Anya Bast

The always spectacular Vivi Anna guest blogged today over on Maverick Authors. Go on over and say hi. She has her new cover up! Veiled Truth releases in October from Nocturne and is, by the way, one of the books I’ll be giving away during my huge Book A Day month-long contest in September.

Jasmine Haynes is guest blogging over at Maverick Authors. G’wan over and say hi. You know you want to!

My Maverick Author buds, Lauren Dane and Megan Hart, have sold another anthology to Black Lace!

From Publisher’s Marketplace…

Megan Hart and Lauren Dane’s NO RESERVATIONS, the sequel to the upcoming Taking Care of Business, again to Adam Nevill at Black Lace Books, in a nice deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

The Chosen Sin is out in October, but it’s already been reviewed by Tammie at Night Owl Romance Reviews (thanks, Tammie!). This was a surprise, since I don’t even have my ARCs yet!

“Anya Bast pulled another winner out of her pocket. The Chosen Sin was a thrilling ride through space and an interesting look at what if situations. What if we found out Vampires existed? What if a form of slavery came back into our society? What would you do if your best friend was murdered? These questions all drive this paranormal story that will have you thinking how humanity acts. If you are looking for a paranormal story that is just out of this world pick up The Chosen Sin. You will get more than just the generic vampire story.”

Here’s the whole review.

The book video….

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEr7Tl4HEbI]

hhhhhhhh

Hey, all — I’m not sure I mentioned this before. I just turned in a contract for the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance, which will be out in 2009. It will be a collection of short stories within the sub genre of, you guessed it, paranormal romance. 🙂

Anyway, I’m really excited to be participating!

Here’s the Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance on Amazon, which release at the end of July. Just a bare sampling of the authors included is: Karen Chance, Lilith Saintcrow and Vicki Pettersson.

Today it is SO hot. Wow. Here’s me, very happy we have central air again. 🙂 We spent the day at the library and then at the (very crowded) public pool. Hope you’re staying cool wherever you are!

Why does my husband not understand that books are not a luxury? They are a necessity, like prescribed medicines and bread. I must have my books. I must! Therefore, when he gets the credit card bill and sees what I’ve spent on books he should not read it as a charge for inconsequentials, but for my life’s blood. He should be happy I’m not off buying shoes or purses. That would be a much more expensive past time. Why does he not understand?

*screams and has dramatic breakdown*

No seriously, though, it’s damn hard to live with someone who is not A Reader. I’m doing all I can to ensure my daughter is A Reader. Then he’ll be outnumbered. *laugh of evilness*

In a bit of good news…I surpassed the halfway point on Witch Fury yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to write yet today (what a crazy day!), but my characters are about to come against a huge challenge. My fingers are literally itching to get at the keyboard. I can’t do that until I have a quiet house, however.

In yet other news, we picked the first first organic tomato off the vine two days ago and savored it sliced with a bit of salt. Yuuuum. So good. Summer is officially here.

I have like ten gajillion books on sale at Amazon.com, yet every time a new one goes up for pre-order I always go Eeeeeeeeeeep!!!!! Hello, Witch Heart! Nice to see you there!

I have an FANTABULOUS cover for this book. Unfortunately I don’t have the final version yet and can’t post it. I have news too. Oh, such shiny, pretty publishing news! I can’t share that yet either. As soon as I can share the news and/or the cover, I’ll be over here burning up my blog’s keyboard, you can lay money on it.

A couple things before the meme….

Does anyone else keep thinking about Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series every time they talk about the tomato scare on the news, or is it just me? Also, just because I’m being denied tomatoes I’ve developed a huge craving for them…and I don’t really even LIKE tomatoes.

Second random bit…there’s this thing that writers need to have and it’s called DISCIPLINE. It means you sit your ass down in your chair every day or every evening and you write. We need to be disciplined because we have this other thing called DEADLINES. Deadlines are a part of a writer’s life, really the fiber of an author’s career, dare I say. *head tilt* The category authors have this great acronym — BICHOK — Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard. Yeah.

Now things happen and sometimes an author might miss a deadline. Sickness might occur, or natural disasters. Sometimes the book just simply doesn’t flow the way you want it too. Stuff happens. But that latter thing shouldn’t be used as an excuse because authors need to plan for the “worst case scenario”. That’s why I don’t lie around not writing until two or three months before my deadline. I start right away, anticipating I’ll be blocked here or there, or that I’ll have to rewrite significant portions. I plan for my “muse” to take a leave of absence at some point.

Bottom line is that I don’t wait around for my muse to strike me. My muse is discipline. My muse is MY CHECK in the mail. Dude, my muse is the POST PERSON. So, if you’re making six figures on your books and you only have one measly deadline a year, meet it. Don’t whine and make me want to kick your ass.

*deep breath*

Okay, meme time. I was tagged by Lauren Dane to share six things about myself.

The rules:

a. Link to the person who tagged you.
b. Post the rules on your blog.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I chain chew Orbit gum (the bubblemint flavor) and can’t keep in the house.

2. I have a major caffeine addiction

3. I’m pretty superstitious by nature. It really bothers me a lot if you spill the salt in my presence and don’t throw some over your shoulder.

4. I’m fascinated by bugs in a way that leaves me intrigued and grossed out at the same time. I won’t kill a spider in the house (unless it’s too fast to catch and relocate, is exceptionally huge, or I think it could be harmful). I will immediately kill any centipede I see and then do the YuckYuckYuckThatWasACentipede! Dance of Blarg.

5. I must read every night before I go to sleep, even if it’s just a paragraph or two, or I have trouble sleeping.

6. I love, LOVE, LOVE vacationing at the beach even though I was not made for the sun. I don’t tan and must make sure I’m slathered with sun block at all times, and I get horrid heat rash.

I tag: Patrice Michelle & Lisa Shearin

I attended my second Lori Foster Get Together in Cincinnati over the weekend and, like last year, it was a blast. I loved getting together to see old friends and making new. Here are a whole bunch of photos. Originally I’d planned to post a few of these a day while at the hotel, but I had technical difficulties. So you get all the photo goodness in one go….

Anya & Amelia

Karen B (winner of the Maverick Author gift bag) and Lauren Dane

Anya & Rhonda

“I’m a little teapot!” Readers participate in a game hosted by JC Wilder, Carolyn Ivey, and the Mavs. Really Bab Barb helped to coordinate and hand out prizes.

Anya & Annicats

Lauren Dane, Megan Hart & Yuvonne

Beth Williamson

Lauren Dane & Megan Hart

Ellie Marvel/Jody Wallace

Laura, Lauren Dane, Laura Bradford, Megan Hart, Rhonda & Anya Bast

Laura & Anya

I haven’t been blogging because I’ve been writing. Sorry, all! Now I’m off to Cincinnati for the Lori Foster Reader and Writer get Together. However, I will be posting lots of pictures while I’m there. This is my objective.

So check back soon and hopefully there will lots of pictures. The only way there won’t be is if the hotel doesn’t have wireless (but all hotels have wireless these days, right?)

See you soon!!