Yes I know it is already June but for some reason I didn't get around to posting the May Giveaway in May. One minute it was the middle of May and the next it was June. Doesn't that happen to everyone sometime? ;)
Anyway as always there are five books to choose from and vote for. I think you are all going to have a hard time picking one this month. All five books are amazing!
Just go to the poll and vote for the one you want to win or the one you think deserves to win! Here is a little info about each book on offer. 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. I pick a name from the subscibers list and that person wins the book with the most votes. So you may not even win the book you voted for! To subscribe to Amberkatze's Book Blog all you have to do is use the box in the sidebar <--- or at the bottom of this post. Everyone who is already subscribed will be entered in the contest as well as new 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 Thursday 10th of June 4pm (all times are in Central European Time). The winner will be announced later than day.
For more chances to win -
Post about this giveaway somewhere on the internet eg. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc. Make sure you post the link here so I can confirm your extra entry.
Email your friends about this giveaway. Make sure you add my email address so I also get a copy and can confirm your extra entry. Amberkatzes_Book_Blog@gmx.eu
For more prizes -
I will draw more than one winner if I have enough money in the Amberkatze's Book Blog Amazon account. You can help fill this account by using one of the Amazon links on the site to make your purchases on Amazon.com or Amazon.de
Congrats! Keep reading to find out how to claim your prize! If you didn't win then make sure you find yourself a copy of Paula's books! They are amazing reads!
Next up was author Lori Devoti. She was giving away a surprise package which will definitely include one of her books.
So who will be able to tell us what exactly the prize was when they receive it? Well done to -
Bethany C.!!
If you didn't win this time then don't worry! They are more contests coming and the Monthly Giveaway is coming up too! Keep trying!
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 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. 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.
About a couple of weeks ago I read Amazon Ink by Lori Devoti. It was an amazing read and one of the first things I did after finishing it was contacting the award winning author. Lori Devoti was happy to hear from me and instantly said she would love to be a guest on the blog.
So today I welcome Lori to Amberkatze's Book Blog and hope you all enjoy the interview answers she gave me to post. Make sure you check out her books and also check out the contest below (US & Candada only!).
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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest! Could you start things off by telling my readers how you came up with the idea for your Amazon series? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?
Lori - It came in bits and pieces. I'd been thinking of doing a story on Amazons for quite a while before I actually started writing. Amber - Will there be more books in the series? How long would you like to see things continue? Do you see an end in sight?
Lori - I would like to write at least one more, but for now, unfortunately, no more books are under contract. That doesn't, however, mean I might not go ahead at some point and write the book anyway. With the changes in publishing (growth of eBooks) that is something an author can actually consider even without a publisher behind the book.
Amber - Your main character has a few generations of family around her. Is family very important to you?
Lori - Family is important to me. I think I drew on the generations shown in Amazon Ink from my childhood. Unfortunately, my children don't get to grow up surrounded by multiple generations like I did.
Amber - What kind of research have you done for your books? Anything interesting or is the research boring? Lori - I enjoyed the research I did for the Amazon series. It was mainly a combination of researching real archeological digs of female warrior graves and Greek myth.
Amber - The Amazon books are your Urban Fantasy debut but you have written quite a few other books. Can you tell us a little about them?
Lori - My first two books were romantic comedies set in my home region of the Missouri Ozarks. When the popularity of romantic comedy took a dive, I switched to dark paranormal romance. I have six of those out with Harlequin Nocturne and a seventh coming out in July.
Amber - Why did you become an author and what drew you to the paranormal genre?
Lori - I became an author because I was at home with my kids and had the time. That sounds horribly unglamorous, but it's the truth. So far as paranormal, I have been a big fantasy reader for years. It was a natural move.
Amber - How much say do you have in the book publishing process? Eg. Do you get to pick the cover?
Lori - I get input on the covers, but I don't get to pick them.
Amber - What are the good times and bad times of being an author?
Lori - Good times are going out and seeing people or hearing from people who "get" your books. My bad times have all pretty much been when I was trying to write too much in too short of time. Not good.
Amber - What is next? Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?
Lori - I have a few things in the works. I have more Nocturnes coming out this year and next. I also have a paranormal young adult out with editors and am working on a new single title paranormal romance proposal. When I am finished with it, I have an idea for another urban fantasy I'd like to try.
Amber - There are alot of online sites taking up peoples time lately. Are you on Facebook or any other sites? Do you think the sites are useful or do they just take up too much of your time?
Lori - I'm on Twitter and Facebook. They can take up time, but you need some time away from writing and being an extrovert I need some outlet. I have over the years eliminated a number of things though that I felt were just time sucks--mainly loops.
Amber - What are you listening and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?
Lori - Not really. I write in silence. I do watch a lot of reality TV. I love reality TV. I think you can get a lot of insight into how people think and act watching it.
Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?
Lori - I'm not sure. Maybe shift into a cat. I love the way they show their mood with their tails.
Amber - Thanks for being a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog! I hope you will stop by again!
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Contest Time!
Lori is going to send one lucky winner a surprise package. All she can guarntee is that it will include one of her books! Please note that this contest is only open to US & Canada mailing addresses!
How to Enter
Which of Lori's books would you most like to have?
No Book = No Entry
Earn more entries for each place you link this contest on the net. You can post on Facebook, Twitter & MySpace but make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries! However please do not make individual postings for each entry. Please post all your info in one post.
You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.
Make sure you post your links here so I can confirm your entries.
Keep the contests going by using the Amazon link below and around the site!
The contest will stay open until Sunday 30th of May 2010 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.
Devon was kind enough to offer THREE signed books up to three lucky Amberkatze Book Blog readers. So who are the lucky three?
Congrats to -
OneDayItWillBeAlright!
K_sunshine1977!!
Cait045!!!
Well done to all three of you! Make sure you read the instructions on how to claim your prize (see below)!
If you didn't win this time then just keep trying! There is a new contest already open with author Paula Brackston and a new contest coming up in the next hour with author Lori Devoti. Also keep a look out for the May Monthly Giveaway!
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 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. 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
Ten years ago Melanippe Saka left her Amazon tribe so she could give her daughter, Harmony, a normal life. Running a tattoo parlor is kind of normal but having your Amazon warrior mother and priestess grandmother living with you isn't. Things are good though and nobody seems to realise that her family isn't really human.
How wrong could she have been? Finding dead Amazon girls on your property kind of wrong. She knows moving their bodies is wrong but Mel is determined to keep Harmony away from the Amazon life. Unfortunately Mel still gets pulled into the investigation and finds herself more mixed up Amazon business than she really wants to be. So mixed up that alot of them believe she is the killer.
This was on my wish list for a while and I got a copy with some vouchers at Christmas. It has take me a few months for this to find its way to the top of my to be read pile and once again I am kicking myself. If all the books on my to be read pile are this good then I am going to be kicking myself alot. More time for reading is needed because we certainly have alot of great Urban Fantasy writers out there.
I was drawn to this book because the tattoo aspect but the Amazon theme also caught my attention. I haven't come across this paranormal angle before and I was a little suspicious at first but it turns out that the combination was great. I was hooked by the end of the first chapter and had problems putting this down. The characters were interesting and the story was well written. The plot was exciting and full of depth plus it was new and fresh.
I now have the second book in the series on my wish list and I will try not to wait so long to read it. Lori Devoti is a new author for me but she has surprised and impressed me. I am looking forward to reading more about the Amazons and finding out what happens next. Well worth giving a chance if you want to try something unusual and new.