Winner, Winner, Who's a Winner?

First I have to apologize to so many of you.  I have gotten behind on announcing winners for my contests, and there is no excuse to give you, just me being busy or lazy or forgetful, I'm not sure.  But I do know that I have left you hanging and I am here to remedy that.   These are in no particular order, just how I pulled them off of Google Docs.  I will be emailing everyone so that I can get your mailing addresses, if I don't already have them from the form.  Everything will be mailed out on the 15th.  I still have the winners from Children's Book Week and one giveaway that ends tomorrow.

Three Winners of Dear Teacher

Eric Van Raepensbusch

Mary Jane

Lauren

One Winner of 3 Children's Books from Got Books? Event

Doreen Magee 

One Winner of Sons of Liberty

Michelle 

One Winner of Necromancer Series

katarinas mama  

 

Contest Winners

I am happy to announce many contest winners today!  Please help me congratulate them!

 

The winner of the Winter's Tail prize pack is:

KRISTI

Kristi said, "I would love to win this prize pack for my son."

The winner of the Testing the Ice prize pack is:

PAM

Pam said, "I'd love this book, as would my son! He's hoping to learn to skate this winter..."

The winners of the Two Special Holiday Books giveaway are:

AIMIE

and

SUE 

 I am in the process of emailing all the winners.  Please get back to me ASAP so that I can get your info to the publisher and you can get your books!

C. Lee Picked a Winner!!

Last week's Because of A Book with C. Lee McKenzie was the first in the feature to have a giveaway. There were many great comments on Lee's post, but only one could be the winner. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read Lee's post!

 

Congratulations to traveler!!  Here's her comment:

Thanks for this lovely and thought provoking post. I enjoy being able to imagine and dream about wishes that could become true. Sometimes they do but mine would be for great health and happiness as well as to travel and experience the joy of learning about new places.

She will be receiving a signed hard cover copy of Sliding on the Edge.  Enjoy!  Look for the next installment of Because of A Book, on Tuesday.  You never know when a prize will be involved!

Winners!!

Before I post the winners of my last two contests, I want to apologize to some of you whom I still owe books to.  I haven't forgotten you; life has gotten me.  I recently mailed off some and will be mailing the rest at the end of the month.  Please forgive me as I got overwhelmed and just got behind.  I promise not to be so slow next time.  Some of you are waiting on books from publishers and I am checking into that as well.

Today, I have the winners from my Secrets to Happiness and Harry Potter contests.  Please help me congratulate them today!

 

The winner of a hard cover copy of Secrets to Happiness by Sarah Dunn is:

ALEXA

The winners of the Harry Potter prize pack (paper backs of bks 5, 6, & 7) are:

LIMERICK

SUE W

ANGIEGIRL

SUSAN KUSEL

CHERYLS22

I will be emailing all the winners and hope to hear from you within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.  The HP books will be coming from the publisher and Secrets to Happiness will be mailed by me.

Thank you all for entering.  We had 85 entries for HP...woohoo!!  Look for the winners of the Eyes Like Stars Extravaganza to be posted this week.  More contests to come!

TBS Questions Answered - Book Winners!

Thank you to all who entered Shelly's giveaway! The questions were great and I had a hard time narrowing it down to just five... hence the super long delay in posting the winners! :-) Without *further* ado, here are the 5 winning questions and answers!

1) Steph Su said... How did you react when you found out that your book was going to be published?! What did you do to celebrate?

Well, when I got THE CALL from my agent with the final accepted offer
news, it was about 5 days after receiving the first THE CALL that a
publisher was interested in making an offer. Because I was fortunate to have multiple offers on Twenty Boy Summer, the wait was even longer (*almost died!*) and the internal squealing was even louder (*OMG*)! I
was still working a corporate gig at the time, sitting in a cube farm with like 100 people around me, and I'd been sneaking in and out of the only private phone booth on the floor all day. When the final call came in that the deal was done, I had to keep my freaking out to a minimum in order to maintain my serious corporate, um, seriousness. But I did call my husband and whisper-squeal, and then after work went out for martinis with the girls, then met my husband for an indulgent dinner at our favorite Argentinian restaurant. Thankfully I write full
time now, so I don't have to hide in a phone booth a la Clark Kent whenever I feel like freaking out over something cool!

