Winner of FEAST and AFTERLIFE announced!

Hi, everyone! If you've ever wondered why authors suddenly become invisible and don't post very often on their blogs, it's almost always because they're working on a book. That's what I've been doing and that's why I haven't posted much lately (sorry).

But...

I do have good news.

We have a WINNER in the contest I was running HERE.

Just a reminder of the prizes...


And, the winner is Tiff! Congrats, Tiff. I just sent you an e-mail requesting your shipping address. Yay!! I have the following items waiting for you:

Afterlife tote bag
Signed copy of Afterlife
Signed copy of Feast
Feast and Afterlife buttons and bookmarks

Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest! I loved reading your answers. =)

If, by any chance, I don't hear from the winner in three days, another winner will be chosen.

Learn all my deep, dark secrets, plus win some stuff

So far, this release week has been incredible. People have read FEAST, written reviews and asked me a zillion questions. Believe it or not, I've told them all of my deep, dark secrets--all the stuff that I usually confess to my closest friends--so you really should check out the interviews below. On top of that, many of these sites are hosting contests where I'm giving away some very cool FEAST swag. Again, another reason to check out the links below.

I even have my own contest running on two different sites, one on MY VERY OWN BLOG, and another one on SUPERNATURAL UNDERGROUND. (Above advice still holds true. Check this stuff out too.)

Today, there's book review and swag giveaway over the SciFiChick. This contest runs through July 15. HERE'S A SNIPPET OF THE REVIEW: This unique fantasy is dark, full of mystery, danger, and chills. Fast-paced and thrilling, this gripping novel is excitement from beginning to end.

You can read other reviews of FEAST on the blogs below:

Glitter in the Sun

Mel's Random Reviews

I Smell Sheep

YOU CAN READ SOME OF MY INTERVIEWS HERE:

Mel's Random Reviews

I Smell Sheep

My Bookish Ways

AND THEN THERE ARE THE GUEST BLOG POSTS:

Ruby Reads: HOW BOTH TIME AND PLACE HELP TO CREATE SETTING

Tez Says: SCARY MONSTERS

Bitten By Books: IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME

Book Faery: WHY I LOVE THE BAD GUYS

ON TOP OF ALL THAT YOU CAN READ A NICE LONG EXCERPT OF FEAST HERE:
The amazing HarperCollins site.

Release Day: Excerpt from FEAST by Merrie Destefano

Today, for the second installment of the Invasion of the Urban Fantasy BOOK BABES, I'm going to be sharing all of FEAST's delicious news and reviews, a contest and a scrumptious excerpt. You can also read other excerpts of FEAST on my fellow BOOK BABES' blogs here: Karina Cooper, Jocelynn Drake and Nicole Murphy.

So now, let's GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!

First up, there have already been a number of cool reviews for FEAST here:

BITTEN BY BOOKS:
"Feast was like a dark fairy tale come to life, full of monsters and heroes and things that go bump in the night that feed on your dreams. Part Urban Fantasy, part Horror, I fell in love with this world."

I SMELL SHEEP:
"This isn’t a traditional Urban Fantasy or Paranormal Romance. It is a dark Fairy Tale, a Fantasy. A story of dreams and nightmares, where the spoken word has a power of its own. Her descriptive prose builds a magical atmosphere."

And there are some guest posts and interviews here:

There's a guest post and contest over at Book Faery, where I confess why I the bad guys. You should check it out!

I have an interview over at I Smell Sheep where I discuss how long it took me to write FEAST. And there's a contest running over there.

There's also a guest post and contest at Bitten By Books where I discuss the world-building and creation of the Darklings in FEAST.



AND NOW, HERE'S AN EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER OF FEAST:


She was just a girl—bony, pale-skinned and wild—when we stumbled upon each other in the woods, the wind shimmering through the trees around us. I remember thinking that she was nothing like her parents, both of them sleeping back in their rented cabin, the stench of rum and coke seeping out the windows and doors.

