Congratulations to the Winner of
The Crystal Goblin
The winner was selected using Random.org
Barbara Wilson
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Giveaway Winner: The Crystal Goblin
Congratulations to the Winner of
The Crystal Goblin
The winner was selected using Random.org
Giveaway Winner: How to Be God's Little Princess
Congratulations to the Winner of
How to Be God's Little Princess
The winner was selected using Random.org
Adelina P.
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Giveaway Winner: Compromised
Congratulations to the Winner of
Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe
The winner was selected using Random.org
KimberlySue
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Announcing the Freedom Giveaway Hop - Sign Ups Are Open
July 1st to 7th
Co-Hosted by Simply Stacie
What is a giveaway hop?
Simple - Each participating blog hosts a giveaway and then we link up together allowing our followers to hop easily from one giveaway to another.
For followers this means lots of chances to win free books.
For blogs hosting a giveaway it means lots of new visitors.
It's a win-win!
Each participating blog will host their own giveaway. There is no requirement on the minimum or maximum value of your giveaway. It's up to you to decide. You can give away books, swags, amazon gift cards, or anything else you can think of that has to do with books. Your giveaway can be as simple or as elaborate as you want.
All participating blogs will be linked up through a Giveaway linky.
Please keep the process to enter your giveaway as simple as possible.
Please no long lists of dozens of different things followers can do to gain extra entries.
As you prepare your giveaway post please remember the following:
1. The Freedom Hop Images needs to be part of your post.
2. Include the linky list with all the participating blogs at the end of your post OR link to the giveaway hop page on this blog or on Simply Stacie.
3. Giveaway must be book related!
4. Keep the way to enter your giveaway as simple as possible. 1 Mandatory entry and no more than 5 optional extra entries.
Sample Post - From the Dreaming of Books Giveaway Hop: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/2011/01/dreaming-of-books-giveaway-hop.html
Please turn off word verification and CAPTCHA - If you are concerned about spam then enable comment moderation.
5. This must be a giveaway specifically for this hop and must run only the 7 days this hop is scheduled.
6. Keep your giveaway easy to find for the entire 7 days this hop is open. If you post often and your post does not stay near the top of your main blog page then please post a link to your giveaway at the top of your blog or sidebar.
Please mark your calendars. It is a busy time of year. A reminder email will be sent out a few days before the hops starts.
Questions can be emailed to: toobusyreading at gmail dot com.
The last day to sign up is June 27th.
To sign up please fill out the linky as follows:
Contest Entry:
This is where you put the title of your blog and where you will ship to either (US) (US/Can) or (Int)
Title of Your Blog followed by shipping info in parenthesis (Int)
Link:
This is where you put the link to your blog
http://yourblogaddress.blogspot.com
Email Address:
Please enter a valid email address where more information about the hop can be sent to you.
youremailaddress@emailprovider.com
EXAMPLE:
Ready to sign up to host a giveaway?
Simply click on the blue link at the end of the linky list that says CLICK HERE TO ENTER
Blog Tour: Author Interview & Book Giveaway - Friendship Bread by Darien Gee
Bio:
Darien Gee lives with her husband and three children in Hawaii. She is the bestselling author of three previous novels (Good Things, Sweet Life and Table Manners) written under the name Mia King. You can visit Darien Gee’s website at www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com.
Interview:
What inspired you to become an author?
I was attending elementary school in Houston at the time, and I remember looking up a book in the card catalog at the library. The cards were individually typed and filed alphabetically by author. I remember thinking how amazing it would be to write a book and have your name on one of the cards. I’ve always been in awe of authors. I still am.
What's the craziest writing idea you've had?
There used to be a chicken farm near my house in Hawaii, a mass-production kind of place with lots of chickens crammed into one space. Then one day we drove by and there were no more chickens. It was completely empty. I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened to those chickens—where did they go? Why did the place shut down? The whole thing had an eerie feel to it. My creative mind was on a roll and the next thing I knew I had an international thriller on my hands (Espionage! Intrigue! Betrayal! Love!). In the end I decided I should leave the idea with more capable authors who write in those genres.
If you could have a signed copy of any novel what would it be and why?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Aside from being a literary icon, he’s one of my favorite authors and I have a lot of respect for his writing.
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin, no cheese, side of hash browns. On the days when my arteries are protesting, I’ll opt for half a papaya with a squeeze of lime and fresh berries. I know, go figure.
Night owl, or early bird?
Night owl. When I’m on deadline or in the midst of a first draft, my husband will sometimes pass me in the hallway at the crack of dawn. He’ll be getting up just as I’m heading to bed.
What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Don’t give up, learn to be your own editor and first reader, understand the business of writing, and do it because you love it.
What is your favorite Quote?
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Hawaii. Wait, I already live there [Darien and her husband moved to the Big Island from the Bay Area in 2000], so I guess I’m exactly where I want to be!
Pet Peeves?
Overflowing laundry hampers.
Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book or any of your characters?
“Taking Chances” by Celine Dion. I played it repeatedly while I was writing the novel, and I’ve had one for every book I’ve ever written. Theme songs help you remember what’s going on with your characters and where you want them to go.
What's the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Trust yourself. You already know what to do, and if you don't, you'll figure it out.
An anonymous gift sends a woman on a journey she never could have anticipated.
One afternoon, Julia Evarts and her five-year-old daughter, Gracie, arrive home to find an unexpected gift on the front porch: a homemade loaf of Amish Friendship Bread and a simple note: I hope you enjoy it. Also included are a bag of starter, instructions on how to make the bread herself, and a request to share it with others.
Still reeling from a personal tragedy that left her estranged from the sister who was once her best friend, Julia remains at a loss as to how to move on with her life. She’d just as soon toss the anonymous gift, but to make Gracie happy, she agrees to bake the bread.
When Julia meets two newcomers to the small town of Avalon, Illinois, she sparks a connection by offering them her extra bread starter. Widow Madeline Davis is laboring to keep her tea salon afloat while Hannah Wang de Brisay, a famed concert cellist, is at a crossroads, her career and marriage having come to an abrupt end. In the warm kitchen of Madeline’s tea salon, the three women forge a friendship that will change their lives forever.
In no time, everyone in Avalon is baking Amish Friendship Bread. But even as the town unites for a benevolent cause and Julia becomes ever closer to her new friends, she realizes the profound necessity of confronting the painful past she shares with her sister.
About life and loss, friendship and community, food and family, Friendship Bread tells the uplifting story of what endures when even the unthinkable happens.
Book Giveaway:
1 copy of Friendship Bread
Open to US & Canada
Ends 6/13/11
To Enter just leave a comment on this post. Make sure there is a way to contact you if you win.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Blog Tour: Book Review - The Third by Abel Keogh
When Ransom Lawe, a recycler in the Pacific Northwest, finds out his wife is pregnant with their third—and therefore illegal—child, he’s forced to choose between the government who proclaims a desire to save the planet and his hope for a place where his family can live in freedom. But with the Census Bureau Sentinels closing in on his wife and unborn child, Ransom’s choice will either save his family or tear them apart forever.
Abel Keogh offers a stark and haunting look at a not-so-distant future in this chilling new novel. Crossing lines between good and evil, freedom and oppression, and political and environmental responsibility, The Third is a gut-wrenching tale of intense loyalty and unconditional love.
The premise of this book reminded me of the book Among the Hidden which we recently read as a family. The Third is a dystopian novel set 50 years in the future. Population controls are in effect and nearly every aspect of life is controlled by the government. Despite all that is currently wrong with our country this book made me realize how much worse it could get and how good we have things.
This book was well written and I was engaged throughout. I connected with and cared for the characters. A good mix of drama and adventure that I would recommend to those looking for a clean dystopian book. One that makes you think about life, freedom and the choice we are sometimes forced to make.
Content: Clean
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Source: From author as part of a blog tour
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Blog Tour: Character Interview with Ellie from OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy
Bio:
Amy Fellner Dominy is a little quirky. She doesn’t like beaches, she thinks chocolate is just okay, and she has an extra bone in both feet. (Ask her—she might show you.) Amy loves writing about teens who are just as quirky in their own ways. A former advertising copywriter, Amy got her MFA in 2004 with an emphasis in playwriting. Amy’s plays have been staged across the country and she’s published in both children’s plays and short stories. OyMG is her first teen novel. Amy lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her hubby, two teens and various pets.
Website:
Facebook:
Twitter
Book Trailer:
Jewish girl. Christian camp. Holy moly.
Ellie Taylor loves nothing better than a good argument. So when she gets accepted to the Christian Society Speech and Performing Arts summer camp, she's sure that if she wins the final tournament, it'll be her ticket to a scholarship to the best speech school in the country. Unfortunately, the competition at CSSPA is hot-literally. His name is Devon and, whether she likes it or not, being near him makes her sizzle. Luckily she's confident enough to take on the challenge-until she begins to suspect that the private scholarship's benefactor has negative feelings toward Jews. Will hiding her true identity and heritage be worth a shot at her dream?
Debut author Amy Fellner Dominy mixes sweet romance, surprising secrets, and even some matzo ball soup to cook up a funny yet heartfelt story about an outspoken girl who must learn to speak out for herself.
Character Interview with Ellie:
ELLIE INTERVIEW
What do you love most about debate?
I love going up against someone who thinks they’re so smart and so right. And then I prove that they’re wrong. I’m not saying I’m smarter than they are, but…well, yeah. Maybe I am saying that.
What is the hardest thing about attending a Christian camp?
I guess it’s looking around and thinking you’re just like these other kids, only you’re not. And it’s because of something they believe. About this man, Jesus. And it would be easier if you just believed it, too, but you don’t. That makes you feel weird.
Favorite food:
Grilled cheese sandwiches that my Zeydeh makes. He uses thick bread smeared with butter and toasts the sandwich on the griddle until the cheddar cheese oozes out the edges. Mmmm.
If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?
I’d go to the future. Just for a minute. I don’t want to know everything—just long enough to see how I’m doing. Except, I don’t know? What if my sneak peek is on Halloween and I’m dressed like a homeless person. I might freak myself out.
So the past, I guess. I’d go back to the 1800s and I’d be seriously the smartest person there. But would anyone listen? No. Because I’m a girl and they were too stupid to listen to girls back then. Maybe I’d just go back in time a week. And I could win the lottery. Yeah. That’s what I’d do.
If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?
I’d invite Bubbe’s aunt and uncle, and their three kids. I’d tell them about Hitler and that they should come to the U.S. Then they wouldn’t all die in concentration camps, and Zeydeh wouldn’t be so sad now.
If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?
Pizza, Dr. Pepper, and a book on how to escape Desert Islands.
What is one book everyone should read:
Charlotte’s Web. I love that book. I wanted to be called Fern after I read it! It’s great because a spider outsmarts the farmer. Except it’s sad at the end.
If you were a Superhero what would your name be?
Motor Mouth…or maybe Word Slinger.
If you could have any super power what would you choose?
I’d choose a photographic memory. I’ve always wanted one of those, where you can see a page just once and have it all memorized. Or look at a room and remember everything in it. Either that or flying. But some day, scientists will figure out jetpacks and then everyone will fly. But not everyone will have a photographic memory.
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Brownie fudge. What else?
Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your life?
Can I ask my friend? I’m not good with music, but Megan would come up with something.
What is your favorite quote?
“Give a woman an inch and she thinks she’s a ruler.” My Zeydeh says that all the time.
If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play the lead role and why?
Emma Watson, the girl who played Hermione Granger. Because she’s smart and beautiful and she can punch a guy if she needs to.
Hidden talent?
Yeah. I know it’s there. But I’m not exactly sure what it is yet.
Thanks to Amy for taking the time to do this character interview as part of The Teen Book Scene Blog Tour for OyMG. This was a fantastic book I really enjoyed!
Thanks to Amy for taking the time to do this character interview as part of The Teen Book Scene Blog Tour for OyMG. This was a fantastic book I really enjoyed!
Book Giveaway: Summer Fit
Summer Fit contains grade appropriate, basic skill activities in reading, writing, math and language arts. The daily fitness component is a fun and easy-to-use exercise routine that gets children moving on a daily basis and is designed to help children build healthy exercise habits while away from school. Children choose from Aerobic, Strength and Sport activities using a Fitness Index developed by professional trainers, school coaches and parents. Exercises are reinforced online with videos that show children performing each of the different exercises.Weekly core value activities and exercises are a resource for parents and guardians to use in talking about and teaching good character and values. Each week a different value is introduced and reinforced using real world examples of a person who represents that value.