2) jessica.marie said...Did you go to college to be a writer (major in English)? Do you think it would be beneficial to do so, or major in another subject that you would be interested in writing about such as History?

I studied Communication in college, which has some writing components but not a creative writing focus. I don't think you need to major in English or a writing-related discipline to become a writer. I definitely recommend taking writing classes, joining a critique group, and reading tons of classic and current literature, but you can do all those things while majoring in astrophysics if you want to. And if there's something you might love writing about, like history or anthropology or earth science, then yes, you should definitely follow
that course of study. But only if you're really into the subject, because you're making a pretty big financial, emotional, and time commitment to study something for 2 to 4 years, so whatever it is, make sure you really want it! :-)

3) Jenna said... Have you ever re-read a book that you used to love, and find that you don't like it as much as you used to. If so, why do you think that happened? Is it because your taste in books changed?

I don't recall having the experience of re-reading a book and not liking it the next time around, but I did have the opposite experience, and your question prompted me to write about that. When I was in high school, reading the classics did not appeal to me. I just didn't get into books like To Kill a Mockingbird, A Separate Peace, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I guess I just couldn't connect with the characters at that time in my life, and I felt like something was wrong with me. I mean, how could I not like the classics when I loved
writing so much? But then I re-read them as I got older, and now, A Separate Peace and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn are two of my favorite books. So I do think it can be fun and beneficial to re-read stories when we're at different points in our lives. Our experiences and feelings change as we grow and learn and meet new people, so it makes sense that the way we relate to and connect with stories and characters will change, too.

4) quelleheure4 said... From the reviews I've been reading, your debut YA novel is getting rave reviews so I'd like to know if you'll be continuing in this vein and writing more YA novels! If so, what's next? Can you give us a little hint?

Thank you! Yes, I plan to write YA novels for as long as people want to read them! :-) My next book is called FIXING DELILAH HANNAFORD.  It's about a teen uncovering and understanding three generations of family secrets as she helps her mother and aunt pack up their deceased mother's estate in Vermont.  Delilah comes out in Spring/Summer 2010.  There is an excerpt posted at Starry Night if you'd like to check it out.

5) Nora said...I absolutely love your post on high school memories, want to tell us more about that prom-ditching grateful dead experience?

That was probably one of the funnest nights of my life. :-) Everyone thought I'd regret ditching senior prom for the Dead show, but I thought Jerry Garcia was much better date than any of the prospects at school, and I wasn't disappointed. We didn't even get tickets -- we just wandered around outside the stadium, listening to the music, taking in the scene, hanging out with the peace-loving Deadheads. About halfway through the show, they opened the doors for all of the ticket-less to wander in, and seeing the Dead like that, just jamming
out on the stage during one of their infamous random riffs, was amazing. I was transfixed.

After the show, we wandered back to the side street where my friend's boyfriend had parked his car. We had about 15 minutes till curfew, but we lived close to the stadium so we weren't worried. Of course, when we got to the street and saw that it was completely empty, save for about 100 other slack-jawed people who'd assumed as we did that the cops weren't seriously going to tow *all* of those cars, even if we did park in a no parking zone, we grew concerned! You know what they say about assumptions. The car was at the impound lot! I mean, here I was, ditching prom night, and I still wasn't going to make my curfew!

We spent the next 3 hours collecting cans and bottles from the stadium lots in blankets and dumping them into my friend's mom's minivan. Thankfully she showed up with the grocery-getter to help us carry the bottles to the store. We counted them all out and got $120, of which $80 had to pay to get the car out of impound. By the time the ordeal was over, I was the walking dead, which seemed fitting. I got home at like 6 in the morning with dirty hair, hands that reeked of beer from all the bottles we collected, and a tie-died T-shirt featuring Bugs Bunny characters as pot-smoking Deadheads. Mom was not pleased, but hey. I'll show those pink-satin-wearing prom-goers!

