What would YOU ask a demon? Also Shameless Self Promotion

Well. yes. This is a post where I try to find a polite way to get people to buy/read my novella. No hard sell. No annoying glitter. No beating you over the head. Although...

Free Fall, A My Immortals Series novella is available now on Kindle.

OMG REALLY???

Yes, REALLY! You should rush out and buy it now.

It's remarkable how dangerous fonts and colors can be in the hands of someone who lacks the "artistic" gene. If I could make Blogger shower the text with glitter, I would. You're lucky I can't.

Buy Free Fall from Amazon or see below for another way to get this story. Before the demon question. I guess you could ask a demon for a copy, but I can't guarantee that would work.

Review Copy Anyone?

In the meantime, anyone who agrees to post an HONEST review of Free Fall on Amazon should leave a comment on this post by Midnight Pacific, April  13, 2012. Or email me at carolyn AT carolynjewel DOT com. I'll send you a .MOBI version of the file.

There is a question for everyone at the bottom.

About Free Fall

Attorney Lys Fensic has spent her life controlling a psychic power that kills. Her ability to lock herself down falls apart when her ex, a mage, sends enslaved demons to kill her. In a psychic free fall, she turns to tough guy Telos Khūnbish for help. But is he a mage as she’s always suspected or is he something far more dangerous?

Free Fall is set in the My Immortals series world where demons and magic-using humans called the magekind are not quite getting along. Most people have no idea they’re living in what amounts to a magical war-zone. Free Fall is based on the short story Future Tense but is considerably expanded and includes scenes that were censored from the short story. This novella is about 35,000 words (130 pages).

I should mention the censored stuff is way hot. Smoking hot. If you're bothered by demon sex you should not read this story.

An Excerpt

 

CHAPTER 1

11:40 AM. Lobby of 101 California Street, San Francisco, California

He was here. Telos Khūnbish had come. Relief nearly demolished her, it hit so powerfully. He was here, and now, improbably, she believed everything was going to be all right. Her life was irrevocably screwed, but she believed. She ignored the noise of the lobby and the man standing beside her. He was irrelevant. What a damn sad commentary it was that after nearly ten years in the city, Khūnbish was the closest thing she had to a friend. Maybe even a real friend, because he was here, and she believed she’d get through this.

Her heart kicked up a notch when she got a clear view of his black BMW turning onto Front Street. Now, of course, she wondered if she’d made a mistake involving him. She didn’t make a habit of asking for help. She wasn’t good with people. She wasn’t even sure she’d asked right. Seems she had.

The BMW was definitely looking to park. Good thing. In less than ten minutes the lunchtime rush would start, and she’d be in real trouble. Even now, there were too many people around.

“My ride’s here,” she said to Jack, the man standing beside her. She didn’t make eye contact because that would be dangerous. Instead she stared at his tie, but that turned out to be a mistake. The dark red silk looked like blood streaming down his chest. She focused on the shiny marble floor and the tips of his Oxfords. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Let me carry your things.” Jack reached for the moving box that contained the personal contents from her office. He knew Michael, and that meant she couldn’t trust him. Simple fact. She couldn’t trust anyone who knew Michael Ford.

“No.” She gripped the box tighter and looked at the street again, as if Khūnbish could help her from afar. The BMW was waiting for a van to pull away from the curb. Khūnbish had never met Michael. That was part of the reason she’d called him. That, and she didn’t know anyone else.

“Lys.” Jack was thirty-ish, good looking, and in line to make partner in the next two years. He did good suit. He was a competent lawyer and a decent litigator.

She faked a smile and looked at Jack without directly meeting his eyes. Over the years, she’d gotten good at faking contact normal people never thought twice about. She lifted the box an inch. “Hardly weighs a thing.”

Jack smoothed a hand down the river of blood that was his tie. She held her breath, half expecting his palm to come away smeared red. He reached for her moving box, and she jumped back, heart slamming against her chest. Either Jack didn’t get it, or he was in league with Michael and meant her harm. He kept moving toward her.

