In the shadow of King Arthur’s Britain, a young mother will need all her courage to save the Queen’s castle from the hands of a traitor… Dera owes Britain’s former High Queen Isolde her life. But as an army harlot, the life she leads is one of degradation and often desperate danger, with small hope for the future either for Dera or for her small son. Through a Britain torn by war with Saxon invaders, Dera makes her way to Dinas Emrys, last stronghold of Britain’s army, to beg Queen Isolde’s help once more. Isolde offers Dera a new life, both for herself and for her child. But when Dera and Isolde uncover a treasonous plot, Dera must leave her little boy and undertake a dangerous mission, the outcome of which comes to her as a stunning, but wonderful, surprise. And as she risks her life, Dera also draws nearer to Queen Isolde’s most closely-guarded secret: one that Britain’s courageous witch-queen may be hiding even from herself.

Hi! I’m Anna Elliott, author of the Twilight of Avalon Trilogy from Simon & Schuster’s Touchstone imprint. The second book in the trilogy, Dark Moon of Avalon, will be released Sept 14, and to celebrate, I am giving away The Witch Queen’s Secret, a short story set in the same universe and featuring a minor character from Book 1.To learn more, visit www.annaelliottbooks.com.

About the Book

As an author, I fall in love with my secondary characters, and often feel a bit guilty that their story has to take a backseat to narrating my main characters’ journey. Dera, the salty-tongued army harlot, was my favorite secondary character in Twilight of Avalon, and she tugged on my conscience all the time I was writing the next two books of the trilogy. I couldn’t find a way to fit her into the story arc of either Dark Moon of Avalon or Sunrise of Avalon—and yet I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about her, wondering what happened to her and her little boy Jory after we left them at the end of Book 1. The story I imagined for her grew more and more real in my head, until I just had to write it down.

So here is Dera’s story. Chronologically, it takes place between Twilight and Dark Moon. But it is self-contained; you don’t have to have read any of the Trystan and Isolde books to understand The Witch Queen’s Secret. Whether you know Dera already from Twilight of Avalon or are completely new to the trilogy, I hope you’ll come to care about her as much as I do, and I hope you’ll enjoy watching Dera win the ending I always knew she deserved.

Get Your Copy

Read online or download FREE from www.annaelliottbooks.com
(.epub, .mobi, .pdf, and more)

or…

wireless delivery via Kindle Store ($0.99 per Amazon’s rules)

Want to Read More?
Pre-Order Dark Moon of Avalon (Sept. 14)

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HAPPY READING!

Thanks so much to the Romance Junkies blog for having me and for helping me spread the word!

Hello! My name is Cheryl Brooks, author of the Cat Star Chronicles series of hot sci-fi romance. My newest release, Hero, has been out for about a month now, and whenever anyone asks me, “How’s it selling?” I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea. Yes, it’s gotten some very good reviews, and the ranking on Amazon has been encouraging, but until you get that royalty statement about a year later, an author truly doesn’t know–unless you’re the sort who badgers your editor to get the Book Scan numbers, and I tend not to do that. Call me a wuss if you will, but I bother my editor as little as possible.

Actually, publishing is such a team effort that there are a lot of things that an author has very little knowledge of, much less control over. I get emails all the time from readers asking me why a book isn’t on Kindle yet or when it will be available on such and such a site, and I have to refer those questions to my editor. Sometimes it takes a while to get a reply, because my editor has to ask someone else. I’d like to think that someone like Nora Roberts has all of this information at her fingertips and has some say in it, but mid-list authors like myself don’t. I have had some input on the covers, which I think is very important. After all, who knows better what a character looks like than the author? My chief input on the cover of Hero, however, was to tell them not to change it. It was perfect just as it was.

Contrary to popular belief, most authors don’t have anyone to answer emails or write blogs for them, either. If you get an email reply from me, or see a blog posted, you can bet the farm that I’m the one who wrote it every word of it. I recently received an email from a reader who was astonished that I answered him (yes, it was a HIM!) so quickly, but then wanted to be sure it was really me responding to his email. Yes, I said, it really is me. Hero may be my sixth book, but I’m not so rich and famous that I have someone to answer my mail! To be honest, I’m not sure I’d share that job even if I was rich and famous, because I love interacting with readers via email and through their blog comments. I’ve made several friends that way, some that I hope to hang onto for a very long time.

Publicity is another aspect that is handled by the publisher. Sure, I can get a press release written (by Sourcebooks publicist, Danielle Jackson and the PR volunteer for my local RWA chapter), but I’m the one who checks them for accuracy. Then, unless I have a specific request, someone else decides where to send them, and also who gets the advance copies of the book to review. I may write every guest blog that appears during the promotional periods, but they are graciously lined up by Danielle.  I know a great many authors who don’t have anyone to do that for them, and I’m very grateful that we at Sourcebooks have Danielle working so hard for us.

Distribution is something else that we authors don’t know anything about. My local bookstore had 3 copies of Hero ordered, but another from the same chain in Texas had 8. No clue as to how that is decided, nor do I know how my publisher decides how many copies to print.

Sometimes the whys and wherefores of publishing are a mystery, even to those of us who are right in the middle of it. So, the next time you pick up a book and the tall, dark, and handsome hero is depicted on the cover as a blond, you can bet that the author wasn’t happy about it, either. After all, the only thing the author did was write the book. What happens after that is up to someone else.

