Another Sunday, another stash! (No football though)

News, News, News

We have just learned that Joel Sutherland and Mike Stone have BOTH made the preliminary ballot for the Bram Stoker Award!!!!!! Joel’s debut novel Frozen Blood (our review HERE; interview with Joel HERE) has gotten a nod in the “Superior Achievement in a First Novel” catergory, while Mike’s collection Fourtold (our review HERE; interview with Mike HERE) has been honored in the “Superior Achievement in a Collection” category.

We have read, reviewed and loved both works and are so thrilled that Joel and Mike’s talent are being recognized by the horror community. A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU! And we will keep our fingers crossed that you will both make the final ballot and officially become nominees.

For anyone (especially active HWA members) who might be interested in reading Frozen Blood or Fourtold for consideration, please check out Joel’s and Mike’s blogs.

Speaking of authors, The Deadline Dames website & blog is now up and running! Noted urban fantasy, paranormal romance and YA authors Rachel Vincent, Devon Monk, Jackie Kessler, Jenna Black, Keri Arthur, Lilith Saintcrow, Rinda Elliot, Toni Andres, and our very own Karen Mahoney make up the femme fatale team that runs the blog. They offer awesome giveaways, writerly advice, and just some damn insightful commentary on writing and publishing in general. Make sure to stop by and say hi to the Dames.

In book news, information about the sequel to the smash hit dystopian YA novel The Hunger Games has been officially released! Catching Fire will be in stores on September 8, 2009–and apparently it’s gonna be a doozy. If anyone’s planning on attending BookExpo America in NY this May, ARCs will be handed out!

We loved The Hunger Games and eagerly await the release of Catching Fire this fall.

This Week on The Book Smugglers:

We have got a helluva week planned for you–are you ready?

On Monday, Ana and Katie (aka Bubbles and Blossum) team up for another Powerpuff Review–Victoria Dahl’s contemporary romance, Talk Me Down. Will they love it or hate it? Will they agree? We shall see.

On Wednesday, we bring you yet another Guest Dare! Graeme of Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review will be here, giving us his review of Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman! (Yes, we realize this will be the third review for Preludes and Nocturnes on The Book Smugglers…if you read the Sandman, you will understand the obsession!).

There’s a twist though! Graeme graciously accepted our Dare, but then he turned around and Dared us back (that dirty rat)! So, on Wednesday while Graeme’s over here, we will be over at his blog giving our joint review of fantasy novel The Briar King by Greg Keyes! Make sure to stop by and say hi to us.

On Thursday, Ana will have an early ARC review for The Magic Knot by Helen Scott Taylor.

But the really big news is…

The Big Cheese:

You may have recalled that in last week’s stash, we alluded to a certain established, popular author. On Friday, Thea will have her review of Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs! That’s not all though–we will also be giving away ONE copy of the book (the giveaway will run for the weekend).

But wait–that’s STILL not all. The review and giveaway marks just the beginning of our Patricia Briggs coverage. On February 8th, Thea will hold an in-person interview with Patricia Briggs herself–and we’ll have another giveaway (details to be announced)! So stay tuned dudes.

Also, Patricia will be on tour during February, promoting Bone Crossed! If you can, try to check her out at a city near you!

February 3
University Books
7:00PM
Seattle, Washington

February 4
Third Place Books
7:00PM
Lake Forest Park, Washington

February 5
Powell’s Books (Beaverton Store)
7:00PM
Portland, Oregon

February 6
Borderlands Books
7:00PM
San Francisco, California

February 7
Mysterious Galaxy Books
2:00PM
San Diego, California

February 8
Barnes & Noble (Bella Terra)
2:00PM
Huntington Beach, California

February 9
Borders (Waters Place)
7:00PM
Ann Arbor, Michigan

And that’s all folks!

~Your friendly neighborhood Book Smugglers.

What time is it you ask? It is time to announce the winners of the recent Smugglivus giveaways bonanza!!!

OK, so here it goes:

1) Mike Stone’s giveaway.

Mike picked the winner and here is a special message from him:

“I just held the prize draw for a paperback copy of my Fourtold collection from Baysgarth Publications, and Graham Joyce’s Three Ways to Snog an Alien, and the winner is… Justin Pilon! I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a comment while reminding them that the hardback and paperback are listed on Lulu and Amazon, priced GB£18 and £8 respectively.

But if anyone fancies a signed copy, drop me a line at inspiral at aol dot com and I’ll sort something out.

Happy New year, folks!

