Beautiful Creatures Contest!!

Who doesn't love a contest??? I am a fool for them. Which is good, since I've become a follower of so many great blogs because of them. Well here's your chance to become a follower of THIS great blog. Yup, it's the circle of life.

Ok, where was I? Oh, yes, a contest!!! Well as you read earlier in the week,I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with my fellow bookworm Heather in RL and go to the Beautiful Creatures book signing in Downers Grove, IL.

At that book signing, I was well...pushy enough to ask Kami Garcia and Margi Stohl to sign a couple of extra copies of their book; which they graciously did. What does that have to do with you, dear reader? Well, Bewitched Bookworms is giving one away to ONE LUCKY WINNER!!!

So, how do YOU get to be said winner? Easy! Just enter the contest!

So click on the button above to go to Bewitched Bookworms, become a follower and enter the contest. It's really just that easy!

The Fangirl SqueeHeard Around The World

Image respectfully borrowed from here.

Why the SQUEE? Because I met KAMI GARCIA and MARGI STOHL last night!!!! And believe me when I say that I was in full on fan girl mode. But this is jumping the gun, so let me start at the beginning.

A couple of days ago I noticed that the tour dates on the Beautiful Creatures appearances list had been updated and they were coming to Chicago for TWO NIGHTS. Understandably, I was totally stoked! The question was, should I go alone or should I drag my enabler sister yet again (the post on New Moon shenanigans is STILL NOT UP, I know!)? Then DH, ever helpful, asked, "Doesn't that chick from that blog live in the area?" That chick from that blog....oh, right! Heather from Call of Duty Widow. Well, as a matter of fact she does live nearby, and she even lives quasi-near to the Downers Grove bookstore that was hosting Wednesday's event! A quick tweet off to hmmille and plans were made!

For the rest of the week I was in a tizzy: excited to meet Kami and Margi (oh, yeah, we're TOTALLY on a first name basis now that we tweet each other - lol!), excited to meet Heather, excited to go to my first book signing in 15 years (side note, the last one was for Kenzaburō Ōe, so you're in good company, Ms. Garcia and Ms. Stohl!).

The day arrived and I scurried on down to Downers Grove's own Anderson's Bookshop, a great venue with an even greater hostess, Kathleen. There I picked up my reserved copies of the book for the signing and settled in to wait for CoDW. I wasn't waiting long before Heather arrived.

It was SO much fun to sit next to Heather and chat and joke around. She's as witty and wonderful in person as she is on her blog!

Then Kami and Margi came in and gave an AMAZING talk. It was so much fun to watch them interact with each other and the audience. They were vibrant and funny and an overall great time. If you have the chance to attend one of the last two events on this leg of the tour (Book Inc - Not Your Mother's Book Club, in Palo Alto, CA or Copperfield's Books, in Santa Rosa, CA), you'll be SO HAPPY you did!

After the talk, they started calling us up in groups to get our books signed. I so caught up chatting with Heather that I missed it when they called my signing group. I actually yelped like a small, injured dog when I thought I had been skipped. Not flattering!

I did eventually make my way up there, though and when I got my chance to get my things signed (which may or may not have included more than one book AND two copies of my and uhyesplease's week 4 book discussion from fragile's blog), I introduced myself saying, "Hi, I'm Heather...also known as 'One Pushy Fox'".

Here is where I cringed, because this is the FIRST time I've introduced myself as my blogger self as well and was expecting blank stares and crickets. Couldn't have been further from what happened. Instead I was treated to big smiles and a hug from Margi! (Insert inner fan girl squeee here)

Can you see the gleam of freakish excitement in my eye?
No? Thank goodness!
The flash must not have caught it!

They graciously signed ALL the things I brought for them, commented on how much they're enjoying the book discussion on fragile's blog (and how much they liked the graphics too!) and took a few pictures with me. I was in a daze! I even walked right past fellow blogger Stacy from Page Turners, another great book site! I was just SO caught up in my good fortune and all the goodies clutched in my tiny little paws!

My bounty from the evening!
And yes, uhyesplease, that manila envelope has your signed copy of our book discussion post.
It will be in the mail tomorrow!!!

Well, that's it. I was too hyped up to blog last night but I'm still basking in my post signing glow (and possibly referring to my signed copy of the book as "Precious" in my best Golumn impersonation).

Precious!

And as a thank you to Kami, I'm presenting you with a jacket for all of the Diet Coke you drank while writing Beautiful Creatures....

You've definitely earned it!

Margi, in hopes of helping out during the next writing phase, I'm giving you this:

I found it here where you can also find tons of chapter fueling goodies for your new Veggie lifestyle!

A blogger's work is never done!

Especially when she keeps joining new blogs! Yes, dear readers, I have joined in with a few of my FAVORITE bloggers to start a new blog:

Bewitched Bookworms is a new site dedicated to the love of the written word. Here you will find eight savvy women of differently likes and temperaments who review everything from classical literature to YA and beyond. We hope to spread our enjoyment of reading and foster an environment where readers can come together and discuss what they loved (or goodness forbid, hated) about the best books of yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Please come check us out!

Voting for the Indie TwiFic Awards is OPEN!

If you don't already know, the voting page for the Indie TwiFic awards is now open. You can vote for up to 10 stories per category, which is FANTASTIC because there are so many wonderful stories nominated!!! So, please, go, vote and spread the twific love!

