More boxed sets for the beach. Sale ones too!

Summer Crush is a wonderfully romantic boxed set of YA stories (for the 14+ crowd) by some of Evernight Teen's hottest authors. 

Summer is the time for lazy days at the beach, sun-kissed hair, flip-flops, and sizzling nights with a new crush.  Those stolen glances and first kisses can quickly spark a flame. However, the road to love isn’t always a smooth ride.

Every Summer has a story, whether it’s a second chance on love, seeing a friend in a different light, or taking a step in a new direction with someone special. Love and long days create endless possibilities, but can a summer crush really last?

The lineup:

Sutton Summer by Sasha Hibbs 

Exquisite Torture by S.D. Wasley 

Forbidden by Melissa Frost 

Taking the Plunge by Diana Stager 

Boarderline Love by Deanna Dee 

An Ocean of Their Own by Bridie Hall

Get Summer Crush from Amazon, Evernight, All Romance ebooks

*****

Two more great boxed sets on SALE!

Secret Worlds was #1 in three categories (new adult, fairytale, myth) for four solid weeks. Now it can be yours for FREE if you have KU! See it on Amazon.

***

I'm hard at work on book three of The Art of Love. If you haven't read books one and two in this romance series yet, now's a great time! Because the boxed set is on sale (only through early September). Reduced two dollars to $1.99!

“Original & vivid”-Marked by Books

“Crazy fun, couldn’t put it down!” - Netgalley reader

“I fell in love with the characters … Sienna had me cracking up & in tears.” - Breezy Book Reviews

Grab The Art of Love ebook boxed set at Amazon

Mysterious & Magical Spring-ish Book Blossoms

My new Art of Love box set paperback!

It's spring, would you even know it?! I took a walk in the park down the street and saw cute snowdrop bulbs peeking through. On a similar note, many great books have recently popped through the proverbial soil. I'm posting some of these "supernatural book blossoms" that fit right into a spring thaw. 

Some have mini-interviews. Oh, and here's a pix of me with my own new Art of Love box set. Even better than spring flowers.

Christine Rains' urban fantasy Of Blood and Sorrow is out. Can't wait to read it!
Erin Driscol works the perfect job consoling fellow demons by feeding off their grief at Putzkammer & Sons Funeral Home. 

When fledgling vampire Nicolas Reese comes to Erin for help, she learns the truth behind the legends and hides him from his sire and the vampire hunters who seek him. But when the Putzkammers begin to die one by one, Erin is caught between her act of kindness and the need to save her adopted family. Only by facing her own personal demons can she stop the slaughter and still rescue Nicolas from his dark fate.

Shop for Of Blood & Sorrow at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Smashie

Marcus Damanda has all three out in his horror trilogy, The Devil in Miss Drake’s Class. Here's what he says about book 2:

Audrey Bales returns as the main character. She’s much stronger than the girl who attempted suicide in DEVILS IN THE DARK, and fully invested in her continuing recovery as she “reboots” life at a new school. However, her nemesis from the first book, Maggie Lassiter, also returns, fresh out of juvenile detention and burning with the desire to sabotage Audrey’s new beginning. In this book, we also meet Jack Maddox, a classmate of Audrey’s. He likes her very much, and has plans of his own.

What is their biggest challenge or quest?
Audrey’s greatest hurdle, as the book begins, is to make new friendships in a strange place without the safeguards she was given at the psychiatric ward. As the book progresses, she has to weather a storm caused by others—two competing forces, both evil, one of which wants to destroy her, and the other that wants to “save” her in the worst way imaginable.

Give us your favorite line from your protagonist
“Life reboots today.”

From an antagonist:
From Maggie: “See, Mom? This is how my game is played.”
From Jack: “Mr. Downing, you’ve got happy pants. How inappropriate.”

Since bad advice is often funnier than good advice, what was the worst advice ever?

From my video store boss when I told him I was finishing my teaching degree: “Why? Another year or two here, and I can see you becoming a real retail guy.”

Shop for his trilogy at Amazon, B&N
Visit his website and Facebook page.

Krya Dune writes paranormal fantasy & has multiple novels. She says:
My recent release is Bonded, a YA Paranormal Romance, and the first Dual Realm Novel. These books will be part of a standalone series set in the same world, meaning they can be read in any order. But each novel will be told from a different character's point of view.  

