Escapist Newsletter (Vol 4 Issue 5)

My apologies if this edition of the Escapist Newsletter seems a little scarce.  April seems a little slow on the news, but I think that could be due to RT being held at the end and all the authors trying to make deadlines before hitting the party.  I can say that I’ve seen some great things coming out as of the 1st of May, but let’s get on to the recap of April.

News from LE

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the posting has been a little off at LE this month. As of May 1st, Ian is now home five days a week, so my handy child-free MWF is no longer there. They were nice when I had them, but I had forgotten what it meant to have a toddler/preschooler home 24/7. I am hoping to get on a regular schedule soon, but that may not happen until this weekend when Jesse and I create Ian’s own space within my office (therefore he’ll be using his computer and not hogging mine). So don’t worry, I’m still here and the girls have thrown a bunch of reviews at me to get posted. Plus you don’t even want to see the number of reviews I still have in the draft stage.

I do have some good news though. I have a huge stack of books that need new homes (most of which are unread and courtesy of the fabulous RT Convention), so I’ll be making it up to everyone with a bunch of sweet contests soon. Once such contest will be for the fabulous board I have of various author signatures (which I’m thinking will occur at the end of the month). Until then, don’t forget to check out the ones LE has going on right now!

  1. Jaime Rush is giving away a signed copy (and bookplate) of Touching Darkness. Contest ends tonight!
  2. It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month and in an effort to help raise money for the Susan G. Komen race, I’m offering up 24 books to an undetermined amount of winners (each winner will get at least 2, it depends on how many people enter. Right now, there are 5 – so really good odds). Contest ends May 22nd
  3. I’m giving away two $15 gift certificates with a plea of helping Jesse and I name the new monkey. Contest ends August 26th or there about. FYI for anyone who has already answered, Jesse has vetoed the name Asher as well as my pick. :(

New Releases

05/01/10
Picture the Dead by Adele Griffin
The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker by Leanna Renee Heiber
Vampire Mistress by Joey W. Hill (Vampire Queen #5)
Magic on the Storm by Devon Monk (Allie Beckstrom #4)
Puppet Master by Joanne Owen
The Hypnotist by MJ Rose (Reincarnationist #3)
The Wish List by Gabi Stevens (Time of Transition #1)

05/04/10
A Legacy of Daemons by Camille Bacon-Smith
White Cat by Holly Black (Curse Workers #1)
Running Scared by Shannon Butcher
Kiss of Death by Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires #8)
Shadow Marked by Anna Evans
Little Women and Werewolves by Porter Grand
Hunted By The Others by Jess Haines (H&W Investigations #1)
Honeymoon of the Dead by Tate Hallaway (Garnet Lacey)
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse #9)
Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister (Light Dragons #1)
Bound By Darkness by Annette McCleave (Soul Gatherers #2)
Spells by Aprilynne Pike
The Demon in Me by Michelle Rowen (Living in Eden #1)
A Taint in the Blood by SM Stirling (Shadowspawn #1)

05/11/10
The Mammoth Book of Alternate Histories – the anthology
The Bone Conjurer by Alex Archer (Rogue Angel)

05/12/10
Early to Death, Early to Rise by Kim Harrison (Madison Avery #2)

05/15/10
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready

05/17/10
The Noise Within by Ian Whates

05/18/10
The Demon’s Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan (Demon Lexicon #2)
Worldshaker by Richard Harland
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #5)

05/25/10
Dane by Elizabeth Amber (The Lords of Satyr #5)
Moon Sworn by Keri Arthur (Riley Jensen #9)
Inhuman Resources by Jes Battis (OSI)
Glimmerglass by Jenna Black (Faeriewalker #1)
Web of Lies by Jennnifer Estep (Elemental Assassin #2)
Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane (Downside Ghosts #1)
Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Chronicles of Nick #1)
Daemon’s Mark by Caitlin Kittredge (Nocturne City #5)
Perchance to Dream by Lisa Mantchev (Theatre Illuminata #2)
No Werewolves Allowed by Cheyenne McCray (Night Tracker #2)
Cheat the Grave by Vicki Pettersson (Sign of the Zodiac #5)
Demon Princess by Michelle Rowen (Demon Princess #2)
The Darkest Passion by Gena Showalter
Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams (Delphic Oracle #1)

