Happy Halloween!! + Crystal's Halloween Contest!!

Happy Halloween one and all! I hope your having a blast there, partying hearty, trick or treating with the kids for all its worth or just scaring the heck out of someone. Fun either way right?
My friend Crystal Adkins is having a contest on her MySpace and I thought I would post here so everyone can go sign up and get in on the action. Whats up for grabs? Well here's Crystal's post with the details:
"Right now until Nov. 1, 2008 I am hosting a Halloween Giveaway! I know for sure that there will be a book included from my To Be Read shelf, AND Jayel Gibson is providing all 4 yes 4 copies in her Ancient Mirrors Series, and let me tell you these are some BIG THICK BOOKS! I've read and reviewed them all, and she's giving them away to one lucky commenter! Zulmara is also offering a set of stationary supplies as well!! All you have to do is leave a comment, it's as easy as that! And if you copy and paste this in a bulletin, with a link back to my page telling them to look at the latest blog (www.myspace.com/crystaljo722) then you get a second entry! With your comment, just tell me you posted a bulletin as well and I'll take your word for it! There may still be other prizes coming in, and I will list them as they come. But right now, there are 5 books up for grabs!!!! So comment away, and I'll choose a winner by a random generator on Sunday Nov. 2

*Contributions* If you would like to giveaway something in this contest just send me a message of what you would like to contribute :) Anything is appreciated. If you can't message me here, then email me at crystaladkins722(AT)gmail(DOT)com *

Have fun, and Good LUCK!!

Crystal "

A big thank you to Crystal, Jayel and Zumara for this giveaway. I'm definitely entering this contest. Sound like fun to you also? Then hop on over to MySpace and sign up yourself. Good luck everyone!

*** Update for this contest: I'll be giving away a werewolf plushie, a Halloween deck of cards and maybe some other stuff in a goodie bag for Crystal's contest. ***
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I just got word that Romance Studio's is having a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card. Click here to enter. And hurry because this contest is only until tonight Oct 31st 2008 midnight.

Halloween Contests Part 3

There is so much going on with the count down to Halloween. Contests happening everywhere. The biggest contest has to be over at the Bloggy Carnival though. Over a 1,000 contests to enter. And a little of everything when it comes to prizes. Check it out and see for yourself. And my thanks to my good friend Crystal Atkins for pointing out that I hadn't blogged about this big happening yet!
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And then there is the Romance Junkies Huanted House Halloween contest. You cruise through their haunted house and its different rooms and locations finding hidden contests along the way. Just answer the contest questions for a chance to win all sorts of different goodies and books. These contests remain open until November 15th so you have some extra time to enter.
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And the Book Room Reviews Blog is also holding some contests. Testamony by Anita Shreve is one of four books you can enter to win. There are five contests in all. So make you sure you stop by and enter.
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And then there's Destination Romance’s HALLOWEEN Contest

It’s the spookiest time of the year! Don’t let the kids have ALL the fun! Destination Romance authors Catherine Stang, Dani Harper and Buffi Becraft-Woodall have put together a little contest.
The prize? A download of one of our books. You pick the title - any one released before October 31, 2008. PLUS a Personal Pampering Goody Bag (wanna read in the bathtub?) PLUS some Halloween goodies to nibble while you're reading!
Here’s what you need to do to enter. Go to each of our web sites including our main one:

Dani Harper:
www.romancingthewolf.com

Catherine Stang:
www.catherinestang.com

Buffi Becraft-Woodall:
www.buffibecraftwoodallauthor.com

Destination Romance:
www.destinationromance.org

Just tell us one cool thing you learned about each web site that you didn’t know before! Email your four answers to us at mail(AT)destinationromance(DOT)org with HALLOWEEN in the subject line.
The winner will be drawn at high noon on October 31, 2008 and notified by email.

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Author Sam Cheever is sponsoring her second annual Trick or Treat Bash on a street near you! The street is inexplicably filled with some of your favorite Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal and Horror Authors and they will be waiting by the door with tricks and treats for you.
All you need to do to play is visit Sam’s site (http://www.samcheever.com/Halloween%
20Contest_2008.htm ) anytime between October 27th and October 31st and select an item from the "goodie" list posted there. (The goodies are actually potential
answers to a question)
Then you send a note off to Sam with your selection and move on to the next “house” on the list, where another Author will be waiting with a goodie list for you to choose from.
The Contestant who selects the most correct items across all sites will win a Halloween Bag that’s just bulging with wonderful prizes from the Authors who "live" on Sam’s street.

