An Author's Life... Double Trouble

Today I'm over at fellow Berkley author Kylie Griffin's blog where she grills me on An Author's Life. Actually both Christina Phillips and Christina Ashcroft were invited which was pretty cool! If you want to find out the down and dirty on my double life then pop on over and say hi!

A Year of Firsts

Today I'm over at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs chatting about my exciting rollercoaster Year of Firsts. Pop over and join me and share your memorable "first" - or a fave story about a kitty or canine! Yes I couldn't resist, there's an adorable photo of kitty Theo up there, when he was just a couple of days old!

Touch of the Demon - Rises from the Ashes!

I've dipped my toe in the self-publishing pool, and have released my dark erotic futuristic/fantasy Touch of the Demon through Smashwords (I'll also be uploading to Amazon Kindle very soon). It's been an eye-opening experience reformatting the book for e-publication and I'm sure I would never have made it without the help of the amazing, award winning author Cathleen Ross who cyber held my hand throughout the whole Smashwords Meatgrinder process!

Touch of the Demon is the first in my upcoming Sensual Seduction Series of erotic shorts that I intend to self-publish and is just $0.99. Check out the new trailer below!

This 10k word short story was first published in 2009 with The Wild Rose Press.

Dark angel Rafe travels back in time to destroy the woman who is fated to bring untold chaos to the cosmos. Instead he finds Celeste, a child of the Earth Goddess, who is sworn to protect the one Rafe seeks. He mistakes her for his quarry, but an irresistible attraction prevents him from taking her soul. And although Celeste holds the one weapon capable of banishing Rafe from Earth forever, she's unable to deny the overwhelming desire to possess this creature from hell. They come together in a frenzy of passion, each believing they are changing destiny by their actions. But when the Earth Goddess appears they discover her plans are more far reaching than either had  imagined.

Party Time!

Join me today over at The Romance Reviews where there's a chance to win a copy of Captive - and  heaps of other mega cool prizes are also up for grabs! Before you play the game you need to be registered and logged into TRR - it's free and easy so hope to see you there!

March Madness

It's been a crazy month so far. I finished my second Archangel book and sent the proposal to my agent (who loved it - yay!) So now we wait and see what the verdict is from my editor on that one. Since then I've been madly polishing and editing my Highland Warrior. I have no idea why but this book came in at 105k so I've been slashing and burning to bring it down to a more manageable word count. Am slowly getting there!

On Wednesday I'm over at The Romance Reviews to help celebrate their first birthday anniversary. And there's a giveaway of Captive up for grabs! Just answer a simple question (the answer is found on my Christina Phillips website) and you're in with a chance. I'll put more details up tomorrow as the link for my Q&A doesn't go live until Wednesday.

And on Saturday 17th March I'm over at Totebags chatting about all sorts of new beginnings - will post more details later in the week!

ARCHANGEL OF MERCY - Cover Love!

I'm thrilled to show off the cover of my next release with Berkley Heat - Archangel of Mercy. The more I look at this cover, the more in awe I am of the art department. They took into account just about every request I suggested - including having both Gabriel and Aurora on the front in a romantic-but-with-a-touch-of-possessiveness pose, the blond hero and the forest background. Even the wings are perfect and in the larger version the individual feathers are awesome. My editor and I discussed whether or not wings should be on the cover, because in the book Gabriel's were destroyed millennia ago. However, we both decided a mystical hint of what he'd once possessed would be good. I'm also in love with the gorgeous little wings in the title! And OMG. His face!!! If you can enlarge the cover and zoom into his face let me know what you think, because I reckon he is to die for!!!

Friday Feast - Bottoms Up!

Today I'm a guest over at my good friend Cathryn Hein's blog where I'm talking about one of my favourite things - wine!!! Well actually I'm chatting more about the beautiful Margaret River wine region and cheeky kookaburras and there's a chance to win a special goodie just for leaving a comment on my post. I also share some shocking tidbits I picked up while researching for my Roman/Druid romances!!

Cathryn writes the most gorgeous Aussie rural romances for Penguin Australia, and I was captivated by her debut, Promises. I'm so looking forward to reading her upcoming release, Heart of the Valley!

Hope to see you over at Cathryn's so we can party. It's Friday, after all!!!

One of our stops on our wine tour of the beautiful Margaret River region in Western Australia

Sunday Swag

The lovely ladies over at Riverina Romantics are having a Sunday Swag giveaway today. Just hop over and leave a comment for the chance to win a gorgeous Forbidden/Captive bookmark! How easy is that!

Cover Art & Goals Update

I had a wonderful surprise in my inbox yesterday - a sneak preview of the cover for Archangel of Mercy! Berkley Art have excelled themselves once again. The cover is romantic, sexy and mystical - absolutely gorgeous and incorporates all the elements I suggested to my editor last year. I can't wait until I can show it off!

As it's now February I thought I'd better give an update on how my goals are coming along. I'm very happy that I managed to finish and send off the revisions the day before deadline and polished and edited my Highland Warrior book. I'm now back writing book two of my Archangels but my hero and heroine aren't cooperating. Obviously they're not impressed that I left them dangling for two months!