Mike”

2) Dorchester Publishing’s 10 books giveaway:

The winner is….. ANIMEJUNE!!!

3) Urban Fantasy Land’s Lisa 3 books giveaway:

The winner is….Kris!!!

4) Saturday 03rd Jan Flash Giveaway

The winner is …CindyW!!!

Congrats to all winners!!!
Please send us your address to contact AT thebooksmugglers DOT com and we will get the books to you as soon as possible.

And this is it for the time being, folks! Good night and have a good week everybody!

Hello there!! We had loads of giveaways this week so let’s get down to business shall we? *wink* (Please note: we use Random.Org to pick all the winners, but we like to call it our Sorting Hat)

Nalini Singh’s Giveaway:

The winners of Nalini Singh’s anthologies are:

Kate wins An Exchanted Season

Raven99 wins The Magical Christmas Cat.

And as a last minute surprise, we have another copy of The Magical Christmas Cat to giveaway and it goes to:

macbeaner

Angie Fox Giveaway:

The winner of the Biker Witch Party Kit is:

Lori T

Flash Giveaway Week 2

The winner of the six-book-paranormal-package is:

JC!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!

Please send your address to contact AT thebooksmugglers DOT com and we will arrange the books to be sent to you!

And don’t forget, we have loads more to give away this week, and Mike Stone’s giveaway is still open. You can enter here.

Have a great week, everyone!

Day 11 (15 days to Smugglivus and counting)

Who: Mike Stone, writer of horror stories. Michael’s work has appeared in numerous organs. Most recently Dunesteef, Dred, Pseudopod, Triangulation, TQR, Strange Stories of Sand and Sea and The Beast Within. You can read an interview we did with Mike here.

Recent Work: Fourtold – a book with four novellas, reviewed here.

We give the floor to Mike as he lists his favourite reads of 2008, talks about his literary heroes and why the Irish make such good writers.

Plus a kick-ass competition and giveaway he is kicking–off today here at the Book Smugglers and at the Crime Scene Northern Ireland blog!
__________________

Mike:

Whenever I step foot into a bookshop – or more often in these straitened times, a library – I gravitate to the sf/fantasy section. Lately though I’ve realized I do this out of habit and not because I’m looking for something to read. This is entirely the fault of a blog called Crime Scene Northern Ireland. But I’ll come back to that later. Let’s talk about fantasy first, and some of my literary heroes.

David Gemmell died in July 2006 and there was genuine sorrow among his fans. Through his books, interviews and signing tours, we felt we had come to know David. You could use words like honesty, integrity and sincerity without blushing. His swan song, the Troy trilogy, undoubtedly fell short of greatness, but it was also unmistakeably Gemmell with its flawed larger-than-life heroes, dramatic landscapes and spiritual echoes. Reading Troy: Fall of Kings was a bittersweet experience.

On his Live Journal George R. R. Martin shares his love for painted military figurines and football, for politics and comics, for pizzas and conventions, and you have to respect that: an author needs a life outside writing to recharge his creative batteries. Those fans berating him for not writing quicker should realise their clamour will only dampen his mojo. That was my opinion. But then I finally caught up with everyone and read A Feast for Crows, the fourth book in his epic Ice and Fire series… Come on George, put the damn miniatures away, quit gabbing about football and finish A Dance with Dragons already, will ya! You’ve had five years. How long does a man need? Sheesh.

I was inspired to take up writing after reading the urban fantasies of Graham Joyce, and his sporadic blog at www.grahamjoyce.net never fails to amuse. His latest novel is entitled Memoir of a Master Forger and was published in the UK under the pseudonym William Heaney. It’s about a guy who arranges and sells book forgeries — William Heaney — who is also a wine connoisseur and sees demons. Now check this out: http://butforthegrape.livejournal.com. It’s William Heaney’s journal, in which he talks about his book’s success, the trouble with demon possessed girlfriends and his boor of a creative writing teacher at Nottingham Trent University.

Graham Joyce teaches creative writing at Nottingham Trent University…

A fictional character that berates the author on his LJ. I’m tickled pink.

It’s worth noting that Memoir of a Master Forger is called Talking with Demons in the US, and published as by Graham Joyce. Which reminds me, we didn’t get a new Jasper Fforde book this year. We’ve got to wait till July ’09 for Shades of Grey, and I suppose that will be repackaged in the US as Shades of Gray. It’s all very confusing.

