Membership privileges; Alpha blog tour

Okay, this morning I posted the supersecret link to the supersecret deleted scene from the second chapter of Alpha. It's available only to members of the Pride. Because membership has its privileges. Seriously. This is a thank you to those who keep me company and discuss the Shifters and Soul Screamers books on my discussion board. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guys!

Also, if you're a member and you haven't dropped in for a while, we have a new moderator (Hi Cem!) and I've recently posted the cover copy (description on the back of the book) for My Soul To Steal. Check it out!

-----

Since the release date for Alpha is rapidly approaching (just two months away!), I find myself in need of a blog tour. If you have a blog and would like to participate, please email me (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) and let me know.

What you should know about this potential blog tour:

Normally, I try to give away copies of the book I'm promoting when I do guest blogs. But I have no ARCs of Alpha. To my knowledge, there are no ARCs of Alpha. If I get my author copies (finished copies) before the blog tour, providing I get enough of them, I will try to provide some for prizes. But I can't guarantee this.

So I thought I'd try something else instead: I will give out one line from Alpha on every blog stop I make. It'll be like a snack, spread out over several bites.

If you're interested, my plan is to do 3-5 guest blogs and a bunch of mini-interviews (5 Shifters or writing related questions). Or, if you have something else specific in mind, I'm interested. Let me know in your email!

Excerpt set to music

I've been getting questions about writing to music, and whether or not I do it, as well as questions about what songs are on the playlists for my various books. The answers to those questions are:

1. Yes, I sometimes write with music playing, if I need to be in a certain frame of mind, and the environment around me isn't helping set the mood.

2. Yes, most of my books had a certain playlist of songs I listened to while I was writing them. Unfortunately, I didn't write those playlists down. Which means I have to close my eyes really tight, and think back, and try to remember.

So, this week's Countdown to Alpha extra is the first in a series of "Excerpts Set To Music." Wherein I post an excerpt from a scene, along with the title of one of the songs that helped get/keep me in the proper mood to write that scene.

My Twitter followers voted in a last-minute battle, and the winning excerpt category was: Love/Pain. And seriously, if you think one's possible without the other in the Shifters world, you haven't been paying attention... ;)

And so I give you, from Alpha, love/pain:

I met Marc’s gaze, and my heart hurt so badly I wanted it to stop beating just to end the pain. “Marc, you know I love you…”

His eyes searched mine, his focus shifting from one to the other. Then he exhaled, and his anguish stole my breath. “I know that better than you seem to know it. We belong together, Faythe. I’ve known that since the moment you realized you could piss me off and make me smile in the same sentence, when you were fifteen years old. I know you better than anyone else ever will.”

Playlist for this scene includes:

I Alone - Live

This is one of my favorites from highschool. The entire Throwing Copper album, in fact. During the last half of my senior year, I worked at Subway, and one afternoon, the local radio DJ came in for a sandwich. I asked him to play "I Alone" for me, and he did! At the time, I thought that shoutout to "the sandwich chick" made me practically famous. ;-)

My favorite lines:

Your anchor is up, you've been swept away
And the greatest of teachers won't hesitate
To leave you there by yourself, chained to fate

I alone love you
I alone tempt you
I alone love you
Fear is not the end of this!
I alone love you
I alone tempt you
I alone love you

New name; New poll; Coming Soon!

First of all, thanks to everyone who wrote with suggestions for the name of the main character in the first novel of my new adult series. Unfortunately, the series and individual book titles are still being chewed over in NYC, so I can't announce those yet. But I have chosen a name for the first main character, and I'm 99% sure my editor will approve it (it was one of the ones she liked from the list of possibilities I sent her yesterday), so I can and will announce that. Right now.

The new main character's name is Liv. Olivia, for long. And according to my records, I have Candace B. to thank for that suggestion. Candace, please write me privately (rachelkvincentATgmailDOTcom) and let me know how you'd like to be listed in the acknowledgements.

The only other thing I can say about the book is that right now, it's on the schedule for next fall, just under a year after the last Shifters book comes out. Once the Alpha release excitement is over, I'm sure I'll be cleared to give more details, so you can look for them then.

-----

Have an opinion on the US vs UK Soul Screamers covers? Go here to take the poll, and please leave us a comment telling us why you chose one over the other!

-----

In other news, coming up in the next week, hopefully, I'll be posting a deleted scene from Alpha at the Pride, as well as the first look at the My Soul To Steal cover. Shortly after that, I'll post the cover here too and will put it up on my website. But if you're not a Pride member, you won't be able to read that deleted scene until my next newsletter goes out. Click here to sign up for the newsletter, if you're not already signed up.

Guess what I'm doing today?

Does this help?

Yup. I just opened a new Word document and created the title page for IF I DIE, the fifth Soul Screamers book. So far, this is the sum of the words I've written on it so far, though I've been finalizing the outline and doing some preliminary research this morning.

After lunch, I start the first chapter, and I won't go to bed until it's finished. I have a tight deadline on this one, which means I'll probably be working most weekends. But, I have to say, I've REALLY been looking forward to starting this particular book. So the work should be fun. ;-)

On the adult side of things, as soon as I finish IF I DIE, I'll be writing the first in my new adult series. But at the moment, one of the main characters is nameless. If you have a suggestion for me, go leave it in the comments of yesterday's Deadline Dames post. But please read the restrictions first. They're in that post, but here they are again:

Because that series already has characters whose names start with L and K sounds (which includes a hard C sound), the new name can't start with either of those. And because of a rhythmic name pattern I'm trying to avoid repeating, the name can't end in either a long E sound or a short A sound. That includes endings like -y, -ey, -i, -ie, -ee, and -a. So... no Emilys, Danas, Tiffanies, etc... And yes, I know, those are the most common endings for girls' names. That's the whole problem. ;)

Some names that have already been suggested multiple times: Elizabeth, Robyn, Alexis, Alice, Devon, Morgan, Madeline, Anne, Heather, Charlotte, and Juliette. (Though there are more...)

Some names that have been suggested and would be awesome, if I hadn't already used them: Eden, Addison, Emma, Sabine, Kathryn, Regan, Noelle, and Meredeth.

Yes, I know. It's complicated. And to add to that, I'm not really the final say on the name either. My editor gets some input--together, we manage to catch most repeated sounds, patterns, and confusing spellings. ;-)

So, anyway, if you're the first to suggest the name I choose (and my editor supports), you'll be thanked in the acknowledgements page of the first book in the series. So if you have an idea, lave it in the Deadline Dames post please!

Okay, I'm off to eat some lunch, then start this new book!

For the directionally challenged...

I wanted to post this on Monday, but instead, I went on a kind of last minute trip to Oklahoma, and everything work-related kind of fell to the side for a few days. But, I'm back, and I have this week's Countdown to Alpha extra! (Last week's was the first chapter of Alpha!)

Number 1 has been working on this for a while, and it's finally done, at least for the moment, though we may add some map pins for specific locations soon. But for now, it's up and hopefully functional. And with that, I present...

The Shifters Territory Map!

Hovering over the territories should bring up a list of the prominent characters from those regions, and the stray lists have Roman numerals in parentheses, to indicate which book they were in. As do any characters who changed territories over the course of the series.

So feel free to hover around and check it out. I think there's one character listed who's new to the series with Alpha, but other than that, it's just a pretty little visual to help those who (like me) can't quite grasp geography without a visual aid. ;)

Assorted updates

If you're still looking for a chance to read My Soul To Keep or you just want a signed copy (and a Soul Screamers t-shirt!) click here. TeenLibris (love them!) is giving away four sets (MSTKeep + shirt) in the next two weeks.

Today, I will finish the Tod story. (There. I've said it. Now it has to happen, or I've embarrassed myself online.) That's the goal for today. And in my spare time (ha!) I'll be hunting down images and footage for the Alpha trailer, as well as sketching out the outline for that.

Yesterday I turned in page proofs (author alterations, if you write for HQ) for My Soul To Steal. What does that mean? That my part in the process is done. Now, my editor's assistant makes the changes I request, then the book goes through whatever's left of the production process. After that...it's a book.

But boy am I glad I took one more look at the page proofs before sending them in. I'd missed a continuity issue, and at the last minute I decided to change the last few lines of the book, so that it now ends on a slightly different note (though none of the events actually changed).

Also, I received the final version of the front cover for My Soul To Steal yesterday, so I'll be posting it soon. But the one I got wasn't quite a big enough file size for me to show it off properly, so I'm holding out for a bit of a bigger image. So look for that next week, hopefully.

In other news, IF I DIE now has an early version of the cover copy (the description on the back of the book). But no, I can't share it, because it spoils things from MSTSteal. So...now I really need to write the actual book--and make sure it matches the cover copy. ;-)

The ALPHA excerpt...

...is live here!

Eleven, and counting...

In obsessively staring at glancing at my calendar, I noticed that Alpha officially comes out 11 weeks from tomorrow. Since I'm terrified stressed paralyzed by nerves excited, I've decided that we'll be celebrating the countdown to this sixth and final Shifters release in style. I'll be offering something new every week until the release. Excerpts, deleted scenes, prizes, trivia, the Alpha trailer, Shifters extras, etc...

This week's Shifters treat is the first chapter of Alpha. I'll be posting it tonight (#1, my website magic worker, is at his day job right now), so check back this evening.

In other news, I've almost finished the Tod story (yes, it has a working title, but no, I won't tell you what it is), but I'm putting it aside today to let it "age" and to work on page proofs for My Soul to Steal, which are due this week. This is my last chance to make changes (small ones) to the manuscript before it goes to print, and the finality of that fact always makes me a little nervous.

We're a little ahead of the typical time frame on this one, because MSTSteal will be out a month early in Australia, so we have to have everything done on their timetable, rather than the US one this time.

