Welcome to the party to celebrate the release of Stakes & Stilettos, the fourth book in my Immortality Bites series! Glad you could make it.
The party’s just inside Haven, the secret vampire nightclub owned by master vampire Thierry de Bennicoeur. He might act kind of unfriendly, but he’s a good guy down deep. Really deep. He doesn’t show his friendly side to just anyone.
Come on in! Don’t mind the scary-looking bouncer. He’s been told not to kick out any humans today. There’s room for everybody. You do have some cash for the bar, right?
Have a Bloody Mary. Don’t worry, silly. Of course we can make you one the “regular” way. However, if you’d like to sample something a bit more exotic, we have all blood types on tap. I recommend the B-Positive. With the cheery name, you really can’t go wrong.
I’m over in the corner hanging out by the stack of Stakes & Stilettos and the chocolate fountain, but please feel free to look around, although it’s probably best if you don’t stray too far into the shadows. The regular customers aren’t used to having humans around. Sure, they’re friendly, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry, don’t you agree?
Question:What’s a party without some prizes?
Answer: A crappy one!
Every virtual attendee is in the running for:
• One of three $10 Amazon gift certificates delivered to your email inbox for your book buying pleasure.
• One of two signed copies of Stakes & Stilettos with an extra special vampire sketch by yours truly (more than just my traditional fanged happy face). I can’t guarantee it will be good, but it’ll be original!
Just leave a comment and you’re automatically entered. I’ll pick the winners* by noon EST on Wednesday, April 1st. And that’s no joke!
Hold on, who let those other vampires in? The ones lurking over there…
Uh excuse me? This is a party only for Immortality Bites vampires and their guests. Hello?
Okay, now it’s getting ridiculous. They all need to leave immediately.
Well…except that last one who just came in. Yeah, that one over there. The pale one with the crazy hair. He can stay. Tell him to come over here and sit by me.
Here’s some other completely unrelated vampire entertainment while I take care of this influx of uninvited vampires.
And one just for old time’s sake that IS related:
Now, back to the party! Did you get a drink yet?
I told you, just ignore Thierry. He glares a lot. It’s not you, it’s him.
Mingle. Have fun. George is your waiter today. Just tell him what you want to eat or drink and he’ll set you up. Remember to tip!
I’ll be around all day if there are any questions or comments about the book (STAKES & STILETTOS— AVAILABLE NOW!) or anything else. Otherwise, enjoy yourselves!
But remember…friends don’t let friends drink and Twitter!!
–Michelle xoxo
*Please check back tomorrow afternoon to see if you’ve won. Prizes must be claimed within one week from announcement.
Ad-Astra went well this weekend. Among other highlights I got to meet authors Adrienne Kress and Lesley Livingston who are both mega friendly and welcoming as well as being fabulous Toronto-area writers. My panel on YA with them was definitely one of the best parts of the convention for me. I also met and was on a panel with Nigel Bennett, who was both charming and well-spoken, and didn’t request a restraining order after I informed him I am a huge Forever Knight and Lexx fan. And my bud Eve Silver and I shared a panel with Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, both are lovely ladies and great writers.
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“Hey Michelle,” I know you’re saying right now, “what’s coming up tomorrow??”
Well, it just so happens to be the official release day for STAKES & STILETTOS! I’m having a virtual release party right HERE tomorrow so please come back then for the virtual fun and frivolity and calorie-free virtual snacks! I’ll be giving away PRIZES to virtual attendees, prizes to be determined later, but will likely be BOOKS GALORE.
Galore, I say!!
The book is getting a fantastic reception so far by readers and reviewers, which I’m very pleased with since it is my favorite of the series.
There’s a couple of those fabulous reviews that you can read in their entirety here and here. But allow me to sample a little:
“Stakes & Stilettos has the perfect combination of paranormal, romance, mystery, humor, suspense, and chick lit all wrapped up into one superb novel that will knock your socks off!” - Enchanted by Books
“Michelle Rowen’s books never fail to thrill…Stakes and Stilettos is delightfully charming and keeps the wonderful mixture of tongue-in-cheek (is that tongue-in-fang?) humor and well-fleshed-out plot that made her earlier books so entertaining.” - Bitten by Books
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Today I’m still working on REIGN CHECK. I want to get a big chunk of it done this week and finish the first draft by the middle of next week if all is well with the world. I’m writing a Christmas party scene today and there will be much mistletoe angst for my little Demon Princess.
Wow, I can’t believe it’s Friday again. Where are the weeks going? Writing full-time makes the days fly by and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing!!
Despite recovering from a nasty sickness this week (I shall go into no further details) I am going to be at Ad-Astra this weekend — all day tomorrow on numerous panels and doing a reading and a signing, and a couple hours on Sunday. If you’re in the Toronto area and want to be a part of this celebration of sci-fi and fantasy this weekend, check out more info here: www.ad-astra.org
My inspiration for this Friday is Castiel from Supernatural as played by Misha Collins. One of the actor’s previous roles was playing the infamous Toronto-area serial killer Paul Bernardo. I think I much prefer him as a sexy yet sullen angel.