Good luck to everyone!

Halloween Contests Part 2

There are so many contests happening this month and I'm so busy trying to enter them all and get them on the posts here that I'm going to just pretty much digest them on a few posts on here. I hope everyone is alright with that...

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Ravenous Romance is a new book site that will be launching officially on December 1st. But you can sign up for Ravenous Romance’s newsletter now and be entered to win an iPod Touch in celebration of Ravenous’s grand opening. Plus you get a free Ravenous Rendezvous short story when you sign up as an added bonus!
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Erin Quinn Contest
HAUNTING BEAUTY will be released August 2009 and in the meantime Erin is giving away a copy of one of her previous titles (writing as Erin Grady) and an ARC of talented Allyson James' DRAGON MASTER! Wondering what an ARC is? Advanced Reading Copy. That means you get to read this fabulous book weeks before it actually releases in November! Also check out her blog for an interview with Allyson and a link to an excerpt of The Dragon Master. To enter, email write2erinquinn(AT)aol(DOT)com with your name, snail mail address and October Contest in the subject.
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Raven Halloween Party! ALL DAY!, 10/24/2008, 12:00 am

http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/The_ Raven_Vampire_ Nightclub/ cal
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Raven_Vampire_Nightclub/

Raven Halloween Party! ALL DAY!
Friday October 24, 2008
All Day
Location: Raven Yahoo Group

Notes:
Come and join our Annual Raven Halloween Party! Halloween talk, witches, ghosts, excerpts, author friends, prizes, fun!
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The Authors of Loveyoudivine Alterotica are hosting a Happy Halloween Hunt of our websites. To get the Treasure Map you need for the contests simply visit Loveyoudivine's website and download the free ebook. At the end of this ebook you will find the shown icon on the listed sites. Send the list of links to the icon pages to lydcontests@loveyoudivine.com with Treasures of Desire in the subject line. And please join our chat on Oct 31st - 1 -5 EDT On the lyd yahoo loop when we announce the winners!
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From the desk of Sherrilyn Quinn...

I have a couple of Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) of my January Kensington release, DARING THE MOON, jumping at my door trying to make their way into the hands of my readers. They're driving me crazy, let me tell you.

So...

Between now and the end of October, visit my website or blog and answer at least one of these questions:

1) What is my most current release, and who are the hero and heroine?
2) What is DARING THE MOON about? (The excerpt is located in the August posts on my blog . There's also information on the Coming Soon page of my website .)
3) What is your favorite Sherrill Quinn book and why? (Okay, this is in here purely for ego strokes, I admit. LOL)

Send me an email at sherrillquinn(AT)gmail(DOT)com with your answer(s) to be entered for your chance to win a signed ARC! I'll announce the winner on November 1st.

Good luck!

Sherrill

~ ~ ~ ~
Sherrill Quinn
Follow your passion to the edge...and beyond
http://sherrillquinn.com |
http://dnwriters.com

Shiloh Walker Blog Contest + Extra

Shiloh is running a contest for bloggers, however, she’s also offering WriteMindedBlog readers a prize as well. Be sure and read down for your chance to win. Then double your chances by joining the Writeminded Blog party and commenting there also.

Contest for Bloggers



So how do you win this one? That’s easy.

You just blog about it. All you have to do is take the excerpt below and the cover graphic, post them to your blog, and then send me an email @ contest4shiloh(at)gmail.com with the words BLOG ALL ABOUT IT in the subject line. In the email, make sure you include a link to your blog post.

Read on to see what prizes are being offered!

Prize will be:

• ARC of FRAGILE, my 2/09 release (this will not be mailed until January)
• Gift Certificate for $40 to the bookstore of your choice (as long as I can purchase the GC certificate online, you can pick whatever bookstore you want)
• Two books from my available backlist
• Goody bag.