Regarding the cover, I'm told a non-final version of it has gone out to buyers with my publisher's catalogue, but I still don't have the final version in my possession, so obviously I can't show it off yet. Soon, though... ;-)

Two-fer Friday!

Okay, I have something special for you today. One mini-excerpt each from Alpha and My Soul To Steal.

This first one is from the first chapter of Alpha, the sixth and final Shifters book (adult). Next week, I'm planning to post the whole first chapter.

My fist flew before I knew it was going to. His nose crunched, then blood sprayed my shirt and neck. Ryan howled, but the sound ended in a gurgle. His hands flew to cover his face.

Marc purred and rubbed against my ankle. Ryan dropped to his knees, cradling his ruined nose.

"[...]Did you know I dream about it, Ryan?” I dropped into a squat in front of him and pulled his head back by his hair until I saw his eyes, already surrounded by rapidly swelling, darkening flesh. “Did you know it happens all over again, every night I sleep alone? Every night I’m too tired to fight off the memories?” I swallowed a sob and forced the next words out. “I needed you then. You were supposed to protect me. But I don’t need you now.”

This next one is from the first chapter of My Soul To Steal, the fourth Soul Screamers book (YA). I actually remember writing this particular paragraph, at my kitchen island, while #1 made dinner. I read it to him after I wrote it, and he liked it. And only two words of this paragraph changed from rough draft to final version.

Nash and I were like the wreckage of two cars that had hit head-on. We were tangled up in each other so thoroughly that I could no longer tell which parts of us were him and which were me. We could probably never be truly untangled—not after what we’d been through together—but I had serious doubts we could ever really recapture what we’d had.

That's all for now! Off to work I go...

Today I'm a Dame!

I blogged at The Deadline Dames today, about the difference between writing novels and writing short fiction. To find out what short fiction I'm writing at the moment, head over and check it out!

In other news, this past week I deleted my MySpace account, after notifying all my "friends" about where they could go to keep up with me instead. Sorry MySpace users, but (for me at least) that forum was dead. No one's ever there.

I also tried to switch from a Facebook personal profile (which limits the number of friends I can have and lets people post those stupid games and polls on my wall) to a "page." I was under the impression that I'd have better control with a page. But so far, I have not found that to be the case. In fact, I kind of want to make this "page" a character in a book, so I can find some new, horrible way to kill it.

The problem is this: I can't delete my personal profile without losing the page. So now, instead of having one neat, orderly home on Facebook, I actually have two. And I can't get the 3rd party html apps to work on either of them.

Grrr. Facebook, I AM NOT PLEASED!

Blogger and Twitter remain my online forums of choice, because of the ease of use. Twitter is fast and short, and Blogger lets me use html and post whatever I want on my sidebar. Which LJ won't let me do, even with a paid account.

I'm still pleased with Formspring, except for the complete lack of archiving structure that the ability to tag (or categorize) questions would provide.

So what about you guys? Where do you hang out online? Am I missing something completely awesome and easy to use?

Yeah, I didn't think so. ;-)

Alpha widget; Review winner!

The winner of the Review and Win contest is ...

Lexi!

Lexi, please email me your shipping information (rachelATrachelvincentDOTcom) and I'll put your prizes in the mail. Along with the other books I still owe a few winners.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated! I read all the review entries and I'm so glad so many people liked the My Soul To Keep! It's definitely a pivotal book in the series.

And if you'd like another chance to win a signed copy of My Soul To Keep and a Soul Screamers t-shirt, check out The Book Cellar's contest here!

Yesterday (before the fireworks) I started on a short story from Tod's perspective. I don't have official release info on this one yet, but if everything works out the way I'm hoping (no guarantees), this one should be available about a month before My Soul To Steal hits the shelf.

Switching gears, things are starting to fall into place for the Alpha release, which is coming up in a couple of months. Officially, on September 28. Number one is working on the trailer and some new t-shirts, and he's almost done with the interactive territorial map. And soon I'll start posting the mini-excerpts and the full first chapter.

But today, I give you the Alpha countdown widget I worked on this past weekend. Feel free to share and post.

UK Soul Screamers

Okay, the Review and Win contest has now closed! Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I'll be posting the winner tomorrow, after I've had time to verify all the entries.

But today, I have new pretties! My editor says I'm all clear to post the UK Soul Screamers covers. (Also, I think we're very close to showing off the US cover for My Soul To Steal!) So here goes!



The first one, My Soul To Take, is scheduled for a UK release on Jan 1, 2011, the same day My Soul To Steal comes out in the US. The next three will follow shortly, but the dates for those are not final, so I'm not going to post them, to keep from confusing people if they change.

So, what do you think? I love the way the colors match the US covers. Red for MSTTake, turquoise for MSTSave, and purple for MSTKeep. And I love the smoke! So far, the UK covers are the only ones to show that element of the story on the covers!