Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Cover reveal: BEFORE (New Adult novel.)


I'm absolutely thrilled to reveal the cover for my first New Adult novel, BEFORE.

For fans of BRASH, you'll know Jack and Jess met a decade earlier, while Jess was on a trip to the outback.
Some characters stay with me and these two did. I loved them. So when they demanded their early story be told, I had to listen.

I wrote this story in two weeks last month. It's just back from the editor and is being formatted next week, then it's going live for the big launch on December 2nd, available from all etailers.

In the meantime, please add it to your GOODREADS shelf and tell all your friends!

Here's the blurb:

Good girls finish last? Screw that.

Being a small town girl isn’t so bad. Unless Mom’s the town joke and I’ve spent my entire life shying away from her flamboyance. College in Las Vegas should be so much cooler. But it’s not. Bad things happen there. Real bad.

So when my big brother Reid offers me an all-expenses paid vacation to Australia for a month, I am so there. Discounting the deadly snakes on the outback cattle station, I should be safe. Until I meet Jack.

Jack defines bad boy and then some. And the guy can cook. He’s big, buffed, bronzed, and hotter than any guy I’ve ever met. And his sexy Aussie accent makes me melt.

But he’s my brother’s new bestie and he lives on the other side of the world. There’s no future for us.
Is there?


Monday, October 28, 2013

Writers, get organised.

I discovered a great blog a while back jam-packed with writing tips, run by Anne R. Allen and Ruth Harris.

Today's post has great links to organise your writing.
Well worth checking out.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Crossroads blog tour


The CROSSROADS blog tour is now live.
Win a kindle preloaded with a stack of YA novels! (including my SCION OF THE SUN.)

Check out all the details HERE



Today, I'm talking about an incident that seriously freaked me out!
It still gives me goosebumps to this day...

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Get spooky & funky with Entangled

Check out the huge book giveaways with Entangled's Halloween Hop.

All the details HERE

I'm giving away an e-copy of NOT THE MARRYING KIND.

To be in the running:

-'LIKE' me on Facebook
-Sign up for my newsletter by emailing me nicola (at) nicolamarsh (dot) com with 'Newletter' in the subject line.
-Leave a comment here with what you've done.


Friday, October 18, 2013

Goodreads giveaway for SCION OF THE SUN


To celebrate the upcoming release of SCION OF THE SUN (November 5th) there are 3 paperback copies up for grabs at GOODREADS

Or you can pre-order on:

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE

Here's the blurb:


When she least expects it, sixteen-year-old Holly Burton’s unremarkable life is shaken to the core. A vision of the mother Holly never knew leaves her questioning everything she believes. 
Eager for answers, Holly enrolls at a boarding school for highly gifted students in Wolfebane, New Hampshire. But Holly's complicated life worsens when she accidentally transports to a parallel existence where she's confronted by a dark and ancient evil.
With the help of Joss, a sexy alpha warrior sworn to protect her, and her new BFF, the equally swoon-worthy Quinn, Holly faces her fears and an unlikely adversary in a showdown that is worse than anything she could’ve possibly imagined …

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

VERY SUPERSTITIOUS blog tour


Title: Very Superstitious
Publication date: October 15, 2013
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9883409-4-7
ISBN eBook: 978-1-939765-75-8
Author: Delany, Jackie Morse Kessler, Stephanie Kuehnert, Jennifer Knight,
Marianne Mancusi, Michelle E. Reed, Dianne Salerni and Pab Sungenis

The stories are based on urban legends, myths, tribal tales and superstitions from around the world.  A charity anthology to benefit SPCA International with stories by Shannon Delany, Jackie Morse Kessler, Stephanie Kuehnert, Jennifer Knight, Marianne Mancusi, Michelle E. Reed, Dianne Salerni and Pab Sungenis.


Link to Goodreads:

Purchase Links: 


Giveaway Information:
·         An ebook of each authors' work (INT)
·         One (1) physical copy of the Very Superstitious Anthology (US Only)

See the entire blog tour HERE


About the Very Superstitious Authors:

Shannon Delany

Shannon Delany's newest novel, WEATHER WITCH (St. Martin's Press) is already available for pre-order (which both stuns and delights Delany)!

