Cancelling a Con

For months now, I have been looking forward to going to Paganicon in Minnesota. (Like, 6 or 8 months...a long time.) Llewellyn, the publishers of my nonfiction books and decks, are located nearby, so I was going to get to go to the Mother Ship at last, meet my editor Elysia's famous cats, and hang out with a bunch of my Pagan peeps.

 

Plus, of course, I was going to do my "Cat Magic" presentation, a ritual, and Llewellyn was going to have a "Meet the Everyday Witch" night in their party suite. I bought swag, people. Lots of adorable swag.

 

But then Coronavirus happened, and I had to make a tough decision. They're still holding the con, but I won't be there. I'm heartbroken, but it was going to mean traveling on four planes, through four airports, and being at a large (ish) convention. I've agonized over the decision for over a week, but I didn't feel that I could risk my health (almost 60 with asthma and other health issues) or that of the medically fragile folks in my close circle, of which there are a number.

 

So today I cancelled the plane, the hotel room, and my attendance. It felt like the socially responsible decision. There is no way to know if things would have been just fine, but with any luck, I will be able to attend at some future time. I'm still hoping that my book signing with Anne Bishop at Flights of Fantasy in Albany is still on for the 28th. That at least is a car ride away, and a relatively small venue.

 

Stay safe out there, people. I love my readers. 

Ultimate Baba Yaga Blast Giveway! And Book Signing

I had a fabulous time yesterday in Albany at the Flights of Fantasy bookstore doing my first "real" book signing as a novelist (other than small things around my own area). As a bonus, I got to see my sister Sarah (and fab brother in-law Rich) who live near there, and check out the Barnes & Noble, which only had one copy of the book left

My sister is the good-looking one to the left. On the right you can see my stalwart friend Ellen, who did the driving.

At Flights of Fantasy

I shared the signing with a fab SF/Fantasy author named Ryk Spoor

Got to see a longtime fan, Josephine F.

As well as the radiant Rebecca Elson of The Magical Buffet, who brought me goodies!

And got a surprise visit from a formal local and Blue Moon Circle regular, Lauren, which made my day!

The book signing was kind of the highlight of a truly fabulous book release week. I've been working hard, but having a lot of fun, so I have a couple of gifts for you folks, who have all helped to make the release of both Baba Yaga books, WICKEDLY DANGEROUS in September and WICKEDLY WONDERFUL on December 2nd so successful.

First of all, I have a fun, FREE Baba Yaga short story for you! The lovely folks at Literary Escapism do a cool thing where they ask various authors to write a short short story about their protagonists going holiday shopping. Of course, since Beka is a witch, she goes Yule shopping, and needless to say, it isn't all that simple. I hope you enjoy this story, since I had a lot of fun writing it.

And, of course, I had to do one last big, blowout giveaway! I can't express how much I appreciate everyone's support--buying the books, and posting reviews, and spreading the word. But maybe this will help.

It's a GIANT GIVEAWAY!

 I'm giving away the ultimate Baba Yaga series prize pack: signed copies of both books,  Wickedly Wonderful mug, a Chudo-Yudo dragon necklace (because we're all about the dragons around here), bookmarks, postcards, magnets, and two dragon temporary tattoo booklets!

A closeup of the Chudo-Yudo necklace

The mug

This would make the perfect ready-made holiday gift for a friend who likes paranormal romance...or for yourself, of course.

So THANK YOU, so much for being such a great cheering section, and good luck to you all!

(USA only, due to the weight of all that booty, but if you are out of the country, you are welcome to enter and I will send you a modified prize pack.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

RELEASE DAY!

It is finally here—Book Release Day for my second novel, WICKEDLY WONDERFUL! I’m excited and a little freaked out, all at the same time. I sure hope that people like it as well as they liked the first book!

(You read Wickedly Dangerous, right?)

I have been truly honored and blessed by the enthusiasm of friends, fans, and followers, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the cheerleading, and for those of you who were kind enough to spread the word about the book. I hope you’ll help me to do so today, of all days!

If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, you’ll no doubt see me posting about the book release—I would really appreciate it if you could help me to get the word out.

 

I know I said I wasn’t going to do any more giveaways, but how could I let Book Release Day pass without one? I’ve got one signed copy up as a Goodreads giveaway, so be sure to go enter right away—it is only on for a couple of weeks. (Go HERE, and the giveaway will be lower down on the page.) And I’m giving away books at a few of the places where I will be guest blogging to promote the book. Will I do another fun giveaway on my blog too? I guess you'll have to keep stopping by to find out!

Also, I’ll be at a (more or less) live event on Tuesday the 2^nd (today) at Bitten by Books, where I’ll be answering questions, chatting with folks, and giving away $50 in Gift Cards! I hope you will come join me. http://bittenbybooks.com/  (This event starts at 3PM EST/noon PST, but the contest will be open for a couple of days.)

Here is the direct link to the contest, which runs until the 5th http://bittenbybooks.com/author-deborah-blake-release-party-and-50-00-gift-card-contest-live-here/

Check out my blog all this week for other blogs where I’ll be popping up!

Speaking of which, if you live anywhere near Albany NY, I’ll be having a book signing on Sunday, December 7^th, at a great Indie bookstore, Flights of Fantasy, at 2 PM. Check out their website for directions and more info. http://www.fof.net/  I hope I’ll see a few of you there!

Don’t forget that if you loved Wickedly Dangerous and want to read the third book in the series, Berkley will be basing their decision on whether or not to publish it on how good the sales for the first two books are. No pressure, right?

Buying links:

AMAZON

B&N 

Or look for it at your local Independent bookstore!

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement—I appreciate it more than words can say. Feel free to send me a picture on Facebook or by email (magicmysticminerva at yahoo) of the book in the wild if you spot it in a bookstore, or of you with the book if you’ve picked one up. This would make my day! And I hope you’ll stop by the blog and say “Hi and happy book release day!”

Holy crap—IT’S RELEASE DAY!!!!!!!!