Anyway! The purpose of this bloggery/updatey thing! My friend’s furbabies are in need! The lovely Skyla Dawn Cameron has a menagerie and lots of Bad Things have been happening all at once (isn’t that the way it goes?). Skyla is like me – money is the last thing we think about when one of our furbrats is ailing. If it’s something fixable, we’ll sell organs and dance around long, vertical poles in order to pay for anything our babies need, no matter the cost.

Here, go read the details for yourself.

Long story short, vet bills are mounting and Skyla is trying to get them under control. She’s come up with this fundraiser, and I’m happy to donate some hand-knitted evil for those who toss a fistful of dollars at the penny jar. So far, everyone has been awesome with their donations. The goals are close to being met, but any extra will ensure that any additional tests or aftercare will also be paid for.

If you have some change in the couch cushions to spare or will sacrifice your $5 latte tomorrow in favor of donating to the vet bill fund, Skyla and the furbrats would be ever so grateful! Don’t think your sacrifice would be in vain, however. Oh, no.

For your donation, you’ll get an awesome read. Skyla’s dusted off a very special manuscript for her fundraiser. Head on over there, help us in a great cause, and get a great book!

Also, for the hand-knitted evil scarf. Come on. We’re talking merino silk here in the color of your choice. Examples of the pattern I’ll use* are on Skyla’s blog. Go see!

*Note: These are pattern examples, not the actual knitted scarf. You’ll choose the color you want and I’ll knit it. It will probably take me about 8 weeks to knit the thing between responsibilities, but there you have it. It’s a custom thing!

Also, picspam!

Here’s a pic of the lovely London Fog tea latte I’ve become addicted to lately. Also, tequila. Because that’s how I roll.

Homemade London Fog Tea Latte

A while back (I don’t know if I blogged about this or not – I know I Twittered about it) my sister-in-law sent me Star Wars cookie cutters. I did make cookies and took pics, but got busy and didn’t upload them. I now rectify that:

Come to the Dark Side. We have cookies!

They were decent cookies, and I made them from scratch, with a rolling pin and parchment paper and everything! Yes, it was #dinainthekitchen! (No mustard on the ceiling this time. Don’t ask.)

Now, from the Department of Pics Or It Didn’t Happen, I give you my first knitted sweater (for a friend’s baby made using this pattern for those who are interested in that kind of thing ) and a miniature Dr. Who scarf I made for the wonderful Mr. Audry T, AKA David Wise as a Christmas gift. I told you I was late posting photos!

My First Handknitted Sweater (for a baby)

Miniature Dr. Who Scarf

So there you are.

Back to work with me. Loads to do.

Maybe I’ll just go take a nap.

There at the site you can purchase the book in any format you like. As for third party resellers, here’s generally how it goes:

Kindle is available approximately 24hrs after the release on Mundania’s site.

Amazon: About a week after release (5-8 days).

B&N: About a week after release in print.

Nook: Mundania doesn’t currently upload directly to Nook but it’s available in EPUB format at Mundania & will also be at various other resellers.

All Romance eBooks: 2-3 days after release.

All other resellers like BookDepository, etc, usually have things about a week or two later.

When I have buy links to those places, I’ll post them here.

Now I go to drink tea and go to work on other projects! Enjoy Kyle!

P.S. I’m planning a giveaway at some point. I’m just too busy right now to think about it. Too many irons in the fire, but there will be a giveaway soon!

*ahem*

What I mean is, I’m busy. Stuff and things going on and there’s more stuff and things coming up, so it’s a little nuts around here.

I feel I should mention that my book release scheduled for tomorrow has been pushed back a week. Scheduling thing. This happens sometimes in publishing, and I can’t say I’m not relieved a little, because with all that’s been going on here lately, I could use the extra day or two to glance through my manuscript one more time. Just to catch stuff I missed (and believe me, I’ve missed stuff, so this is less an inconvenience and more a boon).

While I’m really sorry those looking forward to the release have to wait another week, it *is* only another week, and you’ll get something nicer out of it than you would have originally. Trust me!

Anyway, stuff and things. Mostly stuff. And some things. Later!

