Voting Now Open for LRC Best of 2009 Awards

Hey, everyone.

I'm just getting my pimp on for The Asphodel Cycle 4: Apostle of Asphodel's multiple nominations in the Love Romances and More E-Cafe Best of 2009 Awards.  If you want to vote, here's how you do it:

You need to send an email to dawn_roberto@yahoo.com with "LRC's Best of 2009 Awards" in subject line. Without that subject line, the email will be deleted. Then you vote by writing


Best Cover of 2009--Apostle of Asphodel (cover art by Renee George)

Best Fantasy Novel of 2009 -- Apostle of Asphodel by Celina Summers

Best Novel of 2009 -- Apostle of Asphodel by Celina Summers.

Feel free to copy and paste.

Voting runs from 2/15 to 2/23 and the results will be announced on 2/25. If you want to see the full list of nominees, you can do so at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/files/ but you have to be a member to access that page. You can join LRC by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe. It's a fun place to meet authors of all genres in case you're into that sort of thing.

Stay tuned, too.  I'm getting ready to roll out all kinds of great stuff for the first Mythos book, Bride of Death--which comes out in ten days!  Lots of excerpts and other fun this week, so let's get to it!

More Nominations for Apostle of Asphodel!

Well, awards season travels on apace and The Asphodel Cycle 4: Apostle of Asphodel has managed to pick up more nominations from Love Romances and More E-Cafe!  In today's announcement from LRC, Apostle was nominated for Best Cover of 2009 (cover art by the lovely Renee George) --

--and also for Best Fantasy Novel of 2009--

--and in a move that completed knocked me right off my couch, Apostle of Asphodel was also nominated for Best Novel of 2009!

To say I'm stunned is completely and irrelevantly inadequate. Over the years, I've had a great relationship both with Love Romances and More's outstanding review site as well as the incredibly fun and friendly denizens of the Love Romances and More E-Cafe.  I've done a lot of book release parties there, made a lot of great friends, gotten a lot of really fantastic reviews and generally have had a hell of a lot of fun.  So anytime, LR&M gives me a nod like this, it's a very special moment for me.  LR&M was the first review site to really believe in my work.  This nomination is the fourth nod LR&M has given to the Asphodel Cycle; every single one of those novels has been nominated for an award either by the E-Cafe or in the LR&M Golden Rose awards.

Thank you, LR&M.  Thank you from the bottom of my overwhelmed heart.

http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/more-hot-reads/apostle-of-asphodel/prod_263.html

Tamsen Ka’antira has grown into a woman of incredible power as the Virgin Huntress’ player in the game of the gods. After discovering the Hippolytes, a fabled race of women devoted to the arts of combat, she must lead them back to the plains of Ilia to fight the greatest war of antiquity again. The pantheon of gods awaits her in their Hall of Judgment, where the ultimate fate of the Elven Realm will be determined. Not only must she defeat her uncle, Gabril de Spesialle, but she must contend with a renegade goddess whose sole purpose is to overthrow the pantheon and rule over a universe wrapped in chaos. But when Tamsen finds herself standing alone against overwhelming odds, she is forced to make sacrifices that threaten everything she loves. Can she find the strength to complete the game and redeem the Elven people? As the Apostle of Asphodel, Tamsen must transcend from a wielder of magic into part of the magic itself.

Review from Love Romances and More (five out of five stars): "...Ms. Summers creates complex characters that continue to grow as you read this series. All the characters, new and old, will keep your attention as you try to figure out along with Tamsen, what her objective is and if she can overcome the obstacles placed in her path. I highly enjoyed this entire series but am sincerely hoping Ms. Summers continues on with Asphodel and her great cast of characters..."

Oh, The Horror!

Someone asked me once how I decide what stories to write. I responded that I write what I feel compelled to write.

Interestingly enough, lately I've been compelled to write horror.

After delving into the paranormal with Deception Enters Stage Left, I find myself splitting my writing time these days between two horror stories. One deals with the return of an ancient and well-documented (in real life) poltergeist and the other deals withs an entirely fictional demonic possession. Last week, working on the possession story, I actually scared myself enough to dig out my First Communion medal.

