News from Rachel Caine

Prince of Shadows will be released February 4th. 
 
A thrilling retelling of the star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series.

In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born.

Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona…

…And will rewrite all their fates, forever.

Check out the official trailer here. 
 

COMING TO YOU!

In celebration of PRINCE OF SHADOWS,  Rachel is taking to the road, hopefully to a bookstore near you. Please join her if you can to celebrate this romantic, vibrant adventure set in Shakespeare's Verona, featuring Benvolio, Romeo's cousin and close friend.

Tour stops:  
Feb. 3 - BookTalk Nation, online event with Melissa Marr - 7:00 pm EST (sign up here) 
Feb. 4 - Barnes & Noble SMU, Dallas, Texas - 4:00 pm  
Feb. 5 - The Book Spot, Round Rock, Texas - 6:30 pm 
Feb. 6 - Books-A-Million, Exton, Pennsylvania - 6:00 pm  
Feb. 7 - Anderson's Bookshop, Chicago, Illinois - 7:00 pm  
Feb. 8 - Books & Co, Dayton, Ohio - 1:00 pm  
Feb. 9 - Hasting's, Tullahoma, Tennessee - 4:00 pm  
Feb. 10 - Books & Books, Coral Gables, Florida - 7:00 pm 
Feb. 11 - Larry J. Ringer Memorial Library, College Station, Texas - 4:00 pm  
Feb. 15 - Adventures In Fiction, Dallas, TX - all day, followed by the not-to-be-missed PRINCE OF SHADOWS MASKED BALL!

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Now for some Morganville news... 

Morganville: The Internet TV Series

We've been promising big news on our upcoming digital television series, and it's HERE.

 Due to high demand from Morganville fans, we've decided to offer TWO roles to open auditions from anywhere in the world.These two roles are for CLAIRE and EVE.

If you'd like to audition for either of the roles in MORGANVILLE: THE SERIES, please read and follow these instructions. Failure to follow instructions will mean your audition won't be considered.

INSTRUCTIONS
1. You must be 18 years of age or older. Due to legal and logistical concerns, we can't consider actors below the age of 18 for these parts.

2. Download the PDF scene for the character of your choice. (You can audition for both parts if you wish, but they must be loaded as separate auditions.) 
Click here for Claire audition instructions and scene
Click here for Eve audition instructions and scene
(If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it free here)

3. Film your audition. (Hint: you can do it using a camera phone, your computer's camera, etc. Production values will not matter. You might find it easier to have a friend read you lines from the other character in the scene, but it's your performance that matters.)

4. Upload your audition to YouTube, Vimeo or a similar service as an unlisted or private video, and/or as a password-protected link.  Do not send us actual video files as they will be deleted.

 

5. Email the link to your audition to claireauditions@morganvilletheseries.com (for Claire) or eveauditions@morganvilletheseries.com (for Eve) with the subject line of AUDITION VIDEO. (If you're auditioning for both parts, send separate links to separate videos.)  In this email you may also include a headshot and resume, but it is not required.

 

DEADLINE TO AUDITION:
February 14, 2014. 

Cutoff for entries is
midnight US Central Time.

Audition links sent after that time
will not be considered.

WHAT'S NEXT? After the submission deadline, we will be reviewing all the auditions submitted with our casting director. If you're selected to proceed to the next round of auditions, we will contact you. Please do NOT contact us.

We're so excited about this... and we'll be following up with information about casting for other parts soon.

 

 

Fifty Shades of Grey Movie Poster

Who's excited about this movie? 

I still don't see how they are going to put this in theaters, but I can't wait to find out! 

Haven't read the trilogy yet? It's definitely worth the read! Check it out here.

 

L.J. Smith releases Vampire Diaries Fanfic

 This fanfic is based on The Vampire Diaries book series—also by L. J. Smith—and takes place after the volume Midnight.
Damon is back and enjoying his vampire existence to its fullest. Elena, Bonnie and their friends are in their third week at Dalcrest College, ordinary students aware of an extraordinary world that verges on their own campus.
Stefan is scarcely aware that he is living in a fragile paradise with Elena as his devoted girl . . . until one night it all shatters. He wakes from a dream to find Elena limp and white in his arms and rushes her to the hospital for a massive transfusion.
Elena survives, but Stefan decides that the only way she will ever truly be safe is without him. To make his exit complete, Stefan removes himself from the memories of Elena, her friends, and all of Fell’s Church.
Can first love ever really be forgotten? Will Damon finally have Elena by his side as his Princess of Darkness? The epic story begins in Evensong: Paradise Lost. 

Click here to buy it on Amazon for just $3.99.

 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *  ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~

 Elena and her friends now have no conscious memories of Stefan—but each is having a difficult time adapting to a world without him. Damon can scarcely put out fires fast enough.

Bonnie feels as if she’s going insane. Her latest oddity is sleepwalking across the Dalcrest campus with only a golden-eyed white “dog” as a companion. This behavior terrifies the others, especially given the recent attacks in neighboring towns that leave girls drained of blood.

More, Bonnie finds herself caught up in her own love triangle with Matt’s shy new roommate, Bastian, and Damon. She realizes that Damon should be completely off limits, but she can’t help feeling there is someone else who is Elena’s perfect partner somewhere.

No one knows much about Bastian, who has white-blond hair and golden eyes, but he doesn’t seem to like Damon. Is Bastian just jealous of Damon’s affection for Bonnie or does he have some darker secret?

Meanwhile, both red roses and black are mysteriously appearing for Bonnie and Elena. Who are they from, and why do they seem so important? The War of Roses has just begun. . . . 

Click here to buy it on Amazon for just $1.99. 

Recycling Book Pages

So, my craft room has been taken over by book pages! 

When I remove them from the book to make the purse, I can't make myself throw them away - so they are stacking up in my craft room! There are just so many possible uses for these pages... You can look on Pinterest and find TONS of amazing ideas.

 

If you'd like to try your hand at some of these crafts I've created a listing in my Etsy shop just for you! 
Because it's a store, the lowest price you are allowed to charge is $0.20 - so these books are listed at $0.20 each; add in shipping and you can get 5 books for $8! It's just enough to cover shipping and packaging costs, there's no financial gain on my part, I'm just excited to get my room back!

Diamond Candles

Have you heard of these? 
 They are an addiction of mine... 

As you burn the soy candle (which smells great) a gold foil package is eventually revealed. You dig out the foil and unwrap a beautiful ring. The rings are worth anywhere from $10 - $5000. 

I haven't had the time to take mine in to a jeweler to see how much they are worth - but finding the treasure, no matter the worth, is all the fun. If you happen to find an expensive ring, all the better!


These are some of the rings I've found: 

This would make a great gift for Valentines day! 

Interested? 

You can buy them on the Diamond Candles website, and as a bonus here is a 20% off coupon for you to use!  Hurry, it expires in a few days.

L.J. Smith's Announcement

If you haven't heard yet, Amazon has launched Kindle Worlds. 
What is that you ask... this is a snippet from Amazon: 

What is Kindle Worlds? 

It's a new publishing model that allows any writer to create stories inspired by popular books, shows, films, comics, music, and games (what we call Worlds), and sell them on Amazon.com and in a new section of the Kindle Store. Until now, selling stories based on copyright-protected material has been difficult for the vast majority of authors. Amazon Publishing has secured the necessary licenses from select rights holders (we call them World Licensors) that permit you to publish new works inspired by or incorporating their Worlds and earn up to a 35% royalty. 

I know your wondering what this has to do with L.J. Smith...
This means she can finally write and publish her continued version of The Vampire Diaries series! 
I don't know about you, but I'm super excited about this because I loved the series when she was writing it!! 

check out her blog post here.

These are the books she's planning to write: 
Click on the cover to be taken to the goodreads page.

  

It's a new year...

Why not have a new way to follow?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Review: City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) Cassandra Clare

City of Bones

The Mortal Instruments 

book 1

Cassandra Clare

Young Adult Paranormal, Fantasy

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.


Review:

Everyone kept telling me I'd really enjoy this series, but the blurbs never really did it for me. I eventually bought the first 3 books at a used book store for a few dollars and then they sat on my shelf for over a year because there was always something else I should read first...

When the movie came out on DVD we rented it, the TV hadn't been off 10 minutes and I'd already grabbed the book off the shelf and started reading it.

As always, the book was WAY better than the movie. I love that Clary's life goes from normal to supernatural but nothing changes.. except for her. (As Jace points out) While we bare with Clary adjusting to her new lifestyle, Jace is happy to occupy our attention with his sarcasm and wit. He's the perfect kind of jerk, I mean guy. ;) I'm a sucker for the bad boy.

The story is filled with twists and turns, suspense and sarcasm! The ending completely shocked me, and I cannot wait to read the next book!

Check out my reviews for the rest of the series:

City of Ashes, book 2

City of Glass, book 3 
City of Fallen Angels, book 4

My list: Best Books of 2013

Happy New Year! 

Now that the holidays are behind us and we return to normal everyday life, I've compiled a list of my favorite reads from 2013. 
Honestly, I didn't get the chance to read as many books in 2013 as I would have liked, but when work keeps you busy.... there was a much higher interest in my Book Purses last year, and I'm not complaining about that. ;) 

So, of the 50 books that I read in 2013 these were my favorites.  (Click on the title for my review)


The Indigo Spell, Bloodlines #3, by Richelle Mead
Once Burned, Night Prince #1, by Jeaniene Frost
Bitter Blood, Morganville #13, by Rachel Caine
Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs, Jane Jameson #1, by Molly Harper
Twice Tempted, Night Prince #2, by Jeaniene Frost
Driving Mr Dead, Half Moon Hollow #1.5, by Molly Harper
Dark Kiss, Nightwatchers #1, by Michelle Rowen
Dead Ever After, Sookie Stackhouse #13, by Charlaine Harris
Bared to You, Crossfire #1, by Sylvia Day
Reflected in You, Crossfire #2, by Sylvia Day
Entwined With You, Crossfire #3, by Sylvia Day
My Soul to Take, Soul Screamers #1, by Rachel Vincent
Fall of Night, Morganville #14, by Rachel Caine
A Hunger Like No Other, Immortals After Dark #2, by Kresley Kole
Zane: Guardian Angel, Brookehaven #3.5, by Joann I. Martin Sowles
Cursed, The Brookehaven Vampires #4, by Joann I. Martin Sowles


Click HERE for a complete list of my book reviews. 


What better than smelling something wonderful while your reading? 
With Diamond Candles your left with something shiny, a ring in every candle, valued anywhere from $10 - $5000. Here's a coupon for 20% off your first order! Enjoy.
 http://my.cndl.es/x/KyJX6n

 This is one of the rings I found in my candle: