Life After Theft Cover Reveal

First I want to give Aprilynne a HUGE THANK YOU for giving fangs, felines, fins, & fun fiction this awesome opportunity. And here it is, folks. Let me give you a moment to savor the beauty of this fabulous cover... Click to image to enlarge.

Breathtaking...gorgeous...

Okay so as promised I'm hosting an ARC giveaway for Life After Theft. Here are the rules:
CONTEST CLOSED.
1. Post a comment below with an email address where I can get a hold of you should you win.

2. This giveaway is open everyone. (International Folks too) :)

3. Giveaway ends Midnight Nov 3 PST. I will randomly draw a winner then and will announce the name on Sunday Nov 4.

4. Check back on Nov 4 to see if you're the lucky winner and read another exclusive teaser from Life After Theft.

5. If you have won and I have not heard from you by Wednesday Nov 7 by 3pm, I will draw another winner.

6. Once I have you're mailing information, I will pass it to Aprilynne and she'll get you the ARC.

Best of luck to you! Thanks again Aprilynne.

Added: In the meantime be sure to check out the teaser posted on Sunday if you haven't already. :)

3rd Sunday Sweet: Well sort of...

Okay, somehow I managed to get my blog schedule ahead by a week. Everything is sort of cockeyed. Sadly, I didn't notice this until now and I apologize for the confusion. There is a perfectly good reason behind this, though, but one I can't share right now because I have something so much bigger to announce.

You all know how I adore Aprilynne Pike and her awesomeness. See here, here, here, & here. A few months ago when she announced Life After Theft, a book she started working on back in 2006, was going to be published next year, I got really excited. Here is an author who has already published a best-selling series, but is finally going to see her "baby" out there on the shelves. If that's not inspiration, I don't know what is. I remember reading about her writing LAT and thinking "Gosh, I really hope she publishes this because it sounds like a fun story." Well, folks the wait is almost over.

Though the book doesn't officially come out til April 2013, Aprilynne has graciously allowed me to share a teaser from Life After Theft with you all exclusively on fangs, felines, fins, & fun fiction. But wait, there is more....

She's also allowed me to do a cover reveal AND wait for it...


wait for it...


wait for it...


You ready for this?


An ARC giveaway. Yes, you read correctly. AN ARC GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Have I mentioned how awesome Aprilynne is??? The cover will be revealed Tuesday October 23 and the ARC giveaway contest rules. Check back in a couple of days and be sure to bring your friends too.

Okay enough blabbing. Here is what you've all been waiting for and without further ado, let me present a snippet from the long awaiting Life After Theft:

When we reached what looked like the face of a mini-cliff she took two running steps and jumped, and basically floated into the cave.

I was stuck ten feet below. “You suck,” I shouted.

“Wimp. There are handholds all the way up. That’s how I did it when I was alive.”

I found a ledge for my foot and stepped up to reach for one with my arms. In a few seconds I had four limbs on little ledges and was sure I looked like a bug clinging to the wall for dear life—all of three feet above a sandy beach. I looked up to Kimberlee for help. She was staring out at the sea. A gust of wind made her skirt flutter suddenly, giving me an eyeful. I froze, lost my balance, and slid down the rock. Or, more accurately, fell sprawling into the sand.

“Perv,” Kimberlee said with a sinister laugh that made me remember that wind couldn’t touch her clothes. Only Kimberlee had any effect on Kimberlee’s clothes.

“Don’t do that again,” I said darkly. At least not while I’m clinging to the side of a cliff. Without looking at Kimberlee I started to climb again, more carefully this time. It took me about three tries and at least ten minutes, but I made it. I peered back down at the beach. The climb looked a lot shorter from up top. “Okay,” I said as I scrambled to my feet. “Where’s the stuff?”

She tilted her head to the back of the cave. I turned and blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. When they finally did, my jaw dropped.

There must have been a hundred boxes stacked in the back of the cave, which was way deeper than I’d expected. “A few things? A few things! Are you insane?” My voice echoed through the cave, repeating my words back to me.

“Jeff . . .” Her voice was uncharacteristically quiet.

“This is ridiculous. You lied to me.”

“I did not.”

“No one in their right mind would ever classify this as ‘a few things.’ You lied to get me up here and hoped you could just flutter your eyes and it would be all better. Well, it’s not.” I backed away from the massive pile of boxes. “I’m not doing this.”

