Suzanne McLeod: February 2011

Giveaway: River Marked - Patricia Briggs

So this week (# 7) as part of my 16 weeks of giveaways to celebrate the releases of The Bitter Seed of Magic (out now UK!) and The Cold Kiss of Death(US edition out 26th April) I'm giving away River Marked by Patricia Briggs! But first I want to talk about BAKING! (It's relevant, so stay with me . . .:-D).

click to embiggen for the detailed zombie beauty!

Yep, this week it's all about the COOKIES, and CAKES, and all things . . .
Whoa! Look!

A ZOMBIE CAKE*!

Don't you just love Cake Boss!

Next time I go to New York, I'm gonna go visit Buddy at his bakery and get me some of his cakes to try. nomnomnomnom.

But what I'd really love to do is ask him to make a cake to celebrate my books . . . maybe something with red roses, skulls, ravens, vampires, witches, liquorice torpedoes, goblins, bling, faeires, trolls, castles, the Tower of London . . . and everything and anything else that appears in my book.*g* Bet that would be some fantastic cake he'd come up with!!

Okay, here endeth my Cake Boss Fantasy, so it's back to the giveaway! Giveaway now closed.

River Marked is the 6th Mercy Thompson book! Patricia Briggs is one of my all time favourite authors, and I love the Mercy books. One of the things I love about Mercy is how she bakes at the drop of a hat (see, now the Cake Boss thing *is* relevant ;p), and here's a fab snippet*, in Adam's viewpoint, from Silver Borne, which shows Mercy's baking . . . and which going by the tiny hints I've heard about River Marked, is also very relevant to what happens in book 6 . . . bells, anyone? *Happy sighs, hopefully*

She smelled of burnt car oil, jasmine . . . and chocolate. Or maybe that last was the cookies on the plate she handed him. . . . He took the cookies back to the office with him. After a few minutes, he ate one. Chocolate, thick and dark, spread across his tongue, its bitterness alleviated by a sinful amount of brown sugar and vanilla. . . . She would never love him for what he could do for her.

Ooh, I can't wait! And as River Marked comes out on 1st March US (River Marked is out on the 3rd March in the UK) I don't have to much longer! Yay!

So, for a chance to win your own copy of River Marked* all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favourite cake or cookie is. See simple :-)

How to enter:

Leave a comment with your favourite cake or cookie.

Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) 3rd March 2011

Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post here.

And don't forget to check out the Giveaway Schedule here. And so you don't miss out on a chance of winning any of the wonderful books in the coming weeks, why not follow me? (following is not a condition of entry).

Please note: My usual blog policy is that I try to reply to all comments on the blog, but for ease of admin I won't be replying to any comments made on any of the giveaway posts during the 16 weeks. Sorry, but it makes it much harder to sort out the winner. I will still continue to reply to comments on any other post, so if you have a question for me, leave it on one of those, thank you :-)

All book links lead to Amazon (UK/US) or the Book Depository, and contain affiliate links. I've decided to go affiliate as I love giving books away (and not just as a way of shameless self-promo), but boy does it get expensive.

*click on Zombie Cake link to watch more videos of Cake Boss cakes!
*"or" Winner can choose any of the previous books in the Mercy Thompson series, either for themselves, or to be sent to a friend :-). Lets share the Mercy and Adam love! *g* ETA: So sorry, my bad: this is supposed to mean that the winner can choose an alternative book from the Mercy Thompson series if they are not up to date with the series, or if they've already got River Marked, then they can choose to send their prize to a friend. (This is what happens when I blog during a weird hazy day when my brain isn't plugged in properly: I forget to add that all important little word "or". *sigh*) Again, so sorry for any confusion. Much as I'd love to give two books away, sadly the budget won't quite stretch to that with all the other giveaways I'm doing.
*snippet truncated :-)
x/posted to LJ. Comment here or there. One entry per person.

