Very Inspired by...

If you've been around here long, you know I'm AWFUL at accepting blog awards. I let them collect for months before saying anything, and so it's that magic time to do something about them.

Very Inspiring Blogger Award: Thank you so much Sharon Himsl and Gina Stoneheart for nominating me! (And sorry it's taken 6 months to say that.)

Rules for the Nominees:
1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.
2. Display the award logo.
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers (more or less) and provide a link where they may be found.
4. Go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated.
5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

My 3 inspirations:

1. I'm just about to finish reading a second book to the kids for summer. We enjoyed The School for Good and Evil, and are now finishing up The Eighth Day. Both are awesome reads. It's been amazing sharing these reading adventures with my littles for so many reasons. First, to watch their reactions and really see first hand what engaging writing looks like. Second, I'm a ham. Do you know how long it's been since I had a chance to act? I really would do pretty well if I decided to become and audiobook narrator. 

2. Cheese. (Enough said.)





3. This:

I wish I could nominate all of you, but tagging would take me a week straight, and let's face it: I have a baby. ;) Regardless, I adore you just as much as the people I nominated today. (Because you're beyond epic.)

My nominees:

Randi Lee--Whose optimism and kind words are like fresh air.
Krystal Jane--I'm not sure any blogger gets me laughing quite so hard. (Love you, Krystal!)
Ian AKA Botanist--Ian's deep thoughts really register with me, not to mention he put out an AMAZING Sci-fi book.
Elizabeth Seckman--If my blogging circle had a heart, Elizabeth would be it. Sweetest. Blogger. Ever.
Amy @ Involuntary Smiles--Amy has her priorities exactly where they belong. She's my hero.
Kristin Smith--I love her attitude, her sense of design, her hair. (Two thumbs WAY up.)
Jennifer Hawes--I don't know what it is, but I felt like I connected with Jennifer right away. Maybe it was the curls. Friends for life.
Robyn Campbell--Oh, Robyn. She has been through the ringer these last couple months, but she inspires me with her attitude, her friendliness, and her continued encouragement of others--despite her own struggles. You're a light, Robyn.
Liz Blocker--I love this woman. We kind of met over a disagreement (or that was my first memorable conversation with her), but Liz is the very essence of awesome, and beyond accepting. I couldn't imagine the blogosphere without her.
Sharon K. Mayhew--I think this woman has edited more people's books for free than I have hairs. She now does it professionally, but I love that she's always ready to give of herself.
Linda R. Young--A total multi-tasker, I applaud Linda. Here's a woman after my own heart.

Ready for the chance to win an awesome book?

Two weeks ago Laura Masiano shared with us SCHISM, along with two truths and a lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win an eBook!  

Laura's Game:

1. Laura got lost on the side of a mountain in Japan during a monsoon at night and hitchhiked back to her hotel.
2. She's eaten live octopus where the tentacles were still moving and the little suckers really do stick inside your teeth.
3. As a waitress, Shaq sat at her table and asked her advice on which concert to take his girlfriend to (Rickey Martin or Enrique Iglesias).

THE LIE: #2. Laura saw this on Amazing Race and decided she'd never do that. She'd end up losing.

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Sandra Cox!!!

Congrats, Sandra! 

And now for this week's game... 

It is twenty-five years after the events of Price of Vengeance. Deirdre and her sisters have returned to their home planet of Etrusci after completing their training with the Finnian Shock Forces. Their homecoming plans are disrupted when their mother, High Priestess Celinia, and other leaders of the clergy are taken hostage, and their father, Colonel Liam O’Connor, disappears. In their desperate search for their father, they discover that the Rebellion is secretly building weapons that could end civilization as they know it.

Meanwhile, Liam has been befriended by a Rebel war criminal, a woman Deirdre has sworn to kill. Will Deirdre cast herself into the role of judge, jury, and executioner, or will she discover the promise of mercy?

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author? 

Kurt D. Springs is presently an adjunct professor of anthropology and archaeology in New Hampshire. He holds a PhD. in anthropology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, as well as a Master of Literature in archaeology from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and a Master of Liberal Arts in anthropology and archaeology from the Harvard University Extension School. His main area of interest is megalithic landscapes in prehistoric Ireland.