“Don’t.” The word came out sharp and loud. The security guard at the lobby reception area looked over. She was close to losing it. Way too close. Blocking shouldn’t be this hard for her, but the last several days had been…difficult. Not enough sleep. Not enough to eat. Too much caffeine. Far too much stress.

“Lys. Come on.” His tie vibrated at the edges of her vision. Blood red. A river of red. He reached for the box again. “I’m only trying to help out.”

She risked a look at his face. His smile was hesitant, a little irritated, but that would be normal if he really just wanted to help. Just a regular person trying to be nice. Part of her didn’t believe it. He knew Michael, and Michael had tried to kill her.

Question

If you got this far, YOU ARE AWESOME and I love YOU best of all. More than the rest of them.

If you could ask a demon any question ever, and there would be NO TRICKS, what would you ask? If you're brave, tell us what you hope the answer would be.

A New Year, a New Release and a Contest

First off, I wish you all a very Happy New Year. May all your resolutions be kept and good luck head your way. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and that the weather didn't strand anyone someplace they didn't want to be.

This January 4th, the third book in my paranormal romance series goes on sale. To celebrate, I will send one commenter the first two books. If you win and you already have these two books, I'd be happy to substitute two of my historicals. I will post the winner on or about January 5th, 2011. If you don't leave me a way to contact you, you'll need to check the blog to see if you won.

Contest Legal Stuff

No purchase is necessary. Void where prohibited. Winner chosen at random (via random.org) from among eligible commenters to this post. You must comment by midnight Pacific, January 4th, 2011. Your comment should answer one of the  questions at the end of this post. Open to international entries, unless there's a law against it in your country or mine.

My Immortal Assassin, by Yours Truly, Carolyn Jewel

Revenge. It's all Grayson Spencer wants. Christophe dit Menart, a human with dark magical powers, destroyed the life she loved. She wants the pleasure of killing him, no matter the cost to her. If not for Durian, a dangerously sexy demon fiend charged with keeping Christophe alive, she would have succeeded, too. Now, she's certain all hope is gone. But he has a plan and an offer she can't resist...
Durian has spent his life as a trained and sanctioned assassin. His duty: to enforce the laws against demons harming humans. He's always prided himself on staying out of the fray, carrying out his orders and honoring his fealty to his warlord, but never getting attached. Never until Grayson, a spunky and determined woman clearly gifted with magic herself. He convinces her to swear fealty to him so he can protect her and teach her to use her magic to taste the revenge she so desperately wants.

They're soon bound together in a forbidden desire--a dangerous passion that calls into question Durian's oath of loyalty to his warlord. When he refuses to return her to Christophe, his disobedience threatens to inflame the tumultuous war between demons and the magekind. Can they--and their love--survive?

Why You Should Rush out and Buy This Book Immediately!

Forever, Grand Central Publishing, January 2011
ISBN: 978-0446563864

Romantic Times 4 1/2 stars

The lines in the war between Magekind and Fiends continue to blur in the next installment of Jewel's exhilarating My Immortal series. The protagonists in this drama have both suffered terribly, giving them a common ground and enemy. Jewel provides her fans with a terrific tale that has action aplenty and drama to spare. Great stuff!
Jill M. Smith Read full review

Alternative Worlds

Fast-paced from the moment Gray and Durian meet on the streets of San Francisco. Read Full Review

Publisher's Weekly

Jewel's third paranormal (after 2009's My Forbidden Desire) is an exciting return to a world of demons and mages.

BookPage - Romance of the Month - Top Pick!

Dark, edgy and laced with thrilling desire, My Immortal Assassin will set readers' hearts racing.
Christie Ridgway
Read Full Review

Read Chapter 1 of My Immortal Assassin

Order the book

Books in the Series

Book 1: My Wicked Enemy
Book 2: My Forbidden Desire
Book 3: My Immortal Assassin
Book 4: My Dangerous Pleasure - June 2011

Interview With The Author

Q: So, Carolyn, tell us about yourself.

