Happy Labor Day, and have some books!

By MOTHart

Ah, yes, it's Labor Day, and I am only too happy to have the rest of the day free. I did have to work a few hours early this morning and yesterday morning, but mostly it's been a four-day weekend. I'm feeling good, so I thought I'd share. Today I'm giving away books! A lot of books!!

Choice number 1: Cassi is a good friend, and one of my RWA chaptermates. She writes sexy urban fantasy. Her next book, Shadow Rising, is out this month, Sep 25, and is available for pre-order. But you can get her first one from me for free :)

Choice number 2: Thea has created a delicious paranormal world, starting with the first book of The Elder Races series, Dragon Bound, one of my favs (along with Oracle's Moon)! This is a novella in the series. Her latest book, Hunter's Season, comes out this month, Sep 18.

Choice number 3: For those fans of historicals, here's one of the top authors in the genre, Tessa Dare. Her newest in the series, A Lady by Nidnight, just came out Aug 28. I met the lovely author at RWA National Conference and fan-girled, of course :)

Choice number 4: Anne is a new-to-me author, though this book is not her first rodeo. It is the first book of her new Dark Souls series. I also met her at the RWA Conference, and she's very friendly, personable, and encouraging!

Choice number 5: This is a postapocalyptic romance written by Nico. I met Nico at a book signing in SoCal along with his amazing partner in crime, Zoe Archer (also one of my fav authors). We talked for nearly two hours! He's such a great guy as well as a great author. He's also writing a series with Zoe for Avon Impulse. Look for the Ether Chronicles.

And choice number 6: Welcome to a strange world of supernatural creatures! Roland's creative descriptions, dialogue, setting, and historical eye keep you turning pages. You'll love Victor, his dry wit, and the fantastic cast of characters. I haven't met Roland face to face, but I've followed his blog, Writing in the Crosshairs, for a long time, and he's thoroughly kept me entertained. Roland, I love when the ghosts take over your blog!



Alright, to win, you don't have to follow me. I know--crazy, huh? I want you to follow if you like my posts, not to win stuff. But you do need to either leave me a comment or Tweet me @AngMcCallister to let me know you want to win. Let me know which book you'd like, and on Friday, I'll randomize and then contact the winners. Don't forget to tell your friends. Again, Happy Labor Day!



What are you reading?

Here's a little wrap-up o' reading for January. I read a grand total of twenty books. Check out the link titled The Reads at the top of my blog for my final list. Twenty sounds like a lot, but a few of them are novellas. I think I normally read more than that. This month, I've been busy with my big editing workshop and kind of set the reading aside more than usual. Now I've signed up for yet another workshop in February so we'll see if I can beat the past month.

I've already fangirled a little over Anne Gallagher's books and also at the end of this post here over Roland Yeomans' books so I won't beat you over the head with it. I do want to add a couple more favs from this month's list. Some of these I encountered because of the Romance Reading Challenge for January. This required me to read the first of a new series, an erotica novel, or a romance with a teen protagonist. Of course, I chose to do all three challenges. Roland's Legend of Victor Standish was my teen protagonist read, though the book isn't all-out romance. The romantic elements are absolutely all over this series.

Yet another historical series has surprised me. I read two Italian Medieval historical romances by Jannine Corti-Petska, and now I can't wait for another one to come out. She did an amazing job pulling me into the place and time and into the culture without getting away from the story or losing me in too much detail or in dry facts. I loved the heroes and heroines, and I hope Niccolo gets his own story soon *hint hint*

I tried the erotica, though I normally shy away from them. I've read too many baaaaaad ones in the past, and I don't mean bad in the good way ;P However, I read Doubled by Charlotte Stein, and the characterization and relationship development were superb and the love scenes were blazing.

And last but definitely not least, there is Zoe Archer's Devil's Kiss, the first in her Hellraisers series. What better kind of conflict is there than the conflict with oneself? The heroes of this series are cursed with gifts of ultimate gain. Their biggest battles are between what they think they want vs what they truly need. I couldn't put this book down. It was absolutely a straight read through. Man, 4 am is a crazy bedtime!

So what's on your nightstand or on your e-reader device? Have you delved out of your usual genre lately? Has anyone set a goal to read more this year? What's the most books you've ever read in a month (and yeah, you can count school assignments I suppose)? Is anyone entering Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award for the chance at publication via Penguin? OK, that last Q was random, but I'm curious...

Mmmmmm... lasagna!

A friend just starting on the writer's journey asked me how I deal with character descriptions, and sheesh, that is so not an easy topic to answer in a sentence or two. As I wrote her a mile-long email complete with helpful attachments, I realized I was describing lasagna to her. Yep, I write my own special recipe of literary lasagna, layering backstory with setting with character description with dialogue with conflict with ricotta.

Several times, I've heard writing a book compared to childbirth. I thought, "Wow, it must be so much more painful for men to write a book." I've heard it compared to learning to drive. Eventually it becomes second nature, but maybe after you've totaled an MS or two. How about dentist visits, anyone???

How best describes your writing process? Heard of other analogies I missed? Do you do small layers or do you work in chunks? Personally, I don't start with layers, but it's what I end up with after edits. Now the real reason behind this post: I'm starving!!!

A quick note to Roland Yeomans: If you happen to see this, I tell you I don't read such young protags normally, but now I eagerly (impatiently) await your next installment of The Legend of Victor Standish. Your writing is like a painting to me. I think it's amazing you're donating proceeds this month to Salvation Army, but I still kinda wanna smack you in the cliffhanger. Please take that as a compliment. You have me happily hanging here :)