I’m sick.  That’s my excuse for why I’m so late with this post….I’ve been crazy sick for the past three days.  I hate being sick…

So to make me feel better I’m going to post a little teaser excerpt from my upcoming book from Samhain, DEMON DREAMER.  It will be released July 14.

excerpt - copyright July 2009 Vivi Anna

Kiara Brodie bolted upright in bed, panting, her long blonde hair stuck to her cheeks and forehead from the sweat that slicked her entire body. The dream had been intense, so vivid, and so real. She could still smell the demon in her room. Heat and sweat and something spicy.

Shoving the tangled blanket aside, she swung her legs over her bed and breathed in deep. Her heart was still racing. She hadn’t dreamt like that in a long time. Not since her brother had died. She wondered if this was some sort of omen, like her dream had been for Liam. A prophecy of things to come.

Such was the life of a seer.

Kiara stood and grabbed the ratty blue robe draped over a chair and slid it on, tying it tight around her waist. She slipped her feet into slippers that were worn on the bottom and shuffled out of her small bedroom and into the kitchen of her quaint but stuffy trailer.

She set the teapot onto the stove and turned on the burner. Maybe a cup of herbal tea would chase away the last remnants of her dream still clinging to her like spider webbing. Rubbing at her face, she pushed open the curtains over the kitchen window and stared out at the day. It was early yet, not even five by the way the sky held a faint yellow and pink glow. Most of the caravan weren’t even awake yet. Most wouldn’t wake for hours.

Such was the life of a tinker.

A life Kiara hated just about every minute of. But she was born to it, and because of her gift and her curse she didn’t have any chance of changing it.

Once she had her tea poured, she took it and opened the door to her trailer to sit out on her favorite chair under the awning. She loved early mornings. There was no one around to bug her, to ask her for a palm or tarot card reading, or to watch her warily from the corner of their eye. Because she knew they did, even if they didn’t mean to.

She was part of the caravan, had been born to an Irish tinker and lived among them for her whole twenty-three years, but she was never fully one of them. Because of her curse she’d always been set apart. She knew some feared her and what she could see with her goat’s eye. Born with an elliptical pupil in her right eye like a goat, Kiara had been both ostracized and revered. She’d been marked, declared the elders of the caravan. Marked as special, marked as someone to fear. It was a strange place to be. And one that was starting to wear her down. She was tired of being the one. She just wanted to be Kiara Brodie, a young Irish girl with a big yearning in her heart.

A yearning for something else, for something more. For somebody more.

Due to her place in the tinker society, guys didn’t approach her. Although she was considered beautiful and desired, there was not a one who had the balls to take her on. Most of the men were afraid of her. And the others were just disgusted with her strangeness.

She hungered for a man who would find that otherness sexy and wanted to be with her night and day. Especially the nights. She harbored wild and wicked fantasies but had yet to find a man who was man enough to fulfill them.

Which brought her back to her dream. There was something about the demon that ignited the fires inside her. He was strangely beautiful and obviously powerful, and she gravitated toward that power. If a being could rip apart a house and imprison two other obviously powerful beings, she could only imagine what that strength and power would be like on top of her. Feeling him inside her. Would she feel his power surging through her?

She shivered at the thought. Cupping her tea in her hands, she took a sip and smiled. Maybe this was a sign that her ideal mate was just around the corner. That soon she would meet him and know the thrill of a hot, fierce, passionate man’s pleasure.

Sorry I’m late with my blog post…had a crazy busy day with lots of running around and appointments.  So to make up for my tardiness…I give you the hotness that is TRUE BLOOD.

Mmm, delicious.  Vampire Bill

Yummy!  Eric the vampire sheriff

Nom nom brother Jason Stackhouse

Yes sir…Sam the shapeshifter

I love True Blood. It’s a great show.  It’s my new obsession.  Finally something to fill the hole in my pysche that BSG left.

Are you liking the show? Have you read the books?

I started my writing career in epublishing back in 2004.  My first release Goddess of the Dead was about an Egyptian vampire who bathed in blood.  Yeah, not very romantic but hey, there you go.  I liked it.  Then came Blood Red, a very violent sexy reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood, that also came out in 2004.  

Since then, I’ve published a few more ebooks then made my leap to traditional print publishing in 2005 when I sold to Kensington.  My first release Night of the Jaquar in the Sexy Beast anthology came out March 2006.

And since then I’ve had a few more releases with Kensington and now with Silhouette Nocturne, but the one thing I’ve always tried to keep constant was my connection to small publishers and epublishing.   I think an author can co-exist in both worlds.  And there are a bunch of authors that do just that.

