The Panther and the Pyramid now on KINDLE

Graham Tristan has been tormented too long. He is physically strong: during his childhood exile, he rode with the Khamsin - Egyptian Warriors of the Wind. He has learned their code, is called The Panther. Now he has returned to his rightful place as the Duke of Caldwell. And there is a new face - that of a woman - that haunts his dreams.

Hair the color of blood. Eyes the color of emeralds. The memory threatens to consume him. In his dreams, this woman threatens all he seeks to protect, all he thinks to hide. She is more perilous even than the ancient treasure that draws him back to Egypt. This woman will uncover his heart.

Click here to buy on Amazon Kindle.

In other news, I've accepted an offer to write two more Nocturne Cravings, which hopefully will be out next year, and my evil twin Blair will be publishing another erotic romance with Ellora's Cave. I'm very grateful to both my editors for being so understanding with the recent illness and death of my beloved father-in-law, Frank. It's been a very emotional time for my husband and myself, but we are slowly healing. Thank you everyone who sent condolences and expressed sympathy.

Taken by the Alpha Wolf now available

On Kindle and Smashwords, a new, original Draicon werewolf story for only 99 cents. This is Etienne's story, the eldest Draicon brother.

From the moment he saw the pale-haired beauty, Draicon werewolf Etienne Robichaux vowed to claim Cindy Parker as his mate. Nothing will stand in his way. After learning she’s targeted by a Columbian drug mob, the former Navy SEAL will do everything in his power to protect her.

His touch ignites her passion and his tender concern touches her soul. But Cindy has a deadly secret she hides from Etienne, one that not only risks losing her heart to handsome shifter, but her very life.

Buy at Amazon.

Buy at Smashwords.

How to plan for RWA in NY

RWA is a week away and what have I done to prepare? I've printed business cards with the cover to The Shadow Wolf. That's it.

And then I look at the calendar and realize I have one week left to get my act together before leaving for RWA. I have a blizzard of meetings at the day job next week, and two ART fact sheets to fill out for Harlequin for my upcoming stories, Hunted by the Jaguar and Mated to the Wolf. I need to get organized. Now.

So this blog post is devoted to advice on planning for national.

First, take a deep breath. Breathe. Just breathe. You can do this.

Now, budget a few minutes to make a list of things you must take care of before you leave your family/responsibilities. Children, husband, pets, etc.

Make another list of essentials for the conference to pack (here's a little trick I learned from traveling internationally...take a backpack to carry on and pack with essentials such as a change of clothing, business shoes, etc. you'll need if your checked luggage gets lost.)

Comfortable shoes
Business attire and some casual outfits for lounging
List of nearby restaurants that are affordable
Granola bars or snacks (come in handy for quick energy in pricey NY city)
Print out of RWA schedule
Airline tickets, car rental info, etc.
Other personal essentials (such as laptop, if you are bringing one)

Next, preprogram important cell numbers into your phone: ie: agent, editor, roommate, friends, etc.

Now for the schedule. It looks daunting. So much to do and so little time. Here is where you narrow down your choices.

Set your priorities for this conference. Ask yourself, "What do I need to get out of this?"

If your goal is to meet with a particular agent or editor, make that the Number One priority and schedule that accordingly. If your goal is meeting friends or critique partners to discuss the market and upcoming projects you have, make that your Number One priority. It's your conference.

For myself, my priorities are always meeting with my agent and my editor. Business first. Then I schedule workshops and time for lunches/meetings with friends/fellow authors. I look at the RWA schedule of workshops. To access, click here.


Pick workshops that feature areas you wish to hone. Are you weak on plotting? Select a plotting workshop. Need to learn to write a stronger heroine? Look for those. Yes, there are lots of booksignings where authors give away free books. But what will serve your writing goals more...getting autographed books or attending a workshop?

You can buy the workshops on tape, but let's say you don't have any time when you return home to listen, because your editor appointment resulted in a request for a full manuscript. Now you have to polish that book. And if you get such a request early on in the conference? Look for a workshop that can aid you in polishing your book. Take advantage of the wealth of knowledge before you.