Question for the day:

Say you’ve written a book; what is the one thing that you would most like to have control over?

I’ve been reading a lot lately. I’ve caught up on some books that I had on my TBR – to be read - pile for a bit. The only problem… well not a problem except to my wallet. LOL. The books on my TBR pile are part of a series. Usually before I get a new series even if they are recommended to me I like to read the first in the series to see if I enjoy it. My TBR pile has a lot of first books in various series. Books I’ve been trying to get to. Now that I have I am longing for the next in the series.

Since I enjoyed the first one of about five different series I am now going to buy the rest in the series. The various authors backlist if you will. At the time I got the first books in the series I knew they were the beginning of a part of a series but it took me so long to get to them that the series is now a few books in. I’m ecstatic I don’t have to wait. I now can get a few books to read in the various series. I’m sort of impatient when it comes to waiting for the next in a series I love.

So with my reading I have been doing I now have some new authors to add to my TBL – to buy list – and some reading to do. (Eyeing my TBR pile) I spot a few more books I am going to be reading and if the cover is any indication I have some more buying coming in my future. I’ve had fun finding the joy in the TBR pile.

What are some good books you’ve read?

McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com/
…. sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList
Free Reads Site: http:/ /www.satinnotes.com/

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend?

Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules. Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed.

His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings.

His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

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I have always been fascinated with the idea of women succumbing to the thrall of an intrinsically evil creature such as a vampire. It seems no matter her upbringing, ideals, inhibitions and/or sexual hang-ups the vampire can bend anyone to his will. Well, maybe not Buffy. Of course, it’s a no-brainer to blame the vampire. I mean, he is doing that hypno-erotic-enthrallment-thingy that always gets the gal no matter how much of a tight-a$$ she appears to be. Nevertheless, after much thought, coffee, and bags of Hershey Kisses, I refuse to buy into that lame excuse anymore. Extensive research (by a couple friends and me) confirms not everyone is subject to hypnosis (especially Jackie, who is still watching Days of Our Lives, despite repeated trips to Dr. Bobbie at the strip mall). Yet, that is what ol’ Drac is doing—slight of hand, eyeball, whatever. So, what is really at work here? Read on, and I will be glad to impart my theory, and then you decide for yourself.  All right, consider this–you are on a first date, and super-hunky Rafe/Colin/Antony, takes you out to dinner, clubbing, maybe a movie, or perhaps all three. He does everything right and you find the evening enjoyable. Then it’s time for the good night kiss—he lays one on you, puts everything into it, and manages to caress your tonsils with his tongue. Unfortunately, the chemistry is more a sputter than a sizzle. However, Mr. Hunky thinks it’s all good and asks for a second date. You let the man down easy with the I-want-to-stay-friends-let’s-go-to-lunch-sometime rhetoric slam the door in his face and decide a bottle of wine, Mr. Personal Massager, and thou, is the only constant in a substandard dating-life.

Of course, Hunky-Joe can’t take the rejection and begins shadowing your every move. One night after weeks of stalking you, he appears outside your bedroom window…at midnight…scratching his longish fingernails (ewww) on the glass demanding entrance. He insists he is your eternal lover completely convinced you return his affections, and if that doesn’t wilt your curls, he soon expresses a burning desire to sex you up, while draining your carotid artery.   Now, be honest, how would you react? You’d wear down the heels on your favorite stilettos doing a Carl Lewis all the way to the cop shop demanding twenty-four hour protection, a restraining order against the nut-job, and only after you purchased a nine millimeter Beretta with a back-up clip, and a German Shepard named Kills-Many, who responds to the attack command in several languages to include Lakota. Given the above, why would this same scenario prove irresistible with a vampire-type as the culprit? Here is my theory, and really, I can only speak for myself. If a sinfully sexy, cultured, wealthy, ageless, master-of-seduction decided his only requirement was moi, naked, and willing then I would have to say let the games begin! (No, Eric, no enthrallment necessary, no need to break a sweat babes, I’ll go with you willingly. Want me to drive? Hey, you coming or what?) Additionally, a vampire has a lot more than those four fabulous factors working in his favor. Most important, he comes without the bothersome, and sometimes oinkish qualities of the human male. Let’s face it, Dracula/Eric/Bill isn’t going to drop his dirty underwear on the bedroom floor within inches of the clothes hamper, or adjust his package in public. I’ve yet to read a book, or watch a movie where a vampire empties his pockets leaving coins, crumpled bills, gum wrappers, gas receipts, movie stubs, and wads of lint strewn over every available surface in the house possibly after swigging a beer, and/or burping open a door.Regrettably, most folklore/myths cast vampires like Eric Northman into nefarious roles. Admittedly, blood-exchanges, M/s relationships, as well as sexual obsession might drive a person insane (though the jury is still out on that last one). Still, as I ponder what to prepare for supper, fold my second basket of laundry, pick up after my husband, daughter, and two dogs, I have to ask myself this; really, how bad could insanity be?www.MarieMarch.comI have traveled the world, lived on two continents, and in eleven cities. I have met my childhood hero. I have worn a uniform during wartime, and flown an airplane. Two crazy cattle dogs, both of which I rescued from puppy prison, own me. Currently, I am living in the Midwest, but will be moving to Europe in the fall of 2010. Transylvania here I come! You can buy Marie’s e-books at Whispers Publishing, Red Rose Publishing, eXcessica publishing