She should have been scared when she saw me, appearing suddenly in the russet shadows, but I could tell that she wasn't. Her long dark hair hung in a tangle, almost hiding her face. In that moment, I realized that she lived in a world of her own.

Just like me.

“Do you work at the inn?” she asked, her gaze running over my form curiously.

I nodded. Somehow she had recognized me. True enough, we’d seen other often. I did work at the inn. I brought her parents fresh linens and coffee every morning. But this was my free time and I no longer wore human skin.

“You're different. Not like the other one.”

I frowned, unsure what she meant. I cocked my head and then followed her pointing finger with my gaze. She gestured toward a trail that led deep into the woods, all the way to the edge of my territory.

“Have you gone that way?” I asked, concerned when I saw her yawn.

She nodded and stretched, all of her barely as tall as my chest.

I heard him then, one of my wild cousins, calling to her. She lifted her head and listened.

“He wants me to come back.” She shifted away from me, started to head down a path that led to shadows and darkness.

In that instant, a stray beam of sunlight sliced through the trees, fell upon her milky skin and set it aglow, almost like fire.

That was when I saw them.

She was surrounded by imaginary playmates. Transparent as ghosts, though they were only visible occasionally. An arm here, a leg there, a laugh that echoed and followed after her.

I quickly glanced at her forearms, bare for midsummer and they bore no mark. No one had claimed her yet. She was still free.

I could have claimed her for myself right then and to this day I sometimes wonder why I didn't. I think it was because she was so small—only seven years old, much too young to harvest, though my wild cousin wouldn’t think so.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Here's a LINK where you can read an even longer excerpt on the HarperCollins website.

And here's where you can purchase your very own copy of FEAST: Amazon l Barnes and Noble l Borders l Mysterious Galaxy l Laguna Beach Books l Vroman's Bookstore l Indie Bound Books l Or at your favorite local bookstore.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ON TOP OF THAT, HERE'S A CONTEST:


To enter the contest, all you have to do it post a comment below and tell me what's the best book you've read this year. Be sure to include your e-mail address so I can contact the winner. This contest will run through July 13. Prizes include: Afterlife totebag, copy of FEAST, copy of AFTERLIFE, buttons and bookmarks.

I look forward to reading your comments!

Not one, but two FEAST Release Parties with swag today

My second novel, FEAST: HARVEST OF DREAMS, is out in the wild today. In honor of her release, I'm inviting you to not one, but TWO Release Parties today. Both parties have a contest with the sweet swag you see above: large FEAST tote bag, signed copy of FEAST, FEAST and AFTERLIFE buttons and bookmarks.

Release Party One is actually an interview over at I Smell Sheep. Stop by and check it out. You'll find out things like how long it took me to write FEAST and why I wanted it to have the tone of a dark fairy tale.

Release Party Two will be held at Bitten By Books and has a guest post titled "If You Could Turn Back the Hands of Time." In it I discuss the world building I did while creating the Darklings--the supernatural creatures in FEAST. This party will go live at noon Central Time.

Coming soon to a bookstore near you!

Invasion of the Urban Fantasy Book Babes...it all begins on June 28. Release Day Madness. And it runs through July 1. All release day madness, every day.

Featured authors include: Karina Cooper, Jocelynn Drake, Nicole Murphy and myself.

We'll be posting excerpts of our novels (gasp), posting links (eeek), and quite possibly revealing deep, dark secrets (oh, no).

You never know. We may even toss in a giveaway or two.

Stay tuned for more details. But, if you really want to be safe, RUN to your local bookstore. And ask for our books by name.

The book born out of insomnia, is now causing insomnia...

What's coming up this week? Madness. I mean, a book release. Plus I've been trying to finish a WIP. So far I've had 3 nights this week where I couldn't get to sleep until 4 a.m. !!! I suppose it's my book, Feast, getting her revenge.

See, it was a book born out of insomnia. And now--just as it's about to release and the whole world will have a chance to see it--I have insomnia all over again.

Does this mean I need to write a sequel? Are the Darklings tormenting me, silently begging me to tell more of their story? I definitely have ideas for another book. I even have some cool ideas for a sequel to Afterlife.