I’m doing a Q&A over on Cari Quinn’s blog about Stakes & Stilettos and writing. I’m giving away a copy of S&S to a commenter. Check it out here.
One week until the official release! I’m going to do another Virtual Release Party here on the blog next Tuesday so please swing by for virtual margaritas and virtual chocolate fountains and real prizes.
My goal this week is to do another 50 pages (or more, preferably) on Reign Check. I brainstormed the middle section the other day, having to answer two very specific questions about character motivation, and I’m glad I took the time because I ended up with two lovely plot twists that work into things very nicely. Also, while I find the second book in a series particularly tricky (case in point: Fanged & Fabulous was the hardest book I’ve ever had to write), it’s fun finding the little subconscious “clues” I left myself that I can build on in future books. In the Immortality Bites series, it was a random MacGuffin of a gold chain that comes into major play in the last books (and I thought it was just something I’d never refer to again) and in Demon Princess it’s a bracelet that’s given to the main character by her demon father. Small things that become large plot points. It’s helpful having a wagon to hitch one’s plot onto.
I’m also working on a side project which I really don’t have time for, but the muse disagrees. I had another side project, a women’s fiction, that I should work on, but I’m not as inspired by that at the moment as I am this other thing, so I’m giving it a little attention to see what springs forth.
Some random thoughts on entertainment I’ve viewed lately:
Watchmen — I went into this movie with next to no knowledge about the world or story. I liked it. I bit relentlessly grim and bloody, but it did work. There were some pacing problems I found and I wouldn’t have complained if it had been cut by 30 minutes. 8/10
Forgetting Sarah Marshall — Caught this one on the movie channel. I’ve avoided it like the plague because I was convinced I’d hate it, based on the previews. I didn’t hate it. Actually, I quite loved it and laughed out loud several times. Very clever premise and writing and likable characters. Now I want to see I Love You, Man and I hadn’t planned to see that one, like, ever. 9/10
Supernatural, Ep. 4.16 – “On The Head Of A Pin” — After the slumpiest middle in the show’s history, we’re back to the good angels vs. demons stuff. I could not love Castiel more. After some googling, I’ve found some proof (although not conclusive — it was an interview with the actor portraying Castiel) that the angel’s going to be added to the regular cast in Season 5 which is a very good thing indeed. The only thing better is if they spun him off into his own series. My only problem with this episode and this entire season is the fact that I just don’t buy Dean having been in hell for, what is it? 50 years? And torturing other souls after he was broken. Nah. But I’ll play along. 10/10
America’s Next Top Model — My favorite guilty pleasure. The show is exactly the same, cycle after cycle, and that’s why I like it so. It’s reliably mindless, with some insights on “what it takes to achieve your dreams.” 7/10
Dancing with the Stars — I have no idea why I watch this show. The one thing I admire is the fact that these “stars” take it so damn seriously. Even Steve-O!! Read yesterday that they all get $200K for being on it, even if they’re voted out the first week. 6.5/10
Twilight — I have the DVD in hand, have already watched the bonus 3rd disk. Will watch the movie itself soon, followed by the rest of the bonus bits + the commentary track with the dreary Kristen Stewart and the dreamy Rob Pattinson. Love. This. Movie. Why? I. Do. Not. Know. 100/10
Last night was the series finale of Battlestar Galactica, a show I have watched religiously since I discovered it well after it had begun in repeats on the Space channel and caught up as quick as I could. The finale was much more “hopeful” than I thought it would be, and although I have a few issues with how it all played out, I am very satisfied…something that doesn’t happen that often with a series finale.
I also watched last night’s episode of Dollhouse, despite my decision to swear off this show since I thought the previous episodes were weak at best, considering it was a Joss Whedon show. But something told me to keep watching it — a little voice in my head. Also a Facebook alert let me know that last night’s ep was the first that would give Joss’s true vision for the show, without network interference. And I’m glad I watched! It was the perfect mix of mythology, butt-kicking (Dushku is best when she’s kicking butt like Faith, not trying to stretch those acting skills), and snappy dialogue, plus some surprisingly touching moments (not surprisingly since it was from Joss, but surprising given my history of watching this new show). If the rest of the season is like last night, then I will sign on as an official fan.
What do both BSG and Dollhouse have in common? Tahmoh Penikett, who is my Inspiration this week for a half-vampire mercenary in a Michelle Maddox book I want to write one of these days. Plus, he’s Canadian!
I’m getting into the writing of REIGN CHECK. As soon as I can shut off all the outside noise or distractions, it’s amazing how much work I can get done. I feel like I’m stressing out my little demon princess, but it seems no matter how much stress and angst and scary situations I put my characters into, it all seems to come out humorous because of my voice. It doesn’t feel humorous when I’m writing it, though. Well, not most of the time. But I think with the world the way it is right now, a little humor and lightness goes a long way. I’m not personally interested in mega depressing entertainment at the moment, that’s for sure. Maybe that’s why shows like Dancing with the Stars do so well. They make the people watching it happy.
