This past week on FYFA (and in my life):
I’m back! It’s funny because I realized that the heading above should say “This past month on FYFA.” I haven’t put up a Sunday post since 7/23! This is a definite first. Out of curiosity, I decided to take a look at my Sunday Post history, and since I started posting them in June of 2013, I’ve only missed five Sundays! (Before this past month, of course, when I just missed three more.) That seems kind of incredible to me. And this is also the longest blogging break I’ve ever taken. It feels a little freeing, but also very strange to have been gone so long.
While I was away, we hosted a Japanese exchange student (he was here for a month and just went home on Thursday), rented an RV and headed out with the family to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and started homeschool co-op classes (some of them). Oh, and I also started working on a new editing project.
This year I’m teaching a fun class called One Year Adventure Novel, and every kid in the class will write a full novel by the end of the school year (at least a rough draft). It’s a video-based curriculum that I’m mostly just facilitating, but I’ll also be reading all of their books and helping them edit, so it’s going to be both fun and a lot of work (I limited the class to only seven kids for that reason, though). I’m also teaching a middle school language arts class and two acting classes. Should be a fun year!
I’ve finally started to get back into the groove of things and visit some of the blogs I’ve been missing. If I haven’t made it to you yet, make sure to comment so I’ll make sure not to miss you!
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog since my last Sunday Post:
- The Dragons of Nova (& The Alchemists of Loom) by Elise Kova: Review of the Most Fantastical of Fantasies & a Giveaway – Sorry, the giveaway for this one has ended, but check out my review of this great series!
- Wandering Star by Romina Russell: A Rereadathon Review & Giveaway! – Same note as above
- August Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway – Link up your August discussions here and enter the giveaway
- July Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up – I decided not to do a giveaway this month because of my busy schedule, but I was happy to see that everyone still linked up!
- I’m Headed Off on Vacation! – Just my announcement about my blogging break
- Deception So Deadly by Clara Kensie: Deceptive, Indeed! – Check out my review of this twisty paranormal thriller
- Wish You Were Here by Renee Carlino: An Emotional Journey – This book broke me!
- Acceptance by Trish Beninato: Spotlight of a Book Edited by Me, Nook Reader Giveaway & Trish’s Top Ten Addictions – Check out my latest edit and there’s still time to enter to win a Nook!
Next week on FYFA:
- Little Monsters by Kara Thomas: Review & Giveaway
- Some other reviews (as you can see from my sidebar, I’m very behind!)
- Let’s Discuss: Something bookish! 🙂
Latest FYFA Giveaway Winners!!:
- Honestly, I have a couple of giveaways that I’m behind on. I contacted winners, didn’t hear back and then sort of jetted off to Tennessee. I’ll let you know next week who the lucky winners are!
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Here are the birthdays and blogoversaries this week! I hope you’ll go wish these bloggers well on their special days! Make sure you check out the calendar to see what you might have just missed or what’s coming up. (If you want to be added to the calendar, you can always fill out the birthday/blogoversary form.)
First off, birthdays and blogoversaries that you might have missed while I was gone (unless you caught them on Twitter):
- Read It Write Now‘s Blogoversary
- Laura @ 125 Pages‘ Birthday
- ShootingStarsMag‘s Blogoversary
- Terri @ Second Run Reviews‘ Birthday
- Awesome Book Assessment‘s Blogoversary
- Arctic Books‘ Blogoversary
- Czai @ The Blacksheep Reader‘s Birthday
- Freda’s Voice‘s Blogoversary
- Lisa Loves Literature‘s Blogoversary
- Lauren @ My Expanding Bookshelf‘s Birthday
- Star-Crossed Book Blog‘s Blogoversary
- Caffeinated Book Reviewer‘s Blogoversary
- The Slanted Bookshelf‘s Blogoversary
- Read All the Things‘ Blogoversary
- Penni @ Penni’s Perceptions‘ Birthday
- Anatea’s Bookshelf‘s Blogoversary
Wow! That’s a lot!!! Feel free to go wish these people a happy belated (blame my vacation for the late news). 🙂
And now for the upcoming events:
- August 20th – Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf’s Blogoversary
- August 25th – Book Haven‘s Blogoversary
- August 25th – Lola @ Lola’s Reviews‘ Birthday
- August 26th – Lisa @ Reading, Writing, and Random Musings‘ Birthday
For Review:
I received Mask of Shadows in the mail right before I left on vacation and got Scion of the Fox for review just the other day! Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and ECW Press!