If. I. Could. Sleep. I. Might. Be. Able. To. Write.

In other words, hint to any lurking Darklings, let me sleep, okay??

So, just for fun, I thought I'd post some photos of actors that I would cast in the main character roles. Here goes:

In this shot, Zachary Quinto plays Ash, who is caught in the act of casting an enchantment:


A young Sandra Bullock would star as Maddie MacFadden, the woman who unwittingly becomes the main target in the Darkling hunt:


Here's a shot of Zachary Quinto as Ash, looking devious:



And the shot at the top of the page was an inspiration photo I chose to help me imagine the forests that surround Ticonderoga Falls.

The Feast countdown continues

Today I have a contest running over on the Supernatural Underground.

This is what you can win in if you enter the contest...



Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I can't believe that Release Day--June 28--is almost here.

So, here's the countdown of what I will do until Feast releases:

I will have 6 showers, watch 15 TV shows, read part of one book, go for 8 walks, climb 25 flights of stairs, crack up laughing 8 times, burst into tears 2 times, send 310 e-mails, read most of those e-mails before I send them, troll the Internet 6 hours longer than I should, wear my PJs all day 2 times, cook a meal 0 times, feed and medicate the dogs 12 times, feed and medicate myself more times than I can count, forget what I was going to say right when I was in the middle of a sentence 16 times, do a happy dance 3 times, drink 35 bottles of water, check on the baby hummingbirds in my yard 10 times and try to get some writing/editing done 18 times.

Yikes.

Revealing my secrets, one by one

There are some very cool things going on the cyber universe today...

First, FEAST was reviewed over at The Aussie Bookworm. You can read the review here.

Here's a snippet:

"I really liked the way that the bits and pieces of vampiric lore were sprinkled throughout the novel. Some of them as we have always believed i.e. that they need to be invited to be able to cross your threshold while others have been tweaked slightly. They don’t drink blood but they harvest dreams."

Also, Kristin over at My Bookish Ways posted an interview with me today. AND she's giving away a copy of Afterlife. Believe it or not, she got me to confess something I've never told anyone online before. *gasp*

Some of the other things we discussed: What I like to see in a good book and what makes me toss a book aside in frustration. VERY good questions!

AND one more cool thing going on. I Smell Sheep has a very fun Swag Day Contest going on through Friday, June 17. Their contest involves matching an author with his/her pet. And, yes, I'm one of the featured authors! Followers of my blog should be able to figure out which one of those furry beasts belong to me. Hint, hint: Remember, I have 2 black and tan German shepherds? See, I just gave you one answer so you'll be ahead of the game.

Besides cover flats, bookmarks, buttons and trading cards, the folks at I Smell Sheep are also giving away the following books: signed copies of Afterlife and Nightwalker, an ARC of The Iron Duke, a paper copy of Demon Slayer. E-copies of Along Came a Demon and Shades of Gray, and Devil Without a Cause, which can be either a paper or e-copy.

I hope you'll check those posts out and say hi to the blog owners. They love visitors!

Winners Announced in The Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Contest

Awhile back I hosted a contest in celebration of my second novel, FEAST, and its official Coming Out Party (June 28, 2011 to be exact—Notice the way cool countdown widget to the right).

Today I'm announcing the 5 winners in The Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Contest.

Let's take a look at those fab prizes again...

FIRST:
One Grand Prize Winner will receive the following: A FEAST tote bag, a signed copy of FEAST and a signed copy of AFTERLIFE, plus a one-pound box of yummy See’s candy.




Four Runner Up Winners will each receive the following: A signed copy of FEAST, plus 5 FEAST/AFTERLIFE bookmarks.

Here are the winners.

Grand Prize Winner (who will receive a tote bag, signed copy of FEAST, and a one-pound box of See's candy):

Renee (SteelerGirl83)

And the four Runner Up Winners are:

Cath

Van Pham

Sharon

Thepix

Congrats to all of you and I will be contacting you shortly for your mailing addresses. Please note that none of the prizes will be mailed until I get my author copies of Feast. So the prizes may not get in the mail until the end of June. Thank you to everyone who participated!!

