Karin Tabke and I had talked about putting YOU’VE GOT MURDER for free this week but hadn’t confirmed it. Then I realized that Chinese New Year is next Monday, and it’s the Year of the Dragon. Of course I had to do something special for DRAGON BLUES. I decided to put that up for free. Since the two books are so different, I thought they might get more cross-downloaders than usual if we put them up at the same time. I emailed Karin and said I could do them together or next week, and she told me to go for the double hitter.

If you’re not familiar with the books, DRAGON BLUES is a gritty paranormal suspense with a hot romance. YOU’VE GOT MURDER is wickedly humorous mystery told in emails, IMs, texts and even a chat room. Already a LOT of books have been downloaded. Because YOU’VE GOT MURDER is so different from the books Karin and I usually write, it hasn’t gotten the love we think it deserves. I hope this brings it to the attention of a lot of readers. And of course I want people to read about my soulful dragon-man (as one reviewer called him).

More news! GALAXY GIRLS made the 2011 Reviewer’s Choice List at Paranormal Romance Guide as one of the Best Reads of 2011. I’m honored.

All in all, I’m having a great start to 2012. Now, if I could only add a few more hours to each day, it would be very amazing.

How is your 2012 working so far?

Galaxy Girls was a Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewers Choice Award for Best Reads of 2011 (along with other books chosen by other reviewers). I'm thrilled that the reviewer chose Galaxy Girls. It's an honor to be on a best of the year list.

It was a pleasure to get into Cassie’s mind again. I fell into her voice with the first line. Dale Mayer created the cover, and I think it’s perfect. Some of you might recognize the Chicago skyline. Here’s the cover, the blurb and a short excerpt:

Blurb

Some people will do anything for the perfect address…

Ghost therapist Cassie Taylor is hired to get rid of a ghost haunting an upscale Chicago condo. But the elderly resident doesn’t want her gentlemanly apparition to leave. She loves him and he loves her.

Too bad her grandson and his fiancée insist either the ghost goes – or she goes.

Too bad she’d signed the deed to the condo to her grandson to help him avoid inheritance taxes.

Too bad the fiancée has plans of her own.

Throw in a pretty neighbor, a dirty family scandal, and Cassie’s very new, very sexy and sometimes very grumpy husband, and anything can happen…even murder.

Excerpt

Cassie stared down the guy who was supposed to be her Happy Ever After and wanted to give him a good kick in the ass.

Sitting on a stool, holding his guitar as if it were a part of him, Luke Rivers stared back at her. Not giving anything away.

Neither was she.

“I’m going. You don’t have to come with me.” Standing in the middle of his tower studio in their pre-Victorian home, she took a quick glance around at his recording equipment, his guitars, the window with a view to the lake. The floor they’d made love on.

“Stay and brood about Erin’s visit with her mom.” She turned back to him. “I have a gig.”

He scowled. “Talking to a ghost.”

“That’s what I did before we married.” She looked up at the ceiling, as if their house ghost would appear any second. But, no, Isabel was probably gleefully eavesdropping on them, as if they were arguing just for her entertainment. “It’s what I do now. And it’s what I’m going to do, whether you come with me or not.”

Without waiting for a reply, she headed out of his studio.

“Where are you going now?” he called after her.

“To pack.” She stomped down the stairway to their bedroom on the second floor, not looking back.

“You think I’ll come after you?”

She still didn’t look back but she smiled. Yes, she did.

They weren’t on their honeymoon anymore. Not after seven months of living together. Five months of marriage. But they were still at the jumping-into-bed stage. Or the couch. Or the bathtub. Or the shower. Or the pier outside—until mosquitoes drove them indoors.

Sex wasn’t the best part about being married to Luke. Being loved and loving was. But Luke was as good at it as writing hit songs. So was she, as good at it as talking to ghosts. She’d like to say “taking them to heaven,” but she couldn’t get their own ghost to leave. Isabel said she was having too much fun watching them. A sad commentary on Isabel’s former life.

Cassie reached the landing when footsteps thundered down the steps behind her. She sauntered down the hall and could feel his gaze on her butt. Her butt was hard to miss, and lucky for her Luke didn’t want to miss it.

“I’ll go with you.” His voice was growly, like a bear that woke up in a bad mood. “I can look up some old friends in Chicago while you’re doing your ghost therapy thing.”

She whipped around and glared at his scowling face…then she smirked. “I knew you’d cave.”

His eyebrows lifted. And he did something that would surprise most of the people who knew him casually. He grinned. A grin that said it was great to be alive.

He took a giant step toward her.

She turned and ran. “Catch me if you can.”

If he didn’t catch her, she’d swing around and catch him instead.

She laughed from deep within her belly. Ghosts, sex and when they were in Chicago she wouldn’t have to cook one meal. Life was good.

Then she remembered Rose Bellington’s wobbly voice, telling her that she had to get rid of her condo ghost or her grandson was going to say she had dementia and put her in a nursing home.

A reminder that it wasn’t the dead people who did the worst things. It was the live ones.

Her laughter died. She knew all about being treated badly by the people who were supposed to love her. Making her feel that she was a freak. Unlovable and untouchable.

Two hundred years ago, she would’ve been the crazy relative locked in the attic.

Strong arms curled around her. “Got’cha! What happened? That was too easy.”

She twisted around and reached for his neck. “Hold me, Luke. Just hold me.”

His expression changed, his eyes gentling. Hugging her tightly, he rocked her. “Anytime, babe. Anytime at all.”

