Well not really strangers, but I liked the title much better than “Kindness of some people I met online and even though I’ve only seen them once in real life, I love them and they have been good to me”.

You see, I belong to this community of writers called Romance Divas. I have posted about them before. My love of the Divas knows no bounds. It’s extraordinary, really. They are a very giving group of writers, in more ways than one.

Every year the Romance Divas reward a scholarship. The scholarship is to help defray the costs of going to the RWA National Conference, which can cost a lot of money. The lucky recipient is chosen by co-founders Jax Cassidy and Kristen Painter, and VP Eden Bradley. Funds for the scholarship are raised via donations where those who donate have the option to win various prizes (usually writing related, but not always.)

This year I am that lucky recipient. I’m really not sure why I am so blessed, but I am not going to waste a moment of it. While this announcement was only made official in the last few days, I have known for a while. They let the recipient know because they need time to book everything, especially the actual conference while the price is lower. The whole thing has already kicked my career up a notch, and I’m not even at conference yet. What it has done for me is force me to look at my career and see what I want. Instead of piddling around and letting fear of the unknown get the better of me, I’ve just made the decision to go for it.

Go hard or go home.

Because I was not doing anything before this scholarship. I was letting a crappy year squash my motivation. Personally I’ve suffered some major setbacks this year. I had let that settle over me like a weight. Let it give me all sorts of reasons to avoid doing anything. To avoid writing. You (the three of you that still read this) probably noticed I haven’t blogged much. I was just like a windless sailboat floating on the water. I had no motor and no oars, so I drifted.

But now. Now I’m motivated, baby! I was like , then I was like and now I’m like .

My book is finished. I have sent agent queries out. I’ve received rejections and I’ve happily received requests. I’m preparing myself to meet agents and editors next week. I’m preparing myself to do what I need to do, to move onwards and upwards.

I want to say thank you to Jax, Kristen and Eden. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for appreciating me, thank you for kicking my butt!

Thank you to Immi and Chichi for getting me through the last few weeks and letting me pick your brains “just one more time.”

Thank you to all the Divas that donated to this very worthy cause, in what is a very tough financial year for so many. I promise to make the most of this, to continue to work hard and to, some day, pay it forward. If I am ever in a position to do so, you can count on it!

Divas rock! (And if you don’t believe me, why don’t you head over and join them for the Not Going to Conference Conference, which starts next week on the Forum)

Today is release day for Eve of Destruction.

I was able to get my hands on a copy a little bit early (thanks to the fabulous Cici) and I read it last week. I have been waiting for this series since last July when I read the first book (Eve of Darkness (Marked, Book 1)). I loved it. The idea seemed fresh to me – a new twist on Cain and Abel. A new twist on angels and the vengeance of God. How the forces of good and evil aren’t necessarily black and white, but rather shades of grey.

Anyway, Eve of Destruction continues on the journey with Eve getting used to her powers (and dealing with the after effects of a mighty blow, which I can’t tell you about because you need to read the first one. Although they stand alone, I highly recommend you read each of them) and dealing with her attraction for the two brothers. One she is in love, the other she’s infatuated with. This isn’t giving anything away, so I can tell you that. The romance person in me wishes she’d make a clear definition between each of them, but the realist in me can see why she can’t.

I didn’t expect the twist in Eve of Destruction. I would have thought a particular situation would have gone the other way. But, it was brilliant really (this has to do with the brothers rather than the mystery that is going on, btw. I’m trying to be vague because it would be a shame to give anything away.) I did manage to guess one of the bad guys, but only caught the last one slightly before it was revealed.

The class that Eve is training with has all sorts of characters and it is fun getting to know each of them. Ms. Day does a fantastic job of making each one distinct. The reader is able to clearly see each of them and is easily able to differentiate between them.

There’s a very interesting love scene in the book that was handled extremely well. What could have been something slightly off-putting, was very hot. Hot, hot, hot! In fact, this whole book is hot. Hot action, hot suspense, hot guys!

Here’s the official blurb for Eve of Destruction (Marked, Book 2)“:

When you’re learning to hunt demons, homework can be hell…

Class is in, but Evangeline Hollis is far from being the star pupil. She’s struggling to get through the required training to be a full-fledged Mark — one of thousands of sinners forced to hunt demons for God. When her class goes on a week-long field trip to an abandoned military base, passing the course suddenly isn’t just a matter of pride… it’s a matter of life and death. There’s a demon hidden among them, killing off Eve’s classmates one by one.

As the body count rises, a ragtag team of ghost hunters from a cable TV program unwittingly stumbles into the carnage. Now keeping the Mark system secret competes with the need to keep the “paranormal researchers” alive. With Cain on assignment and Abel investigating a new, terrifying class of demon, Eve must fly solo on her hunt to stop a killer before he strikes again.

If I’ve been too vague, then it’s only because you need to read the book. Everything I want to say would give something away. Really, you need to go buy the book and read it. Then come back here and talk to me about it. I’d love to know what you think. I’d love to talk about these books with someone.

If you were waiting to buy Vampire Oracle: Harmony in print then wait no longer! It has been released as part of a five-author anthology in Volume Three of the Vampire Oracle series.

The following stories are included (each also still available as their own ebook novella):
Sin by Antonia Pearce
Sacrifice by Leila Brown
Love by L. Shannon
Harmony by MG Braden
Shadow by Karen Erickson

Go out and buy your copy of Vampire Oracle: Volume Three now (buy several if you’d like .)

From March 31, 2009 until June 9, 2009 – purchase Love Songs from The Wild Rose Press and you can enter to win a free SONY eReader.

Its easy to enter: once you purchase Love Songs, or a book or short story from any of the participating authors (see here for list of all authors involved and complete rules) email your order number to sonyreader@thewildrosepress.com .

That’s it! SONY recently announced that they will include $25 worth of free downloads from their site with every reader we give away. So enter now!

Winners will be announced in a Tuesday night chat on June 9, 2009, and on our web site the next day.

Love Songs is only $1.50 – what a small price to pay for a fun, contemporary romance and a chance to win a Sony eReader and $25 worth of downloads!

If you love Jaci Burton (and honestly, how could you not? Surviving Demon Island? Awesome book – go get it, seriously, so good), then you’ll be excited by this contest she’s having. You can win sweet swag: