RWA wrap-up…and the poor wretch who won the Anchored giveaway ;-)

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Kari

Let us all pause and reflect for a brief moment on poor, poor Alex W, the unfortunate soul who won the Rachel Haimowitz giveaway and is now, as we speak, gaining custody of her Belonging verse loot.

😀

Congrats, Alex! Enjoy your goodies!!!

And…I went to RWA National in NYC last week, very recently back so I suppose the thing to do is a conference recap, right? Isn’t that what us writerly folks are supposed to do? Why certainly!

Uh…yeah.

Hm.

The pink lemonades in the atrium bar were really, really good?

LOL, I wasn’t quite that bad, but sadly enough, I had a lot more fun meeting new people and discussing new/current projects with friends than scrambling from one workshop to the next. All the books I have on deck through late fall are already spoken for so I didn’t even have anything to pitch. Which was sad because I adore pitching. For instance, pitching Rachel Haimowitz out of the sky lobby during the Futuristic, Fantasy & Paranormal chapter’s party, The Gathering. No, I didn’t do it. Rachel’s still drawing breath, LOL, but alas, so very tempting. 😉 I must’ve been looking shifty & evil, though, because she bribed me away from the party with the very high window views to meet Damon Suede for drinks. OMG, what a hoot. Yes, Rachel is vile (& I must fess up, just as fun & funny IRL as she is online), but Damon? The Emporer of All That is Awesome! What a blast, can’t wait to do it again. 😀 The only pardonable excuse, btw, for not having picked up your copy of his Hot Head is brain damage and you know what? Even brain damage isn’t going to fly. Due to a slight miscalculation at the Starbucks fount of woot, I was up til 4am one night with a caffeine buzz that a couple Coronas couldn’t knock back, jangling half out of my gourd and also perversely floaty, but I was reading it — When I say Hot Head is whoa? Trust me, the book is WHOA. Go. Read. It. NOW.

I also got to fangirl stalk K.A. Mitchell and L.B. Gregg, scoring signed books including an ARC of Not Knowing Jack — WOO HOO!!! (No, you can’t have it. Is miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine! Bwa ha ha!) So that was extremely cool.

I was able to meet up with my good compadre from Goodreads, Susan, and Taylor Donovan (whose Six Degrees of Lust will release with MLR Press soon) for the Literacy Signing the first night, too. I lost Taylor (don’t worry, she’s still alive — I just couldn’t find her in the ginormous crowd, LOL), but Susan and I compared fave authors and books afterwards, which was also very cool.

And…uh…the rest of the time I dicked off. LMAO! Oh no, wait. I didn’t screw around, no way. Uh uh. I networked. Yup. If you are an IRS agent examining my business expenses, I most definitely networked my tail off. You betcha. 😉

Anyhoo, the hotel survived my kids treating the elevators like amusement park rides and I tipped well to make up for…existing, LOL…So it’s all good.

Especially when I come home to the kick off of the Goodreads M/M Group’s Hot Summer Days…M/M Style event!!! YAY!!! I was on the road so I’ve some catching up to do already, but the event couldn’t have launched better with L.C. Chase‘s “Open Tackle”. Join one of the top, super-friendly and fun groups on Goodreads today to share in the free reads all summer long!

Happy 4th of July to all us pesky Americans — and happy reading!

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Oh happy day ~ In the Red & RWA National!

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Kari

Yanno how I mentioned having two projects in the pipes that aren’t on my Works in Progress/Coming Soon page? Well, I signed a contract for one of them so I can finally let that cat out of the bag — In the Red, my M/M BDSM mystery novel, has been accepted by Loose Id! WOOT! WOOT!

Forensic accountant Brian Foster retreated to the mountains of western Maryland after he was abducted, “questioned” and left for dead while working a case for TFOS — the FBI’s Terrorism Financing Operations Section. Now, he just wants to be left alone with his neuroses and guns.

Special Agent Zachary Murdock has been tasked with bringing Brian back to the TFOS fold. Too bad Brian’s crazy. And really too bad that his unfortunate lapses of sanity have zero effect on how much Zachary wants him. The damaged accountant is a submissive searching for a very special dom and when he sets his sights on the vanilla special agent? Zachary can’t resist him. Nor does he want to.

As tempers — and arousal — flare, Zachary assures Brian that he only needs to finish his last case with TFOS. One tiny little case will whet Brian’s appetite and steer the numbers geek off his path to Crazy Town and back to TFOS, where he belongs. Zachary also learns to become the dom that the sexy but secretive accountant deserves. Along the way, he might even unravel what happened to Brian last year. And why.

What could possibly go wrong?

If you like a few chuckles & a truckload of woo boy hot with a puzzle to unsnarl? In the Red‘s for you. Brian and Zachary are so drawn and yet so aggravated by each other…I hope you’ll love them as much as I do. 😉 More details as I get them!

Also…I’ll be MIA the next little while. I’m leaving for RWA National in NYC at an hour that’s truly obscene tomorrow morning. If you’re going? Harass me for swag! I’ll have goodies like Spoils of War notebooks and Lovely Wicked canvas totes stuffed with awesome that I may be convinced to part with. 😀

Don’t forget to comment on Rachel Haimowitz’s guest blog to get your shot at a digital copy of Anchored or free Belonging verse swag by Saturday, July 2nd!

Stalk me on twitter for occasional updates from conference — and see you in July!

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That vile, dreadful Rachel Haimowitz chick haz a new book!

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Kari

So there I was, minding my own business (mostly), effortlessly looking busy while trying to beat my high score in Mahjong, when who comes a’knocking on my virtual door? Oh wait. Knocking? *SNORT* More like barreling in like an invading army’s tank.

Dudes!

Rachel Haimowitz!

Yeah, her. I was annoyed too. 😉

Anyway, Rachel said she has a book coming out and that I have to host her as a guest on my site because I’m her bestie evah. When that didn’t work, she promised serious bodily injury (oooh, baby) and when that didn’t work, she threatened to read me some gun porn.

TRA LA-LA LA-LA LA-LA!

[/squick]

Uh huh. That worked.

So without further ado…

The Prequel Problem

Prequels get a bad rap. Why would I want to read a story, some say, when I already know how it ends?

I suppose the answer depends on why you read. If plot is king for you, then a prequel may well not scratch your readerly itch. On the other hand, just because you know what happens five or ten or twenty years down the line doesn’t mean a writer can’t tell a great story with an uncertain ending. (Except, of course, for the surety that the character won’t die, unless her name is Jean Grey, in which case, hey, kill her five or six times.) But if character and world take precedence for you over plot, then prequels—particularly origin stories—can be quite fascinating.

I’m a character kind of gal. And that’s why I decided to write Where He Belongs, a prequel to Anchored: Belonging. Or, more accurately, five prequels. Where He Belongs is a collection of five vignettes about Daniel, the star of Anchored, from the day he’s purchased by NewWorld Media through to several months after he gets his own show. It’s a chance to see Daniel being Daniel, rather than being what he thinks Carl wants him to be or what Tim or NewWorld want him to be. It’s a chance for people who’ve never read Anchored to get a fast, inexpensive taste of the Belonging world and decide if they want to read more. And it was also a chance for me to explore where he came from, what he experienced as he grew, and how it changed him.

And sure, people who’ve read Anchored know where Daniel will end up by the time he’s 34. But isn’t it interesting to see where he was when he was 11? Meet the first boy he traded hand jobs with? See the moment he lays eyes on the first man he’ll ever love? Well, it was interesting for me, anyway, and I very much hope you’ll feel the same.

Where He Belongs is available for pre-order at Storm Moon Press for only $1.99, and releases on July 1. (Folks who pre-order get to download the book two days early, and will be entered in a drawing for some unique prizes too.) Read a complete vignette for free or purchase Where He Belongs here.

