Look at these brand new covers for the First Blood series! While I loved the old covers so much, the books needed a refresh. I hope you love them as much as I do! There’s a lot going on with the reveal of these covers. Check out below for some awesome info!
To celebrate the new covers, I’m running a sale on the books! The above graphic shows the sale pricing. Sale lasts from March 12 to March 16. Grab them on sale while you can!
I’m so excited for today! It was so fun to watch the relationship of this team grow and to see the personal strength of each character be tested. This world (First Blood World) is my absolute favorite, and seeing more and more characters be born within it is amazing as an author. Just who is this new villain? Only time will tell!
Today is about Stalking the Magician, book two in the Stalking the Enemy series. We’re following Bianca, Kip, and Feran on their next adventure! Who are they up against now?
Blindfolds and playing cards aren’t only for those with magic.
Bianca has finally stepped out of the protective confines of her home to begin her life as an Elite soldier. Along with her team, she hopes to save as many people as she can using her Stalker abilities to find people. However, she never expected to locate The Magician, a supernatural serial killer who has evaded law enforcement for far too long.
As terrifying revelations come to light about The Magician, it’s up to Bia to keep the madman in her sights while staying off his radar. The only defenses she has against him and his cronies are Kip and Feran, and even they might not be enough.
If The Magician finds out about Bianca, will she have what it takes to avoid being his next victim?
Hey everybody! Guess what today is? That’s right, it’s release day for The Diner 2! I can’t believe it’s finally here, and at the same time, it’s felt like it’s forever coming. Probably because my book has been finished for a while. I know that all of us authors are so excited for this and can’t wait for you to read the book!
We’re also throwing a release party tonight and tomorrow in our group: The Diner, on Facebook. The author takeover schedule is posted below. You don’t want to miss it!
Looking for some paranormal reads for Halloween? Look no further. We have witches, black cats, druids, hellhounds, reapers, shifters of all sorts, fae, and a host of many other creatures you don’t want to miss! (including creatures that eat people, seriously you don’t want to miss that.)
All stories are standalones and it is not necessary to read The Diner, the first year. Although, why wouldn’t you??? Who knows how much longer it will be available…
Guess what day it is!!! That’s right. It’s release day for Dark Of The Night!!! If you love enemies to lovers, vampire romances, witches, and lots of angst and snark, then this is going to be your next favorite book. First, here’s the blurb, and then I’ll tell you a little more about this book.
Henley Stark is no angel, but she is a survivor.
Disowned by her witch coven as a teenager, Henley was driven to Amos, a vampire loan shark. There’s little Henley hasn’t done to keep a roof over her head and food in her stomach as Amos trained her for his purposes. It all comes to a head when Amos assigns Henley and Alex, her newly found mate, to a job that can only lead to death.
Going up against the greatest threat the vampires have ever known, it’s clear one or both of them will not survive the encounter. However, as Alex begins to soften toward her, Henley must decide if giving them a chance is worth the effort, especially when she’ll likely be dead soon anyway.
Can Henley find her worth and true love before the mission ultimately claims her life?
For readers who enjoy books by K.F. Breene, Heather Hildebrand, Jaymin Eve, and Karen Lynch.
Now for the fun part. If you don’t know who Melanie Gilbert is, you should. 😉 I may be biased, but she’s an amazing author…and she’s my sister. Melanie started writing a year or two after I published my first book, and I’ve loved watching her books grow and become stronger. Actually, she’s been pushing me for about a year or so to write a book with her, and I finally relented (it wasn’t on this book). I’ve enjoyed writing with her. It actually goes faster than when we write individually.
Our writing style together is quite different than most I’ve heard of. Instead of writing one point of view each, or writing 3k words at a time, we write one paragraph at a time. This works especially well at the beginning of the story. Toward the middle, our sections can grow to several paragraphs, but that’s when we know exactly what’s about to happen and it all needs to be written together. Since we’ve been doing random projects together for about a year, and our writing voices are so similar anyway, it’s hard to tell who wrote what. Even for us this is true sometimes.
At the end of last year, Melanie moved to Madison for her husband’s new job, and she actually lives quite close to me. It’s been great to go over after work and write this together in the same room. It helped planning out certain parts easier. Now, you may notice the “certain parts” for planning. For the most part, we pantsed this book. What does that mean? We had no plan on what was coming next. It was one big surprise! Some parts had to be planned because we needed a blurb and title right away (why we were short on time was a huge fiasco, but we have to say our cover designer is the awesomest!). Melanie is a plotter and I’m a panster. Part of our writing over snippets of stories before this was practice in how we could mix both of our writing styles together, and I have to say, we succeeded with Henley’s book.
Overall, this has been a great experience, and the early reviews couldn’t be more positive. More than one person sat down and read it in one sitting into the wee hours of the morning- like 2-3am. We can’t wait to see what you think! Let us know by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Bookbub!
The day has finally come!! It’s cover reveal day for The Diner 2. I’m so excited about this. Not only did we get to create more stories in the world of the original The Diner, but we were able to add in a couple more amazing authors! Who’s ready to celebrate Halloween The Diner style? Releasing October 29th!
“Step into The Diner and enter into a world where nothing is as it seems. Enjoy a hot mug of coffee while you chat with a rakshasa as a black cat passes by. The Diner, a place where food is served with a side of supernatural. A place hidden from human sight, where you’ll discover witches and druids, salamander fae, and even raven shifter witches.Join the supernaturals in The Club, where the drinks are unusual, the hellhounds come hot, and the reapers keep a watchful eye.Step into The Diner if you dare.”
My story this year features a black cat again, but she’s accompanied by a druid healer. Nightshade has got to be one of my most favorite characters because her personality makes me laugh. It’s not the same funny as Lucky was last year, but she can hold her own making me laugh. And Joel, well he’s such a sweetheart. He really does have the biggest heart of all my characters.
The stories this year are no less amazing than last year. We’re joined by Julie Trettel and SF Benson, who are two amazing women that I adore. Our creatures this year have expanded to include hellhounds, reapers, wolf shifter, more witches, salamander fae, rakshasa, mimics, and raven shifter witches. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this year’s Diner anthology!
If you remember last year, we had a huge release party the weekend The Diner went live. Well, we’re doing it again! Check out The Diner group on Facebook to join in the fun!!
Y’all, I have a new obsession: crocheted cats! Before I begin this post, I need to point out that this pattern isn’t mine. All links and credit are at the bottom. However, I’ve had a blast making them and have even sold some to a friend. I’m making several to take them to author signings next year, so if you’re at any of those events, come snag one!
But why cats? First, the pattern is adorable, and second, I started making them when I began writing this year’s Diner book, which includes another black cat. Nightshade is one of my favorite characters and inspired me to crochet a little black cat to go with the book. I enjoyed the experience so much that I wanted to make more, but didn’t know what to do with them. That’s when I decided to take them with me to events and sell them because I don’t know what to do with a bunch of little cats in my apartment.
Nightshade, my first cat. And her cupcake.
I hadn’t crocheted much since last fall, but after losing Gunney, I couldn’t write for a while and stress from work and life was getting to me. So, I picked up crocheting again and immersed myself in it. I’ve been making more than the cats, but they are my favorite because of how cute they are. There’s just something about crocheting that relieves my stress, and it’s so enjoyable to me.
I’ve been crocheting for about 12 years, right after graduating from college. A dear friend of our family gave me and my sisters a crash course in it, and I’ll be honest, I stunk at it. Like, I couldn’t even figure out how to get the yarn onto the hook to even start it. It wasn’t really surprising to anyone, but it was obnoxious to me that I was having such issues. The next time we went shopping, I grabbed a beginners book on crocheting and some yarn and I started practicing all the time. It was a rough start, but I’d throw a movie on the TV (usually one of the Tremors movies since I’ve seen them enough it’s easy to just listen instead of watching) and I’d struggle through the pattern I was working on until one day, I got it. It was all so clear.
