A post about nothing important

I find that I don't really know what I want to blog about today. There are certain things I could talk about - probably should - but I find I am too tired at the present moment to do certain posts the justice they deserve.

I had hoped to give you a sneak peek at my August 6th release, but at the present moment I am not entirely sure of the status of this particular novel, and that is due to recent events; ones that you have no doubt heard about by now.

I have honestly tried all day to think of something entertaining, because it's Monday and we all need a good pick-up at the start of the week, but alas, my brain is frazzled. So I am sorry to say this is going to be a very dull post.

I am afraid getting back in to the work environment has been rather testing this past week - my first week - apart from a few mistakes I am doing well, but I now find that my tiredness has become a roller-coaster where I feel I want to crash one minute only to wake up the next. Not fun.

Needless to say I need to get use to my new routine, and I am hoping I do sooner rather than later for I have stories to tell. Stories I so badly want to work on and yet I'm finding it hard to do so at the moment; and for a number of reasons. *le sigh*

So, how has your weekend been? And have you anything fun planned this summer? It's my birthday soon. I'm afraid that's as fun as it gets for me. :-P

Authors, always trust your instincts!

I apologise for the serious nature of this post, but I need to get this out, and I'll keep it short.

Over the past three months, I have heard not one, but a few nightmare stories about 'publishers behaving badly' (not just small publishers, but big ones too).

This blog post is going to be a warning to all authors signing contracts with any publisher (yes, any -- small ones, big ones, ones that have seemingly squeaky clean reputations ... on the outside, anyway).

If you are a new or less experienced author particularly, please take note:

Never, EVER remain silent about something that you are unhappy with. EVER. From contract terms, to delayed emails, to editing you're not happy with, to bad formatting and layout of your books, to promises that are made and consistently broken, to royalty payments being delayed / withheld / calculated wrongly, to books not being published on time or efficiently (oh, believe me, I could go on)... the chances are that most other authors under contract with that publisher will have had the same difficulties, but guess what... everyone remained silent.

Do you remember that whole issue with Undead Press that happened a couple of months back? (http://mandydegeit.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/when-publishing-goes-wrong-starring-undead-press/) Do not think it will never happen to you, even if you're a relatively intelligent person. It can happen to anyone.

Always Google / do background research on the company you're thinking of publishing with, but NOTE WELL: sometimes there will be no obvious history that you can just click on. Sometimes the badness starts even when you've done your research, already signed the contract and you're knee deep in shit. That's when you have to speak up... to your editor, to your publisher, to the CEO of the company, and if none of that works, you'll have to decide where to go from there. Will you want to seek legal aid privately? Will you want to blog about it all and go widely public?

I have been silent myself in the past about things I should have brought to the forefront. It's easier. And actually, you think it's just you. That you're the one that's making a big deal out of nothing because you're the newbie or whatever... But maybe, just maybe everyone is feeling that way.

Silence is never the way to go when you are being done wrong, or if you think you are being done wrong. And sometimes it will not be obvious... at first. Trust your instincts.

Be noisy and persistent, and get it fixed while you still can, because if you remain silent, there will come a point where fixing it just isn't possible ... at least, not that easily.

Next week, I promise to post about something HAPPY :D

What a week!

I think I have used the term "The lull before the storm," many times in my posts. I have to say that it is one motto that is actually rather true, as well as the motto, "you never know what is round the corner." And I can say for damn sure that after this last week I totally believe 'em both.

I have been looking for work for a while now, and despite applying for a ton of jobs, and going to a dozen interviews, I haven't had a lot of luck. (I know I'm not the only one. The economy is really messed up at the moment. It's really tough for a lot of people at the moment.) Writing comes first for me, but it is a job done from passion, and unfortunately passion doesn't pay the bills. 

So, I've been looking and applying, and basically keeping my hopes up and staying as positive as I can. Now, I can go weeks, maybe even months without getting an interview, but this last week has just been crazy. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; I get calls from employers asking me to pop in and pick up application forms, or giving me interviews. Great. Don't get me wrong, it really is a good thing, but I was like, "Woah! WTF!"

Mondays guy gives me an interview for Wednesday; I agree. Wednesday morning arrives and I'm getting ready, and I get a call from a place that I went to do a trial at six weeks earlier; and I'm offered the job. . . :-0 Excellent! It's perfect in all the ways that I need, but I was seriously ready to just pass out. As you can probably imagine I was already nervous as hell about my interview so I was pretty out of it, but I accepted the job.

