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Saturday, June 16, 2012

Books Fighting Cancer!

Having friends with or lost relatives to various forms of cancer, when I was approached by Chelsea from the Vampire Book Club to donate something for their Books Fighting Cancer Charity Auction, I agreed.

Vengeance Born book banner

Rather than double up on the details & deadlines you can read all about the Charity Auction here.

Suffice to say there are some rather excellent prizes up for grabs - check out the list!

My contribution is in the Urban Fantasy Set (a copy of VENGEANCE BORN & a matching banner of the book cover).

Click the links below to view the auction, get details on bidding and, of course, stake your claim on the great prizes.

Moira Rogers’ Prize Pack including a year’s worth of ARCs! (15 books)
Avon Romance Prize Pack with signed books and character names from Jeaniene Frost, Lynsay Sands, Joss Ware & Pamela Palmer (8 books)
Necklace designed by True Blood’s Kristin Bauer van Straten
Complete, Signed Set of Meljean Brook’s Guardians Series (7 books)
Urban Fantasy Set 1 featuring Jim Butcher, Allison Pang, Jaye Wells, Seanan McGuire, E.S. Moore and Kylie Griffin (8 books)
Urban Fantasy Set 2 featuring Jess Haines, Barbara Ashford, E.S. Moore, Linda Poitevin, Devon Monk, Stacia Kane & Alma Katsu (8 books)
YA Prize Pack featuring signed books from Jennifer Estep, Julie Kagawa and more (8 books)
Signed J.R. Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Liz Maverick set (5 books)
Signed sets from Stacey Jay and Cassie Alexander (4 books)
Signed books from Christine Cody and Chris Marie Green (6 books)
Signed set of Dark Mission novels from Karina Cooper and Character Name (3 books)
Signed books from Amanda Bonilla and character named after you! (2 books)
Romance Prize Pack featuring Meljean Brook, J.A. Saare, Jennifer Estep, more (8 books)
PNR Prize Pack featuring Laurie London, Shiloh Walker, Lynsay Sands (6 books)
Signed books from Jenn Bennett, chance to be Lon’s ex (2 books)
Signed books from Kristen Painter (3 books)
Signed copy, character name in new Carolyn Crane novel

Happy bidding!!! And thank you!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

TOPIC: Blog Highlights during 2011

What a year 2011 was - a lot of ground covered in blog posts - guest authors, craft articles, a heap of links, some more interviews and some fun stuff.

I'd like to thank everyone who appeared as a guest author or who agreed to be interviewed during the year - there were a lot of wonderfully generous people who said "Yes" when I emailed them with my request. You've made 2011 a memorable year for my readers. Thank you!!!

I thought I'd go back and list the top posts on my blog for 2011 - a trip down memory lane...

By far the most viewed page on my blog was Flooding In Australia (to date 5500 page views) - the year certainly kicked off with a slew of natural disasters, with the worst floods across Australia occurring in Dec.2010 & Jan.2011.

Which Hero Turns the Page for You was another popular read (nearly 800 page views). I guess we love our heroes and like to see which ones we have in common.

My long awaited first cover - VENGEANCE BORN - drum roll please... - came in with 450 page views. Yay!

Top 5 guest author interviews (whether they were interviewed in 2011 or not & in no particular order):

Christina Phillips
Shea Berkley
Nalini Singh
Kandy Shepherd
Helene Young

Christina Phillips - Berkley author

Posts that kept popping up consistently on my Popular Posts sidebar:

General posts that generated the most comments:

Guests who generated the most comments (in no particular order):

Serena Tatti

Serena Tatti (RWAustralia member)
Anna Campbell (Aussie author)
Vanessa Barnevald (RWAustralia member)
Annie West (Aussie author)
Rachel Bailey (Aussie author)
Erica Hayes (Aussie author)
Rowena Corey Daniells (Aussie author)
Angi Morgan (USA author)
Helene Young (Aussie author)
Cheryl Wright (Aussie author)

A very interesting set of statistics.

Makes me wonder what 2012 will bring!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

INDUSTRY: Sci-Fi & Sci-Fi Romance Blogs

I thought I might share some the web addresses of the blogs I tend to surf if I'm looking specifically for sci-fi romance reviews, news or information.

Some of these are better than others (it's definitely a personal thing).

SFRBrigade Blog & Website
Ripping Ozzie Reads: Australian Speculative Fiction Authors
Dark Side DownUnder (SFR as well as paranormal & UF genres)
The Galaxy Express
Alien Romances
RT Book Reviews (multi-genre romance)
SciFi Chick
SciFiGuy
SF Signal (SF, SFR & fantasy genres)
SF Site
Smart Girls Love SciFi (SF & paranormal romance genres)
Panic in the Lingerie! (SF, urban fantasy & manga)

Happy Surfing!

