You guys know I’m a fan of angel stories, right? Especially sexy angel guys? Possibly? So I was really excited to hear when my friend Michele Lang sold a book, that it was about a HOT ANGEL GUY. Seriously, it’s like she wrote this book just for me. The novel is called LADY LAZARUS and it features a witch who’s out to stop the baddies of World War II, and to do so, she has to find a book. And the book has a hot, sexy, winged guardian…I think you know where I’m going here.

So I asked Michele to guest blog and here she is!

Michele Lang on her new release, LADY LAZARUS:

One of my favorite characters in all of my books is the mighty but tortured Raziel, the author of the magical book that everybody wants in LADY LAZARUS. His motives may be murky as seen through Magda’s eyes, but Raziel never does
things halfway and despite all the dangers and his essential mystery, she knows he will never leave her.

Here’s a quick list of just a few of the reasons I love my man-angel so much. I SWEAR there will be no spoilers…

5 reasons why Raziel rocks my world

1. The dude is righteous. Unlike me, he doesn’t second guess his role in the world and knows his place in the universe. Until he meets that infuriating witch, Magda Lazarus, face to face, and oh wait…

2. Wingspan. There are angel wings, and then there are the blocky man-wings of Raziel. Except when he gives them up to…eerrrr…

3. He looks great in a suit. Raziel knows how to dress, though he doesn’t know how to button a shirt. Ahem…moving on…

(Jill’s note – I do not consider this a problem in the slightest.)

4. He kicks bad guy butt. Werewolves turn into gray goo on contact. Wizards back away when he arrives on the scene. Except he seems to know the most ancient demon of the Reich a little *too* well…uh oh…

5. He stands by Magda. Despite all of the above and much more, he never doubts the fact he is meant to watch over her. Except when he realizes their feelings for each other could doom them both…dun dun dun…

Hey, I promised no spoilers. *evil laughter*

Sounds awesome! Want to read for yourself? Comment here at Odd Shots (international welcome, but your copy will be shipped via Book Depository and thus not signed) on if you want to read about Raziel and Magda for yourself. Leave a comment before 11:59PM on Thursday September 9, 2010. I will randomly draw a winner next Friday. One entry per household.

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I have geeky tendencies, but I’ll admit that my gaming experience pretty much stops at watching my sister play, and yelling at her to fight or shoot the zombies. (Sadly, I’m more of a Pitfall-type* of gamer … and I always fall onto the damn scorpion.)

Anyway, my gaming deficiency doesn’t stop me from enjoying the hell out of this series. It’s often laugh-out-loud funny, smart, well-written, -acted, and -directed. For a taste, here’s Episode 4 of Season 4 (though it’s always better to watch them in order, one of the fantastic things about this series is that you don’t HAVE to watch all of the episodes in order — you can get a sense of all of the characters and their histories just by watching them interact. Every episode includes What You Need To Know to enjoy that specific episode.)

So, anyway. These episodes are all online, but there’s nothing quite like having that sweet, sweet DVD in your hands. And since I’m always happy to share my addictions, I’ll be giving away Seasons 1-3.

All you have to do is: Leave a comment below naming your favorite online and/or video game (or if you don’t have one) before midnight, Pacific time, on Thursday, September 9th. I’ll randomly choose one commenter to win Seasons 1-3 of The Guild, and announce the winner on Friday, September 10th.

Note to international readers: These DVDs are coded for Region 1, U.S. and Canada only. I’m willing to ship them anywhere, but please be certain that you can actually play the DVDs before entering this contest. But don’t be too bummed! Dear Author is holding a huge Berkley giveaway until noon on Saturday, including my steampunk romance The Iron Duke, and Nalini’s upcoming Psy-Changeling book, Play of Passion — both of which are readable anywhere in the world.

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P.S. It only took us a year, but Odd Shots is now mobile! If you bookmark us to your home screen, we even have a cute little button.

P.P.S. Here’s Pitfall, for those of you who want a trip down nostalgia lane.

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I love flashback stories in movies, if for nothing else, you’re trying to figure out how they got into that sticky situation in the first place. But when it comes to reading, I haven’t found many books that tell stories in reverse order…or even random order.

How do you like to experience stories? Can you recommend some other movies or books that told the story out of order, or totally in flashback, and did so particularly well?

PS…I just realized…TODAY marks ODD SHOTS one year anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been a year. It has flown by.  Thank you to Ilona, Meljean, Jill and Nalini as well as all of you for making this blog a place I visit every day.  Keep up the fun comments and discussions!

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The flight back was not awesome.  About a minute into take off we hit turbulence.  The plane shook and dropped and then dropped some more.  It was like riding a rollercoaster, except at ten thousand feet in the air.

It’s not the fear of death that gets me.  It’s the fear of plunging down to the ground, being aware that my kids are about to die.  What do I say?  Don’t be scared?  It will be okay?  It won’t be okay.

So, very unpleasant.  After it, I leaned to Gordon and informed him that I’ll be taking the kids and getting off at San Jose.  We would be taking the train.  Fortunately, the exhaustion got the better of me and I fell asleep after awhile, and woke up when we were landing.  The landing was bad, but not awful.

As we sat in the plane, waiting to depart for Portland, the intercom announced that the pilot was being replaced.  The rest of the trip was good.

I can’t help but wonder how much difference does the pilot make when it comes to turbulence.

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It got me to thinking about what makes a great cover – something that works brilliantly in one market might not necessarily be a hit in another.

However, some things are universal I think. For me, a great cover has immediate visual impact and tells me something about the story.  What about you? What makes a cover really work for you? Any favorites?

p.s. What kind of Oddshots pal would I be if I didn’t help Meljean with her promo efforts?

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The problem is, of course, that some of us shouldn’t be in charge of our own promo. Not just because we do stupid things like spam people on Facebook, but because we’re crazy (a lot of writers are.) Oh, and a lot of us are control freaks. So we might spend an hour debating whether using all capital letters in a heading font is too aggressive, for example, and then mention it on Twitter — where another pair of authors* might suggest things like flashing GIFs and sparkles.

And, to be honest, sometimes I think that’s what authors need to do. Forget classy. If we’re going for attention, if we want to sell our books … well, why not just go balls to the wall crazy with it? Like so:

Okay, maybe not.

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*Carolyn Jewel and Carolyn Crane, I’m blaming you.

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Dude. Just when you think you’ve seen the most awesome cover ever (last year’s ARCHANGEL’S KISS), out pops another one.

(And around the world, a gale force wind picks up as a million paranormal authors all sigh in collective envy.)

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Today, Wonder Woman is still my favorite heroine. And yeah, even now a tiny part of me still wishes I had her abilities. That’s one of the reasons why I write paranormal stories. In my worlds, supernatural heroines exist and they do eventually get their man.

When you were little, who or what was your favorite TV show? Who was your favorite hero/heroine? Is that still true today?

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Instead I bring you bitchings.

Things that bug me on Facebook:

1) John Doe liked John Doe Super Awesome Author and suggested you like it too.

Oy.  I’m glad you liked yourself, but here is a newsflash: your self promotion?  It’s not working.  Your promo kung-fu sucks.  I don’t want to like you, I’m annoyed by your spam, and I might block your butt.

2) People using an actor’s picture for your profile picture.

That’s just silly.  Double silly points if it’s a picture of your boobies instead.  I’m happy that you have nice boobies, but you should be sharing them with someone special, not with the entire public of the Facebook.

3) People trolling for porn and attempting to engage my daughters in X-rated chats.

Die, creeps. I kil u gud!

What bugs you?

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Diana

LynnD

Rachel

Congratulations!! Emails are on their way to you.

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