Thursday, October 18, 2012

Shorts and Freebies!

I have a new short story out this week!


You won't find any Shaedes in this short story, but you will find sexy cougar shifters! ;) You can pick it up at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and All Romance Ebooks now!


Shawntelle Madison has a new short out as well! COLLECTED, which is a prequel to her Coveted Series.

You can get this great novella for FREE at Amazon or Kobo!



Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Crave the Darkness Cover Reveal!!!!

I was hoping to do a big reveal promotion for the CTD cover. But, as things often happen in the cyber world, the cover has been spotted out in the wild. I can't say I'm too bummed, though. I've been sitting on this cover FOREVER and I can't wait to show it off. Here it is! I'm absolutely in love with it. It's my favorite cover in the series so far! What do you think??


Tuesday, September 11, 2012

A Contest for Writers!

Would you like a chance for a 10 page critique by agent Anne Bohner of Pen and Ink Literary? Or maybe Vicky Lame, editor at St. Martin's Press? Well, head over to Suzanne Hayes Palmieri's blog for her flash fiction contest. You can win critiques, or gift a $25 gift card (because we all need more books).

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Giveaways!!!

The teen is having a great soccer season so far, so I thought I'd celebrate his three goal assists last night by giving away three copies of WHEN SHADOWS CALL. Email me at authoramanda(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll pick three random winners before I leave for tomorrow's soccer game. GO TEAM!

Friday, August 17, 2012

LOST TO THE GRAY - Tyler's Novella Snippet

I was hoping to throw this up earlier this week, but I've had my head down, working like a fiend to get this novella written. I've said before that Tyler is the toughest character for me to write and that statement still stands. For some reason he's just difficult and doesn't talk to me like Darian, Raif, and Xander do. But I still love him. ;)

This snippet is a flashback of Tyler's first meeting with Darian. You read a bit of her recollection in SHAEDES OF GRAY, but here's a taste of Ty's perspective. Hope you like it!



A familiar sensation tugged from the center of my chest as if drawing me toward something. How long had it been since I’d felt it? Three hundred years? Four? Hell, it could’ve been a thousand. The urge to protect was second nature to me, but I hadn’t felt compelled to bind myself to anyone—thereby creating a Charge whose protection I’d be responsible for—for a very long time. I looked around the bar at the many creatures: both human and as far from human as you could get. One of them had triggered it and, Jesus fucking Christ, either I’d completely forgotten how it felt, or my new Charge was in a shit load of trouble.
The timing couldn’t be worse. I was meeting a potential employee in a few minutes and didn’t need the distraction of the life force that called out to me like a million voices begging for help. How in the hell was I supposed to ignore something so powerful?
Over the din of music and voices, I heard my name like a whisper on the wind. Supernatural hearing definitely had its benefits. Turning toward the sound, I noticed a woman leaning over the bar, her mouth close to Levi’s ear. He pointed in my direction and gave her his you’d-look-great-stretched-out-naked-on-my-bed smile. And for some reason, when she walked away without so much as a grin in return, I felt a strange surge of satisfaction.
Oh, man. Was I in for a world of hurt with this one. Her head-to-toe black outfit made a definite statement. And the duster… Someone was a fan of the Underworld franchise. It suited her, though. On anyone else, it would have looked satirical, but she pulled it off. As she sauntered toward me, she brushed a curtain of loosely curled, reddish-blond hair away from her face.
Jesus. She was beautiful. And not by any stretch of the imagination was she human. In fact, she appeared more like a mirage than anything real. Her green eyes glowed faintly against the backdrop of the dark club, almost indiscernible to anyone with a less than keen eye. Shaede. Not common to Seattle, for sure. But it did pique my curiosity. A perfect assassin. I could use someone who could become an invisible shadow on the payroll.
With each step she made toward my table at the back of the bar, the more my unease mounted. No. No fucking way. I kept my ass glued to my seat even when my body wanted to bolt out of the chair and go to her. My Charge was making a bee-line for my table, and apparently, she was also my newest employee.
Well, if this didn’t just complicate the hell out of things. Exactly how was I supposed to protect her while simultaneously throwing her into dangerous situations? And why would someone who could obviously hold her own need my protection? Her name had been given to me by an associate who’d hired her for a freelance job a few months back. All I’d been told about her was that her name was Darian, and she was worth every penny. And as for what I didn’t know about her…I guessed I was about to find out.
“You Tyler?” she asked when she got to the table. Her voice was a little deeper than I’d expected. Almost husky. Like she’d just been made love to for hours. Lazy and sated. The sound shot through my system in an exciting rush, settling deep in my stomach. I shifted in my seat, sitting a little straighter. My palms flattened out on the table, itching to reach out and touch her, to make that essential connection…
She quirked a brow and tilted her head as she waited for me to answer. Great. Way to make a first impression. The damn bonding urge had me completely wrapped up in my own thoughts. Speak, you dipshit! “Yeah, I’m Tyler.” Jesus, even my voice sounded uptight. “Have a seat.”
“I’d prefer the bar.” Her eyes darted from side to side, and she shook out her hair so that it partially hid her face. Feelings of unease pulsed around me. Darian’s unease. In fact, her fear was palpable, at least to me. What could someone as powerful as her possibly have to fear?
Palm out in invitation, I motioned for her to head toward the far end of the bar. She didn’t budge; too wary to turn away and have me at her back. The protective urge spiked inside me again as I calmly pushed my chair out and led the way to the quietest end of the bar. The focus it took just to put one foot in front of the other damned near exhausted me. But I wasn’t ready to commit myself to her, no matter what my instinct dictated.
Not until I touched her first.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Release Day!

