A Brush of Darkness Winner

Ugh. So sorry for the delay in posting this guys! Talk about a crazy weekend full of soccer games, birthday parties, and the sudden pulling of broken teeth. Yay.

Anyway, the winner of Allison Pang's debut novel, A BRUSH OF DARKNESS is...

Holz

I shall send you an email, or feel free to email me your address if you see this before I email. kelly(at)kellygay(dot)com. Congrats!

A Brush of Darkness + Interview + Giveaway!

Today is the day! Allison Pang's debut urban fantasy, A Brush of Darkness, is officially out! I was able to read an ARC of this book (which I ended up quoting b/c I absolutely fell in love with this book -- if you can't tell, LOL). Allison twisted faerie lore into something really unique. It hit all the right notes for this reader.

Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.

I also had the chance to meet Allison at the RWA National Conference in Orlando last year. Not only is her book great, but she's a really cool person, too.

So, I sent her a few questions. Yanno, so we can get a peek into this debut author's mind. These are some very important (*cough*) questions. :D Hope you enjoy!

~~~ INTERVIEW ~~~

Kelly: You're a kick ass UF heroine -- what is your weapon of choice? (And because this is very important), what is your hairstyle of choice?

Allison: Well, I have the perfect solution to both.
It’s made out of composite nylon and plastic so it will go through metal detectors. It’s not actually a dagger, but could easily be used to puncture someone (those pesky vampires I’d be fighting? Note the nice blood channels grooved into the sides.) So, it would be great for when I went clubbing and had to take care of the undead up close and personal. When I’m done and cleaning up, I can use the hairbrush to fix my hair. And for practical reasons, short hair is probably the best.

Kelly: What was your favorite fairytale, book, fable growing up?

Allison: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. If it wasn’t the book, it would have been the movie (which I recorded onto audio tape when I was in 2nd grade and listened to every night before I went to bed. Obsessive? No, not at all.)

Kelly: If you could visit any fictional world, which would it be and why?

Allison: I honestly don't know. I love so many of them that I don't think I can pick. Might be kinda awesome to visit the world of Anne Bishop's Black Jewels, though.

Kelly: Favorite thing to dip your fries in?

Allison: Honey Mustard

Kelly: Beach or Mountains?

Allison: Beach

Kelly: Pencil or Pen?

Allison: Pen

Kelly: Besides writing do you have any other creative loves or endeavors?

Allison: Cross-stitching. Love to do it, but I have so little time to do it these days. I also collect Japanese anime cels, mostly from Fushigi Yugi, Vampire Hunter D and Ayashi no Ceres. (It’s an expensive hobby, though, so I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like.)

Kelly: One thing readers would be surprised to know about you?

Allison: Hmmm. I hate seafood. And pie. Also? I actually own one of those hairbrush daggers.

Kelly: Any other projects in the works?

Allison: The second and third books in the BoD series (which should both be out some time next year). Otherwise I’m working on an epic fantasy and a steampunk fantasy thing. (In my spare time. Hah)

~~~ GIVEAWAY ~~~

Okay, so all you have to do is leave a comment here saying what your weapon of choice would be if you were an urban fantasy hero or heroine. I'll pick one random winner on Friday and you'll get a brand spanking new copy of A BRUSH OF DARKNESS!

Star Crossed interview

Hey Guys! I've done a lovely little interview over at Star Crossed Romance today. :-)

Hope everyone is having a great day. I'm off to work on my edits...

Oh, and stay tuned because the fabulous Allison Pang will be here on the ole blog in a few days!

A Good Cause

Shocker! I'm posting. You know I thought after I got those two books turned in, that I'd be back on my normal blogging schedule. Not so. Didn't expect to have edit letters back at pretty much the same time and both revisions due back at pretty much the same time. *sigh* Right back to doing these two books in tandem. CRAZY. My head is so full of both stories, it might actually explode. Maybe implode. I don't even know...

Anyway. This is something I wanted to share with you all and comes from my friend Kylie Griffin from Australia.


*PERMISSION TO FORWARD*

Begin forwarded message:

As some of you may already know, a team from the RWA commitee has
started a drive for book donations...

RWA Flooded Communities Book Appeal

We've all seen the devastation the recent Queensland floods have wrought
and have wondered how we can help. We know that for many affected
families, books will not be high on their priorities list for some time
to come.

But...
We also know how valuable books can be in providing time out when
reality gets tough.

So…

With the aid of some wonderful volunteers, we've put together a Romance Writers of Australia Flooded Communities Book Appeal.

What we need?
FICTION BOOKS! Romance books, children's books, young adult books, genre
books, whatever – either new or in sparkling condition.

Please send them to:

RWA Flooded Communities Book Appeal
PO Box 1717
Noosaville Post Office
Noosaville BC
Queensland 4566

Australia

When to send them?

Now! And any time over the next few months. The books will be boxed and
delivered to the appropriate libraries/schools/neighbourhood
centres/community centres in batches as soon as the communities are
ready to receive them. We'll be liaising with councils, libraries
and schools to ensure this is done appropriately. Feel free to pop a
note inside, or if you're an author, sign it.

Questions:

If you have a question about donations, email Jess Anastasi:
Jess@jessanastasi.com

If you work in a library / council / community centre / school in a
flood affected area, email Rachel Bailey: rachel@rachelbailey.com.au


And now for the extra detail...

I want to ask an extra favour of everyone on this list. If you feel
comfortable enough about it, and your publisher has some sort of
group/e-loop, please forward this on to them. In fact, forward it to
anywhere you think might be useful. Put it up on your blog or website,
talk about it on facebook and twitter. The more people who know, the
more books we're likely to get. We'll take donations from anywhere, so
long as people are willing to send those books!

If you have any questions, send me an email.

Thanks for your cooperation and support!

Jess Anastasi

RWA Flooded Communities Book Appeal Team