Back from Vacay with a New Book!

Greetings all! I'm home from a much-needed (but sadly working) vacation, and I even brought back with me a special souvenir head-cold. Knew I shouldn't have licked those poker chips . . .

On the plus side, the food was great, the weather was warm, the seas were . . . well, stormy, quite frankly, pretty much nonstop, but I do so love a very rocking boat when it isn't making me nauseous (which is about half the time), and the company was wonderful (I was traveling with my brand-spanking-new stepmother, who is as awesome as they come). And even though I had a big pile of edits to do for Riptide while I was away, doing them on a deck chair overlooking a tropical island is way better than my kitchen table.

So, I came home and I realized that I have a new book coming out in eight days--Break and Enter, co-written with Aleksandr Voinov and releasing from Samhain Publishing--and I haven't even begun to think about doing anything fun with it yet. I've been so busy with Riptide that I actually forgot. So, that underwear model on the cover? He's Major Victor "Cyke" Kellermann, and I have no idea what happened to his pants. I think Aleks and I will do a Find Cyke's Pants scavenger hunt and maybe give out a classic Nook I've had hanging around the house since the summer. Sound like fun?

Oh, and just a quick housekeeping note, as well: since Riptide Publishing has acquired Guiltless Pleasure Publishing, Counterpoint is now available for sale on the Riptide site, yay! Which means you can earn bonus bucks if you purchase it there (they'll be working soon, I promise :-p), and while none of the story's content has changed, it does have a shiny gorgeous new Riptide layout. Right now it's only available in PDF, but in about a week, it'll be available in Epub, Mobi, and HTML too, and all the copies on third-party sites like Amazon will switch over from the GPP layout to the RP layout.

And now, apropos of nothing, some eye candy of the kind you've all come to expect from me, beneath the jump. It involves cats and actor crushes and I think it's my new favorite thing ever.

Crescendo Release Day & Print Book Giveaway!

Howdy folks! Today's the big day--Crescendo's official release day! It's now available at Amazon, ARe, and other major retailers, as well as at Storm Moon Press, of course. And can I just say? Nervous and excited author is nervous and excited. A lot of people have been waiting for this book for almost fifteen months. I worked on this series for three years. I'm very anxious to see if readers find it the satisfying conclusion to the story that I did. One reviewer's posted so far, and it was a lovely review (thank you, M/M Good Book Reviews!), but I'll still be holding my breath for at least a couple weeks.

While I'm suffocating myself, I thought I'd also celebrate and say "Thank you" to all you amazing, wonderful, spectacular readers by giving away a print copy of Crescendo. They won't be out until December, but when they arrive, I'll sign one and put it in the mail to one lucky commenter on this post. I'll draw a winner next Friday.

Some other news as well. As you've probably noticed, it's been a bit quiet round these parts lately. Between Riptide and my own writing, I'm starting to have trouble keeping up with the blog. I still very much want this to be a place where people can come and enjoy themselves, and I'll update at least once a week, but the schedule's going to start getting a little less regular.

Also, did a ton of updates on my website today. Lots of new info for my two new releases (Crescendo and Master Class), and also some new bits on the upcoming works page, mostly about the Kinkapalooza novel I'm co-writing with Cat Grant. We only started putting words to paper less than two weeks ago, but Cat and I have already accidentally won NaNo :-p Almost 60,000 words in already, and no signs of the end yet. This book is gonna be a friggin' doorstop of kink. Very, very excited about it; it feels amazing to be writing again after taking so much time off to focus all my energy on Riptide.

Hmm, I think that's it for now. I'm at a couple different places today: you can read a nice excerpt from Crescendo and maybe win a copy of Counterpoint at Laura Kaye's blog, and I have a guest post at Naughty Boys in the Backseat on the only-half-immortal problem. (Trust me, it's a big problem :-p)

If you've already read Crescendo, do let me know what you think, even if you hated it. If you haven't, say hello anyway to get yourself entered in the giveaway. I'll ship anywhere in the world.

Hugs and love to you all--I'm feeling particularly bouncy today :D

Monday Picspam & a Deal on Counterpoint

Yep, still crazy deadlines, which means more picspam for you :-) I'm doing a final sanity check on Aleks Voinov's absolutely FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC Belonging-verse novel Counterpunch tonight, and I'd forgotten between the spring and now just how much I loved it when he was writing it. Now that he's given it a good hard polish, it's even more amazing. (See for yourself--you can read an excerpt [and win a Kindle!] at the publisher's website.)

