborah's blog on Tuesdays Day" (cough). Don't worry too much though--I'll probably have forgotten the plan by next Tuesday.

Today, I just wanted to remind you that my paranormal romance ebook is still available at Amazon for the low, low price of $2.99 -- tell all your friends. And maybe the mailman, your manicurist, and strangers you accost on the streets. Really, I'm not proud. (And the sales so far have been...kind of disappointing, so a few new ones would REALLY cheer this author up.)
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO
You can also find the book in Nook form here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-ever-way-you-can-deborah-blake/1108034353?ean=2940013854659

More importantly, registration for the upcoming "Spells & Spell Casting" class over at the new workshop loop closes at 6 PM this coming Sunday, so if you are interesting in taking part in the class--suitable for both witches and authors writing witch characters--you only have a few days left to sign up here:
http://witchywritingwithdeborahblake.blogspot.com/

I will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...er...Tuesday. Hope it is a great one!

10th 5 Star Review--with a Twist!

I saw yesterday that I was up to ten reviews for my paranormal romance ebook over on Amazon--all of them 5 Stars, which is very gratifying indeed!

(If you're one of the folks who left a review, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. With ebooks, this is even more important!)

I was reading the 10th review, which was very cute and very funny, when I discovered a surprise twist towards the end. It kind of tickled me, so I thought I'd post it here.

5.0 out of 5 stars Entrapment!, February 7, 2012

By

Harvey L. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Witch Ever Way You Can (Kindle Edition)

Entrapment! That's what it was. I get this innocent-looking e-mail, shamelessly promoting Deborah Blake's new novel, "Witch Ever Way You Can", and an invisible force causes me to click on a link that takes me to the Amazon website. I am invited to "look inside", but why should I? I rarely read novels and I never would read or watch anything dealing with the paranormal. I wasn't even slightly interested in checking into Harry Potter. But I'm slightly curious about this book, for reasons that I will explain later. So I click and get drawn into this hilarious opening scene of a midnight call from the world's 4th (or 5th) richest man to this sex-starved and skeptical witch (living with five cats) who tries to flip him off. Okay, so it's reasonably interesting. Let's see where this is going.

She decides to shove her cynicism aside and go to NYC to see him. But what will she wear. Like an old jock like me would give a damn? But here comes this vividly colorful scene of a gaggle of coven-mates rummaging through her closet in search of the right outfit. I can't wait for the motion picture. I hope Deborah held on to the movie rights. Now, drawn into the 3rd chapter, we have a titillating dinner scene (with her Hollywood idol, no less) that seriously challenges "When Harry Met Sally." But just when it gets interesting - she starts to stroke his leg with her shoeless foot - Whoops! Please deposit $2.99 for the rest of the story. Is this legal? It's not fair!

I'm hopelessly hooked. I'll sacrifice a bottle of the finest Two-buck Chuck to see where this goes. I call down to the wife "Hold all my calls and cancel my appointments. I'll be tied up for a while."

Now, in the way of full disclosure, I will shamelessly admit that the wonderfully talented and weird author is my eldest daughter. But still, you can't make this up. I don't read novels and I haven't the slightest interest in the paranormal. But I can't put this book down. And neither will you.

Tee hee. Now that's what I call a review. (Thank the GODS this isn't one of my books that has actual sex in it!) If you want to see the others, or check out the book, you can follow this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO

Five Star Reviews Make an Author Happy and REVIEW CONTEST WINNER

As many of you know, my paranormal romance, WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN, came out in ebook form in December. So far, the reaction has been lovely--another Five Star review just went up, and seeing it made me do the "happy author" dance :-)

Check it out, if you've a mind to...
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/product-reviews/B006HWZPGO/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

And if you haven't taken a look at the book yet (gasp!), here is the link on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO

If you have read it and liked it (either on the Kindle or the Nook--which has no reviews up yet, alas), it would make me do the "really, really happy author" dance if you would post a review of your own.