Purchased:
I realized I didn’t have a copy of S.J. Pajonas’s Summer Haikus (which is one of my favorite books I’ve edited—am I allowed to say that? I’m saying it.), so I had her send me a signed copy. I was super excited that she had a copy with the original cover because even though the newer cover is cute too, I have a soft spot for this one.
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
I really need to catch up on discussions, but here’s one I read and loved—
- Shannon @ It Starts of Midnight tells us Reasons Her TBR Is Ridiculous
Pre-Order Deals:
I’m now putting these in order of release date to make it easier on myself (and you, I think). Any new deals that I just added to the list this week will be denoted with a *** so you can easily find them!
- ***Pre-order THE BEAUTY OF US by Kristen Proby to receive a sneak peek at the first chapter from Charming Hannah, the first book in her new Big Sky series, as well as an exclusive first look at the Charming Hannah cover. (ends 8/21)
- Pre-order WONDER WOMAN: WARBRINGER by Leigh Bardugo to receive a limited-edition print featuring an original illustration of all the book’s characters by artist Jen Bartel. (ends 8/28)
- ***Pre-order MASK OF SHADOWS by Linsey Miller to receive a signed bookplate and a set of four jewel button pins. You will also be entered to win a GRAND PRIZE Mask of Shadows-themed crate. (ends 8/28)
- ***Pre-order YOU DON’T KNOW ME BUT I KNOW YOU by Rebecca Barrow to receive a character illustration print and a signed bookplate. (ends 8/28)
- ***Pre-order THE BIG F by Maggie Ann Martin to receive a signed and personalized book plate, a signed bookmark, a The Big F postcard, and a “Carpe that effing Diem” sticker. You’ll also be entered to win a “Make it effing fabulous” notebook, an adorable “Carpe that effing Diem” tote bag, and a cross-stitch “eff that” hoop. (ends 8/28)
- ***Pre-order SEE ME, SEE ME NOT by Elodie Nowodazkij to receive a bookmark and stickers. You’ll also be entered to win a limited edition signed print of the cover, a signed paperback copy, a $10 gift card and more! (ends 8/28)
- Pre-order THE DAZZLING HEIGHTS by Katharine McGee to get a glitzy makeup bag! (ends 8/29)
- Pre-order TOWER OF DAWN by Sarah J. Maas to receive an exclusive pouch! (ends 9/4)
- ***Pre-order I HATE EVERYONE BUT YOU by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin to receive your very own phone pocket! (ends 9/4)
- ***Pre-order CINDERELLA, NECROMANCER by F.M Bougham to receive a bookmark, postcard with cover art, signed bookplate, chocolate hazelnut tea and lavender tulsi tea. You’ll also be entered to win lots more prizes! (ends 9/4)
- ***Pre-order GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS by Melissa Bashardoust to receive a snow globe picture frame! (ends 9/4)
- ***Pre-order BEHIND THE SONG edited by K.M. Walton & including stories from lots of great authors to receive a FREE download of three songs by the contributors. Plus, everyone who preorders will be entered to win a $50 gift card to iTunes to find the songs that match your heartbeat. (ends 9/4)
- ***Pre-order WELCOME HOME edited by Eric Smith and including stories from lots of other amazing authors to receive signed postcards, autographed by Young Adult rockstars Adi Alsaid, Courtney C. Stevens, Dave Connis, Kate Watson, and Shannon M. Parker. (ends 9/4)
- ***Pre-order THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END by Adam Silvera and you can enter to win annotated copies of all three of Adam’s books! (ends 9/10)
- ***Pre-order BEFORE SHE IGNITES by Jodi Meadows to receive calligraphy cards with BEFORE SHE IGNITES quotes, a bookmark, signed bookplate, a postcard, and a very special dragon card with art! (ends 9/11)
- ***Pre-order WHEN I CAST YOUR SHADOW by Sarah Porter to receive a signed bookplate with original artwork. (ends 9/11)
