Welcome KT Grant (With Contest!)
September 2nd, 2010
Hi everyone!
Normally, I do these interviews in my newsletter, but since my newest victim, K.T. Grant, has a book out that falls between them, I figured I’d subject her to my blog instead. I'm also going to give away a copy of her newest ebook, The Princess's Bride!
K.T., in case you aren't familiar, writes erotic romance and lesbian romance. I've read my share of m/m romance, but K.T.'s books are my first foray into the f/f subgenre. K.T. has been a huge supporter of my books, and I'm super happy to return the favor here on my blog, so here she is. Just leave a comment if you want to win her newest…a very spicy lesbian pirate romance!
On with it:
The Imp Round:
Favorite pizza toppings?
KT: Just cheese
Ale or lager?
KT: Ale… sweet summer ale.
Small purse or large tote?
KT: Large tote so I can carry all my books around
Mac or PC?
KT: Mac
Laptop or desktop?
KT: Laptop. Keeps my lap warm.
The Cruentus Round:
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to one of your characters?
KT: From The Princess's Bride. My sweet innocent heroine is kidnapped and held for ransom by her former lover who wants revenge. Former lover also wants to have her wicked way with my heroine.
The Bedim Round:
Which of your books contains the sexiest love scene?
KT: In my debut release, Lovestruck, my two heroines have some sexy times with a Jack Rabbit vibrator together.
The Sora Round:
Which of your books was the easiest to write?
KT: For the Love of Mollie was pretty easy to write since I had played the entire book in my head and just needed to get it written down on paper.
The Fallen Angel Round:
Which of your covers is your favorite? (I'm partial to The Princess's Bride!)
KT: For the Love of Mollie. My heroine Mollie, is curvy, and the female model on the cover shows that perfectly. (also has some nice man-titty to drool over)
The Seminus Round:
Who is your favorite Demonica brother? (What? You know I had to ask…)
KT: Eidolon from Pleasure Unbound. He's a sexy doctor who won't stop having sex with the heroine, Tayla, until she orgasms. And since she has problems with finding her "O", Eidolon has a lot cut out for him He's quite the giver!
Thanks for being with us, K.T!
Thank you my favorite author of hot demons ;)
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Okay, so just leave a comment about anything, maybe tell us if you've ever read an f/f romance before, and I'll announce a winner tomorrow!
Zoe Winters Winner!
August 31st, 2010
Zoe picked her winner, and it is: Comment #23, JoAnna B!
Please email her at: zoegrace25 AT gmail DOT com with your address to claim your prize.
Also, the Sin Undone blog tour has begun! Visit the participating blogs for interviews, reviews, and chances to win Sin Undone. Here are the ones who have already posted. Good luck!
http://www.maryinhb.blogspot.com
http://www.froggaritasbookcase.net
http://www.eclecticbooklover.com/
http://hangingwithbells.blogspot.com/
http://www.extremepersonalmeasures.com/
http://sensibleshoppers.blogspot.com/
http://www.rexrobotreviews.com
http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com/
http://patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com
http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com
http://simplystacie.net
http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/
Welcome Back Zoe Winters…and Giveaway!
August 30th, 2010
This week I have a special treat! Two guest authors who keep me entertained, whether I'm reading their books, following them on Twitter, or bantering in email.
Today, please welcome back Zoe Winters, and check out her most excellent contest!
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Hi, I'm Dayne Wickham, the hero of the first novella in Zoe Winters' book, Blood Lust. I offered to give Zoe a potion that would temporarily allow her to be in two places at once, but she has this weird thing about drinking potions. So here I am… covering for her.
I think she doesn't trust me with magic around her because she knows I'm jealous of her other male characters. She's got that ridiculous crush on Cain, which I completely don't understand. He's an incubus who kills every woman he sleeps with. Yeah, that's an attractive trait to have in a man. pffft.
And then there are the minor crushes she has on Anthony and Cole, who aren't as bad as Cain, but still. She likes her supernatural bad boys… demons, vampires, werewolves. But me, I'm just a magic user.
Hey, I can shoot a spark of glowing energy out of my hand and wrap people in a band of light. They can still say annoying things, but they aren't getting away. And I have a reputation. Despite this, apparently a sorcerer just isn't bad enough for her.
That's fine. I've got Greta, and I'm happy with her. But it still hurts to be ignored by your author. You know? Maybe I shouldn't be drinking so much. It turns me into a big emo pansy.
I know you didn't come here to hear a sob story, and my sinister reputation is going right out the window, but I needed to get that out. I'm a little bitter, and she probably should have trusted me with magic before she trusted me with a blog post.
Zoe was here a few weeks ago to promote the individual novellas that make up Blood Lust (Kept, Claimed, and Mated). But now, the collection is out in Ebook and finally in print. She's running a contest this week where you can win a free Amazon Kindle. She asked me to make sure people knew that the Kindle she's giving away will be the new generation with the free 3G, not the crappy one that just has the wireless. She was really insistent on this point.
She's also going to give away a signed copy of Blood Lust to one commenter she'll randomly select from the comments thread, here. I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have. Or, if Zoe can be bothered to tear herself from her other commitments, she might field some questions as well.
And now for the obligatory book description of Blood Lust:
It’s all about the blood…
Comprised of three novellas, Blood Lust gives readers a snapshot look at the world of the Preternaturals Series. (Future installments of the series will be novels.)
KEPT:
As a cat therian (shifter), Greta's blood is already sought after to enhance spells and potions, but due to a quirk of her birth, her blood is potent enough to kill for. When her tribe plans to sacrifice her, Greta must ally herself with Dayne, the dangerous local sorcerer, and the only person strong enough to protect her.
CLAIMED:
For a vampire, Anthony isn't a picky eater, but he's drawn to Charlee's blood more than any other. Like a fine wine saved for a special occasion, he's denied himself this pleasure. But one night, high from the potent magical blood of another, he claims his prize and loses control. Ashamed of almost killing the one woman who means anything to him, he wipes her memory of the event. When Charlee awakens with complete amnesia, Anthony is the only one who can clean up the mess he's made.
MATED:
Because of the vampiric blood that has run through her veins since birth, Jane has been a target for vampires who resent a human being "kindred." She's forced to disguise herself as a vampire groupie to appease them and safeguard her life. When she's abruptly given to Cole, the leader of the werewolf pack, to satisfy a gambling debt, she discovers the blood running through her veins has a far greater impact on her destiny than she ever imagined.
Print and ebook copies are available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. (other retailers coming soon.)
Buy links are available from Zoe's blog (The top stickied Amazon contest post.)
You can find Zoe here:
Five-Year Katrina Anniversary
August 28th, 2010
Well, tomorrow is the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
I hate this time of year. I really, really hate it. It's funny, because I was pretty okay for the first year after the hurricane, but by the second anniversary, I'd begun to have anxiety. I don't want to talk about it, see pictures of it, or watch TV coverage of it. Might be some delayed PTSD or something…I'm not sure. It took me days to even think of discussing it again on my blog. Even now, my eyes are stinging, my stomach is churning, and my heart is pounding.
For those who don't know, we lost everything in Katrina, including our brand new house. My husband, who is in the Coast Guard, had to live on his ship for a year following the storm, and my son and I had to go to Washington state to live with my parents, since we were homeless. It was a horrible time for us, but ultimately, we recovered. And as much as I hate to deal with Katrina, I do credit the disaster with the reason I got published. I'd hit rock bottom, felt I had nothing to lose, so I started writing without any rules, any restrictions, and basically, just let myself go.
Had Katrina not happened, I might have stayed in the groove I was in, writing contemporary romance that didn't fit my voice. So Katrina sucked, but some good came of it.
I don't think I can really go into it as deeply as I'd like to, so I'll point you to the posts I made immediately following the storm. I'd sent emails to Stephanie, and she posted them for me.
This first one is what I wrote while I was evacuated…I was terrified and wasn't sure exactly the extent of the damage, and I didn't know if my cat, who had been too sick to evacuate with (he was at the vet's,) was still alive.
This second one was written when I learned the extent of the damage and was heading back to Mississippi to start clean-up.
This one was written after I arrived in Ocean Springs and saw just how bad it was…
And this was the first update I made after I got to Washington state and began to chronicle cleanup.
The cleanup posts are still on my blog, and you can do a search for them under the Hurricane Katrina category, but the pictures are no longer up. They were lost during the website re-design. They were pretty incredible pictures, though.
