Steamhopping Along with the Ministry and a Clockwork Mafia Giveaway!

Creation.

When I think of steampunk, that (after the clothes, because...hello? Corsets. Bustles. Dusters. <3) is the first word that comes to mind. Of all genres of literature, steampunk (along with the other punks) has the most craftspeople dedicated to bringing it to life in the real world. THat is an amazing and beautiful thing. And what I love most about it is that it fits so well with the importance of creating within the literature.

Mad scientists trying to take over the world do so through their creations. And sometimes the heroes do battle with creations of their own.

It was one of the aspects I really wanted to focus on in the second book of the Badlands series. Where book 1 mainly displayed the clockworks as minions of an evil mind, in book 2 (Clockwork Mafia), we see the evil that science wrought put up against the beauty that it can create as well. I wanted it to be a reminder that no science is inherently good or inherently evil. It's a message that resonates today as we weigh the pros and cons of things like stem-cell research and genetic engineering.

That is one of the amazing things for me about creating steampunk romance. I not only get to write stories about how boy meets girl, but I get to fill them with messages designed to make people think. And gadgets. Because gadgets are just cool and I wish I could make them in real life. Sadly, I lack the skills, but if someone wants to make me a clockwork dragonfly hair pin, I wouldn't turn it down ;-)

But enough about me and my blathering. I know what you're really here for...the giveaway! Yes, this is the only copy of Clockwork Mafia I've given away so far, but you have a little more reading to do first. Find out what the Ministry Initiative is all about (You'll need this to enter for the book, plus it's more of how awesome steampunk is with regard to creating new ways to enjoy the genre...just don't forget to enter for the book before you leave!)

~~*~~

Galileo Games and Imagine That! Studios have teamed up to bring you an ambitious steampunk project! The Ministry Initiative is a two-part creative endeavor that will not only premiere new fiction from the steampunk world of the Ministry but also present a brand new role playing game from the makers of Bulldogs! and the ENnie Award winning game Shelter in Place. Thrill to the tales in Ministry Protocol anthology, or join in as an Agent in The Ministry Initiative RPG.

Find out more about this endeavor and support the Kickstarter here: http://bit.ly/ministry-initiative

~~*~~ 

So that's it. Get in on the ground floor and join the Initiative! First though, enter to win a copy of my latest steampunk release, Clockwork Mafia!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~*~~

Squeeage and Some Promo Stuff

Okay, I know, I know. I need to do an RT post. It'll be up sometime this week, but I still have crazy-mad RT hangover (dead tired and minimal brainage) so it needs to wait a couple days (brainage is reserved for book writing at the moment).

Instead, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has been pimping and buying Clockwork Mafia. I know steampunk is a fairly small list on Amazon, but it thrills me to no end to see one of my books on there. I don't know where it topped out last week, only that it dropped off the list over the weekend but was back on as of yesterday. It also earned a silver star and a staff pick on ARe. I'm insanely humbled.

In other news, you still have a little while to help me figure out what to call my street team members (which will, in turn, help me figure out what to name the team). To vote, you have to join the Entangled Publishing Group on Facebook. Then, there's sometimes a lag while you get all approved and stuff. And then you vote here. There's an additional option in the comments, so if that's your favorite, just say so in the comments and I'll count them up. I believe we're closing up voting on Friday, so get cracking!

I'll do the RT post this week and then talk about the street team and how to join next week!

Oh, and Gaming for Keeps (which you may or may not have seen me getting all a twitter about) comes out June 10! So keep that one on your radar!

Find Me At RT! (Oh, and Buy My Book!)

Hey all! It's April 30, and that means I'm on my way to Kansas City for the Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention. This is one of my favorite cons every year, and I hope to see you there.

