Vampire Dreams Book Tour Begins Today

Today the Vampire Dreams book tour with Bewitching Book Tours begins, and I'm very excited.  The list of blogs and their links is below, so be sure to take a look at them.  The first stop is Live To Read.  I'm also at Nicki Markus's blog talking about inspiration and gushing a bit too much about a good looking blacksmith I met a couple weekends ago, so click over there to check that out too.  Nicki was the FF featured blogger this past week, so many of you may know her already, but if you don't, you should.  She's a fellow author and one to keep an eye on!

And I have to give a holler out to someone who made my night last night.  Monique, a.k.a. Lady Raven rave, wrote me to say that she'd just finished reading Vampire Dreams and loved it.  She enjoyed it so much she recommended it to her Facebook group, Romance Novel Junkies.  As I told her last night, I guess I'm supposed to be cooler about these things, but I couldn't get the smile off my face after reading her email, and then when I read her review...wow!  To read her review, check out Goodreads. And thank you again, Monique!

June 13-Live to Read
June 14-Fangtastic Books
June 15-Getting Naughty Between The Stacks
June 16-The Enchanted Book
June 17-Romancing The Darkside
June 22-The Enchanted Book
June 22-My Need To Read
June 23-VampChix
June 23-Bitten By Paranormal Romance
June 24-A Chick Who Reads
June 27-The Write At Home Mom
June 27-Bite Club

Finally, I just found this new blog hop, and since I'm an author and I love to meet other authors and readers, it sounds perfect! It's called Meet An Author Monday.  Hop around to the other blogs on the linky to find some new authors.  And leave comments since we love to chat with readers!

A Blog Award

The lovely Joanne Troppello has awarded my blog The Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award.  Awww....thank you so much, Joanne.  It's sweet of you to think of me. 

The rules of this award are:

1. You link to the person who sent it to you.

 Thank you Joanne Troppello!   

2.  List seven random facts about yourself

I've recently developed an allergy to one of my favorite foods--shrimp

I love to watch baseball.

I love my Kindle, but I'm at my core a paper book girl.

My vacation is just over 60 days away, and I can't wait!

I was born on my father's 32nd birthday.  In addition, one of my friends is having her baby on my birthday this year. 

I routinely buy DVDs and then don't watch the movies until they come on television.  My son think this is bizarre. 

I recently rescued a kitten I named Angel.

 3) Pass the award on to 10 other awesome blog buddies.  Please take some time to visit these fantastic bloggers. 

Nat at Reading Romances
Laurie at Bitten By Paranormal Romance
Talina at Bookin' It
Bree at Strange Love
Nadja Notariani
Nicki Markus
Liz at Coffee and Romance
Dana at Readaholics Anonymous
Elaina Lee
Felicity Heaton

Tagging and Hopping and What's New?

Today I'm over at Shannon Leigh's blog doing an interview with her.  Shannon asks great questions about writing and what I might be doing next, so check it out.  In addition, as today was the official release date of Vampire Dreams (yes, I know it's been out for a few days, but that's ok), Barnes and Noble, the last of the outlets where I uploaded the book, is finally selling it.  Yay!

Since the book went on sale ten days ago, I've sold 25 copies of Vampire Dreams!  Now in addition to Amazon, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords, readers can find it at Barnes and Noble.  The book tour for Vampire Dreams begins on Monday, so keep an eye out for that.  There will be guest posts, interviews, and giveaways, in addition to reviews from bloggers. 

Now on to tagging along!  The 18 & Over Book Blogger Tag Along is hosted by Bitten by Paranormal Romance  It's a great chance for those of us who read adult books to find others like them.  Thanks to Laurie for hosting this! If you haven't joined in yet, stop over there and add your name!  I always find a new read to add to my TBR pile at the sites on this hop, so be sure to visit everyone. 

There is no official question this week, but here's my unofficial one:  How many books do you hope to read this summer? 

For me, I hope to get at least ten in.  I know that sounds like a paltry sum, but I have so many things going on, I'm worried I won't be able to get ten in.  Here's to warm summer nights on my porch, citronella candles doing their job, and a cool drink as I read the books on my TBR pile. 

And I'm back doing Shah Wharton's Weekend Creation Blog Hop.  Definitely one to check out, the Creation Blog Hop has writers and all types of artists liked up.  Shah's page is a wonderful collection of things, so check it out too. 

If you're a new follower, let me know so I can hop on over to your place and follow back.  If you're an old follower, thanks for coming back.  It's nice to see you again.  Have a great weekend!

Check it out!

Dana over at Readaholics Anonymous (love that name!) has posted my book trailer for Stolen Destiny in her Trailer Thursday segment.  And you know what other authors are also there with their book trailers?  Tina Folsom and Susan Mallery!  I'm hanging out with big names today.  Click on over to Dana's place and check all the trailers out. (Yes, I know you can watch my trailer just by looking above this post, but then you wouldn't see Tina's or Susan's, so mosey on over there too!)



And then check out the second half of my interview with Nat at Reading Romances.  Thanks so much to both these wonderful ladies for helping spread the word about my books.  You're the best!

ROW 80 Check In 6-8

Another week gone by, and another ROW 80 check in to discuss.  It's been a busy week here, and I just barely made my 3500 words for the week in Masquerade.  This novella has been yet another one where the research is almost as much fun as the writing.  That shouldn't be surprising, though, since I have studied history for years, but this time I've gotten to spend some time checking out the finer details of Russian history, which has always intrigued me. 

In grad school, I took a course on Soviet Russia taught by a Jesuit who had lived there, in secret, of course, since the Soviets were nothing if not thorough in their efforts to eradicate religion from their state.  I had become interested in Russian literature as an undergrad after reading some of Chekhov's short stories, and I'd fallen in love with Dostoyevsky's work then too. Chekhov is so understated, yet so powerful in his work.  The struggle and torment his characters experience don't hit you over the head repeatedly, but with just a few very well chosen words, he conveys a depth of feeling I rarely find in stories today. 

As luck and the fates would have it, one of my closest friends speaks Russian fluently, and her sister lived in Russia for a long time teaching there.  So I have two fabulous translators who supply me with the correct words for my hero whenever I need them.  I don't include many in Masquerade, but when he becomes irritated with the heroine and when he's feeling passionate, he slips into Russian.  Thank you Ris and Michele for all your translation work! 

Promotion continues, as does editing on Love's Master.  I unveiled the cover for that novella yesterday.  I love that cover.  In truth, I love every cover I've had so far, and this one's no exception.  It's over in the right sidebar, so take a look. 

My critique partner and I had separate but almost simultaneous ideas for upcoming stories on Saturday.  It was quite interesting!  Mine came when I was volunteering at an arts festival for the museum board I'm on, and there was my inspiration, doing his thing at a blacksmith area near the booth I was working.  What incredibly fascinating work I saw!  Thanks to that blacksmith, who was just as good looking as he was talented, I have an idea for my next story.  From a tiny kernel of an idea grew the beginning of a novel or novella (I haven't decided which.).

Nat from Reading Romances has posted the first part of the interview she and I did the other night online at her blog, so take a look.  We had a great time, and I want to thank her for such a fantastic job with it!  She's also the organizer of the Small Blogs, Big Giveaways Hop I'm involved in, so take a look at that too for a chance at some really great prizes. 

Here's to another week of summer weather and good times.  To see how everyone else is doing with ROW 80, click HERE. 

A Little Bit Of Housecleaning And A New Cover!

I'm in the middle of the second giveaway hop, the Small Blogs, Big Giveaways Hop, and it's been super hectic here at Casa Bisset.  I did an interview with Nat from Reading Romances last night that was just a blast!  We did it in real time online, and I laughed the whole time.  Thanks for a terrific interview, Nat!

The random.org thing worked its mojo and determined that the winners for the copy of Vampire Dreams are: 

Pam S. and The Jeep Diva

And the winner of  copies of Vampire Dreams and Stolen Destiny, along with a $10 gift card from Amazon is:

Talina

Congratulations to all of the winners!  And thank you to everyone who participated in the 18 & Over Giveaway Hop.  I thought it was a great success, and I'm looking forward to the next one in September.  Thanks to Laurie and Amber for hosting this one!

 

And now for the unveiling of the new cover for Love's Master, due out in July.

Thanks to Elaina Lee, the cover artist who I can't say enough wonderful things about!  And yes, that's the ever delicious Jimmy Thomas.  Love's Master involves some light BDSM, so this pic was perfect. Here's a blurb about the book, which I plan to release in mid-July.