Though we had a long haul that included years of hell dealing with insurance companies and crooked contractors, we finally got our destroyed house rebuilt and sold. Yes, we rebuilt it even though we were no longer living there — we had to…we were still making mortgage payments on the destroyed thing. In order to not loose 100K, we had to rebuild. We still lost money, but at least it wasn't 100K.
I do want to say that the state of Mississippi handled things really well. I have absolutely NO complaints about the state's response, their preparedness, or their ability to handle hurricanes. They had the National Guard, electric companies, and rescue personnel staged outside the hurricane path well before Katrina hit, and they rushed in the second it was over. Money given to the state by the federal government was spent on the people who lost their houses and jobs. I might not want to go back to the gulf coast to live, but if I had to, I wouldn't hesitate to give my thumbs' up to Mississippi.
So anyway, we're recovered, and very, very lucky. There area still a lot of people who haven't been as fortunate, so I figured I can get over my reluctance to deal with the anniversary in order to honor everyone else who was affected and who still feels the damage.
Thank you to everyone who came to my family's aid during that horrible time. Without you, I don't know what we'd have done. Your generosity got us back on our feet, and we'll be forever grateful.
Now, I think I'm going to have a beer and toast the fact that I'm in Wisconsin, where I'd much rather deal with a blizzard than a hurricane! 
SIN UNDONE Has Been Loosed!
August 24th, 2010
Yay!!!! It's official Release Day! Now, I say "official" because, well, it's official. But some stores put it out a week ago, and some seem to be holding off until Sept. 1. The ebook and audio book are also scheduled for Sept. 1, though again, I've had scattered reports of people finding Sin on their Nooks today.
Now, the original release date for Sin Undone was Sept. 1, but it was moved a couple of months ago, so I think release dates got kind of blurred. In any case, most people should be able to find it on shelves today. Me? I'm going out (with my broken arm) and signing stock at Target, Wal-Mart, and my local book store. 
I also want to give a shout out to another demon author, Kresley Cole, whose 8th IAD book, Demon From The Dark, releases today. Yay for hot demon smexing! :)
Happy reading, everyone!
Home!!!
August 13th, 2010
Well, after being away from home for a month for the medical emergency, I'm home. And I'm thrilled to report that everything turned out well, even though there were several scares.
Of course, as you can see from the picture, I managed to break myself while I was in Washington/Oregon with my parents. And get this, I did it at my CLASS REUNION. Yep, I'm the dork who went to the class reunion and fell on the dance floor.
I really hope there were no pictures…
So anyway, I did that last Saturday night. Went to the ER on Sunday for X-rays and ultimately, a cast for my broken arm. I also had a migraine from hell. Then I had to fly home Monday night. Can I just say that I DO NOT recommend flying with a broken arm.
It's funny though — the passengers in the airport and on the flights were MUCH more helpful than the airline personnel. Let's just say that I'm impressed with complete strangers in America, and I'm also looking forward to filling out a "How did we do?" survey for U.S. Airways. Ahem.
So…I'm home, typing one-handed and checking into speech-recognition software that can put my words on paper, since my typing has taken a hit. 
Ooh, but in the pic above, did you notice the book? Yep, that was yesterday, and I was holding the best birthday present ever — the finished copy of Sin Undone that my awesome publisher sent me!
And hey, this is fun – check out the 4 Horsemen wine!!!! I just had to get a pic with it to celebrate finishing Eternal Rider, the first book in the Lords of Deliverance series. And mmm…it's tasty…
Hope everyone is well! Not long until Sin Undone now!
Twenty More Days!
August 4th, 2010
I'm getting excited! Only twenty more days until Sin Undone releases, and I got an awesome review from Romantic Times:
"Fans of the Demonica series finally get their wish! It’s time for Sin, a seminus demon with a wicked mouth, a nasty profession, a hidden heart of gold and a need for … well, sex, to get her story. She finally meets her match and it’s a wicked ride. Tense, sexy and touching, only Ione can blend such feelings into a comprehensive and complicated story. There’s a lot going on here but Ione pulls it off, giving readers another truly great read." — 4 1/2 Stars!
In other news, I'm still working on revisions to Eternal Rider…I'm getting SO close. Right now the major stuff is done and I just need to go through and fix all the Swiss cheese holes and do some layering. I'm hoping to be able to get it to my editor on Friday afternoon.
