My editor

I have to post this because I just love my darling editor :-) She says she checks up on her authors just to make sure we're not talking about her. Pfft. Like I'd talk about her here. Nope, I'd do that on my myspace page :-) Good luck finding that one, Sasha.

Checkmate

I got a sneak peek at my cover for Checkmate. I can't wait until it's approved and I can put it up for everyone to see. I showed my hubby and he's said, where's the naked chic? Who needs a naked chic when you got buff almost naked man, I said.

Here's the blurb:

What’s an alpha shape-shifting wolf to do when the woman pre-destined to be his mate no longer trusts men?
After returning home from an eight-month security job, Eli Graham is ready to claim his best friend’s little sister as his mate. He’d put it off for years, thinking he was doing the right thing by waiting. Instead of the stubborn, independent, carefree girl he left behind, Eli finds a shell of the woman he once knew.

Having lived through a near fatal attack, Nikki Taylor has hidden herself away from the world. Now the time has come to face head-on the one man who could devastate her completely, Eli Graham. She’s loved him forever, craves him, body, heart and soul, but he’s never treated her as anything but a little sister.

When Nikki witnesses a murder, she has no choice but to rely on Eli’s expertise. While guarding her from the man bent on wiping out a witness, Eli shows Nikki that he’ll not only protect her body, but he’ll show her just what it means to be a wolf’s mate.

Warning, this title contains the following: hot, explicit sex, graphic violence and language, and is not for the faint of heart!

Annmarie McKenna's sexual nickname: "Love Bubbles" Take this quiz at QuizUniverse.com

LMAO! These are a riot. What's your sexual nickname?

Quiz...

Using your hands Your sexual hidden talent is your ability to use your hands. You are damn good with them, and know how to make your lover feel incredibly sexy with just one caress. Take this quiz at QuizUniverse.com

LOL! I'm good with my hands. What are you good with? Check it out and let me know!
Annmarie

Ice Storm

We're having a winter storm here today. This is the view from my deck at 10:30. The ice won't start until late afternoon, they said. Oops, it got here early, started at about 6:30. Our school district didn't close. My kids didn't get on the bus though, not after I saw others slip sliding across the icy street. Do I look stupid? They finally closed at 10:30. Of course mine are already home since I didn't drive them either, and are already driving me insane. Tonight we are "supposed" to get 6-10 inches of snow. I say supposed to because, they really aren't sure what's going to happen. And that's the scary thing. When weather men don't even predict, you know it's going to be bad. They seem to be waffling between 5-9 and 8-12. We shall see, I guess, tomorrow morning. Good thing I bought sleds on Tuesday!

Happy Thanksgiving

I know, I am the crappiest blogger this side of the Mississippi, but I just can't ever remember to do it. I have too many other things happening. And when I do remember, I forget before I get to it. So here's my hand, slap it if you want to.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. My entire family is made up of 28 people. We're talking both my mom's side and my dad's side. Well okay 31 if you can't them and we hardly EVER see them and 32 if you count the baby who should be delivered in the next couple of days. Not mine, thank God, but a cousin's. Anyway, 25 of us will be at my mom's house tomorrow for turkey and noodles. We do homemade egg noodles cooked in the turkey drippings as a gravy. You will not find gravy at our house. It's taboo and every boy/girl friend who comes through the door every year has to live with it. You want gravy, you go to your own house. :-) I go to my hubby's family to get my gravy fix.

So, anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it and to everyone else, Happy Thursday! Hey, there's only one day left in the week. That's something to celebrate, isn't it?
I'm giving thanks to all you fabulous readers out there who've made this one of the best years of my life.
Love ya,
Annmarie

My embarrassing moment

So for those of you who didn't see me, Here I am, four days after my big triathlon bike accident. Very sad, yes I know. This is the least graphic of my pics. The one from that day was EEEWWW. Almost three weeks later, I still have a hematoma above my left eye and a few lingering bruises on my cheek, chin, and forehead. I believe I've convinced my hubby to train with me and hopefully race in the June Triathlon. That way he can keep an eye on my wheels, since apparently, I can't, LOL Dang. I was almost finished with the bike portion too. 16.4 miles out of 21.
Better luck next time, I guess. I just thank God I was wearing my helmet and that I don't remember ANYTHING. Otherwise, I'm not so sure I could get on that bike again. :-)
Annmarie

Woohoo! The Reviews are in!!

