Posts Tagged With: giveaway

Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies has arrived!

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Happy Saturday, everyone! For today’s post, I’m psyched to share with you some self-publishing news from the blogger we all know and love — Mister Charles E. Yallowitz, author of the Legends of Windemere series! The big news today is that …

Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies has arrived!!!

Well, technically it arrived a few weeks ago. But it’s still new and exciting! So …

Buy it Here!

Book Blurb:

The epic adventures of Luke Callindor and Nyx continue after their journey down the L’Dandrin River in Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.

Reeling from his failures in their previous adventure, Luke leads his surviving friends to his hometown. With his mind frayed and his confidence fractured, Luke must face the family and fiancée he left behind. It is a brief homecoming when the vampire Kalam attacks the village, forcing Luke and Nyx to break into his lair for the key to resurrecting a fallen warrior. It is a quest that will force both young heroes to reach new heights of strength and power that they never knew they had.

Can Luke and Nyx escape the lair of Kalam? And, what role will the orphaned gypsy Sari play in their looming destiny?

* * *

Wondering what you’re in for? Check out the praise earned by the first two installments of this high fantasy series.

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero:

“I greatly enjoyed the vivid characters, the gripping plot, and the refreshingly unique writing style (present tense). ” – kdillmanjones

“This is a sophisticated and delightful read. I recommend this book to lovers of Fantasy or to General Fiction readers. The story is compelling enough to entertain a wide audience.” – John Howell

“One of the things that won me over was the bouts of humor. Especially in the beginning. “This is not possible! I am a Paladin!” I thought I was going to die with delight.” – C.N. Faust

Review Excerpts for Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower:

“Something I find unique about this fantasy novel that I don’t often find in others, is that the hero, Luke Callindor is rather of the unlucky variety. He does not get everything he asks for, he stumbles, falls, gets knocked down (literally)and taught lessons as he goes. This is helping him to grow into the hero that was promised in the first book.” – Ionia Martin

“Nyx is such a strong personality. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and more of the other characters, new and already known, with the rich tapestry of Windemere unfolding in between intense actions scenes and moments of kindness and budding friendships.” – Danielle Taylor

“Almost like the Harry Potter series. The books start out so young and innocent, but by the last book – watch out!” – Momto4Booklover

* * *

Author Biography:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Contact:

Blog- www.legendsofwindemere.com

Twitter- @cyallowitz

Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/CharlesYallowitz

* * *

To celebrate the debut of Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies, Mr. Yallowitz is also holding a Goodreads Giveaway! The prize is a paperback copy of ALL THREE LEGENDS OF WINDEMERE NOVELS. Winners will be picked at the end of December.

Categories: Self Publishing | Tags: author, books, ebooks, fantasy, giveaway, Goodreads, new book, self-publish, Windemere, writing | 2 Comments

Last call for alcohol! (And by alcohol, I mean my Goodreads Giveaway)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Hey guys! Just a quick post to remind everyone that my Goodreads Giveaway for Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It closes tonight! As of this writing, there are 6 hours left on the clock, so hop over and get yourself entered ASAP!

Here’s the blurb (for anyone who hasn’t heard me prattle on about the book a million times before):

A fun, flirty, fast-paced YA sci-fi/romance novel of cosmic proportions!

High school junior Eris Miller thinks she’s having a bad day when her roommate’s boyfriend catches her stepping out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel. Then she gets abducted by scaly six-armed aliens with a strange fondness for the color blue, and her day suddenly gets a whole lot worse.

Trapped on a spaceship bound for the slave markets of Sirius B, Eris fears she’ll never see her home again. But then fate whisks her away from her reptilian captors and into the arms of Varrin, a fast-talking space pirate who promises to deliver her safely back to Earth. He claims to have her best interests at heart, but Eris soon discovers that her charming rescuer has a hidden agenda.

As they race across the galaxy, outrunning a villainous figure from Varrin’s past, Eris begins to realize that their relationship is putting her planet, her life, and her heart in imminent danger. She knows that trusting Varrin could prove deadly … but what other choice does she have?

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing | Tags: benedict cumberbatch, books, ebooks, free, free book, giveaway, Goodreads, romance, sci-fi, teen, ya | 6 Comments

New website for my book!

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

I was hit by the website-creation bug today, so I built a website specifically dedicated to Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It. It’s just one of those free websites, so nothing fancy. And most of the content is the same as my main author website, michelleproulx.com. But hey, I figure it can’t hurt to have a website dedicated to your book, right? So without further ado …

Click here to check out my new website!

