Anya Bast

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Myself and a bunch of other authors, spearheaded by the fantastic Lauren Dane, have joined together to bring you Snippet Saturdays for the next few months.

Every Saturday will have a specific theme. Participating authors will post excerpts that fit the theme, along with a list of other blogs you can visit to read more.

I might choose an excerpt from a work-in-progress, an upcoming or current release (nothing spoilerific, though), or something from my backlist. I may even offer a prize once in a while because I like to do that and I have a whole STACK of pristine paperbacks by various authors in my office to give away.

It will begin next Saturday with the theme of “main character’s defining moment”. Here are some of the participating authors:

Cynthia Eden
Juliana Stone
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Michelle Pillow
Moira Rogers
S.J. Day
TJ Michaels
Vivian Arend
Jaci Burton
Maura Anderson
Mandy Roth
Elizabeth Naughton
Beth Williamson

Whew. And that’s just a partial list.

*** Header credit goes to Val Tibbs. Pretty nice, huh?

I received a first copy of Witch Fury a couple days ago (the book releases on June 2nd). My girls look good together, don’t you think? *g* I stuck it up on the shelf without looking at it much. I flip through when I get the first copy (with a blissful look on my face, I’m sure), check the back for the teaser except (in Witch Fury there’s a sneak peek at Wicked Enchantment, which will come out in January) and check the dedication. I don’t usually look that much closer, however.

I have this thing about viewing the final book too closely. I’ve always had it, even back in the earliest days of my career. Once that final book is in your hands, there’s no changing or tweaking it and, inevitably, if I read parts of the book in this stage I find tiny little changes I would like to make.

So no reading, only flipping. 😉

Regarding the dedication, I’ve been waiting a while to find the right book to dedicate to this particular person and this was the book. But that’s a topic for another post, maybe next week sometime. Have a great day, all! I’m dealing with a sickish child today.

Right now, she’s sitting at the dining room table feeling a bit better, playing with stickers, markers and crayons on a big white piece of paper. It’s a beautiful day today. Too pretty for an active toddler who loves to be outside to be sick, but what are you going to do? The germs, they have no mercy.

Today I’m working on a free story for you all. It’s sort of a post-series tale for one of the characters in the Elemental Witches series that I get a lot of mail about. That’s all I’ll say right now. *g* Any guesses about which secondary character it might be? I hope to have it finished and posted to my web site by the time Witch Fury releases.

This week I registered to attend RAW 2009, a weekend long get-together of readers and authors in Huntington, West Virgina hosted by the amazing Lora Leigh. The event takes place September 25, 26 and 27. I went last year and had a blast. It’s very low key. Lots of time to sit around and shoot the breeze. But if you’re thinking of going you better make the decision quick! Registration ends at the end of the month. Click the graphic above for more details.

Also, anyone in the Minnesota area, Mary Janice Davidson and I will be signing our latest releases at Uncle Hugo’s Science
Fiction Bookstore on Saturday, June 6, from 1-2 pm. I’ll be signing WITCH FURY. I hope to see you there!

This morning I heard an author on NPR (don’t know who, sorry) say something to the effect that a writer should always put themselves in the place of their audience when writing. I got me to thinking (this is the part where you should run away and hide).

I do think of my audience when I’m writing, but it’s usually before I start a novel, when I’m the plotting/outlining stages. For example, I write paranormal romance. That means an HEA is a must or I will be strung up by my neck by my readers and left to die a slow, choking death. There also other considerations when crafting a story for the romance reader that I always take into account when plotting and planning. Sexual tension, placement of love scene, character development, ect…

But once I start writing, I’m really not thinking about y’all anymore. 😉 At least, not when I’m sitting there looking at my MS. When I write, I’m not in the head of my audience; I’m in the head of the POV character I’m writing at that moment.

Creative visualization is a must-have tool for a fiction writer. The ability to place yourself in the environment your character is in, to smell what they smell, see what they see, hear what they hear. The hardest thing about this is, of course, thinking the way they think because those characters are not you. They have different backgrounds, different ways of seeing the world, are driven to make decisions differently than you would. The mark of a skilled writer is getting the reader to believe the characters, but in order to do that (in my opinion) the writer has to be fully in the head of the character, not the reader, when they’re writing.

This is on my mind right now because I’m writing an especially tricky character right now—two of them, actually. It’s easier when a character is sort of like me. I can name a few of my heroines to whom, were they real people, I’d probably relate pretty well. Then there are characters like, oh, Daria from The Chosen Sin, who are so different from me that they’re a real challenge to write. That’s okay, I like challenges. Prefer them, in fact. Makes the experience more interesting.

