Get Wicked with Entangled!! It's a Halloween Blog Hop!!

It's a Wicked with Entangled Blog Hop!! Go trick or treating at over 100 fabulous blogs and enter to win a ton of amazing Halloween prizes!

I love Halloween. As a writer who lives a large chunk of my life floating around in other worlds it's a blast to be able to dress up and wallow in a little society-sanctioned make believe for a night :)

I've always loved reading about fantasy worlds. I think the first "other wordly" book I ever read was the Dragonriders of Pern books by Anne McCaffrey. Up until then I'd only read historicals and historical romances (and books like the Little House on the Prairie series and Sweet Valley High) :D Those dragonriders hooked me though and I started adding more books with a bit of "other" in them.

Once I began writing, I really wanted to delve into those worlds myself, but my first love, historical romance, came first. I have two urban fantasies I'm working on, and one, a love story set amidst a zombie break out, that is currently available through Entangled.

I've got a little taste of Wish Upon a Star for you, and below that is a rafflecopter to win your very own copy! :) Don't forget to scroll to the bottom of this post and check out the linky list of all the Blog Hoppers! You won't want to miss out on all the Halloween Hopping Fun!!

Here's a little taste of Wish Upon a Star:

She wished he would come back into her life…

When Ceri McKinley’s ex-fiancee asks for help collecting his brother’s body, Ceri knows she should refuse. But how can she say no to the man she still loves?

He wished he’d never left her…

If Jason Crickett had known his brother had been turned into the world’s first cyborg zombie, he would never have dragged Ceri along with him. At least they are together again, though from the looks of things, it won’t be for long.

They should have been careful what they wished for…

With five floors of hungry zombies between them and Ceri’s daughter and a bomb ready to go off at any moment, Ceri and Jason will have to put their painful past aside and focus on surviving. If they are very lucky, they might just get everything they wished for.

We stumbled for the far end of the atrium, over to Clearwater Cleo’s, a maze of fish tanks and water-filled walkways that displayed all sorts of gorgeous tropical fish and sea life. The oasis of water beckoned invitingly with the fire licking at our backs. Jason pulled us into the middle of one of the pathways and up a small set of stairs that led to another pathway. He sat me down against a tank of over-sized goldfish. I let out a sigh of relief as I took the weight off my ankle.

Jason pulled his gun and aimed at the tanks below us. He fired several shots into each, shattering the glass and spilling thousands of gallons of water across the floor. I felt bad for the fish that were about to be flash-fried, until I remembered that they’d be blown up when the bombs hit anyway.

The water gushed across the floor, dousing flames and washing away zombies. I leaned my head back against the tank and closed my eyes. Jason sank down beside me and pulled me toward him, pressing a kiss against my temple.

“Are you okay?” he asked, brushing soot and a few burned leaves from my face and hair. The smell of burned plastic and singed hair coated everything. But it could have been worse.

I leaned against him for a moment before trying to push to my feet.

Jason stopped me. “Rest for a minute.” He reached into my backpack and pulled out another bottle of water.

I took it gratefully, gulping down half the bottle before handing it to him to finish off. When he was done, he leaned in again, kissing a drop of water from my lips. His hands cupped my face. “I’m sorry. For everything. All of it. Everything I put you through. These wasted years without you.”

“I’m sorry too.” I pulled away and looked up at him. “If we get through this –”

“When we get through this. Not if.”

I gave him a small smile and nodded, knowing he knew what I wanted to say without having to voice the words. “When we get through this, maybe we can talk. About things.”

He gave me one more lingering kiss. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“But for now,” I said, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead.

“Raincheck?”

“Raincheck.”

“Let’s go get your daughter,” he said, pulling me to my feet.

My heart skipped and I slipped on my backpack with renewed energy. We could do this. With Jason at my side, I could do anything. Even face down a building full of zombies and a few military bombs. Piece of cake.

~~
To read the first chapter for free and for buy links, CLICK HERE.

And enter to win your own copy!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Bandit's Broken Heart On Sale!!

