Goodies, Good News, and Giveaways

As of Tuesday September 20th, we're two weeks away from the release of the first Rider book, DANGEROUSLY CHARMING! (And not to get you excited or anything, but the print version is on sale right now at Amazon. Click the link to see.) What does that mean? Well, sadly, it means that for the next two weeks you are going to get a whole lot of me saying, "OMG, did you see this giveaway?" On the up side, GIVEAWAYS! But feel free to just wander away for the next few weeks and come back after, if you get bored. I promise I won't take it personally.

The truth is, for those of you who don't know much about the business end of publishing, the advance pre-orders and the sales in the first week that the book is available tend to pretty much make-or-break the success of the book. (Which doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it later, if that's what works for you!) For those of you who have been asking me if Berkley is going to buy the third book in the Riders series (they've already bought the second one, DANGEROUSLY DIVINE, out in November 2017), that first week may well decide it. But that's only part of why I'm doing so much promotional work on DANGEROUSLY CHARMING. I love this book, and I hope you'll love it too, and it is just possible I got a little carried away buying swag and goodies. I'm not quite sure how I'll give them all away. But I'm going to give it my best shot!

So, here is a sneak peak at a few of the goodies I'm going to be giving away both here on my blog and elsewhere :-)

Tote bags and notebooks and magnets OH MY

Specially made Dangerously Charming key chains with little motorcycles

Amazon gift cards

Advanced Reader Copies

All of these are in limited supply, so I'm going to have to pick and chose where I give them away, but I also have two of these:

Not the cat. There is only one Magic the Cat, Queen of the Universe

Yes, those are Kindle Fire HD Tablets!

I'm giving the first one away at Fresh Fiction, in a contest going on all month HERE. The other one will be given away here on my blog at a giveaway that runs the last week, starting Tuesday, September 27th, so be sure to check back.

My lovely publisher Berkley is giving away FIFTEEN COPIES of the book on Goodreads, in a giveaway that ends on the 30th. (USA only, alas.) Check it out HERE

I'm also going to be bopping around the Interwebs, showing up at various places in the next few weeks, almost all of which will also include giveaways. I'll try and remember to keep you posted. But you definitely will want to check out LITERARY ESCAPISM on September 28th, since I've written a short-short story featuring Mikhail Day, just for them. (And you.)

Tune in tomorrow to see what I'm giving away here on the blog next. You know, unless you're bored already with this...

OMG, he's PERTY

 Oh, and the good news part. I can't remember if I shared this here yet or not (between the writing and the promo, I'm kind of fuzzy). RT Reviews gave DANGEROUSLY CHARMING a 4 1/2 star review and named it a Top Pick for October. This is a really big deal, and made me uber-happy. It might have also caused me to get a bit carried away with the goodies... So blame them.

Books: The Gift of Knowledge, Entertainment & Escape

This will probably not come as a shock to anyone...but I LOVE to read. I have since I was a kid, when I spent my time curled up in a corner with Andre Norton and Robert Heinlein, exploring fabulous new worlds and ignoring my mother when she said, "Get up and GO OUTSIDE." [To be fair, I got my love of reading from my mother, so she has no one to blame but herself. *waves at mom*]

And I still love to read, although my interests have expanded to encompass not only SF and fantasy, but urban fantasy, romance, mysteries, women's fiction, and of course, various nonfiction books. I always take the time to read with my breakfast and before bed, if nothing else. I feel that as an author, I learn more from reading good books by other authors than I could by taking classes or reading books about how to write. Also, they're FUN. I learn new things, am entertained, and for the space of an hour or two, I get to escape from my own issues. Whew. What's not to like?

Books are among my favorite gift-giving items, too. I'm giving one of my friends a book on how to make wine at home, along with some of the supplies to get him started. My niece is getting some books on Witchcraft, since she shares my interest in it. And cookbooks are a favorite gift for many of my foodie friends. If I'm lucky, I'll reap the rewards in the form of yummy meals somewhere down the line...

I also like to share my favorite authors--both because I know that my friends will enjoy the books, and because I try to support the authors I like the most. Call it enlightened self-interest: if they keep selling books, they'll keep writing more, and I'll get to keep reading them!

I hope that you will be giving a few books as gifts this year (or, if you don't know which ones to give, you can use an Amazon or B&N gift card, or a gift certificate to your local Indy book store, should you be lucky enough to have one). Ebooks can be given as gifts too, as long as you have the email address of the recipient.

And in case you need a few ideas...feel free to give one of these :-)
[Note: if you want to personalize a gift, I will be happy to send a signed bookplate to you if you send me a self-addressed stamped-envelope. Just let me know who you want it signed to.]