“Jeff . . .”

“I should call the cops,” I said as I backed away. No way could I return all this stuff on my own, not in any reasonable amount of time. “I’ll bet they could—”

“No!” Kimberlee shouted, running after me. “They’d just confiscate it all. Then I’d be stuck here forever! Jeff, please.”

“No. I’m leaving,” I said, as much to myself as to Kimberlee, “and I am not coming back.” I looked over the edge and tried to find the handholds I had used climbing up. It’s only ten feet. Just jump! I let myself down as far as I could while holding on to the ledge, then tried to fall slowly. My feet hit the sand a moment before my ass did. My tailbone stung, but at least I was out of the klepto cave. I looked over at my car and forced myself to walk calmly instead of running—which would probably make me fall and look like an idiot.

Again.

Kimberlee was right beside me. “They’re organized,” she pleaded. “It’ll be easy. A bag for each person. The boxes are sorted by category. A couple of trips and we’ll be done.”

By category? “A couple of trips? A couple of trips? Maybe if I had a semi. That,” I said pointing up at the cave, “is a lot of stuff, Kimberlee. You have a problem.”

“Had.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “Can’t do it anymore, can I?” She laughed shakily for a few seconds before falling silent.

 

RWA '12 Recap

I'm totally scrapping my usual schedule this month because a) it's fangs, felines, fins, & fun fiction's 2nd year anniversary & I have an AWESOME giveaway towards the end of the month b) We will be doing some major remodeling on my condo this month- internet will be dodgy c) I have a ton of revisions & writing to do because of the requests I got from RWA last month, which leads me to d) I want to give you guys a little recap of what my first national writer's conference was like complete with some pictures (I say some because I was so overwhelmed I forgot to take pictures of alot of stuff.) Please forgive the spelling and grammar errors, I have alot to cover and little time for editing.

So here we go *WARNING THIS IS A LONG POST*:

Tuesday I flew down to LAX & almost missed my flight because Obama was in town. That was just slightly stressful, but super cool seeing Air Force 1 parked at our airport. After visiting with family over dinner they dropped me off at the Anaheim Marriott which is practically across the street from Disneyland. I stayed with two author gal-pals, Inara Scott & Susan Sey. OMGOSH did we have FUN!

Wednesday In the morning I checked into the conference to get my badge & program schedule & they handed me a huge tote filled with books. And not just paperbacks. There were several hardbacks including Meg Cabot's Abandon & Jessica Shirvington's Embrace, both of which I'm looking forward to reading & then passing along to you my dear faithful readers. (did I mention about the giveaway coming up?)
I spend the rest of the morning in Downtown Disney looking for some classic Pooh stuff, but with zero success. *shakes fist* You've let me down yet again, Disney!
In the afternoon, I wrote & napped before going to the "Reader's for Life" Literacy Signing. Over 400 authors were present.

Photo courtesy of RWA Official Facebook Page.

Over 400 authors were present. Even though thousands of attended the event, surprisingly it was not that chaotic. This is coming from someone who does NOT like big crowds. I went in with the goal of limiting only 3 books & walked out of there with 8. Hey, it's going to a good cause, right?
I got to meet Jennifer Estep, Tera Lynn Childs, & Tracy Deebs.
But it was fun seeing my wonderful Portland author friends too like the beautiful Delilah Marvelle. Love her!!

 Thursday The workshops began. There were so many of them it was very hard to choose which ones to go to. However, since I'm PRO-membership level I decided to attend the PRO-retreat. (PRO means you've finished a full novel, have submitted to an agent or editor, & received either a rejection or contract-but have not received an advance yet.)
At the retreat we had a lawyer come talk to us about publishing right & copyrights. This was the first legal talk on publishing I listened to where I didn't fall asleep or checked out within the first 15 minutes. Afterward, a panel of editors from Avon, Samhain, Grand Central, & Belle Books took questions.
Most important thing I took from them was "give us a good story, the writing doesn't have to be stellar- we're editors- but the story needs to be told well." To me that was super encouraging.

At lunch, Stephanie Laurens gave the keynote speech. What an elegant classy woman. Her message: though the publishing industry is changing two things remain the same-the author & the reader. It doesn't matter how the book is delivered, what the reader cares is if the story quality is there. There will always be readers hungry for the next book.
On each seat in the ballroom were two of Stephanie Lauren's books to take home.

