Crystal Jordan :: Blog

So there are four new books coming out in the next year that I am so stoked to get my hands on. The bonus: they all have awesome, unbelievable covers. So, check out my picks on the lucky bitches who got smacked by the Good Cover Fairy (TM).

First, we feed my craving for the rest of the HeartMate series by Robin D. Owens. I love these books. Every last one of them. And do you see how nice they were to me by giving a full flegded (yet not creepy) helping of man-titty? Yum.

Okay, when I had lunch with Gena Showalter and Jill Monroe, Gena teased me by saying she should maybe have brought the cover flat for me to see. So, now it months later and I finally get to see how spiffy this bad boy is. I mean flames, nekked man, cool butterfly tattoo. It’s almost like they want to tempt me with it. Crazy, I know. Still the man dies every night. That’s dark. That’s angst. And it’s Gena, so ya know that’s good sex. I want to read it. Now.

Third up is MaryJanice Davidson’s new series. Her original title was Bitch Out of Water, and I can see why they didn’t let her keep it, but I think it’s funny as hell. This is my least fave of the four covers here (Sorry MJ) but I sooooooo want to read it. If you haven’t yet, go read the excerpt. I totally fell in love with her Undead series, and her Alaska series, so one more to buy makes me all happy inside.

Last, but so not least, is Jill Monroe’s new book. The only thing I’d like better is if I could see the front of him in this game of strip poker they’re teasing me with. I’m like TURN AROUND! Can’t wait to read the book. There are very few people that I own all their books, and Jill is one of them. True, I haven’t READ all of them yet, but I own them and that has to count for something. They’re in the Mutant To-Be-Read Pile (TM).

Today I’m talking about working on multiple works in progress over at The Novelty Girls. So, go check it out!

Also, I wanted to show some love to a fellow author (who could already kick my ass in popularity, but whatever!) Here’s some stuff about Deidre Knight’s new one.

Deidre Knight Cranks up the Heat in Her Latest Installment in the Parallel Series: PARALLEL HEAT

“Intelligent characters, hot romance and breathtaking adventure with epic feel—exactly what I want to read!” - Susan Grant, New York Times bestselling author

“A fantastic and riveting new voice in paranormal fiction.” -Karen Marie Moning, New York Times bestselling author of Spell of the Highlander

“At times humorous, at others heart-wrenching, but always compelling, Deidre Knight offers readers a fresh, wonderfully creative glimpse at the complexity of human decisions. What a page-turner!” - Gena Showalter, Author of Playing with Fire

In the unforgettable, alternate world of Parallel Heat, two enemies are bound by betrayal, vengeance—and forbidden passion.

Warrior and royal guardian Marco McKinley has been assigned a vital mission on Earth, where a war between human fighters and otherworldly soldiers is rising in the far reaches of Wyoming. But he’s also been warned about twists of fate yet to come-ones that will transform him into the enemy of his own people and appoint him the personal protector of beautiful soldier Thea Haven.

Little do Marco and Thea know, but they have met before in an alternate universe, and they are bound by betrayal and vengeance. Now, on a world at the brink of destruction, forbidden passion ignites—but will the destiny Marco has glimpsed unfold a second time?

Sign up for Deidre’s newsletter and be eligible to win a $50 Amazon gift certificate, signed copies of her books, and plenty of other goodies! Just click here.

Check out the book that launched the series, PARALLEL ATTRACTION or order your copy of PARALLEL HEAT today! And coming in April, PARALLEL SEDUCTION.

Isle of Desire
by Eden Bradley

Is it really possible to fulfill the fantasy of a promise made in the passion of youth? On a beach on the small Venezuelan island of Isla de Margarita, Isabel Asher meets once more the love of her life, Rafael Cruz, the man she left behind twelve years earlier. Desire ignites, but can the sultry tropical nights spent in his bed lead them back to love? She’s about to find out, and maybe to have her heart broken in the process.

Available NOW from http://www.cobblestone-press.com/

Sorry this is getting posted so late, but hey…it’s my birthday and I can post blogs late if I want to. Yes…I actually made it to 25. Although, I am not sure if I will survive the after effects of the Flogging Molly concert I went to last night!! So without further ado…

Crystal here, reporting from the road.

Here’s a few bits of fun and games for you:

1. I had lunch with the fabulous Jill Monroe and Gena Showalter at a Mexican food place in Oklahoma City. They, of course, were charming and funny as hell. Gena’s phone howls like a wolf when her husband calls, and Jill actually procrastinates longer on her deadlines than I do. I, of course, made a few lame attempts at humor and was more like the special needs author at the table. My one contribution? A description of the disgusting hatching of the cicada invasion of 2004. I refuse to post this on my blog, but if you don’t know what a cicada is, be horrified here. I also may have explained the concept of a heterosexual life partner. Don’t ask, I don’t want to have your therapst bill me. All I can say is it’s all Mad Madam M’s fault.
2. Shawn totally dared me to add this information to the post, so here you go. Gena almost brought Matt, her bootyliscious brother-in-law to the lunch, but apparently he had to build a fence. I have no idea if “build a fence” is dude-speak for “need to wash my hair.” If you are sadly unfamiliar with the muffiny goodness of Matt’s backside, click here. It’s too bad he couldn’t make it, as he missed out on the magic of me. You never know, violins could have played, a Danielle Steele made-for-Lifetime-movie-type romance could have ensued. Just as long as he liked to pose nude–for inspiration of my books, of course. If he had shown and I had witnessed The Muffins in person, I might have felt compelled to created a sonnet in memory of the momentous occasion. In iambic pentameter, of course.
3. I have discovered I lose my funny mojo under pressure. The only reason this post is even remotely amusing (if it is at all) is because I had the entire drive from OKC to Amarillo, TX to compose it in my head. Well, that and think about my new erotic romance. If this post and my plotting got a bit tangled and my next book features a hero with dirty blonde hair and a luscious ass, I confess to nothing. Though I may have to write that poem as part of the dedication. I’ll have to ponder this further. To be or not to be…

