Finishing up 2011 and looking forward to 2012.

Whew, it's been a busy year. Let's see: I wrote four books, two of which will actually see the light of day at some point. I started this blog. I took a novella that I had written a year and a half previously at that point, decided to give it a thorough scrubbing and self-publish it as an experiment, and then promptly spent nine months and four drafts whipping it into shape to be a novel. (And got my face eaten off with all of the secondary characters' stories along the way.) I learned more about editing than I ever would have thought possible, and I discovered that Twitter is actually pretty fun and that formatting is not that hard. Not bad, all in all.

I'm not usually one for New Year's resolutions, but I am a Type A who loves making lists, so here's to 2012! I will:

1) Complete the editing on Fire with Fire. The second draft will be completed in a few weeks, after which I'll deliver it to my critique group and then eventually my copyeditor for a Spring 2012 release. Second drafts take nearly as long as first drafts for me (and FwF has several structural issues in its current state), but things thankfully move faster after that.

2) While the critique group is ripping apart Book Two, start drafting Book Four. (Book Three was my NaNoWriMo and needs another month or two to sit in a drawer and think about what it's done.) I'll keep using this leapfrog method throughout the year to get Books Two, Three, and Four out before 2013 rolls around.

3) Meet my Get Your Words Out 2012 pledge. I've chosen a less ambitious goal than in previous years, given the amount of time I'm going to be spending on editing and promoting, but it's still going to be a tall order.

Oh, and I'm gonna read some books. Here are five of my favorites from 2011, and I'm hoping that you can make them your favorites in 2012:

Heroine Addiction by Jennifer Matarese. This book is a clever, cracktastic, and utterly hilarious take on the superhero genre. It's the only book I've ever read in which a zombie outbreak is something that you look at and shrug over before getting back to the plot.

Seed by Ania Ahlborn. Charlotte is one of the creepiest and most tragic children I've ever encountered.

The Jakarta Pandemic by Steven Konkoly. Fantastic, claustrophobic examination of how easily the world can go to hell.

Sugar&Spice by Saffina Desforges. In addition to making me realize that I know way too much about serial killers, it's just a flat-out fantastic and well-researched thriller.

Jenny Pox by JL Bryant. I probably won't have time to do a full review before the first, but I was quite simply blown away by how fantastic this book is. Pick it up at your first opportunity.

REVIEW: Optical Delusions in Deadwood

Hi, guys, welcome back! I was hoping to have this review up sooner (and I just realized that I screwed up the title in my last review post: my apologies, Ms. Charles!), but that figgy pudding thing got away from me for a few days. The next time a caroler shows up at my door, I'm just going to make them a sandwich.

Description: Someone is spreading rumors around Deadwood that Violet Parker likes to chat with dead folks.

With her reputation endangered, her bank account on the verge of extinction, and her career at risk of going up in flames, Violet is desperate. When the opportunity to sell another vintage home materializes, she grabs it, even though this "haunted" house was recently the stage for a two-act, murder-suicide tragedy.

Ghost or no ghost, Violet knows this can't be as bad as the last house of horrors she tried to sell, but sexy Doc Nyce has serious doubts. Her only hope of hanging on to her job is to prove that the so-called, ghostly sightings are merely the eccentric owner's optical delusions.

But someone--or something--in the house wants Violet stopped...dead.

My Thoughts: Ann Charles delivers another charming mystery/romance with just a touch of the paranormal. What I like best about Violet is how of an Everywoman she is, and yet she remains such a (albeit slightly frazzled) badass. Sure, she gets knocked out and drugged a time or two. (Who doesn't?) But she always comes up swinging and is well on her way to saving herself before Mr. Dark 'n Dashing shows up to get the testosterone flowing.

I did mention in my last review that some of the shine comes off Doc Nyce in the second book, and I'm afraid that I have to stand by that judgment. What was an air of mystery in the first book becomes straight douchery in the second, right down to Doc knowingly refusing to tell Violet information that could keep her safe while also thinking that he has some kind of claim to her behavior. I'm sorry, Doc, but only Batman can pull off being Batman. (And then only barely.) Violet, however, is so engaging on her own that I know I'm going to keep coming back.

Freeeeeee (or cheap) books for your ereader!

Erica at The Book Cellar has assembled an extensive list of free or steeply discounted ebooks here, while JA Konrath is offering 23 of his own books for free for the next three days. I'm going to try to keep this face to a minimum, but I'm honestly not promising anything:

And then of course my own book, Super, is now available for $2.99 at Smashwords and Amazon, but I still have thirteen copies that I'll give away completely free to anyone who comments on my blog, emails me at MariStroud@gmail.com, or drops me a line on Twitter. I'll probably still make the lizard face, but you won't have to see it. :)

Super is finally here!

