Birthday Contest

Good morning everyone.  It's my birthday today and I feel like celebrating so I'm doing a giveaway.  Leave your email address, the title of one of my books that you'd like to have, and why that particular book interests you and you'll be entered to win a free copy of that book.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Margie

Summer’s Back and the Pool is Open

 Summer is not my favorite season, that would be fall, but ooohhh, I do love the start of summer when it’s not too hot and humid yet.  I love going to my mom’s house, where all the neighbors gather in the driveway under the cypress tree with dueling grills and a stream of little edibles coming out.  If I could find a way to move back onto that court I would.  On one corner is my mother-in-law, in the center is my parents and there are two other families who have been there since the neighborhood was built.  The flower girls at my wedding lived across the street and are now in college and their senior year of high school.

Six Sentence Sunday

I am going to be wrapping up the rough draft of my cursed statue story, Make Me Whole, this week.  I have a chapter and an epilogue to write.  Then I’ll take a week or so to flesh out this sci-fi idea I got last week.  I’ll work on the notes and the characters a bit so it can percolate in the back of my head.  Once I get the second draft of the statue story done, Galen and Nick are off to beta readers.  I hope to have them submitted by the beginning of August at the latest.

Since I’m so close, I thought I’d share a little snippet in celebration and motivation.  Please excuse Nick’s language.  He’s a little upset right now and soaking wet to boot after a tussle that landed him in a fountain.  Being hounded by a statue that’s come to life hasn’t improved his mood much either. 

* * * * *

Blog Hop Against Homophobia

Hop Against Homophobia

Today is International Day Against Homophobia and I would like to think that because it's 2012 that we as human beings should be above discrimination.  Yet, as much as I would like to think that, as much as I can be an optimist, I see signs of discrimination every day.  I see it directed toward my husband and son because we're an interracial family.  I see it directed toward my cousin who is gay.  I see it directed toward members of my community who are suffering from mental illnesses.  And all of it hurts.  It hurts the individual, it hurts the community, it hurts everyone.  And it needs to stop.

Adorkable Totes - Kristair

And what really saddens me sometimes is that people just can't see it.  They can't see the damage they cause with careless remarks.  They can't see how close-minded their world view is. 


A friend of mine recently tried to commit suicide because of all of this isolation and misplaced hatred.  He felt so alone.  I wish he hadn't moved so far away.  I wish he had called me that night so I could've told him that he wasn't alone.  I love him.  I miss him.  I hope he finds a partner worthy of his generous heart.  I'm so thankful that he wasn't successful and that he found a friend close by that he could reach out to.  I just don't want to see it happen again.

Adorkable Totes - Triquetra

I'm joining in with a whole group of other m/m authors and organizations to celebrate this day.  We're all giving away prizes.  So click on the link above and visit them and see what they have to offer too.  As for myself, I'm giving away three prizes to three winners.  Two of them are books, ebook or signed print, winner's choice from my backlist.  And the third is something special that my cousin made for this day.  A painted tote bag with Kristair from my vampire trilogy on one side and the triquetra symbol on the other.  Please leave a comment with your email address and what prize you would like and I'll enter you in the drawing.  I'll draw and post a winner on the 21st.

Coming Soon

It’s so exciting to say this, but I have an upcoming release in the works.  I signed a new contract last week with Dreamspinner Press for my ghost story.  Ghosts in the Wind will be part of their Halloween line up.  Here’s the unofficial blurb:

Andrei Cuza and Dean Marshall just celebrated the ten year anniversary of their commitment ceremony only to have their happiness shattered.  On his way home from closing a business deal, Dean stops on the side of the parkway to help a young mother with her flat tire when her ex catches up with her.  Blake Olsen murders her and Dean and takes off with his two kids.

Andrei has been haunted by ghosts all of his life and bears the guilt for his younger sister Ileana being stuck in limbo.  When Dean returns to him as a ghost the double-punch of losing him and now having to watch him founder if he doesn’t move on is almost more than Andrei can bear.  Ghosts are stuck at the moment they died, unable to adapt to the changes in their living loved ones.