A Naughty Little Bite of Forbidden

Today I'm over at the Dark Side DownUnder blog giving a naughty little bite of Forbidden for your reading pleasure!! I love this snippet as it shows how both Maximus and Carys are used to being in control of a situation, and how, despite this tough Roman's belief, it is actually Carys who's keeping them safe during their illicit encounter.

He was a master of seduction - but no match for the magical allure of the woman he wanted most...

Congratulations Kylie Griffin!

A big congratulations to my good friend, Kylie Griffin, on the release of her debut novel from Berkley Sensation today! Kylie is having a party over at her blog if you want to pop on over and join in the fun!

VENGEANCE BORN: A Novel of the Light Blade
There is no mercy in the demon realm. No escape. In this place of desperation and conflict, anyone who is not pure bred is virtually powerless. Until an unlikely champion is born…

Annika, half-blood daughter of the Na’Reish King, longs for more than her tormented life among her father’s people. Conceived in hatred and bred as a tool of retribution, she’s gifted with a special talent that can heal as well as destroy.

With the Na’Reish vastly outnumbering them, Kalan, a Light Blade warrior, knows the future of humankind depends on him alone. Incursions into human territory and raids for blood-slaves by the Na’Reish Horde have increased. As Chosen-leader, he faces the task of stopping the demons—and convincing the Council of aging Light Blade warriors that change is necessary for survival.

When Annika learns Kalan is a prisoner in her father’s dungeon, her dream of escape seems within reach. She agrees to free him in exchange for his protection once they reach human territory. Now, marked for death for helping him, Annika must learn to trust Kalan as they face not only the perilous journey to the border but enemies within the Council—and discover a shocking truth that could throw the human race into civil war…

Lightning Strikes

In case you thought I'd fallen off the edge of the planet... it certainly felt like it to me! Two weeks ago in the early hours of the morning we were hit by the worst storm I can ever remember. At one point the thunder was so terrific it sounded as if our roof had exploded. The back garden flooded and we later discovered our laptops and air con were fried. This during the hottest heat wave for something like 40 years!!! I'm talking temps hitting the high 90s (that's about 40 degrees I think!) And that lasted for a good 10 days without respite.

We're still without internet access, so thank goodness for whoever invented the dongle! (although who makes up these names?!)

The only good news was just the previous weekend I'd done a massive back up of all my photos and docs (actually that's a bit of a lie, my husband very cleverly managed to save the lot to a stick. I seriously believe he has the gift!) Unfortunately it did wipe off my website program and I'm still struggling to get that back online. So please accept my apologies for the outdated info on the home page of Christina Phillips (I haven't attempted the Christina Ashcroft one yet!). For some reason, although I've managed to reinstall everything on my new laptop, my updates aren't uploading to the server. If any wonderfully techie minded person has an idea why that might be please let me know!!!

Welcome to Christina Ashcroft!

I'm very excited to share some news on the writing front. As well as my historical romances published as Christina Phillips, I'm also now writing hot paranormal romance for Berkley Heat under the pen name Christina Ashcroft. The first of my Fallen Archangel books, Archangel of Mercy, is scheduled for release in December 2012. This is the sizzling story of Gabriel and I'm in the middle of revisions for this book at the moment.

My new website is here.

I've added the blurb below - I hope you enjoy!

Between an angel and a desperate woman comes salvation-
and a raw passion that challenges them at every turn...

When Aurora Robinson attempts to open a rift between dimensions to embrace her true heritage, an arrogant Archangel is the only one who can save her from the jaws of hell. And while she owes Gabriel her life, she's determined not to fall at his feet-despite the desire she feels whenever they're together.

After his wings were brutally destroyed millennia ago, Gabriel has no compassion for humans like those who ruined him and betrayed the ones he loved. But when he inexplicably finds himself defying ancient protocols to rescue a woman from a fate worse than death, he is shocked by the searing attraction he feels for a mortal.

As the ancient forces that seek to punish Aurora for her actions close in, Gabriel offers the tempting woman protection at his private sanctuary. But as they both succumb to their desires, they discover an even deeper connection-one that threatens to consume them.

Cover Art Magic

I always love reading about what goes on behind the scenes at publishing, and one of my favourite things is learning about the cover art process. The fantastic ladies over at Riverina Romantics have just interviewed the awesome Tony Mauro, the cover artist for Captive (which won the Romance Writers of Australia's 20 Years of Romance Covers for best Historical last year). Tony has done everything from posters for the movie Pirates of the Caribbean to Stephen King's novel Under the Dome and also has a stunning calendar out!

DarkSiders Reading Challenge 2012

Hope everyone had a very merry New Year and didn't feel too dreadful the morning after the night before!!!

Eleni Konstantine, the star behind the Dark Side DownUnder blog, has come up with a brilliant reading challenge for 2012. If you enjoy reading paranormal, fantasy, UF and/or steampunk romances then you might find some fantastic new books to add to your wish lists from the Dark Side DownUnder authors.

