Charlotte Arrives

Nightshine, the fourth and final novel in my Kyndred series, is hitting the shelves nationwide this week.

This is probably one of the most unusual stories I've written in the dark fantasy/paranormal genre, but I had a lot of fun with it. I think those of you who have been following the Kyndred will be pleased with the wrap-up of the series.

A release day is one of the few times I ask my visitors to do something for me. I don't accept advertising or any form of compensation for Paperback Writer, so if you find my blog to be a useful resource, buying my book is a great way to say thanks. If money is tight right now, which I know it is for many of you, you can also show support by requesting a copy of my novel at your local public library.

To buy online, visit these retailers:

Books-a-Million
Barnes & Noble.com
Amazon.com

Cool Cats

Bideawee is an animal adoption center in New York City that has a web cam and remote-controlled toys set up in one of their kitty rooms. Visitors to the web site can have a 2-minute play date with the cats that are up for adoption by entering a special chat room and controlling the toys from there while watching via the web cam. While you only get two minutes at a time to play with the cats, you can join the queue of cyber visitors as many times as you like and have virtually as many play dates as you want. I love the internet.

I also love cats, so I have to mention how much I enjoyed reading Sleight of Paw, Sofie Kelly's second novel, which continues the story of small-town librarian Kathleen Paulson. Kathleen is trying very hard not to become Mayville Minnesota's crazy cat lady. Only Kathleen has two furry feline friends at home, Owen and Hercules, who aren't what anyone would consider normal (unless your cats can turn invisible or walk through walls and doors.)

Right now Kathleen is trying to decide if she wants to return to the life she left behind in Boston, or stick with the new one she's made for herself in Mayville. She loves her friends, her job and her cats, and there might even be something brewing between her and fellow cat lover, police Detective Marcus Gordon (Kathleen is in denial, but I'm pretty sure there is.) But Mayville doesn't seem quite as cozy or friendly when Kathleen discovers the body of an elderly woman, one who devoted her entire life to helping others in the town -- one of whom may have murdered her.

I love cat stories where felines are portrayed like their real-life counterparts but come with a little something extra. It's that lagniappe that we cat lovers suspect they possess but can never actually prove. That probably only makes sense if you're owned by a cat. The two-legged characters in this series are also becoming like old friends, and the puzzle in this one was totally absorbing -- and not that easy to solve, either; at some point I think I suspected almost everybody in the story except Kathleen. I think Sofie Kelly (aka our blogpal Darlene Ryan) really delivers with this one.

Together Bideawee and Sofie have given me an idea of something different to do with the extra Nightshine ARCs I have on hand. In comments to this post, tell us something about a pet you've loved (or, if you've never had a pet, toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Friday, October 21, 2011. I will draw three names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners a signed ARC of Nightshine by yours truly, an unsigned copy of Sleight of Paw by Sofie Kelly (and if you haven't read the first book, Curiosity Thrilled the Cat, I'll throw in an unsigned copy of that one, too.) By entering this giveaway you'll be helping animals as well, as I will donate one dollar for every comment left for this giveaway, up to a maximum of $100.00, to Bideawee. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

This and That

I've received several invitations (or possibly some weird kind of SPAM) from Goodreads asking me to "claim" my author page. Here's the problem: a while back I discovered that Goodreads was bootlegging my blog content and posting it on their site without my permission. I contacted them and politely told them to stop it. They didn't feel copying my content was wrong, but agreed to remove it. Only what they really did was move it elsewhere on their site by posting it under another of my pseudonyms. I guess they thought I wouldn't noticed. So anyway, in the event this isn't weird SPAM, no, I won't be claiming anything that has to do with Goodreads.

I have adjusted down my total published stats over there on the sidebar; the explanation as to why can be read on the Backlist/Bibliography page.

Finally, my agent kindly sent me a few extra ARCs for Nightshine, my fourth and final Kyndred novel, which will be released next month. As I already did a general giveaway for the ARCs my publisher sent me, I thought I'd do something different with these. Any suggestions? Let me know in comments.

Coming Home

In a few months Nightshine, the fourth novel in the Kyndred series, will hit the shelves. Normally I would say that this is also the final book in the series, and as it happens I did wrap up as much as possible with the Kyndred in this story. But as I am currently back writing in the Darkyn universe again, who's to say what the future will bring? I have to leave it in the hands of the publisher and the readership.

I'm quite happy with what I got on the page while writing Nightshine. I had a lot of fun with the storyline, the cast and the world-building. As with the other books in the series it's definitely not the usual thing, but for all the exotic aspects involved in the story, writing it reminded me of how it feels to come home after a long road trip.

I don't think everyone should have to wait until November to read the book, though, so I've got a stack of Nightshine ARCs to give away today. If you'd like a chance to win one, in comments to this post name the title of a book you felt was a particularly satisfying reading experience (or if you can't think of one, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Saturday, July 16, 2011. I'll draw ten names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners a signed ARC copy of Nightshine (if you win and have not read the first three books in the Kyndred series, or would just like to have a matched set, I will send along signed copies of Shadowlight, Dreamveil and Frostfire as well.) I will also be including a Nightshine-inspired BookLoop in every winner's ARC. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.