Young Adult Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the YA Giveaway Hop here at Disgruntled Bear. The next stop is Enter the Spirit World.

I'm giving away a prize pack (open internationally) that includes:

An early copy (signed) of the new edition of Minder... 

... a Spencer Hill Press tote bag (ooh, stylish!), and a bunch of SWAG, including bookmarks, guitar picks, and stickers.

To enter, become a follower here at Disgruntled Bear and post a comment below. Write anything (clean) you want: "Happy Groundhog's Day Eve," "I <3 sock puppets," "San Dimas High School football RULES!" I'll use random.org to pick the winner and announce it on February 1st. 

Easy, right? 

If you're a first-timer here and are wondering about this Minder book, it's the first book of the Ganzfield series, and #5, Operative, will be released March 15th: 

Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.

Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control. A stray thought can burn a building to the ground. And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads. 

But it's still better than New Jersey.  Especially once she meets the man of her dreams…

Read an excerpt.

Best YA Series of the Year 
"Clever and creative...this book sucked me in and would not let me go--not that I would have wanted it to." – Escape Between The Pages
http://escapebetweenthepages.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-minder-by-kate-kaynaks.html

A Reading Teen "What to Read This Summer" Pick
"Absolutely flawless!" – Reading Teen
http://www.readingteen.net/2010/06/arc-giveaway-of-minder-by-kate-kaynak.html 

A Reader's Choice Awards Top 5 pick for "BEST YA SERIES OF 2010," "BEST YA BOOK" (Minder), "BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE" (Adversary), "BEST SECONDARY CHARACTER" (Trevor), and "BEST COUPLE" (Maddie and Trevor) – Mindful Musings
http://themindfulmusingsbookblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/winner-best-ya-and-adult-series-of-2010.html


Thanks for stopping by Disgruntled Bear, and have a Happy Weekend! 

First Borders Giveaway

I got some goodies at Borders, and here's the first offering:

This is part of a GREAT series; I LOVE Nicole's writing style.

For this giveaway, there's a twist, though. Post a comment below with your name (your first name or your blog name is okay) for a chance to win. For additional chances, get SOMEONE ELSE to post your name (or blog name). So get your friends to post yours (tweet them!) and you can post theirs--up to ten posts from each person. Entries must be posted by midnight EDT Wednesday, September 21st. I'll post the winner the next morning.

Good luck!

Zombie Smurfs

Welcome to Disgruntled Bear! I post five times weekly about writing, reading, editing, and promoting YA paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy books. And when I run out of interesting things to say about those topics, I usually put up a funny video, link, or picture:

http://www.myspace.com/damon71124

If you're just jogging through, your next stop is Charmaine Gordon at: http://authorcharmainegordon.xanga.com/. If you get lost in the links, you can always follow the breadcrumbs back to http://blogjogday.blogspot.com.

So, we're having a giveaway here at the Bear this weekend:

The Body Finder (hardcover), Accused (signed paperback), and a SWAG pack of Spencer Hill Press bookmarks, cards, stickers, and the ever-popular Half-Blood guitar pick

To enter, just follow this blog and leave me a comment before midnight (EDT) on Thursday, August 11th. Your comment can be about anything: your favorite type of cheese, whether you believe Neil Patrick Harris can make the new Smurf movie watchable, a tip for surviving a zombie apocalypse, etc. Or just say, "hi." I'll use random.org to pick the winner and ship the above-pictured prize pack to a U.S. mailing address.

Happy Blog Jog!

Book Giveaway Contest

 

I have a second copy of City of Bones--who wants it?

To enter, post a comment below by midnight, July 26th (EDT) that includes the answer to this:

What would YOU do for a Klondike bar?

Keep your answers clean, people!

The winner is the one who makes me laugh hardest... and who has a US mailing address. Runners-up (worldwide) will receive some book SWAG I've got lying around. And for every link you make to this from your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc., I'll give you one extra chance to win some of that aforementioned SWAG (post links in your comments). Oh, and you need to be a follower of this blog.

It's not just a contest; it's also a way for me to de-clutter my office!

In My Shopping Bag

Hopkinton, New Hampshire is a great town with a wonderful annual book sale at the library. I grabbed a bunch of YA and MG books at 50¢ each.

Rebel Angels, Tuck Everlasting, The Tale of Despereaux, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Inkheart

Yeah. 50¢ each.

Cool, right? Here's the deal. I figured I could give these away on the blog to people who haven't read them yet. So, if you haven't read one or more of these, please put the title(s) in a comment below in the order you prefer them. I'll randomly select five people after midnight on June 30th and send one book to each (shipped to a US mailing address). Winners will receive the book highest on their lists that hasn't already been claimed.

The rules: You need to be a follower of the blog and the Ganzfield Facebook page. Easy, right? 

Oh, and the Slogan Contest continues here: http://thedisgruntledbear.blogspot.com/2011/06/contest_23.html

Happy Monday!

Ooh... Pretty

We have a lot of fun at Spencer Hill, and one of the best bits is the back-and-forth as we design cover art. We finalized this one yesterday:

What do you think? It's the cover of the short story prequel for Half-Blood, and it'll be given away as a free e-book sometime this summer. There will also be a print version. I'll have the links up when it's available, and you can also add it to your "to read" list on Goodreads now. We're also kinda proud of the  other covers for the series:

Speaking of free, we still have the Graceling giveaway here: http://thedisgruntledbear.blogspot.com/2011/03/giveawaygraceling.html 
Comment for the chance to win a free book! BTW, I'm now planning to have at least one book giveaway each month, so keep checking back.

Happy Weekend!

Giveaway...Graceling

I have an extra paperback copy of Kristin Cashore's Graceling. Who wants it? Simply post a comment below by midnight on Thursday, March 31st. I'll select one at random and post the winner on Friday morning.

You get an extra chance if you are a follower of this blog, another extra chance for each of the Spencer Hill author fansites you "like" on Facebook...

Ganzfield
Half-Blood
Angelina's Secret

...as well as an extra chance for each re-post or re-tweet (please list the links in your comment).

And The Winner Is...

...Marcie!

Congratulations, Marcie! Please send me your mailing address through the contact form at Ganzfield.com.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

A Day In the Life of a Psychic Octopus

Welcome to the Blog Jog!

Thanks for stopping by!  The next stop is Ink Slinger's Whimsey at http://inkslingerswhimsey.blogspot.com.

 So...who wants a FREE BOOK? 

Post in the comments here at Disgruntled Bear by midnight (EST) on Wednesday, November 24th, for a chance to win a signed copy of Minder (shipped to a U.S. address).

Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place.
Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control.
A stray thought can burn a building to the ground.
And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads.
But it's still better than New Jersey--especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

+1 chance if you mention "Blog Jog" in your comment
+1 chance if you're a follower
+1 more chance if you're a NEW follower
+1 chance for each link to this contest on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I'll use Random.org for the selection and post the winner's screen name on Thanksgiving Day.  If your user profile links back to contact info, I'll email you that way, too, so there's no need to put your email address in your post unless you want to receive offers of exciting financial opportunities from Benin.

And now, A Day In the Life of a Psychic Octopus...

7:38 a.m.: I wake to a scratchy touch from the cleaning brush of my alien overlords. Curses!  This must mean they want the tank clean for another one of their rituals. 

8:55 a.m.: Crowds of the strange creatures cluster on the air side of the glass.  Their missing-limbed forms move stiffly as they point dark, shiny machines at me--recording devices for the ritual. I find the machines interesting; I'd love to open one of them up and see if I could fit inside. 

Maybe I should consider that option in the escape plan, since removing the drain cover has proved more difficult than expected.  

9:59 a.m.: The land-monsters lower the two bottles into my prison. The markings--they call them flags--mean nothing to me, but I feel the deep emotions of the surrounding voyeurs.  Their eyes widen in anticipation...which one will I choose? 

10:00 a.m.: Screw it!  I can't go wrong with Germany.

10:01 a.m.: At least the bait-fish is fresh.  Tasty.  The creatures mill around outside my tank, but the sense of urgency is gone from them.  Maybe I'll just go back to sleep.