Vote for one of the books that were my best reads in 2012 and then make sure you use the Rafflecopter widget to enter the Giveaway. One lucky person will win a copy of the winning book!
The contest is open till Saturday! You have a chance to get more entries or even get your friends to vote!
Here is a little info about each book on offer in the giveaway. Just click on the book title and author to see my review -
Well in the sidebar ---> there is this poll. You vote for the book you would most like to win. Then enter your name into the Giveaway via the Rafflecopter widget below. When the giveaway is over the winner gets book with the most votes. So you may not even win the book you voted for!
Newsletter subscribers! If you have not confirmed your email address then you will not be added to the draw!!!
The poll will stay open for votes until Saturday 19th of January 2012 4pm (all times are in Central European Time). The winner will be announced within days of the contest closing.
Use the Bookdepository or Amazon links/banners to keep the prizes coming! Oh and advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog wherever you can ;)
Happy New Year! Hopefully you all had a good one and are ready for another year of reading some great books! Maybe you even saw a few you want as you were browsing around the blog? Well with a new Year comes the Best of 2012 Giveaway!
Would you like to win one of my favourite reads from 2012? Well you can! Just keep reading and find out how to enter the Giveaway!
You have the chance to vote for which book you want to win from my twelve favourite reads from last year!
How does the Giveaway work?
I picked 12 of my favourite reads from the last year (sorry no ARCs are included unless they have already been released!) then you guys now have the chance to vote for the book you want to win or the one you think deserves to win! Remember! You may not actually win the book you voted for.
Here is a little info about each book on offer in the giveaway. Just click on the book title and author to see my review -
Well in the sidebar ---> there is this poll. You vote for the book you would most like to win. Then enter your name into the Giveaway via the Rafflecopter widget below. When the giveaway is over the winner gets book with the most votes. So you may not even win the book you voted for!
Newsletter subscribers! If you have not confirmed your email address then you will not be added to the draw!!!
The poll will stay open for votes until Saturday 19th of January 2012 4pm (all times are in Central European Time). The winner will be announced within days of the contest closing.
Use the Bookdepository or Amazon links/banners to keep the prizes coming! Oh and advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog wherever you can ;)
I pick five of my favourite reads from the previous month (sorry no ARCs are included unless they have already been released!) then you guys vote for the book you want to win or the one you think deserves to win!
So which book won this month? Let's take a look at the results!
In second place, is a book I expected to be this months winner. Maybe you all rushed out to buy a copy of Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones when it was released? Don't blame you! It was amazing! 26.09% of the vote wasn't enough for Charley to win another Monthly Giveaway!
And the winner is : Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway!!!! A fabulous read and one I hope will make it to a series. Unfortunately the author hasn't been contracted for any more! (see interview : Link in sidebar ---> But 50% of you wanted to win a copy!
Soooooo if you didn't win please make sure you support this author and series by buying a copy of Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway
Please contact me via email - Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot eu within the next 7 days to claim your prize. Your claim will go quicker if you send me your address. If you won a contest where you can choose your prize, then please make sure you state in your email which book you would like. This will help things go alot quicker! If you won an e-book please make sure you send me the email address you would like the book sent to!
If you email me and don't get a reply within 48 hours please post on the blog letting me know. Some email gets eaten by my spam filter. However please don't send me more than one email unless you really don't get an answer within 3 days. I am not online 24/7 ;) Sometimes it takes a little longer to reply.
If a prize isn't claimed after 7 days I will, if the author agrees, pick another winner.
Please also note that I can not be held responsible for prizes that come direct from authors. I will check with them for you if you haven't received your prize but I can not hunt down your mail! Any prizes that come from myself could come from a 3rd party eg. Amazon or Bookdepository. If I am sending a prize myself please be aware that it could take a few weeks to reach you as it is coming from Europe.
Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site.
I hope you all enjoyed the interview with Tate and were as upset as I was to hear that the author doesn't currently have any contracts with any publishers at the moment. I loved Precinct 13 and was really looking forward to a series. I can only hope that Tate goes the self-publishing route. I am certainly going to check her books out.
