Friday, February 14, 2014

VALENTINES WINNERS

You're a winner. It's true. Know how I know? Because you're here, smiling at this post. (And if you're not smiling, fix that right now, buddy--and here's some cheese to help.) 



Today I'm going to introduce you to a few other (TONZ of) winners--including our Valentines Day raffle winners...below, but first, I'm over at 


Tara Tyler's place today talking about Newsletters. Check it out!

AND I'm super stoked today to introduce my buddy, Jessie Anderson and her STUNNING short story, Lemons.


Hi, everyone! Thanks for stopping by to check out the cover. I’d like to thank Crystal for having me.  I’m really excited to share my new cover with you, but first, let me tell you a bit about Lemons, which released yesterday, FEBRUARY 13, 2014. Be sure to check it out on Amazon.

LEMONS BLURB:

They say when life throws you lemons to make lemonade, but when Ally finds herself in the biggest pickle of her life—stranded on an island in the middle of a lake—fruit and veggies are the least of her worries. Now she’ll have to face the harsh realities of her selfish choices, which means dealing with what happened between her parents a few years ago.

Wanna see the cover now? Well, here it is:


If you’d like to know a little more about me and my writing, read on.

My first book, At What Cost was published in 2012. I’ve been writing and writing since then and have nearly completed a dystopian series, which is being sent to publishers. In the meantime, I wrote a short story. Not sure exactly where it came from. I don’t consider myself a short story writer, but hey, when it comes to you, you have to get it out.

Find out more about my writing here:
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BOOK REVIEW

I was given the wonderful opportunity to review an advanced copy My Bloody Valentine, a story collection by Tiffinie Helmer, Alex Bledsoe, V.R. Barkowski, Erica Hayes, Lizbeth Lipperman, Charlie N. Holmberg, Coreene Callahan, and S.G. Redling. So are you ready for this?

First of all, this is not a young adult collection. So okay, I occasionally read outside my genre (all the time), but typically I stay away from the adult romance stuff...because I'm sensitive and like my innocent perspective on the world. This book was filled with hard decisions, bitter-sweet outcomes, and I would have liked a language filter. Alas... If you're like me, you'll skip quite a few pages in this anthology, but you can read all of Charlie's SALT AND WATER without worry.

Her story in one word: Awesome.

The premise: A slave to a war-torn society for eighteen months, Chellis has been tortured for one purpose: to make her cry, for the healing properties of her tears can mend any soldier’s wound. 

I SO loved Chellis and her keeper, Ahad. The world they occupy is brutal. They should be enemies, but having grown up somewhat sheltered, Ahad is not your typical slaver. The themes of compassion and love stretch well beyond romance, and I wanted the story to keep going. I wanted a whole novel. (Please?) Yes, the story was that great.

Many of the others were well written, but again, read with your adult filter on.
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VALENTINES WINNERS

And now for the winners... 


Sun & Moon = Holly Letson
Maguire's Corner = Sarah Chafin
Model Position = Diana Steele Nelson
Three Daves = Trisha Farnan
Masked Love = Samantha Geary Jones
Colors like Memories = Julia Cosgrove
Chasing Anya = Sheri Larsen
Fate Intended = Shelly Hammond
Beyond the Binding and Composers for Relief CD = Mary K. Hill
MOONLESS signed = Elizabeth Seckman

Congrats, winners!

Lastly, because it's Valentines Day, here's a sweet little something for your reading pleasure:




What are you doing with this weekend? Anything romantic? Anti-romantic? Read anything thematically appropriate recently you'd like to recommend? 

76 comments:

  1. Congrats to all the winners!! Thanks for putting together such a fun hop :) Have a fun Valentine's!

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    1. Thanks for playing, Meradeth. It wouldn't have been the same without you.

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  2. Congratulations to the winners! Now, would anyone like some wine with that cheese?

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    1. No thanks. I prefer apple cider. (The American version.)

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  3. Congrats to all the winners. Now I am craving some cheese.

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  4. Lovely bit of writing you have there with your flash fiction.

    Congrats to the winners!

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  5. Pass the cracker, please. I'll take some cheddar, too. Congrats to the winners.

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    1. *handing cracker over* Okay fine, you have the cheddar. I'll take the muenster.

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  6. Congrats to all the winners! Now pass the cheese. :)

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  7. Congratulations to the winners! I like the title, "Kiss of Death."

    Have a terrific Valentine's Day!

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    1. I'ts a good title, eh? But definitely overused.

      Thanks for the wishes!

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  8. OOOoooo...I love the title and the cover is fantastic for "Kiss of Death!" Happy Valentine's DAy!

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    1. Thanks, Cathrina. I hope you had a wonderful one too.

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  9. Congrats to the winners, must go and eat cheese now!

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  10. Congrats to the winners! And Happy Valentine's Day, Crystal!

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  11. Happy Valentine's Day! Congratulations to the wieners.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Yay! Thank you, Janie. I hope you had a wonderful one.

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  12. Congrats to all the winners. What am I doing this weekend? Homework. And getting the brakes fixed on my car. Exciting...

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  13. I will be eating cheese soon- on chicken soft tacos. With yummy sour cream and lettuce and taco sauce. Num, num! And I just started a YA contemp w/a heart on the cover, The Summer I Found You.

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    1. Oooh, yummy. We had those on Monday. SO good.

      --I think I read The Summer I Found You! Maybe not. Maybe it was another contemporary with a similar title...

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  14. Mmmm cheese. I plan to watch Robocop next week but this weekend I just plan to work on my writing gig and curl up with my kindle. Congrats winners and everyone should smile more often. Happy Valentine's Day Crystal.

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  15. My husband and I are going out of town tomorrow night. We're staying in a haunted hotel!

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  16. Hey Crystal,

    How are you, my like minded lunatic? As short story about Lemons seems sweet. Great going and I prefer short stories, Jessie. Especially when a famous Jack Russell dog reads them to me.

    Will I get the Kiss of Death by commenting? You know I would have commented sooner. Trouble is it took ages opening up my zillion Valentine's Day cards :)

    Hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day, Crystal. Enjoy your weekend and make it cheesy.

    Gary :)

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    1. Doing well, Gary. So great to hear from you! (Even if I am a wee bit jealous of all your Valentines cards.)

      No kiss of death for you. We like having you around too much. =)

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  17. Congrats to all of the winners! So many of them! Kiss of Death has an excellent cover! Wow!

    Lemons sounds so interesting and I am curious about what selfish things the MC did!

    Thanks for sharing. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. Jess, thanks for reading. I always look forward to your comments.

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  18. Congrats to the winners! That cover for Kiss of Death gives me the shivers.

    Hubby and I finally got to see Smaug. Not sure whether I liked it or not.

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    1. Really? I definitely liked that one. It was GREAT to have all the build up of characters from previous parts of the story. Of course, I grew up with the culture of the Hobbit, so I would swoon no matter what.

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  19. Congratulations to the winners.
    Lemons has a nice cover.
    That girl on Kiss of Death makes me wonder what's in store. Good job.

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    1. Lemons does have a nice cover, doesn't it? (I got to give my two cents on it before it came out. Lucky me!)

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  20. some wonderful book covers---i especially like yours!

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  21. Congratulations to all the winners :)

    I didn't do much for Valentines but that was just this year... I plan to make it better next year and beyond... :)

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    1. I keep hearing in my head, "To infinity, and beyond!" Up and up, right?

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  22. Wonderful post!
    Congrats to all the winners!
    Heather

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    1. Thanks, Heather. =) --And thank you for being part of the giveaway. You rock!

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  23. Thank you for the cheese!! Yum yum!! And all the best to Ms Anderson! Hope Alley finds the sugar to sweeten her lemons! And you too lovely Crystal and your Kiss of Death! Yikes! Take care
    x

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  24. Congratulations to all the winners! Love the book covers -- Kiss of Death especially! Lemons sounds like an interesting premise for short story, very intriguing! Happy Valentine's Day weekend to all!

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  25. Just checked out your guest post over at Tara's! :)

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    1. Yay! I saw your comment, Heather, and I was thinking, "Man! I can't wait for more web comics!"

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  26. Thanks for the daily dose of cheese! :) Jessie Anderson's story sounds very interesting! Congrats to all the winners! What did I do this weekend? Eat sushi and watch a movie with hubs for V-Day. My favorite date night!! :)

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    1. That sounds like a wonderful date night...sans the sushi. =) (I'll take cheese over seafood ANY day.)

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  27. Our four day weekend is spent doing stuff as a family. Not too romantic, but that's just the way things worked out. Today its off to see the Lego Movie.

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    1. Ooh! The Lego Movie. I've heard great things about that, but I'm having a hard time wanting to spend the money. I bribed my youngest. If he scores two goals in his next soccer game, I'm taking him.

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  28. Congratulations to the winners!
    Lemons sounds really intriguing.
    And yum! on the cheese! *nibble nibble*

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  29. Congrats to all the winners!!! Wow, another site to check out. Never heard of figment.

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    1. It's pretty new, but such a smooth set up. I like it more than Wattpad.

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  30. Congrats to the winners. :)

    I just downloaded the My Bloody Valentine. I can't wait to read Charlie's story--all of them, for that matter!

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  31. Thanks for making everyone a winner. Congrats to the real contest winners.

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    1. I didn't make everyone a winner. That's just the natural order of things. Everyone IS a winner.

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  32. the newsletter post was a great success! thanks again for sharing your knowledge & experience!
    and congrats to the winners!

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    1. Thank you so much for asking me to share, Tara. I was glad to do it.

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  33. Mmmmmm cheese :D

    Lemons sounds so good! Thanks for the recommendation. At least she's not stranded on an island with other people, like "Lord of the Flies." We all know that didn't turn out so well...

    The manfriend took me to see Frozen so it was a pretty solid weekend. I hope yours was good too!


    Writing Through College

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    1. Lord of the Flies... *shudders*

      Ooh! We loved Frozen--I even posted about it last week...sort of.

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  34. Neat reviews and congrats to the winners:) I'd take some cheese though;)

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    1. Do it. Take all you like--just leave a smile in the donate box. =)

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  35. Congratulations to all the winners! The short story sounds amazing. The cover is very intriguing.

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    1. Thanks, Stephanie--for both of us. Great to see your smiling face here.

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  36. Ooh, cheese! Thanks! Congrats, Winners! Lots of good stuff on your blog today. I'll munch on the cheese while reading.

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  37. Congrats to the winners. I'll check out the links.

    That short story sounds like it'll be intense.

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  38. Congrats to the winners! And I like the sound of My Bloody Valentine - must check it out, thanks!!
    Claire

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Hit me with your cheese!