Raven's World

This blog has moved

2010-03-31T15:51:00.001-07:00

This blog is now located at http://ravenhartbooks.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://ravenhartbooks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

2009-06-18T18:36:00.000-07:00

May Contest Winner

Thanks to Rochelle Perry of Pooler, Georgia, for entering the contest and congrats on winning. Since Rochelle already has all the books, I made her an agate pendant as a prize. Thanks for the loyal reading, Rochelle!

Let's Hear it for the Men and Women in Blue

2009-06-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

I just had one of the best experiences, and I want to share it with you guys. Some of the counties and municipalities here in Georgia have what they call Citizens Police Academies. It's a modified version of what police recruits go through and it's free. You get instruction on the laws governing police work from traffic law to when you have a right to use force against others. It included firearms instruction from police officers and a ridealong. I got to go to the gun range and fire a 40-caliber glock handgun and an AR-15 assault rifle. We saw a demonstration from one of the K-9 officers (Officer Bosco rocks!) and studied a simulated crime scene as if we were real CSIs.

Needless to say this gave me a lot of valuable research info for the books, since our Connie is a police detective and all. I encourage you all to take advantage of the Citizens Police Academies if one is offered near you. And I want to give a big shout out to the awesome, awesome officers of the Acworth Police Department! Y'all are the best!

April Contest Winner

2009-05-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hello again, readers. The winner of the autographed book for April is Audrey Krishnan of Friendswood, TX. Congrats, Audrey!

What are you guys reading these days? I'm reading a good vampire book--"Sunshine," by Robin McKinley.

2009-03-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

Wishing for Spring
Howdy, everybody. Hope y’all are staying high and dry. Are you ready for spring or what? The vamps are getting cranky, and I—their humble scribe—am getting achy in the joints. Hopefully we’ll all warm up soon.

Thanks
Thanks to all of you who’ve written to ask when the next installment of The Savannah Vampires is going to be available. I’m afraid I don’t have a release date yet, but stay tuned. I’ll post as soon as I hear.

Congrats to the February and March contest winners
Congratulations to Candace Robinson of Vancouver, WA, and Linda of Tampa, FL. They each won an autographed copy of the Raven Hart book of their choice.

2009-02-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day Book Signing

If you're in the area on Saturday the 14th, drop by The Book Worm book store from noon until three where I'll be signing The Vampire's Revenge as well as my other books. Here's the 411 on The Book Worm: 4451 Marietta Street Powder Springs, GA 30127 770-439-2029 www.thebookwormonline.com

Hope to see you there!

2009-02-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Hello, everyone! I hope everyone is doing well, keeping warm, and has electricity. And I hope you’ve all had a chance to curl up with a good book in front of a roaring fire this weekend. Me, I’ve been writing and crafting (stamping polymer clay and making beads) and am about to have some pizza and watch the super bowl.

Contest Winners
Congrats to the winners of the free book drawing:

Christopher Crisostomo of Bergenfield, NJ
Stephen King (really!) of Stalybridge, Cheshire, UK
Michael Campbell of Stanton, MI
Angela Morgan of Lansing, MI
Pat Wagner, Chamblee, GA
Charlene Wooley, Duluth, GA

Another winner next month!

2009-01-04T15:39:00.001-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can you believe a new year is here? I certainly can’t. I also can hardly believe that the newest entry in the Savannah Vampires series is almost here. Mark your calendars for January 27, the release date of book five, “The Vampire’s Revenge.”

I know I’m behind with the contest, so to make it up to you guys, I’ll draw six names as soon as I can get my hands on that many copies of the book and give them to the winners. That should catch me up. I haven’t received my author copies from the publisher yet, so it may be the day of the 27th before I can get them.

Good luck to all in ’09! May the new year bring you health, happiness, prosperity, and good reading!

2008-09-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

A Shout-Out to Everyone I met at Dragoncon!

I want to thank everyone who brought their books to Dragoncon for me to sign! It made me feel fantastic that you wanted my autograph. (Sorry my handwriting is so bad.)

Thanks also to the folks who came to the panels where I spoke and visited the booth I shared with my fantasy-writing friends. Thanks for buying my books and entering the drawing. Speaking of the drawing. . .

The Dragoncon Drawing Winner is:

Jeanne Shillingford of Montgomery Village, MD, won the set of books and the jewelry.

The August Ravenhartbooks.com Winner is:

Sebrina Farrow of Huntsville, AL, won a pair of vampire earrings and a glass necklace.

Congratulations, winners!

2008-07-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

The Vampire’s Revenge available in January
Book 5 has a title and release date! The Vampire’s Revenge is coming out in January. It has a cool green cover. Check it out on Amazon.

