Beware the Ides of March

Yeah, Caesar, you're going down in a second. And Brutus is taking you there. This movie still, btw, comes from the singularly worst version of Caesar that I've ever seen (although the one with Charleton Heston as Marc Antony comes a close second... actually there is NO good version), but mesmerizing because Marlon Brando plays Marc Antony and well, it's Brando for God's sake. I used to show this version when I taught the play, pausing on a crowd scene where one of the extras gets caught in another extra's toga and has to bat his way out. Yeah, when you're teaching Caesar to 30 10th graders six times a day, this is high comedy.

Anyway, it's the Ides of March, dear readers. Beware.

And while you're watching out for Brutus and his dagger and portentous omens and guys running through the streets on fire (oh wait, I think that's the Republican primary), hop on over to the Second Skin Blog Tour (just click on the banner on the side of my blog) Judith Graves's new book in the Skinned Series is out and we're all hosting various posts and events to CELEBRATE! I'm up, interviewing her on 3/20 and she is likewise interviewing me! So stop back then, too.

Been a weird week - the kind with the gut-wrenching lows and the euphoric highs -- in fact, both came in one day, which like I say was weird.

So beware!

Or as my husband and I like to say, quoting John Irving's The World According to Garp, "Beware the Undertoad" Which is just as fun as saying Beware the Ides of March.

Fried What?

This is the Fried Cherry Koolaid that I ate at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Friday night. That is husband's hand holding it. We were like wet dogs right then because it was pouring rain and we were the only ones on the Carnival Midway at the Fried What? booth. But fried cherry koolaid? C'mon. You gotta try it. It's not that sweet and surprisingly yummy. Plus that's what you do at the rodeo - you eat ridiculous things that are not part of any actual food group. Fried or on a stick or both. Often in portions that would feed a small country, although the koolaid balls were a surprisingly modest size, dontcha think? (full disclosure, one is missing - I snarfed it while pulling my phone out of my pocket to take a pic)

After that it was the rodeo itself with bull riding and calf roping, and bucking broncs, and mutton busting (which is where they strap little kids to sheep and see how long they hang on. yes. we do this in Texas) and an opening parade with fireworks and a bareback rider and later Reba in concert and more fireworks and then we slogged through the rain to our car.

Plus many shopping booths with cowgirl bling.

Cause you know. It's Texas.

This is what we do, y'all.

ANASTASIA FOREVER COVER REVEAL!

So thrilled to present the cover for book 3 ! Some older versions have been floating around, but this one is the real thing and isn't it pretty? Thank you to Sourcebooks production team for getting it just right. Drumroll please......

ANASTASIA FOREVER by Joy Preble

(the third book of the DREAMING ANASTASIA SERIES)

AUGUST 1, 2012 from SOURCEBOOKS FIRE

ISBN: 978-1402268755

Secrets within secrets. Truths within lies.

Anastasia

She was the darling of the glittering

Winter Palace while her half brother Viktor

was relegated to the shadows.

Now he’s ready to take his turn in the spotlight…

and revenge on the world that shunned him.

Anne

The visions won’t stop. One minute she’s in

her bedroom on her cell phone. And the next

she’s in the past witness to the

private moments of the royal Romanov family.

Ethan

He’s been eighteen for nearly century and finding

Anne is the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

But the magic in his blood is turning darker,

forcing him to wonder whether

he’s the most dangerous threat of all.

History Never Tells You Everything....

Add to Goodreads

Pre-Order from Amazon

And Barnes and Noble

I am so very excited for you all to read. ARC's are coming soon. You can pre-order (see above) at Amazon and Barnes and Noble and I hope that you do. As you can see from the cover, things are getting a little darker for Anne and Ethan. Anne enters book 3 having bound herself to Baba Yaga in order to save Ethan with a kiss at the end of book 2. But will they end up together? Will they be able to stop Viktor once and for all? Free Lily the rusalka from her curse? And what's the source of the power rising inside Ethan? Everything is getting deliciously dark and romantic in ANASTASIA FOREVER!!

Romance meets paranormal meets Russian folklore meets time travel meets historical fiction.

ANASTASIA FOREVER

reserve yours today!

And I'd love to hear from you! Comment and tell me what you think!

Last Stop on the HAUNTED Blog Tour

Today I'm hanging out at Once Upon a Twilight for an author interview.

So stop on by!

And in a separate post, I have a huge surprise today!

(Okay, maybe it's not that surprising. But it's pretty and very exciting. You will love it. I promise.) So check it. Or possibly you already have!

My huge thanks to Katie at Mundie Moms for organizing the HAUNTED Blog Tour and to all the bloggers who hosted stops for the past couple weeks.

