EmmaD
Lauren
Spav
Amy Stewart
Katee Robert
Loves Sam
TheBookPimp
Sayuri

Email your name & mailing address, so I can hook you up with your ARCs. Congrats!

(If you didn’t win, don’t despair. If you follow me on Twitter, you’re still in the running for the last two ARCs, but I have to hit 2K first, and if that happens before midnight tonight, I’ll give away that $50 in book money.)

Seriously, though, it’s gorgeous. It just might be my favorite in the whole series and I’ve had some amazing covers. I love the suggestion of blood, the composition, the look in her eyes, and the movement of her hair.

Two of them are reserved for a Twitter contest. When I reach 2000 followers, I’m giving away two of these arcs. So that’s one way you can enter. Then post a comment saying you’ve done so. You must be following me at the time these two ARCs are awarded.

That leaves eight others ARCs up for grabs for other people. But I’m combining these contests for simplicity. To enter, simply post this widget in your blog sidebar.

If you don’t have a blog, you can Twitter about the contest. You can also post the widget on Facebook and MySpace. Then come back here to comment and tell me it’s done. If you have no social media whatsoever, then tell your friends about the giveaway in whatever manner you see fit. Comment to tell me how you’re spreading the word about the second Corine Solomon book.

This contest will run for two weeks. By entering, you agree you’ll post a review somewhere by April 6.

ETA: One week left. To sweeten the pot and make sure I hit 2K by next Friday, I’m adding a $50 Amazon gift certificate. One lucky, random winner will get a $50 Amazon gift certificate in addition to the Hell Fire ARC. How sweet is that? You must be following me on Twitter to enter and win. If you don’t have Twitter and you want that book money, well, it’s pretty simple to open an account. You can decide if it’s worth it.

Later, I go to the grocery store. To get to Superama, I drive up to Pinon and back down Alcanfores. I pass a brightly painted shopping center the right called Plaza Jardins, but I don’t love shopping at Soriana. Their grocery section isn’t as nice. So I take the roundabout up and back down to the back road that leads to the market. This street is wide and has a garden running down the center of it. Fir trees march alongside palm and acacia, bougainvillea and redbud, aloe vera and rubber trees. My drive to the supermarket is, surprisingly, quite green. White paint bands the bottom of each tree, discouraging insects. The houses are bright, like a flock of tropical birds.

First on that road, I come to protesters angry with the government for closing down independent power stations. The government alleges these stations were corrupt and took kickbacks for power discounts. Either way, I see men in mufflers and down jackets milling around, carrying signs. In the next block, a man sits on a lawn chair behind an open red hatchback car, selling bonsai trees for fifty pesos. He is drinking from a thermos and reading a magazine. I make the left turn at the big tree, and this side street has a man washing a car. He waves as if I might know him. I wave back. I continue down to the restaurant that sells flautas and pozole and make a right turn. Two buses block the narrow road and the drivers are arguing in the street. It takes four minutes before everyone shakes a fist one last time and goes their own way. Then I’m at the store. I find a place to park and get a cart.

It’s cold out, the sky so gray I think it portends snow. It has been freezing these past weeks, and we are just not prepared for it. Everyone hustles in and out in their jackets and hats, head down. The man who sells magazines is not around; nor is the flower seller. The woman who sells pastries is not working. Clearly, this is a winter unlike we’ve seen before. To make matters worse, my back door is broken. The repair men were supposed to come today. Now they are supposed to come tomorrow. When will they be here? Who knows? This is Mexico. I have become philosophical about such things.

I do my shopping and listen to conversations in Spanish. In the produce aisle, a toddler tugs on his mom’s coat and wails, “Quiero fresas!” (“I want strawberries!”) Another woman talks about a scarf she is knitting. An old man tells his grandson that he cannot have the new Hershey’s Good Night Hot Chocolate. I ask the clerk to step away from the onions so I can buy some. At the checkout, I pay in a mix of vales and cash. The bagger is quick, so I tip him extra. In the parking lot, I pay a security guard twenty pesos to take my groceries out and put them in the trunk of my car. Once home, I carry them inside and put them away. Next I make a pot of beef vegetable soup to ward off the chill.

And this is a day, through my eyes.

It’s epic fantasy, probably written in the late 80s or possibly the 90s. The main characters were a bard and mercenary. They fell in love over the course of the book and had adventures, both together and separately. Because the country was at war, the mercenary (or soldier) did many brave things. He was a bit older, battered and scarred, possibly missing an eye. He was elevated to nobility by the end, and they could not be together officially because (a) she was a bard and (b) she was also barren. It was a lovely, bittersweet story. I’d like to revisit it but I can’t remember who it’s by! (I’m sure it’s not Mercedes Lackey.) Does this ring any bells for anyone?

Help!

Oh, and Happy New Year.

This is the last post I’ll be making for 2009. Sometimes I do a “best of” post, including my top ten favorite books. I’m not going to do that, mainly because 2009 has been the year of work for me. I’m pleased and proud of what I’ve accomplished but I am not in a ranking mood.

Today I am in a giving mood.

Or if you’re in the UK… *points to the right* Gollancz is doing back-to-back releases for Blue Diablo and Hell Fire in the UK. I hope y’all like reading about Texas. In book four (if there is a book four), Corine will be traveling to England, Stoke to be exact, to meet (and help) the oh-so-mysterious Ian Booke. Which means I’ll be planning a trip soon.

So without further ado, I offer you, my dear readers, a chance to win a copy of my Hell Fire proofs. They have been marked in a few places by me. Not many, I will grant you, and not much. This was a fairly clean set of proofs. I will bind these with a ribbon inside a cover flat, so it will be pretty close to a proper book, only personalized, signed, and written on, by me. If that seems like a cool thing to get for the holidays, then you should enter the contest. What do you have to do?

It’s simple. Tell me what you liked most about Blue Diablo. Since this giveaway is for the second book in the series, I assume you’ve read it. If not, and you just want the bragging rights, then I guess you’d better get reading regardless. Cos I will not accept answers like, It has a great cover, or I like the heroine’s hair, or it’s awesomely book-like. Alternately, I will also accept the answer to why you want to read Hell Fire.

And go!

(Winner announced next Monday. You will probably receive it after the holidays, due to slow mail.)

ETA: And the winner is… Meghan! Email me your full name and mailing address, so I can hook you up. Happy holidays, everyone!

I love Christmas. Decorations, carols, family and friends – it all makes me giddy. Like, break-into-song giddy, but I will refrain (you’re welcome). The other reason the season means so much to me is that my husband used a holiday trip home to his parents in Hawaii almost twelve years ago to propose. Our wedding anniversary is December 12th. That makes this time of year extra special no matter where we are.

I hope you all have a safe and happy season with the people you love and in the place that means the most to you. Happy Holidays!!

–HelenKay Dimon

HelenKay Dimon breathes new life into the contemporary. She writes with a fabulous sense of humor and her trademark is great banter and snappy dialogue to complement her vibrant characters and strong settings. If you enjoy Alison Kent or Susan Elizabeth Phillips, you want to try out HKD. I’ll be giving away three of her books today.

Since HKD didn’t pose a question for y’all, I shall. In light of her very sweet anniversary story, I ask you this. What’s your favorite romantic holiday memory? Keep it PG-13 please! Contest wraps up in 24, as ever. And go!

ETA: And the winner is… Patti! Email me your name and address.

Zoo (the husband) and I are power shoppers, mainly because we both pretty much detest shopping, although we like giving gifts. Every year at Christmastime, we decide that we’re doing all our shopping in one night. We leave ourselves about four hours, head to the nearest mall and we shop for everyone on the list. What drags us through is knowing that we’ll treat ourselves to a really nice dinner (aka bribe) afterwards, our Christmas date night.

And what we don’t find out, we get online. I love online shopping! What about you – love to shop for the holidays or not?

–Stephanie Tyler

Stephanie Tyler has been compared to Suzanne Brockmann and Cindy Gerard. Her books are fast-paced and riveting with passionate and intense characters. If you like romantic suspense with a military edge, you will not want to miss her new release. I’ll be giving away four of her books today.

So Steph wants to talk about Christmas shopping. How do you do it? Are you a shopper who starts six months in advance or do you just buy a bunch of stuff in a rush? What’s your strategy and how do you feel about it?

Winner will be announced tomorrow, so you have 24 hours to speak your mind. And go!

ETA: the winner is ..Ina! Email me your name and address.

Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year, but it wasn’t until I had my son that Christmas became truly magical. It’s funny, because I have so many collectible ornaments (like Star Trek ornaments!) but the ones I love best are the cheap, goofy ones my son made in school. Every year I thank God that of the few things we salvaged after Katrina, those ornaments were among them. My very favorite? A gingerbread man made from real gingerbread dough that still smells yummy after 7 years. What about you? What is your very favorite ornament? Happy Holidays!

–Larissa Ione

Larissa Ione writes my favorite new paranormal series. She writes the books exactly as I want to read them. They are dark, gritty, passionate, and she’s not afraid to take risks in her work. What’s even better, she writes about demons. I had never been a fan of paranormal romances because so many of them are about vampires. And I guess I just got over my interest in vamps earlier than most. But Larissa came up with this amazing idea and her Demonica books have so much fabulous world-building, plus her heroes are just delicious. If you haven’t read her yet, you are so missing out.

Larissa wants to talk ornaments, so let’s do that. Share your favorite and why it’s special to you. Winner walks away with her first three Demonica books. Announced tomorrow, like the first two contests. And go!

ETA: the winner is… Paula! Email me your name and address.

So first let me tell you a little bit about Moira’s work. She writes smart, sexy paranormal romances with crisp characterization, fast-paced plots and super-snappy dialogue. Her dialogue is just about my favorite part of her books. If you like Kelley Armstrong or Patricia Briggs, you should really be reading Moira Rogers. The key difference is that Moira writes in third-person and there’s more sex. But otherwise, the elements those authors bring to their paranormals are found in a Moira Rogers book. Her world-building is fantastic, and her heroes never tread over the line from alpha to asshole. I can’t wait for her next Red Rock book and the Southern Arcana series is fabulous too. How many authors could take a brooding lumberjack vampire hero and make him awesome? (I don’t know the answer to that, but I can’t wait for Adam’s book!)

One lucky winner will walk away with a print copy of Crux and all three of her Red Rock books in e-book form. If you love paranormal romance and urban fantasy, you don’t want to miss out on the chance to try Moira Rogers. Now Moira asked for your craft-y tips, so please help her out! Like the prior, this contest will wrap up in 24 hours. And go!

ETA: and the winner is… Alex Delorme!