Category: Give-Aways

By Annette McCleave

The men in my life have always had a thing for toys. Whether it was cars, boats, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles, or even computers and big screen TVs, you name it, they had it. And wildly enjoyed it.  Something about cranking up the gas, speeding through space, and filling the air with a fine, deep roar truly stirred them.

Not surprising, I guess, that my fictional men tend to be fond of toys, too. My latest hero, Jamie Murdoch, owns a candy apple red Mustang and a black Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle. Being a medieval Scot, serving a rare second 500-year term of indenture with the Goddess of Death, he’s very in tune with his primitive side—and he thrills to the revving of a powerful engine. Both vehicles play a part in the plot of the story, and one of my favourite scenes in the book involves the motorbike and the heroine, Kiyoko Ashida.

I’m not going to say more than that. 🙂

The fascination men have with toys is no doubt tied in part to the measurability such possessions have as status symbols. But we can’t deny there’s also a sense of fun and freedom attached to them as well.

I know several women who get as excited about their status cars as any man, who thrill to the purr of a car engine and the sleek lines of a cigarette boat. But I can think of few who salivate over a snowmobile, a lawn mower, or a band saw. As women continue to further themselves as business people and continue to smash through glass ceilings in the workplace, do you think their interest in toys will grow in tandem? Or do you think the love of toys is fundamentally a guy thing?

Comment for a chance to win a signed Advance Reader Copy of the third Soul Gather novel, SURRENDER TO DARKNESS, out in January of 2011.

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If you’re reading this blog through a feed at Amazon, Facebook, Goodreads or another social network, please note that you need to leave your comment at www.museinterrupted.com to enter.

The back cover blurb for SURRENDER TO DARKNESS and Annette’s bio are in yesterday’s post. Visit Annette’s website to learn more about her and her books.

By Elisabeth Naughton

Thanks so much to Cindy for having me here today!

My second Eternal Guardian book – ENTWINED– recently hit store shelves. For those of you new to the series, the Eternal Guardians are seven warriors descended from the seven greatest heroes in all of Ancient Greece. Zander, the hero in ENTWINED, is a descendant of Achilles. He’s the oldest guardian, the one rumored to be immortal, the fiercest warrior and the only one with nothing to lose. I fell in love with Zander when I was writing MARKED – book one in the series – so I’m excited for readers to finally get their hands on his story.

People ask me all the time, why Greek mythology? I don’t have an easy answer except to say that I love the tales from Ancient Greece. Always have. Epic wars, tragic love stories, conniving gods and danger lurking around every corner. When I was researching STOLEN FURY (my 2010 double RITA nominee book), I found myself deeply immersed in the characters and narratives centered around the great culture, and I thought, “It would be really fun to develop an entire series based off these myths.” MARKED was the result, and the series grew from there. I love taking traditional myths and characters and shaping them into my world. I love the variety of people, beings and magic that can be found in the legends. I love being able to put my own spin on these classic tales and seeing where they take me.

In my series, the Eternal Guardians are battling an evil goddess who was once a hero like them but sold her soul to Hades for immortality. She’s cunning, dark and willing to do whatever she can to reach her goal. But she’s not the only villain in this series. There are many devious gods and goddesses in addition to mythological beings skulking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to shine.

And of course, there are plenty of hot guys. At least seven, to be exact. A few more who hang on the periphery and are as intriguing as the warriors themselves. So far I can guarantee at least five books in the series – hopefully more. Because I’ve switched publishers there’s a slight delay in the release of the next book. TEMPTED (book 3) will be an October 2011 release, followed closely by ENRAPTURED (early 2012). I realize this is a bit of a wait for fans, but it couldn’t be avoided. After that I’m back on a six months or less release schedule so I hope readers will understand. To tide fans over, I’ll be posting a few free reads on my website over the next few months, so if you haven’t already signed up for my newsletter do so soon so you don’t miss out!

