Ordinary Day

For those of you who didn’t see me post about this on the social networks yesterday, I’d like to call to your attention that there is a giveaway active for Valor of the Healer right over here on the Here Be Magic blog!

Nine entries so far and a winner should be selected this weekend. So if you haven’t gotten hold of a copy of the book yet and you’d like a shot at an EPUB or a PDF, c’mon over and jump in, won’t you? I’ll be happy to answer questions in the comments, too.

Now would be a really good time to read Valor, since Vengeance of the Hunter drops in April. And don’t forget–book’s still available for $2.99 via Carina Press and all major ebook vendors. So it’s super-cheap to pick up for yourself too, or as a gift for the forthcoming holidays!

Thanks all!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

And now, the winners of the August 2013 Faerie Blood (and Valor of the Healer) giveaway!

To Kathryn H., who reshared on Google+ and who dropped a comment on the giveaway post: you get the $25 credit to the book-selling store or site of your choice!

To Cheryl M., also for resharing on Google+: you get the print and ebook copies of Faerie Blood!

To Angela R., for comment and reshare love on Facebook: you get the ebook AND audio copies of Valor of the Healer!

Winners, you may accept your winnings on behalf of yourself or of someone you’d like to give the items to. I will be contacting the winners to make arrangements to hand out the shinies!

Thank you all for playing! And for the record, I am now 26 sales of Faerie Blood away from doing something amusing to my hair. Chances are good I’ll have anime hair by Second Thanksgiving, or maybe Christmas! There WILL still be pictures! Check back here for events as they happen, Internets!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Here’s the fun thing about my belovedest of Daras liking to joke about how she’s now got the Supervillain Hair she always deserved: I have firsthand evidence of what can happen when you go to an awesome hair salon. And I gotta admit, people, I’m strangely tempted by the prospect of doing something wacky to my hair.

And this is where you come in!

As of this writing, the second edition of Faerie Blood now stands at 262 recorded copies sold. Internets, I’ll make a pact with you: when that number breaks 300, I will go to Dara’s salon and have them do something awesome to my hair. I’m thinking anime hair. Blue or green or purple. Or maybe all three!

I will promise you pictures. And to make it particularly amusing, if Faerie Blood sales break 300 by the end of August, I will even post video. Possibly of me getting my hair dyed, possibly of me playing something on one of my instruments, whatever whim may strike. It could well be a surprise!

Now, a lot of you who read me on a regular basis have probably already bought Faerie Blood, so if I’m going to run this sales number up, I’m going to need your help, people. So my standard giveaway rules apply. Help spread the word by promoting the link to this giveaway, and I’ll also do a little drawing on top of hair-based amusements!

I will offer three prizes, and three randomly selected persons will get one of each of these things, chosen at random:

1. $25 credit to the book-selling store or site of their choice
2. Faerie Blood package! You get a print copy AND an ebook copy of Faerie Blood!
3. Valor of the Healer package! You get the ebook of Valor AND the audiobook!

Here’s how you’ll get into the drawing!

• Comment to me on this post or anywhere you see this post go up from me directly: 1 entry
• Reshare the post on any social network, via reshare, reblog, RT, etc.: 2 entries
• Post on your own blog or journal: 2 entries
• Show me evidence you just bought Faerie Blood off of any site where it’s for sale: 3 entries
• Buy Faerie Blood directly from me in ebook form: 3 entries
• Buy Faerie Blood from me in print (LIMITED, because I have only four print copies of the book left and I’ll need to save one for the giveaway): 5 entries

For the record: you will get pics whether or not the 300 mark is crossed at the end of August, and I will also do the giveaway regardless. But if you want to see video, then I want to see that deadline hit!

So y’all wanna see me with anime hair? You wanna see me playing some music with that hair? Possibly even singing? Possibly in French? Then go and reblog like the wind!

ETA: Fixed the drawing description. To be clear: I’m going to do three random draws, not just one. Each draw will be for one of the three offered prizes!

ETA #2: ADDITIONAL NEW RULE! Since I have at least one confirmed referral that resulted in a purchase of the book, anyone who refers a friend to buying Faerie Blood AND has that friend confirm purchase will get three additional entries for both them AND their friend in the drawings at the end of this month. Because referrals are love. Many thanks to Yngvar for referring Paula, who confirmed buying the book and prompted me to declare this rule. <3

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

And now, the winners of the Valor of the Healer giveaway! Drumroll, if you please:

Tiger, who commented on Goodreads!

And KatanaPen, who gave me some Twitter replies and RTs!

Tiger and KatanaPen, please contact me privately with the means of your choice to let me know how I can get you a copy of Valor of the Healer. Best way to reach me will be email to my gmail address, annathepiper! But you can also DM me on Twitter (annathepiper) or PM me on Facebook (again, annathepiper).

Congrats to you and thanks all for participating!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Let’s lead this post off with a couple of general reminders:

First off, the giveaway for Valor of the Healer is still in progress and running until Friday! As of this writing I have only six entrants, so your chances are really, really good at a shot at one of the two free copies I’ll be handing out. Nobody’s cleared the bar to get in on the draw for the audiobook yet, but there’s still time!

ALSO: I have a coupon for Faerie Blood live on Smashwords through Friday as well. Since Smashwords is the only place I can easily set up coupon codes, this doesn’t apply to any other place you can buy the book from, sorry! BUT, if you buy Faerie Blood directly from me any time this week I’ll apply the same 20% discount to the usual $2.99 price. I’ll also do so if you want one of my remaining print editions! So act fast!

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Next item!

Seriously, how much of an asshole do you have to be to steal the violin from Olivier Demers?

Y’all know that name around here by now, folks. Violin player for Le Vent du Nord. I follow him on Facebook. This past weekend the Quebec trad music community had a music festival, Chant de Vielles, and to all reports it went swimmingly. Except for the part where somebody walked off with M. Demers’ violin.

Y’all may also remember that I’ve posted before about what it feels like to lose a beloved instrument. Dara can certainly tell you all about that. So believe me when I tell you that it’s a kick in the teeth. And that somebody has seen fit to steal the fiddle that makes beautiful noises like this and this and especially this… well. Treebeard’s quote from The Two Towers comes to mind: “There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men for this treachery.”

And I’m just sayin’, people, my spouse is a supervillain. I have heat ray access.

***

Speaking of Treebeard or at least of things Tolkienish, if you haven’t seen it yet, I did put up Chapter 13 of the Trilingual Hobbit Reread last night!

Also, I put up part 5 of the series of posts on self-publishing.

***

And that clown car of FAIL re: sexism in publishing (with or without SFWA being involved) has yielded up another clown. My last report of Foz Meadows’ relaying how Jo Fletcher Books had taken down Rod Rees’ post and the followup to same turned out to be premature, since the posts came back up.

Turns out the second one was all about the author’s freedom of speech. Which, um, nobody was actually calling into question.

This being yet another example of people failing to remember that freedom of speech does not equal freedom from people calling you out for being an idiot or an asshole. You’re free to spout off whatever nonsense you like, yes. But the rest of us are free to call it nonsense.

That said, the clown car is thankfully being paced by the Mach Five of WIN. Discussion is ongoing as well about the big, big issue of harassment at cons. My own Dara has chimed in on the matter over here, talking about her experiences with harassment and pointing off to a couple other excellent posts of testimony on the matter, including one from filker Brooke Abbey.

And in a case of someone knowing how to use his position of privilege for Good, John Scalzi has announced his new policy for deciding what conventions he’ll go to. Spoiler alert: he expects them to have clear harassment policies in place. Thank you, sir. This is an excellent move.

***

ETA: And OH YES I almost forgot. spazzkat came up with an excellent term for the ongoing brouhaha in SF/F, and the Internet’s reaction to same: SFWAdenfreude. My immediate reaction: NEW HASHTAG! Use at will, folks!

