Finally Facebook Official

Thanks to a kick in the pants from a Harlequin-offered webinar, I've finally started an official author page on Facebook. Now I should look all professional-like, and not amateurish for just having a basic profile. Feel free to go like me!

Now I have to update my website (which really needs a full overhaul) and this blog, which I should integrate into the actual website. I just have to find—say it with me now—TIME.

The blog tour for Under the Moon continues. The paperback actually releases tomorrow! Yay!

Tomorrow I'm also starting a giveaway through Goodreads, with TWO copies of Under the Moon in paperback. Check it out!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Under the Moon

by Natalie J. Damschroder

Giveaway ends December 23, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Anyway, back to the blog tour! Yesterday I had an interview at Books Books the Magical Fruit (hee!). A copy of Under the Moon is being given away there, too! You have until 12/11 to enter.

Today I was interviewed at Workaday Reads, and tomorrow you can find me at Laura Kaye's blog. I have ANOTHER interview on Thursday at Manga Maniac Cafe. You guys are going to know ALL about me by the time this is over! The cool thing is that there's little overlap in the questions, except those that pertain to the details of the book.

On Thursday I'm also at Attacking the Page, this time with a guest post about my road to romantic adventure, and featuring my other fall release, Behind the Scenes.

I can't believe that by the end of the week, it will be nearly halfway through December. Fphoy! And no, I'm not ready for Christmas. We didn't get the tree yet, or start shopping, or do any decorating. It still feels too early!

I can't finish up this post without mentioning last week's episode of Supernatural. I can't believe I'm saying this... I never thought I could be okay with Bobby dying. (Not that we know what his final status is. Gotta have that midseason cliffhanger, after all.) But the episode was so beautifully done, and so well acted all around, that I was strangely satisfied at the end. No negative feelings from me, no matter what's about to happen.

Okay, I am freaking STARVING, so I'm off to make some dinner before How I Met Your Mother starts. Gotta go find out if Robin has any clue which guy is responsible for her pregnancy. :)

Getting Under the Moon

I hope everyone is getting back to "normal" after the holiday weekend. My kids are back to school, but struggling with the shift in sleeping patterns again, and of course the calendar is full until January. Not as full as it used to be, and not as full as some other people's, but full enough.

Guess what I did on Saturday? NOTHING. I didn't work (no immediate deadlines), I didn't clean (no guests on Sunday), I didn't cook. Wait, maybe I cooked. Yeah, pasta with garlic and broccoli. Easy stuff. I didn't do yardwork (should have, it was nice out) or put up Christmas decorations (way too early!).

I spent the vast majority of Saturday reading. Yep. I read all of Trinity Faegan's The Mephisto Covenant: The Redemption of Ajax. I was a little apprehensive, because I loved her Bombshells (published under Stephanie Feagan) and I've anticipated this book for so. damned. long. But it actually exceeded my expectations, and my only gripe is, of course, that I have to wait a whole year to get the next one.

You know how my number one thing I'm thankful for last week was that Under the Moon became available on Amazon? Well now it's available all over the place! Look for it on All Romance eBooks, Fresh Fiction, Books on Board, or your favorite e-book retailer. Barnes & Noble doesn't have it up yet, but I guess that's why they're lagging behind in the e-book race. :(

The paperback will be available next week! You can read an excerpt at the book page on Entangled's website.

Today I'm talking about how I decided on character occupations over at The Book Boost.

Tomorrow you can find an interview posted at Jeanz Book Read N Review. Thursday another interview will be posted at Rage, Sex and Teddy Bears. (Man, I love that blog's name!!!) We wrap it up on Friday with a guest appearance at Lucy Felthouse's. The cool thing is that all of these interviewers ask me different questions (there's occasional overlap, but not much!). They are very skilled! :)

Off to take Number One for a haircut, then back to work on copyedits for Acceptable Risks, my romantic adventure with Carina Press coming out next April. (Let me say that title was incredibly difficult to come up with, but oh-so-obvious once I did! Thank you, Carina PTB for choosing it from my list! :) )

My Thankful List

1. Under the Moon on Amazon!
Just in time for Black Friday shopping! Get yourself a little treat. :) (It should soon be available in other e-book venues like B&N and Books on Board, etc.)

2. My Family
My amazing kids, who went all out for me for the GISHWHES yesterday (post with pics coming soon), and my long-suffering husband, who never fails to support me and make me smile. Not to mention my delightful in-laws, with whom we spent a lovely day, and my great father, stepmother, and brother—our phone calls today made it perfect.

3. My Clients
I'm so lucky to have such professional, smart, easy people to work with, even if they somehow always manage to dump on me at the same time. :)

4. My Editors and Publishers
Elizabeth Bass and Kerri-Leigh Grady are treasures. If I ever take one of them for granted, someone should tie me to a stake, cover me in bird seed, and let loose a herd of squirrels. (Squirrels don't congregate, so you know if they're in a herd, they're crazy.)