Dean has made a promise though and until he helps Andrei track down the missing kids, he isn’t going anywhere.  There are dangers in limbo that Andrei doesn’t know about, hounds that devour souls who succumb to their anger and they’re hunting Dean.  And dangers to Andrei as well, who pays a price so he can have Dean’s touch one more time.  Time is slowly running out as Dean and Andrei try to figure out how to say goodbye while they track down a killer who’d be more than happy to kill again.

Keep checking in and as I go through the editing process I’ll share more snippets and tidbits about Andrei and Dean.

Dreamspinner Press 5 Year Anniversary

Whoohooo, this month is Dreamspinner Press’s five year anniversary and I’m proud to have been there from year one.  To celebrate Dreamspinner is having a month long extravaganza with prizes and discounts.  Starting tomorrow, May 1-5, they will offer a 40% discount off all books (including in-stock paperbacks) by authors who signed with us during our first year of business. 

There are lots of wonderful authors to chose from: Rhianne Aile, Eric Arvin, Connie Bailey, Alix Bekins, Nicki Bennett, Giselle Ellis, Catt Ford, Shay Kincaid, Marguerite Labbe, Clare London, Dar Mavison, Anais Morten, Chrissy Munder, Zahra Owens, D.G. Parker, Abigail Roux, John Simpson, Fae Sutherland, Ariel Tachna, Madeleine Urban.

Watch the website, Facebook and Twitter regularly because there will be special flash sales/surprises on top of the announced ones.  Plus there will be newsletter blasts, you can find those at: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/newsletter/.

There are going to be several big giveaways as well.  Join Dreamspinner on the Literary Nymphs Yahoo Group on May 5th to get a chance to win a Kindle Fire.  One lucky customer on Dreamspinner’s website during the month of May will win an iPad! Each purchase from midnight EST May 1 to midnight EST May 31 constitutes an entry.  Finally, there will be a Meet the Author with Jeremy Pack on Dreamspinner’s Facebook page May 19^th.  One participant will be entered to win all the eBooks on their wish luck.

I hope you enjoy all of these goodies.  I already know that my TBR list is going to get much bigger.

Cut Scenes

I hate having to cut scenes because it takes me so long to write them in the first part.  Sometimes it’s necessary, though and I’ve learned to be ruthless when I have to.  It doesn’t mean I don’t hold onto them though.  There have been a few occasions when I’ve been able to use them later on.

Back when I submitted the final book to my Triquetra Trilogy, Our Sacred Balance, there was an epilogue included.  At the time I was unsure about the epilogue.  I liked the way that it brought the whole series full circle, but I wasn’t sure that it was necessary because the final chapter clearly showed that Jacob and Kristair had their HEA.  I submitted it anyway and asked my editor for her opinion and we concluded that the sweet tone didn’t fit a series that had been chock full of blood, violence and sorrow.

I thought that those who were a fan of the series, might like to have a little peek at this cut scene.  I miss these two.  I hope you enjoy.

* * * * *

Recent Releases

I wanted to mention some friend’s releases that either came out at the end of February and in March.  I like an eclectic mix of books.  I enjoy short, epically long and everything in between.  So there’s going to be lots of mentions of all kinds of books in this blog when I hit a reading mood.  So without further ado, here are some interesting picks to take a look at.

Sad News

I lost my father-in-law on Monday.  My husband was with him when he had a heart attack.  I have known him since I was fourteen.  I have had the honor and privilege of calling him Dad for the last thirteen years.  He was a gentle and kind man who always had a smile on face and who accepted people for who they were.  He will be sorely missed.

Jabbers

On March 18^th I’m participating in The Romance Reviews Anniversary Party with a little Q&A about my latest release All Bets are Off.  This brings me to one of my favorite characters in the book, Eli’s beagle Jabbers.  I’d always been a German Shepherd girl myself, but after meeting my friend’s sweet beagle girl, I knew that was the kind of dog that Eli had to have.

Jabbers became as much of a character as Eli and Ash did.  He caused trouble for the man who broke into Eli’s house.  He had an unfortunate fascination with fisher cats.  And he was prone to getting his feelings hurt.  I’ve had many pets over the years and I’m always delighted by how expressive they are.  Jabbers was no exception.