Book Launch Blog Tour Stops at Platypire

Buy it now at Amazon.com

What's a platypire? I didn't know either until reviewer Sara Kaiser told me this morning. It's a cross between a platypus and a vampire. Well, Platypire Reviews is today's stop on the Book Launch Blog Tour for The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love. It's also the location of our latest five-star review. That makes 18 reviews (16 of them five stars!) in under two weeks! Check out the post, enter the giveaway, and buy the book! People are loving it.

Platypire Reviews

Book Launch Blog Tour Day Eight

Amazon.com
Amazon.com/UK

Day Eight of the Book Launch Blog Tour for the Queen of Swords finds us at two different blogs: Parajunkee.com and One More Chapter Reviews. Parajunkee did a review of the book a few days ago and gave it only 3.5 stars, despite liking the book a great deal. It is the lowest rating The Queen of Swords has received to date. Boo-hoo. You never know what's going to hit a reviewers hot buttons

Over at Amazon.com, you'll find 13 five-star reviews and one or two four-stars, so their opinion is definitely in the minority so far! Today they have an excerpt from the book, an exclusive interview with me (meaning their own questions as opposed to the boilerplate Q&A I sent out), and the Rafflecopter giveaway for three free downloads of the book. Check it out!

Parajunkee.com
One More Chapter Reviews

Book Launch Blog Tour Day Seven

Available at Amazon.com for $2.99

Today you'll find us at Reader Girls with an excerpt, interview, and giveaway! The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love, is an enthralling, evocative, and erotic tale of a white witch who returns every 100 years to reunite with her earthbound soul mate, a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard's curse.

Here's the blog: Reader Girls

Book Launch Blog Tour Day Six

Amazon.com
Amazon.com/UK

Today finds me and The Queen of Swords at the following two author blogs:

Into the Highland Mist (Kate Robbins, Scottish historical romance)

Yelena Casale (Yelena Casale, urban fantasy)

To recap, The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love, is the darkly erotic story of a bookish white witch who returns every 100 years to reunite with her earthbound soul mate, a Scottish earl turned vampire by an evil wizard's curse. The book is available for the Kindle right now and will be released in paperback in another week or two. So far, my debut novel has earned 13 five-star reviews on Amazon.com and a few more at Amazon.com/UK. Here are excerpts from some of them:

“As sinfully seductive as chocolate…”
“An extraordinary debut.”
“Lyrical prose as fluid as honey.”
“A wonderfully dark and seductive tale.”

Book Launch Blog Tour Starts Strong

The Book Launch Blog Tour for The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love, kicks off today with four stops. The tour, which continues through May 27, will stop at a whopping eighty-four blogs and Facebook pages before it concludes. Here's where you will find The Queen of Swords featured today:

Becca Anne's Book Reviews (5-star review, spotlight, interview & giveaway)
Sinful Reviews (excerpt, spotlight & giveaway)
Jen Must Have Books to Read (5-star review, excerpt, spotlight, author interview)
Angela Christina Archer (author interview)
Writer's Sanctuary (excerpt, spotlight, author interview & trailer)
SPW Writes (spotlight)
A Slash of Romance in Your Life (spotlight & interview)

The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love, tells the story of a bookish white witch who returns every 100 years to reunite with her soul mate, a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard's curse. The book is on sale now in Kindle form on Amazon.com and will be available in paperback form in a few days.

Premature Ejaculation!

But in a good way. The Queen of Swords went live on Amazon.com a day early. You can feed it to your Kindle right now for a scant $2.99. Such a steal!

In case you've somehow missed it, here's the blurb:

When Graham Logan, a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard’s curse, draws the Queen of Swords, he knows he’s about to meet the love of his life. For the third time. But surrendering his heart will mean risking her life…or making her what he is. Neither of which his morals will permit him to do. Graham, who believes he lost his soul to the curse, rages at God: Why give her back only to take her again?

Cat Fingal, the third incarnation of Graham’s twin flame, won’t let him escape so easily. As soon as they meet, she feels she knows him and begins having past-life flashbacks. A white witch, she casts a spell to summon him, wanting answers and to fill the void she’s felt all her life.

Graham has other problems, too. Like the seductress who wants him for herself and the dark wizard who cursed him and killed his beloved the first two times.

Will he find a way to save her this time around? Or will she save him?

Don't have a Kindle? Don't worry. The book will be available in paperback format in a few more days.

Giveaway on Goodreads

Want more chances to win a personally autographed copy when the soft-cover edition comes out? Enter the contest on Goodreads.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Queen of Swords

by Nina Mason

Giveaway ends March 25, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Book Launch Blog Tour Extended!

Attention book bloggers: I've extended the Book Launch Blog Tour for The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love, through May 20. There are still dates available in late April and most of May. If you're interested or know a book blogger who might be, please sign up or share!

Here's the link to the sign-up form.

The Cover Unveiled

Here it is, the gorgeous cover created for the book by bestselling author and amazing artist Rue Volley. The Queen of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love, will be published in Kindle and soft-cover formats by Vamptasy Publishing on March 22. The book tells the story of a white witch who returns every hundred years to reunite with her soul mate--a Scottish nobleman earthbound by a dark wizard's curse. For a better sense of the story, watch the new trailer:

The Countdown to Cover Reveal Continues

Only four days remain until the big unveiling. Have you signed up yet? There will be games and prizes related to the themes in the book: vampires, witches, ghosts, Celtic creatures, and tarot cards. Here's a wee peek at the swag I'll be giving away to those who participate. It's not too late to sign up. And you don't even have to leave your chair. Just click on the banner.