After lunch I was so tired I took a nap & then wrote the rest of the afternoon, since I didn't see any workshops that interested me.

Friday More workshops. 1st one was Simone Elkeles "Insider's Look into a YA best-seller." I didn't know who she was before this conference, but I recognized her book covers. She had so much valuable information regarding the industry & how she put her book Perfect Chemistry on the NYT list-all of her doing, not the publisher. Her books are now on my TBR list. :)
2nd workshop Michael Hauge's "Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories." This two-hour workshop basically paid for the entire conference. Everything he talked about resonated with me. The most important thing I took away is Identity vs. Essence. I'll have to do a separate blog post about this in the future.

At lunch, we had the lovely Robin Carr speak & got another two books on our chairs. I really enjoyed her talk. Her publishing story was incredibly inspiring. It took her many many years of writing and being published before she hit the NYT list (like 20 years or so). Talk about perseverance. Oh my goodness, she is one funny lady. I could listen to her talk all day.
 In the afternoon, I caught Sophie Jordan & Tera Lynn Childs' workshop on YA trilogies. Both ladies were so nice & provided lots of helpful information about writing & selling a trilogy. One is a plotter & the other a pantser. I loved the two prospectives.
Buy this point my brain was so dead, I went back to the hotel room & ate leftover pizza while watching the Olympic Games opening ceremony with my roomies.

Saturday The BIG day. In the morning I pitched to an agent & editor, both of which requested a partial. I'm sure they request partials to everyone who talked to them, but whatever! Now when I send my pages & query in, they'll have it in the RWA slush pile rather then the regular one where the chances of them getting lost are higher. Because both appointments were in the middle workshops I didn't attend any that morning. But in between I did go to a couple of the publisher sponsored book signing where I got more free books.

I ended up shipping a box of books home because I had so many & I didn't want to lug them through the airport. (Note Jennifer Estep's Dark Frost- some lucky reader will get this plus more sometime in the near future-more details to follow...)

At noon my brother who lives in SoCal came by & took me over to Grandma & Grandpa's for lunch. My Grandmother makes the BEST Romanian-Hungarian dishes EVER. Nothing like good home-cooking from the mother country to fuel the soul.
I caught one workshop in the afternoon on Negotiation. The speaker was an LAPD negotiation officer and had lots of stories to tell as well as basic information to know when writing a hostage scenario.

Finally in the evening I attended the grande finale- the 2012 RITA & Golden Heart Awards Ceremony- basically the Oscars for the romance world. So many pretty evening gowns, sparkling jewels, fancy up do's, lovely shoes.

Angela James, Carina Press Editor, accepting RITA award.

The best parts of the reward ceremony: 1. The winning YA for Golden Heart was one I judged! 2. Two categories in the RITA awards were won by digital presses (Carina Press & Avon Impulse) The gal who won for Carina Press was one of the many fabulous authors I met during the luncheons. Congrats Fiona!

And that concludes my recap of RWA 2012. Phew! What a whirlwind experience. Loved every minute of it and already looking forward to attending the next one. If you ever have a chance to attend one of these conferences, DO IT!!! It will totally inspire you & you will learn sooo much your brain will explode.

As always, thank you so much for reading. As a way to show my appreciation, I'll be hosting a Blog Anniversary Giveaway starting next week on the 12th and run through the 26th of this month when I will pull two lucky winners. :)

Winner!!!

I want to thank everyone for stopping by last week to meet Inara Scott & those who entered the contest. Huge thank you to Inara for being my first blog guest.  I also want to welcome my new followers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

According to RANDOM.ORG the winner is:

Vonnie Alto

Please email me your mailing address to melania (dot) tolan (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get your signed copies to you ASAP.

April Awesomeness: Inara Scott & The Marked.

CONTEST CLOSED.

Today is extremely special to me, because I am featuring my very first blog guest and she happens to be someone who has been and continues to be very instrumental in my writing career.

I met Inara Scott in 2010 at a book fair when I first spotted her YA novel The Candidates (which became The Talents, same book different title and cover) across the room and I knew I needed to read it. We ended up chatting and she suggested that I join RWA and the local chapter Rose City Romance Writers, which I did- the best decision EVER!

