MOONLESS Book Release Blog Fest, and GIVEAWAY

It's time to PARTY!!!!!

First of all HUGE thanks go out to my epic co-hosts Pk Hrezo, Tammy Theriault and Michael Di Gesu. If you haven't met these amazing peeps, DO IT NOW! (Ahem, or after you've commented.)

In the English society of 1768 where women are bred to marry, unattractive Alexia, just sixteen, believes she will end up alone. But on the county doorstep of a neighbor’s estate, she meets a man straight out of her nightmares, one whose blue eyes threaten to consume her whole world—especially when she discovers him standing over her murdered host in the middle of the night.

Her nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless.

BUY IT HERE

Or today through Valentines day, buy HERE
Use this code LQJM3F84 and get $2.00 off.

So here's the question: If you lived in a society where arranged marriages were a la mode, whom would you beg your parents to set you up with? Why? (Literary characters and celebrities welcomed.) 

This was a difficult one for me because I'm totally in love with my hubby (like soul-mate, bleeding-heart kind of love), so I found the literary character who most reminds me of my other half. 

Are you ready for this?

This is Colm Wilkinson (the Sean Connery of musical theater) who first played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables. Besides having an EPIC voice, he's the ultimate Jean Valjean. And while I like Colm, if I'd had to choose my own match, I'd have chosen Jean Valjean. (And not just because my hubby played him in a high school.) This is the most compassionate, selfless person in all of literature (barring the bible), and I literally bawled my eyes out while reading his story. Best. Character. EVER.

Have you read Les Miserables? And if not, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!? (Just get the abridged, abridged version.) 

Find the rest of the hop below!

And while you're at it, enter to win one of these great prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One more thing. This month I'm running a contest. Yup. More chances to win. This is a

REVIEW RACE

Anyone who reads and reviews MOONLESS between now and MARCH 10, 2014, and tells me about it HERE, will be entered to win...

An advanced copy of book 2 in the Maiden of Time Trilogy (set to release July, 2014), AND a signed copy of MOONLESS. 

So what are you waiting for? Go review it, eh? 

Who is your dream match? Have you read Les Miserables? Are you going to buy my AMAZING book? And review it? And win? *batting eyes* Because you're awesome like that...

Valentines Giveaways, like Elephants on Stampede

Do you totally geek out over Valentines day? Flowers, candy, hearts and romantic candles? And BOOKS. (Of course.) Well, this is the day of giveaways. LIKE SERIOUSLY.

So first...

MOONLESS is releasing to print NEXT WEEK!!!
!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I'm a little excited. Can you tell?)

To celebrate, I'm giving away a SIGNED PRINT COPY. Not only that, several wonderful authors have agreed to offer their amazing books along with mine in a VALENTINES GIVEAWAY. (Winners will be announced Valentine's morning.)

Check it out and enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But the awesome doesn't stop there!

________________________________________________________

What is Steampunk with Heart?

8 Authors, 5 Blog Posts, and an Abundance of Steampunk Giveaways

**see bottom of post for steampunk giveaways**

**see Steampunk With Heart Page for Facebook Party schedule**

Below is an introduction to eight authors, a peek at one of their steampunk books (many of our authors have several), and what "Steampunk with Heart" means to them.

---

"Steampunk with Heart is a romantic look backward at a bygone Victorian era (or entirely fictional analogue of one), where we alleviate some of the oppressive ideas of the past while keeping the lush aesthetics and romantic ideals about relationships and love."

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy, which is young adult science fiction. The Dharian Affairs trilogy is her excuse to dress up in corsets and fight with swords. She also has a dark-and-gritty SF serial called The Debt Collector and a middle grade fantasy called Faery Swap. It's possible she's easily distracted. Her business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist" and she always has more speculative fiction fun in the works. You can subscribe to her newsletter (hint: new subscribers get a free short story!) or stop by her blog to see what she's up to.

Third Daughter (The Dharian Affairs #1) Kindle | Nook | Print

The Third Daughter of the Queen wants to marry for love, but rumors of a new flying weapon force her to accept a barbarian prince’s proposal of a peace-brokering marriage.

