Giveaway Winners...The Vampire's Curse & Shades of Gray

Hey,

Sorry for taking so long to post the winners of the giveaways but here goes!!!

The Vampire's Curse by S.J. Wright

Winner: latishajean

Shades of Gray by L.M .Pruitt

Winner: tanya1224

Your e-mail address have been passed onto Bel (aka The Bookish Snob) who will in turn pass them to the authors who will send you a copy of the books directly.

Thanks for taking part and stopping by!

Naomi

(Supernatural Bookworm)

xoxo

Without Mercy Winners

Congratulations to latishjean and ruby95660!!!

You have both won a copy of 'Without Mercy' novelette by Belinda Boring, aka The Bookish Snob.

Of Witches & Warlocks (E-Books 1-4) Giveaway...

Hi everyone..the lovely Lacey Weatherford is having an awesome giveaway to celebrate the release of 'The Dark Rising'.

Lacey is giving away a set of e-books (books 1 to 4) from the Of Witches and Warlocks series to three luck winners.

If you want to be in with a chance to win these wonderful books, just fill in the form below. The giveaway closes on Friday..so be quick.

In The Storm Blog Tour: E-Book Giveaway

Here's your chance to win a copy of Karen Metcalf's 'In The Storm' in e-book format.

"Abandoned by the world around her, Carly believes she is fated to a life of torment at the hands of her stepfather and is desperate for an escape. When she can bear the abuse no longer and gives in to a thunderous rage, she suddenly finds herself in an unfamiliar, yet beautiful, storm world. This limbo between dimensions appears to be her private sanctuary, but it may just be her purgatory.

No one escapes fate without sacrifice, but is the price more than Carly is willing to pay?"

Karen has generously provided me with the means of giving away two copies of her e-book novella, 'In The Storm', as part of her blog tour. The winners will be provided with a coupon code when entered into the publisher's website (Vagabondagepress.com will allow you to download the digital version.

Rules:

- Open internationally
- Must be a follower of my blog (I will be checking)
- Only one entry per person
- Contest ends on April 29th April, winner will be contacted within a couple of days, if they do not respond within 48 hours then a new winner will be selected
- Winners will be drawn using random.org

How to enter:

- Leave a comment below, make sure you include your e-mail adress

Interview & Giveaway with... Hal Goodman

Today I have Hal Goodman, author of Logic of Demons, on the blog with a mini-interview and giveaway with not just one, but two books to give away.

Whas was the inspiration behind your book?

I realized last year that my imagination was slowly dying. The times I used to spend as a kid reading comic books and drawing seemed light years away and I wanted to relive a very important part of my childhood. I also happened to be betrayed by some close friends. This betrayal (along with some other issues) caused me to enter into a deep depression for several months. Writing Logic of Demons was a catharsis because it helped me vent a number of painful emotions into the characters and story. However, the novel doesn’t only consist of negative feelings. A great deal of my cherished interests, from fantasy and science fiction to international relations and politics are represented in the novel as well.

In addition, my experience as a high school history teacher at Hamilton High in Los Angeles inspired a great portion of the book. I had the privilege of teaching extremely talented and creative young people. To give you an example of the type of students I had, it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see these teenagers draw amazing anime stories or a picture of Spiderman flying through the sky. And it was easy for them, whereas it would take me a year to draw the same picture. These students reminded me what it was like to be young and some of them showed tremendous courage overcoming adversity (a lot more strength and courage than I ever had at that age). My teaching experience definitely served to open up my imagination a great deal and helped me with the novel.

As for the other aspect of my inspiration, one of the close friends who hurt me had recently turned into a deeply “religious” individual. I remember one evening he explained to me and my girlfriend that angels and demons flew around human beings, luring them into different moral directions like an ethereal compass. I even remember that in the last conversation we ever had over the phone, he quoted a bible verse in an attempt at giving me advice. I realized soon after that it was his actions, my actions, and a person’s behavior that influences the moral outcome of events, not the external embodiments or personifications of good or evil. Logic of Demons is a way for people to see a certain view of morality, which is essentially based on the choices we make that affect others, not the beliefs we have in our mind. This philosophy and my teaching experience, as well as my desire to create something, inspired me to write the novel.

How did you came to write about the supernatural genre?

