Okay, finished my third review. You can read it here: The Other Life by Ellen Meister. I’m actually a little ashamed of myself for not posting a review on this one before now. I read it way back in February, right after it was released, but it took me some time to get around to recommending it.
I’ve still only got a handful of entries in my door prize giveaway. Love to hear from more of you, so leave me a comment if you want to register for my giveaway. 🙂
Back again with another review done. Check it out: Sexiest Man Alive by Diana Holquist. Please note that my reviews tend to be pretty general. Trust me, other readers and even the authors of the books you review don’t expect NYT Book Review style reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. They just want to know if you liked it!
Up to six entries in my door prize giveaway. Amy Eye got three entries because she reviews books, congratulated me on my new book AND she bought the book so she could tell me what the first syllable was! Although I hadn’t intended to require a purchase to enter for a door prize, I was so pleased that she went the extra mile, I gave her an extra entry. I plan to give away at least six e-gift cards this evening, so keep the entries coming!
Today’s the day. I am officially a multipublished author. Check it out: My Books. Today you can purchase WINTER SOLSTICE, my second romance novel. To celebrate, I’m giving away e-gift cards to my favorite ebook retailers today. How do you qualify to win one of these fantastic door prizes?
Two ways. First, I want to give something back to the authors I love. The ones who write things that inspire me. So all day today I’m going to be writing reviews on Amazon or Barnes & Noble’s website. I’m on vacation, so I think I can only promise three reviews, but if I can do more, I will. I would love for you to review the books you love, too. If you do, drop me a line on here and let me know which book you reviewed and you’ll automatically get two entries in the door prizes.
Second, I understand about not having time to write a review today. If you just can’t do it, leave me a message on here to let me know you dropped by. You’ll still get an entry in the door prize, along with my appreciation for the good wishes. 🙂
Gotta run for now, but I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon!
My oldest son starts school this week, and I’m worried. The older he gets the more I worry, funnily enough. I remember sixth grade as a miserable year. My best friend had betrayed me the year before, and her betrayal stung me so deeply, I couldn’t help but be scarred by it. Although we’d been friends since fourth grade, she decided I wasn’t cool because my family wasn’t rich and I wore a lot of hand-me-downs. So she made friends with another little girl and they spent fifth grade alternately ignoring me and talking about me.
It still stings.
I saw my son going through some of that last year. He doesn’t have the same problems I did. He’s smart and good-looking and a little quiet until you get to know him, though, and evidently that’s enough. He lost some friends last year, rediscovered some old ones and made some new ones. It was painful for me to watch remembering what I went through.
So I want to address this one to the kids. This is your chance to discover the world doesn’t revolve around you. Those ties you made with a friend might be easy for you to sever, but that doesn’t mean the other person won’t feel it. And those words which are so easy to utter will hurt someone who cares about you. This is your chance to decide you are going to make the world better in whatever way you can. Maybe that quiet kid isn’t as reclusive as you thought. Maybe she’s shy but smart and fun. Maybe that overweight kid you torture because he’s slow has a great sense of humor. Maybe the smart kid with his nose in a book loves to help and would be willing to show you how to do that tough math problem on your homework.
Don’t think that because you’re young you don’t have any power. Your world is what you make it. You can start now erasing prejudice and cruelty from it.
NOTE: WINTER SOLSTICE is tomorrow!
It’s officially Saturday here on the East coast, so I’ll go ahead and call it two days to WINTER SOLSTICE. I would’ve updated yesterday, but my three-year-old MacBook gave up the ghost. Well, what Apple taketh away, Apple also giveth. Less than twenty-four hours later, my new MacBook Pro arrived (yeah, I anticipated the death and had already ordered the replacement), so I can’t help but be happy. Plus, through the magic of Apple’s Time Machine, I didn’t even lose that much. A couple of paragraphs, and believe me, it wasn’t much of a loss considering my work-in-progress at the time was much less than my usual brilliance.
Speaking of Apple, I may have finally made it to the big time. Well… You see, after SECRETS OF THE LOTUS, I checked constantly for my book to be uploaded onto the Apple iBookstore. Due to formatting issues, it never made it. Well, I’m far from obsessing about WINTER SOLSTICE, but believe or not by happenstance I discovered it’s already available on iBooks the other day. Which was sort of neat. Yes, you can pre-order me on iTunes. Which sounds kind of raunchy, but I’m not…I mean, it’s not…I mean, well, if you’ve got an iPad, figure it out.
So Apple’s on my positive karma list for multiple reasons as I head into the last weekend before my second book release. Don’t forget to join me for some great giveaway action here on my blog all day Monday to celebrate the WINTER SOLSTICE. Hope to see you then!
