Escapist Newsletter (Vol 4 Issue 12)

News from LE

Child's Play GiveawayDuring the holidays, I’m raising money for the charity Child’s Play.  I asked a few authors to help support the cause and ended up with over 100 books to give away – the vast majority of them signed too.  The contest ends December 25th, so there’s still plenty of time to enter.

New Author Challenge 2011
I posted the information for the 2011 New Author Challenge, which happens to be the third year running.  I didn’t get in as many new authors this year as I would have liked, but I’m totally going to get back on the ball next year.  I have a bunch sitting on my shelves that really need to get read.

The final New Author Mini Challenge is under way and this month the focus is Men in UF.  Basically, if the main character is male or is written by a man, then it’s good.  At the end of the month, I’ll be giving away a copy of Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Book Club News!
I should totally have mentioned this sooner.  Jessica from Novel Reaction, Lexie from Poisoned Rationality, Terry from Romance in the Backseat and I have gotten together to form a freaking sweet book club – the Pajama Chat Readers.  The four of us has each taken a genre and for one week during the month, we’ll be showcasing an example of that genre.  Then at the end of the week, we’ll be on Blog Talk Radio, chatting with a few others (and anyone who wants to call in) about said novel.  Lexie is going to be talking about the fabulous historical novels that are out; Jessica is tackling the contemporary novels that have people talking; Terry will be dissecting the new YA hunk; and I will be bringing those creatures that bump in the night to the mic.

For the paranormal week, it won’t just be me.  God no, I could never do it by myself.  Thankfully, Natasha from Wicked Little Pixie agreed to do it with me, so you’ll be hearing from us each month along with one other blogger.  For our first pick, we’re going to tackle Kim Harrison’s Hollows series, in anticipation of Pale Demon, on January 1st about 9pmish (more detailed information to come later).  However, before we get to that one, Jessica will be discussing Jane by April Lindner on December 18th.

Cover Extravaganza

November New Cover Summary

During October, 110 different covers were revealed.  I’m only going to show off a few that I haven’t seen get as much time on the blogs, but you can find all of them, in their original sizes, on the Facebook page.  There were a ton of great sources: Wicked Scribes, All Things Urban Fantasy, Michelle’s Book Blog, Escape Between the Pages, Dark Faerie Tales, Tez Says and SciFiGuy.

New Releases

December 1st:
Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy
Wolf Fever by Terry Spear

December 2nd:
Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund

December 6th:
Believe by Lauren Dane

December 7th:
Circle of Lies by Douglas Alan
Songs of the Dying Earth by – an anthology edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois
Impulse Power by Robert Appleton, Nathalie Gray and JC Hay
Stranger by Zoe Archer (Blades of the Rose #4)
Real Vampires Have More to Love by Gerry Bartlett (Glory St. Clair #6)
Goddess of Legend by PC Cast (Goddess Summoning #6)
Right-Hand Magic by Nancy Collins
The Left-Handed Dollar by Loren Estleman (Amos Walker)
Entice by Carrie Jones
Alien Tango by Gini Koch (Alien #2)
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #6)
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (Fever #6)
Hawkmoon: The Runestaff by Michael Moorcock
The Buntline Special: A Weird West Tale by Mike Resnick
Avalon: The Warlock Diaries Omnibus by Rachel Roberts
Dance in the Vampire Bund Vol 9 by Nozomu Tamaki
The Owl Hunt by Richard S. Wheeler (Barnaby Skye)
The Keep by Paul F Wilson (Adversary Cycle)

December 14th:
Vixen by Lila Fine

December 21st:
The Book of Spells by Kate Brian
Out for Blood by Alyxander Harvey (Drake Chronicles)

December 28th:
Mercy Burns by Keri Arthur (Magic #2)
Eternal Prey by Nina Bangs (Gods of the Night)
Killing Rocks by DD Barant (Bloodhound Files)
Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz (Blue Bloods)
Ashes of a Black Frost by Chris Evans (Iron Elves #3)
Ruthless Game by Christine Feehan (Ghostwalker)
Sapphique by Catherine Fisher (Incarceron #2)
Crimson Wind by Diana Pharaoh Francis (Horngate Witches #2)
People of the Lightning by Kathleen O’Neal and W. Michael Gear (First North Americans)
People of the Masks by Kathleen O’Neal and W. Michael Gear (First North Americans)
People of the Mist by Kathleen O’Neal and W. Michael Gear (First North Americans)
The Good, The Bad and the Uncanny by Simon R Green (Nightside)
Hellforged by Nancy Holzner (Deadtown #2)
My Fair Succubi by Jill Myles (Magic Works #2)
Ascension by Caris Roane
The Storyteller by Harold Robbins
Arcane Circle by Linda Robertson
Vampire Crush by AM Robinson
Soul Hunt by Margaret Ronald
Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber
Fallen Angel by Heather Terrell
Captive Soul by Anna Windsor (Dark Crescent Sisterhood #5)

December 31st:
The White City by Elizabeth Bear

Here are a few other places with their own September releases: SciFiGuy (Fantasy, Young Adult, UF & PNR), Wicked Little Pixie, All Things Urban Fantasy,

Patricia’s Vampire Notes takes a look at the November vampire releases.

