Posts Tagged ‘Giveaway’

Celebrating the Release of Surrender to Ruin With a Contest

Friday, December 8th, 2017

To celebrate the release of Surrender to Ruin and because I’m in the giving mood, I am giving away two necklaces, one here, and one on my Facebook Author page. Here are pictures of the one I’m giving away here. I don’t have the right lighting, but I did the best I could. Both necklaces are Swarovski crystal. I bought them from a woman who had to move her jewelry business to her husband’s frame shop here in my town because they lost their house in the Northern California fires. They are both commuting from San Francisco. So these necklaces have some history already.

The rules to enter are below the pictures.

A teardrop shaped purple crystal set in a silver-colored backing.

Purple crystal necklace from further away

A closer view of a purple teardrop shaped pendant on a silver-colored chain

Closer view of purple crystal necklace

 

The Rules

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Must be 18 to enter. International OK. If the winner does not respond with a valid mailing address within 5 days of notification, I will select an alternate winner. Winner chosen at random via the plug in “And The Winner Is.” Contest closes Midnight Pacific on Friday December 15, 2017.  To enter, please leave a comment on this blog in which you answer this question: “What’s a nice thing someone did for you, or that you did for someone else.”

Feel free to also enter the other contest at my facebook author page. You have to also comment on that post.

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Goodreads Giveaway for My Darkest Passion

Monday, August 19th, 2013

I decided to do a Goodreads giveaway for the paper copy of My Darkest Passion, and until today I was under the impression that I had not been approved for that. But I was! But now there’s a week less to go, so get your entry in!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

My Darkest Passion by Carolyn Jewel

My Darkest Passion

by Carolyn Jewel

Giveaway ends September 13, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Feel free to share the widget!

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Book Giveaway – My Dangerous Pleasure

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

All the books are spoken for! Next stop: my local mailing shop where they will do the work for me.

As of 9:21 AM Pacific Mar-24-2013 there are:

0

copies left.

In honor of the upcoming release of My Darkest Passion,View Post

I have

100

 

paper copies of My Dangerous Pleasure to give away. (Book 4 in the series.)

 

What are you waiting for?

Who can have a copy? Anyone who either doesn’t have a paper copy already or who’s willing to give the book(s) to someone(s) they think will enjoy it. So, if you have friends you think would like the book, awesome! If you want to give them away to strangers, that’s awesome, too.

The rules are below.

Cover of My Dangerous Pleasure

The Book.

TEMPT THE DARKNESS Strong-willed and independent, Paisley Nichols is used to taking care of herself. But when an insane mage begins tracking her every move and threatening her at every turn, she has no choice but to put her life in the hands of a demon.

RISK THE PASSION Burned by betrayal, demon assassin Iskander won’t get too close to anyone. He spends his days serving his warlord and his nights indulging in carnal pleasures . . . and that’s exactly how he likes it. But when a mage wages a wrenching psychic assault on his beautiful tenant Paisley, Iskander must defend her. Under his protection, she will be drawn irresistibly into his life and learn about her own mysterious powers. And not a moment too soon. The mage haunting her isn’t acting alone-and he won’t rest until he destroys both Paisley and Iskander.

How to Get Your Books

1. You must be 18 to get a book, so asking for a copy is your assurance to me that you are 18.

2. Email me with your full name and mailing address. (carolyn AT carolynjewel DOT com or through the contact form on my website) and tell me how many books you’d like, up to, say, 7. As a side note, you’d be surprised how many people forget to include their mailing address, or only include part of it, or neglect to tell me their full name.

3. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. This is not a contest. No one wins. If I still have books when you contact me, you’ll get books. When I’m out of copies, the giveaway is over.

4. International is OK.

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Interview and Giveaway with Author Sam Wilde

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

Today, author Sam Wilde visits my blog and I grill her mercilessly until she agrees to tell us about her book and answer a few questions.

Why Sam Wilde is Awesome

Photo of sam Wilde

Photo of Sam Wilde

Samantha Wilde is the author of I’ll Take What She Has and This Little Mommy Stayed Home (both from Bantam Books). The at-home mother of three young children, she moonlights as a minister and a yoga teacher. She’s the graduate of Smith College and Yale Divinity School and lives in Western Massachusetts.

Find her on the web:
samanthawilde.com
Facebook
Twitter: @whatshehas
Wilde Mama Blog

 

 

About I’ll Take What She Has

Cover of I'll Take What She Has

Cover of I’ll Take What She Has

Best friends since kindergarten, Nora, a reserved English teacher, and Annie, an out-spoken stay-at-home mother, wrestle with the green-eyed monster when the new history department hire at the suburban Boston prep school where they teach, Cynthia Cypress, arrives on campus. A missing grandmother, depressed sex therapist, and a financial crises add to the comedy in a novel about imperfect friendships, mixed up families, messy motherhood, and the quest for the greenest grass.

Carolyn: Every time I see that cover I smile. That baby looks so happy!

Praise for I’ll Take What She Has

Publisher’s Weekly: “With wit, compassion, and a keen ear for dialogue Wilde explores issues of insecurity, envy, young motherhood, and friendship in this fast-paced work.”

RT Top Pick! “Wilde speaks the language of women and communicates what lies in their hearts…a gem of a read.”

Read the first chapter at the Random House website.

Where to Buy I’ll Take What She Has

Sam Answers A Few Questions

What made you want to write this story?

I came up with the title and synopsis on the phone with my mother, novelist Nancy Thayer, during a brainstorming session just as I was getting my book contract. The initial idea, to write about envy and newlyweds, came from her, the title and plot from me. As soon as I sat to write the book, the three main characters, Nora, Annie and Cynthia appeared. And though they are all, in a sense, newlyweds, I really ended up writing about motherhood and friendship. Being led by your characters into a story is one of the pure joys of writing.

Every parent is busy, especially when their children are young. Can you talk about how you balance family and your writing day?

I wrote my first novel during my first son’s nap times. He slept one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon. Through two more children I have, essentially, stuck with that same schedule. Now I work while my older son is at school, my toddler is napping, and my preschooler has quiet time (usually listening to books on tape). That gives me less than an hour most days—which is hardly enough time to look at emails. I work after bed-times as well, though not every night. Some years I have had a babysitter for roughly three hours a week, some years I haven’t. I love being a mother and for right now, as an at-home mother, I stay close to that identity and vocational calling. Working into the corners, edges, and crumbs of time in my day has made me a more efficient writer, a more patient person, and much less attached to my writing career. Writing an awesome scene and hearing someone call out, “Can you wipe my bum?” really puts everything into perspective.

Writing a funny book is hard. Do you think some writers are just naturally funny or is it something that can be learned? Any tips for those of us who are humor impaired in their writing?

I wholeheartedly agree. It’s hard to be funny! And, of course, when you’re funny, no one takes you seriously! I have the hardest time writing humor when I feel down myself. But I love to achieve funny. In the margins of the manuscript of I’ll Take What She Has, I often wrote, “Funny enough?” The best way I know how to get more funny juice (besides drinking it) is reading funny writers, watching funny films, and listening to funny comedians. Good humor always comes off as effortless, kind of like watching a ballerina float across the stage. Well, I studied ballet seriously for years and my toes bled! The word grueling comes to mind. When you know the hard work and effort required, it doesn’t feel so unnatural to have to work a little at it. But can anyone be funny? No. But a writer doesn’t need to be funny. A writer only needs to find her own authentic voice. Mine somehow came out funny.

One day, you’re walking along thinking about your next yoga glass. Suddenly, a time portal opens up right in front of you. Assume the following things are true:

 

  1. you can go anywhere in time you want;
  2. You will return to your family unscathed and not even late for anything;
  3. You can bring something back with you without causing a rupture in the space-time continuum that will destroy us all.
  4. You can’t go back in time to prevent some massive evil because that answer, while probably true, is not not where I’m going with this.

Answer the following:  What time period do you choose and why and what object do you bring back and why?

photograph of Sam Wilde's Great Grandmother

Great Grandmother

That’s an awesome question! I don’t think anyone has ever asked me that. It also makes me want to brush up on my history. It’s been so long since I thought clearly; the deficits of mama-brain could potentially lead me to say something like: “I would go to the time of the Egyptians and return with a printing press.” Can I come back with a person? I would probably head out to the turn of the last century, the year 1900, because that’s the time period I studied while an English major at Smith. The changes, excitement and innovation of that time, the cusp of modernity fascinate me. Also, the clothes. Oh, such beautiful clothes. I really do live in the wrong time for fashion. I am the only person I know who doesn’t own a pair of jeans. I would return with (can I have more than one?) hats! Hats and more hats! All those gorgeous, fanciful, elegant, expressive hats. I can’t wait for hats to come back into fashion somewhere other than in my children’s playroom where they always boss me around saying, “Mama, that’s my dress up box.”

What do you hope readers will like best about reading your book?

I hope they will laugh! I hope they will laugh out loud. That’s always my favorite compliment: I never laugh out loud at books and I did when I read yours. In the end, for me, that big laughter is about recognition, a truth being seen, so in laugher, I think so much happens: levity, joy, relief, touch of freedom and healing and a sense that you are not alone.

Any surprises while you were working on the book? Characters who did unexpected things? Did anything make you laugh out loud/cackle evilly while you were writing? If so, what was it?

I rewrote that book so many times over so many years for so many editors that when it finally came time to write a brief description of the book for my publicist, I really didn’t know what the things was about! What surprised me was the adaptability of my characters. The two main ones, Annie and Nora, survived so many editorial changes and remained, at heart, nearly the same. I feel close to them and proud of them. I cheer for them now that the book is out in the world, almost as if I had nothing to do with their story. But then writers are allowed to be weird like that, aren’t they, thinking about their characters as if they were real?

What’s next for you?

In my house, we really take it one day at a time! My husband has such a hard time with planning ahead that he often leaves arranging airline tickets for major business travel to the last minute! This can make some things in life hard, on the other hand, it’s a blessing to find anything encouraging you to stay more in the present moment. I have a third novel that I love nearly done. How happy I would be to have it out there! In the meantime, someone has to clean my house (much neglected with all the publicity I’ve been doing), potty train my toddler, enroll my daughter in gymnastics, teach my son the proper way to print a letter “d” and eat the cake in my refrigerator. I volunteer!

Giveaway!

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Two ARCs of Not Proper Enough

Monday, June 4th, 2012

I have two ARCS of my September historical, Not Proper Enough, to give away to two people who would like to review the book. This is an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) which means the final corrections aren’t in (but it was pretty clean as these things go), there’s no pretty cover, although it is purple. You are only obligated to give an honest review. That’s it.

Rules:

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Must be 18 or older to enter.

Leave a comment to this post by midnight Pacific, June 6th, 2012. I will choose a winner at random.

You should also mention if there’s a vegetable you really hate. And why, because that would be interesting data.

For example, I hate cooked carrots. My mother used to cook them in milk until they were reduced to bits of carrot shaped mush. The dog wouldn’t even eat them and our dog ate everything.

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