Quickshot: #SFRGalaxyAward Winner!

So yesterday was the announcement of the fifth SFR Galaxy Award winners, and I got a bit of surprise. Quickshot scored my third award as Grittiest Hot & Fast Story. Lol. I'm especially pleased as it was the only new work I put out last year and during a low period of my publishing career. A better start to 2017, huh? I have to give a big shoutout to Diane Dooley for her editing skills, and Dani Fine for that oh so beautiful artwork (I'll admit that out of the covers she's done for me, this is probably my favourite, but don't tell the others!).

A Space Opera Short Story
Goodreads | Webpage
Amazon | Smashwords
iBooks | Kobo | B&N

Quickshot joins my time travel romance Keir and and scifi adventure Gethyon as former SFR Galaxy Award winnners, along with a One Book Two 2016 Standout Award for Keir's Fall at the start of this year. Two awards in the first month is pretty shiny!

Congrats to the other winners, and to the judges on their fifth year. You can see the other worthy winners here, or jump directly to what judge Anna McClain had to say about Quickshot here.

The Blue Moon Blog Hop Winner

And the winner is:

Cherri-Anne

Apparently there was some confusion over the rafflecopter prize, which is entirely my fault and I apologize. Normally when I run a hop it's a bigger event and I ask authors to donate to one or more prize bundles, which I then arrange. On this occasion, because it was a much smaller event, I simply listed what each author wanted to give away, intending it as a single prize but with the separate elements being sent directly to the winner by each author rather than directly from me. My bad. I should have made that clearer: that there would only be one winner for the entire prize list.
However, the SFR Brigade are planning a much bigger hop in July, which will be better organized (because I'm not arranging THAT one, lol), so please stop by for that. For more information please follow @sfrbrigade on Twitter and/or the Facebook fanpage and/or the blog at http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com so you don't miss out.

Tethered Tour - winner!

The tour for Tethered is over and the giveaway has closed. I'm pleased to announce that the winner of the DNA necklace and $5 Breathless Press gift card as selected by rafflecopter is...

EJ Frost

Huge congrats! In the meantime, a quick reminder that Tethered is still only $2 at my publisher's website HERE until the end of August, to celebrate their fifth birthday. In less than a week my tour for Restless In Peaceville begins (though you can check out a couple of posts about it now at Karen Y Bynum's blog and at the Writer's Nest), and there'll be another giveaway to tempt you with then. Enjoy!

Karen Y Bynum 20^th August Why Zombies?!

The Writer's Nest 22^nd interview

Dana's YA Bookpile 1st interview

Winter Bayne 3^rd Adorable Zombies – This Is Not A Typo

Mark of the Stars 4^th The Appeal of Zombies

Paranormal Reads 5^th Excerpt

Literature YA Fiction 5th Five things that got me writing teen zombies

Rachel Leigh Smith 6^th Five Facts About RIP

Ryan Hill Writes 7^th Interview

Liana Brooks 8^th How to Date a Zombie

Rise of the Slush 9^th Excerpt

Cassandra Page 11^th excerpt

Celia Breslin 12^th Ten Facts about Zombies

An Author's Quest 14^th review

Everyday Fangirl 15^th Two Teen Paranormal Inspirations – Why Kids TV Rocks

(Rachel Leigh Smith at mine) 16th

Going From Somebody To Nobody 17^th Character interview

YA Readers America 18^th Ten Things You might not know from reading the book

Aussie Owned and Read 26^th interview

My Starry Nights winner

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment during the Starry Nights blog hop. I'm pleased to announce that the winner of my upcoming release Tethered was...Mary Preston! Congrats, and I hope once you receive your prize that you enjoy it and come back for more. :)

Spring Fling Blog Hop Winner

And the winner of this beautiful pendant as part of the Spring Fling blog hop was....Viki Lyn!

Congrats!!

Announcing the winners! February 2014

I'm proud to have been part of several giveaways over the last few days, and now I get to announce all the winners. Woot!

Firstly, as part of Lyn Brittan's pre-Valentine scifi romance giveaway, the winner of a digital format of my short story Terms & Conditions Apply is - Shelley H. The second winner for this title as part of the JA Garland/Champagne Books Valentine's Day Hop is Jean.

The winner of a digital format of my scifi romance novel Keir is Jody Faltys.
The three Goodreads print edition winners are Vanessa Nieto, Tiffany Webb and Teresa Kren.

And lastly, the Goodreads winner for an ultra rare print edition of Tales from the SFR Brigade is Christine Baldwin.

Digital winners have already been contacted regarding their choice of format, and their prizes will be emailed as soon as I hear back. The print winners will have been notified by Goodreads, and the books will go out in the post next week.

Congrats everyone, and happy reading!

