Another Tuesday Temptation

Since it's Tempting Tuesday, I'm going to be totally self-serving and tempt you with my new book, Damsel Under Stress, which hits stores today. This is the third book in my Enchanted, Inc. series, which includes Enchanted, Inc. and Once Upon Stilettos. This series follows the adventures of Katie Chandler, a small-town girl from Texas who moved to New York with hopes of being more extraordinary than she stood a chance of being back home.

In the first book, she'd been in the city a year and still felt like a hick, since she hadn't yet managed to learn the New Yorker trick of pretending not to see weird things. It didn't help that she kept seeing some really weird things, like people getting on the subway wearing fairy wings. She later found out that she was actually seeing things most others didn't because magic didn't work on her, not even the magic used to hide magical things. That odd talent landed her a job at Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc. (basically, the Microsoft of magic, only not evil).

In this third book, the stakes are higher than ever before. There's a rogue wizard on the loose trying to market dark spells, and now he's managed to get enough financial backing to buy ads and open a real store. Katie and her wizard boyfriend Owen have to figure out what's going on and where that money is coming from. And speaking of that boyfriend ... just when she didn't need any help in the romance department, Katie suddenly has a real, live fairy godmother. Supposedly the fairy godmother is there to help, but it seems like every attempt at dating and romance ends in disaster. No wonder Katie is a Damsel Under Stress.

As you can probably tell from the description, these are serious, dramatic literary works (and in case you're immune to sarcasm, they're really not. They're meant to be funny). I certainly have fun writing them, and it seems like readers are having fun reading them. I originally pitched the series as "Bridget Jones meets Harry Potter, as it's a blend of chick lit and fantasy. Just for fun, here's a list of reasons why people might want to check out my books for themselves:

1) I write faster than JK Rowling, so you won't have to wait as long for the sequel (the next book is coming in January 2008 and is already written).
2) You can read each book in a few hours, especially if you're willing to sacrifice nonessentials such as sleep, homework, housework or food (or so my readers tell me).
3) My books are funnier than anything Oprah recommends.
4) Talking gargoyles! Talking gargoyles who drive!
5) You think your boss is an ogre? Read these books and you'll meet a truly evil boss -- and I'm not talking about the one who's green and has fangs.

I'll be doing a mini book tour throughout Texas, so if you're in one of these locations, the more, the merrier!
May 3, 7 p.m., Borders at Preston and Royal in Dallas
May 5, 2 p.m., Barnes & Noble in Tyler
May 9, 7 p.m., Hastings in Round Rock
May 12, 2 p.m., Barnes & Noble on University in Fort Worth
May 16, 7:30 p.m., Borders at the Quarries in San Antonio

For more details on all of these or on the books, visit my web site.