Everyday Witch Book of Rituals (All the books are currently ON SALE on Amazon!)
Witchcraft on a Shoestring
Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
The Goddess is in the Details
Everyday Witch A to Z
Circle, Coven & Grove: A Year of Magical Practice
The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction (This has a short story of mine in it, along with 12 other cool Pagan-themed tales)
Witch Ever Way You Can (paranormal fantasy novel, eBook)
Witch Upon a Star (the accompanying short story, also eBook form)
[to give to a friend, click on the button to the right that says "give as a gift"]

Also, if you look on the left-hand side of this blog, you'll see a button that says "Buy a Signed Copy" for the newest book, Everyday Witch Book of Rituals, in case you want a signed one for you or a friend.

Soon I'll put up a post with books I recommend. Which books, fiction or nonfiction, are your favorites to give as gifts?

Addendum: If you don't have anyone on your list who wants a book--which I suppose could happen--then don't forget that you can give the gift of a reader to the writers you like by recommending their books, writing and posting reviews, and clicking "like" on Amazon. You have no idea how much this helps authors, but it does!

Nag, Nag, Nag...a Few Gentle Reminders

I've decided to make Tuesdays "Nag My Readers Day." No? How about "Blatant Self-Promo Day"? Otherwise known as "Remind me not to go to Deborah's blog on Tuesdays Day" (cough). Don't worry too much though--I'll probably have forgotten the plan by next Tuesday.

Today, I just wanted to remind you that my paranormal romance ebook is still available at Amazon for the low, low price of $2.99 -- tell all your friends. And maybe the mailman, your manicurist, and strangers you accost on the streets. Really, I'm not proud. (And the sales so far have been...kind of disappointing, so a few new ones would REALLY cheer this author up.)
http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO
You can also find the book in Nook form here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-ever-way-you-can-deborah-blake/1108034353?ean=2940013854659

More importantly, registration for the upcoming "Spells & Spell Casting" class over at the new workshop loop closes at 6 PM this coming Sunday, so if you are interesting in taking part in the class--suitable for both witches and authors writing witch characters--you only have a few days left to sign up here:
http://witchywritingwithdeborahblake.blogspot.com/

I will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...er...Tuesday. Hope it is a great one!

GIVEAWAY! Sabbats Almanac and Witches' Datebook

I was neatening up the other day (no, really) and realized that I had an extra copy of this year's Llewellyn Sabbats Annual (Samhain 2011-Mabon 2012) and Witches' Datebook 2012. Since I contributed articles to both, I got 2 free copies as part of my writing compensation. I'm using one copy of each for myself, of course, but that leaves me one copy of each to...

GIVE AWAY!!!!!!
Yay!

Of course, I have to make y'all do something to get them... *ponders*

Okay, how about this? You can do one of the following [and be sure to come back here and report that you've done it, so I put you in the contest]:

1. Sign up to take the upcoming "Spells and Spell Casting" class at the new online witchcraft workshops loop. http://witchywritingwithdeborahblake.blogspot.com/
2. Or talk about the new loop or the classes somewhere online (FB, Twitter, your blog, etc.)
3. Sign up to take my writing workshop, "Beyond Fangs: Creating New and Interesting Paranormal Characters," at SavvyAuthors. Class runs April 9-27. http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/showevent.php?eventid=364
4. Or talk up the class anywhere online. (Especially if you've taken one of my writing classes before.)
   
5. Buy a copy of my paranormal romance ebook, WITCH EVER WAY YOU CAN, on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Ever-Way-You-ebook/dp/B006HWZPGO or over at B & N (if you happen to have a Nook) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/witch-ever-way-you-can-deborah-blake/1108034353?ean=2940013854659
   
6. Or talk about the book online, as above. All reviews are happily accepted. If you happen to write a particularly snazzy one, I might even post a link here, as I did with the one the lovely Judy Long put up on her blog the other day.

As you can see, there are lots of easy options to enter this contest. If you do more than one, just tell me when you report back in the comments, and you'll get a contest entry for each item you've done. Easy peasey. I'll pick one random winner for each annual on Friday night, so you've got a couple of days to accomplish one of the above tasks and report back.

DON'T FORGET TO TELL ME IN A COMMENT THAT YOU'VE DONE IT! And anyone RT-ing or sharing this blog post gets TWO extra entries.

Are we having fun yet?

PS--In case you were wondering if people actual win these things, yes they do-- today I am sending out copies of the Alex Bledsoe book and the Mindy Klasky book that were won by people taking part in previous contests :-)