A New Direction and Fond Farewells

Going Dark

It's with a heavy heart I must announce that the Midnight Moon Cafe blog is going dark.

When we founded the blog five years ago, I had no idea the MMC would grow to be what it is today. The site has gone above and beyond my every expectation. I am honored that so many loyal readers have stuck with us from the beginning to the end. I can't tell you how much you are appreciated. 

Cass and I have worked very hard to keep the Cafe fresh and exciting while maintaining the original idea of creating a home for all things paranormal. We wanted to create a fun, friendly place where we could share our love for the genre with other like-minded souls. I feel we've done that. 

As you can probably imagine, it takes a lot of work to keep the MMC running - many hours of planning and preparation. Cass and I have enjoyed many late night "chat and plan" sessions, but we have ultimately come to the decision that if we are to continue working as authors, we must make the time to write. To do that, we have to let the Cafe go. 

We are not going away entirely. The website www.midnightmooncafe.com will remain active, albeit as an event board for our new releases, personal contests, upcoming events, and speaking engagements. The blog will still be here, but only as an archive to our past high jinx. 

To keep track of what we're up to, feel free to follow us on our personal blogs:

http://cassandracurtis.blogspot.com/ 

http://corazane.blogspot.com  

You can also look us up on various social networking sites, such as facebook and twitter.

Once again, I want to thank our readers for five years of blogging fun. You have made this an incredible journey. Thank you for the memories! ~Cora Zane

When Midnight Comes: Faery Fun Stuff

When Midnight Comes: Faery Fun Stuff: "I love the talismans created by my good friend Storm Eldermoon. You can use these as true talismans, or wear them as object d'art pins. This..." ::contest::

Etched In Bone/Adrian Phoenix Contest Winners

The winner of Contest One in Ms. Phoenix's Etched In Bone Book Release Day Celebration is:

Jolene Allcock

You've won a signed copy of Ms. Phoenix's latest book Etched In Bone! Congratulations! But that's not all! So please email us at midnightmooncafe@ gmail. com (no spaces) and tell us which other book of hers you'd like signed and sent! Woohoo!


The winner of Contest Two in Ms. Phoenix's Etched In Bone Book Release Day Celebration is:

Dee Battle

You've won a signed copy of a book from Ms. Phoenix's backlist! Congratulations! Please email us at midnightmooncafe@ gmail. com (no spaces) and tell us which backlist book of hers you'd like signed and sent! Awesome!

Both winners please remember to include your full name and mailing address in your email to us, so we can send your books.

Don't forget, the next book in Ms. Phoenix's Hoodoo series comes out in July 2011, and I know you'll love it, so pre-order it when you can. Mojo rulz! :)

Special Featurette: Etched In Bone by Adrian Phoenix

Hot New Release today from author Adrian Phoenix! The fourth book in her Maker's Song series is now available...

SON OF A FALLEN ANGEL.
FORGED IN VAMPIRE'S BLOOD.
SWORN TO A MORTAL WOMAN.
IF DANTE FALLS, THE WORLD FALLS WITH HIM. . . .
THREE LEGACIES ETCHED IN BONE

THREE LEGACIES ETCHED IN BONE

More beautiful and powerful than any creature the world has ever seen, Dante Baptiste has become the supreme target of the three worlds that spawned him. The mortal agents of the Shadow Branch have tried to control his mind through psychological torture. The vampire elders who guide nightkind society have plotted to use him in their bloodthirsty bid for power. And the Fallen have waited for millennia for Dante to claim his birthright as their Maker. But Dante belongs to no one—except the woman he loves. . . .

ONE PASSION SWORN IN BLOOD

Determined to face the Fallen and the world on his own terms, Dante hopes to piece together his shattered past and claim his future, with FBI agent Heather Wallace at his side. But in Heather’s human family awaits an unexpected enemy. One who could rip Heather from Dante’s heart and fill the holes with bullets. One who could force Dante to choose his darkest destiny—as the Great Destroyer. . . .

Read the book that started it all!

A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix
Book One in the Maker's Song series

"Hard-charging action sequences, steamy
sex scenes, and a surprising government
conspiracy make this debut, the first in a
series, engrossingly fun."
–Entertainment Weekly

HIS NAME IS DANTE
Dark. Talented. Beautiful. Star of the rock band Inferno. Rumored owner of the hot New Orleans nightspot Club Hell. Born of the Blood, then broken by an evil beyond imagination.