Winner: Iron Crowned - Richelle Mead

Thanks to everyone who left their congratulations for Richelle and her husband on their wonderful news, and to all those who told me who their favourite faerie is.Lots of interesting ones, but of course, the comment I loved best was from Jo, who choose ♥♥ Finn ♥♥ from my Spellcrackers.com books. (Sadly, Jo (and Finn) didn't win).

But Ms. Random.org has spoken ...

And the winner is ...

elaing8

Who said:

Congrats Richelle!

My favorite faerie would be Jenks in the Hollows series by Kim Harrison.

Congratulations, Elaing8, an email is on its way to you!

Thanks again everyone!

Don't forget to come back later when this week's giveaway goes live, which is

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

And if you live in the US, you can still win a ebook of Iron Crowned here.

Plus check out the sidebar on the blog here for lots of chances to win The Bitter Seed of Magic, (out now UK, and available* with free worldwide delivery from The Book Depository)and here's a link (below) to the Goodreads giveaway for The Cold Kiss of Death

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Cold Kiss of Death

by Suzanne McLeod

Giveaway ends April 16, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

*What? You thought I'd miss out on a chance to do some shameless self-promo and tell you my new book is out!! *g*

Video of Richelle Mead on Iron Crowed + contests

Just a quick reminder that you've got less than 12 hours left to be in with a chance at winning a copy of Iron Crowned* by Richelle Mead (Int). All you have to do is tell me here who your favourite faerie is (or leave congrats to Richelle and her hubby on their wonderful news :-)).

There's been lots of interesting comments so far! Of course, my favourite one is from someone who's has chosen Finn*, the satyr from my Spellcrackers books - Thanks, Jo! *g* - but don't worry, it'll be Ms. Random.org who decides the winner :-)

Oh, and there's another chance to win an ebook of Iron Crowned here, (US only - not sure when it ends) where you can also watch a larger version of the video below, where Richelle talks about Eugenie and her world.

*Winner can choose either book #1, #2 or #3 from the Dark Swan series
*Not that I'm biased or anything *whistles* *g*

And don't forget to check out the links on the sidebar of my blog for where you can win a copy of The Bitter Seed of Magic - OUT NOW - in the UK, and available from The Book Depository with free worldwide delivery :-)

Giveaway: Iron Crowned - Richelle Mead

One of the things I love when it comes to writing and reading about faeries/fairies/fae/fay is the sheer variety there is to choose from, as there are hundreds of myths, legends and stories from all corners of the world. It's always a joy to discover a particular faerie that fits right in with the tale I'm telling, and lots of fun deciding how to tweak them to make them my own.

Plus it's endlessly fascinating to see how other authors use the fae in their own stories. So far the different faeries in my books are mostly taken from the Celtic, Norse and European myths, but as I write more stories about Genny and Co., well, you never know who, or what might make an appearance . . . *teases* :-)

And after talking about faeries, it's not surprising that my celebratory giveaway this week (# 6) is for Richelle Mead's Iron Crowned, #3 in the Dark Swan series, which has a whole otherworld full of fay, and a character who is half kitsune: a Japanese fox shapeshifter.

But first I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for helping me celebrate, and especially to those of you who have already read, and loved The Bitter Seed of Magic (Spellcrackers.com #3) which had its official UK release date on the 17th Feb.(1st time in print). Yay! Happy Book B'day to TBSOM!
Cake* and bubbly for all!

And don't forget to check out the side bar for links to where you could win your own copy of The Bitter Seed of Magic!

Plus, of course, in a few weeks time we'll be celebrating again when ...

The Cold Kiss of Death - Spellcrackers # 2 releases in the US on 26th April (out now in the UK)

But now, before we get back to this week's fabulous giveaway book ...
Giveaway now closed

US cover out 22nd Feb

Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead

I'd like to say Many Congratulations to Richelle and her husband on the wonderful, exciting news that they're expecting a bundle of baby joy later this year!Congratulations!

Here's the blurb for Iron Crowned ...