If you select a large chain bookstore, I reserve the right to buy a gift card that will then be mailed with your other prizes. Please allow 6-8 weeks to receive all prizes. Other yadda yadda rules…open to anybody, no purchase necessary, all you have to do to enter is to blog about it, and if you live outside the country, please allow an extra 4 weeks for delivery. Contest runs throw 11/11/08, all entries must be posted before 11/11/08 in order to qualify. Void where prohibited.

To Enter!

Just copy and paste the info below onto your blog, email Shiloh a link to the post using the addy posted above (please double check the email addy-I’m not responsible if it’s sent to the wrong addy) and viola…you’re entered.



Excerpt

The weird sense of deja vu exploded into something else entirely. Something that shook her to the core. His eyes narrowed and he reached up, caught her chin in his, staring at her.

She was pale and Cullen thought she looked every bit as shaken as he felt. “The dreams,” he muttered. He caught her face in his hands and forced her to look at him, staring into her pale gray eyes. The ugly, dark bruise around her left eye made her iris seem that much paler and as he watched, the pupil flared, enlarging until just a sliver of gray of visible.

Taige tried to jerk away and he wouldn’t let her. “You had the dreams, too, didn’t you?” he demanded.

Her voice shook as she reached up with one hand to jerk on his wrist, trying to break his hold. “Let go of me.”

Slowly, he shook his head. “You have,” he whispered, dismay spreading through him.

Dismay–and something else. She’d always held herself apart from him in those dreams. But through those dreams, he’d gotten to know her, gotten to know the woman she had become. She was pulling away from him not because she was angry at him, or because she didn’t want anything to do with him.

She pulled back because she still loved him.

releasing 11/4/08…

Want to read more? Click here

Shiloh is offering WriteMindedBlog readers the chance to win a signed copy of Through the Veil and a handmade bookmark. To enter, stop by the blog and comment about where your favorite place to buy books is.

Breeni Books & Maria Lima Giveaway

I've recently discovered a new blog over at Breeni Books. And they have some great reviews and contests. This particular contest really caught my interest. The author Maria Lima is new to me but her book sounds wonderful. Read the awesome review that Sabrina Williams of Breeni Books gave "Matters of the Blood" and judge for yourself:

"Keira Kelly is a necromancer on hiatus, relaxing and grounding herself in the town where she grew up: Rio Seco, Texas. She returns to her old stomping ground just in time to watch her own family pack up and head for Canada, so she's all alone in Rio Seco with her rejected mortician cousin, Marty. Marty had the unfortunate fate of being born a completely and utterly average human being, so his supernatural family disowns him and leaves Keira to watch over him.
When Marty calls Keira one afternoon in a panic, heralding a family emergency, Keira isn't too surprised and expects he's just in need of money, as usual. She isn't in too much of a rush to run to his aid. However, the truth is far more dire than his typical shortage of funds and Marty's murdered corpse is soon discovered, completely drained of blood and left to rot on his own embalming table. Keira is concerned that under her guard, Marty might have managed to involve himself in some questionable dealings that resulted in his death. When she discovers the tell-tale fang marks on her cousin's neck, she realizes the crime involves much more than some thug's revenge.
The investigation that ensues delivers Keira into dangerous territory, so it's a good thing she's immortal. In addition, she's got two suitors to deal with: an old flame who's conveniently returned to town as the sheriff, and a dark and handsome acquaintance who'd like to advance their friendship. As she unravels the mystery surrounding her cousin's death, she's also going through "the Change," meaning her body is acclimating itself to the supernatural talents she'll eventually excel at. With all this distraction, finding her cousin's killer is not going to be an easy task.
Nothing is black and white in Maria Lima's world, and each character has a multifaceted past with a great deal of complexity. The depth of her characters helps perpetuate the mystery, as the reader can never quite tell whose secrets are dark enough to land them as the criminal. It's hauntingly realistic for paranormal fiction.
Matters of the Blood is filled with plot twists and artful surprises. Lima builds incredible suspense and allows the reader to savor each revelation. The story is paced well, with fully developed characters and a host of supernatural beings. It's escapism at its best. There are a few chapters at the end, previewing the second book in the series, Blood Bargain, and it appears the next book will have more romance to it. Matters of the Blood focuses mostly on the mystery. Either way, I'll be eagerly awaiting the next release."

Is that a terrific review or what? I know that certainly grabbed my attention and made me really want to read this book. If you feel the same way, hop on over to Breeni Books and enter the contest. Good luck!

The Annual Raven Halloween Scavenger Hunt Is Underway!!

It's October so you know what that means right? As traditonal as carving the pumpkin, it's time to enter the annual Raven Halloween Scavenger Hunt! This year there is a great list of goodies to win provided by a list of exceptional authors. If you want to know what your playing for just click on over to the contest page. There's a list of authors, their websites and the questions to find answers for on said websites as well as the prize info. This contest is open for the month of October. All contest entries must be mailed in by November 1st. Happy Hunting!

Bite Me Contest!

BITE ME! CONTEST

Running from October 1st to October 27th.

Prize: A collection of all six stories in the Bite Me! Anthology including Tuesday Morrigan's tale, Your Treat or Mine.

How to Win: Somewhere on Tuesday's website is a Bite Me! picture with a question on it. You need to find the picture and send the correct answer to Total-e-bound. (Link to be provided once the contest starts). Each of the six authors in the anthology have a corresponding question you must answer. Thus, you must correctly answer six questions. Good luck everyone.

Halloween Contests You Should Enter to Win!

Destination Romance’s HALLOWEEN Contest
It’s the spookiest time of the year! Don’t let the kids have ALL the fun! Destination Romance authors Catherine Stang, Dani Harper and Buffi Becraft-Woodall have put together a little contest.

The prize? A grab bag of Halloween treats and Author goodies!

Three winners will be drawn at high noon on October 31, 2008 and notified by email.
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This month Denise Skelton is giving away a wonderful basket of goodies worth more than $30.00 to one very lucky winner! The basket includes handmade note card set and a butterfly letter opener and a signed copy of Forgotten Promises. Just answer the questions and you could be the winner. For the questions and other details, head on over to Denise's contest page. Ends October 30th. Good luck!
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Celebrating the release of Marie Treanor's new ghost story, "Ariadne's Thread", from Samhain on 28th October - just in time for Hallowe'en! -here's a ghostly contest with a fun, ghostly prize :)

To enter, just answer this easy trivia question from the Ariadne's Thread excerpts on Marie's website.

When Addie sees the ghost sitting on the end of her bed, what is he wearing?

Please send your answers to competitions(AT)marietreanor(DOT)com with "Ariadne's Thread Contest" in the subject line, by 31st October.
And the prize? This fun pewter brooch:

Books, Lists, Life Blog Giveaway

The blog Books, Lists, Life is having a giveaway in honor of Patricia Briggs. Stop by and leave a comment about your favroite paranormal book or series for a chance to win "Cry Wolf" by Patricia Briggs or "On the Prowl" an anthology featuring a story by Patricia Briggs. If you have either book, you can opt to win only the one you dont have and give the other to another winner. So stop on by and comment by next Sunday to win. Good luck!

Patricia's Vampire Notes: Scary Books Contest

Hey all Patricia's Vampire Notes is having a Scary Books Contest. Patricia wants to know the scariest book you have ever read and why. Maybe you feel there are several, but just pick one (Well, OK, but no more than two!) and write about it. This will enter you in a drawing to be held on Oct. 31.

This contest will run until 11:59 pm on Oct 30. Winners - that's right, Winners - will be announced on Halloween!

A drawing for 5 books will be held.

"Definitely Dead" by Charlaine Harris

"Danse Macabre" by Laurell K. Hamilton

"Child of the Night" by Nancy Kilpatrick

"Renfield: Slave of Dracula" by Barbara Hambly

"Dracula" by Bram Stoker

For more details and to enter, click here.

Lyndi Lamont's Annual Halloween Pumpkin Giveaway

It's time again for Lyndi Lamont's annual Halloween Pumpkin giveaway. Details including a photo of the prize are at the contest page of her website:

http://www.lyndilamont.com/contest.html

The prize includes books, assorted promo items, Halloween candy and goodies. The winner will be chosen on October 31. If you'd like to be considered, send an email to lyndilamont(AT)yahoo(DOT)com . Subject line must read: Pumpkin Giveaway. Please include your mailing address. Good luck!

LV's Halloween Giveaway Winners!!