Tracking a sadistic serial murderer has led FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace to New Orleans, Club Hell, and the man known as Dante.

But the dangerously attractive musician not only resists her investigation, he claims to be “nightkind”: in other words, a vampire. Digging into his past reveals an extensive juvenile record, but no known birth date or social security number. In and out of foster homes for most of his life, he was eventually taken in by an equally mysterious man named Lucien De Noir, who tries to shield his ward from Heather’s investigation.

Heather is sure, however, that Dante is linked to the murderer–and could be the next target. Now, she must unravel the truth about this sensual, complicated, vulnerable young man–who, she begins to believe, truly is a vampire–in order to bring the killer to justice. But what Heather doesn’t know is that Dante’s past holds a shocking, dangerous secret, and once it is revealed not even she will be able to protect him from his destiny . . .


In The Blood by Adrian Phoenix
Book Two in the Maker's Song series

DANTE LIVES
Vampire. Rock star. Begotten son of the fallen angel Lucien. Dante Baptiste still struggles with nightmares and seizures, searching for the truth about his past. It is a quest as seductive as his kiss, as uncontrollable as his thirst, and as unforgiving as his determination to protect one mortal woman at any cost.

KNOWLEDGE KILLS
FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace now knows the extent of the Bureau corruption that surrounds her, but worries that she is losing the battle. And when Dante and his band Inferno come to Seattle on tour, Heather can’t help but be drawn back to the beautiful, dangerous nightkind. But what Heather and Dante don’t know is that new enemies lurk in the shadows, closer than they think . . . and even deadlier than they fear.

DESTINY UNFOLDS
Shadowy government forces have pledged to eliminate all loose ends from Project Bad Seed–and Heather and Dante are at the top of the list. Elsewhere, the Fallen gather in Gehenna, intent on finding their long-awaited savior, the True Blood nightkind whom Lucien De Noir would die to protect. And a damaged and desperate adversary, with powers as strange and perilous as Dante’s own, plots to use Dante as a pawn in a violent scheme for revenge. But only one of these lethal forces holds the key to Dante’s past–a key that could finally unlock the secret of his birth and the truth of his existence . . . or destroy him completely.


Beneath The Skin by Adrian Phoenix
Book Three in the Maker's Song series

CHAOS CONTROLS HIS FUTURE.
ONE MORTAL WOMAN COULD BE HIS SALVATION.
THE COUNTDOWN TO ANNIHILATION WILL BEGIN WITH DANTE’S CHOICE . . .


THE FATE OF THREE WORLDS . . .
The dark pieces of vampire rock star Dante Baptiste’s past are violently emerging, and it is only a matter of time before the Fallen discover he is the creawdwr they have sought for thousands of years. The destruction he left behind in Oregon threatens to reveal his identity as Fallen Maker and True Blood, exposing the young nightkind to shadowy predators–mortal and supernatural–who will do whatever it takes to win his favor . . . or destroy him.

RESTS IN DANTE’S HANDS.
When beautiful FBI special agent Heather Wallace went AWOL on assignment, she chose irresistible Dante over the shady government forces that now stalk them both. Heather has her own secrets of the past to uncover, but she is also the only one who can hold her nightkind lover together when his dangerous quest for the truth threatens to send him over the edge. And as she and Dante fight for their survival, she realizes they must work together to protect their future–before his mysterious destiny tears them apart . . .

Black Dust Mambo by Adrian Phoenix
Book One in the Hoodoo series

“There will be times, girl, when all your magic ain’t going to be
enough, times when it will seem to dry up like mud under the
noonday sun, or even make matters worse . . .”

Kallie Riviere, a fiery Cajun hoodoo apprentice with a talent for trouble, finds herself smack-dab in the middle of one of those times her mentor warned her about when she visits New Orleans to attend the Hecatean Alliance’s annual carnival: her hard-bodied conjurer hookup ends up dead in her blood-drenched bed. And he was killed by something that Kallie would never dream of touching — the darkest of dark juju, soul-eating juju — a black dust hex that may have been meant to kill her.

Now Kallie has to use every bit of hoodoo knowledge and bayou-bred mojo she possesses to clear her own name and find the killer even as that dark sorcerer hunts Kallie and her friends. But Kallie’s search for the truth soon leads her in a direction she never anticipated — back home to Bayou Cypres Noir, and to Gabrielle LaRue, Kallie’s aunt, protector, and hoodoo mentor . . . who is looking more and more like she just might be the one who wants Kallie dead.

And coming this July...

Black Heart Loa by Adrian Phoenix
Book two of the Hoodoo series will be released July 2011.

While searching for her missing bayou-pirate cousin, Kallie Riviere, a fiery Cajun hoodoo apprentice with a talent for trouble, finds out the hard way that someone’s undoing powerful gris gris down in the bayou and changing the very nature of magic. Suddenly working magic is like rolling a handful of dice—random and definitely not what you planned.

Now the wards woven by conjurers to protect New Orleans and the Gulf coast are in danger of unraveling, leaving the city and the coastline vulnerable just as the deadliest storm—an unnatural storm—in a century is born. And aims for the heart of New Orleans.

As Kallie races to uncover the random magic’s source and restore the wards, she learns a dark and unsettling truth: she might be the source. And she and everyone close to her—including a certain sexy nomad who can wear wet boxers like no other man—are being hunted.

Then Kallie steps right into the most dangerous trap of all, a trap set just for her in the form of a tall, dark, and grumpy loup garou designed to steal her heart. Literally.

Read our February 2011 Midnight Brew interview with Ms. Phoenix!
Simply click on the Midnight Brew Interviews tab at the top of our page.

::WIN THIS::

Two Incredible Contests For Our Readers!!!

Contest One: Leave a comment and let us know the name of the anthology and the name of the story Ms. Phoenix wrote for that book. (answer is on her website home page).
The prizes–One winner will receive a signed copy of Etched in Bone along with their choice of any one of her other books: A Rush of Wings, In the Blood, Beneath the Skin or Black Dust Mambo. Contest ends midnight February 26, 2011. Winner will be announced on February 27.

Contest Two: Email us at midnightmooncafe@ gmail. com (no spaces) and tell us if Ms. Phoenix is a new to you author or an author you've read before. Please let us know which books of hers you've read. The prize: Your choice of one book by Ms. Phoenix. Contest ends midnight February 26, 2011. Winner will be announced on February 27.

Must be 18+ to enter. The odds of winning depend upon the number of participants. Contest void where prohibited by law. We strive to make our prize winners happy! However, as with all our contests, it is the participant’s responsibility to check the blog to see if their name is announced as a winner, and/or to respond to winning notification emails in order to claim your prize.

Etched In Bone
ISBN-10: 1439137307 • ISBN-13: 978-1439137307
Amazon Buy Link!

About the Author

ADRIAN NIKOLAS PHOENIX has had stories published in several magazines and anthologies. She currently lives in Oregon (with three cats, of course), but travels to New Orleans, the city of her heart, whenever possible.

For more information about Ms. Phoenix and her books, go to her website: http://www.adrianphoenix.com

To purchase Inferno merchandise, click HERE.


Drop by her forum or
VISIT HER AT:
MYSPACE
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
GOODREADS

Storytelling Time With Cassandra

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

6pm - 7pm SLT (pacific time)

MMC Reading Spot,
Elementals Underwater Mall, Meleda

http://slurl.com/secondlife/0%200%20Meleda/125/136/3

*Fins and tails optional*

Join Cassandra Curtis as she reads from her book, Shifting Tides! Action, adventure, and sizzling hot romance await three woman, each with a destiny to fulfill and a passion to embrace.

The reading will be in voice/talk so remember your headphones if you use a laptop. :-) Must be 18+ to attend.

After the reading, there will be a brief period for discussion.

Hope to see you there!

Monsters and Humans: Where to Draw the Line in Fiction

One reoccurring theme in urban fantasy, dark fantasy and even some paranormal romance books is the separation or lack of separation between the humans and the monsters.

Many series start out with a clear line of separation between the monsters and humans- at least according to the main character’s point of view. But as the series goes on the lines tend to blur, especially as the character grows closer to or even becomes “one of the monsters”.