Her breasts flattened against his chest and her head smooshed against his shoulder. She breathed in his familiar scent and let it strengthen her, using it to stop tears from falling. Her self-pity changing to anger.

Raising her head, she gazed into his blue eyes that looked back at her with a mix of love and desire and caring. “What do you think about a man who’s trying to force his grandmother into a nursing home?”

“Huh?”

Buy the book for only 99¢: Amazon AmazonUK AllRomance Barnes&Noble Smashwords

This is my first free experiment. It will be interesting to see what will happen. And it will be interesting to see if the free downloads transfer into sales. Cattitude is a “feel good” book. It has great reviews – 42 with a 4.5 star average. A lot of reviewers used the word “love.” I’m sure this experiment won’t hurt, and I’m happy that even more people will be reading about Belle and her cat attitude.

I hope your beginning of 2012 will be interesting, too. My wish for you is a healthy, prosperous and fun 2012!

Ki Galaxy wants to make muffins, not babies. But her make-me-a-mom genes have gone super sonic, attracting two dangerous men who could destroy Ki and her sweet life with her family.

Secrets, haunted pasts and romance…Once again the Galaxy Girls are mixing it up and it’s about to get messy.

You can read the longer blurb and the excerpt here.

Here’s a bit more about my upcoming projects: Liz Kreger and I have articles in an anthology that should be up soon, with the proceeds going to cancer research in the UK. Karin Tabke and I co-wrote a very unusual mystery about six years ago. As soon as we get the cover, we’ll publish it. And I’m waiting for readers to critique the short story that I’ll be putting up soon. The multi-talented Dale Mayer is doing the cover.

Amid all this, I have to shop for presents tomorrow. And my sister and brother-in-law will be staying with us for part of Christmas week.

So, what do you have planned for the last couple weeks of the year?

My other news is that I finished the second revision of my novella, Mixing It Up. It’s a Galaxy Girls story. The main character is Ki, Phyrne’s aunt. Of course, pheromones are involved. I sent Mixing It Up to a beta reader and will undoubtedly have to make more changes.

While I’m waiting to hear back, I can play catch up. I updated my newsletter subscriber list, signed on for Kindlegraph, will do filing, take the dogs for a walk, and do formatting. Notice what I put last? Not my favorite thing to do, but I’m determined to do it. Sometime this week – maybe tomorrow – I’ll start the short story that I’ll send to my newsletter subscribers for free. It’s a Haunted Hearts story, and will feature Cassie and Luke from Dead People. Joe the ghost, Cassie’s best friend, might or might not make an appearance. I discover these things as I write the book.

I suppose I should start talking about a book that Karin Tabke and I co-wrote and will self-publish. The book is ready. We’re waiting for the cover from the fabulous Laura Morrigan. We’ll probably get it at the end of the month or early in December. It’s a very fun book, nothing like either of us normally write. We both love it! In fact, Karin’s agent loved it, but we decided to go indie with it. I’m really looking forward to putting this out there.

What are you looking forward to?

As a thank you, she’s holding a drawing to give away either a new Kindle Fire or a Barnes&Noble color Nook, plus a $25 gift certificate to load it up with books. To get your name in the pot, all you have to do is post a review for a book by an indie author between now and Dec. 18. You can read more about it here.

Trish is an amazing writer as well as being so generous. I’m pleased that she’s doing so well. So, go forth, read, review and enter!

This is what I listened to this morning. I picked up my cat and danced with her – for about 30 seconds. Then she jumped off and I danced alone while she rubbed her body on the carpet. We both enjoyed ourselves.

The second revision of my Galaxy Girls novella is done. I deleted one scene and added two. It’s about 1500 words longer than my first revision. I’m reading a hard copy today. When I’m done, I’ll send it to a beta reader. Altogether, I’m feeling good this Friday morning. How are you feeling?

I found a new place for readers and writers: Stories of Romance. Their slogan is “Exploring the Universe of Love.” And they do, with print books, ebooks, DVDs, music and more. They have a Spotlight a week. This week’s is Jacqueline Diamond, who is climbing up the Kindle bestseller list with her books. On Jan. 6th, I’ll be the splotlight author.

I’m revising my novella, Mixing It Up, with characters from Galaxy Girls. I hope to finish it tomorrow and send to a reader. Then I’ll start writing a short story that will be free for my newsletter subscribers.

What are your plans for the week?

I found out about Wattpad a couple months ago from author Trish McCallan, who writes hot  romantic suspense. Wattpad is a huge, online community where you can share your stories as you write them. Or, in my case, after I publish them. I’m posting 3 scenes a week. Before Trish published Forged in Fire, she posted excerpts on Wattpad and built up a following who were eager to buy the book when it came out. I finally joined a couple of weeks ago, putting up Galaxy Girls first and then Dead People. I found out that Galaxy Girls has been on the Hot list for paranormal-> science fiction stories since I posted the first scene. Right now, it’s #2 on the list. This is a happy surprise.

I definitely believe in ghosts/spirits. My Mother visits me all the time – electrical things come on, wall hangings get tilted, and I sense her.

I was told once by a medium that my father was an animal caregiver in the spirit world. I was taking pictures of my 3-year-old granddaughter and my 5-year-old Golden Retriever, when I felt the hair on my arms stand up. I looked around and saw an older gentleman (like in his 80′s) but dismissed it. Later when I looked back at the pictures, I saw the older gentleman sitting in the background. He looked just like my dad, who passed 23 years ago.

Do you have a ghost story? Send it to edieramerbooks@gmail.com. I’m giving a free ecopy of Dead People (Haunted Hearts) to everyone whose ghost story I post.