Sometimes its for money, I mean its nice to have a steady monthly paycheck coming and epublishing can provide that, and sometimes its to publish something that maybe that author’s other publishers just can’t seem to market or its too short to market as a full novel.   That’s why I love publishers like Samhain and Loose Id and Ellora’s Cave that can provide that outlet for authors and provide books to readers that are alternative and not something they might find in a bookstore.

My next ebook is called DEMON DREAMER.  It’s a linked book with two other stories, ANGELIQUE’S RELEASE by my BFF Kimberly Kaye Terry and STONE’S EMBRACE by my buddy Delilah Devlin.   They all come out July 14, from Samhain Publishing.

Here’s my cover.  Isn’t it to die for???

Do you read ebooks?  What publishers do you buy from?  Discover any authors that you can’t wait to tell everyone about?

Me!!!!!

RT was a couple of weeks ago and I was thrilled to death to have received an award.   My Nocturne VEILED TRUTH, book 3 in the Valorian Chronicles, won for best Nocturne of 2008. 

You have no idea how overwhelmed I was to get this.  I mean, me, getting an award for writing a romance novel.  It floors me, because in truth I really dont’ consider myself a romance author.  I just write the story I want to tell.  And as long as I get to toss in a few paranormal entities, blow some stuff up, and have a few bloody fights, and some hot sex, I’m good to go.

This award was also doubly cool since Veiled Truth was a tough book to write.  In the process I ended up losing the first 12 chapters after a computer crash (like a moron I didn’t back up), after a few days of screaming and crying, I started to rewrite, and was working on chapter 13, another crash happened and I lost work again.   And it happened one more time before I gave in.    I got a new computer and rewrote the work I needed to, finished the other chapters and pieced everything together as best as I could.    It was a miracle that it all worked out well.

  Here’s me with my award.  How awesome is that?  

What was also cool about getting the award was watching my peers getting awards as well.   Very cool to see someone I know and love walking across that stage, in the spotlight, receiving their award.   Needless to say, I was a blubbering idiot the day of the award ceremony.    Well, I did have company.  There was another author that did some crying of her own, and then we cried together and hugged a lot. 

Here’s me and the ever lovely Lauren Dane holding our awards.  I was so proud to see Lauren getting an award for best erotic futuristic for Undercover, which totally rocks by the way.

It’s these moments that make me so happy to be part of this industry.  

But afterwards, it got me wondering does anyone other than me care that I won an award.  Does it matter to readers that a book has won an award?  Do you actively seek out books that have won?

Sorry I’m late to the party…life and all that…

Vampires, vampires, everywhere.  Everywhere you look on the shelves, and on TV, there are vampires.  And I have to say it makes me very very happy.  I love a great vampire tale.  I also like to write about them, as my latest Nocturne book reveals…The Vampire’s Quest.

The vampire in question is Kellen Falcon, the former ballistics expert from the Otherworld Crime Unit in Necropolis.  Now, he’s on a mission of his own. To find the cure for the disease running rampant in his veins before it drives him insane. 

So in honor of Kellen and all the vampires out there…here is a list of my favorite vampire books/series (that are either about those vampires, or have vampires playing prominent parts in the story) TV shows and movies.  They aren’t just for Halloween.  Enjoy vampires every day of the year!

Books:

The Hollows series – Kim Harrison

Night Huntress series – Jeaniene Frost

Mercy Thompson series – Patricia Briggs

Wicked Game – Jeri Smith Ready

Leandros brothers series – Rob Thurman

Sonja Blue books – Nancy Collins

Anita Blake series (the first six books) – LK Hamilton

Morgainville Vampires – Rachel Caine

A Hunger Like No Others – Kresley Cole

Blood Ties series – Jennifer Armintrout

Vampires – John Steakley

Bewitch the Dark series – Michele Hauf

The Dresden Files – Jim Butcher

Shows:

True Blood

Moonlight

Supernatural (they had vampires once or twice)

Movies:

Dracula 2000

Dracula (with Gary Oldman)

Lost Boys

In the Dark

Underworld 1&2

Fright Night

Kiss of the Vampire

Van Helsing

30 Days of Night

Blade III (Ryan Reynolds is the bomb)

Do you have a favorite vampire book, or character, or show or movie?

One lucky commenter will get a book prize.

I love when a book is set in Europe.  I don’t know what it is about European settings and in essence the people that draws me in.  It has that…Je ne sais quoi type of sensation. The thing I can’t put my finger on.

I’ve been to Germany and Austria and the Netherlands.  I loved it there.  I could wax poetic about the way I felt when roaming the cobblestone streets or touring the spectacular cathedrals and castles.  But no one wants to hear my poetry…trust me.  I long for the day that I can go back to those places, and add more to my touring schedule…places like France.  I really want to travel through France.  My sister lived there in a tiny village for a few months and I envy all the stories she has about her time there and the pictures of all the quaint towns and people she met along the way.

