Escapist Newsletter (Vol 5 Issue 3)

News from LE

My apologies for not having the newsletter up sooner.  Have you ever had one of those months that just seemed to come out of nowhere and didn’t let you go?  This edition fo the newsletter may seem a little light on the news, but either I completely missed it or there just wasn’t a lot that came out in February.  Who knows…maybe I’ll find a ton of stuff once I open my reader again.

Anyway, let’s see, what’s the latest from LE.  For those who are just stopping by, Larissa (Larissa’s Bookish Life) and I have gotten together to form Bookish Escape, an online book discussion that occurs on a biweekly schedule.  We just had our latest discussion, which happened to be Anita Blake, on Friday night and it was a blast. Even if you missed it, you can still check it out:

The next chat will take place on March 24th and we’ll be discussing Merit, Ethan and the rest of the Chicagoland Vampires with Chloe Neill.  If you’ve missed any of the previous discussion, you can find transcripts of the chats as well as the audio over on the Bookish Escape page.

March is in full swing and so is the 2011 edition of the “Look Who’s Going to RT” feature.  This year, we’ll get to meet 50+ authors who will be roaming the halls in Los Angeles, many of who are fairly new to me authors.  We’ve already meet Ashlyn Chase, Jaye Wells, Adrian Phoenix, Kelley Armstrong, Laurie London and Nicole Peeler; so stick around if you’re curious to see who else will be showing up.

Cover Extravaganza

Antho - EnthralledDuring February, 100 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, at 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 and Tez Says.

New Releases

March 1st:
Demon Song by Cat Adams (Song #3)
Those Who Fight Monsters: Tales of Occult Detectives an anthology featuring Justin Gustainis; Simon R. Green; Chris Marie Green; Rachel Caine
After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar an anthology featuring Anton Strout; Jackie Kessler; Maria Snyder
Primal Bonds by Jennifer Ashley (Shifters Unbound #2)
Never Again by Michele Bardsley (Wizards of Nevermore)
Twilight’s Dawn by Anne Bishop (Black Jewels)
River Marked by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #5)
Pleasure Me by Monica Burns
Living on the Edge by Shannon Butcher
The Morganville Vampires, Volume 3 by Rachel Caine
Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy (Accidental Friends #6)
It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare
Moon Cursed by Lori Handeland (Nightcreature #10)
Clarity by Kim Harrington
Passion Model by Megan Hart
Falling Under by Gwen Hayes
Taste Me by Tamara Hogan
Under Wraps by Hannah Jayne
The Dark-Hunters, Vol. 4 by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunter Manga)
Live Wire by Lora Leigh (Elite Ops #6)
Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire (October Daye #4)
Betrayal by Lee Nichols
Dark Mirror by MJ Putney
Dead on Delivery by Eileen Rendahl (Messenger)
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (King Killer Chronicles)
Blackout by Rob Thurman (Cal Leandros #6)
Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon

March 7th:
The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
Dante Valentine by Lilith Saintcrow

March 8th:
Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler
Afterlife by Claudia Gray
The Hunt of the Unicorn by CC Humphreys,
Wilder’s Mate by Moira Rogers (Bloodhounds #1)

March 11th:
A Hundred Words for Hate by Thomas Sniegoski (Remy Chandler #4)

March 15th:
Whedonistas: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them an anthology featuring Jackie Kessler, Sharon Shinn, Jeanne Stein, Nancy Holder, Seanan McGuire, Maria Lima
The Dawn Country by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear (North America’s Forgotten Past)
Steel by Carrie Vaughn

March 17th:
Chime by Franny Billingsley

March 22nd:
In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane
Wither by Lauren Destefano
(Chemical Garden)
Seduce Me in Dreams by Jacquelyn Frank (Three Worlds #1)
Fallen by Michele Hauf
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder (Burton & Swineburne)
The Screaming Season by Nancy Holder (Possessions #3)
Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Chronicles of Nick #2)
Wolfsangel by MD Lachlan
Night Magic by Jennifer Lyon (Wing Slayer)
Spirit Dances by CE Murphy (Walker Papers)
The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

