SNIPPET MONDAYS #2: NIGHT VEIL

Contest closed! NO MORE ENTRIES.

We’re starting our countdown to NIGHT VEIL’s July release with a snippet from Chapter 2 and a little contest every week!

You can read the first chapter of NIGHT VEIL in the back of BLOOD WYNE, or up on Yasmine's site. So we'll be posting snippets from chapter 2 each Monday until the release date. If we find anybody reproducing this on other sites we'll stop and everybody loses out. That means: NO cutting/pasting/copying/sending through email.

And each Monday, we'll be running a fun contest--culminating in a contest for two NIGHT VEIL mystery baskets during release week (7.5.2011)—they won’t contain the book, but they’ll both be themed around the book.

Remember, you can pre-order NIGHT VEIL from Amazon.com or BN.com!

This week's contest: 2 winners, one receiving a $10 online gift certificate from Amazon and one receiving a bauble from Cicely Waters or Grieve—our heroine and hero of the Indigo Court Series. To enter:

• Leave your name and email contact in the comment thread to THIS blog post.
• You must be 18 or over.
• Lannan or Grieve: Which one and why?

• Contest ends noon, Tuesday, March 1


NIGHT VEIL
CHAPTER TWO
First Chapter
Excerpts Already Posted

"Cicely! Get a move on!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." I hurried into my favorite boots-a pair of Icon Bombshells-and slung my purse over my shoulder. Polishing a smudge off my left boot, I decided that I was as good as I was going to get, especially after a tussle with a goblin and a Shadow Hunter.

My hair hung free, smooth and ink-black to my shoulders, and I pulled it back into a sleek ponytail, then slipped on a pair of driving gloves and my leather jacket. I slid my moonstone pendant over my neck and secreted it beneath my sweater, then clattered down the stairs.

"Let's get this show on the road," I said.

Rhiannon was waiting, freshly showered herself, in a pair of khakis she'd paired with a plaid button-down shirt, and a camel wool coat.

My cousin was as bright as I was dark. Heather, her mother, used to call us Amber and Jet-fire and ice. Her hair was flame red, my own jet black. We were both twenty-six, both born on the summer solstice-she in the waxing hours, me in the waning. I was short and sturdy, Rhiannon tall and willowy. Opposites, yet we had referred to ourselves as twins when we were little.

Leo looked snazzy as usual. Geoffrey insisted he dress well for work, and most day-runners had extensive-and expensive-wardrobes. Leo was lucky. In his case, Geoffrey financed his expenses. Leo's tawny hair was a mass of curls barely skimming his neck and he towered over me, more lean than gangly.

"Be careful," Kaylin said, looking up from his spot on the sofa, where he was reading while petting a half dozen cats who sprawled around him, including Bart, Leo's Maine Coon familiar. "You go off half-cocked and try to stake Lannan and you'll be in a world of hurt."

SNIPPET MONDAYS #1: NIGHT VEIL

Contest closed! NO MORE ENTRIES.

We’re starting our countdown to NIGHT VEIL’s July release with a snippet from Chapter 2 and a little contest every week!

You can read the first chapter of NIGHT VEIL in the back of BLOOD WYNE, or up on Yasmine's site. So we'll be posting snippets from chapter 2 each Monday until the release date. If we find anybody reproducing this on other sites we'll stop and everybody loses out. That means: NO cutting/pasting/copying/sending through email.

And each Monday, we'll be running a fun contest--culminating in a contest for two NIGHT VEIL mystery baskets during release week (7.5.2011)—they won’t contain the book, but they’ll both be themed around the book.

Remember, you can pre-order NIGHT VEIL from Amazon.com or BN.com!

This week's contest: 2 winners, one receiving a $10 online gift certificate from Amazon and one receiving a bauble from Cicely Waters or Grieve—our heroine and hero of the Indigo Court Series. To enter:

• Leave your name and email contact in the comment thread to THIS blog post.
• You must be 18 or over.
• Tell me why you like Cicely.

• Contest ends noon, Tuesday, Feb. 22


NIGHT VEIL
CHAPTER TWO
First Chapter
Excerpts Already Posted

"Cicely? Are you ready? It's time." Leo's voice echoed up the stairs. My cousin's fiancé, and a day-runner for the vampires, he'd gotten home briefly after our encounter with the goblin.

After a long shower to wash away my aches and pains, I'd dressed in a cobalt sweater and black jeans, making sure I was neat and tidy. Geoffrey and Regina owned my services-quite literally-and they demanded that their employees appear before them nicely dressed.

My wolf growled as I ran my hand over the tattoo of the beautiful silverish beast that spread across my body, over my stomach.

"Sshh . . . " I whispered. "Hush. I know, I know you're out there hurting, but I can't do anything about it right now."

The wolf growled again and I pressed my lips tight, my heart sore. The memory of Grieve's face, of his hands on my body, his needle-sharp teeth nipping at my skin, swept over me and I dashed my hand across my eyes, careful not to mar the mascara and liner I'd put on. Grieve was lost to the enemy. Myst had claimed him for her own. I was determined to win him back, but in the depths of my heart I was afraid that none of us would come out of this alive.

WOOHOO Contest

Contest closed! NO MORE ENTRIES.

To celebrate the fact that YES I WRITE KINKY SEX IN MY BOOKS and IT'S NOT GOING TO STOP (don't even ask what prompted this)...AND to celebrate the success I've had with BLOOD WYNE (thank you again, peeps), I'm going to have a quick contest here.

$20 Amazon gift certificate (online) to one person
$10 Amazon gift certificate (online) to one person

To enter: just comment in the comment thread of this blog post and tell me:

Verify you are 18 or over
Your name
Email address
Your favorite couple (or triad/etc as the case may be) in my books.