Hello. Thanks for coming back. I have to tell you, I so enjoyed blogging with you all. I'm actually bummed that the contests are over. Mine at least. And I wish I could have given a prize away to everyone. Your stories were awesome and I loved getting everyone's opinions on books, authors and paranormal species. I now have a ton of new books and authors to check out thanks to you. And I hope you’ll swing by my blog again sometime. Especially since I am enticing you with other contests to enter through the year. I blog pretty much only about contests so there’s always something to win by coming back to the Lair.

I found a random generator online to select the winners and here they are:

Danie88 – (wins ARC Any Given Doomsday + goody bag)
Ruth Schaller – (wins Dark Legend by Christine Feehan)
Twistedmind – (wins Sword of Darkness by Kinley MacGregor)
Raonaid – (wins Beyond the Highland Mists by Karen Marie Moning)
Mandy – (wins Lover Beware anthology by Christine Feehan, Katherine Sutcliffe, Fiona Brand and Eileen Wilks)
Pam P – (wins Into the Dreaming by Karen Marie Moning)



If you see your name in the post as a winner, please email me at LadyVampire2u(AT)gmail(DOT)com with the subject Blog Winner. Once I have your mailing information I’ll work on getting everything out to everyone. Please email me as soon as possible to claim your prize. Any prize that isn’t claimed within a week, I’ll redraw on.
Again, thanks for blogging with me in my pre-Halloween celebration. Here's wishing you all a Happy Halloween coming up later this month.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway Day 6

Contest Day Six

While there are plenty of werewolves and vampires in paranormal books, today I’d like to talk about the new species coming out from hiding and at last finding a place in books. Like gargoyles, demons, necromancers, etc. Its about time they had a moment or two in the spotlight and I am thrilled that authors have expanded out to those new species.

The first book I ever read dedicated solely to demons had to be Larissa Ione’s “Pleasure Unbound”. I’ll admit that I waited a while before I bought the book because I was thinking “Demons? Maybe not.” But I could not have been more off. Larissa’s demons have a dangerous streak, and some have gone bad but she portrayed the good guys in her book wonderfully. Demon or not, they came alive off the pages and really captivated you. What about you? Have you read this book? Another book with demons? I have Jaci Burton’s “Surviving Demon Island” in my To-Be-Read pile here, I think I might have to pull it out and finally read it.

And then there are necromancers. I think the first book I read with a necromancer in it was Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series. Anita was a kick butt heroine in her own right but to top that off with the deathly dangerous power of a necromancer, that was inspired. I honestly never though much about necromancery until that series. And I recently found another series that features necromancers, though not as prominently. Ilona Andrews has a Magic series where necromancers have taken control of the vampires since the vampires in this series are basically mindless killing machines that need to be controlled since there humanity has vanished with the turning. So necromancers sit back on a couch somewhere while in their mind they control these vampires to run out into the night and do their bidding. They actually can see, hear and feel what the vampire does and control the vampire like a remote control robot. It’s the first take like that in a series that I have read but very interesting. Great series!

Goblins, unicorns, the fae, gargoyles, ancient Gods, the minotaur, dragons, etc. They are all earning spots in paranormal books recently. I’ve seen Laurell K Hamilton, Kim Harrison, Kresley Cole and Yasmine Galenorn feature tons of these different species and more in their books. Marjorie M Liu is another one who writes about these elusive and over-looked citizens of the paranormal. She has a killer Gargoyle story in her book “Dark Dreamer” which also features a story by Christine Feehan as well. And in the Hotter Then Hell anthology she captures the Minotaur perfectly. Yasmine Galenorn brings Dragons out into the open in her Sisters of the Moon series with a hot hunk called Smokey who turns into his real form of a huge white dragon whenever he feels like it. And C.L. Wilson really brought the Fae to my attention. Her new Tairen Soul series is a delight to read with characters that really capture your heart. Her new book King of Sword and Sky released last week making it three books out on the shelves for this series. I’ve been agonizing over that fact that there is only one more book to go in this series.

So what about you? What new and different paranormal citizens have you encountered in books? Share your favorite with us.

This is the last official contest entry post for Halloween. I’ll be picking winners tomorrow and posting them up by the latest Monday October 13th. Please come back to the blog and check for you name so that I can be sure to get everyone’s prizes out.