March 24th:
The Enterprise of Death by Jess Bullington

March 28th:
The Spiral Path by Lisa Paitz Spindler

March 29th:
Surrender the Dark by LA Banks
Master and Apprentice by Sonya Bateman (Gavyn Donatti #2)
Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe
Lady Doctor Wyre by Joely Sue Burkhart
Rush of Darkness by Rhyannon Byrd
Children of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy (Scarabaeus #2)
How to Fall for a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper (Werewolf #2)
Born at Midnight by CC Hunter
Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione (Lords of Deliverance #1)
Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Indulgence in Death by JD Robb
The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter (Lords of the Underworld)
Vampire Mine by Kerrelyn Sparks (Love at Stakes #10)
Deathless by Catherynne Valente
Lover Unleashed by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9)
I Don’t Want to Kill You by Dan Wells
The Shadow Guard by Diane Whiteside

March 31st:
Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Here are a few other places with their own March releases: Wicked Little Pixie, All Things Urban Fantasy, io9, Tor/Forge, Tor Urban Fantasy, Dirty Sexy Books, Tez Says, and My Love Affair With Books.

New Release Dates:

DSylvan - ShadowflameI’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 and here. Here’s a few more:

2011: Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Beautiful #3)
04/19/11: Twilight Prophecy by Maggie Shayne
05/03/11: Hounded by Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid Chronicles #1)
05/17/11: Embassytown by China Mieville
05/24/11: The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
05/31/11: Desdaemona by Ben Macallan
06/15/11: The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein
06/21/11: Vacation with a Vampire…and Other Immortals by Maggie Shayne
07/02/11: Angel Omnibus Volume 2 by Scott Tipton
07/12/11: A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin (Song of Fire and Ice)
07/26/11: Wicked in Your Arms by Sophie Jordan
07/26/11: Shadowflame by Dianne Slyvan (Shadow World #2)
08/02/11: Wicked Pretty Things: 13 Dark Faerie Romances – an Anthology featuring Karen Mahoney
08/02/11: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
08/02/11: Death Sentence by AG Smith (Escape from the Furnace #3)
08/23/11: Possess by Gretchen McNeil
08/30/11: One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost (Night Huntress #7)
09/06/11: Vanish by Sophie Jordan (Firelight)
09/06/11: Shadow Kin by MJ Scott (The City)
09/13/11: Frost by Marianna Baer
09/13/11: After Obsessio by Carrie Jones and SE Wedel
09/15/11: Away by Teri Hall (The Line #2)
09/20/11: Cold Kiss by Amy Garvey
09/27/11: A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
09/27/11: Alterant by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love
10/04/11: Lost In Time by Melissa de la Cruz (Blue Bloods)
10/04/11: Chosen by Fate by Virna DePaul (Para-Ops #2)
10/25/11: The Bite Before Christmas an Anthology featuring Jeaniene Frost and Lynsay Sands
11/01/11: The Guardian by Sherrilyn Kenyon
11/14/11: Wherever You Go by Heather Davis
11/15/11: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting
11/17/11: The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch
11/29/11: Fate’s Edge by Ilona Andrews (Edge #3)
11/29/11: Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep (Mythos Academy #2)

From the Author Sites

JHines - Goblin TalesJim C. Hines has a new collection of Goblin novellas coming out on March 15th and he has a fantastic cover for it.  Goblin Tales features stories about Jig, which we first meet in Goblin Quest.  The artwork is done by Daniel Ernle, who also did the covers for the German editions of the Goblin novels.

Karen Chance has posted the blurb to the next Cassie Palmer novel, Hunt the Moon.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve been eagerly waiting for this to come out. Although, I’m thinking I might need to read Curse the Dawn so I remember how it was left off.  In case you missed them, the first two chapters have been posted.

Cassandra Palmer recently defeated a god, which you’d think would buy a girl a little time off. But it doesn’t work that way when your new job description is Pythia — the world’s chief clairvoyant. Cassie is busier than ever, trying to learn about her power, preparing for her upcoming coronation, and figuring out her relationship with the enigmatic sexy master vampire, Mircea.

But someone doesn’t want Cassie to become Pythia, and is willing to go to any lengths to make sure the coronation ceremony never happens—including attacking her mother before Cassie is even born.

This was something I wasn’t aware of – Karen Marie Moning has been contracted with Del Rey for a graphic novel that is set in the Fever world.  I haven’t done too much digging yet, so I don’t know if this will be a Mac story or completely separate.  However, I do know that this artist will be Al Rio and David Lawrence will be the scripter.  I’m not sure what this means exactly, but the graphic novel is being described as a “four-color graphic novel” and I’m wondering if that means black and white with two additional colors or if that’s just a fancy term and it’ll still be full color.  If anyone knows what that means exactly, I would love to know.