ETA #2: THIS JUST IN: Mary Robinette Kowal, hallowed be her name, has had ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT. *wild applause* I feel a buy of all of her ebooks coming on RIGHT NOW. >:D

ETA #3: And because at this point you really do need a scorecard to keep track of all the clowns pouring out of the car, here, have a thoughtfully compiled timeline of all the events that have been going on so far this year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Since I still have plenty of copies of Valor of the Healer I’m allowed to give away, I feel another giveaway coming on! So tell ya what I’m going to do, Internets! This giveaway is going to run from now until the end of June, at which point I will give out two copies of Valor of the Healer to randomly selected persons!

Here’s what you can do to get into the draw!

• Dropping a comment on this post (or on its LJ or Dreamwidth mirrors): one entry
• ETA: Dropping a comment on the Goodreads feed of this post: one entry
• Replying to me on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ when you see this post go up: one entry
• Adding the book to your To Read list on Goodreads, LibraryThing, or Shelfari: one entry
• Retweeting the contest announcement, resharing to your own Facebook wall or your Google+ feed, or reblogging on Tumblr: two entries
• Posting about it on your own blog or journal and linking back to me: three entries

You may combine any of the above to get additional entries!

Also, if you have already won a previous Valor giveaway or have actually already bought the book, you are eligible to enter this giveaway if you’d like to be able to give a copy to a friend or family member. If you are such a person though here are additional things you can do:

• Rate the book on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, or any other site where the book is for sale and you can leave ratings or reviews, and sending me notice and/or a screenshot of same: one entry
• Review the book on any of the same sites: three entries
• Post a review of Valor to your own blog or journal: three entries

If you’ve read Faerie Blood and haven’t read/bought Valor of the Healer yet, I will also accept these as entry actions:

• Rate Faerie Blood on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, or any other site where the book is for sale and you can leave ratings or reviews, and sending me notice and/or a screenshot of same: one entry
• Review Faerie Blood on any of the same sites: three entries
• Post a review of Faerie Blood to your own blog or journal: three entries

(Please note though that these need to be new ratings/reviews of Faerie Blood, not previously existing ones.)

One more thing: in addition to two free copies of the Valor of the Healer ebook, I will also give out ONE copy of the Valor of the Healer audiobook. But since this’ll be something I’m paying for, I will limit the pool of eligible claimants for the audiobook to anyone who clears ten entries in this giveaway. So if you get really ambitious you can be in the draw for the audiobook too!

Any questions, let me know! If not, let the giveaway commence!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

In Mammoth News

First up, I promised you all another handout of a copy of Valor of the Healer to a randomly selected commenter from the poll to name my mammoth! I am happy to announce that that winner is… Jessica! Who, based on comments I saw dropped on Dara’s signalboosting of the poll, is jessie_c on LJ! Jessie, if you’re reading this, I’ll be finding you to get in touch with you about receiving your copy of the book!

Second, for those of you who didn’t see me announce this on the social networks this morning, the poll to name the aforementioned mammoth is, in fact, CLOSED! I got a whole boatload of creative suggestions, and thank you all for submitting them. There was a particular hard, protracted battle between the top three names, but in the end Fred G.’s choice prevailed. And so I am also quite happy to present to you genius billionaire play-mammoth genderqueer philanthropist Jean-Claude Mamut!

Jean-Claude Mamut

Asked about the honor of this naming, Jean-Claude was quoted as saying, “Merci beaucoup à tout le monde! Oui, I am very grateful for all who voted upon my name. It is a man’s name, c’est vrai, but sometimes I am Jean-Claude, and sometimes I am Jeanne-Claudette, or Jean-Claudette, or Jeanne-Claude. I am a very small mammoth, but I am legion and in me there are multitudes. If you are not sure how to call me, you have but to ask.”

Further asked about how exactly a French-Canadian mammoth wound up in a gift shop in a British Columbian museum, only to be purchased by a perky blonde author and fangirl from the States, the mammoth of the hour replied, “Ah oui, that is a long story and there is not enough whiskey to tell it properly. I will say now only that it involved many fermented berries, three other mammoths, an ice floe, and eighty-nine traffic cones.”