Two very nice reviews of AFTERLIFE, both posted this week

I am continually amazed and blessed by how wonderful the blogging community has treated me and my debut novel, AFTERLIFE. I mean, if you think about, they don’t have to post reviews. They could just read books and that would actually be very cool all by itself. But this group of awesome people reads books and then they post their reviews online. They go out of their way to let other people know when they come across a book they love.


I really like that. A lot.

So, I wanted to share two incredible reviews that AFTERLIFE received online this week.

The first was posted on May 4, on the Literary Escapism blog and was written by Casey. You can read the review HERE. And here’s a snippet of what Casey said about the book:

“No matter what you believe in, Afterlife will make you think about what is going to happen to you after you die. It will make you think about what immortality would be like. It will make you think. Period. (It probably will make you want to hug everyone in your family, or maybe that’s just me.)”

The second review was posted on May 5, on Sapphyria’s Book Blog by Sapphyria. She gave AFTERLIFE 5 out of 5 stars (Yay!) and you can read the entire review HERE. A snippet of her review is below:

“There are so many twists, turns, and happenings that you don’t expect but make total sense. When it was all said and done, I found this book to be a great read…I give this book a 5/5. I can’t wait to get her next novel FEAST.”

Thanks again to the folks over at Literary Escapism and Sapphyria’s Book Blog for posting their reviews and for loving books! You all get five out of five stars in my book.

Dinah Eng's Amazing Adventures at RT or How I ended up in an article with Melissa Marr and Pamela Palmer

Dinah Eng, a freelance columnist in Los Angeles, wrote an amazing article for Scrippsnews that got posted yesterday. Titled, "Romance novels feature paranormal twist," Eng's article discusses her recent trip to the Romantic Times Convention 2011 in Los Angeles, and most specifically, the Avon Paranormal Party. She interviewed three authors that attended the Avon Dusk To Dark event, Melissa Marr, Pamela Palmer, and believe it not, me.

SQUEEEE. I know. I was trying to play the part of the journalist and tell this story all professional, but it's really hard when someone writes an article that includes ME alongside amazing authors like Melissa Marr and Pamela Palmer.

Okay. Deep breath. Now, back to my "professional" voice...

Here are some quotes from the article:

“All my books are based in folklore that have been popular for centuries. I come from an Irish and Scottish family, and grew up hearing about faeries, ghosts, vampires and things that go bump in the night.” [Melissa Marr speaking.]

“In society, we want our men to be kind and civilized, but in fantasy, it’s fun to think of a man who’s not civilized and can be tamed by love,” [Pamela] Palmer says. “I used to be an IBM engineer, so I’ve got a very logical, analytical mind that can think through the story. But I’ve always had an imagination and story to tell.”

And here's a part about me [pardon me, my SQUEEE is coming back!]:

Another popular aspect of the paranormal romance genre can be categorized as urban fantasy. Merrie Destefano likes to write a combination of fantasy, romance, mystery, and science fiction. Her second novel, “Feast: Harvest of Dreams” debuts June 28, is a story with new monsters.

The characters in the book are a cross between faeries and vampires, and harvest people’s dreams. The idea came to Destefano one night when she was unable to sleep.

“I thought, okay, I can’t sleep... what if there were other creatures who can’t sleep?” Destefano says. “What would they be doing? The main character’s in the midst of the hunt. She’s slightly enchanted, and not horrified, by what she sees. She’s a survivor. I like strong women, and women are allowed to have roles in which they win in urban fantasy.”

---------------------------

So very cool. Really.

And Dinah Eng ends the article with this lovely line:
"Romance novels always have a happy ending."

And this author, who loves to include romance in every story, would have to say, "I heartily agree! I love happy endings!!"

Killer Apple Crisp (yes, it’s really THAT good)

As promised, here’s one of my all-time favorite dessert recipes. This one will be definitely be included in the Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Cookbook.


