Merrie Destefano's Blog, page 15

Freaky Friday Contest Winners

Thank you to everyone who participated in my Freaky Friday contest. I enjoyed all of your answers. (I love monsters!)

I ran the contest through a random number generator to determine the winners, and here are the winners:

Sandy

Van_Pham

Winners, please contact me via e-mail by the end of the day on Monday. My e-mail is: merrie [dot] destefano [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Thanks again!

Freaky Friday Giveaway

The wind is blowing and leaves are falling off the trees. October is here and that means that Halloween will upon us soon. (Insert spooky music here.)


In honor of Halloween and all things that go bump in the night, I'm going to give away two spooky, yet inspiring, books: HOW TO DRAW ZOMBIES and HOW TO DRAW VAMPIRES. Both of these books were co-authored by Mike Butkis and me.


How can you win one of these books? Glad you asked!

Here are the rules:

I will give away one signed copy of How To Draw Zombies and one signed copy of How To Draw Vampires today, each to a different person.

To enter, you must:
1. Follow this blog
2. Post a comment, telling us about your favorite monster.
3. Mention this post on either Twitter or Facebook

Contest will run for 24 hours and will end tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 9) at noon. Winners will be announced tomorrow. Winners must contact me at: merrie [dot] destefano [at] yahoo [dot] com by Monday, Oct. 11, or their prize will be forfeited.

Thanks for playing!

SFRevu Review & SciFiGuy guest blog post

It's Thursday and we have another episode of Where's Merrie and What's Going On With Afterlife?

This is what's been going on in the past several days:

AFTERLIFE: THE RESURRECTION CHRONICLES just got an awesome review over at SFRevu. You can check it out here.

Also, I'm guest blogging over at SciFiGuy today. We're discussing the intersection between faith, science, and the supernatural. Stop by and comment for a chance to win a signed copy of AFTERLIFE!

There's another cool review of AFTERLIFE over at the Whispers of Dawn blog, by fellow writer, Sally Apokedak. Sally writes for the YA audience and I was glad to hear that she gave AFTERLIFE a thumbs up for YA readers. Yay!

Another really fun review of AFTERLIFE was posted at the ismellsheep blog. I also have an interview coming up there on October 26, so be sure to stop back then.

Also, the folks over at Nocturne Romance Reads did a really great interview with me last week. [I LOVED their questions!] You might need to scroll down to the middle of the page to find my Q & A.

NOTE FOR AFTERLIFE READERS:
I just wanted to let you all know that I'm currently working on a reader's guide for AFTERLIFE. Also, if you're considering choosing AFTERLIFE for your book club, please let me know. I'll send you a pack of signed book plates. Just post your e-mail address in the comment section and let me know.

And thank you again to everyone who's been reading AFTERLIFE! You all rock!

Book Launch Party & Giveaway & More

It's day three in Release Week Madness and so far the universe hasn't accidentally twisted inside out. Yay! [I was worried there for awhile.] I must confess, I've been really blessed this week by a number of great book reviews, plus opportunities to write guest post on blogs.

Have I mentioned lately how awesome the blogging community is?

BLOGGERS ROCK!!!!

Thank you to everyone who went out of their way to read, review and host my posts in the past several weeks. You are all princes and princesses with halos and angel wings and stardust between your fingers.

So, back to the game of the week. Where's Merrie Today? [I may have to list where I've been for the past couple of days, because I've been a bit busy finishing up my next book. Saw the cover for it and it was SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME that I couldn't focus on anything else for an insanely long time!]


Here goes:

BOOK LAUNCH PARTY
Bitten by Books
From noon to midnight Central Time
Giveaways: $100 Amazon Gift Card and 5 signed copies of AFTERLIFE
Topic of discussion is the quest of immortality.

GUEST BLOG POST
Bookgasm
I discuss the ever-changing journey AFTERLIFE took during its genesis.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Night Owl Paranormal

Also, Night Owl Reviews reviewed AFTERLIFE here.

BOOK REVIEW
Tori, the creator of Book Faery wrote an awesome review of AFTERLIFE here.
Here's a snippet:
AFTERLIFE is a unique debut with beautiful descriptions by an insanely talented author who is not afraid to try something new. This novel was refreshing and exciting, and I am eagerly anticipating Merrie's future releases. If you enjoy urban fantasy,and if you want to see a new take on what life would be like if humanity could be almost immortal, then you definitely need to check this book out. You'll regret it if you don't!

