Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

Huh. In my defense, September was kind of a busy month for me....


SHIFTER'S DESTINY
by Anna Leonard (aka Laura Anne Gilman)

Genre: Series, Current Series Imprints, Harlequin Nocturne
RT Rating: 4 Stars (out of a possible 4 1/2)

On a quest to find his mate so he can return to his home, Josh Mustang, unicorn shifter, takes time out to help sisters Libby and Maggie Sweet escape from the men who are chasing them. The two ran away from a cult-like commune where they had lived their whole lives, because the new leader, Ray, seems to want to use young Maggie for an evil purpose. Libby is determined to protect her young sister — and Josh is just the man to help. The descriptions are particularly well done in this fast-paced love story, especially Josh and Libby’s growing attraction.


And for those of you in the UK, I just got my M&B UK edition in the mail (paperback AND the large print trade), so it should be easy enough for you to lay hands on, should you so desire...

Fresh Fiction says "SHIFTER'S DESTINY is an original and beautiful take on shape-shifting....Anna Leonard has created a story for all those of us who love horses and love shape changers, with plenty of fast- paced adventure in a deceptively simple location. More please."

(this is the "all right, fine, I'm gonna write a were-horse...no, a WERE-UNICORN story. And I'm going to make you love it." paranormal romance I did for Nocturne)


And, um, apparently there's an audiobook of it, too?

Mills & Boon (my UK publisher for the “Anna Leonard” books) sent me copies of THE HUNTED. Specifically, they sent me two sets each of three copies – one a digest paperback (small) one a normal paperback, and one a trade-sized “large print” edition.

I’m keeping one of each for my shelves, but that still leaves me with another set. So hey, time for a contest! If you’d like a copy (3 copies, actually) of my alter-ego’s tale of suspense, sex, and selkies on the New England coast, tell me what you’d do with the large print edition (keep it, give it to a friend who won’t admit she needs reading glasses, donate it to your Raunchy Grannies Reading Club, etc). One winner from the entries will be chosen by the Oracular Cat method.


Entries will be accepted until midnight (Eastern) on Thursday, May 19th.

EtA: for those wondering about my other Anna Leonard titles, they're all available digitally from Your Local Retailer.

THE NIGHT SERPENT (novel) direct from eHarlequin
FIRE BREAK (novella) direct from eHarlequin
AT YOUR COMMAND (novella - direct from eHarlequin
DREAMCATCHER (novella) direct from eHarlequin
THE HUNTED (novel) direct from eHarlequin

And I forgot that "Anna" has a new story out 1 July: "Fire Break"

Firefighter Paul Wintershins had run into a fire to rescue someone—and died. Or so people thought....

Transformed into a fire elemental, Paul is torn between setting things ablaze and stopping dangerous fires. Lately, the temptation to burn is getting harder to resist. But when Paul is called to a malevolent inferno, a new desire takes hold of him: to rescue the beautiful woman who is a target for another's flames.

With the fire raging, their passion could be the key to Jackie's survival...and Paul's salvation.

Go on, download a little heat to help you cool off...


[or, you can buy it on Amazon for your Kindle on July 8th]

[Or B&N on the 1st]

http://www.rtbookreviews.com/genre/romance: The Love That Motivates Laura Anne Gilman

EtA: New Harlequin Romance Blog Post: Anna Leonard blogs about she made selkies sexy in THE HUNTED: http://bit.ly/aieDMl



and for those following the Cute Puppy Chronicles, we just completed first test of the in-case-of-emergency sleepover at Ch. Felidae. Mei-Chan and Boomer have come to a "okay, I don't hate it" detente of sniff-and-stare. Pandora thinks we should all go to hell.

and now I have a Box o' Books!

For those of you who like a little paranormal romance in your reading mix, I present "Anna Leonard's" newest, The Hunted


When Beth Havelock is approached by a handsome stranger on the streets of her New England home, she has no idea that he is a selkie, one of the sea-faring shapechangers. All Dylan knows is that she is the one he was sent there to find, drawn from his ocean home to the confusing, complicated world of humans.

Neither of them know that someone is watching them. Someone who wants what they have - and will not stop until they are dead.

BN.com / eHarlequin eHarlequin e-book

So for those of you who didn't gt enough romance on Valentine's Day, here's a hair of the dog that, hrm, smooched ya. :-)

All you have to do in order to win a copy before it's on sale is tell us the most romantic thing you ever did (for someone else, yes). Contest will run until Monday, March 8th, and a jury of deeply biased judges will pick the top three responses.