I was supposed to start on Saturday, but I was called in on Friday, which in a lot of ways was good, because it meant I didn't have time to stress myself out due to nerves. Although, I was nervous on Friday and Saturday, and I'm nervous about going in tomorrow, which is totally insane, but I am. I don't know about anyone else, but I hate being the new person. I always feel dead stupid for not knowing what I'm doing straight away, and having to ask questions, but I really just need to get over it; which I will, eventually.

But yeah, that may not sound crazy to anyone else, but I was not expecting that to happen last week. 

So, I have a job now - or at least, another job since I'm still writing, naturally - which I'm super happy about. I also went to see the film "Magic Mike" last week, which I think y'all need to watch. Sheer yummy-ness! And, I also signed a contract with Decadent publishing last week. I sent my short story in for their Edge Series, and it got accepted. So yay! Hectic week, but full of nice surprises!

How was your week?

Oh Sh*t, It's Thursday

The problem with not sleeping enough is that one day just rolls into the next...

Truthfully, I have no idea what to write about. I have a million blog posts (okay, maybe not quite that many) that I need to write for upcoming stops, and every time I think of a good idea, I think, 'save it for that blog stop!'. So this little humble abode is neglected :(

I'm at the in-between stage of writing, very much like Elizabeth is. I have finished one book, and not quite got into the next one yet. I'm organising proof copies and blog stops and giveaways and all those things that leave you no time to write, and I'm trying to pretend that I'm not DYING for my proof copy to get here. It'll be at least another week yet :(

I am also eating an unhealthy amount of large chocolate Buttons.

So here's a very easy, fun question that has nothing to do with anything except that I'm eating Buttons: what is your favourite chocolate?

Mine is Kinder Bueno Bars, or Reese's Nutrageous Bars, or Ferrero Rocher :)

Yum.

A blog of randomness

I promised you last week that I wasn't going to talk about my latest release, Cranberry Blood . . . and I am of course going to stick to that promise.

So, I'm afraid today is just going to be a post of random-ness; or rather, a blog in the sense and reason for which blogs were created. O_o

I'm still in the midst of the cool down period, and I find I don't really know what to do with myself. My new release is out, the blog tour is over, and now I'm basically waiting to hear what y'all think. Meaning my nerves are playing up at the moment.

So, I have basically spent the last two weeks catching up on other stuff; like slaughtering my garden.

It's been raining like crazy over here in the UK so much so that my back garden, which I mowed and weeded and whatever else a couple of months ago was a complete mess. I'm not a gardener, but I figure with the rain still being hectic everything is probably going to grow back within the next month; so I went outside and basically hacked everything down so it could grow again. I know, sounds painful, and possibly ugly, but it needed to be done.

Funnily enough, I actually like mowing grass. Is that weird?

Well, the garden was the biggest task that I had to get done, otherwise I have watched a couple of movies, read a couple of books and tried t relax a little, since my next release is due August 6th, which means I get to go through all the craziness again! ^_^ I love it, though. Getting a manuscript ready for release; as well as the release itself, and the promoting is like one big sugar rush. Don't get me wrong, it's stressful, sometimes, but still exhilarating.

Don't worry, I'm not going to start yapping on about this next release; I will save that for next week or the week after. :-D

Other than that I have been trying to decide what I want to start concentrating on. I plan to start working on the next book in The Blood Series (which is currently untitled) but I don't want to start planning until my next release is all pretty and published. So, I have been playing around with an idea for something short and sexy, you know, something new just to kick my muse a little, but nothing is clicking for me yet. *pouts* You would think it would be pretty simple after the high of a new release, but my muses are such stubborn little pains in the asses.

On a completely random note, I'm going to see the movie "Magic Mike" on Wednesday. I have heard fab things about the film, plus there hasn't been a day when one of the ladies on facebook hasn't mentioned it, but who can blames them when Channing Tatum is the star?? ;-P

Y'all have a fab week!

EDITS!!!

This was going to be a blog post about editing, and how I edit, and it turned into a gigantic rant about everything I despise about editing and edits instead, so I thought I'd spare you.

This is all you need to know: I am editing. There are three stages to my editing - call it three rounds. I am now beginning round two.

That is all.