Of course, I'm going to be a little crazy (possibly crazier than on a normal day--or at least more scattered), so it might be easier for you to find me than for me to find you. (Read as: Sel is dead by day 2 and gets tunnel vision. She completely missed Paul Wesley walking by her table at lunch last year. Odds are unless you slap her, she might miss you too.) With that in mind, here are some places you're likely to find me:

WEDNESDAY

3:45-4:45: Setting the Stellar Steampunk (Moderator)

9:00-12:00: Ellora's Cave Party

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

THURSDAY

1:30-2:30: Steampunk Clockwork Tea (Hostess)
2:45-3:45: It's Not About the Goggles (Panelist)

4:00-6:00: Ebook Expo--signing (I'll have print copies of Kiss of Death & my YA Pretty Souls as well as all my digital books available to buy)

8:30-12:00: RT's 30th Anniversary Ball

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

FRIDAY

11:15-12:15: Hero Speed-Dating (Hostess...er...host?)

7:30-8:30: Entangled's Candy and Spoons!

8:30-12:00: Vampire Ball (whatever it's called this year...though I probably won't be there until after dinner)

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

SATURDAY
7:15-7:45: FANtastic Day Party

8:00-9:00: Carina Press Cocktail Party

9:00-12:00: Harlequin Dance Party

After midnight? Probably the bar (if it's open)

So, yeah. When in doubt, check the bar. 

In other news.... today is the release of Clockwork Mafia! Yes, it is finally out and in the wild and you should definitely buy a copy. If you missed my blog tour last week, please rush back and check out all the awesome stops...

But in the meantime, buy the book. Read the book. Love the book (I hope). Review the book (whether you loved it or not--it's okay, I can take it). To make it easy on you, here are some links to buy from: 

Carina Press

All Romance

Amazon

Audible

Barnes & Noble

If you do those things, you will make me incredibly happy...even if I don't get to see you this week at RT. 

*hugs from Kansas City*

Love in a... Dirigible?

Less than a week ago, we celebrated the equinox and the beginning of spring. (Granted, here in Michigan it's not feeling all that different from winter, but I'm hopeful that'll change soon.) In most faiths, spring and the holidays associated with it are times of celebrating renewal. It's when the earth starts to come alive again. As Henry Rollins recently said, this is the time when resolutions should be made. And considering some life upheaval going on, I needed that reminder, especially where love is concerned.

In five weeks I have a new book out--YAY! For those of you who have read Badlands, you know Henrietta Mason didn't exactly finish the story in a good spot. We're talking about a woman who was left questioning everything she ever believed in. Hardly the ideal situation for finding romance. Yet that's the heart of Clockwork Mafia. Like spring, it's about rediscovering oneself in the depths of despair and fear. It's about learning to enjoy the way the wind whips through your hair as you hang on the ratlines of a dirigible...instead of thinking about what a messy end you'd meet if you let go. And for Henri, part of that is about finding and accepting a love she doesn't really think she deserves.

For me, that's what this spring is about--possibilities and taking chances. It's about love, life, and finding happiness in all the strangest of places. It's about learning to fly tied to nothing but the kite string of life.

If you hunt back through my posts to New Year's, you'll see that I'm not a big fan of resolutions--mainly because the way they tend to be stated sets a person up for failure. But, I do so very much like Henry Rollins that I'm going to take up the springtime resolution this year. Want to know how? (Sure you do, otherwise you would have stopped reading when I started rambling a while ago.) I resolve to be at least as brave and open to life as my heroines, to take things as they come and make the most of them, to soak in the love and joy in the air, and to learn to hang without fear from the ratlines of life.

Giveaway time! Okay, this is a little tricksy, because I can't giveaway Clockwork Mafia quite yet. BUT, I do have a lovely print copy of the Fairies Gone Wild anthology sitting next to me (which just conjures up all sorts of naughty thoughts about spring break and making the best kind of bad decisions), so here's what I'm gonna do. The giveaway is open internationally, BUT there are caveats. The print book is US only (sorry, shipping hurts). If you are international (or if you're US and would rather), you can win a digital copy of Clockwork Mafia instead. ...I just won't be able to send that off for a couple weeks (April 22). Hell, if you want, I can send you a different title from my digital backlist instead. (It's spring and I'm easy that way, what can I say?)

Confused yet? Don't be. Just enter the rafflecopter below for a chance at a free book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, as much as it probably doesn't seem like it from the post, this is a blog hop, people! You're here, but now you need to go to all the other hippity-hoppity blogs in the list below. There will be prizes at each of them, as well as a grand prize from Emma Shortt (who is all kinds of awesome).

A Post! With...WORDS!

