See You Soon!

Off to Orlando for a combo vacation/writer's conference. It's going to be a blast! Wish my introverted-self luck mingling with all the like-minded writers, I hear this is going to be a completely sold-out show!

I'm looking forward to not only putting faces to the names of a lot of my online writer-buddies, but also getting the opportunity to meet some of the business' movers and shakers, agents, editors, and publishing pros of all types.

I'm also out-of-my-mind excited about the prospect of Disney World. I've never been and it's one of those things that everyone should try to do no matter how old they are.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them as soon as I get back.

Have a great week!

Gearing Up

Come visit me today at the Vixen blog where I share my excitement about getting ready for my first RWA National Conference.

The Cave

 

(By Enzyklofant (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

I'm writing madly and furiously to try and get my book finished before we leave for Orlando at the end of July, which means I'm going to be scarce and very distracted. If you see me pop out every once in a while, just make sure I remember my name and remind me to eat.

Happy Canada Day!

Things That Make Me Cry

Come check out my blog today at the Vixens about writing emotion.

Happy Weekend

It's been a busy week, and when that happens, I always look forward to the weekend, hoping to be able to relax and wind down...but that really never seems to happen because the weekends are filled with another kind of busy.

Do you ever feel as if there's no room in the hectic schedule to break free of it and try something new? Something different?

That's why, no matter how busy we are, our family makes it a point to set aside at least a weekend a month to do something exciting together--okay maybe not exciting, we're not bungee jumping or anything, but you know what I mean...

One weekend it was a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge (wheeeeee!!), and then the next weekend it was a weekend doing nothing but watching movies and playing Wii together, then another one of camping in the backyard and a bonfire with roasted marshmallows (we had to recover from the cost of the GWL excursion). This weekend is my son's lacrosse tournament, so I will be spending the weekend in an arena--it may not seem very special or exciting, but I love to watch him play, and I love watching the other kids and the parents. It's also one of the few chances I get to just sit back with no responsibilities, absolutely nothing to get done, but be there cheering kiddo on. And it is definitely a break from the routine.

What are your weekend plans? What do you like to do to break away from the everyday?

Happy Father's Day

I was away this weekend, but between shopping and the beach and dropping in at no less than three home-reno stores, the family made a special trip out to have dinner with my parents to celebrate father's day.

What can I say about my father? He's never been a very chatty sort. He has something to say...he says it. We get on with life. As a kid I found him intimidating and unapproachable, and I think he felt he had to be that way in order to keep us all in line. But he's also mellowed...like, a LOT since his children have all left the roost and gone on to be productive, successful members of society. I'm glad to see it too. I'm glad that he's decided his job is done and now he can relax and enjoy the grandkids :)

As much as he may have scared the crap out of me sometimes as a kid (mostly during my unruly teen years, if the truth be told), I never ever doubted that we were always his first priority and that he loved us very much. And seeing the way he is now with my own son, and how that kid idolizes the man...it's awesome.

So I want to wish my dad a Happy Father's Day and send a special shout out to my husband, who is one of the finest men and best father's ever!

My dad and kiddo, working hard!!

Now time to cool off and have some fun :)



That deserves some ice cream for sure!

GUEST AUTHOR: KS Augustin

Never give up, never surrender!

Let me tell you about a story I wrote the year before last. That would make it 2008. I was very proud of that novel because it was one of the first actual novels I ever wrote. (Up till then, I'd mostly been writing novellas.) I tried to get some interest in it but it never quite got there. What could it be, I wondered?

* The heroine as an exonerated terrorist?
* Having three of the four main characters non-white? * Interleaving some pretty hard science-fiction into the romance?
* The jaundiced view of the military that the hero and heroine hold?
* The fact that the only ostensibly alpha character in the entire novel is a villain?
* The fact that it's the heroine who has to rescue the hero?

As a writer, you can think up reasons for rejection till the sun goes nova and still not be finished. So, maybe for a reason I listed above, and maybe for none of the above, I wasn't able to tempt an agent with it.