New Release Dates:

I’ve finally gotten the New Releases page updated.  A printable version of the New Releases page was requested on facebook awhile back and that is now available.  For a listing of all the novels that were added, click here, here, here and here.  Here’s a few more:

First Grave on the Right2011: The Mysterious Lady Law by Robert Appleton
2011: Jaq’s Harp by Ella Drake
2011: Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones (Charley Davidson #3)
01/04/11: Slice of Cherry by by Dia Reeves
01/04/11: A Werewolf in Manhattan by by Vicki Lewis Thompson
01/18/11: God’s War by Kameron Hurley
01/20/11: Subject Seven by James Moore
01/31/11: Brayan’s Gold by Peter V Brett
02/01/11: First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones (Charley Davidson #1)
02/01/11: License to Ensorcell by Katherine Kerr
02/01/11: Taken by Lilith Saintcrow
02/22/11: Treachery in Death by by JD Robb (In Death)
02/28/11: Badlands by Seleste deLaney
03/01/11: Taste Me by Tamara Hogan
03/01/11: Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne
03/17/11: Chime by Franny Billingsley
03/29/11: Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman (Master #2)
03/29/11: Born at Midnight by CC Hunter
04/05/11: A Hard Day’s Fright by Casey Daniels (Pepper Martin Mysteries)
04/05/11: Department 19 by Will Hill
05/01/11: Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney
05/01/11: Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson
05/03/11: Three to Tango – an anthology featuring Lauren Dane, Megan Hart, Emma Holly, Bethany Kane
05/03/11: Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse)
05/31/11: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
05/31/11: Deadline by Mira Grant (Newsflesh #2)
06/01/11: Beauty School Demon by Sidney Ayers
06/01/11: The Vampire Stalker by Allison Van Diepen
06/07/11: Vampire in Atlantis by Alyssa Day
06/07/11: Hereafter by Tara Hudson
06/07/11: Hunter’s Fall by Shiloh Walker
06/14/11: The Revenant by Sonia Gensler
06/21/11: Shadowcry by Jenna Burtenshaw
06/21/11: Dead Rules by Randy Russell
06/28/11: Spectyr by Philippa Ballantine (The Order #2)
06/28/11: The Siren’s Cry by Jennifer Anne Kogler
06/28/11: Eternity by Heather Terrell
07/01/11: Touch If You Dare by Stephanie Rowe
07/26/11: Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld)
07/26/11: Dead Alert by Bianca D’Arc (Dead #3)
07/26/11: Wildefire by Karsten Knight
08/01/11: The Lady of the Storm by Kathryne Kennedy
08/02/11: Eternal by Gillian Shields
08/16/11: Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones (Charley Davidson #2)
08/17/11: The Edinburgh Dead by Brian Ruckley
08/23/11: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

From the Author Sites

Three To TangoLauren Dane has a shiny cover for a new anthology she is participating in along with Emma Holly, Megan Hart, and Bethany Kane. Three to Tango will be released May 3, 2011 and it looks to have some hot stories inside. Here’s the blurb for Dane’s story…

Though Ava left her hard-knock Georgia childhood behind, she never forgot Luca and Angelo. Together they were best friends with a bond that could never be broken. But when she returns, the three must decide whether to face the fires that burn between them, or forgo their desires forever in Lauren Dane’s DIRTY/BAD/WRONG.

Want to see the other blurbs?  Click here.

Suburban Vampire has posted the nominees for the annual Best of Vampire…for 2010.

Tis the season for holiday baking and a few Avon Authors have gotten together to offer a Recipe Ring.  Kerrelyn Sparks has a fabulous recipe for Cherry Cheesecake Pie and Pamela Palmer has one for Apple Cookies.  I’m really digging Gayle Callen’s Triple Tier Brownies, I may have to make those soon.  Gaelen Foley’s Surprise Cookies are making me think, and not just that I’m hungry, but she has a recipe for chocolate frosting and I’ve been looking for one.