I got grounded for being so late, and so misunderstood, but whenever I think back to that crazy psychedelic riff inside the stadium, I know that it was totally worth it. :-)

Thanks again for all the great questions, and to Shelly for hosting this fun contest!

Thank you, Sarah for agreeing to do this, and thank you to Little, Brown for offering the books for this giveaway.  Winners have been emailed and have 48 hours to get their information back to me.

I will be posting more contest winners this evening.

Nana Star Book/Doll Winner

The Children's Book Week celebration giveaways come to an end with the posting of this winner today.  I want to say thank you again to all the authors who stopped by to guest post, participate in an interview and the authors and publishers who provided books for giveaways.

Without further adieu, the winner of the Nana Star book and doll...

andreaneville

Be sure to check the sidebar for Current Giveaways and Online Contests You Might Like.

Friday Fill-Ins 5/22/09 + an oops!!

Technorati Profile
1. Moving is hard.

2. The best things in life are free.

3. My best quality is that I love deeply.

4. Pay attention to the details.

5. In nearly 10 years, I've grown more than I ever thought I would, as a person.

6. More Diet Coke and some breakfast is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a nice quiet evening, tomorrow my plans include getting DISH hooked up at home, going out with friends and Sunday, I want to rest, please!
 
More Friday Fill-Ins
 
Thank you to all the well wishes for my interview yesterday.  I felt really good about it, but now I just have to wait on their decision.  She promised I'd know before school was out (June 3) but I hope I don't have to wait that long.
 
Now, for my oops!  It's a big one.  I totally forgot to announce the winner of Wicked Lovely.  I am so sorry; for some reason, it just slipped my mind, imagine that!  So, I'm announcing the winner now.
 

The winner of an autographed copy of Wicked Lovely is:

 

WENDI B

 

Wendi, send me your mailing info and I'll send the book.  Stay tuned for another giveaway winner later today!

Just a Post + a winner

Many of you know that today, at 4:30, I go for my second interview for an assistant principal position. To say I'm nervous is an understatement.  I left school early, to be able to relax, get ready, and get my head straight.  I had plans to post my review of Strange Angels, but I just can't think straight enough to write a review right now.  I have managed to clean out Google Reader, but 13 new posts just "popped" up, oh well.  I've commented on some blogs, which I miss doing, and I've tweeted with some friends.

I've waited for this day for 2 years, and even though I may not get the job, it is a great experience.  Did I say I was one of the final 2 interviewees? Scary, huh?  All my teacher friends at school believe I'll get it, and I have high hopes, but there is still that little bit of doubt.  Everybody has that, right?  I know I'm ready, but are they ready for me?

I try to give you a blog post everyday, and I didn't want to let you down b/c I was in a non-blogging mood right now.  I hope you don't mind this real personal, semi-talking to myself post.  I just had to get some things off my chest.   I do have the winner of The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z for you.  It's exciting to be announcing winners.  So, without further ado, the winner is:

rhapsodyinbooks

Something else I learned today - Wings, by Aprilynne Pike is #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.  Congratulations to Aprilynne.  Wings is her debut YA novel, can you believe it?

I am currently reading 20 Boy Summer.  When I get it finished, I will be posting a review with a surprise.  Just start thinking: "If I could ask Sarah Ockler anything, what would it be?"  That's all I'm going to say for now, but I promise, you'll LOVE it!!

Thanks for letting me just "share" today.

Winners Galore!

I'll admit that I am behind on posting giveaway winners because of last week's Children's Book Week celebration.  I apologize to each of you, because I like to keep my word and post winners in a timely manner.  For that reason, this post is full of winners.  The good thing is that I have already emailed them ALL, what a chore!

