I am a 2013 NaNoWriMo winner!

WOO-HOO!

I pushed myself the last few days before the American Thanksgiving and I made it!

My tenth year participating in NaNoWriMo and I did it.

Congratulations to all those who won too.

The story is nowhere near finished. I left it off right at the beginning of a fight scene. That just makes it easy for me to pick it back up. I love writing action! I suspect this book is going to be near 80,000 words. Maybe more. While I loved writing novellas, it feels good to be writing novel sized stories again.

For those of you still tapping away, you can do it! You still have two days. Write, write, write!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!

The Vanished Knight blog tour stop - Guest post by Misha Gericke

Today I'm happy to host the talented Misha Gericke.

I've asked her to talk about the romance in her debut book, THE VANISHED KNIGHT.

Thanks for letting me post here, Christine!

Romance is one of my favorite aspects to a book. I mean, who doesn’t love then the chemistry between two characters sizzles and we’re all waiting to see how it all ends up. And please please please let the ending be happy.

I left the issue open-ended in The Vanished Knight, though. Chemistry I have in spades. As well as some delicious guys. The thing is, there’s one girl and four guy main characters. And they all have a ton of stuff going on for the whole book.

Two are on the other side of the continent for most of the book, and the two who are with Callan are… well, a bit distracted by the fact that they have to find a missing prince or all hell will break loose.

But like I said, there’s plenty of chemistry, especially where Gawain’s involved. I guess I could have put in more romance as well, but the fact is, I didn’t want to.

Firstly, it would pretty much have gone against Callan’s character. She has a secret that pretty much forestalls any attempt she makes at getting closer to people. Besides that, her have-a-clue-meter about male interest is pretty much stuck on zero.

The other big reason: With so much going on, their romance would have been pretty much an instabond. While I get why writers do that, I don’t have to, since I have four more books in which to develop their relationship. I much prefer that. Although saying this, I’ve already sown the seeds to threaten what they’ve got going.

Don’t take this as a spoiler, though. I honestly don’t know for sure whether or not Gawain manages to win Callan over. There’s too much that can change between now and the next few books. I do hope you’ll read The Vanished Knight though. And let me know if you think Gawain is the one for Callan.

Who else prefers long-burn romances to develop over a series?

Blurb: 

Since the death of her parents, Callan Blair has been shunted from one foster family to another, her dangerous secret forcing the move each time. Her latest foster family quickly ships her off to an exclusive boarding school in the Cumbrian countryside. While her foster-brother James makes it his mission to get Callan expelled, a nearby ancient castle holds the secret doorway to another land...

When Callan is forced through the doorway, she finds herself in the magical continent of Tardith, where she’s shocked to learn her schoolmates Gawain and Darrion are respected soldiers in service to the king of Nordaine, one of Tardith's realms. More than that, the two are potential heirs to the Black Knight—Nordaine's crown prince.

But when the Black Knight fails to return from a mysterious trip, the realm teeters on the brink of war. Darrion and Gawain set out to find him, while Callan discovers there is more to her family history than she thought. The elves are claiming she is their princess.

Now with Darrion growing ever more antagonistic and her friendship with Gawain blossoming, Callan must decide whether to stay in Nordaine—where her secret grows ever more threatening—or go to the elves and uncover the truth about her family before war sets the realms afire.

Bio: M. Gerrick (AKA Misha Gericke) has basically created stories since before she could write. Many of those stories grew up with her and can be seen in her current projects.She lives close to Cape Town, with a view over False Bay and Table Mountain.

If you’d like to contact her, feel free to mail her at warofsixcrowns(AT)gmail(DOT)com, Circle her on Google Plus or follow her on Twitter. If you'd like to see her writer-side (beware, it's pretty insane), please feel free to check out her blog. You can also add The Vanished Knight on Goodreads.

Links: 

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

All Romance Reads

Amazon France

Amazon Germany

Teaser Tuesday with The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This book is pure magic. I was immediately sucked in by Neil Gaiman's storytelling and the wonder of the tale. I can't stop reading!

Your teaser:
"I'm going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world." (page 112)

Review for Revenir Intern (Revenir #2)

Blurb:
Sixteen-year-old Caitlin, privileged member (spoiled brat) of a secret society she has no interest in, shares her overly-honest opinion in her junior essay (she doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut), which places her under her queen's scrutiny.

Instead of spending her summer on the beach, she ends up working nights wearing an armored vest, crisscrossing the nation chasing vampire hunters and miscreant kithmen, noshing Nerd candies with her tweener sidekick.

The queen (who loathes the term vampire) leads her clan in a two-front war against rogue Revenirs (immortal shapeshifters), and humans determined to exterminate what they believe is an insidious race. The clan's battle meant nothing to Cait, but becomes personal after she sees another side of her heritage, and learns more of the kith's complicated world.

Hanging out with macho guys draping cannons from their shoulders is less irksome than she expects. She survives a number of deadly scrapes, creating a reputation for herself as she searches for her abducted roommate.

My review:
Caitlin hoped for a summer that every teen wants: shopping, spending the time at the beach, and cuddling with her dog as she watches her favorite DVDs. That dream was ripped away from her when she's chosen to be the Queen's intern. Not the Queen of England, but the Queen to a secret organization of paranormals. The clan is at war and Cait finds herself thrust right into it. Searching for her abducted roommate, Cait gains a reputation that everyone least expected. Especially her. Yet with that notoriety comes with more danger. Will she survive the summer and ever get to go to the beach again?