Right now I’m writing a historical fantasy ménage a trois romance for Berkley Heat called JEWELED. There are three main characters in this story. The two characters the story opens with are Evangeline and Anatol. Both of them are challenging characters, who have worldviews much different than mine. The challenge is keeping their POVs true and not letting too much of my own personality seep into them. I really have to get deep into their heads to write them.

So, you see, as much as I love you all and appreciate the absolute hell out of you and HOPE like a crazy person you like the end result, I am not thinking of you when I’m writing. Or of myself, for that matter. I’m only thinking of the fictional character on the page and trying to get them right.

I can’t believe it’s almost here, the final book of the Elemental Witches series. Witch Fury will release on June 2nd, just three weeks from today.

If you’ve been reading the series, you’re familiar with Theodosius Winters from a short appearance in Witch Blood and a secondary role in Witch Heart. As readers know, Theo is very much in need of love. He’s the kind of hero I love to write–dark, brooding, a bit dangerous, and just a little bit damaged. It’s the kind of damage that only true love can heal.

His childhood was rocky and, then, when he was teen Theo was kidnapped by the Duskoff, along with someone very important to him. Coveting his powerful earth magick, the Duskoff tried to break Theo to their will, but failed. In the process Theo had to watch the murder of the one person in the world he loved. That’s bound to push just about anyone into a world of darkness, huh? As an adult, Theo works for the Chicago Coven and his favorite job is making the Duskoff pay every chance he gets.

Enter Sarafina Connell. Outgoing, vivacious, and with a million friends, Sarafina is Theo’s opposite in just about every way. She’s also had trauma in her life, but with the support of those who love her, she’s weathered the storm much more successfully than loner Theo.

Unfortunately, when she comes home one day to find Stefan Faucheux in her living room, she’s in for a whole new trauma. Stefan nabs her and forces her accept a truth she wants no part of–she’s a fire witch. World turned on end and reality a jumbled mess, the Chicago Coven raids the house where she’s being kept and Theo assumes she’s a warlock–his least favorite thing in the world.

So, you see, they have a few things to overcome.

And the barriers to their relationship are only part of the problem. The Duskoff is back and deadlier than ever. This time they intend to use every resource they have to take down the Chicago Coven for once and for all.

I’m a bit sad to see the end of the Elemental Witches series, but also excited about things to come. I have a new series starting, which will be launched with the novella, Sweet Enchantment, in the Hot for the Holidays anthology that comes out in late September, which also features novellas by Lora Leigh, Angela Knight and Allyson James. Then the first full length novel of the series, Wicked Enchantment, will release in January, 2010. It’s a whole new world and new characters for me to discover and I love that. I hope you will too!

If you want to read the first chapter of Witch Fury, or see the book video, they’re right here.

I said many a moon ago that I would write a review of the Sony PRS-505. Here it is, long overdue.

This review won’t debate the merits or disadvantages of this eBook reader over the Kindle because I don’t have a Kindle. Once upon a time I had a Gemstar Reb 1200 (no longer manufactured) and I loved it with the red hot love of 20 billion suns. In my opinion, the Sony PRS-505 does not beat the Reb, but there’s still a whole lot of nice about the Sony PRS-505.

I can’t tell you tons about the filing system because–as anyone who knows me will tell you–I’m not much for organizing stuff (unless it comes to my writing, then I’m very organized). I just buy the book I want to read, read it, and it remains on my bookshelf. I don’t filter them all out into different categories or folders, ect.

What I like:

1.) The readability of the text on the screen. Easier on the eyes than paper.

2.) The eBook library software is intuitive and useful.

3.) Free eBooks. I buy most my eBooks from the Sony site. I have been told you can easier buy ebooks from many different sources (this was the primary reason I bought the Sony instead of the Kindle), I just haven’t had a need to do so yet. The Sony site has had good prices on the ebooks I’ve wanted since I bought the device, and I’ve also taken frequent advantage of their free and almost free offerings.

4.) The ability to increase the font size at will.

5.) It’s thin and easily transportable in my laptop case (this is also a disadvantage. See below. Just can’t please me, I guess.)

6.) I have the red one and it’s a beautiful, elegant looking device.

What I dislike:

1.) The trend is to make personal electronics slimmer and smaller. The Reb I used to have was bulkier than the Sony PRS-505, but it was also contoured to fit in my hand. The Sony PRS-505 doesn’t curve to smoothly fit in my palm; it’s flat, hard and thin.

2.) There’s no backlight. Again, to compare to the Reb, the Reb had a very nice backlight that I could dim or make brighter. The overwhelming majority of the time I spend reading it right before I go to sleep. I’m usually on my back or my side in a darkened room with my husband sleeping beside me. Because there’s no backlight, I must still use the clip on booklight that I used to use with my paperbacks. I really don’t mind this, it clips on well, and I knew I’d have to use a booklight with it when I bought the Sony PRS-505. However, I find the booklight will glare on the screen and there’s no way to position the light to prevent that glare. Also, the damn booklight scoots to the side when I lie at an angle, causing me to constantly readjust.

