Contests and Giveaways

Welcome to the J. Taylor Publishing Christmas Cracker Scavenger Hunt!

This week TEN J. Taylor Publishing authors are taking part in a scavenger hunt, which means there will be multiple chances to enter for a shot at an AWESOME GRAND PRIZE!

PLUS, there are more goodies up for grabs at EVERY stop along the way!

In fact, here’s MY mini-giveaway:

Here’s more about this fabulous anthology:

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski
An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place.

With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford
There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death.
After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.

Birthright by Lynda R. Young
Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible.
She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she’s never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.
Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.

Petrified by Kelly Said
A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow. Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either.

The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton
Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.

The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield
From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.

Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me what books you plan to read over the holidays—name or count or both—because I’m a Nosey Nelly and I like to know what Christmas reads people are scoping out, and you will be entered to win an EBOOK OF Make Believe. Make sure you leave me a way to contact you in case you’re my winner…either in the comment form or the body of your comment. Thanks!

You have until midnight of Friday 20^th December 2013 to enter, after which a winner will be selected using Random.org

Good luck!
And back to the …

But first a definition for my American (and other non Commonwealth country) readers:

**Christmas Cracker (from Wikipedia):

Christmas crackers, bon-bons, are part of Christmas celebrations primarily in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. A cracker consists of a cardboard tube wrapped in a brightly decorated twist of paper, making it resemble an oversized sweet-wrapper. The cracker is pulled by two people, often with arms crossed, and, much in the manner of a wishbone, the cracker splits unevenly. The split is accompanied by a mild bang or snapping sound produced by the effect of friction on a shock-sensitive, chemically-impregnated card strip (similar to that used in a cap gun). One chemical used for the friction strip is silver fulminate, which is highly unstable.Assembled crackers are typically sold in boxes of three to twelve.

These typically have different designs usually with red, green and gold colors. Making crackers from scratch using tissue paper and the tubes from toilet rolls is a common Commonwealth activity for children

So … the GRAND PRIZE?

A $100 Amazon Giftcard just in time for Christmas!

In order to enter, you will need to answer a variety of questions. There are ELEVEN questions in total—so eleven chances to win—and you will find ONE question on each of the nine other participating author blogs plus the J. Taylor blog.

As for the eleventh? Well, that’s a question about one of my J. Taylor Publishing books, The P.U.R.E.:

Question: What song was playing in Gayle’s office after a fateful work party a few days earlier?

If you need help, here’s a hint: You can find the answer HERE!

Enter for the GRAND PRIZE by answering my question using the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of this post.

Good luck!

And don’t forget to enter the NEXT STOP (Emi Gayle’s blog) on the Hunt for another chance to enter and another prize opportunity!

Don’t worry if you get lost. Simply hop back to the J. Taylor Blog, where you can find the complete list of authors and links.

So, in summary, comment here for a chance to win Make Believe; answer my scavenger hunt question in the Rafflecopter for a chance at the grand prize.

P.S. If you want a chance to win my book, The P.U.R.E., be sure to hop over to Terri Rochenski’s blog or J Taylor’s blog.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NO PURCHASE is necessary to enter this giveaway; This giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY to anyone over the age of 17; Prizes is as stated: ONE ebook to ONE winner; No cash alternative will be offered; Giveaway begins on December 16th 2013 and closes at midnight Eastern time on December 20th 2013; one comment on the blog post equals one entry; Winner will be chosen using Random.org; Winner will be contacted via email, and will be asked to select their preferred e-format for their prize; No addresses, emails, or other contact information will be shared with third parties, other than the publisher, who will deliver your prize direct–all information will be treated with the strictest confidence; If there are any technical issues, they will handled post haste. Eg, duplicate entries will be deleted; if the blog via which you have entered goes ‘down’ you entry will still stand and be entered; VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW

Giveaway is now CLOSED. Congratulations to winner Sarah S!!

Welcome! This hop runs from September 14th to 20th and is co-hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and The Musings of ALMYBNENR.

I’ve always loved the sea, and especially the mythical creatures who live there. Another love of mine is Greek mythology. Given the geography of Greece, it’s no surprise they have so many myths that involve sea voyages and sea creatures in Poseidon’s dominion. One of my favorite compilations of sea-faring tales comes from Homer’s Odyssey. In that book, we meet sirens, cyclops, lotus-eaters, Scylla and Charybdis, among many others. So, when my publisher put out a call for an anthology featuring sea creature romance stories, I had the perfect story in mind–an update of one of my favorite tales from the Odyssey–Odysseus vs. the sirens.

According to Homer, the sirens were females whose enchanting songs would lure ships onto the rocks and sink them. Odysseus wanted to hear their songs but obviously could not endanger his ship or his men. Determined nonetheless, he had his men tie him to the mast of the ship so he could not escape and do harm. His crew, however, wore earplugs of some sort to block out the singing.

Wow, I wanted to retell that story, only in a more contemporary setting. Not terribly difficult.

Odysseus became Otis
Circe, a temptress and Homer’s lover for a year, I merged with one of the sirens to create my story’s heroine, Circe the siren. Like that alliteration? I did.
Where else could the book be set but in Homer, Alaska.
Instead of being on his own odyssey, Otis is a fisherman aboard the vessel The Calypso (the name of another character from The Odyssey).
Poseidon plays himself in my story and for fun I gave him a one-eyed merman as a sycophantic accountant (because I always tip my hat to accounting in my stories).
Also as a nod to Homer, I created a little coffee shop called “The Lotus-Eaters Cafe”.

I’ll admit, it’s these homages to the classics I’ve always loved that make being a writer a truly enjoyable experience.

Now, hopefully I’ve either whet your appetite for Homer’s Odyssey or for my story, “The Sweetest Song” which is part of a four-author anthology called Tidal Whispers. If the former, you can download it for free using this link:

Homer’s Odyssey (Kindle format) <<–If you don’t use a Kindle, download Calibre software (free) to convert from MOBI format to other formats such as EPUB.

If you’re interested in my story, or any of the other three fantastic tales of the sea and its paranormal critters included in the anthology Tidal Whispers, please leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of Tidal Whispers*.

In your comment, tell me what type of mythological sea inhabitant you would choose to be if you had to become aquatic yourself — mermaid, selkie, siren, or something else altogether. Please be sure to leave me your email address (in the form or in the body) so I can contact you if you are the winner!

When you’re done, hop on over to another blog hop participant using the Linky list below:

LINKY LIST

THANK YOU for visiting me today!!

*Disclaimer
Comment by 11:59:59 PM Pacific time on September 20, 2012 for your chance to win. One winner will be selected randomly by using Random.org and assigning an ordinal to each comment as determined by date stamp order. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by September 23, 2012. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is OPEN to international readers. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning dependent on number of entries received. Void where prohibited.