The book throws the reader right into the story as Cait is escorted from her home by armed men and revenirs. I had no idea what to expect, but at times, I found myself laughing out loud and on the edge of my seat. This was a fun and fast-paced story with a lot of wise-cracking. Loved the banter between the characters!

Cait is a stubborn and strong-willed 16-year-old. I often forgot her age, but she has the frustrating impulsiveness of a teen and her emotions will take you for a grand ride. Zack is my favorite character. A genius 12-year-old who knows everyone's business and loves Nerds. He's the perfect sidekick for Cait. There's a great cast of characters, both human and supernatural, and the plot will take you on quite a few sudden and shocking turns. 

Buy the book here:

Amazon * B&N

Find R. Mac Wheeler here:

Blog * Site * Twitter * Goodreads 

'Tis More Blessed

With the success of Creepy Freebies in October,

Milo James Fowler is hosting 'Tis More Blessed this December!

FREE stories and raffles.

'Tis the season for giving.

I'm happy to be taking part.

On December 13th, (Friday the 13th) I'll be raffling off a signed copy of The 13th Floor Complete Collection (US only). It's the anniversary of when I released the first book in the series. Can you believe it's been a year already?

Milo is opening up this event to the whole blogosphere.

If you have a book/eBook/short story/collection you'd like to give away or raffle off on Friday December 6th, Friday the 13th, Friday the 20th, or Friday the 27th, just enter your name and the date(s) of your giveaway under Link Title. Next, enter your email (won't be displayed), then enter the URL of your blog so folks can click straight through to your giveaway. 

  

Friday Five for November 22, 2013

1. It's been a slow NaNoWriMo week for me. I've been so busy outside my hermit hole, I haven't had much time to write. Yet I'm still in a good place. As of yesterday, my word count is just over 36,000. I would say I could easily finish that before the end of the month if I had until the end of the month. Which I don't. We leave Wednesday to go visit my in-laws, and so I have to finish on Tuesday. The story won't be finished. I have a feeling this will be a long one, but that's okay. If I ever go back to edit it, it will need a lot of fat trimmed!

2. I've had five rejections over the past few weeks. That's affected my writing too. I've had a lot of leftover Halloween candy therapy. My jeans are a bit tight! Come December, I'll send out my short stories and try other places for them. I also have a few stories whose contracts are up. I can find places willing to take reprints for those.

3. I've baked a lot this past week. Cupcakes decorated as turkeys, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I had to make a schedule for it. I never thought I'd be a woman that needed a baking schedule! Funny where life takes us.

4. I won't be going out to do any shopping on Black Friday this year. I haven't in several years. I find myself doing more and more shopping online. It's really so much easier. I still have a rocket ship to buy for my little guy. There are some nifty ones on Amazon. Do you find that you do more shopping online these days?

5. Speaking of my brilliant boy, he is an official reader now. Yes, he's 3.5 year old, but he can read. His preschool class is small enough that his teacher can read with him for about ten minutes each day. He read two new books for me on Wednesday while I was there assisting the teacher, and he even corrects himself when he misses a word or doesn't say it right. Next semester, I'm putting him in an after school literacy program which he got special permission to be registered in. He'll get to work with the teacher he'll have next year for school. I'm one proud mama!

Review for Murder, Madness & Love

Blurb:
Sunlight blazes on an empty canvas.

Arctic winds gather snowflakes on a frosty window ledge as a statuesqueform appears. She moves past a table littered with papers. Headlines splash news of murder, but it’s the photo of another young woman with features mirroring her own that draws her attention.

A different headline peeks from underneath the Anchorage Times.

Wealthy Businessman Dies in Car Crash … BLACK WIDOW SUSPECTED!

Graphic images swirl through her head and a tear rolls down her cheek. She drifts toward an easel and a trembling hand dips a sable brush into a palette of paint.

The Westminster doorbell chimes. The brush slips and blood-red paint stains the floor.

Detective Steven Quaid waits. His Tlingit, Indian features carved from granite, mask his Irish passion …

Will he arrest her this time?

All fingers point to her guilt.

But, is she guilty of this cunning plot? Or, just a victim of circumstantial evidence?

The door opens …

My review:
Having been branded a black widow, Sarah Palmer moves to Alaska where she grew up and hopes she can find the peace she's been seeking. Yet the shadow of her husband's death follows her and darkens are murders of women who look similar to her begin to happen. Detective Steven Quaid always trusts his gut. It has never let him down. At first he distrusts Sarah, but then his feelings for her grow and he finds himself caught in her spell. Maybe his gut was wrong this time. Or could he be the black widow's next victim?

A skillfully crafted crime thriller that has you on the edge of your seat through to the end. Just when you think you might have it figured out, the plot twists again and you're left with new questions. It's difficult to trick me and I don't fall easily for red herrings, but I had no idea how this story would turn out. It was wonderful how all the pieces fit together at the end.

Sarah is a strong protagonist. A woman who you can sympathize with and yet get suspicious of at the same time! I particularly liked Steven Quaid. He played it smart even when his emotions were involved. I can't wait to read more with him in Yolanda Renee's next novel.

Buy Murder, Madness & Love here: 

Amazon * Amazon UK * B&N

Stalk Yolanda Renee on these sites:

Blog * Twitter * Goodreads