So check it out and win some stuff, yo. Right now there’s about 300 entries, which means your odds of winning a book are currently 1 in 3.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2010/09/01/berkley-fall-giveaway/

It did not taste like donut. It tasted like a peach.

I call shenanigans.

Hello Journal! Long time no see, again. Sorry it’s been a quiet summer – I’m trying to dig out from a lot of self-imposed deadlines (and some not-so-self-imposed). I’ve spent every waking moment since Mid-July working on a spec project. You haven’t heard of it. It’s not contracted. But it was eating at my brain (much like a flesh-eating virus would) and I really wanted to get it done while I had some downtime.

(Cue laughter at the thought of ‘downtime’)

I did finish it, though! And then I got handed my copyedit for book three of the Succubus Diaries. Normally my copyedits are clean and pretty, and all I have to do is just write STET and go along my merry way. Not this time. Clearly my brain was half-dead when I turned in this manuscript, and I thank the lord that the copyeditor has such a good eye. I cannot keep eye-color straight, or clothing, and there were several plotlines that I dropped and never recovered throughout the book that I had to fix.

What have I learned from this? No more magical objects that characters can wear. Ever. EVER.

So now that that’s over and I can breathe a sigh of relief, I’m back to my spec project, reading for draft two. I thought the book was totally crap, but it actually turned out really well and I’m happy with it. So yay! In a few weeks I hope to have it polished up and off to my agent, and then I’ll probably be back to work on the next book in my series.

A few people have been asking me about the MIDNIGHT LIASONS book that is scheduled to come out next year. The only information on that is that I don’t have any information! The title is changing, the date it is coming out is up in the air, and I don’t even have edits on it yet. It’s still on the schedule, though. As soon as I have more details, I will share them here, I promise.

Now you might look at this cover and think, but Zane has black hair! And red eyes! This piece of masculine hotness has dark brown hair! And you can’t tell his eye color! Well, yes, this is true. But the shade of hair color, to me, is such a minor thing. And hey, if you zoomed in, his eyes JUST MIGHT be red. To me, this model looks far, far more like the Zane in my mind than the last cover model (even though he was incredibly hot). Look at that jaw! That sly look on his face. Tell me that’s not totally Zane.

I hope you like it. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and I am so thrilled with my publisher for the beautiful covers they continue to shower me with.

Just stop by here and RSVP: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=28084

Remy and Jackie will be answering questions, so be sure and drop by and ask something you’d like answered. No holds barred! (Well, maybe a few holds.)

What I read:
Re-read Demon Bound – Meljean Brook
Re-read Demon Blood – Meljean Brook
Re-read Demon Forged – Meljean Brook
Re-read When Dreams Begin – Lisa Kleypas
Innocent in the Harem – Michelle Willingham

What I watched:
Haven TV show (not for me)
Lots of House reruns
Pan’s Labyrinth (loved it)
Outpost (Ray Stevenson ftw)
Dead Snow (Norwegian Zombie Movie = awesome)
Triangle (very deja vu but decent)
Daybreakers (too emo and plot sucked)

It was an awesome vacation.

Yeah. And as karma proves, I am now one of those lazy people. Go figure. To be honest, I run for my blog when I have something new and exciting to share! I can’t wait to share news or bits of writing with everyone. The sad truth of the matter is that at the moment, I am just between news. I have nothing going on, and I am spectacularly unexciting to boot.

I do hope I can share finalized cover art for MY FAIR SUCCUBI pretty soon. You might have seen an early version floating around on the internet, but the final version looks slightly more jazzy and has some cute text on it, and just looks better all around. At least, I think so.

Also to note – any of the blurbs you might have seen online? Not the final back cover copy. Not sure if I can share that yet either, so you’ll have to be patient a wee bit longer. I did get a few panicked questions because the blurb on the web does not mention Zane. Please be assured that all Team Zane fans will be VERY HAPPY with book 3. I would not do that to you guys! Or Zane!

