arcs Archives - Kendare Blake

Posts Tagged ‘arcs’

A new catson! And ANTIGODDESS ARC giveaway with swag! (Ends Friday, July 12th.)

So this is a long and rambling giveaway post. I should probably break it out into more than one, but being the infrequent blogger I am, this is how it goes. First off, we had a minor freak out last week when we thought Tybalt was losing weight. There were several possible explanations for this (having his fangs removed, a recent food change, stress) however, I immediately assumed he was dying the horrible death of the dead. After much obsessing, and a knee-jerk vet appointment he never made it to, we determined the likely culprit was all of the above, plus being lonely after losing his cat brother, Mojo Jojo this winter. The solution? A new catson. Everyone, meet Tyrion Cattister:

Originally, we were told he was a girl, so his name was Cersei Cattister. But then we brought him home and I noticed, well…nuts. I said, "better change his name to Tyrion." And Dylan said, "Those aren't nuts; she's a girl." And I said, "Listen, I think I know cat testicles when I see them." And then neither one of us knew what to do with that statement. Tyrion and Tybalt (we didn't do the "T-Y" matching thing on purpose) are getting along famously, after some fangless hissing. And I become skeptical that Tybalt was ever losing weight in the first place, because that kitten makes him look enormous, and his fat ass is putting my legs to sleep as I type this.

The one thing you can be sure of with a name like Tyrion Cattister, I'll never put him in a book. Which leads me to hint at another contest I'm running at the time of ANTIGODDESS' release. I'm running out of pets to put in books, is what I'm saying. I'm going to need to mine yours. It will be the "can I put your pet in my books?" contest.

But for now, let's segue into THIS contest: an ANTIGODDESS ARC with signed feather bookmark!

There are 2 ARCs up for grabs. I had three, but someone had a reading-related tragedy, and I was moved to help. So these are the last 2 I've got.

NOT SO FAST THOUGH!

First, you have to listen to my history lesson to find out how to comment. Why? Because, I'm a jerk, that's why.

In Antigoddess, there is a lot of allusion to the Trojan War. It's one of my favorite subjects, and the three goddesses at the heart of the story factor in pretty large in The Goddess War. Just in case you're unfamiliar with how the Trojan War started, here's a quick refresher:

One day, the gods were hanging around on Olympus, doing whatever the frick they do when they're not wreaking havoc or boning each other, and the goddess Discord (who nobody liked to hang out with because…well, discord is unpleasant) tossed a golden apple at them with a tag marked "To the Fairest."

For whatever reason (fruit shortage?) all the goddesses went Belieber crazy over the apple, until it came down to a final three: Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. But how do you determine the fairest goddess of all?

Easy. You make a mortal teenage boy judge them like cows. I guess.

This unlucky chap was Prince Paris of Troy, who you are probably familiar with because of the famous story of Helen of Troy, or because of Orlando Bloom's butt cheeks in the film, Troy. Unfortunately for Paris, instead of allowing him to judge them fairly for their…er…fairness…each goddess offered a bribe.

Athena promised him he would become a great hero, and have great glory on the battlefield.

Hera promised him riches, and a vast kingdom.

Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world.

He chose the hot chick, and as a result, pissed off Hera and Athena, and they pretty much ruined his life and the lives of his whole family. Killed his dad, had Achilles murder his brother Hector, sister Cassandra taken as a slave and murdered later (though she was sort of screwed already…as outlined in Antigoddess). Troy fell, chaos reigned, Aphrodite made the apple into one super-sized and very heavy earring…

SO, HERE'S HOW TO ENTER! Put yourself in Paris' place. Who would you choose, if you were offered the bribes? Why? Would you choose Athena's offer? It would be way cool to be a hero, to have a great destiny and kickass adventures. What kind of hero would you be?

Would you choose Hera's riches and power? Maybe spend your days Kardashian-ing it up poolside?

Would you choose the most beautiful girl, or boy? Snag yourself a…a…man, I'm out of touch. Who passes for hot these days?

This giveaway is international, and you can enter for multiple entries: comment below, comment on the ANTIGODDESS Facebook entry, Tweet the contest mentioning @KendareBlake, or comment at the GoodReads mirror post. I'll draw two random winners next Friday, July 12th. Good luck, and I look forward to your answers 🙂

ANTIGODDESS ARCs are here! So I’m giving some away!

So, this title is pretty self-explanatory. I have ARCs of ANTIGODDESS, and I'm giving some away. Three of them, this first round. I'll do a second round later, when I'm not so frazzled in between travel and can think of something fun (for myself) to do with it.

Here's a crappy photo to serve as physical proof of their existence:

Here's how to enter! First, qualifications. 1. Be a reader. Are you a reader? Excellent. Then you are kickass, and have an unalienable right to walk shoulders back and nose to ceiling.

Now, for the actual how: Leave a comment here. And/Or at the official ANTIGODDESS Facebook page. This gives you the ability to enter TWICE. And I would so much appreciate if you would like the page. Never done one of these here Facebook pages for the books before. Anna has one, but someone else set it up, and that is awesome.

Wait, wait, there's more how. In your comment, you have to tell me your favorite deity. Can be a Greek god, or their Roman counterpart, or Egyptian, or Hindu, or Norse, or whatever. It can be She-Ra. She totally counts. It can be Batman. Why not? But if you say The Wonder Twins, there will be debate.

Three ARCs are up for grabs. I hope you enjoy the read. I hope you enjoy it enough to recommend it to others, or ask your local library to stock it. If you happen to enjoy it enough to pre-order, remember I'm doing bookplates for everyone who emails me with their order info (not like credit card info or personal stuff, just where you ordered!) to kendareblake@yahoo.com. US only, because, postage. Which reminds me.

This giveaway is US only. Winners will be randomly drawn on Thursday, May 9th!!! And thank you so much, for wanting to give ANTIGODDESS a try.

3 Girl of Nightmares ARCs up for grabs. But it isn’t easy…

Okay, so I promised to get the open ARC giveaway up and running, and then I promptly effed off to the LA Times Festival of Books and the International Reading Association conference. Which was fun, by the way. Here's a photo of Kristen Simmons (ARTICLE 5!!!), me, and Annette and Gina Cascone (DEADTIME STORIES).

I apologize for the delay. Chalk it up to me being a lazy d-bag. But here it is. The open ARC giveaway for GIRL OF NIGHTMARES. This giveaway is open to anyone and everyone, including international readers. But it isn't simple. Because I want to have a bit of fun with this. So here are the rules:

You can just comment to enter. That's one point. If you tweet or facebook the contest, that's another point each. (FYI, tally up these points people, and put it in your entry. I ain't good at the maths.)

However, for those of you who want extra entries, do something fun. This can be in your comment: Tell me a joke. A limerick. Give me a music recommendation (because I desperately need them.) Give me a book rec (even though my TBR pile is massive). Tell me something random, about yourself, or about anything. I love random crap. Tell me who you'd cast in the movie. ANY OF THESE WOULD BE WORTH 5 POINTS. But I'm not counting more than two. You can combine them with the tweeting, etc. Again, add up these points.

I may regret this system when I have to count this up.

Finally, for those of you who want SUPER MEGA entries, this is your creative chance to shine.

1. A photo of yourself, doing something ANNA related. Or of something ANNA related. Perhaps acting out scene from the book. Or do a doodle and take a picture of it. I like drawings of penguins. Or perhaps something like this:

This is a dress that a reader (hi Emma!) did for an Anna Halloween costume. Excellent.

Any photos can be sent to me at kendareblake@yahoo.com, please include permission to possibly post them on the blog. Photos will be worth 10 POINTS. Unless I can tell you really went crazy making something, then 20 POINTS.