 

There. Saved from gun porn. My work here is done.

 

What?

Wait.

There’s MORE???? &?#$%@, it!!!

She really is rather pushy, no?

Ze book deets:

The hottest name in network news is Daniel Halstrom. He is a sensation, a
rising star. He is also a slave, owned wholly and completely by NewWorld
Media.

But before he was a star, he was a frightened child from a bad place with a
promising, if limited, future ahead of him. In The New Kid, young Daniel
begins his schooling. Then, for a slave, the simple pleasure of a Bathroom
Break is sometimes the only pleasure to be had. Later, Daniel doesn’t know
it, but A Chance Encounter might be the most important of his life. Next,
in Camera Obscura, one of Daniel’s colleagues reflects on the fact that as
much as the camera may show, it can hide even more. Finally, when you’re a
slave, Independence Day is just another day.

All kidding aside, if you love Anchored, you should sprint to Storm Moon Press — as in breaking land speed records — to get Where He Belongs because you’re going to love it. Even if it was written by that wretched Rachel Haimowitz chick:

Rachel is an M/M erotic romance author and a freelance writer and editor. She’s also a sadist with a pesky conscience, shamelessly silly, and quite proudly pervish. Fortunately, all those things make writing a lot more fun for her . . . if not so much for her characters.

When she’s not writing about hot guys getting it on (or just plain getting it; her characters rarely escape a story unscathed), she loves to read, hike, camp, sing, perform in community theater, and glue captions to cats. She also has a particular fondness for her very needy dog, her even needier cat, and shouting at kids to get off her lawn.

She’s a twitter addict (@rachelhaimowitz), and she blogs every M/W/F at Fantasy Unbound. She also keeps a website, of course, with all her current and upcoming projects. She loves to hear from folks, so feel free to drop her a line anytime at metarachel (at) gmail (dot) com.

Rachel is offering up a free ebook of Anchored for one lucky commenter chosen at random and if you already have Anchored and are in the USA? She’ll send you a bunch of Belonging verse goodies instead. WOOT!

Comment below for your chance at some free goodies by noon EST on Saturday, July 2nd! Then, go harass her on twitter. Just because you can. 😀

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YAY!

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Kari

Quickly poking my head up to let everyone know that my Goodreads M/M Romance Group Hot July Days short story, “The Importance of Being Denny” has been sent! No idea when mine will go live, but let me tell you, I personally cannot wait until July to start reading all this lovely (and free!) m/m goodness. So if you haven’t joined the M/M Romance Group at Goodreads yet…What’s your damage, dude? Dooooo eeeet!

Also…drum roll please…I have a release date for my M/M BDSM paranormal (shifter) novel, I, Omega from Loose Id — September 6th. WOOT!

Actually…I sorta kinda maybe have 2 more M/M projects in the pipes. And these projects sorta kinda definitely are not on my Works in Progress/Coming Soon page. Oops. I confess myself a lazy shiftless tramp for not posting the deets. Blurbs and whatnot will be forthcoming, promise. 🙂

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Yay! My pic & prompt…

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Kari

 

Hot, no?

This is the pic Barbara posted for the M/M Romance Group’s Hot July Days…M/M Style free read and WAHOO, I grabbed these boys with both greedy fists! To read Barbara’s story wish list & what’s now gnawing on my brain like feral rats, click on over to the M/M Group’s Hot July Days folder to take a gander at the Dear Author letter to go with the pic..And hey, while you’re there, why not post a picture of your own with your favorite perv — I mean, plot bunny! 😉 Writerly compadres you already know & love are still surfing pics to play too and we all want two stories/day to make July smokin. So go post your pic! The M/M Romance group won’t bite…unless you want us to. 😀

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#win & Hot July Days…M/M Style wahoos!

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Kari

Bookaddict & Amara are nominees for the Giddy Dance of Woot — they both won for commenting on my blog post about Rachel Haimowitz‘s evil slave auction of moi and Aleksandr Voinov to celebrate Noble Romance‘s new site launch! Bookaddict, check your email, compadre, you won the print edition of Spoils of War. Amara, I DMed you on twitter, your haul is the $10 Noble Romance gift certificate!

Have you checked out Noble’s new site yet? Dudes, do eeet!!! All kinds of crazy awesome features were added to the new site. Like the Buy 9 get your 10th book free feature. No codes to key in or expiration dates to remember, just buy 9 books and the system will automatically give you the 10th book FREE. How cool is that? 😀 Head over to Noble and start saving today!

Also…Props again to the M/M Romance group at Goodreads! The group has launched a new insanely fun event: Hot July Days…M/M Style! Group members are posting pictures with requests for stories from the gazillion or so M/M author members who can snag a pic to write a story for. The group will post one (or more!) of these free reads per day the whole month of July and…Hey, did you know about the supremely cool December event? If not, you are sooooooooooo missing out! Same deal, readers posted pics for stories. If you missed the fun last December, you should download the FREE anthology, Stuff My Stocking: M/M Romance Stories that are Nice . . . and Naughty. Anyhoo, looks like the group is planning to put the Hot July Days stories in another antho once the event is over, but why wait? What better way to while away the dripping July heat than a free story (or two) every day! Authors already signed up for stories include: Sloan Parker, the amazing L.C. Chase (read her Three To Tango at Loose Id, like, right now), Kim Dare and that wretched Rachel Haimowitz chick too. 😉

Not me, though. 🙁 Not yet. I needs me a picture!!! Yes, I’m begging. Apparently, the whole squeeful picture grab started yesterday when I was cackling away in front of my laptop. (See what happens when I disconnect to work on a new story?) And wowser, there’s already been somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 pictures posted & grabbed by authors. But alas, all is not lost! Group members are free to post pictures for the stories they want until May 31st. Plenty of time for you to find that perfect picture you’d like a story for–

What?

You’re not a member of the M/M Romance Group at Goodreads?

Are you HIGH???

JOIN. Right here right now! The M/M group’s smack full of rocking M/M fun, news, contests, reading challenges and woo hoo (!!!) fellow readers to hang out with. Stop by. Check the group out, then post your pic in the Hot July Days…M/M Style folder to make your story wish come true! And while you’re at it, post a sexy HAWT picture for me. I want to play too, damn it! 😀

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SOLD!

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Kari

Yup, folks, the slave auction yesterday went off without a hitch. Well, except for the ball and chain currently occupying my ankle, that is, but thus far, I’m finding the weight rather comfy. 😉 Anyhoo, the winning bidder of moi was my good buddy & awesome compadre CAS from Goodreads (YAY!) who bid:

A 1968 Mustang? Whoa. I can deal with being worth a classic muscle car, no problem. Beats a bucket full of pennies & a Winnebago (previous bids) fo sho. So THANK YOU SO MUCH, CAS (!!!) for rescuing me from Winnebago infamy. LOL!

Of course, Aleks, being a total suck-up, went for…Hm. What was it? Uh, a cruise ship, an island, a genetic clone of Daniel from Belonging: Anchored (now available in print!), a nekkid army to protect the winners’ investment in Aleks, a few hotties in Rachel Haimowitz‘s basement and who knows, I’m sure I’m forgetting something. (You are such a suck-up, Aleks. Seriously. LMAO) Anyhoo, the stellar Aleksandr Voinov was purchased by a consortium comprised of Brita Addams, K Piet and Amara of Amara’s Place. Good luck, dudes. You think I’m difficult? *SNORT* Aleks will wrap the lot of you around his little finger, mark my words. 😉

So winning bidders received — along with winning their choice of titles from our respective backlists as well as (in Aleks’ case) free flash fic just for his new owners — these Absurdly Cool site badges:

and

Pretty effing awesome, no?

Awwwwwww. Did you miss the slave auction and the rocking chat bursting with prizes to celebrate Noble’s new site launch yesterday? Poor you. All that wicked fun, all the squeeful prizes…BUT WAIT!!! It ain’t over yet, compadres! Noble is celebrating the site launch from now until JUNE 4TH! In keeping with the Spirit of Month-long Woot, you can win right here, right now too. No, you can’t win me or Aleks (although I suppose you’re free to speak to our respective owners about renting us, LOL), but there are still prizes to be had! Comment below on the look of the new site, your favorite Noble author/book (pick me, pick me!!!) or yanno, just how generally awesome I am (LMAO) to be entered into a drawing for a $10 Noble Romance gift certificate and a FREE print edition of Spoils of War. That’s right TWO prizes. TWO lucky winners!

Comment below by 3:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 15th for your chance at the $10 Noble Romance gift certificate and the print edition of Spoils of War. (Please indicate if you want the book signed if you’re the winner!)

Good luck ~ and happy reading!

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Going once, going twice…

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Kari

Today’s the day, compadres! The slave auction for moi and Aleksandr Voinov will end during our hour of today’s chat (3:00-4:00 p.m. EST) celebrating the re-launch of Noble Romance‘s sparkly new site! Current bids for me:

and

and more recently:

Which is pretty freaking cool. Way better than a jar full of pennies, anyway. Toss in a few boxes of HoHos to up the bid (I loves me some HoHos) and I could be yours! Tweet your bids to @RachelHaimowitz with the #slave4sale hashtag until 3:00 p.m. EST or hop into the chat at 3:00 p.m. EST to win me, Aleks and loads of other OUTSTANDING prizes like Noble Romance tote bag, free books, gift certificates and even some slave bracelets + other swag!

Also, for absolutely NO charge, anyone coming to our hour of the chat will get free virtual:

because HoHos are awesome and HoHos for dinner? Even awesomer. Er…More awesome? Whatever, they’re prettying effing good. So stop by today at 3:00 p.m. for free swag, mucho prizes, perhaps bid on your very own Kari Gregg and enjoy the sweet chocolatey goodness. (Marketing gurus – HoHo flavored coffee would be bursting with WIN, just sayin’.)

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I Omega & Kari 4 Sale (cheap)

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Kari

First and foremost — just a head’s up. Due to technical problems, Noble’s site relaunch & the chat party celebrating it will happen on Saturday, May 7th, and my chat with Rachel Haimowitz & Aleks Voinov from 3:00-4:00 p.m. EST that day. Which means you have days and days to up your bid on my uber cool self. Right now, I’m going for a truck. Really. Not making it up. You too can have your very own Kari Gregg — for the price of a used truck + 1 penny. Don’t let this bargain drive away!

*snicker, snicker*

Also…My really big, sooper squeeeful news…

I, Omega‘s found a home — at Loose Id! No word on release date. Honestly, I haven’t sent the contract back yet. (Shh! It’ll go out in Monday’s mail, I swear. LOL.) But oh happy day, I had to have my obnoxious YAY. 😀

Remember: tweet your bids to @RachelHaimowitz for your shot at winning Aleks Voinov or Me! with the #slave4sale hashtag or show up next Saturday at Noble Romance’s Yahoo Group at 3:00 PM EST to get your bid in! (See this post for all the whys, whats and wherefors.)

And finally…YAY!

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I lied

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Kari

Apparently, I am for sale — just not on sale, way important distinction — this Sunday, 3:00-5:00 p.m. EST! Deets:

On May 1st, Noble Romance launches its brand new website! That day we’ll hold an all day party, right here in our chat room. Meet the authors for chats where they will hold contests, chat about their books and give out fabulous prizes.