I'm also oh-so-thankful to be part of such fantastic publishers as Amber Quill Press, Carina Press, and Entangled Publishing. (In alphabetical order, as well as order of relationship. :) ) In the wild upheaval that is publishing today, I'm lucky to have these partnerships.

5. About 50 Gagillion Hours of TV Recorded
And now I'm going to go relax and watch some. :)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Do You NaNo?

Today is one day after release day, and I hit #2 on the Carina most popular chart! Woo hoo!

I'll be featured by Carina Press this afternoon, with a post on their blog and some stuff on Twitter and Facebook.

I'm also participating this month in The Romance Reviews YES! Party (Year End Splash party). My Q&A days are Nov. 4 and 23, but there are a ton of authors participating, with bigger tons of prizes available.

So who's doing NaNoWriMo this year?

In 2006, I did my first NaNo with Under the Moon. That book got me an agent and lots of good responses from publishers, but we were submitting a genre-fence-riding book when the bottom fell out of the market, so I didn't find a publisher for it until Entangled, who was willing to offer a contract and then get me off the fence. (It's now planted on the "romance" side, though still leaning on the "urban fantasy" fence. :) )

I participated in and won NaNo for the next five years. One year, both my kids did it with me. After Number Two decided she didn't like writing after all, it was just Number Two, who ALWAYS finished before me, the stinker. I think she's doing it this year, but I'm not.

It makes me sad, in a way. Five years with a certain atmosphere in my house, an excited urgency driving us. There's a fantastic camaraderie with other NaNo participants, and always people whose word counts challenge me (and, occasionally, vice versa!). I'll really miss it!

But I'm not complaining about why I'm missing it. Promotion for two book releases, a double deadline with two publishers...triple if you count book 3 of Goddesses Rising, which isn't due for a few months but I'm working on it every day. I didn't wait until today to start it, or I'd be doing THAT for NaNo. :)

So how many of you are participating? Have you done it before? What's your record? Let us cheer you on!

And the Blogging Explosion Begins...

First, let me remind people that if you'd like to receive my (very occasional) announcement newsletter, you can sign up here. If my subscription base reaches 150 by 10/31, I'll give away a paperback copy of Brianna's Navy SEAL to one of you. (It's brutal trying to rebuild a subscriber base when you change systems! :( )

Okay, now. The touring stuff. I mean blogging stuff. I mean, the total insanity that comes with having two books released at the same time, and having a publicist who is really good at her job.

Today I start off blogging with the funny, frisky, fabulous Cathy Pegau. Cathy, that's a better 3F, huh? :) (Want to know what I'm talking about? Click the link!)

As an aside, there are very few F adjectives that are not negative. I don't like that. F is a cool letter. :(

Today I'm also featured at Read All Over Reviews as part of the 31 Days of Halloween. (Should be up about 10:00 a.m. EDT)

Tomorrow you can find me in Katie Reus's Monster Mash-Up.

This weekend brings The Romance Studio's 2nd Annual Spookapalooza. I'll post stuff there through the weekend, as will tons of other great authors.

And finally (for now), I'm the featured author at Coffee Thoughts, the Coffee Time Romance blog, on Sunday, October 30.

Monday, Behind the Scenes releases, and then the REAL fun begins!

I need a nap.

Versatile Blogger Award

A whole long week ago, the very cool Stacy McKitrick of Stacy's Rantings and Whatnot gave me this award.

Thank you, Stacy!

I thing "versatile" is a nice way of saying "unfocused and disorganized," but hey, that's what I'm going for, so yay me! :)

Here are the provisions of the award:

Thank and link to the person who nominates you.
Thanks again, Stacy! I was excited to discover her funny and interesting blog. Go check it out! Note: She's much better at brevity than I am.

Share seven random facts about you.

Hmmmm. That's always so hard! I'm sure I'll end up repeating stuff.

1. When I was around 6 or 7 years old, my best friend David Pleau and I used to pretend to be Steve Austin and Jamie Summers (Somers?). You know, the Six-Million-Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman? We made my little brother Andy be Oscar Goldman. You know the phrase "scarred for life"? Yeah, that's just about the epitome. Thirty-seven years old and he's still not over it.

Speaking of my brother...

2. He and his wife just had a new baby girl! Yeah-huh, that is too about me. I'm an aunt again, for the...thirteenth time. My mother would get a kick out of that number. :)

3. My first boyfriend was in sixth grade. He gave me candy or gum at school every day, and a tarnished necklace that he sent a friend to ask for back when he decided he didn't want to go out with me anymore. I told the friend to tell him to come ask for it himself. Pretty brave of me, considering he probably broke up with me 'cuz I could hardly look at him, I was so shy. We had one "date" at a roller rink.

