Kalayna Price

Reviews are starting to pop up on blogs, and because I like to live dangerously, I’ve been reading them when the alerts come in. (Dangerous because I know not everyone will like the story, and hearing someone rip Once Bitten apart won’t be fun.) Luckily, everything I’ve read thus far has been positive, and I am absolutely thrilled. Jackie at Literary Escapism said: “I found out about Once Bitten by Kalayna Price a few months ago and I just recently got my hands on a copy. I have to say, the intrigue I felt for this novel back then was definitely warranted. Price’s world is a lot different than a lot of societies I’ve been reading about lately. She gives a whole new twist to the shapeshifter culture and their reaction to the full moon.” Read more here . Hope at Hope's Bookshelf said: “I'm anxiously awaiting the second book in this series. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Kita will end up in next....” (4 Hearts) Read more here . Harriet Klausner at Alte...

Several readers have asked about an electronic version of Once Bitten, and one has now been released on Fictionwise. You can view it here . Or, you can head over to ereader.com where Once Bitten is currently listed as a featured book! (Yes, that exclamation point does denote excitement. I don't know how ereader picks their featured books, but I'm thrilled to see mine up on the front page!) While I'm linking you to other pages, head over to the Bell Bridge Blog where I'm guest blogging about how I came up with the idea for my Haven Series. Please stop by and check it out. Also, I am happy to announce the book is back up on Barnes and Noble, so all my links work again. Thanks to those of you who emailed both to let me know about the link glitch, and that everything was working again. Have a good night everyone!

It was mentioned to me recently that I never linked my blog readers to the book video my publisher produced. This was totally an oversight on my part--probably because the concept of a book trailer is a little strange to me. Still, it's a cool clip, and when I watch it, I end up with a silly grin on my face thinking "hey, they are talking about my book." I hope you enjoy!

It's Monday morning, which means I have cued up the random number generator and drawn a winner for a signed copy of Once Bitten. Actually, I was so pleased with how many people stopped by to enter, I decided to up everyone's odds by drawing two winners. Without further ado, the winners are: Zhye and CGinCA Congratulations! Please email kalayna AT kalayna DOT com (replace AT and DOT with the appropriate symbols) with the name you would like your copy made out to and the address you would like me to ship the book. Thank you everyone who entered!

You still have time to enter your name in the drawing for a signed copy of Once Bitten! Click here for more information. On a google chat yesterday, fellow Tri Mu NL Berger was talking about Tag_clouds, which, for lack of a better description, are computer generated word art. Anyone can create one with Wordle by uploading a block of text. Wordle applies different sizes to words depending on the frequency the word is used in the document. The most common words are the largest. This, I'm sure can lead to cute and interesting images, but the reason Tag_clouds were being discussed yesterday was for their potential as a writer aid. Looking for overused words in a manuscript? Just find the largest words on the tag_cloud. With that in mind, I made a tag_cloud of the first two chapters of my current WIP. During critique this weekend, the Tri Mu's noted a couple words I was using far too often. Ironically, none of the largest words on my cloud were on the list. That said, the more u...

To celebrate the release of Once Bitten, I am hosting my very first contest here on the blog. The rules are simple, just leave a comment between now and 11:59 EST Sunday the 25th, and I'll put you in the drawing for a signed copy of the book. I'll announce the winner Monday the 26th. Easy, right? Good luck!

Hello Blog readers. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who ordered the book already. My sales rank hit 880 on B&N yesterday, which is better than I ever hoped for. (In sales rank, the closer to 1, the better. I started out at 223k.) Seriously, I fell out of my chair when I woke up to that number! So, THANK YOU! I hope you enjoy the read.

I have big news today (and if you read the title to this post, you probably already know what it is.) My editor wrote me a couple days ago to let me know I'd probably see Once Bitten listed at online stores by the end of the week. I have been extremely nervous since then, and of course, checking the major sites a couple times a day. Well, this morning I discovered both Barnes & Noble and Amazon have Once Bitten up and listed for sale! This news makes me both extremely happy and even more nervous. Now it's out there. People can read it. I can make a rough estimate of everyone who read it before today--it's a relatively small pool of people, and while I don't know all of them, I have some idea who they are. Now the book is out there and has to sink or swim on its own. I hope people love it, but I'm realistic enough know not everyone will. Is there a word to describe feeling both terrified and ecstatic? I wonder if every book release will feel this way? Okay. T...

I've decided not to make any big, year-long resolutions for 2009. I thought about possible resolutions, the list of goals, the things I'd like to achieve this year. . . I didn't write them down. I'm not going to. Not now, at the beginning of the year when everything is blank and unknown. It's the tradition, but I'm opting out. There is a time and a place for pushing yourself hard and reaching for the glimmering goal in the distance. While the beginning of the year sounds like the perfect time to gaze that far ahead, it's really not. At least, not for me. Not this year. Currently, I'm looking at the little goals. The goals that are ten steps ahead, instead of the full mile. I'm gazing across the day, week, or month, instead of across a whole year. With that in mind, I have one goal. A goal for this month. By the end of January I want to have the second draft of my WIP complete. Currently, the first draft has 272 pages. As I work, this number will go...

Well, I'm back after an extended break over the holidays. (I spent most of my time lacking internet, so I'm still catching up on emails and blogs.) During the break, my publisher sent me a full cover copy of my book. Doesn't it look good? I also received and returned my Author Alterations over the holidays, so my input on Once Bitten is officially over. The book is now off to the printers, and I guess I'll see the first copy of it soon. I'm excited. I hope everyone had a great holiday. Anyone have exciting resolutions for the New Year?

