Shiny Things 3/18/18-3/25/18 March 18, 2018
Posted by karinshah in books, ebooks, Entertainments, paranormal romance, strong female lead, traditional fantasy, TV, writer's life, YA Fantasy.Tags: Amazon, basenjis, Blog, Chimeras, Dogs, dye, Easter, ebooks, figure skating, Gay romance, Good Reads, Hair, Ice skating, kindle, M/m romance, manga, paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal romances, PNR, Reading, sports, vizslas, Yaoi manga
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What’s distracting me this week?
The olympics were fun and in about a week and a half, it’s time for the World Figureskating championships! I hope I’ll be able to catch some of it, despite the Easter festivities. If you’re a fan, too, here’s the broadcast schedule link World championships
I hope Nathan Chen has a strong performance!
On a more personal note, my poor baby basenji (ok, he’s five) has an autoimmune disease and has been sick, but after much tinkering with his meds and food, he’s now gained back three pounds!
Here’s Ranger on the bottom with my vizsla, Lali. Unfortunately, you can also see the seal on my double pane windows are shot, but oh, well.😜
In other news, I dyed my whole bathroom blue. Actually, I dyed my hair blue, but apparently I can’t be trusted with hair dye.
Not the greatest picture of me, but you can sort of see the blue (and not just where I stained my hairline).
Ok, — writing. I’ve been writing a ton since the new year. I semi-finished a m/m novella (I need beta readers!) You may wonder why all of a sudden I’ve diverged from heterosexual PNR. (Or maybe you didn’t, but I’ll tell you anyway) I got big into Yaoi manga like this 
And The Dragon’s Flame (now out in paperback!) trickled out of my brain at a glacial pace, so I wanted to just write for fun to get back to my old pace.
I’m planning on self-publishing the m/m and I need beta readers, so drop me an email if you’re interested. (Karin@shahs.com)
blurb: College Freshman Seiichi Seigo is at the end of his rope. Suddenly orphaned, he’s grieving and one paycheck away from homelessness. When his best friend sprains his ankle, he begs Seiichi to take over as a personal assistant for his older brother, 26 year-old prodigy director Kei Karasawa. Things seem to be looking up. Seiichi has room and board and an interesting job that allows him to stay in school. There’s only one problem. The sexy, magnetic Kei, who seems to hate him, arouses feelings Seiichi never felt for his high school girlfriends or for anyone for that matter.
Can he stop himself from falling for his new boss?
As for The Chimera Chronicles book 6, I solemnly swear I am up to no…I mean, I’ve got a little written and I will turn all my attention back to it once I get my short projects completed. Look for a sort of Beauty and the Beast theme. (But with secret underground fight rings and circuses)
How’s your week shaping up? Gonna dye your hair a weird color? How are your animals? Planning to watch the world championships? Easter preparations? I’d love to hear!
All the best!
Karin
Shiny Things week of 12/10 — 12/16/2017 December 11, 2017
Posted by karinshah in amazon, books, brothers, demons, ebooks, Entertainments, Fantasy, kindle, paranormal, paranormal romance, Sam and Dean Winchester, shifters, Strong female characters, strong female lead, Supernatural, teens, TV, Uncategorized, writer's life.Tags: action romance, anime, Blogging, books, chimera-shifters, Chimeras, Christmas, Dogs, dragon shifters, ebooks, Ice skating, kindle, lion shifters, movies, netflix, new releases, olympics, Paranormal Romance, PNR, Romance series, romantic suspense, shifters, TV, winter olympics, Writers' life
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Shiny Things week of Dec 10-16, 2017
I haven’t been regular on my blog for quite a while, so I’m hoping to change that.
What’s distracting me this week.
Netflix: I’ve been getting notifications about all the cool and awesome shows coming this month and I haven’t even watched the second season of Stranger Things or The Punisher yet!
On my radar Trollhunters (Yes, it’s a cartoon, but I watch Anime and Disney movies, so it’s right up my alley), Ash v. Evil Dead, and the Magician season 2 just to name a few.
Ice Skating: I’m a cord cutter, but with the Winter Olympics coming up, I’ve got my antenna all set up so I can watch NBC. I was disappointed with the short coverage of the Grande Prix Final, but happy to see it at all. I’m excited to watch the National Championships in January!
My dogs: Lali the vizsla is always distracting as she is a Velcro dog and has a very loud bark, but she’s soft and sweet and huggable. I’m worried about Ranger the basenji tho’. He seems to be losing weight, despite acting normal in every way, so I have a vet visit schedule for Tuesday.
Christmas: My daughter is sure there’s a competition going on in the neighborhood for most decorations (one we are losing) She lead the charge to add more lights and another couple projectors and claims we might have made third place. (There are 17 houses in our neighborhood) Personally, I think we’re maybe 5th, but I won’t burst, her bubble.
