Happy Halloween! NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow and as a special teaser, enjoy the first five hundred words of my Nano project: The Forgotten. The Forgotten is the sequel to Remembering Ashby and was teased in the free short Forget to Remember. Be sure to check those out and stay tuned to the Daily Dose and Twitter for more Nano updates! The Forgotten She turned her head away from the sounds of death. Her sisters cried out to her with long, horrid sounds of pain and anguish. Xandie closed her mind to it, hardening her heart and putting one foot in front of the other. Blood spattered her face and soaked through the long strands of golden blond hair that fell in disarray around her shoulders. Ahead, still mounted, the enemy gathered to make another fatal charge. They would run them all through, slaughtering them once and for all. In the distance, the horns of the clans signaled their approach, but they would be too late, even at full gallop. Her breaths came in short, staccato bursts through the mouth, refusing to inhale deeply through her nose less the smell of blood, bodies gutted, urine and feces choke her. Read the rest……

Just realized it’s been over 10 years that I started on this path, crusade, mission to meet and support authors. As I was rushing, literally, to finish up some can’t-wait computer stuff, to jump in the car to make the drive to Austin for the Texas Book Festival, I had the strangest feeling of deja vu. And I realized I’ve been doing this since 1999. Maybe before that, but definitely 1999 was the year I started going to anything “book”ish — conventions, signings, conferences, if authors would be there en masse, I made plans, found money and went. I’ve bought thousands of dollars more of books than I’ll EVER read in this lifetime, almost all of which I’ve given away to my book club, through Fresh Fiction or as gifts to people. No one appreciates anything more than a signed book…especially if it’s signed to them. Anyway, there are days when I actually take stock, as in is this what I want to do? Am I having fun? Is it worth the little sacrifices — and sometimes big sacrifices by my family — to make these treks? But upon reflection, I have to say, YES. I do enjoy meeting authors,…

October 2009On Sale: October 13, 2009Featuring: Quincey Harker; Dr. Seward416 pages ISBN: 0525951296EAN: 9780525951292Hardcover$26.95Thriller, Horror Buy at Amazon.com Dracula The Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker, Ian Holt At last, the first Stoker family– supported sequel to one of the bestselling and most influential novels of all time Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the prototypical horror novel, inspiration for the world’s seemingly limitless fascination with vampires. Though many have tried to replicate Stoker’s horror classic—in books, television shows, and movies—only the 1931 Bela Lugosi film bore the Stoker family’s support. Until now. Written by a direct descendant of Bram Stoker and a well- known Dracula historian, Dracula: The Un-Dead is a bone- chilling sequel based on Bram Stoker’s own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads excised from the original edition. Written with the blessing and cooperation of many members of the Stoker family, Dracula: The Un-Dead begins in 1912, twenty-five years after Dracula “crumbled into dust.” Van Helsing’s protégé, Dr. Seward, is now a disgraced morphine addict obsessed with stamping out evil across Europe. Meanwhile, an unknowing Quincey Harker, son of Jonathon and Mina, leaves law school for the stage, only to stumble upon the troubled production of Dracula, directed and produced…

Tomorrow is Halloween! October 31st! The countdown to the end of The Daily Dose’s Trick or Treat grab bag giveaway, the night to dress up in fun costumes, give away candy and to celebrate the new year that turns on Samhain and much more. It’s also a great excuse to count down some of my favorite whacky witches. Joanna, Kat and Roxie If you haven’t been watching Eastwick you have no idea what you’re missing. These ladies crack me up. Played by Rebecca Romjin, Roxie is a voluptuous, earthy woman with the gift of prophecy. She’s also a single mom, struggling to stay connected to her daughter. Kat on the other hand is the fiery red head with oodles of banked passion that she channels into motherhood and nursing and even into looking after her loser of an ex. Joanna is the nuttiest of the lot though, a reporter who wants to figure it all out and painfully awkward with the guys. The best thing about these whacky witches is the power of friendship they have discovered with each other. Fran and Jet Owens Played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest respectively [in Practical Magic], these ladies raised Sally and…