There are three levels to the challenge:

Light Side Challenge - 6 books

DarkSider Challenge - 12 books

Down Under Challenge - 24 books

I'm putting my name down for the 12 book challenge - any more takers? You can find a list of the DSDU authors here!

Happy New Year!

It hardly seems possible but yet another year has flown by! I'm looking forward to 2012 and although I don't make resolutions I do like to reassess where I am and what I hope to achieve in the coming twelve months. So, urged on by fabulous Carina Press author Rachael Johns, I'm making a list of my goals. The reasoning behind this is if they're out there, then I'm accountable!

So here we go:

Finish the revisions on the first book in my new Berkley series (I have an end of January deadline for this one)

Edit and polish my Highland Warrior book

Finish writing book 2 in my new series (I have about 25k left to go on this one)

Finish writing book 3 in the Forbidden series (I've only written 30k on this one, so have a long way to go!!)

Either - start the second book in my Highland Warrior series ~or~ start book 3 in my new series. 

Keep the mess on my desk under control. Not at ALL sure about this goal, sounds like an impossible ask! Because once I start on my desk it shows up how untidy my bookshelves are, which in turn makes me realise how cluttered the entire floor is as well!!!

Now for the dreams, because we all need to have our dreams!

Would love to make the Gold Coast conference in 2012 *keeping every available digit crossed* I couldn't make the conference this year, although it was huge fun texting with the gorgeous Alli Sinclair from Novel Adventurers on Awards Night!

Attend a weekend writers retreat with my awesome CPs, Amanda Ashby and Sara Hantz.. I'm not convinced we'd get a great deal of writing done but we'd certainly knock back a lot of bubbly and... brainstorm! (because that sounds more writerly than gossiping, heh heh)

What are your goals/resolutions and/or dreams for 2012?

New Look for the New Year

I know I'm a couple of weeks early for celebrating the arrival of 2012 but I thought I'd do a bit of spring cleaning on my blog (despite it being summer here in Oz and winter in my mind!) I'd had the old template for a while and thought it was time for a change.

And I'm so happy that two of my writer friends have releases this week! First of all congrats to fellow West Australian, Rachael Johns, whose debut romance from Carina Press, One Perfect Night is out now!

 
Here's the blurb!

Peppa Grant's fellow employees may call their new CEO Mr. McSexy, but she's also heard that he's aloof and distant. Cameron McCormac certainly seems cold toward Christmas when she meets him at the company's annual party...but he's also the sexiest man Peppa has ever seen. And when he offers to forgive the damage she accidentally caused to his expensive car in exchange for accompanying him to his family's holiday get-together, she agrees.

Cameron needs a date to the family party to get his matchmaking relatives off his back. Their chemistry is instant and undeniable, leading to an incredible one-night stand. But Peppa wants love and family, while Cameron's only interested in temporary pleasure. When their relationship takes an unexpectedly serious turn, will he run the other way—or will he give love a second chance?

And also big congrats to Kaye Manro who has a Medieval Christmas story out with Red Rose Publishing!

Here's the blurb!

A fortnight ago she left him.

Marcus of Windom stood alone in an empty castle without Lady Liana by his side. The frigid winds brought forth by the Yule Season pressed upon him. He pulled the parchment from whence he carried it and read her chilling parting words once again. I can no longer live as your lady-wife… If ever she returned would her sensual warmth be enough to melt the ice she had caused to form around his broken heart?

Deep in the Revision Cave

Things have been a tad frantic here over the last few weeks, and show no sign of letting up anytime soon - and I'm not complaining!!! It's all good and I hope to be able to share soon :-)

The revisions for my next book landed over the weekend and all I can say is my editor is a goddess. She pointed out things that had completely escaped me but which are vital to understanding the world. All I can put forward in my defense is that I've lived in this world, to a greater and lesser degree, for almost five years and what seemed clear to me in my head absolutely wasn't once it hit the screen. The revs are pretty intense and will keep me well and truly glued to the computer for the next month but I know they're going to make the book so much stronger. I'll be able to share more details about this book very soon, so stay tuned!!!

Behind the Scenes Insights & Giveaways!!

Today I'm over at Magical Musings with my good friend, historical author Michelle Diener. Michelle is another ex-pat Brit who lives in WA and when deadlines and school terms and the planets align we love meeting up for a lovely gossipy lunch!!

Michelle and I are discussing scenes from our books where our heroine first admits her deep attraction to her hero. I chose a scene from Captive and Michelle picked at scene from her paranormal short story, BREAKING OUT, which is included in the charity anthology, Entangled, for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There are giveaways!! Love to see you over there!!

YES! Party on Now!

Don't forget to pop over to the Romance Reviews and join in the fabulous Year End Splash (YES) party! Today there's a copy of Forbidden up for grabs. All you have to do to enter the contest is answer a simple question - the answer can be found on my website the world of Forbidden (that was an extra clue right there!!)

Good luck!