Showing posts with label SFR Holiday Blitz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SFR Holiday Blitz. Show all posts

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Alien Romances Is In The SFR Holiday Blitz











Once again, the alien romances blog supports The Galaxy Express (.net) Science Fiction Romance
Holiday event which encourages lovers of science fiction romance to revisit favorite sites and discover new sites and authors in the genre who might be new to them.

This year, the emphasis is on e-books, and anyone who leaves a comment on any participating site has the change to win free science fiction romance e-books (choice of format).

Please note (and this is a personal comment), no one is going to win the copyright of the e-books. What is on offer, unless any author personally tells you otherwise, is a license to read the e-book.


HOW TO ENTER

Entering is free and easy: Just leave a comment here, and on every other blog that is participating.
By leaving a comment here, you’ll be entered for a chance to win one (1) of the ebooks seen here.
Then visit the other participating blogs, which are listed below for your convenience.  
The deadline to enter (by leaving a comment) is midnight at EST on Friday, December 16, 2011.

Winners can choose from the following formats: PDF, Mobi, or ePub unless otherwise stated.

Event details:

*The contest will start at 3:00 pm EST on Sunday, December 11, 2011.
It will end at midnight EST on Friday, December 16, 2011.

*After the contest ends, each blog host will pick the winners—1 winner per book.
Each blog will announce the winners for their blog by Monday, December 19, 2011.
Winners will provide their emails to the blog host, who will contact the authors who will then distribute their prize to their winner.

*Winners can choose from the following formats: PDF, Mobi, or ePub except where otherwise stated.

E-book prizes being offered (1 randomly chosen winner per e-book) on this blog:

Hero and Border Dispute (Kindle format only) - Jacqueline Lichtenberg


Sealed in Blood (PDF format only) - Margaret L. Carter


The Slipstream Con (PDF, Mobi, ePub) - S. Reesa Herberth & Michelle Moore


The Limit of Desire (PDF, Mobi, ePub) – Nico Rosso



Participating blogs to visit, and comment on for a chance to win e-books.







http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/

Sunday, December 26, 2010

SFR Holiday Blitz: Marcella Burnard's 2010 Book List



I’m Marcella Burnard and as part of the Holiday Blitz over at The Galaxy Express, I’m stepping in to bribe you into giving up your 2010 top pick SFR reads. No taking without giving, however!

This is the bribe for two winners.
Below you’ll find my 2010 reading list and the few books I consider the top options. When I ran through my list, I realized the number of books I’d read was pathetic. I’ll attribute it to the fact that I was desperately trying to get my own book finished and to the editor in something resembling a timely fashion. E-books are noticeably absent from my reading list. There’s not a one. Yes. Even though I claim to be a geek, I resisted buying into the e-reader market because I wanted access to loads and loads of nonfiction science books. The first e-reader incarnations didn’t have much of a nonfiction list. That’s changed and I did finally buy a Kindle recently. Granted, I have yet to download a single book – danged deadlines.

The real shocker? There are exactly three actual scifi romance novels on my list. Maybe four. Depends on how you classify Steampunk. I hope that doesn’t mean I have to turn in my SFR fangirl card…

Here, in no particular order is my 2010 book list:
Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (Steampunk)
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi (Hugo winner)
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (Hugo winner)
Soulless by Gail Carriger (Steampunk)   
The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry (Thriller)
Sparks by Laura Bickle (Urban Fantasy)
• Rebels and Lovers by Linnea Sinclair (SFR)
Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch (SFR)
Dauntless by Jack Campbell (Military SF)
Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides (Nonfiction, WWII History)
After Dark by Jayne Castle (SFR)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (Hugo winner)
The Rising Sea by Orrin H. Pilkey (Nonfiction, Environmental Science)
Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger by Jeff Wise (Nonfiction, Psychology, Physiology)

Turns out, I’m one of those authors who cannot read in my genre while working on a book of my own. It’s too easy for me to pick up someone else’s voice. If I read scifi romance while I’m writing, I end up sounding like whoever I’m reading. So I read books outside the genre. That’s where the nonfiction books, the thriller, and the urban fantasy stories come in. Of those, I can enthusiastically recommend Laura Bickle’s book, Sparks. Of the nonfiction, my favorite was Extreme Fear: The Science of Your Mind in Danger by Jeff Wise.

A friend loaned my husband her copy of Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. I saw the book, spotted “Hugo Award Winner” emblazoned on the front and, curious as to what sort of stories the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America thought were the best examples of the genre, I picked up the book to read the back cover copy. Several hours later, I’d finished reading the book. It was that good. I began wondering if I could read my way through the complete list of Hugo winners. It seemed like the sort of thing a fledgling science fiction writer ought to do – learn from the award winners. Scalzi’s book was definitely my favorite of the three I read this year. Roger Zelazny’s book, Lord of Light, was fascinating and compelling. It didn’t feel at all like a science fiction novel – no one ever talked about the science. Yet the story being told wasn’t possible without the technology placed in the background of the world. I read the book, closed it, blinked, and shook my head. No way could I have conceived of that story, much less written anything like it. But I certainly could (and did) enjoy it.

This brings us around to the steampunk and SFR novels I managed to consume in the latter half of the year. (After I’d turned in book two of my SFR series and before the first book, Enemy Within, hit shelves in early November.) Soulless by Gail Carrington was a fun read. The book qualifies more as paranormal than as science fiction, in my opinion, because what science is present isn’t integral to the story. The paranormal elements are stronger – vampires, werewolves and zombies, oh my. I’d even argue that the book is set in a steampunk-like world, but that the book is a comedy of manners more than anything – a *very* good comedy of manners, mind you, but if you prefer to read SFR and SFR only, this one won’t do. The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook, on the other hand, is very much an alternate history science fiction romance story and a pretty spectacular one, at that. The world has been thought through in detail. The blend of science and adventure is a kick. It’s another I strongly recommend. Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch was another fast, fun read. The only caution I issue is that if you object to religion in your fiction, this book may annoy you. I found it relatively unobtrusive and the humor showed through it all, but I have run into a few readers who stumbled on that one point. Jayne Castle’s book, After Dark, while technically a futuristic romance, read more like a paranormal to me. Sure, it’s another planet and the species is adapting in strange ways to living on this world, but science was light on the ground in this story. (I should mention, too, that this book was published some years ago in 2000 – I just happened to have picked it up and read it this year when someone put it on the book trading shelf at the marina where we live.) This brings us around to one of my all time favorite authors: Linnea Sinclair and her book Rebels and Lovers. First, can I say I love the cover of that book? A geek hero in glasses? This book was definitely another of my favorites.

What about you? What did you read this year that stands out? After all, I have to build a reading list for 2011 and I don’t want to miss out.

I have two signed copies of Enemy Within to give away.












Leave your favorite reads of 2010 in comments and on 12/21, I’ll draw names and ask your lovely Alien Romance hostesses to post the winners!




Marcella

*****
Owning up from Rowena Cherry.
If there are any errors with the links, the blame is mine. I had a bit of fun looking up the authors and the books that Marcella mentioned, and discovered some exceptionally cool stuff.

I also avoided providing a buy-the-book link to Amazon, if another one made more sense to me.... for instance if no one has posted a review on Powells, or Barnes and Noble. Or if the Google book site seemed cooler.

Rowena
PS  Via Love Romance Passion in connection with the global SFR Holiday Blitz, Rowena Cherry is giving away one mailer containing one print copy each of Insufficient Mating Material and Knight's Fork . The one winner chosen by Love Romance Passion can be anywhere in the world.

Linnea Sinclair has donated Rebels and Lovers
REBELS AND LOVERS will go to one winner on the Geek Mom blog 
Gini Koch's TOUCHED BY AN ALIEN will go to the winner on : Lisa Paitz Spindler's Blog

Sunday, December 19, 2010

The SFR Holiday Blitz begins tomorrow (December 20th)


Enter To Win Free Science Fiction Romances With The SFR Holiday Blitz

On December 20, 2010 the second annual SFR Holiday Blitz will launch. This event features a huge giveaway of over 50 science fiction romance books. 33 authors and 15 bloggers have joined forces to give the gift of intergalactic adventure and romance.

Here are the book prizes you can win here at Alien Romances (limited to U.S. & Canadian residents) if you leave a comment on Marcella Burnard's post on December 26th:

A print copy of GAME OVER by Taylor Keating
A print copy of SCARLET and CRIMSON by Jordan Summers

Entering is easy: Just leave a comment. The deadline to enter is midnight EST on December 26, 2010.

That’s not all—visit the participating blogs listed below for a chance to win even more science fiction romances:







http://smartgirlsscifi.wordpress.com/">Smart Girls Love Sci Fi & Paranormal Romance


http://dirtysexybooks.com/">Dirty Sexy Books


http://shiori.haptism.org/">Panic in the Lingerie!

http://www.cathypegau.blogspot.com/">Queen of the Frozen North



http://maryfitz.typepad.com/my_weblog/">Flying Whale Productions
eblog/">Flying Whale Productions

Full copies of the rules and schedule of the participating blog dates may be found at http://www.thegalaxyexpress.net/
Contest runs from December 20th to midnight December 26th (assume US Eastern Time)
Void where prohibited
No purchase necessary
Need not be present to win
Choice of winning comment for each blog will be at the sole discretion of SFR Holiday Blitz management or assignees.


DMCA Note:

Where copies of physical (paper) books are given away, that one copy may be re-gifted or sold as long as no extra copies are created.
The copyright (copy right) remains with the author. The physical copy may not be scanned in order to create a digital version.
Where e-books are given away, the copyright (copy right) remains with the author. An e-book may be backed up and loaded onto any
e-reading equipment owned by the winner (and that loaded equipment may be loaned to family members), but the file may not be burned onto disks, uploaded to sharing sites, duplicated and sold or otherwise distributed without written permission from the author.


Saturday, December 12, 2009

SFR Holiday Blitz... and the Alien Romances winner is













Elorie Alton.

Elorie, congratulations! Please contact Rowena Cherry with your mailing address.
Leave a comment, which we will not publish, if you prefer.

Thank you very much to everyone who supported the "Blitz" and who left a comment.

Sincerely,
Rowena Cherry