Her Mad Hatter is now FREE!

Yesterday I'd posted a plea asking anyone who read this to please help me price match through Amazon, but all I had was my Smashword link which I hear they don't price match with. Today, Kobo has shown up as free and I'm willing to bet they'll accept this one.

So if you could all please help me out because unfortunately I cannot set my book to free on Amazon, only you guys can do that for me. Otherwise, trust me, I would. :)

Here's the link to Kobo:

http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Her-Mad-Hatter/book-bLk6P20Pm0imJbifZ-OVZQ/page1.html?s=LqmfatPvx0KMxUtV6gmeNg&r=1

And to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hatter-Paranormal-Fantasy-Romance-Kingdom-ebook/dp/B008IL48BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346359422&sr=8-1&keywords=her+mad+hatter

Scroll down to product details, at the bottom you'll see something asking 'tell us of a lower price'. Click on that, a page will pop up, it'll ask you for the kobo link, plug that in and in the next two boxes enter 0, and another 0. Click okay, and Voila! It's all done. :)

ETA: However long it might take for Amazon to drop Hatter to free, the price has permanently dropped to .99 cents, effective tomorrow.

Happy reading!
~Marie

The Witching Hour: Grim Reaper Saga is getting ready to go live any day now. Though likely early next week some point. It's currently with the formatter, getting all snazzy and gussied up and I'm thrilled to finally see this one going out into the great big world.

Why?

Well, this was always the book that almost was. My agent at the time, was shopping the book around. We had a fair amount of interest from HQN and I had stars in my eyes. I could already see that book on shelves, an entire series made from it, and fans wanting to know when the next one would be coming out.

But life doesn't always go the way you've planned it. Real life derailed my writing and that book for 6 years. After a while I'd sort of resigned myself to the fact that it was as close to the big time as I'd ever get. Real life finally settled down and I could go back to writing, but I could never forget the amount of enthusiasm the project received from NY. Fast forward a couple years and Indie publishing is like the next big thing and I'm thinking... hmm, I wonder.

It still took a lot of cajoling by friends to get me to decide the book deserved a chance at a new life. My writing has vastly improved since then (most writers will say that they get stronger with each book), but this was six years later. So I've cleaned it up, but left the essence of the story in tact. Would I write this book today? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a great story, and though there will be no sequels with this one (it's been too long and I can't remember any of the plot I'd had planned for it) this one is more than able to stand on its own two feet.

So, below is the blurb and the cover. I'll be releasing this book through Amazon's KDP Select program.

The Witching Hour: Grim Reaper Saga

Because sometimes death isn’t the end…

 

After not only being run over, but watching her husband die in the same hit and run, Eve Philips thought she would never love again. Years pass and her sisters worry that she’ll become an old crone like so many other witches. They’ve made it their personal mission to help her find her next true love. But Eve wants none of that, she throws herself into her potions shop--Witches Brew--determined work, and not a lover, will fix the void in her heart.

 

Until the day she sees him. Cian, gorgeous and mysterious, she’s frightened by the desires he brings out in her. A passion that rivals even the love she’d felt for her husband.

 

But Cian is not what he seems. He’s fae. More than that, he’s the grim reaper of legend and his mission means her death. She shouldn’t have seen him. His kind moves in stealth, but the moment her golden eyes meets his he knows his world will never be the same. He’ll defy his orders and his Queen to keep her. But will Eve want what he offers when she discovers the truth? That he was the one who harvested her husband’s soul...

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Disney I go!!

I'm so excited. Last year Hawaii got it's first Disney Resort, it's called Aulani and I knew the moment they finished building it, we'd go... it was just trying to figure out when. Well, the time has arrived. Thank God!! I think my family all needs a vacation, I know... I know, I live in Hawaii... isn't it always a vacation?

No.

Fun fact, we have the worst traffic in all of the states. Don't believe me, look it up. Worse than L.A. at the end of the workday. But the stresses of work, life, all of it... vacation is just what this writer needs and I plan to bask in it. It'll be sun, surf, and Mickey. And I for one cannot wait! And my kids will probably like it too. ;)

I'll be gone this weekend, and might even post some pictures when I get back. Who knows. :D

So, update on writing... Red is now 50% complete. Yay... am just loving this story, hope you all will too.

