J.K. Coi-Living With Immortals

Vixen Reading

I'm blogging today at the Vauxhall Vixens. Hope to see you there.

posted by J.K. Coi @ 12:00 AM Comments: 0

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Um...not to me. Not yet.

But all this month author Leah Braemel is celebrating her birthday with new guests on her blog and today i'm up! Come on over!

posted by J.K. Coi @ 8:00 AM Comments: 0

Dogma

One of my favourite movies because it's so funny!
Having long-studied theology, especially Catholic dogma, some might think that I would be offended by this particular movie. Well, in fact, I can't get enough of it. I think it's hilarious as a celebration of the nature of belief as well as a funny poke at the structure of the Catholic Church.

Enjoy the weekend clip and go rent Dogma

posted by J.K. Coi @ 12:00 AM Comments: 3

Summer Reading List

I cleaned out my office space on the weekend. Stripped the wall-to-wall shelves bare of all books! before rearranging everything neatly. I'm surprised that the weight of all those books hasn't fallen through the floor yet. It looks very pretty now and still very full, even though I ended up putting 58 books in a pile to give to the local women's shelter and gave another bunch to my mother. But it means I have a little shuffle room on the shelves and it has me looking forward to getting in a few new reads this summer.

First on the list, a must read is going to be Nalini Singh's newest in the Psy/Changeling series, Branded by Fire.

Though DarkRiver sentinel Mercy is feeling the pressure to mate, she savagely resists when Riley Kincaid, a lieutenant from the SnowDancer pack, tries to possess her. The problem is not simply that he pushes her buttons; the problem is that he’s a wolf, she’s a cat, and they’re both used to being on top.

But when a brilliant changeling researcher is kidnapped from DarkRiver territory, Mercy and Riley must work together to track the young man—before his shadowy captors decide he’s no longer useful. Along the way, the two dominants may find that submitting to one another uncovers not just a deadly conspiracy, but a passion so raw that it’ll leave them both branded by fire…

I've also just picked up Sherry Thomas' Not Quite a Husband and I'm looking forward to it. Honestly, the thing that convinced me about this book was the quirky book trailer that she made for it, which you can watch at YouTube here.

Their marriage lasted only slightly longer than the honeymoon—to no one’s surprise, not even Bryony Asquith's. A man as talented, handsome, and sought after by society as Leo Marsden couldn't possibly want to spend his entire life with a woman who rebelled against propriety by becoming a doctor. Why, then, three years after their annulment and half a world away, does he track her down at her clinic in the remotest corner of India?

Leo has no reason to think Bryony could ever forgive him for the way he treated her, but he won't rest until he’s delivered an urgent message from her sister—and fulfilled his duty by escorting her safely back to England. But as they risk their lives for each other on the journey home, will the biggest danger be the treacherous war around them—or their rekindling passion?

Eloisa James' newest, this is the duchess book I've been waiting for! This Duchess of Mine.

Wedding bells celebrating the arranged marriage between the lovely Duchess of Beaumont and her staid, imperturbable duke had scarcely fallen silent when a shocking discovery sent Jemma running from the ducal mansion. For the next nine years she cavorted abroad, creating one delicious scandal after another (if one is to believe the rumors).

Elijah, Duke of Beaumont, did believe those rumors.

But the handsome duke needs an heir, so he summons his seductive wife home. Jemma laughs at Elijah’s cool eyes and icy heart—but to her secret shock, she doesn’t share his feelings. In fact, she wants the impossible: her husband’s heart at her feet.

But what manner of seduction will make a man fall desperately in love…with his own wife?

Lastly, but not in the least, is In The Blood, by Adrian Phoenix. This is the second of her Maker's Song series. I loved the first one, A Rush of Wings.

DANTE LIVES.

Vampire. Rock star. Begotten son of the fallen angel Lucien. Dante Baptiste still struggles with nightmares and seizures, searching for the truth about his past. It is a quest as seductive as his kiss, as uncontrollable as his thirst, and as unforgiving as his determination to protect one mortal woman at any cost.

KNOWLEDGE KILLS.

FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace now knows the extent of the Bureau corruption that surrounds her, but worries she is losing the battle. And when Dante and his band Inferno come to Seattle on tour, Heather can't help but be drawn back to the beautiful, dangerous nightkind. But what Heather and Dante don't know is that new enemies lurk in the shadows, closer than they think...and even deadlier than they fear.

DESTINY UNFOLDS.

Shadowy government forces have pledged to eliminate all loose ends from Project Bad Seed -- and Heather and Dante are at the top of the list. Elsewhere, the Fallen gather in Gehenna, intent on finding their long-awaited savior, the True Blood nightkind whom Lucien DeNoir would die to protect. And a damaged and desperate adversary, with powers as strange and perilous as Dante's own, plots to use Dante as a pawn in a violent scheme for revenge. But only one of these lethal forces holds the key to Dante's past -- a key that could finally unlock the secret of his birth and the truth of his existence...or destroy him completely.