So, in celebration of that, I'm posting some hot hot boxers today a few non-copyrighted gifs and screencaps (other pictures likely belonged to someone and had no business being here in the first place, and have thus been deleted) beneath the jump.

Two quick notes before the picspam begins.

First, with the Crescendo release date looming close, my publishers have gotten together to offer both Counterpoint (the first book in the Song of the Fallen series) and Crescendo at 20% off when purchased directly through the publishers' websites. This is the cheapest it's ever been, so if you've been waiting to get it, now's a good time.

Second, OMG, the Riptide Publishing Grand Opening Celebration is just around the corner! See that shiny banner in my left sidebar? Click it! There's lots of exciting new stuff on the Riptide website and more to come, and our first stop on the party tour begins September 23 at Amara's Place with lots of fun and prizes and behind-the-scenes peeks at our first eight titles.

Okay, now picspam. And yep, I still managed to work in Fassavoy, and a bonus Til Schweiger! As always, click to embiggen.

Crescendo Sneak Peek #3

My scheduled guest couldn't make it today, so I thought I'd share a bit of my WIP with you all. It's hitting the 70,000-word mark today and will hopefully be wrapped up nice and tidy by the end of the month (or my editor will make me scrub toilets, yikes!). I've basically been eating, sleeping. and breathing Crescendo these last several weeks, and I'm very excited about it lately. I hope you will be too :-)

Before I get to the excerpt, just a few quick bits of administrava:

• It's not too late to enter the drawing for a free print copy of Sublime. Just pop on over to my last blog entry and leave a comment with your thoughts on the subject of pricing, which I discussed in the entry. I'll draw a winner on Friday. If you're having trouble leaving a comment (some people have mentioned this), just drop me an email or contact me via my website comment form instead.
  
  
• Storm Moon Press has added one more awesome incentive to pre-order Where He Belongs: you'll get to download the book a full 48 hours before the official release date! Of course you'll still be entered in the drawing for all the cool prizes too, so go, order! It's only $1.99 :-)
  
  
• Counterpoint is at last for sale as a Barnes and Noble Nook book, horray!
  
  
• The Anchored trade paperback is currently on sale at Amazon for $12.75. I don't know how long that sale will last--the last one disappeared in less than a day--so if you're interested and have been waiting for the price to drop, now's the time.

And now what you came for, beneath the jump.

COVER ART!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled no-blog day to share . . . *wipes drool off keyboard* . . . this.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Daniel Halstrom, star of Anchored: Belonging and the upcoming Where He Belongs, a short collection of vignettes releasing July 1 with Storm Moon Press. Click to embiggen; I cannot recommend that highly enough.

This is the cover of Where He Belongs, so the title and my name will be down in the lower left corner soon. Fortunately, my awesome awesome publisher over at Storm Moon gave me permission to post this now before the lettered version is complete :-D I'd have done it a few hours ago, actually, but I Couldn't. Stop. Staring. At. Daniel. Ah well--occupational hazard, I suppose.

If you're feeling like you recognize the style, that's because this was done by the amazing Nathie, the same artist who painted the cover for Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen, and who will be painting the cover for Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen as well. I feel like the Luckiest Author in the Whole Universe right now.

Oh, and speaking of exciting news? Anchored finally released in print yesterday! :D :D :D You can find it at Amazon (hmm, temporarily sold out at time of posting) or Barnes & Noble (in stock). Sorry about the cover price--I have no control over that--but hopefully if you've been eagerly awaiting the paperback, you'll find it worth the cost. To make it a little less painful for you, if you order one, email me your receipt (metarachel at gmail dot com) and I'll send you some cool Anchored swag.

That's all for now, folks. If I can cease my endless bouncing off the walls, floor, and ceiling, I'll be back tomorrow with the author and lovely lady Sarah Ballance, who'll be discussing Run to You, also of ZOMGHAWT cover fame :D

Crescendo Has a Release Date . . . And a New Home!

It's official, folks, an I'm very excited to be able to say that the Counterpoint sequel, Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen, will release October 7 with Storm Moon Press.

