Blog Hop Winners!

I have a long day ahead of me, though it will have a lovely end. The Helvetican and I are going to a Messiah Sing Along tonight! I haven’t done that in ages and I’m really looking forward to it.

I did want to take the time to announce the winners from the Black Friday Blog Hop. My winner, as chosen by Random.org, is Marlena Fein, who won a $10 Amazon gift card.

Overall hop winners were chosen from over 8,000 comments (WOW!) left across more than 200 hop stops. The winners are:

Kindle Fire Winner:

Angela Heart

$75 Amazon Gift Card:

Emma D.

Swag Pack:

Kim Brooks

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone for stopping by my blog!

Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

I admit that I have gone shopping on Black Friday before, usually later in the day when all the craziness has worn off. But I have a very few times gone shopping in the wee hours of the morning with all the other Black Friday patrons, trying to get that special item at that ridiculously low price.

However, I quit shopping on Black Friday when I discovered Cyber Monday. Now that’s a shopping experience one of my heroines, Andromeda Miller (Finding Refuge), can really support. She’s thrifty and a great bargain hunter, but the idea of standing in line for hours on end, in the dark and possible cold, in order to score some good deals just doesn’t compute for her.

Shopping online, while wearing pajamas and sipping hot cocoa in the living room is my idea of a great way to spend money. Andri would find plenty of support for not hitting the stores on Black Friday from her hero, Travis. Travis’s mother, however, is a different matter. She attends Black Friday every year with her sisters, more for the festive tradition of it all than for actual shopping, though plenty of shopping ends up done anyway.

As I drove by the long lines of folks camped out in front of stores, awaiting the Black Friday sales, I could just imagine Andri ticking off reasons for Cyber Monday in my head: It’s greener, you might be able to score even better deals, it’s definitely easier, and you can do it all from the comfort of a warm house.

Do you shop on Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or both? Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card from me. This also puts you in the Black Friday Blog Hop Grand Prize drawing. Here’s a list of the prizes:

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $75 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! (USA only)

Comment at other blogs on the hop for additional chances to win a grand prize as well as giveaways on other blogs. Good luck, and whatever shopping you’re doing this weekend, stay safe!

Continue the Hop by clicking here:  Black Friday Blog Hop

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hmmm, there’s a layer of dust on the old blog. I’ve been away for a while, and until I get some things settled in regular life, I can’t guarantee I’ll post very often in the next few weeks. But I did want to take a moment and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! (Yes, I know some of you are not Americans, but just go with it. Thanksgiving is as much a state of mind as it is a historical remembrance.)

I love this holiday. It’s relaxing. Especially this year, where it worked out that we are staying home and no extended relatives are coming here. I can’t recall the last time we had a Thanksgiving day with just the nuclear family and I’m really looking forward to it.

I am thankful for so much in my bountiful life. I have a dear husband and great kids, wonderful friends, and a career that I love. I have gained readers this year, for whom I am exceedingly grateful. I live in a place free of war, where there is plentiful food, clean water, and warm housing. I am free to follow my dreams and to worship as I please. Life is good, and I am blessed.

I wish all the best for you and yours, for today and for always. Off I go to put in the turkey!

What are you most thankful for?

Emerging from Life Stuff and a New Paperback!

Wow, I’ve been away for a while. Sorry about that! Life sort of exploded on me and required uninterrupted attention to put everything back to normal, so the blog, my twitter, and my Facebook page all went lacking for love.

It was a lot of slogging through unexpected things that all had to be done right-this-minute, mixed in with the Helvetican’s birthday, Halloween, nonfiction writing for the other half of my writerly existence, replacing my printer that died when Mercury slipped into retrograde, and topped by making a ball gown for the Princess in two days.

Two. Days.

Satin bodice. Tulle skirt. (McCall’s pattern #M6466)

36 yards of tulle in six layers.

Finished just in time for the dance. I’ll have to upload a photo of the dress because I don’t think the Princess wants to be on my blog.

Yes, I am still reeling from the slight loss of sanity. But hey, now you know why I’ve been missing in action!

New on the writing front: I pulled the ebook of Finding Refuge from wide distribution and went exclusive to Amazon for the next three months. This poor book has had a tough time finding an audience. It’s had great reviews, but sold poorly at Amazon, dismally at Barnes & Noble, and didn’t sell at all elsewhere. So, in a bid to jumpstart its visibility, I went for the exclusive.

Due to the change, I can now offer Finding Refuge for a three-day FREE run, starting tomorrow, 11/8 and running through 11/10. If you don’t have a copy already, this will be an excellent time to pick it up. Just click on the book cover to the right…

Also…Finding Refuge is now available in paperback!  YAY! It’s so pretty, see?

So far, it is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but it should be up on Books A Million and other bookseller websites within a couple of weeks.

Well, that catches us up to current on my side. Anything exciting going on in your world these days?