L.K. Rigel's Blog, page 13

Happy Mother’s Day 2012

 

 

It doesn’t matter that it’s a made-up holiday designed to sell cards and flowers and candy. People have taken it over and made it a human event.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Review: The Man Who Left by Theresa Weir

Theresa Weir can write.

Coleridge said, “I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is prose; words in their best order;-poetry; the best words in the best order.”

Quaint punctuation aside, this sentiment applies to Weir’s work. It may be prose, but she chooses the best words and puts them in the best order. I forget I’m reading when I read her books. I get lost in the story, and that’s true of her memoirs as well as her fiction.

The Man Who Left is a memoir about Alzheimer’s, but don’t look here for pity or schmaltzy sentiment for Weir’s father, the man with the disease. Weir explores the excruciating tension between obligation to an ill parent and justifiable rage and resentment over his abandonment of his children when the obligation was on his side.

As with her companion book,  The Orchard, Weir’s memoir of her marriage, The Man Who Left reads like a novel. In both, her stark truth-telling is raw, real, and liberating.

[Full disclosure: Theresa Weir edited Space Junque, for which I will be forever grateful. She can edit, too.]

Get Your Reviews In For the Giveaway

When I first announced the $100 gift card giveaway for reviewers of LK Rigel books, the response was great. People moved my books up to the top of their TBR lists, and a few others were inclined to post reviews they’d forgotten to post. Lovely!

My original thought was to keep the contest going and have a winner every month – but my fantasy here hasn’t matched reality. I’m just not getting enough new reviews to justify the contest, so it won’t continue after the end of this month.

I have a love/hate relationship with promotion. Love it when it works and we all have fun. Hate it when it doesn’t and we don’t. I’ve been selling so few books that I’m finding it hard to keep writing. But it isn’t the writing that’s killing me – it’s the begging. PLEASE READ MY BOOK! (said in the ‘leave Britney alone! voice).

I’m retreating to my writer cave for a while.

But I do want to say I’ve enjoyed reading the reviews you’ve posted – it truly helps to know people are enjoying the stories.

 

 

And the First Mini Winner is: Jessi G!

I just ran the Rafflecopter, and the winner of the signed print copy of Give Me –  A Tale of Wyrd and Fae is … Jessi G!

Option:  Review The Loves of Leopold Singer
Extra Info:  blog

Jessi, your name will stay in the main drawing for the big prize – as will everyone’s who wins a mini prize. I’ll give another one or two away before the end of the month.

This is fun …

(By the way, Jessi’s name was the second one Rafflecopter drew. For the first one, I couldn’t find the review the person had named for that entry. But I left the name in for the big drawing in case the entrant was planning on having the review up by the end of the month. )

Now I have to think of a prize for the next mini drawing!

 

Protected: Newsletter Giveaway – 5 Copies of The Loves of Leopold Singer

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Available For Mother’s Day – A Signed Copy of Give Me In Print

The print version of Give Me is so pretty, and the story line of Frona’s love for her daughters Lourdes and Elyse makes it a lovely gift for Mother’s Day.

The special price of $14.95 includes shipping and is available through Mother’s Day while supplies last, and please tell me the name of the person you’d like the book signed to in the notes section of the PayPal checkout.

I’m sorry this is limited to US and Canada , only because I’m not sure about postage to other places.

Giveaway Update + Game of Thrones Didn’t Suck Last Night!

I have a love/hate relationship with HBO’s production of Game of Thrones. I approach each episode with dread, wondering how they’ll degrade and abuse women this time and if this will be the week I decide it’s just not worth it anymore.

But last night’s episode was GREAT! Things happened! Women kept their clothes on and weren’t humiliated or used as objects! Men barely swaggered and did actual stuff!

Tyrion was his usual smart, snarky self. The scenes between Catelyn and Brienne were marvelous, especially the one where they swear oaths to each other. I was shocked when Renly was murdered (I haven’t read the books). I hope this doesn’t mean we’ll see less of Natalie Dormer. She was magnificent as Ann Boleyn in Tudors.

In other news, the review giveaway progresses apace! As the books flow back into non-Amazon outlets, I’m adding chances to the Rafflecopter widget for them. You can now leave reviews at iTunes for Space Junque (which is free there at the moment), Bleeder, and Apocalypto (Omnibus Edition). Spiderwork should be live there soon.