#Author's Note: By no means is this a comprehensive list - just a list I've collated in my travels on the internet.

Picture from http://fantasyartdesign.com"> Fantasy Art 3D Wallpapers, digital art modern online gallery.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

INDUSTRY: Book Review Sites

Welcome to the world of book review sites...take your pick!

(I've taken out the blogs I've already listed in previous posts)

#Author's Note: By no means is this a comprehensive list, just a list I've found in my travels on the internet.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

INDUSTRY: Paranormal Romance Blogs

Paranormal romance blogs are certainly a dime a dozen on the internet (very popular it seems) and some are really great value.

For the purposes of this post "paranormal" covers paranormal romance, urban fantasy & fantasy romance genres.

Dark Side DownUnder
Bitten By Books
Literary Escapism
PNR ParaNormal Romance
All Things Urban Fantasy
RWA Chapter Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal Romance Blog
Supernatural Underground
Panic in the Lingerie! (SF, urban fantasy & manga)
Smart Girls Love SciFi (covers SF & paranormal romance)
Book Binge (multi-genre romance, e-books & print)
Night Owl Reviews (multi-genre romance)
The Season Blog (multi-genre romance)
RT Books Reviews (multi-genre romance)
The Romance Dish (multi-genre romance)
All About Romance (multi-genre romance)

Find your favourite!

Picture from http://fantasyartdesign.com"> Fantasy Art 3D Wallpapers, digital art modern online gallery.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Top Picks for 2010

Top 10 Books I Read in 2010...(in no particular order)

RAPTURE - Jacqueline Frank
PLEASURE UNBOUND - Larissa Ione
ABANDON THE NIGHT - Joss Ware
BEYOND THE NIGHT - Joss Ware
EMBRACE THE NIGHT ETERNAL - Joss Ware
THE BETTER PART OF DARKNESS - Kelly Gay
UNDER FIRE - Jo Davis
SWEET SURRENDER - Maya Banks
BRANDED SANCTUARY - Joey W.Hill
BEYOND THE SHADOWS - Jess Granger

*Interesting to note all but one of these are new authors for me.

Top 10 Guest Authors on my blog in 2010...(based on stats & in no particular order)

Helene Young

Helene Young (Australian romantic suspense)
Joss Ware (apocalyptic paranormal romance)
Christina Phillips (ancient historical romance)
Tracey O'Hara (dark urban fantasy)
Erica Hayes (urban fantasy) x 2
Mel Teshco (erotic paranormal romance)
Cathryn Brunet (erotic contemporary/paranormal romance)
Maree Anderson (erotic paranormal romance)
Nalini Singh (paranormal romance)

Top 10 Personal Milestones in 2010...(in no particular order)
Publishing with Berkley (& working with my editor Leis Pederson)
Finding my super/wonderful/amazing agent - Elaine Spencer at The Knight Agency

RWA Golden Heart®

Winning an RWA Golden Heart® (paranormal romance section)
Meeting many of the 2010 GH "Unsinkables" in Orlando, Florida
Winning the WHRWA Emily contest & "The Best of the Best" (which led to Leis Pederson requesting my work!)
Placing in 6 of the 8 RWA® contests I entered
Attending the trifecta of romance writers' conferences in USA, Australia & New Zealand
Pitching at all three conferences
Fulfilling my writing goals for 2010
Growing my blog

Top 10 Popular Posts of 2010...(based on stats & in no particular order)

Winter Rose Finalist
Guest Author: Christina Phillips
Guest Author: Helene Young
Guest Author: Nalini Singh
Guest Author: Tracy O'Hara
Poison Kissed: Erica Hayes
Agents, Editors & Book Deals...oh my!
Guest Author: Mel Teshco
Rotorua, NZ
Have You Read A Good Sci-Fi Romance Lately?

Monday, January 3, 2011

Blog Restructure

With my time now dedicated to writing more books, I've decided I need to restructure the format of my blog.

From January 2011 my posts will be:-

Monday - Guest Author
Thursday - Visiting RWOz, RWNZ or RWA members
Saturday - Bitsa post (they may involve news, quotes, other guests, latest reads, reviews, promotion, craft articles; basically whatever catches my fancy)

I also reserve the right to post out of the blue when the mood strikes! but for consistency these will be the days you can expect fresh content on my blog.

BTW, Happy (belated) New Year, everyone!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

CRAFT: Need a Useful Link or Two?

During my rare few spare minutes (or times when I'm procrastinating), I seek out good articles posted on several bookmarked blog sites.

Here are just a smattering of articles I've found helpful in the last year.

The Blood-Red Pencil

Nathan Bransford

Book Publishing Glossary

BookEnds

RWAustralia Blog

Too Many Notes: How to Fix Overwriting by Erica Hayes
Critiquing:Let's Brainstorm by Anne Gracie

Romance She Wrote

How to Write a Synopsis without Turning Homicidal

The Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood

Leaving Out the Boring Parts by Hope Ramsey

Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter Blog

Writing a Series

What have you found useful in your searching and reading of blogs? Share them with me (please don't forget to include the links).