Shaman-for-hire Eugenie Markham is the best at banishing entities trespassing in the mortal realm. But as the Thorn Land’s queen, she’s fast running out of ways to end the brutal war devastating her kingdom. Her only hope: the Iron Crown, a legendary object even the most powerful gentry fear…

Who Eugenie can trust is the hardest part. Fairy king Dorian has his own agenda for aiding her search. And Kiyo, her shape-shifter ex-boyfriend, has every reason to betray her along the way. To control the Crown’s ever-consuming powers, Eugenie will have to confront an unimaginable temptation--one that will put her soul and the fate of two worlds in mortal peril…

UK cover out 31st March

Ooh, I'm so looking forward to this one!! Richelle is a lovely lady, and I adore all of her series, so I know this one is going to be a wonderful read!

You can read an excerpt from Iron Crowned here on Richelle's website!

So, for a chance to win your very own copy of Iron Crowned*, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me who, or what is your favourite faerie. Either a character from Fiction, TV, Film or a type from myth or legend.

Alternatively, leave your congratulations for Richelle on her wonderful news!

How to enter:

Leave a comment with your favourite faerie, or congratulations.

Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) 24th Feb 2011

Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post here.

And don't forget to check out the Giveaway Schedule here. And so you don't miss out on a chance of winning any of the wonderful books in the coming weeks, why not follow me? (following is not a condition of entry).

*Winner can choose an earlier book in the Dark Swan series instead.

* Sadly, this isn't the cake that we had at my writers' crit group on Thursday to celebrate (I'm way to disorganised for that), but I photoshopped it from here, and next time ! *she says with determination* I'm going to be getting one of these cool cakes! Just watch this space! *g*

x/posted to LJ. Comment here or there. One entry per person.

Winner: This Side of the Grave - Jeaniene Frost

Thanks to everyone who entered to win This Side of The Grave by Jeaniene Frost, and left their choice of their favourite LoveBirds! There were lots of great couples in the comments!

And Ms. Random.org has spoken ...

The winner is ...

Kris-10

who said:

' I would have to say that my favorite lovebirds (besides Cat and Bones) would have to be Claire and Shane (from the Morganville Vampires Series). <3 They are Cute, Cute, Cute <3'

Congratulations, Kris-10, an email is on its way to you!

Thanks again everyone!

Sorry ...

I'm begging all your patience, please ... real life, copy edits, and an overworked (slow ... as ... a ... snail ... hopefully ... not ... dying!) laptop hijacked my time today ... so very sorry ... so my meeting with Ms. Random.org to choose the winner of This Side of the Grave is unfortunately postponed till tomorrow, as is the post for the giveaway for Richelle Mead's Iron Crowned (Dark Swan #3).

Interview + Giveaway at Amberkatze's!

I'm over at the fabulous Amberkatze's Book Blog where she's grilled me until I've divulged all sort of writerly secrets ... so why not head on over there ... there's a chance to win a copy of my new book - The Bitter Seed of Magic! - which is officially out* tomorrow: Yay!

*And which has been seen in the wild in Edinburgh and Horsham, plus is already shipping from both The Book Depository and Amazon.co.uk

Five Links of Fang-tastic Love!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Hope you're having a Fang-tastic, heart-pumping, romantic time! *g*

Links of Love # 1.

Gollancz have a new Dark Fantasy Newsletter out, and you'll never guess who's the Guest Editor ... Lol! Well, okay, you probably will if you're reading this. *g* So, why not click on over and you can check out my editorial scribblings here, and there's a couple of great giveaways* to enter too!

Link of Love # 2

The lovely Book Chick City is hosting this!

and today's post is from the fabulous Louise Court, who is a Publicity Assistant at Orion/Gollancz. Louise lets us in on what it's like to work with all the wonderful books, and what happens when they're getting published. Oh, and she's giving away FOUR fang-tastic* books (one of which you might just recognise *g*).

Links of Love # 3 - Rabid Reader has a contest for a signed book*! (scroll down the post to find it) Oh, wonder which one that is? *g*

Links of Love # 4 - Get your Enchanted Boarding Ticket and take a tour of Supernatural London over at Falcata Times ... and once your tour is over, there's another magical chance to win a Spellcracker of a book*!

Links of Love # 5 - Shoot a Valentine's Day arrow at your favourite lovers, and pin them down in a comment here, and you could be all loved-up with Cat & Bones in their new book: THIS SIDE OF THE GRAVE - JEANIENE FROST.

Right, off to make romantic chocolate covered strawberries for Mr Mc - thanks to an idea given me by a a very sweet friend this morning :-) Pic spam may follow ;p

ETA:

*This post is all about the book that shall not be mentioned here (shameless shelf promotion can only be taken so far ...), the same book that is officially released this Thursday!! Yay! And is already shipping from Amazon.co.uk, The Book Depository, and has been spotted in the wild in Waterstone's in Edinburgh!

Giveaway - This Side of the Grave - Jeaniene Frost

Valentine's Day will be upon us in the next couple of days, and Romance is in the air, especially in our house. Mr. Mc. and I met on the 13th Feb, 22 years ago (we were one of his early shots that year! Lol!) So, Cupid's Day is always a sort of double celebration* for us. But this year we're making it a triple*. Our third celebration is the release of my third Spellcrackers book (how's that for synchronicity!).

And my 3rd book is, if you've been following the celebratory giveaways, The Bitter Seed of Magic!

It releases in the UK on 17th Feb (1st time in print), but The Book Depository seem to be shipping early! Yay!

(Don't forget you could win a copy here at Rabid Reader - scroll down - or here at Falcata Times)

and, of course, in a few weeks time we'll be celebrating again when ...

The Cold Kiss of Death - Spellcrackers # 2 released in the US on 26th April (out now in the UK)

But it's another pair of fang-tabulous LoveBirds, one of my favourite couples from an awesome paranormal romance/ UF series, that are featuring in this week's (# 5) celebratory giveaway . . .

This Side of the Grave** by Jeaniene Frost

Danger waits on both sides of the grave…

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they’ve triumphed over the latest battle, Cat’s new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance…

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous “ally”—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war. …to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

Ooh, I can't wait! How about you? And you don't have to, or at least not for the first 20% which you can read here.

And for a chance to win your very own copy of This Side of the Grave, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me who your favourite LoveBirds are (excluding Cat & Bones ;p) from Fiction, TV, Film or where ever.

*so, you could say we're getting a lot of use out of our celebratory bottle of bubbly *g*
** or if you're not quite caught up on Cat & Bones, then the winner can choose an earlier book from the series.

How to enter:

Leave a comment with your favourite LoveBirds.

Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) 17th Feb 2011

Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post here.

And don't forget to check out the Giveaway Schedule here. And so you don't miss out on a chance of winning any of the wonderful books in the coming weeks, why not follow me? (following is not a condition of entry).

All links lead to Amazon (merely for ease). Please note: there are other online books stores available.
x/posted to my LJ: comment here or there - one entry per person.

Supernatural Capital Tours: London!

PROMOTIONAL ADVERT SPONSORED BY SPELLCRACKERS.COM

Hey, I've just found out about this great new Tour company. It's called Supernatural Capital Tours and does these fantastic trips round all the fanged, fae and magical hot spots in London.

They're doing a special opening promotion over at Falcata Times, and there's a chance to win a book! And not just any book, but this Spellcracking book - The Bitter Seed of Magic - which is all about a fertility curse, and ravens, and the Tower of London, and murder, and strange dogs, and dangerous guys, and cool chicks, and illusionary vampires---

We interrupt this advert to say: What, you're still here? But you should be over there reading all about how much fun you can have you can have Getting Fanged on your next trip to the city . . . Go on, you know you want to *g*.

Winner - Spellcrackers Books!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win their choice of 2 Spellcrackers books! There was a fantastic turnout!

And Ms. Random.org has spoken ...

The winner is ...

Mariska

who said:

'i would love to win The Cold Kiss of Death # 2, The Bitter Seed of Magic # 3'

Congratulations, Mariska, an email is on its way to you!

Thanks again everyone!

Don't forget to check back later today for this week's giveaway when it goes live, which is

This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress #5) – Jeaniene Frost (releases 22nd Feb)

The Bitter Seed of Magic - Teasers ...

Want a chance to win a signed copy of The Bitter Seed of Magic? Then head on over to the fab Rabid Reader's blog here (you need to scroll down on the post for the details of the contest). She's holding a contest, and there's not too many entries yet, so the chances are good :-)

You can read some teasers from The Bitter Seed of Magic too

Chapter 1 here

Start of chapter 2 here

Snippet from later on in chapter 2 (scroll down to read)

Teaser Tuesday here from page 25 - chapter 3

Oh, and Book Lovers Inc., reviewed The Bitter Seed of Magic here ... and they loved it! *blushes/beams* *whispers* the word Fanta-bulous might have been mentioned! Yay!

Yep, I know. More shameless self-promotion! Anyone would think I've got a new book coming out soon! *g* But hey, I've also been doing some guest blogs, writing about 'things that might be interesting' so they'll be coming up soon ... just watch this space.

Oh, and don't forget to enter this week's giveaway here for your choice of two of my books!

Giveaway - Spellcrackers Books

Yay! We're now at week 4 of 16 weeks of giveaways to celebrate the release of

The Bitter Seed of Magic - Spellcrackers # 3 in the UK on 17th Feb (1st time in print)

and

The Cold Kiss of Death - Spellcrackers # 2 in the US on 26th April (out now in the UK)

And this week's giveaway is----

Okay, well the schedule says:

The Bitter Seed of Magic - Spellcrackers.com # 3
(This giveaway is now closed - check back later for the next one!)

But I've had the Migraine Monster (tm) munching on me for the last couple of days, so to cheer myself up, I'm going to give the winner not just one book, but their choice of TWO* of my books! WooT!

So if you haven't started the Spellcrackers series, or haven't got round to reading book 2 yet, here's your chance to ~~see what hot guys, kick-ass chicks and super-cool supes~~ ~~you've been missing~~ catch up! Or there's a chance to win book 3, and be on a promise for a copy of Home Improvement: Undead Edition (out Aug 2011) which contains a Spellcrackers short story (a prequel to The Sweet Scent of Blood - so no worry about spoilers), as well as lots of other wonderful stories by some fabulous authors!

How to enter:

Leave your choice of the two books you'd like if you win in the comments!

Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) 10th Feb 2011

*Two books to be chosen from the following: The Sweet Scent of Blood # 1, The Cold Kiss of Death # 2, The Bitter Seed of Magic # 3, Home Improvement: Undead Edition (not available until August 2011). The two books can be sent to two different addresses, so if you've already pre-ordered The Bitter Seed of Magic (thank you!) and you win, you can spread the Spellcrackers love and give another copy to a friend :-)

See rest of General terms and rules in this post here.

And don't forget to check out the Giveaway Schedule here. And so you don't miss out on a chance of winning any of the wonderful books in the coming weeks, why not follow me? (following is not a condition of entry).

All links lead to Amazon (merely for ease). Please note: there are other online books stores available.

x/posted to my LJ: comment here or there - one entry per person.

Winner - Green-Eyed Demon - Jaye Wells

Many thanks from me and Jaye to everyone that entered to congratulate Giguhl... err, Jaye on her upcoming release of Green-Eyed Demon, # 3 in the Sabina Kane series! And remember Green-Eyed Demon is out today in the UK (and already shipping*), and on March 1st in the US.

And the winner is . . .

Corinne P (Coribee)

who said...

"D: I'm dying to read the next book, and it sounds like we've got our usual laughs from our favorite demon."

Congratulations, Corinne! An email is on its way to you!

Thanks again everyone!

Don't forget to check back for this week's giveaway when it goes live, which is

The Bitter Seed of Magic - Spellcrackers.com #3 by yours truly (a.k.a. Suzanne McLeod *g*)