Raven Hart story in vampire romance anthology
The Mammoth book of Vampire Romance is on the shelves with a story by yours truly entitled “Knowledge of Evil.” The book also includes stories by many other top vampire romance writers.

May Contest Winner
Congrats to Heather O’Donoghue of Savannah, Georgia, who won an autographed copy of “The Vampire’s Seduction.”

June Contest Winner
Congrats to Guinevere of Plano, Texas, who—since she already has a copy of every book—won a custom-made pair of bat earrings, a pair of Raven Hart earrings, and a glass necklace commemorating the “sea glass” incident in “The Vampire’s Betrayal.”

July Contest Winner

Kim Freeman of Gulf Breeze, Florida, won an autographed copy of "The Vampire's Seduction," a pair of Raven Hart earrings, and a glass necklace.

The Vampire’s Betrayal On Sale Tomorrow

2008-04-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

Book four in the Savannah Vampires series is on sale tomorrow! Be the first vamp fan on your block to get one! Write and let me know how you like it!

My apologies (again) for not blogging in so long. I promise to do better in the future. I turned in book five (as yet untitled) a few weeks ago. I’ll let you know the release date as soon as I hear.

February Contest Winner
Mark Rogers of Exton, PA, won an autographed copy of “The Vampire’s Kiss.”

March Contest Winner
Kisah Jackson of Delray Beach, FL, won an autographed copy of “The Vampire’s Betrayal.”

April Contest Winner
Paula Hudson of Lebanon, TN, won an autographed copy of “The Vampire’s Betrayal.”

Winter Greetings

2008-02-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Hello, vampfans!
Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been busily working on book 5 in the Savannah Vampire series. Hope everybody's been spending time in front of a warm, crackling fire and getting a lot of reading done.

Local Signing at the Book Worm
I wanted to pass along that I'll be signing copies of my books at The Book Worm book store, 4451 Marietta St., Powder Springs, Georgia, on February 16 from noon until four.

January Contest Winner
Vicki McConnell of Indian Trail, NC, won the copy of "The Vampire's Kiss."

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

Hope everybody's having a great oh-eight so far! "The Vampire's Kiss" came out the day after Christmas. For those of you who've had a chance to read it, drop me an email and let me know what you think!

Here's hoping this year brings health, happiness and prosperity to everyone!

December Contest Winner
Congrats to Leigh Hall of Boston, MA, who won a copy of "The Vampire's Kiss."

January Contest
For the January Contest I'll give away another copy of the new book.

Trailer launched for "The Vampire's Kiss"

2007-12-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Hello, everyone! I hope everybody had a terrific Thanksgiving! The trailer for "The Vampire's Kiss" is done and it looks great. It'll be posted to the site in a couple of days. Until then, you can go to Youtube and search on Raven Hart and you'll go right to it. Or use this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IcSdktdv-U Let me know what you think!

Anthology News
I've been asked to participate in the Mammoth anthology of paranormal romance from UK publisher Constable & Robinson. The anthology will be published in 2008.

November Contest Winner
The winner of the jewelry for November is Dorothy Northrip of Florissant, MO. Congratulations, Dorothy!

Let's Talk Vampire Fiction

2007-11-15T11:15:00.001-08:00

Hello, everybody. Here's a shout out to the fellow writers with whom I communed during the Low Country Romance Writers' Hermit Week retreat in Charleston this past weekend. A good time was had by all as well as a lot of work done. It was great being with you fine folks!

Hey, y'all, I just got finished with the Stephenie Meyers Twilight trilogy. Wow! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it. Incredibly romantic, those books made me feel like an angsty teenager again. In a good way! My hat's off to Meyers on a fine series. This is not just for YA, y'all. If you're into romance, check it out. These books manage to be very sexy without having any actual sex.

So what are YOUR fave vamp books (besides the Savannah Chronicles, that is)? For those of you who like gritty realism (as real as you can get with vampires) with a hint of romance, I would suggest the Charlie Huston vampire books "Already Dead" and "No Dominion." And of course I'm a huge fan of L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress series and anything by Sunny.

Book 4, "The Vampire's Betrayal" available for pre-order
I was VERY excited to see my new cover on Amazon the other day. It's HOT, people! Until I have a chance to get my changes together for my wonderful webmaven, check it out on Amazon. The release date is April 29th, 2008.

October Contest Winner
Congratulations to Dave Brodsky of the Bronx who won the October prize of a black onyx necklace made by yours truly.

My Favorite Time of Year

2007-10-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hello, vampire-fancying friends. I'm in a great mood 'cos it's my favorite time of year. (It's Jack's too. The nights are getting longer, see, and he can get more work and fun done.)

I spent last weekend cycling around Jekyll island and rubbing elbows with the state's finest librarians at the COMO conference. A big shout-out to everyone who was nice enough to buy a book. When I wasn't schmoozing I was bicycling around the island looking at the restored homes of the millionaires who used to live there and other history sites. Jekyll has a quite interesting history, and I might be able to use some of it in upcoming Savannah Vampire Chronicles installments. (Jekyll isn't far from Savannah.)

September Contest Winner
The winner of the vampire bling for September is Pharris White of Kennesaw, Georgia. Congrats!

More Vampire Books
I'm just now reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. I got curious about it because it's all the rage with the youngsters and I must say I'm really loving it. VERY romantic.

2007-09-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

Fall is just around the corner. . .

. . . and you know what that means. Halloween! Jack’s favorite holiday. He gets to flash his fangs at passersby and they just assume he’s in costume. Hehe. He likes to scare the dickens out of the Savannah “ghost tour” groups. Hey, Werm is thinking of starting one of those tours. Who better than an actual vampire to tell you all the creepiest stuff about Savannah, eh?

Dragoncon
Dragoncon was fun this year. Got a chance to talk to L.A. Banks, who writes the Vampire Huntress series. She’s a great writer and that’s a terrific series. Check it out if you haven’t already. The first book is “Minion.”
Here’s a shout-out to Julie, a reader and fellow “Highlander” fan, who I met at Dragoncon. I read that Adrian Paul might be a guest at the Romantic Times convention in ’08. Wish I were going, but I guess I’ll miss him.

August Contest Winner
The winner of the vampire jewelry for August is Clare O'Sullivan of East Yorkshire, UK. Congratulations, Clare! I’ll give away the same prize in September. Scroll down to see a photo of the earrings. (The winner will also have his/her choice of necklace or earrings.)

2007-08-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

See me at Dragoncon and the Decatur Book Festival

Hello, all. If any of you guys will be at Dragoncon this weekend, I'll be on a panel on Sunday morning at 10:00 so make your way through the maze of meeting rooms for the writers' track and introduce yourself. I'll be wearing a Raven Hart tee shirt. I won't be able to make the panel they've got me down for on Monday.

On Sunday I'll be signing books at the GRW booth at the Decatur Book Festival from 2 to 4, so drop by if you're there.

Happy Labor Day, everyone!
Raven

2007-08-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

Man, are you guys ready for fall or what?

Hello, everybody. I don’t know about you, but here in the sunny southland, I’m fixing to melt. I can’t even get my dog to go outside. I was in Savannah the week of the sixth and it was over a hundred. I stayed on Tybee island but it was too hot to go to the beach. I hung out with Jack and irregulars at the garage on Victory drive, visited William and the gang at the mansion and ate at Clary’s diner. Clary’s was mentioned in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” but isn’t in the Savannah Vampire Chronicles because they’re open only for breakfast and lunch, so the sun-sensitive guys can’t go. Anyway, the gang said to tell ya’ll hello.

Latest Contest Winners

The winner of the June contest (the pair of goldstone earrings and Raven Hart earrings; see the photo uploaded to an earlier blog) is Lori of Pheonix, Arizona. Marcia Wallace of Omaha, Nebraska, is the July winner of some sodalite bat earrings and Raven Hart earrings.

September Contest Prize

I’ve gotten some fan mail lately from my readers of the male persuasion, which I really appreciate! So I decided that I would add an option of a necklace (I’ll try and make it “manly”) OR earrings for the prize in the September contest. So here’s the deal—the winner can choose between a hand-carved bat necklace or earrings made out of his or her choice of the following stones: amethyst, gold stone, tiger eye, jasper (red), or rose quartz. And I’ll throw in a pair of Raven Hart earrings. See the photo I uploaded to a previous blog for a glimpse of the bling.

The Vampire’s Kiss has a cover. What do you think?

What do you think about the cover of the Vampire’s Kiss? I like it. It’s out a couple of days after Christmas. For some reason I couldn't upload the image to the blog, but you guys can check it out on Amazon.

2007-07-09T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hot Enough for You?

Howdy! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Sorry for the delay in posting.

May and June Contest Winners
The winner of the necklace in May's contest never responded to my email so I drew another name/email address from those of you who entered. The winner is Jeriann Bushnell of Portland, Oregon. Congratulations, Jeriann!

I also drew the winner of the earrings in the June contest. When she gets in touch with me I'll post her name as well.

