Guest Post from Fellow Scouter Heather MacKinnon

Today I'm turning the blog over to Heather MacKinnon, whose Kindle Scout book, Changed, is in its last few days of campaigning. She's also about to get married! I had already scouted Heather's book when I started my campaign--drop by and hand her a vote!

One night changed everything.

Being Changed into a vampire wasn't in Adrienne's post-college plans. But when she wakes up in a strange basement and can see perfectly in the dark and move impossibly fast she's left to navigate this new world alone. Thankfully, Nicholas steps in to help her adjust. As their feelings grow, she finds out her centuries-old maker is looking for her and determined to make her his wife. Can she outrun the vampire who Changed her and explore her feelings for Nicholas before it's too late?

Tell us a little bit about your book, Changed. What brought you to write it? What do you like most about it?

Changed is a story about a young woman who's made into a new vampire against her will. In this world, the Change is something that involves forms, an orientation, and a training facility. Although vampires remain hidden from humans, their world is governed and orderly. So, when a newly orphaned vampire shows up, she throws a wrench into their well-oiled machine. I’ve actually written a version of this story already but it was not very good and so this one is almost entirely from scratch. What inspired me was a lifelong love for vampires and their dark and mysterious world. What I like most about this book is that it concentrates on an aspect of vampires we don’t see often--the new ones. You’ll follow my main character as she learns how to not only stretch her abilities but also curb them when necessary.

Heather MacKinnon

Why did you choose to send the book to Kindle Scout? What did you see as the advantages to this publishing platform?

I’d been planning to self-publish Changed when I saw a small ad for Kindle Scout on Amazon. I read over all the material they provided and then did some research of my own into other author’s experiences with publishing with Kindle Scout. The benefits seemed plentiful (advanced royalties, professional editing, and the mighty power of Amazon marketing) and the drawbacks few (not being able to control the price of my book, and not being able to publish on any other platform) so I decided to take the plunge!

Are you planning more books in the future? Will you be sending them to Kindle Scout, or go a different route?

I’m already in the process of writing a modern romance right now. I’ve put it on the backburner for the moment while I deal with the last few days of my Kindle Scout campaign and get ready for my upcoming wedding (October 14th is so so close!). Other than that, I have a few ideas for stories flitting around my head that take place in the same world as Changed does. If the book is received well, I might flesh some of them out further. If I’m selected for Kindle Scout, I think I would submit other books for a campaign as well. If they don’t choose my book this time, I’ll probably just move forward with self-publishing from here on out.

Tell us more about yourself. Why do you write, and what’s your favorite thing about writing?

I write because I read. Obsessively. I had to finally get a Kindle Unlimited subscription because my fiance almost took my debit card away after seeing how many books I’d bought in a month (just kidding, he wouldn’t do that, but he was definitely concerned--see upcoming wedding comment above!). After reading so many fantasy and romance novels and picking out parts I loved and parts I didn’t, I decided to try it my way. Once I started, I found more and more ideas coming to me that I wanted to make into stories. I have about 3 floating around right now and the only reason why there’s not more is there’s literally no room left (see Kindle Scout campaign and wedding comments above!). My absolute favorite thing about writing is making a reader feel what I want them to feel. When someone reads my work and is outraged at the bad guys or swooning over the good guys, that’s the biggest payoff for me.

Thanks so much, Heather, for dropping by the blog! And don't forget to stop by her Kindle Scout page and take a look at Changed.

Excerpt from Gunn's Kiss by Adera Orfanelli

I'm turning the blog over to my friend Adera Orfanelli, who has a book coming soon from Changeling Press. This is part of her science fiction vampire series, Politics Bite.

Enjoy an excerpt from Gunn's Kiss...

By the time they reached the door to her suite, they’d passed through the three sets of doors -- including the lift -- as well as five different visual checkpoints. It’d make his job easier, especially since he knew the security team running this part of the station. He’d be sure to send them a message when he got back to his place. The facial recognition software acknowledged her presence and the door opened.

Gunn waited outside.

“Why don’t you come inside? I have some information I didn’t want to leave this room,” she said.

He hesitated, mostly because he’d made a good reputation for himself by being discreet. Usually his clients didn’t want to see him around. He crossed the threshold and stepped into the suite.