I'm so excited! Reviews for Seeing Eye Mate are coming in... Squeee. Here are a few:


http://www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com/seeingeyemate_jennifer.html
...That said, ‘Seeing Eye Mate’ does not lack for any of the steamy love scenes you would expect in a shape shifter tale, and Caelan earns a place at the top of the list of unexpectedly sensitive sexy alpha males we all dream of finding...
...The icing on the cake is that we have an exciting mystery underneath it all. McKenna once again proves herself adept with subtle twists and turns in the story, littering the saga with clues that only begin to coalesce as the mystery finally unfolds, and leaving no doubt that there isn’t a superfluous scene in the novel.
Reviewed by Jennifer


http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/seeingeyemate.html
...Seeing Eye Mate kept me turning the pages and I couldn’t put it down until I read the final word. Just when I thought I had the storyline figured out, I realized I was wrong. I love when an author can keep me from guessing the plot and Annmarie McKenna did just that very thing, must to my chagrin. I have happily placed Seeing Eye Mate on my keeper shelf and have decided that Annmarie McKenna is one author I want to keep reading!
Reviewed by Talia Ricci

http://geocities.com/litnymphs/reviews/new/eyemate.htm

...Tieran is certainly no shrinking flower, but Caelan literally sweeps her off her feet in the sexual frenzy that ignites between them. Ms. McKenna is an author to watch for, and Seeing Eye Mate is a RED HOT not to be missed!

Reviewed by Water Nymph / Nymphs Rating: 4.5 Nymphs

Thanks, everybody who's read SEM. :-)

Soccer

This is my youngest daughter, (the one closest to the goal) Peyton, she's four, scoring her first ever goal. Well, okay, she scored one in the spring season but, shh...it was for the wrong team. This year so far she's scored 7 in three games. Don't know what she ate over the summer but it seems to have done the trick. Four year old soccer is very frustrating to me, LOL. When I was little we played just like the big kids on a huge field with 11 players in rain, sun, or snow. Now they play 3 v 3, no goalie, on a tiny field and only when the grass is dry. Where's the fun in that. The other day it rained a little and my daughter said, "We're gonna get wet." Well duh! That's when soccer is the most fun. I hate to say that I had to tell her it was okay to get muddy. At this age the scores are usually in the teens for both teams and most of the time the girls are giggling and stepping aside to let the other team have the ball or knocking the goals over. Very cute to watch except for a mom who grew up on soccer and wants her little girls to get tough and go! But no, my oldest daughter only likes gymnastics (blah) and my middle-while she says she likes soccer-doesn't really, and my youngest, well you already read about her. Oh well, maybe we'll get our son to play :-)

Triathlon back on

So, I signed up for the triathlon yesterday which was hilarious. I'm a very self conscious person so it's hard for me to do something like this where there will be lots of "good looking" people passing me up and leaving me in the dust. I finished filling out the form and started to hand it over. When the lady reached for it, I pulled back, my heart pounding, my stomach twisting. "Can I really do this? Will I chicken out the closer race day gets?"
The lady looked at me like I was crazy. "Is there a problem," she says with a smile.
"Yeah. I'm scared."
She laughed. "I would be too." But then another worker who volunteers on race day was very reassuring. She said I wouldn't be the only one like me out there, just like countless other people have told me. I'm a wuss. So, I've paid my non-refundable dues and if I chicken out, I'll be out $45.

Annmarie

I'm at Borders!

I saw me today at Borders. God what an undescribable feeling. There were a ton of other Samhain titles there as well. Way more then they've had in the past. I think we're catching on :-)

Yesterday I went to have my foot looked at and had to get a Cortisone shot. Not fun. Especially when he couldn't find the "space" it needed to go in and so basically I had to get 5 shots instead of just the one. It is feeling better today and I actually went swimming. I was afraid after this week off things would be really slow, but they weren't. I actually didn't even fall off the pace.

I've joined an ebook club group where we're going to read and discuss ebooks. The first one up is No One Else on Earth by Jeanne Barrack. Looks yummy.

Checkmate is due in my editor's hot little hands on November 1, so that's what I'm working on right now.

I'm still waiting on edits for Seeing Eye Mate.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!

Annmarie McKenna

My Triathlon Up In Smoke?

