Congratulations to J.Lee, you are the winner today!

Day 22, and I’m giving away a signed copy of Banquet of Lies.

I had the idea for Banquet of Lies years and years before I wrote it, and I loved the research I did for it, as I am a very enthusiastic cook and I got to look over all kinds of recipes. One of the fun things I watched was an Antonin Carem recipe recreation by British chef Heston Blumenthal. Antonin Carem was my inspiration for the chefs in the story, and there are quite a few chefs 🙂 (And a lot of ladies of the night, too :)). I also included most of the recipes in the book on my website, if you’re interested in recreating some of them – click here.

What’s your favorite recipe, and is there a special occasion you always make it for?

Congratulations, Luzhelena, you are the winner today!

It’s Day 21! Three weeks of giveaways, whew!

Today, I’m giving away the two ebooks from my fantasy duology, the DARK FOREST series. The first book in the series, The Golden Apple, is based on the the fairy tale The Princess on the Glass Hill, which in the original has a male hero, and the princess is the passive participant. I switched that around, and made the princess the protagonist, and I was even able to use a few clues from the original to do it. You can go here to read more about what I was thinking about when I wrote it.

For the sequel, The Silver Pear, I looked at fairytales that had silver pears in them, but none of them lined up with a continuation of The Golden Apple, so I ended up using my imagination, although there is a character in The Silver Pear that harkens back to a very dark character from a British television program I watched in my childhood, Rupert the Bear, the character of Raggety (not the later, sanitized version, but the dark and frankly terrifying one from the original.)

Which is your favorite fairytale with a female protagonist?

I have some writing friends that I’ve known almost as long as I’ve lived in Australia, and Christina Phillips is one of them. She and I met at a writers’ mini-conference and have kept in touch ever since. I absolutely loved her debut novel FORBIDDEN, and I’m thrilled to say that that is the book Christina is offering everyone today.

You can get your copy of FORBIDDEN here.

FORBIDDEN is about a clash of cultures, the Celtic tribes of Britain and the conquering Romans, along with a forbidden love. What I loved so much about FORBIDDEN and the other books in this series was the Celtic backdrop and the ancient Roman time period. We don’t get enough of that! What time period of history would you like to see more of?

Winner for Day 19: Congratulations to Esther M!

I am so thrilled to say that I’ve just started to distribute the audiobook version of my Regency historical novel, A DANGEROUS MADNESS. The talented Shiromi Arserio is my narrator, and I’m thrilled with the way it all worked out. The prize in the draw today is US and Canada ONLY I am afraid, as those are the rules for the giveaway codes I’ve been given, so only commenters from those two countries can go into the draw.

Shiromi lives in the US, but she is British, and that’s one of the reasons I chose her as my narrator, as I liked the idea of a book set in London being read by someone from the UK. Do you have any thoughts about the accent of the narrator when you listen to audiobooks?

Helena is our winner for Day 18! Congratulations 🙂

It’s Day 18 and I have a special treat for everyone today. One lucky commenter will win an audio book of GLADIATOR by my good friend, science fiction romance author Anna Hackett.

You can hear a sample of GLADIATOR here.

My question today is do you enjoy audio books? Do you mix them in with reading?

Learn more about GLADIATOR and Anna Hackett.

There was going to be 5 winners, but as there were 6 people commenting, I’m calling a win for everyone, so congratulations to the *6* winners: Jordana, fichen1, Carol, J.Lee, Esther & Kareni

For Day 17, I’ve got a special treat. My friend and long-standing critique partner, who reads all my work before anyone else does, Edie Ramer, is offering 5 e-copies of her romantic suspense novel THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE & MURDER to 5 lucky commenters.

Edie sets her books in small towns and her characters are very real. I love reading small town settings, there is something of the armchair traveller in me when I do. What about you? Do you like stories set in small towns, where everyone knows everyone else’s business?

Learn more about The Truth About Love & Murder.

Just a reminder that Breakaway is 99c for a limited time. If you’re looking for an action-packed, science fiction romance to read over the holidays, this is for you 🙂

The winner for Day 16 is Elizabeth. Congratulations!

Today is Day 16! Congratulations on the winners so far, but there are plenty of prizes left to come 🙂

The prize in the draw today is a signed, print copy of The Emperor’s Conspiracy, the first book in my Regency London series. There are three books in the series and they are connected, but can easily be read as standalones.

One thing I enjoyed when the book first came out was the readers who emailed me to let me know they had read the book thinking the idea of Napoleon trying to empty England of its gold was just my fictional plot, until they read the author’s note and realized it was a real conspiracy. The City of Smugglers was real, too. What was the most unexpected thing you’ve read in a novel that you found out later was historically accurate?

The winner for Day 15 is: fichen1

I’ve got a special guest for Day 15! Veronica Scott is an awesome science fiction romance author, but she’s also a tireless advocate for the SFR genre and writes for numerous blogs and online magazines, promoting and steering readers toward SFR. She’s a gem! The prize for one lucky commenter today is a copy of Veronica’s SFR novel AYDARR.

Veronica’s Badari Warrior series is all about genetically enhanced super soldiers and is full of action and romance. If you could have some enhanced capabilities, what would you choose? I’ll go first and say enhanced sight – I’ve always been short-sighted and would love to see clearly into the distance! 🙂

Learn more about AYDARR and Veronica Scott.

Congratulations to today’s winners: Riley and Sandra!

Day 14 – week two is over!

My prize today is two signed copies of In A Treacherous Court, my debut novel, which was published through Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books imprint.

What I really loved about writing IATC was that my character, Susanna Horenbout, was a real person and she was such an interesting character to explore. Several of her descendants have contacted me to let me know what a thrill it was for them to see their many-greats grandmother the heroine of a historical series. What real character from history would you like to see as the main character in a book?

Learn more about In a Treacherous Court.