Free Book Giveaway: Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison

HarperCollins publisher has offered me copies of Black Magic Sanction to give away to two lucky winners.  Black Magic Sanction is the latest installment in the best selling series by Kim Harrison which features bounty hunter witch Rachel Morgan.  This urban fantasy novel is set in the fictional Cincinnati suburb known as The Hollows — the neighborhood of choice for your average witch housewife, vampire businessman, or werewolf little league coach.

Author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris, says, “I wouldn’t miss a Kim Harrison book for anything.”

Black Magic Sanction won’t be available in bookstores until Feb. 23, 2010, but you can enter today for your chance to win a free copy by commenting on this post.

Kim Harrison’s Hollows series is one of the most imaginative and deftly crafted fantasy series I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and I encourage you to enter this contest for your chance to win a free copy of Black Magic Sanction.  Two winners will be chosen at random.  Simply comment on this post for your chance to win.  (This contest is only open to U.S. residents.)  The deadline for comments and entries is Feb. 20, 2010.

New Book: Taylor Swift: Love Story by Amy Gail Hansen

Anyone out there a fan of Taylor Swift, the young blond-haired shining star on country and pop music charts?  A new book containing everything you ever wanted to know about this “Entertainer of the Year” has just hit book store shelves.  It’s titled Taylor Swift: Love Story and is written by the beautiful and talented author (and my good friend) Amy Gail Hansen.

Glee Gossip: Calling All Gleeks

I’m in the process of writing a book about the award winning television series Glee.  In order to ensure that the coverage is as complete as possible, I’m seeking out every little tidbit of information I can find.  I welcome your feedback, reactions, and opinions about the show’s success, and I’d love to hear any personal stories related to the musical comedy smash hit Glee.

Here are a few sample questions regarding topics I’d like to hear more about: 

• Did you go to school with one of the Glee cast members?
• Have you been involved with the TV show Glee in some way?
• Do you have an interesting personal story that you’d like to share about anything related to the TV show?
• Have you ever had the opportunity to perform with one of the Glee cast members?
• What is your favorite news print, magazine, television, website, or blog source for Glee updates?
• What is your favorite TV show, movie, or play that features singing talent?

If you have a good story to tell or facts to share that you think might be note-worthy, please feel free to comment on this post or send me an email directly at Lisa.Damian@hotmail.com.  Please be sure to include your name.   Thanks. I look forward to hearing your stories.

Are You Writing About Me?

A few minutes ago my six-year-old daughter approached me at my computer and asked me what I was doing.

“I’m writing a book,” I replied.

“Another book?  Is this one about me?”

“No.  Would you like me to write a book about you?”

“Yes, and be sure to write that I know what 300 + 300 is.”

Art & Dreams Retreat

Have you ever toyed with the idea of taking a creative retreat to get in touch with your inner muse?  Here’s a cool one led by the talented artist Carmen Torbus and hosted by the Purple Cottage…

 

Art & Dreams Bound with Carmen Torbus

May 21-23, 2010

 

Spend the weekend constructing your personal Dream Book. Explore a mixed assortment of techniques, exercises, prompts and methods to uniquely express your thoughts, emotions and individual artistic style. Cultivate your wildest creative dreams and tuck them neatly into your Dream Book to cherish, reflect upon and nourish your soul.

Enjoy a supportive atmosphere where you can give your muse the complete freedom to play and experiment with many techniques. My demos will use paint, papers, photos, ink, collage and other media. I will toss some exercises your way to challenge you to dream bigger and expand your vision. We’ll explore words and text to create personal affirmations and find creative ways to incorporate them in our Dream Books.

For more information, click to go to the Purple Cottage Retreats website.

Burning in Fire

A few nights ago at the dinner table, my six-year-old daughter told her father, “I’ll still love you even after I’m dead.”

Then she added, “…And burning in fire.”

Kreativ Blogger Award

Librarian Extraordinaire Lisa Guidarini of Bluestalking Reader has bestowed upon me a Kreativ Blogger Award.  Merci Lisa G!

My acceptance speech, in the form of this post, is supposed to include five random tidbits about myself, so that readers can get to know me better.

