Happy Sunday!!

I’m supposed to be writing right now… while my house is serene and quiet (because all of the monsters are still asleep.  My daughter used to take offense at being referred to as a monster, but she’s gotten used to it….) but I felt the need to share this recipe with you first.  Because it’s awesome.

So, I love iced coffee.  LOVE it.   And while cruising around on Pinterest the other day wasting time, when again I should have been writing, I came across a link to this iced coffee recipe.  After I read the blog entry, I was surprised to learn that I’ve been doing it all wrong this whole time!

You aren’t supposed to brew hot coffee and refrigerate it– you are supposed to COLD-BREW the coffee with a LOT more coffee than you normally would use.   At first, I was a little skeptical and I thought, ‘Is this really going to make enough of a difference to warrant the extra work?”

Um, the answer is YES.  Yes, it is just that delicious.  And honestly, it’s not extra work.  It’s easy.

You can find step-by-step instructions here on The Pioneer Woman’s blog (which I just subscribed to.  If she can totally change my life with this iced coffee recipe, who knows what other magical tidbits she’ll have up her sleeve?  Well, I for one, want to find out!)

But.  The gist is:  You dump an entire bag of your favorite ground coffee into a huge bowl.  Fill with a gallon of water and cover overnight.  In the morning, line a strainer with either cheesecloth or coffee filters.  (I used the filters because I don’t have any cheesecloth).  Dump the coffee mixture through the strainer into a clean container.  I did this process twice to make sure that I got all of the grounds out.  Then, pour it into a pitcher.  It can stay in the fridge that way for a month or so.

The Pioneer Woman lists a recipe of condensed milk to use in the coffee, but I haven’t tried that yet.  For me, I fill my glass with ice, fill it 3/4 full with the coffee, use 4 packs Splenda, then dump Sweet Italian Cream creamer into it.  OMGosh.  It’s the best iced coffee I’ve ever had.   My husband didn’t believe me that it was so much better than normal, so he took a dubious sip of mine- and I swear to you.  His eyes glazed over and he practically ran to the fridge to make his own.  Seriously.  It’s good.

So good that I wanted to share it with you.    Since I start my morning every day in the Spring, Summer and Fall with iced coffee (I usually drink hot coffee when it’s snowy), this recipe has seriously changed my mornings.   Thank you, Pioneer Woman!

Okay.  Enough of my random musings.  I’ve gotta get to writing while I still have peace and quiet around here.  Have a great Sunday everyone!

Happy Friday!!  Wooohoooo!!

Today on the YA Indie Carnival, we’re sharing the first paragraph or so from our current Work-in-Progress.

My current WIP is a brand-new book called Dante’s Girl (unless I choose to change the title along the way, which I have been known to do) and it has brand new characters.  It’s contemporary YA and I’m really excited about it.  It’s in a very rough first draft stage, so it could change before I am finished with it.

But anyway.  Here is the beginning:

It is impossible to look hot in the dingy fluorescent light of an airport bathroom. Or as my best friend Becca would say, hawt.

At this particular moment, I’m not hot or hawt.  I make this revelation as I vigorously scrub at my arms and face and then use a wet paper towel under my pits.  And what is it about peeing in an airport toilet ten times in a day that makes you feel so completely scummy?  I glance around at the crumpled tissues strewn about on the scuffed floor and the dirty toilets peeking from behind half-closed doors.  That answer is clearly ‘because of the germs’. Ack.

Trying not to think about it, I clean up the best I can.  After running a brush through my hair, I stick a piece of gum in my mouth, apply a thin layer of lip gloss and call it good.  I glance into the mirror and cringe.  It isn’t good enough, but it will have to do.  Very soon, I’ll put this dreadful four hour layover in Amsterdam behind me and before I even know it, I’ll be in London.

With my father.

For the summer.

It would be torture.

Just shoot me now.

* * *

Also, check out the first paragraph from some of my colleagues on the YA Indie Carnival here.  I know I’m going to. 

Happy Saturday, everyone!  It’s rainy and cold here in lovely Michiana, but I’m sure it’s warm and dry elsewhere, right?  I’m not going to complain.  It gives me the opportunity to make chili and curl up in front of the fireplace for what is probably the last day of the year.   Silver linings, right?

Anyway.   I wanted to announce the winners of the Birthday Bash prizes!  So exciting!   Several people tweeted so many times that they got many multiple entries and won more than one prize, so make sure you read all the way through them to make sure you don’t miss something.

Here goes:

Bloodstone Saga t-shirts:  Jessirae Lloyd (@xjessirae) and Danielle Morales (@danilove413)

Signed copies of Every Last Kiss:  Pamela Rosensteel (@vanillaorchids) and Breila (@goldensunangel)

Signed copies of House of Thebes:  Helen (@helldog3), Jessirae Lloyd (@xjessirae), Danielle Morales (@danilove413), Vivien (@deadtossedwaves), Celeste (@itsmeceleste)

A “Cadmus” bracelet and a signed bookmark:  Helen (@helldog3) and Ana (@beingbold)

A signed bookmark and a Greek drachma:  Danna (@dannamarie), Nat Cleary (@natcleary), Laura Thomas (@laurathomas), CE Hart (@CEHartAuthor) and Sabrina Spicer (@tngal1977).

Thank you so much to everyone who participated and helped make Every Last Kiss‘ birthday bash so awesome.  I truly, truly appreciate it!    If you were a winner, email me your mailing address at:  courtneycolewrites (at) gmail.com.  I’ll be mailing the prizes out next week.   Have a fabulous weekend!!

Today, Every Last Kiss is still free.  So, if you haven’t read it, you can check it out here.

You can still enter to win prizes by tweeting this:  To celebrate the book birthday of Every Last Kiss by @courtwritesYA, it will be FREE on Amazon Kindle today!  http://ow.ly/aoORL

or by sharing it on Facebook.   Tomorrow, I’ll be announcing the winners right here on my website after I randomly draw them.  I’ll be giving out Bloodstone Saga t-shirts, Greek Drachmas, bracelets, and signed copies of Every Last Kiss and House of Thebes. 

Speaking of House of Thebes, it was free yesterday on Kindle as a thank you gift to you, my wonderful and amazing readers.  If you missed it, it’s okay- you can still find it here.  It will be $2.99 from here on out.

For day two of the birthday bash, I finally completed something that is loooooong overdue.  I created a book trailer for The Bloodstone Saga. Eeeep!!  I am severely technically challenged, so this is a HUGE accomplishment for me. 

Anyway, thank you again for celebrating Every Last Kiss’ book birthday with me.  Good luck in the contest and I hope you have an AWESOME weekend!!

Eeeep!!  It’s time for Every Last Kiss’ birthday bash!!  It’s been released for a year, so it’s time to party!! 

In celebration, Every Last Kiss will be a FREE Amazon Kindle download today and tomorrow.  You can find it here.

In addition, as a thank you to all of my FABULOUS and AMAZING Bloodstone Saga fans, I have written a bonus novella, House of Thebes as a thank you gift.  It will be FREE on Amazon Kindle today.  So, if you’d like to see how Cadmus and Harmonia met for the first time, go check it out here.  After today, it will be a $2.99 Kindle download.

Now, for the prizes… because what would a good birthday party be without presents??   I will be giving away Bloodstone Saga t-shirts, signed copies of Every Last Kiss and House of Thebes, bookmarks and a couple of bracelets.

To enter, all you have to do is tweet this:  To celebrate the book birthday of Every Last Kiss by @courtwritesYA, it will be FREE on Amazon Kindle today!  http://ow.ly/aoORL

For every tweet, you get one entry.   The contest will run through tomorrow night and I will draw random winners on Friday.  So, you can tweet today and tomorrow.  OR you can post it on FB, just make sure to include me in your post so that I see it and know to enter you.

Thank you for helping me celebrate the birthday of Every Last Kiss.  It has been  an amazing first year and I can’t believe it has flown by so quickly!!

I am humbled by the reception that the Bloodstone Saga has received by fans, I am blessed to have such amazing readers and I am THANKFUL to you more than you know.  I hope you enjoy my thank you gift of House of Thebes and that you have a beautiful Thursday!!

So, I realized a while back that coming up on April 28th, it will be Every Last Kiss‘ book birthday!  It has been released for a year!  I can’t believe it.  How time flies.  Anyway, I decided that I wanted to do something fun to celebrate.  So, I thought on it and decided on a few fun things.

First, and the biggest thing, is that I wrote a novella as a bonus book in the series.

One of the things that I’ve heard the most from  readers throughout the past year is that they wanted to see how Harmonia and Cadmus first met….as in, the very first time.  So, that’s what House of Thebes is all about…when Harmonia and Cadmus met for the very first time two thousand years ago.   I had soooo much fun writing it.  I didn’t realize how much I missed Harmonia and Cadmus until I brought them back in this book!  Anyway, I’m including a couple of bonus short stories, including Hasani’s POV from the night before he died in battle in ancient Egypt in Every Last Kiss.

House of Thebes will be FREE Kindle download on Thursday, April 26 as a gift to all of my loyal readers.  I really, really appreciate each and every one of you.  I wanted to think of a way to do something as a thank you gift and this is what I came up with.   I hope you like it.  It will release on Thursday, April 26 and will be free that day.  After that, it will be $2.99 on Kindle.

Secondly, Every Last Kiss will be a FREE Kindle download on Thursday and Friday of next week (April 26 and 27th) in celebration of its book birthday.   I have a whole armload of Bloodstone Saga prizes to be given away over Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  All you have to do to enter is tweet this on Twitter: To celebrate the book birthday of Every Last Kiss by @courtwritesYA, it will be FREE on Amazon Kindle today!  http://ow.ly/aoORL

For every one tweet, you get one entry.

I will be giving away Bloodstone Saga t-shirts, signed copies of Every Last Kiss and signed copies of House of Thebes.

Anyway, I hope you’ll celebrate Every Last Kiss’ book birthday with me.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without you, my awesome, awesome readers, and for that I truly thank you.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

I ADORE this cover.

And here is the blurb:

How deep does love run?  Deeper than the ocean?  Deeper than memory?  Deeper than magic?

 Following their plan to save Atlas, Madly and Jackson return the spirit of Wolfhardt to his prison beneath the sea.  But even the best laid plans couldn’t account for the surprises they find.  This time, Lore aren’t their only challenges. 

 Madly is special in ways no one could have guessed and dark forces seek to control her.  They want her power, but first they must weaken her.  They need her beaten.  Vulnerable.  Near death.  And alone.  But that task isn’t an easy one with Jackson at her side.  The strongest of their kind, the only way to separate Jackson from Madly is to destroy his love for her, to erase it from his mind.  And his heart.  

 Is it possible to steal Jackson’s love from Madly?  Or is their love the only truly unbreakable thing?

Available May 2012.  Sqeeeeeaaallll.

OMGosh.  I cannot wait to read this.  Cannot. Wait.  I love the Madly series.  And if you haven’t read it yet, you can find it here.   To learn more about my friend, M. Leighton, you can find her here.  

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!!

Today on the YA Indie Carnival, we’re supposed to talk about villains from our books.

My most horrendous villain, I think, comes from my book Princess (book one in the American Princess series).

The problem is… I can’t tell you WHO the villain is because that would reveal too much!  The villain is cold-hearted and vicious though… and I wish I could tell you….

But I have a great alternative.  Princess is free on Kindle today!  In fact, it is free through the weekend.  You can download it for FREE here.    I really hope you like it.  It’s not paranormal at all, unlike most of my other books.  It’s contemporary YA, but it’s dark and edgy.

If you download it and like it, I’d realllllly appreciate it if you’d leave a review on Amazon.   Readers often don’t realize how important their opinions actually are.   So often, other readers base their decisions solely on 1. the cover and 2. previous reviews.   To be honest, I do the same thing a lot of the time.  So, if you like it, I’d really appreciate a quick review.

And if you’d like to tweet me and tell me what you thought, I’d appreciate that too.   I always enjoy hearing from you!

Anyway… Have an amazing Friday the 13th!  Don’t walk under any ladders… and steer clear of broken mirrors.   I used to have a great-aunt who refused to get out of bed on Friday the 13th.  I’m not nearly as superstitious as that.   I just spend the day avoiding black cats.  Is that weird? 

You should totally check out my other colleagues today– see what they are superstitious about and who their baddest bad guys are!  You can find a list of their blogs here.  Happy weekend!

Happy Easter!

My friend M. Leighton released an incredible book today… Fragile.  I’ve read it and I LOVE IT.  M has totally outdone herself this time.  If you love dreamy, sigh-inducing romances, this book is definitely for you.  Check it out!

Her heart, as delicate as glass.  His love, as strong as steel.  Can either survive life and death? 

 Hardy Bradford is an eighteen year old football phenomenon who has the girl, the school, the town and the future in the palm of his hand.  His life is all mapped out for him, right down to who he’ll marry and how he’ll become a professional football player.  It doesn’t seem to matter that Hardy would’ve chosen a much different life if it was up to him.  But it’s not.  At least not until his miracle comes along.

The first time Hardy laid eyes on Miracle St. James, he didn’t know who she was, but he knew she was something different and that he’d never get her out of his head.  And he didn’t.  Now, months later, Hardy’s world is turned upside down when Miracle shows up in his class, stealing his heart and forever changing the course of his life.

Miracle’s sick.  Very sick.  And Hardy might be losing the only thing in his life that has ever mattered.  How much is too much to sacrifice for the one you love?  For just a little more time?  For just one more chance?  Can Hardy be the hero Miracle needs?  Or is it Hardy that needs saving?

Excerpt:

Staring deeply into her eyes, Hardy prayed that all he felt for her would show, that she could see what he couldn’t find the words to say.  When her lips curved into a tremulous smile, he cupped her face in his hands and pressed his forehead to hers, closing his eyes.

Hardy whispered, just loud enough for Miracle to hear, “Someday I’ll marry you, Miracle.  And maybe someday after that, I’ll deserve you.”

Hardy heard a faint sob and, without opening his eyes, he pressed his lips to hers.  He felt her shaking against him, knew what she was feeling.

Opening his eyes and leaning back a couple of inches, Hardy wiped the tears streaming from her eyes with his thumbs. 

“I was dead inside until you came along.  Now I can’t imagine my life without you.  Not for a single day.  I’d miss you too much.”

“You wouldn’t miss me,” she sniffled.

“Nah, you’re probably right.  I only miss you a little now.  When I’m awake.  When I’m asleep.  When I’m breathing.”  When Miracle finally met his gaze, Hardy let his heart pour into his eyes.  “My life is nothing without you, Miracle.  Nothing.  I love you.  Do you hear me?  I love you!”

“I love you, too,” she whispered.

* * *

Okay.  So now that you can see how awesome this book is, go download it.  What are you waiting for?  It’s AMAZING.   You can find it here on Amazon and here on Barnes and Noble.

To learn more about my fabulous, awesome friend, M.Leighton, visit her website at:  http://mleightonbooks.blogspot.com/

Oooh- I totally forgot!  I’m going to give away a Kindle copy of this fabulous book!  All you have to do to enter is tweet this:

Fragile by @mleightonbooks: Her heart, as delicate as glass; his love, as strong as steel. http://ow.ly/a96G7 @courtwritesYA

I will draw a random winner on Tuesday from all of the entries. Good luck!

So, some quick news…..

Soul Bound, book two of the Moonstone Saga, is released today on Kindle.   You can find it here on Amazon.  The print version will follow in a week or two.  I really, really, really hope you like it. 

Here’s the blurb:

The gods are playing games again and this time it’s going to get ugly. 

 Empusa is the daughter of the goddess of witchcraft and the moon.  As a child of the moon, she has all of the ethereal lunar powers that come with it.  She is beautiful, vulnerable and strong.  But since she is cursed by her father to drink souls and mortal blood, her powers will come back to haunt her…

 Brennan is the son of Apollo, the god of the sun.  As a child of the sun, he is handsome, golden, brave and strong.  He’s just learning to harness his own immortal powers, only there isn’t much time…

 There’s an ugly, twisted storm brewing on Olympus and Brennan and Em are in the center of it.  Their powers are conflicting, polar opposites.  If they can’t learn to handle their abilities without killing each other, they will kill everyone in the mortal world, as well.  Time is ticking and the gods are watching.  Who will rise, who will fall and who will be left standing?

A friend of mine, M. Leighton (author of a million amazing books), is hosting a giveaway for Soul Kissed and Soul Bound on her blog today.  So… go visit her here for a chance to win.  She also has the first chapter of Soul Bound posted. Yay!!  I hope everyone has an amazing day!