Kalayna Price

Hey everyone. As you've probably noticed, October has been a month full of events for me. I also have a book due in a couple days--talk about being busy. I apologize for not being around as much as normal. I will attempt to get back on a regular blogging schedule soon. Anyway, one of my favorite things to do while at an event is to steal a couple of the other attending writers for a quick chat about their books and ask them for some tips for aspiring authors. At RoundCon last weekend, my victims lovely volunteers included Rachel Aaron and J ohn Hartness . I hope you enjoy!

Today I'm wishing a very happy release day to my friend and fellow Magical Words author, A.J. Hartley, for his brand new release  Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact . This book marks the first in a series and AJ's first adventure into middle-grade fiction. I haven't yet had the pleasure to read it, and while middle-grade fiction isn't usually added to TBR, this book certainly sounds intriguing so I plan to pick up a copy soon! AJ sent me some additional information I can share with you guys, so please welcome him to the blog! A. J. Hartley: So you’re a kid: a boy of about 11. You’re in the mall in an unfamiliar city, feeling lost, alone and a bit home sick. You look up and you see a bird in one of the plastic trees. You like birds, so you watch it, trying to figure out what type it is. Then there’s a shadow overhead and the little bird gets hits hard by something much bigger, something hawkish but with leathery bat-like wings and the face of… well, if it was...

I have a special guest joining me today on the blog. Please welcome (back) my very fabulous agent who also happens to be an absolutely amazing writer, Lucienne Diver! Turning Myth to Magic Every once in a while in life, someone will say something that really makes you think and becomes incorporated straight into your personal perceptions.   I remember one of those moments in college, when an acquaintance informed me that, “When someone asks how you’re doing, they don’t really want to know.”   From that moment forward, I pretty much stopped sharing, unless I knew the person truly cared about the answer, and it really separated out for me true friends from, well, everybody else.   But the most pivotal of those moments probably came in high school with a friend who lived on the next block.   I remember visiting her house and noticing that the bookshelves in the living room held, among other things, a statue of Vishnu, a common picture from Christianity (I forget...

Today I'm joined by very special guest, Nancy Holzner , author of the Deadtown novels. If you've been following this blog for a while, you probably recognize Nancy's name and series from a post I wrote several months ago on hooking the reader with the first line .  Nancy's first book, DEADTOWN , is a personal favorite of mine, and I'm anxiously awaiting the release of her second novel, HELLFORGED . (It will be out December 28th!) So, it is with great pleasure that I share this amazing guest post with you. Take it away, Nancy! The Telling Detail When I talk to readers about urban fantasy, one thing I hear a lot is that people enjoy this genre because it feels like the story could really happen. The settings are recognizable—you can walk the streets and see the landmarks of magical Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, or San Francisco, and even fictional cities have a real, gritty feel to them. The characters interact with people who could be our coworkers or our neighbors....

Today I am being joined by debut author Rachel Aaron . I first met Rachel (and heard about her Eli Monpress series) over at the Magic District blog. More recently, I had the amazing opportunity chat with Rachel in person for a couple hours  at Dragon*con, where as well as having an entertaining conversation, she gave me a 'teaser book' with the first chapter of her debut novel, Spirit Thief . The novel is a humorous fantasy, and you can find that same first chapter HERE . (Go ahead and go check it out, I'll wait.) I dare you to read it and not want to read the rest of the book. Spirit Thief hit shelves Tuesday, and you can bet I already pick up my copy. And now, on to Rachel and her post on The New Golden Age: When I tell people I'm a writer, one of the first things they say (after the obligatory “So, when are you going on Oprah?”)  is generally some variation of “too bad kids/teens/people-in-general don't read anymore” accompanied by either a defeated sig...

Today I have the privilege of interviewing Rachel Vincent , the author of the Shifters and Soul Screamers series. I first met (met being virtual) Rachel when I was in the submission process with Once Bitten and she'd just sold Stray but still had a good year or more wait before it was set to hit shelves. She was one of the first authors I worked up the nerve to talk to, and she turned out to be one of the nicest, most helpful people I've ever corresponded with. She also turned out to be an absolutely phenomenal author who quickly rose to the top of my 'must buy' list.  The final novel in her Shifters series, Alpha , hits shelves today and I'm anxiously awaiting the UPS man to deliver my copy. So it is with a great deal of excitement that I'm interviewing Rachel about her writing, the Shifter series, and Alpha. Without further ado, the interview: Kalayna: The Shifters series was your first published series and I know it must be a little scary for it to be ...

As many of you probably know, the absolutely fabulous Lucienne Diver is my agent. What you may not know about Lucienne is that on top of being a wonderful agent, she is an amazing author. She writes a fun and sassy YA novel you have to check out. I read the first novel, Vamped , when it first came out last year, and I can't wait to dive into the sequel, Revamped , which just hit shelves. What, on top of adventure, danger, cute boys, deception, vampires, and a character with perfect fashion sense makes this series one that can't be missed? Voice. And lots of it. Lucienne's guest post is full of that same great voice, so I hope you enjoy! More of Gina's Gems (from the notebooks of Gina Covello, fashionista of the damned and star of Vamped and Revamped) Top Ten Things to Love about Being Fanged and Fabulous Vampires don't get zits.  Score! Paparazzi can't catch candid shots of you with stubble, smudgy eyeliner, plumbers' butt or other fashion disast...

Today I have the privilege of introducing you to one of the amazing author guests I have the honor of hosting here on the blog party. I know debut novelist M. K. Hobson from The Magic District blog where we both contribute. Even if the blurb of her recently released first novel, The Native Star , hadn't already convinced me to add it to my TBR, this inside look into her magic system would definitely make me stop and take notice. I found her magical worldbuilding absolutely fascinating, and I hope you do as well. Without further ado, M. K. Hobson: Making things go poof While we write in slightly different genres (historical versus kick-ass urban fantasy) there's one thing Kalayna and I obviously agree on: witches are seriously cool. So when she kindly invited me to do a guest post, I thought I'd head straight for our common ground and talk about my magic system and how I created it. My debut novel THE NATIVE STAR was released from Spectra at the end of August. Se...

Good Morning everyone. I'm back from Dragon*Con (more on that in a future post) and I see that something went askew with my scheduled posts. I'll have to reschedule them for another day because today I'd like to welcome our very first guest to the Grave Witch release Blog Party, Kelly Gay . Kelly and I blog together over at the Magic District and on Fangs, Fur, and Fey , but I'd actually picked up her first book, The Better Part of Darkness, before I joined either group. The second book in the series, The Darkest Edge of Dawn , was just released, and as I absolutely adored the first book, I have the feeling the second will be skipping in line on my TBR pile. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to interview Kelly, so without further ado, let's find out what was said. I started the interview with a couple in depth questions about the Charlie Madigan series/world: KALAYNA:Charlie Madigan's world is wonderfully complex with many different 'races...