This past week on FYFA (and in my life):
This post is going up really late because I had a crazy busy day and this is the first chance I’ve had to finish it.
This week I went to my local chapter meeting for SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), where author/illustrator/indie publishing company owner Erica Weisz told us about the process of publishing picture books and gave up tips on career planning. It was so interesting to hear from someone who started out self-publishing her own picture books and eventually ended up as a full-fledged indie publisher, Trism Books.
Other than that, I’ll admit I’ve had a hard time focusing because of the elections here in the US. I’ve been scouring the internet for news of recounts and runoffs. My own local State House Representative race currently hasn’t been called—only two votes separate the candidates (out of over 50,000). I was pretty despondent on Tuesday when it looked like the Republican (who supports arming teachers, a very scary proposition, in my opinion) had won by one vote. Now the Democrat is two votes ahead. Not sure what the process is for these local elections, though.
Here’s what you may have missed on the blog since my last Sunday Post:
- Twilight of the Elves (& The Adventurers Guild) by Zack Loran Clark & Nick Eliopulos: Review & Giveaway – Still time to enter to win a copy of the book!
- Top Ten (Million) Backlist Books I Want to Read
- War of Storms by Erica Cameron: Excerpt & Giveaway – Still time to enter to win a $15 gift card!
- Bite-Sized Reviews of Umbertouched, Meet the Sky, Furyborn, and Reclaiming Shilo Snow
Book Blogger Birthdays and Blogoversaries:
Here are the birthdays and blogoversaries for 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, it’s easy! Just fill out the birthday/blogoversary form.)
- November 17th – Tonyalee @ Vivacious Bibliophile‘s Birthday
For Review:
I got a book from Blink Publishing this week, but I didn’t have time to take a picture, so I’ll post it next week.
Great Discussions/Goings On Around the Blogosphere:
- Daniela @ Bookiverse interviewed me this week and introduced me as her critique partner!
Pre-Order Deals:
Listed in order of release date. Any new deals that I just added to the list this week will be denoted with a *** so you can easily find them!
Please note: Almost all pre-order giveaways run “while supplies last,” so I can’t guarantee that they’ll be open until the date listed. Pre-0rder early for your best chance to get all the goodies!
- Pre-order THE RESOLUTIONS by Mia Garcia to receive a tote with a quote from the book, a signed bookmark, and a signed bookplate. (US only)(ends 11/12)
- Pre-order PULP by Robin Talley to receive 2 autographed postcards, 2 bookmarks, 1 signed bookplate (personalized upon request), and 1 bonus As I Descended sticker. You’ll also be entered to win a grand prize. (US only for swag. Contest open INT)(ends 11/12)
- Pre-order THE STORYTELLER by Traci Chee to receive an engraved bookmark and the chance to win a grand prize. (US only)(ends 11/12)
- Pre-order REALM OF RUINS by Hannah West to receive a signed bookplate and a bookmark. You’ll also be entered to win a grand prize. (INT)(ends 12/3)
- Pre-order DARK AGE by Pierce Brown to receive a free holiday card directly from Pierce, featuring never-before-seen character art! (US only)(ends 12/3)
- Pre-order ALL THE WANDERING LIGHT by Heather Fawcett to receive an exclusive world map, a signed bookplate, a bookmark and two stickers. (INTL)(ends 12/3)
- Pre-order QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS by Cassandra Clare to receive a deluxe Shadowhunter fairytale retelling booklet. Featuring 35 pages of exclusive art and a note from Cassandra Clare. (US only)(ends 12/3)
- Pre-order a paperback copy of EVERLESS by Sara Holland to receive a special additional character card for either Ina or Roan. (INT)(ends 12/3)
- ***Pre-order THE DISASTERS by M.K. England (or request for your library to purchase it) to receive a bookmark, a rainbow rocketship sticker, a signed bookplate, a postcard and an emailed PDF with a printable DISASTERS-themed card. Plus the chance to win one of 75 enamel pins and even more! (INT)(ends 12/17)
- Pre-order EVERMORE by Sara Holland to receive 1 of 3 Exclusive Character Cards, a signed bookplate, and access to an exclusive online interview with Sara Holland (filled with spoilers and juicy details!). Plus, you’ll be entered to win more. (INT)(ends 12/30)
- Pre-order FIRESTARTER by Tara Sim (or request for your library to purchase it) to receive an exclusive poster of Danny and Colton by artist TJ Ryan. (INT)(ends 12/31)
- ***Pre-order THE GILDED WOLVES by Roshani Chokshi to receive a pack of character tarot cards designed by Yoshi Yoshitani. (US/CAN only)(ends 1/6)
- Pre-order THE WINTER OF THE WITCH by Katherine Arden to receive a signed bookplate. (US only)(ends 1/7)
- Pre-order EVEN IF I FALL by Abigail Johnson to receive a bookmark, a signed bookplate, a cloud charm necklace with quote card and a digital copy of the original flash fiction piece that inspired the book. (INTL)(ends 1/7)
- Pre-order OUR YEAR OF MAYBE by Rachel Lynn Solomon to receive a bookmark, signed bookplate, vinyl sticker, and adorable dandelion enamel pin! (INT)(ends 1/14)
- Pre-order SONG OF THE DEAD by Sarah Glenn Marsh to receive a signed bookmark, an 11×17 beautiful map of the world of the Reign of the Fallen series (art by Jessica Khoury), and four new character cards including everyone’s favorite bear, Lysander! (art by Jo Painter) (INTL)(ends 1/21)
- Pre-order THE BIRDS, THE BEES, AND YOU AND ME by Olivia Hinebaugh to receive an enamel pin. (US Only)(ends 1/21)
- Pre-order KING OF SCARS by Leigh Bardugo to receive an enamel pin! (US only)(ends 1/28)
- Pre-order CRAB CAKE by Andrea Tsurumi (from Indiebound or B&N) to receive a signed print of sea lion, a signed bookplate, a sticker, and the chance for a signed original drawing of Moray Eel. (ends 2/4)
- Pre-order THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon to receive an exclusive signed poster. (USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand)(ends 2/25)
- Pre-order A QUESTION OF HOLMES by a signed, personalized copy, plus an exclusive illustrated print. (INT)(ends 3/5)
- Pre-order DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE by Joan He to receive 3 swag items (they won’t be all paper-made–actual items TBD closer to release date). (INT)(ends 4/1)
More Awesome Giveaways:
- Twitter Giveaways:
- @starcrossedblog is giving away a paperback of Caught Up in a Cowboy by @JennieMarts
- @what_eats_owls is giving away a 2019 preorder of your choice.
- @CiteSomething is doing an awesome TEENS ONLY giveaway of 12 books!
- @JennieLy is giving away a 2018 release of your choice.
- @whatshesread is giving away a preorder of your choice.
- @writerkmc is giving away an ARC of Two Can Keep a Secret
- @taylormegon is giving away a preorder of OUR YEAR OF MAYBE. This means you’d also get the preorder goodies!
- @edwardanddamon is giving away one of her most anticipated books for the month of November.
- On my blog, you’ll find giveaways of TWILIGHT OF THE ELVES, LULU THE BROADWAY MOUSE by Jenna Gavigan, a $15 Gift card, and An Autographed Paperback of Kiss of Deception. Plus you can enter the giveaway for the October Wrap-Up Round-Up and the November Discussion Challenge Link-Up & Giveaway.
- Penguin Books is giving away six #FallIntoFantasy Buddy Reads!
- Check out the Love Your Bookstore Challenge and enter to win prize packs
- Dani @ Perspective of a Writer is celebrating her I Heart Characters meme with a giveaway of a Book Depository Book up to $10
- Head over to Christie’s Cozy Corners for a chance to win STEM Books from National Geographic
- Head over to Here’s to Happy Endings for a chance to win THE DARK DESCENT OF ELIZABETH FRANKENSTEIN, INKLING, THE TRUTH ABOUT MARTIANS and more. (She has a LOT of giveaways over there!)
- Lots of blogs participating in the November Of Books Giveaway Hop
- Tressa @ Wishful Endings is giving away 1 Book from her Fall to Winter TBR on Amazon (INT)
- XPresso Book Tours is hosting their Fall in Love With Books Giveaway, with a $100 Amazon Gift Card up for grabs.
- Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight is celebrating her 5th blogoversary with a giveaway
- Read It Forward does a weekly giveaway. This week you can enter to win The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh
- Head over to Bookish for LOTS of giveaways!
Lots of good stuff! Have any giveaways or great discussions happening on your site right now? Feel free to share them in the comments!
That is a close race! I haven’t been following the election results as much as I should be. It is just depressing to me in a lot of cases. I always vote and do my research though. It sounds like you were at a great meeting and got some great information. I hope you have a great week!
Yes, the elections can be a bit depressing. I’ve been trying to look on the bright side of things. As far as I know, they STILL haven’t called our local election.
I loved your interview, and that’s awesome that you and Daniela are critique partners.
I’m really excited to work with her!
That election sounds stressful, and arming teachers?? We can give teachers guns, but can’t be bothered to give them financial resources?
That’s really cool about Trism Books and the society you’re apart of. Do you write or illustrate (or both)?
I write MG and YA, but it was still really interesting to learn a little bit about what goes into a picture book as well.
The elections have been very impactful this week, and wow your local race IS close. 2 votes! Wow that’s amazing. I’ve followed a bit of the recount news from other states and it sounds like there have been some shenanigans going on with voter suppression and whatnot, or at the very least not counting all the votes properly, and I just hope that all gets exposed. At any rate- glad you had a good meeting! Sounds very helpful.
Enjoy your week!
I just now did a search and I guess they finally called our local election about a half hour ago! Apparently, by the time all the provisional and absentee ballots were counted, the Democrat won by over 400 votes, so I’m relieved.
I hope you learned a lot from the SCBWI meeting! I heard about that race where someone won by one vote. I didn’t know they were going to recount it. I’m mostly happy with how the elections went in Colorado. There weren’t any huge problems, and we replaced some useless people with new people. I’m excited that I can delete a few politicians’ email addresses from my address book. I have new people to complain at now.
They actually didn’t do a recount, but they were still waiting for provisional and absentee ballots. I just went and looked it up and found that they finally called the election about an hour ago. The Democrat won by over 400 votes, which made me happy!
I’ve been checking the elections a lot as well. It’s so distracting! But overall, I feel pretty relieved with what happened last Tuesday. It’s a step in the right direction.
Yes, for once, Twitter made me feel betterabout the state of politics last Tuesday. That’s unusual indeed.
Oh wow, that’s a very close race. And I’m with you, I don’t think it’s smart to arm teachers… that would not make me feel safer at all! Loved your interview. 🙂
Lauren
Luckily the Democrat did end up winning the election, so I can breathe a little easier.
I’m in Florida so election stuff… gah!
I’ve heard so many good things about Lulu the Broadway Mouse!
I have a fox-loving 9 year old who walked by my computer and flipped out at your header image. 🙂
Oh, I really love that your kiddo is enamored with my fox girl. That makes me so happy!
I guess I shouldn’t complain about my elections–you guys win the election craziness for sure. 🙂
I hear you for lack of focusing. The last few day I’ve been consumed with the #CampFire that is in Northern California. It started in what was the cutest town ever, Paradise. I have friends that lived there and they lost everything. So far 6,400 houses have been destroyed *sobs*. It’s heading towards Lake Oroville, it’s on the northern part of the lake right now and my parents have a little vacation home there….we’re waiting for my dad to fly home tomorrow and then we’re heading over there to get a lot of our stuff or my brother and I may just leave tonight to grab their boat, my brothers GTO and some of our belongings….waiting to see what happens.
I needed something positive in my life right now, so I just posted an hour ago a giveaway on our Twitter and Instagram account for a book I loved last year. Giving to others always makes me feel better. ♥
I hope your parents’ lake house is okay. I tried to see if it looked like the widfires had reached that area, but I couldn’t figure it out. It’s hard to believe the devastation that’s going on in California right now.
The firefighters have done an amazing job of not letting it spread any further south on Lake Oroville so it looks like we are safe. Fingers crossed!!!! I know google has a fire tracker map but a lot of us locals like using this one from SF….
https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/fire-tracker/
I can’t believe that 9,700 single family homes are gone, 71 people have passed away and more than 1,000 people are missing. Each time I get on Facebook and see my friends posts I can’t stop crying. It’s been a horrific last year between the Santa Rosa fire (that’s where I grew up), then the one in Redding and now the one in Paradise. So many of those I love have lost everything in those fires, I can only hope and pray that 2019 changes this pattern.
I can’t imagine the devastation (and the worry it must cause for you and others with loved ones and homes in the area).
I’ve had to quit watching the news. I can’t take it any more.
Yeah, it can put you in a seriously bad mood.
Aww, I do hope the election will turn out the way you wanted it to be! I can’t say the same for Missouri though… I’m super bummed about McCaskill losing (but I’m not surprised either). It’s been a stressful few months honestly.
I was happy to see that they finally called our local election and the Democrat won!
Two votes difference with a 50,000 electorate is unbelievably close! If it’s not already announced, I’ll cross my fingers for the Democrat. I don’t think classrooms are a good place for guns either! (Though arming every teacher will result in an awful lot of extra gun sales – does your Republican hopeful own shares in a factory?!)
Realistically, the chance that guns would actually go in our schools based on this one elected official would be slim, but this was just one of her views that made me sure I didn’t want her in office. Weirdly, I still haven’t heard any news about what’s actually happening with the election (it’s still listed as “Uncalled” and nothing has changed since last week), even though I’ve been scouring the internet pretty much daily.
The election has been stressful and almost everything in Washington has been disgusting the past 2 years. The midterms seem to be a start but there’s a long way to go. Unfortunately, politicians on both sides have been known to get more for themselves and less about making the best systems for the country.
I escaped as usual with great books. Anne – Books of My Heart
Yeah, I wish we could just get past the ugly politics and the name-calling. It’s been beyond frustrating.
I was really disappointed when Beto didn’t beat Cruz, but I was happy that it was so close! Beto was actually in the lead for awhile, but didn’t have quite enough votes in the end. It was the first time I was actively involved in the news and politics for awhile. I sort of tuned everything out for awhile, because I seriously needed a break from all the shenanigans going on. It really affects my mood, which isn’t fun for anyone.
As always, thanks for putting so much effort into these posts. I love that there is one place where I can find all the goings-on in the blogging world.
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?
Oh, I agree. Politics can totally ruin my mood and set a negative tone for my day. I’m trying hard not to let that happen.
It’s so neat you’re Daniela’s CP! Last week was difficult wondering about election outcomes. Hopefully things ended up going the way you wanted. 🙂
Hope you’re having a great week, Nicole!
I’m excited to be one of the first people to read Daniela’s book. 🙂
TWO votes?!?! TWO? That is bananas! I was so relieved that every person I voted for won- that hasn’t happened in a VERY long time. PA finally got its crap together and was blue across the board, thank goodness. I really hope that Crazy Gun Dude didn’t win. (I had my very first lockdown drill at a school I was working at this week- why is this a thing we have to teach our children? Oh right, America. ?)
Congrats on the critique partner, too! That is awesome! It’s great that you got to go to the SCBWI meeting too!
Turns out that by the time the provisional and absentee ballots were counted, the Democrat won by about 400 votes. I just saw that the election had been called about an hour ago. Our area is pretty much all Democratic, and I was kind of horrified that my little corner was going to be the exception.
I’m here. Just catching up with last Sunday’s post. Whew. Love these giveaways though!
Did you know I’m hosting A Literary Christmas reading challenge? I’d absolutely love it if you would like to join, and/or share about the challenge:
http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/2018/11/a-literary-christmas-2018-begins-link.html
Additionally, I’m running a giveaway for a Book Lover’s Christmas Ornament! >>
http://inthebookcase.blogspot.com/2018/11/my-picks-for-literary-christmas-giveaway.html
(Please and thank you!) 😀
I’ll for sure mention both of these in next week’s post. I’m always happy to spread the word! 🙂