If you found the above boring and you would  like to hear a bit of a rant, read on... (warning, contains swearing)

DIANNA + EDITS = THAT THING THAT HAPPENS WHEN A RED SUPERGIANT [STAR] EXPLODES [OFTEN RESULTING IN TYPE II SUPERNOVA]

I'm fussy, and I mean FUSSY. I like some of my writing a certain way, and other bits a different way. All of my characters have an individual voice, and when I write from their POV, I am inside their head  during the narration, so, NO, I do not always want what is considered the 'correct' term of phrase. I want what they would actually say and think. And don't even get me started on British English. You know, I adore the word 'earnt', but hell, it's not even in the Collins English Dictionary anymore (and some would say the word 'anymore' should be written as two words, not one), and I feel like I can't use it. No one uses it, even though it should be perfectly legitimate. 'Learnt' is fine, so is 'spelt', 'smelt' and 'dreamt', but can I find 'earnt' in any dictionary or modern source book that says, 'yes, you will not be considered a weirdo if you use it'? Can I fuck.

Anyway, I have conceded with that damn word, and I now use 'earned' instead, but my point... you can see how anal I am about my writing, yes?

I DON'T always want 'and' in front of 'then'; I DON'T always want a comma there ; actually, I feel that occasionally  the passive voice can add to the imagery of a sentence, so keep the 'was' in there just for that section please ; and yes, I know that's slang in the narration, but the narration is from the character's POV, so that bit shouldn't be written any other way (not according to me, anyway, and I'm the author)... and so on, and so on...

I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, just that I'm right for me.

End of rant.... and you  get a brand new book ;)

Win a copy of Cranberry Blood!

I swear to god this will be the last post - for at least a week :-P - where I talk about my new release. Next week I will talk about something completely different, and new. *Hand on heart* I swear.


A nice, straight forward post today since it is the first day in the second week of my little Cranberry Blood Blog Tour, and I would like to give y'all another chance to get your hands on a free copy of the novel. 


To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is become a member of this blog and leave me a comment. Yup, that simple. :-) Oh, and don't forget to leave your email address.


Competition ends on July 14^th at midnight – 6pm est time. Winner will be chosen with the help of Random.org and emailed by me.

~ * ~

Blurb:

Killing Vampires? Easy. Tracking someone? Simple. Helping, and protecting a Vampire slayer... Bloody hard work!

Thirteen years ago, Brendan Daniels made a deal with a psychic. In exchange for information on the whereabouts of a Rogue Werewolf, he promised to help and protect Sofia's granddaughter. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was getting himself, or his Pack, into.

Nothing about Heather is simple, from her weird dietary needs to her life’s mission. The girl can handle herself, but the promise to protect her soon becomes a need, and one that he can't fully understand.

Vampire Slayer. Born Infected. Blood addict... but not by choice.

Heather Ryan is the most recent slayer in a long family line. Like all before her, she has spent her life searching for her ancestor, Marko Pavel, the Vampire her family has sworn to kill. If that isn't complicated enough, Heather is also a born "Infected", and to keep her from becoming insane or giving in to her darker side, she is on a very strict diet.

Grandmother Sofia has passed, so now it is up to Heather to take the family legacy into her own hands, all alone: or at least, it would have been, if her Grandmother hadn't sent a Werewolf to help her.

What is the irritating Brendan supposed to help Heather with? Sofia never told either one of them. But it doesn't take long for Heather and Brendan to find out that the Vampires have big plans, and that the fiends have waited a long time for them both.

Buy Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/429/Cranberry-Blood

~ * ~

For anyone who is interested, I'm over at the lovely Chris Lange's blog today talking about why I have written a story featuring vampires and werewolves. I'd love for you to join me. :-D

Excerpt: Prologue from The Demon Bride, by Dianna Hardy (released 31st Aug)

(Cross-posted from The Witching Pen Novellas website)


The prologue sets the scene for Gwain and Mary's story. (However, just like in the other two books, other characters' stories, and the plot, will also continue to unravel). Released in eBook format on 31st August, and in paperback on 31st October. I've also included a little bit of Chapter One for you ;)





Prologue

Her fingernails dug into his wrist, as her scream pierced the air.

“God damn it!” he cursed. “Don't you let go of me – don't let go!”

But this was a battle they were both losing. The pulsing abyss beneath her was relentless, swallowing everything too close to it, like some ominous, living black hole, and she was more than too close to it – she was dangling above it, her feet touching the hungry darkness.

Terror gripped her – an unforgiving fear she'd never known, and she'd known a lot of fear.

For a second, exhaustion took her over, and her fingers slipped a little.

