Hungry for WIN!

Creative commons via Hryck

The long-awaited day is here.

You know what I’m talking about. Today’s the day you, your mom, your hairdresser and your dog are going to help me show Suzanne Adair just how unstoppable the undead can be.

I can already see the newspaper headlines: ZOMBIES KILLED THE BLOG TOUR STAR.

All you’ve got to do is leave a comment here on this very post, today.

You see, this week isn’t about literary merit and similar nonsense. This is an author cage match, down and dirty, gritty and grimy. The author who earns the most relevant comments gets the Championship title, and I want that author to be me.

But there’s some stiff competition out there. My zombie hordes sure enjoyed reading Monogamy Sucks, and Plain Jane was another tasty meal read. Not to mention the title coming up tomorrow, Nearly Departed in Deadwood, which has enough dead bodies to keep any horde happy.

Sure, my opponent’s read, Paper Woman, is pretty thrilling. Award-winning, in fact. The kickass heroine overcomes bandits, assassins and slaves during the turbulent American Revolution in order to unearth the truth about her father’s murder.

But let’s face it, no woman — paper or otherwise — can be stiff competition to a zombie. Because zombies are the essence of stiff. Like, everywhere. Nevermind. Carry on.

On to the fun stuff: PRIZES!

1. Comment here for an instant win! Tell me how you’d survive the zombie apocalypse and win an ebook copy of Hungry For You. Remember to include your email address! [Oops! Too late. BUT I could still be tempted to give you a copy, if you promise to leave a review on Amazon.com…. hinthintnudgenudge!]

2. Pick your favourite post about of Hungry For You (between Hopeless Bibliophile, Attack of the Book, Black Sun Reviews, The Itzel Library, ParaYourNormal, and/or The Pen & Muse) and comment there with the phrase “I’m hungry for print!” to be entered to win an awesome goodie bag, including a signed paperback, limited edition postcards, and more surprises! Plus three runner-ups will receive a surprise gift, too! (Open worldwide till May 1st). [Winners announced!]

3. Every relevant comment – on this and any of the posts linked above – counts as an entry toward the Kindle grand prize! Want extra entries? Like my facebook page or follow me on twitter! [Sorry guys, this prize is now gone!]

4. I am also giving away one ebook from the 1889 Labs library. That’s right! You can pick any title you want, and I’ll send my horde of zombies off to collect a copy for you. You can’t say no to a free book! All you’ve got to do is like the 1889 facebook page, and leave a comment on the wall saying, “I’m dying for a free book!” [Congrats to winners Bill Kamerer & Jaimemarie Grissum!]

That’s it! Now get commenting, and help this zombie kick blog tour ass!
Leave a comment now!

How To Sign A Book

I have done it.

I have signed my first book.

And let me tell you, it was very weird.

It’s one of the perks of being an author, supposedly: people come up to you with copies of your book, wanting your signature, a message, a dedication…. Wanting a piece of you, in a nice, non-zombie-chomping way.

And yes, it is a great thrill. But at the same time, I think a part of me will always feel confused and a little amused, because why would anyone want lil old me scribbling all over those fresh, crisp pages? Seriously. I have the handwriting of a seven-year-old, in that rounded, overly careful way.

Anyway. Here I was, sitting down at a table, copy of Hungry For You in my hand and ready to be signed, and that’s when I froze. Why? Because I actually didn’t know how to sign a book. I hadn’t planned for this. And — I looked to either side — nope, no spontaneous zombie apocalypse was going to rescue me from this mission.

First things first. I smiled nervously, opened the book, pen hovering. Inside cover? No, that wasn’t the right page. Definitely not on the dedication or the table of contents. Title page, then, under my name in print? Or the flyleaf — the first page of the book, which had the title but not my name? I settled for the latter out of panic.

I lowered my pen, rested the nub against the page, froze again. How to begin? Dear? To? For?