Available on Smashwords for $2.99 here and Amazon here, with links to follow on B&N, Sony, etc. just as soon as those versions are live. (And I've vetted them for errors, of course. I've checked the .mobi and .epub versions on Smashwords itself, but of course you all know how the saying goes: measure twice, cut once, and then your house doesn't fall down around you while your neighbors point and laugh and you curse the fact that your cute underwear is all in the laundry...I possibly over-think these examples.) BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! I'm going to give away a free copy to the first twenty-five people who respond to this post, give me a holler at MariStroud@gmail.com, or DM me on my Twitter account. No obligation on your part, but I would of course be delighted if you pet my hair and tell me I'm beautiful leave a review on the site or sites of your choice if you like what you read.

I chose to do the Smashwords Meatgrinder for this book, at least, and I have to say: not nearly as scary as it's portrayed. I'm terrible with technology, and I still got it done in under three hours with the Style Guide holding my hand and passed the Auto Vetter standards on my third try.

REVIEW: Nearly Departed in Deadwood by Ann Charles

Description: The first time I came to Deadwood, I got shot in the ass.--Violet Parker

Little girls are vanishing from Deadwood, South Dakota, and Violet Parker's daughter could be next. She's desperate to find the monster behind the abductions. But if she's not careful, Violet just might end up as one of Deadwood's dearly departed.

My Thoughts: I purchased this book during a general binge at the Indie Book Blowout Christmas sale. (The efforts of which basically meant that I had books for a dollar at my fingertip during one of the most unproductive work weeks of the year. Sorry, Boss Man.) I was expecting a quick, fun trash read of the paranormal romance variety; what actually arrived on my phone was a witty mystery-comedy that makes the comparisons to Stephanie Plum and Janet Evanovich seem much less strange in retrospect. Violet is a hilarious and real everywoman sleuth torn between the time demands of protecting children in general, her own children in particular, and maintaining the "But I have a BRILLIANT PERSONALITY!" facade that will help her land a sale and keep her job. Doc Nyce is an engaging male lead as he provides the dollops of romance that the book does contain; he makes a lamentable turn into a bit of a jackass in the next book, Optical Illusions in Deadwood, but I'll get to that after taking a short break in order to figure out what figgy pudding is and why the hell you would want to eat it.

Tentative cover reveal!

I was a busy, manic, giggly girl last Saturday, because I was scampering about Bricktown with Audrey, Tanner, and a beautiful model named Brittany who was really very accommodating, considering she was working with crazy people. (And then we didn't even use the shot that she kinda had to risk her neck for. I'm not going to mention that part to her, or else I'll find a way to dress the hell out of it.)

Picture taken off of my phone because she was humoring me:

Now taken by an actual professional:

Now with digital magic thrown in:

I've asked that the quote marks be taken off the tagline and the title itself be moved down a bit more, so that's not the final final version, but I'm still wiggling so hard over here that you'd think I was part lap dog. How do you get a cover like this? Hang out with geniuses, which is why my inevitable DIY book on self-publishing will include extensive stalking how-tos. (Lesson One: Expect the Unexpected, or Bring Your Own Pee Bottle.)

REVIEW: The Clockwork Giant by Brooke Johnson

Description: It's 1881, the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Chroniker City, the global hub of technological advancement in the modern world. Based off the British coast, the city is home to the most prestigious polytechnic university worldwide, a center of mechanical ingenuity teaching everything from clockwork mechanics and thermodynamics to electromagnetism and electricity. Petra Wade, self-taught clockwork engineer, dreams of one day becoming a member of the Guild, an elite group of inventors and innovators who envision a future fueled by technology, but her ambitions will only come to fruition if she can find a way into the illustrious university—an institution reserved for men only. When she meets Emmerich Goss, an accomplished engineer newly recruited into the Guild, Petra discovers that he needs help building a top-secret, government-sanctioned automaton, and she is just the girl to help him. Together, they craft the clockwork giant, and as the deadline for its completion nears, Petra finds that she can love more than gears and mainsprings.

My Thoughts: This book is delightful! I'm fairly well-read in YA, but I don't read much in the way of steampunk; however, I loved this. The plot zips along, the world-building is rich and detailed without becoming overwhelming, and Johnson does a great job of constructing a heroine that pings with a modern audience without losing sight of the very different social mores that a proper Victorian young lady would be expected to follow. Petra is a fun, proactive protagonist that had me rooting for her the whole way, and Emmerich would have drawn many a swoon from me when I was thirteen. I wanted to take him by the lapels and shake him a bit when it was all said and done, but in a generally benevolent way: he's capable of being better. Can't wait to see where Johnson goes with this series next.