But going back to Graham Joyce for a moment; he was responsible for the most embarrassing title of the year. His YA fantasy was called (brace yourself, folks), Three Ways to Snog an Alien. It also scoops the Most Embarrassing Cover Award. It’s all pink and girlie. I asked for it to be wrapped in plain brown paper before I left the shop. The contents, though, were typically brilliant.

Another writer I have a lot of time for, Garry Kilworth, made my day when he agreed to write a foreword for my debut collection, Fourtold. Not long after that he dedicated The Hundred-Towered City to me. It’s a fantasy for young readers, about three children who travel to a turn-of-the-century Prague on a time-travelling Matchless 500. Vintage motorbikes, golems, ghosts and alchemists. What’s not to like?

I’ve only read mainstream published books in the past, but I had cause to seriously rethink that strategy in 2008. A friend named Joel Sutherland gave me a copy of an anthology he and his wife edited called Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths. Now, bearing in mind that when they put a call out for submissions they were going to self-publish and weren’t offering payment, you’d be forgiven for expecting a certain amount of sub-quality fare. (As it turned out, the book was picked up by Graveside Tales and everyone got paid, hurrah!) But it’s not the case. I read this collection of horror stories with a fast food theme alongside a Harper Collins anthology called Gathering the Bones, and I thought the hit / miss ratio of the stories in Fried! was easily on a par with the ‘professional’ book. I was surprised and heartened. In the right hands, a small press book can take on the big-hitters and win.

And that just about wraps up my fantasy/horror intake during 2008. Not much is it? As mentioned earlier, it’s largely the fault of one Gerard Brennan and his blog: Crime Scene Northern Ireland. Back in February he sent me Murphy’s Law by Colin Bateman. I’d read a few crime novels beforehand, most notably by Carl Hiaasen, Ben Elton and Donald James (who passed away this year), and I’d even read a Bateman book — Divorcing Jack — but being rooted in the Irish Troubles made parts of that book slightly inaccessible to this reader, a proudly apolitical Englishman. Murphy’s Law, on the other hand, just blew me away. I now knew why Gerard held the guy in such high esteem, and with that sense of anticipation bordering on panic (fellow bibliophiles will know what I’m talking about here), I started to trawl Amazon for Batemans.

And I started to pay close attention to the other Irish writers Gerard was championing on his blog. John Connolly, Adrian McKinty, Declan Burke, Ken Bruen, Ian Sansom, Lucy Caldwell… these are just some of the writers whose work I’ve sampled in the last few months, and I’ve yet to be disappointed.

What makes the Irish such damn good writers? Perhaps it’s living through the Troubles that has given them a different perspective on life to the rest of us, the ability to paint scenes of delicate melancholy without slipping into maudlin self-pity, the ability to face down violence and hardship with humour and charm. That doesn’t explain the delicious, almost poetic prose many of them employ though. So maybe it’s something else… Maybe it’s a cultural background thing? Perhaps there’s something in the water? Whatever it is, I’m hooked on the results. The larger-than-life flawed heroes, the sometimes epic backdrops, the religious divides…

I’ve made no secret of my admiration for the Irish crime scene, and I was recently asked by Morrigan Books if I’d co-edit an anthology of crime stories inspired by Irish legends like Conchobar, Finn MacCool and Tir na nÓg. My co-editor and I already have Messrs. McKinty, Bruen and Downey on board, with more great names to follow. Myths are being recreated using manmade fibres. These are exciting times.

And my co-editor on this project? Gerard Brennan.

Well, naturally.

# # #

Michael Stone was born in 1966 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Since losing most of his eyesight to Usher Syndrome, he has retreated from your world to travel the dark corners of inner space. To put it more prosaically, he daydreams a lot.

His vanity has a name: www.mylefteye.net

To win a signed paperback copy of Fourtold — Book Smugglers rated it Best Collection of 2008 — and a copy of the book Mike regarded as having the Most Embarrassing Cover of 2008 — Three Ways to Snog an Alien by Graham Joyce — you have to leave a comment with a suggested title for the Irish-crime-with-a-fantasy-element anthology that Mike and Gerard are putting together. This is not a serious compo, and all entrants’ names will go into the hat, the draw to take place in the New Year.

Good luck!

###

That’s it folks, you can enter the competition here or at the Crime Scene NI blog.
Good luck and a big thank you to Mike!

Next on Smugglivus: Angie Fox (and another kick-ass giveaway)

Recently, we were contacted by Mike regarding his new collection of four novellas, Fourtold. As a fan of horror and dark fantasy, I read and instantly loved these stories, and had to invite Mike over for a chat!

