The screw up! May 15, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: param, romance
add a comment
Well, I was really looking forward to signing at the literacy autographing at RWA national in Atlanta, but it might not be. It seems that while I remember being in the literacy autographing area of the RWA website and asking my publisher about my ISBNs , according to RWA I’m not on the list. 
Needless to say, I’m pretty bummed. There is a wait list, but I have no idea how likely it is I’ll get a seat at the signing.
have you ever had one of those days?
Best,
Karin
IN LIKE A LION is a RONE award nominee! May 14, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.add a comment
Because IN LIKE A LION received a four star review at InDtale magazine, it’s up for a RONE award. The next round is reader voting! Please vote! http://www.indtale.com/rone-awards/2012/week-4 voting ends Friday.
Also, IN LIKE A LION is going to print! Stay tuned. I’m working on finding any errors that might have slipped past the digital printing, then off to my publisher it goes.:-) if you’ve read it and noticed any errors, let me know in the next couple days. May 14-16, 2013.
The RWA national conference in Atlanta is getting close and I’m looking forward to having a stack of shiny books to hawk for Literacy!
Shiny stuff May 8th Got an uncontracted Romance Manuscript? Ignite the Flame closes Saturday! May 9, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: Alicia Condon, Allison Carroll, alpha, Annie Stone, Chimeras, contests, demons, ghosts, Julia Mianecki, Kate Dresser, Nicole. Fischer, Paranormal Romance, Renecca Strauss, romance, shifters, Supernatural, witches
add a comment
1. I wrote “the end” on Chimera Chronicles 2, now called ENTITY MINE. Want to dive into edits, but I’ve got my RWA chapters contest to flog.
2. Will Sam close the gates of hell?
3.Got a manuscript hanging around? http://www.cofw.org/contest.html
The 2013 Ignite the Flame contest for uncontracted manuscripts is dangerously low in all categories! We have final editor judges from Berkley, HQN, Avon, Kensington, Harlequin TEEN, Harlequin Desire, and a literary agent from NY agency McKintosh and Otis, inc.
Up to Fifteen pages of hero and heroine’s first meet plus optional one page set-up.
We close Saturday at midnight Pacific time. There will be no extensions!
Electronic entry
Cash prize
Announcing the 2013 Ignite the Flame for unpubbed Manuscripts April 1, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: Contemporary Romance, historical Romance, Paranormal Romance, romance, Romantic Suspence, writers, Writing contests, YA
add a comment
My friends, there comes a time when you must give back to your RWA chapter. To that end, i am running our contest this year. 
Please forward, tweet, RT and x-post
**************************************************************************************************************
Central Ohio Fiction Writers announces the 2013 Ignite the Flame Contest
Let us feel the heat of your first meet! (or just the spark:-) )
Who can enter? Anyone with an un-contracted Romance manuscript interested in getting great feedback and possibly on the desk of these fabulous final reader/judges:
*Romantic Suspense — Rebecca Strauss literary agent Mckintosh and Otis Inc
*Historical — Julie Mianecki Junior editor Berkley
*Single-title Kate Dresser editor HQN
*Paranormal Alicia Condon editor Kensington
*Young Adult Annie Stone associate editor Harlequin TEEN
*Erotic Romance Nicole Fischer Editorial Assistant Avon
*Category-length contemporary Allison Carroll editorial assistant Harlequin Desire
First round judges RWA PRO or Published
Contest Deadline: May 11, 2013
More details http://www.COFW.ORG
Questions Karin@shahs.com
10 Reasons I enjoy Destination Truth March 20, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: comedy, danger, Destination truth. Syfy channel, humor, Josh Gates, paranormal, Paranormal Romance, science-fiction
add a comment
10. Learn about other cultures and and far-away places
9. They sometimes actually document something unexplained.
8. Playful cast
7. Exotic food,meaten with the proper face-making. Pickled Egg with baby chick in it, anyone?
6.Vicarious thrill seeking. They climb up waterfalls, rappel over cliffs and into caves, ride horses, etc.
5. Low budget horror flick situations
4. The chance an investigator might disappear or fall off a cliff (I would hate to be their insurance carrier)
3. Ryder
2. Josh Gates is hilarious
1. Josh Gates (I know I already listed him. I would list him three times, but this is a top ten list)
Why I write multi-cultural characters March 12, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: Chimeras, dragon shifters, Indian-American heroine, lion shifters, Multi-cultural romance, Paranormal Romance, romantic suspense, shapeshifters, shifters
add a comment
I often get asked how I came to write Multi-cultural characters.
The first book I ever wrote was in essence Multi-cultural. It was a Science Fiction Romance and the hero and the heroine were literally from two different worlds. That book has never been published, but I went on to write STARJACKED and it was. Again the hero and heroine were from different worlds, and this time, the hero was not plain human stock. He was an Amalan. Stronger, faster, tougher, than ordinary humans.
I don’t make a big deal out of it in BLOOD AND KISSES, my vampire/witch romance, but Gideon the hero is from the Middle East, from before it was the fertile crescent and the cradle of early civilization. Thalia is just a witch from common European-American stock.
IN LIKE A LION is more overt. Anjali, the heroine, is from Mumbai, India. She’s not just Indian, she’s Gujarati. Her Grand-parents come from the western state of Gujarat and speak Gujarati at home, not Hindi. Gujaratis have a distinct culture separate from other Indian groups. They have their own foods, festivals, and even way of wearing their saris. Writing Anjali was a delicate balancing act. As a product of her culture, she had to believe and act in a certain way, but I couldn’t explain things to the reader too much. I couldn’t even use as much Gujarati as I would have liked to. If your first language isn’t English, it’s perfectly natural to slip into that tongue, especially when under stress, but there’s something called the “strangeness budget.” A reader can only take so many foreign or alien words without being pulled from the story. The concept comes from Science Fiction, but it works as well with characters of foreign origin.
I didn’t set out to write multi-cultural Romances, and I really only just realized I do. The US and Canada are full of people from all over the world, and it just seemed natural that people would fall in love. There are wide cultural differences between my characters, but underneath, they, like everyone else, have doubts, desires, and a deep longing for love and somewhere to belong.
The Backstreet Boys said it, “I don’t care who you are, what you did, where you’re from, as long as you love me.”
Soul Mate Authors chat at The Romance Reviews March 9, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: Chimeras, killers, Paranormal Romance, romance, romantic suspense, shutters
add a comment
Today at The Romance Reviews Soul Mate Authors answer your questions! (including me!) http://www.theromancereviews.com/forum/index.php?topic=836.0
Stop by and say hi!
Karin
Oh, no! Snow! March 6, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: demons, dragons, ghosts, heists, lions, Paranormal Romance, romantic suspense, shapeshifters, shifters, snow, Snow day, snow storm, treasure
add a comment
Ok, full disclosure, I’m from Rochester, NY. My hometown, the suburb of Greece, handles the totals we got yesterday here in Columbus pretty much every day, from after Christmas to the end of March. We had to get six inches an hour for several hours to get a snow day. Of course, as a kid, I loved a snow day and I don’t usually mind them now, except, I really didn’t need my kids home today.
I’m passing the fifty thousand word mark on Chimera 2. I’m in the middle of writing a treasure heist scene and then the end is in sight. I need all the time I can get because I want to get this out in the spring and unfortunately, I was stuck for two months, unable to write what I had originally planned. Then I changed it to the heist and miraculously the words are flowing. I can’t stop now, despite the fact that I’m afraid readers will find the book has a split personality and right now I think it’s terrible.
So, please. Wear your pajamas right side out tonight for me?
Karin
Check out my Latest review and some snippets from IN LIKE A LION March 3, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: action romance, Chimeras, dragons, five star review, lions, Paranormal Romance, Review, romantic suspense, shapeshifter romance
add a comment
My latest blog tour stop features a wonderful review and some snippets from IN LIKE A LION not posted anywhere else. Check it out!
http://concisebookreviewsbymichelle.blogspot.com/
Happy Sunday!
What’s worse than doubt monkeys? March 2, 2013
Posted by karinshah in Uncategorized.Tags: alpha heroes, Chimeras, dragon shifters, dragons, lion shifters, lions, Paranormal Romance, romantic suspense, shapeshifters, Urban Fantasy
add a comment
Stop by http://www.booksandtales.blogspot.co.uk/?zx=5d2d652030b48ca1 and find out!
Happy Saturday everybody!
Karin