It all comes down to prioritizing. You are the only one who can pick and choose goals for yourself at this conference. Align your schedule according to those goals. And don't forget to make time for friends at the bar. The bar is always where the action is at; where news is exchanged, market updates are provided, where you learn the real nitty gritty of what is going on.

When you have the list of workshops and appointments, program them into your phone for quick reference.

If you're shy and don't know many people, remember there are probably a lot of conference attendees who are the same. You are not alone. Force yourself to pick a table at a luncheon filled with strangers. Start a conversation about how they are enjoying themselves, if this is their first visit to NY. You never know who you'll meet.


Now, go take another deep breath, relax and say to yourself, "I can do this!"

And have fun in NY!

The Shadow Wolf

Here's the cover. This book includes Darkness of the Wolf, my Nocturne Bite that was previously released in ebook form.

The cover is the scene where they first make love by the lake.

In writing news, my muse has awoken (yay!) and I'm coming down the home stretch with a new short story. Details to follow!

Reflections

This week, I've been thinking about the day job. I guess it stems from meeting new people at work and having their eyes nearly pop out of their head when they discover I've been doing this kind of work, traveling to poor countries and writing about poverty, for more than 17 years.

One country that I frequently travel to is Haiti. Haiti and I have a love/hate relationship. One guy I know said it best. "Haiti's she's a bitch, but you have to love her. "

One of the love aspects is getting to help children who are in dire need. A girl from one of our orphanages recently graduated from college in the US. She's a success story that always makes me smile. Smart kid, I know she will go far.

And then there are the girls who were rescued off the street, and were in desperate need of hope. Merline, featured in these photos, was one of them.

I met Merline on a trip to our girls orphanage in 2002. It was the first year I got published. I remember seeing her expression. As if she'd lost all hope. She was skinny, had suffered from parasites and was starving. The home's administrator told me she'd been found wandering the streets of Cite Soleil, a huge and grim slum.

Cite Soleil is rough, violent and no place for an innocent orphan. Merline was hungry, homeless and afraid. She was unresponsive to questions, to smiles, to coaxing a smile from her. Still, I sat next to her, chatting in English, hoping for some kind of response from this girl who had already, at 7, experienced far too much pain.

I remember how she didn't say anything, didn't react and then all the sudden, she rested against me and slipped her hand into mine.

It broke my heart. Without words, she told me, "I need to know someone cares."

The rest of our visit, I held her in my lap, chatting with her. She never did smile. But I had hope.

Two years later, I was visiting our girls orphanage and asked about Merline. I found her. This time she was dressed in a pretty gingham school uniform. And she was smiling. A big, beautiful smile from a lovely girl who received a chance to start over in life.

The kids in Haiti, they are the ones who always tug at my heart. They are a reason I keep returning to Haiti, hoping that the future will be brighter, and better for them.

Sex with Oded Fehr...

To mark the first day of the 2011 hurricane season, I'm reposting a blog from 2005, the year my house got clobbered by Hurricane Wilma and a tree punched through our roof. This post still makes me laugh, and these days, while we are currently "weathering" a family crisis, all laughs are much appreciated. It's titled, "Sex with Oded Fehr."

Last night I dreamed I had sex with Oded Fehr. (See photo at right. He's begging me, "Please, Bonnie, have sex with me now!")

We were married and he came home from work in this funky red jacket, dark trousers, white starched shirt and red silk tie. He threw down his briefcase and said, “I can’t wait to make love to you, right now.”

Oh. Okay.

But trouble was, it was … meh. I couldn’t climax. He asked me what was wrong and I told him I was tense.

Then all the sudden, he shapeshifts. Changes before my eyes… and changes to…

Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel. Complete in his raingear, talking about hurricanes. I screamed, “noooooooo!”

It’s not a deep dream, I know what it means, See, Jim Cantore has the knack of picking areas to broadcast from that get slammed by hurricanes. So what does all this, and my dream mean? Simple.

If Jim Cantore shows up anywhere near you, you’re f**ked.

Haiti

People frequently ask me, especially after I return from a trip for work, "Has Haiti improved any since the earthquake?"

Good question. My quick answer is, "Yes, the rubble is mostly gone."