Now, I haven’t crocheted all the time for the past 12 years. It’s been off and on, but it’s always been when I needed to relax and enjoy the feel of yarn in my fingers. I’m no expert and I’m still learning, but I’m far more confident in my work now than when I was first starting out. I’m willing to try the harder patterns, and I’m able to manipulate patterns and make them mine, and I can create simple patterns that are all mine. Such as the book cozies. I recently took a cupcake pattern that I found and shifted it so that the pattern was completely different and all mine, and even more adorable. When I was first starting out, I never could’ve imagined it.
Like writing, crocheting has taken practice. Once that time has been put into it, there’s a sense of freedom and a need to break free and test new ideas and bend the rules. I haven’t done that with the cats yet, but I will be doing it eventually.
The funnest part of making the cats is the crocheting part. I’m not a fan of sewing pieces together. The second best part is choosing the colors, like what color ribbon to put with each cat. Some are easy choices while others are a little tricky. Sometimes, just choosing the eye and nose color can be tricky as well, especially with darker yarn for the cat. I’ve had so much fun choosing what color these cats should be. Some have turned out not quite as fun as I’d expected, while others are far more remarkable as I expected. It’s hard to choose a favorite, but I do love the way the black yarn with gold thread comes out. Even the plain color instead of variegated turn out better than I expect each time.
Life can be stressful. That fact is certain. But if we find hobbies that can relieve that stress, we need to hold onto those and not let go. Do I crochet to monetize my hobby? No. It’s a nice side effect from having excess cats and other projects, but not why I do it. I just love making them. Now I’m branching out into using cotton yarn and making washcloths/dishcloths and other items. I search for fun patterns all the time, and can’t wait to find my next favorite that’ll be a hit. I’d love it if it was book themed as well.
What are your favorite crocheted items? Both to crochet or to look at or receive?
I’ve been failing on my Snippet Saturday so let’s see what I have for you today!!!
This snippet comes from one of my recent releases: Demon Fire.
A gust of wind raced passed us, sending a chill through me, even with the jacket in place. One of the men on the right side of the circle grunted. My eyes flicked to him. I’d hallucinated before, but never had any of them made noises.
He was a giant of a man, both tall and broad, and he was shirtless. Of course he was. Every inch of him that I could see was corded muscle, not an inch of fat on him. And the amount of muscle was staggering.
I could easily have looked at him all day drooling, but when he stepped toward me, no, stalked toward me, that idea vanished. He didn’t stop until he was right in front of me, solid arms boxing me in as he rested his hands on the car on either side of my body. My back had hit the passenger door as he’d approached, leaving me nowhere to escape.
The man leaned in, breathing deeply near my hair, my face, and then my neck. Each breath he took made his eyes burn brighter and my heartrate spiked and raced with even more wild terror. Either I was going to pass out because I couldn’t suck in enough air or my heart would give out. It was a toss-up to see which one occurred first.
Snarling at me, the man’s gaze returned to mine. “What is wrong with your eyes?”
My eyes widened at the other-worldly sound of his voice, and the lisp on his S’s. It was almost too smooth, and a light vibration and echo of some sort accompanied the sound. I had no idea how else to describe it besides unnerving as he glared at me with eyes that were practically on fire.
Today marks the five year anniversary of my first book, Perfect Scents, releasing to the world! It has been an amazing five years, and I can’t believe it’s here already! So much has happened, it’s almost impossible to believe! I’ve made more friends, both author and reader, than I ever expected. I’ve attended author events in several different places. People actually like my books and can’t wait for the next one! I was hoping that would happen, but wasn’t sure it would. I have loyal fans. Again, not expected but hoped for.
My author proof shelf!
The only thing I would consider to be awful about these last five years was losing Gunney, my writing companion. I haven’t talked about it much, but I lost my best friend in March of this year. He was a special part of each book and writing was easier with him around. The words have been a struggle this year since losing him, but they’re coming faster now. He was always lying at my side or near me on a blanket, so it has taken some time to write alone without him when I’m writing at my place.
So, let’s go through some of the highlights (there are so many, I’m not going to be able to go over them all in this post).
The first is that I found out there are author signings. This is a two way street here. First, I got to meet my favorite author in person. I’d loved Karen Lynch’s books since I started reading them, and when I found out she was signing at different events, I had to go so I could meet her. Since then, I’ve read more and met more amazing authors as a reader. Those friendships have gone on to bigger and better things.
