Thursday, February 25, 2010

Blog Tour and Guest Post: Christy Strauch author of PASSION, PLAN, PROFIT: 12 Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business


Like a lot of crafters, I've toyed with the idea of turning my hobby into a business. I make beaded jewelry, handbags, and cloth dolls. I've occassionally sold jewelry around the holidays at craft fairs or house parties. I wonder if I have what it takes to make my skills turn a profit? In these challenging economic times, I could use a second income! Fortunately, I've been given the opportunity to review a book that discusses just these issues. Today's post is a guest article by Christy Straugh, author of PASSION, PLAN, PROFIT: Twelve Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business. Take a peek, and come back tomorrow for my review of her book!


Twelve Simple Steps to Convert
Your Passion into a Solid Business

About the book (from the publisher):
In this hands-on workbook, Christy Strauch gives creative people and small business owners the tools they need to help them understand the purpose their business or skill serves in the world; serve their best clients even better; and get clear on "Number," the language their business speaks to them. Passion Plan Profit takes a light-hearted and semi-painless approach to helping readers create a useable, fun plan to run a successful business. No one is "too creative" to make money doing the work they love.

Turn Your Hobby or Passion into a Business
by Christy Strauch

Want to start a business based on your hobby or passion? Here’s what you should do.

The first thing you have to know when you are evaluating whether or not to turn your passion into a business is your level of commitment.

Having a hobby is a lot like being single—you can work on your hobby (i.e. go out on a date) when you feel like it, or stay home in your pajamas and watch TV if you don’t. Hobbies don’t demand anything of you (just like that casual date you had last night). You can work on your hobby every free minute you have, or put it down for a year, or change your mind and forget about it completely, with few repercussions.

A business, on the other hand, can be very demanding. Deciding to cross the line from hobby to business is like committing to getting married. If you decide you want to make your hobby into a business, you have to commit yourself heart and soul. If you decide to turn your passion into a business, you’ll be making the decision to go from happy-go-lucky hobby kid, to grown-up business adult.

You know what making a commitment looks like. There will be days when you don’t feel like working on your business. But since it’s now a business instead of a hobby, you’ll have to do the work anyway, or figure out how to delegate it to someone else. Your commitment will force you to take actions that scare you; take risks that might frighten you, or do things you don’t enjoy.

But just like with a marriage, if you pick the right work, the work you love, turning it into a business can be deeply fulfilling, not to mention fun and profitable.

It boils down to one question. Are you ready, willing, and able to commit?

Do you have what it takes to turn your passion into profit?

The skill of successfully owning and running a business doesn’t require a specific genetic trait, or possessing the set of secret rules from a small business society that only allows five selected people into their membership every three years. What it does require is:

• A willingness to learn, at a deep level, who your perfect clients are and how to market to them.

• The perseverance to keep going when things are tough.

• The training to understand what your business numbers are telling you.

• The ability to flow with change.

If this all sounds too scary, then you should consider keeping your hobby a hobby.

But if you think these challenges sound interesting, stimulating and fun, you’re the right candidate to turn your Passion into Profit. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do you love your hobby enough that you’d like to do it regularly, as work?

2. Would you like to become a professional at your hobby; to step up your level of skill at it so you would be considered one of the best in your field?

3. Would you be willing to spend time marketing your work?

4. Are you willing to work on it even on days you’re not in the mood?

5. Can you weather setbacks (a client firing you, someone not paying who promised to pay, a downturn in the economy, plus a host of other things that happen to every business owner).

6. Are you willing to learn new things; such as new ways to market, updated ways to do your work, etc.?


About Christy Strauch

In 1989, Christy Strauch, took a job as a sales representative for a small IT company with $50,000 a year in sales. Christy had an MBA in finance and marketing from UCLA and a dream of making a difference in business. Fifteen years and 3 mergers later, Strauch was a partner, took the company public, and sold it.

In 2005, with over 9 years experience working for nationally known companies such as IBM, Carnation International and Capitol Records, Christy decided that it was time to follow a lifetime calling to help small business owners learn to prosper doing the work they love. Considered an expert in small business, Christy has been interviewed by The Los Angeles Times and The Scottsdale Daily Progress, among others.

Throughout her career, Christy has received numerous honors. She won several regional managers awards during her tenure with IBM, has been honored by the Arizona Small Business Association, received the advanced Toastmasters Silver designation and earned her Certified Professional Co-Active Coaching (CPCC) certificate from the Coach Training Institute, as well as her Associate Certified Coach (ACC) certificate from the International Coach Federation.

In 2005, Christy formed Clarity To Business, a coaching and consulting practice. To date has worked with over 300 small business owners, from artists to real estate agents, helping them to both do what they are passionate about – and to make a profit.

Christy Strauch is the author of Passion, Plan, Profit: 12 Simple Steps to Convert Your Passion into a Solid Business. In addition she is president of Clarity To Business and has worked with over 300 small business owners, from artists to real estate agents, helping them do what they are passionate about – and make a profit. Her book is available at Amazon.com at http://cli.gs/JhYQXG

Check out some of other stops on the tour:
The Book Connection
The Huffington Post
Daily Awareness
Marketing Mindset
Ask Wendy, the Query Queen
Stark Raving Bibliophile Book Reviews
Linda's Business Blog
Books and Authors
Simply Sweet Home
Thank you to Stephanie of
for organizing this tour.

Not My Giveaway: FLUTE'S JOURNEY: The Life of a Wood Thrush by Lynne Cherry


Nicola of Back to Books is giving away a copy of FLUTE'S JOURNEY: The Life of a Wood Thrush by Lynne Cherry. Looks like a gorgeous book, and I just love picture books about birds. You can read Nicola's review here and enter the contest here. The contest is open through February 26, 2010.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A Word of Thanks


I just want to say thanks to everyone for the good wishes you sent my mom's way after her recent fall. As it turns out, she did not have a broken hip, but she does have very severe and advanced arthritis. She was in the hospital for a few days and needed extra care at home for a bit, but she's doing really well now. The really "good" news is that she didn't require surgery since nothing was actually broken. Yea!

I think I'm all caught up now with announcing giveaway winners and submitting their information - and I've even got a new giveaway posted. Now it's time to turn my attention back to book reviews and try to get caught up with them. Aww, who am I kidding? That's a losing battle! But I do have a few reviews scheduled to post and, who knows, maybe even another giveaway or two!

Giveaway Winners: THE 8TH CONFESSION and TRY DARKNESS

Graphic courtesy of Cupcakes for Clara.

I have a few more winners to announce from recent giveaways, and then I'll be all caught up -- for now!

Drumroll, please . . .



#13 fredamans
#70 Tore
#83 Misusedinnocence



 #66 wmmahaney
#103 jemscout425
#124 Aik




* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

- Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in these drawings, hop on over to the contest page at Hachette Book Group for listings of other blogs hosting book giveaways.

- Be sure and check my sidebar for other ongoing giveaways here and at other blogs.

A big thank you to Hachette Book Group
 for making these giveaways possible.

Waiting on Wednesday: MRS. DARCY AND THE BLUE-EYED STRANGER: New and Selected Stories by Lee Smith


"WAITING ON WEDNESDAY"
is hosted by Jill from

Join in and tell us . . .

What are you waiting for?

My pick for this week is . . .


New and Selected Stories
Pub. Date: March 23, 2010
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Format: Hardcover, 368pp
Sales Rank: 593,959
ISBN-13: 9781565129153
ISBN: 1565129156

About the book (from the publisher):
A celebrated novelist, Lee Smith is likewise recognized as a master of the short story and has been compared with such luminaries as Katherine Ann Porter, Eudora Welty, and Flannery O’Connor. Now she collects fourteen stories—seven brand-new ones along with seven favorites from her three earlier collections. The result? A book of dazzling richness.

Famous for unmistakable voices and a craft so strong and sure it seems effortless, Lee Smith’s stories strike dead center at the turning points of her characters’ lives. Here those characters range from an eight-year-old boy obsessed with vocabulary words to a young bride who has married "way up" to Mrs. Darcy herself, an older woman making it through widowhood her own way. As the New York Times Book Review put it, "In almost every one of [her stories] there is a moment of vision, or love, or unclothed wonder that transforms something plain into something transcendent."

With this collection—her first in thirteen years—Smith reclaims her place as the reigning queen of the bittersweet short story.