A huge thank you to everyone who took part, but an especially massive one to Champagne Books for sponsoring the Love Struck Blog Hop, and to JA Garland for all her hard work in instigating, organizing and running the hop. Kudos!

Gethyon - #SFRGalaxyAwards winner!

Some of you may (or may not) know that I'm one of the admins for a fantastic group called the Science Fiction Romance Brigade, a dedicated group of authors, readers and publishing professionals committed to promoting the genre of SFR. As part of that, this January saw the 2nd Annual SFR Galaxy Awards, and while I didn't expect to win anything (it's not a contest you can enter since the judges choose from their personal favourite reads over the previous year), I was committed to posting the results to our fanpage on Facebook (psst, check it out HERE. We feature giveaways, new releases, freebies, news, contests, and a fair bit of SF/SFR humour and cuteness!). On Saturday I duly shared a link from Charlee Allden of Smart Girls love Scifi announcing the upcoming results...and promptly forgot about them. D'oh! Bad admin! But weekends are family time and I'm not supposed to be online at all.. Not much of an excuse, but it's all I have. >.<

So I was reminded about the event in a rather surprising way - a message on Twitter from fellow Brigader Veronica Scott congratulating me on my win. Whut?! Yep. My YA SciFi Gethyon had been awarded Most Awesome Psychic Talent. Woot! After a bit of flailing and some frantic sharing of results to the fanpage, I sat back to enjoy my win and change my Twitter profile. With Keir garnering a Best May To September Romance last year, I can now call myself a double SFR Galaxy Award winner. Woo hoo!

EXCERPT | Available from...Omnilit
 BURST | Amazon UK | Amazon US 
 | B&N | Smashwords |

The great thing about the SFR Galaxy Awards is there are no fixed categories, and no way to enter. The judges just pick their stand out read (or sometimes film) of the year and chose their own award title. I love the novelty of the idea (and not just because I've won a couple). It can give you a really intriguing insight into why certain books stuck in a reader's mind, and a bit different from getting a review.

If you'd like to know more about the awards, the winners and the judges, you should check out the website HERE.

WEBSITE | GOODREADS
Available for FREE from...
 Amazon US | Amazon UK | ARe
 Smashwords |  B&N | Kobo

I was also flattered to get a mention as editor for the Amazon Kindle store version of Tales from the SFR Brigade on the anthology website HERE. I spent the end of 2013 fixing a few formatting issues and uploading Tales to Amazon and ARe. I also created a print edition purely for giveaways (you can enter to win an ultra-rare, cannot-be-bought print edition HERE) with a huge amount of help on the wrap around cover from Misa Buckley.

Both have made for a very satisfactory wrap up for 2013, despite issues throughout January. Kudos to the other SFR Galaxy Award winners, including a double for Cathy Pegau, and wins for Misa Buckley, Veronica Scott, Rebecca Royce, Kyndra Hatch and Sonya Clark. Congrats!

Keir - HOD RWA Aspen Gold 3rd Place

Well, it's taken me long enough to announce it on the blog, but...

Keir came third in the Paranormal/Time Travel/Futuristic category of the Heart of Denver RWA Aspen Gold contest. Woo Hoo! This will probably be the last contest for Keir due to the copyright date, so it was good to finish on a high. I'd like to congratulate all the other winners and finalists in the contest, especially to buddy and fellow Lyrical Press author Karen Y Bynum, whose PNR Witch Way to Turn came second in the YA category. Also a huge thank you to the wonderful Contest Coordinator Janet Baltz, who did a fabulous job of keeping us informed of progress all the way through. I really wish I could have made it to the award ceremony, because they were a great bunch of contestants. :)

End of Summer Blog Hop - winner!

And the winner of my End of Summer blog hop prize, chosen by Random.org, is...

Emily!

Congrats and enjoy. Thank you to everyone else who stopped by to comment. :)

Fall into Romance Blog Hop Winner

And the winner on my post for the Fall into Romance blog hop is...

Pam Levine Million

Congrats, Pam! A huge thank you to everyone else who stopped by to enter, and please come by again soon as I'll be taking part in another giveaway on the 30th September at Coffeetime Romance as part of their Love in Space Event, and here the End of Summer blog hop from the 4th October.

The SFR Brigade's 2nd Midsummer Blog Hop Winners

The SFR Brigade's 2nd Midsummer blog hop is over! First, a huge, huge thank you to all the Brigaders who took part in hosting, and especially to those who donated to the prize fund - this event couldn't have happened without you. And a big thank you to all the visitors who stopped by, left comments, entered the rafflecopter and shared the news.

