Today I’m happy to welcome Zoe Winters to my home on the web.  🙂  Zoe has a great paranormal novella, KEPT, that she is offering for free to readers on her site.  (Come on, free! That’s the best kind of Christmas present.)  Welcome to my blog, Zoe!

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Persona

I’m learning VERY slowly, that I cannot regurgitate every single thought in my head the second that I have it as “Zoe Winters.”  For a long time I believed not doing that, to have any kind of “persona” was an act of dishonesty.  But more and more I see it as playing smarter chess.  People who stumble upon me on my blog don’t know me well enough and don’t understand my thoughts and feelings in context of everything else in my life enough to not misread me sooner or later.

In order not to come off as a bitch, or a jerk, or a know-it-all, there are times when I will have to learn to be more diplomatic.

We all have personas. (And sometimes I wonder if my bitchier side is a persona even I’ve fallen for.)  Probably very few people in our lives know everything there is to know about us and all the nuances surrounding it. Everybody is on a “need to know” basis.  Your garden club knows different things about you than your church friends, or your family.  Your spouse probably knows more about you than anyone, though there are probably sides to you he/she doesn’t see.

In my current release, KEPT, Dayne is a sorcerer who is very much a hermit. A few decades before this story (magic users have very long lifespans), he fell in love with a werecat named, Jaden.  But she wasn’t what she appeared.  She’d been sent in to play the femme fatale and lure him to his doom under pretense of rescuing her.  Being a good guy, he was “in the way” of the tribe’s plans.

The tribe underestimated both Dayne’s love for Jaden, and his power, because when he went to “save her” and found himself in a trap, he’d juiced himself up with enough power and strength that he was able to escape.  Though not without killing a large portion of the tribe.

Word got out that he was evil.  A dangerous sorcerer.  It wasn’t true, but he’d been burned and didn’t want to be burned again, so in order to protect himself from doing something so stupid again, he let the rumors spread and let the reputation build.  That’s Dayne’s persona, at least until he meets Greta, someone from the same tribe who actually IS in trouble.

Do you have a persona?  Do different parts of who you are come out with different groups?

KEPT is a paranormal romance novella and is available as a free download here: http://zoewinters.wordpress.com/kept/

Zoe Winters

Quick note:  The IMMORTAL DANGER excerpt is up!

(I think I’d like another day to recover from my weekend, please!)  Wow–this was a busy weekend. Yep, I did the Jingle Bell charity event on Saturday. And yes, I did have five-year-olds speeding past me. Such is the way of my life.  Joan took pictures, so I’ll try to post some later this week.

A quick reminder:  Karin Tabke‘s awesome first line competition kicks off today. This is a great contest!  Head over to her blog to check out full details.

The Witty and Wicked Book Club (the book club I’m in that only selects romance novels) pick for December is a great holiday read:  TO DO LIST by the talented Lauren Dane. I loved this story. LOVED it. So, when it came time to pick a holiday read for our December pick, this story came instantly to mind.  A fun, sexy novella–perfect for reading during the hectic December days.

This novella has recently been released in an anthology, HOLIDAY SEDUCTION. The anthology also includes a tale by Jaci Burton. (I am all about Jaci’s demon hunters–have you read them?)

In other book news, Bradford author Beth Williamson has just released the third installment in her Devils on Horseback series.  ZEKE definitely sounds like a book I would enjoy–a very tortured and less-than perfect hero, a strong heroine, and wild ride in the old West.  You can read an excerpt of this story here.  Congrats on your release, Beth!

And what’s on your reading schedule for the week?

(By the way, I’ll have an excerpt from IMMORTAL DANGER posted by the end of the day. I’ll do a blog update when the excerpt goes live.)

Friday–really? Seriously?  Where did this week go?  (Oh, yeah, I think it vanished in a flurry of wrapping paper and Christmas trees…)

Today, I’m guest posting with the Wicked Authors–and I’m giving away an autographed copy of MIDNIGHT SINS to one commenter.  (Come on, you didn’t think I was finished with prize fun yet, did you?)  So head over, check out Something Wicked, and leave a comment for your chance to win!

I was also interviewed over at MUCH CHEAPER THAN THERAPY. Want to find out all my writing secrets? Well, some of them, anyway?  🙂  Just go over and check out my therapy session.  I’m giving away an autographed copy of MIDNIGHT SINS there, too. Come on–two chances to win!

Tomorrow is the Christmas party for my local RWR chapter.  Really looking forward to the food and great company!  But, before I get to eat, Joan convinced me to participate in a very chilly Jingle Bell Run for charity.  We’ll be running in our festive holiday gear, so maybe I’ll post some pics after the event.  What are you planning for the weekend?  Any holiday festivities waiting for you?

Thank you very, VERY much to everyone who entered my SIN A LITTLE CONTEST.  The response was amazing–thank you!

Now, I’m here to announce the winners.  🙂  So, here’s the list, starting with first place…

1st Place:  $100 Victoria’s Secret gift certificate…Natasha A.

2nd Place:  $50 Bath & Body Works gift certificate…Lolain

3rd place:  $25 Amazon.com gift certficate…Allison (Allison’s Reads)

4th place:  2 autographed books…Marcy A.

5th place:  2 autographed books…Mindy

6th place:  2 autographed books…Cathy C.

Congratulations to all of the winners! I’ll be sending emails to the winners in the next few moments (full of prize claim instructions).

If you didn’t win, hey–more contests will be coming soon!