Yasmine Galenorn is raising money for the Northwest Harvest and Seattle Humane Society.  All anyone has to do is leave a comment on her site about something you remember and appreciate and viola.  For every comment left, Yasmine is going to add $1 to the pool and on December 5th, will split the proceeds between her two charities.

Carrie Vaughn has new covers for the next two Kitty Norville novels, Kitty’s Big Trouble and the short story collection Kitty’s Greatest Hits.  I can’t wait of the Greatest Hits to come out on August 16, 2011; Carrie says that we’ll finally get to see what happened to Cormac in the novella, Long Time WaitingBig Trouble comes out June 28, 2011.

New Excerpts or Reading for Free

BecomingChloe Neill has posted the first chapter to Hexbound, which releases January 4, 2011.

Kelley Armstrong has a free graphic novel available on her website.  Becoming gives the details on the dark time when Elena was first bitten.

Karen Chance has posted the first two chapters of the fifth Cassie Palmer novel, Hunt the Moon, which will be out June 7, 2011.

Gena Showalter has posted a few excerpts.  It’s tiny, but you can get a taste of The Darkest Secret, the next Lords of the Underworld novel here.  If you want to be teased about Twisted, you can read a small excerpt here. And the first chapter of Ever Night, Showalter’s novella in On the Hunt, can be read.

Kelley Armstrong has been serializing a Darkest Powers novella, Divided, and she finished it out back in August (go figure why I missed it :P).  If anyone hasn’t had a chance to read it yet, here are chapters One to Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight.  For those who have read it, Kelley has already begun a new serialized novella titled Disenchanted.  The first four chapters are now up: One & Two, Three and Four.

Ilona Andrews has posted a Kate snippet here and here, which I am going to assume is from Magic Slays.

Beth Kery’s Holiday Bound is available as a free Kindle download until December 15th.

Melissa Marr has the prologue and part of Chapter One for Darkest Mercy posted on her forum, Rath and Ruins.

Nalini Singh has posted an excerpt from Archangel’s Consort.  The third Guild Hunter novel will be released January 25th.

What Bears Repeating

GraveminderSo…had anyone heard that the next Sookie Stackhouse had a title? If that shocks you, check out the cover! The next Sookie will be available May 3, 2011 and will be called Dead Reckoning.

JF Lewis celebrated Halloween with a serialized story called A Void City Halloween and the final segment was just posted on his website. The first five parts of the story were shared via Paranormal Haven, Pocket After Dark, The League of Reluctant Adults, Bitten by Books and Amberkatze’s Book Blog.

The back cover copies for Deceived by the Others by Jess Haines (July 5, 2011), Never Enough by Lauren Dane (2011) and Graveminder by Melissa Marr (June 28, 2011) were revealed.  You can find all three here.

Tor/Forge has announced that they are putting together a newsletter that will feature news about our titles and author events, as well as what’s going on with the community, conventions, DIY projects, and more.  The first issue will be delivered (via email of course) sometime mid-December.  To sign up for the newsletter, click here.

In her recent newsletter, Marie Brennan announced the title to the fourth Onxy Court novel.  The Victorian-era novel will be called With Fate Conspire and everything is on track for a late summer/early fall release.

Jim C. Hines has some great news.  He just sold the first two books in a new series to DAW.  The new series has a tentative title of Magic ex Libris and will be featuring a librarian as the main heroine.  The first draft isn’t due until January 2012, so don’t expect anything on the first book for awhile.

Larissa Ione announced that a new anthology, Supernatural, she’s taking part in, along with Jacquelyn Frank, Alexandra Ivy, and G.A. Aiken, is now available for preorder on Amazon.  Larissa’s story is tentatively titled Vampire Fight Club and features Vladlena Paskelkov, a nurse at Underworld General Hospital (in other words is from her Demonica series!).  Larissa has posted a sneak peak of her story for Supernatural, which will be released September 9, 2011.

Angie Fox is teasing us with a look at her story, What Slays in Vegas, which will appear in the 2011 anthology, So I Married a Demon Slayer, which is due out August 30, 2011.

Nalini Singh has announced her 2011 release schedule.  We’ll be getting two Guild Hunter novels and only one Psy-Changeling novel; but that’s fine since the second Guild Hunter novel is going to feature Dimitri!  Wooo….can’t wait to see more of that vamp.

On Thursday, you’ll be able to find Marjorie Liu and CL Wilson at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Cincinnati. Here’s all the details.

Featured Book: Blue by Lou Aronica

BlueChris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Not long before, Chris’ world sparkled – he was doing significant work, he had a good home, and his young daughter brought him more joy than he ever could have imagined. Now, divorce and estrangement have left him confused and all too often alone.

