Release Day!

Winner! Winner! Jennifer Fischetto Jennifer please email me at christie(at)christie-craig.com and give me your snail mail address to mail out the card.

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It’s here. Taken at Dusk, my third book in the Shadow Falls Series has hit the bookshelves and is hopefully falling into the hands of many readers. How does that make me feel?

Excuse me, I think I need to throw up.

You know I have given birth to sixteen published books. So, you would think after straining, and pushing out sixteen of those babies, it would have become sort of a “been there, done that” kind of thing. But nope. I still get a big ball of nerves in the pit of my stomach. The kind that a Tums or a Beano pill won’t cure. I’m talking about that ol’ fashioned, “Oh crap, what have I done now?” kind of feeling.

I start wondering if I shouldn’t have gone over the book one more time? I even think of better lines to replace some of those that I’d written. It’s so hard to let go sometimes.

Someone once asked me, “What’s it really like to be a writer?”

I told them it’s both terrifying and exhilarating as the same time. It’s the easiest and yet the hardest thing I’ve ever done. There’s a part of me that can’t wait for readers to delve into my story, but there’s also another part that says…"Stop, put that down right now! When they said they were publishing the book I didn’t know that meant everyone could read it.”

I also think readers sometimes have a misconception about who writers really are. And if they pick up my books and study them really closely, they might see me for who I really am instead of some really cool author. Not that I’m big in the whole pretense thing. Below are four things that people just assume about writers and my thoughts concerning how they really pertain to this writer.

• Writers can spell and are grammar gurus.

Please! First I’m dyslexic, second, English is my third language, my first is Alabamian and my second is Texan. Below are three of my most famous typos that were either posted in blogs or entered in contests.

Chase glanced down at his bloody shit. (Oops, I meant shirt! I swear he did not take a poo while hiding in the heroine’s back yard.)

Before I go pubic with this. (Wait, did I say “pubic?” I meant “public.”)

She was going to have to resort to blackmale. (You know I meant blackmail, right?)

• Writers are profound and everything we write is ingrained in symbolism and has a deep underlying theme.

I hate to disappoint you, but I make this shit up. Seriously, the kangaroo and the dragon in Taken at Dusk, do not have a deeper meaning. I was desperate, probably hyped-up on caffeine, and stayed up too late writing the night before. So I dug deep, and that’s all my brain would give me—a kangaroo and a dragon. So, I went with it.

• Writers get up every day and dress as if they were going into an office. Perfect hair, makeup and high heels.

I know this is going to surprise you, but there are days, many of them, that at five o’clock in the afternoon, I’m still in my PJs, braless, and no makeup. I mean, if my house caught fire and some super hot good looking firemen were outside, I’d probably decide to just burn up before letting them see me like this.

• Writers are strange people who live mostly inside their head. They talk to themselves, they have been known to make faces in the mirror, and sometimes they forget that their characters aren’t real people.

Okay, I’ll give you that one. It’s pretty much true. But in my defense… okay I don’t have a defense. I’m a writer.

And now I’ll leave you with the thirteen things you’ll learn from reading Taken at Dusk:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]--> The only thing worse than trying to help a woman with amnesia remember her name and life is trying to help a dead woman with amnesia remember hers.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Be careful what you wish for—you might just get it . . . and the reality will probably not be anything like the fantasy.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->The person you think is your enemy could just turn into a friend who'll do anything to save you.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->The scariest thing in the world isn't ghosts or rogue vampires bent on murder—it's falling in love.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5. <!--[endif]-->Explaining why you have a skunk curled up in your arms to your mom and your old best friend is as easy as eating a brownie while brushing your teeth.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6. <!--[endif]-->We all make mistakes, which is why it's so important to practice forgiveness.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7. <!--[endif]-->The only thing worse than a pissed-off shape-shifter is a pissed-off shape-shifter in love.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->8. <!--[endif]-->Sometimes the earth really does have to open up and swallow you whole before you can accept the truth that's right in front of you.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->9. <!--[endif]-->Vampires have no sense of humor . . . especially when they get turned into a kangaroo.

10. Free will gives us choices, but even making the right choices can't change destiny...and learning to accept that can be the most painful lesson of all.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->11. <!--[endif]-->People aren’t always who they say they are, even if you really want them to be.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->12. <!--[endif]-->Sometimes when you try to save someone, they end up saving you instead.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->13. <!--[endif]-->Never get between a dragon and a warlock on the war path.

So…now I’d like to hear your beliefs about writers. Tell me your perception, and I’ll tell you if it’s true or not.

I’m also giving away a $10 gift card to either B&N or Amazon, winner’s choice. So make sure you leave a comment. I’ll post the winner tomorrow morning, so you have to come back to see if you’ve won.

Oh…and one more thing. A friend of mine is trying to raise more money for the Star of Hope, a great homeless shelter, so she’s giving away .55 for every copy of her book, Onslaught, that she sells for the entire month of April. If you enjoy reading a suspense novel that features terrifying storms, kidnapped children and, of course, a bit of romance, go snag a copy of her e-book.

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords.

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