My family has a new member gathering around the tree this year(hopefully gathering, and not trying to eat the branches.) Meet Trudy, the puppy we adopted. She is a sweet little five month old Blue Healer mix. I was worried about bringing a new puppy into the family. My husband and I had discussed the possibility of a puppy several times in the past, but always managed to say no. We have an eight year old lab, who is such an angel (most of the time) we knew we were spoiled, and two cats who rule the house, so bringing a puppy in could disrupt everything. But, we couldn't pass up this little girl. (It was a very thought out decision which included a long talk to the foster mom and the adoption service, and spending a couple hours with Trudy before we finally decided to bring her home. So far, her joining the family has been a relatively seamless process. She is a silly but shy little thing who has yet to grow into her feet. My adult lab greeted her enthusiastically when she first arr...

I think it happens to everyone once in a while. No matter how much we love doing something, despite any positive feedback we receive, and regardless of how long we’ve been practicing, some days everyone feels like they fail. We all stumble through it—a crisis of faith, or for me currently, a crisis of craft. I have now written several books, sold one, and garnered a request on another. Once Bitten was my first book, and was so heavily edited that barely a word was left unchanged between the first draft and the manuscript which sold. Since then it has gone through a couple more major revisions with my editor’s input. After all that, you would think I could get through the 2nd draft of my current work in progress. It should be a snap, right? I mean, the book is already written, I just need to make sure it says what I really think it says. And I need to further layer the world building and sensory details. And add two characters who weren’t in the first draft. And plug some major plot hol...

Thanks everyone who emailed answers and opinions to my last post! I asked if I should split up my art and my writing, and the overwhelming response was to keep them on one site. So, having taken that into consideration, I've toned down the fine arts bit and splashed my book cover around. For the design, I was going for something dark and edgy, but I think it turned out a little drab. That being the case, the site you see now is a work in progress. Hopefully in the coming days, I'll come up with something more...interesting? dynamic? colorful? For those wondering about the cemetery image in the banner, I'll tell you a little bit about it. I took a series of photos while I was in New Orleans four years ago. This weekend I blended my favorite photos and created the image you see above (yes that is actually four different images. If you pay close attention to the angles, you can probably tell.) I like the banner, but I think it might need a little more color. Any suggestions f...

It has been a over a year since I last changed my web/blog layout, and with the looming release of Once Bitten, I think it is time for a makeover. With that in mind, I am facing a dilemma: do I separate my art from my writing? Writing and painting are different parts of my life. I am pursuing writing as a career while painting is a hobby. Both tend toward fantasy, but if I am presenting myself as a professional writer should I showcase amateur artwork in the same space? Or should I have a site dedicated solely to my writing and a totally removed site dedicated to my art? What do you think? Is it interesting to know a writer's hobby, or is it best something kept separate? Thanks for you input!!

I didn't blog often about NaNoWriMo this year, but I completed the challenge for the fourth time. That said, I can't claim to be particularly proud of my accomplishments. While I am excited about my WIP, my attention was so scattered among other writing endeavors that what I accomplished was not of much value. So, I'm flashing my winner badges with a torn heart this year.

Hey everyone!, I know I’ve been a very sporadic blogger recently, and apologize. As today is Thanksgiving, and a day we give thanks for many, many things in life, I wanted to extend a great big Thank You to everyone out there who reads this blog. I smile every time one of you leave a comment—it really does make my day. So, Thank You for reading! Happy Thanksgiving.

Cross posted from the Tri Mu Blog . I usually try to post craft topics to the Tri Mu blog, but I finished copy edits not too terribly long ago, so I’m in a technical mood—humor me. This is probably something everyone already knows, but I didn’t until the copy edits came in, so I’ll share. Did you know that Microsoft Words default treatment of ellipses is incorrect? For those unsure what an ellipsis is, Wikipedia defines it as “series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word or a phrase from the original text.” Fiction writers use it most commonly to indicate a character trailing off. When writing in Word, the autocorrect option automatically shrinks an ellipsis into three tight little dots, so I always assumed that was correct. Apparently not. Once I received my copyedits, I learned an ellipsis has space between the dots . . . For me, space period space period space period space is not a very natural thing to type, not to mention the spaces create the possib...

Halloween has come and gone (and I already miss it--Halloween is a great holiday. Candy and Costumes. What's not to love?) Me, being me, dressed up for work once again despite the fact I knew I'd be mostly alone in my costumed freakishness. I did actually talk one co-worker to dress up with me. Next year my goal is at least five. ^_^ After work it was off to hand out candy with my fellow Tri-Mus and watch some movies. Then, at midnight, NaNoWriMo began. I wrote only about five hundred words before heading home to get some sleep, but I was back at it the next morning. Saturday night we celebrated our local kick-off. Attendance wasn't great compared to some other events I hosted already this season, but we had a lot of fun. I plan to hit 5k tonight, so I'm plugging along. I could be writing faster, but I'm happy with my current pace. So what is everyone else up to? Anyone have Halloween photo's to share?

I can't believe it is the day before Halloween already. I swear I missed the rest of October somehow--maybe most of September too. I have been busy with two different writing projects plus hosting the first several events for NaNoWriMo . (A massive writing endeavor which begins in less than 48 hours. *gulp*)I'm not ready--there is still so much left to do before I say goodbye to October. Anyone know how to slow time (preferably while I'm NOT at work. ^_~) Have a productive day everyone.

I'm thrilled to say I now have an excerpt of Once Bitten posted on my site. If you would like to read the first few pages of the book, check it out here ! Happy Reading!