Why not with Guiltless Pleasure, you ask? Unfortunately, GPP's owner is facing some difficult times right now, and the press has had to take a backseat to more important issues. I loved everything about my experience there and am deeply saddened by what's happened. I hope they'll re-open GPP's doors in the not-too-distant future and that I can rejoin them again when the time comes. (You can still read the first five chapters of Counterpoint on their website and purchase Counterpoint through them; they're simply closed to new submissions now.)

That being said, Storm Moon Press has rolled out the red carpet for me, and I'm most impressed by everything I've seen and heard there. They are professional, completely on the ball, and run by some of the nicest and most knowledgeable people you'll ever meet. They offer a beautiful package--they even use the same cover artist GPP used!--some of the best editing in the genre, some of the best royalty rates anywhere, and fair pricing for an upscale/boutique reader experience. They'll also be offering Crescendo for pre-order with some awesome raffle prizes (did someone say a Nook???), so be sure to keep your eyes peeled as release day approaches.

Until then, Happy Monday, my lovelies, and thank you for sharing my joy with me.

Happy Read an Ebook Week! Celebrate w/Discounts & a Blood Feud!

As many of you may know, the week of March 6 is Read an Ebook Week. If you click on that link, you can enter to win an ereader. Over here at Fantasy Unbound, I'm celebrating with discounts, a buy-one-get-one-free, and a blood feud.

First, the discounts. My gay erotic BDSM ebook, Sublime: Collected Shorts, is 25% off this week at Smashwords. Just use the coupon code RAE25 during checkout, and Sublime can be yours for only $2.24! The print version of Sublime is also on sale this week at Createspace. Enter coupon code F4U75SWA to purchase a lovely 6x9 trade paperback edition of Sublime for only $4.95!

And for this week only, if you purchase Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen in print or ebook directly from the publisher using THIS LINK, and then email the account name you used to purchase the book to metarachel (at) gmail (dot) com, I'll send you an ebook copy of Sublime for free. (You must use the link provided above, or I won't be able to see that you've purchased the book.) Already have a copy? No worries; I'm happy to gift it to the recipient of your choosing.


And Now the Blood Feud . . .


Those of you who follow me on Twitter probably already know that Kari Gregg's Lovely Wicked and my Anchored: Belonging Book One have both been nominated for the 2010 Non-traditional Erotic Romance Book of the Year over at The Romance Reviews. Rather than take this potential competition gracefully, as good friends might we wont to do, Kari and I have chosen to smash each other into tiny puddles of unidentifiable goo. (We do this with the utmost love, I assure you :-D) Our feud even has its own website.

So, in the ancient tradition of the Pandering Vote Whore (and the even more ancient tradition of the quasi-quasi-quasi-celebrity deathmatch), I implore you . . .

Click here to vote!

And if you'd like to show your support for me (or for that other chick who looks--and no doubt writes--like drunk-and-arrested Nick Nolte), you can download your own badge at KariSucksAndRachelIsAwesome.weebly.com.

That's all for today, my dears. I'll see you Wednesday for a lovely guest interview and free ebook giveaway with All Things Romantic Suspense author Jerri Drennen.

Crescendo Sneak Peek!

Morning, folks! As I'm currently neck deep in the Counterpoint sequel (Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen) and trying very hard to stay that way, I thought I'd share a little sneak peek with all of you today. It's part thanks for sticking with me when I know that ending drove most of you crazy (and some of you, apparently, to plush-toy homicide), and part self-motivation to keep on the straight-and-narrow with this one.

You see, there are these boxers in the Belonging universe who keep trying to punch their way out of my head and onto the page, and I keep telling them they have to wait because I've got this other thing I need to do first. Sharing said thing with you lovely folks helps to keep me motivated, focused, and excited about it, and hopefully it'll excite you all a little too :D Even though it's just a teeeeeeeeeny snippet.

So anyway, today's Crescendo sneak peek is beneath the jump. This scene is very close to the beginning of the book, right when they arrive at High Court. The Aegis has given orders to bring Rik to one place in the castle, and Ayden to a different place. The boys are understandably nervous about being separated.