Oh-- and one more thing: I realized I never picked a winner for my "Review Contest" back in December (I blame the holidays, and exhaustion). Oops. My bad. So, the winner of the contest is KiaLynn! Email me at magicmysticminerva at yahoo and tell me where to send your prize!

The Nook Version is out! And "Review" Contest

Hurrah!

For all of those who requested a Nook version of my paranormal romance ebook, WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN--here it is!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-ever-way-you-can-deborah-blake/1108034353?ean=2940013854659

Be sure to post a review once you've read it, and then come back here and tell me you've done it, so I can enter you in the contest. Contest ends at the end of December, though, so you'd better read fast!

Thanks again for all your enthusiastic support of this book--and me. It really means a lot.

It's Not Too Late! (Gift giving)

I hope you're all having a pleasant (and not too stressful) holiday season. To be honest, I find this time of year a bit stressful myself, what with managing a cooperative shop with 50 artists [really--have you ever tried to make 50 artists all do what they're supposed to do, when they're supposed to do it? Ha! I love them all, but it is like trying to herd cats], making jewelry, working on a secret contract with Llewellyn [what? I haven't mentioned that before? you're sure? okay--tune in tomorrow...or maybe later today, depending on how frazzled the 50 artists make me], putting out the ebook of my first paranormal romance, prepping for Blue Moon Circle's big yearly Yule Dinner party [10 adults, 5 kids, lots of fun--that's this Saturday night...help!], and, of course, putting up the new Etsy shop with my jewelry.

Whew. I'm tired just thinking about it all. And I have to leave for the day job in a few minutes. Oh, and did I mention I'm fighting a cold? At least it's not snowing...

But that's not why I came here today. I wanted to remind you all that it's not too late to get someone you love (or simply like a lot) a gift from yours truly. [And my gift to you--this is the last time I mention any of this stuff! All this promo is necessary, but I start to feel like a 2 dollah ho, standing on the street corner, saying, "Please buy my stuff. Ho, ho, ho!"]

I'll be adding a few pieces of jewelry to my Etsy store over the next couple of days. Come take a look, and spread the word, pretty please. http://www.etsy.com/shop/deborahblake And just for those who read my blog (shhhhh, don't tell everyone else), a special giveaway: if you order a necklace from the etsy store before Monday (the last day I can guarantee it will get there before Christmas), I will throw in a signed book (any of my Llewellyn books, your choice) for FREE. You decide if the book is for you or a gift (tee hee). I won't tell if you decide to keep it. Just leave me a note on the etsy site when you purchase the jewelry, telling me that you saw this message here, and which book you want. If you want it personalized, tell me that, too!

Speaking of books, if you want a signed book for a friend for the holidays, I still haven't figured out how to add that to my website, but you can email me at magicmysticminerva at yahoo to tell me which one you want, whether you want it sent to you or to a friend, and how you want it dedicated. We can use the same email address to do a payment through Paypal. But do it by Monday, please, so I can get it in the mail right away.

And don't forget that the ebook (http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323954473&sr=1-1 ) can be given as a gift, too. There's a handy button right on the page to use just for that. (No worries about losing it in the mail, either!)

Okay--I'm done. I appreciate your patience. You may now return to your regularly scheduled program. Thank you all for all your support! It means a lot.

Holiday wishes,

Deborah

How to Make an Author Happy (And a contest)

How do you make an author happy? Well, you can buy their books of course..

But posting a great review? Really makes an author's heart sing...

Look, here's another 5 Star review of WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO

Yay! *does happy dance*

If you read the book and liked it, I'd love it if you could leave a review at Amazon and/or Goodreads. The first five people to post reviews (and come back here and tell me about it) will all get their names thrown in a cauldron...and one of them will win something COOL. (Yes, that's a one in five chance of winning. Not bad, eh? Must be the Christmas spirit getting into me...)