I've heard from a few people that their local bookstores were already sold out of AFTERLIFE. I'm really sorry about that. I highly recommend checking with your local stores first, but if they don't have any copies, then try their online stores. Or you could ask the manager to order a few more copies. If all else fails, you can purchase the book on Kindle or iBooks. This is definitely one time when the digital revolution is a good thing!

Release Day & Contest Winners

Well, it looks like I survived my first release day. I must say, it's a pretty wild experience. Cool, but wild. It's like having six million things going on at once and every one of them is super important.

The book is out. Yay! I actually saw a copy tonight over at the local Borders. The Barnes & Noble didn't have their books unpacked yet, but Afterlife is supposed to go on a cool kiosk. I'll go back in a day or so and see if I can get a picture. I kinda felt like a stalker, stalking myself, going around asking where my own book was. I was trying to be all incognito, but my husband kept giving me away. (I'll never make it as a spy if he's with me.)

And here's another episode of Where's Merrie Today:
Today I am over at Dark Faerie Tales, talking about the Quest for Immortality, and giving away 1 signed copy of AFTERLIFE. That contest runs until October 19, so you still have time to stop over and say hi!

I have 2 contests going on that I need to announce the winners. Sorry. I got so busy today that I haven't had time until now.

So here goes:

CONTEST WINNERS:

First, thank you to everyone who participated! I really enjoyed reading all of your comments and getting to know each of you. I hope you stop back! Now, for the winners:

Supernatural Underground:
Daniell: Winner of a signed copy of AFTERLIFE
Natasha17: Winner of a signed copy of AFTERLIFE
BaileytheBookWorm: Winner of a signed copy of HOW TO DRAW ZOMBIES
Donnas15: Winner of a signed copy of HOW TO DRAW VAMPIRES

My blog:
Pacey1927: Winner of a signed copy of AFTERLIFE

Winners: Please note that you have 3 days to contact me or the prizes/books will be awarded to another commenter. You can either leave me your e-mail address in the comments of this blog post or you can drop me an e-mail at: merrie [dot] destefano [at] yahoo [dot] com.

What I think about writing groups

Writing group pal, Mike Duran, filmed this interview with me recently. Yikes. I'm on camera!

Merrie's Very Busy, Extra Special, Event-Packed, Contest-Ridden, Book Launch Week

Well, it's finally here. My book launch week. And every day, I'll be somewhere else. On top of a slew of guest posts and launch parties and MY FIRST NOVEL RELEASE TOMORROW!!! [insert silent scream here]--on top of all of that, I am also finishing up my second novel, still unnamed, and will be turning that in to my editor on Wednesday.


This is the week that sleep is a four-letter word.

So, the games begin. Let's play, Where's Merrie Today?

TODAY:

GUEST BLOG POST:
I'm doing a guest blog post over at Romance University with another urban fantasy author, Elisabeth Naughton
Post title is: Urban Fantasy: Hot or Not?

Stop by and say hello, make comments or ask questions!

VIDEO INTERVIEW:
Then, I also did a video interview with a fellow writer, Mike Duran, that's running on his blog today. Mike's in one of my writer's groups and his first novel, THE RESURRECTION, is coming out in February, 2011.

So, if you ever wanted to see me in live action [joking! I wouldn't wish that on anyone!], stop by. Some of the things I discuss are: the concept behind my novel, AFTERLIFE: THE RESURRECTION CHRONICLES; why I write urban fantasy; and what I think about writing groups.

By the way, for those of you who aren't familiar with the image used above, it's one of my favorite paintings. Created by Edvard Munch in 1893 and aptly titled "The Scream," I've always felt this picture was a great representation of what a panic attack feels like.

One more thing I would never do

I can't believe these guys kept driving. In the same direction, that is. I'd have turned around and gone the other way.

And now, an even longer excerpt from Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles

HarperCollins has a very cool feature on their site called Browse Inside. Now you can read the first 57 pages of Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles here.

Enjoy!! Release date on Sept. 28.

First chapter excerpt from Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles

I just got permission to post an excerpt from my novel, Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles. (Yay!) So, here's a link to the first chapter. Enjoy!