It's going to be a hot summer: Wednesday guests, Spring Fever, Secrets...Coming soon:

(Going to draw the winner for yesterday's contest soon--here's a look at what's to come in the next few weeks).

I love the archetypal strong female characters--and women can be strong in every genre. For further evidence, I have invited fellow authors to tell me about their leading ladies in weekly guest blogs. Those will run all through June and the first half of July--but wait, there's even more in it for you. Most of those posts will come with giveaways of various genres, so you better stay tuned! Names and prizes will be announced soon.

Meanwhile, Spring Fever, the sequel to Winter Storm, is shaping up (a first draft is also supposed to be done by mid-July, because after that, my wife and I will be off to Europe). This will be the first time for me after two years to visit my native country of Germany. Furthermore, we have planned a short trip to Italy which is likely to include some research.


So, as long as we're still here:

I better keep busy!

When we're back, it will be time to prepare the launch of Secrets, a thriller in which the leading ladies face unexpected dangers during their summer vacation. Check it out November 1st.

I'm even updating my Facebook page a little more often.

Have a great Spring, everyone!

A Moment Like This...

It started out as a childhood dream, to hold a real book of my own story in my hands. Many years and written pages later, the moment arrived. The way there was paved with some unrealistic dreams on the one hand, the occasional idea that it might never happen on the other. In between, there was a lot of speculation that is turning into a more realistic assessment day by day.

My debut novel Autumn Leaves, like the sequel, Winter Storm, was published by Eternal Press. After a couple of months, Autumn Leaves moved into the Top Seller category on the EP website, where it climbed steadily to #2 and stayed there for a while.

Then it became #1.

Mind you, it’s doesn’t mean bestseller of the James Patterson or E.L. James kind, but here’s a lesbian romance sitting in the #1 spot of a multi-genre press, and that means something. Love is love. It’s more than a slogan. If people can relate to characters, root for them and want them to be happy, gender becomes less relevant.

On the other hand, we still have a relatively small section of books to choose from, compared to fiction/romance with straight characters. Increasing that number will help visibility. If my story does a tiny part in this, I’m happy for it--and I'm grateful for everyone who made this happen.

Don't forget the upcoming giveaway on Monday!

Autumn Leaves    

Eternal Press

Amanda Kelsey and Dawné Dominique, the amazing artists who created the covers for Autumn Leaves and Winter Storm respectively.

One Giveaway ends, a new one is coming soon:

The winner of the giveaway for the Scorching Reviews LGBT event has been chosen and notified just seconds ago.

Don't worry if you didn't get the email--there's a new competition coming soon.

(Graphic by Vicki Clarke)

Have you heard of Women's Murder Club Day, the annual celebration of the short-lived, but fabulous TV show based on James Patterson's book series? While the network gave up on the show, the fans did not, and every year on May 13th, we gather to discuss, reminiscence and post fanworks.

I decided to give away a signed copy of Winter Storm this year in order to--hopefully--help encouraging participation. Write a blog post or create fan art (gifs, videos, fics etc.) and send me a link via twitter, Facebook or here in the comment section. The winner will be chosen randomly as always.

If you want to learn a little more about Women's Murder Club Day, or why we celebrate it in the first place, go here.

It's frustrating when good scripted TV with outstanding female characters doesn't get the chance it deserves, but the recent successes of crowdfunding campaigns (Veronica Mars, Nikki & Nora) prove that fandom can make a change, and make itself heard.

Come and join in on the fun!

LGBT Event Blog Hop and...Terri Bruce's Cover Reveal tour

Edited:...to let you know that my own giveaway will run until 

the LGBT event is over. The winner will be randomly chosen and notified May1. 

On how to enter for the event grand prize, check out Scorching Reviews (scorchingbookreviews.blogspot.ca).

Due to unexpected circumstances, the two of them are kind of overlapping today, so please bear with me. If you'd like to check out Terri's tour, go here. You'll find all links and instructions for her giveaway in the post.






 Now on to the Scorching Reviews LGBT blog hop!

I'm up today with my post, and there's a grand prize for the event. In addition, I'll give away one e-copy of 

Autumn Leaves. To enter, just leave a comment here or directly on the post. Good luck!

For the grand prize, follow directions on the Scorching Reviews site!