As I went to the site to grab the URL, I laughed out loud as I noticed how many times the words “IMMINENT DANGER” appear on the home page. What do you guys think? Too dangerous, or too awesome? Maybe a little bit of both?

In other news, I’m at about 17k words for NaNoWriMo, so a victory on that front definitely isn’t in the cards. Still, it’s been fun! And then besides that … work … more work … and possibly lunch if I ever get away from my computer and track down some food.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Don’t forget to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for Imminent Danger (link in the sidebar) if you haven’t done so already!

Unrelated media of the day:

I’ve been listening to this song on repeat for the past two days, so hopefully by sharing it with you guys, I can get it out of my head!

Categories: Random | Tags: books, daft punk, digital love, ebooks, giveaway, Goodreads, website, weebly | 24 Comments

New Goodreads Giveaway for Imminent Danger (link included!)

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Hey guys — just checking in this morning before I head off to set up my festival tent at “The Gathering on the Green” (local arts festival), where I will be attempting to sell my book, Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It.

Goodreads Giveaway Open!

As I mentioned yesterday, my giveaway for Imminent Danger is now open and waiting for all you lovely folks in Canada, the USA, the UK, and Australia to enter. Here’s the link

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17246542-imminent-danger

Go forth, enter, and enjoy!

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: My Works | Tags: Arts festival, author, books, Festival, free book, gathering on the green, giveaway, Goodreads, self-publish, writing | 23 Comments

Promo Stickerz for the LA Times Book Festival

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Happy Friday, my friends! Anyone else psyched that this cold, rainy week is finally over? Maybe the cold raininess is just an Ontario thing. Still … looking forward to being able to leave the apartment without needing both my full winter gear and an umbrella. It just seems wrong. Pick cold or rain, Mother Nature, not both. Get your act together. Geez.

Right! Moving on. So, as you may know, the LA Times Book Festival is coming up soon (April 20-21), and I’ve managed to wrangle the publicity company Blackbird LSD to represent me at their festival booth. Not to sound like too much of a fan girl, but they’re awesome!!! Check out the latest web banner they whipped up for Imminent Danger:

Fun, right? And very dangerous, which is always good. I love that the cover is all “romance, love, mushiness”, and the ad is all “danger, death, omglazorspewpewpew”. Fun juxtaposition there.

Anyway, the real purpose of this post is to share some of my sticker “designs”, so-called. The stickers are being shipped to California as we speak, so fingers crossed they turn out the way they look on-screen – preferably better! Feel free to either praise or viciously insult my design skills at your leisure, although do recall that my heart is made of cotton candy and is prone to dissolving if exposed to too many tears.

The stickers themselves will only be 2×2 inches (tiny!), so I had to keep the designs simple. And yes, the top sticker image was drawn by the lovely and talented Celeste DeWolfe. And if anyone’s wondering, the grey text in the background of the second image says “SHWOOP”. That’s the sound spaceships make when they shwoop through space and time.

Other updates … Goodreads Giveaway finally finished!

Total entrants = 945. Not too shabby.

Let’s be honest, I was expecting maybe 300, tops, so I’m beyond thrilled. Of course, whether any of this results in reviews / sales remains to be seen, but I’m cautiously hopeful. And if not, well … still a fun experience!

Unrelated link of the day:

Since I already bombarded you with a bunch of images already, today’s unrelated media will be a link. It is Game of Thrones related, specific to the latest episode that aired this past Sunday, so if you haven’t seen it … well, you won’t get the joke at all.

http://www.happyplace.com/23035/game-of-thrones-facebook-recap-season-3-episode-2

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing | Tags: author, blackbird lsd, books, giveaway, Goodreads, imminent danger, la times book festival, Mother Nature, printrunner, self-publish, stickers, writing | 31 Comments

Imminent Danger GIVEAWAY starts today!

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Note: Giveaway is open only to Canada, US, and UK.

Having at last figured out how the internet works, I am pleased to announce that I have signed Imminent Danger up for a Goodreads Giveaway. Huzzah!

Click here to enter the giveaway.

I’ve started off small — just 2 books to be won — but if I get enough entrants, I’ll upgrade them from softcover to hardcover. Woo! And in case you don’t know about Goodreads Giveaways, they’re awesome. They’re totally free to enter, requiring no commitment other than providing your mailing address. The address is only sent to the author (me) if you win the contest, and we have to click a little “I agree” button to promise that we won’t use your mailing address for cruel or nefarious purposes.