And the long answer is, "The people are still suffering, but there is hope."

But last week I visited an area that I saw days after everything collapsed and killed more than 250,000 people, and it's like a knife to my heart.

It was in downtown Port-au-Prince.

Downtown is where much of the colossal damage took place. By that I mean, five-story buildings pancaked, entire government buildings destroyed. The presidential palace with its pretty wedding cake cupolas.

And the nearly 100-year-old cathedral, with its beautiful pink stone and soaring arches. I was there, long ago, for a prayer service. The cathedral was a peaceful place in a heavily populated city, a landmark for all who lived in PAP and a stronghold of religion for many. I remember seeing the elderly homeless on the steps. I also remember how my NGO built them a village where they can live out their last days with dignity and comfort.

I've been traveling to Haiti for nearly 18 years. I visited the cathedral days after the earthquake, and saw the bodies crushed by falling debris.

I was there a few days ago, and except for the fact the rubble is now gone, the structure is still the same. Still standing as an eerie skeletal frame, a pink scar on the downtown cityscape.

It was painful for me to see the church still standing as if the earthquake were last month, not last year. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it is for Haitians. A constant reminder of that horrific day.

How can you push on and forge a future when the wreckage of your past still stands like a tragic moment suspended in time?

Haiti has a new president now. I am cautiously hopeful. Not because of the new government, but because I have seen the resilience and courage of a beleaguered people who have suffered much, and keep going.

And enduring.

Again.

And again, against all odds.

The Cobra and the Concubine now on Kindle

I uploaded THE COBRA AND THE CONCUBINE to Kindle this weekend. This is the third book in my Khamsin Egyptian romance series.

Click here to order.

Last week I was in Haiti and offline. I'll be posting an update on my trip, soon as I catch up.

Nook, Kindle book updates

The Sword and the Sheath is now available on Kindle. This is the romance between Jabari's son, Tarik, and Ramses's daughter, Fatima. Fatima is psychic and assigned to guard Tarik, the sheikh's proud heir. Tarik wants her removed and in a different position... in his bed.

Click here to order.

Also, The Falcon and the Dove, my first Khamsin Egyptian romance, is now available on the Nook! Click here.

I was hoping to finish formatting The Cobra and the Concubine and upload that to Kindle, but too much happened this week. Now I'm packing for Haiti, another day job trip. I'll be offline all next week as there is limited internet access where I will be traveling.

Have a great week! I post if I can.

The Tiger and the Tomb now available on KINDLE!

Click here to order.

Next up is THE SWORD AND THE SHEATH. This is the love story between Jabari's son, Tarik, and Ramses' daughter, Fatima.

Hoping to format and upload THE COBRA AND THE CONCUBINE by the time I leave for Haiti next week.

Would you care if his mom wrote erotic romance?

This is Edgar. He's three months old, weighs 6.5 pounds, lives in Guatemala and as I rocked him in my arms today, realized he may die.



Edgar's mother is very poor. She lives in a mud house with a dirt floor. Her husband used to get drunk and beat her with his fists. She has no job. No hope. She came to the nutritional center hoping for help or milk for her baby as she could not breast feed.



As I held Edgar in my arms, thinking of all the starving babies I've met in my travels, some who have died, some who made it, I got pretty upset.



And angry. I got angry thinking about how some people chose to get upset over things that aren't worth getting angry about, how it is none of their business.



I thought about the whole Judy Mays craziness, over a woman who is said to be a great teacher and yet, is lambasted for writing erotic romance in her spare time. I don't know Judy, only that she is a fellow romance author and like me, she works a full-time job in addition to writing romance. She's a high school teacher. Unless you have lived under a rock, you must know how challenging it is these days to teach high school kids.



Judy writes erotic romance under another name. Some of those parents found out, started going a little nuts and suddenly, there is a hue and cry.



As I sat rocking Edgar in my arms, wondering if he would live or die, I wondered why there isn't a hue and cry over things like babies starving to death in other countries.



Do we care? I know Americans do, we are very generous. I'm always humbled and hopeful when I find out how very generous Americans are when it comes to helping the poor.



Yet when I hear of parents complaining about things like Judy writing erotic romance, under ANOTHER NAME, and teaching their children, I wonder.



Edgar's mother is poor. She has no job, bruises from her abusive husband, no money, a starving baby and little hope.



And I wonder... would you care if his mother wrote erotic romance? Would you care if she did and it saved his life?

On the road again...

Looks like I'll be in Guatemala this week on a last minute work trip to visit starving children in a clinic. Thus this quick catch-up...

The price of Falcon and the Dove is back up to $2.99 on Kindle. The sale is over. Sorry! However, I do plan to discount my books once I get more backlist books uploaded, hopefully in the next 4 weeks.

I'll be making up ARC's of The Shadow Wolf, my August Nocturne, in PDF form. If you are a reviewer or a book blogger and would like one, please email me at bonnievanak@aol.com I hope to get these done by the end of next month to email out.

Although my schedule has been hectic lately, one of my goals is to complete a short story I want to self-publish in the next 6 weeks. Soon as it's completed, I'll announce it here.

That's it for now... I'll be going offline so if you email me and I don't get back to you right away, please be patient. When I travel to these countries, I seldom have internet. Have a great week!

Contest winner and new cover

Hi all, due to some unexpected, last minute issues that popped up this week, I'm announcing the contest winner early.

It's Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews! Please email me at bonnievanak@aol.com with your snail mail so I can mail you IMMORTAL WOLF.

Also, here is the new cover for THE TIGER AND THE TOMB, which I hope to upload to Smashwords and Kindle in the next two weeks. This week, I'm running a special 99 cent Kindle sale on the first Khamsin book, The Falcon and the Dove. Click here.

That's it for now... I'm a bit swamped and need to get things done before my birthday, so I can spend the day, at last, having a little fun! If you email me and I don't respond right away, please be patient. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Have a great week!

The Lady and the Libertine now on Kindle

The seventh book in my Khamsin Warriors of the Wind series is now on Kindle! Click here.

My next project is to upload the other five books onto Kindle, and to upload all seven of the books onto Smashwords.

My goal is to do this by RWA the end of June.

New contest!

April! The month of my birthday and the first month THE SHADOW WOLF, my August 23 Nocturne, is available for pre-order on Amazon. Click here.

DARKNESS OF THE WOLF, my Nocturne Bite, will be an added feature to this print book. In other book news, I've been informed that BITTEN BY THE VAMPIRE, the first short story in my trilogy of sexy Nocturne Cravings, will be released in October.

It's due to be followed in November by MATED TO THE WOLF and in December by HUNTED BY THE JAGUAR. All three Cravings are about three triplet sisters who are half-demon, half-angel. Ancient warriors, a vampire, a werewolf and a jaguar, are assigned to mate with them to tame their dark halves... or they will be forced to destroy them.

To celebrate, I'm holding a contest and giving away a copy of my last Nocturne, IMMORTAL WOLF. Gabriel, the hero of THE SHADOW WOLF, makes an appearance in this book.

To enter, leave a comment on this blog post or pop on over to my Facebook fan page to say hello. Or if you wish, you can email me at bonnievanak@aol.com

The contest will end on my birthday, April 23.

Pre-order The Shadow Wolf

Now available for pre-order on Amazon! Click here.

And here's some cool news... DARKNESS OF THE WOLF, my Nocturne Bite that was released in 2009, will be an added feature to this print book! Nice bonus!

In other book news, I've been informed that BITTEN BY THE VAMPIRE, the first short story in my trilogy of sexy Nocturne Cravings, will be released in October. It's due to be followed in November by MATED TO THE WOLF and in December by HUNTED BY THE JAGUAR.

All three Cravings are about three triplet sisters who are half-demon, half-angel. Ancient warriors, a vampire, a werewolf and a jaguar, are assigned to mate with them to tame their dark halves... or they will be forced to destroy them.

The Shadow Wolf will be available on August 23. I've posted an excerpt below. Happy reading!

THE SHADOW WOLF. (copyright 2011 by Bonnie Vanak)

"The roar of a powerful motorcycle drew her attention to the hotel entrance. A man parked the Harley, drew off a black helmet and swung a muscled leg over the saddle. Megan’s heart raced. The rider’s face was permanently stamped into memory from the photos circulated among Shadows of their worst enemies.