I kept editing and polishing the thing through 2009...and heard about a new digital publisher opening. Not a fly-by-night, but one with solid investors and staff with publishing bloodlines. Hmmmm, would they be interested in My Little Novel?

Carefully reading the submission guidelines, I submitted a partial. They liked it! They asked for a full! With bated breath, I submitted the full! And Quartet Press folded. Aiyyayay! You know how that ancient mariner felt with the albatross around his neck? Yeah, that's how I was starting to view My Little Novel.

Then, I heard that Harlequin was starting up a digital-first press. Carina Press. From deep in my lair, my ears pricked up. I wonder...?

You know how you read that it's not enough to just write? You have to have tenacity and a tough hide to be a writer? It's true. Because if I hadn't somehow convinced myself that somewhere in the universe existed someone who'd appreciate My Little Novel, that story -- now called IN ENEMY HANDS -- would not be one of the launch titles for Carina Press on Monday, 7 June.

So let that be a lesson to you. Educate yourself in writing. Read widely. And cultivate tenacity. If I can do it, so can you!

IN ENEMY HANDS

The Republic had taken everything from Moon―her research partner, her privacy, her illusions. They thought they had her under control. They were wrong.

Srin Flerovs, Moon's new research partner, is a chemically enhanced maths genius whose memory is erased every two days.

While he and Moon work on a method of bringing dead stars back to life, attraction between them flares, but that poses its own problem. How can their love survive when Srin forgets Moon every two days?

When she discovers the lethal applications her research can be put to, Moon knows she and Srin are nothing more than pawns in a much larger game. Together, they must escape the clutches of the Republic before they become its scapegoats. But there are too many walls around them, too many eyes watching. They want to run, but they're trapped on a military vessel in the depths of space, and time is running out....

Kaz Augustin is a Malaysian-born writer of science-fiction, romance, and permutations of the two. Her website is at http://www.ksaugustin.com/ and she blogs at http://blog.ksaugustin.com/ You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter; just look for “ksaugustin”.

JK Coi: In Enemy Hands is recently released by the brand new Carina Press and I'm interested to know how many of you have already taken advantage of some of their amazing authors' great new titles. For a chance to win In Enemy Hands and one other Carina Press release of your choice, tell me what other Carina Press books you've read or are looking forward to reading. I'll draw a name on Wednesday night.

Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of my Twitter Contest!

@sarahsreviews and @Pearl_ROOB

You've each won a copy of The Trouble With Destiny and The Morning After.
(email me at jkcoi(AT)rogers(DOT)com for your prizes!)

Thank you to everyone for participating!

Twitter Contest!!

I'm in a great mood tonight, even though I had to work late, and I'll be working late most of the week. Why then? Because I just bought some new music and made a new playlist, and I got a whole whack of new books to read, and some great entries to judge in this year's amazing TRW Contest.

I'm celebrating my good mood by holding my first ever Twitter contest!

Retweet the following before 10:00 pm on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 to be entered to win. TWO copies of my Samhain release The Trouble With Destiny, and TWO copies of my Ellora's Cave release The Morning After are up for grabs:

@jkcoi is in a great mood, which means a contest! Retweet by 10pm Jun 8 to win The Morning After and Trouble With Destiny!

Winner!

The winner of Margaret Rowe's Tempting Eden is:

LIMECELLO!!

Email me at jkcoi(AT)rogers(DOT)com with your snail mail address and I'll make sure that you get a copy of this FABULOUS book!

Tempting Eden

My friend and critique Partner, Maggie Robinson had her debut release Mistress by Mistake, and as everyone should know by now, this was an super amazing book!

But now her alter ego (writing as) Margaret Rowe is celebrating the release of Tempting Eden, a book I've been looking forward to seeing in print for a long while. This is a book that pushes all the boundaries and demands an emotional response. It's bold and daring and gut-wrenching. Don't miss it!!

To help her celebrate, I'm giving away a copy of Tempting Eden to one lucky commenter on the blog this week. Just leave me a comment telling me what you're looking forward to this summer. Is it a book, a vacation, or something else?

Writers Contests-For and Against

Stop by the Happy Endings blog today and share your thoughts about writers contests.

This. Is. Awesome.

Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Projection on Vimeo.

(Thanks to Christine D'Abo for finding and sharing it)

Great Things to do While You're Waiting

Check out my blog today over at the Vauxhall Vixens and share your favourite thing to do to keep your mind off waiting.

It's All About ME!!

Today's my day at Christine D'Abo's blog, and I'm sharing 10 things about ... ME! Come learn the things about me that you never wanted to know, and share something about yourself to be entered to win!

10 For 10 Plus 1

My friend and critique partner Christine D'Abo is celebrating a very special event--her 10th release from Ellora's Cave!

She's having a 10 day celebration to mark the occasion, showcasing 10 fabulous EC authors and their books, which celebration culminates on May 21 with the release of her new book Mistress Rules!

So make sure to join us everyday from now until May 21 at Christine's blog:

May 11 - Jennifer Leeland
May 12 - KB Alan
May 13 - Amy Ruttan
May 14 - Aileen Fish
May 15 - Rhian Cahill
May 16 - JK Coi
May 17 - Emma Petersen
May 18 - Nina Pierce
May 19 - Lissa Matthews
May 20 - Tory Richards
May 21 - Christine d'Abo

Introducing Annette Wozniak

Hey, I want you to check out Annette. She's a fabulous young singer with a bright future--and she's also my very close friend's baby sister!

Her debut album is called Through Darkness and you can click to buy it from cd Universe or from cdbaby

It's about the process...

It's my day over at the Vixen Blog, so come by and share your thoughts on your favourite part of the writing process (or just come and say hi).

The Beauty of Blog...and a Preview

I wasn't going to post anything new today simply because I don't really have the time and there doesn't seem to be much for me to tell you right now. I don't have a new release to plug, I don't have a special guest to showcase today...

But what I do have is a pretty new blog layout and I like to look at it :)

So since I'm here, I'll let you in on a secret...I'm writing something new.

Granted, I've been writing this for a while, but it took a long time for me to really commit to it, since I had still been focused on other things. But now that I'm seriously invested, the writing has been coming a little easier once again and the story really rocks. The funny thing is--I thought that my last book was my best book yet...but now I know that this one is going to surpass even that. And I guess that's the way it should be, right?

So, do you want a little sneak peak?

Greta braced one arm across her face to protect her eyes and cheeks from the sharp wind. The other she held out for balance, taking high-kneed steps through snow that had made achy popsicles of her toes long ago, while cursing the blood-borne creature that had forced her to track it in this godforsaken blizzard.

The thing holed up in yon cavern somewhere beyond the wall of white whirling all around her wasn’t the particular evil deviant she had been hunting—was always hunting. No, this was something else, maybe just as bad. Still, having picked up another mark to bring in for the reward money was better than sitting around twiddling her thumbs as she waited for Rudolph to return with news of more dead ends.

At least, that had been the plan. A bloody good one too—right up until gale force winds and an ice storm engulfing three goblin territories had descended like a bitter, frozen plague to torture her.

Fortunately, Greta wasn’t following a physical trail. It would have been buried and long gone by now if she was. No, she was pretty sure she knew where this monster was hiding and didn’t need his footprints in the snow to point the way for her. Even so, the only reason she hadn’t turned right back around to seek shelter from the devastating storm was the young boy missing from his home in the village. She refused to believe he was dead already, although he would be if someone didn’t get to him fast.

“Sand and sp-p-lashing surf.” She blinked away the crystals forming on her eyelashes and glanced up at the wide evergreens so heavy with snow their limbs sagged all the way to the ground. “T-t-tender barbecue chicken,” she continued to mutter through chattering teeth. “T-t-tall, leafy palms. A w-w-warm yellow sun.”

Unfortunately, the cold hadn’t yet made Greta delusional enough to believe that the wet stuff filling her boots and trickling down the back of her neck was anything but miserable, icy cold precipitation, or that she was anywhere but miserable, far-from-home Mylena.