Want to see what happened to Raven, Jenna’s partner from Sticky Magic? Then here it is!

http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/new-releases/devon-falls-red-hot-magic/prod_117.html

Synopsis:

With the help of a charity fundraiser, Jenna sets her friend, Raven, up to find Mr. Perfect.  Raven though, has found Mr. Perfect…in her dreams. Now, if she could only find the sexy man in real life.

Check it out and Do a little dance w ith me! *twirls and tosses candy hearts!*

Title: Del Fantasma: Silk Panties Authors: Celia Kyle Artist: Nikita Gordyn ISBN: 978-1-60168-084-6 Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press Publication Date: 02/1/2008 Sexual Content: Erotic Contemporary Paranormal

Lisa Bradenton is breaking out of her shell. What better way to take a walk on the wild-one-night- stand-side than a visit to the infamous Del Fantasma? At the urging of her friends, Lisa goes to the bar with the hopes of finding a lover to take her mind off her ex-boyfriend. Soon after walking through the doors she’s overwhelmed by the sexy bartender who has a quick smile, sexy eyes and deep rumbling voice. He is definitely one-night stand material. Definitely.

Jonathan and his inner beast crave the sexy, sultry and curvy siren’s touch. A smile and good conversation aren’t enough for him. Even after he’s gotten her in his bed, he still craves everything about the seductress. Her looks reeled him in, but her uncertainty and open nature snare him forever. But after one night of bliss, she disappears. What the hell is he supposed to do now? Lisa is his mate and without her, he’s lost.

Click here to read an excerpt.

The last several manuscripts I’ve edited have suffered from what I call the “Laundry List Syndrome” so I thought I’d take a moment to mention it here.

A laundry list is when an author tries to mention a whole lot of things at once instead of dribbling them in a little at a time. In some cases it appears as part of an info-dump but sometimes it just appears out of the blue.

As an example, here’s a laundry list:

The stranger turned around and she couldn’t believe her eyes: black hair, blue eyes, a strong chin, a nose with a slight crook to the side and tanned cheeks dusted with a dark five o’clock shadow.

The author in this laundry list is merely dumping out facts. It’s dry and the reader tends to just skim over it.

It would be much more effective to give each of these facts individual emphasis. It makes it more enjoyable to read and more memorable as well.

Try this in contrast:

The dark haired stranger turned around and she couldn’t believe her eyes. His glossy black hair curled around his tanned face in waves that made her fingers itch to smooth it back. Piercing cobalt eyes were framed by lush black lashes, the darkness echoed in the hint of razor stubble dusting his strong chin. Only the slight bump and crooked slant of a long-ago broken nose saved his face from being too pretty.

I’d usually space it out more than that and I realize it’s not the best paragraph ever, but look how much more memorable it is than the laundry list?

One magic clue to an imminent laundry list is using a colon… If you find yourself using a colon, ask yourself why and if there is a better way to present the information you are about to list.

Today on the Aspen Mountain Press community loop at yahoo, we are celebrating NOT watching the Super Bowl. 

What will we do instead?  Why share excerpts, recipes, chat and give out prizes.

Come one, come all, and let’s have some fun!

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!!

Return to Devon Falls and the 1st ever Bachelor/Dog Auction. This is all about Raven, Jenna’s business partner from Sticky Magic (in Babes in Toyland II anthology out now!). Find out if Raven gets her heart’s desire and if the mysterious dream man is her one true love!

The talented artist Skylar Sinclair designed my cover and I am thrilled Sandra loved it as much as I did. *though I can’t seem to load it here for some weird reason! *

I am off to finish the edits and hope you can check out my blog as I have a teaser excerpt there as well as contest info. coming for Red Hot Magic.
Raine Delight

There are some words authors should try their hardest to avoid.  Two of them are “very” and “that”.

“Very” is a word used for padding.  Advice often given to authors is to use one word rather than two when describing something.  What is meant by this oft repeated but little understood expression?  On the most basic level one should not describe something as “very blue” but sea blue, ice blue, battleship grey, forest green, rather than use the throwaway “very”.  If one word will suffice, use it instead.  Rather than the green stuff growing on the rock, name it precisely…moss, lichen, whatever the green stuff really is.

How good is “very good”?  Excellent, perfect, 99.9% accurate, barely above average?  Very doesn’t tell the reader anything of importance.  “Very” is an excellent word to eliminate in most circumstances.

The same can be said of the word “that”.  Frequently, the word “that” serves no real purpose in a sentence and when deleted the fundamental meaning of the sentence hasn’t changed.  There will be instances where you have to use “that”; you can’t get rid of all of them, but do try. 

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

You Are Rum

You’re the life of the party, and a total flirt. You are also pretty picky about what you drink. Only the finest labels and best mixed cocktails will do. Except if you’re dieting - then it’s Diet Coke and Bicardi all the way.

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

Don’t be shy, try this quiz and then post your response on the Aspen Mountain Press yahoo loop. We have a whole series featuring alcoholic drinks…maybe yours will show up as one of the Del Fantasma titles…

So far we have:
Texas Tea
Sea Breeze
Screaming Orgasm
Undertow
Slow Fuzzy Screw
and Black Wolf

This week, our drink of the month is Silk Panties, number seven in the series set in a paranormal bar just outside San Diego in the fictional Vista Loma area.

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!