So, in honor of that, I’m going to give away two signed ARCs of DIRE NEEDS!  The contest ends at 10PM EST, and all you have to do to be entered is to tell me what upcoming books you’re most looking forward to in the comments below.  I always end up with a huge list of books to buy when I ask this question.

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

Obviously, my website has been revamped – it’s it gorgeous?!  Waxcreative, as always, exceeded my expectations!  So now it reflected the wolf  as well as the romantic suspenses and I think it ties in so well.

Wax also redid the Sydney Croft page as well!

So, upcoming – and SOON – is the prequel to the Eternal Wolf Clan series – Dire Warning!  It releases February 7th and then Dire Needs:  Book 1 in the EWC series comes out March 6th!

For those who’ve been asking about poor Reid and Grier from Night Moves, yes, I totally plan to do something for them before the new suspense series begins in 2013 – I promise to keep you posted!

Other than that, I’m diving into the first of the new romantic suspense series – the book is currently titled Unbreakable and the series is called Section 8.  I just handed in book 2 in the Eternal Wolf Clan series and I’m getting ready for a blog tour for the upcoming releases.  And, I’m also going to try to blog here more.

Stop laughing.  Just keep staring at Rifter over there on the left.  And I’ll update here for the blog tour because there will be giveaways along the way!  Hope everyone’s doing well and having a good start to 2012 – we had our first dusting of snow last night so it’s finally starting to feel like winter.  I like winter.  Probably because I commute from the bedroom to the kitchen and back…

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

My short story is connected to the HOLD series – you’ll see Jake and Chris and Jamie and Nick and the rest of the gang.  We were only supposed to write 5K and mine is close to 8K, so I cheated a little.  But there was so much more I wanted to write!  I’m definitely not done with this series and I’ve got plans, plans I tell you.

Anyway, as always, it’s been busy here, but Fall is always my favorite season.  I think it has something to do with school starting and having taught, but I always view September as the beginning for me.  I tend to get a huge bulk of writing done during this time too – I also plan for new projects as well.

I’m often asked how I write, how I stay focused, etc. In fact, Sarah just asked me on Twitter last night!  If you’ve been visiting this blog for a while, you’ve heard this before, but I like to talk about my process in case there are new writers out there who think there’s only one way to do things.

There’s not.  And when I first started out, I didn’t know that.  I couldn’t finish a book to save my life and couldn’t figure out why.  Somehow, I’d gotten it into my head that a book needed to be written in order.

The big secret?  It doesn’t.  You can write out of order!  You can write the end first, the middle first, you can jump all around.  At some point, of course, you have to pull the whole thing together, but until then, get it written any way you can.  I typically see the big moments first, and I tend to write those first.  I write down anything and everything that comes to mind.  But the key is, I’m always writing – because I have to for my contracts, but more so because I love writing.  I can’t not write.

I also write several books at once.  I don’t plot much, so this definitely helps my productivity.  I’m always moving forward on something.  Obviously, the contracted work that’s due next is the priority, but I usually have a couple of things with close due dates, plus copy edits, etc.  And somehow, the big mishmash all works for me.  I’m a really organized person, and writing in a disorganized way works because I can see the bigger picture – I keep my eye on it the entire time and I know I can pull together the puzzle in the end.  Is it the easiest way to write?  I don’t know, but it’s the only way I can, and I’ve tried others.  But I’ve written somewhere in the vicinity of 20 books or more and at this point, it’s my process and I’m sticking with it.

As we approach NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month in November) I’ll try to talk more about process and publishing and the like.  If you’ve got anything specific you’d like me to talk about, feel free to put it in comments or drop me an email via my contact page!

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

It sounds so…dramatic.

Covers for the next two should be appearing soon, so I’ll be on the lookout for them.  I believe the cover for Night Moves is in the works as well – my editor mentioned seeing a draft right after the New Year, which is something fun to look forward to.  It always feels so real once there’s a cool cover to go with the book you’ve been slaving over for what feels like forever.

Beyond Christmas shopping and Christmas decorating and trying to write the book that will not write itself (the aforementioned Night Moves and dude, Kell SO owes me for this one), plus copy edits for In the Air Tonight, things are crazy here.  Must get back to the writing marathon while Zoo has the children under control…

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

I still can’t really believe it.  I mean, last night, I was hyperventilating and in a general state of, well, stunned.  Like, really and truly and I’m so absolutely thrilled and thankful and grateful to all the people who bought the books and talked them up and blogged them.  You guys are awesome!

Even better, I get to share the thrill with Larissa Ione – we released the same day and her book, Ecstacy Unveiled, hit the New York Times at #23 and the USA Today Bestseller List at #58 (she’s hit both lists before and she just keeps climbing higher – I’m so proud of her!)

Larissa and I have done a lot together – I mean, we write together as Sydney Croft.  But it’s more than that – we sold our own first project within three days of one another.  She hit the Times with her third single title.  I hit it with mine.  And we’re right next to each other.  And we have purple covers.  So it’s really strange and really cool at the same time.

Zoo had a work dinner last night – when he came home, he said, you’d have thought I hit the list – everyone was buying me shots and drinks and stuff!