And of course to the team at Sourcebooks Fire - my editor, Leah Hultenschmidt, production team Kelly Barrales Saylor and Kristin Zelazko and intrepid publicity gurus Derry Wilkens and Kay Mitchell. They support me in everything I do and the DREAMING ANASTASIA series who not exist without them.

If you enjoyed this tour, make sure to tweet that to all these fine folks!! Just add @sourcebooksfire to tour tweets and they'll all know!

If it's Tuesday it's time for a HAUNTED excerpt

Tuesday HAUNTED BLOG TOUR stop takes us to Christin's Portrait of a Book, with another excerpt from HAUNTED, this one from Ethan's point of view. After becoming mortal again in DREAMING ANASTASIA once Anne initially rescues Anastasia from Baba Yaga's hut, Ethan leaves at the end of that book. His life has not been his own for so very long, and despite his passionate feelings toward Anne, he heads back to Europe to brood. In his absence, in that interesting space that exists between books, Anne has acquired Ben - her very normal, very sweet lifeguard boyfriend. Anne wants normal soooo badly. Saving Anastasia did not go well. People died; others were hurt; Anne is something else now - something powerful and different. And she wants no part of it. Easier to make up with Ben.

Only then in the beginning of HAUNTED, Ethan returns. Tall, dark, brooding hottie walks back in Anne's life and sparks the craziness to begin again. Of course, it's already begun. The mysterious rusalka's already been haunting Anne. And when Ethan arrives, everything ratchets up: the sexy pull of him; the feelings between them. And the danger. Lots of danger ahead. Suddenly the rusalka is luring normal Ben into the deep end. And Ethan is diving in to save him. And Anne's BFF Tess thinks it's all Ethan's fault.

The story races on from there.

Enjoy your excerpt today!

Get a copy of HAUNTED if you haven't read.

Tomorrow, last stop of the tour with an interview at Once Upon a Twilight.

And a BIG SURPRISE!!! that you won't want to miss.

Monday Musings

Today on the last leg of the HAUNTED BlOG TOUR, I'm visiting Page Turners with a guest post, talking about taking existing lore and turning into my own for the DREAMING ANASTASIA series.

This is something I love to talk about!

The DREAMING series uses not only the historical element of the Romanovs but also a blend of a number of Russian/slavic fairy tales and some Slavic folk art!

I'll be talking about these more during these coming months leading to the August release of ANASTASIA FOREVER. But for now, here are the elements that I made my own in this series and the order in which they've been introduced:

DREAMING ANASTASIA

• Baba Yaga the witch
• Russian lacquer boxes
• Russian matryoshka dolls

HAUNTED

• all of the above plus
• rusalki (malevolent slavic mermaids)

ANASTASIA FOREVER

• all of the above plus
• Koschei the Deathless, a very ancient Slavic story about a man who cannot be killed. It uses the soul jar trope, which I'll be talking about more soon. (Koschei, by the way, is actually hinted at in the very end of HAUNTED!)
• Faberge eggs

More soon. For now, stop by Page Turners and check out today's guest post.

Up tomorrow, another HAUNTED excerpt at Portrait of a Book. Wednesday, an interview at Once Upon a Twilight!

And also coming Wednesday, a super special surprise!!

Five for Friday

The HAUNTED Blog Tour heads to Mundie Moms today for an interview.

Tomorrow we'll be stopping by Girls in the Stacks for a review. Please stop by!

And don't forget the giveaway of two signed copies -- one HAUNTED and one DREAMING ANASTASIA over at Cari's Book Blog!

Thank you to everybody who has been part of this tour, to the Sourcebooks team that tweets and links, and to the wonderfulness of the authors, readers, bloggers who I talk to every day, whether in person or on line. My career has blossomed because of your generosity and support.

And now for the Friday Five!

1. Yes, I admit it. My world became a better place this week because Bethenny Ever After started up again. Yup. Bethenny, Jason, Brin, Julie, Cookie... my favorite not so guilty Bravo pleasure. B's honesty may be calculated, but I dig it.

2. Lyla the wonder dog is possibly learning to settle down. Possibly. Unless there's a squirrel. Or a cat. Or a garbage truck. Or the new washing machine. Or people.

3. It is almost time for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo. Each year we eat one really bad for you fried food that we purchase on the midway at a booth called Fried What? A few years ago, I consumed fried oreos, which I blogged about here. Last year it was fried ice-cream. This year I'm thinking twinkie, but I'll let you know.

4. I think I can let you see the cover of ANASTASIA FOREVER next week. I've actually started to see it here and there, but there may be a few tweaks still...

5. I have the best agent in the universe. Her name is Jen Rofe. And yesterday when I needed it, she made me watch this: