Crystal Jordan :: Blog

Just got the new cover for my Wasteland: The Wanderer book which will come out May 4th from Samhain. Read an excerpt of my story here. Also, if you want a desktop image of all the cool covers in this series, check this out.

And here’s the book video for the whole Wasteland series!

I just realized I haven’t announced my big news here on my blog. Last week, I sold a new three book deal to Kensington Aphrodisia. Yay!

These are sequels to books I already have contracted with them. The first is a sequel to On the Prowl, the second is a follow up to Every Witch Way (which comes out in April of 2011 and will have a different titles by then), and the third is a sequel to Untamed.

In a double yay, I’ve also been invited into a new shapeshifter anthology, which will feature a sequel to the upcoming Sexy Beast 9 novella. Lots of series stories coming at you.

It’s apparently the week of covers over at Kensington because I also got the Sexy Beast 9 anthology cover from my editor. My contribution is called “Between Lovers” about a very sexy lion-shifter. I’ll post the blurb below!

BETWEEN LOVERS

Kensington Aphrodisia ♦ SEXY BEAST IX anthology ♦ Genre: Paranormal; Shifter ♦ Release Date: September 2010
Pre-Order Here: Amazon.com · Books-A-Million · IndieBound
Read an Excerpt

The Between. A race of people between light and dark. Good and evil. Human and animal. The world discovered their existence over a decade ago, and so far the balance between humans and Between has been precarious at best. One bite is all it takes to cross the line from human to Between. It doesn’t matter what species of shapeshifter bites a human–only the soul can dictate what kind of animal is most suited to a Between. Many humans think they’re dangerous and should be locked away, while others covet their power.

It’s a perilous time to be a Between and even more perilous to rule the Between. Elan Delacourt’s soul made him a lion, a king, and he’s been juggling human-Between politics since his father unveiled their people to the world. Then Elan finds that one of his own is kidnapping women and turning them into Between illegally. To make matters worse, he’s murdering the women and dumping their mutilated, half-changed bodies where humans are most likely to find them. This shifter must be stopped, and quietly, or all the peace Elan has fought and sacrificed for will evaporate like mist on summer day. When Elan’s security teams finally track down the offender, they find someone else has done their dirty work for them.

Rhiannon Reid never imagined a spontaneous camping trip into the wilderness would end her life as she knew it. She’d never even met one of the Between until one was torturing her for days on end, sinking his fangs into her flesh, and laughing while the agony of change ripped through her body. One moment of inattention is the only opportunity she gets, and she takes it, killing her kidnapper while trying to escape him.

She’s solved a problem by slaying the rogue shifter, but created a whole new one by surviving to tell the tale. Elan he has to ensure her silence about how and why she was turned. Ruthless commonsense dictates that he have her killed–it’s the only sure way to know she’ll never talk. But . . . he just can’t do it. The riskier approach is to make her happy enough to be a Between that she no longer cares how it happened. That’s a challenge he finds himself eager to take on–a king’s duty is never done until his subjects are fully satisfied.

I have to say, I’m kind of in love with it. I like the sort of black & white/sepia tone of the background and then the guy is a punch of color. Pretty! *pets*

PRIMAL HEAT

Kensington Aphrodisia ♦ Genre: Paranormal; Shifter; Sci-Fi/Future ♦ Release Date: November 2010
Pre-Order Here: Amazon.com · Books-A-Million · IndieBound · Borders
Read an Excerpt

The world changed in the blink of an eye. The Kith returned to Earth, and humans learned the terrible truth. They were lesser beings, slaves, abandoned to colonize a barbaric planet the Kith discovered centuries ago. They might have gone on in ignorance, but the Emperor of the Kith knows that his One is among the Kin. He sensed her the moment she reached maturity, and he will tear the planet apart if he must to find her, to claim her, to bond his mind and body with hers.

Wicked Lord

Sergeant Major Bren Preston doesn’t believe for a second that the powerful Kith brought an entire armada across space for a woman. No matter what the Kith ambassador claims–or how attractive she finds Lord Farid Arjun–she knows Earth will never surrender to the Kith fleet. But when she finds that her own commander, General Arthur, wants the planet for himself, she’ll have to decide what she’s willing to risk to save her people. Farid might be able to help her. For a price. He’s desired her from the moment he first saw her, and he’s not going to settle for less than everything she has to give. Her body, her heart, her mind, her hard-won independence. She’ll have to surrender herself to him if she wants to save Earth.

Carnal Empress

Jana Townsend was once a normal woman with a normal life. Until the day Emperor Kyber showed up and claimed her for his own. Nothing had ever felt so right, so perfect. But it was over far too soon. General Arthur’s men captured Kyber and spend months torturing him before Jana and the Kith forces can free him. Now, Jana and Kyber can’t find the common ground they’d once had. Both of them have changed, become different people, but the bond between them can’t be broken. They’re too damaged to move forward, but they crave each other too much to let go. The only thing they can agree on is that before the Kith leave Earth, they have to keep the planet from General Arthur’s clutches. For Kyber, justice and vengeance go hand in hand, and working with Jana to fight a common enemy shows him that the one thing he can’t lose is her.

BELIEVE IN ME by Crystal Jordan

Read an excerpt ♦ Buy it here!

Love might need a little push…or a good, swift kick.

Tori Chambers. Old biddy, gossip, busybody and meddler. Except in reality she’s none of those things—she’s a guardian angel who specializes in helping people find their soul mates. Her latest assignment has had her tearing her hair out for over a year. She’s holding up her end for the fireman who’s her current client, but his soul mate’s guardian angel is dropping the ball big time. And when a replacement steps in, it’s enough to curl what’s left of Tori’s hair.

Jericho. The one man who broke her heart—and made her determined to never fail her clients like her own guardian angel failed her.

A hundred years ago, while fighting for Texas independence, Jericho made a mistake that accidentally cost her life. Now that she’s forced to make nice and work with him, he’s determined not to lose her again. Even if he has to tie her to the bed and make love to her until she’s willing to see reason.

Because unknown to Tori, she is his assignment. And if he can’t find a way to convince her they’re soul mates, they face an eternity of consequences…

So, I’m taking the whole month of February off of writing. I need a little vacation. I’ve ordered my friends to administer severe spankings if they catch me writing this month (though how they’d know if I was lying, I’m not sure, but that’s beside the point).

However, I’m plotting out some new stories, so the writing process hasn’t come to a grinding halt. Here’s my current to-do list.

Plan out:

• 2 new contemporary short stories
• 2 new paranormal/futuristic short stories
• 2 new single author anthologies
• 1 new paranormal novel
• 1 new paranormal proposal

Librarianista stuff:

• Prep lectures and teach 15-20 classes (Feb and Sept are the busiest library months for teaching. Very bad idea to have any fiction writing due then.)
• Work on outliney thing they require for the first year of your tenure process.
• Start research for 2 scholarly articles on library stuff (that would bore anyone who wasn’t a librarian to utter tears).

I got my acceptance for my new novella, Wasteland: The Wanderer, from my awesome editor at Samhain Publishing. Yay! It’s officially official!

P.S. I can’t believe it’s February already. Where’s the last month gone??

So, over Christmas, the Mad Madam M said she wanted a desktop image of Treasured, which is her favorite cover of mine, and a book she help me come up with the concept for.

I emailed the super fabulous cover artist, Anne Cain, who I love like a fat kid loves cake, and said I’d like to commission her to make this present for M. Then I thought, why should just M and I enjoy the awesomeness of Anne’s work? So, she made me a couple of different sizes, and I’ve added these to my Extras page.

Here they are! Downloadable desktop images for Treasured. I want to hug them and squeeze them, pet them and call them George. Soooo preeeeetty!

(Click on the image to download)

Image size: 1920×1080

Image size: 1024×768

I started on a new story for Samhain that will be part of a series with my sisters in crime over at the Smutketeers. The series is called The Wasteland, and it’s gonna be awesome!

Crystal Jordan~~ Book One: The Wanderer
Lilli Feisty~~Book Two: The Whore
Eden Bradley~~Book Three: The Breeder
R.G. Alexander~~Book Four: The Priestess

Here’s what mine’s about!

In 2012, the world came to a grinding halt as radiation hit from a massive solar storm. Crops died, animals perished, cities fell, and humans became little more than beasts themselves. Under the threat of starvation, civility was reduced to mere memory. Only the strongest men survived, and physically weaker women and children wasted to nothingness.

More than a century later, humanity struggles in the desert Wasteland that was left. The solar radiation rendered most women infertile, and the population dwindles more with each year that passes. Scattered up and down coasts, isolated cities eke out an existence from fishing, foraging, and hunting for what little game remains. Outside the city walls, men face the threat of pirates and raiders.

There is only one rule in the Wasteland: survive.

Few women remain, divided into four classes: Wanderers, Whores, Breeders, and Priestesses. They are as reviled as they are worshipped, a commodity any man must pay to touch. And to touch a Wanderer, he may pay with his life.

For Ezra, the risk is worth the reward. He’s half-scientist and half-mercenary. People speak his name in the same reverent terror reserved for ancient wrathful gods. He controls and invents the alternative fuel sources that power what is left of technology in the Wasteland, but he must always be ready to fend off those who would take what is his.

And what he wants to be his is Kadira. From her clan of Wanderers, he demands she spend the month of Spring Rites in his bed as the price for her people’s fuel. He’ll gladly deal with her wrath if it means finally having the warrior woman in his arms. The scientist can’t resist the urge to see what he can make react, and what he can make explode. The real experiment will be if he can keep her once he has her where he wants her.

The book. It is in. And I’m spent.

Enjoy the long weekend!