4. I've owned one new car in my life. My first one. After Number Two was born, husband traded my car in for his company car, and I got his year-old Toyota Corolla, which is now 13 and counting. Because of the company cars, he's on his fourth new one. Number One is going to inherit the Corolla next year, and hopefully I'll finally get a second new car that *I* get to pick out *myself*.

5. I've never lived completely on my own. For a woman as fiercely independent as I am, that kind of galls. I wouldn't trade any of my choices for anything, but it's weird when I think about it. I had roommates in college, of course, and housemates at one summer job. I rented a basement room from a woman during my National Geographic Society internship, then moved straight in with my fiancé when that was over. Ideally, I never will live on my own, but it definitely conjures some "what if" scenarios from time to time.

6. I'm a bit compulsive about my e-mail inbox. I keep things in there if they need my attention, or if I read them on my laptop and they need to be saved on the desktop. As soon as something is addressed, it's gone. So I get intense satisfaction out of that 0 on my e-mail counter. It never lasts, alas, and often I end up putting off important tasks because I just can't take having anything in my inbox anymore.

7. I'm addicted to football podcasts. Specifically, ESPN's Football Today and the podcasts put out by the New England Patriots, mainly PFW in Progress.

(I think I just accidentally typed ALT+P or something, and this published early! Dammit!)

The writers of Patriots Football Weekly are raunchy and juvenile, they fight a lot and go on and on about the stupidest things. But I love them. I get all my New England Patriots news from them, and when I catch up to the podcasts and have nothing to listen to, I pout. Never mind the 1728 songs in my music library. Gimme my talk Internet radio!

Pass this Award along to 15 recently discovered blogs and let them know about it!
Oy. I've been soooooo busy* I haven't even had time to read the blogs I discovered years ago, never mind found new ones. But Stacy has a really long, great-looking blog roll, so head over there and click on a few of those.

Since I can't predict which ones y'all will click on, I can't notify anyone of the award. But I task anyone who is interested with passing it along (or appropriating it!) on my behalf. Consider it a "found blog topic." :)

Happy reading!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*In case anyone was sad that they hadn't heard me whining in a while... I'm near deadline on Heavy Metal, facing the imminent release of TWO books (Behind the Scenes on October 31, Under the Moon on November 1) and all the attendant promotional obligation, working on work for two clients currently, with three more preparing to bury in an avalanche (not complaining, really!) and dealing with all the usual day job and family obligations that never seem to get lighter even when they really should. I'm grateful it's all relatively good stuff, and I'm maintaining the balance so far. But some things I love are suffering...like this blog, and keeping up with my far-away friends. :( I miss you!

Come Visit me at Night Owl!

I'm teasing Under the Moon today over at Night Owl Romance. Come on over, learn how the book was born, and leave a comment to be entered to win a copy!

Want to Try Natalie J. Damschroder Risk Free?

Guess what, everyone?

I've sold another romantic adventure to Carina Press!

So my release schedule looks like this:

October 31, 2011
Behind the Scenes, romantic adventure, Carina Press (digital)

November 1, 2011
Under the Moon , paranormal romance, Entangled Press (digital and print)

Spring 2012
Heavy Metal, sequel to Under the Moon (digital and print)

New Book with a Not-Yet-Determined Title, romantic adventure (digital)

Fall 2012
Third book in Goddesses Rising trilogy, tentatively titled Sunroper

I have become totally fed up with Yahoogroups, so I have a fancy new newsletter list now. I want to encourage people who are interested in VERY infrequent e-mails telling you about my books to sign up on the new list.

So I'm GIVING BOOKS AWAY!


I want you to have a chance to try my romantic adventure voice. (Even the Goddesses Rising trilogy is romantic adventure, it just happens to also be paranormal.)

Starting September 18, 2011, I will give away a digital copy of my romantic adventures every week to a subscriber to my newsletter. There will be:

TWO copies of Brianna's Navy SEAL 

TWO copies of Cat's Claw 

TWO copies of Fight or Flight 

How do you get involved in this action? Go here:

http://eepurl.com/d1cVP

You only need to provide your e-mail address. First and last name are optional.

But wait, there's more!

It's not just a one-time thing. You'll have opportunities to join the Goddess Society (to celebrate Under the Moon) and the Film Crew (to celebrate Behind the Scenes). There will be swag, and more prizes, and exclusive content like short stories, and opportunities to discuss my books with each other.

But I promise, I won't bombard you with posts. They'll still be occasional. So take just a few seconds to go to that link and subscribe! Feel free to pass it along to others, as well.

Thanks!

Entangled Launch in T-17 days and counting...

Under the Moon, my paranormal romance with Entangled Publishing, doesn't come out until November. But you don't have to wait for fantastic stuff!

Entangled is having 2 Spectacular Launch Events! over at Coffee Time Romance on August 2nd and 5th. Click the link for details on the EP blog. See you there!