Free Story Alert!!

My dear friend Christine Fonseca is releasing a FREE short story in celebration of the upcoming release of the final book in her Requiem series, Dominus.

If you've read any of the Requiem series, you don't want to miss this. And if you haven't read any of the series yet, well you still don't want to miss this. It's a free story!! :D

Here are the deets:

Lorelei sees things other girls can't see. She knows about the demons and monsters. She's met them. Up close. And it's cost her everything. Torn between protecting her siblings and avenging her mother's death, Lorelei must decide which path she will take. And no matter what she chooses, her decision will influence more than just her future in this companion short story to the Requiem Series.

**This edition includes a special excerpt from the anticipated book Dominus, the final installment in the Requiem Series

AUTHOR INFO:

Critically acclaimed nonfiction and YA author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children of all ages find their voice in the world. Drawing on her expertise as an educational psychologist, her nonfiction titles address issues of emotional intensity, resiliency and giftedness. In fiction, she explores the darker aspects of humanity and delivers gothic thrillers that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. In life, she teaches her own children to embrace their unique talents and find their voice by being a force of positive change in the world.

When she’s not writing or developing programs to support children with exceptional needs, she can be found spending time with her family, sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Christine Fonseca or her books, visit her website – or her blog.

SMASHWORDS
GOODREADS 

Annnnd a giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Chain - Can You Handle It?

This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Alyson who wants to know:

Have you developed thick skin as a writer? How do you handle having your work critiqued? 

Do you love revising? Hate it?

You know, my gut reaction to this was "of course, I've got thick skin! You have to!" But really....a bad crit or review hurts just as much as it ever did. The way I react to that has changed though. Now I give the sting a little time to wear off and then go back and look at everything again. Most of the time, with the emotional part out of the way, I can understand (and often even agree with) where the person was coming from. And I can make revisions accordingly.

I love getting crits because sometimes it's really hard to see the problems a ms might have because I'm so close to it. And by that, I don't mean that I'm overly-attached to it. I just mean I'm so used to the words and story that I sometimes just don't see the problems. But I no longer just edit everything that a crit brings in. If the critter makes a good point, or if multiple critters all point out the same thing, then yes, I'll make the change. But if it's a change that I really don't agree with (even if it's coming from my editor) I go with my gut. Being open to making changes, even drastic ones, is very necessary. But you'll never be able to please everybody so I instead of blindly changing everything that is marked, I think good and hard about it and try to make sure the changes I make are the best for the story.

I LOVE revising. It's my favorite part of the whole process. I actually have a really hard time with the first draft, that initial "get the words on the page" stage. But once I have some material to work with, I do really well. Even if I'm completely rewriting a scene or adding a totally new chapter. I'm a fast reviser and can usually do even fairly extensive edits very quickly and can happily work on them for 10+ hours a day. It's that dang first draft that is torture :)

How about you? Is your skin crocodile thick? How do crits go for you? Do you like revising or do you need a Valium when it's time to edit? :D

Be sure to stop by Demitria's blog to see how see handles these things and check out Alyson's blog tomorrow!

Winner of A Bandit's Giveaway!!

Congrats to DOROTHY DREYER!!!

$25 Gift Card

Scandalous Hero Wars!!!

Scandalous is hosting their first ever HERO WARS, and Leo from A Bandit's Stolen Heart is in the thick of it!

Wed April 17th from noon-2pm EST the war will rage to see who is the sexiest hero out there. It will be my own Leo Forrester vs. Robyn DeHart's Justin vs. Diana Quincy's Cam.

To check out their bios, head to the Entangled blog and get the low down on each of them. (Leo is going to win though....just sayin') ;-D

Entangled will also be giving away a Nook to one lucky participant and the three authors will be ponying up some gift cards as well.

Don't miss this epic showdown! It's going to be a blast :D

Blog Chain - How Do You Feel About Non-Fiction

This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Sandra who wants to know:

We all know it's important to read fiction if you want to write fiction, but what about reading non-fiction? How much non-fiction do you read? What kinds of non-fiction books do you read, and why? Has reading non-fiction influenced your fiction writing style?

I read a LOT of non-fiction. Biographies mostly. Most specifically, biographies of historical figures (mostly women). I've always been fascinated with the whole royalty scene, queens in particular. Maybe because historically women are seen as a little less capable of ruling than men (and most of the women who have made history have disproved that in spades. What's that saying? Well behaved women rarely make history? So true). :D

Some of my favorites: Eleanor of Acquitaine (this woman ROCKS), Catherine the Great, Lucrezia Borgia, Isabella of France, the wives of Henry VII (and his sisters), Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette - to name a few :)

I'm also fond of reading encyclopedias. Researching has always been a bit of a time suck for me because I'll start looking up info on one subject and will find myself sucked into a million other fascinating facts. Back in the old days ;) BG (before Google) when we had to open an actual book to research things, I'd sit down with an encyclopedia and a few hours later realize I'd read through half the volume and still hadn't gotten the info I'd originally looked up :)

As a historical romance writer, research is still a big factor in my writing. I try very hard to make sure all the details in my stories are accurate (even in my contemporary stories, there is usually quite a bit of research to be done). I love this part of the process. But, I'll often just leave myself notes in my drafts such as [research this] - because if I take the time right then to research the details, I'd never get that first draft done. So once I'm in the revision stage I generally go through and spend some time researching (as well as researching before I even start writing, during the outline stage).

I also tend to research things I come across in my reading or tv watching or daily life - anything that strikes an interest that I want to learn more about. For instance, I had a lot of fun watching the Ancient Alien series which led to a bit of research on fun things like crop circles and weird phenomenon. :D I also have books on homeopathic medicines, crafty things, lots of How-Tos, (my hubs has an entire bookcase of cookbooks), a few memoirs, and a few other assorted NFs :)

How about you - do you read non-fiction? What sorts of things do you like to read about?

Be sure to stop by Katrina's blog to see what NF tickles her fancy, and stop by Alyson's tomorrow to see what she likes :)

And don't forget to enter my celebration giveaway! You could win a $25 gift card!!! (scroll down to next post) Entries are being taken until Saturday and the winner will be announced on Sunday the 14th!

Friday Funnies

We haven't done one of these in a while :) Here are some funnies for your Friday :)

New Release!

I'm thrilled to announce the release of my newest book A Bandit's Stolen Heart (book 1 in the Blood Blade Sisters series) from Entangled Publishing's Scandalous imprint!

Under the persona of the bandit Blood Blade, Cilla Richardson robs from the corrupt and gives to the poor. When an accidental kidnapping leaves her with a handsome captive named Leo Forrester, Cilla finds she has the perfect ally at her side to aid in the fight against the town’s corrupt sheriff.
​
Leo reluctantly agrees to help by marrying Cilla’s older sister but the more time he spends with Cilla, the more determined Leo is to steal her stubborn bandit’s heart. However, Cilla is just as determined to keep her heart to herself. Then innocent people are murdered, and the sheriff blames Blood Blade. With their allies now their enemies, Leo and Cilla must convince the town of her innocence before she ends up on the wrong end of a hangman’s noose.






Check out the Blood Blade Sisters tab above for more info and buy links! :)