Iridescent Cover Revealed

Well, it’s the 13th of August and that means it’s time to reveal the cover of Iridescent(Ember#2). The reveal is hosted by A tale of Many Reviews. Thank you, Julie, for all your hard work on bringing the reveal together. I thrilled with how the cover turned out. It’s exactly what I imagined. Many thanks to the art department of Omnific Publishing.

Summary

Candra Ember used to dream of saving the world one person at a time. She never expected to become an angelic weapon and the last hope in the battle against ultimate darkness.

Falling for a Nephilim wasn’t part of Sebastian’s plan. Distraction is something he can’t afford when his rival, Draven, wants what Sebastian has.

Lies, manipulation, and corruption are twisting the lives of the citizens in Acheron. The Arch is missing from Heaven, and a demon is intent on claiming the city. At a time they should be growing closer, grief and paranoia is driving Candra and Sebastian apart.

If the price of restoring the Watchers to Heaven is a human soul, who deserves to be saved?

Iridescent is now available for pre-order in paperback on Barnes and Noble with 33% off!

Release October 16th, 2012

Goodreads Page

If you miss book #1, Ember, it’s now available on Amazon kindle for $2.99, along with all the other Omnific Publishing titles.

When Candra Ember wakes up in hospital after a dangerous encounter with a red-haired woman, she is shocked to discover that seeing a winged boy wasn’t her imagination. Candra is exposed to a world of rivalry and sacrifice she never knew existed, and the aftermath of a war to save humanity thousands of years ago.

Soon she finds herself relentlessly stalked by Sebastian, a beautiful and arrogant Watcher Angel and romantically pursued by his darkly seductive rival, Draven. Ultimately, dubious about her own goodness, Candra’s very existence compromises a tentative peace in the city of Acheron.

 

Thank you to everyone taking part in the reveal today and to all the blogs involved in the YA of Omnific Publishing blog tour.

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2011 in Review

It’s been a good year for me and words. Ember was released in July after a lot of hard work with Team Ember from my publisher, Omnific Publishing. I wrote a short for The Summer Lovin’ Anthology with proceeds going to Save the TaTas. I was one of the judges for the My Vamp Fiction original short story contest.  I finished the sequel to Ember and the first rough draft of the sequel to Shades of Atlantis. I also got to work with some very talented authors on their projects and promotions. It’s been a busy year.

I need to give a special mention to the lovely Janice Foy from The Blog Bakery, who re-designed my blog. Also, to Amanda Tromley for her very special original artwork of Sebastian and  Draven from Ember.

Somewhere in there I managed to read a few published books. Usually I’m pretty easy to please, I can take something good away from every book I pick up. This year has been exceptional for discovering reads I simply couldn’t put down. There were so many excellent books. With that in mind, I’d like to share a few of my favorites in no particular order.

Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia : I have to include this one. I’ve been going on about it to everyone who will listen. This story will break your heart and make you laugh out loud. It’s also got a very surprising first kiss.

EverBlue by Brenda Pandos : I was a pre-reader for EverBlue and so got a sneak peek before release. The world building in this underwater YA adventure blew me away.

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn : Speaking of world building, the future world of this author’s imagination left me reeling and wondering, what is a human being capable of if they can control minds.

AshFall by Mike Mullin : This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I wasn’t disappointed. Set in the aftermath of a volcanic eruption at Yellow Stone Park, I was hooked after I read the preview chapters on the author’s site. 

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson : I cried my way through a lot of this haunting story and immediately recommended it to my best friend. 

There you go. I could go on and on, mentioning practically every book I picked up this year and there are already several YA and MG titles I’m looking forward to next year.

Destiny’s Fire by Trish Wolfe

Ashen Winter (Ashfall #2) by Mike Mullin

Unraveling Isobel by Eileen Cook

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

After all that book talk, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish Happy Holidays  to each and every one of you.

Pay it Forward

Pay-it -forward, as most of you will know, it the concept of asking that a good deed is repaid by having it done for another instead of yourself.

I have been reminded a few times over the last couple of weeks about this by people I have done nice things for in any way I can.

Remember the episode of Friends where Joey challenges Phoebe to do a completely selfish act and she found out just how difficult is it? The truth of the matter is that any of the small things I have done for others by way of paying-it-forward in the past are not selfless, because it makes me happy to make other people happy. Therefore I gain, and that’s really all I need out of it.

So, for the several people who have come to me over the last few weeks reminding me about little things I’ve done for them, I wanted to let you know it was my pleasure, honestly, truly and sincerely because each of you is a good person and deserved a smile.

I also wanted to let you know that I was at the receiving end of a pay-it-forward today. I received some good news through the post that someone had anonymously done something nice for me. It is something that I could have done myself eventually but will make my life so much easier to know it’s taken care of. I don’t know who it was but I want to thank them for their kindness and to let them know that I will continue to pay-it-forward.