Please feel free to comment to this post until October 12th 4:30AM when all the contests officially close. One entry per person per day per post. So you still have time to go back and comment at the other contest postings also. This contest is limited to US citizens only although everyone is invited to comment.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway Day 5

Contest Day Five

Halloween is said to be a time when the curtain between the human world and the world of magic is it at its thinnest. And maybe that’s why magic users and witches are often portrayed as a symbol of the holiday.

Of course in this day and age, witches are not confined to cauldrons anymore. Those are big, heavy, cumbersome tools of the past. Now-a-days spells can be cast in inconspicuous ways. A vial here, a pendant there. And if you really need a brew, you can always put it in a jar. Which makes me think of a book I read not to long ago by Angie Fox called “The Accidental Demon Slayer”. I have to say I loved this book. I would never in a million years have put the words biker and witch in the same sentence but it makes for one ingenious story. There’s lots of fun, mayhem, and twists in this book. And the heroine is definitely not perfect which makes the read even better. The hero is a Griffon. I have to say that I have not read many books that have Griffons in them but enjoyed the rareness of it in this book.

Christine Feehan also has a really good magical series called the Drake Sisters. Although she’s known for her Dark Carpathian series, the Drake series is really well written and thought out. Seven sisters who possess magical abilities and have unique powers to individuals while still able to share their powers as a whole.

And some of you may know Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden as the Dresden files was a series on the Sci-fi channel for a short while. Harry Dresden is a wizard living in Chicago. The only wizard listed in the yellow pages as a matter of fact. And his series is an all time favorite of mine. What really makes the series appealing I think is that Jim Butcher is very clever with his story lines, twists and plots. He incorporates a lot of different paranormal creatures/species. And Harry himself is a wisecracker, hiding behind his humor as he tries to put together his makeshift magic. Definitely worth the read if you haven’t read any of Jim Butcher’s work before.

So now you know some of my favorite magic users. But who are some of yours? Tell me your favorites or recommend a magic-based book or two to me. I’m always open to finding new authors.

Please feel free to comment to this post until October 11th when the contest closes. One entry per person per day per post. And please feel free to go back and comment on the other contest posts. This contest is limited to US citizens only although everyone is invited to comment.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway Day 4

Contest Day Four

I am so enjoying reading everyone's comments! Thank you all for joining me this week for my very first contest ever. And since I am a beginner at this, I hope you'll excuse me if I am a little late posting on here, like today. Or if I haven't listed all the prizes I'm giving out, which I haven't. But trust me when I say I am working on the prizes. I've pulled out more books and bookmarks, etc to give out. All of the prizes winners will be drawn on Sunday and listed on here by Monday so remember to come on back and check for your name. But on to the contest...

Day four and I find myself thinking about shape shifters here. We talked about werewolves in yesterdays post but there are now so many other species in books today.

Laurell K Hamilton is one of the pioneering authors who I believe helped pave the way to shape shifters that were other than the wolf kind. In fact she even had one character in her book who turned out to be a pan-were and could shape shift into many different animals. One of the oddest being the reptile shifter. But then again there was also another odd species of reptile shifter in one of the C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp books. Care to guess what it was?.............. A Komodo Dragon! A first for me in a book but a very cool idea in my opinion. And other authors have done their own take on shifters. Like Lora Leigh who came out with a Feline and Coyote Breeds series. Or Kathryne Kennedy who wrote a book with the first lion shifter I’ve read about. And Sherrilyn Kenyon had a Liger (Lion/Tiger) in one of her books.

So now I’m asking you. Do you have a favorite shape shifter species? Or a favorite series dedicated to them? Any species that has not been in a book that you would like to see?

Please feel free to comment to this post until October 11th when the contest closes. One entry per person per day per post. And please feel free to go back and comment to all the prior contest posts as well. This contest is limited to US citizens only although everyone is invited to comment.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway Day 3

Contest Day Three

Well it’s day three and we’ve tackled ghosts and vampires on here so far so you might have already guessed today would be about werewolves. Shifters come in all kinds of different species in books but wolves were the first and are the most predominant.