P.S. A big shout out to my horror buddies at CUTTING BLOCK PRESS for the highly anticipated release of TATTERED SOULS 2. I’ve had the pleasure of working with these guys for both TS and TS 2 as well as several other projects. I have to say, TATTERED SOULS 2 is a beautiful product with some incredible work inside. I copy edited two of the four novellas and look forward to reading the other two. If they’re anywhere near the quality of the two I worked on, the whole project should win some awards!
Just saying. 🙂 Be sure to stop by Monday, August 15 for your chance to win one of my e-gift card giveaways.
August 15 may not be the shortest day of the year, but it is the date of release of my second book WINTER SOLSTICE. Because it’s the end of the summer, I haven’t made any plans for any REAL book release party, but I figured, hey, no reason not to celebrate, right? So stop by my blog anytime on August 15 and leave a comment on one of my posts to enter for a chance to win a great party favor. I’ll be giving away $5 e-gift cards to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the Lyrical Press store all day. The number of cards I give away will depend on the number of comments I get, so feel free to enter more than once, just make sure you leave your email address so I can let you know if you won!
COUNTDOWN to WINTER SOLSTICE: 7 days!
This is embarrassing. SECRETS OF THE LOTUS received an honorable mention in the ROMANCE BOOK SCENE Best of 2010 Awards—way back in February! How did I miss it? This is no small thing, considering Romance Book Scene reviews hundreds of romances every year. I am very, very honored. Thank you to the reviewers of Romance Book Scene for the thoughtful review they gave my book and for thinking enough of me to mention me in their awards!
Countdown to WINTER SOLSTICE: Eight days!
I’ve just come back from a long breathing moment. A vacation of sorts. We spent several days in Chapel Hill, N.C., while my boys went to lacrosse camp. While they were in camp, I tromped around the University of North Carolina’s campus in the hundred degree heat, dripping with sweat. And I loved every minute of it.
I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill way back in the early nineties. I still remember the first time I set foot on that campus. It was in the spring and I was either a junior or senior in high school. My high school newspaper The Broadcaster had received several awards, including one for a story I wrote. The awards presentation itself is forgettable. But the moment I saw UNC is not. I fell wholeheartedly in love and I knew I wanted to go there more than anything else.
I still love that school. I spent six years there, walking every path it had. I know it like the back of my hand. I met my husband there, I got my first real job there in the R.B. House Undergraduate Library. Every step I made on that campus is part of my heart and I can walk them every day if I just close my eyes.
From Chapel Hill, I went home. The mountains of North Carolina. I walked the streets of my old hometown, Brevard, which has changed way more than UNC. But if I look close, I can find my footprints on the old sidewalks. Many of the storefronts are the same, although the shops behind them are vastly different. There is no dime store or Book Nook. The library I worked in for six years has moved to a much larger facility down the street. The movie theater is still there, as is the McDonald’s. And although Varner’s drugstore has a different name, the grilled cheese still melts on my tongue.
Those are the paths of my heart that run deepest. As I listened to a bluegrass band playing on Main Street, I looked at the sidewalk and remembered the times I’d walked or ridden my bike right over that same spot. I drove past my best friend’s house and remembered the hours I’d spent there with her, dreaming and talking, laughing and making messes in the kitchen. And I drove past the first house I ever called home. I looked right at the windows that used to look in on me as I slept during my youngest years.
We all have these paths in our heart. I cherish mine, even though the paths I walk most are the ones on the surface. I always know the deeper ones are there, and I can get to them whenever the pangs of homesickness strike.
Forgive the sentimentality of this post. I am, at heart, a romantic, so I can’t really help it. 🙂
HONEOWP Update: $25 donated to Bite-Back, Shark and Marine Conservation. August charity, continuing in the vein of beach conservation, is Oceana: Protecting the World’s Oceans. If you’re taking a beach trip this August, breathe in the salt air and think about what the world would be like if the water became too polluted to be near, or if the wildlife of the oceans were wiped out. If you’ve enjoyed the beaches at all this summer, consider giving something back to either of these charities.
WINTER SOLSTICE COUNTDOWN: Nine days!
EDIT: Oops. Turns out Bite-Back doesn’t take direct donations. So I purchased something from their shop and made July’s donation to Oceana, instead. My apologies for not reading their website more closely!
My first review for WINTER SOLSTICE from Manic Readers got four and a half stars(!!!) Here’s a little snippet:
“I liked Winter Solstice, especially the lead characters. … It’s well-written, with just enough sexual tension, plus believable conflicts that are finally solved satisfactorily.”
Countdown to WINTER SOLSTICE: 12 days!
BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye 