Ahem.  Anyway, this novella is about 25K (100 pages) and it centers on introducing you to the main Dire Wolf characters – it lets you into the world and is heavy on alpha male interaction  What could be more fun?!

Here’s the blurb:

A breathtaking new tale of the Dire Wolves, from the bestselling author of Dire Needs…

Immortal and invincible, Rifter is the head of the last surviving pack of Dire Wolves—a band of Alpha brothers charged with protecting the Weres. But now that witches have joined forces with nefarious weretrappers, it’s a perfect storm for double trouble. When the murder of a human points to a wolf, along with the threat of the packs being outted to the world, the Dires fear that something even more dangerous is out there hiding in the dark, something waiting for the right time to show itself.

You can read an excerpt here!  And you can go buy it on Amazon Kindle, B&N Nook and iBooks through the links here! <—–more exclamation points!!!

And I’m going to give away another ARC of Dire Needs here today  All you have to do is buy Dire Warning and show me the receipt!

Kidding.  (What?  It’s a good strategy – and there are exclamation points )

Anyway, seriously, to be eligible to win an ARC (uncorrected print copy) of Dire Needs, just leave a comment below and tell me how much you love Dire Warning, the SEAL books, me in general what you’re reading!  I’m just starting Book 1 in Lora Leigh’s Breed Series.  Somehow, I started waaay in the middle.

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

There’s a chance to win a copy of DIRE WARNING on Under The Covers Book Blog - the winner will be chosen on 2/6, so go comment!  I’ll gift the eSpecial to you on release day, 2/7!

*realizes the only punctuation I’ve used in this post are exclamation points and thinks about cutting back on the caffeine*

©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.

Will the mountain lion play with me?!

And I’m like, you know, I’m betting it’s a family of shifters who moved into the area!

Mom:  What are you talking about?

Me:  A family of mountain lion shifters.  Like, they’re people who can become mountain lions.  How cool is that?

Mom:  You’re really nuts, you know that?

I knew you all would understand.

Anyway, my NAL paranormal series has titles and a series name!  Book one is Dire Needs:  A Novel of the Eternal Wolf Clan and, according to Amazon, it’s available March 6, 2012!  I should have cover copy approved soon (and a cover) but you can find out a little more about the series here.  I’m having a blast writing these books!  Oh, and yes, it’ll be available on Kindle and Nook and such, but sometimes those links take a little longer to go up.

I’ve also got an In The Air Tonight sneak peek up here and a Night Moves sneak peek up here. So lots of sneak peek goodness!

Also, Sydney Croft’s Taken By Fire, ACRO Book 6 got a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews!  Of course, a certain 11 month old shredded the magazine beyond repair so I don’t have the actual review, but it was a great one!

I’m in the middle of writing a couple of proposals and waiting to hear some news on something.  Well, actually, I’ve heard some news, but I can’t share it yet.  So fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly.  I’ll let you all know as soon as I can!

In a couple of weeks, RWA NYC will be upon me, so I’m trying to prep for that.  Larissa and her husband will be staying here for a few days before the conference, too, so it’ll be great to spend some downtime with them before the madness of the conference begins.  The conference is always a bit overwhelming to me but I’m excited to catch up with writing buds and blogging friends I’ll be meeting for the first time!

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

Well, he’s been in some houses for a while – and I’ve heard from one person that he’s been vacationing in Disney!  But as of today, you should be able to buy your very own copy of TOO HOT TO HOLD everywhere.  

And, if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see the brothers hanging out together, the way Shannon (Dorothy?  nah, too easy) Stacey did!

TOO HOT TO HOLD, for those readers new to my site, is book 2 in my Navy SEAL trilogy.

Book 1, HARD TO HOLD, is, of course, still available – you can check out the wonderful review Stacy (aka Trelaina) wrote up.  I particularly like this quote: “They [the heroes] are flawed, and dangerous, a bit crazy even.”

And book 3, HOLD ON TIGHT, releases in a few weeks on January 26th!!!

I’ve added lots of little tidbits about Nick’s story on my site, so please go look around.  You’ll also find a nice long excerpt of HOLD ON TIGHT that went up today as well!

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

Proceeds from twelve critiques will go to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and thirteen will go to the Deafness Research Foundation. Ebay doesn’t allow multiple bidders on one auction, so there will be 25 separate auctions on which you can bid. You can choose which foundation you want to benefit by clicking on one of the links below.

You can find all the details and links to the eBay auction here.

So go forth and bid!  

Oh, and Shamaya sent a picture!  Look – Suzanne Brockmann and Linda Howard are touching me!

I mean, not inappropriately or anything.  But they seem to like cozying up to Jake.  Lynn’s Alexandra will not take kindly to this…

Me:  Look – Texas Walmart!

Zoo:  Cool. *mumbles something about driving Sharon around*

Me:  We’re totally moving to Texas.

Zoo:  You know we have a Walmart like 20 minutes away.  They probably have your book too.

Me:  Then why no pictures?

Zoo:  Well, you’re the one who’d take those picture.

Me:  Don’t use logic on me – we’re totally moving to Texas.

I’m also a guest at Seductive Musings today – with an exclusive new HARD TO HOLD excerpt and a giveaway that’s only open for today, so come on over and check it out!

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

1.  Check out the brand new sneak peek for HOLD ON TIGHT (aka Chris’s book) which releases on January 26, 2010.

2.  I am now following Chip Coffey on Twitter.  Awesome!

3.  Sons of Anarchy 90 minute episode tonight.  (I also follow Kurt Sutter on Twitter)

4.  HARD TO HOLD releases in 13 days!

5. I have a case of Diet Dr. Pepper.  (it’s the little things)

6.  For Nano-ish – I need 3K today.  I need 5K but would take 3K.  It’s been days of, working / writing all day only to have word count remain the same – this happens when I have to put the mess together, revise scenes / rewrite, etc.  So in the end, it’ll be a stronger mess but I really like to see the word count piling up.  That should start to happen now.

7. HARD TO HOLD releases in 13 days!  (can’t say this one enough)

8.  I was informed that the Hold trilogy sold to Germany!  Gus is taking credit for this, since he is of German descent, as is Zoo.

9.  This prompts my mother to ask why my 3rd Blaze has not sold to Italy yet when the first two did.  Do you want me to call them, she asks.  Um, no.  Please.  The episode where Marie (from Everybody Loves Raymond) calls the FBI about Robbie’s job springs to mind.

10.  HARD TO HOLD.  13 days.  Panic begins to set in…(did I tell you that when my mom offered to let  a relative know when the book hit stores, the relative said, ah, it’s okay – we’re not big readers.)  Dude, seriously, you cannot make this stuff up.

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

TEMPTING THE FIRE
August 2010

EXTREME HEAT. EXTREME HUNGER.
A JUNGLE EDEN ABLAZE WITH TEMPTATION.

Shockwaves shoot through the Agency for Covert Rare Operatives (ACRO) when horrific video surfaces from the Brazilian rain forest. A team of Navy SEALs has been nearly wiped out by something sinister and superhuman. Now ACRO agents Sela Kahne and Marlena West head to the world’s most unforgiving jungle in pursuit of a mythical monstrosity with a taste for human blood. And the only path that will take them to the creature runs through two men, each hiding his own dark secret.

Sela is an expert on cryptozoology with a sideline skill that could prove invaluable: when she makes love to a man, she engulfs his innermost thoughts. Teamed with Marlena, Sela makes contact with the lone SEAL survivor, Chance McCormack. Meanwhile Logan Mills, the man who rescued Chance, leads his private company on a hunt that has nothing to do with saving lives. Soon, Sela will put her supernatural charms to work on Logan, determined to extract information about the creature they are seeking. But in this sweat-drenched realm of danger and deception, Logan is more than just a passive target. He has the power to lead a highly-trained seducer into a jungle without any rules, without any limits—and no end to the heat.

***

There’s also a brand new Sneak Peek up for TOO HOT TO HOLD!!!

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

Anyway, a new sneak peek from TOO HOT TO HOLD (aka Nick’s book) has just been posted!  

Also, I’ve just been told that the release date has shifted a week, so instead of being available December 29th, it’ll be pubbed on January 5, 2010.  So really, much easier than trying to ship out over New Years.  If you pre-ordered it from Amazon, you’ll have to go in and approve the order again since the date did change.

So far, the official release date for HOLD ON TIGHT (aka Chris’s book) has remained January 26, 2010, but that could shift. If it doesn’t, well, then you get books 2 and 3 very close together, which is nice.

For now, I’m busy working on book 5 – Zane’s book which still has no title, but hey, the proposal was accepted by my editor, so that’s cool.  And I’m editing Sydney’s next, Tempting The Fire, which has an August 2010 release date last time I looked. And then Larissa and I dive right into writing Stryker’s book (book 6)…so this fall will be busy.

Again, mid-September?  Really?

Oh, and this post from author Saundra Mitchell cracked me up.  This paragraph, especially, on what happens when your first book is finally published:

…your grandmother is in tears because she didn’t see it at Wal-Mart. Not that she was going to buy it- everybody even remotely, genetically connected to you expects you to give them a copy- you’d think they’d take pity on you because of your non-Twilight advance and buy one. Or two. Come on, people, some pity- I didn’t send my book to Oprah, I’m doomed!

See, and most of my family doesn’t plan on buying it, but they don’t want copies from me either…(don’t worry – for some reason this just makes me laugh…)  But, of course, that means you’ll all have to make up for the non-familial buying and grab yourselves some extra copies…what?

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

And yes, this book does have a heroine – she and Jake spend a lot of time together.    But, you know, the brother thing…

Sneak Peek from HARD TO HOLD:

“Does Cal know Isabelle’s moved in here – with you?” Chris asked when Jake walked into the kitchen, still half in a daze.

“She’s moved in here with us. And yeah, Cal knows.”  Jake drank the last of the orange juice directly from the bottle and forced himself to act as normal as possible.  Because when you lived with two human radars like his brothers, you pretty much couldn’t get away with having any secrets.

“I like her,” Chris stated emphatically, then glanced at Jake.  “Not like that.”

“Good,” Jake muttered.

“Good because you like her?”

“Because she’s Cal’s goddaughter.”

“Yeah, all right.  We’ll go with that explanation for now,” Chris drawled.  Jake looked for something to throw at Chris’s head while the man continued, “Still doesn’t really explain why she’s here, though.”

“She needed a place to stay.”

“You don’t usually move in women you like after one date.”

“We didn’t have any dates.”

“I can’t think of a woman he’s liked enough to spend more than a few hours with in recent months.  Years, even,” Nick said.  He’d come into the kitchen and poured and drank a glass of milk with his ulcer medication as Jake and Chris stared on. “What?”

“You’re drinking milk instead of coffee,” Chris said.

“You’re actually taking your ulcer medication,” Jake said.

“Yeah, your girlfriend’s bossy,” Nick mumbled.

“She’s not…forget it.”  Jake knew it was stupid to argue and give them any more fodder, a fact he remembered both in real life and military situations, and one that got blown away when he was around his brothers.

“The admiral gave us the whole, be nice to Isabelle, speech yesterday,” Nick said. “I guess that’s the one he gave to you too.”

Jake nodded.

“I don’t think he meant you had to move her in,” Nick continued.

Jake played with the empty orange juice bottle.

“Are we going to talk about this?” Nick asked.

“No,” Jake said, and usually, that would end it.  A maybe was code for, I’ll let you pull it out of me, but a no meant Nick would shut his mouth until – if ever – Jake decided to talk.

But yeah, what the fuck was he doing?  This bodyguard-hero- all-encompassing savior bullshit was grating on every last nerve he had.  A lot of people saw him like that, sure.  He didn’t want Isabelle to.

He’d voiced his concerns to Cal again last night about how his brothers were going to get suspicious quickly, which was why the Admiral had casually mentioned to Chris and Nick that he’d be doing them a big favor too if they’d keep an eye out for Isabelle.

Jake had been voicing his concerns to himself ever since he’d encouraged her to take off her clothes.

Out of control.

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

I’m excited because I finished the galleys / page proofs for HOLD ON TIGHT and sent them on their merry express mail way yesterday.  That means the trilogy is finally almost put to bed.  Amazing how long it actually takes to finish a book in its entirety.

My editor and I are currently on the great title search for books 4 & 5.  Since they’re connected and they might be out close together, we need titles that go together but not necessarily match.  And it’s hard to find the right ones that actually mean something to the book, that aren’t too close to anything that’s been used recently by others and something that conveys that the books are more on the romance side of romantic suspense.

We have until Friday.  I’ve also got revisions and the proposal for the yet untitled book 5.  Stayed up until 2AM writing on it – so much fun.  Nothing is better than those first three chapters.  Everything’s shiny and pretty and new – any plot holes can be easily fixed without ruining an entire book.

Now, to drag myself back to the revisions.  Definitely not as pretty and shiny, but getting there.  The last 40 pages.  Plus the subplot in book 4 becomes the plot for new characters in book 5, so everything hinges on everything else.  Like a giant puzzle.

I swore my next books after the trilogy would be stand-alones.  I suck at keeping promises to myself.

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

Now, let me point you in the direction of a brand new sneak peek for Book 2 in the SEAL trilogy, Too Hot to Hold. You’ll meet Kaylee, the heroine, thinking on her first meeting with Nick, our SEAL hero.

To recap, Hard to Hold releases November 24th, 2009, Too Hot to Hold releases December 29th, 2009 and Hold on Tight releases January 26th, 2010 -and I do believe you’ll get a sneak peek from Chris’s book soon!

Check back for more sneak peeks from the trilogy – I think we’re running them about every three weeks until the first release from this point forward, which is exciting.

I’m currently listening to the Black Hawk Down soundtrack (excellent music for the proposal I’m working on) while taking a short break from Sydney revisions and Cam revisions (the next book after Hold on Tight.) They’re both due August 1st.  And I will need A LOT of coffee over the coming days.  And Diet Coke.  And cookies…and…well, you get the idea.

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