What else is relevant? Um … oh yes, the giveaway is open for an entire month — so, until April 11th. I’m sure I’ll bring it up at least once or twice before then, so don’t panic. And, as always, I will love you forever and a day (but not a minute more) if you’d be so kind as to spread word of the giveaway to your assorted social media associates.

Fin.

Unrelated media of the day:

This one’s for all you Game of Thrones fans out there.

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing | Tags: april, author, books, free, free book, game of thrones, giveaway, Goodreads, Goodreads Giveaway, imminent danger, school of thrones, self-publish | 28 Comments

Magnet Giveaway Results + FANART!!! + Vlog #6!

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Today was possibly the most awesome day ever. I will explain why in a convenient-to-follow numbered list.

First, several friends and I went to a local micro-brewery, took a tour complete with samples, and then went for sushi.
Then I got home and discovered that fellow WordPress blogger Misha Burnett had mentioned my book in his latest blog post in a very flattering manner.
Then I discovered that fellow WordPress blogger J.R. Wolfe had finished reading my book and posted a glowing review on Amazon.com.
And to top it all off, Celeste DeWolfe sent me my first ever piece of fan art. And it’s gorgeous!!!

Artist: Celeste DeWolfe

When I first started writing, I always thought the coolest part about being an author must be getting fan art — seeing how other people envision your characters, and watching them brought to life. And now Celeste has fulfilled that lifelong dream of mine, and I’m beyond ecstatic. Woooo!!!

I’m getting too excited. Let’s all take a deep, calming breath and move on to …

The Magnet Giveaway!!!

I decided to record the name-drawing event for posterity because, heck, why not, so here is Vlog #6 — Magnet Giveaway + The Book is Here! ((to just see who the winners are, skip down to below the video))

As you discovered in that super exciting video, the winners of the magnet giveaway are:

Congratulations, my magnetic friends! (Get it? Magnetic? Hehehe …) I will attempt to contact you tomorrow to acquire your postal addresses for mailing purposes, but if you feel like dropping me a line at michellishelli@gmail.com and letting me know your addresses, that saves me a step!

So, most awesome day ever? Possibly. It’s definitely in the running. Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway, and thanks especially to the personages mentioned above for supporting/enjoying Imminent Danger!!!

Unrelated image of the day:

Source: http://i.imgur.com/AvY1Ia1.jpg

Categories: Book Reviews, iUniverse, My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: author, blog, book review, books, celeste dewolfe, ebooks, Eris, Fan art, giveaway, imminent danger, iuniverse, Magnet, self-publish, varrin, Video blogging, vlog, wordpress, writing, youtube | 34 Comments

Last call for magnets + random cute animals!

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Just a reminder that the super exciting, knock your socks off, totally rad (do we still use that word?) FREE MAGNET GIVEAWAY!!! is ending tomorrow morning. So if you haven’t done it yet, hop over to this post and leave a comment about any old thing to be entered for a chance to win A MAGNET!!! I know it’s not the most exciting thing in the world, but work with me, people!

Here’s a comment prompt: You win a million dollars. What type of exotic animal do you acquire as a loveable household pet? I was originally going to say tiger, ala Jasmine and Rajah from Aladdin, but then I remembered that tigers eat people. So I’m back to the drawing board.

And now, as promised …

Unrelated cute animals of the day:

Source: http://i.imgur.com/fCUvrSH.jpg

Source: http://i.imgur.com/xVyoSl.jpg

Source: http://i.imgur.com/itH4EQ6.jpg

Categories: Random | Tags: aladdin, author, books, cat, contest, cute, dog, free, funny, giveaway, Jasmine, Magnet, meme, self-publish, shark, wordpress | 27 Comments

My books are here!!! There are problems, but that’s okay!!!

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Good news first — MY BOOKS HAVE ARRIVED!!!

There they are!!! Right in front of the gorgeous rose bouquet my best friend Rhiannon bought me to celebrate my published-author-dom.

It felt indescribably good to hold my own book in my own hands, although the joy of the moment was somewhat dampened by my nagging uncertainty that there would be something wrong with them.

When working with iUniverse, this seems to be an ongoing theme.

Mother was happy to oblige my concerns. She quickly noted that the titles on the spine and back cover — which looked perfectly readable when we printed off a copy of the covers ourselves — are virtually unreadable on the actual books. The spine/back cover titles are basically cut out of the front cover image (so they’re starry red and black), except the right edge fades to black so much that when you try to read the title, it appears to read “Immin Dang”.