She also has a concert Wednesday night which her school is charging admission for. This is supposed to be in lieu of a fundraiser and since “fundraiser” is the “f” word to me, I guess I’m okay with it.😀
Find the “unseasonal” item
My release: December 13 marks my seventh release for Soul Mate!
The Dragon’s Flame is Book 5 in the ch8era Chronicles series.
Each book stands alone (although reading in order enhances the experience) and I hope this latest in the series will please my readers!
Hope you have a very shiny week!
Karin
Wanna Review? Dragon’s Flame (Chimera Chronicles 5) e ARC’s available now! December 1, 2017
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For her crime there can be no forgiveness…
Billionaire chimera-shifter, Kyle Mara’s hold on his humanity is slipping away. Fortunately, his mate has at last been revealed. Unfortunately, she’s the wicked witch who almost killed one of his brothers.
Backed into a corner by her father, CJ Bansbach had one job to do—bring back chimera genetic material for cloning and kill the donor. Her failure resulted in a year of imprisonment and torture. Being broken out by a chimera on the verge of going feral, even if he kills her or turns her over to the Ethereal council for judgement, seems like a change for the better. Until he tells her she’s his mate.
Plunged into a treasure hunt to break the bond, they must race to find the pieces of a mythical sword while pursued by CJ’s former employers and fighting the pure sexual heat that sparks every time they touch, because forgiveness isn’t Kyle’s to grant and his family’s happiness is everything to him.
https://www.amazon.com/Karin-Shah/e/B009K80F08
E ARC are hot off the press! Email me Karin@shahs.com subject ARC or comment with your email address and the @80,000 word Paranormal Romance can be in your inbox. All I ask is an honest review. If you like it, please help spread the word. If you don’t like it say why.
That’s it!
Also, Dragon’s Flame is up for pre-order on Amazon! https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Flame-Chimera-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B077TNQVXL/
Sharing is caring!
Thanks,
Karin
LION’S PREY (Chimera Chronicles 4) blurb and excerpt October 20, 2016
Posted by karinshah in amazon, books, brothers, demons, ebooks, Entertainments, Fantasy, ghosts, kindle, paranormal, paranormal romance, Sam and Dean Winchester, shifters, spirits, Strong female characters, strong female lead, Supernatural, Uncategorized.Tags: action romance, alpha, Alpha hero, alpha heroes, Blizzards, books, brothers, chimera, crime fiction, dragon shifters, dragons, ebooks, kansas, kindle, lion shifters, lions, missouri, Multi-cultural romance, ozarks, paranormal, Paranormal Romance, romance, romantic suspense, shifters, snow storm, Supernatural
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Available today!
Blurb:
On the run . . .
Attempting to flee from a bank robbery he was blackmailed into, Chimera-shifter and former Army Ranger Tyler Gunn is a desperate man. Reeling from what he believes is the death of his twin, he knows he can’t control his lion if he’s arrested and he fears killing innocent people. His only hope is to get somewhere far away, where he can safely surrender to the feral side that has gnawed away at his humanity and is now a whisker away from locking him in his lion, forever.
Reporter Zara Coventry is having a bad day. Her feet hurt, her mom is pressuring her to move back to California, her co-worker has snaked a story out from under her, and worst of all, she hasn’t had a date in so long, the mere picture of one of the escaped twins from the bank gets her all hot and bothered. What the hell is that all about? Then a tall stranger shields her from an explosion and things go completely downhill.
When Zara recognizes Ty, he has no choice. He must take her hostage. Too many lives are at stake. The plan is to release her as soon as it’s safe, but his lion is revealed and despite her fear, Zara smells the story of a lifetime. Their fates are not their own, however. A major snowstorm strands them in a tiny conservative village in the Ozarks and they are forced to pretend to be husband and wife.
Trapped together, Zara has to remind herself pretty much every time she looks at him that the sexy shapeshifter is a criminal. And though Ty knows she’s his mate, he believes he’s too unstable to give in to the burning desire he feels when she’s near.
But forbidden longing and the FBI are not the only threats. The cartel has lost an airplane in the storm and they’ll do anything to get their product back. Even kill.
Excerpt:
If she refused to come, he would have to carry her.
The notion almost pierced the numb shell of bereavement blanketing him. She’d smelled delightful in his arms earlier and felt even better. He ran a hand over his overlong crew cut. Some Special Forces guys liked to grow beards and long hair, to blend in or maybe because they were allowed, but he’d always liked the ease of the basic buzz they graced recruits with at boot camp. Con had favored it too. Con.