Its interesting the takes authors have of werewolves in different books. Some lose there humanity when they change while others keep their human mind while in the body of their werewolf self. Not long ago though, I read a book about a wolf bitten by a werewolf infected human. He changed into a human during the full moon. I thought it a stroke of genius personally. It was a fun read. For anyone interested its called “Howling Mad” by Peter David.

Today though, I’d like to talk about werewolves in books. What are your favorite series? Mine would take a long time to list completely but here are some that come to mind at the moment: Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series, Lori Handeland’s Night Creature series, Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson Guardian series, Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series, Susan Krinard’s werewolf books, etc.

Your favorite werewolf book? I have many but right now my top book that features a werewolf hero would be “Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night” by Kresley Cole.

Have a favorite werewolf hero? For me, it would be hard to pick one favorite when there are so many great books and series out there. One of my favorites is Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. Elena, Clay and Jeremy are portrayed awesomely in this series and definitely on my favorites list. And then there is Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series. I simply love Bowen from “Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night”, even if he started off being pretty rotten in the beginning. The book for me was perfectly written and Bowen really came to life in my minds eye while reading it. In Keri Arthur’s Riley Jenson Guardian series, I really like Riley. She’s half vampire and half werewolf but has embraced her werewolf side more fully. Besides having a dynamite personality for Riley, the books in this series are full of action, surprising twists and engaging plots.

Anyhow, let me know your favorites in comments.

Please feel free to comment to this post until October 11th when the contest closes. One entry per person per day per post so you can still go back to Day One and Two of this contest and comment for an extra two entries. This contest is limited to US citizens only although everyone is invited to comment.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway Day 2

Contest Day Two

It’s day two of my contest and I had a great time yesterday reading everyone’s stories of their ghostly encounters. If you are new to my blog, feel free to go back and post your ghost story as there is still time to enter all the contests until the end of the week.

Today I’d like to talk about vampires. Specifically books with vampires. Myself, I like paranormal romance more then the horror books. It’s nice to see that authors are finally casting vampires as the good guys instead of the evil villain lurking in the dark. Not that I mind vampire villains, but in the past villainous is all they were cast as. Now though, I have a great many favorite authors who have helped pave the way for paranormal heroes.

My first paranormal romance was “Circus of the Damned” by Laurell K Hamilton. I loved the cover of the book and bought it. Instantly it hooked me and I went back and bought all the other books by LKH. Thankfully “Circus of the Damned” was the newest book out back then but now Anita Blake’s series stretches over the ten book mark. Yes, I love Jean Claude. How could I not? Everyone falls in love with him in the pages of the Anita Blake series. But he is one of many vampires I now enjoy in a series.

There is Tanya Huff’s Blood series and her vampire Henry Fitzroy. Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series and her vampire Bones. Kim Harrison’s Hollow series and her vampire Ivy. Karen Chance’s vampire Mircea from her Cassandra Palmer series. Etc. I could go on for a while here as I have a favorites list a mile long. But I want to hear your favorite. What vampire hero, book or series is your favorite? Have more then one? Feel free to list as many as you like.

Please feel free to comment to this post until October 11th when the contest closes. One entry per person per day per post. This contest is limited to US citizens only although everyone is invited to comment.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway Day 1

Contest Day One

Today officially kicks off my Halloween Giveaway and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s comments!

Some people believe in ghosts and while others do not. Personally I believe there is an afterlife but also a place where spirits get stuck in between. And yes, I have seen ghosts many times. Strangers and relatives. Some experiences have been very frightening while others left me with a sort of strange calm in myself. And today I’m asking you to share your ghost stories with me. I’ll start everyone off with one of my own…

"My aunt Francis died some years back. I remember the day because I was in the kitchen cooking when I thought I saw someone walk across a doorway in the adjoining living room. I went to check but no one was there. So I went back to cooking but heard noise in the other room now, like a kind of knocking and footsteps. When I turned toward the room I definitely saw a person go past the doorway but even though I searched the whole house, I found no one. Then the third time I went back to the kitchen, I barely got my hands around the spoon to stir in my pot when the living room went crazy with pounding footsteps like someone was jumping all over crazily and knocking into the walls and furniture. I nearly knocked the pot off the stove as I ran into my living room. No one was there but this time the sound stayed and I stood there scared and concerned in the middle of the day wondering what the heck was going on. Suddenly the phone rang and I went into the kitchen to answer it. The sound stopped as I picked up the phone. My cousin was on the phone telling me my aunt had just died minutes before she called, around the same time I heard and saw everything. Eerily I think she was saying goodbye, but she scared me saying it the way she did."