Did you know…

1. that I sometimes find myself ghost-typing during television shows or movies?  It gets worse when I’m anxious.  During suspenseful scenes in movies, my husband doesn’t like to hold my hand because he can feel my fingers typing away the dialogue on an imaginary keyboard.
2. that I love to eat white trash snack foods on road trips?  Nothing better than some Cheetos, Corn Nuts, Red Vines, and beef jerky when you have to be driving all day.  Top it off with a slushy to drink, and I’m in heaven!
3. that I have a fear of people touching my neck?  Not just a fear, but a significant phobia.  If caught unawares by someone grabbing my neck or even just brushing it lightly, I have been known to hyper-ventillate or break down in tears.  I went to a psychic once, and the only thing I remember that she told me was that in a former life, I was once killed in a manner that had “something to do with my neck, like being strangled or having my throat slit or was possibly hung.”  I suppose that’s as good an explanation as any for this ridiculous phobia I’ve had for as long as I can remember.
4. that my brother calls me Bill?  Several of his friends don’t know that my real name is Lisa.
5. that I have my advanced diver certification?  I’ve been scuba diving in the Florida Keys, all along the California coast, Hawaii, Cozumel, Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Now, for the part where I get to present others with a Kreativ Blogger Award.  (Note to recipients:  All you have to do is copy the Kreativ Blogger badge and list five random things about yourself in a post.)  And the award goes to…

Amber Stults

Stu of Stu’s Place

Miranda and all the other fabulously creative women over at Studio Mothers

New Book Project: Glee

I’m in the process of writing a new book about the hit television show Glee.  It will be published by Triumph Books and should hit bookstore shelves in March.

Passing the Penny

No, it’s not a new way of phrasing the old cliché “passing the buck.”   I’m referring to something else entirely.

My three-year-old daughter choked on a penny a week ago.  It happened on a night when, coincidentally, she and her older sister attempted a “sleepover” together in the same bed, so fortunately, my six-year-old daughter saw what happened and alerted us.

She came flying out of the bedroom screaming with true terror in her voice, “She’s choking on a penny!  She’s choking on a penny!”

By the time we flew upstairs, the choking had stopped.

We found our youngest screaming and crying, “I swallowed a penny!  There’s a penny in my throat!  It hurts!”

A few minutes later, she insisted it was no longer in her throat and didn’t hurt anymore.

“It’s in my tummy now,” she announced.

I called the doctor 24-hour advice line and was informed that most things that go in usually come out naturally.  Unfortunately, we were told that we had to keep a close eye on things and make sure that the penny did indeed pass through her system.  (Not a pretty job, let me tell you.)

After a week, when there was still no evidence of the penny, we took her into the doctor, where our little one had her first x-ray.  I was allowed to go into the x-ray room with her to make sure that she was able to get undressed and lay still in the correct position as instructed by the x-ray technician.

I then stood back where the technician snapped the x-ray.  The moment she pressed the button, an image came up on the computer screen that clearly showed a penny in her tummy.

The doctor told us that as long as she wasn’t in any distress, we are to just keep inspecting each bowel movement.  If the penny’s still not out within a week, we’re to go back and have another x-ray.  This will continue for four weeks before the doctor decides whether or not anything additional needs to be done.  I’m hoping that it won’t take that long.

My daughter seems none the worse for wear at the present moment, and both she and her older sister think it’s hysterical that she’s going to “poop a penny.”

Book Review: The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean

Best-selling children’s author Geraldine McCaughrean’s newest youth novel, The Death-Defying Pepper Roux, will be released in bookstores this month.

The story opens on the morning of Paul Roux’s fourteenth birthday.  Unfortunately, this was an ominous day for both Paul, otherwise known as Pepper, and his family because upon the day of his birth, Pepper’s Aunty had predicted that the poor boy would not live to see his fourteenth birthday.  Certain that the angels are after him for daring to outlive his fate, Pepper assumes the role of his seafaring Captain father and boards a ship headed to sea.  From there, Pepper dons a mish-mash of various identities and experiences adventures beyond measure.

Initially, I thought that the beginning of the story was a bit too cryptic.  It seemed to be comprised of a profusion of different assumptions cobbled together in a way that didn’t quite fit.  I kept waiting for an underlying thread to tie them all together.  I am pleased to report though that about halfway through the book, I was able to eventually suspend my disbelief and enjoy the flight of fancy that this story travels.  It is told with a rather surreal and dream-like quality, much like a fairy tale, where the traditional rules of reality do not always apply, and that is certainly part of its charm.

One thing that particularly appealed to me about the writing is that it was stylishly woven and intelligent.  It did not talk down to children, the way some youth books tend to do.  It allowed the reader’s imagination to fly free with the wholly original adventures of Pepper Roux.

Pepper himself took to climbing to the top of anything tall — hills, trees, roofs — to see if Death was riding toward him on a white horse, under a black banner or preceded by a pillar of fire.  He scanned the sky for angels sitting on the clouds, fishing for souls with perch rods; for fiery chariots descending to kidnap him.

Author Geraldine McCaughrean won the Michael L. Printz Award for her book, The White Darkness, and she is also author of the sequel to the Peter Pan adventures, Peter Pan in Scarlet.