The thought of his brother stabbed his heart and Ty suspected his voice was probably rougher than necessary as he held out his hand to the petite TV reporter. “Your phone’s not working and the weather’s changed. I doubt you want to freeze to death here, so get back in the car.” He breathed deep and glanced over his shoulder at the vehicle, then back in her direction. “Please.”
She studied the cold, dark fields around them, her high broad cheekbones and pointed chin painted blue by the moon, and then ran her gaze over him, as if preparing to buy a prize racehorse. Her cheeks puffed out for a second and sunk, her slow breath a streaming cloud against a black backdrop. “I’ll get back in the car. If you’ll answer some of my questions.”
He considered her for a stretch, then called her bluff, pivoting on his heel to trot back to the car.
She stomped her foot, making the pebbles grate under her sneakered sole and threw her hands down at her sides like a hockey player tossing down his gloves and stick before a fight. “Come on! You kidnapped me. You’re a bank robber and some kind of weird shapeshifter thing!” She pressed her splayed hands to her chest. “It’s worth risking hypothermia to get a few questions answered.”
Weird shapeshifter thing? His lion abruptly remembered it was a pain in the ass. He roared. The sound tumbled through the fallow fields and startled some hardy birds from their roosts. Their wings beat the icy air like a rush of whispered voices.
The reporter flinched, but stood her ground. “Hell, I don’t even know which Gunn brother you are.”
Maybe the only one. He bit back a second roar at the impact of that thought, burying the pain to deal with later and took a step toward her. He’d hijacked her. What would it cost him to tell her his name? “Tyler.”
He wheeled back toward the car and patted her door which still hung open like the tongue of a panting dog. “You can call me Ty.”
Buy at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Lions-Prey-Karin-Shah-ebook/dp/B01M10GXM3/
Shiny Things October 3rd, 2016 October 3, 2016
Posted by karinshah in amazon, books, brothers, ebooks, ghosts, kindle, paranormal, paranormal romance, Parenting, Sam and Dean Winchester, shifters, spirits, Strong female characters, Supernatural, TV, Uncategorized, Winchester, writer's life.Tags: action romance, alpha heroes, army rangers, bank robbers, Blogging, books, Diwali, dragon shifters, dragons, life, lion shifters, lions, paranormal, Paranormal Romance, reviews, romance, romantic suspense, TV, writing
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There are so many Shiny Things to distract me this time of year, I don’t have time to list them all!
I’ve started writing book 5 in the CHIMERA CHRONICLES. The draft title is DRAGON’S FLAME. This is the oldest brother Kyle’s book. I had been going in reverse order, youngest to oldest, but Ky’s story has been calling to me. He’s the first chimera I’ve written with a dragon default instead of lion (or in Ethan’s case no default– ENTITY MINE), so I’m looking forward to exploring more of the Dragon’s habits and idiosyncrasies. This will also be a quest plot with a lot of action, which will be fun to write! In addition to the fact that his mate is an old enemy!
Of course, my biggest distraction is that Ta-ta-Ta-da! LION’S PREY (Book 4) Ty’s story, will be up for pre-order very very soon and I will have ARC’s for readers willing to review! This is an awesome chance to read the story before anyone else and put me forever in your debt. I love my readers, but those who take the time to review hold a special place in my heart!
I also made a trailer for THE LION’S SHARE (Book 3) Connor’s story. I hope you’ll take a second to watch! If you watch to the end, you’ll see the cover reveal for LION’S PREY.
Other distractions: The start of the fall TV schedule! Shows I’m watching/eagerly awaiting– Timeless, The Voice, Supernatural, Arrow, The Flash, Teen Wolf, Designated Survivor and so many more! Do you have any shows you’re excited about?
Diwali preparations! The Hindu festival of lights is coming and I’ll soon be busy setting out lights and decorative candles, making shrikhand (Indian strained yogurt. I like mango the best. This dish is super easy and soooo yummy!) Simply put whole regular (not Greek or low fat) plain yogurt in a cheesecloth (I use a flat textured hand towel) and fasten up the corners to make a ball. Hang the ball (I use a colander that has a hook I can hook on my kitchen faucet) and let it drain into a sink or bucket. I’m impatient so I squeeze the ball with my hands every so often to speed it up. When you open the towel and the yogurt has the consistency of cream cheese, you scrape it into a bowl with a spatula, add enough Mango purée (Called mango pulp if you buy it from the Indian store) to give the mixture the texture of Greek yogurt and maybe a little sugar if you think it’s not sweet enough. Just stir until well-blended and that’s it! Easy peasy! I store it in the fridge in the yogurt container (Washed out, of course) that I bought the yogurt in. My mother in law makes her own yogurt, but that is a whole ‘nother animal as, Connor, the hero of THE LION’S SHARE would say.