June 1 is only a month away, but it seems so long! I’ll have a bonus giveaway this coming weekend for an extra prize. It won’t change the entries in the main giveaway (the bonus winner can still win the $100 gift card). I’ll have to think about what to give away. What do you think of a signed copy of the print edition of Give Me?

The way it will work is I’ll have Rafflecopter select a winner, check to make sure the review is up where the entrant indicated, and announce the winner here on Sunday.

Am I An Author If You’re Not A Reader?

The giveaway is progressing nicely, and my evil plan is coming to fruition … It looks like several of my books were moved out of the To Be Read pile and achieved the exalted status of read. Hooray!

I’m reading the reviews (hope that doesn’t weird you out) and LOVING them! It’s bad to choose favorites, but MaryAlice – you ROCK! It’s wonderful when a reader is willing to try genres she’s not sure of. After all, reading time is dear, and you want to spend it on the kind of stories you like. I’m always so grateful when a reader is willing to try mine.

Yesterday, three reviews appeared for the Apocalyptos by J. Magee that charged me up with new enthusiasm for the series. Yes, there will be more books! Copperhead is next, and I’ll be focusing on it as soon as Bride of Fae comes out.  I was having a stressful, blucky day yesterday. Reading those reviews changed my outlook.

So am I an author if you’re not a reader? I don’t think so. The real magic happens when you read the story and make it your own.

So thank you, all of you, for spending some of your time reading my books – so much more precious than the 99 cents or six dollars – and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your feedback. I wish everyone could win!

I Can’t Not Look!

It’s Sunday! What fresh new insults to women – and men who like women – will Game of Thrones bring tonight?

If I had any grit, I’d stop watching the series. But I can’t not look! I want to see Arya use the pointy end, and I want to watch someone – preferably Sansa – chop off Joffrey’s loathsome noggin.

And I want dragons, dammit!

$100 Gift Certificate Giveaway

I’ve been trying to think of another giveaway while I finish up Bride of Fae, and I’ve frankly stolen this idea from my author friend Sandra Edwards and decided to run a CONTEST for all my readers out there!

GRAND PRIZE: $100 gift certificate from Amazon, B&N or iTunes (winner’s choice).

TO ENTER: all you need to do is review one (or all) of my books. The review can be GOOD or BAD, it doesn’t matter to me. Just leave a review giving your opinion of the book.

[see a list of book links here]

Post your review anywhere online (i.e., Amazon.com, BN.com, Goodreads, your blog, or any other place you can think of), then leave the link in the Rafflecopter widget below (or send me a message via the comments, Facebook, or email and I’ll enter it for you) to let me know where you posted the review.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST LEAVE A REVIEW OF AT LEAST TWENTY (20) WORDS (BASED ON AMAZON’S GUIDELINES) FOR YOUR REVIEW TO QUALIFY AS AN ENTRY.

ALSO PLEASE NOTE: TO BE ENTERED IN THE CONTEST, YOU MUST CONTACT ME TO LET ME KNOW YOU’VE LEFT A REVIEW AND WHERE YOU POSTED YOUR REVIEW OR LEAVE THAT INFORMATION IN THE RAFFLECOPTER WIDGET BELOW. You can leave the information in a comment here, on my Facebook wall, or send it to me via email. Or you can enter the information yourself in the Rafflecopter widget below.

For each review, you’ll get one entry per site where you post the review. So, the more places you post, and the more books you review, the more chances you have to win!

If you have already posted a review for any of my books at Amazon, BN, etc., you can enter too!

First round of the contest ends May 31st. Winner will be chosen via Random.org. Winner will be notified via email, and will be announced on my Facebook fan page and here at the website by June 10th.

For subsequent months, the contest will end on the last day of the month and the winner will be announced by the 5th of the following month. You only need to enter each review once. Your information will remain in the “pot” for future months until you win!

For the latest news on the contest, visit my fan page on Facebook.

Disclaimer: A positive review is not necessary to win. Contest will likely end someday. In the event the contest is cancelled, a prize will be issued for the month in which cancellation takes place.

Good Luck!

LK

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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