Our chat schedule for May 1st, all times EST:
2:00-3:00 PM – Mary Abshire and David Kentner
3:00-5:00 PM – Aleks Voinov, Rachel Haimowitz and Kari Gregg
5:00-7:00 PM – Margie Church, Allure Van Sanz, J.S. Wayne and K.B. Cutter
7:00-8:00 PM – Jess Anastasi and Billie Jean
8:00-9:00 PM – H.C. Brown and Stormy Glenn

Rachel, Aleks and I are planning massive quantities of absurdity–and lots of wicked cool goodies to give away!–for our 3:00-5:00 p.m. EST time slot. You don’t have to wait til Sunday to start the fun, though. Want to bid on Aleks? Take a picture (or find an image online) of what you would give up to win the stellar specimen of writerly brilliance that is Aleksandr Voinov. Would you trade your car? Your husband? Your vacation in Key West? (Key West is too damn hot in August, anyway, right?) Tweet @RachelHaimowitz with your picture of what you would be willing to trade to own your very own Aleksandr Voinov with the #slave4sale hashtag by the time our chat starts on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. EST when one lucky winner will be chosen. Please note: you must actually own what you’re willing to trade for Aleks. Or at least be willing to steal it. 😉

Want to bid on moi? Of course you do! Rachel Haimowitz, that wretch, is taking bids on yours truly…in pennies. (Have I mentioned that Rachel is evil and must be destroyed? Just sayin.) So far, I think the bidding is up to 7,500 pennies ($75) — good God. No way am I being sold into servitude for seventy-five lousy bucks. Sheesh, I paid more for my last speeding ticket! Compadres, let’s pause for a moment to reflect on my worth-way-higher-than-$75 qualities:

Kari Gregg (that’s me!) is a multi-published, bestselling author who is 39 Again and in excellent health. She is obviously bursting with awesome as demonstrated by her charm, her wit and an extremely tacky collection of cow crap…uh, I mean decorations! (Cowprint curtains anyone? Redneck Kitchens R Us.) Kari can speak fluent Beavis, occasional English and French salted with that extra speshul twang that makes conversations with any human being outside the Appalachians an exciting adventure!

As a writer, Kari is extremely versatile, writing M/F, menage, and M/M fantasy, contemporaries and paranormals. Her Spoils of War spent TWELVE weeks on the Kindle Gay & Lesbian Top 100 list (WOOT!) and was a Top Seller at ARe while both Lovely Wicked and What Rough Beast were selected at The Romance Reviews as Top Picks, not to mention Lovely Wicked‘s nomination as Best Non-Traditional Romance of 2010 (in which she naturally stomped Rachel Haimowitz’s Belonging: Anchored into the dirt).

In her personal life, Kari’s compassion is best exemplified in her tireless work to feed the poor via the food pantry she runs as part of her day job–Kari’s food pantry fed over 500 people last year! (501 if you count Kari.) An avid reader, Kari also enjoys crafts (knit, crotchet, applique quilting), hiking and Farmville.

Don’t let this fine example of writerly excellence get away! Crack open your piggy bank to place your bid by Sunday, May 1st, 3:00 p.m. EST, or bid on Kari during the live chat to win your very own Kari Gregg today!

To bid on my most excellent self and prod me into Throes of Excessive Giddy before the chat (dig me out of my 7,500 penny Pit of Despair now now now now now now), tweet @RachelHaimowitz with the #slave4sale hashtag by Sunday, 3:00 p.m. when our chat starts.

To join in the fun with our chat (and get in your last-minute bid, Bid, BID on yours truly!), you’ll need to join the Noble Romance yahoo group and click on the chat button on Sunday.

*Legal notice: This is all just in good fun. We don’t really want your pennies or your timeshare/husband (although I’m sure he’s very nice). And sadly since slavery is still illegal, winning bidders will receive in lieu of Kari & Aleks, choice of their respective backlists, though an “I Own Aleks/Kari” website badge is certainly within the realm of possibility — IF YOU BID ON KARI RIGHT FRICKING NOW. [/bidslut]

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