PowerSchool: My children started school in August, but my son who is making the transition to sixth grade is having some adjustment problems. The school has convinced all us parents to download an app called PowerSchool which is intended to give us heart attacks–I mean, keep us updated with a minute to minute accounting of our children’s grades. Of course, this is a wonderful tool that is introducing me to the anxiety of seeing grades go up an down like a roller coaster. I’m glad I can be on top of their work, but I’m not sure my blood pressure can take it!
Wow! This post is getting long, so I’ll leave you here. What’s distracting you this week?
Best,
Karin
THE LION’S SHARE is a TRR Top Pick! August 28, 2016
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I’m so excited that THE LION’S SHARE (CHIMERA CHRONICLES 3) received a Top Pick at The Romance Reviews! I’m so happy Lia L liked it!
Read the review: http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooksreview.php?bookid=22259
she went to the RWA literacy autographing and saw this! July 4, 2016
Posted by karinshah in amazon, books, brothers, demons, ebooks, Entertainments, Fantasy, ghosts, kindle, paranormal, paranormal romance, Sam and Dean Winchester, shifters, spirits, sports, Strong female characters, Supernatural, TV, Uncategorized, Winchester, writer's life.Tags: action romance, alpha, Alpha hero, alpha heroes, bank robberies, bank robbery, brothers, chimera, Chimeras, demons, dragon shifters, dragons, ex-convict heroes, Free, ghosts, lion shifters, lions, magic, military heroes, paranormal, Paranormal Romance, romance, romantic suspense, shapeshifters, shifters, Supernatural, TV, vampires, virgin hero, witches, writing
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Me! Scary I know. So here’s the situation: you’re walking through the RWA Literacy Autographing in San Diego. I know you want to get the big names autographs, but when you’re done, if you like shifters, stop by and say hello to me.
I’ll be wearing this (Pictured above): my Supernatural T-shirt. I’ll want to know if you’re a Sam girl or a Dean girl, or a lion-shifter or dragon-shifter (Or both like my chimeras) if you’re not a Supernatural fan, no worries, we can discuss our houses at Ilvermorny, or Hogwarts if you’re from across the pond.
If you take a picture of my shirt on this post and show it to me at the conference, I have prizes (Books) to give. I also have prizes for people I just feel like giving prizes to, so no worries if you forget!
hope to see you there!
Karin
Shiny Things June 28, 2016 June 28, 2016
Posted by karinshah in amazon, books, brothers, coming-of-age, ebooks, Entertainments, Fantasy, ghosts, kindle, paranormal, paranormal romance, shifters, spirits, Strong female characters, strong female lead, Supernatural, TV, Uncategorized.Tags: action romance, alpha, Alpha hero, alpha heroes, army rangers, badboys, bank robberies, bank robbery, brothers, chimera, Chimeras, demons, dragon shifters, dragon-shiters, dragons, ex-con heroes, FBI agents, fugitive heroes, Fugitives, fun, ghosts, Karin Shah, killers, lion shifters, lions, magic, paranormal, Paranormal Romance, romance, Romance writers, romantic suspense, serial killers, shape shifters, shapeshifters, shifters, Supernatural, vampires, virgin hero, werewolves, witches, writers, Writers' life, writing
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A look at the things distracting me this week.
My books arrived in the mail! It’s lovely to hold your physical book in your hands. The thrill never goes away!
I’m busy as a beaver working on getting Lion’s Prey ready for its August release. I hope the extra weeks I took will translate into a real keeper.
We romance readers are different from regular readers, we really do keep and re-read our old favorites. In fact, when I’m done with writing for the day, I’ve been reading some of my old category romances (and I mean old! One of them was from 1984!)
The book from 1984 is Ghost of a Chance by Jayne Ann Krentz. I have to say, the sexual tension holds up as does the central plot, but the hero is pretty high-handed and the heroine actually slapped the hero! Times have certainly changed.
I’ve also been watching So You Think You Can Dance. I didn’t think I’d enjoy the kids, but they’re amazing!
Life has been rather overwhelming recently, good and bad. On the good side: My husband and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary this week.
Here’s a pic from our Hindu ceremony which was followed by a wardrobe change and a Christian ceremony.
Meanwhile my clothes washer died and my passport application I sent in six weeks ago was returned sans passport. I have to redo it and pay more money! Ugh! We were hoping to take a cruise this summer, but given the wait time for a passport…sigh.
I’d love to hear from you. Do you have keepers? How old are they? Who are they by? Do they still stand the test of time?
Best,
Karin
PS If you haven’t joined my newsletter, please consider doing so. Newsletter readers get first shot at free ARC’s and other giveaways, and of course, news!