If you haven't already read Tate's books then I suggest you do so as soon as possible. She is a brilliant writer and has come up with some wonderful characters and interesting concepts. A copy of these super reads, Precinct 13, was up for grabs to one lucky person. Maybe you won? The contest is now over and it is time to find out!
To find out if you won just scroll down and check the widget. The winners name should be clear to see!
Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site.
--------------------------
How to claim your prize!
Please contact me via email - Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot eu within the next 7 days to claim your prize. Your claim will go quicker if you send me your address. If you won a contest where you can choose your prize, then please make sure you state in your email which book you would like. This will help things go alot quicker! If you won an e-book please make sure you send me the email address you would like the book sent to!
If you email me and don't get a reply within 48 hours please post on the blog letting me know. Some email gets eaten by my spam filter. However please don't send me more than one email unless you really don't get an answer within 3 days. I am not online 24/7 ;) Sometimes it takes a little longer to reply.
If a prize isn't claimed after 7 days I will, if the author agrees, pick another winner.
Please also note that I can not be held responsible for prizes that come direct from authors. I will check with them for you if you haven't received your prize but I can not hunt down your mail! Any prizes that come from myself could come from a 3rd party eg. Amazon or Bookdepository. If I am sending a prize myself please be aware that it could take a few weeks to reach you as it is coming from Europe.
Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site.
December is well under way and Christmas is can't come soon enough! I need more time to read and I am looking forward to getting lots of books read over the holidays and meeting my goal of 175 books read in 2012.
With a new month comes a new Monthly Giveaway! The last one this year!
My November reads were few but good. Some new authors and some new additions to some of my favourite series. As always picking five books for the Monthly Giveaway was hard work. But I have now picked the ones I enjoyed more than the rest and it is time for you all to see what you could win!
Would you like to win one of the books I read in November? Well you can! Just keep reading and enter the Monthly Giveaway!
You have the chance to vote for which book you want to win from my five favourite reads from last month!
What is the Monthly Giveaway?
I pick five of my favourite reads from the last month (sorry no ARCs are included unless they have already been released!) then you guys go to the poll and vote for the book you want to win or the one you think deserves to win! Remember! You may not actually win the book you voted for.
Here is a little info about each book on offer this month. Just click on the book title and author to see my review -
Well in the sidebar ---> there is this poll. You vote for the book you would most like to win. Then enter the Monthly Giveaway via the Rafflecopter widget below. When the giveaway is over the winner gets book with the most votes. So you may not even win the book you voted for!
Newsletter subscribers! If you have not confirmed your email address then you will not be added to the draw!!!
The poll will stay open for votes until Tuesday 18th of December 2012 4pm (all times are in Central European Time). The winner will be announced within days of the contest closing.
Use the Bookdepository or Amazon links/banners to keep the prizes coming! Oh and advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog wherever you can ;)
Have you read Tate's latest release, Precinct 13? I loved it and highly recommend you try it! Maybe if there are enough readers and good reviews out there...well just maybe somehow there will be another book in the series!
I read a lot of good books in November but one of my favourites has got to be Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway. I was hooked within a few pages of starting and loved the original and fresh new world. My only hope now is that there will be some more books about Tate's new characters.
Have you read Precinct 13? Have you tried Tate's books? You are really missing out if you haven't!
I asked Tate to be a guest on the blog and now you guys have the chance to read the interview to find out more about the author, her books and what the future holds. Then make sure you enter this weeks contest for your chance to win a copy of Precinct 13!
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Amber - Welcome back to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here again as a guest! Could you start things off by telling us a little about your latest release, Precinct 13?
Tate - Precinct 13 is the story of Alex Conner, the ‘accidental’ coroner of Hughes County, South Dakota. Through a series of misadventures involving tattoos and snakes, Alex unlocks her secret superpowers and is introduced to Pierre’s resident paranormal police division, Precinct 13. Along the way, she wrestles with the truth about her past: that despite being told she was crazy, all those things she saw in the dark allies and under bridges in Chicago are real… and out to get her.
It’s my usual style in that, despite the fact that hilarious hijinx ensue, there’s a dark undercurrent of seriousness throughout the whole novel.
Amber - How did you come up with the idea for Precinct 13? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?
Tate - Ideas are funny things. This one I hashed out with a friend and fellow writer, Rachel Gold. A lot of it was, “Yeah! That would be cool, and then…!” and I ended up writing up a twelve-page proposal for my editor that incorporated a lot of that enthusiasm over the course of a couple of weeks. But, truthfully a lot of the things, particularly the character of Valentine, lived in my head a long, long time before they ever achieved text, as it were. And, then, once the contract is signed… the story continues to percolate and change as I write my way into what I thought I was going to write, you know? So, I think to be fair to the messiness of the creative process, I would have to say that the idea of Precinct 13 probably took me a year or more to generate.
Amber - Precinct 13 has a nice variety of supernaturals. Are there any paranormal creatures you just don't like, and would never use in your books?
Tate – I hate to buck the trend, but I’m not overly fond of zombies. I’ve written about them a couple of times now, partly out of a desire to understand their appeal. I’m still not sure I get it, even though I adore films like 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead. But, so, even though I’m not terribly keen on them, I still would write about them.
Are there any I would ‘never’…? That’s such an awesome question. Mummies, maybe. I don’t see that as a big issue, though, since mummies aren’t terribly popular. Mermaids? I would probably write about a mermaid, though—I actually think mermen are even more interesting…. So, I don’t know. In some ways, one of the fun things about being a paranormal writer is finding the supernaturals that no one has thought to try to make sexy or interesting and exploit them.
Amber - What paranormal creatures are you dying to fit into a story but you haven't managed to fit in yet?
Tate – Demons. Demons and angels. I wrote about angels in my other persona as Lyda Morehouse, but those books were more science fictional than straight-up romances (there are romantic elements, but you’d be disappointed, I think, if you went looking for them for hot angel sex, for instance.) I’ve recently done a TON of research into Japanese demons as part of my Anime obsession and I have to say there are a lot of really fascinating demons out there.
Amber - How did you pick the names for the characters? Do they have any special meanings?
Tate - Naming. That’s a really important process for me. Sometimes, depending on the character, it’s a matter of looking through a baby book or at a baby naming site on the web and picking something I like the sound of. But, so for some… it has to be just right. Valentine being the big one there. Like I said, he lived in my head a long time before allowing me to use him in this story, so I’m sure his name changed over time. In that case, the name came to me along with the character—like a kind of magic. You know, where suddenly you have an image in your head and he tells you his name…. But, I will also say that for Precinct 13, two of the people are randomly named for baristas at my favorite coffee shop: Spenser and Devon.
Amber - If Precinct 13 was going to be made into a TV series or Film, who could you see playing the main characters?
Tate - D’oh! I hate this question partly because I don’t watch enough TV. How about this…. What I really want is for the voice actor J. Michael Tatum (he voices Sebastian from “Black Butler”) to be Valentine in the Anime version.
Amber - Will there be more books about Alex? Will we find out more about her evil step-mother?
Tate - No. My publisher has passed on the opportunity for me to write more books in this universe. Frankly, this sucks. I quite obviously wrote the book with sequels in mind or I would have tied up a lot more loose ends.
I’m currently trying to decide what to do about that, actually. I’m thinking about trying to write an e-book. If I decide to do that, I will probably post installments as I write them on my various web pages. I actually started a chapter, but I ran out of steam partly because I feel very discouraged at the moment. I have no contract for any books in the future with any publisher and I’m very adrift in a way I haven’t been for years. I’m working to push my way back out of this doom and gloom, but, quite frankly, it’s difficult.
Amber - How long on average does it take you to write a book? Do you have a process you follow? or do you just start at page one and see what happens?
Tate - For novels for publication I have a very rigid process. I never start a book without having a proposal already written, which means I have the entire plot already thought out from the beginning, middle to the end. But, since the proposal tends to have a lot of sketchy transitions, there’s still a lot of wiggle room for things to ‘just happen’ along the way. The difference is that I know where I’m going from the start.
However, I’ve been doing a lot of fan writing for fun during this low period (in fact, I do believe fan fic has kept me sane and still writing, despite crushing depression over my career) and I’ve been experimenting with just starting… there’s something really awesome, fun, and freeing about writing that way. It’s much easier, however, to fall into the never-ending soap opera mode or the petered-out-because-I-wasn’t-going-anywhere issue too.
Amber - Precinct 13 is definitely more Urban Fantasy than your previous books but you obviously love the paranormal. Why did you pick the genre? or did the genre pick you?
Tate - The genre kind of picked me. My editor actually thought I was supposed to write paranormal romance, but I ended up turning in something very much more urban fantasy. I’m not sure how that happened, except that when Valentine showed up he was already an established lover, so there wasn’t a chance to make him ‘the first blush’ so many people love about paranormal romance.
Amber - How much say do you have in the book publishing process? Eg. Do you get to pick the cover? Do you choose the titles?
Tate - I choose the titles (though, in the past, I’ve had to negotiate with my editor over the titles on occasion.) I write the stuff in between the covers, but the rest is down to the publishers, the marketing department, and the cover committee. I have been asked to offer suggestions for a cover scene, but no one has ever taken me up on anything I’ve put forward. Most of the time, the process for the cover goes: “hey, please send a character description or section of the novel for the artist to read that has a lot of description,” and then there’s a flurry of activity in which I start to feel like I have some input, and then I get a .jpg of the finished product that usually looks nothing like anything I sent them or talked about.
Amber - What is next? Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?
Tate - Uh, well, as I said, I’m a bit at loose ends at the moment. I am currently working on a superhero romance that’s WAY out of usual genres—it’s GLBT and possibly more erotic than my usual fare. I love the premise to bits, though. The idea is that our non-powered hero who thinks he’s been dating a superhero discovers that his lover is actually THE super-villain. It’s very much like a Tate project though in that while there’s a lot of hilarity, there’s also a serious and romantic undercurrent to the story.
Amber - What are you listening and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?
Tate – I read a lot of Manga and watch far too much Anime. Currently, one of my favorite Manga is Bakuman, which I can’t recommend enough to my writer friends. It’s the sort of story that should be irritating because it’s a Manga artist and writer trying to become Manga artists and writers. But, it’s actually a very gripping story that explores a lot of the issues that affect anyone engaged in the creative process at any level. I’m still working my way through Bleach, my current Anime obsession. Bleach, alas, also influences a lot of the music I listen to, which means I have far too much J-pop on my .mp3 player. I’m also a huge Avengers/Marvel fan.
Amber - What books do you enjoy reading? Do you have any favourite authors/series?
Tate - I have a lot of favorite authors. I have to admit that it’s been a while since I’ve had the patience to read a full novel-length piece, however. So there are a lot of comic books and Manga around the house at the moment.
Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?
Tate – I’d love to be immortal and, given my current obsession, I’d love to be a shinigami (soul reaper/grim reaper, from Japan.) You can find a surprising number of Anime/Manga that involve shinigami—Soul Eaters, Black Butler, and Bleach to name a few. There’s really no exact analog in Western culture, except possibly a psychopomp—someone like Charon, the ferryman, who transports the souls of the newly dead to the afterworld.
Amber - If you could meet any famous person, alive or dead, who would you be? and why?
Tate – I would make my partner really happy if I could meet British author (still living) Phil Rickman and become close enough friends with him that we could have him over for dinner. She adores his books, and I would gain a ton of relationship points which I could coast on for years.
Amber - Thank you so much for being a guest on the blog!
Tate – Well, I always love stopping by! Thanks for having me again!
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Contest Time!
I am giving away one Kindle copy of Precinct 13 to one lucky entrant!
How To Enter
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter the contest.
Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site.
Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners you must claim your prize within 7 days of the winner being announced!
Recent college grad Alex Conner is thrilled to have landed a job as the Hughes County coroner/medical examiner in Pierre, South Dakota. But when her first day on the job ends with a missing corpse, Alex starts to wonder if she would have been better off collecting unemployment...
When the cops made some cryptic comments about being careful with the body they brought in, Alex just thought the boys in blue were messing with her. That is, until something freaky happens that no amount of med school could have prepared her for. By the time Alex gets herself together, the body has disappeared and the other residents of the morgue start talking her ear off.
After working up the courage to report the missing body, Alex is transferred to the mysterious Precinct 13 where she discovers that her new co-workers—including a cute technomage named Jack—are paranormals just like her. Now, Alex is being encouraged to use her ability to speak to the dead to solve crimes. And despite being in the middle of nowhere, Hughes County sure does have a lot of paranormal activity…
My Thoughts :
The large majority of the books I have read lately are continuations in a series I have been enjoying. While I am excited about new additions to an already familiar series I do sometimes need something new to perk me up. Tate Hallaway isn't a new author to me but her latest release, Precinct 13, was not from the two series I have read by her. I expected something different due to the cover being nothing like her previous books but I didn't expect the cool unusual happenings surrounding Alex!
I was hooked within a few pages. The start was just too fun and exciting. I found myself reading half of the book without taking a break. I was totally engrossed. Alex was a nice character, the paranormal elements were fresh and the story was edgy. Of course what helped make this book special was the author. Her writing style always gets major points from me but she really out did herself this time around.
13 Precinct could be a one off but I certainly hope it is the start of a series. The book finishes with everything tied up but there is some real good ideas and aspects in there that could go on to develop into much greater things. I would rush to pre-order a sequel and would love to see what the dragons, golems, faeries etc get up to in Pierre on a regular basis.
So if you are looking for something new and unique to curl up with as the weather gets colder, look no further. This is a book you can snuggle up with and lose yourself in another world. One of stories that excites and satisfies. One of the Christmas wishlist or to buy on your next book splurge. I wish I had gotten a copy as soon as it was released.
The May Monthly Giveaway is now closed! Time to see which book you all voted for and which lucky newsletter subscriber has won a copy of the winning book!
And just making first place with 29.58% of the votes is Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill. This is the book you most wanted to read and the book this months winner will receive!
But who is the winner of May Monthly Giveaway? One lucky Amberkatze's Book Blog newsletter subscriber is gets a copy of Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill!
So congrats to the subscriber with the email address beginning with :
Juliecookies!!!
Keep reading to find out how to claim your prize!
Didn't win this time? Make sure you get a copy of the books anyway! They were my five favourite reads last month and all worth buying. Keep the contests going by using the Amazon or Bookdepository links to buy your books.
If you already subscribed to the newsletter you will automatically be entered for the monthly giveaway each month. Just come by and vote for the book you would most like to win!
Also make sure you stop by and check out the weekly author guests! There is usually a giveaway attached!
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How to claim your prize!
Please contact me via email - Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot eu within the next 7 days to claim your prize. Your claim will go quicker if you send me your address. If you won a contest where you can choose your prize, then please make sure you state in your email which book you would like. This will help things go alot quicker! If you won an e-book please make sure you send me the email address you would like the book sent to!
If you email me and don't get a reply within 48 hours please post on the blog letting me know. Some email gets eaten by my spam filter. However please don't send me more than one email unless you really don't get an answer within 3 days. I am not online 24/7 ;) Sometimes it takes a little longer to reply.
If a prize isn't claimed after 7 days I will, if the author agrees, pick another winner.
Please also note that I can not be held responsible for prizes that come direct from authors. I will check with them for you if you haven't received your prize but I can not hunt down your mail! Any prizes that come from myself could come from a 3rd party eg. Amazon or Bookdepository. If I am sending a prize myself please be aware that it could take a few weeks to reach you as it is coming from Europe.
Never miss out on a new Author Event, Contest or Book Review! Subscribe Now!
Use the Bookdepository or Amazon links/banners to keep the prizes coming! Oh and advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog wherever you can ;)