Tell us a little about your main characters:
In the Dual Realm novels, another realm (or dimension) co-exists alongside our own. Trey, the main character in Bonded, is from this other realm. He is a young man trying to escape a troubled past. After running to our world, he meets Sarah, a sixteen year old whose brother ran afoul of a local gang. Her brother's disappearance has left Sarah as a target for the gang leader. 

Your favorite line from your protagonist:
“Because it was easier to not care. But I was only fooling myself. I did care. I loved her and losing her the way I did...it almost killed me.”

From an antagonist:
“You don’t speak unless it’s to tell me what I want to hear.” 

Best words of advice?
No matter how hard it gets, always chase your dreams. Never give up.  My father taught me that. 

Shop for all Kyra Dune books at Amazon, B&N. Visit her website and Facebook page.

Angela Brown's urban fantasy dystopian is Beacon. A summary:
Tsunamis reduced the USA into a shell of itself, called The Fold. Surviving humans and vampires joined forces to form The Colony, where registered citizens do as they're told. 

They donate blood quarterly and dream of being chosen as Attendees for the Jubilee celebrations, that is, everyone except Macie Breen. With high school graduation near, she’s anxious to ditch the rules in hopes of starting a new life with Thane, an unregistered and also her best friend. 

Her hopes fizzle when Macie is selected as an Attendee, forever registered. Any future with Thane…impossible. Being chosen comes with another unexpected price. 

Truths about The Colony blaze into ashes and lies when she discovers the vampires haven't kept their part of the bargain. Worst still, Macie’s life unravels as her stint in the city of Bliss forces her to face daunting truths about who, and what, she really is.

Shop for Beacon at Amazon, B&N

C Lee McKenzie's Timelock Disaster, the sequel to Alligators Overhead is out! If you're in the market for fun middle grade adventure (gift it to one of the kids!), take a look.
Becoming a wizard is hard work. For Pete Riley it’s almost impossible. He tries to follow the rules, but he’s impatient and being impatient only leads to trouble. Big trouble. He messes with a time spell when he shouldn’t and he and his bookish friend, Weasel, are swept into Victorian England, where they will be trapped forever if that wizard-in-training can’t find a way to reverse his bad spell by the next full moon.
Shop for C Lee's YA and MG books at Amazon & B&N

What magical book "blossoms" have you read lately? Do you have your own special book coming out soon?

Spring projects, book cons & teaching gigs. What are you up to this spring?

Spring is almost here! Are you excited? I know I am. And with it, come new activities, projects and books. I'm happy to say that Inkspell has put out a box set of my Art of Romance series: Model Position (novella) and Private Internship (full novel). So, now you can follow Sienna on her artistic journey.

It's now available in both paperback and ebook.
Amazon ebook & paperback, B&N paperback, Amazon UK ebook
Peeps are saying:
"Crazy fun, couldn't put it down!" -Netgalley reader
"I didn't know art could be that hot"-Ashelyn Drake

“Killer analysis of the NYC art scene plus sexual spice” -reader review

Teaching gig:

JUNE: I will be teaching Writing YA (& crossover/NA) fiction at the Philadelphia Writers' Conference June 12, 13 & 14, so if anyone is in the Philly, NJ, NY area and is up for a fun conference with some other great presenters sign up! The list of workshop leaders. PWC on Facebook. FAQs.

Conference Appearances:

I also have a full schedule of conference appearances & book signings this spring and summer. I love to meet my readers, fans & anyone curious about my books, so come see me!

MARCH: Create Something Magical Conference, March 21 and 22 at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel, Iselin, NJ

MAY: RT Booklovers Convention May 12-16, Hyatt Regency, Dallas. ***Meet me at my special Club RT appearances: Thursday, May 14 from 11:30 to noon, and Friday, May 15 from 3:30 to 4 pm!!!

JUNE: UtopYA a reader and author extravaganza! June 18-21, Nashville, TN. at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel *** Come visit my book table, PLUS, I'll be at the ALL DAY book event on Saturday!

What fun stuff do you have germinating this spring? Are you attending any of these conferences? Other ones?

News, news, news!

This has been a busy time, and it's only going to get busier! With good stuff. First of all, Private Internship, my new adult novel (sequel to my novella Model Position) is coming out on September 29th with Inkspell!
Also, I signed my YA contemporary horror, Dorianna with Evernight Teen!

Dorianna is a fresh yet toxic twist (think daisies, snakes and burlesque dancers at Coney Island) on the Oscar Wilde classic, A Picture of Dorian Gray. It's a cautionary tale for the Internet generation. More on that soon . . .

Private Internship is . . .

In the meantime, I'd LOVE for anyone who's up for it, to help me with my cover reveal (or release day blitz) for Private Internship!! It's a really pretty cover, and I'm proud to say that I helped design it with the lovely and talented Najla who does the covers over at Inkspell. The cover reveal will be on Wednesday, August 27, but August 28 & 29 are fine days to post as well! (The blitz will be on Sept 29) Just fill out this easy peasy sign-up form here. Once you sign up, I'll send you all the info you'll need to post. (Plus you'll get a magical chocolate sundae & bestie sticker)

What's your news/obsession/thrill/fave summer activity, and how's your July going so far?

Raining Romance Books Giveaway Hop, Tons of books!

It's time for the Raining Romance Books giveaway blog hop, hosted by Stuck in Books! Idea City's giving away a couple of juicy picks. Check 'em out below and see who else is playing!

The Star Catcher by Stephanie Keyes Paranormal Romance

Magick and destiny intertwine as he fights to save his kingdom and the goddess he loves. Her kiss…the feel of her skin…the beat of her heart…For seventeen-year-old Kellen St. James, each memory is marred by a single sentence on a lone strip of paper. Cali has been taken…

Armed with an amulet that channels the ultimate power of Faerie, Kellen searches for his love. However, control of the amulet’s energy comes with a price, and Kellen soon learns that Cali’s captor has plans for the stone. With the threat of the Star Catcher’s evil looming above Kellen and his kingdom, he’ll have to free the Heart of Faerie and break the curse the binds the Children of Danu to the darkness. But before that, he has to find his real father, the king. No pressure, right?

Kellen and Cali will battle bewitched armies and unknown foes as they fight to stay together. Will Kellen embrace his immortal destiny? Or will his world, and the man he is fated to become, be destroyed by The Star Catcher?

Model Position by Kitsy Clare New adult romance novella

In Manhattan’s glitzy gallery scene love and art are perilous games. Will Sienna dare to play?

All too soon, artist Sienna Karr will graduate art school and be flung out into Manhattan’s glamorous but cutthroat gallery scene. Luckily, she’s just met Dave Hightower, heir to the hippest gallery ever. He’s asked her on a date, and offered to introduce her to the gallery owner, his intimidating Aunt Lydia. Sienna’s excited! Now she’ll be able to climb the ranks and make those all-important art connections.
Trouble is, she’s falling hard for the sexy live drawing model, Erik, whose sizzling green eyes seem to pierce right into her soul. Dare she risk losing those potential art contacts for love? Erik insists that Sienna is a real talent and her painting stands out above all the others. But she worries that he whispers this come-on line to every pretty art student who flocks around him during breaks. And her friends worry, is Erik up to her pay grade? What kind of guy chooses modeling for a living? Who is he, really? Her choice may be her ruin… or not, but she must decide fast. Everything in Sienna’s super-organized life is turning to terrifying yet sweet chaos.

Enter to Win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Indie Girl March Hop & What's Up for Spring?!

The Model Position tour is over. If you missed any posts the tour schedule is here. Thanks so much to the lovely Kel over at Literary Nook, and my publishers over at Inkspell, who both helped tour my novella. You did an admirable job. I've made some great new online friends and have a fledgling, but growing flock of new readers. Thanks, readers!!! 
In the next week or two I'll post a couple of my fave top 10 lists, and feature some authors.
In the meantime, there's tons of new activity pushing into the light like the purple crocuses below.

Indie Girl March Hop is going strong until the end of March! The brainchild of Escaping One Book at a Time's Tiffany M., it's a festival of interviews, giveaways and posts of great indie authors. Pop over to Indie Girl March Hop and enter the giveaway to win FREE COPIES of my futuristic thriller, Ruby's Fire and Model Position, my romance novella.
To see the entire schedule click here.

I'm over at A Little R & R today, and Ren's running a great giveaway, so hey, more freebies to be had!!!   Here's the link.

April brings flowers and also the A to Z challenge. This April I am posting about fabulous fantasy creatures with my Untethered Realms buddies. My days are H and R, but every day will being a cool new critter with a cool new picture! So think about following our Untethered Realms blog to catch lots of these posts.

It feels good to actually have a moment to write a new blog post! I've missed all of you. So, what are you up to this spring? 

Gratitude list & Kitsy Clare on Love Romances Cafe

Happy New Year! It's a popular time to make resolutions, though I prefer to make a gratitude list and a fresh work plan. 

Topping my list is the extreme gratitude I feel for getting back to the USA after two nerve-wracking days stuck in the Dominican Republic airport. Ack, I was trying to fly Jetblue during that snow fiasco!

I have gratitude that my new novella, Model Position is going forward with Inkspell using my romance pseudonym, Kitsy Clare. Inkspell authors will be chatting about all things romance tonight (Jan 10) from 7 to 9 pm on Yahoo's Love Romances Cafe, and you're all invited to drop by!

For Sienna, love and art are perilous games. Is she ready to take that gamble? The cover reveal for Model Position is on for January 20! I'll give anyone who wants to participate in the cover reveal virtual hugs and a big, fat virtual box of delicious chocolates with no icky jelly centers--only the caramel and hazelnut ones. If you're interested in helping out with the reveal, please email my publisher, Shilpa at marketing@inkspellpublishing.com

I'm also grateful that I immediately came up with a wicked fun plot for novella #2, Private Internship, to keep the Art of Love series going strong, because sometimes it takes a while to think up good plots. I'm looking forward to tying up the last third of the story with some crazy switchback plot twists.

I had fun creating a new Facebook author page for Kitsy Clare. Click to see it. What do you think? The new book cover will appear on the right side of the FB banner on the day of the cover reveal. I'd be thrilled if you Like my author page! That way, you can be informed of the Model Position launch, giveaways and tours.
Thanks! That's it for me. How about you? What are you grateful for?

How's your Nano experience? Or if you're not Nano-ing, what are you up to?

Are you Nano-ing this November? For the few who have no idea what I'm referring to, it's National Novel Writing Month, and to "win" Nano one must write at least 50 thousand words in 30 days. Are you on track? Not even close? Way far ahead? Whatever your speed it's a great way to fast draft!

I'm working on the second in my new adult novella series. The first novella, Model Position, comes out with Inkspell (under my pen name, Kitsy Clare) in January or February! I already had an idea for the second story, so I figured why not strike while the iron is hot. Pretty soon, I'll reveal more about Model Position, but I'm keeping you in suspense just a little bit longer, at least until the cover's ready.

Just know that it's about an artist, Sienna Karr who lives in New York City, and is experiencing the spice, glitz, peril and sexy temptations that are part and parcel of that world. I know it intimately, having gone to art school and shown my paintings in galleries for at least 12 years. I find that writing about the experience is wicked fun. Because there is so much narcissism, bad art, posturing, and a whole big mess of bizarro art dealers. Get this, one of my friend's dealers actually had a physical altercation over my friend's painting, and he grabbed my friend's shirt and tore it. How's that for three scoops of crazy? 

Oh, sure, there are visionary artists, and many of them are hot as anything. Artists can be quite the sex-bombs! Like Sienna's Erik, and in novella 2, the great and terrible Casper Mason...
But I'm getting way ahead of myself!

So, tell me, are YOU Nano-ing? If so, why? If not, why not? And what are you up to instead? If you are, but not totally sweating the word count (like me) why? Any Nano food obsessions? New writing habits? Dish here!

My Big News! Offer on my New Adult Romance Novella. Launching this Winter!

So, the big news that I've hinted at in my last two posts is this:
I accepted an offer from the fabulous Inkspell Publishing for my new adult romance novella!!! The working title is Model Position, and it's about an artist, Sienna Karr who falls for her live drawing model. It will be published in January or February as a digital first ebook. And I'll be using the pen name, Kitsy Clare.
Why use a pen name? The novella is a bit steamy, and I'd like to have an obvious, clear boundary between my work for kids/teens and adults. Why not be totally anonymous and not connect it to the name Catherine Stine at all? Because people make it their business to find out who you are anyway, and also because I've worked hard to create a platform on social media so why reinvent the wheel?
Exciting, huh?! I'm really pumped!
I've discovered, while writing my last three YAs (one of which involves a sizzling, thorny love triangle) that I really enjoy writing love/lust/wooing scenes, whether it's for the YA audience or for "new adults", so why not explore it to my heart's delight?

Model Position is set in a fictitious art grad school, and in the giddying, high stakes New York City art world, where the weak are tempted into Faustian bargains, and even the strongest can pay a price.
More soon!
Oh, and Happy Nanowrimo-ing! I'll be working on the next in the series. You?