Oooh...shiny!

Look at what I've got! Two brand new shinies to share with you.

First:

The Asphodel Cycle 3:Temptation of Asphodel Top Ten Finalist for Best Novel of 2008 in the Preditors and Editors Annual Readers' Poll.

The Asphodel Cycle 2: The Gift of Redemption--Top Ten Finalist for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel of 2008 from the Preditors and Editors Annual Readers' Poll:

Can I just say...wow?!?!?!?!

Thank you to everyone who voted for my work and your continued support of my writing career and fragile ego. All three of the Asphodel novels have received a prestigious P&E award which, at least for a moment, makes me think I'm doing something right.

Which sets me up for this little tidbit. The Asphodel Cycle 4:Apostle of Asphodel will be released in May of 2009. It's the final installment in the Asphodel series, so if you haven't read the first three award winning novels now's the time to pick them up! That way you'll be ready for the final chapters in the story of Tamsen and Brial.

Once again, thanks for your votes and your love of my work.

Say That Again? A Winter Storm What?

No way.

The gods couldn't be that cruel.

There's no way that we've been issued a winter storm warning here. This is Ohio. We don't get our winter storms for another month or so. We just get pissy little snows that are gone from the roads before I even think of bestirring myself from my writer's crypt and venture out to Walmart to get cat litter.

Last night, when I was alert enough to think about the future, I thought, "You know...I need to go to the store in the morning and get cat litter." I even checked the weather--and laughed, laughed, I tell you!--at the poor slobs who live in Northern Ohio and who were going to get half a foot of snow tomorrow while we were content with our normal measly inch.

How in the hell was I to know that the storm would shift south? So now here it is, after four in the morning, when I've been on a writing jag for about twelve hours straight and I've got to leave my nice warm writing nook, get in the car and drive to the store to pick up fucking cat litter and cigarettes so I won't have to leave the house for the three days it will take for the snow plows to hit our country road. Simply ducky. I'm not going now--that would be suicidal. I'm having to close one eye just to type. Noooooooooooooooo... I have to time this between the first glimmer of dawn and the first flake of snow to insure I get there safely.

Which means I have to stay up all night.

Which means I might as well keep writing.

Which means that tomorrow, which is the last day of voting in the P&E Readers' Poll, I'll be begging my husband to drag out the ladder and scrape snow off the satellite dish so that I can shamelessly plug my books for last minute votes.

(did you like the way I snuck that shameless plug in? Go vote...go vote now! you can see the links--just scroll down)

Hell, I probably won't even have television. I won't be able to do anything but write and change the cat boxes and take the snowblower up and down the driveway every hour or so. Snow may accumulate at rate of over an inch per hour--damn you weather gods! I need my internet tomorrow! This isn't fair! It's a conspiracy, I tell you--a damned conspiracy.

Oh well. Less internet means more writing and since I'm nearing the end of this book, it may mean I might just get it finished by the end of the week. That will make it the second completed novel of 2009 if you count Breaking the Covenants with Rob Graham. Since my goal for the year is seven completed novels, it will put me well on my way.

So let it snow. Just let me get the damn cat litter first. Then snow all you want to.

Just Some News...And Some Begging...

So Temptation of Asphodel finally made it to Fictionwise. Now that it's for sale not only on the AMP website but the big two e-book distributors, I feel a little bit better. It's been in the queue to be released on Fictionwise since it was published--I'm not sure why it took so long for them to get it up on their site. I'm going to assume that the holidays had something to do with it.

My short story anthology Metamorphosis has been contracted by Aspen Mountain Press and will be released sometime this spring. So finally, all of you have proof that I can write something under 100k words. Hah! I win!

Now it's time for my annual shameless begging for votes.

The Gift of Redemption--Nominated for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel of 2008 by Preditors and Editors. Go vote here. The Gift of Redemption--nominated for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel of 2008 by Love Romance & More Cafe. Go vote here.(you will have to join the Yahoo group and then go to the Polls section of the board)Tempation of Asphodel--Nominated for Best Novel of 2008 in the Preditors and Editors Readers' Poll! Go cast your vote here.Temptation of Asphodel--Nominated for Best Book Cover of 2008 by Love Romances and More Cafe! Go cast your vote here. Celina Summers--Nominated for Best Author Published in 2008 by Preditors and Editors. Go cast your vote here.