Blood Before Sunrise is officially out in the wild! Knowing that readers will soon have their hands on this book is both exciting and nerve-wracking. I hope everyone enjoys Darian's latest misadventures. ;) The Darkness Before Dawn blog tour is in full-swing and here's a rundown of where you can find me this week. I'm giving away print copies of BBS and there's a chance I'll be adding some additional swag later in the month.





7/2 (yesterday) - Paperback Dolls
Today - Wicked Little Pixie
7/5 - Tote Bags 'n Blogs
7/6 - My Bookish Ways
7/7 - The Qwillery

Check the Blog Tour Schedule link at the top of the page for the rest of July's blog tour stops. And if you're in the Boise area on July 13th, stop by Rembrandt's Coffee House in Eagle at 7:00pm for the BBS release party! I'd love to see you there!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Blood Before Sunrise - First Chapter Preview


I can't believe BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE releases in exactly two months!! Where has the time gone? It feels like I was just finishing up the manuscript a couple of weeks ago. Since I'm officially counting down the days till July 3rd, I thought I post the full first chapter on my website. Hope you can stop by!

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Work in Progress: Song of The Week

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I'm totally obsessed with this song. It really reminds me of Darian. Enjoy!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Page Proofs of Doom


I've been working on page proofs for BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE this week. This is the last time I'll get to make any corrections/changes to the book before it goes to print and I've been encouraged to keep my corrections to a minimum, meaning, spelling/grammar/punctuation only. This is not the time to make any big changes to the story/plot/etc.

I'm not going to lie. I get pretty neurotic during this phase of the process. It's sort of like going through the five stages of grief.

Denial:
I couldn't have possibly written this! What in the hell was I thinking?!? This is no good! How could this book suck so badly? Someone must have erased all of my words and replaced them with their own. That's it. I'm certain. These are not my words!!!!

Anger:


I used _______ word HOW many times in this scene?!?! How did I not catch this in copy edits?!?! I will ceremoniously burn these pages. Right after I smash my laptop to bits.

Bargaining:


Maybe if I ask really nice they'll let me re-write the entire book from scratch. I could offer to clean all of the Penguin offices for a year. I'll move to New York and live in the building! Brownies! I'll send pans and pans of brownies to the production staff. Once they've succumbed to the chocolate coma, they'll agree to let me start over. Bwahahaha!

Depression:


My life is over. My words are drivel. My life is over.

Acceptance:


I produced the best possible novel I could. I worked hard and there's nothing more I can do. Time to move on to the next story, the next manuscript. I am at peace. (That is, until reviews start to roll in. Hehe.)

Monday, March 12, 2012

March Madness

Elise Rome is hosting a March Madness event on her blog! An entire month of author interviews and giveaways. :) Stop by today for a chance to win a print copy of SHAEDES OF GRAY!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Unexpected Company and Time Management



In January I did a post on New Year's resolutions and my own goals to better manage my time. Well, I've accomplished a couple of things:

First of all, I've dedicated the hours between 8am and 5pm as "writing time" so as to better mesh with my family's schedule. I do take one hour out of my day to go work out (another thing on my resolutions list) and I usually quit working around 4:30 so that I can actually cook a dinner that doesn't suck. Well, doesn't suck too bad. I've also been tapering off on my on-line activity throughout the day. In the few months leading up to the release of Shaedes of Gray, I was on line A LOT. Like morning till night. My face was in front of the computer screen until I went to bed. Needless to say, this sort of agitated the hubs as he was beginning to feel like the "other man" in a torrid love triangle composed of me, him, and my laptop. And whereas my laptop is very sexy, I realized that I needed to step back and take a break. Self promotion is really important and I want to be visible and accessible. But I don't want my family to feel neglected, either. So, since January 1st I've been right on track: My writing has been WAY more productive, I get more done during the day, I'm cooking semi-edible meals, and I'm spending time with the fam in the evenings. 

So what could I have possibly not factored into my marvelous time-management schedule? Um... cleaning my house. I live in a small town and my house is sort of out in the middle of nowhere. I don't usually get surprise guests, but every once in a while, one of my friends will stop by. I think unexpected company is one of those things that sends a writer into a state of panic. As soon as you answer the door, you realize that you're wearing a t-shirt (which may or may not be clean), yoga pants (or the dreaded baggy sweats), your hair is a mess (and probably dirty), and your house (Holy shit! I forgot I even lived here!) looks like a pack of wild animals has been living there for the past few months. So, I mumble a few apologies for the mess, try to straighten up the 72 notebooks, paperbacks, day planner and 12-pack of Coke Zero that surrounds my laptop (which happens to live on my kitchen table), and then realize in a heart-stopping moment of panic that both of my bathrooms are completely disgusting. And after a well-masked panic attack and several mini strokes, the unexpected company leaves and I'm left realizing that there was an epic flaw in my time-management plan: Upkeep. 

So it's back to the drawing board. Mixed in with the writing, reading, social networking, cooking, and spending quality time with the fam, I need to add: cleaning house and self so that we are both April fresh in the event that unexpected company stops by to my list. I'm pretty sure I can block off an hour or so in my day for said upkeep. But I'm not making any promises. ;)

For the record, I Google searched "dirty house" for some funny image to plug in to this post, but the images the search gave me literally made my stomach turn. Plus, I didn't want you guys to think the pic was what my house actually looked like! ;)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Signing at Rediscovered Books

I plowed into a woman waiting in line at Starbucks Friday night. Luckily that was the worst thing to happen to me on Friday the 13th. I apologized to the poor lady, but I'm sure she thought I'd already had WAY too much caffeine and didn't need any help from the caramel macchiato I ordered. My fears for Friday's book signing included: farting, burping, puking in front of everyone, instantly losing the ability to read and comprehend the English language, inability to string words together to form coherent sentences, forgetting how to spell my name. Luckily, none of those things happened, but when it came time for me to read an excerpt from Shaedes of Gray, I did accidentally lose my place. I had this moment where all of the pages looked the same as I flipped frantically through them. And at one point I wondered, Is this even my book?!?! I don't recognize ANY of this! I eventually found my place, though, and the reading went smoothly. Thank. God.


You can't see it, but I'm panicking on the inside!


The event was wonderful, set up in a very relaxing, impromptu way. Laura, the owner of Rediscovered Books, "interviewed" me for the audience, eliminating the need for me to think up witty things to say. I simply answered her questions and it literally laid waste to my nerves. The format was great and I encourage my fellow writers to suggest this to bookstore owners for their own events. It was sort of like Inside the Actor's Studio, but for writers. :) So fun!

As you can see, I was too lazy to get rid of the "red-eyes" in this pic. Oh, and btw, I talk with my hands!

We had a great turn out, around thirty people, I think. I answered a lot of questions about the publishing business and a great reader question about whether or not Darian would ever have a girlfriend. "She needs a girlfriend." The reader said. "I think it would really help mellow her out." Every one sort of laughed and I mentioned the bad heroine girlfriend feature on Heroes and Heartbreakers. I assured the reader that Darian will have females in her life that she doesn't want to stab. She's going to loosen up considerably in books 2 and 3.  :)

After the Q&A, I signed books (we sold all but 2 copies!!) and visited with everyone who stopped by and took a few more pics. And thanks to the great response, Rediscovered has asked me back for the release of Blood Before Sunrise in July. Rediscovered is a great local indie bookstore, and they're really sci-fi/fantasy friendly. I can't wait to go back!

Don't you love these t-shirts?!?! I have a posse, yo! 

Monday, January 9, 2012

Cover Love - Blood Before Sunrise

It's been forever since I've posted here, and to those of you who occasionally tune in, I'm sorry. I've got a list of drafts for posts that I thought about writing and abandoned. Posts on Christmas, New Year's Resolutions, how grateful I am to the universe for all of my good fortune in 2011. In the end, I realized I just didn't have the words to convey just how I feel. All in all, I just feel blessed. And busy. Very busy.

I'll be posting more regularly, though still only once or so a week. And I hope to have more guest posts, contests, and fun stuff as well. 2012 is going to be another uber busy year on the writing front, and I couldn't be happier. Not only is WHEN SHADOWS CALL, a Shaede Assassin world novella going to be released in June, but BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE, book 2 in the Shaede Assassin series will be released July 3rd. I really love book 2 and the way Darian's character has developed and grown. The art department at NAL has been hard at work too, bringing Darian to life. I think the cover is gorgeous, but I'm biased. ;) What do you think?