Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts

I've joined a new blog group that I'm very, very excited about: The Cephalopod Coffeehouse, brainchild of The Armchair Squid .  In Squidward's own words, the idea is that "each month, participating book enthusiasts shall post about a favorite book from the previous month's reading.  Bloghop meetings are held the last Friday of the month." If this sounds fun to you too, you can join the club in the linky below. I'm going to warn you all from the get-go that I'm a slow reader. Marry that with me being knee deep in writing a new manuscript, an editing assignment on the verge of being dropped into my lap, and all the other things I call "my life" and I don't see my book-reading rate increasing any time soon. So, there will be many months in which I only read one book, and sometimes I won't like that book, but still, I hope that sharing my thoughts even on books that I don't enjoy will make for interesting discussion within the gro...

Here it is, the cover of the third and final book in the Con duct series by my pub sister, Jennifer Lane. Isn't it fun? A good fit for this thriller/romance series set in Chicago. And how's this for an awesome tagline:  Planning a wedding is never easy—especially when the Russian Mafia wants you dead. The Con duct Series, #3 Publisher: Omnific Publishing Expected release: September 24, 2013 Genre: Romance Age Group: Adult  On Best Behavior—the third and final book in The Conduct Series—finds our favorite couple moving forward, despite the odds. Following a pardon by the Governor of Illinois, ex-cons Sophie Taylor and Grant Madsen are finally free to pursue their love and the life that lies ahead for them. Grant now fights the forces that have hurt his loved ones by working undercover for the FBI, and he has infiltrated the Russian Mafia in Chicago. Sophie dives into swimming with Grant’s nephew, Ben, and into her career as a psychology professor. Than...

You've seen the countdown widget on my sidebar for a while now, and today I'm excited to tell you that Hold Tight , the sequel to Embrace by Cherie Colyer has arrived! If you haven't started this magical YA series, you're in luck---to celebrate the release of the second installment, the book that started it all is on sale for only 99 cents in  Kindle  and  Nook .  Hold Tight by Cherie Colyer Available in Paperback , Kindle and Nook When you're new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want...and ruining the lives of everyone you love. Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend -and fellow witch- can't even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores. But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simpl...

We’ve been teasing you about special benefits for members of the Angels in Romantic Fiction Goodreads group, and now we get to tell you all about it! Starting today and running through Friday, September 13, when you buy an angel title by any of the Omnific Angel authors in any format, you’ll get an eBook of another title by that author absolutely FREE! Sooo, when you buy (in any format) Bittersweet Seraphim by Debra Anastasia, you get (in ePub, mobi or PDF) Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia FREE When you buy (in any format) Divine Temptation by Nicki Elson, you get (in ePub, mobi or PDF) ThreeDaves by Nicki Elson FREE When you buy (in any format) Divinity by Patricia Leever, you get (in ePub, mobi or PDF) Cat O’ Nine Tails by Patricia Leever FREE When you buy (in any format) Ember or Iridescent by Carol Oates, you get (in ePub, mobi or PDF) your choice of either Ember , Iridescent, or Shades of Atlantis   by Carol Oates FREE All yo...

I'm thrilled to be part of this cover reveal for the debut novel of Kelsey Ketch, one of the first writers I met in the blogworld, back when we used to do the Meet an Author Monday hops. Daughter of Isis (Descendants of Isis, #1) by  Kelsey Ketch Release Date: 10/26/13 Cover Designed by: Steven Novak “Her mouth parted slightly, waiting for Seth to breathe life into her own body, just like in the story. She wanted him to awaken her senses.” *Note: Content for Upper YA* EXCERPT There was a crash and a loud gasping moan. She turned to the door next to her and stepped into the room. Her eyes widened as two entangled bodies jumped in the dark; the light shining from the hall streamed over the couple. She recognized the tall, copper haired upperclassman from the parking lot; the boy who had sent her the enchanting smile. Now he was completely shirtless, his fly clearly unzipped, and a brunette held tight in his arms. The girl glared at Natti. She...

I know the massive hop featuring the angels of Omnific Publishing got a little hairy to find your way through, so today I give you the quick & dirty version, which includes direct links to each of the 4 separate giveaways: The sweethearts at  The Book Bellas  incorporated lots of Divine Temptation goodies into one post. There you will find an interview with my angel, an excerpt, AND you can enter to win a paperback copy of DT plus pretty angel swag.  Read Everything and Discuss  provides a snippet on each of our angel books, and if you scroll down past all that, you'll get to speed-date each of us authors.  Plus, this post includes TWO of the four giveaways, featuring books by Carol Oates and Patricia Leever + angel swag. Wild and Wordy Women features Debra Anastasia (and Satan Jack - who got charmingly naughty at our Twitter party last night) and gives a direct link to the giveaway of her books plus bonus swag.    Have a great...

Time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group , founded by our fearless leader, Alex J. Cavanaugh . Today, I have a question for you. First, a bit of background. My first published novel, Three Daves , is a mainstream, college-age, chick-lit/romance. Early on in the story, two of the students have a brief discussion about King David and the Bible. Soon after, the main character tosses the Bible into her bolster, never to be seen again for the rest of the story, but I cap off each chapter with a relevant Psalm, offset from the main text and easy to skip over should a reader choose to do so. If you haven't read the book, you're just going to have to trust me that it's done in an entirely non-preachy manner. Well, every once in a while a review will pop up in which the reviewer leaves a comment to the effect of "I almost stopped reading when they started talking about the Bible" or "I was afraid when they started talking about the Bible."  I don...

I'm not the only author at Omnific Publishing who has a taste for angels in literature. My pub-sisters Debra Anastasia , Carol Oates , and Patricia Leever also have books out that feature angels, and this week over 50 book bloggers are hosting us with guest posts and excerpts galore PLUS four different prize packages. Here's a link to participating YA Book Blogs and here's a link to participating Adult Book Blogs . If anything you read along the way sparks a question, head over to our Angels in Literature group at Goodreads to ask the authors directly. We already have a couple of other discussions going too PLUS Omnific has approved members-only benefits to start after the bloghop event ends. To cap off this week's festivities, the four of us invite you to a Twitter Party this Thursday evening from 6 - 8pm EST using #OmniAngels . We'll be chatting about angels, sending fun links & going wherever else you want to take it.

This is just a random post to share some writerly giddiness I had yesterday when my kids and I made an impromptu visit to the city to wander the galleries of the Art Institute of Chicago. I have a little story I've written called "Impressionism 101" that's very special to me. I wrote it for a contest called Silly, Sexy & Supernatural, which the story ended  up winning. Then I submitted 500 words of it to D.L's WRiTE Club and it made it through a few rounds. Then I was blessed to have it chosen for publication last year in the debut issue of Insatiable: The Magazine of Paranormal Desire . But even if not for all this, I'd still love the damn thing.  Anyhow, the story is told through paintings that are part of the institute's collection, and yesterday, front and center as we entered the Impressionism gallery. lookie what two painting just so happened to be hanging  right next to each other ---my main characters! I know I've been lax on the blo...