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Yours to Take Giveaway

In honor of Vicki’s book, YOURS TO TAKE, I’m offering a $100 gift certificate to any online book retailer of the winner’s choice.  You can tell me to split it up among stores too, so if you’d like $50 at Samhain and $50 at Amazon, or $100 at B&N — whatever you want!

To enter, comment on this post ONLY before midnight CST, May 21st.  I’ll be using “Pick Giveaway Winner” to randomly select the winner from this post.  Anyone on the planet can enter, even if you’ve won something from me before.  Multiple comments are encouraged!

Ways to enter:

  • Just throw your name in the hat with a generic comment.
  • If you’ve read any of the Connagher books, I’m considering writing Mama Connagher and Ty’s book.  How do you think they met?  Anything outlandishly funny or crazy you think of about them?  The wilder the better!  Let’s have fun with this!  If I use any of your ideas, I’ll include you in the dedication and acknowledgements.
  • Rate or review any Connagher book anywhere online and post a comment containing the link to your review (one link per comment if you want to maximize your chances to win).  Pre-existing reviews are fine – but you have to go get the link and comment here.  Good or bad reviews, I don’t care.

If Hurt Me So Good breaks 20 Amazon reviews, I’ll also add another $50 gift certificate!

If Yours to Take breaks 20 Amazon reviews, I’ll add another $50 gift certificate as well!

Thank you for helping me celebrate Vicki’s release!

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Blood and Shadows Series Feature Event

This weekend (April 5-8) I’ll be at The Forbidden Bookshelf spilling everything I can about the Blood & Shadows series, specifically The Shanhasson trilogy.  There will be excerpts and lots of background/behind the scenes information about the characters and world, plus a giveaway!  Details here.

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News Roundup

It’s free book week at Carina Press. A new free book each day! Details here.

I’m also over at The Romance Reviews today talking about The Bloodgate Guardian. Comment on any of my posts over there to be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to any online retailer of your choice.

Of course, I’m still giddy that Mykal has finally arrived! Return to Shanhasson should start filtering through book retailers over the next few days. I’m still looking for reviewers, so if you’re interested, drop me a note. (This is book 3 of a trilogy, not a standalone.)

I’ll be planning a giveaway shortly — any requests?!?

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These Books Need a Home

Updated:  the books promised or already sent have been removed from the list.  I also added a few new ones!

I’m cleaning out my bookshelves, and as most bibliophiles, I’ve realized I have way more books than I will ever read (or read again).  I thought who better to offer these books to than my friends and blog readers! 

These books are all either new or gently used.  Media mail postage is pretty cheap in the US, so my postage budget will go pretty far.  If my international friends see some they’d like, I ask that you bundle a few together and I’ll get prices to ship them.  If it’s extremely expensive, I may have to hold off a while before sending them.

I’ll keep adding books to this post and cross off the ones that are taken.  You can drop me an e-mail (joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com) or comment here if any book strikes your fancy.

In no particular order:

Beyond the Edge, Susan Kearney, Extreme Blaze

The Lost City of Z, David Grann, hardcover, Double Day

The Stepsister Scheme, Jim C, Hines, DAW

The Satin Sash, Red Garnier, Penquin Heat (trade)

Close Encounters and Close Contact, Katherine Allred, EOS

Moonstruck, Susan Grant, HQN

On Basilisk Station, David Weber, Baen

Melusine, Sarah Monette, Ace

Dark Legacy, Anna DeStefano, Love Spell

Amazonia, James Rollins, Avon

The Prince of Midnight, The Hidden Heart, The Shadow & the Star, Laura Kinsale, Avon

Scandal, Ravished, Surrender, Seduction, Mistress, Rendezvous, Deception, Affair, Mischief, Dangerous, Amanda Quick, Bantam

The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, Terry Brooks, Del Rey

Feast of Souls, CS Friedman, Daw

Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay, Roc

The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris, St. Martin’s

Working for the Devil, Lilith Saintcrow, Warner

The Lion’s Lady, Julie Garwood, Pocket

By the Sword, Winds of Fate, Winds of Fury, Mercedes Lackey, Daw

Rules of Attraction, A Well Pleasured Lady, Christina Dodd, Avon

Talyn, Holly Lisle, Tor

Lord of the Dead, Tom Holland, Pocket

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Break 20 Contest Winners & Update

The winners of the two $50 gift certificates are:

Soleil and Rae Lori.