Needless to say, I was rather pleased.

Maybe it's because I'm facing horrors in my real life that I am currently drawn to the darker side of things. My husband and I are contemplating a move back to Tennessee. Normally, that wouldn't seem to be so horrible until you consider the terrors of packing up my entire household--including all the cats--and transporting it across two states. That's a hell of a lot of kitty sedatives. It's almost enough to make me groan in horror and the thought of boxing up my library most definitely is.

I've always defined myself as a speculative fiction writer. I don't 'write what I know' so much as I write what I see in the convoluted avenues of my imagination. Lately, I've turned off the broad streets of fantasy and into the back alleys of horror and I've found that I like the detour.

But--back to fantasy for a minute. I got a great review earlier this week from Love Romances and More for The Asphodel Cycle 4: Apostle of Asphodel. In part, the review reads:

"...Ms. Summers creates complex characters that continue to grow as you read this series. All the characters, new and old, will keep your attention as you try to figure out along with Tamsen, what her objective is and if she can overcome the obstacles placed in her path. I highly enjoyed this entire series but am sincerely hoping Ms. Summers continues on with Asphodel and her great cast of characters..."

Apostle received five hearts (out of five possible) and an absolute rave! You have to love that! While it doesn't mitigate the ebony recesses of the manuscripts growing on my hard drive, it certainly goes a long way toward illuminating those fantasy worlds I love and hold so dear. You can read the rest of the review here. And who knows? Maybe I will go back to Asphodel someday--at least when I finish the fourth book of the second series. *wink*

But until then, let the horror commence.

Holy Crap! A Golden Rose Nomination???

I nearly fainted when I found out that Temptation of Asphodel had been nominated for a Golden Rose Award for Best Sci Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007 by Love Romances and More--especially when I saw my idol Christine Feehan's name on the nomination list too. I mean, think about it. Here I am, in the middle of the night (darned insomnia) and I find something like this out?

Wow. Someone hand me the vodka. I need a drink.

But then I started to think about it and I realized what a huge thing that is. For a new writer such as myself, who writes for a small, independent press to even be considered alongside a forerunner in genre romance--a giant, if you will--is a testament to how e-publishing has changed the face of the writing world. The perception that writers who publish with smaller presses are somehow inferior or untalented is fading. There's a heck of a lot of good fiction out there in the small presses and e-publishing houses these days. Now, I'm not saying that I consider myself to be the equal of a Christine Feehan. I'm a journeyman writer; she's a master.

So what else can I say but just WOW?

I love the fact that my Asphodel books are loved by my readers. I write to entertain, to share fantastic worlds and to hopefully transport people from their everyday lives to something magical and heroic and emotionally honest. To see my name alongside the other fantastic writers nominated gives me hope that perhaps I may have succeeded in some way in doing just that.

It is a glorious feeling. Thank you.

New Review For Temptation of Asphodel

Love Romances and More has always been good to me and my books, but the review they released today for The Asphodel Cycle 3:Temptation of Asphodel blew me away.

...If you enjoy a wonderful Fantasy series that will captivate you with the sheer
volume of world building & captivating characters that fairly leap off the
pages and into your hearts, then grab the third installment of the Asphodel
Cycle series, TEMPTATION OF ASPHODEL. All this reviewer wants to know is this:
Can we get more please, Ms. Summers?

Wow. Just wow. You can check out the rest of the review here. The reviewer gave Temptation a perfect five out of five hearts. *tries not to smirk, fails utterly*

The final book, Apostle of Asphodel, is coming out in May. Hopefully, it will meet up to expectations.

My short story collection Metamorphosis is coming out at the end of March, but right now I'm focusing on the first book of The Vampire Covenants trilogy I'm co-writing with fellow AMP author Rob Graham. Breaking the Covenants is due out in April and we're going through edits on it while completing the second book in the series Warding The Covenants, which should come out this summer. So I've been incredibly busy and look to get busier. After suffering through a full week of the stomach flu, I'm back on my game and working my wazoo off.

Hopefully, I'll work another ten pounds or so of it away if I keep at it.