Fantasy, science fiction, and the supernatural genre share one thing in common. There are really no limitations in terms of what one can create or write about. Often times in a person’s life, waking up and doing the same thing over and over again can seem mundane and even, in some cases, sap the wonder and joy out of life. But with the supernatural genre, suddenly human beings are interacting with ghosts, demons, vampires, and other creatures. Life becomes a lot more interesting when having a conversation with a zombie (or a unicorn). In addition, this type of genre gives a writer the ability to invoke a moral or even a political statement. You can comment about life through this type of genre in a way that a person standing on a podium speaking to thousands can’t.

What was your experience like with self-publishing and can you give any advice to other budding authors out there?

Well, I self published my novel because I didn’t want to wait a million years for an agent or someone to deem my work worthy of publishing. I am very pleased that the feedback from reviewers thus far (and readers) has been positive, but I wrote this novel primarily for myself. Of course, I want to have some type of success with Logic of Demons and eventually write more novels, but this endeavor was cathartic and healing experience.

As for self publishing, I would say make sure that you edit your novel appropriately since the self publisher will print anything (or almost anything) you give them. This perhaps is some of the reason that certain people state they don’t read self published novels, although I’ve been fortunate to have a great number of reviewers currently reading Logic of Demons.

Are any of your characters or their traits based on people you know?

Absolutely. One of the best things about writing a novel is that you can create characters based on people you know. This can be a tremendously healing experience, especially if there are people in your life (who you care about) who have hurt you in some way. Or, it can be a tribute to people who have helped you. Both kinds of individuals are represented in Logic of Demons. Even loved ones are sprinkled in the story and within various characters at once. I can say one thing; I would never have been able to write this novel without the support of my family. Also, I could never have thought of the plot without having been hurt by some friends.

Have you always wanted to write or did you have other aspirations growing up?

I never thought I would write a novel. I’m glad I did because now my imagination has very few limitations. Whereas before I thought that a cherished potion of my childhood was lost forever, I can now create entire worlds in my mind. One of the perks of writing a novel, in a way, is that you never truly have to “grow up” and you can still be as free and imaginative as a young person. That’s what I like most about writing.

 

Thank you for stopping by Hal.

 

Now..onto the giveaway.

 

We will be giving away two copies of Logic Of Demons to give away, one international and one UK. The contest will run until the 7pm UK time on the 1st of April. All you have to do is leave a comment with your e-mail address below to be entered and state whether you are UK or International. Winners will be drawn on the 2nd of April.

 

Rules:

 

- Must be a follower of my blog (I will be checking)

- Must leave a comment below stating e-mail address and whether international or UK

Giveaway Winner: Blue by Lou Aronica

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for taking part in my little giveaway!

Now, the winner is;

Mindy

There were 6 entries and random.org selected number 2;

If the winner does not contact me with their postal address within three days, a new winner will be drawn.

Thanks =)

Naomi

Author of Blue: Lou Aronica: Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I have a guest post by Lou Aronica, the author of Blue and further down I have a giveaway for you all.

Nohere's Lou talking about what he wanted to be when he was growing up.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be Like You

In one way or another, I’d been planning to be a writer from the time I was a teenager. When I graduated college, though, I needed a job that paid a salary rather than one that had some vague potential for remuneration somewhere down the line. I interviewed with a number of publishing houses and hooked on with Bantam Books as a schlepper (I think the actual job title was “administrative assistant,” but I was decidedly a schlepper). A few years later, though, I got my first meaningful position at Bantam when they charged me with reinventing their science fiction and fantasy program. This became Bantam’s Spectra imprint, which celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary last year. (There’s really no way to say that without making me seem old, is there? Would you believe it if I said I started at Bantam when I was nine?)

Bantam had had a fairly limited presence in science fiction up to this point, but it did have some gems. Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea novels, for instance, and selected titles from Philip K. Dick, Samuel R. Delany, and Frederik Pohl. What shone brightest on the list for me, though, was the work of Ray Bradbury. Bradbury was the first writer I’d ever idolized. In many ways, he was the writer that made me want to be a writer. The simple fact that I was shepherding the list that carried many of his most important paperbacks filled me with more pride than I had any right to feel.

About six months after I took on this assignment, I made a business trip to Southern California. Ray Bradbury lived in Southern California. I decided to roll the dice and call his office to see if he might have a little time to meet with his “publisher.” In reality, I knew that the only publishing I was doing for him was sending him notes when his books went back to press, but I figured it was worth trying to connect with him. This paid off when his office said that he’d meet me for a drink at my hotel.