Take for instance the Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton. In the beginning Anita was very clear about who was a monster and who was not. Then she gets pulled deeper into the supernatural world. The men she falls in love with turn out to be monsters. She starts sleeping with the enemy. Then the closer she gets to them the more she becomes like them- with her powers and her thinking. It gets to the point where she actually has to face “human monsters” and it bothers her that the line is not so clear anymore.

Similar changes happen with Cat in the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. Ct starts out with a hatred of all vampires. Then she comes across Bones who shows her not all vamps are bad.

In Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampire Series the vampires are always the bad guys (up until the very end when some things change - but if I say too much I may spoil it for you). Victoria’s line is clearly drawn and this stays so throughout the series- Victoria kills the vampires but the humans that help the vampires she will not kill. Why? Because that would make her a monster.

That I don’t agree with. If they are bad, if they act like monsters, if they are evil they should be stopped- permanently. Why should the poor pathetic humans be spared the fate of the monsters. What is it about being human that makes them unaccountable for their actions? What- the devil made them do it? Bullshit. Everyone should be held accountable for their actions and if that means a death sentence then so be it.

But the characters in many series struggle with this notion thinking that it will make them the bad guy. Look at Clark Kent’s refusal to kill Lex Luther in Smallville- same thing he doesn’t want to be the bad guy. But yet sometimes you have to fight fire with fire to win. You have to become a monster to fight the monsters and that’s what has happened to Anita Blake in her series. She has become more and more “monstrous” to be able to fight the truly evil.

What do you think? Should there be a line between the monsters and humans or is the underlying love of these genres that theme that everyone is so different yet deep down we are the same. Monsters can have human hearts and humans can be more evil than the monsters.


In my newest release, An Unexpected Evening, vampire Samuel has withdrawn from the world because he thinks of himself as a monster- but the evil he did was long ago and he's been trying to make up for, or hide from it, for centuries. He doesn't want to hurt anyone else so he avoids humanity. Then a witch comes along and makes him believe redemption could be possible- if only he would come out of the shadows and live again.

Here is the blurb for the book:

Samuel is a centuries-old vampire who prefers to be a recluse. He is always afraid of losing control and becoming the monster he once was. Falling in love with a young witch has pushed his boundaries and pulled him out of his comfort zone.

Katerina always encourages Samuel to be more open, to let loose, and to really "live" instead of only existing in the shadows.

One night, he finally grants her wish . . . in ways she never imagined.

Warning- this is a steamy paranormal erotica ebook with a slight touch of kink

You can purchase An Unexpected Evening

at Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, and Noble Romance

Vampires and Sex: Guest Blog with Theresa Meyers

When it comes to two things, vampires and sex, most people think they’ve seen or done it all. But in my new Sons of Midnight mini-series for Harlequin Nocturne, I’ve tried to do something a little different with vampires and create a new mythos of my own.

You see not only can the vampires in my world smell different emotions, they can also have sex without even being in the same room as their partner (and no, it’s not via the phone with the help of toys) or cause their partner to experience things you normally wouldn’t with their minds. I laughingly referred to it with my editor as “vampire mind-sex” but in reality that’s what it is.
Psychologists have long told us that most sexual appeal happens in the brain, especially in women. So it wasn’t a large stretch for me as an author to see how my vampire characters, with mind manipulation, could in the midst of a heated kiss cause their partner feel kisses and intimate touches in multiple places at once, not limited by one mouth and a set of two hands, time or space. And why not? If you’re going to make up a world, I thought I might as well make it fun!

In my vampire world sex and feeding are independent activities, both of which that can cause lots of pleasure, but when combined causing a totally different kind of bond between the couple, one that can last beyond life and death.

Of course there’s much more that gives the world in The Truth About Vampires a different spin than your average vampire tale. Fact one, while my last name is spelled almost identically to Stephanie Meyer, my vampires do not sparkle. They do avoid sunlight because it gives them migraines (kind of like when you get your eyes dilated at the eye-doctor) and a serious sun-burn. Fact two, vampirism in my world is virus induced-and there is no cure…yet. Fact three, in my vampire world, they aren’t just a few hundred years old – some of them date back to the earliest cultures on earth and they occasionally have to deal with the ancient gods and goddesses. Fact four, my vampires scent changes to suit the fantasies of their prey, so in the case of my heroine who’s a bit of a chocoholic with a sweet tooth, the hero smells to her like dark chocolate. Fact five, if my vampires want to eat chicken garlic alfredo, they can. Garlic isn’t a problem. Neither is holy water. But silver and dead man’s blood can be debilitating. I could go on, but really it might just be easier if you discover the differences for yourself.

