Anya Bast

I received a couple new reviews for The Chosen Sin!

Jennifer Ray over at Wild on Books says…

“I have never read an Anya Bast novel I didn’t enjoy. The author’s latest release, THE CHOSEN SIN, is right up there in my list of favorites by Ms. Bast. Combining erotic romance with a paranormal theme in a futuristic science fiction setting, this book blends several of my favorite genres into one unforgettable story. .. A world this vibrant and intriguing invites readers to revisit there again and again. I know this is a keeper on my bookshelf.”

Tez Miller says….

“Keep an eye out for the show-stopping, devastatingly heartbreaking scene that alerts this is not just an escapist read…It’s memorable, emotional, and I don’t remember ever having a scene in any book remain with me so long after the book’s over.” You can read the entire review over on her blog.

Today it’s pretty cold in my neck of the woods. I have a roast in the slow cooker and candles lit in the kitchen. I’m hoping to get some good writing done today. I actually slept well last night!

Tomorrow is apple picking with my mother and the tot. I’m looking forward to it. I love autumn.

Hey, how many of you are planning to do NaNoWriMo this year? Anyone?

Ugh. I’m up at 3:30am and can’t sleep. I’ve been awake since two. Figured if I can’t sleep, I might as well be productive and get some writing done.

I used to have huge sleeping problems. Once upon a time I would go for weeks with only a few hours of sleep a night. My problems seem to have been linked to the house we lived in, though I’m not sure why. All I know is that when we moved my sleep issues stopped being so frequent. These days it’s only occasional.

Tonight is an occasion.

Usually when this happens I’ll meditate. Just get up, go into a different room and meditate for about 15 minutes. Generally that clears my head of all gunk that’s clogging it up and making me toss and turn. Then I can go back to bed feeling calmer and clearer and slip right into sleep. Tonight, however, I’m feeling pretty awake and am taking advantage of a quiet household to make some progress on my novella. I’m sitting in my easy chair with a blanket, I have one of my kitties near me, and I’m ready to let this story spin out a little more.

So, how ’bout you? Ever have trouble sleeping? How do you quiet your brain and get back to sleep?

How sweet is this? He ordered a copy of every one of my books in print (No, I didn’t even have copies of some of them) and put this shelf up in our living room. See the little statue of Bast?

He’s very supportive of me. I thank my lucky stars every day that he’s this way. He’s probably more proud of me than I am. 🙂

Cross-posted from the Bradford Bunch Blog

So right now I’m building a world. (In my head I’m hearing Let’s build a word! Let’s built it! Let’s build it now! which you won’t understand unless you have a child who watches Word World on PBS Kids.) Ahem. Anyway, right now I’m building a world (and some words too).

This world is new for me, having wrapped up the end of my Elemental Witches series with Witch Fury. I’m now hard at work on my novella and the first book of my new series for Berkley. It’s based in large part on Celtic mythology and I’m breaking my brain (honestly, not the strongest organ of my body anyway) on a whole bunch of books about it.

I’m not creating a who’s who of Celtic myth, though. I’m using it as a foundation. I’m weaving in legend from many countries and then adding my own twist. My “twist” is pretty significant. I’m hoping that my world is much different than others of authors who have also used these traditions to build their worlds.

It will be. Because that’s the really cool thing about minds. They’re all different. We all interpret things differently, “read” texts differently, ect. We all have different filters through which we view our worlds that are created as a result of just about everything that’s happened to us since we were born (well, and our basic genetic makeup) It’s what gives every author her individual voice.

So I’m wrestling with some significant questions like, what kind of religion exists for these people I’ve created? How are laws made and enforced? What are the conflicts between the different types of fae within this world? Lots of questions. So far I only have partial answers for some of them, but it’s amazing how more answers evolve as I write. If I sit there with the questions in front of me, trying to answer them like the essay section of an exam, I can’t do it. But if I put myself in the world, write from inside my character’s heads…it develops. That means a bit of rewriting, of course, but whatever is most effective, right?

Sometimes I wish I could rearrange my real world like that. Just a little rewrite over here…no more homophobia! Gone! Hit the delete key and make a little change over there…ethnic cleansing? *poof* Racism? Goodbye! Famine? Disappear! People putting melamine in baby formula? Never happened! You get the picture.

Aw, it would be nice anyway.

Here’s the book video for Witch Heart (January, 2009)

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntoByiP9aFQ]

I can only embed Youtube videos, but if you want to make the trip there’s a slightly higher quality version of this vid here: Witch Heart Book Video

Thanks for letting me share my hobby! (I love making these.)

Me: Good morning, honey. Please pick a number between 1 and 48.

Husband: Fifteen. Now please make coffee.

He’s so well trained. (‘Course I am, too, since I went off to make coffee.)

Number fifteen in the comments is Greta. Congrats, Greta! Please drop me a note via the contact form on my site and I’ll get it out to you.

Oh, and how much does my husband rock? He sent off a whole bunch of books yesterday so I didn’t have to manage a stack of mailings and an active toddler at the same time. Today he took the last batch, so if you won a book from me you can start expecting it in the mail. I had four international winners. You know who you are. Your books will take a bit longer, of course.

Today is a chili festival in my town. The weather is somewhat taking the fun out of it. It’s supposed to be in the eighties today. Come on, autumn! Stop just making visits and stay awhile.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, a young woman locked herself in her office for about three months to write her first book. She almost failed that particular semester at college, went to sleep with pens and books tangled in the sheets around her, and only ate pre-prepared fatty foods because cooking took too much time.

Instead of the Freshman Fifteen, I gained the First Book Fifteen. I’ve been fighting with that same fifteen pounds ever since. I’ll lose it and keep it off for a while, but eventually it will spring back and stick to my hips and thighs once more.

Luckily I never seem to gain more back than my fifteen wittle friends, but they’re enough in my opinion. Maybe one I’ll stop fighting with them and just say “Okay! This is my body. I accept it.” I respect women who do that more than I can say. I’m weak and I just keep fighting.

So, Weight Watchers here I come. I start today. Again.

The winner of yesterday’s book, Witch Blood, is Natasha A. Congrats! Please drop me a note with your snail mail via the contact form on my web site, Natasha.

*sniffle* That was the last book, but stay tuned! At noon (eastern time) I’ll be announcing the winners of the main contest.

Hey, wait a minute. What’s this? I think I may have found one last book to give away and it’s an ARC…of something….

Witch Blood, by Anya Bast

A water witch, Isabelle Novak has always led a chaotic, nomadic existence. But her life spins out of control when her sister—her only friend and emotional anchor — is killed by a demon. Driven by grief and a desire for revenge, she turns her back on the Coven and the rede they hold sacred: Harm thee none…

When Isabelle first encounters Thomas Monahan, she’s running on pure rage and sorrow, channeling her pain into power — and trying to freeze the life out of a warlock she holds responsible for her sister’s death. Together, they form an uneasy alliance to hunt and destroy a demon of tremendous power. As head of the Coven, earth witch Thomas must thwart Isabelle’s dark impulses, but his very presence stirs deeper desires she never knew she had…

Want a chance to win it? Comment and answer the question below. I’ll draw a winner tomorrow morning. One entry per person, please.

If you were going to write a novel, what would it be about?

My answer: Ha. I’ll skip this one.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

…he was very bad, indeed….

The winner of yesterday’s book, When He was Bad, by Cynthia Eden and Shelly Laurenston, is JACKIE Y (who wants to go to Maine). Congrats, Jackie!

No contest today since it’s Sunday, but check back tomorrow for another book, the LAST book. Tuesday is the big day. That’s when I’ll be announcing the winners of the GCs.

Have a wonderful day, all!!