Winter Queen's official release is next week!

So many have already posted cover reveals, reviews, etc. THANK YOU! You have no idea how much this means to me. Also, pretty much every review I have read has been overwhelmingly positive. *squee*

If any of the rest of you would like to get in on the action, I could use all the help I can get (especially since I don't have time to do promotions right now). I could use help with the following:

• You could be my publicist! I know, I know. It's a lot to ask, but I could really use the help. 
• Organizing a blog tour with cover reveals, contests (which I will provide ebooks/swag for), reviews, etc.
• Spreading the word by blogging, facebooking, and tweeting about release day. 
• As I said before, many reviews have already gone up and they've all been so complimentary, but I'd like to see at least twenty reviews up on Amazon and sixty on Goodreads. One liners totally count! 
• Telling one person about the book in real life. 
• Pinning the book on Pinterest. 
• Creating a video about the book. I love vlogging. Totally going to start doing it sometime soon. 

And there will be prizes! Anyone who agrees to be my publicist can have my firstborn! 

What? 

You don't want him??? Is this about the toilet plunger incident? I promise, it was only that one time. 

Ahem. I will be giving away swag and ebooks, so everyone get excited for next week. Until then, I'm off to Wyoming to chase cows!

Youtube video of me talking about flashbacks

Just remember, there are no rules in fiction, only guidelines. You can break any rule you want as long as you do it well. Also, I'm a very silly person. This will be apparent if you watch the video (bet you wish you could go to one of my live classes now, don't ya?). 

LOTR and the Dwarves in the barrel question

So the question is: can you really put a dwarve in a barrel and float them down the river? 

I see numerous problems with this. First, the seal on the barrel has already been broken, so I'm not sure how watertight they would be without resealing them with some kind of sealant. Sure they can float down the river empty, but putting a person in there would weigh them down much more. 

Second: Why didn't the Dwarves push the lids open? I can't imagine the lid would be that hard to remove by simply kicking out with both feet. 

Thoughts? Any coopers (barrel makers) out there with more knowledge than me?

*update: I found this interesting article . 

Witch Fall Cover Reveal

All things fall. 

Even Witches. 

Supreme in their dominion over seasons, storms, and sea, the Witches have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind. And among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the Witches.

Lilette is one of the few who see the decadence and decay weakening the Witches. As an outsider amid her own kind, can she help them survive the coming war?

Didn't Laura Sava do an AMAZING job? She's such a joy to work with and super fast. LOVE her. To see more of her work, click here. 

So what do you guys think!?! I'm dying to hear your thoughts on the cover and the back cover blurb. *jumps up and down in excitement*

Witch Fall Cover Teaser

Isn't that the coolest stone dragon you've ever seen? I love the gold and turquoise --you can't see it, but there's a lot of rich red as well. In case you couldn't tell, this is all underwater. I'm dying to show you the whole cover! Hopefully tomorrow, if I can get the cover copy finished by then. Those on my email list will see the final version first, so make sure you subscribe 

(on the right -->).

 Here's what I have so far. Let me know what you think! 

All things fall. 
Even Witches.
Supreme over season, storm and sea, they have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind—and among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the Witches themselves.

Few see the signs. Lilette is one. An outsider among her own kind, can she delay her people's annihilation long enough for them to see the danger and survive?

{Review} The Bane (Keary Taylor)

Goodreads: Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter.  It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world.  Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold.  The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born.  The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction.

Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name.  But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality.  This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time.

Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love.  There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets.  And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind.

The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

{My Review} 

I really enjoyed The Bane. It was full of action, suspense, and romance. Taylor's take on zombies taken over not by a virus, but by cybernetics, was a fresh twist that I enjoyed. 

The heroine is tough and dedicated--she's easy to root for, even though her failure to make a decision on which guy she wanted grew a little tiresome for me. 

*spoiler alert* The story kinda reminded me of Battlestar Galactica, when one of the Cylons (a Sharon model) falls in love with a human and fights alongside them. The episodes where the humans are fighting on planets totally gave me flashbacks. 

In The Bane, Eve doesn't know she's part Bane until close to the end, and she falls in love with a full human. Without her help, the humans don't stand much of a chance against the Bane. 

All in all, The Bane is a great bargain, at only $3.99, and I will be reading the sequel. 

Help! I can't decide on this dang cover.

For all my covers, I've pretty much known what I've wanted from the beginning. Witch Fall not so much. 

Laura and I have brainstormed about 3 options. *Keep in mind that your voting on the CONCEPT, not the actual pieces before you. You have to think ahead to what it will look like finished, not what it is NOW. Make sense? 

Option 1: *These two are very rough sketches. They'll be all prettied up for the final.* I love the colors and the sky. It matches the first books pretty well. Not quite sure what do do about the pendant (The title is Fall, so I wanted the pendant to fall from her hands). 

Option 2: This one will have some tweaking, so keep that in mind. I don't really like her pose, but Laura thinks we need to keep it more portrait like to match the first two covers. I'd kind of like a full body shot of her in the water, but the pendant would be tiny. Something like this. We'll make the water turquoise, with sunken buildings around her (she's on a sinking island), the necklace pulling her up. 

Option 3: Something more like this, with Lilette facing the audience, the pendant floating free in front of her and her hair floating around her (Love the Forbidden Sea, BTW. Great book).

I'll probably take the sketches down tomorrow so the unfinished image isn't floating around in cyperspace. 

{Review} The Neptune Project (Polly Holyoke)

From Goodreads:

THE NEPTUNE PROJECT is set in a future where the seas are rising and global warming is out of control. Nere Hanson and her teen companions are shocked to learn that they have been genetically altered by their desperate parents to live in the sea. Protected by her loyal dolphins, shy Nere leads the rest on a perilous journey to her father’s new colony. Fighting off government divers, sharks and giant squid, can Nere and her companions learn to trust each other before their dangerous new world destroys them?

My review: 

The Neptune Project opens up a whole new world--at once achingly alien and yet fascinatingly familiar. It sings to those who hear the call of the water in the breathing out of the ocean's waves against the shore or the laughter-like chatter of the dolphins. 

Speaking of . . . Holyoke captures our the undeniable kinship dolphins seem to evoke in humans--we love them without knowing why or how. Every watched a nature movie on dolphins, sharks, giant squid? Ever snorkled or scuba dived into the depths, and a part of you never wanted to leave?

Holyoke perfectly captures that hunger, that feeling of belonging where you don't belong at all. I can't say enough good things about this book. It was one I eagerly devoured, and yet immediately wanted my son to read as well. Truly a family novel. Perfect for bookclubs or vacations or anytime you hunger for the embrace of the water--the siren song it sings to our blood. 

Also, my ugliest writing contest has two winners:

JoLynne Lyon and Anthony Pacheco. Pick one of my books and I'll send you an ebook.