So what is The Truth About Vampires?

All her life Seattle reporter Kristin Reed sought her breakout story. She never thought she’d find it in the crimson lair of a real life creature of the night. Kristin never believed vampires existed—until with dark brooding eyes and a decadent chocolate scent, Dmitri Dionotte called out to her….

Dmitri and his clan’s true nature was cloaked in secrecy until a warring vampire order threatened their existence. Kristin was just the woman he needed. She couldn’t resist their story…or Dmitri. Her blood pulsed hot and furious when he touched her, and with his kiss, all logic fled. But each night she spent with her vampire lover brought her closer to death and destruction. A death not even an immortal could triumph over.

Author bio:

The progeny of a slightly mad (NASA) scientist and a tea-drinking bibliophile who turned the family dining room into a library, Theresa Meyers learned early the value of a questioning mind, books and a good china teapot. A former journalist and public relations officer, she found far more enjoyment using her writing skills to pen paranormal novels in the turret office of her Victorian home. She’s spent nearly a quarter of a century with the boy who took her to the Prom, drinks tea with milk and sugar, is an adamant fan of the television show Supernatural, and has an indecent love of hats.

You can find her dabbling online on twitter at www.twitter.com/Theresa_Meyers or at http://www.theresameyers.com/

The Truth about Vampires
by Theresa Meyers
Harlequin Nocturne
Mar 2011
Miniseries: Sons of Midnight
Category: Paranormal Romance
Paperback
ISBN: 9780373618545 (#107)
Read an excerpt here

Hot & Hairy

When hunter becomes hostage, the only question is: Death by bite, or by bullet? Cannon Pack, Book 3 At night, Lauren Kade trades her white coat and dental drill for a black uniform and a gun. But not to hunt the shifters she once swore to eliminate. Driven by lingering guilt for killing a female shifter a year ago, she covertly throws other hunters off the trail. She’s good at it, too…until she’s taken hostage by a sexy werewolf whose thirst for revenge is even bigger and badder than his attitude. Daniel Cannon tried everything to outrun the pain of his mate’s murder, but when hunters take down another pack member, it’s more than he can stand. Now that he’s got one of them at his mercy, though, something strange is happening. Her day job may set his teeth on edge, but her luscious curves make him salivate. In spite of her past sins, she insists she’s reformed into some kind of werewolf guardian angel. Worse, his heart wants to believe her, and his body aches to mark her as his. Yet going against his instincts could turn him from lover to prisoner. Just when his pack needs him most… Be advised. This is not a test. Your limits are about to be pushed. Your desires will be met. Your heart will burst with pleasure and your dreams will be fulfilled. Prepare yourself for sex hotter than the sun on the driest desert. And if you dare, then run with the pack.

For more info and to purchase, click HERE.

Cassandra's Birthday Picks

Hey ya'll! Had a great time on my birthday, catching some waves! Thanks to everyone who dropped by to wish me a happy b-day! :) Now for the winners. I had someone else give me numbers and I counted down the list of comments! So scientific, right? lol.

Winner of the mermaid prize pack is... # 9.) Lil!

Winner of the E.L.F. make-up kit and the Gossip watch is... #4.) I *Heart* Book Gossip!

Congratulations, ladies!

::smacks fins::

Please email me at cass (at) cassandracurtis (dot) com with your name and mailing address so I can send these nifty prize packs to you. :-)

Happy Birthday, Cassandra!

to...Cassandra!

♥

Hurray, hurray, it's Cassie's birthday! I hope your day is filled with love and laughter, my friend. ((Hugs))




Oh, hey, you know what else?  Cassie is giving away two very cool prize packs to celebrate her special day. Check out the awesome goodies below...

Prize one includes a very cool Gossip Girl watch with red leather band, a bookmarks and more goody bag, E.L.F. eyes make-up kit, and a unicorn and butterflies talisman pin

Prize two includes a mermaid tote bag hook, fun fishy earrings, legend of the sand dollar with genuine sand dollars, and a bookmarks and more goody bag.

