Oh gosh! It's already November! 2011 is so close to being over!

The Last Slayer preorder links went live on Amazon (US, UK, Germany, France) and BN on November 1. I went all squee over them. Although my editors, husband, son, relatives, friends, clerks at the local grocery store and general people in the neighborhood might disagree, I'm really very easy to please. :-)

And the production team from Carina Press sent me the final copy of The Last Slayer. It looks stunning in every way, and I'm really happy with how perfectly formatted it is. Thank you, everyone at Carina!

If you want to check out an excerpt, you can go here. If you sign up for my newsletter, I'll be sending out more excerpts in December before the official release date, plus you'll get updates on special contests and so on.

As for my plans for November, I've decided I'm going to be crazy and do NaNo. (I ever registered for it…) I'm not really trying to go for 50k. That's insane given all the stuff I have to do. But I'm trying to get as much as possible written for the sequel to The Last Slayer.

How about you? Anything fun happening? Are you doing NaNo this year?

Lynette interviewed yours truly and is hosting a giveaway of A Happily Ever After of Her Own. Go check it out! :)

I can't believe 2011 is now 75% over! Wow, where did all that time go?

So let's see what I've been up to…

The Last Slayer

I got a note that Audible picked it up, so it's going to be available as an audio book. That's super-exciting: my first audio book! I'll keep you updated.

Oh and in case you haven't seen it, here's the cover from Carina Press. The Art Department and Frauke Spanuth did an amazing job. I also love how Carina Press reworked the back cover blurb, incorporating the pitch paragraph from my cover letter and adding more to it.

The Last Slayer Sequel

I've titled it Thrones of Thorns for now. I wanted to the title to refer to some kind of element in the story, and I'll leave it up to you to imagine what that might be. It may change though…

This is the project I'm doing the 500 Words a Day Challenge with, and so far it's going very well. At this rate, I'll be done with the first draft by mid-December at the latest. I'll have to do a round of revision before I can show it to anyone for feedback, but this time I'm going to try sending it before drafting it millions of times. Usually that's what I do before showing my project to anybody… I can get a weeeee bit obsessive. But recently I realized that when I do that, I usually don't want to do further rounds of revision, incorporating everyone's comments, because just the idea of looking at the project one more time makes me feel ill. Which, if you think about it, is really unproductive and silly. So it's time for a Change In Process.

The Sekrit Assassin Project

I can't believe I'm still drafting it, but I am. (Don't judge me.) Anyway, I'm going to finish this draft before the year's over and send it to Agent. I don't think there's anything else I can do to this project that I haven't thought of, and it's about time she sees it.

On to non-writing stuff…

I can't wait for Dexter to start! W00t! It's one of my favorite shows, and I'm dying to meet this season's serial killer.

And here's the Boy, 3 months old. People have asked for a picture, and I finally got around to moving photos from my digital camera to the PC. The onesie is a special gift from his honorary Auntie May. (Maybe he'll grow up to be Spiderman…)

Have a great October, everyone!

Isn't this lovely?

The Last Slayer

Ashera del Cid is a talented demon hunter, but when she kills a demigod's pet dragon, the hunter becomes the hunted. Her only potential ally is Ramiel, a sexy-as-hell demon. Now the two must work together to battle dragons and demigods…and the chemistry crackling between them.

Ramiel has his own reasons for offering Ashera his protection. He knows her true identity and the real reason the demigods want her dead. What he can't predict is how she'll react when she discovers he knew who she was all along…

Ashera is shocked to discover that she is the only daughter of the last slayer. To claim her destiny, she and Ramiel must join forces to face down danger and outwit their enemies. Only then will she be able to truly accept her legacy…

Available on December 26, 2011 from Carina Press! :)

Can you believe September is already almost half over?

I just got done with The Last Slayer edits. So now I'm waiting to get the final e-author copy to plan marketing and promotion for the book. A part of that is doing guest blog posts. Yes, I'm volunteering! If you have a topic you'd like me to cover — inspiration, world-building, the business side of writing, etc. — please leave a comment or email me. (I'm also planning to do interviews as well. :) )

Speaking of The Last Slayer, I updated my book page with a first chapter excerpt. You can read it here. :)

Also, once I get the author copy, I'll give away about ten copies to my newsletter subscribers who are willing to read and review the book. If you want to be considered, feel free to sign up for my newsletter here.

This month I'm taking a workshop on sexual tension and continuing to work on the sequel to The Last Slayer. So far I have about 30% of it written, plus the synopsis. I can't wait to get it written and share it with you.

I hope all of you have a fabulous rest-of-September!

When I started writing stories I wrote anything that popped into my head. Some of the ideas I had were beyond bizarre, and the plots fizzled out with no ending in sight. However, as I worked on my technique and learned the art of crafting a story I became a lot more disciplined. I still wrote by the seat of my pants, plotting sends my creativity scurrying for cover, but I knew where the plot would end, even if I had no idea how I could get there. So, imagine my horror when, in the midst of working on a still incomplete serious futuristic sci-fi suspense, I got an idea for the most manic story ever with no ending, just a cast of crazy characters.

The story was born when I wondered how a girl who had never had a fulfilling sexual relationship would cope if she got persuaded to invest in a male escort business. Even worse, despite assuring my heroine, Meg, she would stay within the law, what if her best friend offers their escorts for more than just movie and a dinner? So, we have a sexually repressed heroine who has accidentally become a pimp. Hmm, how about if she shares a flat with a man who is far from repressed and is willing to help her lose her inhibitions, has a mother who is frigid, and a great aunt who chases anything in trousers? Oh and an Irish male stripper who signs up for a job as an escort and takes every opportunity he can to try and seduce poor Meg. Does it sound crazy yet?

These were just some of the cast that jostled for attention in my head. Convinced the only way to get over this madness was to write the book, I set to work. In less than six weeks, Male Order was done. I edited it and sent it off, telling my critique partner that people would either think it was really funny, or send the men in white coats.

I am sure we have all been told a movie or TV show is hysterical and yet when we've watched it can't imagine why anyone would find it in the least big amusing. Comedy isn't a universal language and different people find different things funny. Hence, my trepidation about the response I would get from publishers. Within a week I had the answer to my question can I write comedy from two publishers, both offering contracts. I signed up with Liquid Silver Books and Male Order began the journey to publication.

Now finally the question can be asked of the reading public. I really hope people find my strange cast of characters amusing and will even take a chance on book two, once I finish writing it. Apparently writing the first story just encouraged Meg, Sam, Laura, Michael, Aunt Maud and all the other weird cast of characters to move in. Goodness only knows how many stories they expect to star in!

Visit Lillian Grant at lilliangrant.com