Enter before 8 PM Pacific time tomorrow (2.20.2011)

And THANK YOU again...for helping me make the lists, for loving my books, and being great readers. :)

Yasmine

Yasmine

PW LIST!

I made the golden Trifecta of the publishing world, thanks to my readers! Not only did BLOOD WYNE hit the NYT and the USA Today lists, but I found out today that it's #15 on the Publisher's Weekly bestseller list--a very hard list to hit and one of the Big Three.

WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO...and again, thank you--you guys supporting me by buying my books...well, it's what helps me hit the lists! And don't think I don't appreciate it!

Yasmine

The Big Review Controversy (Or How To Deal With...)

There’s been a big kerfuffle (I love that word) on the net lately about authors and reviewers and bad reviews, so I might as well throw my ten cents in the scuffle.

First: I do my best to avoid reading reviews. Of course I love good reviews, but they’re usually mixed in with the bad reviews. And one bad review can ruin a whole week if it’s bad enough (consider, ten people can tell you those jeans look great but let one person say they’re too tight and make you look fat and I guarantee you’ll remember the ‘fat’ comment more vividly).

Since I think my books are well-written, interesting, and fun, I’m not going to be in a great mood if I read something that says they’re trash. And there’s enough to be unhappy about in this world without making it worse. So please, do NOT send me URLS to sites where they’re bashing my books because I don’t want to read them. If you want to counter them, post a good review instead of arguing about the bad ones.

Now, if they are—like a couple of reviewers have in the past—bashing ME about my looks or whatever, fuck ‘em. They’re pathetic. I don’t want to know about that either. Rachel Ray has an entire community of anti-fans who do nothing but bash her—if that’s how they want to spend their life, well, that’s their choice. Pathetic waste of time, IMO, but hey, it’s their time to waste. (And no, I’m not a Rachel Ray fan. Nor am I an anti-fan. She is what she is…and she’s made a success out of her life, so more power to her).

Second, even if the review is balanced and fair—which is a good thing—there’s nothing I can do about the parts they don’t like now. I can’t go back and change the book—it’s already written and on the shelves. And even if I could change my book, I wouldn’t because these are MY worlds and I write the books the way I feel they need to be written. The books will work for some people and not for others—that’s life. But the books HAVE to work for ME.

And not all parts of all books will work for the readers who do like them. That's simply fact. It’s like a great meal where maybe the dessert is a bit oversweet or the soup a little salty—it was still good, but not necessarily five-star. It happens.

So while a balanced, fair review is wonderful—I’m still going to try to avoid reading it.

Third: People have the right to hate my book. They have a right to say they hate my book. And I have the right to think they’re prudes or that they really didn’t read the book or that they’re an idiot or that they just had a bad day or…maybe just maybe…my book isn’t the right book for them. However—and this is key-I’m not going public and informing the reviewer of my thoughts, especially on their blog. That’s SO NOT a good idea when you’re a writer.

Why is this not a good idea?

Because, no matter what, I won’t be able to change their minds by telling them what I think and they can’t make me think I wrote a bad book with their review, so, you know, unless I want to start a major flamefest and make myself look like a thin-skinned jackass, I say we just live and let live. Bad reviews are an occupational hazard. So reviewers can say they hate my book, the people who love my books can say they love them, and I can say “I write my books the way I write them and I’m happy with them.”

Fourth: What it comes down to: how to handle bad reviews when you do come across them? Remember that ALL reviews are subjective. They are one person’s opinion. Nothing more. Good or bad, it comes down to that one person saying what they feel about your book. Don’t let the good reviews give you a swelled head, don’t let the bad reviews break your heart. Be grateful for the readers who love your work and buy it and support you as an author. And when you need to, vent OUT OF PUBLIC EYE to friends who understand.

And then…just remember: take it with a grain of salt, sometimes with a laugh over the ridiculous ones (and there WILL BE ridiculous reviews), focus on your work and be grateful you have readers who love your words.

Yasmine

WOOOOOOHOOOOO--Thank you Peeps!

BLOOD WYNE HIT #15 on the New York Times Bestseller's List. I couldn't say that without your support, peeps--so THANK YOU!!!

WOOHOO *dancing in the streets*

Yasmine

Winners of the Blood Wyne Contest

The winners of the two Menolly baskets are:

Jess (North Carolina): I would most love to be Iris, she is so motherly and reminds me of myself. She doesn't hesitate to put people in their place, or to put them to work in the kitchen. Not to mention that she is kick-ass and can hold her own in a fight. It seems like there are so many layers to her and things in her life that are off-limits to everyone but herself.Good luck on release day, I KNOW you'll do awesome Yasmine! I, for one, know I'll be headed to B&N next Tuesday :D

and:

Roland (Charles H.N): Favorite Character is Smoky because he's full of awesome power but plays it cool and has a great fashion sense. :)


Winner of the $30 gift card:

Darkydoom: (Australia): I am most drawn to Camille she's like everything I work towards being, a witch, loves corsets, proud of who she is and her sexuality, loves men. Acts as a mother figure taking charge in looking after those around her and I've really realised in myself that I'm a giving person and try to help everyone. Always putting on the leaders cap being strong and standing tall when behind all that is a soft person that needs just as much comfort as she gives.


Congratulations, folks. My asst will be in touch with you soon--you have ONE WEEK TO ANSWER from today or another winner will be picked.

Thank you everyone who entered--wish you all could win, but appreciate everybody who came out for the contest.

Yasmine

New Releases from Friends

Two new romances--one sweet, one fantasy, from friends of mine came out yesterday, so if you're looking for a softer touch, try one of these:



From Anya Bast: Raven's Quest, a fantasy romance.



And from Shiloh Walker: No Longer Mine

BLOOD WYNE

The book is out. Go. Buy. Read. Enjoy!