Inquisitive Souls: Questions for my vlog

Hello, goosies!
    So I've been thinking that I would do another vlog sometime soon but I wanted to open the blog up for questions. Ask me things, and I'll answer them in the video! It can be a question about writing in general, my books, Anon, Sir, Anon, publishing, my personal life, what the circumference of the world may be (don't expect a correct answer for that one) or anything at all! Ask your questions in a comment below and they will be answered by Wednesday in a brand new vlog. Also,  if you like things related to Alice in Wonderland, perhaps you ought to check out author Cerella Sechrist's Unbirthday Giveaway! I promise that mentioning it gains me no points...it just has a seriously good prize and this is one giveaway I hope to win. Only caveat: you must be eighteen or older to win.

So: give me your questions in a comment and enter to win some lovely Mad Hatter-y prizes. And don't forget: if I don't see you in the future, I'll see you in the pasture. ;)

The Half-Dozen Giveaway Begins!

I just want to tell you that I had way too much fun creating the entries for this giveaway. I will not waste time trying to explain the very self-explanatory Rafflecopter giveaway, but I want to say this:

Only US entrants please.

Foreign shipping is terribly expensive, Lucy, and I can't afford to send three honking books overseas. Many apologies to people like my dear Ness and Joy Chalaby and others who are in possession of good accents but No Books. The rest of you, have at it! The giveaway begins tonight at midnight (or 12 AM of the 14th) and extends through the 21st. I will be choosing a winner on the 22 of August. Have fun and may the odds ever be in your favor.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.S. We will not be having a Chatterbox for August because I forgot and it is now halfway through the month. You get a giveaway instead. Please don't be too terribly angry. I'll schedule one for September right off and we'll be back on track. :)

Today's the Day! {Fly Away Home Debut}

There are always these moments in your life when the things you've dreamed of for years and years finally happen. Sometimes it doesn't feel anything like you thought it would--sometimes it feels too natural and easy. I'm tempted to think, "Why doesn't it feel monumental?" but I wonder if it's all the more monumental because it feels natural; because, for once, a dream that you had as a little kid has made it through the wild woods of adolescence and through the first few years of adulthood and is finally here.

Today's like that. Today I'm writing this as a published author and people are going to buy my book and I will be a professional writer because I've actually made a little money off one of my projects. And it feels nothing and everything like I thought it would. It's really quite wonderful.

Guys, Fly Away Home is available for purchase on:

Amazon and in the Kindle store!

In addition, it's Valentine's Day. It's a day for love. It's a day to share special gifts with the special people in your life. Lucky for you, I don't have a guy in my life with whom I plan to spend the day. That means I don't have to buy him a gift and I can offer one to you instead! :) 

I am giving away 2 copies of Fly Away Home to one extremely lucky winner! The idea here is that you will have one copy for yourself and give the other copy to someone you love to show them that you love them so much you're willing to give them a brand new book autographed by the author herself. Yep! Both copies will be autographed by me. Not that my signature is worth much, but having a first edition book signed by the author is a bit of a fun thing.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, to kick off this fabulous little debut party, I'm going to be showing up in three places today!

The Penslayer

Jade Kerrion

The Second Sentence

Many thanks to those of you who pre-ordered in the past several days; you are the finest of friends and hold the honor of being my first ever batch of book-signing. ;)

{Voila!} The Cover-Reveal at Last!

All right, everyone! I know many of you have been wanting to see the cover of Fly Away Home - goodness knows I've talked enough about it - but I do think that the best spice is hunger and the best way to interest a person is to be just a little mysterious.

The mystery of the cover is finished now and the Cover Reveal Party can begin! We are going to have a giveaway, a tag, a post from St. Rachel (the cover-designer), and more! Not to mention the revealing of the cover itself. That being said...

(I feel like I ought to make you cover your eyes.)

Well....

I suppose I can't do that....

After long days of waiting, lots of excitement, and more than a few hints...here she is:

Didn't Rachel Rossano do an amazing job? I love how she listened to my initial lecture on what I wanted, looked at the mock-up Bree Holloway did for me, and brought this cover out of the muck and mire. Seriously, everyone. If you need a cover designer, please consider Rachel for the job - not only does she do good work, she's a dream to work with.

"A party without cake is just a meeting"

-Julia Childs

I'm sorry I can't offer you cake (since I agree with the Queen of Cookery) but I can offer you a giveaway. What kind of giveaway? Well....

A Fly Away Home-themed "Coziness" package! 

I know it has been awfully cold all across the country and there is more of Winter to come. (aren't you thankful for authors who release books "in the bleak mid-winter?" ;) This care-package has all the elements to make a winter evening perfect.

1.) Hazelnuts & Dark Chocolate bar
2.) Posh Stationery
3.) Nickleby Mug
4.) Tea, Charlotte 

 1.) This thing is like deconstructed Nutella, and is what fuels me while in a deep round of editing.
2.)  I really think this requires little explanation. It's posh paper, perfect for a letter to a guy or girl. Ooh la la.
3.)  This is the best bit. Perhaps you'll understand it better after you've read Fly Away Home, but Nickleby is Callie's black cat with whom she makes all decisions and carries on elaborate conversations. The mug says "What Would Nickleby Say?" and will probably be quite useful in making your own decisions. At any rate, it's adorable and hand-made and (so far) one-of-a-kind.
4.)  That is certainly self-explanatory. Bigelow Earl Grey Tea which, while not rare, is worth-while.

This is a relatively short giveaway so please enter as soon as you can to insure you have a chance! I will be drawing a winner this Saturday, January 18th! 

Ready to enter?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks a million to my cover-reveal participants!

The Second Sentence
The Penslayer
Scribbles and Inkstains
He Designs My Life
Literary Lane
However Improbable
Safirewriter
Just as I Am
Rachel Rossano's Words
Inspiring Daring
Miss Dashwood's Blog
Scribblings of My Pen and Tappings of My Keyboard
Whisperings of the Pen

Remember, you can add the book on Goodreads here! 

It will be available for purchase in just under a month!

Utterly Baffled: A mysterious blog party!

First  of all, I wanted to announce that the winner of Elizabeth Ender's book, Ransomed, is Emily Chapman! Emily, I will send Elizabeth your email address and you two can discuss how best to get your prize to you. Thank you to all who entered and congratulations to Emily. Now we get to have fun and hjinks with the official start to my Utterly Baffled Blog Party. I have no official cut-off date for this party; it is a mystery! (Bwaha. Do you see what I did there? HoHO)

As I said in my Introductory Post , this party will be full of tips on writing mysteries, some of my favorite mystery authors, quotes, pictures, tips, a little bit of everything. Last night I sat down to make a prize for the giveaway....I very specifically wanted a really cool prize and I wanted it to be handmade in The Warren. You know how much fun it is to sit down and make something come out just right? Well that happened.

In a couple hours I had created a prize specifically for this giveaway that I know you will all be dying to win:

When inspiration is burning, you're writing like a fiend, and you're not quite certain you want people barging in, forget a "Do Not Disturb" sign; telling all and sundry "The game is afoot" is so much classier. Think about it: Shakespeare started the trend and Sherlock Holmes took it up. You can join in their footsteps with this lovely, decoupaged wooden plaque.

Okay. Admit it. It's even more adorable with the tiny little magnifying glass inspecting one of my old earrings, right? I think so. And this Sherlock Holmes-inspired bit of nicety could be yours if you enter the giveaway below! In The Warren, I would price this at $25, so you are getting a wonderful chance to have it free! Details for entry are all in the Rafflecopter form at the bottom of the post.

Noir Rachel & Cricket

I found myself swarmed over by Cricket as I was taking photos for this post...hence the blog party photo obscured by the curve of her tail. (Which actually ended up working out nicely so you're not hearing me complain.) She's such a....I don't even know what she is. A pickle? She insists on sitting right where she's not wanted and likes to lay over my shoulders like a mink stole. A live one.

Silly cat.

Well, well, well. If you want to enter for a chance to win the Sherlock Holmes-Inspired Door Hanger, all the information is below. If not, then I think you're a wee bit silly but I suppose you might have your reasons. All people do, it seems.

Genevieve looked at the forbidding knocker--a leopard’s head with the teeth bared to admit an iron ring--and a certain stubbornness peculiar to her nature cropped up: she would not be put off by some jumped-up actor who went about nailing furious leopards to his front door.

-Anon, Sir, Anon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Winner of the Giveaway!!!

It is here...the moment you've all been waiting for. Who will win that gorgeous set of Fountain Pen Earrings??? First off I wanted to thank everyone for entering! I got 57 entries which is more than I ever expected. :) So when I plugged the numbers into Random.org I got number....

4...

....which means....

That the winner is....

Mirriam from Thoughts of a Shieldmaiden!

Congratulations, Mirriam! Contact me at theinkpenauthoress@gmail.com with your address so that we can get the prize sent off to you! And for everyone else, don't forget that through tomorrow you can get free shipping on any purchases from the Michelle Mach shop by typing in: inkpenauthoress as the coupon code! Have a lovely lovely day, girls! I'm off to judge the writing contest! *eep*

And so it begins!!! :)

Please take this button and put it on your sidebar! :)

Tomorrow starts the kick-off of the "'Heigh-ho' For a Husband" Blog Party & Contest here at The Inkpen Authoress! I have much much much planned for this event, and I can't wait to share it all with you! All I will say is that there is a stinkin' fabulous giveaway sponsored by the beautiful Michelle Mach Etsy shop, and you will absolutely adore it. There will be post about Valentine's Day-themed things, writing romance [or not], excerpts from books, interviews, and more, during the next three weeks! I have a post scheduled for nearly every day, and I hope you'll enjoy this party as much as I plan to! :)

So this is a reminder that tomorrow (or more properly, at 12:00 a.m.) you may begin sending your entries to theinkpenauthoress@gmail.com. Contest Details are below :)

This contest will be a contest of Fiction. You may write a dialog, a poem, or a short story (no more than 4,000 words, please). The theme is Un-Valentined Humor. :) Witty, funny, humorous entries about this plight. You may write about two girls discussing their single state, a romantic comedy where no one ends up married, a parody on a famous romantic poem, etc. The idea is to showcase the themes of Valentine's day from an "un-coupled" person's prospective! :) Have fun with it! (And no, you don't have to be single to enter.)

This"Heigh-Ho for a Husband" Blog Party and Contest will open Wednesday, January 23, 2012, and end on February 14th, 2011.
The rules are as follows:

• Each entrant may submit one entry for each category: Poetry, Dialog, or Story. Email all submissions to theinkpenauthoress@gmail.com
• The entries will be judged in their category.  I'll choose one winner from each category, and their entries will be featured on this blog. 
• Then the winners from those three entries will compete for the Grand Prize Winner. I will be announcing the prize at a later date. :)

 Tally-ho, everyone! I can't wait to see what you come up with! Please spread the word about this "'Heigh-Ho for a Husband" blog party so that we can get as many people participating as possible! :)
                                        With Great Expectations,
                                                            Rachel

A Simply Delightful Giveaway!

Ooh! There seems to be a lovely giveaway at Scribbles and Inkstains, the blog of a young, recently-published Christian authoress! :) The author, Abigail Hartman, is giving out a copy of her newest historical fiction novel, The Soldier's Cross, to each of two winners who will randomly be drawn August 15th! :)

I have not yet read this book, but have heard it spoken of in glowing terms, and now I am rather intrigued. I do hope I win a copy, for since this young lady is a Christian young lady, and a published author, it excites and inspires me! :) Please check out the giveaway over at Abigail's blog! :) Here's the link!

Oooh! This makes me so excited to wonder about the Someday of my own when I can do a giveaway like this! :) ~Rachel

Unsinkable: A maiden voyage!

My dear fellow writer, Elizabeth Rose, and her sister Bree have begun an AMAZING blog called "Unsinkable" inspired by the upcoming anniversary of the Titanic. They are hosting monthly giveaways and all sorts of fun events! This blog just launched out on its maiden voyage this past week, so hop on over and enter the giveaway, check out all the neat pages, and jump aboard. As Lizzie so eloquently put it: "There are no icebergs in sight!" :D