The day of the meeting, I sat nervously in the hotel bar waiting for this literary icon to arrive. One of the first lessons my colleagues had taught me was that writers are often far less appealing in person than they are on the page, and I’d already had some experience with this. What if the man who’d written so magically about enchanted summers and a fanciful Mars turned out to be an ogre? What if he sneered at my being so young and presuming to be worthy of his time.

By the time he entered, I’d steeled myself for the worst. What happened instead was one of the most precious experiences of my publishing life. Ray handed me a signed hardcover copy of The Martian Chronicles and then took my hand in both of his and said, “Thank you so much for what you’re doing for me.” I’m not the swooning type, but I came very close then. What I was doing for him? That could never compare to what he’d done for me in that moment. Thus began a relationship that lasted for more than fifteen years, one that allowed me to become Ray’s hardcover publisher and to even send him on his first national book tour. Ray Bradbury isn’t the man I idolized on the page; he’s so much more regal than that.

When I finally embarked on my writing career after twenty years in publishing, I wrote relationship novels and collaborated on a number of nonfiction books. However, I always told myself that some day I would try to write a novel in the spirit of Ray Bradbury’s stories. Finally, I started work on the book I’ve just published, Blue. It took me six years to get it where I wanted it, but I can only hope that it has a glimmer of the wonder and openheartedness that Bradbury’s work always has. In many ways, this novel is a tribute to him. I’m not sure I ever would have become a writer if he hadn’t taught me the magic of words.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Now for the giveaway. I have one book to give away of Blue, written by Lou Aronica. All you have to do to win is to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment below with your e-mail address.

Do not begin this novel unless you are prepared to be moved, willing to open your heart, and available to the possibility that life can bring you magic.
Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Not long before, Chris' world sparkled - he was doing significant work, he had a good home, and his young daughter brought him more joy than he ever could have imagined. Now, divorce and estrangement have left him confused and all too often alone.
Becky is Chris' fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges in her early years to become a vibrant, vital young woman. Her parents' divorce has left its mark, though, most significantly in her relationship with her father. Once, they told remarkable stories together. Now, they barely speak. Emotional detachment from Chris is not Becky's biggest concern, though.

Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little - a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own. Miea knows nothing of Becky and Chris. She only knows that her beautiful kingdom - a place of remarkably varied flora, dignified and distinctive fauna, and an ecology that works in symphonic majesty - is in terrible, maybe fatal trouble.

At the most challenging junctures of their lives, Becky and Miea discover each other and Miea shares this discovery with Chris. For Becky, it is nearly inconceivable that a place she created has come into existence. For Miea, it is nearly inconceivable that a child created her land. For Chris, it is beyond inconceivable that he is again sharing something important in his daughter's life. For all of them, it as though a world of opportunity has opened up before them.

But time is not on their side. In fact, time might be running out.

Together, they need to uncover a secret. The secret to why these worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them.

Blue is a novel of trial and hope, invention and rediscovery. It might very well take you someplace you never knew existed. Do not, however, begin it unless you are prepared to be moved.

(taken from Amazon.com)

Here's the rules;

1. You must be a follower of my blog

2. Just leave a comment below saying you want to be entered along with your e-mail address

3. Winner will be drawn on 14th February at 7pm UK time

The Nerd's Wife - Giveaway

Hi Folks,

Arena over at The Nerd's Wife is having a giveaway to celebrate having over 100 followers and for turning 25 on her next birthday.

Books being given away are;

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Mistwood by Leah Cypess
Sea by Heidi R. Kling
The Necromancer by Michael Scott
Siren by Tricia Rayburn
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
White Cat by Holly Black

This giveaway is open internationally.

There will be *at least* two winners.

Winner #1 will get a choice of *two* books from the list.

Winner #2 will get a choice of *one* book from the list.

If I reach 150 followers during the contest, I'll add Winner #3 with a choice of *one* book from the list.

If I reach 200 followers during the contest, I'll add Winner #4 with a choice of *one* book from the list, and so on for each 50-follower milestone thereafter.

Books will be purchased by me from The Book Depository and shipped to the winners.

If you want a chance to win some of these books then click here to fill in Arena's form.

Thanks