I just wanted to say...

I hope that 2009 is a wonderful and exciting year for all of us!

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Happy Boxing Day

Or-- should I say, happy "After Christmas Sale" day.

After a very rainy and windy Christmas wherein we were cooped up with two little boys for far too many hours, we ventured out to the mall today. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too packed. And not everyone in front of me in line was returning something.

We bought my husband a new winter coat with his Christmas cash. Since it was sixty-percent off, we even had enough left over money to have lunch at Claim Jumper. Yummy.

I'm going to keep my post short and sweet as I am on a deadline to deliver a novella and it "has" to be done today so that I can do my Christmas cards (I know, a little late, but I missed last year altogether, so I have to make a stab at sending a few out this year).

Here's hoping you got everything you wished for and a lot more!

Merry Christmas!

This week is going to be a short post. I just wanted to remind you that my two Christmas-themed novellas are now available. You can click on each cover to read an excerpt and find out more.

And I just wanted to say...

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Snow Day, Icy Road Trip, and a Celebrity Sighting

Sorry I'm late blogging today...but we had a very unexpected experience on Wednesday.

SNOW!

For those of you in areas that get regular snow, I know this is no biggie. But for us, it was a once in about a decade experience. Okay, maybe we'll get a small snowstorm every three to five years. But this one STUCK! And for more than a few hours.

The kids built snowmen and got chilled to the bone. They cancelled school until the New Year. And then they closed some roads.

Which leads me to the next portion of my post. My daughter had a flight out of the Ontario, CA airport early this morning. And as of mid-day Thursday, it was difficult to find a travel route that was open, and didn't need snow tires or chains. It took twice the estimated travel time, it was icy and a bit trecherous in parts, but we made it. The nice part was that since my husband's work and the boy's school closed, we were able to make the trip as a family. We spent the night in a hotel, and around four this morning, my daughter and I snuck out of the room and took a shuttle to the airport.

She was flying into New Orleans and would be picked up by her bio and his wife at the airport there. She made the trip with only one notable incident. On her way to the baggage claim, she spotted a guy being pushed in a wheelchair. He looked familiar. In fact...he looked like ELMER! (Who, you might ask, is Elmer. Well, if you were fans of a short-lived paranormal show called The Others, you would know. His real name is Bill Cobbs.)



As my daughter is excitedly leaving a voice mail to me, telling me that she's sure that she's just seen Elmer from The Others when the man turns to her and says "You remember that show?"

And darn it all, it really WAS BILL COBBS. So, she garnered an autograph. It made her day...and I certainly hope it made his. (We love you, Bill!)

vBlog and Chats (xPost)

Hi all,

I just published my very first video blog on Tuesday! Yay! It's over at my website -- Click Here

But in addition, me and as many authors as can make it from the Holiday Hottie contest will all be chatting live at both the Ellora's Cave and the Samhain Cafe reader loops. In addition to closing out the Holiday Hottie contest so we can announce the grand prize winners, we'll also be doing some contests, recipe swaps, jokes and just plain ole fun.

When: December 19, 2009
Time: 6:00pm to 9:00pm EST
Where: Ellora's Cave and Samhain Cafe Yahoo groups

Now...go check out my first vBlog! And no laughing...on second thought do laugh because I'm just plain silly ;D

TJ
www.tjmichaels.com

Christmas Lights & Christmas Carol

To celebrate Christmas, Noel has a big surprise and an intimate celebration planned for Natala. However, when Nick drops in on them asking for their help to find his missing wife, they have no other choice but to agree to go to HQ in the North Pole.

Noel is forced to wait helpless inside Nick's office as Natala attempts to use her other-self and her knowledge of demons to track her down. Instead, she gets caught up in a dangerous situation with another demon. Krampus has plans to use Natala and finish what Decarabia started the year before.

You can read the naughty excerpt here.

Or you can purchase your own copy here.

Last year, my novella CHRISTMAS LIGHTS was released as part of the Cobblestone Press 12 Days of Christmas.

It was the story of a feisty imp, Natala, who happened to pop out of a cursed string of Christmas Lights, and surprised a lonely widower called, Noel. It was a fun and dangerous adventure that took place during a typical hot Christmas in Sydney. I actually enjoyed Noel and Natala so much that I wrote a sequel.

CHRISTMAS CAROL takes place exactly one year after Noel and Natala met under these very strange circumstances. This time they're trekking over to the North Pole to help Saint Nick locate his missing wife. Their new adventure is filled with danger, mystery, romance, and a cast of new characters that I had a ball working with.

So, I hope you decide to spend a little time in this magical and very paranormal little story I wanted to share this festive season.

And don't forget that my little zombie Christmas tale is still available here.

Happy Holidays!

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

The Nightmare Before Christmas & Christmas Day of the Dead

Well, it's that time of the year again. I'm starting to get into the mood, too. At the moment I'm listening to Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack. I love the music in this movie, and this is the 2-Disc version, so there's a few remade tunes by Marilyn Manson, Panic at the Disco, Fiona Apple, and Fall Out Boy. It's great!

Anyway. The picture to the left is one of my Christmas releases. Yeah, I have two eBooks due out this season. :)

This one's called CHRISTMAS DAY OF THE DEAD, and it's the story of what happens when Jess heads out to the local shopping center on Christmas Eve and finds that all is not how it should be. This is a zombie tale. My tribute to a genre that I love reading and watching.

This tale was actually released last year by Aphrodite's Apples under a different name. It was only available for a few months because the company closed down. But now, Forbidden Publications are giving it a new lease of life. It's been re-edited and even has an epilogue - suggested by my lovely editor - so it's a little different. :) I'm very excited to have the opportunity to have it available again. And I LOVE the cover. It's so creepy and lovely. It fits the tone of the novella perfectly.

Here's the blurb:

This Christmas Eve, Jess gets more than she bargained for when she walks into a shopping center filled with dead shoppers. And some of the corpses are rising.

When she stumbles onto a handful of survivors hiding out in the cinema complex, it becomes a race against the clock to make it out alive. Together, they venture outside in search of safety.

Trying to stay alive with corpses at every turn is hard enough. Her instant attraction towards one of the survivors, Larry, can only complicate things further...

So, if you're in the mood to read a little Christmas story with a good dose of creepy, romance, and zombies, I hope you'll check it out. It's now available right HERE. Oh, and you can read an excerpt here, too.

'Tis the season to be... scared! ;)

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

It's finally beginning to look a bit like Lasagna (Oh, I mean Winter!)

Living in Southern California has some perks -- great weather year around is one of them. We live in the high desert where we get an occasional snow shower and cold mornings...but I was beginning to think winter would never get here this year. We had a sligh cold nsap in November and then a heat wave (into the 80s!). But we woke up this morning to freezing temperatures... and that means a very special treat. Lasagna. I'm so glad it's cool enough outside to finally turn on the oven without turning the house into one as well.

And tomorrow is our local Christmas parade. It's a light parade and one of the prettiest events of the year. The weather should be crisp, which will make it nice to sit along the main drag and watch for Santa and his elves. My boys are hoping that lots of organizations this year are handing out candy! I'm sure their dentist is counting the cavities already.

And somewhere is this whirlwind of holiday cheer, I have to finish writing the sequel to The Werewolf Whisperer. It's titled Unleashed and gives Jazmin her happily ever after while keeping up with the sexy sheriff, Jackson Hardy, and the lovely Serena from The Werewolf Whisperer. And for those of you who feel in love with Mike, Serena's brother, in the first book, yes, he, too, will get his story. Believe me, I've got plans for him (Bwahahahahah)!

But, I need to put my nose to the grindstone and write...not only the overdue novella but the dreaded Christmas Letter. I'm going to confess that I was very bad last year and didn't send out cards. Thank goodness Santa didn't hold it against me. But, I swored to do better this year. So, lest my friends think I've gone into my writer's cave never to be seen again, I'll be typing up that chatty, overfull missive to stuff into everyone's card (note to self, need to buy cards AND stamps!)

I used to hate those letters. It felt like getting a form letter from your friends. Up until about five years ago, I was a Christmas card snob. I'd handwrite 50 cards with appropriate news and sentiment, tailored specifically for each friend.

Now, just thinking about that makes my hand cramp.

So, what do you think about those chatty family missives? Like 'em, love 'em, hate 'em?

Taking a Breath & Still Reading

Well, after last week's success with NaNoWriMo, I decided that this week would consist of small tasks. All writing-related, of course. But, with no pressure attached. And you know what? I think it's a great idea. I've had a chance to relax and take a deep breath while my daughter's still at school. Yeah. Summer holidays start in just over two weeks. So, that means that my relaxation time gets cut dramatically.

Anyway, I wanted to share the two books I've read since the last time I posted:

I'm lovin' the fact that all the books I've been reading lately are SO darn excellent! These two were fantastic as well. I intended to take my time with THE HOST because it's such a big book and I wanted to absorb every single detail... but I couldn't. I became obsessed with reading a little more, and then a little more. Until it became all that I wanted to do all day. It's the same crazed-reading-frenzy I went on earlier this year. Remember that I read the TWILIGHT SAGA in under two weeks? Obsessed.

I LOVED everything about Stephenie Meyer's novel and can't wait until her next one. Actually, I think I'll have to read the unfinished MIDNIGHT SUN. Just because I love her writing so much. :) If you haven't read THE HOST, I highly recommend it. Don't be put off by the size of it. It's truly worth every single page. What an amazing story.

And speaking of amazing. TITHE: A Modern Faerie Tale. I read it in less than two days because once again, it got under my skin. I got sucked into Kaye's story instantly. What a lovely, yet very dark, gritty, and edgy story. I love when faeries are portrayed this way. Honestly. Fantastic! So good that I had to order the next two online last night even before I'd finished TITHE. Wow.

This is what I grabbed off my bookshelf today:

I'm fifty pages in and really enjoying it so far. Bring on the faeries I say! ;) It just makes me want to get stuck into one of my darker faerie ideas. All the characters are cast, notes have been taken... just need to write it. But not yet.

Anyway. Next week will be a different story for me because I intend to get stuck into the final revision for one of my urban fantasy novels. Not sure if I'll have as much time to read as I do at the moment either, but it's all good.

So, have you made any plans for December? Or are you taking it easy? Do share.

Yolanda
http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Midnight Sins!

MIDNIGHT SINS should now be on the shelves of a bookstore near you! :-) Yay!



This book is the second installment in my Midnight trilogy, and one that I had an absolutely wonderful time writing. And how did this story start? With the very simple idea of...

Basic Instinct meets The X-Files. Uh, huh. Yep, that’s how I originally described my upcoming Kensington Brava release. When I had to give a fast one-liner for MIDNIGHT SINS, I said it was Basic Instinct meets The X-Files. (Ah, Mulder, I do so want to believe.)

My book begins with a murder. A crime laced with sexual overtones and the evidence in the case soon points to one woman—Cara Maloan. Only, Cara isn’t cold-blooded like Sharon Stone’s character. She’s fierce, passionate, and she also happens to be a sex demon—er, succubus. And the attraction between Cara and Todd Brooks, the lead detective on the case, is instant and very, very strong.

Todd knows he wants Cara. He also knows he may have to arrest her. Talk about a case of seriously bad timing…

These characters were so much fun to write! I knew I wanted to write about these two the minute I finished HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Todd was on the outskirts of that story, being kept in the dark about the paranormals that were taking over his beloved city, and I realized it was time that old Todd got a wake-up call. Lucky for him, the call comes in the form of Cara—the sex demon who really wants love. Hey—life’s not perfect, even for an immortal demon.

Hope you're having a great Monday! Happy December!

Cynthia Eden
www.cynthiaeden.com