When in doubt, my theory is to run away. It works with the zombies, it worked with the book signing. I plunged straight into writing my message, entirely skipping the issue of whether or not to address it to someone in particular. I didn’t even give myself time to think about where on the page I’d write the dedication, opting for the bottom right corner because it was nearest.

Then another dreaded pause. My instinct told me to sign ‘Anna Harte’, but since my official author name is ‘A.M. Harte’, I wasn’t sure which to go for. Anna is more personal, A.M. is more author-y. Dilemmas upon dilemmas!

And then, to make matters worse, I panicked about whether I was supposed to date the message. And if so, where would I write the date? Above or under the message? And in what format?

See, this is why, whenever someone gifts me with a really lovely notebook, the notebook ends up in dusty drawer, unused. I like scrap paper because I don’t feel guilty about scribbling on it. I don’t want to ruin the nice notebook, and the feeling is only intensified when presented with a copy of my own work, because writing in a book-book is so much more daunting and permanent.

When in doubt, my theory is to run away. So I handed the book back, smiled widely, and ran away.

The Moral:
Be grateful if the first person to ask you to sign their book is a family member, because they won’t mind if you panic for half an hour about doing it wrong.

Hungry For… A Trailer?

I completely forgot to make an announcement about the awesome trailer MCM made for Hungry For You. I mean, I put it over there in the sidebar, but who’s going to notice that, right?

So check it out:

In other news, the April 2011 issue of eFiction Magazine features a back-page awesome poster ad of Hungry For You (also made by MCM), so head on over, read some great fiction, and take a peek at the poster too!

And lastly, since I’ve been so lax in posting fiction here lately, I recommend you distract yourself with Intern With The Vampire, the first book in the exciting new Vampire General series. I like to describe it as True Blood meets Scrubs.

Now, I have parties to attend and songs to dance to.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Blog Tour de Force: 1 Week to Go!

Less than 4 days until the Blog Tour de Force begins, and exactly one week until it’s my day to kick some ass!

You may have noticed I’ve added a bunch of sponsors logos to the sidebar — these are all the lovely people who’ve pitched in to help promote Hungry For You on the day, so much love and kudos to them.

My date on the tour is April 21. I’m going to be posting here and giving away loads of ebook copies, with some other extra-exciting secret goodies up for grabs, too! So make sure to stop by and drop a comment on the blog — which will also enter you into the overall blog tour prize draw for a Kindle.

It’s pretty exciting to be taking part in this all, and the hype has made me really appreciate the lovely book bloggers who go out of their way to promote indie authors. One such book blogger has gone as far as to make a video trailer for the blog tour! Cue video:

In other news, I’ve started up a tiny, very under construction directory of indie book bloggers to help showcase these wonderful people.

Further exciting news is that I am now officially the Editor-in-Chief of 1889 Labs, which means I get to crack my whip and commission exciting projects and just generally run around and get my way.

So yes, this is my happy face. :-)

Coming Soon: Blog Tour de Force!

Coming soon, right here: blog tour meets cage match meets utter insanity.

Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your pet hamster. For five days, ten indie authors will face off and and give away more prizes than you can shake a stick at!

Now let me explain in a slightly less sensational manner:

From April 18th-22nd, every day, two indie authors will face off, battling for the most number of comments. The two authors who receive the most comments from readers overall will then fight it out for the Championship title, and I’m determined to get that crown on my head! Up for grabs will be countless free ebooks, goodie bags, and even a huge prize draw to win a Kindle. You’d be crazy not to take part.

My day is April 21st, where I’ll be facing off with Suzanne Adair, author of Paper Woman. It’s going to be an interesting match, considering Paper Woman is a historical thriller set during the American Revolution — could that be any more different to Hungry For You?

I’ve already got a bunch of lovely book bloggers who are willing to sponsor me during the event by posting reviews/interviews, and am rustling up some cool prizes to give away (suggestions welcome). So far, I’ve decided that anyone who posts on my blog on the day will get a free ebook copy, and up for grabs will be a print copy, postcards, and who knows what else?

For now, just put that date in your calender: April 21. I’ll see you back here for some awesomeness.