Countdown to Cover Reveal: Only 10 more days!

The public cover reveal for The Queen of Swords, my debut novel, is only ten days away. I've got close to 60 bloggers participating in the reveal, but there's always room for more! If you're interested in sharing my cover or, better yet, reviewing the book when ARCs are available (soon, I hope), get in touch through one of my new social media links (under the banner) and I'll be sure you get the goodies! In the meantime, feel free to plaster the cyberuniverse with my eye-catching poster!

Counting down to cover reveal...

Eighteen days to go. Was up in the middle of the night because of an earache (going to doctor again today) and created this poster for the book. If you're interested in attending the private FB cover reveal party, please leave a link to your FB page in the comments or send to me via PM on Facebook (note that I added my social media links to the top of the blog). Super excited about the Birthday Bash/Cover Reveal. I'll be giving away hand-made spell boxes, tarot cards, and more fun witchy items related to the book.

Promo for the Queen of Swords

Here it is: my promo poster for The Queen of Swords. I looked and worked long and hard on it.
And it looks like this might end up being the image for the actual cover--since the cover artist for Vamptasy loved it. I love that she's goth, has long brown hair, and is reading a book. In the text, the heroine, Cat Fingal, is a total bookworm who also is a white witch and teaches literature at a British university specializing in occult studies. So, books are mentioned often, especially in the vampire genre. When the book opens, she's working on her doctoral dissertation on the evolving vampire archetype in literature.

Anyway, I worked hard on the graphic so I hope it doesn't suck (pun intended). :P

Once Bitten, Forever Smitten

I've got a theory about why the paranormal romance market is soft right now. As a writer of vampire romance novels, I've heard this time and again at conferences and have seen it in the swift (automatic?) rejections by agents and mainstream romance publishers. Just yesterday, in fact, I received this response to a personal query to a romance imprint editor: "Sorry, but we're not actively seeking paranormal romances at this time."

I have a theory about what's happened. In response to the runaway popularity of the Twilight saga, authors and publishers rushed to fill the market with vampire novels, most of them total contrived crap. Weary of reading drivel, readers turned to other paranormals: shifters, faeries, fallen angels, etc. Publishers, meanwhile, chased novelty to the point of ridiculousness. Make it fresh, make it different, make it stand out from the other books on the market!

The HBO series True Blood is a case in point. It was good in the beginning (better than the books, IMHO), then it tried too hard and got weirder and weirder until . . . viewers lost interest and HBO decided the next season will be its last.

This is just my opinion based on observation and little more. But can we please just get back to the kind of paranormal romance I enjoy reading and writing: sexy, heartfelt love stories about a relateable heroine and a sexy vampire hero? Is that too much to ask for? Perhaps I'm totally off base. Thoughts?

Magic Touch or Good Taste?

Hey, do I have the magic touch or what? I featured Faith Marlow's indie-published book, BEING MRS. DRACULA last week and now she's got a book contract. I reviewed Jennifer McQuiston's debut novel, WHAT HAPPENS IN SCOTLAND, and now it's made The New York Times Bestsellers List. Or maybe I just have good taste! Lol. Well, whatever it is--magic touch, sixth sense, or pure luck--I wish them both the very best and continued success!

Indie Author Spotlight: Being Mrs. Dracula by Faith Marlowe

When Valeria’s hand was given in marriage to the handsome and powerful Count Vlad Dracula, she dreamed of happiness but instead her life was filled with longing for her absent husband, their country ravaged by war. When Vlad at last returned from the battlefield, he was a changed man, an alluring and dangerous creature with a thirst for her blood . . . and for more wives.

For over one hundred years, tales of Count Dracula have haunted and seduced the imagination of readers worldwide. Now experience the story of Dracula from a new perspective, as told by the three women who knew him best. Discover their stories, their secrets, and find out what it would be to love and be loved by history’s most powerful vampire in Being Mrs. Dracula.

In a marriage that spans centuries, one man shared between three women, love may be eternal but happiness is not guaranteed . . .

Available in e-format from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Average review: 4.6 out of 5 stars

Review excerpt: "Bram Stoker . . . knew that each of Dracula's wives had a story, and an interesting one at that. But that was not the story he was telling. Faith Marlow came along to remind us, and to bring us that forgotten story. It is well worth your time and money to buy this story and read it. It will stick with you for a long time after." 

Swag!

That was it--the word I was looking for in yesterday's post about giveaways. The books I got at RWA as swag. Never heard it before RWA but just saw it again at a site called I Love Vampire Novels. I'm definitely going to have to check it out further--and add it to my blogroll. My knights, you see, are a form of vampire--not the kind pictured here--but rather, unseelie dark faery vampires. In Scottish folklore, lots of faeries drank human blood. Mine are lamian drones--the "breeders" for an amazonian race ruled by a predatory queen.

I'm out surfing for someone to inspire my hero, Leith MacQuill. Long black hair, chiseled face, green cat-like eyes. His alter ego is a cat sith. More on that later.

Any suggestions?