Guest Post with Author Karina Cooper and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome back to RFTC author, Karina Cooper. Karina is celebrating the recent release of Wicked Lies and has stopped by to chat. Please give Karina a warm welcome.

Born from the genetic mash-up of lesser royalty, storytellers, wanderers and dreamers, KARINA COOPER was destined to be a creative genius. As a child, she moved all over the country like some kind of waifish blonde gypsy and thrived in the new cultures her family settled in. When she (finally) grew up, she skipped the whole genius part and fell in love with writing because, really, who doesn’t love making things up for a living?

One part romance fanatic, one part total dork, and all imagination, she writes dark and sexy paranormal romance and urban fantasy. When she isn’t writing, Karina is an airship captain’s wife and Steampunk fashionista. She lives in the beautiful and rainy Pacific Northwest with a husband, four cats, two rabbits, the fantasy of a dog, and a passel of adopted gamer geeks.

Places to find

| Site | Facebook | Twitter |

What’s the Opposite of TL;DR?

For those of you not into the ever-evolving internet lingo, tl;dr stands for “too long; didn’t read”—an often pithy shorthand comment left when a post, comment, or other mode of interactive writing is too long for what the commenter views as “easy processing”.

So what’s the opposite of it? Too short; want more? Somehow, ts;wm just doesn’t have the same dismissive sparkle.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to address some of the questions I’ve been getting a lot of since Wicked Lies was released.

Why so short?

Short answer: it’s a novella. Seriously, that’s why it’s so short! The thing is, I wanted to write something that would be reasonably priced—and at $1.99, how can you go wrong?—because I wanted a lot of people to buy it.

I can be honest, here.

I was deliberately hoping that the shiny two dollar price tag would make Jonas’ story completely irresistible. Jonas Stone + good price? Magic!

...That’s really honest.

Yeah, well, it’s all for a good cause! The thing is, I have a charity attached to Wicked Lies that means everything I make from the novellas will be going to the It Gets Better Project. The Project is all about reaching out to LGBTQ and at-risk youth, helping them through what can be the toughest time of their lives—coming to terms with themselves in an environment (i.e. school) that is not kind to anyone who breaks the “norm”.

I want you to buy this book. I want you to tell your friends about this book. I want you to gift it to everyone, and I want you to give me your money. Because you’ll be giving an amazing charity your money; your money will go to lessening the horrible experiences LGBTQ youth go through, to efforts to minimize the impact of sexuality-shaming and bullying, to people who will help the kids in desperate need of a friendly face, a friendly hand, a support group.

Kids like I was, kids like yours, like your kids’ friends, your neighbors, even strangers.

I can’t be any more sincere than that.

So what’s with that ending? I mean, it’s not a HEA!

You noticed! It’s been super fun for me to read the occasional review and see who caught that and who didn’t.

Spoiler alert!

Yes, you might have noticed that Jonas does not wholly commit to Danny. In fact, it takes every charming trick in the book for Danny to get Jonas to agree even to try.

This is madness!

This. Is. Character!

I really wanted to include a bearded, grimacing photo of Leonides, but I decided that we’d have to do without his glistening thews this round.

I’m sure you noticed—or will notice—that Jonas is a bit of a tough nut to crack. No pun intended, truly. He’s damaged in ways that go way beyond his shattered legs and he’s slow to trust—mostly, himself. So, it makes a lot of sense to me that in the very brief time these gentlemen spend together, he’s not likely to go haring off and declaring his everlasting love to his partner of, hmmm, something like two days?

You realize Danny did, right?

Yes, but Danny is quite a bit younger, has no real baggage, and has this idealistic optimism that kind of makes me insane. He’s the kind of man who’s willing to throw it all out there and go, “So, what do you think?” Jonas? Not so much.

To Danny, doing is the same as thinking it over. He wants to experience something before he can decide if it’s right or not—he wants to give everything his all.

Jonas is much more leery of putting himself out there.

So, that’s it? That’s all we get?

Of course not! I’m not that mean!

Well, okay, I’m a little bit that mean, but only because I’m making you wait a month or two.

In April 30th’s final Dark Mission book, One for the Wicked, we’ll get a chance to revisit our previous couples—check in with them, see how they’re doing, all within the context of this war between good and evil. New Seattle’s at risk in a big way, and you can bet that Jonas is up to his techie head in all of it.

I promise, there will be a resolution that is stronger than “okay, we’ll try this...” Poor Jonas. You think I’d leave my boy hanging forever?

So, what say? Can you bear with Jonas and his wary, self-protecting caution?

Jonas Stone has been given his first independent operation: rescue the insurrection leader’s imprisoned grandson from the Mission. Getting the job done means more than getting Danny Granger out-it means staying with him while he heals. Staying too close, for way too long.

Danny is everything Jonas isn’t: confident, optimistic, honest--a man to be reckoned with. If only it didn’t mean going against everything Jonas has planned. He’s kept his secrets for years, hid behind a mask no one could see through...until now. Danny isn’t the kind of man Jonas deserves. But he might be exactly the man he needs...

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

A blue-white light flickered in the dark. Sparks glinted off the tool racks bolted to the wall across the shadowed room, reflected from the metal braces left leaning against the desk. As silence—mind-numbingly loud, thick as water, and twice as hard to breathe—filled the narrow room, that blue-white light caught in the circular lenses of a pair of glasses and threw a glare across the screen.

Jonas Stone stirred. “It has to be now,” he said, his voice too loud in the oppressive weight of the shadows behind him. He couldn’t look away from the feed spilling its incandescent glow over his desk, his keyboard.

His conscience.

Because the man framed in that digital feed—the kid strapped to the chair dead center of the surveillance footage—wasn’t the first suspected heretic to sit there. To sweat there.

To bleed.

“Be sure, Jonas. We get one shot at this.”

His brain wanted to look at the comm unit beside his left hand. His body refused to obey, every cell focused on the prisoner’s dark, drooping head. Scarred fingers twitched, knuckles whitening, and Jonas frowned as he realized his right hand had closed into a painful fist.

It had to be now. The kid wouldn’t last much longer.

“There’s no alternative,” he replied. “We’re not going to get another opening soon enough to .” He hesitated.

The voice over the comm link didn’t waver. Not even a fracture. “Soon enough to save him.”

Check out the Dark Mission series: 

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Check out what's up for grabs.

Up For Grabs For Entire Tour: 

• 1 lucky winner will win a set of the Dark Mission series

To Enter:

• Please leave a meaningful comment/question for Karina. 
• US Shipping ONLY
• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form

Good Luck =)

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