She's encouraged and supported me throughout my ups and downs in the pursuit of becoming a published author. Because of her kindness and generosity, I've come this far and haven't given up yet.

This spring I had the pleasure if reading The Marked, which is the squeal to The Talents, before it even came out and boy did she deliver on the second book as well. Loved! Here is a link to my review on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2K0MYVGM9ICOU

So it is with great pleasure to welcome you, Inara. Thank you so much for coming and visiting with the fangs, felines, and fins.


Inara: Thanks for having me on your blog!

MT: So we'll start with a few questions. What inspired you to write The Delcroix Academy series?

Inara: I had always been an avid fantasy/sci-fi reader as a kid, and it occurred to me that all of the books in that genre seemed to pit a perfect good guy against a perfect bad guy. I wanted to explore a situation in which the good and the bad weren't black and white. The story was also inspired by the time when I wrote the book (2005-2006), when the United States was in a war with Iraq, and there was a lot of talk about preemptive strikes and government surveillance.

Originally, the book was titled "Taking Sides," because that's what I wanted my heroine to be forced to do--pick sides in a very complex and grey world of superpowers (with negative consequences) and cute boys (neither of whom were perfect). 

MT: Picking sides in a grey world is challenging no matter the age and you really did bring that out in both books, especially in The Marked. I first read The Candidates before it became The Talents, is there a difference between the two and why the name change?

Inara: No, the books are identical (except, of course, The Talents is paperback and The Candidates is hardcover). My publisher wanted to make the change to communicate a little more about what the book was about--they felt "The Candidates" didn't tell readers that this was a book with a paranormal aspect.    

MT: I personally LOVED  The Candidates cover. It's what drew me to the book and made me want to read it, but I have to agree the new covers do match the story better. So did you listen to music when writing The Marked? If yes, what songs/artists fueled the creative juices?

Inara: Actually, I'm sorry to say that I really can't listen to music when I write. I guess I'm just too distractable! If I listen to music with words, I end up singing along, and then I don't get anything done. :-) I do occasionally listen to Indian or French pop tunes when I'm writing, because then I have no idea what they are singing. But even that's a challenge for me.

MT: *laughs* That's funny, cause I'm completely the opposite. I HAVE to have good tunes to power through a scene especially if there's major action. Speaking of which, if you could have any super power or "talent" which would you choose?

Inara: I would really like to be able to breathe under water. My name means "mermaid" in Latvian, and I'm a huge swimmer. As a kid, I really thought maybe someday I'd be able to hang out with the fishes. I still kinda hope that's true... 

MT: Oh my, I'm going to have to steal your name for my mermaid series. Let it be known I have claimed it first. Last but not least, when is book 3 coming out? *nervously taps foot*

Inara: Gah! I don't know! I have made a pledge to myself and my readers that I will write book 3, but it's been a really crazy year and I haven't done it yet. But I will. Promise. :-) 

You heard her folks. She promised to write it and we're going to hold her to it. Thanks again, Inara, for stopping by. 

ALRIGHT!!!! Now comes the fun part. Yup, I have a set of The Talents and The Marked  to give away. Here are the rules:

1. Follow this blog. You will need to follow the blog in order to do the next step. 
2. Leave a comment below with an email address or where I can find you on the internet such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.
3. Share: tweet, facebook, blog, email, knock on your neighbors door, and you could even tell your dog or cat. What four-legged friend doesn't like an action-packed YA thriller?

I'm keeping it plain and simple.  CONTEST ENDS SUNDAY APRIL 22 AT NOON & IS FOR USA/CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY. I will announce the winner soon thereafter. Now go forth and spread the word.

Good Luck!

1st Sunday Snippets: 1st Kiss

Haystack Rocks at Cannon Beach, Oregon

Oh my goodness you guys are amazing! Thank you everyone that participated in the giveaway. I wish I could give each of you a set of these books, because I love them so much. I also wish I was a fairy princess with intergalactic travel powers and a closet full of every color of boots, but we won't go there....

Without farther ado, the winner for the Valentine's Giveaway is: Amy  and she said: "I love Lisa Schroeder and I'd love to win her books. I love variety of genres from science fiction to mystery to romance. I love having teenagers and little kids at the same time because I am discovering and enjoying alot of new to me young adult authors as well as children's authors right now as we read together."


Please email me your address at melania (dot) tolan (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get the books to you ASAP.  IF I DON'T HEAR FROM YOU BY WEDNESDAY I'M GOING TO DRAW ANOTHER WINNER. Thanks again everyone and a special thank you to Lisa Schroeder for being apart of this giveaway. You inspire me, girl.


Okay, so it is 1st Sunday Snippets and since we're on a Valentine's theme I'm going to include the first kiss scene in the fantasy YA novel I'm editing write now through EditPalooza. The scene is between Eva, my heroine, and Ilie, a HOT young Orthodox priest, inside the catacombs of an ancient church. Enjoy.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ll discuss it tonight.” He pats my hand. “Regardless darling, I need to get going. Will you have dinner with me beforehand?”

“It would be my pleasure.” I say. My eyes drift down to those perfectly kissable lips.

“Come back around seven?”

“Yes.” Before I lose my nerve I lean forward and press my mouth to his for a short second. “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

His face freezes with shock. I know then I have crossed a forbidden line.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” I pull away, but don’t get far.

His hands grasp the sides of my face and his lips crash into mine like a bullet train headed to Bucharest. The heat of his touch is dizzying. Tiny explosions like sparklers spread across my skin. He softens his kiss for a moment and then deepens it. Time seems to stand still. My hands find his chest. I can feel his heart beating like a mighty drum and with each thump waves of energy surge through my body.  

My lips part inviting him in and he doesn’t hesitate. The taste of salt, spice and wine fill my mouth awaking a hunger so profound my muscles twitch with need. And then he pulls away leaving me breathless and wanting more. We stare into each other's eyes in the torch-lit room.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first day I say you by standing by her grave.” He whispers.

Thanks for reading!

Cheers.

Valentine's Giveway-CONTEST CLOSED.

Two weeks ago I reviewed The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder and mentioned I’ll be giving away a couple of her books. With Valentine’s just around the corner, I wanted to do a love theme with a touch paranormal. Now I’m not the sappy romantic type of girl even though I do read and write romance. My favorite types of story are those of survival, redemption, finding love after loss and forgiveness. That is life. I love rooting for a hero or heroine that has gone through hell and back. I like a practical approach. Although sometimes I really enjoy escaping away into fantasy.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me

Blurb:

Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

The emotional ride of dealing with loss and guilt are perfectly portrayed as Ava deals with the death of her boyfriend. The message I found in this beautiful story is that to heal, forgiveness of one’s self is a prerequisite.

Chasing Brooklyn is sort of a part 2 to I Heart You, You Haunt Me. It takes place in the same town but another girl loses her boyfriend and her another friend too. Both ghosts come back to haunt, but for very different reasons. They want to help her move on, so they can. Through their help she learns to trust and love again, but first she needs to learn to love herself. 

Blurb: 

Restless souls and empty hearts

Brooklyn can't sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca, died only a year ago, and now her friend Gabe has just died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca visiting her dreams.

Nico can't stop. He's always running, trying to escape the pain of losing his brother, Lucca. But when Lucca's ghost begins leaving messages, telling Nico to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.

As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.

I’m giving them away as a set. And yes, they are signed!  They are novels in verse. Here is your opportunity to try out two of my favorite.

What do you have to do to win? Post a comment telling me what is your favorite type of romance (action, mystery, paranormal, historical, etc) and spread the word by tweeting, facebook, Google +, and whatever other social media you are on.

The contest is only for US and Canada only residents. Sunday, February 5^th, I’ll be randomly drawing one lucky winner at around 7 pm, PST. Thanks again for reading and good luck.

WINNERS!

The Winners for "Tis the Season for Giving" Contest are:




*drum roll*




Monica Everdeen. Monica suggested "If had to give a loved one a book? I would probably choose "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton because a) I really loved it! b) Who hasn't read it? I mean, come on! I'm practically doing you a favor! and c) Because it teaches a valuable lesson with real emotion and situation. It made me cry (twice!) :) I just tweeted, facebooked, and highly irritated my mom by yelling! :D" Thanks for your participation, Monica. And tell your mom your yelling won you a signed copy of Wicked Lovely and Wings.