3.) The buttons to turn the page (there are two) are not in (what seems to me, anyway) a very ergonomically sound place on the reader. Maybe it’s because, again, I’m laying in bed on my side. In any case, I’d love to have the button I push the most (to turn a page) in a place that’s a bit easier.

Overall, I have to say I’m very happy with the Sony PRS-505. I have no regrets I bought it.

Thank you all for participating in the second super duper ginormous contest I’ve conducted on my blog. Let me tell you, it WAS ginormous. This contest received far more comments and hits than the first one I did, and I didn’t think a blog contest could be any bigger than that one.

So, THANKS to all of you who played along and answered the questions. It was a blast reading the responses. And THANKS to everyone who spread the word about the contest by posting about it on their blogs, web sites, social networking sites and who told their friends about it. You all ROCK!

I only wish I had something for everyone. Unfortunately, these things are all about the luck of the draw. So, with no further ado, here are the winners I need to announce:

Winner of yesterday’s book of the day, Making Mischief, by Leila Brown, is…. Ilona, who said. “I am an army brat who has travelled a lot but my most interesting trip was a short one. It was a five day trip from Cardiff to St. Andrews and was to see my eldest son be the first of my children to graduate from University.”

Runner up prize of a $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies (like chocolate, bath goodies, ect) is… celeber.

Runner up prize of a $25 GC to B&N and a box of surprise paperbacks and other goodies (like chocolate, bath goodies, ect) is…Caitlin Crowlet

The grand prize winner of a $100 GC to Amazon.com is….Erika Lynn!!!

Congrats to you all!!!! Please contact me at anyabast (at) gmail.com (or via the contact form on my site). I’ll give you until May 20th (two weeks from today) to collect your prize.

I’m sure I’ll be doing another ginormous contest in the future. I’d do one for the June 2nd release of Witch Fury, but I’m pooped! But as long as I have your eyeballs right now, I will announce that I’ll be signing WITCH FURY at Uncle Hugo’s bookstore in Minneapolis, MN on Sat, June 6, from 1-2 pm. Mary Janice Davidson will also be there signing her latest release! If you live in the area, please stop on by. I would love to meet you.

Have an awesome day, you all! Hope you had fun!

…Terry W! She wrote, “I’m currently listening to 80’s music (Def Leppard, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Human League, etc.)”

Congrats, Terry! I’ll give you until May 12th to contact me either at anyabast (at) gmail.com or use the contact form on my site. Good luck in today’s contests for MAKING MISCHIEF and WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…AFTER DARK!

Tomorrow I’ll announce the winners of the main contest.

Web Site

Author Bio: Leila has been an avid reader since the fifth grade. As she got older she read everything she could get her hands on, from horror to mystery and finally stopping in romance. Currently, she works a normal 9 to 5 in the IT world. She writes during her lunch hour and at home after nine pm when everyone in her house is asleep. Is it easy? Yes and no. Coming up with the stories is easy. Getting the words out of her head and onto paper is hard! But she couldn’t live without it. To see what she’s up to, visit her website at http://www.leilabrown.com or http://leilabrown.blogspot.com/

Interview Questions:

1.) How did you get started in writing and how long have you been doing it? I read so much that my husband challenged me. He said that I should write and so I started. My first attempts were horrible but as I learned and practiced I got better. I started writing in 2001, and I sold my first book in 2007. And I am still learning how to do this.

2.) What genres/subgenres are your favorites to write within and do you have any aspirations to write outside your current genres/subgenres. Try something new? I love my erotic paranormal romances. Throw in a little BDSM or ménage…hey I’ll even take both and I am in heaven. As far as writing outside my comfort zone goes I have come up with a YA idea that may go places. I will have to see how it comes together. Until then I am all about the erotic paranormal, sci-fi fantasies.

3.) What are you working on now and what releases do you have coming up? Well, I just released Super Sex 4: Dominating Domino with Changeling Press. Coming in the next few months I will release The Pearl Heartstone, a sequel to The Diamond Heartstone, a Fictionwise Bestseller.

4.) Anything else you’d like to share? I love to hear from readers so contact me with your thoughts.

…is Mari! She said, “I like cleaning if it involves my swiffer and swiffer duster. I also enjoy deep cleaning my house. For some reason I get a perverse sense of satisfaction from getting dirt out of cracks and crevices that most people miss. I blame this on my Virgo Moon….”

Me too, Mari! Okay, please email me at anyabast (at) gmail.com or use the contact form on my site. You have until May 11th to collect your prize, a week from today.

Tomorrow is the last day for the Book-of-the-day contests. I will announce the winners of the main contest on WEDNESDAY! Good luck in today’s contest for Relentless, all!