Last time I visited Fresh Fiction we talked about the Stupid Things I Do for Excellent Books. In the spirit of Halloween, I’ll follow up with a similar confession regarding the ridiculous things I do because of my out-of-control sweet tooth. When I’m finished, I’ll tell you how to score a bunch of free books. Candy problems first. 1. I wait until the 31st to stock up . . . Experience shows that the earlier in the month I buy the Halloween candy, the more times I go to the store to replenish it. So now I save myself all those bags of calories and just shop at the last minute with the slackers. Or maybe I’m shopping with the replenishers. To read more about Rachel and her candy problem and to comment for a chance to win please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Nocturne City #4 September 2009On Sale: September 1, 2009Featuring: Will Fagin; Luna352 pages ISBN: 0312943628EAN: 9780312943622Mass Market Paperback$6.99 Fantasy Urban Buy at Amazon.com Witch Craft by Caitlin Kittredge Someone, or something, is setting fire to the homes of the city’s most infamous non-humans, racking up a body count that’s growing by the day. And strange, otherworldly creatures no one has seen before—selkies trolls and harpies—are causing chaos throughout the city. Racing to stop the carnage, Luna turns to sexy federal agent Will Fagin for help. As they work to uncover the source of the bloodshed, Luna’s attraction for Will deepens. But just as she learns Will’s darkest secret, Nocturne City is thrust into total chaos—leaving Luna and Will in a path of destruction they may not be able to stop…or survive. Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

NaNoWriMo is right around the corner. For those of you who don’t know what that is, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writer’s Month. It’s a fun, by the seat of your pants writing challenge that began in 1999 with just 21 participants. Now a decade later, NaNoWriMo averages over a 100,000 participants in a no-hold barred, write like mad for 30 days adventure to create a book from scratch. That’s right, NaNoWriMo is all about the writing, but it’s also about the connections and relationships you make with other writers going through the same things you are. I’ve participated officially in NaNoWriMo once, but unofficially, I’ve been following it since 2001 or thereabouts. November is the chosen month for NaNoWriMo; writing begins on the 1st and runs through the 30th with writers giving away prizes to other writers and more as a way to encourage success. For some writers, it’s also about competing with friends (friendly competition only, mind you) in order to drive word counts up. If you can successfully commit 30 days to NaNoWriMo, you can walk away with the bones of your novel or at least a solid first draft. But How Do Readers Benefit? Learn what the…

Hi everyone! Thanks to everybody at Fresh Fiction for having me back once again to blog! I always love coming here because I feel like I’m surrounded by fellow romance lovers. It always makes me think about family when I talk to people who love the genre as much as I do. Actually, I’ve been thinking about the entire concept of “family” a lot lately. As I’m writing this blog, I am sitting the Raleigh-Durham airport after a weekend in North Carolina presenting an industry retreat to the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers. Last weekend I was in St. Louis, presenting a workshop called “Write Like You Mean It”. So basically, I’ve been surrounded by the family of writers for the past two weeks. To read more of A FAMILY AFFAIR please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Castle of Dark Dreams #4 October 2009On Sale: September 29, 2009336 pages ISBN: 084395955XEAN: 9780843959550Mass Market Paperback$7.99 Romance Paranormal, Erotica Paranormal Buy at Amazon.com My Wicked Vampire by Nina Bangs The Castle of Dark Dreams is just part of an adult theme park, right? The most decadent attraction in a place where people go to play out their wildest erotic fantasies. Holgarth isn’t really a wacky wizard, and Sparkle Stardust doesn’t actually create cosmic chaos by hooking up completely mismatched couples. And that naked guy chained up in the dungeon? No way he’s a vampire. Wrong…dead wrong, as botanist Cinn Airmid is about to find out. It’s up to her to save the night feeder’s sanity, but to do that she’ll have to get close to the most dangerously sexy male she’s ever encountered. And one look in Dacian’s haunted black eyes tells her close will take on a whole new meaning with someone who’s had 600 years to practice his technique. Even a girl with a name that conjures up images of forbidden pleasure has a few tricks to learn from… MY WICKED VAMPIRE Witty addition to this erotic series that’s both light and dark — and extremely charming….

Hi, it’s good to be here on the Fresh Fiction blog, thanks for inviting me along to chat about vampires, it’s a great time of year to be doing it! There are many kinds of vampires, and in Mr. Darcy, Vampyre I add to the myths whilst retaining some of the traditional aspects. The vampires of folk legends are usually described as ugly and bloated. They wear shrouds and return to their home neighbourhoods where they cause trouble as restless spirits. They are created by animals jumping over their corpse, or by evil spirits taking over their corpse as well as by being bitten by a vampire. Typically, they wore shrouds and were usually described as bloated with a ruddy complexion. So they were very different to the kinds of vampires portrayed in modern fiction, which have been altered and adapted continuously over the last two centuries. The idea of a vampire being a wealthy, charismatic, mysterious but troubled entity started with Byron’s “Fragment of a Novel,” where the vampire is “a man of considerable fortune and ancient family . . . It was evident that he was a prey to some cureless disquiet; but whether it arose from ambition,…