Second winner is Kara, who suggested "I would give You Are The Only One to my mom because I think she would love it." That is a very sweet gift and I believe your mother would love it too. You'll be getting a signed copy of Wings and Awakening.

Third and "Grand Prize" winner is Robin Weeks. Robin said "Hmmm. So many awesome books to choose from! Still, if we're talking wish fulfillment, I'm picking one that isn't available yet: EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton. Because, selfishly, I want my loved one to always have to include me in the oft-told story of the first time they read it. :)" Yes, you are selfish, but I adore you nonetheless. *wink* You've won the multiple signed anthology Enthralled, stuffed with lots of swag and other goodies. 

Winners, please email me your mailing addresses to melania (dot) tolan (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get your prizes to you ASAP! If I don't hear from you in one week, I'm going to draw another winner.

All winners were chosen by RANDOM.ORG and those of you that had entered two posts were only counted once. Thank you everyone that participated in the contest. You rock!

1st Sunday Snippets: $5 Amazon Winner

And the WINNER for the $5 Amazon.com GC is using RANDOM.ORG:

Laura H.

She said: "I am often inspired by George Winston."

Congrats! Check you're email within the next hour, Laura. ;)  Thank you so much everyone who participated in the giveaway. Remember that Tis the Season For Giving is still going on till Dec 14. I have 5 paranormal YA books to give away plus swag.

It is 1st Sunday Snippets so I will give you a sneak-peak into my fantasy short story "Wish Upon a Starfish." Adrianna, the MC, is laying on a hidden rock she swims to sunbath in the nude (hey no one can see her, so why not?), when she feels someone is watching her. She opens her eyes to discover she as company-a mermaid. It's written in 3rd person. I know-shocking! Anyways, enjoy.

She slapped her tail against the rock. “Have you gone mute?” 

Her voice reached Adrianna’s ears like tendrils of misty spray. She could sit there and listen to the mermaid speak for the rest of her life and would have been quite content. 

“I am sorry.” She tried to pry her gaze away from the ethereal body. But her eyes had trailed up creature’s torso. Her bare breasts stood atop her chest like two perky mounds jeweled with crimson gems for nipples. Her gaze continued up to the petite round face. 

“No worries.” Her soft pink lips moved with the angelic choral-like voice. It was as if she spoke in four part harmony.  “I am here to offer you a gift.”

Adrianna stared into the green eyes matching her tail. “Am I dreaming?”

“Are you?”

“I do not know. Mermaids are part of stories.”

“Do you believe I exist?” The mermaid lowered herself to one elbow as if bored.

“I do not know. I think this a dream. I can believe that.”

“Do you believe dreams come true?”

“Only in faerie tales.” 

 Thanks for reading,

Melania

Tis the Season for Giving!

Rock Creek in the winter, Eastern Oregon.

CONTEST CLOSED!

Happy December!

Can you believe it's the LAST month of the year?! Have you gotten all of your Christmas shopping done or gifts ready for your loved ones?! Sadly, this year, I'm way behind. I have a few canned goods I've made this fall and several ideas for crocheted items, but this year retailers will be my savior, I'm afraid. Hey at least I'll be contributing to the economy, right?

But you didn't come here to hear me rambling about my shopping/gift-giving woes now did you? You came because you heard over the social media grapevine there might be a small itsy-bitsy possibility of a giveaway contest to be announced today.

Well guess what? You were RIGHT!!!!

So here's the deal:

I have a small stack of paranormal YA books, some signed others not, to giveaway. What you need to do is:

1. Answer the following question by leaving a comment:

If you could give any book this Christmas to a loved one what would it be and why?

2. Share by tweeting or facebooking or blogging or shouting off the top of your roof (okay maybe your neighbors might not appreciate the last one too much).

And that is it. I will randomly draw 3 lucky winners at 7 pm PST on December 14th, 2011 and will announce them shortly thereafter. That gives you two weeks to spread the word. Here are the books:

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (signed), 2 copies of Wings by Aprilynne Pike (both unsigned, but I'm trying to get some book plates), Enthralled Anthology edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong (signed by many of the contributing authors see Smart Chicks Tour Post), and Awakening by Kelley Armstrong.

 Each winner will receive one or two of these books, Enthralled being the "grand" prize. I'll also be throwing in all sorts of swag I've collected from the book-signing events I've attended this summer.