“Please record --”

Gunn held up his hand. “I’ve ensured that I am able to access your suite in case of an emergency, but thank you.” He didn’t want to hear her give permission for the facial recognition software to file his likeness as authorized to enter. Hearing her say that sent thoughts through his mind, or rather his cock, of his arriving here at night, slipping into her suite to seduce her.

“Oh.” Her lips formed a circle and stayed there for a moment. Could she read his thoughts? Surely she wouldn’t, though certain members of her species were known to be telepathic. According to his information, those with telepathic ability never left the home world.

“Sorry to startle you,” he said, keeping professional distance between them. “You said you had information.”

“Yes. Nochte-Theta was not my first destination upon leaving my home world. I stopped first at a couple of other stations to speak with their officials before meeting with the council. I received these.” She pushed an envelope across the table next to the door. “My people have gone over them. We cannot find the source.”

“And you told station security where you were staying?” His gut twisted. He didn’t like this, not one bit. At her nod, his stomach twisted further. Gently, though he knew there probably wouldn’t be any evidence to gain, he opened the envelope and pulled out the first piece of paper.

A security print from a communications console. A message was tagged across the top -- a threat on her life -- with all the pertinent information below. He scanned it, noting the obviously faked addresses and protocols. No doubt untraceable. A second sheet of paper, another threat, was also in the envelope.

“When were you going to tell me about these?” A wave of protectiveness came over him. He fought to keep frustration out of his voice. Not knowing about threats made his job infinitely more difficult. And station personnel should have communicated these threats; they had her travel itinerary. He clenched his jaw until a muscle began jumping.

“I planned to tell you.” Her soft words forced his gaze to meet hers, where wariness crossed her face.

“I’m glad you did.” He breathed deeply and forced himself to calm. “I will contact the other station security departments to see what they have on these.”

He stepped back, because now that the initial fury that someone would try to hurt her had ebbed, he became aware that she stood close to him, so close her breasts brushed his arm with each breath. A floral scent, something planet-bound and not anything he’d find on this station, surrounded him. Hunger drove through him. He told his muscles to take another step back, to tell her he would bring the papers back to security and study them further. He should turn for the door and leave her for the evening. He didn’t.

“You can take care of this?” she asked, her voice wobbling a little and betraying her worry.
Visit the publisher to read an excerpt and to purchase this title

 Win This Print!

Use the Rafflecopter to enter to win a 4x6 print of this artwork, Peering Through The Mists. On a world with twin suns, feline companions peer out the window at the wonders that are waiting outside. Print is matted and can be shipped worldwide to the winner. Art print by Steve Lenker of Aldebaran Valley Creations. a Rafflecopter giveaway Don't forget to visit each stop on the tour for a chance to enter to win this print every day. A Second Giveaway If you would like to enter to win a $10 Changeling Press gift certificate, please visit the tour hub. Don't forget that you can use the hub page to visit each stop on the tour to enter daily to win the art print. (Visit the tour hub now.)

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Hockey

I've mentioned before that Blood on the Ice is the direct result of my Evil BFF's five-year crusade to turn me into a hockey fan. You might wonder how she accomplished this evil deed. Well, she sent me a blueprint I could share for those of you who might be trying to drag a friend down the path of evil. Or, you know, just trying to get them to like things. This blueprint works. I'm living proof.

Talk about what you love....A LOT


Humor helps

So does shiny


Shiny is really fucking awesome


Sparkly isn't bad either


Neither is bromance


...or pretty

Sometimes more direct persuasion is necessary


Now that the groundwork has been laid, share things that may be to their tastes


Lather, rinse, repeat


Did I mention the repeat?


Reference stupid memes when sending links...cock goes where?


Weird rituals are always interest grabbing


Quality portraits are a good idea

Suits are nice


As is bad hair


Nakedness is always good


Mocking is too


When you have sufficiently brought them over to the dark side...jump for joy


Celebrate!


Try not to smirk too much


PROFIT

In retrospect, I'm kind of ashamed that I responded to a campaign that employed so much exposure to Ryan Kesler.

New Book on the Way!

Taylor Pyatt. He sat on my casting couch and he liked it.

Today is October first. What does that mean? Opening night for the NHL, of course. It also means I'm going to announce a new book.

I just signed a contract with Samhain Publishing to publish my book Blood on the Ice, a literary look at the importance of... no, that's not right.