The Preditors and Editors' poll ends on January 14th. The LRC poll ends on the 15th. If you've read the Asphodel novels and love them, go vote now!

[/end shameless plugging]

Football, Vampires, Polls and Me

So, the NCAA BCS champions are that team whose name I never mention unless absolutely necessary. I suppose, all things considering, that it is a good thing for the SEC--winning the BCS three years in a row is a feat no conference has accomplished since the Big Ten did it in the forties but still...

I couldn't root for either team in conscience, so I rooted for turnovers. The turnovers won. Now if we're lucky the quarterback-who-shall-not-be-named will declare for the NFL draft tomorrow and I won't have to hear his name on Saturday afternoons any more.

In other news, we completed the second draft of Covenants today and somehow managed to add words to it. I'm still scratching my head over that one; we were cutting stuff, I swear! Of course, we did insinuate a whole new subplot, but it was important I tell you! Important! Suffice it to say that Breaking the Covenants is comparable in length to an Asphodel novel. Love vampire stories and hate novellas? Have we got the product for you!

Both The Gift of Redemption and Temptation of Asphodel are holding steady in the top ten of their respective categories in the Preditors and Editors Readers' Poll. I'm pretty excited by that. It makes me feel good to know that there are enough people that appreciate the Asphodel novels to actually go through all the trouble to go vote for my books. *If you haven't voted yet, GO VOTE NOW*

Sorry--you know to expect the shameless plug in every blog post until voting ends. Think of it as an itch that you'll have to scratch until January 15th and casting a vote for one of my books is like the calamine lotion you need to soothe that itch.

I'm so wrong. But, you knew that didn't you?

So, in the morning, I'll get to start work on a brand new project! More importantly, at the moment I have no clue what that will be. I'll get to wake up, eat breakfast, look at whatever frozen precipitation is yelling for my snowblower to attack and then open a new document. I'll set my format for it, think for a minute and then type the first sentence.

And all of a sudden, I will find myself in a brand new world. I can't wait.

The Sounds of Snow at Night and the Thoughts They Bring

It feels really strange.

Everything is very quiet outside, which is where I am blogging at the moment because for some reason I felt the need to have a cigarette at four in the morning. There's an ice storm on the way--the radar tells me so--and I can definitely smell it on the wind. That crisp, clean smell is unmistakable in these hills during the winter. I'm awake and even the darn cats are asleep. It's just strange.

I've been doing a lot of rewriting today on Breaking the Covenants, my co-writing project with Rob Graham. We made a lot of changes to the beginning of the story and I've been fine-combing the rest of the manuscript for continuity issues. So at the moment, I'm in a meticulous mood and an icy pre-dawn in the hills of Ohio is just about perfect for that.

Besides, blogging may help to clear my mind. I have a lot of work to get done today. I want to get Covenants done if at all possible and then get back to work on Deception. We'll see how long I can stay productive. Of course, I'd be a hell of a lot more productive if I'd stop clicking on the Preditor and Editors poll results page to see how I'm doing. If, for example, you wanted to go vote for my books it might help ease my mind.

You knew the shameless plug was coming. Don't act so surprised.

Interestingly enough, our ice storm is apparently starting as snow. I love the sound of snow falling. It's the ultimate silence at night; it's like the flakes filter out all the other nocturnal noise so that all you hear is just a miniscule brushing through the air. I imagine that I can hear it; I'm not sure if I really can, especially at a time like now when it's just beginning and everything is quiet anyway. I like to think that I can. It's a comforting, lovely sound.

Wish someone could bottle that. They came up with Febreeze--why not this? I'd buy it.

Yes, it feels very strange out tonight. But now that I have flakes of snow hitting my LCD screen and my rear is freezing in this swing, I think I'll head back in, make some coffee and get back to work. It's been a pleasure talking to you, as always.

Now go vote for my books.

*grin*

TWO shameless plugs in one post. Just wait until the voting period is nearing its end.

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.

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!