Summer is here. Which means my kids are home and my time is taken up differently so I have to guard my schedule more carefully or I won’t get my work done. And I have a book due July 31 and another one in September so I can’t give in to the long, bright, hot lure of summer lethargy.
Sometimes when you’re caught up in a bunch of deadlines, your to do list takes over your life and you forget the wonder of popsicles and playing in the backyard and a cold margarita or beer on a hot day. So I try, very hard, to remember the magic of sunsets at ten pm and to squirt my kids with the hose for no other reason than to glory in the sound of their suprised, joyful giggles.
In an around three summer book releases and my deadlines. Because goodness, why do this if I can’t be joyful?
Happy summer to you all. Don’t forget to keep some money near the door so you can run with the kids when you hear the ice cream man!
Lauren
(oh and you wanna check out those releases - check my website) To celebrate summer - in this hemisphere anyway - I’m giving away a print copy of Making Chase or What Happens In Vegas - winner’s choice. Just comment here with your favorite thing to do in summer. I’ll choose a winner at six pm pacific/nine eastern, today June 30
***WINNER is Commenter #23 - brownone! Email me your snail mail address and your preference between What Happens in Vegas and Making Chase and I’ll get the book your way! laurendane at laurendane dot com!
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Grab the bubbly, The Bad Boys Guide To The Galaxy is out! At least, it is online. I’m not sure if it’s in stores just yet. Let me know if you’ve seen it.
Here’s the back cover blurb. I know this is going to be in a differnt font, but I’m not sure how to change it.
Take me to your leader. Come to think of it, just take me.
Planet Nerak was perfect—no disease, no darkness, no hunger—until an expedition to Earth brought back an unwanted guest. Enter one talented Nerakian named Lara, sent on a special fact-finding mission in the vast region called Texas. Fortunately, a warrior (he calls himself a “cop”) named Sam Jones has offered to help. Unfortunately, Sam’s skill at sex is quite distracting—as are plenty other earthly delights, like the dangerously addictive substance called chocolate. Temptations such as these could seriously compromise Lara’s—ahem—research…
Crazy, that’s what Sam is. What sane man would voluntarily isolate himself in the Texas woods with an alien, not to mention a female one with a superiority complex, legs that won’t quit, and a penchant for walking around buck naked? Between bragging about her home planet and levitating, Lara wastes no time getting on Sam’s last nerve…and even less time getting into his bed. Talk about going where no man has gone before. Of course, when you’re from Texas, nothing—not even an entire planet—is going to stop you from getting what you want.
I love my job! Hey, I’m just finishing up a contest for my newsletter group, but I’ll be starting another one really quick. I’m giving away an “I (heart) the Planet Nerak” baseball cap, some alien bookmarks and other goodies. You can sign up at www.authorkarenkelley.com
Have a fantastic day!
Karen
Recent comments from: · Karen Kelley · fedora · Jill Sorenson · kh · Estella
HI Everyone,
The Bad Boys Guide To The Galaxy is available online and hopefully in stores, too. If anyone spots it let me know.
Here’s the back cover blurb:
Planet Nerak was perfect—no disease, no darkness, no hunger—until an expedition to Earth brought back an unwanted guest. Enter one talented Nerakian named Lara, sent on a special fact-finding mission in the vast region called Texas. Fortunately, a warrior (he calls himself a “cop”) named Sam Jones has offered to help. Unfortunately, Sam’s skill at sex is quite distracting—as are plenty other earthly delights, like the dangerously addictive substance called chocolate. Temptations such as these could seriously compromise Lara’s—ahem—research…
Crazy, that’s what Sam is. What sane man would voluntarily isolate himself in the Texas woods with an alien, not to mention a female one with a superiority complex, legs that won’t quit, and a penchant for walking around buck naked? Between bragging about her home planet and levitating, Lara wastes no time getting on Sam’s last nerve…and even less time getting into his bed. Talk about going where no man has gone before. Of course, when you’re from Texas, nothing—not even an entire planet—is going to stop you from getting what you want.
***
I hope this one turns out okay. The last time I tried it, the blurb came out in a really funky font. Maybe, this time you can read it.
I’m just finishing up a contest for my newsletter group, but I’m going to start another one really quick. I’ll be giving away an “I (heart) Planet Nerak” baseball cap, and an alien waist purse and other fun stuff. It’s easy to join. Just go to my website www.authorkarenkelley.com. You’ll get contest info and book updates about once a month, but I’m the only one who can post so you won’t get a lot of e-mails.
Have a great day!
Karen
Received the gorgeous new cover for ALLURING TALES II: HOT HOLIDAY NIGHTS, the second anthology I’m in with my Allure Author buddies…
Take a gander…
I love it and Avon has does an amazing job of branding us… here’s the first cover and you can compare…
Awesome hey?
And speaking of the first anthology, right now its’ on sale for $3.99 at Barnes and Noble online. If you haven’t picked up a copy, now is the time! The second anthology will be released in November. And both Sylvia Day and I have continuations of our stories from volume I.
Recent comments from: · fedora · kim h · Caffey · ReadingIsSoMuchFun · Pam P
Romantic Times magazine reviewed HOTTER THAN HELL — 4.5 stars, AND it’s one of their Top Picks for August!
***faints***
Here’s the review:
Kessler has outdone herself by giving readers a glorious book three of her deliciously sinful series, Hell on Earth. Daunuan’s sexy supernatural antics make sparks fly, and if you’re not careful you’ll singe your fingers as the pages speed by. It’s packed with quirky characters, a spicy, fast-paced plot and witty dialogue. Be prepared for a demonic treat that’s hotter than hell.
Summary: The incubus Daunuan seduces mortals and brings their souls to hell. The King of Lust offers him a promotion if he will seduce Virginia Reed, a woman meant to go to heaven. But Virginia resists his charms. Daun knows he’ll wear her down eventually, but first he has to deal with rogue demons and the realization he may be falling in love with the very woman he must doom for eternity. (ZEBRA, Aug., 304 pp., $15.00) HOT
***AND*** as a bonus to RT magazine subscribers, here’s the link to the RT author spotlight on yours truly. It includes a little something on why Daun gets what’s coming to him, as well as an excerpt from the book that’s not the one here on my website.
To celebrate, I’m giving away THREE author’s copies of HOTTER THAN HELL! For a chance to win, post below on why this summer is going to be hotter than hell. Winners will be picked randomly on FRIDAY, JUNE 27.
Have at it!
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I must be hopelessly out of touch. I simply don’t understand the appeal of My Space, Facebook, and other such online groups. Yes, I understand that they’re a way to network with people. Yes, I know you can post photos and share news. And in theory, that sounds great. It’s like email, but bigger, better.
But here’s the problem. I joined Facebook a while back because one of my former students was spending a semester in Spain, and I wanted to see her photos. I filled out my profile, posted my book covers, added her as my friend. And for a few days, it was kind of fun, checking out her photos, posting a message or two on her wall. But it took time I didn’t have, so I pretty much let it slide.
Okay, I completely ignored it. Weeks passed. Every few days I got requests to add friends to my page, which I did. Then one of these new-found friends sent me a “hug,” which I thought was rather sweet. Someone else wanted to know what I was doing right then.
Then today I went back to my page, and was I shocked! I couldn’t believe all the messages I had. People wanted to send me the following items:
Shoes, hearts, growing flowers, pieces of flair, candy, gifts, hugs, fashion gifts, sweets, good karma, Swarovski crystals, stuffed animals, Baskin Robbins, cookies, butterflies, spies, my fairy, eggs, top friend, Haikoo zoo. I had other messages wanting to know who my celebrity boyfriend was, what kind of warrior and Jane Austen heroine I was. Was I addicted to Lost? Would I become a knight in a game, a forever friend?
Stranger yet, most of these were from one person, who I promptly deleted from my list of friends.
And I couldn’t help but feel appalled. Who was this person? How did she have time to send all these things? And what was she doing with her life? Shouldn’t she be out there living, traveling, having relationships with people instead of sending nonsensical requests on the internet to someone she didn’t know?
So how much time do people spend on Facebook and other similar communities? Is everyone except me sending pieces of “flair” to strangers all night long? And what the heck is “flair,” anyhow? Enlighten me, please! 
Recent comments from: · Jennifer K. · Lorelie · Gail Barrett · Jill Sorenson · fedora
My newest release, HARD AS NAILS, is just about ready to hit the shelves…unless you order from B&N online, in which case it’s shipping. A few people have asked me about the title. Apparently some folks think it’s sexual. [Ahem] It really relates to central feature that ties the three novellas together - a house rehab project in Washington, D.C. No, really. It’s about the house.
After questioning the title, the next thing people ask about is the fact this is an anthology. Some readers aren’t big novella/anthology fans. That makes me sad since I love them. Love writing them. Love reading them. I actually toyed with making this a single title with two subplots. Problem was, I loved all three guys and hated the idea of only one of them being the hero. Yeah, I know they’re fictional. I really do. I’m not sitting in my house having tea parties with them. I swear. Still, it was just one of those things where I couldn’t chose and where the intersecting plots worked as novellas…at least I hope you think so.
The one thing you may not know is that HARD AS NAILS is a follow-up to the very first novella I ever had published. That one was in the anthology WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD BOYS with Lori Foster and Erin McCarthy. Readers asked for stories for the two secondary characters - and I love and thank you for that - so I wrote them. It got me wondering. What secondary characters would you love to see get their own stories? Do you have favorite characters you just wish an author would use as the star in a new book? If so, what characters from what books by what author? I’m curious to see if your answers match mine. 
I’ll be giving away a copy of the book that started it all, WHEN GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD BOYS, to a person randomly chosen from those commenting. One entry per person. The winner will be posted in the comments between Saturday and Monday. You are eligible to win any time up until the winner being posted.
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