It's about vampires who play professional hockey. If you see anything particularly literary in it, please shoot it.

On the eve of the Stanley Cup Finals, Travis Payne of the Chicago Blackhawks intervenes in a vampire attack outside a bar where he and his friends are celebrating. The vampires in question turn on him, and just plain Turn him.

Waking up in the Warm Room of the Cook County morgue, Travis discovers his whole life has been turned upside down. He can never play for the NHL again. Fortunately, there's the VHL--the vampire-only league--and his contract is transferred to the Chicago Cobras.

Marcus Antonius, ex-gladiator, has been a vampire since the days of Julius Caesar. He's also the Cobras' captain. He takes on the job of mentoring Travis, helping him adjust to his new team, his new life, and his shifting views of sexuality (that last one means there's lots of vampire sex...).

I'll be talking more about this book in the future, as we get closer to the release date. It's scheduled for next year, but I don't have a final publication date yet. In the mean time, visit the Pinterest board where I've assembled a lot of my research materials and my "casting couch." I've added some short excerpts so you can have an advance taste of the rest of the novel.

And be sure to tune in tonight to see the Blackhawks decimate the Washington Capitals!! :-D

Next Big Thing Blog Hop

So I got tagged for this thing by Cindi Myers, so I'm posting my post today which is the posting day I was supposed to post my post. So here's my post:

1. What is the title of your latest release? Necromancing Nim. The question also asked about WIPs, so I'll just add that I have several WIPs on the front burners, one of which is the follow-up to Nim. The tentative title is Sorcelling Sebastian. (Should that be one "l" or 2? I keep waffling...)

2. Where did the idea come from for the book? I wanted to write an urban fantasy-style story with a kickass heroine, but I wanted to avoid or subvert some of the clichés that have begun to develop around the genre. Like kickass but whiny heroines and annoying love triangles that never resolve. Also that whole thing where everyone the heroine meets falls for her, and where she eventually becomes some kind of supernatural being. (Nim does experience some side effects, but I didn't want her to be supernaturally powerful in any significant way. She's just a kickass chick with a water gun full of holy water.)

3. What genre does your book fall under? Urban fantasy with erotic romance elements.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie version? Sebastian is Alexis Denisof, no doubt about it. Colin is sort of David Boreanaz from his Angel days, but he drifted quite a bit. Mostly because I got mad at Boreanaz for cheating on his wife. And for being a Flyers fan. (I can forgive him for the former if his wife can, but the latter? Sorry, DBor.) I didn't "cast" Nim when I was writing. When I put together the cover art form I settled on a picture of Zooey Deschanel, mostly because she has the big anime eyes. But Nim has short, shaggy black hair. The cover art captured her pretty well, I think.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? One domineering vampire was enough—can Nim handle two and still avert the vampire-zombie apocalypse? (I totally cheated on that cause it was originally two sentences. But I'm an editor. I can do that.)

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Um.. neither? This is a weird question to my overly literal mind. It’s published by Samhain Books, and it came out on October 23.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? LOL. Four years? More or less? That was writing sporadically, setting it aside and coming back to it. A lot of that was struggling with the voice and getting the plot to work. I’d never written a full-length novel in first person before, and a lot of the challenges of that approach, well, challenged me. I promise the next one won’t take as long…

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Maybe Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake books and/or Charlain Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series. My ménage in the book is almost a direct reaction to Anita Blake’s constant back-and-forth between Richard and Jean-Claude, which I found ridiculous. Quit whining, girl! Two hot guys? Do 'em both? Which of course is what Nim does. And they do each other, cause that's hot. But there’s a lot of screwed-up, quirky humor, which begs for a comparison to Sookie and maybe to Maryjanice Davidson’s Queen Betsy.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book. I think I kinda answered that question already. Although another tidbit is that Nim's name came first. I had run across a fanfic writer named Nimuë Tucker (I think it's a pseud--I'm not sure). I loved the name, so I wrote it down. When it came time to write the book, I checked online and discovered she was still writing under that name, so I figured it'd be better to change it a bit. So I stole my best friend's last name and called her Nimuë Taylor instead. At which point I decided I was really glad I decided to write it in first person cause that umlaut is a PITA.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest? It’s funny. I even laughed at it myself when I was doing edits. (Maybe that’s not the best recommendation?) But even when there are vampires exploding and shit hitting the fan, Nim has a sarcastic voice that keeps things grounded

I tagged Angela Parson Myers for this, as well, but I don't see her post up yet. Go visit her site anyway. (Hi, Mom!)