Haven't had time for reading, but I've got a gob of books just waiting for me as treats…the new Cynthia Eden, Gena Showalter, Elisabeth Naughton, Amy Knupp…yeah, I have some heavy-duty reading to do coming up, not to mention snapping up the upcoming new releases from Kresley Cole, Ann Aguirre, Lara Adrian, Jaci Burton, Shiloh Walker…man, I just hope I can find time to write! *g*
What about you? What book are you loving right now?
Tempting The Fire Release Day!!!
July 27th, 2010
Shockwaves shoot through the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives (ACRO) when horrific video surfaces from the Brazilian rain forest. A team of Navy SEALs has been nearly wiped out by something sinister and superhuman. Now ACRO agents Sela Kahne and Marlena West head to the world’s most unforgiving jungle in pursuit of a mythical monstrosity with a taste for human blood. And the only path that will take them to the creature runs through two men, each hiding his own dark secret.
Sela is an expert on cryptozoology with a sideline skill that could prove invaluable: when she makes love to a man, she engulfs his innermost thoughts. Teamed with Marlena, Sela makes contact with the lone SEAL survivor, Chance McCormack. Meanwhile Logan Mills, the man who rescued Chance, leads his private company on a hunt that has nothing to do with saving lives. Soon, Sela will put her supernatural charms to work on Logan, determined to extract information about the creature they are seeking. But in this sweat-drenched realm of danger and deception, Logan is more than just a passive target. He has the power to lead a highly-trained seducer into a jungle without any rules, without any limits—and no end to the heat.
Yay! Tempting The Fire has finally released! It's been a year between Croft releases, so it's nice to see this book hit the shelves. I love, love, love this cover — probably my favorite so far.
Now, if you haven't read any of the Croft books, I have to say…I don't recommend starting with this one. It's the fifth in a series of six, so by this point, we're setting up the big finale, so you might be a little lost. I definitely recommend starting with Riding The Storm (book 1) or Unleashing The Storm (book 2.)
Romantic Times magazine gave it 4 stars and says, "A mythical creature, a couple of truly hot guys and sizzling sex make this ACRO (Agency for Covert Rare Operatives) entry a spicy and fabulously entertaining tale. Even the subplot has richly drawn characters and a smartly developed plot." Awesome!
And for a great reader review of Tempting The Fire, click here
Hope you enjoy!
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In other news, I apologize for being so scarce, but want to thank everyone for their support and prayers and positive thoughts. They worked! Things have improved, and though I'm still on the west coast to stay with my parents and help out, we're staying upbeat (and busy.)
I hope to be online more in the coming weeks, though this week is full of deadline hell and doctor appointments. I think once I get home (around mid-August, probably) things should settle down. And with any luck, I'll have some back cover copy and new book covers to show you! 
Hope all is well with everyone, and happy reading!
Hugs!
Larissa
Going on Hiatus
July 8th, 2010
Hi everyone,
I've been really bad about blogging lately because of deadlines and family medical issues. Things have deteriorated to the point that I have to make an emergency trip home. My father-in-law is coming to stay with my son, and I'm flying out to Oregon.
I don't know when I'll be able to get back online, but my family could really use your prayers right now. It's been a hellish couple of weeks, but it just hit another level.
Thanks in advance, and take care…
hugs,
Larissa
Today’s Post…
June 30th, 2010
is over at Authors After Dark, where I'm talking about my new Kindle, which will be here tomorrow. I'm so excited!
In other news, our fence is up! It looks awesome, so I'm thrilled. And we've finalized plans and gotten the estimate for finishing our basement, so that will get going sometime in the next two weeks or so.
We also have a nest of baby bunnies in our front yard, which has been cool. Fun to watch the mama rabbit come at dusk to feed and care for them. Of course, it's also made me a nervous wreck that someone is going to trample them if they step into our flower bed for some reason. I was like a hawk while the fence guys were here, because they needed to use the outdoor faucet just feet away from the nest. Eek. Yeah, I'm a worry wart.
So anyway, now I'm finishing up with the deadline for the 6th ACRO book and catching up on stuff that's gotten backed up over the last couple of days due to a major medical issue in the family. Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes, by the way — it helped.
Okay, off to work! Hope you're all having a great week!
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