Snippet

Polaris Rising Snippet on Ilona Andrews’s Site!

/ Author News, Snippet, Writing

Ilona and Gordon were kind enough to host a new snippet of Polaris Rising! Head over to their site to check it out. You’ll also find the story of how we first met. :)

And if you came from their site, welcome! Chapter One of Polaris Rising is available on the book page. A few other snippets are also available.

If you enjoyed the snippets, you might also like my novella, The Queen’s Gambit. I wrote it as a blog serial last year, then edited and published it. TQG2 kicks off in the next month or so, also as a free serial first, so now is an excellent time to check it out. :)

Edit: And, of course, I am eternally grateful to Ilona and Gordon for sharing! 😍

Book Two Update and Snippet

/ Author News, Snippet, Writing

Book two has been sent off to my editor! Woohoo!

I have to admit, sending in book two was far scarier than sending in book one. After all, she liked the first book enough to buy it. This one is an unknown. What if she hates it? What if the first book was just a fluke and I’ll never write anything as good/better? And so on and so forth. Thanks, brain, for making me neurotic. :/

In less crazy news, book two has a title: Aurora Blazing. It’s due out late next year, currently October (subject to change, etc, etc). Somehow, Goodreads already knows more about it than I do. I don’t know what kind of data ninjas they have over there, but nice work.

Polaris Rising is the story of Loch and Ada. Aurora Blazing picks up where PR left off, but it’s the story of Bianca and Ian. Bianca is Ada’s sister.

Here’s a little snippet from Aurora Blazing. This is from the rough draft and subject to change/be cut from the final draft. :)

My com vibrated and Ian’s info reappeared on my glasses. The five-minute block had expired. I confirmed Aurora was on course for orbit, then accepted the video link as voice-only on my side—I could see him, but he couldn’t see me.

If I’d thought I’d seen Ian at his angriest before my meeting with Evelyn, I’d been dead wrong. I’d never seen him so furious as he was right now. His face was set in lines of granite and his eyes blazed with temper. His jaw was clenched so hard I was afraid he’d break his teeth.

It seemingly took him a force of will to open his mouth. “Lady Bianca, return to the ground. Now,” he gritted out.

…

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Polaris Rising: Cover Reveal, RWA Signing, Snippet, and More!!

/ Author News, Events, Snippet, Writing

It’s the week for book news! But before I show you the gorgeous cover of Polaris Rising, let me tell you about something exciting:

I am signing early galley copies of Polaris Rising at the Avon signing at RWA this week!

The signing is on Friday, July 20, at 8:30AM in the Sheraton Denver Downtown Plaza AB, and you need an RWA conference badge to attend.

If you or anyone you know is going to RWA, please please please come and see me. This is my first signing EVER, and it’s like my nightmare scenario to have a book signing where no one comes. I’ll be in a room with some of my favorite authors, so on your way to their table, take a second to stop by my table. :)

And now, without further ado, here is the cover for Polaris Rising:

Polaris Rising Cover

Many thanks to the team at Voyager for the design! I think it turned out great and I can’t wait to see it in print!

If you’re a reviewer, librarian, or bookseller, review copies of Polaris Rising are available on Edelweiss.

And I know I just had a book release (which was amazing, thank you so much!), but if you feel so inclined, Polaris Rising is up for preorder, both in ebook and print formats:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Preorders are important for traditionally published books (especially debut novels), so expect me to push it a few more times as we get closer to release. :)

And, as a bonus for making it through all of that, here’s a tiny snippet: …

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Book Recs and a Snippet of The Queen’s Gambit

/ Book Rec, Snippet, Writing

I’m still buried writing book two, but thanks to a long flight, I had the opportunity to read a couple books from other people this week. Both were excellent and if you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me talking about them.

The first is Wicked and the Wallflower, by Sarah MacLean. This is a delicious historical romance with a scoundrel hero and a lock-picking heroine. The banter in this book is incredible and these two are perfect for each other. I can’t wait for the next book in the series! You can read an except from chapter one on Sarah’s site.

The second is Iron and Magic, by Ilona Andrews. Fair warning, we’re friends, so I could be considered biased, but their books are awesome by any measure. I know a lot of readers of the Kate books didn’t think Hugh could be redeemed, but I’m here to tell you, you’re wrong. Hugh may be my new favorite character (shh… don’t tell any of my other favorite characters). And Elara is the perfect foil for him. You can read the first three chapters over on Ilona’s site, but once you get going, you’re not going to want to put it down.

Finally, did you know that The Queen’s Gambit comes out in less than two weeks? Aaahhh! You can get your hands on all the sweet, sweet preorder links right here. And, as before, print on demand books are coming but they can’t be setup for preorder, so they’ll be available to buy from Amazon on release day.

Here’s a little snippet to tide you over for the next couple weeks. :) …

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The Queen’s Gambit: Cover Reveal, Preorder, and New Snippet!

/ Author News, Snippet, Writing

The Queen’s Gambit is now available for preorder! Woohoo! Seeing my name on a novella at Amazon is kind of surreal, I have to admit. :)

Behold, the cover:

The Queen's Gambit Cover

Many thanks to Natanya Wheeler at Nancy Yost Literary Agency for her help with the cover design!

Preorder links:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Print on demand paperbacks are coming, but they will not be available until closer to release/on release day.

I also created a fancy book page where you can read the blurb and the first two chapters. There weren’t a lot of changes early on, so for those of you who read the serial, below is a peek at the beginning of Chapter Eight. …

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