Killer Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
4 Jonathon apples
2/3 C brown sugar
¼ C sifted flour
½ C rolled oats
¾ tsp. cinnamon
¾ tsp. nutmeg
1/3 C margarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Wash, peel and core apples. Slice each ¼ apple into 4 slices.
2. Grease 8” x 5” pan. Put in apples.
3. Blend remaining ingredients until crumbly. Use spoon to spread over apples.
4. Bake 30-35 minutes.
5. Serve warm. Can be topped with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

The Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Contest

It won’t be long before my second novel, FEAST, will have its official Coming Out Party (June 28, 2011 to be exact—Notice the way cool countdown widget to the right). I want this celebration to last for a VERY LONG TIME—so I’m starting the festivities TODAY!! What better way to get the party started than with a dessert contest?


First of you all, you must know that the creatures in my next book LOVE sweets. They really do. In fact, that’s the only human food they like to eat. Right now, we aren’t going to discuss their Number One Food of Choice, but let’s just say that HarperCollins has rightly dubbed my main character, The Lord of the Hunt. And that title SO fits Ash, my gorgeous rascal from another world. (Pardon me while I drool.)

Sigh. Back to the contest and all the sugar-drenched fun.

FIRST, here are the prizes:
One Grand Prize Winner will receive the following: A FEAST tote bag, a signed copy of FEAST and a signed copy of AFTERLIFE, plus a one-pound box of yummy See’s candy.




Four Runner Up Winners will each receive the following: A signed copy of FEAST, plus 5 FEAST/AFTERLIFE bookmarks.

SECOND, here are the rules for entering The Virtual Feast Dessert-To-Die-For Contest:

1. Post your favorite dessert recipe on your site, then post a link to the recipe in the comment section below.
2. Give your dessert a fun name, like Vampire Kiss Cookies or Full Moon Cake or To-Die-For Brownies.
3. Also include the following in the comment section below: Your e-mail address, your name and your state. You can use your first name if you prefer not to share your last name.
4. Link to this contest on your site.
5. DO NOT INCLUDE four letter words or off-color language in your dessert name or your entry will be disqualified.
6. If there are any duplicate recipes (for instance, if I get 5 recipes for chocolate chip cookies), only the first entry will be counted. The others will be deleted. So make sure you look at what previous people have posted.
7. You MAY enter the contest more than once. Just make sure that you post two different recipes.
8. IMPORTANT: After the contest is over, I will compile all the recipes—those that win and those that don’t—into a PDF Virtual Feast Cookbook that will be available to all my blog readers as a FREE download. By entering this contest you are agreeing to be part of the cookbook with no compensation. Your name and state will be included, right below the title of your dessert.
9. The contest will run from April 20th through May 20th. Winners will be announced on this blog on Monday, May 23rd.

So a sample comment/entry would look like this:
Killer Apple Crisp
[link to recipe on your site here]
Submitted by Jill Smith from Wisconsin
E-mail: jillsmith@smith.com

By the way, I will be posting some of my favorite desserts too. You know, just to whet your appetite for the impending FEAST. *grin*

I can’t wait to see all of your fabulous recipes!! You better believe I’m going to be trying some of them out. Yum!!

Help share the love for FEAST and we can drink the stars together!

If you'd like to help SHARE THE LOVE for my upcoming book, FEAST, you would be my BFF forever!


Below is a fancy-nancy, makes you want to dance-all-night-long countdown widget. All you need to do is click on the Get Widget button and you'll get the code to embed this shiny widget on your own site. Like in your sidebar. Or in a post.

And if you are kind enough to post this clever little widget creature on your site, please let me know in the comment section below. That way we can dance and rejoice and drink the stars together!! *

PLUS, A WIDGET CONTEST:
Post this widget on your site, then let me know that you did in the comment section below. Include a link to your site. And then you will be entered in a SIGNED COVER FLAT OF FEAST giveaway. I will choose FIVE people from the comment section to each win one signed cover flat! Contest runs through next Tuesday, April 26th. Winners will be announced on this blog.