This book is a lot of fun, though. Hopefully it will read that way when all is said and done.
I want to see Watchmen this week. I hear that’s rather bleak and depressing, but it’s balanced off with the glowing blue naked dude.
Of course, now that I’ve committed to working full-time on my YA, I have a dozen other ideas knocking on my imagination’s door wanting to be let in. But there’s one rule in WRITE CLUB.
WRITE BOOK. THEN WRITE NEXT BOOK. If you let the shiny new idea distract you, you’ll end up with a dozen half written novels. That’s just the way it is. And, you know what? No idea stays shiny for the amount of time it takes to write a book and there will ALWAYS be distractions. Just plug away and get to the end!! Do it!!!
The second rule about Write Club is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT WRITE CLUB.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. I also made a Speed reference last week. I am obviously living in the nineties.
Okay… I’m going back to the page. I have to write three more pages to meet my daily goal. No problemo………….
I’ve decided I”m going to post an inspirational picture every Friday. This unknown actor (ha ha) is my inspiration for a cute faery dude in the YA I’m writing right now. Got 10 pages today! Only 200 to go! Hooray!
Sooo…. I’m all finished my Harlequin Blaze edits and ready to get back into the writing of my next YA. Very different books, that’s for sure.
Because of the fact my books are going to appeal to different markets, I now have two websites. One for my “adult” book and one for my “young adult” books. They both branch off from www.michellerowen.com with my new Splash page (ie: door number one or door number two?). You can directly check out my young adult website at ya.michellerowen.com. I’ve put the first two chapters of Demon Princess: Reign or Shine up as an early sneak peek — still 6-1/2 months until it’s released.
I feel like I might have gone off track with the YA last time I was working on it. I was really fighting myself as I went along and that’s usually a sign something is rotten in Denmark. So I’m going to ease into things by doing some brainstorming.
In other book news, I wanted to report that I’ve sold Spanish rights on the first three Immortality Bites books. I’m excited! Looks like these will start coming out in mid-2010.
Plus, I got some copies of the German versions of Bitten & Smitten and Fanged & Fabulous that are now out in Germany. They look really great! I love these covers.
Here…I’ll take a picture………
And last but not least, I have a few copies of Stakes & Stilettos hot off the presses. I’m giving one away today. As you can see, my cat Spike is very excited about my upcoming release and wanted to model it.
Here’s what you have to do to win.*
Email me (don’t leave answer in comments) at michelle@michellerowen.com between now and tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11th at midnight EST with the answer to the following question:
What is the first name of Sarah Dearly’s ditzy best friend?
I’ll randomly choose a winner from the correct answers. Good luck!
Tomorrow’s the official release date for The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, in which I have a short story titled “At Second Bite.” It’s about vampires, but stands alone from my Immortality Bites series. However, it’s got the same tone and feel, so I consider it in the same “world.”
This was a tricky story to write, since the characters decided to do the exact opposite of what I wanted them to (at least, according to my mini outline) However, I was really happy with how it turned out. It’s a fun little story told in real-time, so the amount of time it takes you to read it is how much time passes in the story itself.
Here’s an excerpt………….
The man smiled at that, but it wasn’t remotely friendly. Since she was now paying attention she saw the fangs immediately. The thought that this guy was also a vampire did nothing to help the panic situation. “I smell blood. You bleeding right now?”
Julia swallowed hard. “Ethan bit my tongue.”
“Such a charmer, isn’t he? Can’t even keep his fangs to himself during a good old-fashioned grope.” He came closer to her and squeezed her chin enough to prompt her to open her mouth so he could see the small cut. His good eye turned to black and he grinned a little. “Probably shouldn’t have done that. I’m really hungry right now, myself. Haven’t had a chance to feed lately. I’ve been too busy tracking Ethan.”
“T-tracking him?”
“He’s been trying to lose me, strangely enough. Thinks I’m too overprotective. By the way, you can quit with the fake stutter now.”
She frowned at him. “It’s not fake. I typically s-stutter with fear when somebody has a knife to my throat.”
He raised an eyebrow. “This little thing?” He raised the huge machete-like blade so it glinted in the light of a nearby streetlamp. “A guy has to protect himself against dangerous women like you in the big scary city, you know.”
“Protect yourself. From me?”
His expression grew colder. “You’d be surprised.” He drew closer to her so she could actually feel his warm breath on her face. “You’re not as pretty as you were last time.”
She glared at him. “Last time?”
“Last time you were with my little brother Ethan three hundred years ago. No, you were a major beauty back then. You know what they say about Helen of Troy? Well, you were even hotter.”
In her current dire situation, she wasn’t sure why his appraisal of her sub-par hotness pissed her off as much as it did. “For the record, you’re not half as attractive as your brother, either.”
"This delightfully inventive, demonically angelic romance elicits the feel-good vibe readers want from romance" —Booklist on That Old Black Magic More reviews...
Welcome to the party to celebrate the release of Stakes & Stilettos, the fourth book in my Immortality Bites series! Glad you could make it.
And everybody who entered even got the answer right. Sarah’s best friend’s name is AMY. Well done!!
