Today, I promised you a special feature on a new release. I’m here to deliver: EVE OF DARKNESS by SJ Day.

A Marked Novel, Book #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback
Tor Books – April 28, 2009
ISBN-10: 0765360411
ISBN-13: 978-0765360410

Cursed by God, hunted by demons, desired by Cain and Abel… All in a day’s work.

For Evangeline Hollis, a long-ago fling with a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks just became a disaster of biblical proportions. One night with a leather-clad man of mystery has led to a divine punishment: the Mark of Cain.

Thrust into a world where sinners are drafted to kill demons, Eve knows her learning curve must be short. A longtime agnostic, she begrudgingly maneuvers through a celestial bureaucracy where she is a valuable but ill-treated pawn. She’s also become the latest point of contention in the oldest case of sibling rivalry in history…

But she’ll worry about all that later. Right now she’s more concerned with learning to kill while staying alive. And saving the soul she’d never quite believed she had.

I’ve had the privilege to advance read this title. It’s brilliant. Clever, with plot twists and turns, interesting characters who are both strong-willed and flawed. It’s a whole new world that will sweep you away, make you think…and crave the next in the Marked installment, EVE OF DESTRUCTION, which releases June 2. I can’t say enough good things about this book. Run, don’t walk, to your nearest bookstore!

Here’s an excerpt! I highly recommend this title. Enjoy!

Here are pics, as promised. I didn’t get as many good ones as I’d hoped. New camera…and apparently I need lessons to work it very well. But I got a few shots worth looking at that I’ll share.

Closing down the bar on Tuesday night with Sasha White and Lori G. Armstrong/Lorelei James (among others not pictured). I’m on the right after more margaritas than I can count.

The following day at the Ellora’s Cave author luncheon. Mackenzie McKade looks gorgeous in her napkin hat!

Sylvia Day and Cathryn Fox at the eBook signing event on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr. Romance 2009 contestants Charles and Franco at the eBook signing. Ran into both at a party on Saturday night and chatted. Franco is working on a very interesting tattoo on his back. Charles was just plain flirty and sweet. Sorry it’s a little blurry. Technology and I don’t always get along.

Thursday night with author Mary Wine. She MADE this dress herself. It’s absolutely stunning! No single person should be that talented, dang it.

Wicked Writers (and readers!) breakfast Friday morning. Counter-clockwise left to right (and front to back): Me, Lilly, Crazy Sue, Mackenzie McKade, Sasha White (at head of table), Laurie, Vicki, Sylvia Day, Karin Tabke, Cathryn Fox. A great time by all!

Karin Tabke accepting her Romantic Times award at Friday’s ceremony for Best Erotic Romantic Suspense for Jaded. She posed especially for me because I told her I’d kick her ass if she didn’t. Pretty, huh? LOL

Saturday’s big booksigning!

And that’s the end of my pictoral tour. BUT I’ll be giving away one of the Romantic Times registration bags, along with a signed backlist Shayla Black title on Friday. All you have to do is comment…

Back tomorrow with a special new release feature!

I made it back in one piece from the convention. It was lovely to get away and see old friends, as well as meet new ones. I came home exhausted, but ready to get back to work. I’ll give you a full trip report with a few nifty pictures early in the coming week.

I did finish my revisions for POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT last Tuesday. I’m hoping to finish up “Fated” this week and turn that in. I will be starting DELICIOUS next. Speaking of which…we won’t be using the draft cover I’d previously received for the book. It’s not quite right for the book. I’ll look forward to seeing what Berkley devises for Luc.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. More from me soon…

I’m leaving for the Romantic Times convention tomorrow in Orlando, FL, my mother-in-law is visiting, I’m nowhere near ready for this trip, trying to finish edits and not let anything on my to-do list fall through the cracks.  Yikes!

If you’re going to be at the convention, I’ll be at both the Wednesday and Saturday booksignings. Apparently, there’s been some miscommunications about this. I will also be sitting in Club RT to chat with folks on both Thursday and Friday afternoons. Can’t put my fingers on the times now, but I want to say around 3ish. These are 30 minute timeframes, so be quick!

If you’re not attending the conference…sorry. It IS loads of fun and I recommend it someday.

I did want to update you on a few items. The issues with Amazon.com seem to be resolved. Whether unintentional censorship or a glitch or whatever, I’m glad it’s over. I also realized belatedly that I failed to draw a winner for Rhyannon Byrd’s EDGE OF HUNGER. The winner is Diane Sadler. Contact me with your mailing address, and I’ll ship your book when I return from Orlando.

What else… SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW edits are finished. I’ve nearly done with POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT’s edits as well. Then I’ll give one last polish to “Fated” before I turn it in. Then it’s finally time to start on DELICIOUS. Yippee! I do have a draft of a cover of DELICIOUS, but I’m holding it for now. It’s not final. Soon…

And since it’s Monday, everyone deserves a little no-cal man candy. Enjoy! I’ll do my best to blog from RT…

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I’ve been a bit under the weather and an still not 100%, so I’m going to be brief.

As many of you may know, Amazon has had a “computer glitch”. Here’s something from an online source, Publisher’s Lunch, about the whole escapade:

After GBLT and Erotica Titles Lose Rankings and Other Features at Amazon, Company Says “Glitch” Will Be Fixed

A firestorm of Internet-driven protest built up on Sunday after YA author Mark Probst posted on a Live Journal blog that two days prior the Amazon sales ranking for two recently-released gay romance books had disappeared from the titles’ Amazon pages. An Amazon Advantage publisher, Probst posted the explanation he says he received from Amazon Advantage Member Services representative Ashlyn D: “In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude ‘adult’ material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.”