Black liquid sloshed as she slammed down her coffee cup. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for oxygen. Gabriel Robichaux. Oh God. She’d walked straight into a trap.

Immobilized, she searched for an exit as he entered the garden’s stone pathway leading to the terrace. Megan looked around, desperate to escape, but it was too late. If they left now, surely he’d see them. She slid down her seat.

The power and raw charisma he exuded felt like a tornado as he ambled onto the terrace. Tight black leather pants hugged each inch of his rock hard thighs and taut buttocks. A Harley Davidson T-shirt and steel-toed scuffed boots gave him a dangerous air. Stubble shadowing his angular jaw contrasted with his classical good looks, like a biker with the face of an angel. Dark brown hair curled down to his wide shoulders. His mouth was sultry and mobile.

Four women sitting at a nearby table gave him the twice-over. If they only knew what exactly he was, they’d run away screaming. Draicon, like her. Only not like her. Not Shadow, outcast and shunned. He was an Enforcer, who returned escaped Shadow Wolves to their island prison. "

To read the entire excerpt, click here.

New contest in April

April, ah April, month of my birthday! To celebrate, I'm going to hold a new contest and give away one of my backlist Nocturne books.

I'm thinking it just may be IMMORTAL WOLF.

This contest will be a little different.

To enter, you'll post a comment on my Facebook fan page. Click here to access.

I am trying to get more FB people to "like" my fan page.

If you are not on Facebook, it's okay. I'll be running the contest here on my blogl

And all you need to do is leave a comment.

The contest will start April 1 and run through the entire month. I will be posting that blog for contest entries soon.

Have a great weekend!

Photos from Honduras

A little about our journey there... this is the second most dangerous airport in the world to land, according to the History Channel's program, Most Extreme Airports. Tegucipgalpa, Honduras. One runway, surrounded by mountains, and a very short runway. To land, the pilot does a corkscrew, dips and suddenly drops. There had been a plane crash there just a few weeks before we arrived. It's an "interesting" landing...










This is a fruit stand we stopped at on the way back from San Lorenzo to Tegus. There's a certain type of mango that grows in that area that is very popular.



















This is a shop wall in Valle de Angeles, a tourist destination. We stopped there on the way back to Tegus, since we could not make it into the city. There was a teacher's strike in the city that turned violent. One person was killed. It was only later, when the military came in, that we were able to make it back to the hotel.

This is a happy dad with his son, who lives in one of the houses we built in Valle de Angeles. The people there love their new homes. The houses are built on the side of a mountain and the climate is cooler up there.

The restaurant where the team ate lunch. We seldom eat lunch while working in the field, as it takes up too much time. Our usual method is to get on the road around 7 - 7:30 and work through lunch. We bring snacks in the car and eat in the field. So lunch is a rare treat.

This is the boat we took to cross the Gulf of Fonseca to get to El Tigre island. The Gulf is surrounded by El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Fishermen in the gulf.

El Tigre island, Amapala. Very pretty, and quite poor. Population of about 2,400, they see about 200 cases of malnutrition a month.

Honduras trip

Still in Honduras. It's been a successful trip, with good stories and very sad cases, like this child here, whose parents had a cup of rice in the house to eat for the week.

Yesterday we went to an island to see some cases and how we can get food there, as there is a high rate of malnutrition. It was a lovely boat ride across the Gulf of Fonseca, a bay shared with El Salvador and Nicaragua. The turquoise water sparkled, the sun beat down hot as a breeze from the Pacific rippled across the waters.

And on the island, I got sick. Oh boy. Not fun.

I'm a little better, taking it easy and not eating during the day just in case. Being sick on an island in the middle of nowhere when the only nearby bano is a latrine is not fun...

We also met this mother, who could not stop crying because her little girl, whom she is holding, is very malnourished and ill. She needs an operation to save her as she keeps losing weight, but she's been on a waiting list for free surgery from the state since she was born. In the meantime, she keeps getting thinner and thinner and her mother keeps crying and praying.

