Wednesday, May 29, 2013

June Giveaways

I'll be giving away some awesomeness in the month of June to celebrate the paperback release of DEAL WITH A DEMON.




10 signed copies up for grabs in a Goodreads giveaway.www.goodreads.com




A gorgeous necklace and signed paperback for a random retweeter who shares one of my release tweets with their followers.
(www.twitter.com/CelesteEaston)




A stunning necklace/pocket watch and signed paperback for a random facebooker who shares one of my release status updates with their friends.
(www.facebook.com/AuthorCelesteEaston)





All giveaways begin June 4th and end June 30th. So add, retweet, and share away!


(Tiny Disclaimer: You must be 18 to enter. Winners chosen at random at my discretion from twitter and facebook. Void where prohibited, etc. etc. etc.)

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

And Then There Were Books

Holy sh*tballs!

Just found out the print edition of DEAL WITH A DEMON will be out June 4th!!! It's up for pre-order on Amazon:

DEAL WITH A DEMON PAPERBACK EDITION

*gasp*
I so hoped to have more time for promo work, but no. So now I scramble. Visit my twitter page (@CelesteEaston) for details on upcoming giveaways and general shenanigans. I don't know exactly what I'll be giving away, but it will be several somethings, maybe some original artwork of one of my characters. Maybe some super sweet spider jewelry. Maybe a box of confetti.






Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Blogging Shall Recommence...Nowish

Hello there, my poor neglected blog. I know I owe you an apology for my absence, but I'm not offering one. You'll just have to deal with it. Speaking of deals...

I HAD A BOOK BIRTHDAY!!!

My kindle serial, Deal With A Demon, was released on April 2nd. Amazing. And with the release of each new episode, I get a jolt of pride and accomplishment. I'm humbled by the knowledge that there are people out in the world (strangers even!) who are learning about the characters who have been living inside of my skull for the past couple of years. And liking them. I have to say I didn't always like them--sometimes they were a total pain in my ass. But they were born and will continue to grow, and I hope, hope, hope that they will find a special place in readers' hearts. The past few months of my life have been pure insanity, but every single day I can hop on over to Amazon, type my title in the search box, and have visual proof that I did what I set out to do.
And I'll keep doing it. Over and over and over.

There's also an end in sight to the chaos that is my schedule. My new tattoo shop is 95% done. (She's gorgeous, by the way. A real stunner.) I'm currently working on book two in the demon series. And I'm going to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in just a couple of weeks--for the first time as a PUBLISHED AUTHOR.

-->Sidebar: In 2010 I attended my first Romantic Times Convention. I heard about it from a tattoo client who shared my love of romantic fiction. (Holly! I owe you a SERIOUS thank you!) I checked out the website and noticed a Pre-Con Beginner Writer workshop. I took the plunge and signed up. My life was forever changed. Not only did I learn the basics of writing romance, I met some incredible people, including my two critique partners who I'm still critiquing with (and putting tattoos on, but that's another story). I made forever friends and gained a network of mentors. But I didn't just meet new people and learn about writing, I learned how to fill the empty spot in my soul and took the first teeny tiny baby steps toward making a long-held dream a reality.<--

I'm also attending the Romance Writers of America National Conference in July where I'll be SIGNING the PRINT EDITION of Deal With A Demon.

And I promise, my poor neglected blog, I will make time for you.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Something Romance-y

Last time I posted a quick short about an abused woman reclaiming a tattoo from her dead ex-husband. Fun!

I figured this time I would post something romance-y.

I know there are plenty of haters out there, plenty of people who poo-poo on romance for one reason or another. But I LOVE the genre. I love everything about it. I love that there's always (minus the rare exception) a happy ending. I love reading about two or more characters surviving tribulations and falling in love. I love that it can bring a reader joy when they may not have much of it in their life. I love the moody heroes and feisty heroines. I love the adventure. I love...
Well, I love love *grin*

So here's a snippet from something I've been brewing inside my skull:


     Kash Kallmar pushed his way through the crowd along the back of the tent. He didn't want to get too close to the stage. No sense in letting the woman know he had found her. She'd figure it out soon enough.
     The crowd pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, reeking of alcohol-fueled testosterone and sweat. A man to his right mimed a crude gesture with his fist and crotch to the hilarity of his companions. Lights strung along the perimeter of the stretched canvas walls shimmered yellow in the whites of their eyes.
     Music drifted out from behind the stage, volume climbing, filling the thick space above and around the audience. The lights dimmed and darkened.
     His father had told him he'd know her by the pure white eyelashes of her left eye. All he needed was a spotlight's confirmation of her face, and then he'd take her home to their people.
     She appeared from behind the curtain--a shadow, delicious curves--and the men around him bellowed. Her hips and arms swayed to the music as she crossed to the front of the stage.
     A lone light came on, illuminating her back. Her red and black corset laces trailed down to the tops of her fishnet stockings.
    The face, he had to see the face to know for sure.
     But when she spun to face the crowd, Kash forgot why he'd come to the sideshow.

See? Isn't romance fun?








Monday, June 25, 2012

Get Real

Since my last post, I've thought a lot about the content that I'm putting up here and I've come to a conclusion:
Total. Snooze. Fest.
Then I read a revelatory blog about praising people on social media sites without being generic (June 23rd post by Porter Anderson at writerunboxed.com) and had a major DUH moment.
If I want to give people, readers, clients, etc an idea about me as a writer, shouldn't I be writing blog posts AS A F**KING WRITER???
(See? I told you it was a DUH moment.)
So, what am I supposed to do now? Share a story? Post some pictures of what inspires me?
I hear you shouting, "Story! Story!" (I really didn't hear anything. Well, maybe SIX voices shouting)
Okay, but just a quick, creepy one. (**disclaimer: this is a work of fiction** and **don't try this at home** and **these people are fictional**)


Reclamation

     I shifted the shovel to my right hand and peeked over my shoulder again. There weren't any street lights in this neighborhood and clouds covered the silver fingernail moon. The darkness followed along as my steady and consuming accomplice. The whiskey I'd fortified my courage with still coated my throat, but did nothing to warm me. I guess when you're creeping into a cemetery to do what I was about to do, you don't get to be warm.


     He shouldn't have gotten the stupid thing in the first place. We were done. I wanted no part of him, his life, or his future. But he did it anyway. Go fucking figure.

     The street ended in a scraggly, vacant lot, the chain-link fence at its edge my only remaining barrier. Then trees and shadows until I saw the fresh mound of dirt.

     I tossed the duffel bag full of tools over first, and then the shovel. Halfway up, my black pants got snagged and in the process of freeing myself, I felt the unmistakable burn of wire gouging into my calf. Awesome. On the way out, I'd have to make sure I left no DNA behind.

     Of course, I doubted anyone would give a shit about some blood on a fence if I got caught. Nope. They'd have plenty of other stuff to talk about.

     The cemetery wasn't creepy at all--quiet, peaceful, in the way only a place full of dead people could be, I guess. I was in the newest section, the one with the fancy etched-portrait gravestones surrounded by random memorabilia of the person underneath. Showy plastic flower arrangements danced in the wind, a chorus line winging me toward my goal.

     And there it was. In the very back row, isolated from its neighbors and marked by a hump of dirt.

     My ex-husband's final home.

     If someone had been around to see my smile, I'm afraid of how they would've described it. On my face it weighed as much as I would estimate a million dollars in gold might weigh.

     A tattoo. All of this because I was pissed off about the tattoo. Buzzed on Kentucky's finest, dressed in all black, and standing over a fresh grave was about as far removed from being in charge of snacks at the soccer tournament as I could've gotten. What can I say? I'd started a new chapter in my life after I'd finally grown tired of being Mrs. Keeps-Her-Mouth-Shut-And-Lets-Her-Husband-Abuse-Her-In-Every-Way-Possible. And no way in hell was I going to let him take that tattoo with him.

     He'd said he wanted to get it to show me how much he still loved me. Even posted it online to make sure word got around to me that he'd done it. A cliche heart with my name scrolled across it. Like that was going to make all the other shit go away.

     Nope. And as a final fuck you salute to every single connection between the two of us, I was taking that tattoo back.

     I dropped the bag and the implements inside clanged together. A crowbar, my favorite chef's knife, and an empty pickle jar. The handle of the shovel whispered against the palm of my gardening gloves as I got into position.

     "Hi, Christopher." He hated when I used his full name. "Don't worry, you won't feel a thing."



Well, there you are. A writerly post.
Satisfied?
I know I am.



Monday, June 11, 2012

What's Best For Me

I've been enjoying my stay-cation. How am I enjoying it, you ask?

Creating a website (www.celesteeaston.com), pushing traffic through my facebook page (www.facebook.com/AuthorCelesteEaston), and updating all of my online presences accordingly.

Some vacation *hmmph* *pouting*

I really can't complain too much because I've also been re-learning how to be flexible. My new schedule will be totally in flux--tattooing by appointment only, any day, any time, and writing as much as possible. The freedom of this will be something I'm not sure I've ever experienced in my entire life.

Which begs the question--how to stay on track with so much free time? I went from having a very rigid and unforgiving schedule to having NO schedule at all. So, now what?

Well, I'll tell you what.

First of all, although the break was much needed and wholly deserved, I get B-O-R-E-D, BORED. And I'm afraid that the missing rigidity will make me unmotivated and lackadaisical, something I fear more than spiders. *shivers dramatically*

Therefore, to maintain focus and stave off the boredom, I am requiring a minimum level of productivity for each day. I have to spend at least an hour online, cultivating my author brand. (And mind you, not allowing myself to be distracted by the wanton decadence which is the Internet.) I also must keep track of and pursue my tattoo brand, to which I will also dedicate an hour of time. Plus give my utmost best to my tattoo clients when I am in that incarnation. In addition, I will write, write, and WRITE. (And edit when necessary.)

And spend time with my husband.
And see my family.
And catch up with friends.
And whatever else the empty parts of the schedule will allow.

Wait...
I just went full circle, back to the rigid schedule.
Hell, maybe that's what's best for me after all.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Show Them Your War Face

Over the weekend I attended The Reader Author Get Together in Cincinnati. It was my second time and I had so much fun. I also managed to get some work done for my...

AGENT.

That's right. I said, AGENT. I signed with Nalini Akolekar of Spencerhill Associates, Ltd.
*confetti throwing, happy dancing*

And now I have major work to do, but I'm SO ready for the challenge.

I've also decided to change my pen name. That will be a lot more challenging because I have to make the adjustment to every single place online where it appears. (At least in the places I can control.) *groan*

But, again, I'm ready for the challenge.

I go back to tattooing next week and I'm really looking forward to the new environment. I know it will be good for me creatively in BOTH aspects of my life.

So, here's to challenges and facing them head-on. Look them in the eyes and show them your war face.

Show no fear and you shall be rewarded.