Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

Crossing Swords, Available in Print!

I have a confession to make. I’m a traitor.

I’ve been an epublished author for ten months now, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the experience. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a great company, a wonderful, editor and a whole team of friendly, devoted professionals who have all contributed to making my books the best they can be. I’ve managed to find lots of enthusiastic readers, a few honest to goodness fans (gulp), and some amazing bloggers, authors and reviewers who’ve become online friends. Along the way, I’ve become an advocate for ebooks, expounding at every opportunity upon their environmental benefits, as well as the many advantages of the format for publishers, authors and readers. I’m not just an ebook author—I’m also a rabid and nearly exclusive ebook reader, as well. When someone recommends a book to me nowadays, my first question is always, “Is it available in e?”

So why am I a traitor?

Because as much as I love my shiny new Sony Reader, as much as I think ebooks are the bright and shining future of publishing, as proud as I am of what I’ve accomplished in being multi-published in a genre I love, there’s just something about having that actual, physical, really-and-for-true book in your hand that makes it hit home. The sheen as the light hits the cover, the rustle of the pages as you flip them, the scent, oh-so-subtle, of ink on paper (and yes, I’m not ashamed to admit it, I smell my books—sometimes so hard I can practically feel my brain cells popping like soap bubbles). The weight of it in your hand, so tangible, so tactile, so…real.

That’s why I feel so fortunate to be published by Samhain. They offer authors the best of both worlds, an opportunity to reach those tech-savvy digital readers, and die-hard fans of ink and paper. And as hot as ebooks have gotten in the last year or so, those ink-and-paper fans still monopolize the market. My author copies for Crossing Swords arrived last week, and once the dizziness wore off (dang, that ink smells goooood), I started showing them off around town. And all those people who gave the patented blank stare when I told them I was epublished were suddenly full of fervent congratulations and well-wishes. And demands to know where they can get their copy.

Don’t get me wrong—I love ebooks and I love being epublished. But dang, if print isn’t nice, too!

Crossing Swords, available in print, January 27th!

One duel. Easy money. Then Gil fell for his opponent.

A straight duel to the death. A professional opponent who’s paying him to win. This was going to be the easiest money Gil had ever earned. Except he never counted on his opponent being a woman. And he never counted on falling for her.

After avenging the brutal murder of her lover, all Lianon wants is to die a clean death. Too bad the man she hired doesn’t do women, and he’s furious over her deception. Not only does he renege on their contract, he has the gall to lock her up in his apartment—naked, no less!—to punish her for her ruse. If she could just get her mind out of the gutter, she’d cut him a new smile. But ever since he saw through her boy’s clothes, all she can think about is getting him naked, too.

But just when she’s found something to live for, the father of her lover’s murderer surfaces. He wants Lianon to die screaming—and he’s all too happy to take Gil down with her.

Warning, this title contains the following: explicit sex, including f/f; bad language; violence; bland, rubbery veal; a little sexual healing; and one killer blowjob.