23 year old Lily finds herself widowed and forced to live with her brother and his family, including his eight year old son William, who is nothing short of a terror.  Sure she cannot go another day with his behavior, she begins to search for a new nanny and tutor for her nephew but with little success.  When she happens across an advertisement in the Times that seems to be the answer to her problem, she is set on a path that will take her where she's never been before.  Victorian England is a place of strict social codes, and the world she enters is strictly forbidden for a women of her social stature. But what she finds awakens desires in her she never knew existed.

Her guide in this world is a man named Kadar, and the feelings he stirs in Lily threaten to change her forever.  However, Victorian society is never far away, and her brother intends on seeing his sister remarried and settled into a home near him in Regent's Park.  Lily will have to choose between Kadar,who makes her feel more alive than she ever believed she could, and Captain Mason Danvers, the gentleman who can offer her security and comfort for the rest of her life. 

I'm very excited about this book.  I got to do a good amount of research into everything from spanking, flogging, and cat o' nine tails (and other BDSM varieties) to dishes native to Afghanistan (which are delicious!).  It was incredibly fun to write, and I hope readers enjoy this second novella in my erotic trilogy set in Victorian England.  The last novella, Masquerade, will be released in late August. 

Author Karenna Colcroft Guest Post

I'm happy to welcome author Karenna Colcroft to my blog today.  Karenna's new book is Reflected Love, so be sure to check out at the end of this post how to get your hands on a copy.   

Do You Believe In Magic?

Okay, so now I have that old song playing over and over in my head. The problem with that is I only remember the first couple lines of it…Gah! Earworm!

Oops. That isn’t what I’m blogging about today. First of all, I’d like to thank Gabrielle for hosting me. I’m very excited to be here. Remember to check out Gabrielle’s visit to my blog on July 5!

So back to magic. Do you believe in it? Some people might. Some probably are scoffing and saying, “There’s no such thing.” My husband would fall firmly into the latter group. Me, I’d have to say I believe, depending on your definition of magic.

I met hubby through a chain of circumstances that I would have to describe as magical. In April 2008, not quite a year and a half after my first marriage ended, I’d spent months trying to find a guy I wanted to date. I’d met a couple of winners and a couple of losers, but no one quite right for me. So I sat down one night and made a list of all the “wants” I had for a relationship. Things like, “I want someone who’ll visit me just to sit on the couch and watch movies” and “I want someone who’ll treat my kids as well as if they were his own.”

A month later, I went to a barbecue at a friend’s house. I’ve told this story here and there online several times, so I won’t go through it all again. Suffice it to say that I’d given up on dating for a while after I’d made that list, and I almost hadn’t gone to the barbecue. The man who is now my husband had given up on ever finding someone to spend his life with, and was just looking for a hookup. We set eyes on each other and that was it. We were both smitten, as a friend of mine put it.

Two days later, I knew I’d found “the one” when hubby called me—from his workplace two hours from my home—and said he wanted to come visit me after work. When I said my kids were there (they’d been with their grandparents when I went to the barbecue), he said, “That’s all right. We can just sit on the couch and watch movies.” Within a week, he’d met all but one of the “wants” on my list. That one was “I want a relationship that will last longer than a few months.” He’s met that one now; last weekend we celebrated the third anniversary of the night we met by going to another barbecue at the same friend’s house.

So yeah, I guess you could say I believe in magic, at least in some forms.

Ralie, the heroine of my latest novella Reflected Love, was raised by parents who didn’t have time for “nonsense” like magic, and by a godmother who taught Ralie to believe. When an antique mirror she ordered online begins speaking to her, and then shows her an image of a man Ralie feels an instant connection with, Ralie isn’t sure if it’s magic or her own insanity. As she gets to know Listrial, the Fae man the mirror shows her, she realizes it truly is magic. Now if she and Listrial can just figure out a way to be together even though they’re literally in different worlds…

Reflected Love is available from Pink Petal Books as part of their Spellbound Treasure line. http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Reflected-Love-by-Karenna-Colcroft.html.

You can visit Karenna online at her website, http://karennacolcroft.com; follow her on Twitter @KarennaColcroft; or friend her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/karenna.colcroft.