Kurt also writes reviews on Kurt's Frontier for Invincible Love of Reading.

Professor Springs currently lives in Manchester, New Hampshire.

You might run across this guy eating Kerry Gold’s Dubliner late at night. (Call it a guilty pleasure.)

Kurt gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win a print book and bookmark for PROMISE OF MERCY. (U.S. and Canadian residents only.)

You have until Tuesday, July 29 at 1 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on July 30.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Math, a Master of Liberal Arts in Anthropology and Archaeology, a Master of Literature in Archaeology, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology.
2. Both of his parents are retired research chemists.
3. He's never published in Archaeology.

So sleuths, which is the lie? What has inspired you lately? Do you think blog awards are fun, or a pain?

Book Trouble: Read on or Set it on Fire?

Do you put a book down after a first chapter? 

Source

Truthfully, I don't very often, but lately, several of the books on my kindle have been less than engaging--not saying they aren't great, I'm just not the right reader for them. 

I love anything with a supernatural element, be it scary, heartwarming, or romantic. I enjoy a good family story and the occasional contemporary. Adventure, danger, fantasy, huge character arcs,..any of those will win me over. 

There are two genres I don't touch: true crime, and general fiction labeled as "heart-warming," aka the-author-wants-to-mess-with-your-emotions-by-being-cruel-and-manipulative. I'll read most anything else, but the books that really get me are the ones that make me care about the main character right away, no matter the genre.

I just started reading a new book, and it's all I want to do. It's not even one of my preferred genres, but I'm hooked. Fortunately, I get to share the wonderful author and his book with you this week for Writerly Wednesday. How awesome is that? 

Ready to guess the lie and win a book? 

Last week, Annalisa Crawford shared OUR BEAUTIFUL CHILD with us, along with two truths and one lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win her eBook.  

Annalisa's game: 

1. Annalisa went abroad for the first time when she was 29 and heavily pregnant.

2. She's very accident prone – this year alone she's torn something in her hip, broken her big toe and had her dog land on her head.
3. She's watched The Sound of Music more than 200 times. 

And the lie is:

#3. She has actually never seen The Sound of Music and has no plans to.. 

Speaking of The Sound of Music, I played Maria Rainer (the lead) in that musical YEARS ago, and suffered from the ensuing nightmares where I had to go perform it again months or years later and couldn't remember my lines. Ug. (Traumatizing.)

Enough of that.

Way to guess those of you who got it right! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Kristin Smith!

Congrats Kristin! 

And now to today's feature:

Master assassin Shayla Carver has killed many times. That's what assassins do, nothing to lose sleep over, but this mission is different.

She's never killed a whole planet before.

In a time when Earth is little more than a legend, life is dangerous for wayward colonies. Everyone fears the Emperor’s power to order a Cleansing, the burning of all traces of civilization from the face of a planet. Shayla's own home world was Cleansed, and now, years later, she's ready to exact payment in kind.

But her meticulous planning didn't prepare her for living undercover amongst some of the two billion people she's about to slaughter. Ordinary people. Not the strutting Imperials readily dismissed as legitimate targets or collateral damage. Then there's the Emperor himself. An ordinary man with troubles and dreams of his own.

Did this man really order the slaughter of innocents?

Can she?

Now she's starting to lose sleep.

Get your copy HERE.

Ian Bott is a science fiction writer who successfully evaded the writing bug until it bit him, late in life, by means of a sneak stealth attack.

As a software developer he rebelled against mind-deadening software specifications and resolved to write technical documents fit for ordinary human consumption. From there, it was a small step to speculative fiction.

He lives in beautiful British Columbia with his wife, two children, and a steadily expanding menagerie of pets.

Ian loves all sorts of cheese, but his favorite for special occasions is a creamy Stilton with a nice glass of port. 

Ian gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win an eBook of GHOSTS OF INNOCENCE. How awesome is that?

You have until Tuesday, September 23, at 1 p.m. EDT to guess--and be sure to come back for the answer on September 24.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. For five consecutive years at school, Ian won the art prize despite not taking art lessons. Looking back, he feels guilty because there were some very good artists who were probably royally peeved.
2. At University, he managed to instigate a riot that hit national headlines.
3. He built a pirate ship in the back yard, complete with masts, flags, and crows nest.