Yeah, I know, it’s been awhile since I blogged. Like…almost a month. I have no excuse, really. I mean, I do – I’ve been sick and busy. That’s pretty much it. Lazy, too, really. Comes with being busy.

But what also comes with being busy is stuff getting done. I can’t tell you what stuff that is, because I don’t know – I don’t really see a lot of progress around here, so whatever I’ve been doing for the last month didn’t make a dent in my laundry. I’ll have to look into that. Anyway! I’m here now to share a few things with you. Here they are, in chronological order:

Thing 1) My Editor of Awesome, Skyla Dawn Cameron, has a book out today. Go buy it, read it, and love it. Buy her backlist, too. Just because. I mean, she has to eat if she’s going to be able to edit the books I write, so it’s win/win here. If you just don’t have the money this month, you’re in luck. Mel’s World is having a giveaway, as is Books Make Me Happy. Go enter and check out all the freebies offered with it!

Thing 2) So remember back in December when I won the Book of the Week award from Long and Short Reviews? Well, because of that awesome win (again, thank you, fans!), I’ve been nominated for the Book of the Year award. From their email:

Congratulations! Your book ALL WOUNDS received a “BEST BOOK” rated review last year and earned a spot in our LASR Best Book of 2011 poll. The voting will run from February 16 through 29, ending at midnight Eastern time on February 29.

Now, I’m up against some awesome authors, including my own Editor of Awesome, so I in no way expect to win this award/poll. But, if you’re feeling generous and want to toss a shout-out my way, I’d be appreciative. I’m in the “non-erotic” category on the left side of the poll.

Official Nomination Image - Book of the Year 2011

Thing 3) I have a book coming out in two weeks.

Front Cover of Light In A Dark World Anthology by Skyla Dawn Cameron

Light in a Dark World: Legends of the Destrati is a collection of my short stories focusing on the various members of the vampire clan Destrati and its associates. Kyle will feature prominently.

This collection will be available from Mundania Press March 6, 2012. Note: In addition to three completely new stories, those previously published in the Mammoth books are available edited, rewritten, and extended in this anthology.

There are a lot of other differences between these stories and what I’ve written before, and you may not like it. Just be aware of that, and be sure and read the author’s note before reading the stories.

And there you have it! All the news I have at the moment.

Well, all the news I can remember at the moment. Cold medicine plays havoc with one’s mental faculties.

If you haven’t read Ilona Andrews’ work, DO IT NOW. Start Kate Daniels with MAGIC BITES then go from there, and start the EDGE series with ON THE EDGE.

Because they RULE.

There’s more about it here: http://sopastrike.com/.

Just a quick reminder. See you when this is over. For awhile anyway. If this bill passes, I may not be seeing you at all, ever again.

So if the internet is important to you, get involved. You know I hate politics. This isn’t politics. This is the criminalization of innocent people (like me) in order to punish a few assholes. This is Hollywood studios not wanting to get off their lazy asses and spend the money to go after these fuckwads on their own. Instead they’ll spend billions of dollars in lobbying Congress and the Senate to pass these stupid bills because they think it’s better to punish everyone to get their way instead of doing what “regular people” like me and you do in order to stop online piracy. You know, sending notices and so on. Tracking down pirates. Whatever. There are already laws designed to protect the copyright holders and stop online piracy.

THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER.

I’ll stop ranting now. Enjoy it. It might be one of the last rants you hear from me. Freedom of speech is under attack, so if you like my rants, scream at your Congressperson/Senator. TELL THEM YOU WANT YOUR DINA RANTS!

That is all.

Stop by. Enjoy. Comment if you feel like it. Pass it on to others you think need a dose of evil in their lives.

For we are the Evil League of Evil Writers.

What’s the Big Red Button? It’s the one that always gets pushed in movies to make things happen. I’m pushing mine. Why? Because my Editor of Awesome needs a new shiny.

If you can chip in and help Editor of Awesome buy a new tool so she can make my books come out faster (after…you know…I write them), that would rule. (And I will let you live when I rule the world.)

Also, you know…you’ll get my books faster. You all want that, right?

In the words of Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise: MAKE IT SO. *presses the Big Red Button*