So now that I’ve shared my story, please share yours. And if you haven’t got a story then you either tell me the best ghostly book you’ve read or share your opinion on if you believe in ghosts or not.

Please feel free to comment to this post until October 11th when the contests close. One entry per person per day per post. This contest is limited to US citizens only although everyone is invited to comment.

LadyVampire's Halloween Giveaway

Welcome to LadyVampire’s 1st Halloween Giveaway!

I’ve always wanted to do my own contest but until now I somehow never got around to it. But this year I said the heck with it, I’m going to hold a contest! What can you win? Well I have different prizes:

An ARC of Lori Handeland’s “Any Given Doomsday”. (One awesome read that won’t hit shelves officially until November)
A copy of “Beyond the Highland Mist” by Karen Marie Moning
“Lover Beware” an anthology with Christine Feehan, Katherine Sutcliffe, Fiona Brand and Eileen Wilks.
And more.
I’ll randomly pick out some people to receive other cool stuff that could be anything and everything.

Sound good? Well then join me all this week October 6th – 11th and post your answers to the questions I’ll put up on my blog each day. Each comment per day counts. And the best part is there is no running around to read excerpts or finding hidden icons. You just have to give an opinion or two and maybe share a ghostly experience with everyone. And after you enter my contest, don’t forget to come back and check out the other posts on my blog to win other cool prizes. Because I blog contests all the time, all year long.

Get Spooked On Halloween Giveaway!

I just ran across Dee Carney's site and saw she has a contest running to win not one but 16 books by 13 paranormal authors! And all you have to do is swing by her website and comment that you want to be entered and for which author.
Now a side note to this contest, when I went on the website, the check marks were not working on the page for me. I kindly requested to be entered for all the contests anyhow because I love paranormal books. So if you cannot see the check marks, just ask Dee to please enter you anyway for all the books and I'm sure she will. You have until october 30th. Good luck one and all!

UPDATE!!!! Click on the title of this post or here to be sent to a new fixed link to this contest. And after you enter that, you should be taken to a new link to enter the Get Hooked On A New Series contest. If you didn't see the link, simply click here until October 20th to enter.

Writeminded Readers Appreciation Party!

The Writeminded Blog is a favorite of mine. I hang out there all the time, enjoy reading the posts and having fun with all the authors there. Now would be a great time for you to start hanging with them too since starting this week Monday Ocotober the 6th, they will be having their Writeminded Readers Appreciation Party! Over 200 free books will be given away. They will have a minimum of three giveaway posts every day for the next 2 weeks plus special guests (authors you love) and two grand prizes you’ll definitely want to check out! So head on over and check out the blog, stay for the party and then stick around afterward to get to know the great people behind the authors and their books.

Benefit From Befriending Joyfully Reviewed on MySpace

Befriend Joyfully Reviewed and get rewarded for it! How you ask? When you Befriend Joyfully Reviewed on MySpace from 10/2 - 10/5, you'll be automatically entered into their Contest and eligible to win one of twelve Print
books. Go to Joyfully Reviewed's Contest Page to find out more!

Book Books and a Halloween Contest

Books Books and more Books seems to be the blog to be at. First they have the Dakota Cassidy interview and contest (See below) this week and now they have a Halloween contest going. Hop on over there to see whats up for grabs and comment with your favorite horror movie monster. Explain why that person/creature is your favorite and what you would say to them if you happened to meet them in person.
For me, it would definitely be Frankenstein...
I always thought Frankenstein was very misunderstood and treated rotten. Maybe if he had been nurtured and the doctor had taken time to work with him, Frankenstein would not have been a monster at all. What would I say if I came face to face with Frank? I'd say "I'm on your side so please don't hurt me.". It always helps to be direct and not misunderstood in that first meeting. Vampire or not, Frank could probably go toe to toe with me. Who's your favorite monster?

Also, I'm having a Halloween contest coming up soon here on the blog so stop by often to check and see when!