Today kicks off the Brain to Books Holiday Extravaganza Giveaway and Author Event. This fabulous three day event features authors, books, blog hops, giveaways, and much much more. Not to mention the $100.00 Amazon Gift Card giveaway, the GoIndieNow Prize Pack Giveaway and the Brain to Books Mass Book Giveaway. It's all so jam packed it's mind-boggling!
Here's the line up!
All Three Days - 16-18 December
“For the Holidays” Author Promo event
Authors around the world are hosting a three day book celebration showcasing their books.
Slush Brain Holiday
Two years ago, the zaniest, weirdest group of eccentrics collided in a drunken stupor. Brought together by the love of zombies, fleas, and drinking, these authors found sanctuary within their insanity. Today, we celebrate this imbroglio! We're giving away stuff all in the name of...we really don't know why we're doing it. If you love Science Fiction, Fantasy, all things nerdy, and well...booze, join us for this one day on board the HMS Slush Brain!
Brain to Books CyCon Sampler
Every year Brain to Books hosts a Holiday Book Giveaway. This year, our giveaway is a CyCon Sampler. Get a sneak preview of the Brain to Books Cyber Convention. While you're here, we have a $100.00 Amazon gift card to hand out to someone along with a list of books we're giving away!
Ani Manjikian is preparing to release the 2nd book in her series "Stars of Heros" (Heros as in Thracian Heros from Greek mythology) is a Science Fiction novel. Join us for Science Fiction fun and Mythological related books! Prizes, games, giveaways, and so much more!
Today on Drabble Wednesday I celebrate the Christmas season…
strangely. I have some new drabbles and two old favourites of mine. Enjoy, and
Happy Holidays!
The Tree
Every year.
Every year they erect the garish, smelly thing.
With its scent of evergreen assaulting my nose, and its
blinking lights disturbing nap time. Not to mention it’s a giant scratching
post. And those dangly ornaments.
It’s like they dare me.
It’s not as if they tuck it in corner. No, it’s in the MIDDLE
OF THE ROOM. IN THE WAY. What am I supposed to do, walk around the monstrosity?
I think not.
So why do they get mad when I pounce? Oh, the language I
hear.
Truly, it’s their fault.
What else is a cat to do?
~*~
Naughty List
Cheesecake and Snickerdoodle waited in the shadow of the
Christmas tree, tails wagging in anticipation. The two terriers knew Santa was
coming; their namesake treats lay on a plate next to a tall glass of milk. They
missed their shot last year, falling asleep too soon, but this year would be
different.
Yes, this year had success written all over it, and a place
in the dog hall of fame. They’d sink their chompers into Santa, maybe get a
piece of Santa’s rump, complete with a velvet souvenir.
They both knew it would be epic. Even better than the
postman.
~*~
Christmas Wars
Jingles the reindeer found the crumpled corpse under the
Christmas tree, missing a hand. He pawed the body, but it was too late.
“Why? Why? Who would do this awful thing to the Elf on the
Shelf?”
“A great disturbance, I sense.”
A tiny wizened green creature appeared from beneath the
holiday foliage. In his hands he carried the Elf’s missing appendage and a
shiny cylindrical object. He stared at the deceased Elf.
“Teaching him, I was. Listen, he did not. Defeated not the
enemy, failed did he.”
A laugh rang out. “He underestimated the power of the dark side.”
~*~
A Fairy Tale Christmas Story
Once upon a time, far from the land of BB guns, there was
me, Rutherford B. Hasenpheffer, and like all boys (aged 6-12) I had a Christmas
wish. I wanted a dragon (yes, you heard me, a dragon). One legendary,
fire-breathing, winged lizard.
I badgered my parents night and day for a year, following
them around the castle, begging for a dragon.
“No,” they said. Repeatedly. Consistently.
But I persisted, until somewhere around November they
relented. So I found a baby dragon under the Christmas tree.
The only problem—the darn beast burned down the castle and
now we’re homeless.
~*~
Christmas Eve
Lights glow from the Christmas tree, softly reflecting
through the windowpane frost. The faint scent of pine and undertone hints of
mulled wine imbue the room. Ribbons and
bows and papered packages await the morning, while from somewhere above a snore
or two drifts downstairs.