This is the first in a 5 part series for the month of January.

Monday, November 1, 2010

The End Prize Winner!

The lucky last prize winner for my October Blog Anniversary is...

Anonymous (Robyn)

You have won two (2) books -

OUTCAST by J.Johnston
PRINCE INCOGNITO by L.Goodnight

Congratulations!

To claim them just send your postal address to kyliegriffin (at) clearmail (dot) com (dot) au and I'll pop them in the mail to you.

Thanks everyone for a fantastic month of partying! I hope you've enjoyed it, I know I have. It's been fun!!!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

RWOz Conference Book Pack Winner!

I cleaned out my coffee cup (it's been getting a bit of a workout the last few days) and threw in everyone's name.

Congratulations to...

Julieann Thomas

Just contact me at kyliegriffin (at) clearmail (dot) com (dot) au and we can arrange to get those books to you!

Happy Reading!

Friday, October 1, 2010

A Year of Blogging

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

It'll be a year to the day on October 6th since I started my blog.

I hope the posts have been informative and fun to read. There's certainly been plenty of topics to cover and discuss. My favourites have been, and always will be, the guest authors - it's always a hoot interviewing and learning more about them.

Thank you to everyone who has dropped by to leave comments or lend their support in any way.

To celebrate, I'm giving away free books all this month! To be in the draws just read the posts, answer my questions or challenges and leave a comment - Aussie locals and overseas visitors are welcome to participate!

The books will be from a mix of authors and genres. Check out the list below.

Colters' Woman - Maya Banks
Outcast - Joan Johnston
The Accidental Vampire - Lynsay Sands
Red-Hot Australians:Outback Engagements - Margaret Way
Lincoln's Sword - Debra Doyle & James D.Macdonald
Wanted:A Father For Her Twins - Emily Forbes
Sugar & Spice - Leda Swann
Prince Incognito - Linda Goodnight
Nicholas - Elizabeth Amber
Raine - Elizabeth Amber
Lyon - Elizabeth Amber

Here's to another year of good things!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Supernatural Underground

How cool is this name for a blogsite of paranormal authors, eh? They're a group of best-selling HarperCollins authors, writing Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance for adults and teens under the Avon, Eos and HarperTeen imprints.

Open the gates, roll out the red carpet, walk on in and be prepared to party June 1st, 2010. They're starting with a full month of free goodies from their authors: signed books, advance reader copies, bookmarks and bookplates.

Then throughout June, individual authors will talk about books that go bump in the night, why they write them, what inspires them, what they read, what they watch, what they're up to, where they're touring, and what's coming out next on the bookstore shelves.

Here's the schedule of who's coming up when!

June 4th: Jeaniene Frost
June 5th: Vicki Petterson
June 6th: Melissa Marr
June 7th: Jocelynn Drake
June 9th: Juliana Stone
June 11th: Tera Lynn Childs
June 12th: Pamela Palmer
June 14th: Terri Garey
June 15th: Joss Ware
June 18th: Merrie Destefano
June 20th: Tracey O'hara
June 21st: Nicole Murphy
June 23rd: Kimberly Derting
June 24th: Leah Clifford
June 25th: Kerrelyn Sparks
June 16th: Karina Cooper
June 28th: Dakota Banks
June 29th: Sara Creasy
June 30th: Sophie Jordan

Today they have autographed sets of books from Jeaniene Frost, Terri Garey and Joss Ware to give away if you visit their blog and participate in their challenge!

If you haven't visited the Supernatural Underground, then get on over and check it out!

Monday, May 17, 2010

TOPICS: Suggestions anyone?

Is there any particular subject you'd like to see posted on my blog? Do you have a burning need for information about a topic? Want to start a discussion about an issue? Are the guest author visits of value to you? Feel the need for a book review or two?

I'm open to suggestions and would value your ideas if you'd take the time to comment. Let's see what we can come up with! And I'll do my best to oblige. ;-)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Promoting Authors

Ever wondered how you can help your author friends further their cause in a practical way?

Rowena Cherry gives us 25 Free Ways to Buzz an Author courtesy of a link from the RWA Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter.

Options such as:
... if you have a blog or website, publicize your friend’s upcoming signings/author talks/workshops on your blog
... drop in on her online chats to say how you enjoyed her book
... buy autographed books from them at book-signings to use in your own giveaways
... offer to take a bunch of her bookmarks to conventions, or conferences, other places to hand out or put in goodie bags, or on promo tables

Check it out! There's heaps of suggestions, some more practical or appealing than others but I'm sure you'll find something to do to help our published friends.