And if you didn't see yesterday's post about Kari Gregg's scrumptuous new release, What Rough Beast, or go leave a comment to enter yourselves in the drawing for a free copy of it, then definitely go do that as soon as you're done here :-)

Win Your Share of $100 in Prizes Today!

Greetings all. It is with both sadness and exhausted relief that I announce the very last day of the Anchored blog tour. And also with excitement, because today the only stop is right here at Fantasy Unbound, and the sole purpose of today's stop is to smother you with swag.

This post is a bit of a place-holder, but come this afternoon, I'll be posting up a bunch of easy questions. Easy, that is, if you've followed the tour (or if you're intrepid and feel like catching up today). I'll be posting one question for each tour stop. You might find the answer in the post, or you might find it in the comments. Email me your answers.

The person with the most correct answers will win the grand prize of the blog tour: An autographed trade paperback of Anchored, autographed trade paperback of Counterpoint, autographed trade paperback of Sublime, a pile of book-related swag, and a $10 Noble Romance gift certificate courtesy of Noble Romance Publishing! (Retail value over $50!) The person to answer the second-most questions will get the second prize: Ebook copy of Anchored, ebook copy of Counterpoint, ebook copy of Sublime, a pile of book-related swag, and a $10 Noble Romance gift certificate courtesy of Noble Romance Publishing! And the person to answer the third-most questions will win third prize: Ebook copy of Anchored and ebook copy of Sublime, plus a pile of book-related swag! If there's a tie, I'll select from among those with the most correct answers at random for first, second, and third.

I'll also be posting the full list of individual blog stop winners today. Some have already been notified, but many haven't, so keep an eye peeled for your name.

(On a side note, for those of you who've read Anchored and have questions or want to see more, remember that I'm taking short story requests for my upcoming collection!)

Thanks so very much to all of you who helped to make this tour such a delight: my gracious blog tour hosts, and you, my gracious readers. Check back this afternoon for the question list, and get your answers back to me by 11 PM eastern time on Tuesday night to be entered into the drawing.

It's Poll Time! And Also I'm You're Awesome!

A poll, if you would, for my Goodreads peeps (or those who, like me, simply can't resist pushing a button, any button, no matter what for):

What's your opinion on event invitations at Goodreads?
	They're great; I love to see what's going on with my favorite authors (or, you know, that Rachel chick)
	I don't mind them, as long as no one person sends me too many
	They make me ANGRY! I WILL SAY NO TO YOUR EVENT AND NEVER BUY YOUR BOOKS AGAIN!
	Meh, I ignore them or delete them unread
	I'm not on Goodreads, but I can't resist voting in polls
Free polls from Pollhost.com

And now for the awesome:

Yes, my friends, that is a current (as of this evening) screenshot of Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen cracking the Top 100 charts in the Gay and Lesbian Genre Fiction category. Thanks so much to all of you for supporting my writing, and especially to those of you who take the time to rate and review a book--be it mine or others', I love seeing M/M books get some love!--when you're done. Whatever small success I can claim is all because of my brilliant writing you :D

Unleashing the Muse

This has been an interesting month for me. I told myself in November that I could spend the rest of the year working on anything I wanted that wasn't Crescendo: Book II of Song of the Fallen. The idea was to spend some time and creative energy moving away from the series that swallowed most of my year (in the best possible way though, I assure you. Well . . . okay, maybe the second-best possible way) and focusing on projects that had fallen to the wayside. It's easy to let things slide when you always have an excuse ("I'm working on the novel!"), so I decided to bank that excuse, and bank the novel, and see where it would take me.

(Worry not, Counterpoint fans; it will still be out this fall.)

The first thing I did was revisit an old story sitting in a drawer (and by "drawer" I mean 2003 Dell laptop missing both the "m" and the comma key), a short little novel about modern-day slavery. I remembered, suddenly, my fondness for that piece when I'd written it, all the things I'd hoped to say with it, and--let's face it--all the dark kinks I'd written it to indulge. I thought, Hey, why not, I've got time now. I pulled it out, polished it up, and sold it in a week to the first house I subbed it to. That story of course is Anchored: Belonging Book One, releasing January 17 with Noble Romance Publishing. (**Insert obligatory plug for awesome, prize-filled Release Party Blog Tour here**)

Ask an Author, the Floor Is Yours!

Greetings all, and as the Chaplain Skeptic says . . . Please accept with no obligation, expressed or implied, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the inter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasions of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

*deep breath*

Now, as I prepare for the ancient and hallowed Jewish Christmas tradition of Chinese food and a movie, I open the floor to you, my readers, to pepper me with questions for the upcoming Anchored blog tour. One of the stops will be an Ask the Author day, where I answer said questions sent to me beforehand, and any I have time for that pop up during the tour stop day, as well.

So (she says, feeling horribly narcissistic for assuming you must be buring with unanswered questions about me, my life, my writerly habits, my books, my characters, my pets, my wilderness acreage in North Carolina, my weird "Three Mile Island" toes [as my ex used to say, referring merely to the second toe being longer than the first]), hit me. Ask anything at all you want, no matter how silly or serious or anywhere in between. Leave your questions in the comments and I'll do my best to answer as many as I can.

What's in it for you, you say? Aside, of course, from the endless gratification mild interest of chatting with your idol your favorite author that random chick on the internet who keeps writing about boys kissing? SWAG, of course! One question-writer will be picked at random to receive a swag package with some fun Anchored and Counterpoint products. Or, at the winner's choice, an ebook copy of Counterpoint instead, because both Guiltless Pleasure Publishing and Noble Romance Publishing are awesome and generous and are giving me tons of books and prizes to give away for this tour.

So ask ask ask away. Put your questions in the comments between now and January 10, 2011. Be sure you leave an email addy if you comment anon so I can reach you if you win a fabulous prize. And most importantly, have a  happy celebration of the inter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious or secular persuasions of your choice.

Release Party Blog Tour w/Prizes Galore!

My new M/M erotic romance, Anchored: Belonging Book One, releases with Noble Romance Publishing on January 17. Like any sensible author, I decided that'd be a fine excuse for a celebration or six. Celebratory trip to the absolutely epic vegetarian Chinese restaurant I never get to go to because it's 90 minutes away? Check! Game day with my friends? Check. Plastering the interwebs with fun facts and prizes? Also check.

Starting on Monday, January 17, and running the whole of that week, I'll be visiting a different blog each day for author interviews, character interviews, reader Q&As, and exclusive excerpts. You'll also find reviews of Anchored on stops along the tour. But I know what you're really interested in: swag. And oh my, what swag there will be! Every host blog will have some book-related swag to raffle to commenters. Every host blog will also have an ebook copy of Counterpoint: Book I of Song of the Fallen to raffle off, courtesy of Guiltless Pleasure Publishing, so you'll have at least six chances to win a copy of Counterpoint. AND, at the end of the week, the last stop on the tour--right here at Fantasy Unbound--will be bursting with goodies for those loyal readers who commented on every host blog, including two $10 gift certificates to the Noble Romance Publishing store, autographed and ebook copies of Anchored, and tons of book swag (magnets, mugs, notepads, bookmarks . . . you name it!).

Details are being finalized as we speak. Check back soon to see the complete list of host blogs and tour dates. It's going to be tons of fun; I hope you'll join us. For now, I'll leave you with a question, and the blurb from Anchored's back cover.

Question first: Is there anything in particular you'd like to see or do (or have available to win) on the blog tour? I mentioned some topics above, but this tour is for the readers, after all, so our first priority is to make it as fun for you as possible. If you have ideas about that, share them!

And now the blurb:

Network news anchor Daniel Halstrom is at the top of his field, but being at the bottom of the social ladder—being a slave—makes that hard to enjoy. Especially when NewWorld Media, the company who's owned him since childhood, decides to lease him on evenings and weekends to boost their flagging profits.

Daniel's not stupid; he knows there's only one reason a man would pay so much for what little free time he has, and it's got nothing to do with his knowledge of current events. But he's never been made to serve like that before, and he fears he won't survive the experience with his sanity intact.

He finds himself in the home of Carl Whitman, a talk show host whose words fail him time and again when it comes to ordering Daniel to bed. Daniel knows what Carl wants, but it seems as if Carl isn't willing to take it, and Daniel's not willing to give it freely. His recalcitrance costs him dearly, but with patience and some hard-won understanding, love just might flourish where once there'd been only fear and pain. Can Carl become the anchor in Daniel's turbulent life, or will he end up the weight that sinks his slave for good?