Please e-mail your choice of online book retailer to me at joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com for your $50 gift certificate!

Everyone else, don’t give up hope.  I’ve decided to keep the contest open until we hit 20 Amazon reviews.  If you rate or review any of my books anywhere, good or bad, drop me an email to be entered.  (If you already entered, you’re golden — no need to e-mail me again unless it’s a new link.)

For the first book that hits 20 Amazon reviews, I’ll draw a name for a $50 gift certificate; afterward, other books that hit 20 Amazon reviews will be for $20, your choice of retailer.

Thank you to everyone who entered and continues to show your support for authors by reading and discussing the books you love!

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Vacation Reads Blog Tour

During the month of July I’m participating with several (30!) authors in a group blog tour called Seasonal Reading.  In July, we’ll be featuring sets of different books that will make great reads for the lazy days of summer.  Each weekend, we’ll offer great prizes, including copies of the featured titles, promotional items, and more! 

1. Each weekend, we will be offering great prizes, including copies of the featured titles, promotional items, and more!  To enter the drawing, please leave a comment on one of the blogs AND on the master site at Seasonal Reads.
 
2. BONUS DRAWING: If anyone features any of our titles on their blogs and send us the link (in the comments section), they will be eligible for a second drawing, to win more of our great prizes. 
 
Winners will be notified in early August. 

 
ALSO: If anyone features any of our titles on their blogs and e-mails us the link, they will be eligible for a second drawing, to win more of our great prizes.

Winners will be notified by e-mail.

* * *

ALIEN DREAMS, by John Rosenman
http://www.johnrosenman.com

Captain Eric Latimore leads a four-person crew to Lagos to investigate a previous team’s mysterious disappearance. Once there, he discovers that an ominous alien presence is invading their dreams. Each member of his crew has the same dream–huge, seductively beautiful “angels” speak to them telepathically.

The creatures strand his crew on the planet and only Latimore can free them–if he survives.

What is different about ALIEN DREAMS, John?

I think Alien Dreams stands out from other space operas because I tried to open myself to and expand the vast conceptual possibilities of the genre.  Captain Latimore faces a unique threat to his crew on the planet Lagos: beautiful but deadly angel-like aliens who invade their dreams.  To save his crew, he must not only change into a gigantic angel himself, but mate with their ravishing queen for thousands of subjective years.  I believe this erotic scene breaks new ground, as does the hero himself, who is not one but two: a silent  brother exists within his mind and ultimately tries to take over.  Finally, Latimore must travel across the universe and do battle with a cosmic Gatekeeper for control of the universe.  In such areas, I try not only to explore new dimensions but to illuminate what it truly means to be human.

* * *

UNSEELIE, by Meredith Holmes
http://www.meredithholmes.com

When Alfhild was a little girl, her grandmother called her a fairy princess and told her all of her favorite tales.

She’d never imagined they were real.

Anxious to avoid the swarming reporters and ghoulish souvenir hunters who won’t leave her alone when her brother Gulliver is tried and acquitted for multiple murders he almost certainly committed, a grown up Alfhild changes her name to Lorelei and flees Louisiana to the sanctuary she inherited from her grandmother, the ancestral home in England.

All is well until she wakes one morning to find a naked man in her rosebush.

And the games begin . . .

Can you tell about your book, Meredith?

I fell in love with urban fantasy by accident–one day I saw a card in a local metaphysical shop, one of those blank jobs that you fill out for random occasions, when you forgot a birthday or need to send a thank you note and don’t like what the mainstream card shops have to offer (you can only deal with so many dancing bunnies and softly flourished flowers, after all).  The card had a picture of a autumn-colored man clad in green velvet and wearing a crown of dark leaves.  A story sprang into my head about him and I called him Cadfael.  By that night, I had the first six chapters of Unseelie written (in their earliest, raw form); Alfhild, Cadfael and Du had taken off and were running away with my plot and the twists and turns of the Unseelie and Seelie Courts were just pouring out into the digital pages.  I blithely called it a romance but within a few more chapters, I realized no, it was urban fantasy, a genre I’d shunned as a fantasy purist… Well, fool me!  Now that is my genre of choice when I write and I’ve expanded from faeries to include demons, witches, and creatures of all sorts.