So I hurt my foot Wednesday night after running/walking my first full 5 miles. Aside from being very tired afterward, I felt fine. Later, after I got home my foot started hurting. Thursday it hurt all day, I couldn't even walk. Friday was the same so I had it x-rayed. Guess what? Nobody read the x-ray. That was nice of them. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy that I would have to deal with this all weekend. Today is Saturday and the darn thing feels much better. Not a hundred percent, but at least I can walk more normally. :-)

Yesterday I got my author copy of Blackmailed in the mail. I was suppose to get ten and only one came :-( My publisher said she ordered ten and they must have read one, so hopefully more will come sometime next week. Still, it was exciting to open the box and touch my very first book.

I'm working on Checkmate. Has to be in by November 1. Yikes. That's a scary amount of time for me. I'm also contemplating submitting a proposal for the X-mas anthology at Samhain for X-mas 2007. It seems eons away but their going to use it at the next BEA conference. Haven't decided yet what to do since I still have two stories to write for the contracts I've already signed. WHICH I should be working on right now.

So, Bye for now!
Annmarie

Holy Crap

It's been forever since I was here last. I'll have to jump my own butt to be here more often , I guess. I've finally turned in Seeing Eye Mate to my editor. We'll see what happens *shrugs* Now I'm off to work on the sequel, Checkmate.

I'm training for a triathlon in October. My very first race and it's a very daunting task for someone who's had four babies and VERY limited excersize in the last ten years. The race is a 500 meter swim, a 21 mile bike, and a 5 mile run. The swimming and biking are going well. I won't be first, I won't be last. Somewhere in the middle probably. The running...dead last, I presume. It basically sucks. I hate it. Right now I'm fluctuating between going 2 and 3 miles at a time and having to walk several times throughout. The hubby and I walked the race route last week and it took us 1 hour and 30 minutes to walk the whole thing. I think the slowest racer in the previous race was at like 65 minutes. Yikes. Seems a little insurmountable to me.

Blackmailed is being released in print, YES in print! on Tuesday, August 15th. TOMORROW!!! I am very excited. Saturday I'm having my first book signing with my RWA local chapter.
Annmarie

New Cover

I've gotten a cover for Seeing Eye Mate! I've been sitting on it for a month now, but here it is. I love it.

I'm also going to post an excerpt because for some reason readers think SEM has something to do with Blackmailed. As this is not the case, I don't want to steer any more people wrong.









Blackmailed has been chosen a recommended read by Joyfully Reviewed.











Blackmailed also received 5 Angels from Fallen Angels. Here's what FA had to say!

5 Angels!

Blackmailed instantly grabs the reader’s attention... Annmarie McKenna does a fabulous job at creating two male characters that will rival for their spot as your favorite along with a heroine any reader would love to know. Amidst this plot of blackmail, readers will also find suspense and danger showing up along the way and a tantalizing amount of hot, steaming passion that will set the pages afire. This is my first glimpse at a story penned by author, Annmarie McKenna, and it will not be my last. Blackmailed was a wonderful story about finding love even if it is not in the normal relationship of just one woman and one man; this reader was quite impressed with the level of commitment, understanding, and love within these pages. 5 Angels!

Reviewed by Jessica for Fallen Angel Reviews

WOW! I haven't been here in a long time. Too busy and keep forgetting I have it :-) Well, let's see. I have contracted three new books with Samhain. Seeing Eye Mate is due out in October, and the other two are Checkmate, a tie in with SEM, and Two Sighted, a stand alone short story.
Blackmailed, to my total astonishment is getting rave reviews! I am so excited. Here's what people are saying:

Joyfully Reviewed has this to say about Blackmailed:

Blackmailed by Annmarie McKenna was an absolute delight to read! So delightful it made me sweat, and ache, and wish for two sexy heroes. Every girl needs a Cole Masters and Tyler Cannon! Two more loving, devoted and naughty heroes I have yet to meet; they put the H in hot! I am in awe of Brianna and the love she shares with these two men. Strong in character and a fierce protector of her brother, I adored her.
Reviewed by Talia Ricci

http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/reviews/blackmailed.htm
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Good lord. This book pushed just about everyone one of my “hot” buttons! Your website says steamy romantic suspense … but dude… Blackmailed goes way beyond steamy and into the scorching realm!