July Contest
I've been able to acquire some more nifty vampire bat beads of semi-precious stones! For the July contest, I'll give away a pair of earrings featuring these beads plus a pair of Raven Hart earrings. See the photo I uploaded for the June contest. Only this time, you'll be able to choose from gold stone (pictured), rose quartz (pink), sodalite (blue) or tigereye. Good luck, everybody!

Book Four
The new release date for The Vampire's Kiss (book 3 in the series) is December 26, and I'm still working on book four. This time the vampires are really surprising me. I'm discovering a lot of things I didn't know about them before! And rest assured, the boys with the pointy teeth are in worse hot water than ever!

I'd better get back to channeling William and Jack. Talk to you soon!

A New Contest for June

2007-06-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

Happy June, everyone! A reader from Kentucky won the necklace, but she hasn’t replied to my email, so I can’t announce her name yet. (Maybe she’s on vacation since it’s that time of year.) Anyway, next month’s prize is a pair of goldstone bat earrings and a pair of Raven Hart earrings. So go ahead and enter! I’ve uploaded a picture, but my photography skills leave a lot to be desired. Despite the big shadow in the lower left corner, I think you can see what the bling looks like.

I just finished the revisions for “The Vampire’s Kiss,” due out in November and am hard at work on book four in the Savannah Vampire Chronicles series. Sorry I haven’t come up with more content for the site, but I need to meet my deadline first. Come back to visit in a few weeks and maybe I’ll have a character gallery fleshed out.
Until next time. . . .

Enter the May contest! Win some bling!

2007-05-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hi! I want to say hello to anyone who might happen by the site who I met at the Romantic Times convention. I promised to give away a vampire necklace on the site this month like the one I gave away at the convention. I’m a little behind on getting the info posted, but I promise to do the drawing on time at the end of the month. The necklace, which I designed myself, features a carved bat with some lovely art glass beads suspended from it. I think any red-blooded vampire fan would love it!

Who's going to the Romantic Times convention?

2007-04-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

Good evening, all. I'm preparing to go to the Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention in Houston at the end of the month. In fact, I'm printing out my business cards right now. I hope to meet as many readers as possible while I'm there. I have some giveaways I hope you'll enjoy and will be on one of the vampire panels. Of course, I'll also be signing both books at the book signing. So if there's anybody out there reading this who plans to be there, be sure and introduce yourself. I'll probably be wearing my "Do you know Jack?" pin. And if you tell me you've been to this site, I'll give you a special giveaway that won't be on the handout table--as long as they last, that is.

So, who's going to be there? Anyone? Anyone?

Of wizards and cliffhangers

2007-03-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello, everybody. Spring is almost here, and you all know what that means. Our favorite shows go on hiatus until the fall! And my beloved Battlestar Gallactica isn’t going to be back until 2008! Argh!

You know all the big dramas and even some of the comedies will end on cliffhangers. Which brings me to the real subject of my blog. My books end with cliffhangers. This is, admittedly, a device to inspire readers to look for the next book in the series. But it’s also just how I write. I like it, but I don’t want to annoy people. So tell me your feelings about the cliffhangers that end the books. Do they bother you?

Speaking of TV, I’m really into “The Dresden Files.” I just LOVE that sexy Paul Blackthorne. He looks kind of like Jack, only Jack has more hair and muscles, blue eyes, and a southern accent.

Raven

Welcome!

2007-03-14T15:39:00.001-07:00

Hello, and welcome to my very first blog ever! What with a couple of different alter egos and a whole cast of characters running around in my head, I hardly know where to start!

My day-to-day, real-life activities aren’t any more interesting than most people’s, so I’ll spare you the tale of the trip to the scratch-and-dent appliance store and the nonworking dishwasher. Don’t get me wrong. If a UFO ever lands outside my basement office/bead studio and disgorges little green men, you’ll be among the first to know. But I, for one, ain’t holding my breath.

However, the other world that I inhabit, that is, the world of the Savannah Vampires, is inherently more interesting. It’s the world of creatures in the shadows, just a little bit beyond our senses and way beyond our understanding. Those creatures are both powerful and seductive and have the means to bend us to their will—sometimes.

I hope to prevail on some of the folks of that world to serve as guest columnists in this space from time to time. William’s kind of scary, but I happen to be close, personal friends with Jack McShane and I’m pretty sure I can twist his arm. I expect Lamar Nathan von Werm, aka Werm, to drop by. He has a lot to say and some of it actually makes sense. I can’t always say that for Huey, Jack’s pet zombie, but he’s friendly and has manners enough not to try and chow down on anyone’s brains.

Then there’s Melaphia, the voodoo mambo and bead artist (like Raven—the bead part, not the voodoo part) and her adorable daughter Renee.

So watch this space for news and gossip out of Raven’s world—if you dare.