2. Fan Art. I love fan art, it is in-fricken-credible. You guys are crazy talented, and I adore seeing it. This can also be sent to kendareblake@yahoo.com and will be worth 15 POINTS. Please include permission to possibly show them off on the blog.

3. Video of some sort. A dramatic reading. A re-enactment. A fan trailer you made in the past or now. An explanation of why cheesemaking is a lost art, and how Anna would have made a great cheesemaker if she'd been allowed to live. There aren't really any rules, except that it had to be made with Anna in mind or at least with the contest in mind. Any video, please don't send it directly to me, but send me a link where it's hosted. You can do this in the comments below, or via email. Any video is worth 25 POINTS.

Really, any entry related even slightly to the book, or to the love of reading, that your creative gourds can think of will be relished. Months ago on Twitter there were two reviewers who said they'd dress as minstrels and sing an Anna review for an ARC of Girl of Nightmares (which is where the idea for this contest came from.). Be as creative as you like. Though I will only accept one comment-type entry from everyone, I'll accept multiples of 1-3. Because if you took the time to be insanely creative, random and/or hilarious, that is the least I can do.

Obviously, anyone so inclined could really increase their odds in the random draw, but it's still a random draw. Anyone can win. So if you don't feel like doing mega entries, don't! I imagine most people won't!

Um, disclaimer to cover my butt…if anyone does get creative, don't break any laws more serious than jaywalking. Okay? And to clarify, ALL OTHER LAWS ARE MORE SERIOUS THAN JAYWALKING.

One last photo:

To prove I still have 3 to give, and am not just yanking your butts.

This contest is running through the end of the month. So, the end of May.

Blogger Love Giveaway: GIRL OF NIGHTMARES ARCs

So, GIRL OF NIGHTMARES ARCs. I've got some. Here they are:

Photo taken on my kitchen counter. You can see the diet soda syrup for my SodaStream in the background. Mmm. Sodastream.

But I digress. The point is, they're pretty. No, dammit. That's not the point either.

The point is, I love Bloggers. Not only have you guys done so much to champion ANNA over the past year, but more importantly, you love books. And that rules. If you could see me now, you'd see me fist-bumping my chest twice and then pointing a sideways peace sign in your direction. And you would tell me to stop it.

So I would like to do a giveaway of these three ARCs, to bloggers. After this giveaway closes, I'll run another giveaway, open to everyone. But just now, just this time, it's for Blogger Love. To enter, leave a comment, with the name of your blog. You can leave a link if you want, but it's not required. I'll draw the winners Monday, April 2nd. The giveaway officially closes at Midnight Pacific Time on April 1st. Which is Tybalt's birthday.

Disclaimer: I've never run a giveaway before. The livejournal goat might not like it. We'll see if he chews through my wires. Any problems though, email me or Twitter me (Twitter me? Twit me? Tweet? Twat? No, that's definitely not it.) and I'll figure it out and make sure you get entered.

And gear up for the open giveaway, because I'm going to try to have fun with it. And that means fun with you.

These ARCs are a little bit special, because I'm pretty sure it's the only time you'll be able to get the red cover. I'd love it if you'd spread the word of this giveaway, but there won't be any extra entries for Tweeting, etc. And I understand if you don't, because, duh, more entries, less chances. But come on, man. It's for the love.

Pretty maids all in a row…ARCS!!!

There are a few particularly nice milestones on the road to publication. Seeing the book in an early finished form is definitely one of them. At about 3pm, the UPS guy knocked at the door and said he had a present for me. Did he really know what he was bringing, or did my creepily excited face tip him off? Anyway, I opened the box to see these:

All the digital cameras in the house are dead, so I had to use the webcam. Things got weird and wrestly for a few minutes. But there they are. Shiny and new. And so much detail on Anna’s dress, and all the red on the back cover, which I didn’t take a picture of, because I thought I was going to break my computer setting up another shot.