Christine
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Totally Awesome. I was up til 4:50 this am reading it and LOVED it. HOT HOT HOT
Liz

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WOW!!!! I'm not even half-way through the book and Boy is it a SCORCHER!!!!!!! HOT HOT INTENSE SEX!!!!!!!! YOWZER menage too!!
Candy


I want to say thanks to everyone who commented on Blackmailed. I am truly grateful.
Tonight the Laurie winners were supposed to be announced. I am a finalist there, so I'm waiting with my fingers crossed to find out what place I took.
Right now I'm booked until November with deadlines so I'm good for awhile. So far it's been one hell of a ride!

Annmarie

Samhain List Day

Come join us for Samhain List Day starting May 6th at 9:00 am, EST. Authors will be appearing in twos, every hour and posting excerpts, having contests, answering questions, etc. I myself will be there from 6:00-7:00 EST.
Anyone can join by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SamhainCafe and clicking Join the Group. I hope to see you there.

Today I got some unsuspected, exciting news! The Road to Romance has picked Blackmailed as a May featured read! I am way more than excited and have begun my countdown to the 30th when it's released! Here's a link to see more. http://www.roadtoromance.ca/eroticafeatures.htm
Blackmailed will be going to final line edits soon.
I have just about nine weeks to finish up Seeing Eye Mate, my werewolf/psychic erotic.
May 6th is Samhain's list day chat. My time slot is 6-7 pm, and I believe that's EST.

I found out last week that Blackmailed is a finalist in the Laurie Contest! Winners will be announced June 1st, at the Smoky Mountain Romance Writers conference.

I've just gotten through my first round edits for Blackmailed. They were suprisingly easier than I had imagined they would be. For the most part, I added commas, deleted "thats", and replaced mispelled or missing words. I'm waiting for my editor to see my changes--there was a problem with my plot, and then I'll delve into 2nd rounds.

Samhain has offered me a contract for another book, Seeing Eye Mate. It's only a partial right now so I have to have it to them by July 1! This is a werewolf/psychic erotic I've been working on for the last few weeks.

I am also still working on my proposal for the Samhain anthalogy that is due April 30th.

I'll be doing three upcoming chats-come and join me and some other Samhain authors!
April 20th, Ecataromance 7:30-8:30 CST
April 25th, Novelspotters time is a free for all right now.
May 6th, Samhain List day--time and place TBD

Have a great week!
Annmarie McKenna

I am going to be involved in some upcoming chats. I'll be at Ecataromance on April 20th from 8:30-9:30 pm EST. Join me and a few other Samhain authors!




On April 25th, I'll be at the Novelspotters Chat, times to follow.
And on May 6th I'll be at the Samhain list chat.
Hope to see you there!

I kind of feel like he looks right now. I spent the day painting my house instead of coming up with the rest of my synopsis for a proposal for Samhain's first anniversary. They are looking for twelve thousand word books that will be put together in an anthology. Only five will be chosen.

On a sad note, my editor has decided to leave Samhain, so I have been shuffled, as have all the rest of her authors, to another editor. I have now started the process of edits-at least, getting it put into the right format. I expect to see the first round any day.

On the flip side, I just found out that Blackmailed took 3rd in the Unpublished Beacon contest. I still have it entered in the Laurie. Finalists for that will be announced April 10th. I've also entered another contest with my erotic paranormal, Seeing Eye Mate. Right now it is the seventh week finalist. Winners will be voted on by the readers April 19th. To view that excerpt go to http://www.rachellechase.com/AnnmarieMcKenna.html

This is my fantastic new cover!

Thank Scott Carpenter for the image.

Things are moving quickly now. Samhain has announced that Borders has placed an order for the first print books and they are now available in Borders. That means Blackmailed will be released in print form late August!

I am working hard on getting through my new manuscript-tentatively titled, Seeing Eye Mate. It's werewolf meets psychic! I'm really excited and trying to bide my time while waiting for my edits on Blackmailed. ;-)

Release Date Set

I just received word last night that Blackmailed will be released on May 30th, 2006! Look for a cover coming soon at Samhain Publishing. I have also been working hard on my next book-a shape shifter/paranormal. It's coming along at a fast pace.

Hi everybody!

I am excited to join Blogdom. I've sold my first Erotica--Blackmail, to Samhain Publishers. Look for it coming soon! Here's a sneak peak:

Brianna Wyatt may be a victim of her father’s machinations, but one look is all it takes for Cole Masters and Tyler Cannon to offer her their own style of menage a trois blackmail.

I am currently working on my next book. More to come on that later.

Keep looking back, I hope to have a release date for Blackmail in the coming months!

Annmarie McKenna