05/29/10
Running with the Pack – an anthology featuring Carrie Vaughn, Laura Anne Gilman and C.E. Murphy

New Release Dates:
06/22/10: Dark Flame by Alyson Noel
06/29/10: Keys to the Repository by Melissa de la Cruz
06/29/10: Wolf’s Bluff by WD Gagliani
06/29/10: Red Hot Fury by Kasey MacKenzie
06/29/10: Black Dust Mambo by Adrian Phoenix
07/01/10: Heartless by Anne Stengl (Tales of Goldstone Wood)
07/06/10: In Other Worlds by Sherrilyn Kenyon
07/13/10: Siren by Tricia Rayburn
07/20/10: Black Magic by Cherry Adair
07/27/10: Water Bound by Christine Feehan (Sea Haven)
07/30/10: The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick
08/01/10: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
08/03/10: Hero by Cheryl Brooks (Cat Star Chronicles #5)
08/03/10: Seduced by the Wolf by Terry Spear (Wolf Series #5)
08/30/10: Siren’s Call by Devyn Quinn (Dark Tides)
08/31/10: Dark Peril by Christine Feehan (Carpathians)
08/31/10: Chosen by Jeanne Stein (Anna Strong #6)
09/07/10: Warrior by Zoe Archer (Blades of the Rose #1)
09/28/10: Deadly Promises – an anthology featuring Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dianna Love, Cindy Gerard, Laura Griffin
09/28/10: Aching for Always by Gwyn Cready
09/28/10: A Midwinter Fantasy an anthology featuring Leanna Renee Hieber
10/05/10: Scoundrel by Zoe Archer (Blades of the Rose #2)
10/05/10: Misguided Angel by Melissa de la Cruz (Blue Bloods #5)
10/05/10: Something Wicked by Michelle Rowen (Living in Eden #2)
10/19/10: Blood Trinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Belador #1)
10/26/10: Crown of Crystal Flame by CL Wilson (Tairen Soul)
11/01/10: Touch of Temptation by Rhiannon Byrd
11/02/10: Rebel by Zoe Archer (Blades of the Rose #3)
11/16/10: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush #2)
12/07/10: Stranger by Zoe Archer (Blades of the Rose #4)
12/07/10: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy #6)
12/28/10: Ashes of a Black Frost by Chris Evans (Iron Elves #3)

Looking for more May release lists? Check out these fabulous bloggers: Parajunkee with young adult and urban fantasy; All Things Urban Fantasy; Michelle’s Book Blog; Wicked Little Pixie;

From the Author Sites

Ann Aguirre has posted the cover for Ava Gray’s second Skin novel, Skin Heat.

Kim Harrison has announced the title to the ninth Rachel Morgan/Hollows book. We’ll be getting a sneak peek of Pale Demon in the MMP release of Black Magic Sanction in January 2011.

Jeri Smith-Ready announced via twitter that she will be chatting with FallenArchangel.com about her upcoming novel, Shade, on May 17th at 9pm.

The Brenda Novak Online Auction for Diabetes Research is in full swing and there are some great prize packages being offered up. Just check some of these out:

Anne Bishop is currently working on a new story and it’s going to be set in the landscapes of Ephemera. I haven’t read Belladonna yet and I can’t remember all the characters from Sebastian, but the story is going to focus on Lee, so if you know who he is…

Ava Gray (aka Ann Aguirre) has a new anthology posted on her website. Primal will be coming soon and has Lora Leigh, Michelle Rowen and Jory Strong are all contributing to the collection along with Ava.

Check out the gorgeous cover Nalini Singh has for the next Psy-Changeling novel, Play of Passion.