Everyone sleeps, pretty dreams and wonders in their heads,
waiting in slumber for the morrow. All
is calm and quiet. At least inside. If you listen, really listen, while as the
snowflakes fall outside, you can hear. Sprinkled with the moonlight, there’s
the jingling of bells and jolly laughter with a hearty, ho, ho, ho…
Here’s my end of the year list of some of the books that have piqued my
interest over the past year. This year I’ll be listing them by genre.
But first, I want to feature two books I'm a part of that are also raising money for charity:
Christmas Lites V
Tis the season to celebrate, to love, to dream, to hope. Unfortunately, many people have lost almost everything they have – including hope in this most festive and beautiful of times. Across the globe, authors, illustrators, and artists of all sorts have come together in the anthology you now hold in your hands with one goal in mind. To give hope. To spread love. To give people a chance to dream again.
Christmas Lites V is a special anthology. Every dime raised goes directly to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV). Not a single person who worked on this book or donated their time and their art form to it receives anything from it, other than the knowledge that he/she is making a difference in those affected by domestic violence.
Inside these pages are stories of all genres—Romance, fantasy, horror, action, children’s stories, stories written BY children. Please, dive inside, read, laugh, and spread the love and joy.
Here's the video for my story, A Tale of Two Urchins:
A Rewording Life: Finding Meaning in the Wor(l)d
With A Rewording Life, Sheryl Gordon brings clarity to obscure words, collaborates with over a thousand cool Canadians (Yann Martel, Jane Urquhart, Terry Fallis, Miriam Toews, Wayson Choy, Sass Jordan, Colin Mochrie, et al.), and raises money for dementia research. When Ms. Gordon saw her mother, Yolande, lose her words to dementia, she understood like never before that words have meaning. To honour her mom, she asked Canadians who make her life more rewarding to pen an indelible sentence for an abstruse, bemusing, or convoluted word; she chose words she tends to forget. She hopes to harness these scintillating sentences to help eradicate dementia. Interwoven amongst the plethora of contributions are eight heartfelt essays written by Ms. Gordon. The initial letters of her essay titles (a, d, e, i, m, n, t, e) spell dementia. She hopes readers can embrace this scattered concept. Confusion is, after all, the nature of this disease.
Richard Lampton never believed in fairy tales, so when a stunning stranger at his uncle’s funeral warns him of an ancient family curse, he pays no heed—until a very real wyrm attempts to destroy him. Now, with the help of a homeless runaway, a fledgling jackdaw, and a key none but he can use, Richard must find the courage to meet his death or his destiny as he plunges headlong Into the Weirding.
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the
forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the
border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the
Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help:
one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as
terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is
afraid. She knows—everyoneknows—that the Dragon will take Kasia:
beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her
dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon
comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.
Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman
discovers the secret of eternal youth--she must surrender her life to attain
it, and steal heartbeats to keep it.
I've always felt like an average girl ... except for my
strange relationship with death. You could say I like to court it.
But now Death is courting me―in more ways than one. First,
there’s Rishi, a rogue death deity who has a penchant for annoying me nearly to
my grave and whose intense gaze has the power to see right through me. Then
there’s Hades, who I’d rather had stayed just a myth. Now that he knows I
exist, he’s not going to leave me alone until I meet the same end as my mother.
This
steampunk-goes-to-Bollywood (Bollypunk!) romance that takes place in an
east-Indian-flavored alternate world filled with skyships, saber duels, and
lots of royal intrigue. And, of course, kissing.
The Legacy Human
(Singularity #1) (Singularity Series) by Susan Kaye Quinn
What would you give to live forever?
Seventeen-year-old Elijah Brighton wants to become an
ascender—a post-Singularity human/machine hybrid—after all, they’re smarter,
more enlightened, more compassionate, and above all, achingly beautiful. But
Eli is a legacy human, preserved and cherished for his unaltered genetic code,
just like the rainforest he paints. When a fugue state possesses him and
creates great art, Eli miraculously lands a sponsor for the creative Olympics.
If he could just master the fugue, he could take the gold and win the right to
ascend, bringing everything he’s yearned for within reach… including his
beautiful ascender patron. But once Eli arrives at the Games, he finds the
ascenders are playing games of their own. Everything he knows about the
ascenders and the legacies they keep starts to unravel… until he’s running for
his life and wondering who he truly is.
Dark Beyond the Stars
anthology (multiple authors)
From humanity's first contact with alien life, to the
challenges of space travel, to colonies established light years from Earth,
this anthology celebrates the wide sweep of space opera at its most sublime.
Eleven of today's bestselling authors join forces to bring you these tales of
action, adventure, and brilliant imagination.