Don't forget to leave a comment by midnight tonight to be entered for your chance to win! Two winners will be drawn at random. Cassie will be drawing the winners - one for each of her prize packs - as soon as she returns from her yearly dip in the mermaid sea. :0) 

Cassie de Mer waves a fin! ^_^ 

Discovery of Witches Winner

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. The deadline for one of our contests has passed, so now it's time to announce the winner for the print copy of Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness! 

And the book goes to...

annalisa

Congratulations, Annalisa!  Please contact me at corazane @ aol [dot] com without the spaces with "Harkness Winner" in the subject line to claim your prize. Be sure to include your mailing address in the email so I can send the book to you. :*) 

Happy Valentine's Day!

((hugs)) and xx *smooches* xx from Cora and Cassandra.

Since today is all about love, we'd like to
highlight a few of our free reads along with a few others
written by friends of the Midnight Moon Café. Enjoy!


The Ghost of Goodacre Hall by Cassandra Curtis

Matthew Lambert tried to run from his past, but when he decides to renovate an old house, he is forced to resurrect more than ghosts. Intrigued by the paranormal, Cadence Martin always loved Goodacre Hall. When she gets an invitation to attend the Victorian house's grand opening, she decides to see if the new owners are aware they just inherited the resident ghost, her great-aunt Miriam.

More free reads from Cassandra can be found at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CassandraCurtis

Heart On Fire by Cora Zane

Hallie Richmond never would have guessed she'd be spending Valentine's Day working overtime with her sexy boss. However, Mitchell Draven is interested in more than company spreadsheets. He's in love with Hallie, and he's finally ready to confess face-to-face that she sets his heart on fire!

More free reads from Cora can be found at Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/CoraZane

Jax Cassidy

Free reads from Ms. Cassidy can be found at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaxcassidy

KJ Reed

Jill is pissed. For once, she finally has a guy for Valentine’s Day, and he’s stuck in another city because he missed his flight. Unfortunately, Otis doesn’t seem to understand what the big deal is, and lets Jill know. So now she’s with her best gal pals, drowning her sorrows in wine and Oreos.

Otis has been planning this for months. Though he doesn’t pretend to understand his girlfriend’s fascination with being together on Valentine’s Day, he’s prepared to make it the most special night of her life. But will Jill appreciate the surprise? Or will she give him the heave-ho for the deception?

http://www.authorkjr...home-free-read/

When Midnight Comes: Mix Tape

When Midnight Comes: Mix Tape: "Writing chapter four of my as yet untitled paranormal project. Not sure if that's a bad omen, that I can't think of a decent working title f..."

When Midnight Comes: Last Night's Storytelling Fun

When Midnight Comes: Last Night's Storytelling Fun: "Cassandra Curtis at Reading Event 2/9/11 These pics were taken by bff and crit partner Cora Zane last night at my Storytelling With Cassandra..."

Storytelling With Cassandra - Shifting Tides

Tonight!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Storytelling with Cassandra.

Cassandra reads from her book, Shifting Tides.

Second Life. 6-7pm SLT. Elementals,

Meleda region. http://slurl.com/secondlife/0%200%20Meleda/114/146/1

This event is in voice.

Hope to see you there!

Special Featurette: A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness

It begins with absence and desire.

It begins with blood and fear.

It begins with a discovery of witches.

When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.

For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.

Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well.

A Discovery Of Witches

by Deborah Harkness
published by Viking Press
ISBN-10: 0670022411
ISBN-13: 978-0670022410

Read an excerpt:

The leather-bound volume was nothing remarkable. To an ordinary historian, it would have looked no different from hundreds of other manuscripts in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, ancient and worn. But I knew there was something odd about it from the moment I collected it.

Duke Humfrey’s Reading Room was deserted on this late-September afternoon, and requests for library materials were filled quickly now that the summer crush of visiting scholars was over and the madness of the fall term had not yet begun. Even so, I was surprised when Sean stopped me at the call desk.

“Dr. Bishop, your manuscripts are up,” he whispered, voice tinged with a touch of mischief. The front of his argyle sweater was streaked with the rusty traces of old leather bindings, and he brushed at it self-consciously. A lock of sandy hair tumbled over his forehead when he did.