Colleen Gleason has announced the title to the first novel in her new historical vampire romance. The Vampire Voss will begin the series next year. The series contains three novels (at the moment) and will be released simultaneously starting in April 2011.

Chloe Neill has the cover copy for the second Dark Elite novel, Hexbound.

Lily Parker is new to St. Sophia’s School for Girls, but she’s already learned that magic can be your best friend…or your worst enemy.

They say absolute power corrupts absolutely. Turns out, even a little magic can turn you to the dark side. That’s why Lily has to learn how to control her newly discovered paranormal abilities, on top of avoiding the snobs who think they run her school, nursing a crush on a cute sophomore with a big, werewolf-y secret, and fighting the good fight with her best friend Scout as they take on Chicago’s nastiest nightlife—including the tainted magic users known as Reapers.

Then Lily’s invited to a private meeting with Sebastian. He’s hot, powerful, and offering to help her harness the magic flowing in her veins in a way no one else can. He’s also a Reaper. Lily can’t hide her suspicions. But she’ll soon find out that the line between good and evil isn’t always clear…

Katie MacAlister has posted a revised cover for her upcoming novel, In the Company of Vampires. There is also a stepback cover for this novel, as shown, and both are simply stunning. I’ll be honest, though, the guy is nice, but I like the stepback more. I think it’s the size of the models that is making the decision for me.

SciFi Guy has a great UF Weekend Report. Lots of great information, so make sure you head over and check it out. One of the fabulous things you can find within this report is that the next Dirk & Steele novel (set to release November 30th) has been given a new title. It is now called In the Dark of Dreams. However, I’m not sure what the original title was.

Karen Marie Moning has some great news for all Fever Fans. Moning has been contracted to write three Fever spin-off novels as well as graphic novel featuring her Fever characters. Other than announcing the news that the books will be in the Fever world, there really isn’t much else. Paranormal Romance, which I have to thank for the news, checked in all the Moning venues and nothing is really being released yet. Either way, this is great news to look forward to.

Have we seen the excerpt that Laurell K Hamilton has posted for Bullet? With that in mind, have we seen the cover? I can’t remember if we’ve seen it or not, but it’s not that surprising considering the trend the series has been using lately.  There’s also the blurb for Bullet posted as well:

My name is Anita Blake and I am back in St Louis and trying to live a normal life – as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a US Marshal. I have my lovers, my friends and their children, school programmes to attend. In the midst of all this ordinary happiness a vampire from my past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, the dark creator, and it’s hard to kill a god. She has reached out to me here – in St Louis, home of everyone I love most. She has decided she has to act now or never, to control me, and all the vampires in America.

The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with me and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to emigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken; I’m about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing my body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can’t succeed in taking over my body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to me, has sent word: ‘Run if you can …’

New Excerpts or Reading for Free

Meljean Brook has posted an excerpt from her novel Demon Blood.

Ilona Andrews has posted a free short story, Grace of Small Magics.

Jennifer Rardin has a serialized story going titled, Cole Bemont, Supernatural P.I. in: The Case of the Bimbo Bloodsucker. The first five sections have been posted and you can read them here: Part One, Two, Three, Four, Five and Six.

  • The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove by Marta Acosta is now the number one YA download from Scribd with over 3,000 downloads. Have you got your copy yet? What are you waiting for…
  • Chapter 1 of Infinite Days by YA author Rebecca Maizel is available here.

Jill Myles has posted an excerpt for My Fair Succubi over on Odd Shots.

What Bears Repeating

Shiloh Walker announced the title to the third Grimms novel.  Crazy Hearts will featuring Ren and I still haven’t figured out who he is suppose to be.

Caitlin Kittredge has announced the title to the third Black London novel.  She has to turn in Bone Gods at the end of the month, so we should be seeing it on the shelves early next year maybe?

achel Vincent announced the title to the as yet unwritten fifth Soul Screamers novel.  It’s a slight departure from the My Soul to trend that the series has had, but If I Die still goes with the theme.  For those who missed the title for the fourth novel, it’s going to be My Soul to Steal and will be out January 2011.