Exploring a remote island can get you into trouble
Especially when you stumble upon a cave and awaken two
demons
Rumors and superstition.
That's what Emma thinks about local gossip concerning her
grandmother's "cursed" private island. Emma journeys to the island to
ready it for sale. While out exploring, she unearths a hidden cave-a cave which
holds answers to the island's dark past.
You'll have to wait for the new year for this one, but I'd thought I'd give you a sneak peek.
The Bookminder byM.K. Wiseman
Sired by magick and violence, sixteen-year-old Liara is found guilty of witchcraft and banished from her tiny village by the very priest who raised, then betrayed her. However, a mysterious mage steps forward to assume custody of her: Nagarath, the Wizard of Parentino, whose secret spellwork has long protected both Liara and Dvigrad from the ravages of war.
Despite Liara’s best hopes, Nagarath refuses to apprentice her to his craft but tasks her instead with the restoration of his neglected library. Liara gleans what magickal knowledge she can on the sly, determined to learn, come what may. But the first test of her stolen knowledge goes awry and renews an evil wizard’s interest in the people of the Limska Draga valley.
Only by tapping Liara’s inherent magick and joining it with his own can Nagarath protect Parentino from suffering a horrible fate. However, her discovery of his secrets destroys their fragile trust and ignites the darker tendencies of her gift. Now, he must rescue her from the influence of his mortal enemy before their powerful new alliance destroys them all.
Here’s the Christmas Eve edition of Drabble Wednesday, with
three holiday stories full of wacky Christmas cheer…
Santa Got Pulled Over
By A Policeman
(In Canada)
A red and white blur sped past the cop in the parked cruiser.
The officer plunked his Tim Horton’s coffee in the cup holder, flicked on the
lights and sirens, and gave chase to the speeder. Within minutes, he had the
offender pulled over.
“You know you were going 70 in a 50 kilometre zone, right?”
“Ho, ho, ho!”
“Plus, I’ll have to write you a citation for operating, uh,
a sleigh without a valid license.”
“Ho, ho, ho! Oh no!”
"And I’m going to have to give that—that reindeer with the
red nose a breathalyser test.”
“Merry Christmas!”
Christmas Wars
Jingles the reindeer found the crumpled corpse under the
Christmas tree, missing a hand. He pawed the body, but it was too late.
“Why? Why? Who would do this awful thing to the Elf on the
Shelf?”
“A great disturbance, I sense.”
A tiny wizened green creature appeared from beneath the
holiday foliage. In his hands he carried the Elf’s missing appendage and a
shiny cylindrical object. He stared at the deceased Elf.
“Teaching him, I was. Listen, he did not. Defeated not the enemy, failed did he.”
A laugh rang out. “He underestimated the power of the dark side.”
The Magic of Gifting
I nudged the wrapped gift with my toe, half expecting
something to pop out. You might think that’s paranoid, but after the gerbil
incident I don’t trust strange presents left on my doorstep. Especially when
they’re packaged in snowman paper and topped with frilly pink bows. I thought
about leaving it, but that might endanger the neighbourhood.
I lifted it gingerly by the gaudy bow, carried it indoors and opened it carefully, the fire extinguisher handy. I gasped. Inside lay a hideous rubber chicken.
He wouldn't.Not the Fiendish Chicken of Severus Snape.
Drat Harry Potter and his Christmas pranks.
Note:
Unfortunately, no one
entered last week’s contest to win a free book,
Today I have the spotlight on the charity anthology, Christmas Lites IV. I'm one of the authors included in this wonderful book, (with a steampunk tale, The Professor's Christmas Ghost, about ghost hunting in an orphanage), and all the proceeds are being donated to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Christmas Lites IV
Help support the NCADV (The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence) by diving into 20 delectably wonderful Christmas tales told by authors from all over the world. Go on a space adventure, meet a demon with a heart not quite made of gold, find true love, discover a serial killer and much more. Every dime of your purchase goes to help support the victims of domestic violence. Enjoy your holiday even more knowing your purchase benefits so many people in this special time of year!
I’m bringing that
strange festive touch to the blog this Drabble Wednesday, with a variety of odd
Holiday themed bits of short fiction. Plus, when you've finished reading, there's an opportunity to win a free book at the end of the post. Enjoy.
First up some flash fiction, two stories about the
danger of holiday parties…
Don’t
Touch the Eggnog
Spiking the eggnog was a bad idea. A very bad idea.