Summer Fit is the most comprehensive summer workbook available and provides parents with the tools and the motivation to develop the physical and social well being of their child as well as the academic.
Summer Fit includes online games to reinforce basic skills in reading, writing and language arts.
I received a copy of Summer Fit for Kindergarten to 1st Grade. This is more in this book than the usual workbooks for kids. Included is also information on keep physically fit, nutrition and values. The exercises for each day do not take long to do and a parent could easily set the expectation that the days tasks should be complete before any media time.
Thanks to Media Guests Blog Tours I have a copy of Summer Fit to giveaway.
To enter simply leave a comment with which grade level you would like:
K-1, 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 or 4-5.
Open to US only
Ends 5/27/11
Blog Tour: Author Interview: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler
Bio:
I dove headfirst into my writing pursuits after receiving my MA in English from Missouri (that’s pronounced Ma-zur-AH, for those of you not in the know) State University. After wearing out a mere half dozen keyboards (I’m completely serious) drafting enough manuscripts to form a pile that literally stretches from the floor to the ceiling of my office, I was ecstatic to release my debut novel, A Blue So Dark, with Flux. Playing Hurt, my first romance, released March 8, 2011.
…Of course, as a writer, I’m going to be shouting from the rooftops about impending publications…but I’m also a hard-core literature junkie, and look forward to get book recommendations from fellow readers…
Also, as an author, I think it’s my job to dig out the best of each book—I become a better writer by identifying other writers’ strengths! That’s what you can expect to find in my reviews: an honest appreciation for what I perceive to be the most admirable quality in each new author I discover…
I can be found online at hollyschindler.com, and at my blog, Novel Anecdotes (hollyschindler.blogspot.com)
Please tell us in one sentence only why we should read your book.
You will experience true love—either for the first time, or all over again…
What inspired you to want to become a writer?
I’ve always wanted to write—ever since I was a little girl! I was incredibly shy when I was little, and sometimes, I think I started writing as a way to give me a “voice.”
If you could jump into a book, and live in that world…which would it be?
ELSEWHERE, by Gabrielle Zevin. (Don’t we all truly think it’d be heaven to age backward?)
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I’m a lifelong Ozarker, and really do think it’s beautiful here…But if I could live ANYWHERE? Wouldn’t every writer want to live in New York?
If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play the lead role and why?
Hilary Swank. She plays meaty roles—and doesn’t everybody hope that “meaty” would be an adjective that would be applied to their life, when it’s all said and done?
If you could have any superpower what would you choose?
To erase negativity. Really. Why spend your life focusing on the bad? Robert Louis Stevenson said it best in A CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES: “The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”
If you could travel in a Time Machine, would go back to the past or into the future?
Past. Definitely. (Isn’t there just a sense of peace, of calm, that comes when you crack the cover of a Jane Austen novel?)
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
I’m a pretty big eater. If I’m going to indulge? French toast, eggs over easy, bacon. Coffee.
What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Sink your nails into your dream and don’t let go. There will be so many stumbling blocks and disappointments along the way…so many heartbreaks. Just know that every author on the shelves on bookstores has felt the same way. And the only authors WHO NEVER get there are the ones who give up.
Any other books in the works? Goals for writing projects?
My debut middle grade will be released in 2012 by Dial. I have a (literally) floor-to-ceiling stack of manuscripts I’m in the midst of revising and getting into publishable form…Projects in several different genres…and new ideas are popping all the time…
Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone's admiration back home. Then she took a horrible fall during senior year. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.
That summer, Chelsea's dad hires Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player and "boot camp" trainer, to work with her at a northern Minnesota lake resort. As they grow close, Chelsea finds that Clint's haunted by his own tragedy. Will their romance end up hurting them all over again—or finally heal their heartbreak?
Blog Tour: Book Review: Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin
As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket.
Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.
But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.
Talented newcomer Alexa Martin delivers a poignant story of first love, jealousy and friendship, where the ups and downs of senior year have never been so complicated. What else can Charlotte do but throw her hands up and ride?