Which is the lie? Have you put down any books lately? If so, why? Have you read anything lately that really grabbed you and you HAD to keep going? What genre of books do you love/can't stand?

SCI-FI FANS, Can You Guess the Lie (and WIN)?

It's game time! But first, let's meet the winner from this last week.

Writerly Wednesdays here are dedicated to writers and readers. If you've published anything for Young Adults with a fantastic twist (fantasy in all varieties, paranormal, speculative fiction, horror, sci-fi, dystopian, cheese, etc.), shoot me an email (crystal AT crystal-collier DOT com). I'll be shouting about awesome books, sharing new covers, or participating in book releases every week--and I'd love to share yours. Spots are filling up quick, so schedule a date now. 

Before the fun, let's announce the winner for last week. Celeste Holloway shared with us Sebastain Falls and offered an ebook to the human lie detectors among us. She told us two truths and one lie about herself, and those who guessed correctly were entered into a random drawing to win. The options were:

1. Celeste is an avid fisher and hunter.

2. She grew up playing in the graveyard next door.

3. Celeste is scared of crows. 

And, the lie is: 

#1 (and 3). Celeste is not a hunter and fisher. *gasp* But what's more, I've been in final edits for the last couple weeks, and my poor, over-used brain has apparently reached its max because Celeste is not actually afraid of crows, she's afraid of cows. (Can you see what my brain did there?) Anyone who guessed 1 or 3 was entered in the drawing for this week.

Way to go those of you who guessed right! You are officially human lie detectors. And the winner is: 

...DRUM ROLL...

Lexa Cain! 

Today's amazing feature is:

Paul Harrison always wanted to play Hamlet, but he never expected he’d live the role first.

In the aftermath of a family tragedy on 21^st century Earth, Paul discovers he’s the clone of Sean Lyon, his great-great-grandfather and a famous TwenCen musician. Suspecting his mother’s death was no accident, Paul comes up with a plan to trick the answers out of the great-uncle who had him cloned. But in order to make his plan work, Paul needs help from Sean himself—and Sean’s time is running out in the TwenCen universe next door. Although Paul’s family lives on the spaceship that travels between the universes, he’s never been allowed on TwenCen Earth. Now, with the help of his friends, his disguise-creating holoprojectors, and a quantum quirk, Paul must make his way to Sean while evading other time travelers who fear he’ll change the history of the TwenCen universe. If Paul is to achieve justice, he must not only risk his own life, but the wormhole connecting the universes. “To be or not to be” was a simple question in comparison...

Now shall we meet the author?

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan started reading at the age of three and only stops when absolutely required to. Although she hasn’t been writing quite that long, she did compose a very simple play in German during middle school. Her science fiction novella Move Over Ms. L. (an early version of Lyon’s Legacy) earned an Honorable Mention in the 2001 UPC Science Fiction Awards, and her short story “A Reptile at the Reunion” was published in the anthology Firestorm of Dragons. She is a founding member of BroadUniverse and a long-time member of the Online Writing Workshop for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror. Her undergraduate degree is in molecular biology/English, and she has a Master of Technical and Scientific Communication degree. Her current day job is in the laboratory of an enzyme company; she’s also been a technical writer and a part-time copyeditor for a local newspaper. Some of her other accomplishments are losing on Jeopardy! and taking a stuffed orca to three continents. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband, Eugene; and son, Alex. In her rare moments of free time, she enjoys crocheting, listening to classic rock (particularly the Beatles), and watching improv comedy.

Sandra has several cheese of choice, but especially loves cream cheese on toast for breakfast. 

She can be found online at her website, blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads. 

And now for the fun! *rubbing hands*

Sandra gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Can you figure out the lie? Those who do will go into my magic hat for a chance to win an ecopy of Twinned Universes. How cool is that? You have until Tuesday, August 20th at 1 p.m. to guess--and be sure to come back for the answer on August 21st!

TRUTH OR LIE

1. Sandra can make both bread and cheese from scratch. (If this is true, I'm adopting her, btw.)

2. Sandra has a black belt in karate. (Eek, watch out!)
3. Sandra occasionally walks around at work and home balancing a book on her head.

Okay human lie detectors, which is it?