* That was a somewhat obscure reference to a tale that claims that Dom Pierre Perignon, a Benedectine monk, invented champagne. His supposed, but nonetheless beautiful, quote was, "Come quickly. I am drinking the stars!"

The Lord of the Hunt

I just wanted to share the amazing copy that the folks at HarperCollins wrote about FEAST on their site. You can read it below:

"With her brilliant debut novel, Afterlife, author Merrie Destefano earned herself a place of honor at the banquet table alongside today’s top authors of sf and urban fantasy. With Feast, she serves up another heaping helping of thrills, shivers, wonder, and glorious invention while spicing up the recipe with dark romance in the bestselling vein of C.L Wilson, Marjorie M. Liu, and other paranormal superstars. A spellbinding fantasy of supernatural intrigue and forbidden love, Feast blends vampire and fairy lore, with the resulting dish offering a sumptuous new take on both, as a troubled storyteller returns home to the mysterious autumn woods just prior to Halloween, to find her life and her soul captivated by a cursed immortal, the Lord of the Hunt."

I especially love that last phrase, "The Lord of the Hunt." Wow. Wish I had come up with that. (Don't tell anyone, but I might just steal it and use it on some of my FEAST promotional materials!)

STAY TUNED: The first of my Virtual Feast contests and promotions is coming up in a few days. And this one is delectable! I'm going to launch a Virtual Feast Dessert Contest with fun prizes (like books and tote bags and CHOCOLATE!!) and I'm also going to take all the submitted recipes and use them to make something REALLY COOL just for you!!

Wanna a taste of FEAST?

This is just a quick reminder for anyone who hasn't signed up for my newsletter yet (and if you haven't, why not? It's actually quite shiny and fun). In the next several issues, my subscribers will get EXTRA special sneak peeks into my upcoming book, FEAST.

For instance:

In my next newsletter, which should be coming out in a few days--definitely before the end of April, since it will technically be my April issue--I will be sharing an awesome deleted scene from FEAST.

In fact, it's possible that no one has ever read this scene but me.

And it was one of my favorite scenes in the book.

So, I'm really excited to finally share it with someone.

Sign up now in the little box on the right side of my blog. Very easy. No down payment. No blood ritual. No thievery of first born children. I promise.

The secret reason why you need to subscribe to my newsletter

Okay, I lied a little bit in my title. There isn’t a secret reason. There are about seven reasons.

The awesome folks who just received my shiny, very first newsletter already know Reason Number One, listed below.


1. Novel Excerpts: You’ll get to read sample chapters from my upcoming books before anybody else. My current subscribers just got to read the first chapter of FEAST, my brand new urban fantasy novel that won’t be released until June 28, 2011.

But, wait, like I said above, there are more reasons. And almost all of them are way cool.

2. Deleted Scenes: From time to time, I’ll include deleted scenes, never before read by hardly anyone—not even my agent or my editor or my very best writing pals.

3. Writing Tips: For the aspiring authors in the bunch, I’ll be sharing juicy tidbits on how to make your writing stronger. I know. I can’t believe I’m going to do that either.

4. Short Stories: For the readers in the bunch, I’ll be sharing some of my short stories. Many of these have been posted on my old blogs or websites, but some will be brand new.

5. Give Aways: Just for you. Really. I’ll have exclusive give-aways and contests just for my newsletter subscribers. Signed books and cover flats and who knows what else might sneak into my bag of free stuff.

6. Updates on Personal Appearances: I admit, like most writers I’m an introvert. But I do occasionally go out of the house. I go fun places like writer’s conferences (like the Romantic Times Convention in Los Angles, from April 6-10 and the OCCWF Writer’s Conference in Irvine, from April 29-30). And sometimes I even speak. Out loud. On panels or in workshops. At the OCCWF conference, I’m going to be teaching a workshop on Backstory. At the recent ConDor Con in San Diego, I was on three different panels (eeeek!), all of them included best-selling authors way more impressive than me. I’m talking people like Kiersten White and Sherwood Smith and Art Holcomb.