Becky is Chris’ fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges in her early years to become a vibrant, vital young woman. Her parents’ divorce has left its mark, though, most significantly in her relationship with her father. Once, they told remarkable stories together. Now, they barely speak. Emotional detachment from Chris is not Becky’s biggest concern, though.

Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little – a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own. Miea knows nothing of Becky and Chris. She only knows that her beautiful kingdom – a place of remarkably varied flora, dignified and distinctive fauna, and an ecology that works in symphonic majesty – is in terrible, maybe fatal trouble.

At the most challenging junctures of their lives, Becky and Miea discover each other and Miea shares this discovery with Chris. For Becky, it is nearly inconceivable that a place she created has come into existence. For Miea, it is nearly inconceivable that a child created her land. For Chris, it is beyond inconceivable that he is again sharing something important in his daughter’s life. For all of them, it as though a world of opportunity has opened up before them.

But time is not on their side. In fact, time might be running out.

Together, they need to uncover a secret. The secret to why these worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them.

This Month’s Reviews

This month was a lot more hellacious than I thought.  There were only two reviews posted this month – The Vessel by Amanda Rose and Chimera by Rob Thurman.  December will be much better, two have already been posted and I know there are a couple more scheduled yet.

From the Reader

Mysterious Lady LawFor anyone in the Metro Detroit area, there’s a fabulous new bookstore that has just opened in Farmington.  Off the Beaten Path Bookstore and Cafe caters to:

…speculative fiction works with a steampunk air; wonderment, captivation, and entertainment are just through the door! If you’re a more “hands-on” person, workshops and events will draw your attention; if you prefer the company of words, books and podcasts will be available to you soon!

The hubby doesn’t work too far from this…something tells me the boys and I are going to be making a stop in there soon.  If any steampunk authors want to send me some bookmarks or something, I’ll drop them off when I go.

Jackie at Bitten by Books has another fabulous Off the Fang.  This time, Jackie discusses the line that seems to be crossed one too many times.

Dark Faerie Tales has another Publishing News post announcing the sale of many books from Jeaniene Frost, Erin McCarthy, Jim C Hines and more.

My Vampire Fiction is having a food drive and they are looking to raise $500.  They are giving away a signed copy of JR Ward’s Lover Mine as incentive.

Dark Faerie Tales and Tynga’s Reviews have gotten together to bring everyone a Dark Winter Tale:

This chilling event will feature some of the biggest names in paranormal fiction writing a unique and never before seen Dark Winter Tale.  Beginning on December 1st and running on alternate days through December 21st, Tynga and I will each be featuring different authors, and AMAZING giveaways for all the new releases coming out this winter.  The Dark Winter Tale event will draw you into an epic short story.  You will be able to read a new section of the Dark Winter Tale story, written by a different author each time.

The Book Vixen is totally a reading challenge queen.  I don’t know how she does it, or is going to do it, but she’s hosting four different challenges in 2011.  If you’re interested, check out these challenges brought to you by Book Vixen: Nicolas Sparks, YA of the 80s and 90s, Outdo Yourself (this is one I’m joining) and Men in Uniform.

Another fun (and stupidly easy for me) reading challenge is one Book Chick City is hosting next year.  It’s the Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge and the goal is to read 24 UF/H novels in 2011.  Considering that’s pretty much all I read, I don’t think I would have a problem with this one.

Author Appearances

Born at MidnightFor the full listing of this month’s interviews, click here. Look, it’s me at Dark Faerie Tales and All Things Urban Fantasy

Contests

Tor/Forge has a bunch of giveaways going on right now.  Click here for a summary.

My Vampire Fiction is giving away a signed copy of JR Ward’s Lover Mine.  Contest ends December 20th.

Rachel Vincent is giving away a copy of My Soul to Steal. Contest ends December 1st.

Nancy Holzner is giving away a signed copy of Hellforged. Contest ends December 7th.

Tynga’s Reviews is giving away a CSN giftcard. Contest ends December 7th.

GoodReads Contests ending:

December 1st:

December 7th: 6 copies – Once in a Full Moon (Full Moon, #1) by Ellen Schreiber

December 9th: 6 copies – Vampire Crush by A. M. Robinson

December 16th: 20 copies – Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr

December 25: Candy Wars: The Tooth Fairies vs The Candy King by R.G. Cordiner

December 31st: Life’s Blood (Pulse, #2) by Kailin Gow

February 28th: Death’s Sweet Embrace (Dark Brethren, #2) by Tracey O’Hara

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

3 Comments

  1. You had my hopes up–and almost an emergency run to the bookstore!—but Shadowfever was rescheduled from today to January 18th.

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