An awesome holiday treat!! A Bandit's Broken Heart is on sale for a very limited time for just 99 cents!! This is the second book the Blood Blade Sisters series but it also stands on its own just fine if you haven't read the first one yet. Take advantage of this amazing price! It won't last long :)

AMAZON  |  iBOOKS  |  B&N

Wish Upon a Star Blog Tour!!!

Wish Upon a Star is having it's blog tour blast today! 11 blogs in one day! 

Follow the Tour!

A Dream Within A Dream

Booklover Sue

The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom

Fang-tastic Books

Manga Maniac Café

Mimmi’s Musings

Paranormal Book Club

Roxanne’s Realm

Saph’s Book Reviews

The Speculative Salon

Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog

Be sure to enter the giveaway! You could win a $20 gift card AND this amazingly awesome Wish necklace!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER or visit any of the blogs above!

Entangled Ever After Blog Tour of Spooky Awesomeness!

To celebrate all the spooktacular releases this month, including my own Wish Upon a Star (squeee!!!) Ever After is doing a joint tour. And there are a TON of awesome prizes to be had :D

Today launches the tour and each day from tomorrow through Oct 8th will spotlight a different book in the line up. My book, Wish Upon a Star, will be spotlighted on Monday Oct 7th.

But for now, check out all the awesome books that just released and scroll down to start entering those giveaways!!

Visit Entangled's blog HERE for tour stops. I'll be giving away a $20 gift card and the seriously fabulous Wish Upon a Star necklace created by my dear and very talented friend Bonny Anderson (see below). Good luck with the giveaways and be sure to check out all these amazing books!

Find Your Ever After in Under An Hour

Ruby Hill by Sarah Ballance

From her earliest memories, Ashley Pearce has been drawn to Ruby Hill Lunatic Asylum, and she's not the only one. Decades after the abandoned hospital ended its institutional reign of torture and neglect, something lurks in the shadows. Since she’s a paranormal investigator, it's Ashley's job to find out what.

Crime scene expert Corbin Malone doesn't believe in ghosts. A born skeptic, he has no interest in entertaining the hype surrounding the mysterious deaths at Ruby Hill, but he won't turn his back while more women die. He agrees to an overnight investigation, never expecting his first encounter would be with the woman he pushed away a year ago. But when he discovers Ashley is a target, he learns his greatest fear isn't living with his own demons, but losing her for good.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

One Thousand and One Nights by Ruth Browne

Sheri spends her days fighting zombies and her nights chained to a wall, earning her every breath by telling stories to her captor Aleksy—stories that make them both forget the ruined world. Sheri could put up with the conditions—at least she knows her sister is safe in the community Aleksy leads—until she realizes she’s falling for him...even though he wants her dead.

When Aleksy allowed Sheri and her sister into his compound, he didn’t know about the zombie bite on her back. It's only a matter of time before she turns into one of the rising dead and threatens their existence, but Aleksy has a secret need for Sheri and her stories. For everyone’s safety, he chains her to his bedroom wall, hoping for just one more day. But how long will the community allow Aleksy to ignore his own rule: always kill the infected. Always.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Mercy by Jan Coffey

Julia Klein’s life has begun to unravel—her daughter Amy has been suspended from school, Julia is about to lose her job, and her boyfriend Garrett is being transferred thousands of miles away. Overwhelmed, she and Amy leave for a weekend at a rambling old colonial inn. Julia never suspects that Garrett, desperate to find a way to keep Julia in his life, has decided to surprise her by joining them. Nor does she expect her daughter to befriend a mischievous ghost...or that she herself would be possessed by the malevolent spirit of a long-dead mother.

As a dark secret emerges, Julia, Amy, and Garrett find themselves pitted in a fight for survival against a savage presence that intends to resurrect/repeat/relive a horrible crime committed two centuries ago. And this time, Amy and Julia will be the victims.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Haunted Chemisty by Lindsey Loucks

When bookish college co-ed Alexis heads to the laundry room in her new apartment, she runs into Ian Reese, the chem lab partner she crushed on all last semester. And the guy who stood her up on their first date. But she’s down for an awkward reunion, and no better place than her creepy laundry room.