---

"Steampunk With Heart is for those whose steampunk tastes lean more to the romantic than the gadgetry."

Scott Tarbet is the author of A Midsummer Night’s Steampunk from Xchyler Publishing, Tombstone, in the paranormal anthology Shades & Shadows, and the forthcoming Lakshmi, Dragon Moon, and Nautilus Redux. He writes enthusiastically in several genres, sings opera, was married in full Elizabethan regalia, loves steampunk waltzes, and slow-smokes thousands of pounds of Texas-style barbeque. An avid skier, hiker, golfer, and tandem kayaker, he makes his home in the mountains of Utah. Follow Scott E. Tarbet online at his website or on Twitter. 

A Midsummer Night's Steampunk  Kindle | Nook | Print

Immerse yourself in this Steampunk retelling of Shakespeare’s classic, replete with the newfound wizardry of alternative Victorian technology, mistaken identities, love triangles, and deadly peril, set against the backdrop of a world bracing itself for war, and Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

---

"Steampunk is all about questioning authority and challenging conventions. That's where the PUNK aspect of Steampunk comes from."

Jay Noel: After doing some freelance writing and editing for more than a dozen years, Jay decided to stop procrastinating and pursue his dream of being a novelist. He's been blogging since 2005. Jay spends his days working in medical sales, but he can be found toiling over his laptop late at night when all is quiet. He draws inspiration from all over: H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury, Douglas Adams, and Isaac Asimov. You can find Jay at his website.

Dragonfly Warrior Kindle | Nook | Print

The tyrannical Iberian Empire is bent on destroying his kingdom, and Zen must live up to his nickname, the Dragonfly Warrior, and kill all his enemies with only a sword and a pair of six-guns. He is called upon to somehow survive a test of faith and loyalty in a world so cruel and merciless, it borders on madness.

---

"Steampunk is the genre where the oober nerd is the hero, and the athletic type gets to be the laughed-at sidekick. LMAO! Science geek trumps the strong brute. How could you not love that?"

SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, and Ms. Bird who is really a bird. The guitar and piano have temporarily been set aside. She's learning to play the harmonica. The bird is less than thrilled. Her real name is Stephanie Marie (aka SM), but only family and coworkers call her that, usually when they’re screaming at her. Friends call her Frankie. You can find out more about her and her writing at her website.

Fall of Sky City (Devices of War) Kindle | Print

When Synn El’Asim is captured, his Mark is brutally awakened. He finds himself the most powerful Mark, and quickly becomes a coveted weapon in the war between the Great Families and the Hands of Tarot. However, only he can decide how he will be used to shape the lives of all the tribes.

---

"To me, Steampunk is an alternate look at a period of history that fascinates almost everyone. What would have been different if technology had taken a slightly different direction? And it is fun to play with the gadgets."

Rie Sheridan Rose's short stories currently appear in numerous anthologies. She has authored five poetry chapbooks, and collaborated with Marc Gunn on lyrics for his “Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits” CD. Yard Dog Press is home to humorous horror chapbooks Tales from the Home for Wayward Spirits and Bar-B-Que Grill and Bruce and Roxanne Save the World...Again. Mocha Memoirs published the individual short stories "Drink My Soul...Please," and “Bloody Rain” as e-downloads. Melange Books carries her romantic fantasy Sidhe Moved Through the Faire. Zumaya Books is home to The Luckless Prince as well as her newest novel, The Marvelous Mechanical Man. You can find her at her website.

The Marvelous Mechanical Man (A Conn-Mann Adventure) Kindle | Nook | Print

Josephine Mann is down to her last two dollars when Professor Alistair Conn hires her to work on a wonder--a 9-foot-tall automaton Jo dubs Phaeton. When an evil villain steals the marvelous mechanical man, Jo's longing for adventure suddenly becomes much too real...and deadly.

---

"Steampunk is being able to mix together all the things you love from the Victorian, modern and all eras in between, along with the addition of future tech and fantasy."

Cindy Spencer Pape firmly believes in happily-ever-after and brings that to her writing. Award-winning author of 18 novels and more than 30 shorter works, Cindy lives in southeast Michigan with her husband, two sons and a houseful of pets. When not hard at work writing she can be found dressing up for steampunk parties and Renaissance fairs, or with her nose buried in a book. You can find her on her website.

Ashes and Alchemy (The Gaslight Chronicles) Kindle | Nook | Audio

London, 1860

Police inspector Sebastian Brown served Queen and country in India before returning to England to investigate supernatural crimes. Minerva Shaw is desperately seeking a doctor for her daughter Ivy who has fallen gravely ill with a mysterious illness when she mistakenly lands on Sebastian's doorstep. Seb sniffs a case and musters every magickal and technological resource he can to uncover the source of the deadly plague, but it's he who will need protecting—from emotions he'd thought buried long ago.

---

"Steampunk with Heart is all about freedom of expression. The opportunity to create unique and diverse characters in unprecedented and unusual worlds. It's about adventure and inventions and romance...oh my..."

I'm Jacqueline Garlick. Author of YA, New Adult, and Women's Fiction. I love strong heroines, despise whiny sidekicks, and adore a good story about a triumphant underdog. I love to read, write, paint (walls and paper) and plan cool writing events for cool writers (check out niagarawritersretreatandconference (dot) com.) I have a love/hate relationship with chocolate, grammar, and technology.You will always find a purple wall (or two) in my house (perhaps even a door) and a hidden passageway that leads to a mystery room. (Okay, so you won’t find a hidden passageway but a girl can dream, can’t she?) Oh, and tea. There will always be tea. I love specialty teas...and collecting special teacups from which to drink them. (See website for collection, plus Facebook and Goodreads.)

In my former life, I was a teacher (both grade school and college-don't ask) and more recently, I've been a graduate of Ellen Hopkin’s Nevada Mentor Program and a student of James Scott Bell, Christopher Vogler and Don Maass. An excerpt from Lumière earned me the 2012 Don Maass Break Out Novel Intensive Scholarship. Lumière—A Romantic Steampunk Fantasy—is my debut novel, Book One in my young adult The Illumination Paradox Series.

Lumiere (The Illumination Paradox) Kindle | Nook | Print

One determined girl. One resourceful boy. One miracle machine that could destroy everything. After an unexplained flash shatters her world, seventeen-year-old Eyelet Elsworth sets out to find the Illuminator, her father’s prized invention. With it, she hopes to cure herself of her debilitating seizures, but just as Eyelet locates the Illuminator, it’s whisked away by an alluring thief. She follows the boy, enduring deadly Vapours and criminal-infested woods in pursuit of the Illuminator, only to discover the miracle machine they both hoped would solve their problems may in fact be their biggest problem of all. 

---

"Steampunk is at least in part a yearning for technology on a more human, intimate scale--handmade, ornate and wondrous."

MeiLin Miranda writes literary fantasy and science fiction set in Victorian worlds. Her love of all things 19th century (except for the pesky parts like cholera, child labor, slavery and no rights for women) has consumed her since childhood, when she fell in a stack of Louisa May Alcott and never got up.

MeiLin wrote nonfiction for thirty years, in radio, television, print and the web. She always wanted to write fiction, but figured she had time. She discovered she didn't when a series of unfortunate events resulted in a cardiac arrest complete with electric paddles ("clear!") and a near-death experience. She has since decided she came back from the dead to write books. MeiLin lives in a 130-year-old house in Portland, Oregon with a husband, two teens, two black cats, a floppy dog and far, far too much yarn. You can find her at her website.

The Machine God (The Drifting Isle Chronicles) Kindle | Nook | Print

Folklore Professor Oladel Adewole leaves his homeland for the University of Eisenstadt to pursue his all-consuming interest: the mysterious island floating a mile above the city. The first survey team finds civilization, and Adewole finds a powerful, forbidden fusion of magic and metal: the Machine God. The government wants it. So does a sociopath bent on ruling Eisenstadt. But when Adewole discovers who the mechanical creature is--and what it can do--he risks his heart and his life to protect the Machine God from the world, and the world from the Machine God.

---

ENTER TO WIN

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are you doing for Valentines day? Any awesome movies or books you'll be watching/reading?