Special Sneak Peek of Harlan!

tumblr_o43ln6XpAO1un3364o3_500Vote for Harlan!

The publisher of my Twelve Kingdoms and Uncharted Realms books is hosting their annual Ultimate Hero Showdown. Harlan, the hunky and infinitely patient hero of THE TALON OF THE HAWK, has made it through two rounds so far.

(Mostly thank s to passionate fans who stayed up clicking away until midnight!)374496_1090964154289153_8662467157271474559_n

Voting in round three starts at midnight, March 31 and goes until midnight – all U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. You can click as often as you like! (Hence the aforementioned Harlan fans clicking away.)

Harlan also appears in THE PAGES OF THE MIND, out May 31 (finally!). So, to give you a little extra Harlan love, here’s an excerpt from PAGES, which is in Dafne’s point of view. Here he’s helping Ursula teach Dafne self-defense.

Romance Tropes for SFF Writers

logo-newA few weeks ago, in The SFWA Bulletin #207, I talked about Romance Tropes for SFF Writers. I described at length the current top ten most popular romance tropes and how they can be worked into science fiction and fantasy plotlines in ways that will please romance readers. I also offered the One Rule (there must be a happy ever after (HEA) or happy for now (HFN) conclusion to the romance, along with five guidelines for navigating the contract with the romance reader.

In a subsequent online conversation, I realized I forgot one – a critical one that comes up in SFF fairly often. So I wrote an addendum, which is up on the SFWA blog. Pop on over to check it out!

On Funerals and Fairy Tales

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I’m up in northern Wyoming for a funeral. Always good to see the Big Horn Mountains again, and to spend time with family. The one good part of sad events like these is that family from long distances come together and stories get told that people haven’t heard before. Something about a person’s death unlocks old memories, as if their passing has opened a window into all of their life.

Heart's Blood by Jeffe KennedyThis week in the Bordello we’re discussing our favorite fairy tales. Come on by and find out about my current obsession

On Further Serendipitous Hijinks

3_23 moon cropWe had fierce dust storms in New Mexico yesterday, which at least makes for amazing sky colors. Here’s the nearly full moon setting at sunrise – still one of my favorite sights. 

So, yesterday I had an interesting moment. Kind of a continuation of this run of serendipity despite sad events. It’s really been a strange few weeks, with many highs and lows.

At this point we’re packing up to make the long road trip for R’s funeral. He was David’s brother, who died much too young from cancer. We’re hoping to drill through a few windows in the winter storms twixt here and there to gather with our extended family on David’s side. One of those people is our daughter, whose birthday was on Monday. A happy note is that we’ll be able to give her birthday presents in person, a rare event these days.

Yesterday, David and I went into town to shop for her gifts. We found the Perfect Thing after several stops. Once we had that, I made an impulsive excursion to buy a vital accessory. I went to my favorite place to buy that accessory – can’t tell you where in case a certain birthday girl reads this – which, like Saturday’s excursion, involved hijinks through different parking lots.

I was standing at the counter, buying my stuff, when out of the sitting area came… guess who? Yeah – Neil Gaiman. He smiled at the counter gal helping me, nodded at us both, saying thank you and good evening. 

I managed not to have a fangirl meltdown. But it was close.

And no, I didn’t introduce myself. I chickened out. And besides, that would be *really* stretching my Meet Your Heroes luck!

Still, can you all believe it? My timing is just… I don’t know what to make of it.

Never mind that the counter gal friend of mine tipped me that Neil comes in most days. I may have found my new favorite hangout.

Oh, and Harlan is again up for your voting pleasure in the Ultimate Hero smackdown. You can vote all day, as many times as you feel moved to do so, today – March 23, 2016 – until midnight US Eastern Daylight Time. tumblr_o43ln6XpAO1un3364o3_500

Cheers, everyone!

Best Fantasy Romance of 2015!

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Harlan's Dossier

 

So much happening all at once!

~dances around in the downpour~ 

the talon of the hawkScreenshot 2016-03-16 09.41.56First of all, yesterday I *FINALLY* got to share that THE TALON OF THE HAWK won Best Fantasy Romance of 2015 in the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Awards!!! I’ve known for about seven weeks, but was allowed to share the great good news only with family and friends. One of the first people I told was sister nominee Grace Draven, whose amazing book RADIANCE I thought was sure to win. I have to tell you – I think she was more excited than I was! With competition like C.S. Pacat, Sharon Shinn and Robin Owens, the odds were scary! I’m really just beyond thrilled. The outpouring of love and congratulations has floored me. 

Which leads to the next thing: In a serendipitous coincidence, the hero of TALON, everyone’s favorite mercenary Harlan is in Kensington’s Ultimate Hero Showdown today. You can vote here as often as you like, until 11:59 PM (EDT). 

Also, SF Signal did a really terrific interview with me – excellent questions – and you can read that here. 

Cc4oKSVUUAAarUjFinally, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, I’ve been participating in a Lucky in Love giveaway with four of my sister writers in the Land of Enchantment Romance Authors (LERA) chapter here in New Mexico. Today you can enter to win a digital copy of the highly anticipated upcoming erotic anthology, THE DEVIL’S DOORBELL.

Be one of the first to read it! Enter here to win one of three copies and to enter the grand prize giveaway of a brand new, loaded Kindle Voyager!

A woman’s pleasure is a dangerous thing. A primal appetite that, once awakened, can never be sated. A secret that gives power to those who know it. A magic that, once unleashed, can never be contained.

Some say the clitoris is the devil’s doorbell, set to summon him forth at the merest touch…

It’s time to ring the bell.

Here are seven tales of sexual empowerment and erotic defiance, featuring the hottest storytellers of erotic fiction.

Anne Calhoun
Christine d’Abo
Delphine Dryden
Megan Hart
Jeffe Kennedy
Megan Mulry
M. O’Keefe

Whew! That’s a lot of dancing!

Flash Fiction: The Lost Hour

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I was at the Tucson Festival of Books so I switched days at the Word Whores blog with KAK.

Most amazing moment: I got to be on a panel with Terry Brooks! And I may have squealed unbecomingly when he held up my book and read reviews from the front. Forever thanks to faithful reader Lynne Facer for grabbing this truly epic photograph.

And now, my contribution to the Word Whores’ flash fiction challenge, filling in what happens during that hour we lose by springing forward.

Cover Reveal!!

Jeffe-Kennedy-Hearts-Blood-(Type)Look at this gorgeous cover the amazingly talented Louisa Gallie made for HEART’S BLOOD! She’s the artist who did Grace Draven’s gorgeous MASTER OF CROWS cover. I love, love, love that cover. So this is a big treat for me, to have a Gallie cover of my very own!

What’s super cool is you can get the image on various things and support the artist, too! 🙂 

This is my Goose Girl retelling, set in the world of The Twelve Kingdoms, previously available in the Dark Secrets Paranormal Noir Anthology, which no longer exists. The story stands alone, but intertwines with the other stories. 

A dark fairytale retelling of a princess robbed of rank, husband and even her name.

Nix is nothing. The Princess Natilde—her former waiting woman—attacked her on the journey to wed Prince Cavan, stripping her of everything and taking her place. With no serving skills, Nix becomes a goose girl. Perhaps if Nix keeps her promise never to reveal who she really is, Natilde won’t carry out her vile threats. Prince Cavan entered his arranged marriage determined to have a congenial, if not loving relationship with his future queen—for the sake of both their kingdoms. But, his wife repels him more each day and he finds himself absurdly drawn to the lovely Nix.

With broken vows, anguish and dark secrets between them, Cavan and Nix struggle to find the magic to restore what’s gone terribly wrong… if it ever can be.

As soon as it’s available, I’ll add the buy links!

Now available in Kobo!

And at Smashwords!

And on Amazon!

Social Media Sin #1

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Megan Hart and I at the Day of the Dead mixer at the Coastal Magic Convention. Those skeleton hands temporary tattoos were super cool – and hell to get off again. Oops.

But I’m over at Word Whores today to talk about virtual communities and circles of social media hell. Which do I pick as my current #1 Social Media Sin? Click on over to find out.