Your Opinion Wanted

I'm doing a rare Saturday post, which I meant to do earlier in the week, and well, life and stuff happened. Most of you probably know I started an urban fantasy email newsletter in July. And I've had a blast doing it each month! Actually, if you haven't seen this month's issue, I got to conduct an interview with paranormal romance author J.R. Pearse Nelson, which you should check out.

But back to the reason for my post - I've been having a blast with my newsletter, but realized something was missing. And that something is interaction. The newsletter goes out to everybody's inboxes, and I don't get to chat with people like I do on Blogger and Twitter. And I realized that I missed that.

So, I thought about it a lot, and I think I know what I want to do, but I want your opinion. First of all, I'm definitely keeping the email newsletter as is, but I want to tie it into blogging somehow. I considered whether I should start a seperate urban fantasy blog. But I only post on this blog like once or twice a week, and I also thought it might be less convenient for people to have to visit an additional blog. So, I was thinking I would send the email newsletter on the first of the month as usual, and then post certain sections of it each week on this blog (like, new releases for the month one week, book review the next week, agent profile the week after, etc.). That way people that like the email version can still get that, but I can have some interaction with my blog friends, too.

What do you think? Does it turn you off if someone posts genre-specific things on their writing blog? What is most fun for you guys?

Have an awesome rest of the weekend! A hint for the Monday Meme: purple :)

Sun, Sand, Water and Margaritas

With my birthday coming up on Tuesday, I'm off to the beach for a girl's weekend. I'll be dropping off the net until Wednesday. But before I leave, here are a few fun things that will hopefully entertain you a bit this weekend:

1) A web link to my new Urban Fantasy newsletter. Check it out! I'd love your feedback! And, I'm having a giveaway to celebrate the launch of the newsletter, so if you want to enter, click here!

Oh, and for all the lovely folks who are already signed up to receive it via email, thank you so much! I heart you!

2) A really awesome online writing resource! The Gatekeepers Post. Lots of great posts by authors, agents, and publishers. Sections on book reviews, book events, writing jobs, book clubs, books by ethnic authors. Head over and rock out!

3) Well, this is more of a tease. Me and Michelle Fayard are cooking up something cool that we'll talk about next week. Check back for the details! And if you haven't met Michelle yet, pop over and say hello! She's a great blog friend!

Well, that's it for now, writer friends. Have a terrific weekend!

Urban Fantasy Newsletter! And Free Stuff to Bribe You!

With July nearly upon us, and my very first issue of Raven Moon Urban Fantasy Newsletter coming out, I thought I would have a Huzzah Newsletter!/July makes me happy cuz it's my birthday month/200 followers giveaway! Well, I'm sitting at 199 followers at the moment, so hopefully someone will tip me over the scale :)

I've been hard at work planning my newsletter, and having a blast doing it. Why Raven Moon? Well, one of my cats was named Raven Moon (he was black and white), and while staring at the pic of the three ravens in my newsletter header, the obvious hit me. Plus, ravens and moons are classic Urban Fantasy, right?

So, here's a teaser of the kind of stuff that will be in each monthly issue of Raven Moon Urban Fantasy Newsletter:

•Agent, author and publisher profiles
•New releases for the month
•Giveaways and contests
•Cool book trailers
•Must-visit websites and blogs
•Industry news
•Notice of upcoming conferences
•Book reviews
•Interviews
 
Okay, so here are the prizes. Updated! Two winners will get these two new releases OR a $15.00 Amazon gift card.

 

Grave Dance and Viper Moon - New Releases 7/5/11 

*I updated the prizes to offer flexibility for my writer friends who do not want the above books. 'Cause I love you guys :)

 

Details:

 

- The contest starts today and ends on July 10th.

- You must be a follower and sign up for the newsletter to win.

- The two winners will be selected by random draw. You can increase your chance of winning by helping me spread the word (pretty please!). Points (number of times your name is added to the pot) are as follows:

 

-1 point for being a new follower

-2 points for being an old follower

-2 points for signing up for the newsletter ** so basically you get either 3 or 4 points automatically

-3 points for tweeting

-4 points for mentioning it on your blog

-5 points for putting one of my buttons (see below!) on your sidebar

 
Click here to go to my newsletter page, to signup (using the email submission form) and/or grab a button! Comment on this post with your point total and your email address! Contest winners will be announced July 13th.

Thank you guys for helping me embark on this exciting new adventure! I would love to have guest contributors for future issues of the newsletter, so if you have something you'd like to share, please let me know.
 
Oh, and here are my pretty buttons (html grab code located on newsletter page or you can grab them the old fashioned way):
 
 

Daydreaming

So, writing friends, I thought I'd periodically have a daydream topic for us to all imagine we are famous writers and have awesome literary careers.  For this first foray into dreamland, I pose the following question: describe your book release party, in full grandiose/funky/artsy detail (pretend there's no budget).

Here goes mine.  So, first, I hire the Ace of Cakes to make some kind of super amazing and stupendous cake because A) they rock and B) it would be awesome to have my book talked about on TV.  Did anyone ever see the fabulous cake they made for the Ghost Girl book?  It was ridiculous. 

My book is about a witch, so I would have a very dark theme going on.  Black tablecloths and centerpieces with dark or dark purplish flowers.  Maybe a raven and moon motif... something sparkly to represent magic.  Of course wine and martinis.  And I'd tie the whole thing together as a charity fundraiser, maybe supporting the environment or troubled teen girls.  Live music, classical, as a nod to my MC.  But then after lots of wine something more upbeat.  I had the brilliant idea of having shirtless men passing hors d'oeuvres and cocktails, to represent the sexy shapeshifters in my book, but my husband just rolled his eyes. 

So, do tell - what's your ultimate book release party fantasy?  I can't wait to hear all the juicy details!