I'm also in the final stages of formatting: The Witching Hour: Grim Reaper Saga... below is the blurb:

Because sometimes death isn’t the end…

 

After not only being run over, but watching her husband die in the same hit and run, Eve Philips thought she would never love again. Years pass and her sisters worry that she’ll become an old crone like so many other witches. They’ve made it their personal mission to help her find her next true love. But Eve wants none of that, she throws herself into her potions shop--Witches Brew--determined work, and not a lover, will fix the void in her heart.

 

Until the day she sees him. Cian, gorgeous and mysterious, she’s frightened by the desires he brings out in her. A passion that rivals even the love she’d felt for her husband.

 

But Cian is not what he seems. He’s fae. More than that, he’s the grim reaper of legend and his mission means her death. She shouldn’t have seen him. His kind moves in stealth, but the moment her golden eyes meets his he knows his world will never be the same. He’ll defy his orders and his Queen to keep her. But will Eve want what he offers when she discovers the truth? That he was the one who harvested her husband’s soul…

Till next time, happy reading,
~Marie

Hate secrets...

I was the type of child (and truthfully still am) who loved knowing what I was going to get at Christmas and my birthday beforehand. Knowing, in no way, took away the fun for me. In fact, it only made me more anxious for things to happen.

And I guess it should come as no shock, that I'm also terrible at keeping secrets. If I've watched a movie and it was THAT good, well... I'm liable to tell you the whole plot, down to said character's favorite food. Always shocks me that people don't like to have the reveal ahead of time. I can't be the only one in the bookstore thumbing to the back of the book first... I mean, if character X dies... then there's no way I'm going to take 6 hours out of my life to invest in a character who'll die in the end. (Ahem, Pru from Hunger Games *cough cough*)... had something in my throat.

Anyway, that is why I'm absolutely bursting at the seams to tell ya'll something and for once, I'm actually torn between telling all now, or.... waiting until I can actually do the reveal.

So I guess, I'll just have to wait to tell until later....

Oh, who am I kidding?!?!?!? There's no way! :p

So, I hired the most AMAZING cover artist alive. She does the most beautiful artwork for all the big 6, in layman's terms... she works for the bigwigs of the publishing industry. She's the equivalant of owning a coach bag as opposed to the Wal-Mart special. So the surprise is I'll be putting out an omnibus edition, in both print and eform of the first 3 Kingdom books and she'll be doing the cover for it. I've asked her to incorporate the themes from all three. Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Red Riding Hood. We're still talking, but wow is this going to be spectacular. I cannot wait to see it myself. I'm going absolutely nuts waiting, but I've hired a photographer to do shoots of what I imagine my Hatter to look like and she'll take over from there. I cannot wait to share, and for those of you who haven't bought my books, but have been considering it... just wait till you see the cover. It might make you take that chance.

I'll still be working with Elaina, my current designer, but this was really a treat to me for great sales, and a gift to my readers for being so loyal. :)

Oh... and Red is now 40% done. ;) And since I'm in a sharing mood... proof, that I am still working on Wolf!

Lit with desire, her sanity screamed at her to get away, but her traitorous body could only undulate as the pleasure overwhelmed her with its violence.

Ahhh... true love. Kind of, put it like this... Red isn't happy about this at all!

Till next time my little chou's...
~Marie

P.S. Happy 10th Birthday to Red Rocket. He's been a blessing in my life and the best son a mom could ever have!

If you'd like to see my artist's work here's her link, she's fantastic!
http://phatpuppyart.com/

Favorite sentence today...

I was on a tear today and really hit my stride with Wolf, hated to cut things off.... love days like that, so... I'll share my favorite sentence today...

The creature knew one thing. Hunger. The graves' held nothing but bones, which meant he and Red were the only meat around...

Ooohhh, how dreadful. :p And slightly more than one line, but hey... I'm having so much fun with this one!