And, asked if sie had anything further to add, our mammoth finished, “Not for me, merci! Anna, she is the storyteller. Please buy her new book Valor of the Healer so she can afford to buy me more fermented berries. And maybe a small herd of my fellow mammoths.”

Fred G., who came up with the mammoth’s name, has been given his copy of the book!

Other Giveways in Progress

But wait, there’s more! If you missed out on the poll, there are now two other active giveaways running for the duration of the week–and therefore, two more shots to win your own copy of Valor of the Healer!

I have a post up on Carina Press’ blog right over here, where I’m talking about the challenges of writing Faanshi as a character, and how to portray the strength of a young woman who is neither physically strong nor outspoken in the slightest. Come over and tell me about your own favorite female characters who’ve shown strength in unexpected ways, and I’ll put you in a random draw for another copy of the book!

And on a much lighter note (because at Anna the Piper Enterprises, we try not to get too SRS BZNZ unless absolutely necessary), I also have this giveaway going! Because Carina put up some promo tweets about me today, and I feel that it’s not fair that THEY get to have all the fun talking about me. So spread your own ‘fun facts’ about Anna the Piper for yet another way to get a copy of the book. These ‘facts’ do not even have to be TRUE, and in fact, the lulzier the better. ;D

Thank you all for your ongoing support of the book!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

My promo post for Valor of the Healer has just gone live on the Carina Press blog! If you’re feeling inclined, c’mon over here and see what I’ve got to say about the challenges of writing Faanshi as a strong female character when she’s not obviously strong at first glance. I want to hear about your favorite female characters who are strong in unexpected ways, and I’ve got another giveaway of Valor of the Healer running in conjunction with that post as well!

So clickie, won’t you? Faanshi and I want to hear from you!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

I didn’t get a chance to do yesterday’s Flash Giveaway, so you get a doubleheader this morning, folks!

The last two random copies of Valor of the Healer are going out to alinsa and to Helen on Facebook!

Winners, you’ve been contacted. If you have already bought the book I thank you profoundly for your support, and you may either accept a second copy to pass on to a friend or loved one, or decline your random selection! If you choose to decline, please let me know so I can re-roll to get another winner!

Thank you all for playing, and keep an eye out for further chances to win! I will be handing out TWO copies tomorrow after the Name My Mammoth poll closes!

AND! Tomorrow evening I’ll have a post going live on the Carina Press blog, where I’ll be taking comments on the theme of heroines being strong in unexpected ways, in Faanshi’s honor! I’ll be selecting a random winner out of comments on that post until Saturday! So keep an eye out for when it’ll go up!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

No new entries on the Flash Giveaways, y’all, so I pulled a random choice out of the previous entries! So today’s winner is gazerwolf, who commented to me on LJ! Yo, Gazerwolf! I shall be pinging you with a request to tell me your desired format for the book!

Everybody else: all previous entries remain in the poll, and I’ll give away two more copies, one tomorrow and one on Valor’s release day!

ALSO! Don’t forget to check in on the poll to name my mammoth if you haven’t already, for two other chances to win! I will be giving away a copy to a randomly selected commenter on that poll AND one to whoever has the winning choice on the poll, so take that as incentive to campaign for your choice! And if you do it while also tweeting, Facebooking, or posting about the book, that counts for both the poll AND for Flash Giveaway purposes! So signalboost like the wind, you guys!

As before, if you do any of these things, you get one entry in the Flash Giveaway pool:

• Comment on this post
• Tweet to me at @annathepiper
• Comment to me on Facebook
• Comment to me on Google+

These actions will get you TWO entries in the Flash pool:

• Post on your own blog or journal about the book release
• Tweet on your own Twitter accounts about the book (retweets of anything I post count too)
• Post to your own Facebook walls (sharing links I post count)
• Post to your own Google+ feeds (sharing links I post count)
• Add the book to your To Read shelf on Goodreads (or on other similar sites like Shelfari or LibraryThing)

If you REVIEW the book on Amazon, Goodreads, or anywhere else, you get FIVE entries!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.