Now don't forget about the other giveaway going on for a $5 Amazon.com gift card. I'm drawing the winner for that on Sunday. Till then, happy blogging, tweeting, facebooking, and *coughs* yelling *coughs* on the rooftop.

Cheers,

Melania


PS. BTW, forgot to mention this contest is for Canada and US residents only. Sorry my worldly readers. I promise when I publish my very own novel, I'll do a contest just for you!

4th Sunday Surpise: Music and Books

CONTEST ENDED

So many surprises to share! First:

Did you see it? It's on the right hand side of the blog under Twitter and Facebook.

I am so stinking proud of myself right now! My very first NaNoWriMo complete. Of course the manuscript is far from done. My plan is to let it sit for a couple of weeks while I return to the normal human world and do normal human stuff like clean my house, do dishes, or maybe do a little holiday decorating. Yanno, what normal non-writerly folks do. Then after Christmas I will disappear back into my little fictional world and add all the scenes I didn't have time the first round.

I have to thank my dearest husband and all my wonderful friends for enduring my non-sociable behavior the last three weeks and cheered me on. I also want to thank 2 Cellos and Apocalyptica for creating such fantastic music to write with.  Anytime I couldn't get into the mood of my novel I would play the following two songs and instantly the words would start to flow. Cellos seem to do the trick.

Surprise #2:

 U2 is my all time favorite rock band and I love this cover 2 Cellos did. These two hotties are absolutely amazing with their instruments. 

And I absolutely love this song by Apocalyptica featuring Gavin Rossdale.

These two songs pretty much sums up the relationship between my hero and heroine.

Surprise #3:

I am doing another blog contest/giveaway. It's Christmas time and I've got several signed paranormal YA books from some of my favorite authors to share with you. Stop by Dec 1 for details!

Oh, but wait! There's more: Tell me what kind of music inspires your creativity by commenting below and enter to win a $5 gift card to Amazon.com. I will draw a winner next Sunday morning.

Tis the season for giving!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers,
Melania

Sweet and Spicy

What you see my friends is my maiden batch of peach-jalapeno jelly. I found the recipe from a magazine my coworker brought to work. It caught my attention because I had a small box of peaches about to go south in the fridge and just harvested several jalapeno peppers off the plant growing on my balcony. I figured, what the heck.

This was my first time making jelly. The whole process took maybe two hours from beginning to clean-up. While listening to the popping sound of sealing lids, I dipped corn chips into the bowl of jelly foam I had scrapped off before ladling the golden thick liquid into the jars. Sweet with a hint of spiciness and an explosion of salty-savory.

How does this tie into writing? Well, that's how I like my romance. Sweet-romantic, spicy-got to have some heat, salty- to balance the sweetness, and savory- a satisfying ending.

Happy reading/writing and sweet-spicy-salty-savory weekend to you all.

~Melania

PS. DragonFlame I'm going to give you till next Monday (September 19th) to reply. If I have not heard from you, I will draw another winner for Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Darkside.

Vacation, ah...

Greetings from a sweltering Pacific NW.

Now that summer is virtually over, it decided to finally show up. Maybe my tomatoes on the balcony will actually ripen before winter arrives. But I'm not complaining, because the rain and cold will be here soon. I'm one of those odd ducks that actually loves the descending moisture from the sky. Rain is magic. It waters the earth, keeps the foliage green, and cleans the air. It also keeps the neighbor's demon spawns indoors. (I love human offspring, but some specimens shouldn't procreate. But then I'm only god in the worlds I create in word documents.) Best thing about rain, it fills my well with bottomless creativity. Which is why I feel blessed everyday to live the beautiful Pacific NW.

Last post I mentioned I would be leaving the world of internet and cellphones. I did. It was MAGNIFICENT. Here are a few pictures of my rustic mini-vacation.

My retreat:

View looking down from the large picture window:

View looking up towards the mountains:

What I accomplished in my time at the cabin- wrote two chapters in my new WIP, read Delilah Marvelle's juicy historical romance Once upon a Scandal, and hand stitched the A, B, & Y on the blanket I'm making for one of my several prego friends.

The cabin has no electricity or running water. At night we would light oil lamps and get a fire roaring in the woodstove for heat. My little netbook has a long lasting battery and when it get down to about 20% I would plug it into the inverter/charger that I could insert into the cigarette lighter of the car. Because it doesn't draw too much power from the car battery, I could let it sit there for several hours till the laptop battery was fully charged. And that is how I got to indulge in my favorite creative hobby out in the middle of the wilderness. I do believe this lovely place has become my writer's retreat.

Thank you for visiting my little haven. Ta Ta for Now,

Melania

PS. DragonFlame, I still haven't heard from you. I need your address so I can get your prize to you. Please email me at melania (dot) tolan (at) gmail (dot) com Thank you.

WINNERS!!!!

Hello Dear Bloglings,

It is with great joy I anounce the two winners of my 1st Birthday contest:





*drum roll*





And the winner for The Cowboy and the Vampire is:







*trumpets*





Dark Angel!!!!!





Dark Angel suggested the Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I have been wanting to read these books for years now. Thank you for the suggestion.









The winner for Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is:







*more drum roll*





DragonFlame!!!!!



DragonFlame likes Vampire Academy by Rachelle Meade. I haven't read the series yet, but I have put them on my list to be purchased when I come back from vacation. Thank you DragonFlame for you awesome suggestion.



*clapping*




Dark Angel and DragonFlame, if you could both email me your mailing information to  melania(dot)tolan(at)gmail(dot)com  I can send you your prizes.

Thank you everyone for participating in this contest. A HUGE thank you to Kathleen McFall/Clark Hays and Beth Fantaskey for being willing to personalize these books for the winners. And a very special thank you to all of my new followers. I'm so humbled and honored by you.

Now I'm off to the land of no cell phones or internet for a few days. No electricity for that matter. Or running water, unless you count the creek next to the cabin. But when I get back next week, I'll share with you pictures of my wilderness adventure and update on the writing. Thanks again and happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

New Ideas...

Hello and Happy Monday!

It's been two weeks since the contest. I've enjoyed reading the comments and seeing what you all love. Most of series mentioned I've read but there were a few I haven't and are now on my TBR list. Just a reminder the contest ends August 31 so there is still time to add your comment (if you haven't already) and enter to win a personalized copy of either Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side or The Cowboy and the Vampire.

A HUGE thank you to those who have tweeted, facebooked, and blogged about the contest. A GINORMOUS thank you those of you who are now followers of this blog.

Writing Update:
The Vampire Novelist- first round of submissions all but one have been rejected. The one I haven't heard back from yet. I'm currently letting is sit because it's summer and I have a million other things going on right now. Last week however, I got some inspiration as to what changes it needs to make it better. Isn't that the ultimate goal? Make it sparkle and shine so bright it will draw attention.

The Fantasy YA Project- In world building & plotting stages. I'm usually a pantser, but there are three worlds involved in the story, which can be very complicated. I've written the first four chapters and working on the fifth. 15k of 60K goal.

New Ideas- Lots of them. And this brings me to the title of this post.

During the summer months, I tend to have an overly creative brain. I have about a bazillion stories floating through my head at any given time. That's why I started writing. To make ROOM. Most of the time when I get into one of my burning ideas, another pops up. It's really maddening. At first I thought maybe I'd been cursed with a serious case of creative ADD. Then I started cyber-stalking authors' blogs and twitter accounts and discovered that it's quite common. Each person deals with it differently.

Some authors block out everything else and just focus on the project on hand. Others, jump from project to project till one gets done. How they can keep anything straight is beyond me. Oh wait, I tend to jump from world to world too. But at least there is a method to my madness.

How I deal:

• I treat these ideas like seeds and create a file in which I "plant" them in.
• I "water" the seed by writing the first couple of chapters.
• I "fertilize" the seed by including a details synopsis.
• Then I leave the seed alone to germinate.
• After several weeks, if I keep coming back to it and notice the seed has transformed into a seedling, I know I have something viable to work with.

My creative seasons usually run something like this:

Summer- ideas (seeds)
Fall- beginning of project (seedling)
Winter- project completed (transplanting into ground)
Spring- Editing/Submitting (Plant blooming/bearing fruit)

When I'm working on a project I dedicate myself to it solely, however if something should arise that seems interesting and worth exploring, I will give myself the freedom to pursue it till the seed is planted. Because if I don't, my focus on the main work in progress will not be fully present and there will be negative effects. This method seems to work for me.

How do you deal with creative ADD?