And yes, Karen Marie Moning has sold another 3 novels in the Fever series to Random House and the title for the new series is hidden in Shadowfever.

Score!  The Smart Chicks are planning a second tour.  According to Kelley Armstrong’s site, the tentative dates are September 26th through October 6th, with both cities and authors already confirmed.  However, there are still some unconfirmed details which is why nothing has been released yet.  It sounds like there might be a couple of stops in Canada (Vancouver and Ottawa), but I’m hoping for one in Detroit.  Or even Windsor, I’ll head across the bridge.

New Excerpts or Reading for Free

Antho - Wicked Pretty ThingsAt the time of this newsletter, Amazon has a few novels up for free as ebooks.  You can check out MaryJanice Davidson’s Outta the Bag, which is a prequel story to her novel, Me, Myself and Why?.  For fans of Christine Warren’s Others series, Heart of the Sea is a new novella that will be released April 5th for free.  As always, you can find many of the classics, for instance Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or HG Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, for free.

Darynda Jones has a free Charley Davidson story, For I Have Sinned, over at Heroes and Heartbreakers.

Ilona Andrews has posted an excerpt from the third Edge novel, which is titled Fate’s Edg and will be out November 29th.

Nalini Singh has posted an excerpt from Kiss of Snow, the next Psy-Changeling novel due out May 31st.  There’s a surprise though.  It doesn’t feature Hawke or Sienna, but Walker and a wolf named Lara instead.

Karen Mahoney has an excerpt posted for her upcoming story, The Lost Boy, which will be published in the anthology Wicked Pretty Things in August 2nd.

MacMillian has posted an excerpt for the second Dragonships of Vindras novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Secret of the Dragon.

Tor.com has posted an excerpt for Elizabeth Bear’s The Sea Thy Mistress, which was just released, and an excerpt for Lisa Desrocher’s Original Sin, which is due to release July 5th.

Larissa Ione has posted an excerpt from her upcoming novel, Eternal Rider, which is set to release in March 29th.

MacMillian has posted an excerpt for Jay Lake’s Green, which will be released on the 15th.

Lauren Dane has posted an excerpt from her novel, Believe, which is currently available.

Shiloh Walker has posted an excerpt from her upcoming novel, Hunter’s Fall, which will be available June 7th.

Diana Pharaoh Francis has posted an excerpt from the next Horngate Witches novel, Shadow City, which will be released later this year.

Orbit has posted an excerpt from Jay Wells’ next Sabina Kane novel, Green-Eyed Demon, which was just released.

Harper Collins posted the first chapter to Melissa Marr’s Darkest Mercy, which comes out on February 22nd.

Jim C Hines has posted an excerpt from his upcoming Princess novel, The Snow Queen’s Shadow, which is due to release July 5th.

Caitlin Kittredge has posted three teasers for her new release, The Iron Thorn.  You can read them here, here and here.

Keri Arthur has posted a teaser excerpt from her upcoming novel, Mercy Burns.

Cynthia Eden has posted the prologue to her next Deadly novel, Deadly Lies.

Rachel Vincent has posted an excerpt from her new adult series, Blood Bound.

Lauren Dane has posted an excerpt from her novel, Taking Chase.

What Bears Repeating

LGoldstein - Uncertain PlacesMaria Snyder has also released the title and blurb to her ninth novel, which is the start of a new fantasy series.  If you’re a fan of her Study series (Poison Study), something tells me you’re going to enjoy Touch of Power when it comes out in January 2012.  What do you think?

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life….

Sookie Stackhouse is coming to an end!  The LA Times is reporting that Charlaine Harris has announced the next two books after Dead Reckoning will be the last.  Granted, Harris did say “probably”, so there’s a chance she could write more, but I wouldn’t count on it.  Due to True Blood’s success, Harris’ creativity is being a bit stifled in the fact that she’s concentrating on Sookie and really nothing else.  She says she wants to other things as well and the shows prohibiting that.  I can understand that.  Dead Reckoning will be the eleventh book, so the series has gone on for awhile and it would be ending on a good note.  Hero Complex has the full story if you want to check it out.  There’s more at TrueBlood.net.

Ilona Andrews has announced the title to the third Edge novel.  We’ll get to read Fate’s Edge in the near future.  I was thinking we knew the release date (or about when), but I can’t seem to remember or find it.

