A Tail of Two Sisters

Yep. You see what I did there? Two things. I put a twist on the title of the familiar and much loved Dickens novel (one of my absolute favourites) hoping that you would think me a literary genius.

And I put the wrong version of tail/tale in there. So now you’re probably thinking – not so much with the genius.

But trust me – the reason will become clear.

Meet my sister Ros Baxter – hot right? Not just hot. All round brainiac with four degrees, the last of which is a PhD . Not satisfied enough with being a lawyer/social worker she went the whole enchilada to Dr! Although, to be fair she only uses that title at airports to potentially score an upgrade or with the snotty layby people at K-Mart.

A couple of years ago, my clever, wonderful sister said to me – we should write a book together.

I told you she was smart – right?

So we did. And it was good. Nay (am sticking with olde English cos it seems kind of fitting now I’ve already mentioned Dickens) it was very good and was snapped up by Harper Collins Australia.

What? Never heard of it? (cue horrified gasp) No worries – you can find it here . It’s called Sister Pact and is, funnily enough, about two sisters. Yes – it is an awful price at the moment for an e-book (occasionally you can get it for $5 digitally and yes, Ali Ahearn is my other name. Shh, don’t tell anyone!) but if you hang around to the end of the blog there is a giveaway!

Here’s the blurb –

Two very different sisters. Once inseparable, they have long been estranged after an unimaginable betrayal.

Organised and uptight Frances married the only man she′d ever

slept with. But no-one told her that seven years later she′d be having sexual fantasies about everyone from the pizza delivery guy to Denis Thatcher. Scatterbrained animal-lover Joni never knew she was so attached to her kneecaps until she thought she might have to say goodbye to them forever.

After their beloved grandmother -- a game-show addict -- dies, they discover that they have each been left one million pounds in her will. The kicker is that they can only inherit if they participate as a team in a gruelling reality TV program, Endurance Island.

They can survive the jungle.  They can survive the humiliating challenges. But can they survive each other?

Obviously I happen  to be biased but it’s a funny, poignant, heart-warming story of  return to sisterhood and of course a couple of hot men to provide a little bit of loving because, seriously, who wants to read a book without a little bit of loving, right??

We were absolutely chuffed to be nominated in the recent ARRA romance awards in the best contemporary romance section and seriously had the best time writing this book as a team. And if you’d like to know more about our collaboration and read some sneak peeks from SP2 coming out in a few months you can find us on FB  and our website  – a new SP2 snippet was up loaded last night! 

But wait you say – the whole tail/tale thing is still not clear.

Okay, moving on.

You see my clever, amazing sister who is seriously, OMG, an amazing writer (oh and did I mention she had 4 kids from 8 down including a baby?) has her own solo book out this month with Escape Publishing called A Fish Out Of Water.  About a mermaid called Rania who is a cop in a small town called Dirtwater, far away from her oceanic roots.

Ahhh . See now? The whole tail/tale thing becomes clear, right?

Although, just to be totally upfront, Ros’s mermaids don’t have tails – how on earth would they be able to do it with tails???? And again –what’s a story without a little bit of it, right??

Here’s the blurb –

Dirtwater's straight-talking Deputy Sheriff Rania Aqualina has a lot on her plate: a nicotine addiction that's a serious liability for a mermaid, a soldier-of-fortune ex who's hooked on her Mum's brownies, a gorgeous, naked stranger in her shower, and a mysterious dead blonde with a fish tattoo on Main Street.

Heading home to Aegira for a family wedding, Rania has a sinking feeling that's got nothing to do with hydroporting seven miles under the sea and everything to do with the crazy situation. Now, if she can just steal a corpse, get a crazy Aegiran priest off her case, work out who the hell's trying to kill her, and stop sleeping with the fishes, she might be able to unravel the mysteries. And maybe even save her own ass while she's at it.

Fish out of Water is Stephanie Plum meets Splash, and the first book in a trilogy about Aegira, an underwater kingdom based on the historical Norse legend of Aegir.

And you can buy it (for only 3.99!!!) here . You can also find out more about my lovely sister at her FB page (where she does lots of short freebies) or on her website or follow her on twitter @RosBaxter.

So enough bragging about how wonderful I think my sister is – let’s get to the good stuff.

We’re giving away an e-copy of Sister Pact AND an e-copy of Fish Out Of Water (one of each) to two lucky visitors who leave a comment (and an email address please).

Do you have a sister? Are you close or not? Or do you have a brother or a cousin or other close relative you simply adore as much as I do my Ros? Do you like collaborations? Or hate them? Have you read any good ones?

Lots of fodder for comments there J