Author Connie Suttle

Author Connie Suttle:
Urban Fantasy/ Young Adult

Monday, October 29, 2012

Name the Lissaverse!


I just ordered a kindle Paperwhite. The reason? Amazon says that due to the popularity of that item, it wouldn't ship for 5-7 weeks. WOW. The thing is, I didn't order it for myself. Sure, I'd love to have one. May even buy one for myself soon. But this one (let's hope it comes when Amazon says it will) is for one of my fans.
Yep, the first ever, Connie Suttle sponsored giveaway has arrived.

What does this giveaway involve, you ask?

Good question. Not long ago, somebody asked me what the Universe was called where all my characters live. I admit I was stumped, because it doesn't have a name. YET. It is your job, now, to give it a name. Right now, I'm calling it the Lissaverse, for lack of a better title. Suggestions will be accepted for the name between now and November 15th, ending at midnight, Central Daylight Time (where I live). Fans will then have the opportunity to vote on their favorite submissions (three votes per person). Deadline for voting is December 1st, 2012. The top 10 submissions (by vote) will be reviewed by me and my editor, Joe. We will determine the Grand Suggester from the top 10 suggestions. Please note that all the top 10 suggestions will receive a gift for their efforts.
Here are the rules:
1.     Up to 3 suggestions will be accepted per person.
2.     The suggestion(s) must be emailed to me at connie@subtledemon.com
3.     If the same suggestion is made by more than one person, the one who submitted the suggestion first (as indicated by time/date on email) will be the one accepted. If your suggestion is voided by a previous submission, you may submit another suggestion, as long as it does not exceed the 3 per person rule.
4.     Deadlines will be enforced.
5.     Votes will only be accepted by email (connie@subtledemon.com), from list of suggestions posted on my blog after the submission deadline.
6.     Top ten choices will receive:
6-10 (as determined by number of votes) will receive a signed copy of Blood Wager or Bumble, your choice.
2-5 (as determined by number of votes) will receive a signed copy of Blood Wager or Bumble (your choice) and a signed poster print of the cover of your choice (has to be one of my books. Can't get you a copy of somebody else's cover. Sorry).
The Grand Suggester (as determined by me and my editor) will receive naming rights to the Lissaverse, plus a kindle Paperwhite, plus a signed poster of the cover of their choice and a signed copy of both Blood Wager and Bumble.

So, here's your chance to name the Lissaverse. Get those suggestions in, and I'll do my best to regularly list the suggestions made here on the blog, so you'll know what's already been submitted. Be creative. Have fun. Good Luck!

Please note: by submitting a suggestion, you agree to release rights to the name selected should it be chosen, and no further compensation will be made, now or in the future.

This is my first giveaway. If all goes well and everybody plays fair, there may be others in the future.

Connie

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

subtledemon: Demon Revealed First Look

subtledemon: Demon Revealed First Look: Here are the first couple of pages for Demon Revealed. Enjoy :) "Reah and I talked about it—that's how I know." Gavril wanted to shout a...

Demon Revealed First Look

Here are the first couple of pages for Demon Revealed. Enjoy :)


"Reah and I talked about it—that's how I know." Gavril wanted to shout at the adults. Reah had tried to tell Lendill Schaff about Nods Whitlin, but he'd ignored her, sure that Nods was only an illegal immigrant on Tulgalan. "She said there was no water shortage on Mandil. They were growing citrus in the desert so there was plenty of water to grow drakus seed. We pieced it together—she said somebody called the High Commander could have been in on this." Gavril sat in front of his mother, his father, ASD Director Norian Keef and Vice-Director Lendill Schaff. "She didn't contact you a second time because she was embarrassed after the first time." Gavril knew that feeling all too well.

"Whitlin won't be able to talk for a few days—Tory nearly crushed his throat," Norian grumbled. "Those wizards are refusing to talk—we can't force them. They're older than that stupid boy—I'm hoping he'll get upset and frustrated enough to tell us all he knows. As soon as he can talk."

"The wizards won't say anything?" Queen Lissa asked.

"The most powerful of them keeps asking about Reah. He stopped talking when I told him she wasn't any of his business." Norian was angry about the entire incident. Lendill had ignored Reah's warning; she hadn't had enough courage to come to him again. Ry hadn't thought the information he'd gleaned was serious enough to call in agents and seven people died. Another eight were wounded.