I long to see Paris, and Marseille, and Nice, and Lyon, and Nouveau Monde.  Say what?  Nouveau Monde?  Yes, that’s right.  It’s that picturesque city where the Otherworlder community has congregated.   Vampires and lycans and witches, and even humans live in relative peace and harmony in the beautiful progressive city.   It has much of the same look and feel of Lyon, with a long and wide river winding its way through the bustle of the city.   You should go there.  It’s gorgeous.  Just watch out for the nightlife…they just might bite.

(pictures of France here)

Nouveau Monde is the city in France that I constructed for my new book THE VAMPIRE’S QUEST.  In this book, my hero Kellen Falcon, travels from the secret city of Necropolis in Texas to the much loved and known Nouveau Monde.  He’s searching for a cure for the rare vampiric blood disease Sangcerritus that he’s just happened to contract.   But there in the enthralling city of Nouveau Monde he finds so much more.  Like fiery red-headed Sophie St. Clair, a spit-fire of a woman and a fierce lycan.   He faces the toughest battle of his life there, both for his life and for his heart.

Romantic Times magazine says “This is a fantastic supernatural thriller from start to finish. Anna takes two supernatural beings and makes us believe the romance and attraction between them are real.”  And they gave it a TOP PICK for April.

What kind of settings do you love?  Europe?  Asia?  Good old America?  Canada?  Why aren’t more books set in Canada?

What kind of settings do you long for?

I’m very happy to have Ms. DD here to blog.   She’s a fun, talented, lady that I’m thrilled to call friend…without further ado….

I’d like to thank the Bradford Bunch for hosting me today. I blog a lot. I’m not sure why. It may have to do with the fact I live a very solitary life and need a forum to connect with other like-minded people. First, I’m a writer, which means I live in a fantasy world most of the time. Second, I live in the boonies of Central Arkansas and choose not to venture out too often into town because I tend to come back with a really thick drawl, a hankering for fried chicken, and to desire to have my two front teeth pulled.

My family understands me. They only call when they want to make sure I’m still alive. They only call late in the evening because I tend to do my best work mid-morning to mid-afternoon, and if they do call early, they won’t know who they’ll get. It could be a bad-ass vampire hot for her first draw of blood after a long drought or a cowboy who’s been too long on the range and is ready for a hot bath, a beer, maybe a woman, and probably not in that order. They kinda know who they’ve reached by how I talk. My accent changes, the rate of my delivery changes, and I have to think for a long moment after they ask me how I am because I have to decompress to remember which “me” they are asking.

So, who am I today? I’m a demon, freshly awakened by the touch of an innocent human. I’m angry, horny, and I’ve just discovered that although I’ve been reanimated, I’m still in deep kimchi. So while I type this, I’m still running through a forest of writhing trees and vines, dragging a girl behind me as we try to evade the horrors slithering through the night. But it’s Friday, so that’s okay. I don’t have to be “writer me/mom me/daughter me” until Sunday when I promised to resurface and spend the day with the real family, at which time, mom will ask me what I’m working on and I’ll tell her until her eyes roll and she tries to remember if she dropped me on my head at birth.

I did come bearing a gift. Post to this blog and you’ll be eligible to win a signed copy of any of my pre-2009 print books (if I currently have it in stock—I have the majority of them).

One of Delilah’s latest releases is, Texas Men from Kensington Aphrodisia. “…Virile cowboys, clever plots and arousing descriptions will make readers sigh with satisfaction.”

How Battlestar Galactica makes me want to be a better writer:

There’s never been a story, a program, a film that has affected me as much as Battlestar Galactica.  I’m not talking the old series from the 80’s, I’m talking the new reimagined brilliance by Ron Moore and David Eick.

From the moment I first watched a blond bombshell named Six walk down a crowded street on a planet called Caprica, I have been completely and utterly enthralled with the storyline and the characters.

Every week when I’ve watched, I have been captivated and moved.  I am completely invested in these characters lives, good or bad, I want to go on the ride with them.  It humbles me to hear the dialogue and see the character’s arcs played out before my eyes.  I am in awe of the writing, acting and directing.  Everything about it makes me ache and makes me want to be a better writer in every way.

And I’m extremely saddened that this glorious ride is coming to the end.  There are only two more episodes and then there will be no more new visions of brilliance.  I am so sad, that I do actually want to cry.

And yes, I am a total geek.  J  But this show has been pivotal in my growth as a writer, as a creator.  I aspire to be as great as those that worked on this amazing series.

TOP TEN REASONS I LOVE BATTLESTAR GALATICA

1. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace – the kickinest, toughest, ballsiest female character I’ve ever seen created for TV, and Katee Sackhoff plays her so well, its scary, I want to be Starbuck
2. Number Six – the blond bombshell cylon who corrupted a brilliant scientist into unwittingly destroying the human race almost to extinction – played to perfection by the lovely Tricia Helfer
3. Dr. Gaius Baltar – the corrupted brilliant scientist - funny as hell, and so self absorbed, adore him, James Callis is divine in this role, when he is on screen its like magic, he steals every scene he’s in
4. Colonel Saul Tigh – so deliciously tortured and conflicted, and Michael Hogan can act more with his one eye (the other is covered by a patch) than most other actors can do with their entire bodies – brilliant
5. Admiral William Adama and President Laura Roslin – the relationship between these two is both caustic and beautiful, I’ve loved watching them come together, their love seems so pure but born out of chaos
6. Hot dudes – Jamie Bamber as Apollo, Tahmoh Penikett as Helo, and Michael Trucco as Sam Anders, and I don’t know but there is something sexy about both Callum Keith Rennie as Leoben, and Mark Sheppard as Romo Lampkin

7. Fabulous tough female characters – Grace Park as Athena/Boomer, Lucy Lawless as D’Anna, Kate Vernon as Ellen Tigh, and Rekha Sharma as Tory Foster

8. The fact that I NEVER know what’s going to happen – every episode is a surprise for me, I’m never comfortable watching this show, I am always tense and unnerved, because I can never be sure that one of my favorite characters won’t die, there is no safety net when watching

9. The music – has always been a big part of the show, and it’s by turns moving and haunting, some pieces give me shivers especially the opening credits song…funny thing, my mom can’t be in the same room as the TV when the theme music is playing, it unnerves her so much she feels like crying every time – big time kudos to Bear McCreary for such amazing sounds

10. The writing – I am humbled by the writing on this show, also jealous as hell that these wonderful talented people got to create something so amazing and timeless.   BRAVO writers.  BRAVO.  I am indebted to you for bringing to me week after week of utter brilliance.  I want to create something as magical as you have.  There’s nothing more I can say about that.

Has there been anything you’ve seen, heard, or read that has made you want to be better, to do better?

Thanks for commenting on my blog post.

I’ve picked two winners…

Barb P

Little Lamb Lost

Would you please email me at vivi@vivianna.net to claim your prize.  You have until March 15th to do so.

I’ve know Myla for a few years now.  She’s one of the special ladies that I work with on the Allure anthologies.  She’s talented, she’s funny, and I adore her…

Here’s Myla Jackson

Write-Minded

By Myla Jackson

http://mylajackson.com/

As a writer, I find myself becoming more and more of a hermit. A writer’s life can be very solitary! And I, the social butterfly of my youth, have gone to the dark side and embraced the solitude.

To a point.

Then I have to breathe life back into my muse and get out and smell the roses, the Tyson chicken factory and the exhaust fumes. All that to get on the road to find the nearest write-minded individuals who think like me and speak the same language. I LOVE seeing my writer friends and family.

With two fast-approaching conferences on the horizon, I can’t help but get excited. Every time we get together, something new breaks loose from our combined brainstorming sessions. One year at the Dreamin’ in Dallas conference, me, my sister (Delilah Devlin) and four of my close writer friends dreamed up a proposal for a paranormal romance anthology. Lo and behold! The anthology sold. Not as one, but two paranormal anthologies: Damned, Delicious and Dangerous and Masters of Desire(01/09).

During a brainstorming session, my sister and two of our writing friends dreamed up a series of linked shapeshifter stories. We had no idea how difficult it would be to bring the stories together. In the ALTERED STATES series being released by Ellora’s Cave, each story feeds a bit more about the overarching plot and the genetic experiments performed on unwilling military specimens. Each story can be read alone, but the overall storyline is all the more powerful the further you read into the series. It takes coordination and commitment to make it all come together, and write-minded people to think it through. Watch for the Altered States series at Ellora’s Cave: Night Prowler(12/08) by Layla Chase, Beast Within(02/25/09), by Betty Hanawa, Naked Prey(03/25/09) by Myla Jackson and Unleashing the Tiger(4/24/09) by Delilah Devlin.

I can’t wait for conferences to see what new ideas are generated by talking with others who are write-minded. The energy is palpable and you can taste the excitement, because we all love writing and that love for writing produces books we hope the readers will love.

Myla Jackson writes sensuous stories for Ellora’s Cave, Kensington Aphrodisia and Avon Red.  She’s created a variety of tales from genies to werewolves, mermaids, sea monsters, chameleons, vampires and witches. Reading and writing gives her the freedom to explore strange new worlds and write the characters and creatures clamoring to escape her mind. She likes writing everything from romantic comedy to dark and sexy suspense. Mostly she likes to escape into other worlds whether grounded in reality or complete fantasy. Come…escape with Sinfully Sexy, Myla Jackson!