ObAd:

Also available:

DREAMCATCHER - an e-novella BN eHarlequin
THE NIGHT SERPENT (digital only) BN eHarlequin
MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS (an anthology, hardback and digital) BN

And coming in May: FIREBREAK -- an e-novella exclusive from eHarlequin

Okay, not quite, but it may seem that way this month, since there's Stuff going on in April.

First, all week the authors included in the MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS anthology will be blogging and giving away stuff! Here's the schedule:

April 6 - Michele Hauf
April 7 - Bonnie Vanak
April 8 - Karen Whiddon
April 9 - Lori Devoti
April 10 - Anna Leonard (that would be, yes, me.)
April 11 - Vivi Anna

Stop by their blogs all week, to see what's going on! My contest will start on the 10th, and run for 48 hours. Comment on that post, and you'll be included in a drawing to win a copy of MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS, a copy of THE NIGHT SERPENT, and -- because this is me, and I know you guys -- chocolate! And none of that Hershey's or Godiva stuff, either. :-) You don't have to guess anything or write anything more than "hi!" -- all you have to do is comment.

And now for today's contest/challenge:

Yesterday, coming back from the Park, I saw something odd: someone on the 3rd floor had put a knife block -- complete with knives! -- on the ledge outside their window.

(alas, I didn't get a picture of it, being too damn tired to rummage for my camera at that point).

So. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to establish plausibility: why was it left there? What was the reason, the purpose, the intent? Plausibility is the important thing here: make me believe it! You have 75 words, maximum. The contest will close on Friday, and the winner will be announced next Monday, at which point another contest will be announced, every Monday until BLOOD FROM STONE is released on May 4th.

Best response to this challenge as chosen by me (ties to be broken by A Celebrity Judge) will get a copy of the new mass market edition of CURSE THE DARK. And, oh what the hell -- chocolate!

[you do not have to be a LJ member to enter/win.!]

in this case, copies of MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS, the novella anthology that reprints "Anna Leonard's" Dreamcatcher, previously available only as an e-book, along with stories from Michele Hauf, Karen Whiddon, Lori Devoti, Vivi Anna and Bonnie Vanak.

*looks at limited bookshelf space* Hrmmm. What to do with the bookses, what to do....

*goes off to plot with anthology-mates. watch this space for Evil Details!*


(also, I will have copies with me at Lunacon, for them as feel the urge to read six supernaturally sexy stories....)

For your amusement, the cover of MIDNIGHT CRAVINGS, including 'Anna Leonard's "Dreamcatcher" [Amazon B&N]



It's actually pretty classy, all potential cover disasters considered. I'm pleased.

It's not all doom and gloom on the financial front: CURSE THE DARK (book 2) and BRING IT ON (book 3) are [finally!] being reissued as $6.99 paperbacks! Yes, I can say this with assurance because I have on my desk the solicitation covers for both books.

Numfar! Do the Dance of Mass Market Joy!

Alas, it is delayed joy, because they will not be in your hot and needy (and fiscally prudent) hands until March 2009. But you will be able to pre-order them! When? Soon! I promise. In the meanwhile, though, if you like having all your books in one format, I'd avise ordering the trade editions before they go out of print...


Meanwhile over on Smart Bitches, they point out that the male model for "Dreamcatcher" was recycled from another earlier (print) book. Before anyone faints away in horror, let me assure you that this is not uncommon in series* books (if you look at a lot of media tie-ins, you may notice that the actor/actress is simple redressed and placed in a different backdrop, courtesy of Photoshop, not that I'm naming any *coughMurderSheWrotecough* names). There's only so much budget, and model fees are expensive, while stock art is cheaper. Same goes for anthologies or backlist reissues. Plus, in my case, "Dreamcatcher" is an e-book only so the cover is really a moot point -- why hit the budget for that?

For the record, I am amused rather than po'd, and have tweaked my editor on the topic already (it's an art department/publisher thing, so all editors can do, realistically, is lodge a protest and say "toljaso" when they get busted).

That said, there's been a run of the same thing on higher-profile books, especially in the chick-lit and literary end, and apparently people are less amused by that. I understand -- I'd be seriously pissed if this happened with Luna, or Pocket. Individual titles have different expectations from series, and nobody wants to discover that their highly anticipated novel got someone else's redressed hand-me-downs....


* 'series' does not mean "related books by one author" but "books published as part of a series imprint, i.e. Nocturne." Confusing, I know.