For the record, I had a brownie for dinner.  I know – I’m actually pretty happy about that.  Chocolate for dinner – who can complain?

Today, I’ll be trying to keep my mind on my revisions – and you can read my interview over at the Black Raven Cafe – stop on by and say hello and you’re eligible for a backlist giveaway!

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

Oh, and LIE WITH ME is up for preorder at Amazon! I’m working on revisions for Zane’s book, aka PROMISES IN THE DARK (and I’m dying for covers for his book and Cam’s! Soon, hopefully…)

Let’s see, what else, what else…HARD TO HOLD sold to Thailand and Sydney‘s Riding the Storm and Unleashing the Storm sold to Germany.  Foreign sales are always good news!

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

*edited to add*  Pearl, from Pearl’s World of Romance. has an awesome review of HOLD ON TIGHT up on her blog – she gives it a perfect 10!  WOOT!  One of my favorite lines (okay, I love the WHOLE review but I had to give you a sneak peek here) was this:  “The combination of strength and vulnerability in all the main characters is written so perfectly that I am still in awe.”

She also has a great review for TOO HOT TO HOLD right below it!

And you can find me guest blogging at several places today, all with giveaways.  Come visit me at Seductive Musings, Donna Grant’s Blog and Fresh Fiction!

HOLD ON TIGHT is Chris’s book.  His relationship with Jamie started in TOO HOT TO HOLD, and, as their story continues and there are some surprises in store for both of them.

They were caught in the crossfire between danger and desire…  

HE’S A NAVY SEAL SUSPECTED OF MURDER…SHE’S HIS LOVER, AND THE CHIEF INVESTIGATOR

Chris Waldron, an elite U.S. Navy SEAL, is used to getting out of tight spots. But all his years of training can’t prepare him for the crisis he now faces. When a mission to rescue a kidnapped ambassador and his wife goes tragically awry, an FBI hostage negotiator is killed and Chris finds himself at the center of the ensuing investigation. Leading the charge is the blistering hot special agent and onetime lover who has re-ignited their mutual attraction.

Jamie Michaels is determined to keep things professional with Chris Waldron this time. But seeing him bruised and battered in that hospital bed has rekindled all those feelings she thought she’d left behind during their brief, passionate encounter in Africa. Now Jamie must keep her craving for danger at bay as she spearheads a search for the truth that just may blow Chris’s career to bits—and put them both in the crosshairs of an unseen enemy.

***

Today, you’ll be able to find Chris’s soundtrack, glossary terms specific to his book and a character list up on my site.  I’ve got all of that for all three books now, plus maps and other extras, so feel free to look around and get lost in the site for a while.

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

Tomorrow night (Friday,Jan 22nd – 8PM EST) Larissa and I will also be chatting at LIST - about Nick and Chris and Lore and SEALs and Demons and everything in between.  Come on by (registration for the forum’s quick and painless) and have fun at the chat!

I’ve been holed up in the house (well, that’s nothing new) with a sick husband.  That’s like, the most un-fun thing ever, because sick man = someone send help please.  But thanks to Z-packs, he’s much better and should be going to work tomorrow so that way I can get back to work.

I’m so turned around anyway, thanks to the holiday on Monday.  So I’m like a day behind in my mind and my watch is giving tomorrow’s date, so I’m not sure if I’m coming or going.  Seems like a good time to huddle in and continue reading StarDoc.  I’ve never read this series and Lynn pulled me in immediately.  Loving it.

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

Oh, and I kept meaning to share this here – Yvette, a bud from the Writeminded loop let me know via Facebook that last week, she and her husband were in Walmart and she saw two women fighting over the last copy of Too Hot To Hold!  She said they were arguing and pulling at the book and all I kept thinking was, dude, if they’d gotten into a fistfight and the cops got called, I could’ve gotten some awesome publicity.  I mean, the headlines alone – WOMEN ARRESTED FIGHTING OVER STEPHANIE TYLER’S BOOKS!

Oh well, maybe someday.  What?  I can dream can’t I?

Also, Sue Grimshaw’s got her January book recs video up and she mentions two names that you might be familiar with (HINT – they are Navy SEALs and their books are out now!):  Sue’s Must Reads | Borders Media.

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

Right, winners, as in, I had SO much fun, I asked Lea to chose 2 winners instead of one.  So without further ado, the winners of a copy of HOLD ON TIGHT are…

MaryG and Jane!!!!

Congrats, ladies!  You can contact me or Lea with your snail mail and I’ll get your signed copies out to you ASAP.

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

Also, I was recently interview for The Big Thrill (the online publication of International Thriller Writers) by awesome author Mary Kennedy (who had a book release on Jan 5th, same day as Nick!). so check it out!

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.

I love the pictures.  If you couldn’t tell.

Anyway, today I’m going to direct you to two places, both with a giveaway.  I’m guesting over at Seductive Musings where I was interviewed by Carrie, and then Nick (and Jake and Chris)  are over at I Don’t Want To Wait, I I Want The Book Now being interviewed.

Things got a little crazy there, but Greta kept them in check.

©2012 Stephanie Tyler's Weblog. All Rights Reserved.