And yeah, I know I was supposed to tag five people, but it looks like everybody in the WORLD has already been tagged for this hop, so I didn't. Also:

Blood Shots for Halloween (or any time)

Every good vampire wants a decent blood shot for breakfast. Or lunch, or dinner. Or a snack, when the munchies hit. Here are some recipes for high-quality blood shots you can serve your favorite vampire any time of the year. (Note: Your favorite vampire will probably want to change the ratio of blood to liquor a bit...)

Ruby Wednesday
Fill a shot glass about 2/3 full with a good vodka
Dribble blood* slowly into the vodka for that lovely layered effect.

Virgin’s Kiss
Vanilla rum
Blood
Again, dribble the blood slowly for a layered look. Vampires like that.

The Harlot
Replace the rum/vodka with pomegranate liqueur. Garnish with lime.

Velvet Dick
Layer butterscotch schnapps and Irish crème and top with blood. (This is basically a Slippery Nipple with blood substituted for Grenadine.)

Bring one of these out for your next vampire party, or for that new vampire you’ve decided to date, and see how the evening turns out.

*I used cherry-flavored candy blood from my local Halloween store. It’s overly sweet and sort of artificial-tasting, but not awful. You might do yourself a favor by using Grenadine instead, although it doesn’t have the same rich, red blood color as the fake blood. 

(Thanks to Belinda [aka Evil Best Friend] for help naming the drinks.)

Kicking the Tropes to the Curb

I talked a little bit about how I came to write Necromancing Nim in my last post (or the one before that—I don’t remember. You really expect me to keep track of my own blog? C’mon, people, that’s hard!). Now’s the part of the show where I admit that part of my motivation for writing this book involved me reacting to urban fantasy tropes.

It seems like urban fantasy has brought two major tropes into its fold over time. These are the Extremely Broken Protagonist and the Whiney Moany Love Triangle. Now, the EBP is pretty common in fiction across the board. This bugs me. Why does everybody in a book have to have a horrible past with parental abuse and tragic circumstances and a great-aunt who turned out to be a demon who put magically noxious chocolate chips in her Christmas cookies? It gets a bit tiresome, in my opinion, and after a while it stops being a character development tool and turns into a cliché. So Nim isn’t Horribly Broken. She’s actually a fairly functional adult (well, maybe not entirely functional since she’s a lot like your dear author-person) with a mostly normal family life. I think the worst thing her parents ever did to her was decide not to pay for braces.

Which brings us to the Whiney Moany Love Triangle (tangentially, I guess, but since a triangle is a geometric concept why not have tangents, too?). Nearly every urban fantasy heroine these days has to have two hot guys (sometimes more—see Sookie Stackhouse) who want in her pants. And then she’s all… omg I love them both whatever shall I do? At which point I yell at the book, “Bang them both and quit whining, for the love of everything!”

So Nim, being the practical, straightforward and flexible gal that she is, bangs them both. And they bang each other. And everybody’s happy! Perfect world, right?

Now if they could just figure out how to deal with that whole turning people into mindless vampire zombies thing...

Now Available! Necromancing Nim

Necromancing Nim arrived today from Samhain Publishing, available at all your usual ebook outlets. In honor of this auspicious occasion, here are some words of wisdom from Nim herself.

"Vampires aren’t great with plants."

"Word of advice—if you’re ever hiding something in your house that you know evil vampires are after, leave it in plain sight on the kitchen table. Otherwise, you’re going to be left with a lot of cleanup work after they turn your house upside down trying to find it."

"The Englewood Police Department is much like any other suburban police department. There are places to wait, places to fill out paperwork, places to be intimidated, interrogated or incarcerated. It’s always a little wackier at night. At night, there are more drunks, more vampires and more drunk vampires. The cops who work there after dark are also quite a bit testier, or at least that’s been my experience."

"God save me from Alpha males."

"Sometimes it’s good to be a bitch."

 Get to know more about Nim Taylor and her two vampire, um... "special friends" in Necromancing Nim.