The Book Smugglers: First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to sit and “chat” with us! And congratulations on the second printing of Fourtold!

Mike: Glad to be here, and thank you for the positive book review.

The Book Smugglers: Your stories in Fourtold range from tales of redemption, self-mutilation, an ancient curse, and the stuff of nightmares. Could you tell us a bit about the concept for the Fourtold collection, and why you decided to include such a range of stories?

Mike: Initially, the collection was going to feature a dozen stories — including “The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark” novella — under the heading The Light Knight Returns and Other Transformations. Then I approached the artist Stephen Player (www.playergallery.com) and asked if he would do me the honour of illustrating the cover. To my utter delight he said yes and pitched a few ideas, one of them being a man with mouths for eyes. The misplaced mouth was certainly inspired by the “The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark”, but Steve also knew of my visual problems and wanted to make the illustration relevant to me. He even had me photographing my mouth in several poses. (That’s right, the nose and the mouths and teeth on the cover are mine!)

He created the picture on a Saturday, sending me drafts as he went along. It was very exciting watching this incredible image take shape and being able to add a little input here and there. When I saw the finished results the old ToC went out of the window to be replaced, in my mind at least, by four stories. I didn’t really expect my publisher to share my enthusiasm – we’d spent ages assembling the original ToC – but to his credit he read and approved the three novellas I wanted to accompany “Kasper Clark”.

And that’s how Fourtold was born. It’s probably the only time a cover illustration has not only decided the title of a book but shaped the ToC as well. I just need to find a publisher for The Light Knight Returns and Other Transformations now!

The Book Smugglers: “San Ferry Ann” follows two men in the aftermath of the Great War, dealing with their own perceptions of guilt and lost faith. This story is much more character driven than the others in the book—can you tell us about your inspiration for writing the characters of Mackenzie and Spencer and their relationship?

Mike: A few years ago there was an anthology where several authors would be invited to submit a chapter to a book using characters named and described in the guidelines – one of them was a fire-eating medicine man, another was an English nurse suffering shellshock, another guy never wore any clothes, and there was a massive Scottish woman who pulled the troupe’s caravan. Anyone who has read “San Ferry Ann” will recognize many of these characteristics and that’s because the first draft of the story was (optimistically as it turned out) written for this antho. Sadly, the editors didn’t invite me to take part in the project so “La Grippe”, as my story was called, went into the electronic equivalent of the bottom drawer. Until one day in I took it out, blew the dust off it and thought, Y’know, it’s a shame to waste this…

It took a drastic rewrite. For example, Spencer and Mackenzie were originally one character – an American, fire-eating medicine man — and the mysterious naked woman that stumbles into their camp was an Austrian man who thought he was a dog. This second version of the story was entitled “Porridge and Uppers”. It would take yet another rewrite before I had “San Ferry Ann”.

Maybe that’s why there is such a strong bond between Spencer and Mackenzie, because they started life as one character, or because the first two drafts of the story contained no fantasy elements and I worked harder on the characters, or maybe it’s simply the camaraderie you’d expect between two ex-soldiers? It could be a combination of all three.

The Book Smugglers: “The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark” is my favorite of the four tales—and certainly the most disturbing, as it evokes images comparable to Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” with your vivid descriptions. Do you use any visual influences, like Bosch’s paintings, for your writing? What fueled your depiction of Hell here?

Mike: “The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark” took a year to write, and thus contains a year’s worth of odd thoughts and daydreams.

The concept was inspired by a nightmare. In it my wife packed me off to a cosmetic surgeon because I had an anus in the small of my back. To get to the cosmetic surgeon I had to scramble up a mountainside past grotesque statues, and when I entered the clinic I was met by the Devil who spat on me between the shoulder blades. His spittle burned a new hole. My wife, when she saw the results, was not pleased and sent me back for repairs.

Actually, this is the first time I’ve told anybody about the dream. If you know what it symbolizes I’ll thank you to keep it to yourself. I really don’t want to know.

The Book Smugglers: “The Terracotta Warrior” is more of a traditional horror story, much more action filled and almost cinematic in comparison to the others in this collection. If you could make a movie out of this story, who would you cast as your leading characters?

Mike: Before I had a story I had a strong mental picture of the main character, Solomon Barley, in his tan leather greatcoat and goggles — charging around on a motorcycle and wielding a flamethrower — as illustrated by someone like Brian Bolland (early 2000AD, Camelot 3000, The Killing Joke etc). Another drawing I could see was of a demonic warrior in makeshift armour of motorcycle parts.

As to who’d play the roles in a film, I’d ask Daniel Craig to step into Solomon Barley’s riding boots and Sean Connery to play Major Morris.

The Book Smugglers: “Lemon Man” is, in a word, haunting. And bizarre. In a wonderful way. It also is different from the other tales in this collection as it tells two stories in parallel, never really converging until the end. Can you tell us a bit about “Lemon Man” and your decision to write the story in this fashion?

Mike: Like “San Ferry Ann”, “Lemon Man” started life in another form – this time as a 90k novel. Lemon was a very, ahem, ambitious book. In it the main character was inspired by his nightmares to write short stories, which appeared in the framework of the novel as metafiction. It was mostly first-person narrative, except for the epilogue which had four chapters and was written in third-person.

Not long after I finished Lemon I cannibalized it: the metafictions — “The Colour of Lemons”, “Memory Bones”, “Quiescent” and “The Bridge” – all found homes in magazines and anthologies, while another scene formed the nucleus of a story called “Japanese Motorcycle Clob”.

The remains languished in a folder, unloved and untouched for a few years until one day I took it out, blew the dust off it and thought, Y’know, it’s a shame to waste this… I had the bright idea of cherry-picking the best scenes and juxtaposing the mundane with the otherworldly. It was a very difficult project and I gave up on it several times. But 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration and all that.

The Book Smugglers: While still on “Lemon Man”, Russell Hamilton’s fate seems predestined whereas in “Kasper Clark” and “San Ferry Ann”, the idea of free will (whether it is in self-recreation or in self-forgiveness) prevails. Could you tell us a bit about Russell’s fate? Is there room here for free will?

Mike: Russell certainly appears to have been doomed from the outset, but I know how he can get out of his predicament and one day I’d like to write a sequel to “Lemon Man”. Actually, the follow-up would be a sequel and a prequel at one and the same time … and be horribly complicated to boot!

The Book Smugglers: In two of your stories, “Terracotta Warrior” and “Lemon Man”, you talk about motorbikes, going into some detail about the models and specifics. Are you a bike enthusiast?

Mike: I used to be. Between the ages of 17 and 35 I owned about twenty different bikes, but my dwindling eyesight meant selling my last bike, a Yamaha TDM850, just days before my 35th birthday. On dry days I still yearn to be bombing along a twisty lane on a big lump of iron. If by some miracle my eyesight was restored, the first thing I’d do is buy a motorbike.

My first bike, incidentally, was a purple Yamaha FS1-E, a Fizzie, the very bike that gets Russell Hamilton into so much trouble.

The Book Smugglers: So…you knew this question was coming—which of the four stories is your favorite and why?

Mike: Aagh, which is my favourite child? Um, it’s a toss-up between “The Reconstruction of Kasper Clark” and “San Ferry Ann”. Probably.

The Book Smugglers: What projects do you have on the horizon? Any new stories or books we should be on the lookout for?

Mike: Last year I wrote a children’s fantasy novel called Heather Berry and the Battle for Turner’s Wood and although I’ve yet to find a publisher for it I’m already writing a sequel: talk about putting all my eggs in one basket. I still bang out the occasional short story, usually dark fantasy, and I’m also co-editing a Top Secret project that promises to be huge.

The Book Smugglers: Who, or what, are your influences as a writer?

Mike: Well, anything can spark a story. It might be a word, a line in a song, a dream, a picture in a magazine …

As for who, I’d have to name Graham Joyce (author of Tooth Fairy, Facts of Life, Limits of Enchantment) as my biggest influence. The day I read The Tooth Fairy for the first time is the day I knew I wanted to write. Joyce deserves all his British and World Fantasy Awards and I can’t tell you how chuffed I was when he agreed to read Fourtold. He came back with, “Michael Stone is a vivid and exuberant writer and a terrific storyteller”. That quote takes pride of place on the paperback cover and my website. His favourite story, incidentally, was “Lemon Man”.

Another influence is Garry Kilworth, whose varied and prolific output just astonishes me.

The Book Smugglers: If you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring five books with you, what books would you bring?