Today I’m giving away either a copy of MARKED (book 1) or ENTWINED (book 2) to one lucky commenter (winner’s choice!). Simply tell me, what’s your favorite myth from Ancient Greece?

 Happy Reading!

 Elisabeth

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Please leave a comment to enter to win a copy of ENTWINED or MARKED. If you’re reading this blog through a feed at Facebook, Goodreads or another social network, please note you need to leave your comment at www.museinterrupted.com to enter.

The back cover blurb for MARKED and ENTWINED, links to excerpts, and Elisabeth’s bio, can be found in yesterday’s promo post. Visit Elisabeth’s website to learn more about her and her books.

By Susan Lyons/Fox

Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas? Not for me, because I have a brand-new release—THE NAUGHTY LIST, Brava’s 2010 holiday anthology. This is my first multi-author anthology for Brava—and I’m thrilled to be there alongside stars Donna Kauffman and Cynthia Eden.

When Kensington asked me to be a part of this holiday anthology, I immediately started playing with ideas.

The last Christmas story I wrote, “Unwrap Me” in UNWRAP ME, was set in Vancouver, BC. I live in Vancouver and love it, but we’re not exactly known for snowy Christmases. This time, I wanted a holiday story set in snow country.

And the setting was obvious, because I was brainstorming this novella in the build-up to the 2010 Olympics in Whistler. Whistler, when the Olympics aren’t happening there, is perhaps an even more intriguing community. It’s a small town—yet it’s an international resort.

As I started thinking about characters, I realized it was the small town aspect I wanted to focus on. I love “going home” stories, such as “you can never go home again” or “you have to go home again.” In “Tattoos and Mistletoe,” I chose “you have to go home again.” In other words, if you’ve had a really rotten past, you have to come to terms with it before you can be a truly whole person and move on to build a happy future.

So I found (because characters and I find each other, it’s not like I actually “create” them) Charlie Coltrane. The girl from the wrong side of the tracks who…well, I’ll let her say it in her own words, if you’ll pardon the language.

People had assumed the kid of two loser drunks had to be a loser, too. That gave Charlie two choices: let them know she gave a fuck, or tell them to fuck off. She’d had enough pride that the first choice wasn’t an option.

A graffiti artist, arrested, suspended from school, almost raped by her date at the Christmas dance, orphaned at Christmas, then shunned by her remaining relative, no wonder she dropped out of school, left town, and vowed never to return.

Of course, I had to force her back there—courtesy of the aunt who’d shunned her, who at the end of her life was suffering from guilt and, just maybe, the urge to matchmake. How the aunt and I finessed this… Well, let’s just say there’s one very hot tool-belt guy involved! A guy who just happened to play a role in Charlie’s past.

Don’t you think high school geeks deserve happy endings? Those genius science nerds whose brains were overdeveloped but who kind of lagged behind in other areas? The ones who had crushes on the very baddest girls—like Charlie Coltrane? Yeah, that’s LJ Jacoby, and man, did he grow up fine!

As I had fun getting to know Charlie and LJ and the two of them got to know each other, we all found out that sometimes, if you work through the baggage you’ve dragged around from your teens, you can envision a brighter future than you’d ever dared dream. Especially if there’s a sprinkle of Christmas magic, and a big bunch of mistletoe!

What’s your view on baggage from the past? Should a person just toss it off the bridge and forget all about it? Could you do that? Or do you figure that, at some point in a person’s life, they’re going to have to come to terms with it? And, as a second question, if that one’s too heavy for you, when do you think publishers should release their holiday books? Is late September too early?

Someone who comments will receive a copy of  THE NAUGHTY LIST—autographed by all three authors!

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Please leave a comment to enter to win THE NAUGHTY LIST. If you’re reading this blog through a feed at Facebook, Goodreads or another social network, please note you need to leave your comment at www.museinterrupted.com to enter.

To read the back cover blurb for THE NAUGHTY LIST or to read Susan bio, see yesterday’s post. Visit Susan’s website to learn more about her and her books.