I know, I know, I've been posting videos the past couple weeks, and I may continue to do so for a while. But a break today for an announcement.

I have lost my website.

"What?" you say. "It's right there!"

But alas, that's just what's already been loaded onto the internet. When I switched out Beauford (MacBook Pro) for Boris (MacBook Air), the files weren't transferred, and my husband did a clean sweep of Beauford before passing it down to Mini-me. To complicate matters, iWeb (on which I built the website) isn't exactly friendly about such things as this.

What does all of this mean for you, dear reader? It means I'll be switching my website soon...as well as my blog. It appears I can build a decent website on Wordpress and load it onto my domain. With that, it seems really silly to continue to have my blog on blogger (even though I find it easier to use than Wordpress).

So, sometime in the next few weeks, this blog will cease to be, and the weekly post will be nothing more than a re-direct to the new one. And hopefully after that, I will be done moving blogs. It's exhausting and frustrating and makes me want to pull the wings off flies. (Not really, I prefer not to touch flies with anything other than a swatter if I can help it, but you get my meaning.)

There are more announcements coming as soon as I get the official okay to talk about them. AND there's the release of Clockwork Mafia on the horizon. (I believe it's just about the 40 day countdown *gulp*) In fact, you can pre-order that puppy all over the place already (like here, here, here, or here) as well as add it to your Goodreads shelf. (If you're a reviewer, it's even up on NetGalley, so grab a copy!)

So, that's it for this week. A little news that's not really news, but that some of you would want to know anyway. Unless the blog gets moved at warp speed this weekend, next week will likely be more music and then I'll get back to more regular posting. (I hope.)

Ta! And have a fantastic week!

Cover Dissection!

So, other than revealing them, I don't really talk about my covers a lot. I have some that I love and some that I...don't. You see, the fact of the matter is authors get to fill out this little paper about our book that gets sent to the cover artist. From there, they interpret what you sent and build a cover based on it. That's it. That's our say in things. Sometimes if something is really off, we get to go back in and say "Whoa! Wait a minute!" But reality is, we trust the cover artists to do their job.

It's one of the reasons it's so exciting to get covers that are just right. And sometimes it isn't fully clear to the reader (or casual viewer) why it's such a perfect cover. So, I'm going to dissect my newest cover (for Clockwork Mafia) which I love.

*I was going to try to do this all fancy-pants with circles and arrows and numbers, but yeah...not happening tonight. Sorry.*

Okay, first and foremost is the mask. Isn't it gorgeous? Henri wears an elaborate clockwork mask like that in the beginning of the book, and I love that her face is hidden for this cover. You see, a lot of Clockwork Mafia is about Henri figuring out who the hell she is in the aftermath of the events in Badlands so it's very appropriate that she's "hiding" on the cover.

Then there's the dragonfly. While it isn't exactly like my clockwork dragonfly tattoo, it's fantastic. And it's one of Henri's designs that gets a lot of play in this book. I'm really glad it's on there.

Then there's Carson. *happy sigh* Okay, first off, the model is just beautiful in general. Secondly--though I think he actually has short hair rather than long hair pulled back--he looks like Carson. Honestly, the more I look at him, the more he looks like the character right down to the way his neck is all scruffy.

And here's my favorite part of the entire cover. Henri in her mask is kind of representative of Philadelphia society life. And the dragonfly is representative of her life as an inventor... And Carson is trapped in between the two. It's incredibly symbolic for the story.

Honestly, I have no idea how the cover artist managed to fit things so perfectly, but I don't think I could have paid for a brand new photoshoot that captured the essence of this story as well as this cover did. HUGE thanks to Kix by Design for the incredible cover. And if you happen to know the name of the model for Carson... ;-) 

Rant: You Stole What?

There's a lot of talk about book piracy online--pretty sure I've written about it before--but that's not what today's post is about. It's about a different kind of theft and where exactly the line in the sand is drawn.

Sit back, kiddos, because I have a lot to say...

Sort of.

(Really I'm just filling white space so the images line up :P


A couple weeks ago, I saw a blog post regarding cover art "theft." My gut instinct was that it was someone who didn't understand the cover industry's reliance on stock images and how often they are used and re-used. Because of that, I almost didn't click the link. Then I wondered if it was a situation where a photoshoot had been done for a specific book and the cover ended up on some other book. This is a big deal. Rare, I'd think, but a big deal. So I clicked the link. (I would love to provide you a link to the original post, but for the life of me, I can't find it. The Ashes trilogy by Ilsa Bick and Sketchy by Olivia Samms were the books in question.)

Screams of copyright infringement were shouted from fans. The author had the wisdom to set the record straight. This isn't a copyright fail. Both covers have the title cut out running down the center of the cover with the author name below. That's it. The end.

Pretty & a great read!

It would be like saying the cover art for Clockwork Mafia (which you will all get to see soon, I promise) is copying the cover art for Incarnate by Jodi Meadows just because both heroines are wearing butterfly masks. Sorry, but both heroines wear butterfly masks in both books, hers just came out first :P And in all fairness, beyond that fact, the covers look nothing alike. There will inevitably be similarities in cover art because publishers across the board are looking for and discovering what helps get books off the shelf. Yes, there is something to be said for being first, but especially in a genre like YA, people will soon forget that detail.

Sorry, can't share yet :P

So...no, not theft. Not to me and not to any legal team I've ever heard of.

But that brings us back to writing. If that isn't theft of cover art, why do so many authors have issue with books like 50 Shades of Grey? Because like it or lump it, it's different. Here's why...

50 took an existing series, existing characters, and a general idea of the plot (including pregnancy as I understand) and just changed the set-up. Instead of a vampire, we got a dim-Dom. Originally, even the character names were the same.

And that's the sticky part for most authors. Had 50 just come out of nowhere and felt like this whole weird, kinky version of Twilight, there's a decent chance that no one would have balked much. We would have done the whole "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" dance and left it at that. But the author didn't do that. Instead, she wrote fan fiction, posted it on the internet as fan fiction, and then changed the names (and allegedly not much more) and published it. She used the fan base of the original work to promote her story.

And to make matters more distasteful, the publisher of 50 seems to have been going after anyone and everyone looking to capitalize on its success...right down to people who run sex toy parties (like Tupperware parties, only hotter).

There's a wide space between inspiration and that. Where's the line? I don't know, but in the realm of cover art, it certainly isn't cut-out titles running down the middle of a cover.

Housekeeping

Today started out like any other day...

Scratch that. It's a lie. Most days don't start out with three wake-up calls and exploding at my children because they won't stop fighting. (Thank goodness.) But really, nothing really wonky happened this morning.

Except after calming down and talking to the kids, I decided to clean.

Don't laugh. This is a big deal. I hate cleaning. Like with the burning hate of a thousand suns. So for me to voluntarily get out of the shower and immediately move to "all right, kiddos, let's bust ass on your rooms is a huge thing. For two hours we cleaned and sorted and otherwise got me into "OMG, we have way too much stuff" mode.

Which means today is also donation day. Assuming, of course, I can remember the login for It's Deductible :P

When I finally made it downstairs, it was to find another housekeeping task on my desk. Or, more specifically, in my computer. The contract for Clockwork Mafia has arrived! This is a huge yay! Except for the whole "print and return" part. See, my background in law consists of having dated  a guy during his last year of pre-law and his first year of law school (the second long-distance). Supposedly I have a bit of a natural inclination toward the way of thinking necessary to be a lawyer, but not the patience (or the poker face), but that doesn't help at all when it comes to contract reading.

Fortunately, this one should be just about the same as my last Carina contract. So I'm going to yank out the one from Badlands and lay them side-by-side just to make sure I'm cool with any differences between the two. But I want to get it signed and in the mail today. Otherwise, there's a decent chance I'll be sending it back with an original story by my seven-year-old on the back.

From the Editing Cave: Clockwork Mafia

Hi all! *wipes sweat from brow* First round edits for Clockwork Mafia have arrived and I'm trying to bust my butt on these changes so I can get them turned in before I take off to visit my friend Dani in Canada <3

To that end, I don't have a blog post of brilliance today. (Please refrain from pointing out all the non-brilliant posts to date. Thanks.) I will let you know that I'm going to be at Steamed! on Friday, and I did a review of Queen of Swords by my crit partner, Katee Robert. You should all rush out to get that. Like now. Here's an Amazon link. Oh, and one for Barnes & Noble. I'm also doing a rant at Writings of a Wicked Book Addict TOMORROW! (There's my post of brilliance, or at least ranty-goodness.)

So for here, since I'm knee-deep in the mind of Henrietta Mason, I'm just going to give you a little video of a song that always reminds me of her. I know the point behind the song is supposed to be one of strength, but for some reason, when I hear it, all I hear is pain--and that fits where Henri's at.

Video from Youtube, all rights belong to Miranda Lambert and Sony

(Also, if you like her music, get the album here.)

Summer Vacation... What's a Vacation?

Summer vacation has officially begun here. Time off, right? Not so much, more like trying to work with my kids home all the time. On the upside, I don't have to get up to ship them off to school, which means I can sleep in a bit rather than the whole get up/get them off/realize I'm still dead/take a nap routine. Which should result in more productive hours in a day.


Except the kids are home.

Which automatically means my attention is divided. So those days last week when I wrote in daylight? Yeah. Probably not happening. On the up side, I can crit and edit and blog during the day. What that means for the next three months writing schedule is:
Edits on Kiss of Death
Initial (and possibly second) edits on Clockwork Mafia
Revising and subbing All the Fellas... and Love & Other Indoor Sports
Writing and subbing a smexy category romance
Writing Badlands 3 and Kiss of Life

...Unless, of course, other things come through sales-wise. Which would be awesome, but might also mean pushing things back a little. Ideally though, one way or another, I will get somewhere between 150-200k written this summer, along with all the editing and revising and, oh yeah, a pesky little blog tour thing.

And now that I wrote that down... *whimper*

This is me putting on my I-can't-see-that blinders.

Let's just call this the summer of writing badassery. *nods* That makes me feel much better about the whole thing.

So how about you? What are your summer plans?

In Case You Haven't Heard

So, a couple years ago, I sold my first story. It wasn't the first to release, but Badlands was the first piece I sold. I blogged a long time ago about the twisty road that story took before coming into being and finding a home at Carina Press.

Honestly, as much as I loved it, I had no idea how well it would do. After all, Ever isn't your stereotypical romance heroine. But, it ended up that even if people didn't love Ever, they were intrigued by the Badlands and by the strength of the female characters in the story. I will admit, Ever is the one who speaks to me loudest. (More like holds a knife to my throat while she whispers in my ear, but really with that going on, I don't hear anyone else.) When it came time to look at a sequel though, I knew I couldn't just keep following her and Spencer around.

As much as I hated it, I knew whose story needed to come next. When I say "hated it," I don't mean because I hate the character (for the record, I don't). It's more that while Ever's method of passing on her story is a little scary, this next leading lady is more... cagey. She doesn't want to share. In fact, as much as she didn't want to share in Badlands, the events of that story made her guard herself even more closely. She's angry at the world in a way that echoes Ever but is so very different that it made tapping into her rather difficult for me.

But, Henrietta Mason needed her own story. Truly, moving forward with the series, she was the only option since so many of the events in Badlands had the marks of her fingernails embedded deep. To skip her and move onto someone else would have been... cowardly on my part. If there is one thing I learned writing these stories, it's that there's no room for cowards in the Badlands.

So I wrote Henri's story, agonized over it in fact (some of you may recall me cursing her quite a lot near the end of last summer over Twitter). Even when I was finished though, it wasn't done. To make a long story short, the road to selling her story wasn't as quick or straight-forward as selling Ever's. There was more bumps and bruises and cursing involved.

I am very pleased to announce that in the end, Henri found a home alongside Ever. As so many people requested, this second book is quite a bit longer (over 50% longer if memory serves). It links together the events in Badlands with the over-arching big-bad that will permeate through the rest of the series.

As of right now, the tentative release date for Clockwork Mafia (title subject to change until I find out otherwise) is March 2013. I apologize for the delay between releases (I'll try not to let it happen again.), and I plan to start work on book 3 as soon as I know for certain that nothing huge will change during content edits of this one.


Thank you for your patience while waiting for this book, and I hope you'll stick around. I think it's going to be a fun ride.