Beautiful CreaturesBook Discussion

Thank you Betti
of Betti.Music.Twilight
for this AWESOMETASTIC
book discussion button!!!!

I mentioned a while ago that I am participating in a book discussion on Beautiful Creatures over at afragilelittlehuman's blog.

Well this is the week that my lemon sister, uhyesplease, and I had our turn to lead the discussion. Please stop on by and show some comment love, not just for us but for all the other amazing women who are posting each week.

Thanks!!!

He who owns the servers....

Many of you know that there's been some drama in fandom over at FanFiction.net. Apparently, many of the stories we know and love, and write truth be told, are being exorcised for too graphic content. Sexorcised as AngstGoddess003 put it.

It seems like a waste of time to me. Twilight is the second highest written for book on their site (behind, wait for it....yup, Harry Potter.) I mean, they must be at the very least supporting the cost of their servers with the ad revenue they get off of all of the traffic Twilight's fandom sends their way. Right?

I was tweeting with another author last night and venting my ire at the hypocrisy of it all. I mean they're billing themselves as a place where fans can let their imaginations run wild but apparently not to wild. And of course their TOS has the standard disclaimer:

FanFiction.Net reserves the right to decide whether Content or a User Submission is appropriate and complies with these Terms of Service for violations other than copyright infringement or privacy law, such as, but not limited to, hate crimes, pornography, obscene or defamatory material, or excessive length. FanFiction.Net may remove such User Submissions and/or terminate a User's access for uploading such material in violation of these Terms of Service at any time, without prior notice and at its sole discretion.

And the key words appear to be "pornography" and "obscene [...] material". Is The Submissive pornography or erotica? Is it obscene or original? By their very nature, these determinations are not objective. Yet, since the owners of FFn are footing the server bill, they have the right to decide, right?

So, what's a conscientious smut-peddler to do? Well, there are a few takes. My initial reaction was to yank my stuff off FFn. I do hate hypocrisy after all and wouldn't leaving my stuff up on FFn while ranting about it make me the biggest hypocrite of all? But then the question became, if I'm not posting to FFn, where would I post? The lovely ysar posted a very informative list of alternative sites and their pros and cons on her blog. But as another friend pointed out, the reason we all post to FFn is because that's where the most readers are.

Hmmm.....she has a very good point. Her take was to lay low, since she too writes NC-17 content occasionally and let the storm pass. And I have to admit that it's a good plan, but it still seems unfair to me. Some get punished because they are popular while the small fries continue to slide under the radar. Then again, I could yank my stuff but what would that prove? It's like getting flipped off by a kitten. You'd just laugh.

So, I guess I'm wondering if there's another option out there? Anyone have any ideas? Post a comment and let me know what you think.

Beautiful Creatures:The Love Just Keeps Rolling In

Didn't win the Caster Girls contest? Yeah, me neither. But FRET NOT!! For the lovely Mrs. V over at Let's Ride the Vanquish is hosting a wonderful contest for everyone who has fallen in love with Beautiful Creatures!



Enter for the chance to win an exquisite bracelet from Mary Tippet Designs. There are six different ways to get entries into the contest, or do them all for a possibility of 17 chances in this drawing. So if you haven't already entered, what are you waiting for????

Dazzling is up for an Indie

The other day I got the fantastic news that Dazzling was nominated for an Indie Award in the new Love Conquers All category! Here is what the officials over at The Indie Twific Awards had to say on this new category:

Focused on exactly that, love overcoming great odds, this category will encompass those completed stories in single chapter or short story (less than 50,000 words) that deal with the concept of great love conquering all that gets in its path. Canon, AU, AH, all takers are welcome so long as they are well written and concept of love overcoming great odds.

I am so grateful that someone out there enjoyed this one shot enough to recommend it for this contest. To my nominator, and to every single person who has given me the gift of their time to read my story, I say, "Thank you so very much!" I appreciate each and every one of you far more than you will ever know.

Voting begins on February 20th. I hope you will take some time out and vote for my story. And with that, I'll leave you with the crazy-awesome banner Betti made for Dazzling:

Thanks again!!!

Betti's amazing story, Your True Colors, is also up for an Indie in the AH story that knocks you off your feet category! Many congratulations on the nomination, Betti, and good luck in the contest!!

Beautiful CreaturesBook Discussion and Contest

Hello, lovelies!!! I hope the new year is treating everyone well. I am keeping busy, as always. And one of the things I am doing over the next few weeks is participating in Fragile's Beautiful Creatures book discussion.

Haven't read Beautiful Creatures yet????? Click on the pick to get it on Amazon.

It's only $10.52 and it's eligible for free shipping!

Haven't read the kick off or the first two discussion posts??? Click here, here and here to bask in the wonderment that is this discussion. Please join in and help make this discussion a success.

And for a SQUEE thought, the authors are aware of the discussion from fragile's tweets and I wouldn't be surprised if they popped in to see how it goes!

In the same SQUEE vein, there's a contest going on over at Caster Girls, a Beautiful Creatures fansite, where you can win 12 autographed copies of Beautiful Creatures for your very own bookclub!!! To enter, go here:

Well, good luck all and I hope to see you around fragile's site, especially on Valentine's Day, when I'll be hosting that week's discussion with the lovely uhyesplease, my Lemon Sister.