Ian has every intention of making amends, but just when Alexis begins to trust him again, a new threat calls more than their future together into question. A ghost from the apartment’s past is hellbent on revenge, and if he wants to get his girl, he’ll have to get the ghost first.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Wish Upon a Star by Michelle McLean

Ceri McKinley never stopped wishing that her ex-fiancé Jason Crickett would come back into her life. But when he finally does, he comes with a request that puts them both—and all of humanity—into jeopardy.

Jason only wants two things: to bury his brother properly and to convince Ceri to trust him again after he jilted her. But when Ceri agrees to help him get his brother back, they end up fighting for their lives as a zombie uprising threatens them all.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Northern Light by E.J. Russell

Nothing gives art fraud investigator Luke Morganstern a bigger rush than busting forgers, the low-life criminals who dare victimize true artists. But when his latest job sends him to a remote cabin in the Oregon Coast Range, he’s stunned to discover the alleged forger is his former lover, Stefan Cobbe, the most gifted painter Luke has ever known.

Stefan, left homeless and destitute after the death of his wealthy partner, doesn’t exactly deny the forgery -- he claims he doesn’t remember, an excuse Luke can’t accept.

But Luke’s elderly client suggests Stefan may be telling the truth and presents another possibility – a dark presence in the woods, a supernatural fury simmering for decades. Luke must face down his fear of the uncanny – and admit his feelings for Stefan – if either of them is to survive.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Raffle #1
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Raffle #2
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Raffle #3
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Raffle #4
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Raffle #5
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Day for Wish Upon a Star!!

Wish Upon a Star is here!! I'm thrilled to celebrate the release of my first non-historical book. This one is not only set in Las Vegas, it has zombies! And a cyborg zombie to boot - tons of fun :D

Here are all the deets :)

Ceri McKinley never stopped wishing that her ex-fiancé Jason Crickett would come back into her life. But when he finally does, he comes with a request that puts them both--and all of humanity--into jeopardy.

Jason only wants two things: to bury his brother properly and to convince Ceri to trust him again after he jilted her. But when Ceri agrees to help him get his brother back, they end up fighting for their lives as the second zombie uprising threatens them all.

Check out the tab above for buy links :) And I'm part of an awesome group blog tour this week. Lots of fun stuff going on and lots of fun stuff we are giving away!!! Stay tuned for more details on that :)

Cover Reveal!! East of Ecstasy by Laura Kaye!

About East of Ecstasy:

Annalise Fallston made peace with postponing her big-city dreams to care for her ill father, but lately she’s been filled with a restlessness not even her beloved painting dispels. Worse, the colors don’t speak to her as they always have, and all her efforts produce dark, foreboding images of a dangerous man and a terrifying future.

Devlin Eston, black-souled son of the evil Anemoi Eurus, is the only one who can thwart his father’s plan to overthrow the Supreme God of Wind and Storms. But first, Dev must master the unstable powers he’s been given. Distrusted and shunned by his own divine family, he never expected to find kindness and passion in the arms of a mortal.

But Devlin’s love puts Annalise in the path of a catastrophic storm, and in the final Armageddon showdown between the Anemoi and Eurus, sacrifices will be made, hearts broken, and lives changed forever…or lost.

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

Books in Series:

North of Need
West of Want
South of Surrender

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in paranormal and contemporary romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

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! :)

Get Entangled Under the Mistletoe Blog Hop!!

As an awesome jump off to the holiday season, I'm participating in a couple blog hops. The first of which is Entangled's Under the Mistletoe blog hop! An amazing group of Entangled authors has decided to get together and spread a little holiday cheer :)

What will I being giving away?

A copy of my soon-to-be-released historical romance 

Treasured Lies!

(note: Treasured Lies doesn't come out until Jan so the winner will receive their copy as soon as the book releases)

Just leave a comment below if you'd like to be entered in the drawing. Winner will be announced on Dec 15th!

Don’t forget to check out what the other authors participating in the hop are giving away!

How to Write a Character Based Synopsis

I've been writing a lot of synopses lately so I'm always on the look out for new ways of tackling them. A fellow Entangled author, Bronwen Evans, shared a template with our group the other day for character-driven synopses. As a romance writer, this works great for me because romances focus on their characters. So, while my usual method of focusing on the inciting incident, turning points, climax, resolution works great for me, I think this method will be useful as well.

The template Bronwen shared was more geared toward romance specifically so I tried to adapt this a bit to be more universal.

Here's the gist:

• Identify a theme: Finding a theme and sticking to it helps you reduce the book down to a three page summary. It eliminates the 'laundry list' syndrome where every scene is given one sentence. 
•  STAY FOCUSED: KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) The trick is to focus on the key plot points and turning points of the book, NOT the secondary plots and characters.
• STEP #1 THE HOOK: Either a unique opening line in the first character sketch, a bold opening to the heroine/hero, or a snappy/humorous/opening line overviewing the book's premise. 
• STEP #2 INTERNAL CONFLICT:  Describing relevant back story and the key internal conflict main character(s) must overcome. You want to focus a bit on the layers here - the past relationships/events/trauma that has molded your character and made her/him who she/he is. This internal conflict will be overcome in a black moment, when your character realizes her/his weakness/fear and leaves it behind in order to overcome his/her main obstacle. 
• STEP #3 EXTERNAL CONFLICT: One paragraph, usually the set up that brings the hero and heroine together and establishes the external conflict blocking their way. It could be the hit men trying to kill them, a planet to save from extermination by another species, a murder to solve, brother's name to clear, serial killer ex-husband, etc. (For non-romance, this would be the external conflict that is keeping your main character from overcoming his/her main obstacle - like any of the above examples without the hero and heroine getting together :D )
• Steps 4 - 7 are geared toward romance - for non-romance, the next step would be describing the a reversal/turning point - the hero/heroine makes progress toward overcoming his/her obstacle and then experiences a reversal
• STEP #4 HERO AND HEROINE WORK TOGETHER: First plot point is usually the one that makes the hero and heroine temporarily overlook their differences and work together. 
• STEP # 5 INTIMACY: The forced contact of working together and of course, raging attraction, make the hero/heroine succumb to physical intimacy - whether it be the first kiss, or making love, whatever suits you at this point. 
• STEP #6 THE MORNING AFTER: Hero/heroine promptly remember all their fears, fall back on their INTERNAL CONFLICT and reject each other. 
• STEP #7 HERO/HEROINE WORK TOGETHER AGAIN: This PLOT POINT normally brings them back together again. (Court case, space pirates, alien invasion, eviction proceedings, missing person, murder, whatever monkey wrench you want to toss into the story at this point.) 
• For non-romance - main character(s) overcomes previous reversal and more progress is made toward main goal
• STEP #8 is the SHOWDOWN/BLACK MOMENT: This is the PLOT POINT/ TURNING POINT where you need a big showdown to bring everything up to a high tension level. 
• STEP # 9 is the RESOLUTION: The bad guys are now revealed/caught. The situation changes and is reversed. The Hero/Heroine are reunited. 

This template is great for more character driven stories, especially romances. The advantage of this type of story outline is that it uses the external conflict to develop your characters' relationship with each other. It also focuses on the layers of your characters and their journey to self-realization.

When the Waiting Game Pays Off :D

Soooo, yeah, I was trying to vent a little of the waiting game angst yesterday :) But today I am THRILLED to finally announce the hardest secret I've ever had to keep :D

From PM:

Michelle McLean's TREASURED LIES, in which a woman reluctantly agrees to become engaged to make her aunt and her fiance's grandmother happy but finding a lost treasure could gain her freedom; in searching for that, she may lose her heart, to Erin Molta at Entangled Scandalous, for publication in November 2012 (World).