Happy New Year!

Another year is coming to a close. It's been a busy year for me with ups and downs. I released 9 new e-books--7 from Ellora's Cave and 2 from Samhain Publishing.

It started back in January with the release of Threads of Destiny and was quickly followed by Tempting Tori, Endless Chase, Past Promises, Amethyst Dreams, Embracing Silence, Have Mercy, Alexandra's Legacy and finished with the release of Sweet Charity in December. There's everything there from contemporary, vampire, werewolf, menage a trois and futuristic.

I also had two new print books released. Trick or Treat, which was released by Simon and Schuster in October, includes my EC quickie, Unmasking Kelly. And my Samhain book, By the Book, was also released in print.

Hopefully, next year will be just as busy. :-)

Here's wishing you happiness, health and prosperity for 2010!

Interview

Check out my interview over at The Erotic Romance Crush Junkies Blog!

Christmas Book Sale at Ellora's Cave

If you're looking for a little bit of Christmas cheer, check out Jessamyn's Christmas Gift, my Ellora's Cave Quickie, which is on sale now for $2.12 as part of the Ellora's Cave 12 Days of Christmas Sale going on now until January 1st!

BLURB:

It's Christmas Eve and Jessamyn Parker waits by the fireside in her boyfriend's house. She expects him home any minute after being away for three months on business. Clad only in a slinky teddy and sprawled beneath the Christmas tree, she plans to surprise him. But instead of her boyfriend, a complete stranger surprises her.

Caleb Morgan is the new sheriff, and unbeknownst to her, he is also the new owner of the house. Jessamyn flees back to her own home, determined to forget not only her boyfriend's betrayal, but also the heated desire that Caleb has sparked within her.

While Jessamyn is shocked by his appearance, Caleb is enthralled by her. But Jessamyn has had more than enough of men. Now, one year later, it's Christmas time again, and Jessamyn is still swearing off men. But Caleb has other ideas. The only thing he wants for Christmas is the same thing he wanted last year and didn't quite get — Jessamyn Parker under his tree.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday. I've spent most of the last two days with family, laughing and eating way too much good food. And I intend to do the same thing again today. :-)

CAPA Nominations

The CAPA nominations have been announced over at The Romance Studio and I'm thrilled to have received six nominations!

Nominations:

Paranormal Erotic Romance--Beyond Shadows
Fantasy Erotic Romance--Embracing Silence and Have Mercy
Contemporary Erotic Romance--By the Book
Contemporary Romance--Past Promises
Favorite Author--N.J. Walters

Talk about an early Christmas Gift!

Holiday Traditions

Holiday traditions. They're what help make the season special. I'm chatting about that today over at The Romance Studio Holiday Blog . Stop by and tell me one of your family holiday traditions.

Happy Solstice!

Today is the Winter Solstice--or Yule--the shortest day of the year. It's a day that is celebrated by many different cultures as the long days of darkness gives way to the light.

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Take a moment to think about the light and the darkness and how important this day was to our ancestors who had no electric lights. When the rising and setting of the sun was the most important part of their day.

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Happy Solstice!

5 Blue Ribbon Review for Have Mercy

Have Mercy has received a 5 Blue Ribbon review from Romance Junkies. Here's a snippet of what reviewer, Contessa, had to say:

"Full of passion and drama HAVE MERCY will cause your emotions to go haywire. It had enough mystery, fascination and action-adventure to keep me eagerly turning the pages at a continuous motion until the conclusion made it appearance...I was in awe with author N.J. Walters’ storytelling. I can’t wait until her next thrilling released tale within this phenomenal series."

You can read the entire review at Romance Junkies.

A Little Christmas Cheer

Looking for a little Christmas cheer?

Check out the Carol of the Bells, performed by The Muppets. It will make you smile.

NEW RELEASE!

Sweet Charity, book 3 in the Project Alpha trilogy, is now available from Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

BLURB:

Third in the Project Alpha series

Earth 2133

Adrian is an Alpha—a genetically enhanced assassin—thought dead by the people who created him. Living outside the Gate, a high tech shield that protects the enclosed city from the contaminated and lawless land outside, he is the leader of the Resistance, living only to bring down the Gate and the people who sought to kill him.

Charity Caruthers is the daughter of one of the most powerful and brutal men in the inner city—the General. She risks everything sneaking outside the Gate to get a message to Adrian.

Passion explodes, ripping apart the foundations of both their lives. Charity begins to understand true sexual desire as Adrian teaches her the passion to be found in dark fantasies. Loyalties are tested and trust pushed to the limits as the final confrontation is at hand. Some will die. Some will live. And Adrian and Charity’s fragile relationship could be the final casualty in this war of retribution and freedom.

Project Alpha: Futuristic assassins on a deadly course with love. Books 1 and 2—Embracing Silence and Have Mercy—are now available.

Countdown to Christmas

Do you realize it's only 11 days until Christmas? Where has the time gone. I've been so busy trying to get projects finished up before the holidays, and do some shopping and some baking, that the time has flown by.

I have a new release on Wednesday and a couple of guest blogs before the end of the month, but as of Saturday, December 19th, I am "unofficially" on holidays until January 4th. I need a break and I've decided to take it.