Happy reading my little chou's!
~Marie :)

Update Time

So where am I at with writing? Time for an update. :)

Red and Her Wolf is now officially at 30% done. May not sound like a lot, but considering I've only been at this for 2 weeks, well... I should *fingers crossed* finish this with another 2 weeks of nose to the grindstone working. However, there will then be edits and that will take a while, not to mention fomatting. Thankfully, my cover is done. So that's a wait I won't have.

The Witching Hour: Grim Reaper Saga is now done. I'm simply waiting on formatting, but it's ready to go. I'm hoping to get it published by sometime next week!

I also have a plethora of other projects currently done, but needing editing. The Kingdom Series is a fun way for me to wile away my days, but in all truth... I'm much more of an Urban Fantasy writer. I prefer darker, richer storylines. They always involve romance, but the romance is in no way the motivating factor of the series. I've noticed my love of darker prose has begun to bleed into Wolf. For those of you reading my Kingdom Series, light and happy, is not my normal style. I do tend to be humorous... just who I am, I guess... but... well, I guess you'll see with Wolf. I'm very happy with what I've written so far and hope you all will enjoy the ride!

Happy reading!
~Marie

The Hunger Games... Hmmm

So I finally caved and watched Hunger Games. Yes, sadly I did and I wish I hadn't. Not because I didn't like it, but because it made me feel icky watching it. The whole time I did I kept thinking, am I just as blood-thirsty as the audience in the movie?

Why?

Because that group of evil kids... by the end of the movie I was rooting for someone to do something truly heinous to them. But then I kept thinking, oh my gosh, what's wrong with me... this is a movie, those are kids, probably perfectly nice ones...

I didn't even read the books because I just couldn't stomach the thought of children killing children, and then finding out spoilers about books 2 and 3, such as Katniss turning Peeta (sp?) into a hardened, almost cruel man because of how she treats him. That many of the primary characters in book 1 die, that the entire series is such a blood bath, why in the world would I want to invest any emotional time into something like that.

And yet...

I couldn't put off the macabre need to know what was it about this movie that had teenagers and adults all atwitter.

I can say this, the plot was surprisingly good. I have no idea about the books, I still won't read them and likely I won't be watching anymore sequels, I just don't want to see sweet Peeta becoming, as he said "something that he's not" and knowing it's because of Katniss. She has got to be one of the most unlikeable heroines I've ever read. It was honorable how she did save her sister and little Pru, well... until Pru inevitably got offed, but those were probably her only redeeming traits so far as the movie went. When she and Peeta kissed, it was so sweet... but in the back of my head I just kept thinking, run away Peeta, she's a viper...

So did I enjoy it? Yes and no. Yes, great story, no... I still don't like seeing kids killing one another, that platform scene was especially tough for me to stomach.

All in all, I wish I'd never watched it honestly. Very disturbing.

What do you guys thing? Is it just me?

~Marie

And the winner is!!!

First off, let me just say a big fat THANK YOU, to all of you for stopping by my very first blog hop. I learned a lot and had a ton of fun getting to know you guys!

With that said, I do believe there is still the matter of picking a winner for the 10 dollar gift card to barnes and nobles. So with further ado...

Christine Sheets... come on down! *oh, umm... I mean, you won. Too much price is right...lol*

Thank you all for joining and I hope it was as much fun for ya'll as it was for moi. :D

Happy reading,
~Marie

PS... Christine you're name will now be thrown in into the 100 dollar grand prize drawing!

Contact me at mariehallwrites@gmail.com for futher instructions from me. :) Thanks.

Six Sentence Sunday (Or is it??) Red and Her Wolf

So I debated whether to stick another preview of my Reaper book up, or do one for wolf. To alleviate any curiosity as to whether I'm still working on book 3 of the Kingdom series. I've decided to give a six sentence peek into my wip. :)

So set up:

Wolf is searching for Red, he's heard her cry the night before and believes her to be hidden with the Hatter's Mad realm. But a certain cat stumbles upon him while he's searching and Wolf discovers a secret he can hardly believe...

The cat floated at the edge of sanity and reason, a creature of madness and lunacy, he was unable to go further for fear of losing himself beyond the safety of his woods.

Ahead the land rolled like the soft swell of a rolling sea. Stopping, Ewan panted, catching his breath, waiting for his heartbeat to return to its normal rhythm. Jinni floated by his side, gazing up at the bejeweled sky with profound longing painted on his face.

“The fairy has lied to you, wolf.” Cheshire lifted a brow, the perpetual grin curving higher like twin sickles. Cat’s voice was low, filled with hubris. “The girl is not here. She never was. She’s on Earth. A place called, A-Laska.”

His chuckle grated on Ewan’s nerves.

Popping his eyeballs out, Cheshire juggled them in the palms of his fuzzy hands. “Ask me how I know, dog.”

“The cat lies, Ewan,” Jinni hissed. “Do not listen to his madness.”

“Do I? I did not think that I did.” He tossed the eyes higher into the air with each pass, until finally he threw them so hard they blazed a white streak through the night.

Well, as you can see, it's much bigger than six sentences. Honestly, it's one of my favorite scenes and I just didn't know where to cut it, so I didn't. :p Remember, blog hop ends tonight! Say hi and you might just win a 10 dollar gift certificate to B&N AAAAANNNNDDD have your name thrown into the grand prize pot for the 100 dollar prize! Imagine how many books you can buy with that? Why... you could even afford a couple of books by a fabulous author. ;)

Happy reading!
~Marie

Red and Her Wolf... da da da da...

Hello world,

so... I've been reading a couple of reviews wondering where I'm at with Red and am I working on it. The answer is a big, fat YES! I'm so excited! I've plotted the story, have written the first part of it and am super excited about where it's going. :)

It's already looking like it will be longer than even Gerard. By at least another 10k words. By the end of edits, all of that might change. But for now, it's gearing up to be more of a mid-length novel than a novella. Roughly 50k words. Technically speaking, anything over 45k words or roughly 180 pages, give or take, is considered a short full-length novel. Kingdom has been novella length, but definitely on the longer side of that equation, each roughly coming in at 40k words. So longish for a novella. Honestly, I never did like shorties because I always felt like you couldn't put enough heart and meat into a 20 page story. Which is why my Kingdom series comes up to roughly 150 pages. Novella length, but definitely on the broader end of the spectrum. But for all of you who like more meat on your bones, you'll be happy to note that Wolf has decided his story is much longer and has a much more intricate backstory and I'm only too happy to comply. Typically my books tend to range between 75k-80k words. Or about 250-280 pages. Kingdom books were just meant to be fun without too much thought to it... but old habits die hard, and I wouldn't be surprised if by the time I write Hook's book it works its way to 60-70k. That's really where I, as a writer, feel most comfortable writing.

So I've decided, since I'm in a sharing mood to well.... share. *shrug* :D Here's a brief snippet (and by brief I mean, don't blink 'cause you might miss it). So enjoy:

There was blood everywhere. On her arms, her hands, her face. It coated her tongue, but she didn’t stop stabbing. Over and over again. The wolf lay still, no longer fighting. Little more than a carcass and still she savaged it.

“Down with the Big Bad Wolf,” Vi hissed, stabbing her knife down the gut of the beast; smiling as the blood painted the white snow crimson red.

Hmm... that Red is rather savage, no? LOL... I think the Wolf definitely has his work cut out for him and in the words of the immortal Desi Arnaz: "Has lots of esplainin' to do!" ;) For anyone curious as to the artwork for this one, well here you go... Red and Her Wolf, the official cover:

Happy reading,

~Marie

Hot Heroes Part Deux

Hi ya'll. Yes, that Southern Twang is quite intentional. So a little bit about me, before I talk about my boys. I'm part Panamanean and parts Country, and I bet you can't tell which one I tend to identify with more?