So, to the winners. *drum roll*

First prize of a $150 gift card and a 30+ ebook bundle - Debra Guyette 

Second prize of a $50 gift card - Lucinda Copeland  

The four third prize winners of a $25 gift card - Jbst, Ashley Tucker Ashfa Anwer and Corrine Alexander ­

Plus the winner on my blog of a copy of Terms & Conditions Apply (chosen by Random.org) - Shadow at comment 25

Congrats to the winners!  

Individual prizes offered will be announced on the blogs responsible for offering them. Thank you for making the blog hop such a wonderful event. See you next year!

Winners - The Goddess Fish Tour for Gethyon

The Goddess Fish tour is over (a huge thank you to them for organizing the virtual tour for me) and the winners have been chosen and notified.

Brenda's blog -
catherinelee100

Straight from the Library -
marypres

Books a la mode -
katieamanda1

Lisa Haselton's -
justforswag

Long and Short reviews -
bn100cabdg

Crazy for Books -
goodblinknpark

Books in the Hall -
fencingromein

Congrats to the winners who get to chose from a $5 Amazon or B&N gift card, plus bookmarks.

But don't despair! The tour isn't over for Gethyon. You can check out guest posts, interviews and excerpts at the other blogs on the tour and enter to win the green crystal pendant until the end of June! Plus there's the SFR Brigade blog hop from the 21st to the 25th June, with a total of $275 in gift cards to be won, and a bundle of ebooks so huge it's an instant digital library. :)

3rd June - Gethyon released

4th June - interview on the To Be Read blog
7th June - character interview (Jinx) at Karen Y Bynum's blog

9th June - spotlight at Wicked Readings

15th June - book spotlight at Diane Burton's blog
16th June - guest post on the Siah-dhu at Maria Hammarblad's blog
17th June - interview at Jaleta Clegg's blog
18th June - guest post on Future Identification at Greta van der Rol's blog
19th June - guest post on Crystal Power at Backward
Momentum
20th June - guest post on Naming at Sabrina Garie's blog
(21st - 25th SFR Brigade blog hop)
26th June - guest post on Tortured heroes at Cassandra Page's blog

27th June - guest post on Future Fashion at Bella Street's blog
28th June - To Be Read blog Book Spotlight
29th June - spotlight at Jessica E Subject's blog
30th June - guest post on Designing Spaceships at Diane Dooley's blog

And as well as the blog hop, the SFR Brigade will be releasing its first and FREE anthology - Tales from the SFR Brigade. Nine stunning science fiction romance stories, at no cost to you. :)

Winner for Keir's Birthday Bash - Pendant

The winner of the blue crystal star pendant as part of Keir's First Book Birthday Bash is Laura Z Banks. Congrats Laura! But in the meantime you can still visit my fellow party hosts and pick up a cool blue recipe, and the Goodreads giveaway for a print copy of Keir remains open until the end of May. Enjoy!

Rites of Spring Blog Hop Winners

The winners of the Grand Prize draws have already been announced. Here they are:

1st Place: Kindle Fire

Entry #4 – Karl

2nd Place: $50 Amazon gift certificate

Entry #187 – Chum B.

And the winner on my blog, chosen by Random.org is #14 Natasha D. Congrats!

All the winners have been notified. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment.

Announcing the Winners - Romancing the Hop and Third Anniversary Giveaway

So, there are some winners to announce!


From the Romancing the Hop -

Grand Prize Winners:

Kindle Fire Winner:

Laurie Goudge

(from It's the Journey that Counts's Blog)

$130 Amazon Gift Card:

Ellie

(from Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog)

Swag Pack:

Cassandra

 (from Dana Delamar's Blog)

The grand prize winners have already been notified and have their prizes or the prizes are on their way!

On my blog the winner was comment number 18 JFA for a $10 gift card

And the winner for my Third Anniversary giveaway of a copy of Keir was Grinelda.

Huge congrats to the winners, and thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment. :)

Angels vs Demons Blog Hop - Winners

And the winners are...drum roll...

Kindle Touch Winner: #1291 from I Smell Sheep: Stephanie Huff

Amazon $60 Gift Card Winner: #4695 from Dani Harper's Blog: Drake
For the Amazon Gift Card on my blog - Kristina (comment number 44)

Congratulations and enjoy! :)

The SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop - Winners

I hope you all enjoyed the hop! I'm pleased to announce that the winners of the grand prizes are:

Sue B with a comment on Pauline Baird Jones's blog for the choice of a Kindle Touch or a Nook Touch

Cheryl Corbin with a comment on Cathy Pegau's blog for the bundle of sfr titles and the Anabanana Gift Card

And Krista for the Amazon Gift Card on my blog. Congrats and enjoy!

