I am pleased and honored to announce that the third book in my epic fantasy series The Asphodel Cycle 3:Tempation of Asphodel has been nominated for a Golden Rose Award for Best Sci Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007 by Love Romances and More.  To say that I’m stunned is an understatement; to even be mentioned on the same nominee list as Christine Feehan is beyond anything I ever dreamed about when I first started to kill off Elves in The Reckoning of Asphodel.

The voting continues until April 15th. You can find the voting page here and can vote for your favorites in several categories under the Love Romances and More aegis. It’s a wonderful thing to see nominees from small presses like Aspen Mountain Press alongside well known authors from huge publishing companies. It says a lot about how e-presses and independent publishers are changing the face of the industry.

Thank you so much to all of the faithful readers of Aspen Mountain books and especially fans of Asphodel.  None of this would be possible without you. So you have my greatest love and appreciation for the support you’ve continuously shown to me and to my work. Now go vote!

Cheers and many hugs–

Celina Summers

Aspen Mountain Press and her authors garnered several awards from Love Romances Cafe this month.

We are pleased that we received an Honorable Mention as “Best Publisher” behind such companies as Loose Id and Samhain.

Author JM Snyder finished with top honors as 2008’s best GBLT writer, tied with AJ Llewellyn.

Sloane Taylor received an Honorable Mention for Teddi Turns On in the “Best All Around Book” category.

Jet Mykles (Del Fantasma: Unicorn) and Maura Anderson (Giving Thanks) tied for the “Runner Up” category for best Alternative Lifestyle Book and graphic artist and author Celia Kyle collected the same award for Best Cover Artist.

Lonnie Heats Up by Sloane Taylor received the Honorable Mention for 2008’s “Best Contemporary Book”.

We also had a tie in the Best Western category with two of our authors receiving Honorable Mentions; Brenda Williamson for Her Savage Lover and Terry O’Reilly for Walking in Two Worlds.

Aspen Mountain Press is especially thrilled to have WON the Best Series category for DEL FANTASMA!

We are thrilled and honored to have such talented people associated with Aspen Mountain Press.  Thank you so very much for your hard work, and thank you Love Romances Cafe for recognizing them.

Well, it’s nomination season and the gods have been good to me again–so good that I’m still reeling.

You remember last year when The Reckoning of Asphodel was a Top Ten finalist in the Preditors and Editors Annual Readers’ Poll as Best Sci Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007? This year has surpassed last year and I am literally gobsmacked.

 The Gift of Redemption has been nominated by P&E for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel of 2008.

The Temptation of Asphodel has been nominated by P&E for Best Novel of 2008.

I have also been nominated in the Authors Published in 2008 category!

I’m am completely overwhelmed by the honors that have fallen upon my books and myself.  Just the fact that this is a readers’ poll, where readers nominate and vote for the books, makes it very special to my heart–and those of the other authors nominated as well.  There are quite a few of them from Aspen Mountain Press also nominated, plus AMP was nominated as Best E-Publisher! If you wanted to vote (and of course you do, why wouldn’t you?) go to http://www.critters.org/predpoll/. You can find The Gift of Redemption under Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels and The Temptation of Asphodel under All Other Novels.  You can vote for me under the Authors category.
Then…hold on…it gets better. I have something to show you–twice:

The Gift of Redemption was nominated by Love Romances and More Cafe as Best Sci Fi/Fantasy novel of 2008 AND Temptation of Asphodel was nominated for Best Cover Art of 2008–that wonderful bit of work done by Renee’ George! Voting opens at LRM on January 5th, and I’ll post more about that later.

Until then, please allow me a moment to thank all of the great readers and devotees of Aspen Mountain Press for your continued support and love for our product.  We work very hard to bring you quality literature, and judging from the love we’re getting through various awards organizations our hard work is paying off.  I wish you all a very Happy New Year with all of the blessings and joy you deserve upon you!

The marvelous Jet Mykles let me know this morning that Giving Thanks has become the #1 Best Seller on the All Romance eBooks Top 10 Best Seller list!

I’m so excited!

You can read more about this story on my website on the Giving Thanks page.

You can buy Giving Thanks from Aspen Mountain Press here!

Check out the Fantasm Award Blog!! Despite some fierce competition, the first book in Aspen’s Del Fantasma series has won the award for Best Shapeshifter (Non-Wolf) Romance!

Title: Del Fantasma: Texas Tea Author: Maura Anderson Artist: Nikita Gordyn ISBN: 978-1-60168-052-5 Genre: Paranormal Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press Publication Date: 8/17/2007 Sexual Content: Erotic

Photographer Lara Saunders has a lifelong secret — she can see and hear ghosts. When she was rescued from a near drowning by the ghost of a lighthouse keeper, he set her on a mission to document historic lighthouses and the lives of their keepers so they were not forgotten. Now on her third book in the series, Lara has arrived in San Diego to document the Old Point Loma Lighthouse but hasn’t counted on becoming the target of Cody Warren, the matchmaking owner of the Del Fantasma bar. Or falling in love with a handsome Park Ranger whose secret is even more strange than her own.

Click here to read an excerpt.

Hey there guys!

Sorry I’ve been out of circulation for a while, but I’m up to my ears in writing projects and recovering from a small medical procedure.  Nothing to worry about: I’m fine.  Just busy and disinclined to get off the couch.

As proof of how out of it I am, I discovered something today completely by accident.  The Reckoning of Asphodel was named the Winter 2008 staff pick in Fantasy from Love Romances & More!  How silly am I?  I should have been shouting out about this a couple of weeks ago.  You can check it — and the other Staff Picks– out here.  

Secondly, I selected a winner on my blog contest on February 14th.  Although I mentioned it on my blog, I quite stupidly forgot to tell you guys about it here.  So….CAITLIN HOY congratulations!  You won a copy of The Reckoning of Asphodel as well as first dibs on a free copy of Gift of Redemption when it is released in June!  Email me at kaantira@hotmail.com so I can mail you your copy and I really hope you enjoy it.

 Have a great day, and I hope you are all experiencing better weather than the standard Ohio roller coaster of late winter.  Seventy degrees yesterday, three inches of snow last night, and ice today…no wonder everyone’s sick.  Take care!

Celina

The Fantasm Awards voting is now open!

Click on the button and go vote! Del Fantasma: Texas Tea, the first book in Aspen’s Del Fantasma series is up for Best Shape-Shifter (Non-Wolf) Romance. You’ll also see some of Aspen’s authors up for awards for books at (sob) other presses. A lot of great stories and authors on the list.

Go Vote!!

I just wanted to stop by and let you know a few wonderful things that have happened to me lately.  First, I was nominated by the lovely folks at Love Romances and More as Best New Author of 2007 and my book, The Reckoning of Asphodel was nominated for Best Sci Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007.  Thanks, everyone, for the honor and to everyone who voted.  Then, Asphodel was nominated for Best Sci Fi/Fantasy Novel of 2007 by Preditors & Editors for their annual Readers Poll.  I’m very proud to announce that Asphodel placed tenth–and I now have a shiny new .gif image to add to my various sites.  Asphodel has been getting great reviews (again, thank you LR&M for the fabulous five hearts review!) which is fabulous because the second book in the series, The Gift of Redemption is due out this spring from Aspen Mountain Press.

So, because of all these wonderful things, I’m running a BLOG CONTEST!  Yep,  you too can win a copy of The Reckoning of Asphodel!  All you have to do is visit my blog and post a comment and you’re entered.  Contest ends on Valentine’s Day (cuz I luvs you guyz) and the winner gets not only a copy of my book, but a brand spanking new not shared with anybody LOLCat AND a reserved copy of Book Two.  You’ll get your copy the day that Redemption is released!

On top of that, if you bring a friend and have them mention your name in their post, I’ll enter you again.  Just think how many entries you could have if all of your friends stop by! Go to Elf-Killing and Other Hobbies (follow the linkie) and enter.

So this is my universal ‘thank you’ for everyone who has helped Asphodel become successful.  Have a great day!

Celina

I love writing.  I spend over ten hours a day at my desk.  And I am so happy that Aspen Mountain Press saw fit to publish my debut novel The Reckoning of Asphodel.  For now, just before the sequel The Gift of Redemption comes out in the spring, Asphodel is starting to get some great reviews and even an award.

Let’s start off with this: The Reckoning of Asphodel is epic high fantasy.  It has a strong female protagonist and enough romance and chivalry to satisfy the romance reader.  There’s also enough blood, guts, war, magic, and prophecy to make the fan of traditional fantasy happy.  Personally, I love epic fantasies.  Tolkien is my hero, just as Hope Mirrlees was.

More on that in a bit.

First review was from Love Romances & More.  Asphodel received five out of five stars and this is part of what the reviewer said: “…THE RECKONING OF ASPHODEL is a wonderfully complex story that lures the reader in and delivers a fast pace ride that leaves you breathless. All this reviewer could do was hanging on for the ride! New author Celina Summers delivers a stunning novel that captures the readers’ attention on the first page and never lets up until the last page is turned…”

Melissa at Dogwild *some of you know her ;)* said in her very lovely review “…The Reckoning of Asphodel is high elven fantasy at its best and I can’t wait for the rest of the story to unfold. This story needs to be in print so I can drag it around with me for reading without banging my laptop up…”

Then came this weekend.  I received a third review from Novelspot.com which read in part: “The Reckoning of Asphodel, by Celina Summers, is traditional high fantasy, with chivalric knights and wood-wise elves, beautiful princesses and wise female seers, good and evil sorcerers and magicians. It’s written in the language typical of the genre. It is, however, much better written, with more complex characters and situations, than many similar books. This is a serious fantasy novel, not the verbal equivalent of a computer game…”

That’s not what got me.  This was: “…The style reminds me a bit of Hope Mirrlees’ Lud-in-the-Mist…”

Oh my goodness.  Dang.  That blew me away.  Well, that and this:  

Don’t really know what to make of that one.  Those of you who voted for Asphodel, thank you.  If you enjoyed that first book, I sincerely hope you catch the second.  The Gift of Redemption, Book Two in the Asphodel series, should be out in 2008.  I’ll give you more details as soon as I can.  Thanks for suffering through my bragfest too.

In the end, you have to give it up for the authors and editorial staff at AMP.  There’s something for everyone here, and you can’t go wrong with the books that AMP offers.  If you want to learn more about me or the Asphodel series, check out my blog or my website.  Follow the linkies and you can find a wealth of information.

Once again, thanks!

Two books from AMP won Honorable Mentions in the Love Romances Cafe Best of 2007 Poll.

Snowball in Hell by Josh Lanyan.

Babes in Toyland II by Maura Anderson, Jeanne Barrack, Raine Delight, Melissa Glisan, Wayne Greenough, Michelle Hasker, Dawn Montgomery and Skylar Sinclair.

Congratulations to our wonderful authors!