Shannon Delany has written stories since she was a child. She began writing in earnest when her grandmother fell unexpectedly ill during a family vacation. In 2008 her greatly abbreviated version of 13 to Life (written in just five weeks) won the grand prize in the first-ever cell phone novel contest in the western world through Textnovel.com .

Shannon was thrilled when St. Martin’s Press offered her a contract for a series about her 13 to Life characters. She expanded on the cell phone novel version, adding the subplots and characters she didn’t have time to during the contest. As paranormal as werewolves seem, the grief Shannon used to build Jess’s character is something she personally experienced with the loss of her own mother. Focusing on Jess and Pietr’s story of loss, love and dramatic and dangerous changes, Shannon came to better grips with her own struggle. The resulting novel has earned her blurbs from authors she respects most.

The first novel in Shannon’s YA paranormal series, 13 to Life, debuted June 22, 2010, and was followed by Secrets and Shadows, Bargains and Betrayals, Destiny and Deception, and the Rivals and Retribution (August 2012).

Shannon has also debuted with interactive science fiction in her short story ("To Hel and Back") for Spirited: 13 to Haunting Tales (Leap Books) and will make her high fantasy debut with Month 9 Books' charity anthology titled Two and Twenty Dark Tales (October 2012, "Pieces of Eight" with musician Max Scialdone).

Shannon's new series (a steampunk trilogy titled WEATHER WITCH, also with St. Martin's Press) will launch June 25, 2013.

Previously a teacher and now a farmer raising heritage livestock, Shannon lives and writes in Upstate New York and enjoys traveling to talk to people about most anything.

Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Pab Sungenis

Born in the swamps of Southern New Jersey, Pab Sungenis developed a childhood fascination with cartooning and drew a daily strip for his own amusement for two years before realizing he couldn’t draw. He wound up in broadcasting, worked for numerous stations including WSBU, WOND, WMGM, WSKR, WBNJ, WWBZ, and WKTU. He describes his drawing ability as like that of “a mentally challenged rhinoceros on a Ny-Quil bender”, but thanks to the wonders of photo-manipulation and computer image editing, on February 8, 2006 he found himself creating The New Adventures of Queen Victoria, which has appeared ever since, first on Comicssherpa.com., and now in online syndication with gocomics.com. Pab Sungenis is available for quotes, signings, video or podcast appearances, and all opportunities relative to SIDEKICK: THE MISADVENTURES OF THE NEW SCARLET KNIGHT.

Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook


Stephanie Kuehnert

STEPHANIE KUEHNERT got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist 'zines. After short stints in Ohio and Wisconsin, Stephanie ultimately returned home and received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. She currently resides in Forest Park, IL.


Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads


Jennifer Knight

Hi. I’m Jen. I am twenty-two years old and live in Miami, Florida with my family. I’m a lifelong lover of books, romance and anything even vaguely supernatural. Except zombies. Zombies scare me.

I started writing in college after trying and failing to find a major. It was all I really knew how to do and since school was going nowhere, I threw myself into it. I wrote my first book in a matter of months and watched it go up in flames.

Smoldering, but still determined to make this writing thing work, I moved on to something completely different. Werewolves! Love them. Who doesn’t? I wrote the first draft of Blood on the Moon in about two months, during which I locked myself in my room and thought about teeth and moons and kissing.

I must have done something right, because Running Press bought my book and now you’re here reading this. I guess that means you liked the book. Yay! If I had a cookie, I’d totally give it to you. You deserve it.

Anyway, now that Blood on the Moon is done, I’m writing the sequel. And also some other stuff that hopefully you’ll see one day.



Connect:  Website | Twitter | FacebookGoodreads

Mari Mancusi

Mari Mancusi used to wish she could become a vampire back in high school. But she ended up in another blood sucking profession --journalism -- instead. Today she works as a freelance TV producer and author of books for teens and adults.

When not writing about creatures of the night, Mari enjoys traveling, cooking, goth clubbing, watching cheesy horror movies, and her favorite guilty pleasure--videogames. A graduate of Boston University and a two time Emmy Award winner, she lives in Austin , Texas with her husband Jacob, daughter Avalon and their dog Mesquite. You can find Mari online at www.marimancusi.com orwww.bloodcovenvampires.com.


Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads


Michelle E. Reed

Michelle was born in a small Midwestern town, to which she has returned to raise her own family. Her imagination and love of literature were fueled by a childhood of late nights, hidden under the covers and reading by flashlight. She is a passionate adoption advocate who lives in Wisconsin with her husband, son, and their yellow lab, Sully.


Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads


Jackie Morse Kessler


Jackie Morse Kessler grew up in Brooklyn, NY, with a cranky cat and overflowing shelves filled with dolls and books. Now she’s in Upstate NY with another cranky cat, a loving husband, two sons, and overflowing shelves filled with dragons and books (except when her sons steal her dragons). She has a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature, and yet she’s never read any Jane Austen (with or without zombies). She also has a master’s degree in media ecology. (The living study of technology and culture. Which is cool, but she still can’t figure out how to use Tweetdeck.)

Jackie spends a lot of time writing, reading, and getting distracted by bright and shiny new ideas. (She just came up with a new idea right now.) She has a weakness for chocolate and a tendency to let her cat take over her office chair. 

Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads



DIANNE K. SALERNI is a fifth grade teacher by day and a writer by night. She's the author of YA historical novels, We Hear the Dead (Sourcebooks) and The Caged Graves (Clarion/HMH), and a forthcoming MG fantasy series, The Eighth Day (HarperCollins 2014). 

The Caged Graves is a Junior Library Guild Selection, and We Hear the Dead was the inspiration for a 10 minute short film, The Spirit Game, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.http://vimeo.com/64738099

In her spare time, Dianne is prone to hanging around creepy cemeteries and climbing 2000 year-old pyramids in the name of book research.


Connect:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads


Monday, October 14, 2013

GUEST AUTHOR: Jennifer Faye


Today I'd like to welcome Harlequin Romance author Jennifer Faye to my blog.
Congratulations on your new release, SNOWBOUND WITH THE SOLDIER, Jennifer. Over to you!


Available at:

Amazon   |   Amazon - UK   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Harlequin  |  iTunes  |  Waterstones



1) Have you always been a writer? 

I started writing as a little kid. I can remember asking Santa Claus for a typewriter. And he brought it. It had a grey case and white keys. And don’t remind me how old that makes me that they still had typewriters back then. LOL. Then in elementary school I would write short stories to pass around the lunch table. So off and on throughout my life, I was writing this or that. It wasn’t until I was a teenager and read my first Harlequin that I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. Hmm…does this mean I’m grown up now? ;-)

2) Do you have a particular writing process? 

Yes, I do. It’s my process and I’ve learned to value it as it gets me from start to finish.

Here’s an overview:

1.    write the complete synopsis

2.    wait for editor feedback

3.    implement editor’s comments

4.    set up an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my progress and ensure I’ll meet my deadline

5.    start writing/researching details

6.    keep writing…ignore the doubt crows that always circle and tell me that it is rubbish. By the time I type “The End” and reread it won’t sound as awful as I’m imagining. ;-)


3) Is there a particular book or an author that has influenced you in your writing? 

This is a tough question. Way back when I got the burning desire to write romances it was due to Harlequin paperbacks, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Danielle Steele and Johanna Lindsey. Those women would keep me up most of the night with a flash light in one hand and a book in the other, hoping I’d never reach the end because it was sooo good.

4) Is there one piece of writing (or life?) advice that has stuck with you, or that you would like to share?
There was a piece of advice that I got and learned was wrong…There are rules to writing fiction.

I’m not talking about the mechanics of grammar. Yes, sometimes a writer will break a grammatical rule for dramatic purposes. But you need to know the rules of grammar before breaking them. ;-)

The rules I’m talking about involve the craft of storytelling. To use a prologue or not to. To write 1st person or 3rd person. To always start with the heroine’s POV. And the list goes on.

My advice is go with your gut. If it feels right, run with it. Your editor will tell you if you’ve run amuck. ;-)

5) Can you tell us three things about yourself that we probably don’t already know? 

1.  I love pizza. It should be calorie-free so I can eat it every day. ;-)
2.  My guilty pleasure is watching Y&R (Young & the Restless) while eating lunch
3.  I have more hobbies than I have time in the day. If only I could squeeze a couple more hours.

6) Congratulations on your release of SNOWBOUND WITH THE SOLDIER. Where did the idea come from?

This is really sad to admit, but I don’t actually remember what sparked the first idea for SNOWBOUND WITH THE SOLDIER. I just knew I wanted to write a Christmas story. The idea grew from there. I entered the original version in the Mills & Boon New Voices entry in which I won an editor’s critique on the opening chapter. Talk about being over the moon. I took that feedback and reworked the story. I then entered it in Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write 2011 Contest where it made a Top Five Finalist, and I had a M&B editor to work on it with me. So as you can tell it’s been around for a while. But those characters really wanted their HEA and I was determined that they would have it. ;-)

Maybe this Christmas…?  
It has been seven long years since Kara Jameson last saw Jason Greene. Returning home as a wounded war hero, Jason looks a shell of the man she once knew. Yet her heart still skips a beat as if it was yesterday…. 
Stepping back into civilian life, Jason looks to Kara for help. But there's too much water under the bridge—not to mention too much lingering attraction. 
But it seems that the mountain weather has other ideas, and when Kara and Jason end up snowbound together they are forced to confront the ghosts of Christmas past.

7) Do you have a favourite paragraph or sentence from your story that you would like to tantalise us with?

Kara and Jason are seeking shelter from a harrowing snowstorm at a mountain cabin. Kara is desperately trying to think up an alternative to staying alone with Jason, but she can’t think of any…

“What about the military? Didn’t they do anything for the holidays?”

He paused by the front door. His back went ramrod straight.

“I always opted to be on duty,” he said, his tone clipped.

“You’re home now. Time to start over. A chance for new beginnings…” Her voice trailed off. She didn’t want him to misconstrue her words—to think she wanted them to have a new beginning. “You should try joining in the fun. After all, it’s the most joyous time of the year.”

Kara forced a smile. She couldn’t believe she was trying to talk him into celebrating the exact same holiday in which he’d broken her heart. If he wanted to be an old, cranky Scrooge, why should she care?

Jason didn’t say anything as he opened the door and stepped aside, allowing her to enter. In the narrow opening her arm brushed against him, and even through the layers of clothing, an electrical current zinged up her arm, warming a spot in her chest.

Staying here wasn’t a good idea.

Being alone with her new boss was an even poorer idea.

This whole situation constituted the worst idea…ever.

8) What can we expect from you next? Is there something you are working on right now? 

My next release will be out in March 2014, SAFE IN THE TYCOON’S ARMS. It is something different for me as there isn’t sexy cowboy anywhere in sight or a small town. This story takes place in New York City. And the hero, Lucas, is a rich businessman that can fill out a suit in all of the right places…And did I mention he was recently named Bachelor-Of-The-Year? Can you say hot? ;-)

9) Plotter or pantser? 

I started off being a pantser. But I ended up having to do way too many rounds of revisions. I knew there had to be something better…something more efficient. I just had too many stories to tell and not enough time. Through observation and trial and error, I became a plotter/pantser hybrid. And I love it. :-)

10) Digital books or print books? 

Both. I love print books. After staring at a computer monitor all day, I like to settle down with a print book. I love the feel, the smell, everything about it.
But these days there are sooo many wonderful books that only come via digital format. I don’t want to miss them.  So I read both. Although between you and me, I still don’t have an ereader. I do my reading on my computer. So guess what is going to be on Santa’s list this year?

CHECK OUT JENNIFER'S BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY HERE.

Author Bio

Jennifer Faye is a two-time RT Book Reviews TOP PICK author. Maybe that’s partly due to the fact that she has spent most of her life with her nose in one book or another. It was only natural that she dreamed of becoming a romance writer and spinning the tales of the imaginary people running around in her mind. But first life took her on a couple of detours. Refusing to give up on her dreams, she finally succeeded in getting her name on a book cover. She currently resides in Pennsylvania with her very, very patient husband, one amazing daughter (the other remarkable daughter has flown the coop to chase her own dreams) and two spoiled rotten cats. When she’s not glued to her laptop writing another contemporary romance (which isn’t often) or enjoying some family time, she loves to get lost in a good book, cross-stitch, embroider, quilt, knit, watch hockey (go Pittsburgh Penguins!), and garden. Jennifer loves to hear from readers--you can contact her via her website.
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