2 winners of The Noticer are:

Ashley

MJ

Winner of The Light, The Dark and Ember Between:

Teddy Rose

Winner of my Blog Survey ($10 Amazon gift card)

Bridget

Winners of The Host:

Bingo

Amy

Trishalynn

Winners of a Karma Wilson book:

Kami Garcia

Brimful Curiosities

Winners of Rena Grossman's board books:

Katie

gahome2mom

Cinnamon

Congratulations to all the winners!  You have 48 hours to email me with your mailing info or I will choose another winner. 

Please know that there are still some great giveaways going on, just check the top of my right sidebar.

Happy May Day, Winners!!!

Today is May Day and I have alot of winners to announce!  I had 3 giveaways end this week, so please check your email as you may be a winner.

APRIL FOOL'S GIVEAWAY

This giveaway was for 5 copies each of The Turnaround and Girls in Trucks.  The winners are:

SHELLEY

WENDI B

JANEL

DAWN M.

QUELLEHEURE4

I also said I would giveaway 2 other books + 2 from my stash if the comments went over 100.  Well, we only had 79 comments, but when I added up all the followers, tweets, and blogs about the contest, it put us at 125.  So, I am going to giveaway the 2 extra books, just not 2 more from my stash.  I will save those for another time, don't worry.  The winners of A Lucky Child and No Matter What! are:

BRIMFUL CURIOSITIES

LISSA

TAX RELIEF GIVEAWAY

This giveaway was for 5 copies of either, The Man's Book, The Girl who Stopped Swimming, or 2 Beauty Books.  The winners of The Man's Book are:

SHARON54220

JAKE

JANEL

BERMUDAONION

DOGLOVER112976

The winners of The Girl who Stopped Swimming are:

GENEVIEVE

OLYMPIANLADY

CHERYLS

POLO.PONY

STACI

The winners of the Beauty Books are:

JANEL

DONNAS

SHELLEY

NANCY ARRUDA

LALALAND

HORSE DIARIES GIVEAWAY

This giveaway was for 2 copies of the first 2 books in this series: Elska and Bell's Star.  The winners are:

MJ

POLO.PONY

Congratulations to all the winners!!  They have all been emailed and have 48 hours to get back to me with their mailing info.  If I do not hear from them, new winners will be drawn.

Thank you to each and every one of you who read my blog and continue to stop by and leave comments.  I do what I do, because of you and because I love books!! There will be more giveaways soon!!

Little Skink's Tail Winner!

Thank you to all of you who stopped by to read my interview with children's author Janet Halfmann.  I loved being able to get to know this wonderful children's author better. 

The winner of the autographed copy of Little Skink's Tail is...

SHELLEY!

Here is what Shelley had to say:  "This sounds like a great book!  I follow, and I blogged about it here: http://sazfreelunch.blogspot.com/2009/04/childrens-book-giveaway-little-skinks.html"

Thanks for getting the word out about this one!  I hope you enjoy your book!  Please send me your mailing info by Saturday so that I can send it on to Janet.

Look for more giveaways real soon!!!

Kitty Series Winner

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and commented on my blog post during the tour of the new Kitty Norville series books.  I appreciate everyone who views, reads, and/or comments on this blog.  I know that each one of you who entered this giveaway really wanted to win, and if you didn't, I hope you entered the giveaway at some of the other sites.

 

The winner of ALL 6 Kitty Norville books is:

debbiesworld

I have emailed you, so please get back to me within 48 hours with your mailing information so that I can pass it on to the people at Hachette.  Thanks again for entering.  There will be a new giveaway posted tomorrow.

And the Winner is...

Yesterday was the last day to enter my giveaway for a copy of Galway Bay, which I reviewed here last week.  I put all of your comments into random.org and the winner is...

Beth F.

I'm Back and We Have a Winner!

Hello readers!  I have truly missed each and every one of you while I've been at the rodeo.  My husband had 2 days of the Paint Horse Show and then our vet had 2 days of the Donkey & Mule show, that we helped him with.  We are finally back at home, exhausted, not wanting to work tomorrow, but home nonetheless.  Spring Break was fast and furious; I could use another!  Sorry about not having posts scheduled for you all.  Next time I will definitely be more prepared. 

I did finish Wintergirls (loved it!), so look for the review this week. Many of you have been commenting on my review of Galway Bay and I will be posting the winner tomorrow.  I will have more giveaways this week, so check back and see what's going on.

I failed to post the winner for my 100th post giveaway, so let me take care of that.  We failed to reach 100 comments, so the 2 extra books will be kept for a future giveaway.  The winner, chosen at random, is:

Julie P.

I have emailed the winner, who has 48 hours to get back to me with her mailing address so that I can get her books mailed from the publisher.  Congratulations to Julie!!!

My Little Red Book Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the My Little Red Book giveaway.  I enjoyed reading all of your stories and hope that if you didn't win, you will enter to win at some of the other blogs on the tour as they are also having giveaways. 

The winner of My Little Red Book is, comment #4:  Ms Mazzola!

Ms Mazzola said...

I distinctly remember my sister announcing to my father at dinner that I "had finally become a woman" and me just about dying of embarrassment.

I have emailed the winner, so please check your inbox and send me your mailing information so that I can send it to Hachette and you can get your book.

My HUGE 100th post giveaway is still going on, just check the sidebar for the link.  We haven't made it to 100 comments yet.  When we do, I can give away the extra books.  Look for more giveaways soon!

Spring Cleaning Winners

Thank you to all who entered the Spring Cleaning Giveaway.  The winners are as follows:

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home goes to comment #35 - masonsgranny59.

masonsgranny59 said...

MRS. MEYER'S CLEAN HOME :)

Throw Out Fifty Things goes to comment #16 - velocibadgergirl.

velocibadgergirl said...

I'd love to win Throw Out Fifty Things. I added this giveaway to my sidebar at http://badgerbooks.blogspot.com.

Thanks! :)

Congratulations to both winners!  I have emailed both of you.  Please send me your mailing address within 48 hours so that I can pass it on to Hachette.

Don't forget that I am still running 2 giveaways, see my sidebar, and will have more coming soon!

 

Winner: Everyone is Beautiful

I want to start off by saying Thank You to each and every one of you who entered the contest.  I tried to reply to each of your comments.  If I missed you, I apologize.  There were 91 comments on this post and I know a lot of that is due to the Book Giveaway Carnival.  I hope that many of you will stick around because there are always great things going on here!  I am currently running 2 other giveaways, so make sure you enter those.  They are Spring Cleaning Giveaway (choose from 2 books) and My Little Red Book.  There are more to come as well, I promise!

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...who is the winner?  I let random.org do the choosing, and the one that was chosen is...

INDIGO

 Here is Indigo's comment:

"For some reason everyone is drawn to my eyes and comments how beautiful they are. I get comments like if the eyes are windows to the soul, then yours is truly beautiful.

I think at the end of the day it's not the outer appearance, rather what lies inside. I believe who I am as a person is the most beautiful thing of all. Thanks for this opportunity to enter the drawing!"

 

I have already emailed the winner.  Please send me your mailing address ASAP so that I can pass it on and you can get your book.

Love to the Winners!

Today is Valentine's Day and the day that I announce the winners of The Italian Lover book giveaway, courtesy of Hatchette. Thank you to everyone that entered. I will be posting 2 more giveaways this week, one for a book, and one other, so come back and see what I have in store for you.

I want to wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day! I hope that your day was full of love, friendship, chocolate, or whatever it is that you adore. Please know that I adore each and every one of you that visit my lil' ol' blog. You show me love every time you stop by.

I put all of your entries into Random.org and the following people are winners! I will be emailing you shortly, so please email me back with your contact info so that I can pass it on to the people at Hatchette and they will get your book out to you.

Congratulations to:

Dina

Rebecca

Gwendolyn B.

Darby

Bridget3420