2011 Blogversary Giveaways - The Winners

Before I get to the winners, I'd like to thank everyone again for reading the blog, leaving comments, entering the giveaways, tweeting, etc. I hope that 2012 is a good book year for all of us. I'm already contemplating next year's Blogversary Giveaways!

After recording the over 300 hundred entries, the list of names was entered into a list randomizer at Random.org so that each entry would have a number and be placed in a random order. After the numbered list was generated a standard random number generator at Random.org was used to pick 4 winners. The first commenter chosen gets his/her first choice, the second commenter chosen gets the highest of his/her choices that has not been given away, etc. until all 4 giveaways have been given away. In order of being chosen these winners are:


1st Winner Picked - Angel Giveaway

Chrisbails who said

I would love to win, what great prizes. My choices would be:
1. angels
2. nook package
3. demons
4. steampunk
Some of my fav books of the year have been Sarah Jio's Violets of March and Jennifer's Garden by Diane Venetta. Both of them are great books and ones I recommend.

The Angel Giveaway

Includes:
Covet, Crave and Envy by J.R. Ward,
a bookmark with a quill crafted by Wicked Lil Pixie Designs,  
Angel's Blood, Archangel's Kiss, Archangel's Consort, and Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh,
Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day,  
Avenger's Angel by Heather Killough-Walden, and
a signed copy of Sins of the Angels generously provided by Linda Poitevin along with some Sins of the Angels bookmarks.

In addition the Angel Giveaway includes a Divine Intervention necklace crafted by Cemetery Cat Jewelry:

Peridot Swarovski crystal is the foundation of this necklace. An Art Nouveau Lily pendant 

holds a large crystal teardrop, while a pewter angel looks on. 16"

2nd Winner Picked -  New York Comic Con (NYCC) / NOOK Simple Touch^TM Giveaway

LisaILJ who said

Wow what a great giveaway!

Why do I have to chose a favorite book of the year? That just makes me sad. I guess I will say Wither by Divergent by Veronica Roth

my preference for the giveaway is:

1. NYCC Nook
2. Angels
3. Demons
4. Steampunk

New York Comic Con (NYCC) / NOOK Simple Touch^TM Giveaway

Includes:
a NOOK Simple Touch^TM ereader,
a signed copy of Awakenings by Edward Lazellari,
a signed copy of A Kiss Before the Apocalypse by Thomas E. Sniegoski,
a bookmark with a quill crafted by Wicked Lil Pixie Designs,
a signed copy of The Postmortal by Drew Magary and pin,
a Soulless 2011 NYCC Special Preview comic with Soulless pin,
and a Game of Thrones NYCC comic preview.

In addition, the NYCC / NOOK Simple Touch^TM Giveaway includes The Qwillery necklace and earrings crafted by Cemetery Cat Jewelry:

Silver plate chain holds a pewter Celtic knot with a sterling silver quill and ink charm 

dangling below.. A pewter bat charm highlights.

3rd Winner Picked - Demon Giveaway

Sebrina who said

This is Huge!! Wow!
I'm having a hard time with answering your question, to be honest. I've read so many and LOVED so many....I'm gunna get a headache trying to think of my fave! lol So maybe I'll throw out a couple of my fave's? Here goes: Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison (started #2 recently), Unleashed by Sara Humphreys, All Wounds by Dina James, Edge of Sight by Roxanne St. Claire. All of these, of course, I've read in the last mth, that's why I remember them quickly as being 'my faves'....lol
Thank you for the chance at this most awesome giveaway!
My order of preference:
1. Angels
2. Demons
3. Steampunk
4. NYCC Nook

The Demon Giveaway

Includes:
The Lords of the Underworld novels by Gena Showalter: The Darkest Night, The Darkest Kiss, The Darkest Pleasure, The Darkest Whisper, The Darkest Passion, The Darkest Lie, The Darkest Secret, and The Darkest Surrender,
a bookmark with a quill crafted by Wicked Lil Pixie Designs, 

The Demonica novels by Larissa Ione: Pleasure Unbound, Desire Unchained, Passion Unleashed, Ecstasy Unveiled, and Sin Undone.

In addition the Demon Giveaway includes the Tansy necklace crafted by Cemetery Cat Jewelry:

Nestled among silver plate chain are brilliant purple "tanzanite" colored Swarovski crystals and a Victorian style hand . This is all held together by a pewter scrolled Victorian flower pendant. 

Swaying from the pendant is a large teardrop Swarovski crystal of the same color. 16 1/2"

4th Winner Picked - Steampunk Giveaway

Na who said...

Happy Blog Anniversary! I know it came late but you sure know how to celebrate. Thank you for celebrating with your readers. I have so many books I loved this year and many came from authors new to me. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness is one of my favorite.

How I wish I had a US address. If I need the Nook would be my number 1 choice. My preference are:

1. Angel
2. Demon
3. Steampunk
4. Nook

The Steampunk Giveaway

Includes:
The Native Star and The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson,  
The Doomsday Vault by Steven Harper,
a bookmark with a quill crafted by Wicked Lil Pixie Designs,  
The Buntline Special by Mike Resnick,  
The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack and The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder,  
Dead Iron by Devon Monk,
a signed copy of The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross,
and The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook.

In addition, the Steampunk Giveaway includes a Steampunk necklace crafted by Cemetery Cat Jewelry:

Brass chain holds a pendant made of altered art and watch ephemera.

The winners have been notified and have until 11:59PM US Eastern Time on Saturday, December 24, 2011 to respond or The Qwillery will very randomly choose a new winner or winners.

Thank you!

November 24, 2011

Wishing all of you who celebrate a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

New York Comic Con 2011

My 2011 New York Comic Con (NYCC) was cut short by a family emergency. As I was on the bus from Connecticut into the City on October 14th, I received a somewhat scary phone call from a cardiologist caring for one of my parents. I did get to spend a bit of time at NYCC before heading home. Fortunately my siblings were with the parent.

If you ever have a chance to go to New York Comic Con, you really should. It's chock full of comics, video games, books, goodies to buy, entertaining panels, and terrific signings. You can count on seeing some excellent cosplay as well.

I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful authors. Unfortunately I did only a portion of what I had planned to do. I had to skip comics entirely and barely glanced at video games. Still I had a great time and am looking forward to next year.

Author!

I met Myke Cole. His debut, Control Point (Shadow Ops 1) is out in January 2012. 

I did manage to stop at some signings.

Drew Magary, author of the The Postmortal (August 2011). You can read my review of The Postmortal here.

C.E. Murphy who writes The Walker Papers among other series.

Tom Sniegoski who writes the Remy Chandler series and a lot of other books!  Tom drew a very awesome wolfy critter on a bat (a wooden cutout of the mammal) that I had with me at NYCC in 2010. You can see the bat at this post if you're interested.

Joseph Nassise who was signing Eyes to See (October 11).

Edward Lazellari, whose debut Awakenings, was published in August. (My review here.)

Lia Habel, whose debut Dearly, Departed, is out in few days.

And last, but not least, Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, who together write The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series.

Here are just a few images of NYCC. Photos can never do it justice. There really is a wealth of things to do and see.

 

Check out my coverage from New York Comic Con 2010 here and here. 

Banned Books Week - September 24 - October 1, 2011

Banned Books Week runs from today September 24 thru October 1, 2011.

During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2011 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 24 through October 1. Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982. For more information on Banned Books Week, click here

According to the American Library Association, there were 348 challenges reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom in 2010, and many more go unreported.

From the About Banned Books website: http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/about

Many books are challenged. Here is a link to the American Library Association's Books Challenged or Banned in 2010 -2011:  Books Challenged and/or Banned - 2010-2011 (PDF)  Challenged books include The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. There are many more.

You can check and see if there is a Banned Books Week event near you:
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/events

Here is a very useful map that shows challenges around the US. You can go to the larger map and then zoom in anywhere in the US, click the little balloon, and see which book was challenged and where:
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/mappingcensorship


My thoughts

My thoughts are very crystallized on this subject:

As a parent and a reader I do not want anyone telling me or my children what we can or can not read.  With regard to my children, what they read is MY decision.  I would never try to stop anyone else from reading something that I did not want either of my children to read. What do you think?

Book Expo America 2011 - May 24, 2011

My first day at BEA was very, very busy, exhausting, and fun. Here are some photos.

Amanda Stevens

Andrew Shaffer

Clay and Susan Griffith & The Greyfriar

Jonathan Maberry & Dead of Night

Sharon Linnea & The Violent Delights

Rachel Vincent

Richelle Mead & Bloodlines

The Awesome Folks from Ellora's Cave

Jeri Smith-Ready

I met many wonderful people and have some fun things coming up at The Qwillery over the next few months. I also got to play with the new Kobo e-reader that was announced yesterday. More on that in another post... soon.

Happy Mother's Day - May 8, 2011

From The Qwillery to all the Moms and those who fill the shoes of Moms, Happy Mother's Day!

No books were harmed in the making of this photo.

2011 Hugo Award and Campbell Award Nominees - April 24, 2011

The winners will be announced at Renovation, the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nevada (August 17 - 21, 2011)  

Best Novel

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis (Ballantine Spectra)
Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)  
The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (Gollancz; Pyr)
Feed by Mira Grant (Orbit)
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)


Best Novella 

"The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window" by Rachel Swirsky (Subterranean Magazine, Summer 2010)
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang (Subterranean)
"The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon" by Elizabeth Hand (Stories: All New Tales, William Morrow)
"The Sultan of the Clouds" by Geoffrey A. Landis (Asimov's, September 2010)
"Troika" by Alastair Reynolds (Godlike Machines, Science Fiction Book Club)


Best Novelette

"Eight Miles" by Sean McMullen (Analog, September 2010)
"The Emperor of Mars" by Allen M. Steele (Asimov's, June 2010)
"The Jaguar House, in Shadow" by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov's, July 2010)
"Plus or Minus" by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's, December 2010)
"That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made" by Eric James Stone (Analog, September 2010)


Best Short Story 

"Amaryllis" by Carrie Vaughn (Lightspeed, June 2010)
"For Want of a Nail" by Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov's, September 2010)
"Ponies" by Kij Johnson (Tor.com, November 17, 2010)
"The Things" by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld, January 2010)


Best Related Work

Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001, by Gary K. Wolfe (Beccon)
The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing, by Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg (McFarland)
Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea (Mad Norwegian)
Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 1: (1907 - 1948): Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr. (Tor)
Writing Excuses, Season 4, by Brandon Sanderson, Jordan Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells


Best Graphic Story

Fables: Witches, written by Bill Willingham; illustrated by Mark Buckingham (Vertigo)
Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse, written by Phil and Kaja Foglio; art by Phil Foglio; colors by Cheyenne Wright (Airship Entertainment)
Grandville Mon Amour, by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse)
Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, written and illustrated by Howard Tayler; colors by Howard Tayler and Travis Walton (Hypernode)
The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man, written by Mike Carey; illustrated by Peter Gross (Vertigo)


Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, screenplay by Steve Kloves; directed by David Yates (Warner)
How to Train Your Dragon, screenplay by William Davies, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders; directed by Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders (DreamWorks)
Inception, written and directed by Christopher Nolan (Warner)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, screenplay by Michael Bacall & Edgar Wright; directed by Edgar Wright (Universal)
Toy Story 3, screenplay by Michael Arndt; story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton & Lee Unkrich; directed by Lee Unkrich (Pixar/Disney)


Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

Doctor Who: "A Christmas Carol," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: "The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang," written by Steven Moffat; directed by Toby Haynes (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who: "Vincent and the Doctor," written by Richard Curtis; directed by Jonny Campbell (BBC Wales)
Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury, written by Rachel Bloom; directed by Paul Briganti
The Lost Thing, written by Shaun Tan; directed by Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan (Passion Pictures)


Best Editor, Short Form 

John Joseph Adams
Stanley Schmidt
Jonathan Strahan
Gordon Van Gelder
Sheila Williams


Best Editor, Long Form

Lou Anders
Ginjer Buchanan
Moshe Feder
Liz Gorinsky
Nick Mamatas
Beth Meacham
Juliet Ulman


Best Professional Artist 

Daniel Dos Santos
Bob Eggleton
Stephan Martiniere
John Picacio
Shaun Tan


Best Semiprozine 

Clarkesworld, edited by Neil Clarke, Cheryl Morgan, Sean Wallace; podcast directed by Kate Baker
Interzone, edited by Andy Cox
Lightspeed, edited by John Joseph Adams
Locus, edited by Liza Groen Trombi and Kirsten Gong-Wong
Weird Tales, edited by Ann VanderMeer and Stephen H. Segal


Best Fanzine

Banana Wings, edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Challenger, edited by Guy H. Lillian III
The Drink Tank, edited by Christopher J Garcia and James Bacon
File 770, edited by Mike Glyer
StarShipSofa, edited by Tony C. Smith


Best Fan Writer

James Bacon
Claire Brialey
Christopher J Garcia
James Nicoll
Steven H Silver


Best Fan Artist 

Brad W. Foster
Randall Munroe
Maurine Starkey
Steve Stiles
Taral Wayne


John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer

Saladin Ahmed
Lauren Beukes
Larry Correia
Lev Grossman
Dan Wells

*All John W. Campbell Award finalists are in their 2nd year of eligibility.