So there. I went through with the dare. Met and exceeded, as Gena and Jill would say. I only hope to God poor Matt never reads this.

Also…today is Novelty Girls Day. You know what to do.

Playing With Fire by Gena Showalter

Earth, Wind and Fire aren’t just a band anymore…

Used to be my greatest achievement was holding a job more than three days. Now suddenly I can shoot fireballs, chill your drink, or blow-dry your hair at fifty paces with a blink of my eye!

It all started when this crazy scientist dropped something in my grande mocha latte. Of course I got wicked sick. Next morning I’m waking up with this total hottie bending over me. He tells me 1) his name’s Rome Masters, 2) he’s a government agent and 3) I can control the four elements with a thought.

He seems even less pleased by my (apparently irreversible) transformation that I am. . . because now he’s supposed to kill me. The only good news: I didn’t make this bed of trouble, but Rome sure seems to want me to lie in it. With him.

Read an excerpt

Order your copy from Barnes and Noble or Amazon or Books A Million

On the day Full Swing came out, Gena Showalter sent me an email congratulating me on my release and offering to send me a signed copy of her latest book, Playing With Fire. (How freaking awesome is that? I mean, seriously.) This is a book she brought a promo copy of to Nationals and taunted me cruelly when I couldn’t buy it. She’s a sick, sick woman that way. Prolly why I liked her so much.

So, here’s where I brag on her work. This book is freaking awesome! If any of you have read her blog (and if you haven’t you really should), then what you’ll get in this book is a superpowered version of her blog. It’s hilarious.

What I loved most about this book is that, superpowers not withstanding, the heroine Belle is REAL. She’s believable. She gets scared, mad, hurt, etc just as you would expect someone to if they accidentally drank a chemical compound that let them control the weather. Major freak-out time.

And the hero, Rome, is HAWT. I would so do him. In like, a hot second. He says “Get nekked”, I say “Okay.” Even he has real issues, with his family and friends and career. Plus, he hates tighty whities. You’re just gonna have to read the book to find out why.

So while the premise of the story is crazy, over the top fun, the characters are human and that is honestly what sold the story for me.

Yep, I’m already a major Gena Showalter fan, but if I weren’t, this one would have clinched it for me. You really need to go buy this one. Plus, it has the most awesome cover EVER. In this case, you really can judge a book by its cover.

So, a few days ago, I mentioned that I was going to name a character Cynthiana after the town in Kentucky. I had planned to make this a secondary character, but the main chica in my plus sized chick lit vamp story (I’m calling it Big Girls Don’t Die) wants this name. Her little sister is going to be named Victoriana (sense a theme?). And instead of being in Portland, Oregon like I had originally planned, these two nutty chicks hijacked my story and set it in Knoxville, Tennessee. Oh, well. If MaryJanice Davidson can do her vamp stories in Minnesota, I can do mine in Tennessee.

I’m still in the brainstorming phase for this story, but I think it will be fun. And the main guy in this is totally hot. I’d do him. That’s my rule for all my heroes…if I wouldn’t sleep with them, neither would my heroines. I don’t write dumb chicks.

So, over at Romance Divas, I’ve recently been made one of the author liaisons. I specialize in paranormal, futuristic/sci-fi, and fantasy romance. I need to contact authors/agents/editors and see if they’d like to use RD as a promotional opportunity for their work. We host chats or workshops on just about any topic. But, who should I contact first? Who are the authors I’d love to have a chat or workshop with? I know of a few to start with because they’re my faves. Who would you like to chat with or learn from? I’d like to have workshops on worldbuilding, plotting, writing styles, etc.

I’ll have to ponder this further, then gird my loins and just ask somebody. Geez, this is worse than getting a date for the prom. Oh wait. I didn’t have a date to the prom. Crap. I’m screwed.

Gena Showalter mentioned over on her blog today that sometimes writers have ideas that they don’t feel they have the chops to write, but the idea is so good, you can’t not write it (which for her is totally ludicrous because the woman can write like a fiend on speed, but I digress). The topic got me thinking, which is never a good sign for me (as you all have probably guessed by now).

Honestly, I feel this way about all my ideas. Like, if someone else had had the idea for Every Witch Way, it would not only be done already, but be marvelously better than I could ever write it. Same thing with MSG. And Luring Lorelei. Yep, they’d all be done and sent to agents and editors, but sadly for these characters, they chose to come to me. But I keep writing. That’s my advice to anyone having doubts. Just. Keep. Writing. And do the best you can, because what else can you do?

Also, congrats to Jill Monroe, who just got a new three book deal with Harlequin Blaze. Woo-hoo!!! Go buy her new release Share the Darkness, because it is mad hot!