Joey w. Hill has posted the start to the latest Vampire Queen vignette.  Taking the Gloves Off features Mason and Jessica from Beloved Vampire and may contain spoilers.

Jacquelyn Frank has a new fabulous website. While I was browsing it, I happened to notice that Jacquelyn has  two new stand alone novels coming out this year.  The first one is The Bid under the pen name of Jax (which is a fabulous name in my opinion) and will be out September 28, 2010.  The second one is Drink of Me, which will be out a month later on October 26,2010.  The blurb for The Bid is below (as is the cover), but for Drink of Me, there isn’t much else but the cover yet.

Jennifer Estep has announced the title to the first novel in a new young adult series that she’s currently working on.  A Touch of Frost will focus on a young gypsy girl named Gwen Frost who has the gift of psy­chom­e­try — or the abil­ity to know an object’s his­tory just by touch­ing it.  Right now, A Touch of Frost is still in the early stages, so no news on when it could be showing up in bookstores, but it’s definitely going to be one to keep an eye out for.

Jim Butcher has tweeted the title for the thirteenth Harry Dresden novel:

And I make the first concealed quote from book 13, GHOST STORY, baZING. :)

Yasmine Galenorn announced the titles for the next Camille and Delilah novels.

Oh, and so far, the title of Camille’s next book will be Courting Darkness, the title of Delilah’s 4th one: Shaded Vision. Still working on…title for Menolly’s 4th book

This Month’s Reviews

Kiss Me Deadly by Michele Hauf
Out of the Darkness by Jaime Rush
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
How to Catch and Keep a Vampire by Diana Laurence
Lover Avenged by JR Ward?
Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh
A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix
Blood and Chocolate by AC Klause
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K Hamilton
Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Featured Book

Katie from Babbling About Books has sold her first novel and she now has her own cover art and blurb! The lovely KT Grant even has a teaser for us from her upcoming novel, Lovestruck.

Jenny Caffey never realized her day from hell would lead to her failing in love with the one woman she shouldn’t- her boss. CEO hotel mogul Barbara Jennings has three months to decide whether to close the hotel or cut costs by firing some of her employees. She meets her much younger employee, Jennifer Caffey and is instantly smitten. Now Barbara has another mission, and that is to seduce the innocent Jenny. Jenny is also attracted to the powerful and beautiful Barbara, but has never really had a steamy love affair with another woman. Jenny unwittingly allows herself to be swept away by her passion for this older woman who may ruin her life…

New Interviews

For the full listing of this month’s interviews, click here.

Contests

Patricia’s Vampire Notes is giving away a copy of Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series. Contest ends May 16th.

Larissa’s Bookish Life is giving away Ann Aguirre’s Wanderlust and Doubleblind. Contest ends May 17th.

Mom’s Mutterings is giving away a copy of Grace Coopersmith’s (aka Marta Acosta) Nancy’s Theory of Style. Contest ends May 28th.

Vampire Wire is:

  • giving away a copy of Leanna Renee Heiber’s The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker or The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (winner’s choice). Contest ends May 10.
  • giving away a copy of Ransom Stephens’ The God Patent. Contest ends May 15th.
  • giving away a copy of Jess Haines’ Hunted by the Others. Contest ends May 16th.
  • giving away two copies of Linda Howard’s Blood Born. Contest ends May 19th.

Rachel Vincent is giving away three signed copies of My Soul to Keep. Contest ends May 24th.

Chloe Neill is giving away two arcs of the third Chicagoland Vampires novel, Twice Bitten. Contest ends May 15th.

Ellz Readz has discovered a bunch of contests as well as All Things Urban Fantasy has posted her latest contest collections.

Angieville is giving away an ARC of Maggie Stiefvater’s Linger. Contest ends May 12th.

Cover Extravaganza

This month, there were 62 different covers revealed, so needless to say, I’m not posting them all here. Sorry guys, but I did save them all over at the Facebook page. So if you want to see all of them, head over here; however, that doesn’t mean I won’t paste some of them here.

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.

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