Have to get back to work. When I hit the point that a reviewer is asking for more of my work, I guess it's in my best interests to give them what they want.

I'm so excited.

I'm so silly.

Asphodelian Award Nominations

Well, it's nomination season and the gods have been good to me again--so good that I'm still reeling.

You remember last year when The Reckoning of Asphodel was a Top Ten finalist in the Preditors and Editors Annual Readers' Poll as Best Sci Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007? Sit back and get ready to be shocked.

The Asphodel Cycle 2: The Gift of Redemption has been nominated by P&E for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel of 2008.

The Asphodel Cycle 3:The Temptation of Asphodel has been nominated by P&E for Best Novel of 2008.

I have also been nominated in the Author's Pages category!

If you wanted to vote (and of course you do, why wouldn't you?) go to http://www.critters.org/predpoll/. You can find The Gift of Redemption under Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels and Temptation of Asphodel under All Other Novels.

Then...hold on...it gets better. I have something to show you--twice:

The Gift of Redemption was nominated by Love Romances and More Cafe as Best Sci Fi/Fantasy novel of 2008 AND Temptation of Asphodel was nominated for Best Cover Art of 2008--that wonderful bit of work done by Renee' George! Voting opens at LRM on January 5th, and I'll post more about that later.

I'm a little excited right now and off to post this all over the web. You guys hold down the fort while I'm gone. Gee...I'm totally gobsmacked.

An Author Spotlight for Me and the Absolute Write Day of Listening

Gee golly gosh whillikers! They want to interview me? Love Romances and More wants to spotlight me on their blog on December 19th. Ever wanted to read an interview with me? Next week is your lucky week! The Absolute Write Day of Listening is on December 14th, where I was interviewed by my dear friend Ed Pahule from Upon Reflection and on the 19th, I'll be interviewed by Danny at LR&M.

In case you're interested, I also interviewed three outstanding writers for the AW Day of Listening. You should all stop by and check it out on the 14th, even if you're not members of Absolute Write. you'll get to hear the stories of writers at all levels of success--some of the interviews are oral histories, while others are feature stories/interviews. If nothing else, it will give you a fascinating insight into the minds of writers and how differently all of our minds work.

I feel all important and stuff. Don't miss it!

Chatting today and a blog contest!

Hear ye! Hear ye!

I am pleased to announce my super duper special blog contest for the release of The Gift of Redemption!

Are you ready for this? You can win--

1-downloads of both The Reckoning of Asphodel and The Gift of Redemption!
2-a $25 gift card from Best Buy--which I recommend you use to buy the DVD of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. *grin* Only because Asphodel knocked it out of #1 at Fictionwise last summer...
3-an antique book--great classic piece of literature from my personal collection. I'll give you choices, and you pick the book!

and FINALLY

4-you can be the only person in the world to get the complete Asphodel historical backstory file--which is almost a book in itself!

Rules:

1. I am so stealing this one from Nathan Bransford: You may only enter once; Once you may enter. No multiple entries please.

2. Email me at kaantira@hotmail.com . In the subject line, write ASPHODEL BLOG CONTEST. Leave me your name and email addy. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE YOUR ADDY I CANNOT CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN. *just thought I'd let you know that*

3. Be present at my release party on June 6, 2008 where I will announce the winner with all sorts of hoopla and fanfare! I'll be hosting my release party at Love Romances & More Cafe -- which coincidentally is also where I'm chatting today.

Sound like fun? I sure hope so! Be sure you stop by the Cafe' and say hi!

Awards? Moi?

Okay, it takes a lot to truly shock me. No, really, it does. Getting nominated for awards manages that.

Asphodel was nominated for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007 by both LoveRomances&More and Preditors & Editors.


To makes matters even more interesting, LR&M reviewers also nominated me for Best New Author of 2007.

To say I'm in shock is a mild understatement. I will state for the record, however, that I'm not stunned that I can't promote this aberration for all it's worth. So, if you click on the links, it'll take you to a place where you can VOTE FOR ME! With LR&M, you'll have to join their Yahoo group for the LoveRomancesCafe in order to cast a vote... Please join and vote...don't let my bubble burst publicly and in grief!