Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Updates, Thank You, and an End of Year Blow-Out Giveaway


Well, it has been a hell of a year, hasn't it?

Raise your hand if you're glad it's almost over...

I won't kid you--this was a tough one for me. I lost Magic the Cat and her brother Mystic in early January, then my friend (and stepdaughter's mom) Jo in February, my friend Bethany in October, and one of my favorite artists, Gail, last month. And a friend lost his 10 year old son. Plus I had some unexpected health issues, and frustrations with my writing career, and you know, stuff.

But don't get me wrong. There were a lot of good things too. Time spent with family and friends, including a fun trip to Coastal Magic in February and to Stuart, Florida in September to hang out with my friend Terry (and do research for a book). And I got three new kitties!

On the writing front, I've had a blast working on the upcoming Everyday Witch Oracle Card deck with illustrator Elisabeth Alba, and of course, just signed a contract with St. Martin's Press for a goddess empowerment book for women that I will be starting work on in the new year. I'm hoping to write and self-publish another Baba Yaga book in 2019, too.

I am blessed with great friends, and readers who support me here, and on Facebook and Twitter, and over on my PATREON. I can't even begin to express my gratitude to you all. Authors are nothing without their readers. (Speaking of which, if you've read one of my books this year and liked it, I would be REALLY GRATEFUL if you could zip over to Amazon, Goodreads, or B&N and leave a brief review. Especially for the Little Book of Cat Magic, which only ended up with nine sad little reviews, probably because of the mess that occurred when it came out in October, and for Dangerously Driven, my most recent Riders novella. Pretty please? Thanks in advance!)

As a thank you, I'm going to do one more big blow-out giveaway to end 2018 on a positive note! There are going to be not one, not two, but FIVE prizes, so more people will have a chance to win. Check out this pile of goodies.

All the prizes!
The grand prize is a Fire Tablet! (You know, so you have something to read my books on...). There is also a $10 Amazon gift card (so you can buy more books), and signed copies of A Year and a Day of Everyday Witchcraft (to start your year off right), Circle, Coven & Grove (my first book), and Reinventing Ruby (my contemporary foodie romance). Plus some fun bookmarks and things.

But wait, you might say, two of those covers look different! Good eye. Thanks to my assistant Sierra, we've finally got Circle, Coven & Grove out in PRINT (I got my rights back from Llewellyn when it went out of print, but we hadn't gotten around to putting out a print version with the new cover by Mickie Mueller until now), and changed the cover of REINVENTING RUBY to something we thought better reflected it's romance themes. Don't they look great?


Ta da!

What do you think?

Tell me what the best part of 2018 was for you--and I hope to see you in 2019. Thanks again!

(To enter, simply fill in the Rafflecopter form. No purchase necessary.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


83 comments:

  1. 2018 brought my first solo trip away to Glastonbury by myself, I turned 30 which wasn't as scary as it seemed, and I finally sought help for my mental health - though early days on that still!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Huzzah for all those things! 30 is nothing...I'm a couple of years away from 60!

      Delete
  2. Best thing about 2018 is that it's almost over

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ahhh, another super fun giveaway! Good luck everyone and here's to a super 2019!

    ReplyDelete
  4. thank you. nothing spectacular happened

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just getting to spend a lot of time with my 5 grandchildren.. Thank you for an awesome giveaway!! Tina Myers

    ReplyDelete
  6. The best parts of 2018 were the quiet moments when I stopped trying to stay on top of all outside obligations and took time to work on my writing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you. I'm going to try and do more of that in 2019.

      Delete
  7. Retired!! Thanks for the chance!

    ReplyDelete
  8. The best of 2018 is my familiar/cat Hooba making through (so far) his health scare/condition of Chronic Kidney Disorder. He is doing better than the vet expected. Cherishing every moment. Peace and love, and continued success and health to you and yours in the new year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hang in there, Hooba. My cat Samhain made it six years with chronic renal failure. I hope Hooba gets many more good years.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for this. The vet has been so discouraging. I have even thought of going to a new vet, since this one took over the old vet's practice. Brightest blessings.

      Delete
    3. If you're not happy with the vet, by all means get a second opinion. When Samhain was diagnosed, she had gone from 7 1/2lbs to 5 1/2. The vet I'd been with for years (who I liked for most things) wanted to just switch her food and wait to see if that helped. My gut told me that wouldn't be enough fast enough and I took her to another vet in the practice, who took a much more aggressive approach (subq fluids at home). I truly believe that saved her life, and bought us those additional six years. There is a really good website for the condition. https://www.felinecrf.com/

      Delete
  9. awesome, lots of things going on , family just got home from long trip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad it was awesome for someone. that's great!