I read Girl Wonder back in March and should have written a review back then. It's now 2 months later and honestly this book didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I rated it 3 stars on goodreads when I finished reading it and then forgot about it. The book dealt with many different issues from family to friends to boys to school, partying, sex, drugs, learning disabilities, expectations... At times I felt for Charlotte and at other times could not relate to the choices she made. For me the subject matter of the book was the drawback not the writing itself. I would likely pick up and read another book by this author.
Content: Language, sex, drugs & alcohol use
Rating: 3 Stars
Source: ARC Tour
For all the Teen Book Scene Blog Tour stops please visit: http://theteenbookscene.weebly.com/girl-wonder-tour-details.html
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Author Interview: The Diva Doctrine by Patricia V. Davis
Bio:
PATRICIA V. DAVIS’s aim is to leave her spot of the world just a little bit better than it was before she got there. She focuses on that through her writing, teaching, philanthropic work, and the promoting of other people who she believes have that same goal.
Patricia is the author of the award-winning Harlot's Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss and Greece, and The Diva Doctrine: 16 Universal Principles Every Woman Needs to Know. She has been called a "Renaissance Woman" by Carine Nadel in The Orange County Register for her writing. As founder and editor-in-chief of the non-partisan HS Radio e-magazine and podcast, Patricia loves encouraging new writers and interviewing other “Renaissance people”, such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, James Redford, Jane Friedman, and more. She holds a Master's Degree in Creative Writing and Education, and has taught, spoken, read, and conducted seminars extensively in various venues and schools throughout the US and overseas. Patricia was named one of Top 25 Mentors for Young Women and Girls 2010 and 2011, by the Hot Mommas Project. Her latest work, The Diva Doctrine, is an extension of the guidance and support she hopes to give to women.
Interview:
If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?
Definitely the future! I’d love to be able to see a world that will exist when I will no longer be in it.
If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?
It would be nice to have dinner with all five of my sons/stepsons. (I say this because one has passed away, and the five will never be all together at dinner again, at least not on the planet Earth.)
If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?
My sunscreen, some fresh water, and my husband. After that, I could make due. (But dark chocolate and some Santana music would also be quite nice.)
What is one book everyone should read?
Just one? Okay then, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
If you could have any superpower what would you choose?
If you could have any superpower what would you choose?
To speak every language that exists. Just think how wonderful that would be.
Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
It has seriously been all the wonderful people I’ve met. I thank the internet for making my career. To know that people as far away as Indonesia have read my writing, and have written to me to tell me how much they enjoyed it, that’s simply marvelous.
If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world, which would it be?
Harry Potter’s world, but I’d have to be one of the good guys.
What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Persevere. To the nth power.
If you could be one of the Greek Gods, which would it be and why?
I’d be Zeus, of course, because he’s in charge.. (But I wouldn’t be a philanderer, like he is.)
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Right where I am. I love it.There are so many other gorgeous places I know, but I think I’ve truly found my little piece of the world where I’m happiest.
What is your favorite Quote?
I have many, but I’m always inspired by the things Eleanor Roosevelt said. In fact, she is quoted in The Diva Doctrine.
When you were little, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was ten. And I’m still working on it!
What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?
What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. I will be at the midnight show!
What was your favorite children's book?
Again, only one? Alright then, anything by Roald Dahl. In particular, Matilda.
How do you react to a bad review?
How do you react to a bad review?
I would ignore bad reviews and focus on the good ones. There are people who will like what you write, and others who won’t --- simple as that. However, if more than one bad review were to criticize the same thing over and again, like say, “bad editing” then I’d probably pay attention and see if I can learn something.
Patricia V. Davis may be the first to tell you she's an expert in failed relationships. But ask any of the readers who helped a post on her advice blog go viral, and they'll say that whether you're wide-eyed twenty-something dreamer, the world's grooviest grandma, or something in between, there's no one better able to help you on your way to becoming a True Diva!
http://www.divadoctrine.com/
For all the Diva Doctrine Tour Stops please visit Cedar Fort Books.
If you have not yet done so be sure to enter my giveaway for The Diva Doctrine.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Giveaway Winner: How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend
Congratulations to the Winner of
How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend
The winner was selected using Random.org
Sandra C. Lopez
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
Winner has been notified. Thanks to all who entered.
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