- ***Pre-order ODD & TRUE by Cat Winters to receive a limited-edition Odd & True print. (ends 9/11)
- Pre-order WARCROSS by Marie Lu and receive “Life After Legend” an exclusive short story set after the events of the Legend Series (ends 9/11)
- ***Pre-order SPEAK EASY, SPEAK LOVE by McKelle George to receive a bookmark, signed bookplate, signed postcard, and the full set of character cards. Plus, you’ll be entered to win even more cool things like bottle cap earrings and a Shakespeare insults print! (ends 9/16)
- ***Pre-order ONE DARK THRONE by Kendare Blake to receive a set of custom THREE DARK CROWNS SERIES playing cards! (ends 9/18)
- ***Pre-order HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA by Kerri Maniscalco to receive a special limited-edition novella featuring a STALKING JACK THE RIPPER story told from Thomas Cresswell’s perspective. (ends 9/18)
- ***Pre-order MOXIE By Jennifer Mathieu to receive stickers, buttons, temporary tattoos, a mini-zine and more! (ends 9/18)
- ***Pre-order THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH AND THE NIGHTMARE KING by Max Brallier to receive a zombie slugger, bookplate signed by the author, and to have your child’s name listed in the Acknowledgements of Last Kids book #4! (ends 9/24)
- ***Pre-order STARFISH by Akemi Dawn Bowman to receive a signed bookplate, a bookmark featuring a quote from the book, and a gorgeous STARFISH promo card! (ends 9/25)
- ***Pre-order THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS by Leigh Bardugo to receive a quince flower enamel pin. You’ll also be entered to win one of six grand prize packages! (ends 9/25)
- ***Pre-order AHIMSA by Supriha Kelkar to receive a bookmark, bookplate and mini coloring sheet. (ends 10/1)
- Pre-order HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN ILLUSTRATED EDITION and receive a Knight Bus tote bag (UK & ROI Only. If you’re in AUS or NZ, find the offer HERE). (ends 10/1)
- ***Pre-order BROODING YA HERO by Carrie DiRisio to receive stickers, bookmarks and limited edition postcards. (ends (10/2)
- ***Pre-order GRAY WOLF ISLAND by Tracey Neithercott to receive a book map, character stickers, post card, bookmark, signed bookplate and illustrated character print (first 15 people). Plus, you’ll be entered to win even more! (ends 10/9)
Other Current Giveaways on FYFA:
(Besides the ones listed with this week’s posts)
- None right now!
Even More Awesome Giveaways on Other Sites:
- AJ @ Reads All the Things is celebrating her blogoversary with a giveaway of a book of your choice!
- It’s Caffeinated Book Reviewer’s six-year blogoversary and she’s giving away a $25.00 Amazon gift card!
- Enter to win an ARC of Renegades and some special Marissa Meyer swag
- Enter for a chance to win the Remnant Chronicles!
- Head over to Lisa Loves Literature for a chance to win an ebook copy of Counting Wolves
- Head over to Star-Crossed Book Blog and enter for a chance to win a Metal Infinity Charm Bookmark for the Omega release.
- Head over to Freda’s Voice for a chance to win Bittersweet Dreams by V.C. Andrews
- Read It Forward is giving you the chance to win Watching Edie by Fiona Barton!
- The Bookkeeper’s Secrets is doing a year-long giveaway!
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
I have the ARC of Mask Of Shadows also! I hope it is good.
I’ve read some mixed things about it, but I’m still hopeful.
Only missing five in four years? That’s impressive! I didn’t get around to visiting last week. I didn’t even touch my laptop this week at all. I know what it feels like to miss the blog after my hiatus basically all summer. It is very freeing. Good luck with your classes! I think I would enjoy teaching in a co-op like that much more than I do in public schools. Your One Year Adventure Novel class sounds so fun!!
I know, I was really surprised when I saw that. I actually didn’t remember that I’d started doing the Sunday Posts so early on and I figured I probably wasn’t consistent about it at first, but that obviously wasn’t true! I’m really excited about the One Year Adventure Novel class. It’s going to be so fun!
Aww, lots of bloggers with special days. Last week was my blogiversary too so congrats to everyone.
And I’m so impressed by your consistency with the linkup. There isn’t a single thing I’ve been doing on the blog that regularly so kudos to you.
Congrats on your blogoversary!! Feel free to add yourself to the calendar so I’ll be able to congratulate you on your future big days!
Welcome back! Hope you enjoyed your break! 😉
Nice new reads too! Been seeing Mask of Shadows a lot lately! The cover is so pretty! Hope you enjoy all the new reads!
Here’s my STS
Have a GREAT day!
Old Follower 🙂
I agree about the cover of Mask of Shadows. Very pretty!
After missing so few that big break sounds like you needed it. You were certainly busy too. Have fun with your new books and welcome back to Sunday Posts!
My Sunday Post
Definitely busy! This summer felt like a bit of a whirlwind!
I love the One Year Adventure Novel class! I wish I could take something like that. Glad you’re back, hope your trip was nice and relaxing!
I’m really excited about it!!
Aw yay, glad you’re back! Sounds like you had a fun time (I hope!) And seriously, how does one only miss 5 Sundays in 4 years!? That is really impressive! Very curious to hear your thoughts about Mask of Shadows, too! I have been so on the fence about it, and since we’re book twinsies and all.. 😉 And thanks so much for sharing my post, you are too sweet!
I actually thought it was pretty crazy that I hadn’t missed more Sunday Posts too—I didn’t realize that I’d been so consistent about it right from the very beginning. When I glanced back, I was kind of shocked!
Wow that’s a pretty good Sunday Post record! I’ve never been to Gatlinburg but friends have vacationed there and really enjoyed it.
The One Year Adventure Novel sounds great, what a fantastic idea and how accomplished those kids are gonna feel when they’re done and have a full first draft. I hope it goes great!
Have a great week. 🙂
Gatlinburg was really fun. It’s definitely cheesy and touristy, but we knew what we were getting into, and the kids loved it (so it was still exciting enough for teenagers).
Sounds like you were busy while you were away from the blog. Those are cool classes you are teaching. Enjoy your new books and have a great week!
I’m really looking forward to this school year and the classes I’m teaching!
I’m glad you’re back! It sounds like you were busy when you were gone, though. I’m impressed that you’ve done so many Sunday Posts. I’ve missed a lot of them on my blog. Thanks for giving my giveaway a shout out!
It was a crazily busy summer, but we did lots of fun things!
Welcome back! Your time away sounds absolutely delightful. Yes, you’ve consistently been a part of the Sunday Post and I’ve enjoyed it!
Thanks! Just goes to show that you’ve got something special with this meme!
Welcome back. Sounds like you enjoyed the break. I love the One Year Adventure novel idea. Sounds like fun. 🙂
I’m really looking forward to the class!
You’ve been busy! Hiring an RV sounds like such fun, I’d love to do that some day. And I didn’t realise you edited SJ’s book, I LOVE it too. One of my fav contempt and it makes me want to go to Japan for a holiday.
I love it when I run across someone who read Steph’s book—she was fabulous to work with and I feel like it doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves.
That is so cool that the kids will write a novel! What a great plan! Good luck with the teaching; sounds like it will be so much fun.
Have a great week and welcome back!
I think it’s going to be a great class!!
Nice to see you back! I hope your time with your exchange student was nice. Ooh I like the novel writing class you’re teaching – I think limiting to 7 students would be good. 🙂
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Thanks, Lauren! It’s good to be back—It felt strange to be gone for so long!
Wow, you’ve had a busy month. Hope you had a great time on your vacation. The class you’re teaching sounds fantastic. I would have loved to do something like that when I was in school.
I’m getting ready to start reading Mask of Shadows too. I’ve heard a few mixed reviews but I’m still pretty excited for it.
Definitely very busy! I thought the school year was crazy, but sometimes summer can be even more insane!
I’m glad you had a nice break from blogging. I was in Gatlinburg last summer for a family reunion. We’re in Tennessee, so it didn’t take us long to get there. Did you get to do any outdoor activities? The mountains are beautiful.
I had a break from blogging too, but not by choice. Books That Hook got deleted because I missed the renewal while I was dealing with financial problems and the death of my father-in-law. But we’re back now, on a new website.
To only miss five Sundays in four years is awesome! It only takes me a few months to miss that many.
Sorry for all your site woes. Glad you got things back up and running, even if you had to start a new site to do it! We did manage to get some outdoor activities in—we went for a 9-mile hike, did an off-road UTV trip and a ropes course. We would have done even more, but it was unfortunately pretty rainy a lot of the days we were there. We still had fun, though!
I read this on my phone 2 days ago and I thought I left a comment, oh well.
You are so brave to host exchange students. Must be cool for your kids to see people from other cultures. Have your kids thoughts about being exchange students?
I think it is great that you took a break. At least you told everyone, unlike some people (me). I did miss you though so there’s that.
You are so good to put together all the birthdays, blogoversaries, and pre-order deals for us. Thanks for putting so much into your Sunday posts. Have a great week!
My two older kids have both thought about someday being exchange students themselves. I think it would be a fantastic opportunity for them!
Good to see your Sunday Post again! Hope you thoroughly enjoyed the break. What a great experience with the exchange student. I hope he enjoyed himself as well. The adventure novel class sounds amazing! Can I come and join? LOL Writing a novel sounds incredibly daunting but breaking it up into a year long project with help along the way sounds so do-able. What a great project/class! Love the cover of Summer Haikus – totally cute. Hope you have a great week, Nicole!
I agree that breaking the novel into a year-long project (with structured help along the way) makes writing a novel feel MUCH more do-able!
I think you can be forgiven for missing a couple of Sunday’s considering how few you’ve missed before! It sounds like you’ve been busy, though. Renting an RV, hosting an exchange student, and there’s the homeschooling. I don’t know how you find the time to blog. THat writing class sounds such a cool idea, though. A lot of work for everyone taking part in it but especially for you. It’ll be worth it I think and having writing a novel be guided would be great. I think a lot of people lose motivation as they have to create their own structure so for the kids having something to help guide them would be great.
Yes, one of the biggest benefits of the class is the structure that will get the kids from beginning to end—it will make them see that they CAN do it!
I always wanted to jump in an RV and see more of the US. How cool, and your class sounds incredible. Lucky kids!
We’ve often dreamed of living in an RV for a year, but I’m not sure we could handle it in actuality! LOL!
Welcome back and your time off sounds like fun. We had a RV when I was a kid and it was fun driving across the country. Your One Year Adventure Novel sounds like a fun class. I think it’s great to have kids be creative in that way. Good luck in your classes and I hope you have a great week!
Ooh! Now I’m jealous! We would love to own an RV, but I don’t think we’d use it enough to make it worth the money, unfortunately. Renting makes more sense for us.
Ahh, I hope you had fun in Gatlinburg! We went around this time last year and we’ve been wanting to go back ever since. We stayed closer to Pigeon Forge, to be exact. We absolutely loved it. I love those mountains.
The cover for “Scion of the Fox” is beautiful! And welcome back! 🙂
We went to Pigeon Forge as well, but just for one day, and it was raining—we did the Wonderworks Museum/Indoor Amusement Park, which was fun (it’s the upside-down building, in case you remember it).
How exciting that you had your exchange student! I hope it went well. I would love to hear all about the experience someday! And it’s great to see SUMMER HAIKUS in the photos. I’m so glad I had one of the original covers for you! <3
Thanks so much for digging it up for me. The exchange student was a lot of fun, though he spoke less English than exchange students we’ve had in the past, so we didn’t get to learn as much about Japan. Still a great experience, though!
Oh what a fun road trip! We never made it further than Kentucky when we lived in Indiana, but it was always so much fun exploring new towns! Seeing all the sights, trying new restaurants….we haven’t done that since we had kids though, whoops. Hope you all had an amazing time!!!
It’s definitely harder with kids, but it’s great memories!