West Of Mars — Win A Book!

So let’s start off by welcoming Kindred Spirit Mommy to Win a Book! I love it when you long-time followers come out of the woodwork and say hello. Even if you don’t have a link for me.

Anyway, Lindsey is hosting author Linore Rose Burkard for a tour in support of Ms. Burkhard’s The Country House Courtship. This is the third book in a Jane Austen-like series, but never fear. You can read this one first, as it deals with a different character than the first two did.

One copy of The Country House Courtship is headed out to a new friend in the US, thanks to Ms. Burkhard and the gang at Kindred Spirit Mommy. There’s a mandatory piece of information to leave Lindsey, and then there are extra entries, too.

Enter by March 27. And don’t forget to read the first chapter!!

I am back from living through the Great Confluence Flood of 2010!

Yep, our B&B on the banks of the Youghiogheny River found its road underwater for about 24 hours. A group of mostly mystery writers shut in a house together for a few days? Believe me, there were plenty of jokes suggesting an Agatha Christie-like dead body. Christie, you’ll recall, is famous for the closed-house murder mysteries.

The only problem facing the thirteen of us was that we all like each other. Or at least, we don’t dislike each other enough to knock one of us off.

Anyway, be sure to give Bridget and Dar their props for the peace of mind they gave as I watched the river creep up the road. It was a sight to behold; if you ever get a chance to be safe and dry during a flood and yet see it live and in person, go for it.

I’ll try to get details up over at the Meet and Greet during the week. Keep your eyes open over there, if you’d be so kind.

In the meantime, let’s get back to what we’re all here for (and what we were all in that house for): BOOKS!

On Thursday, March 11, Book View Café welcomed Chaz Brenchley as its newest member.

Brenchley is the author of nine thrillers, most recently Shelter, and two major fantasy series: The Books of Outremer, based on the world of the Crusades, and Selling Water by the River, set in an alternate Ottoman Istanbul. As Daniel Fox, he has published Dragon in Chains and now Jade Man’s Skin, the first volumes of a Chinese-influenced
fantasy series.

A winner of the British Fantasy Award, he has also published three books for children and more than 500 short stories in various genres. His time as Crimewriter-in-Residence at the St Peter’s Riverside Sculpture Project in Sunderland resulted in the collection Blood Waters.

His first play, A Cold Coming, was performed and then toured in 2007. He is a prizewinning ex-poet, and has been writer in residence at the University of Northumbria, as well as tutoring their MA in Creative Writing. He was Northern Writer of the Year 2000, and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with two squabbling cats and a famous teddy bear.

For his debut, Brenchley is offering chapter one of his ’90s novel, DEAD OF LIGHT. Subsequent chapters of the novel will be posted every
Thursday at Book View Cafe.

To visit Brenchley’s bookshelf at Book View Cafe, click here.

At Caribou’s Mom is the next giveaway for Reading for a Cure. This time, it’s Shanghai Girls by Lisa See.

To get in on this, it’s simple…either join her project, Reading for a Cure OR sponsor someone who has joined OR make a one-time donation to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation (being sure to select the button for Reading for a Cure and then AFTER you’ve donated, come back and leave her a comment to let her know you did it). But hurry – you must do one of those three things BEFORE the drawing takes place on March 18th!

Once you’ve done ONE of those three things to become eligible, tweet about the giveaway (and come back to let her know you did it) and you can get a second chance to win!

Click here for all the details.

On Genre Reviews book blog, Debbie’s giving away her copy of an inspirational general fiction called “Beaded Hope” by Cathy Liggett.

This giveaway is for USA and Canada residents only and ends on March 24, 2010.

Use this link to enter.

At I Read…, they are giving away 3 copies of Charla Krupp’s “How to Never Look Fat Again”.

Giveaway runs from March 12th – March 16th.

Mention why you want to get this book. Leave your email-id. Only for residents of US and Canada. No P.O.Boxes

Here is the link.

To celebrate the paperback release of her book, *The Local News*, author Miriam Gershow (along with Random House) is sponsoring a giveaway of one copy of her book on the blog She Reads and Reads.

The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and ends on March 30.

Click here to enter.

In case you haven’t noticed that Dar’s been picking up the slack today, that’s because Susan’s busy getting ready for a writer’s retreat (assuming we’re not flooded out, leaving me with a ridiculous amount of desserts. If that happens, c’mon over!).

That means Susan won’t be here until Sunday. Be good to Bridget and Dar while I’m gone. Keep the links coming; we’ll get ‘em up. We just may be a bit slower than usual.

From our friends, the Teaching Authors:

At TeachingAuthors.com we’re celebrating the release of the middle-grade anthology, I FOOLED YOU: TEN STORIES OF TRICKS, JOKES, AND SWITHEROOS, by featuring a Guest Teaching Author interview with the book’s editor, Johanna Hurwitz. It was great fun learning more about Johanna and how the anthology came into being. And I am especially honored to have one of my short stories included with the work of such illustrious authors as David A. Adler, Eve B. Feldman, Douglas Florian, Matthew Holm, Ellen Klages, Michelle Knudsen, Megan McDonald, Barbara Ann Porte, and Johanna.

The book is a fun read. The entry deadline is 11 pm (CST), Wednesday, March 17.

Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein has been very popular lately.  Booktumbling has a copy of it up for grabs along with a review of the book.  The giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents only and the deadline to enter is March 19.

Click here to enter!