Two guesses, and the first *don't* count. ;)

So the truth is, I was born and raised in Latin America, my momma is 100 percent Latina, and that's a huge part of who I am. BUT, for the majority of my life the bible belt has been where I call home. Ultimately. And I say ultimately because being first a military brat, and now a military wife... home is where the orders say they are. But MO is a constant in my life.

Now, I said all that, to say this... I've got a thing for inserting places where I've been and people I've come across into my worlds. Don't ask me why, just happens. And a great majority of my books will feature a character very prominently Southern.

I've also been told I have a wicked sense of humor...

Gerard: Mon Dieu, Marie... Do you plan to bore the readers with your life? It's truly a yawn fest. Talk about me. I'm what they're here for after all. (sultry grin)

Marie: Oh jeez, Gerard! Are you serious? Why can't you just let me have a little me time? I'm trying to tell my readers about my life! I mean, they're here because they read my books, right?!

Gerard: *stage whisper* Oh, wonderful, beautiful reader... Have you come to hear the prattle of a mid--

Marie: GERARD!!! Don't you dare tell my age, don't you know a woman never ages past her twenties?

Gerard: Oui. Oui. (Shakes head) Point is, dear reader, I'm the beefcake you've come to see. I'm tall. Quite muscular. In fact, I've been told I bear an uncanny resemblence to Gerard Butler. Though I'm much more attractive than him.

Marie: *grumble grumble* Yeah, and you've got a big, fat ego. No wonder Prince Charming was ready to go all 'Off with your head'. Ladies, stay far away from this one, he's bad news.

Gerard: Non! Mon Cherie, I'm reformed. Just ask my Belle. She is quite satisfied--

Marie: Good gosh, Gerard! Somebody save me...

Gerard: Hatter, what are you doing here?

The Mad Hatter: I seek the answer to the riddle...

Marie: Oh merciful heavens! When I asked someone to come save me, I meant someone less arrogant than Gerard, and infinitely more sane than you, dear Hatter! No offense.

The Mad Hatter: *Sly grin* None taken. Up is down, down is up, time is senseless in a senseful way. Wouldn't you agree?

Marie: Hatter, where's Alice? Seriously, you're losing your marbles again. No one wants to read this nonsense. You boys have destroyed my blog entry.

*LOW GROWL*

Marie: Yes! Wolf, thank goodness you're here. Please, take these boys someplace else so I can finish my thoughts in peace and quiet.

Big Bad Wolf: For a boon, I will.

Marie: *eye roll* What now?

Big Bad Wolf: Find Red. She is mine, I will not stop until she is returned to me.

Marie: Wolf, I hate to tell you this, but she might not want to return. You sort of killed her grandmother.

Big Bad Wolf: NO! You know the truth of that story, I saved her. I love her. Give her back to me, or I'll never stop haunting your thoughts!

Marie: *stares at the audience* Readers, I'm so sorry, the story of me will have to wait for another day. My boys are quite obnoxious at the moment.

Big Bad Wolf/The Mad Hatter/Gerard: Marie. Marie. What is time? Find Red! Hello, lovely chou's...

Marie: Oh brother! Well, I guess I gotta run... don't forget, say hello for a chance to win a 10 dollar gift card to Barnes and Nobles, and as added incentive, the winner's name will be thrown into a grand prize lottery for the chance to win a 100 dollar gift card to B&N!

Good luck and happy reading,
~Marie

Hot Heroes Blog Hop Time!

Hi all, make yourself comfortable. Hang out for a while, read some of the snippets of my books and say hi! In return, I'll be giving out a 10 dollar gift certificate to Barnes and Nobles at the end of the blog hop!! Easy peasy. :) Thanks for stopping by! ~Marie

Six Sentence Sunday (Oops!) Witching Hour

Sometimes time just gets away from me. Anyway, here is a very belated S.S.S. This is from my soon to be released long length novel: The Witching Hour--Grim Reaper Saga. So without further ado...


Set up:

The heroine (Eve) is meeting the hero (Cian--pronounced with a K sound) for the first time.... or is she?... hmmm...

Just looking at him made her feel as if she’d bitten into decadence and her body definitely noticed, hot shivers coursed down her spine. Her breathing increased by a notch.

Like two magnets being drawn together, he finally looked her way. Mesmerizing eyes, the color of sea frost, held her enthralled.

Those eyes. A thread of a memory tried to worm its way out.

Till next week my little chou's! *wink*

~Marie :D

Gerard's Beauty!

Is now free on Amazon. If you're the slightest bit curious about a Beauty and the Beast spinoff, and by spinoff I mean through the eyes of the villain, you may enjoy it.

http://www.amazon.com/Gerards-Kingdom-Paranormal-Fantasy-Romance-ebook/dp/B008QPCII8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344469721&sr=8-1&keywords=gerards+beauty

The mind of an author

Ever wonder how an author gets inspired? Well here's a sneak peek into my head. But I warn you, it's a dangerous, sometimes twisted place. ;)

As in the case of Hatter I was recently told, 'WOW... I never expected the heroine to have cancer... that's pretty deep for a romance, no?'

And my answer is, 'yeah, it is.' But you know I can't pretend that tragedy doesn't exist in this world. Back in '06 I was diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer. Choriocarcinoma, for any of you who want to google. I went through chemo, various doctor check ups, but I was LUCKY. If there's any cancer a woman wants to get, it's that one. It's basically the jackpot of cancers. The cure rate is over 97%, and that's even if its metastisized to all parts of the body, the only exception is when it moves into the brain. I only had to undergo 5 weeks of chemo, but only once a week. But sitting in that sick room, watching some people who were nothing but skin and bones and knowing I would probably walk away fine, even while most of them wouldn't... I wanted to cry. I saw one man kneeling over his wife every week, rubbing her hand while she sat in the chair getting hours worth of chemo, I saw her become more of a shell each week and I always wondered about them. Even when I was given the all clear, even now (6 years later) I can't stop thinking about that image. A strong virile man with his forehead resting on her tiny hand. I wanted them to have a happily ever after and so I modeled my Hatter and Alice after those two. Alice is sick, deathly sick, and she will die... but this is a romance and I just couldn't let it end in tragedy, I fixed their ending... something I couldn't do for that couple in the hospital room.

Gerard is different, while it's a fun and sometimes irreverent retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I wanted to include an aspect to the story that was nowhere in the original because it happens to hit very close to home for me. I have a niece, a beautiful little girl. She's 6, she smiles so big, and is always so happy. She will also never mentally age much more than a second or third grader. I love her, she's perfect, that's how I see her and that's who I modeled Briley after. He sees the world through eyes so different than ours and yet because of that he can see straight to the truth of a matter, there's no deviousness involved, no mind games, he is what he is and other's can't help but love him because of that.

For me, the romance genre transcends more than man meets woman, woman and man fall in love, and that's the end. There's so many variations of love, and romance, and I feel they're all needed in romance. I'll never write a romance without a happily ever after because if there was any aspect of real life I wish I could change it would be that bad things don't happen to good people... in my world, it doesn't, and that's all I hope to achieve when I write.

If I can leave the reader smiling, happy, and sighing, then I've accomplished my job!

And if anyone is interested in reading Gerard, it will be going FREE on amazon the 8-10, this Wednesday through Friday, so if you'd like to check out my work that would be the time to do it! :)

Happy reading!
~Marie

Six Sentence Sunday

Back for another riveting round of six sentences! LOL... so to pick back up, this is from my soon to be released novel: The Witching Hour (Grim Reaper Saga).



Cian pulled his hand from his pocket, exposing the skeletal appendage. The bouncer stiffened when he pointed a finger at his blond head. The penetrating chill of hoarfrost shot from Cian’s hand into the air, circling the vamps head. Death’s mark. The vampire sucked in a shaky breath as his crimson stained lips turned a pale shade of blue. A dark trickle of blood slid from his nose.

So there's out first introduction to our hero. He can be quite frightening, but as you'll soon see, also very, very passionate about what's his. I think all the best heroes are like that, no?

Cian pronounced with a hard (K) sound is my version of the Phantom.

Till next week!

~Marie