Of course, it would also make me pretty happy if you buy a copy for yourself or a friend. But I know a lot of you are waiting on the Nook version...which has now been delayed by my pal Robin's computer getting a virus. Considering we both have colds, that adds up to three viruses too many!

Hope you're all staying healthy and warm. And as always, thanks for all your support! It really does make this author very, very happy.

Book Updates and My Review of MAKING WAVES at ChicklitRWA

Hi all--

I have to say, I have been BLOWN AWAY by the great response to the epub of my book, WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN. *big smoochies all around*

For those who asked, the Nook version will be coming out soon--my poor webmistress/book midwife Robin came down with a cold, so it is taking a bit longer than we'd planned. I'll let you know when we get it up on B&N and another spot we're looking at. Also, for the folks who said they didn't have ereaders (ironically, neither do I!), if you go to Amazon's Kindle site, you can download free apps to read Kindle books on your computer, tablet, or even your phone. (And maybe you'll get a Kindle or a Nook for Christmas...) Don't forget that you can give ebooks as gifts, too... (hint, hint, hint).

I haven't forgotten I said I was going to do a giveaway, either. I plan to take all the names of those who said they bought the book or spread the word (both here and on FB) and put them in a hat. Just haven't gotten to it yet...maybe later today.

In the meanwhile, I popped over to the Chicklit Writers of America blog and posted a review of one of the top 10 favorite books I read this year, Tawna Fenske's debut novel, MAKING WAVES. If you want to run over and see what I had to say (and maybe leave a comment so I don't look like a friendless loser...) that would be really nice!

http://chicklitwriters.com/2011/12/07/review-making-waves-by-tawna-fenske/

More news to come soon...

BIG NEWS! The Sekrit Project is HERE!!!

Once upon a time, there was a book. It was called Witch Ever Way You Can, and it was the first novel I sent out into the world. My first child, if you will. Witch Ever Way You Can spent about two years being submitted to agents and about a year on the RWA chapters contest circuit. It got a great response: agents loved it, editors loved it, my critique partners and first readers loved it, and it garnered all sorts of finals and wins in contests, including the much-sought-after EMILY "Best of the Best" Award. Author Candace Havens (then just someone I admired mightily, now a friend and colleague) even gave me first prize in a contest she was judging and recommended me to her (and now my) agent Elaine Spencer because of it.

But it wasn't "High Concept" enough to sell in an increasingly tough publishing market. Agents kept telling me, "Two years ago, I could have sold this in a heartbeat, but things are very tight now." If you are an author, you may have heard that one yourself. *headdesk*

Eventually, I wrote another couple of books, including Pentacles and Pentimentos which got me signed with Elaine and is currently out on submission. But I never forgot about my first baby.

So when Candace and I were talking a couple of months ago about how long it takes to get a publishing contract these days, and how people kept asking me, "When am I going to be able to read one of your novels?!" she had this suggestion: why not epublish Witch Ever Way You Can?

I talked to a couple of author friends who had epubbed some of their backlist (older books they'd gotten the rights back on) or even new novels they couldn't find a home for with a conventional publisher. They said, "Go for it!" And I talked to Elaine (because you always run important decisions by your agent), and she said, "Go for it!"

And with the help of my uber-savvy friend and webmistress, the brilliant Robin Wright, I did. Ta da!

Witch Ever Way You Can is now available for your Kindle at Amazon, and will be available soon from B & N and another couple of places. I'll post links as soon as I have them. (The Amazon link is below.) I've priced it fairly low--$2.99--because I wanted to reward all the faithful folks who have asked for a novel for so long. I hope that people will buy it for themselves, as gifts for their friends, and pass the word (pretty please!) to anyone they think might like a paranormal romance told with a humorous voice. It's about a Witch, of course.

I'll probably run some kind of giveaway contest soon...just have to come up with something suitable good! In the meanwhile, who is going to be the first to buy it? Maybe you?

http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323088036&sr=1-6