As word spread via blog postings and Twitter (where #amazonfail became the top “trending” topic), posters asserted that sales rankings and other search-matching features had disappeared from what appeared to be many gay and lesbian books on Amazon, as well as erotica/erotic romance titles, in both cases often involving prominent authors and books. (Without a sales rank, a title cannot appear on a category bestseller list, and it is said to inhibit other kinds of search matching and recommendations as well.)

On Sunday evening, Amazon spokesman Andrew Herdener told Publishers Lunch, “We recently discovered a glitch to our Amazon sales rank feature that is in the process of being fixed. We’re working to correct the problem as quickly as possible.” Without commenting on the explanation attributed to the Advantage representative, Herdener assured that “things will go back to how they were before.”

Disbelieving posters have continued Twittering (adding the hashtag #glitchmyass) while others have tried looked more closely at the metadata issues. Over at Dear Author they have deduced that “it appears that all the content that was filtered out had either ‘gay,’  ‘lesbian,’  ‘transgender,’ ‘erotic’  or ‘sex’ metadata categories.” 

So the long and short of it is, if you search for me or any other erotic romance author on Amazon.com, unless you specify that you’re looking for authors or certain titles in the “Books” category, these authors and books may or may not appear. They’ve also been deranked, meaning that sales rankings that were visible in the past are now gone. As are appearances on the bestseller lists. I’ve also been unable to find bestseller lists for adult fiction or erotica.

I certainly hope this is a glitch and not a deliberate attempt at censorship. If it’s the latter, I’m incensed. I didn’t ask Amazon.com to be my mommy. I wonder how many adults, their primary shopping audience, felt they needed such “protection”. Right now, I’m in a wait and see with this. If it’s fixed in a timely manner, then this will be much ado about nothing. If it’s not…you can imagine that a lot of authors will remove links to Amazon from their site. I’ve spoken to readers who are boycotting them until this is fixed. I may join them…

EDGE OF HUNGER
Primal Instincts series, book 1
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: April 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0373773671
Genre: Paranormal romance

Click here to view video!

Blurb:
Ian Buchanan never truly believed his mother’s eerie stories of ancient ancestors who walked the earth as beings that were more than human, nor her chilling predictions of a hidden darkness that lives within him—until the day a tenacious psychic tracks him down, claiming to bear messages from the dead… and a warning that Ian’s awakening is about to begin.

Every once in a while, I bring you info about a friend’s book or a book I’m reading. Today, I have to bring you a bit about a book from a dear friend and talanted author, Rhyannon Byrd.

The first of her Primal Instincts series released last week, EDGE OF HUNGER. This is a paranormal romance series from HQN. The first three April/May/June of this year. The first book? In a word, yum. Ian is a wonderful Alpha hero, very rough around the edges…with just enough caring to make a girl melt in a chocolate puddle. Her rich description of both scenery and emotion is captivating. In fact, I emailed her earlier this week to tell her I thought she was a rock star. If she doesn’t mail me book 2 (out May 1), EDGE OF DANGER, then I’m going to have to go camp on her doorstep–all the way in the UK–and make her give it over. Luckily, she said she’d hook me up. The 3rd book of the series, EDGE OF DESIRE, promises to round out the stories about Ian’s family, the Buchanans. But Rhyannon has left SO MANY amazing characters with stories untold, I’m sure there will be future installments.

Rhyannon has agreed to send me a signed copy for a giveaway. All you have to do is read the blurb and watch the video and comment here about them. Winner will be chosen Monday. I might even throw in a signed Shayla book, just for giggles. You never know…

The first read, as are all of Rhyannon’s, is fast and very sexy. Grab a copy and enjoy!

Whew, it’s been a whirlwind few weeks, writing-wise. Last weekend I got some great ideas for Doomsday Brethren 4 (despite repeated asides about the disco stick), which I’ll be writing this summer. I need to hammer out a synopsis, but all in all, some intriguing twists, I think.

Sunday, I received a phone call that TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS is a finalist for Wisconsin RWA’s Write Touch award for the best paranormal romance of 2009! I’m incredibly thrilled, as this contest is judged by booksellers, librarians and readers, I believe. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday, I finished my edits for SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW and turned them in. I was a few weeks late. My whole year just seems behind. But they are done (until copyedits), and I’m moving onto POSSESS ME AT MIDNIGHT, which should be a tad more straightforward. THEN onto DELICIOUS!

Oh, and because I was remiss yesterday, enjoy your no-cal man candy!

Yesterday, I got together with Nikki Duncan and Lee Swift to plot books we’ll all be working on this summer. Nikki talked of her follow up to her upcoming Samhain release, SOUNDS TO DIE BY (October). Lee plotted a m/m erotic romance he’d like to write. I talked about Doomsday Brethren 4, which I’m going to suggest to my editor that we call Entice Me in Moonlight. We’ll see if she goes for it.

Anyway, we began about 10. Just before then, Nikki and I had been discussing Lady GaGa’s appearance on American Idol last week. We were both WTH? Who is this woman? She was like a David Bowie/70′s Glam acid trip. But out of curiosity, Nikki went to YouTube and watched several of her videos. She shared one with us for a song called Love Game. (This is a VERY sexy video, so don’t watch it in front of the little ones.) Some of the lyrics provided the joke/theme of the day.

Let’s have some fun, this beat is sick
I wanna take a ride on your disco stick

*sigh* So, imagine 3 good friends, plotting sexy romances…and you can imagine LOTS of very bad jokes about wanting to take a ride on someone’s “disco stick”. It was even funnier about three wine coolers later. Today, it’s still funny, actually. I’m laughing all over again.

Back to Caden’s disco stick…er, the SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW edits. Should be done by tomorrow!