I Can Haz Cover! The Night Before Dead (Dreg City #6) Coming Soon!

I couldn't have asked for a prettier cover to round out the final Evy Stone book, thanks to Robin Ludwig Design, Inc.

Buy links coming very soon! For now, enjoy the pretty. 

Cover Reveal: Gray Bishop and White Knight

They've popped up online, so it's only proper to officially post them here:

Cover Art: Black Rook

She never saw this coming…

Brynn Atwood is a low-level Magus whose unpredictable precognitive powers have made her an outcast among her people—and an embarrassment to her highly-regarded father.  After a frightening vision in which her father is murdered by a loup garou man, Brynn decides to prove herself by finding the killer, and stopping them at any cost.

Her target is Rook McQueen, the son of a small-town loup garou Alpha. Despite being the youngest of three, Rook is first in line to inherit the role of Alpha, a duty he isn't sure he's capable of fulfilling. When Brynn finally meets Rook, she doesn't expect the attraction that draws her to him—and him to her. 

No longer believing him a murderer, Brynn and Rook strike an alliance to find her father's real killer. But when his older brother is targeted by an unknown enemy, Rook will have to choose between his growing feelings for Brynn and his duty as the future Alpha of his community.

Coming July 15 from Berkley Intermix.

Requiem for the Dead: Cover Reveal, Copy, and a Release Date!

For all the Dreg City fans who've been waiting patiently since last January for the next Evy Stone novel, it's almost here!  I am beyond thrilled with the cover created for me by Robin Ludwig Design, Inc.  It's fabulous and perfect and it fits with the rest of the series.

I'm so proud to show it off!

She's died twice while protecting her city…and she'd do it again to save the people she loves.

After a deadly, artificial infection forces the vampire Families into a self-imposed isolation, the city's protective Watchtower forces are depleted by one third, leaving humans and shifters to shoulder the burden.  Human enforcer Evangeline Stone is determined to find a way to help her vampire allies, but she already has her hands full—investigating an escalating series of goblin attacks, dealing with her half-werewolf lover, locating three missing werewolf teenagers, and learning to trust her non-human coworkers.

When a potential cure for the vampires' infection is given to her by an unlikely source, it's just as quickly stolen—collateral damage in a power play within the were-cat Clan that leaves one human ally dead and another horribly injured.  With Wyatt Truman still adjusting to his new life as a half-werewolf, Phineas missing in action, and her shifter allies crippled by internal anarchy, Evy has to rely on her own strength and instincts to steal back the cure, stop a murderer, and to save the Watchtower before it's destroyed from the inside out.

 

 Marcus!  *grin* I love that grumpy puss.

Since I don't know exactly how all of the uploading to Amazon and B&N works, this is a tentative release date, but I hope to have this puppy ready for sale by September 16th.

What do you think? Excited for some shapeshifter drama?

Cover Art: Changeling

The cover art for CHANGELING (MetaWars #2) has started popping up across the internet, so I figured it's time to post it here. I think it's gorgeous, and a terrific companion to TRANCE's cover.

The blurb hasn't been released yet, but the character depicted on the cover isn't Teresa. For those of you who've read TRANCE, you'll know who she is (the fire gives it away), and CHANGELING is told from her POV.

What do you think?

Cover Art: Wrong Side of Dead

The cover art for WRONG SIDE OF DEAD (Dreg City #4) has been floating around the internet for about a month now, but I wanted to wait to show it off here until after ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD came out. Mostly because the copy for WSOD has spoilers for AKOD.

It looks like the same cover model from THREE DAYS TO DEAD. I really like the city street background in this one, as well as the green font.

Monster hunter Evangeline Stone woke up on the wrong side of dead this morning—and now there’s hell to pay.

Barely recovered from her extended torture at the hands of mad scientist Walter Thackery, Evy can use a break. What she gets instead is a war, as the battered Triads that keep Dreg City safe find themselves under attack by half-Blood vampires who have somehow retained their reason, making them twice as lethal. Worse, the Halfies are joined by a breed of were-creature long believed extinct—back and more dangerous than ever. Meanwhile, Evy’s attempts at reconciliation with the man she loves take a hit after Wyatt is viciously assaulted—an attack traced to Thackery, who has not given up his quest to exterminate all vampires . . . even if he has to destroy Dreg City to do it. With Wyatt’s time running out, another threat emerges from the shadows and a staggering betrayal shatters the fragile alliance between the Triads, vampires, and shapeshifters, turning Evy’s world upside down forever.

So I totally missed my day to blog at the League yesterday. Even though I had it written down on my calendar, I didn't even look at it once. Probably because I spent the morning in an insane amount of pain, and then the afternoon at the doctor's office, followed by a long nap.

The good news is, it's not life threatening. The bad news is, it's my right wrist, and the orthopedist I saw isn't sure what's causing the pain and swelling (I had no apparently injury to the wrist). So we're in a "wear a brace, take pills, don't work, and we'll see you in a week" kind of place. Which beats the hell out of him ordering a bunch of expensive tests, since I'm self-pay. But this brace makes typing very hard, and I can't go back to the day job for a week (we don't have "light duty").

This is going to make a very, very bored Kelly over the next week or so. It's not how I'd choose to take some vacation time, since I can't really write or lift anything, and going to the beach would give me a very freakish tan line on my arm. But I guess I can catch up on some serious reading. And movie watching.

One of the few highlights of my week was getting a glimpse of cover art for WRONG SIDE OF DEAD (Dreg City 4, 1/31/12). It is a little different from the other covers, but also similar in composition and elements. I don't think I want to show it off until after ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD comes out, though, because there is a spoiler for that book right on the cover. *grin*

But soon. Only eighteen more days until AKOD releases!!!!

Cover Reveal: TRANCE

I saw this cover a few weeks ago, but now have a final version to show off. TRANCE is the first in my (what I'm currently referring to as) MetaWars series from Pocket, due October 25, 2011. I really love this cover--from the L.A. setting (palm trees!), to Trance's hair and powers.

Enjoy!



The cover copy:

Kelly Meding’s war-ravaged Los Angeles is ground zero for the ultimate Meta human showdown in this sexy, action-packed new series.

Fifteen years ago, Teresa “Trance” West was a skilled telepath and a proud member of the Ranger Corps. But ever since the Rangers were inexplicably rendered powerless at the climax of the devastating Meta War, she’s bounced from one dead-end job to another. Now her powers have reappeared just as mysteriously as they vanished— only they’re completely transformed and more potent than ever. And they’re threatening to destroy her.

Trance heads to Los Angeles to track down the surviving Rangers and discover who restored her powers—and why—but a phantom enemy is determined to kill them before they can reassemble. As they dodge his deadly attacks and come to terms with their new role as heroes, Trance and the rest of the team set out to annihilate the sinister madman . . . only to discover their own powers are his greatest weapons.

ETA: Artist is Don Sipley.

Cover Art: Another Kind of Dead

I can now unveil the cover for Dreg City #3, ANOTHER KIND OF DEAD. And can I just say how much I love this? I have truly been blessed with some amazingly awesome covers, and this one is no exception.



The background is a train yard, which see a little action this time around. And the super-cool lightning is a fun plot point, as well. Evy looks particularly bad-ass in this one, and the tag line says it all: She was born for this fight--no matter how many times it kills her.

Love. It.

Tot bist du noch lange nicht

An email from a curious fan in Germany (*waves*) prompted me to check out the Droemer website, and I found both the cover art and release date (October 4, 2010) for the German edition of AS LIE THE DEAD.



I love the intensity of Evy's expression here. She looks like she's about to rip somebody a new one. *grin*

Cover Art: As Lie the Dead

With only six months left until release (July 27), it's finally time to show off the cover for the second Dreg City book, AS LIE THE DEAD.

Feast your eyes...



I absolutely adore it! The cross necklace and knife are back, and I love the color scheme. Plus, Phineas! He's the winged dude in the background. You haven't met him yet, but you will (and no, he's not an angel).

The Good, the Bad, and the Awesome

Every great once in a while, awesome news comes along that helps take the edge off the bad stuff happening in life. Case in point:

The bad: We still don't know what's wrong with Anya. Her blood work came back on Sunday, and it was clean except for a slightly elevated white blood cell count. So she went back to the animal hospital yesterday for a scope procedure and biopsy of her stomach and intestines. Scope showed everything looked okay, except for what the Doc called a slight "pebbling" of her small intestines (which are normally smooth). We still have symptoms. Biopsy results should be in tomorrow or Thursday (hopefully Santa brings good, curable news).

Poor kitty also had a feeding tube inserted into her belly, since she hasn't eaten anything solid in two weeks.



The blue sock thing is to keep the tube in place and prevent it from snagging. It also shrinks her waist and accentuates the fur around her arms, so she looks like like a poodle when she stands up. But she's getting food, antibiotics, and nutrients, and so far (*fingers crossed*) she hasn't thrown anything up. (hasn't come out the back end yet, either, but we're waiting...)

Needless to stay, I didn't sleep much last night. Every time she moved, I woke up. But sleep's overrated, yes?

So what's the good?

The lovely Jackie Kessler passed along the heads-up that THREE DAYS TO DEAD is reviewed in the Feb. '10 issue of Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine. 4.5 stars, baby!!!!

Here's what they had to say (and there is a minor spoiler in the review, so if you hate spoilers, only read the first two sentences).

Meding delivers a thrilling urban fantasy full of desperate humans and menacing evil. Especially impressive are her worldbuilding skills, which she uses to deftly paint a portrait of a city on the edge of disaster. Readers will also be impressed by her strong depiction of Evy as a survivor who realistically handles not only the shock of being reawakened, but the trauma of a past rape and the barrage of new threats from all sides. (4.5 stars)

*bounces*

Oh yes, the other good news--I have seen a not-final version of the cover for AS LIE THE DEAD, and it is amazing. Once again, it's exactly what I was hoping for in terms of who and what. I think I love it more than the THREE DAYS cover.

Alas, I can't share it yet. But I just couldn't resist teasing!

A Present in the Mail

Last week, a good friend who works in a Calgary library emailed and said she'd found something on her desk. It was a cover flat for THREE DAYS TO DEAD that had been sent to her library, and did I want it?

Um, YES!

It arrived this morning, and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's hard to photograph something with a shiny finish, so the colors aren't as vivid in the photo as they are on the cover. The details of the background are amazing. I'm tempted to wrap it around another paperback just TO SEE, but I don't want to bend its loveliness.



The back has a little ad for the second book, as well as book/ordering information, marketing, and notes about already selling German rights. SQUEE!

After fighting with the internet all morning, this was a great way to get rid of the Monday blahs. Thanks so much, Marie-Anne! You are the best!

In Which I Gush....

...just a bit more about my Cover Art Love.

Something Fun in the Works

First, I have to say the response to the cover for TDTD has been overwhelmingly positive. Comments in various places have ranged from "I want her abs" (me too!), to "I want her hair" (ME TOO!), to "If I saw that in a bookstore, I'd stop and pick it up" (YAHOO!). So thank you to everyone who gave a shout-out! You are all awesomesauce!

Mostly, though, I want to tease y'all a little bit. With a bit over six months until Street Date, I'm in the planning stages of a six-part contest/giveaway to be hosted here on my blog. The first five parts will be smaller contests (with prizes), one a month, each leading up to the final, sixth Grand Prize contest in October. I'll have more details as I finalize things, but if anyone has ideas for for contests (I want to do a scavenger hunt one month) or prizes, feel free to comment.

Cover Art Awesomeness

Is it possible to fall in love with a fictional character? Because after seeing my (Amazing! Fabulous! Gorgeous! Inspired!) cover art for THREE DAYS TO DEAD, I'm in love. Evy is gorgeous (She's wearing her cross! Important plot point alert!). The background is atmospheric and gritty, and the shadowy man behind her? Buwahahaaaa!

Okay, enough raving (for now).

TADA!



Didja see the awesome Patricia Briggs quote?

I've got the back and spine, too, for added goodness (and official summary).



My name is on a book cover. OMG.

*thud*