Keir Book Tour - Winners and Acknowledgements

Winners
And so, the tour is over and it's back to normality. Using Random.org and assigning all the participants a number, I have drawn the winners from all the stops on the tour. So:

For an ebook copy of Keir: Liz Culver, Jessica Subject, Lauri Owen, Laurel Kriegler, Donna Frelick, DL Jackson, JC Cassels, Shelley Munro, wyndwhisper and Cheryl Corbin
For the grand prize: AKJ Tigger
For the $10 Amazon Gift Card: Chantal Halpin, Dragonflywords, Alix Cameron, and marybelle

Congrats to you all, and I hope you enjoy your prizes. Thanks for joining the tour. :)

Acknowledgements
So, there are several people I need to thank, for helping to make all this possible.

My friends and family, who coped with the insanity and offered their support and encouragement. Especially to my BFF Lauri Owen who held my hand through so much of it, and encouraged me even when I felt it was a lost cause. Also to David Clayton and Nicky Dawson, who both read the early drafts and enthused about them, and to Laurel Kriegler, Amy Rose Davis, Jacki Stanley Page, Andra Jones, Aubrey Haskill, David Hargis and Ian Peaston for too many kindnesses to mention.
To the members of fictionation.org - fellow students and writers - and my Spacefreighters Lounge co-bloggers.
To all my hosts on the tour for having me, and getting the posts up on the day after being sent them much too far in advance due to my planning OCD. :-P Chantal Halpin, Kerrianne Coombes, Gayle Ramage, Lyndi Alexander, Misa Buckley, Lauri Owen, Sonya Clark, Jessica Subject, the TBR blog, The Galaxy Express, Backward Momentum, The Masquerade Crew, Liana Brooks, Layna Pimentel, Laurel Kriegler, and Kaye Munro.
All the members of the SFR Brigade who have offered me support and encouragement, and particularly blogs to guest and promote on. Special thanks to Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express, Jessica Subject, and my Spacefreighters Lounge buddy Laurie Green.
To my sffsat buddies - you rock!
Thanks also to a bunch of people who helped promote Keir, often to my complete surprise - Gem Sivad, Rainy Kaye, Wendy Russo, Liz Culver (Fictionation), and The Masquerade Crew.
My super publisher who gave me this first shot - Lyrical Press Inc - and owner/artist Renee Rocco for the fabulous cover and banner. Also to my fantastic editor Danielle Fine for kicking my behind from one end of the manuscript to the other until it gleamed.
Anyone who has tweeted, Facebooked, 'Liked', G+'d, mentioned, read, and commented along the way. And to anyone who I may have missed out by name (for which I'm really sorry), because so many of you have contributed even in small ways.
The whole experience has been magical. Yes, it's been hard work, stressfull and exhausting too, but I'd do it all again - and hope to. See ya for the next one. :)

New Year Blog Hop Winners

Below are the two winners commentators announced by Carrie Ann Ryan -

#192 from Malia Mallory's site - Lilaz won the Kindle Fire! I've already contacted her and her new Kindle should be on its way soon.
#2436 from VK Syke's site - June won the $80 Amazon GC. I've already sent it to her!

The winner on my blog of the $10 Amazon Gift Card is TrishWilson79 - congrats!

Are Contests a Winner?

What are your views on writing contests? Are you a big fan and a prolific competitor? Do you think having one or more awards helps your career and/or book sales as an author? Do they present you with an interesting challenge, or do you feel they are a waste of time?

Until this year, I'd never even considered entering a writing competition. I'd looked at a few and read blog posts on those who had entered and even been placed in various writing awards, but hadn't felt the need for it myself. I'm still not sure of the benefits, and at the moment have no plans to write anything purely for competition purposes. However ...

A book review site that I've written a few reviews for posted a short story competition a while back. They wanted a fantasy short between 2,000 and 5,000 words. By coincidence, I happened to be working on a fantasy short that came within that range, an oddity in itself! For one thing, I haven't written fantasy in almost 25 years and short stories are not my strong point. There's no award for winning. My interest was completely mercenary - the prize is an iPad, or two runner-ups get a Kindle, squee! So I went for it. Winners aren't being announced until November, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. After all, I read stuff every day that I rate as good or better than my own.

But it got me thinking. I know various people who've entered competitions. I know you have to be wary about some of them. Does it really make that much difference to an author how many and what kind of awards they win? Does it encourage readers? Does it improve sales? Does it help you pitch a book if it won an award? I really don't know.

I've never been one for competitions but I've found myself looking some up over the past week. Maybe the fact that I've had my first book contracted by a publisher has finally convinced me I have something worthwhile of an award. That my lack of confidence is misplaced. Or maybe because I see so many of my fellow authors so excited over the whole process. Maybe I'm missing out on the fun. Whichever, I'm considering that next year I may put my book in for one or two contests. Anyone want to recommend some? :)