“No!” he shouted, and squeezed his hand in a tighter vice around her wrist. His other hand – the left one – was buried in the earth. He had pegged himself into it in an attempt to stop their forward movement. He had his legs entwined around a tree trunk, but the tree was now coming up at the roots, bowing to the force of the suction. Every muscle in his body was straining, bulging unnaturally – she wondered if he'd ripped any yet. Hell, he was strong – but not strong enough.

She looked up, forcing her head to move against the pull of the abyss, and met his eyes. Steely grey, and usually so steady, they were now marred with panic and anger. But still he held her gaze, and still – despite the horror of what was about to happen – she found a semblance of peace within his presence.

“Let me go,” she whispered.

Her answer was a tenacious growl.

“It'll pull you in if you don't. It doesn't want you, it wants me. Let me go.”

He tightened his hold on her.

Damn it! She won't risk him. Not now, not ever.

She spoke to him in the Old Tongue. “I’m not supposed to be here – it was always going to be this way.”

Determination hardened his features.

My God, he's stubborn.

“I love you,” she whispered, and let the truth of her words touch him, seep into him, through the all-consuming connection they shared – one which she suspected was about to be ripped to shreds.

He was momentarily stunned at the weight behind her words. She had him off-guard, and in that split second, with a strength she didn't know she possessed, she brought her left hand up, fighting against the vacuum with all she had, and tore into his cheek with her nails.

Startled, his grip loosened, and it was enough.

She yanked her right hand out of his.

His look of shock quickly turned to one of both rage and desperation when he finally realised what she'd done.

Blood seeped through the cuts on his cheeks. Her own face stung in response.

“Forgive me,” she pleaded. “You mean too much to me.”

Tears welled in his eyes.

Tears? Oh, no, m’angeal, don't cry. I'm not worth your tears.

“I'll find you, I swear it,” he choked out.

As the abyss closed up around her, she uttered a prayer, and she had no idea whether she was praying that he would, or that he wouldn't.

Chapter One

Mary jolted awake, then moaned as the pounding in her head dominated all her senses. A nightmare? No. This pounding felt like normal pain – the kind you had when you hit your head, not the type of pain that seared her during her nightmares.

What had woken her up? A dream? But she didn't have dreams – not normal dreams, anyway...

She tried to grasp at it and failed, the throbbing in her skull preventing her from going in too deep.

And she was hot – too hot – baking hot.

Where the fuck am I?

And far too quickly, she remembered her encounter with the monster in the prison, and being dropped into the hole in the ground. A portal of some kind? The memories rushed at her – they came so quickly, she thought she might puke. Ugh. She remembered being thrown down and cracking her head on the cement.

Shit. She hoped she didn't have concussion.

Gingerly, she tried to move and realised that something was crusted onto the left side of her face, which smarted big time – she guessed it was her blood. Her face felt mangled. She must have done it when she'd cracked her head. A glance down at herself told her she was naked. That meant she'd been undressed.

Fuck.

She mentally assessed her body, trying to figure out if she'd been messed with in any way. It felt the same as usual, apart from her arms. Looking up with effort, she could see that her hands were tightly secured above her head in metal cuffs, each attached to a stone wall by short, linked chains.

She gave her hands a little wriggle. Pins and needles shot down to her elbows, which ached. She winced. Could this be any worse?

“She awakes,” came a voice, low and soft, to her right.

It just got worse.

Excerpt copyright © Dianna Hardy, 2012. All rights reserved.

Feature: Cranberry Blood by Elizabeth Morgan

Cranberry Blood
(Book 1 in The Blood Series)
by Elizabeth Morgan

Cranberry Blood has been released! This is the first book in The Blood Series and the sequel to last year’s release, She-Wolf (The Blood Series Prequel.)

Now, for those of you who are new to the series, it doesn’t matter if you have read She-Wolf, you can read Cranberry Blood first. Yeah, I mean it, the events in She-Wolf are linked to Cranberry Blood, but book one isn’t dependant on its prequel.  

The order in which you read these two books is completely your choice, either way, welcome to the world of The Blood Series.

~ * ~

Blurb:

Killing Vampires? Easy. Tracking someone? Simple. Helping, and protecting a Vampire slayer... Bloody hard work!

Thirteen years ago, Brendan Daniels made a deal with a psychic. In exchange for information on the whereabouts of a Rogue Werewolf, he promised to help and protect Sofia's granddaughter. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was getting himself, or his Pack, into.

Nothing about Heather is simple, from her weird dietary needs to her life’s mission. The girl can handle herself, but the promise to protect her soon becomes a need, and one that he can't fully understand.

Vampire Slayer. Born Infected. Blood addict... but not by choice.