Someone did ask for a Zane snippet the other day and I thought I would provide the following. It’s not in Book 2. It’s not even in book 3. It is a mystery snippet for a freebie I am (tentatively) working on that might or might not show up on this website someday. Tell me what you think!

Some days, eternity was far too long.

Zane opened his eyes slowly, shaking off the day-slumber, and hating that he had to return to consciousness. Being awake meant another day living, breathing, feeding without her…and another day serving the queen.

As if she sensed his mutinous thoughts, the queen loomed over Zane’s body and grazed a hand over his chest, her sharp fingernails scratching a pattern onto his bare shoulder. She could do that to him – she owned him. And he hated it. A thousand years ago, he hadn’t minded. A hundred years ago, he was content. But everything had changed in this last year, and Zane found this his reasons for living had changed. And his future plans? Did not include the queen.

For now, though, he had to bide his time. So he gritted his teeth and gave her a mockery of a smile.

The queen’s red eyes gleamed with interest as she studied him, trying to interpret his thoughts. Like a thundercloud rolling through his senses, her mind pressured his own, nearly overwhelming him with the possessive murk of it. “I have decided you will feed me today.”

Punishment. Again. Careful to hide any emotion, Zane swung his legs over the side of the marble bier and extended an arm toward her with an almost bored expression. “Eat up.”

Instead, the queen smiled, revealing her razor-sharp teeth. She crooked a finger at him, slowly beckoning. “No. Not like that. Give me your neck today.”

Yes? More? No? Boring? Bueller?

But when something does make it on my Goodreads, it’s usually because I enjoyed it and want to talk about it! And I’ve had a really good spate of reading lately. I’m not sure if it was because I was in a reading mood, but whatever it is, I am thoroughly enjoying my time with books lately. And since it was a long weekend, and my husband was sick, I read. A lot. And it was so NICE. I read:

Meljean Brook — DEMON BLOOD. Ok, confession time. When you are an author, sometimes you get early copies of coveted reads because people want you to blurb them, or because you shamelessly beg in email or you have connections. I got an early copy of DEMON BLOOD and I’ve already read it. Twice. Probably going to read it a third time this week. It is so good. SO GOOD. Meljean does an amazing job with making her stories emotional and sexy and still keeping the overarching plot tense and action-packed. This also just came out today, so you should buy your own copy so we can squee over it together. I’m just saying.

Lisa Kleypas – LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON. Loved this! I went in not expecting much, because I put down MARRIED BY MORNING after about 3 chapters. I loved this one so much that I went back and finished MARRIED BY MORNING afterward.

Victoria Dahl – CRAZY FOR LOVE. Okay, so Dahl is on my auto buy because she writes such fun, breezy contemporaries. This one did not disappoint.

I have a few books in my queue that I need to finish (including THE PASSAGE) but…I’m a goober and I started re-reading Meljean Brook’s books again. Ah, comfort reads. How I love thee.

It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. You should go comment!

The downside of the nook?  No more early releases. It’s true – I confess. I’m one of those horrible people that starts scouring the shelves of the local bookstore a week or two in advance of an eagerly-anticipated book, all in the hopes that some employee might slip a copy or two onto the shelves early. I scan the grocery store, hoping that the distributor has ignored the lay-down dates and stuck the newest books out in advance! Release date? Shmelease date! Gimme my books now!

This, of course, does not work on the nook. It’s release day or nothing for them, and they don’t release the files early. This makes me a VERY SAD READER. I mean, as an author, I should rejoice in the hard release date for e-files because it makes it that much easier for someone to hit the lists, right? And I want my friends to do well.

But the reader in me? Wants your book NOW.  F&ck waiting! I think there should be a program where we can pay a dollar or two extra and get your book a week or two in advance. I’d pay it. A dollar buys me a candy bar…or my Meljean Brook fix a week earlier. I know which way I’d rather spend it.

So has anyone else felt this impatience with e-files on the nook or Kindle, or am I the only one feeling the pain of being forced to open Christmas presents on Christmas Day?