Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

Did you receive a new ereader or gadget for Christmas? Are you ready to buy some books to read? Then I have a deal for you. Check out the Celebrate the Season 50% Rebate sale at All Romance ebooks. You’ll have to move quickly because the offer is only for two days (25 & 26 Dec). Most of my books are part of the sale. Follow this link to the Shelley Munro ARe page and start filling up your new gadget. :-)

Christmas is Coming is highlighted today over at D Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters blog. The entire first chapter of my latest release is available for you to read for free.

I’m thrilled to announce I’ve sold another books to Samhain Publishing. Lone Wolf is a m/m werewolf story set in Yellowstone National Park.

Have you entered the Night Owl Reviews Autumn Harvest scavenger hunt? If not you still have until midnight PST on 30 November to get your entry completed and sent. Full details are available here at Night Owl Reviews.

I’m blogging at Access Romance today. I’m talking about shopping and presents. I’m also celebrating my upcoming birthday and giving away a download from my EC backlist. Here’s the link to The Season of Giving

Ellora’s Cave is having a special sale on all shapeshifter ebooks with 15% off every download until 31 October. If you’ve thought about trying my Middlemarch series now is the time!

All my 2009 releases, including my recent one, House of the Cat, are included in the sale.

Buy your shapeshifter ebooks at Shelley’s Ellora’s Cave page.

I’m excited to announce I’ve sold Soldier of Fortune to Ellora’s Cave. Soldier of Fortune is a contemporary romance and features Louie, one of Nikolai’s friends in Summer in the City of Sails. It’s also my thirtieth sale to Ellora’s Cave!

Australian writer, Eleni Konstantine is having a special celebration during the month of October. Special guests include Anna Campbell, Anna Hackett (Nocturne), Tracey O’Hara, Erica Hayes, Rachel Bailey (all three are debut authors) and Ellora’s Cave author Mel Teshco plus more. There will be fun and prizes so definitely drop by, say hello and join in the fun. Here’s the link or check out Eleni’s webpage for full details.

My heart goes out to all those in Samoa who are suffering after the tsunami. My husband and I were there earlier in the year and love spending time in Samoa. Our thoughts are with you all.

I mentioned last week that my husband had purchased me a surprise present–a Pandora bracelet. This week he brought me home an All Black jacket (rugby team) and a T-shirt with a tui on the front (NZ bird). Oh, and a chocolate fish. All were unexpected surprises, although much appreciated.

I said thank you and then said to him, “Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my husband?” Then I said, “Do you have a guilty conscience?”

He assured me that the presents were because he likes me. LOL – I’m still not convinced, and I’m watching him closely, although I have to say, I’m enjoying all the presents.

I received a contract for book eight in my Middlemarch series this morning. CatNap introduces a pair of tigers to Middlemarch, a brother and sister. CatNap is the brother’s story, and the next story I write will be the sisters. I’m also closer to dealing with Sly and Joe Mitchell, the twins. Watch this space.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter holiday. Keep safe.

I did some research recently on romance and love letters for Valentine’s Day. The resulting article will come out in this month’s issue of The Samhellion, due out on 15 February.

One of the suggestions to keep the romance alive between a couple was to write love letters and put them in the mail. I don’t know about you, but I don’t write many letters. Heck, I’m lucky if I manage to organize birthday and Christmas cards. Part of it is the expense – those cards cost a fortune and postage costs quite a bit these days – and the other part is the element of time. Oh, and writing by hand is hard on my wrists.

I think I’ve received one love letter and it was when I was at high school. I was actually horrified because the boy wrote that he loved me, and I knew that couldn’t be true. We hardly knew each other. It was the school holidays and when school went back he’d moved on. My feelings weren’t hurt so that couldn’t be love either. Actually, looking back I think he was gutsy to write me a letter.

My husband might write a card or a note now and then. He’s actually more likely to tell me he loves me than write a letter.

My free story The Important Things is available tomorrow as part of The Sahmellion’s Valentine’s Day promotion. You can download your free copy here.

And in writing news, I’ve signed contracts for two new stories with Ellora’s Cave – Currents Run Deep and Lynx to the Pharaoh. They’re both shifter stories and are rewrites of older stories where I’ve regained the rights. I’m not sure of release dates as yet. Watch this space.

Are you a letter writer? Do you write love letters? Have you received love letters? Do you think this is a good way to keep the romance alive in a relationship?

I have a new interview up at Manic Readers. BTW, if you’re an author you can sign up for a free page at Manic Readers. Here’s mine.

Yay! I have a new sale to report. I’ve sold a Quickie to Ellora’s Cave. It’s called Fringe Benefits and is a friends with benefits story as well as a threesome. It’s a hot little number.

Finally, we had a fine day today, and I went for a long cycle ride. Unfortunately all that fresh air was a bit too stimulating for my brain, because I had two ideas for stories and one in particular is screaming, “Write. Me. Now.” Not gonna happen. I’ve done a note to jog my memory at a later date, and I’m ploughing ahead with my sci-fi story.

We went out for lunch with friends yesterday and had both great food and company. I take my camera with me everywhere and decided I needed a photo of my cherry beer. I’d taken a couple of sips. A passing waiter asked if I’d like some froth on top for my photo. “Yes, please!” I said and he took away my drink, returning seconds later with some nice froth on top. Wasn’t he nice?

Did you have a fun weekend?

I have a new interview up at Sensual. You can read it here.

And in writing news I’m delighted to announce I’ve sold a book to Samhain Publishing. Tea For Two is a hot contemporary set in London and is the story of a Hayley, a woman who reads tea leaves and finds love along the way. I’m really excited about joining the Samhain family. Actually, color me very excited!!

I’ve been reading a lot of m/m lately. I’m not sure why, but I’ve felt in the mood to read this genre. My favorite out of all my recent reads would have to be Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English series. Adrien owns a bookstore specializing in mysteries and has a habit of stumbling over dead bodies. His lover is a cop called Jake who is firmly in the closet and has no intention of coming out – ever. The books are not erotic and there aren’t many love scenes. They concentrate mainly on the solving the mystery and the relationship between the two. I’ve fallen in love with Adrien. Actually, I like Jake too. This is a seriously good series, and quite frankly, Josh needs to write faster because I’ve just about read all his books now. I highly recommend Josh’s books.