More March Madness - Interview and giveaway

Today I'm over at Elise Rome's site as part of her March Madness Blog Party. There are prizes galore, so check out the March Madness rules first, then hop over to my author interview and answer the reader question for a chance to win an ebook copy of The Fallen Queen. There's also an extra treat for those who haven't read the book yet, of an Anazakia/Vasily excerpt for your reading pleasure. And here' a little snaphot of Anazakia and Vasily to go along with it:

New review and cover love

I have some exciting announcements to share about The House of Arkhangel'sk! First, I was thrilled to learn recently that Russian Life magazine reviewed The Fallen Queen in their March/April print issue, calling it:

...a tense, engaging fantasy thriller that is just a bit sassy or tongue in cheek and chock full of Russian flavor... A great read for a long winter weekend.

Even more thrilling for me, they mentioned the Russian language used in the book without expressing any dismay over my grammar. So, yay, Russian State Hydrometeorological University of St. Petersburg, some of your teaching stuck! ;)

Also, if you weren't aware, Books Two and Three of The House of Arkhangel'sk will be released in late summer 2012 and spring 2013 in mass-market format with Entangled Publishing's new distributor! I'm excited to announce that in advance of the August release of The Midnight Court, The Fallen Queen will be re-released on May 15 with a brand-new look. So, without further ado, here's a sneak peek of the new cover:

I think I'm in love with this cover. :)

DABWAHA (Gesundheit)

DA BWAHA \ DA-bwa-ha \ , noun; 1. Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hellagood Authors.

DABWAHA is a tournament patterned after NCAA March Madness—but this one is a tournament of books, hosted by the awesome folks at Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I was surprised and honored to discover that The Fallen Queen was selected as a DABWAHA finalist in the Paranormal/Urban Fantasy/Science Fiction category.

TFQ is up against the following fabulous titles:

• Cat’s Tale: A Fairy Tale Retold by Bettie Sharpe
• The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter
• Fate’s Edge by Ilona Andrews
• Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook
• Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh
• Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison
• Radiant Desire by Inara Scott

Apparently, the next step is something called "brackets." I am totally out of my element here, so I'm afraid I can't really explain it, but from the DABWAHA website:

We’ll put out a slate of 64 picks.  8 categories and 8 books in each category.  In each category, the books are seeded 1-8.  The books then face off against one another with book 8 going up against book 1, book 7 going up against book 2, book 6 going up against book 3.  And so on and so forth.

The books compete against each other through the use of a poll and readers pick which book is going to win.

Before the books start competing against each other (I know, it sounds weird), readers fill out a bracket, picking who is going to win.

Bracket selection starts today and runs through midnight on March 13 (or 14th...this part isn't clear to me as the tournament form says 13th, but everything else says Wednesday), and voting begins on March 15. I'm not sure whether you have to fill out a bracket in order to vote, but I'm guessing you do, so hustle on over to the tournament page and make your selections:

http://www.mysideline.com/u/18566/custom/tournamententry.htm

What's in it for you? Well, in addition to the fun and madness, there are a ton of amazing prizes. And don't forget to vote for The Fallen Queen, up against Meljean Brook's Heart of Steel in Round 1 on March 15. (You know, the ides. Something bad will happen if you don't vote for TFQ on the ides.) ;)