"But how are they getting to Tulgalan?" Lendill knew he'd miscalculated—he should have gotten at least one agent to tail Nods. He might have learned a great deal from that. Instead, they were left to clean up bodies and attempt to explain to the Governor of the Realm of Tulgalan just why a wizard's battle had destroyed half of Taritha Village.

"I would have made the same mistake," Norian sighed. "She's only nineteen. We didn't give her enough credit."

* * *

"Reah, my darling, wake up. Please."

I ached. All over, I ached. The pain wasn't unbearable now, but it had been. I remembered waking up occasionally; the pain had been so bad. I only recalled cool fingers against my feverish forehead before blessed blackness came again. A voice, now, asking me to wake. Calling me darling. Not Aurelius—he never called me that. I was attempting to puzzle it out in my foggy brain. That hurt too, I think.

"Aurelius is out on assignment again. I am here, pretty one." I was afraid to open my eyes. Afraid of the reality that I might have to face when I did. Perhaps someone would come to send me back to unconsciousness.

"No, darling. They'll relieve the pain, but you must wake. You must move and eat and answer questions."

I moaned. I didn't want to answer questions. I didn't want to think. Didn't want to remember.

"Hush, now. We'll get you through this."

"Wylend, go away." That voice I'd heard before. I was trying to connect it to a face and a name.

"Karzac, if that order came from anyone else, I would turn them into a goat." I opened my eyes a crack to see Karzac the healer glaring at Wylend Arden, King of Karathia. Why was Wylend here? Surely he didn't want me to cook for him that badly.

"I will explain it to you very soon," Wylend rose from his seat beside my bed, returned Karzac's glare and disappeared.

"Reah," Karzac sighed heavily, "I know you are in pain. I will try to relieve as much of it as I can, but the one who calls himself the Director of the ASD is clamoring to speak with you. I did my best to hold him off, but he keeps insisting that the ASD owns you. That I find repugnant in every sense of the word, and have considered asking a Larentii to put him through the pain you have suffered, just so he will have some idea of what he is asking of you." Karzac's green-gold eyes were kind as he reached out to touch my shoulder. The pain lessened. He put his hands on my neck, then, causing the pain there to drop dramatically.

* * *

"What am I going to do?" Tory wanted to slam his body into a brick wall. Then back up and slam it into a brick wall again.

"Bro, I have no idea." Ry watched his taller sibling carefully. Lissa had asked Ry to watch Tory—he wouldn't be able to reconcile his feelings with what his Thifilathi had done. He should have realized the full moon was close on Tulgalan, and when he'd forced the Thifilathi to deal with the shooter, it had taken over completely.

"I've ruined everything," Tory moaned.

* * * * * 

Demon Revealed is coming along. Happy Wednesday, everybody!
CS

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Demon Lost Release

It only took 8 1/2 hours to go live on Amazon U.S.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009NVQZAG

Demon Lost Official Blurb


"Reah, this is Commander Aris." Bel moved aside once we were inside the spacious office, and I received my first look at the outpost Commander. He stared at me for moments as I stood before him. I was so frightened, I was afraid I'd burst into tears. Aris was a lion of a man with thick, shoulder-length dark-gold hair, swept back from his forehead. He didn't stand as his rank dictated, otherwise I think he would have dwarfed Bel, whom I thought was quite tall. The Commander's shoulders were broader, too and I imagined that he'd gained his rank by working for it.
"Reah, how did those two miscreants bring you here when you were underage?" Commander Aris asked me after moments of silence. He sounded as if he'd just gotten his voice back.
"They found me and told me I should come with them," I hung my head. I nearly jumped when I imagined that I heard a voice inside my head. I'm sure it was my fear—giving me hallucinations when there was nothing there. Hush, no harm will come, the voice said. I drew a shaky breath and managed to put it out of my mind. The voice didn't come again."

The High Demon race is dying, and nothing short of a miracle will save it. Kifirin has promised to provide that miracle, in any way he can.
* * * * *
Reah has worked in the kitchens of her family's restaurants since the age of eight. The only daughter among Addah Desh's 27 children from eight wives, Reah has been ignored, belittled and abused all her life. When the conscription notice comes from the Regular Alliance Army, Reah is more than happy to report for duty in order to escape her family. Unfortunately, her liberation is short-lived….


Sunday, October 7, 2012

subtledemon: Bibles, Law Dictionaries and Wrong Numbers

subtledemon: Bibles, Law Dictionaries and Wrong Numbers: When I worked for Borders (I left the company in 2007), we used to get faxes all the time from questionable sources, asking us to please s...

Bibles, Law Dictionaries and Wrong Numbers


When I worked for Borders (I left the company in 2007), we used to get faxes all the time from questionable sources, asking us to please sell them XX numbers of Law Dictionaries or Bibles. The reason I used two X's is because they always asked for double-digit quantities. They always offered to pay using a credit card number, and listed an address in another country as the shipping address.
Scam? Obviously. I even had one call me on the phone (I got the call because I was the manager on duty). I gave my apologies and said that we didn't ship outside the country. Really, scammers, why would anybody take you seriously when you are calling a store in OKLAHOMA for all your U.S. Law Dictionary needs?  From outside the country, no less!
Today, I got a text on my cell, assuring me that I'd won a gift card from a popular electronics store. My entry was selected, it said, and all I had to do was log onto their website and enter a code supplied in the text. REALLY? I DIDN'T ENTER ANYTHING. I seldom do. I'm not the winning kind of person, generally.
That brings me to wrong numbers. Curiously enough, my cell number is one digit away from the local Attorney General's phone number. I get calls frequently that are meant for the AG's office, usually from another cell phone, because it's easy to substitute one number for the other. A couple of times, the caller ends up telling me their story, even after I've explained that (A) I'm not the Attorney General, and (B) I'm not qualified to help them with anything, unless they want a recommendation for my favorite tea (It's Earl Grey, usually decaf).
One caller told me about a scam that she'd inadvertently participated in, and was now seeking legal recourse. I told her the AG's number. She kept talking. I sat down to listen (it was a long story) and she ended up saying that she was buying a gun in case these people (the scammers) came to her door. (Danger! Danger, Will Robinson!) I did my best to convince her to call the police AND the AG's office after that. I think I even looked up the police department's non-emergency number for her in the phone book, and really hoped that I didn't see a homicide on the evening news after she hung up.
That was a couple of years ago. If there was a homicide, it didn't make the news. I will say this, though. I've already considered this as a potential plot/subplot for a book. As for the message in this blog post, well, there's not much of one. All I can say is that if you text me, call me, email me or send me printed material involving a scam, or text me, call me, email me or send me printed material involving your (possible) intention to shoot, stab, hang, torture or otherwise do away with a scammer, bear in mind all of that may end up in a book.
With the following disclaimer, of course:
"All rights reserved. Void where prohibited. Only one offer per customer. For external use only. May contain nuts or nut products. Not meant to be used as a flotation device. If erection lasts more than four hours, for Pete's sake don't freak. Walk (if you can) to the nearest phone and call your physician. Outside Physician's business hours, please visit your local emergency room. After they stop laughing, you'll probably get treatment. If the problem still persists, well, fly proud.

In other news, Demon Lost may see an early release. That is all :D

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Prologue: Demon Lost


"Jayd, we have to find Kifirin's tears."
 
"Glindarok, my love, what are you talking about?" Jaydevik Rath, King of the High Demons, looked up from a pile of reports sitting on his desk.  Glinda stood before him, beautiful as always, the river of white-blonde hair she'd inherited from her grandmother cascading about her shoulders. Carefully, Jayd covered the top report with a hand.
 
"Jayd, don't bother trying to hide it," Glinda's blue eyes flashed a warning. "How many did we lose to Baetrah this time?"
 
"Sixty-three, most from Greth," Jayd sighed. "I should know better than to hide anything from you."
 
"The High Demons are dying," Glinda muttered regretfully and dropped onto a chair beside Jayd's desk. "I hoped Jhase and Jheri might conceive as soon as they were mated, but that wasn't the case. The High Demon houses are losing hope, Jaydevik. They see no new females coming to them and that spells doom for all of Kifirin. That's why we must find the jewels my father called Kifirin's tears. My father always said that Kifirin hid them in the palace somewhere, and that we'd find them when our salvation was at hand. I felt sure we'd find them after Lissa fought off the Ra'Ak, but they never turned up. What if it's just a myth, Jayd? What if there's nothing to save us, now? Le-Ath Veronis is the balance for all the worlds instead of Kifirin. What if there's nothing that can bring us back?" Glinda wiped away tears as she stared at her husband.
 
"Come here, my love," Jayd pulled Glinda into his lap. "Kifirin made a promise to me when the balance was moved from the High Demons to the vampires. He told me he would do whatever was necessary to keep our race alive. We have to trust him, I think."
 
"I hope he does something soon, then," Glinda buried her head against Jayd's shoulder. "We've lost so many already."