Welcome to my little corner of the gay erotic romance universe . . . well, half of it, anyway. (You can find the other half at RachelHaimowitz.com.) This is the place to come for sneak previews of new projects, release information, and the occasional M/M book review. I'll also share thoughts on the industry on occasion, and I hope you'll come share yours in return.



Thursday, June 16, 2011

"The End" FTMFW. And Free Stuff. Horray!

I'm thrilled to announce that at roughly 4 o'clock this morning, I typed the final words on the first draft of Crescendo. No, they were not "The end." But they could have been, as Crescendo marks the end of the 215,000-word journey Ayden and Freyrik started in Counterpoint and just finished on my laptop last night.

Now there will be edits, of course. Lots and lots of edits. But for the next day or two, I'm giving myself a break. I've been laboring hard under deadline for months now, and I'm looking forward to doing nothing for the next couple days but sleeping and reading Charles/Erik X-Men slashfic :D

And celebrating, of course. But what's a party without gifts? So I've got one for you folks. Here it is. (Click to embiggen.)


You're looking at one shiny canvas Crescendo tote bag; a lined, magnetic-backed Crescendo note pad, some Crescendo sticky notes, and two large Crescendo 2012 calendar magnets (one with full front-and-back artwork, and one with fonting).

Next Friday, I will happily ship this to one lucky winner anywhere in the world. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment (with your email, please!) telling me which character in the Song of the Fallen series is your favorite and why. Are you an Ayden gal like me? A Rik gal like my Counterpoint editor? Or maybe you loved the ever-staid Alfred Lord Lini, or the Disney princess Ella, or even the White Witch Lady Kona. Whoever it was, whatever the reason, leave it in the comments and I'll draw one winner at random from among all entries that follow this simple rule.

If the competition is fierce or your answer is particularly inspired, I'll throw in some other goodies as well, both from some of my other titles and from Kari Gregg and Aleks Voinov. (Yes, the three of us are all so internet!married to each other that we give out each other's swag.)

Oh, and one more thing before I go. My ridiculously brilliant Counterpoint editor has started up a fun new writing prompt blog called Creative Writing Prompts to help feed and inspire the muse in us all. It's brand new, but some creative prompts are up already, so go check it out!

20 comments:

  1. I wanted to drop a line and say THANK YOU for writing these books. I won a Counterpoint giveaway this week, finished the book in two days (Work? Bills? psssh.) and I'm in love.

    At the moment I'm absolutely enthralled with Ayden. Also, favorite line; “Foremothers, you tone-deaf imbecile.” You only use tone-deaf once in the whole novel (yay for less is more!) and it was to perfect effect right there :D /applause

    I can't wait until Fall...

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  2. LOL I forgot that line--I love it when Ayden's snark has teeth. And also when he's smacking down misogyny :D

    I'm so glad you enjoyed the book, and thanks so much for sharing your thoughts with me!

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  3. I'd love to enter. Haven't read Counterpoint yet, but it's at the top of my TBR pile as soon as I finish my latest project. :)

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  4. My favorite character is Ayden of course !!! He is so proud and loyal to his sister and to Freyrik and I imagine him so beautiful(maybe because the drawing is pure art !!!

    I couldn't stop reading it even though I was on exam period... You're that good ^^

    Anyway thanks for wrinting this book and i'm waiting eagerly for the second book !!!

    Oops, my email is florine_g(at)hotmail(dot)fr

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  5. I am ashamed to say I have not yet read anything from the Song of the Fallen series. It is on my list. I obviously need to quit my job just so I can have some quality reading time.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  6. I read Counterpoint fairly recently, and I have to say that I could not put the book down. I absolutely loved it! Especially Ayden! I love everything about him! I am definitely dying for book two!

    Nastasha
    stashlab(at)gmail(dot)com

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  7. I am completely in love with ayden! I love his strength and his integrity and his smart-ass mouth. He's beautiful and sexy and I can't wait for the sequel. thank you so much rachel for giving us these wonderful stories! Amarantheden@yahoo.com

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  8. @catgrant & marybelle: I know the feeling. I've got about 150 books already on my Kindle, just waiting to be read. And of course I still buy new ones when they come out, so I'm pretty sure I won't be catching up until I retire in 35 years :O

    @florine, Nastasha, & Amaranth: Aaah, a bunch of Ayden-lovers! Readers after my own heart :D Poor Rik, he's probably feeling very quietly affronted right about now ;-)

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  9. I just discovered this serie, and haven´t any favorite yet, but i would love to get a chance at this. It´s on my to-read list, definitely =)

    best wishes, Linda xoxo

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  10. Yes Please! Wants. Wants MUCH! :D

    Congrats on the finish. Awesome.

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  11. Guess I should have read that more thoroughly. But you already know who I like anyway. *gasp* Mah Ayden! Cuz he's snarky and adorable and he does all the things I wish I had the nerve to do. Like... pee on that guys shoe. lol that's still funny. There ya go. My who, and my why. :D

    amara @ mambazlair dot com

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  12. LOL, yeah. Though you gotta admit, it's physically much easier for him to pee on someone's shoe than it is for you to do it ;-p

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  13. LOLOL. True that. Lol that comment soooo didn't come out right. And there's my daily lesson in the need to re-read my comments before hitting that post button. ;-p

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  14. I see *someone* has to step in and speak on Rik's behalf! Need I remind you all that Rik is a prince, the king's brother, the effin commander of the entire army, and yet he indulges Ayden with superhuman patience because he is, first and foremost, a good man?

    And oh, Ayden, how fun it is to read his strong spirit and snark from behind the safety of a Kindle, but ladies, imagine having to actually *live* with him for a year or two! Hot sex, I grant you (if you don't get killed), but what you consider "charming" from afar will make you tear out your hair in frustration. To prove the point: imagine yourselves telling Ayden to take out the trash. 'Nuff said.

    Go, Rik :-)

    (Oooh, and I love Spyrna best!)

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  15. ^^^WIN. All of it :D

    (Actually, I think both boys would drive me nuts if I had to live with them. Rik would take out the trash, but it'd so be a Noble Self-Sacrifice that you'd feel guilty about it for weeks and never ask him again.)

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  16. ROFLMFAO. So right.

    Now I want a modern AU short where Rik and Ayden are roommates whose biggest concerns are stuff like who's taking out the trash. Pretty please?

    And (*headdesk*) thanks for linking to my new prompts blog!

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  17. Um... :-p

    Great, now I'm thinking of them, IDK, stepping through some magical vortex and landing their asses in modern-day Brooklyn. IT IS A COMEDY OF ERRORS!

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  18. I love Ayden for the same reasons as Rik: “that clever mind, that sharp tongue and droll wit. His love for Ella, manifested in sacrifice and secret smiles; his sense of honor and duty; his pride in the face of unceasing subjugation. His joy of nature, his respect for all things living, his skill with . . . well, everything.”

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  19. Congrats to Amaranth Eden--you're the winner of the swag bag! Amaranth, I'm sending you an email now.

    Thanks to everyone else for stopping in and sharing their thoughts with me!

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