Click here to visit the author's website.

About the author (from the publisher):
Lee Smith is the author of fifteen previous books of fiction—three collections of short stories and a dozen novels. The recipient of the 1999 Academy Award in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Book Giveaway: LAURA RIDER'S MASTERPIECE by Jane Hamilton


Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away three (3) copies of
LAURA RIDER'S MASTERPIECE
by Jane Hamilton.

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.


Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Publish Date: 3/3/2010
Price: $12.99/$15.99
ISBN: 9780446538947
Pages: 240
Size: 5-1/4" x 8"

Description (from the publisher):
Laura and Charlie Rider have been married for twelve years. They share their nursery business in rural Wisconsin, their love for their animals, and their zeal for storytelling. Although Charlie's enthusiasm in the bedroom has worn Laura out, although she no longer sleeps with him, they are happy enough going along in their routine.

Jenna Faroli is the host of a popular radio show, and in Laura's mind is "the single most famous person in the Town of Dover." When Jenna happens to cross Charlie's path one day, and they begin an e-mail correspondence, Laura cannot resist using Charlie to try out her new writing skills. Together, Laura and Charlie craft florid, strangely intimate messages that entice Jenna in an unexpected way. The "project" quickly spins out of control. The lines between Laura's words and Charlie's feelings are blurred and complicated, Jenna is transformed in ways that deeply disturb her, and Laura is transformed in her mind's eye into an artist. The transformations are hilarious and poignant, and for Laura Rider, beyond her wildest expectations.

Click here for the Reading Group Guide.


About the author (from the publisher):
Jane Hamilton is the author of The Book of Ruth, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award for first fiction, and A Map of the World, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and named one of the top ten books of the year by Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, the Miami Herald, and People. Both The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World have been selections of Oprah's Book Club. Her following work, The Short History of a Prince, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998, her novel Disobedience was published in 2000, and her last novel When Madeline Was Young was a Washington Post Best Book of 2006.

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 14, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Valerie
at Hachette Book Group
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

More Winners!!!

Graphic courtesy of Cupcakes for Clara.
Click here to visit her Etsy shop.


I still need to hear back from some of the winners listed below. If there are asterisks after your name, I've sent you an email. Please respond by 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. If I have not heard from you by then, your win will be forfeit and I will contact the next winner determined by Random.org.




#4 Sarah (confirmed)
#19 Bani (confirmed)
#30 Abby (confirmed)
#56 Mystica (confirmed)
#60 Marianna (confirmed)


#1 Sandy Jay (confirmed)
#17 Carol W. (confirmed)
#26 Zibilee (confirmed)
#55 Wise Owl (confirmed)
#58 Darcie K. (confirmed)



#13 Mystica (confirmed)
#18 Wanda (confirmed)
#49 Linda Kish (confirmed)
#51 Jayda (confirmed)
#60 squiresj (confirmed)






#3 Boliyou (confirmed)
#17 Miss Rowley (confirmed)
#19 Ginny (confirmed)
#23 Bcteagirl (confirmed)
#28 Misusedinnocence (confirmed)



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

- Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in these drawings, hop on over to the contest page at Hachette Book Group for listings of other blogs hosting book giveaways.

- Be sure and check my sidebar for other ongoing giveaways here and at other blogs.

A big thank you to Hachette Book Group
 for making these giveaways possible.

Winners!!

Graphic courtesy of Cupcakes for Clara.



#15 justpeachy36
#17 scottsgal
#19 MJ
# 39 Brenda
#95 Dina





#10 Beth
#42 Belinda M.
#59 Ginny







#10 renee
#13 blue_ruby
#17 librarypat
#26 Scorpio M.
#30 elaing8




#13 librarypat
#22 Dawn M.
#34 Bani
#39 photoquest
#44 Pam



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

- All winners have been contacted and confirmed.

- Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in these drawings, hop on over to the contest page at Hachette Book Group for listings of other blogs hosting book giveaways.

- Be sure and check my sidebar for other ongoing giveaways here and at other blogs.

A big thank you to Hachette Book Group
 for making these giveaways possible.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Waiting on Wednesday: HEAVEN: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife by Lisa Miller


"WAITING ON WEDNESDAY"
is hosted by Jill from
Breaking the Spine.

Join in and tell us . . .

What are you waiting for?



Pub. Date: March 23, 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Format: Hardcover, 368pp
ISBN-13: 9780060554750
ISBN: 0060554754

Description (from the publisher):
A groundbreaking and accessible history of heaven—from the earliest biblical conceptions of the afterlife to the theologians who frame our understandings to the convictions and perceptions of everyday people.

Drawing on history and popular culture, biblical research and everyday beliefs, Heaven offers a new understanding of one of the most cherished—and shared—ideals of spiritual life. Lisa Miller raises debates and discussions not just about our visions of the afterlife, but about how our beliefs have influenced the societies we have built and the lifestyles to which we have subscribed, exploring the roots of our beliefs in heaven and how these have evolved throughout the ages to offer comfort and hope.

She also reveals how the notion of heaven has been used for manipulation—to promulgate goodness and evil—as inspiration for selfless behavior, and as justification for mass murder.

As Miller demonstrates in this absorbing and enlightening book, the desire for a celestial afterlife is universal—shared by the faithful around the world and across religions. It is as old as the Bible itself. While there are many notions of what exactly heaven is and how we get there, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all agree that heaven is God's home. From the Revelation to the Left Behind series, Augustine to Osama bin Laden, Muslims in the West Bank to American Mormons baptizing their dead, Heaven is a penetrating look at one of our most cherished religious ideals.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Book Review #42: WOMEN ARE CRAZY, MEN ARE STUPID by Howard J. Morris and Jenny Lee

Desperately looking for
a last-minute Valentine gift?
 This is it!



Pub. Date: September 2009
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Format: Hardcover, 256pp
ISBN-13: 9781416595052
ISBN: 1416595058
 
About the book (from the publisher):
Since the dawn of time, when the first smitten caveboy tried to woo the object of his affections by shoving her into the mud, men have demonstrated that when it comes to women, they are profoundly stupid. And when it comes to men, women — no matter how intelligent or mature — are completely crazy.

Based on this simple yet groundbreaking insight, comedy writers and real-life couple Howard J. Morris and Jenny Lee have devised a relationship guide that is refreshingly honest, completely hilarious, and surprisingly practical. Using their own crazy/stupid romance as an example of these forces in action, they set out to explain why women ask questions that they absolutely do not want answered — and why men persist in answering them. What are men really thinking — or crucially, not thinking? Why do women view even the most mundane events through an emotional prism? Why do guys suck at being romantic? And why does every conversation with a woman lead back to whether or not she's fat?

Using wit, hard-earned wisdom, and a highly entertaining he said/she said format, the authors explore the surprising method to his dumbness and the valid reasons behind her insanity, while providing real solutions to perennial relationship problems. By teaching men how and why they're stupid around women and showing women how to "control the crazy" for everybody's sake, Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid helps couples to reach the place where giving isn't giving in, needing isn't needy, and where the sexes can break the dysfunctional patterns and find away to live lovingly, happily ever after.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5.

My Thoughts: If you're desperately looking for a last-minute Valentine's gift, this is it! Morris and Lee have written a laugh-out-loud funny explanation of why men and women are forever doomed to butt head (and hearts). The great thing about this book is that neither side really comes out ahead. Although Lee makes the point that it's men's stupidity that drives women crazy, Morris is right there with examples and anecdotes to show that women have some degree of mental unbalance right from the get-go.

Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid is a perfect gift for couples because you get the point of view of both men and women. Even with all the laughs, readers will still gain insight and understanding of the opposite sex. It's pretty clear that Morris and Lee have a lot of love and respect for each other - and themselves individually. They poke fun at themselves as much as at each other, and you can't do that without a pretty healthy attitude.

This is a terrific book for Valentine's Day, anniversaries, weddings - it's the kind of book couples can give to each other or someone else can give to the couple together. Hidden within all the humor are some great relationship pearls of wisdom!
Click here to read an excerpt.

About the authors (from the publisher):
Howard J. Morris began his career in television, writing for the revolutionary HBO series Dream On, and then on the Emmy-nominated Home Improvement. He created the series, Holding the Baby and In Case of Emergency. He's also written on My Wife and Kids, According to Jim, and most recently, The Starter Wife. Jenny Lee was a writer on the hit comedy series Samantha Who?, starring Christina Applegate. And a writer on the Nickelodeon show, The Troop. She is also the author of three books of humor essays: Skinny Bitching, What Wendell Wants, and I Do. I Did. Now What?!: Life After the Wedding Dress. They live together in Los Angeles.



Thank you to Julie at FSB Associates for my review copy.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Spotlight and Giveaway: HASTA LA VISTA, LOLA by Misa Ramirez


Hello, everyone! Today I'm offering you a spotlight and giveaway for HASTA LA VISTA, LOLA by Misa Ramirez. My review will be posted later - my mom's in the hospital, and I don't have much computer time. I don't really have time to "perfect" this post, but today is my scheduled day on the blog tour, and I wanted to have something up. I'll probably edit in a few more details later on today. Hope you all understand!




Pub. Date: February 2010
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Hardcover, 272pp
Series: A Lola Cruz Mystery Series
ISBN-13: 9780312384036
ISBN: 0312384033

Description (from the publisher):
When Lola comes home to her parents’ house to find a horde of relatives mourning her death, no one is more surprised than she is. The news had reported that one Lola Cruz, PI was found murdered in an alley, causing great alarm in the Cruz family. Before Lola can say “boo,” a cop comes to the house. It turns out the dead woman had a driver’s license with Lola’s information. Between avoiding an unsavory ex-boyfriend, sorting out mixed signals from the very interested but not yet committed Jack Callaghan, and filling in as a waitress at her parents’ Mexican restaurant, Lola tries to find out who the woman was and why she stole her identity. Was the woman hiding from someone who meant her harm, or is there someone out there who wants Lola dead?

This follow-up to Ramirez’s debut novel, Living the Vida Lola, is a red-hot, fun-filled mystery. Lola, a black belt in kung fu who loves to salsa dance, makes for a sexy, unique, and vivacious detective.

Click here to read an excerpt.

Click here to visit the author's website. (This is a really fun site - don't miss it!)

About the author (from the publisher):
Misa Ramirez is proud to be a Latina-by-marriage. A native California girl and a former middle- and high-school teacher, she now writes full-time in her home near Dallas, Texas, where she lives with her husband and five children.

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

I have one (1) copy of
 HASTA LA VISTA, LOLA
 up for grabs.

• Leave a comment on this post telling me something about your favorite fictional female detective(s). 

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win! Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address -- no P.O. Boxes!

Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, February 26, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Book Giveaway: BLACK HILLS by Dan Simmons


Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away five (5) copies of
BLACK HILLS
by Dan Simmons.

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.



Publisher: Little, Brown
Category: Fiction
Format: Hardcover Book
Publish Date: 2/24/2010
Price: $25.99/$31.99
ISBN: 9780316006989
Pages: 512

Description (from the publisher):
When Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, "counts coup" on General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at the Little Bighorn, the legendary general's ghost enters him - and his voice will speak to him for the rest of his event-filled life.

Seamlessly weaving together the stories of Paha Sapa, Custer, and the American West, Dan Simmons depicts a tumultuous time in the history of both Native and white Americans. Haunted by Custer's ghost, and also by his ability to see into the memories and futures of legendary men like Sioux war-chief Crazy Horse, Paha Sapa's long life is driven by a dramatic vision he experienced as a boy in his people's sacred Black Hills. In August of 1936, a dynamite worker on the massive Mount Rushmore project, Paha Sapa plans to silence his ghost forever and reclaim his people's legacy-on the very day FDR comes to Mount Rushmore to dedicate the Jefferson face.


Click here to read an excerpt.

About the author (from the publisher):
Dan Simmons is the award-winning author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Terror and Drood. He lives in Colorado. Visit http://www.dansimmons.com/

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, March 5, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name. I use Random.org to determine the winners.

Thank you to Valerie
at Hachette Book Group
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Book Giveaway: DROOD by Dan Simmons


Thanks to the generous folks at
Hachette Book Group,
I have been authorized to
 give away five (5) copies of
DROOD
by Dan Simmons.

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.



