Cover Reveal and Giveaway! Senshi by Cole Gibsen

I am just squeeeing out loud ya'all :) My good friend Cole Gibsen is revealing the cover to her book Senshi, the sequel to her amazing Katana. Senshi continues the story of reincarnated samurai warrior Rileigh Martin (see Katana blurb below).

Without further ado.....

And if you want to start the series from book one, be sure to check out Katana:

Kill Bill meets Buffy in this supernatural samurai tale: 


Rileigh Martin would love to believe that adrenaline gave her the uncanny courage and strength to fend off three muggers. But it doesn't explain her dreams of fifteenth century Japan, the incredible fighting skills she suddenly possesses, or the strange voice giving her battle tips and danger warnings.

While worrying that she's going crazy (always a reputation ruiner), Rileigh gets a visit from Kim, a handsome martial arts instructor, who tells Rileigh she's harboring the spirit of a five-hundred-year-old samurai warrior.

Relentlessly attacked by ninjas, Rileigh has no choice but to master the katana--a deadly Japanese sword that's also the key to her past. As the spirit grows stronger and her feelings for Kim intensify, Rileigh is torn between continuing as the girl she's always been and embracing the warrior inside her.

(awesome book - go read! :D )

AND NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY! Cole is not only an amazing author but also a crazy talented crafty lady and is giving away a super cute hand-embroidered coffee sleeve!

How cute is that!? All you need to do to enter to win is leave a comment below. I'll take entries until midnight next Wed (Aug 1) and announce the winner Thursday Aug 2. 

Congrats on another amazing book Cole!!

For more info on Cole, you can find her at the following links:
Facebook
Website
Blog
Twitter
Goodreads

Also check out her mermaid tale, Breathless - another awesome read :)

Cole Gibsen's BREATHLESS

Okay - I was so excited for today because I *thought* it was the book birthday of the awesome book BREATHLESS by my sweet friend Cole Gibsen. And I just realized the book released on the 21st. :(

So, this is a tad late, but I absolutely couldn't let it pass by without a huge shout out :) Here is all the juicy info:

BREATHLESS (Crescent Moon Press March 21 2012)


Obituary-reading emo girl Edith Small is broken - the end result of forcing herself inside a mold that doesn't fit. All she wants is to conform to her strict sergeant stepfather's rules long enough to make it to graduation day. But a boat accident threatens to unravel the life Edith has worked so hard to keep. 


After waking up in a hospital with a lacerated shoulder, Edith fakes amnesia. Because admitting she received her injuries from a blue-haired girl who breathes underwater is all the reason Sir needs to send Edith on the first bus to military school. Safe at home, Edith struggles to put the nightmare behind her. 


But the mysterious creatures that live in the ocean aren't about to let her forget. After meeting Bastin - a strange boy with silver hair and black eyes - on a secluded dock, Edith learns about the war raging undersea to end human existence. A war that Edith, unwittingly, has become the key to winning. 


In a world where death is an ever-present shadow and motives are as dark as the bottom of the ocean, Edith must decide if her life is worth risking for a love that can't survive past the shore.


March has been a very busy month for Cole as her first novel, Katana, also released this month. If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Cole yet, definitely check her out.

You can pick up Breathless at Amazon, B&N, BAM, or wherever you enjoy buying books :)

CONGRATS COLE!!!!!

Author Spotlight Week - Interview with Cole Gibsen

I first had the pleasure of meeting Cole three years ago when I joined the brand new Querytracker site and found the forum. She is one of the most talented and all around awesome people I have ever had the opportunity to meet and I am very proud to call her a friend.

Cole recently had some very good news to share - her novel Katana will be published by Flux in early 2012! I have been privileged to read this book and cannot wait for it to hit the shelves!

To kick off our Author Spotlight Week, I asked Cole to answer a few questions for us about herself and her writing.

MM: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? 

CG: Always. Unfortunately, I had a step-dad who was fond of telling me how stupid I was so I didn’t believe I could do it and never tried. Lucky for me, when the economy started to sour four years ago, my small business folded. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but being jobless gave me the opportunity to really think about what I wanted to do with my life. It was the kick in the pants I needed to pick the pen back up.

MM: What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

CG: How therapeutic it is! My husband says he can always tell when I haven’t written in a few days because I’m on edge. (That’s a nice way of saying I’m a Snarky Von Crankypants.) When this happens, he kicks me out of the house with my laptop and coffee money. (I’m a very lucky girl.)

MM: You recently sold your book, Katana, in a two-book deal with Flux. 
Congratulations!! Can you tell us a little about your book?

CG: Thank you so much. I’d love to! KATANA is the story of Rileigh, a seventeen year-old girl who, after surviving an attack in the mall parking lot, gets possessed by the spirit of a fifteenth century samurai warrior. When a lover from her past life appears along with a mysterious enemy, her problems only increase.

MM: Who is your favorite character in the book, and why?

CG: Oh wow. I don’t know that I have a favorite because I love them all. Even my villain holds a special place in my heart. If I have to choose, I guess I’d say Rileigh because she’s sarcastic, addicted to shoes, and can disarm an attacker wielding nunchaku with a window squeegee.

MM: LOL Sounds like my kind of girl :D What about you? Who is Cole Gibsen ? What do you love to do, besides writing?

CG: Uh, I don’t think there’s enough room on the internet. LOL. But seriously, I’m a hopeless nerd. James Marsters touched my hand at Dragon Con and I almost died. I can talk comics with the best of them and spot all the inaccuracies in any Marvel movie. I love to sew and quilt. And I’m a diehard Harry Potter fan. There’s a group of us that dress up as characters from the movies to attend the HP premiers. This year I’m working on Bellatrix’s dress. It. Will. Be. Epic.

MM: Okay, seriously, I wish I lived closer to you because I would so be right there with you! :D Tell us a little about finding your agent and your road to publication –

CG: I can tell you it was a lesson in patience. It took two novels, two years, and over a hundred rejections before I landed my agent, Chris Richman. From there it took another year and several revisions before we landed our deal with Flux. Totally worth the wait!

MM: What was the hardest part of this journey for you? The easiest, or most fun?

CG: The hardest part, but also the most gratifying, was overcoming my own self-doubt and proving to myself that I could write a novel and get it published.
The most fun has been meeting all these incredible writers online and at conferences. I’m very lucky to now have friends across the country and even around the world. Writers are amazing people and I’m blessed to have so many in my life.

MM: What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

CG: Hmmm…I guess I’m not too quirky in that department. I do, however, always wear my noise reduction headphones and if a caramel frappuccino is within arms-reach, that’s even better!

MM: Thanks so much for the interview and for being our Spotlight Author this week! And congratulations again on your sale!!

Cole will be with us all week, so come back tomorrow for a few words of Gibsen wisdom :D

Linkage!!! If you'd like more information on Cole, please check out her links.

Cole's Blog
Cole's Website
Cole on Facebook
Cole on Twitter
Awesome Cole Youtube Video