Deborahe Cooke has a new website for her YA dragon series.  For all the skinny on Flying Blind, which will be out June 2011, check out The Dragon Diaries.  The second novel, Winging It, is slated for a December 2011 release with the as yet unnamed third novel scheduled for June 2012.

Orbit announced that they just picked up a new series by Lilith Saintcrow.  The new series is being described as a combination of historical urban fantasy and steampunk and the first novel will be published Summer 2012.

Featured Book: Noble Blood by Dana Marie Bell

DMBell - Noble BloodNobility has its privileges…and its price. Sometimes it just sucks.

For Lord Duncan Malmayne, it was love at first sight with his true bond, the lovely half-Sidhe, half-leprechaun Moira Dunne. Yet something is missing from his relationship with the fiery redhead, something that prevents him from completing the Claiming and making Moira his forever.

As problems multiply in what should be a magical, idyllic time, the depression weighing on Moira’s Sidhe heart signals a potentially devastating condition. Mate sickness. Her instinct tells her what’s missing: Jaden Blackthorn, Gray Court vampire, Duncan’s bond brother and closest friend—who tactfully withdrew from their lives after Duncan declared his love.

Jaden is both heartbroken and elated that the two people he loves most in the world are together. It’s best he cut off all contact to give them space to complete the Claiming. But trouble is brewing in the Malmayne clan, and when Jaden’s forced back into their lives by the Hob, their extremely rare tribond clicks with a reaction that’s swift, sensual and all-consuming.

But not everyone looks upon it as a blessing. In fact, the price of their love could be a potentially fatal shift of power…

This Month’s Reviews

Ghosts & Echoes by Lyn Benedict
Entangled by G. Hancock
Lover Awakened by JR Ward
Torn by K.D. King
Phantom Universe by Laura Kreitzer
Pale Demon by Kim Harrison
Trinity by Lauren Dane
The Werewolf Upstairs by Ashlyn Chase

From the Reader

SKenyon - Guardianio9 has the news that John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War is going to be heading to the box office.  Via Deadline, screenwriter David Self has been given the task of turning Scalzi’s novel into a major science fiction movie.  Wolfgang Petersen (Enemy Mine, Das Boot) has signed on to director the project.

Do you have a ton of books laying around that you may or may not ever go back to reading? I know I do. I’ve been going through my shelves and weeding out the ones I know I’ll never read again.  I even cut one of my bookshelves in half (literally) to make sure I do get rid of a few.  Now comes the part where I need to figure out what to do with them. I normally donate my books to one of the local libraries, but after reading Dakota Bank’s suggestions over at Supernatural Underground, I’m thinking I might give the Operation Paperback program a try.  What are some of your favorite places to donate books?

Have you ever wondered what 25 years of the Legend of Zelda would look like?  If so, then I would check out one of Blastrs pics of the day.  The artwork is simply fantastic.

It may be in Spanish, but it’s not the dialogue that totally makes this video rocking. It’s the fantastic Cthulhu that takes the spotlight.

The Winter 2011 edition of Subterranean Magazine has been published and there are quite a few good stories nestled inside.  For instance, you can find Caitlín R. Kiernan’s The Melusine as well as KJ Parker’s A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong.

If you haven’t heard already, Heroes and Heartbreakers has finally launched with a ton of cool things to start them off (hint, there’s a sweet contest going until tomorrow – I’m late with this, sorry!).  There are a ton of writers for the H&H site, with the intent to bring romance content from a variety of publishers, imprints and authors.  I’m going to take this to mean that they are encompassing all romance, not just paranormal, so if that’s your thing, H&H would probably be a good stop for you.  Also, they’ll be having original stories, pre-release excerpts, blog posts, giveaways and more, so make sure you bookmark if you haven’t already.

Author Appearances

JEstep - Touch of FrostFor the full listing of this month’s interviews, click here.

Contests

Fire and Ice is giving away a fine art print based on Karen Mahoney’s The Iron Witch. Contest ends March 21st.

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.

1 Comment

  1. That discussion about Anita Blake was great! :D
    Loved the part where they were discussing her sexlife, that was hilarious.

    Now I’ve got to find the time to read them… I read -and liked- Guilty Pleasures but despite buying them up till Bullet, I never came around reading the second. Hmm…
    Got a lil’ bit spoilerd, but by the time I’m there, it’s forgotten so I don’t care ;)

Comments are closed.