Heather Ryan is the most recent slayer in a long family line. Like all before her, she has spent her life searching for her ancestor, Marko Pavel, the Vampire her family has sworn to kill. If that isn't complicated enough, Heather is also a born "Infected", and to keep her from becoming insane or giving in to her darker side, she is on a very strict diet.

Grandmother Sofia has passed, so now it is up to Heather to take the family legacy into her own hands, all alone: or at least, it would have been, if her Grandmother hadn't sent a Werewolf to help her.

What is the irritating Brendan supposed to help Heather with? Sofia never told either one of them. But it doesn't take long for Heather and Brendan to find out that the Vampires have big plans, and that the fiends have waited a long time for them both.

Buy Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/

~ * ~

Excerpt:

(Taken from Chapter One)

The sudden sound of rustling paper snapped me from my thoughts. I tensed, the awareness crackling sharply beneath the surface of my skin.

Someone is in my house.

I walked through the open living room door. A new scent invaded my nostrils. Tangy, manufactured, smelled like expensive cologne. An unfamiliar, black, travel bag sat tucked away between the red leather sofa and TV stand. The papers rustled again. I stepped lightly toward the archway that lead into the dining room, my sword still gripped comfortably in my right hand.

"Your breakfast is getting cold, Heather. I suggest you stop trying to sneak in here and just come in so that we can get this over and done with," said the deep male voice in my kitchen.

What the hell is going on? Who is he? Why is he in my house? How does he know my name? And why the hell has he cooked me breakfast?

I took a deep breath, then exhaled. I slowly walked through the archway into the empty dining room and turned my head to the left to see a strange man seated at my kitchen breakfast bar. He sat casually, in jeans and a forest green T-shirt that clung to his broad, sculptured back and defined biceps. The sun flooded into the kitchen through the side window and glinted off his copper-blond hair, which brushed his shoulders.

"Are you going to come in to the room or stand there drooling all day?" He turned a page of his newspaper.

I inhaled again; nothing new amongst the scent of dog, pine, bacon, and coffee, which meant he wasn't a Vampire. I knew because leeches smelled like mouldy, wet earth; not an overpowering smell, but hidden underneath the products they wore. A huge part of me felt relieved he wasn't a Vamp. A Vampire couldn’t get in here, anyway. They could only come in with a personal invite, and since they all wanted me dead . . . . No matter what state I'd been in last night, I wouldn't have invited one in. So, who the hell is this guy?

I walked toward him, my sword glinting in the sunlight as I gripped the hilt firmly in both hands.

"Who the hell are you, and what are you doing in my house?" I stopped three feet behind him.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Wrong answer." I pressed the tip of my sword into the firm space between his shoulder blades. "I said who the hell are you and what—"

"Killing me isn't going to help." He turned another page of his paper.

"I disagree. I think killing the stranger who broke into my house is a very good idea."

"I did not break in," he replied calmly. "My name is Brendan and I'm actually here to help you."

I snorted. "Like I believe that."

"It's the truth. Besides, if I really wanted to hurt you, I would have. I also wouldn't have left your weapons with you."

"Well, you're obviously an eejit."

He laughed. "You have serious trust issues."

"Trust issues? Says the complete stranger who broke into my house and—"

"I used your house keys. They were in your jacket pocket," he said. "And yes, trust issues, says the stranger. The stranger who promises he isn't here to hurt you."

"Just because you say you're not here to hurt me doesn't mean it's the truth."

"True. But why go to the trouble of killing you when I could have left you lying in the car park the other night and let the seven greedy leeches looking for you find you and bleed you dry."

~ * ~

Bio:

Elizabeth started life wanting to be an actress because she loved entertaining people. She enjoyed nothing more than being able to make people laugh and to help distract them from reality for a few hours.

She studied Musical Theatre in college, but during her second year, her mind started to overflow with story ideas, so she began writing plays. Slowly, over the following three years, she was writing more and more, channeling every ounce of her imagination into the written word.

Now here she is, years later, hiding away like a hermit in her little cottage in Cheshire, England, writing like crazy and loving every minute of it.

~ * ~

Elizabeth Online:

Blog: www.xxxxmyworldxxxx.blogspot.com
Joint Blog: www.notjustastiffupperlip.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook: Elizabeth Morgan
The Blood Series Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/TheBloodSeries
Twitter: @EMorgan2010
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ElizabethMorgan
Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Morgan/e/B006WR1WLQ/ref=sr_tc_2_rm?qid=1339876094&sr=1-2-ent