7. Typos: Most people wouldn’t consider the occasional typo as a bonus, but it really is. This is an opportunity for you to see how much I really need and treasure my editor, Diana Gill. Without her and her amazing staff of wordsmiths, I am prone to make mistakes. And they can actually be fun. You can laugh at them. Or you can take pity on me (I like that option better.) You can imagine that I had a throbbing headache (I did during my last newsletter) and multiple deadlines (well, not so much with that newsletter) and maybe I’ve even skipped a couple of meals (okay, that never really happens, but you can still imagine that it might).

So, as you can see, there are at least seven reasons why you need to subscribe to my newsletter. Or, if you’re already a subscriber—and if you are, I love you very much—then you might want to consider telling your friends about the newsletter. Or you could just tell them about me. Or about my books. Any of those options are way cool and earn you BFF points.


It's easy to sign up. I promise. No blood rituals or changelings traded for firstborns. All you have to do is fill out that teeny, tiny form in the upper right corner of my blog. And you can opt at any time. I won't chase you or stalk you. I may cry a little, but I vow you will remain a completely free human. Well, you may become addicted to my books, but that was always my dastardly plan.

[Insert laugh here, one both sweet and slightly dangerous.]

FEAST Book Trailer

In the life of a writer, some days are way more exciting than others. Days like when you get an agent or when you sign your publishing contract or when you finally get to meet your editor face-to-face. Days like when you press the send button on your final edits or when you get to see your amazing book cover for the first time. One of my favorite days is when I get my galley pages (the layout of the interior of the book). That's when the book feels real to me. And, of course, everybody loves the day when the actual printed book arrives and you get to hold it in your hand.

Well, today I need to add another favorite, way-exciting day to that list.

Today is the day the world gets to see the trailer for my next book, FEAST.

Eeeeeeeeek! I'm so excited!!!

So, before I float away because my feet are NOT touching the ground, here's the trailer. I hope you love it as much as I do.

The benefits of being exclusive

Sometimes life zips by, faster than I can keep up. My bad. If I haven't shown you the awesome cover for my next book yet, well, here it is:


Titled, FEAST: HARVEST OF DREAMS, this book is a stand-alone and it comes out on June 28, 2011.

Here's the back cover copy:

BACK COVER COPY:

Halloween is a bad time to return to the woods…

Madeline MacFadden (“Mad Mac” to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she’s always believed there was something living in these wooded hills.

But Maddie doesn’t remember the dark parts—and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area’s terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the Harvest…the time to feast.

Once again Maddie’s dreams—and her soul—are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during Harvest. Even a spinner of enchanted tales has wondrous powers of her own…

------------------------

And, believe it or not, I just found out the coolest thing from my editor, Diana Gill. (SQUEEEEE)

I can share an exclusive excerpt of FEAST with subscribers of my newsletter.

So, if you'd like to read the first chapter, then sign up for my newsletter, either in the box in the right sidebar or follow the link HERE.

All I can say is, I'm so excited that I can finally share part of my new book with my readers! Yay!!

Magic runs deep during Harvest...

At long last, I have permission to share the back cover copy of my next novel. Titled Feast: Harvest of Dreams, it releases on June 28, 2011.


Here's the back cover copy:

Halloween is a bad time to return to the woods…

Madeline MacFadden (“Mad Mac” to fans of her bestselling magical stories) spent blissful childhood summers in Ticonderoga Falls. And this is where she wants to be now that her adult life is falling apart. The dense surrounding forest holds many memories, some joyous, some tantalizingly only half-remembered. And she’s always believed there was something living in these wooded hills.

But Maddie doesn’t remember the dark parts—and knows nothing of the mountain legend that holds the area’s terrified residents captive. She has no recollection of Ash, the strange and magnificent creature who once saved her life as a child, even though it is the destiny of his kind to prey upon humanity. And soon it will be the Harvest…the time to feast.

Once again Maddie’s dreams—and her soul—are in grave danger. But magic runs deep during Harvest. Even a spinner of enchanted tales has wondrous powers of her own…

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I can't wait to show you the cover. But for now, just imagine something REALLY awesome!