Immin Dang. Not the most attractive title I’ve ever encountered. No one will pick up a book called Immin Dang. Although oddly, the more I write it, the more I kind of want to read it …

Now, the iUniverse graphic designers obviously should have realized this would happen when they designed the cover. They’re cover designers, after all — this is sort of what they do. They know that the cover will appear darker when it’s printed out, and they should have compensated accordingly. Mother and I already have a phone call planned for tomorrow to see about fixing this little (major) issue. I suspect iUniverse will attempt to charge me for making these changes, although you can be assured I will fight that with all my might.

More news as it happens.

Other issues included the softcover pages being white instead of cream. Now, I chose the page colouring a long time ago, so I’m only 98% certain I asked for cream. We’ll have to see what the records indicate.

UPDATE: I asked for white. Dang. Well, we’ll just have to see how much the change will cost me.

Oh, and in an odd publishing strategy, iUniverse elected to have the paperback/hardback title for sale before I had actually approved the printer review copy. So that means there are a handful of people out there who own the incorrectly-coloured-page, Immin Dang version of the book. Original, flawed print run, baby!

BUT OTHER THAN THAT, the books look amazing! Fantastic! Indescribably awesome! WOOOOOO!

Can you tell I’m trying to cover up my irritation by overcompensating in my joy? I really am excited, but it’s hard to keep the momentum going when tiny little things keep going wrong. I will not rest until this book has reached an acceptable quality level to be purchased by the general public, dammit!

On a slightly different note, I decided to give the first hardcover to my mother. Considering how many hundreds of hours she’s put into it, I figured she deserved some sort of reward for her efforts. Here’s the dedication:

She was a fan of the dedication. Tears may have been involved.

Well, that wraps up the exciting news for today. Oh no, wait!

The FREE MAGNET GIVEAWAY!!!

Hop over to this post before Saturday morning and get the chance to win an Imminent Danger magnet. Wow! Talk about a bank-breaking prize! You know you want one! Do it!

Unrelated image of the day:

I’m feeling patriotic. Here’s my country in an amusing and scarily accurate infographic:

Source: http://i.imgur.com/gqlzDAt.jpg

Categories: iUniverse, My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: author, books, canada, editing, free, giveaway, happiness, imminent danger, iuniverse, Magnet, Publishing, self-publish, writing | 82 Comments

Returning the favour (ft. Tania L Ramos)

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Michelle Proulx

One of my favourite WordPress Authors, Tania L Ramos (and yes, when I say her name, I do say the entire thing and roll the R), has been sweet enough to plug my as-of-yet unpublished book on her blog! I thought it was only fair to plug her book back on mine.

So first of all, go check out her blog. Secondly, listen to me ramble about her book for a second.

I read Be Still (her book) over the summer, and I really enjoyed it. I had some trouble getting into it at first, because it’s a romantic drama, and my usual genre is, well, hardcore fantasy. But I fell in love with the characters, the ending was heart-warming and fantastic, and I was even able to overlook the fact that there weren’t any dragons. So props to Tania L Ramos for that. (I even roll the R in my head! I need to stop doing that.)

Be Still also holds the distinction of being the first (and thus far, only) book I’ve reviewed where the author actually sent me a physical, signed copy of the book. That was a really cool feeling — that someone is so invested in getting my opinion that they’re willing to send me one of their books that they’ve bought and paid for themselves. It was like Christmas in July. It was awesome.

If you’re interested in reading Be Still in the next little while, I’m given to understand that you might even be able to get it for free! The ebook version, that is, not the print version. Only I am special enough for this honour! Muahahahaha. Anyway, here’s a quote on the subject from Tania L Ramos’s blog:

And to ring in this holiday season, please visit my website www.BeStillNovel.com to receive a free Kindle download of Be Still. Or contact me to receive a signed paperback copy of my book for $10 plus $3.95 shipping, or buy two books and get one free. Don’t forget, books make great holiday gifts.

And that’s about all the time I have for cross-promotion, as I have a project due today and I’ve already spent the last hour blogging instead of working. Bad Michelle!

Oh yeah, and since I’m talking about other bloggers and how awesome they are, I should mention Andrew Toynbee, who invented an award — The Most Helpful Blogger Award — and nominated me for it. Woo!

Unrelated image of the day: