Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you …

Christine Powell Gomez is a speculative fiction author – she’s also an artist.

I just picked grabbed this fabulous bookmark from her Etsy store. I love everything about it!

But wait, there’s more – she’s going to put the Apocalypto Omnibus cover on the bookmark book.

So fabu.

Bad luck to squee over my own book, I know. Argh. I loved, loved, loved Give Me  - still do. But Bride is amazing me. This one is heavy on the fae, though the older (less sympathetic) Elyse figures big in the story.

Cissa and Max (featured in Sneak Peek #2 ) are so interesting – I think they’ll demand their own book before the series is over.

We may get a look at the cover art soon.

I’m giving the opening post for the Midsummer Dream Fair June 1st. I would LOVE to have Bride of Fae ready for that, but … we’ll try!

It doesn’t matter that it’s a made-up holiday designed to sell cards and flowers and candy. People have taken it over and made it a human event.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Coleridge said, “I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is prose; words in their best order;-poetry; the best words in the best order.”

Quaint punctuation aside, this sentiment applies to Weir’s work. It may be prose, but she chooses the best words and puts them in the best order. I forget I’m reading when I read her books. I get lost in the story, and that’s true of her memoirs as well as her fiction.

The Man Who Left is a memoir about Alzheimer’s, but don’t look here for pity or schmaltzy sentiment for Weir’s father, the man with the disease. Weir explores the excruciating tension between obligation to an ill parent and justifiable rage and resentment over his abandonment of his children when the obligation was on his side.

As with her companion book,  The Orchard, Weir’s memoir of her marriage, The Man Who Left reads like a novel. In both, her stark truth-telling is raw, real, and liberating.

[Full disclosure: Theresa Weir edited Space Junque, for which I will be forever grateful. She can edit, too.]

My original thought was to keep the contest going and have a winner every month – but my fantasy here hasn’t matched reality. I’m just not getting enough new reviews to justify the contest, so it won’t continue after the end of this month.

I have a love/hate relationship with promotion. Love it when it works and we all have fun. Hate it when it doesn’t and we don’t. I’ve been selling so few books that I’m finding it hard to keep writing. But it isn’t the writing that’s killing me – it’s the begging. PLEASE READ MY BOOK! (said in the ‘leave Britney alone! voice).

I’m retreating to my writer cave for a while.

But I do want to say I’ve enjoyed reading the reviews you’ve posted – it truly helps to know people are enjoying the stories.

• Option:  Review The Loves of Leopold Singer
• Extra Info:  blog

Jessi, your name will stay in the main drawing for the big prize – as will everyone’s who wins a mini prize. I’ll give another one or two away before the end of the month.

This is fun …

(By the way, Jessi’s name was the second one Rafflecopter drew. For the first one, I couldn’t find the review the person had named for that entry. But I left the name in for the big drawing in case the entrant was planning on having the review up by the end of the month. )

Now I have to think of a prize for the next mini drawing!

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The special price of $14.95 includes shipping and is available through Mother’s Day while supplies last, and please tell me the name of the person you’d like the book signed to in the notes section of the PayPal checkout.

I’m sorry this is limited to US and Canada , only because I’m not sure about postage to other places.

But last night’s episode was GREAT! Things happened! Women kept their clothes on and weren’t humiliated or used as objects! Men barely swaggered and did actual stuff!

Tyrion was his usual smart, snarky self. The scenes between Catelyn and Brienne were marvelous, especially the one where they swear oaths to each other. I was shocked when Renly was murdered (I haven’t read the books). I hope this doesn’t mean we’ll see less of Natalie Dormer . She was magnificent as Ann Boleyn in Tudors.

In other news, the review giveaway progresses apace! As the books flow back into non-Amazon outlets, I’m adding chances to the Rafflecopter widget for them. You can now leave reviews at iTunes for Space Junque (which is free there at the moment), Bleeder , and Apocalypto (Omnibus Edition) . Spiderwork should be live there soon.

June 1 is only a month away, but it seems so long! I’ll have a bonus giveaway this coming weekend for an extra prize. It won’t change the entries in the main giveaway (the bonus winner can still win the $100 gift card). I’ll have to think about what to give away. What do you think of a signed copy of the print edition of Give Me ?

The way it will work is I’ll have Rafflecopter select a winner, check to make sure the review is up where the entrant indicated, and announce the winner here on Sunday.

I’m reading the reviews (hope that doesn’t weird you out) and LOVING them! It’s bad to choose favorites, but MaryAlice – you ROCK! It’s wonderful when a reader is willing to try genres she’s not sure of. After all, reading time is dear, and you want to spend it on the kind of stories you like. I’m always so grateful when a reader is willing to try mine.

Yesterday, three reviews appeared for the Apocalyptos by J. Magee that charged me up with new enthusiasm for the series. Yes, there will be more books! Copperhead is next, and I’ll be focusing on it as soon as Bride of Fae comes out.  I was having a stressful, blucky day yesterday. Reading those reviews changed my outlook.

So am I an author if you’re not a reader? I don’t think so. The real magic happens when you read the story and make it your own.

So thank you, all of you, for spending some of your time reading my books – so much more precious than the 99 cents or six dollars – and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your feedback. I wish everyone could win!