Graveyard Gothic Garden Giveaway!

Only one week left until Halloween, and I'm already handing out the treats!

Come to the dark side of the garden with this super cool "Graveyard Gothic Garden" terrarium... you don't need a green thumb when a black one will do! :)

Spooky plants like Moonflower, Black Dragon Coleus, Dragon Tree Dracaena and the mysterious "Sensitive" plant, grown in a creepily decorative little container complete with tombstone stakes, blood rocks, skulls and spiders! Go ahead, enter! Winner will be announced on (when else?) October 31, 2012!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

As Halloween grows ever closer, I thought it might be time for a little "trick-or-treat"!  While I can't hold your hand while I take you from door-to-door, I can offer you a completely different type of treat - a spooky first-person adventure through some moon-lit woods!

Are you brave enough?

Take a moment, and gather your nerve, while I tell you a little about BLOOD BY MOONLIGHT, an upcoming Halloween anthology from Avon Impulse.

Here's the official description, straight from Amazon:

Just in time for the scariest season of all, three popular paranormal authors come together to tell original tales of romance beneath a Halloween moon . . .

In Terri Garey's The Ghoul Next Door, a witch and a warlock battle it out for possession of a haunted house, but the ghost may have her own agenda . . .

Tempers flare and passions rise in Jocelynn Drake's Of Monsters and Men as the local werewolf pack clashes with the Winter Court's Wild Hunt . . .

And, in Trick or Treathen by Caris Roane, a master vampire struggles to stay away from the mortal woman who enflames his very soul.

Yep, that's three all-new spooky tales of love and romance, all for only $1.99!! Werewolves, witches, ghosts and vampires... BLOOD BY MOONLIGHT is now available for pre-order, and will be officially released on October 23, 2012!

Ok, are you ready for a little Halloween adventure?

Play the BLOOD BY MOONLIGHT game!

A MONSTER Book Giveaway!

Mourning, boils and ghouls!

While I'm unable to hand out treats to each and every one of my readers, I can make you aware of a very special Halloween Giveaway over on the Supernatural Underground, a group blog I share with some incredibly awesome HarperCollins authors, all of whom (like me) write and love the spooky stuff!

Twenty-four (count 'em, 24!) free books to one lucky winner!

The Body Finder (and swag) by Kimberly Derting
Nightspell by Leah Cypess
Ascension by Sable Grace
Afterlife + Fathom (ebook) by Merrie Destefano
A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer
To Hell And Back (ebook) by Juliana Stone
The Heir of Night, US edition by Helen Lowe
Dream of Asarlai trilogy (Secret Ones, Power Unbound, Rogue Gadda) in ebook by Nicole Murphy
Night Forbidden by Joss Ware
Angel's Ink by Jocelynn Drake
A Devil Named Desire by Terri Garey
Tatsania's Gift (ebook) by Kim Falconer
Darkness Becomes Her by Jaime Rush
Last Vamp Standing by Kristin Miller
Diamond Eyes by AA Bell
Wanted: Undead or Alive by Kerrelyn Sparks
One Grave at a Time + Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
Diaries of an Urban Panther by Amanda Arista

What are ya waitin' for?  Look how many people have already entered!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Of Wine, Cheese and Italian Sunsets

I've just returned from 10 glorious days in sun-drenched Italy, and thought I'd share a few of the highlights, beginning with this photo I took on the very first night, from the window of my hotel in the heart of Florence. This beautiful old building is the Basilica di Santa Croce, the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians ever known, including Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli.
Standing before the tomb of Michelangelo was a surreal experience, in part because of the exquisite nature of the marble sculptures that decorate his resting place (so very lifelike, and so very sad), and in part because of the Basilica itself, filled with funerary sculptures and monuments, gorgeous frescos and chiseled remembrances, in an atmosphere of awestruck silence and reverential respect nearly impossible to describe. 

For the next few days, we roamed the streets of Florence, down narrow, winding cobblestone lanes into wide, beautiful piazzas filled with more sculpture, more history, sparkling Florentine fountains and numerous colorful little trattorias.  I lost count of the times we stopped to just sit and people-watch, enjoying cheese, olives, and wine while street musicians played played and vendors hawked their wares.

We spent a memorable afternoon at the Uffizi Museum, home to some of the most famous and beautiful artwork in the world, including Botticelli's "Birth of Venus", and gorgeous original works by Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and Michelangelo.  We strolled across the Ponte Vecchio, one of the colorful and busy bridges spanning the River Arno, and visited the famous Boboli Gardens, once owned by the Medici family, who reigned as undisputed royalty in Florence for hundreds of years.  We mingled with the crowds at the busy "Mercanto Centrale" where I happily haggled over a gorgeous red leather bag (now mine, all mine!), and bought a few other souvenirs.  We discovered the joys of gnocchi al pesto (potato dumplings with fresh pesto, made from basil & olive oil), Pecorino cheese, Italian gelato, and rich Cappucino.



After three days glorious days in Florence, we embarked on a completely new adventure, taking the train from Florence into Pisa, and then on to the seaside village of Camogli, just south of the port of Genoa.

Ahh..........

Warm Mediterranean breezes, brightly colored homes and boats, more cheese, more wine, and a completely laid-back attitude.  They don't call this part of the Ligurian coast the "Italian Riviera" for nothing!

Here's one of my favorite shots, taken from the balcony of our room overlooking the sea.  I've NEVER seen colors like this in a sunset, and I live in Florida!  Some of my favorite memories will always include sitting on that balcony, just reading, enjoying the crash of the waves and the cries of the gulls.

Here in Camogli we relaxed for four more days, enjoying strolls through quiet streets, some wonderful seafood, more cheese, more wine, and crusty fresh-baked bread.  One of those days we took the ferry south to the city of Portofino, though we both agreed that - despite Portofino's reputation as a "must-see" destination - the village of Camogli was far prettier, and much less touristy.

Finally, it was time to go home, so we took one last shot on our balcony overlooking the sea, and left Camogli with regret, taking with us some happy memories, some great photos, a new interest in Italian cuisine, and... dare I say it?... some inspiration for a new book!!  (I'll say no more than that for now, because I don't want to jinx it.)  :)

I've posted a lot more pictures on my Facebook page if you're interested, but in the meantime, thanks for letting me share my memories and photos, and as they say in Italy, "Arrivederci!"

BLOOD BY MOONLIGHT

I know it's still August, but I am SO ready for Halloween!!

Luckily, my publisher is, too, and when I was asked to write a Halloween novella for an upcoming anthology, I was only too pleased to say "Yes!" The result was a spooky little tale called The Ghoul Next Door, and I can't wait for you to read it - the anthology just became available for pre-order. (Look at that cover... don't you LOVE it? I think it's BOOOO-ti-ful.) ;)

Here's the official description, straight from Amazon:

Just in time for the scariest season of all, three popular paranormal authors come together to tell original tales of romance beneath a Halloween moon . . .

In Terri Garey's The Ghoul Next Door, a witch and a warlock battle it out for possession of a haunted house, but the ghost may have her own agenda . . .

Tempers flare and passions rise in Jocelynn Drake's Of Monsters and Men as the local werewolf pack clashes with the Winter Court's Wild Hunt . . .

And, in Trick or Treathen by Caris Roane, a master vampire struggles to stay away from the mortal woman who enflames his very soul.

Yep, that's three all-new spooky tales of love and romance, all for only $1.99!! Werewolves, witches, ghosts and vampires... BLOOD BY MOONLIGHT is now available for pre-order - check it out!

What, Another Giveaway?

Yep, I'm giving away a "Winner's Choice" of one of my books today, at TWO different blogs! Stop by Literal Addiction or Book Monster Reviews to enter, and you could win a free, signed copy of DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY, A MATCH MADE IN HELL, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I HAUNT, SILENT NIGHT, HAUNTED NIGHT, DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE or A DEVIL NAMED DESIRE!

What the heck are ya waitin' for?  :)

What I Do When I'm Not Reading

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.

        ~ from A Midsummer Night's Dream

Though it is February, I live in Florida, and this time of year, I garden.

Here in the Sunshine State, Feb. thru April is prime time in the bloom department. By the time May and June gets here, it's just too hot to spend too much time outside, and flowers definitely take a beating under the summer sun.

The picture above is of my azaleas, who have been fooled by a false early Spring into blooming early.

To the right is a white rose from a bush given to me on Valentine's Day one year by my husband.  The rose variety is called "Love".  (Can I get an "Awww!")?  I counted over 30 blooms on it yesterday. I have several varieties of roses, and find them very easy to grow as long as I water them often, and trim them ruthlessly.

These are snapdragons, who seem to have gone crazy all of a sudden.  They're among my favorite flowers, and these are big and pink, with a deep yellow throat.

I also love impatiens, which come in so many different colors and really need a shady spot to thrive down here in Florida - the sun will do them in. These are a dark "lipstick" pink, and getting bigger every day.  I'll trim these soon, and stick the snipped pieces into a vase full of water, where they will quickly root.  Voila, more impatiens!

New Guinea impatiens, on the other hand, love the sun, but require plenty of water to withstand it.  These on the left are bright orange.  (In the same photo, you can see a rabbit's foot fern, a hoya, a large pot of ivy, and the trumpet vine that covers my fence.  All sun-loving.)

There's a lot more to see, and I would show you more, but my little friend Pan is calling... he hides in a shady spot to play his flute among the flowers of my garden, probably hoping to lure Titania, Queen of the Fairies. She could be out there now, drinking nectar from my passion flowers.

One never knows!

A DEVIL NAMED DESIRE - Sneak Peek!

January 31st is getting closer, but still seems all too far away!

I can't wait any longer to share the second book in The Devil's Bargain series with you, and show you what happens when an angel and a devil go head to head in a scorching battle over one woman's soul.

Read the opening scene of my newest novel,
A DEVIL NAMED DESIRE by clicking here:

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night...

The lawn is pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts return
Gently at twilight, gently go at dawn,
The sad intangible who grieve and yearn....
                                                    --T.S. ELIOT

I've always loved a good ghost story.  Put me in a spooky old house full of creaks and moans, thunder and lightning crashing, a mystery, a tragedy, or a love story, and I'm in heaven, which is why I cannot WAIT to see this upcoming movie, A WOMAN IN BLACK:



(Yes, it's Harry Potter all grown up, but more importantly, it's a good, old-fashioned ghost story!)

As a storyteller myself, I couldn't resist trying a hand at a few ghost stories of my own, and one is about to be released as in ebook form:

GHOULS NIGHT OUT

A missing bridesmaid, some embarrassing relatives, and a "girls night out" gone bad land Nicki Styx in the middle of a murder mystery. Can she expose the killer, put a poor girl's soul to rest, and still look calm, cool and collected while wearing the ugliest bridesmaid dress on earth?

GHOULS NIGHT OUT was originally published as part of the Avon anthology, WEDDINGS FROM HELL, but as of January 17th, it can be downloaded as a stand-alone e-book for only $1.99!

(I absolutely love this new cover, btw.)


  

Let me warn you, GHOULS NIGHT OUT is a modern-day ghost story - it has no creaky old house and no thunder and lightning, but holds plenty of scares, spookiness, and more than just a bit of dark humor.

If you'd like to read an excerpt, you can do it HERE. And if, by chance, you feel a cool breeze on the back of your neck while you're reading it, don't be scared... maybe ghosts like to read, too!