From the Bookshelf...The Shadowlands Trilogy

A civil designer by day and an author by night, SHONA HUSK lives in Western Australia at the edge of the Indian Ocean.

Blessed with a lively imagination she spent most of her childhood making up stories. As an adult she discovered romance novels and hasn’t looked back. Drawing on history and myth, she writes about heroes who are armed and dangerous but have a heart of gold—sometimes literally.

With stories ranging from sensual to scorching, she is published with Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Carina Press and Sourcebooks.

You can find out more at Shona's website, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook page. 

About the Shadowlands Trilogy... 
Title/s:
THE GOBLIN KING (October 2011)
KISS OF THE GOBLIN PRINCE (May 2012)
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GOBLIN WARRIOR (late 2012) 

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca. 

Series overview:
The Shadowlands series follows the plight of Roan (a cursed Celtic King) and his men as they struggle to break free of the curse, and the Shadowlands, and learn to live and love again after being goblins for nearly two thousand years.
The trilogy will be completed late 2012.

Heroes & Heroines:
THE GOBLIN KING — Roan and Eliza
KISS OF THE GOBLIN PRINCE — Dai and Amanda
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GOBLIN WARRIOR — Meryn and Nadine 

Series extra's:

• There’s a free prequel THE SUMMONS which is Roan and Eliza’s first meeting eight years ago.
• The Shadowlands is where nightmares come from and where goblins roam seeking gold and battle.
• Roan is compelled to respond to all summons.
• Dai is a bookish hero and has spent centuries studying magic in an effort to break the curse.
• Meryn succumbed to the curse and became goblin.

THE GOBLIN KING
Cursed by a Druid millennia ago, Roan lives a bleak existence in the Shadowlands, desperately trying to retain his soul and not succumb to the goblin horde. When a beautiful human summons him to grant a wish, he sees a glimmer of hope. But will she ever agree to be his queen?

KISS OF THE GOBLIN PRINCE
Trapped for centuries in the bleak Shadowlands, Dai clings to his humanity with a thirst for knowledge. But now he's free of the goblin curse, and some would say he knows too much- he can make nature bend to his will, influence the minds of others, and command magic. Yet love eludes him. Then he meets Amanda, a single mother with a sick daughter whom he feels compelled to protect. But could she possibly place her trust in the kiss of a goblin prince?

Buy links:
Amazon     Book Depository     B&N

Missing subscribers???

Folks, it's come to my attention that some of you have signed up to receive my newsletter -either here or at my website - and haven't been receiving them. I'm so sorry about this but have only just been informed this has been happening.

Depending on when you signed up, I've sent out a monthly newsletter every month since February this year and about half a dozen notices in between.


I'm not sure why people haven't been getting them but am trying to sort this out with the email service at the moment. They've asked for anyone who has signed up but not received anything to let me know who you are, your email address for receiving them and where you signed up (my website or blog) if you can remember, so they can sort this issue out.

Can you email me ASAP - kyliegriffin71@optusnet.com.au - if you haven't been receiving them please?

REVIEW over at Not Your Ordinary Book Banter

How wonderful to discover that a book group based at the Bangor Public Library (Maine, USA) had VENGEANCE BORN on their summer reading list.

To top it all off, a lovely person called Jan reviewed it for their Not Your Ordinary Book Banter blog AND ordered a copy of both VENGEANCE BORN and ALLIANCE FORGED for the library!!!

I gave a hoo-rah when I read this snippet in the review.

I came across this author while downloading a bunch of samples to my eReader.  For the record, I have decided that eReader samples are a marvelous thing.  I usually get my first twenty-five pages from a sample, and from there, if the author has intrigued me, I borrow it from the library.  Or, if I just can't wait one more day---I buy the book!


I bought this book.

Then I let loose a squee, for this comment!

For those of you who like books by Nalini Singh, I would recommend you try this author.

And I was grinning like a loon with these closing thoughts.

With that said, there was depth to this story, especially concerning racial prejudice.  I was engrossed by the fantasy world Griffin created.  She formed a believable war between two races fueled by ignorance and prejudices on both sides.  It was an enjoyable read, and in many ways thought provoking---with a happy ending, of course!

Alliance Forged is the next book in this series.  I have ordered both books for the library's collection.

You can read the review in its entirety here.

TOPIC: Author Branding (courtesy of Nikki Logan)

In a previous post I looked at some of the things you might need to consider BEFORE you receive THE CALL.

Today, I'd like to deal with author branding - a topic dealt with really well by Nikki Logan in a workshop I attended at the 2011 Romance Writers of Australia conference.

The following notes are taken from this workshop and just touch on this subject but give a great overview and some useful definitions on what it is. At the end I've also included some web articles I've found that also explain it well.

Author Branding
From Nikki Logan's "The Romance Writer's Brand" 2011 RWA workshop notes:

Do you recognize this brand?

The Importance of Branding
What is branding? In a marketing context, the term ‘branding’ refers to how you position yourself in the marketplace and how you make others perceive you.

Like a symbol burned into the hide of a particular line of cattle (denoting a particular quality, a particular heritage, a particular breed of cow), your brand will allow readers to recognise your quality, your heritage, your breed of story from amongst the rambling flock of others...

...A brand is a promise. Harlequin has lines which offer different reader promises. Each of those lines is simply a glorified publishing brand with a specific positioning statement.

A promise - to seek out new life and new civilizations and going where no one has gone before...

