JUNE NEWSLETTER

Back in the saddle again…

I'm finally starting to come up for some air, have some great news, some fun stuff coming up…and yes, I’m even writing again! Thanks to everyone for your patience. This month I will be awarding three prizes to make up for being gone so long, so make sure to check the box below to see if you’ve won. Now, for the news… Minnette :)

STARSIGHT AVAILABLE AT 55% OFF LIST
AT STONEGARDEN UNTIL JUNE 30TH…
My wonderful publisher has lowered prices on all Stonegarden titles between now and June 30th. This is a great opportunity to get both Starsight books for less than half price.

FIRST ANNUAL NW BOOK FESTIVAL… I was delighted to be invited this wonderful event. Over 40 authors will be speaking and signing their books at the 1st Annual Northwest Book Festival, held Saturday June 27 at 21860 Willamette Drive, West Linn, OR 97068, from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Make sure if you live in the Portland area (or even if you don’t) to drop buy and meet the authors.

CENTURION IS BOOK OF THE WEEK AT LSR… I was so proud to find out that THE CENTURION & THE QUEEN had been selected as Book of the Week over at Long & Short Reviews. It and my second piece of good news about STARSIGHT (below) could not have come at a better time. I sincerest thanks to the great people over at LSR. Here’s the link: REVIEW – THE CENTURION & THE QUEEN - LSR

TERRI PATRICK’S FANTASTIC REVIEW OF BOTH STARSIGHT BOOKS…
The other wonderful review I received was from a fellow Rose City Romance Writer and I absolutely floored. Reviews from other authors, especially good ones, are an honor since most authors are very busy and barely have time to read a book, let alone review it. Terri Patrick, an amazing writer, dedicated a blog post to both books. Thanks so much, Terri.

RIDING WITH THE POLICE, RESUSCITATING THE MUSE & A PREVIEW OF GHOSTS… As some of you know, the life of a writer can be very similar to that of a salamander; you live in a cave, don’t see daylight very often, and are anchored to your rock…erm, computer most of the time. That’s why when I spent the day with Officer Pickett from the East Portland Police Bureau, I had the time of my life! Read about it in my blog article, IN THE SHADOW OF HEROES. I also did a small blog tour with my article RESUSCITATING THE MUSE talking about writer’s block just for kicks. It’s a funny look at an author’s worst nightmare. In addition, I’m finishing up my current WIP KEENAN’S DILEMMA and thought it might be fun to give everyone a sneak peak at this paranormal romantic comedy of disasters.

UPCOMING BOOK SIGNINGS: Saturday, June 27th, NW Book Festival – 10am-4pm – 21860 Willamette Drive, West Linn, OR 97068
Saturday, August 15th, Authors Fair, Bob’s Book – 12-3pm - Bob’s Books, Lincoln City, OR


UPCOMING NEW RELEASES!
A Boy & His Wizard – Children’s Book – Stonegarden – Nov 2009 A Boy & His Lizard – Children’s Book – Stonegarden – June 2010 Starsight III: The Restless Seed – Stonegarden – March 2010 The Gods of War: Starsight Prequel – Stonegarden – November 2010 The Gladiator Prince – Sequel to Centurion - TBA Keenan’s Dilemma – Romantic Paranormal – TBA


UPDATE ON THE CENTURION SERIES…
The Centurion & The Queen and The Edge of Honor are both doing well right now, with some great reviews. The next in the series, GLADIATOR PRINCE, has been outlined and ready to go just as soon as I get my other deadlines met. I’m very excited about this project and hope fans of the Centurion series will love it too. Here are some excerpts from EDGE…

EXCERPTS

STARSIGHT UPDATE…
The Starsight series is beginning to take off and has found a new audience; teenagers. Who would have thought? Anyway, I am thrilled that young people have found the series and are enjoying it. I am working on plans to visit high schools and present writing workshops in the fall. More news to come on that soon!

STARSIGHT VOL. II - BOOKS III & IV - War ravishes the Imperium, held together by the valor of ancient warriors and the devotion of the empire's elite. Trenara no longer trusts the power that has turned the boy she once loved into a man she no longer understands. He frightens her. Joshan's ascendancy grows every day as he leads them to Sirdar's domain. The monster has prepared a welcome that none of them expects and Joshan knows he is endangering them all. Sacrifices are made; bonds are broken. The line between good and evil are blurred in the blood of the innocent. Will Joshan use the power to rescue his world or will a new tyrant sit upon Sirdar's throne? EXCERPT

WINNERS FOR APRIL, MAY, & JUNE
As promised, there are three winners for this newsletter, and the winners are: Congratulations go to Tricia, Jennifer Carress, and Cathie Morton who each won eBooks of The Centurion & The Queen AND The Edge of Honor! Thanks to everyone who joined. You will now be automatically entered to win books each month as part of my monthly newsletter!

CONTEST FOR JULY
A winner will be selected in July for eBook copies of both Starsight books. Members of this mailing list are already included in the drawing. If you know of anyone who would like to join for a chance, contact me at: mmeador@minnettemeador.com Good luck! Minnette

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Starsight Series Available at 55% Off from SG

Stonegarden is getting ready to move forward and leave sales to Amazon, BN, Borders, etc. so is having a "closing out" sale of all its titles, including the two Starsight books. This is an opportunity to pick them up with a 55% discount until the end of June.

STARSIGHT - VOLUME I
Books I & II
The Prince/The Emperor
Trenara never thought she would have to guide a student she loved to become a messiah, but it is the only way this second trial Starguider can salvage her world. Torn between her devotion to Joshan and the fate of her kind, Trenara struggles against accusations of murder, the onset of war, and the loss of her faith in gods who have turned their backs on her. The only people she can trust to help them are two war-ravaged heroes; the boy’s life-long trainer and an old sea captain everyone thought was a ghost. Their only weapon, a ten-year-old boy who wakes one morning to find his childhood gone and his hands filled with a power he couldn't possibly understand--or control. Together they must destroy a psychotic enemy and a religious order that has been running the Imperium for a thousand years; a system they have all taken blood vows to protect.

STARSIGHT - VOLUME II
Books III & IV
The Sight/The Gods
War ravishes the Imperium, held together by the valor of ancient warriors and the devotion of the empire's elite. Trenara no longer trusts the power that has turned the boy she once loved into a man she no longer understands. He frightens her. Joshan's ascendancy grows every day as he leads them to Sirdar's domain. The monster has prepared a welcome that none of them expects and Joshan knows he is endangering them all. Sacrifices are made; bonds are broken. The line between good and evil are blurred in the blood of the innocent. Will Joshan use the power to rescue his world or will a new tyrant sit upon Sirdar's throne.

Minnette Meador
www.minnettemeador.com
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com

Keenan's Dilemma - Excerpt (Adult Language)

KEENAN'S DILEMMA
a paranormal romantic comedy
by Minnette Meador
(Sneak Peak)

CHAPTER 3
INBIBBING SPIRITS

Keenan’s eyes fluttered open fully expecting to be in his bed. Instead, he had his face buried in the porcelain altar, throwing up his guts, listening to Reggie cooing encouragements.

“There you go, old bugger. Get all of it out. That’s the lad.”

Coughing until he thought his lungs would come up, Keenan tried to figure out what had just happened. All he could focus on was the splattered white inside his toilet, his splitting head, and a persistent ringing in his ears. The sexual encounter was very fuzzy.

“What the fuck?” When he spoke, his throat turned to sandpaper.

He pulled his head out of the toilet and put as much air into his lungs as they would take. Sitting on his haunches, he glared at Reggie. The shining specter smiled down at him, floating nonchalantly by the sink. Everything else was black. A random thought flashed through Keenan’s addled brain. I wish I glowed in the dark.

“Are you better, my friend?”

“What the fuck?” Keenan repeated and lurched to his feet.

“You asked that already.”

Keenan stumbled to the sink. Turning on the tap lighted only by Reggie’s ghostly glow, he put his head under the water and tried to drown himself in it.

The cold made the ringing and the muddle go away, but his head still pounded like murder. Keenan grabbed the wet towel from the shower curtain rod and ran it violently over his head and face, hoping the weird sickness would saturate the towel instead of his brain.

He felt dirty, violated, like someone had pulled his pants down in front of cheerleaders. Yet, there was another part of him that was somehow fulfilled, satisfied, satiated. It was making him sick to his stomach.

Keenan threw the towel on the floor, stomped into his bedroom, and then stopped with a jolt. Reggie almost ran “into” him.

In the soft light from his window, he could see the bed was completely disheveled. The mattress was turned sideways and touching the ground. It stood there like a beached whale. Everything not otherwise tied down was on the floor. Three pictures looked like someone had smashed them against the wall. Worse, except for the window, there was not a single piece of glass in the room that had not been shattered including the screen to his rabbit-eared TV. There was glass everywhere.

“I think you need a drink, my friend.” Reggie pirouetted across his path and glided to the door, but Keenan only blinked at him.

“What?”

“A drink. You know…ice, booze, perhaps soda or a wedge of lime.”

Keenan shook his head long enough to get the daze out of it and then gingerly crossed the mine field of glass to pull on his coat and step into his sneakers. He didn’t even bother to untie them.

Miraculously, the shoes were glass-free and the coat was right side out. In his state, it probably didn’t matter.

It dawned on Keenan as he followed Reggie out to the living room that the familiar disembodied noise was back. Arguments, low conversations, whispers, and even a little song flitted in and out of the air around him. It was somehow comforting.

The crowd of visible ghosts was light; three screamers Keenan couldn’t see very clearly, a Hindi named Nihar who was standing on his head amongst fake flowers on the window sill, and a crowd of coal miners dancing on the kitchen table. Three of them were swilling pale mugs of beer.

Keenan searched the crowd. “Constance?”

Reggie spun around and gave him a ghostly wink. “Sorry, old chap. Not here tonight. Besides…” He floated over to the door and made a grand gesture with his arm. “For this, you’ll need a gentleman’s perspective, I think.”

“What do you…?”

“I’ll explain all of it after you’ve had a drink or two. Off we go.”

Keenan’s head throbbed enough to make him not care where he was going. He lifted one numb leg after the other. When the front door slammed behind him, it sent a cartoon sound wave that should have caved in his skull. It must have been very cold outside…he could see his breath come out in solid clouds…but he was toasty enough. Thank God for small favors.

He stumbled after Reggie who was whistling a happy tune just to torture him.

The haze around Keenan brain didn’t get any better the further down the block Reggie led him. He wondered what time it was; would the bar be open this late?

RESUSCITATING THE MUSE

Lately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I’ve been in a funk as far as writing goes. I literally have to drag myself to MS Word to get myself going. Facebook and Twitter call to me, emails beckon, and I know I’m in trouble when “Relax this Spring, knowing where your credit lies” sounds more appealing to me than going back to my book. This is the life of a writer. It’s fraught with danger and not for the faint of heart.

PROCRASTINATION is defined as: to defer action; delay: to put off till another day or time. That’s been me in a nutshell, put off. Now some may say with my husband sick, I have a great excuse. Problem is that’s not what my muse is saying. She’s calling me a lazy sod who better get off her butt or she’ll give me a reason to regret it.

So, okay. It’s time to revisit why I write. Maybe that will get the spark going on this bonfire:

WHY I WRITE:


1. To get the demons out of my head before they really start running things.

2. To legally torture people who are not actually alive. To do so on living people would be wrong, right?

3. To feel that adrenalin rush every time the Muse shouts into my ear, keep going…keep going…

4. To give my fingers a daily work out and my brain a little calisthenics (that’s exercise to you young whipper snappers).

5. To be amazed every time someone actually likes what I write. It’s like, My God, they bought it. I can’t believe I got away with it.

6. To leave my mark, however small, upon a world that has been nurturing me from day one. After all, it’s where I keep my stuff.

7. To give my children and their children a legacy, something they can be proud of.

So, how about you. Why do you write? What helps you to drag yourself back to the keyboard, typewriter, or pencil and paper day after day?

Well, that did it for me. I’m revved up now. Watch out world…Mimi’s back in town!

Minnette Meador
www.minnettemeador.com
http://minnettemeador.blogspot.com
2008 Releases: Starsight, Vol. I, Starsight, Vol. II, The Centurion & The Queen The Edge of Honor, A Cup of Comfort for Single Mothers
2009 Releases: A Boy & His Wizard
2010 Releases:Starsight III: The Restless Seed, Starsight Prequel: The God Wars, A Boy & His Lizard
Other Releases: The Gladiator Prince - TBA, Keenan's Dilemma - TBA