Haunting Beauty up for cover of the year at Cover Cafe!

It must be my lucky week. Just found out Haunting Beauty if up for a cover of the year award. Come vote for me pretty please? http://www.covercafe.com/contest/2009/AR.html


While you're there, take a look at the cover for Object of Desire by Calista Fox in the contemporary category and show her some love. :). You have to vote for 3 categories for you vote to count!

Thanks!

Haunting Beauty--Golden Quill Finalist!

Yay! Just found out. It's such great news!

Where did the month go?

I've been so busy I feel like this whole month is a blur.  Actually, strike that, I feel like the whole YEAR has been one great big fast-forward button.  I'm ready for a little slow down, but somehow I don't think my life is going to cooperate.  Well, at least I'm not bored, right?

I'm on the final scenes of Haunting Desire and liking the way the story came together.  (I'm always a bit stunned when it happens--around page 200 I start to panic thinking I'll never get it done!)  Somehow it always works out though, so that's a very, very good thing.

Haunting Warrior, in case you didn't guess from my countdown box, is coming in less than 2 weeks!  Yay.  I really can't wait to see how you, my reader, receives Rory story.  I really hope you love it.

On the road again....

I'm on a plane to Oregon tomorrow for an all day meeting. Departing at 6am, coming home at 8pm. There's something wrong with that, especially since I've been feel quite ughy lately.

Anyway, currently reading Donna Grant's Dangerous Highlander.  So far I'm really enjoying it but my reading time is too limited with the dreaded deadline looming and the day job trying to suck the life out of me.

Looking forward to getting back to it.  Tell me, what are you reading?  I'm looking for a new series and I know there are many out there I haven't even started.  So tell me, tell me please.....

The final stretch....

I'm on the last few scenes of Haunting Desire and the end is so near I can taste it!  I'm a very organic writer--by that I mean my story grows as I go along.  Many writers know exactly what their books are going to be about before they start it.  They plot, they scope, they work out every single detail in advance.  I'm always jealous of those people, but it just doesn't work that way for me.  I've written those detailed and complex outlines and then I start my book and I end up somewhere totally different and my outline becomes an carefully planned out itinerary to a trip I'm not taking..  In short, a waste of time.

So, I do it my way and after 5 books in the can and one very near, I'm beginning to think that maybe my way works.  :)  It's scary setting off on that journey without much more to go on then, "there's a guy, you see.  And he meets a girl...." but apparently that big unknown appeals to my inner writer even if it scares the pants of my outter control freak.  What's a girl to do?

I guess get back to work.

Can't wait for list....

What's on your can't wait for list?  I have a few coming out this month--Book 4 in the Magic/Kate Daniels series.  LOVE them and after the way book 3 ended, I simply can't wait to get to that dinner.  Book 8(?) in the BDB series.).  I'm excited about the next Psy-Changeling book from Nalini Singh--one of my fav authors) and Shana Abe has a new one coming out too in her drákon series.  Shana's writing is so lush that I always get lost in her world.  Really excited about it. 

Tell me what your excited to read and I'll enter you in my April blog comment contest for an autographed book. :)

Welcome author Ray Wong!

I'm always excited when I get to host a new author here on my blog and today is no different.  I met Ray Wong many years ago in San Diego and we have stayed in touch--as writers do--through email since then.  Ray writes heartfelt stories about family and heritage and I think he's one of the most talented writers I've ever met.  Recently he was seletected to contribute a story to two new Chicken Soup for the Soul books:  Thanks Mom and Thanks Dad.  These make great Mother's and Father's day gifts, so be sure to see the end of the contest at the end--by one and be entered for another!

The best way to buy these Chicken Soup for the Soul books?  Go to http://www.raywong.info/ and scroll down to the buy link at the bottom.  Ray will personalize the inscription and send your autographd copy!

So, without further ado....meet Ray!

Ray M. Wong believes that the heart of who we are is captured in a single word – family. It’s the source of our deepest wounds and it’s our greatest strength. This is a theme that weaves through his work. It’s why he writes a column called “Family Matters,” which appears in three U.S. newspapers. This theme is also apparent in the stories he published in two recent books – “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Mom” (March 2010) and “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad” (April 2010). Wong is a freelance writer for the “San Diego Union Tribune,” “San Diego Family” magazine and other publications. To see more of his work, visit his website http://www.raywong.info/.

In 1996, Wong took a trip with his mother to Hong Kong and Mainland China. The journey changed his life and inspired him to write a memoir. He went from being an isolated and self-absorbed person to a man who would come to value his family above all else.

An excerpt from his memoir appears in “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Mom.” Accompanied by his mother, Wong visits his grandparents’ gravesite in a small rural town called Tai Shan. At the foot of his ancestors’ headstone, he experiences a spiritual awakening about the grandparents he never met, the mother he never appreciated and the life he took for granted.

The story is about peeling off the layers of pretense, releasing the blame and embracing an unwavering truth. Readers will be taken to China, and they will be touched by a man who painstakingly comes to understand his mother for the first time.

Readers who purchase a book through Ray's website http://www.raywong.info/ (scroll down to see the covers and buy link) between now and June 20th will be entered to win a “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings” book.

Come say hi at PopCultureDivas

Hi, I'm blogging about Rory MacGrath (the gorgeous hunkus maximus of Haunting Warrior) over at PopCultureDivas. Come by and say hi!

Tomorrow I will have author Ray Wong as my guest.  Ray has a new story in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Mom: 101 Stories of Gratitude, Love and Good Times and I'm really looking forward to having him here.  Please stop by and say hello!

Haunting Warrior Book Trailer!!!

So excited.  Check out the trailer for Haunting Warrior:

Welcome TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN author, Gini Koch!

I'm really excited to have Gini Koch as my guest today.  Gini's debut novel, TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN releases on Tuesday, April 6 from DAW books.  TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN is the first in a series that looks like it will be dynamite.

Here's what it's about: 

How can a sexy marketing manager join forces with an Alpha Centauri male in Armani to save the planet-using hairspray, a Mont Blanc pen, and rock n' roll?

Easy...

She's Touched by an Alien

Marketing manager Katherine "Kitty" Katt steps into the middle of what appears to be a domestic dispute turned ugly. And it only gets uglier when the man turns into a winged monster, straight out of a grade-Z horror movie, and goes on a killing spree. Though Kitty should probably run away, she springs into action to take the monster down.

In the middle of the chaos a handsome hunk named Jeff Martini appears, sent by the "agency" to perform crowd control. He's Kitty's kind of guy, no matter what planet he's from. And from now on, for Kitty, things are going to be sexy, dangerous, wild, and out of this world.

I asked Gini some questions when she stopped by and this is what she had to say:

Erin:  I always love to hear the story behind the story.  Tell me, what was the original idea that inspired you to write TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN?

Gini:  The original idea was from a dream (I get about half of my story ideas from my dreams). The story was supposed to be a dark short story -- the original working title was "Killing Superman". I'd envisioned it much like the opening dialog between my heroine, Kitty, and the reader that starts TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN, only a lot darker and with no humor. In my dream and when I started writing it, it was like I was channeling the first person narrator, but had no idea who they were, or even if they were a man or a woman. By page 3, however, the character asserted herself, and when the male lead waltzed onto the page, he took over, told me his name, charmed me AND the heroine, and away it went.

This was the most organic thing I'd ever written to that date. I really felt like every single character, no matter how small, was telling me their part and I was merely writing it down as fast as I could. The characters even told me their names -- to the point where I literally stopped writing, looked away from the monitor, and said, "Really? Kitty Katt? Really?" To which the character replied, "My parents have a sense of humor. Keep writing." It was exhilarating, fun and exciting, and once the first book was done, I just couldn't leave the characters behind, so I rolled on and the rest is history.




Erin:  I love it when that happens.  I get a lot of ideas from dreams too.  I have VERY vivid dreams.  My husband is waking me up all the time because I'm running (scream, jumping, laughing, crying....)  Okay, next question:  What is your favorite part of the writing these stories?

Gini:  How much fun the characters are for me. To me they're very real, with personality quirks, likes and dislikes, and it makes writing about them a joy. I like that I can have them grow while still maintaining what they are at their cores. And, let's face it, writing about gorgeous aliens hanging out with fun, kickass humans who get involved in saving the world on a regular basis isn't exactly a painful way to spend your day.


Erin:  Gorgeous aliens saving the world does have its appeal.  :)  Okay, next question:  tell me something you're really excited about with the release of TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN?

Gini:  What I'm excited about?  My cover artist is amazing and captured the essence of  TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN in one image. Same with what he's done for Book 2 in this series, ALIEN TANGO. I'm incredibly lucky to have gotten one of the top artists, and a Hugo nominee, working in SF/F today (of course, since he's my artist, I naturally think he's THE best). Also, a reader in the Netherlands already got a copy of  TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN from her local bookstore, read it immediately, sent me an email telling me she loved it and can't wait for "Alien Tango", and did a great review of it on her blog as well. That made it all 'real' for me.

Erin:  That is such a great feeling when readers connect with your writing.  I can't wait to read your book!  Okay, last question:  Tell us why you think readers will love it?


Gini:  It's fun, fresh and funny, and a deal at twice the price! ;-D

Erin:  Oh, good answer!

Gini:  I think the characters are people readers will want to spend time with, and would spend time with in real life if it were possible. It's being referred to in a variety of ways in reviews and such, but I think of it as science fiction/fantasy romance, with a lot of action and humor tossed into the mix. You've got a regular girl who channels her inner accidental badass for a heroine, gorgeous and scientifically proficient aliens who don't have all the answers, tossed in with some wickedly cool villains on top of a lot of action and intrigue. Besides, who doesn't want to hang with a girl who can use hairspray and rock and roll to save the day, even when falling from a great height?

If you'd like to learn more about Gini and her great books, visit her site at http://www.ginikoch.com/.  You can order your copy of TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders (Borders even has the preorder link for ALIEN TANGO!) or run -- don't walk -- to your local bookstore beginning Tuesday, April 6!

Want to win?  Tell us what you think of aliens--real or not?  Have you ever seen one?  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a $10 amazon gift card!

Happy April!

And the winner is...

For March I ran a contest--comment on my blog and win 1 autographed book (either Echoes or Whispers, readers choice). My randomly selected winner is....Anna L. Walls. Anna, please contact me at write2erinquinn (@) aol.com so I can get all your information!


Congratulations and stop by again. I'll have another contest up soon so stop by again soon.  Tomorrow you get a chance to meet debut author Gini Koch!