In My Mailbox: January 2013

Hello again...

It's a new month and time for a new IMM feature here on my lil' blog...though I'm sorry it's a day late!

The IMM feature was started by The Story Siren as a way for bloggers to share what books they'd recently acquired and to connect with other bloggers to find new reads. Some people post this feature every week, others every other week, and some even once a month. I've decided to post my own IMM on the first Thursday of every month to share with my readers all the lovely new books I've added to my bookshelves during the previous month! (Click here to check out other IMM posts!)

Waiting on Wednesday: Vortex

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

In My Mailbox: December (2012) Edition

The IMM feature was started by The Story Siren as a way for bloggers to share what books they'd recently acquired and to connect with other bloggers to find new reads. Some people post this feature every week, others every other week, and some even once a month. I've decided to post my own IMM on the first Thursday of every month to share with my readers all the lovely new books I've added to my bookshelves during the previous month! (Click here to check out other IMM posts!)

Waiting on Wednesday: Rise

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

Goodbye, 2012...Hello, 2013!

Happy New Year! *throws confetti* Is everyone ready for 2013?

Sorry I've been gone for so long, but sometimes life gets in the way. In my case, life included a sudden steadier work schedule; an illness in the family; NaNoWriMo 2012; my siblings, cousins, and friends coming in for the various holidays; and finally setting a date for my wedding leading to mass planning. (I'm doing a lot of DIY stuff including making the centerpieces, helping my friend make all the flowers, and sewing my own wedding dress! Wish me luck!)

And once you get off track far enough, it's hard to find your way back. But here I am...hopefully to stay! *smile* In fact, staying on top of this blog is one of my new year resolutions (along with reading more, writing more, learning to cook, being healthier, and staying more organized). Life is still going on around me, zany and dizzying as ever, but I seem to have my "ducks in a row" finally. I even set a new schedule for my blog posts. We'll see how this year goes, but I have a good feeling about it.

...now who wants to help me clean up all this confetti I just threw? *holds out a spare broom* Anyone?

~Namárië

(Elvish Farewell)

Waiting on Wednesday: Shades of Earth

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

Waiting on Wednesday: How to Marry an Alien

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

Bonded Book Tour: Book Review

I have loved fairy tales since I was a child, and enjoy finding/reading new visions, retellings, or fairy-tale-inspired stories. When Michelle asked for reviewers and bloggers to participate in her Bonded Book Tour, I jumped at the chance to review this intriguing collection of dark fairy tales...

Waiting on Wednesday: Splintered

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

Bonded Blog Tour: Author Interview

As I mentioned yesterday, this week I'm participating in Michelle Davidson Argyle's Bonded Blog Tour.

Michelle was gracious enough to allow me to do an email interview with her for the blog tour. Here are my questions and her answers as follows:

"Pieces" Cover Reveal

Today I'm excited to reveal the cover of Michelle Davidson Argyle's newest book, Pieces!

Writing Wednesday: Halloween Edition

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday. I will be celebrating it by trick-or-treating with my fiancee, my best friend, and her 5-year-old daughter. (Yes, that's three adults for one small child...it's a tradition.) We're going as Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Zombie Little Red Riding Hood. And then it's movie night while eating the candy we gathered. (We are such partyers!) Hope your evening will be just as "entertaining" as ours!
 
Anywho -- on with the show...
 
The last Wednesday of every month I will post a writing exercise prompt. I'll give myself 5 minutes to write a response to said prompt and post it under the prompt. Then I'll invite my readers to do the same and post their responses in the comments. But remember only 5 minutes per prompt (unless otherwise stated).

Since it's that "spooky time" of the year, I thought my writing prompt should reflect that...so I choose a "horror" prompt from "Build Creative Writing Ideas".
 

October 31: "Horror"

"There is a glass scratching sound on your house's windows and you get up out of bed to check it out. You look toward the windows and don't see anything. All of the sudden the glass breaks and something jumps in! What is it and what do you do next?"

In My Mailbox: October Edition

The IMM feature was started by The Story Siren as a way for bloggers to share what books they'd recently acquired and to connect with other bloggers to find new reads. Some people post this feature every week, others every other week, and some even once a month. I've decided to post my own IMM at the beginning of every month to share with my readers all the lovely new books I've added to my bookshelves! (Click here to check out other IMM posts!)

(I'm sharing this post early since next week I'll be participating in the Bonded Blog Tour.)

Waiting on Wednesday: The Madness Underneath

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

Winner Announcement

And the winner of my Fangs, Fur, & Fey giveaway is...

Krista Grandstaff

Congratulations! *throws confetti* The winner has been contacted and I will be sending out the prize later on this week. Thank you to all who entered and all my new followers!

In other news...I would normally be posting a review post today, but unfortunately I got food poisoning Monday night. The "food culprit" is believed to be the peanut sauce I ate with my veggie spring rolls for dinner. My mom had one of the spring rolls too, but only a taste of the peanut sauce and she didn't get sick so we figured it wasn't the rolls.

I'm mostly feeling better now, but I haven't felt much like blogging or doing much of anything the past few days. Wednesday's post only went up because I had pre-scehduled all my "WoW" posts for this month already. So instead of finishing my current book and writing its reveiw, you just get to read my little apology and explanation. Sorry, dear readers!

Next week I should be back to a more regular blogging schedule!

~Namárië

(Elvish Farewell)

Waiting on Wednesday: Dark Star

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

Waiting on Wednesdays: The Friday Society

"Waiting On" Wednesday is an event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming book releases you are highly anticipating. It also allows book-lovers to share "forthcoming" glimpses of their TBR lists. Check out the other participants posted on Jill's blog to find new books to add to your list.

In My Mailbox: September Edition

The IMM feature was started by The Story Siren as a way for bloggers to share what books they'd recently acquired and to connect with other bloggers to find new reads. Some people post this feature every week, others every other week, and some even once a month. I've decided to post my own IMM at the beginning of every month to share with my readers all the lovely new books I've added to my bookshelves! (Click here to check out other IMM posts!)

Fangs, Fur, & Fey Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the 

Fangs, Fur, & Fey Giveaway Hop

October 2nd - 8th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Reading Lark

I'm so excited to be a part of this giveaway hop! The Rafflecopter form is below with all the details of how to enter my giveaway. The winner will be contacted via email and post here on Tuesday October 9th. Please share this post and don't forget to visit all the blogs involved with this hop. (The Linky List for all of the participants is at the end of this post.)

My "Fangs, Fur, & Fey" Giveaway:

Madhouse (Cal Leandros #3)  
by Rob Thurman

"Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother, Niko, aren't exactly prospering with their preternatural detective agency. Who could have guessed that business could dry up in New York City, where vampires, trolls, and other creepy crawlies are all over the place? But now there's a new arrival in the Big Apple. A malevolent evil with ancient powers is picking off humans like sheep, dead-set on making history with an orgy of blood and murder. And for Cal and Niko, this is one paycheck they're going to have to earn." (via goodreads)

Writing Wednesday: Gerbil in the Attic

Today I'm adding a new feature to my blog posts called "Writing Wednesdays". (I tried this idea before and hopefully it works this time.) 

The last Wednesday of every month I will post a writing exercise prompt. I'll give myself 5 minutes to write a response to said prompt and post it under the prompt. Then I'll invite my readers to do the same and post their responses in the comments. But remember only 5 minutes per prompt (unless otherwise stated).

The prompt I'm using for this post comes from C. M. Mayo's 5 Minute Writing Exercise site:

September 26: "Gerbil in the Attic"
In two sentences, describe a gerbil. In two sentences, describe an attic. Then, what does the gerbil do in the attic?