There are also quite a few new ebooks that I'm looking forward to.

Check out

Inferno, by Bianca D'Arc

Somebody Killed His Editor, by Josh Lanyon

and Blood Vice, by Keith Melton

posted by J.K. Coi @ 12:00 AM Comments: 1

GUEST AUTHORS: Shifting Dreams Anthology

I have another guest--guests--please welcome Vivi Andrews, Robie Madison and Kinsey Holley, authors featured in Samhain's recent anthology, Shifting Dreams.

In the Beginning…

What do a seedy pick-up joint, a Welsh pub, and a Houston nightclub have in common?

The answer: Three intriguing first chapters in which an alpha hero meets his match in a spunky heroine.

Read on to learn why authors Vivi Andrews, Robie Madison, and Kinsey Holley were inspired to set the opening scenes of their Shifting Dreams novellas in a bar.


Bar Nothing

When my shape-shifting heroine Ava Minor walks into the Bar Nothing in the opening of Serengeti Heat, she sets off a chain reaction that burns through the entire story. For months, she’s lived in the same pride of lion-shifters with (and harbored a secret lust for) Alpha Landon King, but he couldn’t even remember her name. Something had to happen to shake them out of the status quo and set them on a collision course.

A pick-up bar seemed the perfect place for Ava to finally get her hero’s attention. Ava doesn’t show up looking for Landon – any man will satisfy her need for rebellion – but when Landon sees her there, he sees her in a way he never has before. She isn’t the small, shy, invisible little sister of his best lieutenants. She’s a force to be reckoned with, intoxicating and sensuous.

A seedy honky-tonk meat-market was just what this couple needed—for Landon to realize Ava exists and for Ava to realize she doesn’t have to always play by the rules to get what she wants.

Vivi Andrews
Buy Serengeti Heat

The Sheep’s Tail

“You can get a decently priced dinner at the pub in town when you’re ready to venture out.”

I was faced with an intriguing challenge when I went to write the first chapter of The Man of Her Dreams. The heroine and hero already knew each other—but only in Megan’s dreams.

How, then, to bring them together in real life after Megan discovers Owain’s portrait in a Victorian heirloom locket?

Since the story is set in Wales—Megan’s destination in search of answers about her dream lover—I, fortunately, had a ready made answer—a pub. It’s the traditional place for people to congregate in the evening for a pint and perhaps a game of darts. Pub meals are also famous, so I simply had the landlady of the B&B where Megan stays make the suggestion and let the inevitable happen.

But I added an element of fun while plotting Megan’s surprise. Trefriw, the village where the story is set, is very real and quite famous for its woolen mill and an old Roman spa. I’m certain there’s a pub or two in the vicinity, but I invented one for the purposes of putting Owain in Megan’s path and gave it a cute name. Hey, there are A LOT of sheep in Wales!

Although Owain and Megan don’t spend very long in the pub, there was another good reason for choosing it as a place for them to meet. Within walking distance from the B&B, The Sheep’s Tail is set back from the road and is surrounded by a forest, which proves very convenient and, ah, quite private for a dalliance. Enough said.

Robie Madison
Buy The Man of Her Dreams

Le Monde

I wrote Kiss and Kin on purpose, for the Samhain anthology. I’d gotten stalled in my full-length WIP, set in the same world, and when I saw the submission call for the shifter anthology, I decided to try something new and short to loosen me up.

I kept thinking of a girl, a bar, and a bunch of bad wolves. In my world, shifters and fae have been out for sixty years, and they’re pretty well assimilated into American society. And some human women have a thing for werewolves or other shifters—fur chasers, shifter humpers, etc. And I thought—a girl, with her ditzy friend, goes into this werewolf biker bar, and she knows it’s dangerous, and the girlfriend gets kidnapped or something, and one of Nick Wargman’s wolves is there keeping an eye on the bad wolves, and he jumps in and saves the girl and they roar off on his motorcycle, and they have to hide out, and….I got stuck. Wasn’t working.

And the more I thought about it, the more I thought—ok, it’s not a biker bar, it’s a club. And Nick’s wolf is a cop, and he already knows the girl, and he doesn’t want her there, and then…Lark and Taran just started forming in my head.

So the second scene is in the bar. Lark doesn’t really want to be there, she just went because her selfish, ditzy friend begged her to go out. She’s just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if Taran hadn’t been there, she’d have disappeared just like the other women. It’s her being in that bar—and Taran realizing that he nearly lost her, she nearly got snatched from just a few feet away from him—that starts bringing them together. If she hadn’t come so close to getting snatched from Le Monde, she and Taran might never have found a reason, or an excuse, to get close.

I’m still gonna write a scene in werewolf bar. It’s not a biker bar, it’s a pool bar —Cowgirls and Werewolves. It’s mentioned briefly in Kiss and Kin. I think TJ and Nick are gonna have a big old fight in Cowgirls, and Nick’s going to act like a jerk, and TJ’s gonna tell the bouncer to kick him out, and the bouncer’s gonna say… “um, Teej, he’s the Alpha, and besides, he owns a stake in the place…” That’s about all I’ve got on Nick and TJ yet. If anyone has ideas for a plot, email me.

Kinsey Holley
Buy Kiss and Kin

posted by J.K. Coi @ 12:00 AM Comments: 3

GUEST AUTHOR: Sandy Lender

Hi everyone! I'm very pleased to bring a new guest to the blog today.

Jamieson Wolf, author of Hope Falls, Electric Pink,Electric Blue, and Garden City said, "Choices Meant for Gods is without a doubt the freshest most engaging high fantasy novel to come out in years and breathes new life into a tired genre. The characters leap off the page and the plot is lightning quick and deftly written with many layers that tease the mind and imagination. Choices Meant for Gods is not a mere novel; it is a gorgeous piece of written art. I can hardly wait for the second book!”

This book sounds fantastic!

Not even the gods noticed when Chariss was born with the mark of The Protector. Now she and her wizard guardian seek shelter from a mad sorcerer in a household not just full of secrets and false hope, but watched by the god who will unwittingly reveal her role in an impending war.

When an orphan sets aside a lifetime of running and fear to accept the responsibilities of guarding an arrogant deity, can she face the trials in the prophecies she uncovers? Will Nigel Taiman of her latest refuge dare to use his dragon heritage to bind her to his estate or to help her in her duty?

And as an added bonus for this wonderful Saturday afternoon, Sandy will be putting the names of all the commenters from each blog she's visited this week into a draw for an autographed, hard cover, first edition of Choices Meant for Gods. Good luck!

Inspiration’s Not So Easy to Pinpoint

Many interviewers have asked me what inspires me. My answers always feel inadequate because just about everything inspires me. But I can’t give a glib answer like that. It would be rude when someone has taken the time to single me out and ask about my writing.

I at least list a few of the things that inspire me—Duran Duran, baby sea turtles, my parrots, sci fi shows/movies, thunderclouds over the Gulf at dawn, short elderly drivers in huge Lincoln town cars, bizarre chicks in L.A. bars, snow in the mountains, etc. At my fancy new Web site, my letter to visitors tells of a funky incident from my early teens that inspired a short story in the recent chapbook WHAT CHOICES WE MADE.

Something I find that fires the flames of inspiration for me is setting up my writing space. I’m a romantic at heart, so I like the old-world sconces and wax-caked candle holders around my writing desk. I set up an old-fashioned, curved metal book stand with my Klaeber edition of BEOWULF on the corner of the desk (because you just never know when you’ll need to reference something in there) and place various dragon pictures around the room. Oh, I should have listed dragons above…

You get the picture here, right?

That’s my inspirational mayhem! There’s probably more. Writers checking in today can most likely empathize. Readers are welcome (and encouraged) to ask questions! Thank you for diving in. “Some days, I just want the dragon to win.”

Short Excerpt from CHOICES MEANT FOR GODS
There are a few at my fancy new Web site at http://www.authorsandylender.com under the “Books” navigation button.

Short Blurb About CHOICES MEANT FOR GODS
CHOICES MEANT FOR GODS is a Girl Power fantasy adventure where prophecy twists out of control. Captivating humans, wizards, Ungol, and dragons populate the realm of Onweald where even the gods must turn to an unlikely fugitive for help.

posted by J.K. Coi @ 12:00 AM Comments: 9

Let's Have Fun!!

courtesy of National Geographic I love this picture!

WOO HOO WHOO HOO!!!!
Come on and visit the Vauxhall Vixens today to see why we're having such a good time!

Oh! Don't forget to come visit me at Fangtastic Books today! And come on over here tomorrow to chat with my special guest Sandy Lender, author of Choices Meant for Gods.

posted by J.K. Coi @ 10:00 PM Comments: 1

Making the Most of a Marriage

I am a guest today at Yankee Romance Reviewers, talking about Forever Immortal. Hop over and leave a comment for a chance to win!

Love and marriage are two very different things, but they both need to be cultivated, and as a romance writer I actually get asked quite a lot about my own love life. Come visit me at the Vauxhall Vixens today for my tips on keeping your relationship fresh and energized!

posted by J.K. Coi @ 12:00 AM Comments: 0