“Thanks,” I said, flashing him a grateful smile. I was flagrantly disregarding the rules limiting the number of books a scholar could call in a single day. Sean, who’d shared many a drink with me in the pink-stuccoed pub across the street in our graduate-student days, had been filling my requests without complaint for more than a week. “And stop calling me Dr. Bishop. I always think you’re talking to someone else.”

He grinned back and slid the manuscripts—all containing fine examples of alchemical illustrations from the Bodleian’s collections—over his battered oak desk, each one tucked into a protective gray cardboard box. “Oh, there’s one more.” Sean disappeared into the cage for a moment and returned with a thick, quarto-size manuscript bound simply in mottled calfskin. He laid it on top of the pile and stooped to inspect it. The thin gold rims of his glasses sparked in the dim light provided by the old bronze reading lamp that was attached to a shelf.

“This one’s not been called up for a while. I’ll make a note that it needs to be boxed after you return it.”

“Do you want me to remind you?”

“No. Already made a note here.” Sean tapped his head with his fingertips.

“Your mind must be better organized than mine.” My smile widened.

Sean looked at me shyly and tugged on the call slip, but it remained where it was, lodged between the cover and the first pages. “This one doesn’t want to let go,” he commented.

Muffled voices chattered in my ear, intruding on the familiar hush of the room. “Did you hear that?” I looked around, puzzled by the strange sounds.

“What?” Sean replied, looking up from the manuscript.

Traces of gilt shone along its edges and caught my eye. But those faded touches of gold could not account for a faint, iridescent shimmer that seemed to be escaping from between the pages. I blinked.

“Nothing.” I hastily drew the manuscript toward me, my skin prickling when it made contact with the leather. Sean’s fingers were still holding the call slip, and now it slid easily out of the binding’s grasp. I hoisted the volumes into my arms and tucked them under my chin, assailed by a whiff of the uncanny that drove away the library’s familiar smell of pencil shavings and floor wax.

“Diana? Are you okay?” Sean asked with a concerned frown.

“Fine. Just a bit tired,” I replied, lowering the books away from my nose.

I walked quickly through the original, fifteenth-century part of the library, past the rows of Elizabethan reading desks with their three ascending bookshelves and scarred writing surfaces. Between them, Gothic windows directed the reader’s attention up to the coffered ceilings, where bright paint and gilding picked out the details of the university’s crest of three crowns and open book and where its motto, “God is my illumination,” was proclaimed repeatedly from on high.

Another American academic, Gillian Chamberlain, was my sole companion in the library on this Friday night. A classicist who taught at Bryn Mawr, Gillian spent her time poring over scraps of papyrus sandwiched between sheets of glass. I sped past her, trying to avoid eye contact, but the creaking of the old floor gave me away. My skin tingled as it always did when another witch looked at me.

“Diana?” she called from the gloom. I smothered a sigh and stopped.

“Hi, Gillian.” Unaccountably possessive of my hoard of manuscripts, I remained as far from the witch as possible and angled my body so they weren’t in her line of sight.

“What are you doing for Mabon?” Gillian was always stopping by my desk to ask me to spend time with my “sisters” while I was in town. With the Wiccan celebrations of the autumn equinox just days away, she was redoubling her efforts to bring me into the Oxford coven.

“Working,” I said promptly.

“There are some very nice witches here, you know,” Gillian said with prim disapproval. “You really should join us on Monday.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about it,” I said, already moving in the direction of the Selden End, the airy seventeenth-century addition that ran perpendicular to main axis of Duke Humfrey’s. “I’m working on a conference paper, though, so don’t count on it.” My aunt Sarah had always warned me it wasn’t possible for one witch to lie to another, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying.

Gillian made a sympathetic noise, but her eyes followed me. Back at my familiar seat facing the arched, leaded windows, I resisted the temptation to dump the manuscripts on the table and wipe my hands. Instead, mindful of their age, I lowered the stack carefully.

The manuscript that had appeared to tug on its call slip lay on top of the pile. Stamped in gilt on the spine was a coat of arms belonging to Elias Ashmole, a seventeenth-century book collector and alchemist whose books and papers had come to the Bodleian from the Ashmolean Museum in the nineteenth century, along with the number 782. I reached out, touching the brown leather.

A mild shock made me withdraw my fingers quickly, but not quickly enough. The tingling traveled up my arms, lifting my skin into tiny goose pimples, then spread across my shoulders, tensing the muscles in my back and neck. These sensations quickly receded, but they left behind a hollow feeling of unmet desire. Shaken, I stepped away from the library table.

Even at a safe distance, this manuscript was challenging me—threatening the walls I’d erected to separate my career as a scholar from my birthright as the last of the Bishop witches.

Reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Copyright © 2011 by Deborah Harkness.

About the author:
Deborah Harkness is a professor of history at the University of Southern California. She has received Fullbright, Guggenheim, and National Humanities Center fellowships, and her most recent scholarly work is The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. She also writes an award-winning wine blog.

http://deborahharkness.com/

Win This Book!
Leave a comment on this blog post to enter for your chance to win a copy of Ms. Harkness' stunning debut novel, A Discovery of Witches!

Contest ends at midnight, February 14, 2011.

Must be 18+ to enter. The odds of winning depend upon the number of participants. Contest void where prohibited by law. We strive to make our prize winners happy! However, as with all our contests, it is the participant’s responsibility to check the blog to see if their name is announced as a winner, and/or to respond to winning notification emails in order to claim your prize.

Any prizes that go unclaimed for 30 days after the close of a contest will be placed back into the MMC prize vault, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Stranger Things Happen

All Friday nights should be this good…

Computer programmer Anna Walton is lonely and facing a dry spell of epic proportions. Tired of the dating scene, she decides to spend her Friday night testing the Reality Suite, a program she and her friends have developed. She orders up some lighthearted flirting and energetic dancing with a fruity drink or two on the side, but what she gets are three hot cowboys with sex and mutual pleasure on their minds.

Dante Rosetti, his brother Gabriel and cousin Cayle take one look at the curvy Anna and decide exactly how their Friday night should play out. Lots of naked bodies, sensual sighs and hot, belly-clenching pleasure.

Once she’s adrift in a stormy sea of fantasy sex with three strangers, will Anna ever want it to end?

Purchase Stranger Things Happen from All Romance eBooks

Ashmole 782 Button Contest Winner...

The winner of the Ashmole 782 collectible button from author Deborah Harkness is...

Meredith!

Congratulations, Meredith!

Please email us with your full name and mailing address so we can send your prize!

The discovery is only 2 days away!

I don't know about you, but I can't wait!

The MMC will be giving away a copy of A Discovery of Witches, so stop back by and enter...

who knows—you just might win!

When Midnight Comes: February Love Contest

When Midnight Comes: February Love Contest: "I love February and not only because Valentine's Day and my birthday are this month. To me, February is all about romance and I imagine many..."

When Midnight Comes: Soda Pop With a Pump

When Midnight Comes: Soda Pop With a Pump: "Last holiday season I wasn't overly festive. I just wanted to get the holidays and the gift shopping over with, so I made a quick list and d..."

If you're one of our fans in Second Life, drop by our virtual Midnight Moon Cafe in Awen and while you're there, check out the book fayre and the booth we set up for our author of the month, February's Midnight Brew guest, Adrian Phoenix. Pretty nifty. :)

The Month of Love at the MMC

Welcome to the month of love—February. You're sure to see Cupid as he takes aim with the many wonderful books coming out this month. Speaking of which...

Our Midnight Brew featured author this month is Adrian Phoenix, her latest book in the Maker's Song series—Etched In Bone—releases on February 22. To learn more about Ms. Phoenix and her spectacular book, click on the Midnight Brew tab at the top of our page.

We've also got Deborah Harkness dropping by on the 8th with a contest for our readers to win her thrilling new book, A Discovery of Witches. Plus guest bloggers popping in to talk about their books and more.

Speaking of more, our own Lady Cassandra will be in the virtual reality world known as Second Life, reading from her books and sharing some sizzling details about her upcoming stories.

Dates, times, and locations will be announced in our calendar (on our website) as we have them. Don't forget, we also have a virtual 3-D home in SL! We hope you'll be able to stop by our Midnight Moon Café in Awen. We have lots of fun stuff there to look at and most of it is FREE! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Awen/196/225/22

Here at the MMC, we like to help our authors celebrate their birthdays, so we hope you'll be able to attend Cassandra's birthday bash at the MMC and on her personal blogs! There will be cake (we won't say how many candles, lol) and ice cream, plus door prizes for all attendees! The party starts at 1pm est.

We hope to see you there!