Types of Branding
There are three primary types of brand:
1.    Name as Brand;
2.    Genre/sub-genre as brand;
3.    Specialty as brand

Name As Brand – Recognise these?  Nora Roberts. Stephenie Meyer. JK Rowling, Stephen King, Dan Brown.  These contemporary authors could sell a shopping list if they wrote it (or put their name on someone else’s list). Their name is literally their brand and readers will buy on the promise of their name alone.

Genre/Sub-genre as Brand –  what do the following write? JR Ward. JD Robb. Stephanie Laurens. Sara Douglass. Stephen King. Danielle Steele.  These people have all turned their genre (or sub-genre) into a brand. Their names have become synonymous with the genre.
 
Specialty as Brand – Here’s some authors that ‘specialise’ within their sub-genre.

•    Dan Brown – mystery/adventures with mystery/adventures with cerebral, religious overtones
•    Karin Tabke: hot cops
•    Phillipa Gregory: Tudor historical
•    Nikki Logan: nature-based romance 

An internationally recognizable brand

A well established brand tells a publisher/agent that:

1. You have marketability (if you got their attention you’ll get reader attention)
2. You’re serious about your business (so you have to get it right or you’ll look like you’re not serious about it)
3. You believe in yourself as a writer (a half-arsed brand or a brand that shifts and changes won’t fool anyone)
   

A well established brand tells a buyer/reader that:

1. You know what you’re doing
2. Builds author ‘promise’
3. What sort of story/genre you represent

Some articles from the net:

Author Branding 101
Marketing 101: Author Branding
What the Heck is Author Branding & How Do You Do It Anyway?

All food for thought.

Have you thought about author branding yet?

REVIEW over at We Fancy Books!

A lovely VENGEANCE BORN review to wake up to this morning over at We Fancy Books!

A snippet from the review:

"... I was totally entertained and I cannot wait to read the next one. I recommend this to everyone who wants to read a Paranormal book but doesn’t know where to start. I suggest you start with this one. It’s a great start of an epic series you won’t get disappointed. Vengeance Born has the right mix of Paranormal and Romance it and that I think you will surely enjoy!"

It's been such a thrill to hear people who don't usually read paranormal romance say they've enjoyed the book. :-)

Thanks, We Fancy Books!

ALLIANCE FORGED Giveaway!

Well, it's the downhill run to Release Day for ALLIANCE FORGED, folks! Can't believe it's come around so soon!

The good news is that this means I'm going to be running another Goodreads ARC (advanced review copy) giveaway of the book. An advanced review copy is the uncorrected proof of a book.

The giveaway opens June 2nd and runs through to July 1st.

So, if you're interested, head on over and sign up!

There is no mercy in the demon realm. No escape. In this place of desperation and conflict, anyone who is not purebred is virtually powerless. Until a blind priestess lays claim to a half-breed warrior, body and soul…
Hunted and marked for death by Na’Reish demons for their half-blood heritage, the
Na’Chi are searching for a new home—something an alliance offered by the human leader could provide. With both races divided by prejudice, when Light Blade rebels brutally attack the Na’Chi, the alliance seems doomed to fail.
Varian, leader of the Na’Chi, a hybrid race of gifted warriors, is cursed with the darker impulses of his demon heritage. Controlling the part of himself that craves the high of the battle is a struggle he’s afraid he’ll lose—until he meets Kymora Tayn, a priestess driven to serve her deity. While he’s unwilling to trust anyone outside his people, he finds himself drawn to Kymora’s strength and passionate nature, and discovers she has the power to calm the darkness inside him.
When the Na’Reish raid human territory for blood-slaves and kickstart a war, the key to the survival of both races—Na’Chi and human— is an alliance. However, when Kymora is kidnapped, pitting human against human, Varian realizes he must embrace his darker half, not only to save the alliance…but also the woman he loves.

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   
   

     

          Alliance Forged
     

     

          by Kylie Griffin
     

     
     

         
            Giveaway ends July 01, 2012.
         

         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         

     

   

   

   
      Enter to win
   

From the Bookshelf...Coins of Power

Taken from the bookshelf this week is a standalone book, the first in a Young Adult series - COINS OF POWER by J.A.LESLEY. 

Author bio: J.A.Lesley has been writing for many years. After publishing two romances under the name of Jennifer Brassel (now  available through Amazon and all eBook retailers) she began writing young adult novels at the request of her daughter who wanted fantasy and adventure.

Jennifer has taught writing at local colleges and writing centers. She served as both president & treasurer of Romance Writers of Australia.

Title: COINS OF POWER (Young Adult)

Publisher: Parker-Publishing LLC.

Release Date: April 2011(1st in an upcoming series where four teens fight mythical monsters) 

Hero bio: Fifteen-year-old Cameron Sloan is new to school. His Scottish/American background has gifted him with ancient tools to fight evil but he doesn't yet know their true meaning. 

Heroine bio: Part Aboriginal Paige has just turned fifteen. Her crazy Welsh aunt keeps sending her weird birthday gifts but she has no idea what they're used for.

Interesting feature/s of this book: COINS OF POWER combines Celtic mythology and a battle of good over evil, along with first love.

COINS OF POWER

Paige loves stories about myths and monsters but she never thought she'd become part of one. When Paige's crazy Welsh aunt sends her the last in a series of ancient talismans for her fifteenth birthday gift, her whole world turns upside-down.

Cam, the new boy in school has mystical secrets too and when he sees Paige's birthday gifts he realizes his grandfather's warnings weren't nonsense, after all. Danger looms in the form of Balor and his band of sea monsters.

Along with friends Tegan and Jacko, Paige and Cam must learn how to wield their mysterious powers if they are to protect their treasures, their families and maybe even the world.