A: I write romance novels, bake so I have an excuse to airquotesTaste Testairquotes cakes, cookies and pies. Also, I have a day job with computers and servers.

Q: What's your favorite animated cartoon?

A: Sponge Bob

Q: Favorite TV Show?

A: I only watch one, and that's True Blood. We cancel HBO when the series is over for the year. However, I am sorely tempted by the HBO series for George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice because oh my gosh! Also, Sean Bean is in it.

Q: Favorite color?

A: It's really strange that you ask me that, because I was just talking about that the other day---

Q: I know.

A: Gray. But I like it better when it's spelled grey. I mean, what other color has two accepted spellings? I do think it's strange that I like gray. It's not the flashiest color around. I can't explain why I like it, and actually, maybe I shouldn't even try.

Q: Finish this sentence:  If I had a bazillion dollars I would . . . .

A: Not have to answer your silly questions? What would you do if you had a bazillion dollars?

Q:

Q: Most hated vegetable?

A: There are three vegetables of doom:

1. Cooked carrots
2. Cooked peas
3. Brussels sprouts

At Christmas, my youngest brother, who worked as a chef for a while and now caters on the side, cooked our holiday meal. One of the dishes was brussels sprouts. I gamely agreed to try them on the theory that an actual chef might render this vegetable of doom palatable.

Q: And?

A: No.

Contest Question

Answer at least one of these questions. Feel free to lie, fudge the details, tell the truth or otherwise go off topic, as long as I know which question you're answering.

1. If you were walking in the woods and you saw a wolf would you a) grab your camera and start taking pictures b) Make sure you have your wolfsbane handy because you know for a fact that's no ordinary wolf  c) Call Grandma and warn her 4) Feed it Brussels sprouts, wait for it to be violently ill, then walk away feeling safe but also kind of sorry for the wolf.
2. Would you rather have the power to heal all wounds, know how to fix your computer or turn Brussels sprouts into chocolate?
3. Look to your left. What's the first thing you see? (If it's Brussels sprouts, there's just no hope for you.)

I will post the winner on or about January 5th, 2011. If you don't leave me a way to contact you, you'll need to check the blog to see if you won.

How I Spent my Summer Vacation

What Summer Vacation?

Others have already had some lovely posts about their summer reading. It makes me want to cry because this summer I read very little. I had a book due August 15 and there were so many interruptions for other projects and life and what have you that there was a lengthy period when I was waking up at night to find that in my dreams I was stressing about finishing the book.

My family thinks I'm joking when I put the Do Not Disturb sign on my door or that I cannot possibly mean them when it goes up. ACK!!!  Yes (Name of Family Member), I love you, but I DO mean You. Now go away.

I get a lot of work done sitting in the back seat of my car at lunchtime. No internet. No beloved family members.

You may think this story has a bad ending involving tearful phone calls to agents or editors, but actually, I finished the book and turned it in four days early. W00t!

No Stress Here, Baby!

During the first few days after turning in the book, I would sit in front of my computer, filled with stress before my hands were on the keyboard. Someone would come to my door to talk to me and I'd be, all, hey, I'm busy, can't you see that, and . . .  Wait a minute! No. I'm not busy at all. But I couldn't tear myself away from the computer because . . . I'm sick, I think. Manuscript Separation Anxiety Disorder.

Reading. There was some of that.

But I did do some reading and I can list some of the highlights in no particular order.

I read Meljean Brook's steampunk novella (In Burning Up) Here There Be Monsters and that story was so good I didn't want it to end. If you're wondering about steampunk, this story would be a great start.

Recently, I finished Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy which I enjoyed, but not as much as I thought I would and not nearly at much as Venetia. The former had a distasteful scene with a Jewish money lender -- full of every stereotype you can imagine. Even as I told myself that Heyer wrote during a time when such bigotry was rarely questioned, I found myself feeling a bit sad. Since I am no longer a Heyer virgin, I recognized both the hero and heroine archetypes from other books by her so this one did not seem quite as fresh to me.

And yet, Heyer is a magnificent writer of character and her strong women are strong indeed. Subversively so. It was a lovely read that lasted only two days because I had to know what happened next.

I discovered, much to my (ironic) delight, that I had somehow skipped Lee Child's Gone Tomorrow. Lucky Me! I read that in a couple of days. I love Jack Reacher. I do so adore thrillers and Lee Child is one of the finest thriller writers out there.

Um. That's all I can remember right now. I read a few books I was unable to finish as they annoyed me to the point where I felt I had better things to do with my time. There was a time when I used to finish a book no matter what, but over the years, I've decided that if a book is disappointing me enough, there is, in fact, a point at which I wish to spend my time doing something that would be not reading that book. Do any of you do that? Do you slog through No Matter What? Or do you reach some line in the reading sand beyond which you will not turn another page?

In which Carolyn Goes Afield

Like many women readers, there aren't many genres I don't read. I harbor a deep and abiding love for Thrillers. Barry Eisler and Lee Child are two favorites of mine.

Not long ago I started reading Fantasy again after a years and years long hiatus caused by a lack of female characters that were anything like real women. I was mightily pleased to learn the character landscape of Fantasy has changed considerably. Joy!  Jim Butcher and Brian Sanderson are two male authors I encountered who write wonderful female characters. I have also read Books 1-2 of Bujold's Sharing Knife series and will be tracking down more.

Stuff about Carolyn

I write historical romance for Berkley Books. Scandal was a 2010 RITA finalist in the Regency historical category. Indiscreet won the 2010 Bookseller's Best award for Best Short Historical. This was my first time ever winning a writing award and it was both unexpected and thrilling. I got awesome bling. In 2011 I will be writing two more historicals for Berkley; they'll be out in 2012. I am trying not to stress about getting started on the first of those books while I take a brief break . . . I'm hoping to last two weeks before I crack, but I'm starting to have dreams about not starting the first book until like 3 days before it's due, and I can't write 33,333 words per day.

My short story Moonlight appears in the Mammoth Book of Regency Romance, which just came out this July 2010. ETA: Since I retained the digital rights to this story, I've posted it at my website along with some gorgeous artwork I commissioned just for that story. You can read Moonlight at my website or download a pdf from that link. It's licensed under a Creative Commons license so you're free to download the story, post to your own website (with credit and link back to me) or upload to any device you like.  The artist for this story is the amazingly talented Seamas Gallagher.

I also write paranormal romance for Grand Central Publishing. Demons and witches and the like, only maybe the bad guys aren't what you'd expect. My Forbidden Desire was a 2010 RITA finalist in the paranormal category. In January 2011, the 3rd book in my paranormal series will be out; My Immortal Assassin. That will be followed by My Dangerous Pleasure (the book I just turned in) in June 2011. Hopefully Grand Central will want more paranormals from me. In the next few days, I'll have another free short story, this time a paranormal, also with artwork from Seamas.

The RITA, for those who don't follow romance, is the Romance equivalent of the Hugo for Sci/Fi/Fantasy and the Edgar for mystery writers. 

I have a chihuahua named Fudge and a cat named Jake. The vet believes Jake is a Maine Coon cat, but he happened to be born under the barn at the bottom of our driveway so I know he's not purebred. I picked Jake from the litter (we found homes for them all, and were able to trap the mother and get her spayed. She then lived under my sister's bed for a year before she decided it was OK to come out) because he was the smallest. He grew into large fluffy cat. 15 pounds of lap cat. He loves to sleep on my printer and help me write. The dog sleeps behind me on my chair as I write.

My son is a teenager and I am a terrible embarrassment to him.