Sure, I'll be checking emails and popping in to my yahoo groups now and then, but I'm not going to stress if I don't. As for writing...who knows. I don't plan to start anything new. My brain needs a break.

In the meantime, I have a book to finish and another one releasing this week so I better get busy. Have a great week!

Contest Reminder!

SWEET CHARITY SNEAK PEEK CONTEST!

To celebrate the release of Sweet Charity --the final book in the Project Alpha trilogy--from Ellora's Cave on December 16th, I'm giving away a download copy. Go to my website and click on the "contests" page for details on how you can enter for a chance to win.

Winner will be announced on December 15th.

Putting the Merry Back in Merry Christmas

Holidays got you feeling a bit like a grinch? Are your to-do lists thicker than War and Peace? I've got a few tips that might help.

Check out my guest blog over at The Romance Studio Blog.

Holiday Baking

One of the wonderful memories from my childhood revolve around all the treats that were available at Christmas. My mother was a heck of a baker and used to make tons of cookies and cakes for the holidays. To this day, I've never tasted cookies as good as hers.

Off the top of my head, I can remember chocolate chips, brownies, naniamo bars, date crumbles, short bread, snowballs, fudge, peanut butter/marshmallow cookies, cream cheese and cherry cookies, light fruitcake, dark fruitcake, cherry cake, pineapple cake, date bread, and I'm sure there was more. There were always a few different kinds of freezer squares as well.

Mom always had plenty of baked goods to put out for guests. And we had a ton of folks come by our house when I was a kid.

I'm older now. The family home is long gone, many friends and family have passed on or are living scattered around the world. It's the way of things, I suppose. But nothing will ever match those wonderful childhood memories of home.

Mom doesn't bake like she used to. She's older, it's expensive and there are just not as many folks eating sweets nowadays. Thankfully, she still sends fruitcake every year. Yes, we love fruitcake in our family. Mom's is out-of-this-world good.

I bake a few favories--cherry cake, fudge and short bread cookies. Folks don't drop in around the holidays much anymore. Used to be everyone spent at least one day "visiting" over the holidays back in the seventies. I miss those times. They were simpler and I lived in a small community were folks knew their neighbors. It's harder in the city to make those kinds of connections.

Still, I love the holiday season and will bake and share with those friends and family who live nearby and drop in for a visit.

What will you be baking this holiday?

Holiday Entertaining

This is the time of year when most of us have friends and family over to our homes to celebrate the season. Holiday entertaining doesn't have to be stressful. Check out my Ladies of the Club Blog post for tips and suggestions on how to survive holiday entertaining with your sanity and humor intact.

Monday, Monday!

Good snowy morning and welcome to Monday!

Winter arrived with a vengeance yesterday, dropping 15 inches of snow on us. It's a winter wonderland out there this morning. Of course, being the first snowfall of the season, drivers need to remember how to drive in the white stuff.

I was out yesterday morning before the snow storm began. I was wearing sneakers. I miss that already. LOL We were all cozy inside Sunday afternoon. I baked a cherry cake and hubby and I curled up on the sofa and watched The Muppet's Christmas Carol. I love that movie. What can I say? I'm a kid at heart.

Have you watched any holiday movies yet?

Huge Print Book Sale at Ellora's Cave

Looking for some fabulous baragains for Christmas. Check out the End of Year Blowout Sale at Ellora's Cave. There are tons of print books on sale now!

You can buy the Dreams of the Oasis IV Anthology for only $4. If you haven't read the first book about the Shadow Ryders--"Shadows Stir", then you can now!







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Are vampires more your style? Check out Dalakis Embrace, which contains Harker's Journey and Lucian's Delight, books 1 & 2 of the Dalakis Passion vampire series. This book is now only $4.

Three Weeks...

I glanced at the calendar this morning and realized it's only three weeks until Christmas. The time is flying by so quickly. I'm hoping to mostly finish my holiday shopping this weekend. I'll probably bake a cherry cake too. It's one of the tradions we have each year. Next week I'll probably make shortbreads and, the week after that, fudge. So much good stuff to eat, so little time. *g*

What are your plans for this weekend?

Please Vote....

Alexandra's Legacy, my latest Samhain release, is up for Book of the Month at Dark Diva Reviews!

Check it out and VOTE for it, or any other book you enjoyed this past month! You have until December 7th to place your vote.

December Newsletter and New Contest!

Good morning and welcome to December!

It's that time of the month again. The December issue of Awakening Desires—the Newsletter of Romance Author N.J. Walters—is now availalbe. If you're not receiving it, then you’re missing out on all the latest news, author interviews, excerpts and tons more!

Be sure to check out the this month’s author interview with Katherine Kingston.

As well, each month, some lucky newsletter subscriber wins a prize. All you have to do to be eligible to win next month is to go to Awakening Desires Newsletter to join. While you’re there, you can check out back issues of the newsletter.


SWEET CHARITY SNEAK PEEK CONTEST!

To celebrate the release of Sweet Charity --the final book in the Project Alpha trilogy--from Ellora's Cave on December 16th, I'm giving away a download copy. Go to my website and click on the "contests" page for details on how you can enter for a chance to win.