On the flip side, I have attended several signings as an author. It’s amazing to be able to network with other authors but then to also share my precious books with readers from all over. I still have a goal to do a signing outside of the USA, so one day it’ll happen. I’ve had to learn to come out of my shell and learn how to sell my books to those who’ve never heard of me. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s fun either way.
Last year, I participated in my first shared world anthology in The Diner. It was a fun experience to be able to build this world with three awesome ladies! It was definitely a learning experience for all of us, and I continue to learn more as I do it. This year, I’m embarking on joining another shared world as we also work on The Diner 2. This is both an exciting thing to do, but it does have its challenges. I guess we’ll see how it all goes!
One of the things that has been special about this year is that my sister, Melanie Gilbert, and I have finally sat down and decided what book we’re writing together and going to finish it. So, in September, that book releases. We’re still working on it, but we’ve grown a lot in writing together since we first started doing it a few years ago. That was all great practice that has led up to the creation of Dark of the Night. It’s fun to be able to do what we love, but even better to do it together. So many people have been telling us to do it for years, and we’re finally doing it!
My last happiness of this adventure that I’m going to touch on, is my readers. I have several who tell others to read my books if I post in various groups. I have readers that one click whenever I post up a pre-order. I have FANS!!! Like, how did that happen? When did it happen? I love each and every one of them. They are the ones who make this an amazing adventure. If I didn’t have readers, I’d still write, but they make the experience far worth it. To each of you, thank you for enjoying my stories. You are amazing!!
There are so many more highlights to this author journey, and not enough time or space to write them all. I have been blessed beyond belief to make this journey. I’m hoping the next five years are even better than the first!
This year my mom has started crafting again more, which is something that I inherited from her. My favorite craft to work on is making Christmas ornaments. I make them out of anything I can find.
Saturday I arrived at my parents’ house for Christmas and Sunday night Mom and I were looking for something fun to do. I suggested ornaments, and she had a great idea to replicate an ornament she’d made her sister earlier. I couldn’t wait.
So, we got creative. We pulled out the clear bulbs, the glitter, and the cricut. And a few other things.
Pause on our project: my mother has so many crafting supplies. I love it, and one day I hope to have as much fun stuff as she has! I’m slowly making my way into building my crafting supplies, but it’s nowhere near all of her cool stuff she’s gathered along the way. I also need to organize mine better because she has hers all nice and organized.
Okay, back to the project.
So, we gathered up our supplies, and here’s how to do it:
Pour a little floor polish into the glass bulb and swirl it around gently until the inside is coated. Try not to make any bubbles. You won’t need that much force. Also have paper towel on hand as you’ll probably have to plug the open end with a finger, so you’ll want to clean off your finger so it doesn’t leave sticky residue on the outside of the bulb.
Next, pour glitter into the ornament. We used Dixie cups so we could make it more of a funnel shape to pour inside. You’ll need more glitter than you think you do, but do bits at a time. Empty extra glitter back into the glitter container.
Finally, choose your words, vinyl colors, and fonts for the cricut and cut out the lettering. Stick the letters onto the bulbs, and you’re done! It’s really quite simple, but a fun little craft.
We’ve created glitter ornaments before, but never placed the vinyl letters on them. They turned out wonderful. I think I may have to bring more bulbs and glitter with me the next time I visit so I can make more, but for now, four is enough. Though, you can never have enough ornaments!
Who’s looking for a Christmas book sale???? I have one just for you.
It’s the Christmas book sale of the year!
$.99 each for four books. Love shifters? Love Christmas? Love elves and Santa? Then these books are for you! They have it all and are great reads for readers of all ages.
sparkle bokeh of Christmas tree, Template mock up for display of your product for Christmas background, vintage toning
At the North Pole’s own Christmas Village, it’s Christmas every day and dragons pull Santa’s sleigh. So, what happens as the elves start to venture out of their Christmas wonderland? Anything can happen! Includes ice dragon, polar bear, and wolf shifters, and more elves than you can shake a candy cane at! Their antics will keep you laughing as they learn some perfect Christmas lessons…and find romance along the way.
Heather Karn 