COVER REVEAL: Thereafter by Terri Bruce

Today, I'm also happy to present the cover reveal for Thereafter by fellow Eternal Press Author Terri Bruce as part of her blog tour.

 Find all tour stops and instructions on how to enter the giveaway below, but first, here's a closer look at the gorgeous cover of Thereafter:

About THEREAFTER

When recently-deceased Irene Dunphy decided to “follow the light,” she thought she’d end up in Heaven or Hell and her journey would be over.

Boy, was she wrong.

She soon finds that “the other side” isn’t a final destination but a kind of purgatory where billions of spirits are stuck, with no way to move forward or back. Even worse, deranged phantoms known as “Hungry Ghosts” stalk the dead, intent on destroying them. The only way out is for Irene to forget her life on earth—including the boy who risked everything to help her cross over—which she’s not about to do.

As Irene desperately searches for an alternative, help unexpectedly comes in the unlikeliest of forms: a twelfth-century Spanish knight and a nineteenth-century American cowboy. Even more surprising, one offers a chance for redemption; the other, love. Unfortunately, she won’t be able to have either if she can’t find a way to escape the hellish limbo where they’re all trapped.

About the Author

Terri Bruce has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember and won her first writing award when she was twelve. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats. Her second novel, Thereafter (Afterlife #2), will be released May 1, 2013.

Email:   tbruce@terribruce.net

Website/Blog: www.terribruce.net

Goodreads:        www.goodreads.com/TerriBruce

Facebook:           http://www.facebook.com/authorterribruce

Twitter:                @_TerriBruce

Contest Information

Author Terri Bruce is celebrating the upcoming release of Thereafter, the second book in the Afterlife Series, with a scavenger hunt/giveaway! One Grand Prize winner will receive a set of 20” x 30” unframed cover art posters (1 each for Hereafter and Thereafter), signed by the author, and an eARC of Thereafter! Five first place winners will receive eARCs of Thereafter. Contest is open internationally. As a special bonus, everyone who enters the contest will receive, via email, a special sneak-peak excerpt of Thereafter, featuring Terri’s favorite scene!

Entering is simple:

1.       Visit all fourteen stops participating in the Thereafter Cover Reveal Blog Tour

2.       At each stop, there is an excerpt from Thereafter with a word highlighted in red

3.       Collect all fourteen of these highlighted words and arrange them into a fourteen-word sentence that reveals a major plot point of Thereafter

4.       Email the sentence and your name to Contest@terribruce.net

5.       Then enter via Rafflecopter to confirm that you emailed in your contest entry

6.       Additional bonus entries for joining Terri’s mailing list, tweeting about the giveaway, and shelving Thereafter on Goodreads will become available once you have completed the main entry

Good luck!

Excerpt

Her hand brushed something soft and crinkly, and she pulled it out. It was one of the paper birds she had picked up at the Ghost Festival.

Her heart sank. She held the crane in her palm and studied it, emotions warring within her. Her hand shook, causing the bird to tremble. Andras crouched down beside her. “What is the problem?” he asked.

She lifted her eyes to him. “This is a bird. I mean…there’s an actual bird in this thing; the spirit of an actual bird. If I unfold this so I can use the paper for a letter, what happens to the bird inside?”

Andras stared at the object for a moment and then looked at her again. “What happens to us if you do not?”

 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

LGBT Event -- Coming soon!

This month, Scorching Review hosts an LGBT blog hop, and I'll be up on the 18th. Check out the event and earlier posts here.

You'll be able to win an e-copy of Autumn Leaves too!

I hope you had a good start into the new week, wherever you are, and that I'll see you back here on Thursday!

SECRETS & Summer Vacations

If I wasn't already looking forward to this summer so much, the snowflakes dancing outside my window would certainly do that! It's my birthday today--I can't remember the last time there was snow. Wow. I can't wait for when we get to walk along the beach a few months from now. It will be two years since I've last been in Germany. There have been many changes. It will be something, and I'll be talking about it some more in the time to come, but first of all, the news I promised:

I got my third contract from Eternal Press!

That's right--book three of Callie and Rebecca is in the works, but in the meantime you'll be able to try a different kind of work from me soon. SECRETS is a standalone thriller. While I stay true to the "lesbian" genre when it comes to my main characters, you'll find a bit of straight romance, too, and of course, danger and suspense.

To say I'm excited is probably the understatement of the year.