Champagne Book Group

Epicon was a fun, lively event filled with digital publishing professionals. I drove down from Vancouver, BC, having been visiting with family prior to the convention, so that in itself was a new experience for me. I've never driven across the border before--flown, yes. But never driven. I was a little nervous since I'd heard about scary wait times at the crossing and miserable customs agents. Surprise, surprise though! It went so smoothly that I barely had time to wonder about the wait, which was about 30 minutes. And the customs officer that I spoke with was pleasant and professional. Coming home was just as easy. For the amount of people they put through in a short time, these men and women deserve our respect and appreciation.

Anyway, back to the conference. I met several Champagne people, including our very colorful acquisitions editor, Virg Nelson. When she posts pictures of the things she does to her hair, she's not kidding. She really did look like a rainbow. With a big, big smile. Cassie, our senior editor, was very busy as she was the conference chair, but we were still able to spend some good quality laughing time together. We even got some work in too. True! Seminars were really well done, and did I mention the food? Oh dear me, the food was amazing. The hotel, Red Lion at the Quay, really out-did themselves. And finally, the awards ceremony was lovely, even if we didn't win an Epic award. We were nominated a couple of times, so that was enough. For this year. Next year is another story! We want to come home with a trunk full of hardware.

This month we have a great variety of books. Spirited, by Naomi Stone has a sexy djinni, an ancient succubus and a world to save. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Christina Carlisle's Falling in Love series starts with Falling For Jack. A royal princess for sale is too much of a bargain for fisherman Jack Lucas to pass up. Timing is everything when loves goes Beyond Forever, in M. W. Davis' short paranormal romance story. Rita Bay is back with The Aegis, and she says it's better dead than dark! Oh my, now if that doesn't make you wonder! We have a multi author series that Holly Hunt kicks off this month. Tyrant of Tarsit is the first in our Dark Heroes series, a fantasy romance that's all in the timing. R. J. Hore returns with an intense medieval fantasy. A young man mistaken for a worldly duke is thrust into action to protect a beautiful queen and her spoiled daughter from harm in The Queen's Pawn. In An Alien's Guide To World Domination by debut author Elizabeth Fountain, we learn that when Earth's future is in the hands of the last person on the planet who thinks humanity is worth saving, it's lucky her dog knows what to do.

Then to steam things up a bit, we go back to Aphrodite's Island for another erotic short story. This one, One Too Many by Arlene Knowell, shows that even in a fantasy, three can be a crowd. And lastly, Virginia Nelson gives us a hot, sexy lesson about gossip, in Rumor Has It. Because truly,how do you sort out your love life when gossip is wilder than the truth?
 
Check these titles out on our landing page, April 1, at http://www.champagnebooks.com. You won’t be disappointed.

‘Til next time,

Ellen