* * *

IVAN AND MARYA, by Anna Kashina
http://annakashina.com

Every Solstice, every year, a young girl dies to prolong the life of a madman.

Every Solstice a hero tries to stop them…and dies.

But this is Ivan’s year. Though his brothers plot his death, and the villagers
whose daughters are dying warn him not to interfere, Ivan the Fool is determined to stop the sacrifice.

With the help of the immortals, gotten by sympathy, force, or guile, Ivan
believes his love will save the beautiful Marya from herself.

Where did the idea for IVAN AND MARYA come from?

I felt that Russian fairy tales have not been explored enough in fiction, and
they have so much to offer to a writer and a reader.  I built on a most
classical one, but also did something different with it.  My story is told from
two points of view — Marya, who is on the side of ‘evil’, and Ivan, who is on
the side of ‘good’, and the contrast between the two creates shades of depth
that amazed me when I was working on the story.  It was a pleasure to write,
and I constantly had this feeling of revelation, as if I am not making this up
but uncovering yet another layer of a fascinating world.  I also did my best to
make it as authentic as possible, down to the details of the Russian Solstice
celebration, an ancient tradition that is very much practiced today.

* * *

CHOCOLATIER’S WIFE, Cindy Lynn Speer
http://www.apenandfire.com

Tasmin, William’s wife to be, was chosen by a spell, as all wives and husbands are chosen. It’s a nice, tidy way to find a reasonable mate for almost everyone. Unfortunately, Tasmin is from the North, a place of magic and strange ritual, and William is from the South, where people pride themselves on being above that kind of insanity.

William doesn’t seem in a hurry to send for Tasmin, for which none of his family blame him. After all, she’s a barbarian. She, on the other hand, would like to know what’s keeping him. When he’s framed for murdering his patron, Tasmin takes matters into her own hands. She’s gotten to know William from his letters. He’s not a murderer and she’s going to help him prove it.

Someone out there doesn’t like him and is beginning to dislike Tasmin almost as much, and that someone isn’t at all averse to making sure William and Tasmin aren’t around long enough to celebrate their wedding.

Tasmin, of course, has other plans.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer?  How does that affect your writing?

I am a part time writer… like everyone, I’m juggling a lot of delicate porcelain plates… one for writing, one for work, one for family, one for fencing.  It splits your focus… but it also gives you a lot of great ideas and experiences to pull from.  Would I like to be a full time writer?  For certain.  But I think that being forced to go out and talk to people every day, being exposed to life, enriches me and therefore will, hopefully, be reflected in my work.  So, in that way, it affects things positively… in the whole productivity issue, well… sometimes things are not so positive.

* * *

COMPOSING MAGIC, Elizabeth Barrette
http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com

Composing Magic: How to Create Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants, and Prayers guides you through the exciting realm of magical and spiritual writing.  Explore the process of writing, its tools and techniques, individual types of composition, and ways of sharing your work with other people. Each type of writing includes its history and uses, covering diverse traditions; plus step-by-step instructions, finished compositions, and exercises.  Intended for alternative religions, but it can be generalized to others or used by fiction writers to create background tidbits.

Why did you write this book, Elizabeth?

I spotted a gap in previous material — I have a knack for doing that.  Pagan/magical books tell people to write their own rituals, spells, etc. but rarely give any guidance on doing it.  Writing books tell people how to write in general, but there were no specific guides for magical writing and not many for spiritual writing.  I’m good at figuring out how I do what I do and then explaining it to other folks so they can work through the steps.  It wasn’t until the reviews came in for _Composing Magic_ that I realized this is a rather rare skill — most of them mention how clear and doable the instructions are.  So now I’m trying to make more use of this skill.

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Giveaway: Larissa Ione and Stephanie Tyler

Ione_EUTyler_HOT

Congratulations to Larissa and Stephanie for their book releases today!  It’s no secret that I love the Demonica series (I made the kids wait to go into The Dixie Stampede last year until I could finish the book!!), and I’ve got Jake’s book sitting on my shelf, begging to be read, so what better way to celebrate than to give a few good books away?

Comment on this post to enter or e-mail me once at joelysueburkhart AT gmail.com before midnight CST Thursday, Jan. 28th.  I’ll announce the winner Friday.  Anyone on the planet may enter, even if you’ve won something from me before, and I do not retain your names/e-mail addresses after the contest is over.