Mike: Aagh, another favourite children question! I’m tempted to say anything with thick absorbent pages or “How to Attract Spotter Planes”, but okay I’ll bite. In many respects, this is a continuation of my answer to the previous question. These are my influences:

The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce (obviously). I’d take something by Terry Pratchett, probably Night Watch or Good Omens. My all-time favourite fantasy series is Garry Kilworth’s Navigator Kings, so I’d slip those in and pretend to be deaf when someone points out that they count as three books. I think I’d want an Iain Banks novel, so The Bridge would probably find its way into my flight bag. Room for just one more? This is tough. Okay, I’d take an autobiography: Gary Numan’s Praying to the Aliens as – like The Tooth Fairy – it takes me back to my misspent youth.

The Book Smugglers: Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us!

Mike: My pleasure.

Michael Stone was born in 1966 in what is widely acknowledged as the fairest city of all England, Stoke-on-Trent. He still lives there with his wife and daughter and has no intention of ever leaving. Why would he when it’s so fair?

His website is at www.mylefteye.net and he has a Live Journal — username “mylefteye”. His journal is widely acknowledged as the fairest on the Web.

Another weekend comes to a close, but worry not! We have another busy week ahead.

First, some housekeeping…

Thanks to Julia Quinn for stopping by for the lovely chat! And we have our winners–drumroll please–

Barbara and Kara

You have both won one book each of your choice from Ms. Quinn’s backlist! Drop us an email (The Book Smugglers AT hotmail DOT com) with your pick and your address and we shall ship them off to you as soon as possible.

Around the Blogosphere:

Perusing Urban Fantasy Land, we found these awesome new covers! First, here’s the beautiful cover for Melissa Marr’s third young adult fantasy novel, Fragile Eternity.

As it turns out, there’s a Manga in the works set in the same universe as well! Per Melissa’s Blog, even though the cover says Wicked Lovely, it isn’t a manga version of the novel. Both Fragile Eternity and Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales, Sanctuary hit shelves in April 2009.

Copies of Richelle Mead’s latest Vampire Academy novel, Shadow Kiss (book 3) have been creeping early onto retailer shelves! I snatched up my copy this weekend. Hell yes. The official release date is November 13, 2008…but if you’re lucky, you might get your hands on it early.

This Week at The Book Smugglers:

On Monday, in honor of its second printing in paperback, we’ll have a review of speculative fiction author Michael Stone’s Fourtold. Fourtold is a collection of four dark fantasy/horror stories, with an introduction by World Fantasy Award winner Garry Kilworth. On Tuesday, we’ll have an interview with the talented Mike Stone, about his work, his inspirations for the stories, and plans for the future. Make sure to stop by and check it out!

Wednesday, Thea will review the brand spankin’ new Juliet Marillier book, Heir To Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters book 4). This quite possibly could be Thea’s favorite book of 2008!

The chieftains of Sevenwaters have long been custodians of a vast and mysterious forest. Human and Otherworld dwellers have existed there side by side, sharing a wary trust. Until the spring when Lady Aisling of Sevenwaters finds herself expecting another child—a new heir to Sevenwaters.

Then the family’s joy turns to despair when the baby is taken from his room and something…unnatural is left in his place. To reclaim her newborn brother, Clodagh must enter the shadowy Otherworld and confront the powerful prince who rules there.

Thursday, we’ll have another Powerpuff Joint Review–Bubbles (aka Ana) and Blossum (aka Katie) will take on Jo Goodman’s new release, The Price of Desire.

Olivia Cole is devastated to learn that her ne’er-do-well brother has promised her to the operator of a London gaming hall as payment of his debts. Olivia accepts her fate – even if it means that her reputation will suffer from living among rogues and gamblers. But when she meets the sexy and mysterious Griffin Wright-Jones, the Viscount of Breckenridge, Olivia has more than just her good name to worry about – for he rouses in her wanton thoughts she’s never dared entertain – until now…Griffin wears the scars of his life on his striking face. Although he wants Olivia like no other woman before, eh doesn’t force her to share his bed – a difficult task considering how beautiful she is. But with each passing night, Griffin and Olivia’s resolve weakens until finally they take their greatest gamble on one night of reckless pleasure.

Friday, we’ll close out the week with another Guest Dare! This time on the chopping block, it’s young adult author Karen Mahoney, as she tackles an old school romance novel–Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels.

And, A Cryptic Announcement:

SMUGGLIVUS…is coming.

What is Smugglivus, you may ask? It’s kind of like Festivus (from Seinfeld). We will have authors and bloggers over during the month of December, to celebrate the year in books. And we’ll have our own Feats of Strength, Airing of Grievances, etc. More information to follow!

NINJA VANISH!