Sunday, August 06, 2006

DRUM ROLL, Please...


...for our latest announcement!

There is a new book coming out by a FABULOUS author, and we are thrilled to be able to share it with you. The totally amazingly talented Robin LaFevers, writing as R. L. LaFevers, has written a book called Werewolf Rising. It is going to be released on August 17th. I am so excited for this book and I'm going to tell you why. Sit back and enjoy this little tale...

I'm a Cherry, as you all know. This past spring, a call went out on the Cherry site for someone that knew e-bay. Since e-bay and I are as good as related, seeing as I spend so much time there and all, I sent off an e-mail and said I'd help. Robin was in charge of organizing a fundraising auction for another Cherry, so we worked together on that project. It was an incredible effort, and one of the things that I am truly thankful to have been a part of this year. In the process, I got to know Robin as a person, and she really impressed me. She has such a great attitude about things, and she also has a wonderful sense of humor. As a thank-you, she sent me her four books, in hardcover. These books were just so beautiful that I really didn't even want to read them. I wanted them to stay on a shelf and be pretty forever. But you know how I am with books, and they were cracked open the same day they arrived.

Her first published book, The Falconmaster, kept me up late that first day. It's the story of a young boy that just doesn't fit into the life he lives. He's different than everyone around him, and they make sure he doesn't ever forget those differences. Because of circumstances, he leaves his village and hides in the forest. He meets a stranger, rescues some birds, and discovers an inner strength that he never knew he had. (Yeah, I know, that's really a horrible synopsis, but hey, I'm running on 4 hours of sleep over 3 days, so cut me some slack already!) If you want a decent review, please click the link in the title to go to the Amazon page.

Robin's Lowthar's Blade trilogy was riveting. We read them together as a family, and that was a HUGE mistake. I say "mistake" because I grew hoarse reading those books. My kids simply would not let me stop reading. If that didn't spell "BOOK LOVE" clear enough for me, here's something else. (I already shared this with Robin on her blog, so you can skip ahead if you read it.) My younger son, Mathew (age 9), can not put Robin's books down. I've caught him up way past bedtime...reading. I've caught him sitting outside...reading. He's been reading instead of doing his chores. He's been reading instead of playing the Playstation or watching tv. He's just been...reading...Robin's books. He is thoroughly enchanted with the Blade trilogy. He's never been interested in books before we got that box from Robin. Yes, he'd read if I made him, but I really don't like the forced-reading thing. After we got those books and I read them aloud, he's been hooked. He can't get enough of them. I can't thank her enough for writing books that turned my son into a READER!

So here's the deal. Robin has very generously agreed to sponsor the prize for one of you loyal readers. She is going to send you a personally signed copy of her newest book, Werewolf Rising (this link goes to the Amazon site for the book!). All you have to do to win this new book is tell us, in the COMMENTS, your most interesting werewolf experience. It can be a real story, or something you make up. It can be about how you've always been scared of werewolves, or how you ARE a werewolf. You can tell us why the movies scare you, or how you can't get enough of them. But TELL US!! You can write it all out here, or you can blog it on your own blog and link back to it. All entries have to be posted by no later than August 15 at 11:59 blogger time. Charity and I will read through the entries and will announce a winner on the 17th, the same day as Werewolf Rising hits the streets.

I promise you a much longer review of all 4 of Robin's books very soon. However, I'm too tired to do them justice right now. Yet still, I am so excited for this new book that I just couldn't go to bed until I blogged about this contest to you guys. Seriously, it is after 4am, and I am sitting here thinking about Robin's book, and how Mathew is counting the days until it is released. I have a feeling I will be making a special trip to Borders that day, and it's a trip that I will gladly make!!

If you've read any of Robin's books, feel free to leave a comment and tell me how much you loved them, or how much your children adored them. I say "love" and "adore" because, really, there are simply no other emotions that are applicable to her books. If you've read them already, I know you agree. If you haven't read them yet, why the heck are you still here instead of over at Amazon ordering everything this woman has written? Be gone with you already and go buy some LaFevers books!!

5 comments:

Chari-Dee said...

Oh, I'm so excited!!!!!!! D&D are hitting the BIG TIME BABY!!!!!! Robin so totally ROCKS for doing this. Wish I could enter!

Good Luck To All

dee said...

Ok, the contest is offically ON now, and we haven't gotten any responses. I KNOW people are seeing it though, because our post counter is up 50 or so since Sunday. Think people are SCARED to share their werewolf stories? Should we share our own first?

I really LOVE werewolf stories. From things like the Lycans in "Underworld", through the "American Werewolf in..." movies, right down to the Goosebumps "Werewolf Skins", the idea of creatures that can change their shapes has always fascinated me. Honestly, I think the Goosebumps movie scared me the most, and that was for kids.
For a while, I really worried that my oldest son might be part werewolf. From his love of rare steak, right down to his hankering for MilkBones (no, I'm really not kidding, the kid eats doggie treats!), he had canine tendencies. Thankfully, I've watched him very close at full moon time, and have noticed nothing untoward...yet. Well, there was that one little rabbit that we found on the porch last month. Yeah, better keep my eye on that boy!

Robin L said...

No, no, NO. YOU guys totally ROCK for inviting me to participate in this contest!! Thanks so much and I can't WAIT to read people's werewolf stories! I'll try to pop back here in a day or two and share some interesting werewolf stories of my own.

dee said...

OMG Char, did you SEE that? ROBIN was RIGHT HERE on this blog! And she wants to read werewolf stories. Now I *really* hope that people aren't too scared to post them!!

Robin L said...

So, my werewolf story is actually how I came to write the book. One day, there I was, parenting along and minding my own damn business when someone went and stole my sons and in their place were these moody, aggressive, testosteroned up beasts!

Very disorienting.

Truly, one day they were basically happy boys. You know, the usual; loud, dirty, bouncy, good natured, a little bit smelly, loved fart jokes.

Then almost overnight (or so it seemed) puberty struck and I had these raving beasts on my hands. Frankly? We're all lucky we survived! And it did make me see puberty from the boy's perspective, having only experienced it from a girl's perspective prior to that. (Well, duh. Obviously!)

That testosterone is pret-tty dangerous stuff.