There were some uplifting moments as well, such as seeing Naomi again. We met her last year when she was 2 months old and in danger of starving to death. We got her enrolled in a nutritional program, got her milk and this is Naomi today, nice and chubby! I didn't even recognize her! It was quite gratifying to see her and her mom so happy.

All week we have been south in San Lorenzo and Choluteca. Today we headed back to Tegucigalpa to fly out tomorrow, but there was another strike by cab drivers and this one started turning violent. They were throwing rocks at cars.

Police advised people to avoid the area near our hotel.

So while the military was moving into place to quell the violence and open the roads, we spent part of the morning at Valle de Angels, which is a tourist spot. We did some shopping, had a lovely lunch (well, the rest of the team did!) of pizza. I took my slice of pizza, cut it up and fed one of the many stray dogs in town. I usually never do that, but today I just felt like it.

Now I am waiting for a ride by our guide's friend to the local church, where I am having a Mass said for my cousin, Margi. She was buried today and because of this trip, I didn't have a chance to attend the funeral. So I'm having a Mass said this afternoon for her. It was so sweet of our hostess, she made a few calls and the arrangements. It's a little comforting for me since I couldn't be at Margi's funeral Mass.

Flying back tomorrow, hopefully no more cab strikes and good weather and I'll be feeling better. Until then, adios!

How to donate to Japan

Many of you know I've worked for a large international charity for more than 17 years. I've seen my share of disasters, including the 2010 Haiti earthquake. My organization does not help Asia, but I wanted to share advice about donating to victims of the horrific Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

First, beware of scams. Many NGO's (non-governmental organizations) may claim to help Japan. Check to see if they are legit organizations by checking them out on these two websites:

Charity Navigator (their website is down at the time of this posting, but keep checking back)

Guidestar

These are two sites in which you can type a charity's name and see where they work, and how they are rated in donor efficiency.

Beware of phone calls from organizations purporting to be with a legit. charity. Ask for the name of the charity and call the charity's regular phone number to check and make sure it's not a scam. Also, I'd avoid giving to anyone collecting money on street corners. Yout cannot be sure where the money is going. If a friend or group is organizing a drive, that's different.

Here are some links on good articles on giving to Japan.

Boomer Consumer

How to avoid charity scams

How to help Japan

PART TWO: What's needed?

After a catastrophe such as an earthquake, victims need food, water, blankets, tents, generators, temporary shelters, tarps, medical assistance and much more. It's best to give to an organization that is either sending these items or better yet, is already on the ground and stands ready to help.

Do not give old clothing! It only clogs up the warehouses for the more important items needed by victims.

After the Haiti earthquake, I went to a large staging compound where many NGO's were forming teams to help. We had donated a 10,000 gallon water purification unit to The Red Cross and wanted to see how it was functioning. Teams were going out into various areas and assessing needs of victims. The strongest needs where at the time for clean water, medical help, food, and shelter. But larger items to AID these organizations were also needed... such as generators, gasoline, etc. These too, are important.

PART THREE: Whom to give to?

These are organizations that say they are helping. You may check them out on Guidestar or Charity Navigator.

AmeriCares

The Red Cross (you can text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to relief efforts. The charge is added to your cell bill). Personally, I'd rather send in a check and write in the memo: JAPAN RELIEF ONLY because this earmarks the money. I like the Red Cross, I've seen what good they do in disasters, but they are a large organization helping many countries and you want your donation to help the afflicted country). Visit this link to donate online directly to Japan. You are giving to the American Red Cross, but they are saying they are in direct contact with the Japanese Red Cross to see how they can help.

Here is a link, translated, to the JAPANESE Red Cross, for anyone interested.

International Rescue Committee

Save the Children

One of my personal favs is Doctors without Borders (I saw the amazing work they did in Haiti). They have teams trying to reach the hardest-hit areas in Japan. Here is their Guidestar report; they come highly recommended.

I'm sure other charities are mobilizing and seeing how they can help. Again, check them out with Guidestar or Charity Navigator before donating.

Good luck and thanks for helping! I'm leaving for Honduras for the day job and will be offline, as we will be in very remote, very poor areas. Please keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers.