Signing at Rediscovered Books

I plowed into a woman waiting in line at Starbucks Friday night. Luckily that was the worst thing to happen to me on Friday the 13th. I apologized to the poor lady, but I'm sure she thought I'd already had WAY too much caffeine and didn't need any help from the caramel macchiato I ordered. My fears for Friday's book signing included: farting, burping, puking in front of everyone, instantly losing the ability to read and comprehend the English language, inability to string words together to form coherent sentences, forgetting how to spell my name. Luckily, none of those things happened, but when it came time for me to read an excerpt from Shaedes of Gray, I did accidentally lose my place. I had this moment where all of the pages looked the same as I flipped frantically through them. And at one point I wondered, Is this even my book?!?! I don't recognize ANY of this! I eventually found my place, though, and the reading went smoothly. Thank. God.

You can't see it, but I'm panicking on the inside!

The event was wonderful, set up in a very relaxing, impromptu way. Laura, the owner of Rediscovered Books, "interviewed" me for the audience, eliminating the need for me to think up witty things to say. I simply answered her questions and it literally laid waste to my nerves. The format was great and I encourage my fellow writers to suggest this to bookstore owners for their own events. It was sort of like Inside the Actor's Studio, but for writers. :) So fun!

As you can see, I was too lazy to get rid of the "red-eyes" in this pic. Oh, and btw, I talk with my hands!

We had a great turn out, around thirty people, I think. I answered a lot of questions about the publishing business and a great reader question about whether or not Darian would ever have a girlfriend. "She needs a girlfriend." The reader said. "I think it would really help mellow her out." Every one sort of laughed and I mentioned the bad heroine girlfriend feature on Heroes and Heartbreakers. I assured the reader that Darian will have females in her life that she doesn't want to stab. She's going to loosen up considerably in books 2 and 3.  :)

After the Q&A, I signed books (we sold all but 2 copies!!) and visited with everyone who stopped by and took a few more pics. And thanks to the great response, Rediscovered has asked me back for the release of Blood Before Sunrise in July. Rediscovered is a great local indie bookstore, and they're really sci-fi/fantasy friendly. I can't wait to go back!

Don't you love these t-shirts?!?! I have a posse, yo! 

Cover Love - Blood Before Sunrise

It's been forever since I've posted here, and to those of you who occasionally tune in, I'm sorry. I've got a list of drafts for posts that I thought about writing and abandoned. Posts on Christmas, New Year's Resolutions, how grateful I am to the universe for all of my good fortune in 2011. In the end, I realized I just didn't have the words to convey just how I feel. All in all, I just feel blessed. And busy. Very busy.

I'll be posting more regularly, though still only once or so a week. And I hope to have more guest posts, contests, and fun stuff as well. 2012 is going to be another uber busy year on the writing front, and I couldn't be happier. Not only is WHEN SHADOWS CALL, a Shaede Assassin world novella going to be released in June, but BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE, book 2 in the Shaede Assassin series will be released July 3rd. I really love book 2 and the way Darian's character has developed and grown. The art department at NAL has been hard at work too, bringing Darian to life. I think the cover is gorgeous, but I'm biased. ;) What do you think?