      Delete
  10. The best thing about 2018 was all the time I got spend with my husband and son. We had so many great laughs.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The best thing about 2018 is that it's almost over. The year was full of pain, aggravation and not fun at all. Hopefully the coming year will be a happier and healthier one for me and my family.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My review of any book that Deborah Blake puts out:Little Book of Cat Magic; The book is fun and along with magic, the practical cat tips are very interesting and I even learned a few things.
    Her books never fail me, regardless of the topic or story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks! I hope you put that up someplace like Amazon and/or Goodreads. xxx

      Delete
  13. 2018 was... interesting. Let's just leave it at that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Best thing about 2018 is I found my own power.

    ReplyDelete
  15. No one is as generous as you, Deborah! Thanks for another chance to win. Saying goodbye to 2018 is fine with me, lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, it's no big deal. I just love my readers and want to make sure they know it.

      Delete
  16. I have both of those books on my to-buy list. After seeing the new covers, I think I'll be doing my best to make sure I get those ones. They're fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  17. The best thing? Finally a year with no disasters, and a family reunion in the middle ♡

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A year with no disasters...I'm hoping for one of those in 2019. yay for the family reunion!

      Delete
  18. In 2018 I made some improvements in my home.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've been doing that too. Lots of work and money, but worth it.

      Delete
  19. Just want to tell you that I love your books and one of the best things about 2018 was discovering the magic within myself! Also - helping my mother relocate closer to me so that I could spend more time with her. Thanks for a chance to win and happy new year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! I'm so glad you like the books. And so nice your mom gets to live closer. My mother is all the way across the country and I really miss her.

      Delete
  20. The best thing about 2018 was I got to meet you for my birthday!

    Kit

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congratulations on your granddaughter, Bobbi!

    ReplyDelete
  22. The best thing was seeing my oldest start college and start to thrive on her own.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Fingers crossed. I love all of your books!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I've worked really hard at achieving good mental health after suffering through years of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. I was active in a lot of group therapy and learned coping skills that are helping me achieve my goal of sanity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good for you for doing the hard work, Dianne. Mental health can be tough to attain, but it sounds like you are doing all the right things! Continued luck on your journey.

      Delete
  25. I became more of my true self in 2018. I started this spiritual journey. Or at least found a name for it!

    ReplyDelete
  26. It was a good year for me and my loved ones. I mean, we are all healthy enough and have a warm home, that's a win in my book. I am looking forward to more patreon magic and books from my favourite witch in 2019!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad it was a good year for you--I have enjoyed our chats.

      Delete
  27. I have had so many things to be grateful for this year, plus I got to spend more time with my family which was wonderful Looking forward to wonderful New Year and hope yours is filled with Love, Light, health and happiness

    ReplyDelete
  28. It was a great year, hit all my goals, smashed miscinceptions, and I am looking forward to 2019! Kris Lopez !!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's fabulous. Hopefully I'll have a year like that next year.

      Delete
  29. I love the new covers!
    I think the best thing about 2018 is that my kids and I seem to have finally been accepted into my common law spouse's family. We all got together at his grandparents house on Christmas day for a big meal. (The sad part is that his grandparents have both passed on now and the house is to be sold ).

    ReplyDelete
  30. Sorry for your loss of your kitties. I lost 2 this year also. I'm glad this year is almost over and would like to not be sick like the past 3 months. Enjoy the new babies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hugs for your lost kitties. It is definitely hard. Hope your health improves!

      Delete
  31. I retired from an extremely stressful job. Whew

    ReplyDelete
  32. Lordy, 2018 was a terrible year for me so hard to find something good to say about it. I guess that I finally got a new laptop so can be online again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a tough one for a lot of people. Congrats on the new laptop.

      Delete
  33. Best part of 2018 is the end. Seriously. It's been a year of ups and downs and more stress than I can believe, but I'm excited to see what next year brings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has definitely been that kind of year! Hopefully 2019 will bring good things to us all.

      Delete
  34. 2018 was the end of a very long and sad tunnel. I found Me again and I feel so much better, happier than I have been in a long time.

    ReplyDelete
  35. The best thing that happened is that my husband lived through two suicide attempts. He has bipolar and we couldn't get help until his last attempt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad he didn't succeed and that you were able to get him help. I lost the love of my life to suicide many years ago, and a friend lost his ten year old son last year. I hope that anyone who reads this and is considering it will get help too.

      Delete
  36. I'm so thankful that 2018 brought new family members into our life and watching my grandbabies grow.

    ReplyDelete
  37. The best thing about 2018 is that my health improved and my daughter's health stayed good

    ReplyDelete
  38. 2018 brought the challenge of a career change to an AMAZING new position as the executive director of a nonprofit.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Best thing about 2018 was discovering my Furry Horde has a lot of fans and being drowned in purrs from them

    ReplyDelete

ShareThis