I just wanted to liven the family Christmas party, get the
aunts, the uncles, the cousins, and the siblings to loosen up a bit. Who knew a few dollops of rum would have
such an effect!
Aunt Lucy was the first to go, climbing onto the coffee
table to do the Can-Can. Oh, the memory
of that will haunt me forever. Uncle
George chimed in with some French song I didn't understand and then
transitioned into “Who Let the Dogs Out”.
From there everything spun out of control. Cousin Fred curled into a human ball and kept
calling for someone named Daphne. My brother Dave and my other brother Daryl
played keep-away with the porcelain Santa and my sister Jane started a food fight
with the rest of my cousins. Aunt Jessica kept muttering “he’s dead” and
something about a cove, while Uncles Bob and Bert got into a fistfight.
By the time they all passed out, the drapes were cover in
pate and cream cheese, Santa was shattered with pieces embedded in the floor, the
coffee table was missing a leg, two uncles had black eyes and someone vomited
over the ficus. I can see Boxing Day
will be spent making hangover cures and apologizing.
I've learned my lesson.
That’s the last time I take advice from Mom and Dad.
Never Put Your Pate Near The Blender
Everyone loved Bob’s New Year’s Eve parties. He never invited too many people and his
house had a good view of the fireworks in the Town Square. He always had tons of food and his New
Year’s cocktails were famous around town.
He was responsible too; you could stay the night if you didn't have a
designated driver or afford cab fare home.
Bob never let anyone drink and drive.
That’s why everybody from Harrisville and the surrounding
area mourned him the year he had the fatal accident...
It was the year he decided to serve Margaritas. He usually saved them for the Fourth of July
party, but that year he changed the menu, serving Sangria instead at the
Independence Day barbecue.
It happened in the kitchen while he was mixing drinks in the blender. No one is certain precisely how it happened, but the end of his tie fell unnoticed in the
liquid as he prepared the ingredients. What is known is that Bob’s cat leapt on the cupboard (the police concluded the feline was after the salmon pate) and her
paw hit the puree button on the blender. It was over in minutes, the tie catching in the blade, Bob’s
face turning purple, his breath choking in his throat. He collapsed to the floor in a mess of
margarita mix and broken blender.
Now, on every New Year’s Eve in Harrisville, we all raise a cocktail and give a toast to
Bob. And curse the salmon pate.
And now for our feature drabbles…
A Fairy Tale Christmas Story
Once upon a time, far from the land of BB guns, there was
me, Rutherford B. Hasenpheffer, and like all boys (aged 6-12) I had a Christmas
wish. I wanted a dragon (yes, you heard me, a dragon), one legendary,
fire-breathing, winged lizard.
I badgered my parents night and day for a year, following
them around the castle, begging for a dragon. “No,” they said. Repeatedly.
Consistently. But I persisted until somewhere around November they relented.
So I found a baby dragon under the Christmas tree.
The only problem, the darn beast burned down the castle and
now we’re homeless.
An Out of This World New Year
After I mentioned the polka-dotted aliens, Jean insisted she
had to see green snow, so I hovered the spaceship (shaped like a streetcar and
named Desire) from the garage, and we flew to their planet. We arrived in time
for their Lunar Ice Festival and celebrated the New Year dressed in lavender
thermal fusion snowsuits and fuzzy party hats, drinking alien hooch.
Unfortunately, the morning found us five light-years from
Earth in a bizarre hotel suite full of passed out aliens, Jean with a new pink
comet tattoo and me with a raging hangover.
We’re never drinking Romulan Ale again.
And here’s a bonus half-drabble…
Broken Lights
I just couldn't take
my husband’s criticism of my decorating skills anymore. I wrapped the cord around his neck, strangled
him and watched his face turn red as he gasped for air. At least I finally found a use for that
broken set of Christmas lights I never threw away.
Now on to the chance to win a free ebook.
I'm offering to gift one of my ebooks from Smashwords (winner's choice) to any person who lists one of the TV shows subtly referenced in the above stories. All you have to do is leave a comment with the show's name, and some way to contact you if you win (such as an email, Twitter account, Google+ profile, etc.). Here's a hint: you can find the answers in Don’t Touch the Eggnog, A Fairy Tale Christmas Story, andAn Out of This World New Year. You have until Dec. 23rd to win, and the winners will be posted on Dec. 24th, the Christmas Eve edition of Drabble Wednesday.
