Come Support Me on Patreon!

I have exciting news! I’ve decided (okay, been persuaded) to start a Patreon page. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Patreon, it is a way to support the authors (or artists, or various other types of creative people) whose work you enjoy. It is very simple. Patrons sign up to make a monthly contribution (as little as a dollar a month) to the “creator” of their choice, and in return get various rewards that are not available to the general public. The greater the monthly pledge, the more exciting the rewards.

Needless to say, not everyone can afford to do this, or will have any desire to support their favorite authors by doing anything more than buying books and leaving the occasional review. That’s just fine. But for others, it is an opportunity to be a part of the creative process, support folks they admire, and get fun and interesting rewards in the process. And those they support get to do what they love and worry just a little bit less about money.

To be honest, the deciding factor for me was the recent insane vet bills for my beloved cats. (Mystic is on a medicine that costs, I kid you not, $300/month. But without it, he wouldn't be here.) I didn’t want to do a Go Fund Me and just ask for money, and I’d already been playing around with the idea of doing a Patreon page, since it allows me to give back to the folks who support my efforts. It’s something of an experiment, and we’ll see how it goes.

But in the meanwhile, here it is. Feel free to follow this link and see what it is all about!

https://www.patreon.com/deborahblake 

Thanks in advance to anyone who jumps on board! *smooches*

Deborah

Veiled Magic Reveal

For those who don't get my newsletter, here is the reveal of yet another cover. Introducing VEILED MAGIC!

VEILED MAGIC is a non-Baba Yaga book. I wrote VEILED MAGIC a number of years ago—in fact, it was the book that got me signed with my agent, Elaine Spencer, who really loved it. But for whatever reason, we couldn’t sell the book back then, so Berkley bought it now and will be putting it out in November to give my readers something to hold them over until the next Baba Yaga book is out in February.

Unfortunately for those of you without e-Readers, VEILED MAGIC will only be out in eBook form initially. (You will still be able to download it and read it on your computer.) But take heart; if it sells well enough, they'll put out a print version too. And if it really sells well, they'll continue the series. So be sure to spread the word when the book comes out!

VEILED MAGIC is a little different from the Baba Yaga books (for one thing, it is Urban Fantasy, rather than Paranormal Romance, so it has a slightly different tone) but I hope my readers will enjoy it too. We don’t have an official blurb yet, so here is the one I wrote up when I was pitching it to agents, way back when:

In a world not too different from ours, a Witch-cop just trying to do her job stumbles across a long lost relic and gets caught up in an ancient war between the paranormal races and a renegade arm of the Catholic Church. With the help of a half-dragon forger, a mischievous kobold, and a disgraced shape-changer, she must solve the puzzle of an explosive secret before it can be used to destroy the very fabric of the society in which she lives.

Neither of the books is up online yet, but I will definitely put up links on my blog when they are. In the meanwhile, here is a list of the release dates, for those who have been asking:

Veiled Magic November 2015 (eBook only)

Wickedly Ever After (the next Baba Yaga novella, which continues Barbara’s story) January 2016 (eBook only)

Wickedly Powerful (Baba Yaga #3) print and eBook February 2016

I just finished writing WICKEDLY POWERFUL and it is off to my editor! Now I am hard at work on the next book in the series, which will feature the first of the Riders, Mikhail Day.

So what do you think--will you read VEILED MAGIC even though it isn't a Baba Yaga book?

 

A Day at the Opera

I went to the opera today.

It was pretty damned cool.

Mind you, I have very wide and eclectic tastes in music, thanks primarily to my parents who also had wide and eclectic tastes in music, and went out of their way to expose their children to everything from classical, to jazz, to folk, to rock and roll. [Side note: Dad, you still have my Santana album...] But I don't really go out of my way to listen to opera much these days.

Still, a few months ago, when my writer pal Nancy Holzner (who is a huge opera fan) suggested that we go to see Aida at the Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown, I responded with an enthusiastic, YOU BET! For one thing, I really enjoy Nancy's company, and since we live about 2 hours away from each other, I rarely get to see her. For another, I am working hard at getting out of my work/write/garden/chores rinse and repeat rut, and this seemed like a perfect excuse for a day out.

And you know what? It was! We had a lovely day; the weather cooperated (which was questionable), the food was good, the company was great--we got to catch up on each other's lives and talk writing, writing, and a little more writing--and the opera itself was just fantastic. The singers who played Aida (Michelle Johnson) and Amonasro, Aida's father (Eric Owens) were simply stellar, and overall the production was terrific, although we both agreed that a few of the modern touches were a little jarring.

Still, a terrific day out, as you can clearly see:

It helps that the setting is so lovely. The elephants, a nod to the occasionally over-the-top productions of Aida, are the work of a local artist and being used as a fundraiser.

Big thanks to Nancy for coming up with such a great idea, and for spending such a great day with me! (And signing my copy of her latest book while she was here...)

What have you all done recently to get out of your usual "same old same old" rut?

And did you notice that the blog is almost at 40 THOUSAND PAGE VIEWS??? Holy crap! I'll have to do something to celebrate when we hit the big 40K!