Publisher: Back Bay
Category: Fiction, Suspense & Thrillers
Format: TRADE PAPERBACK
Publish Date: 2/8/2010
Price: $15.99/$19.99
ISBN: 9780316007030
Pages: 800

Description (from the publisher):
On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens--at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world--hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever.

Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying?

Just as he did in The Terror, Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens's life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens's friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), DROOD explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author's last years and may provide the key to Dickens's final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, DROOD is Dan Simmons at his powerful best.

Click here to visit the author's website.




RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address. Hachette is unable to deliver to P.O. Boxes.

Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, March 5, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name. I use Random.org to determine winners.

Thank you to Valerie
at Hachette Book Group
for making this giveaway possible.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

Waiting On Wednesday: WHITER THAN SNOW by Sandra Dallas


"WAITING ON WEDNESDAY"
is hosted by Jill from
Breaking the Spine.

Join in and tell us . . .

What are you waiting for?




Pub. Date: March 30, 2010
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Sales Rank: 98,806
ISBN-13: 9780312600150
ISBN: 0312600151

About the book (from the publisher):
FromThe New York Times bestselling author of Prayers for Sale comes the moving and powerful story of a small town after a devastating avalanche, and the life changing effects it has on the people who live there.

Whiter Than Snow opens in 1920, on a spring afternoon in Swandyke, a small town near Colorado’s Tenmile Range. Just moments after four o’clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high above the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky slope, enveloping everything in its path including nine young children who are walking home from school. But only four children survive. Whiter Than Snow takes you into the lives of each of these families: There’s Lucy and Dolly Patch—two sisters, long estranged by a shocking betrayal. Joe Cobb, Swandyke’s only black resident, whose love for his daughter Jane forces him to flee Alabama. There’s Grace Foote, who hides secrets and scandal that belies her genteel façade. And Minder Evans, a civil war veteran who considers his cowardice his greatest sin. Finally, there’s Essie Snowball, born Esther Schnable to conservative Jewish parents, but who now works as a prostitute and hides her child’s parentage from all the world.

Ultimately, each story serves as an allegory to the greater theme of the novel by echoing that fate, chance, and perhaps even divine providence, are all woven into the fabric of everyday life. And it’s through each character’s defining moment in his or her past that the reader understands how each child has become its parent’s purpose for living. In the end, it’s a novel of forgiveness, redemption, survival, faith and family.
 
Click here to visit the author's website.
 
SANDRA DALLAS is the author of nine novels, including Prayers for Sale, Tallgrass and New Mercies. She is a former Denver bureau chief for Business Week magazine and lives in Denver, Colorado.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Giveaway Winners: CORKED; and audiobooks of THE SWAN THIEVES and THE UNNAMED

Graphic courtesy of Cupcakes for Clara.


#5 Sandy Jay
#29 Martha Lawson
#66 Susan
#71 Anita Yancey
#75 Bethie





#34 justpeachy36
#46 Janetfaye
#92 Dina






#34 Anonymous (skkorman)
#66 Jo-Jo
#97 Belinda M.






* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

- All winners have been contacted and confirmed.

- Thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered. If you weren't one of the lucky ones in these drawings, hop on over to the contest page at Hachette Book Group for listings of other blogs hosting book giveaways.

- Be sure and check my sidebar for other ongoing giveaways here and at other blogs.

A big thank you to Hachette Book Group
 for making these giveaways possible.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Mailbox Monday: February 8, 2010



Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. If you'd like to join in, stop by Marcia's and leave a link - or just browse through the comments to see what new books have been showing up.



AN IRISH COUNTRY GIRL
by Patrick Taylor

For review through The Book Report Network.



THE POWER OF HALF
by Kevin and Hannah Salwen

For review through FSB Associates.




TRY DARKNESS
by James Scott Bell

For review from Hachette Book Group.





UNDRESS ME IN THE TEMPLE OF HEAVEN
by Susan Jane Gilman

For review from Hachette Book Group.





ROSE OF YORK: LOVE & WAR
by Sandra Worth

Purchased from my wish list.




IN THE CONVENT OF LITTLE FLOWERS
by Indu Sundaresan

Purchased from my wish list.






THE GIRL FROM FOREIGN
by Sadia Shepard

Purchased from my wish list.