#Giveway Winners & Happy Birthday to Grand Central Terminal

I want to thank all of you who participated in the giveaways this week and last! Here are the lucky winners:

HEA Giveaway – Elizabeth Book Attict
Bab’s Book Bistro Giveaway – Laney4, Froggy and Jodi

Please e-mail your postal addresses to me at cpsromance at att dot net so I can send out your prizes.

And now, a very special Happy Birthday to one of my favorite NYC spots, Grand Central Terminal which turns 100 today! There are all kinds of festivities going on today, so if you are in the area, drop by and wish this lovely place a very happy birthday. You can find out more by clicking here.

Here is a shot I took of Grand Central in the morning. It’s so lovely to me!

Double Pleasure, Double Fun #Kindle #Giveaway

We are so lucky to have here today Melinda Leigh and Robin Perini who are going to share with us some Thursday 13 facts about their new Amazon Bestselling releases! Plus …. drum roll…

Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win a Kindle and some free books!

But first, to visit other Thursday 13 participants, you can click here.

Also, I’ll be picking the winners of the AMAZON AWAKENING release party later today and will announce the winners tomorrow!

Without further ado, here are Melinda Leigh and Robin Perini.

MELINDA LEIGH

In my debut novel from Montlake Romance, SHE CAN RUN (released November 28), Beth Baker is on the run from her violent and powerful husband when she takes refuge at a secluded mansion. There she finds herself under the watchful eye of former cop Jack O’Malley. Her secrets, his suspicions, and their desire clash when a killer strikes nearby.

Here are Thirteen random facts about me and SHE CAN RUN.

    1. SHE CAN RUN is the first book I ever wrote.
    2. It took two years to learn the craft and business of writing well enough to turn that crappy first draft into a marketable book.
    3. I wear pajama bottoms whenever possible. Everyone in my neighborhood has seen me in them, including the UPS guy, the mailman, and once, when my then eight-year-old suddenly remembered at 9 pm she needed 30 cupcakes for school the next day, the night shift at the local supermarket.
    4. After 20+ years on the police force, Jack is injured in a car accident.
    5. Five is the number of complete rewrites SHE CAN RUN went through before I was signed by an agent.
    6. I require, at minimum, half a pot of coffee in the morning before my brain is fully functional.
    7. I often have a hard time picking titles for my books. Some go through a dozen before I settle on one. Most spend months on my computer entitled, “Current POS.”
    8. Henry, the police dog reject in SHE CAN RUN, is named after Henry Tudor, who defeated Richard III in 1485 and won the crown.
    9. Beth’s first husband was a fire-fighter.
    10. I work best in organized clutter. Color coded note cards are strewn across my workspace. White cards are for character descriptions. Colored cards are for plot notes. I haven’t seen the surface of my desk since June.
    11. I watch The Dog Whisperer. A dog will likely appear in everything I write, and you can be assured the pup will alive at the end of the book. The human characters have so such guarantee. Just sayin’.
    12. In SHE CAN RUN, Beth is hiding from her violent husband. It’s estimated that 1.3 million women are abused by their husbands or boyfriends in the US each year.
    13. 50% of protection orders granted to domestic violence victims are violated, and one-third of female homicide victims are killed by their intimate partners.

Find out more about Melinda at MelindaLeighAuthor.com. Connect with her on Facebook & Twitter.

ROBIN PERINI

In my debut novel from Amazon’s Montlake Romance, In Her Sights, (released on November 29, 2011), Colorado’s lone female SWAT sniper finds herself in the crosshairs when her past is exposed and an old enemy returns with a vengeance seeking to destroy her—and everyone she loves.

So, thirteen unusual facts related to In Her Sights and author Robin Perini.

    1. There is actually a town named Truth or Consequences (aka T or C), New Mexico. The town’s name was changed from Hot Springs during a national contest to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a television show of the same name.
    2. Robin is training in small-bore silhouette shooting and has discovered holding a rifle as steady as Jazz is not as easy as it looks.
    3. Jazz’s favorite candy is Butter Rum Life Savers.
    4. Luke Montgomery, the hero, has five brothers: Seth, Zach, Gabe, Caleb and Nick.
    5. Robin’s ‘how-to-write’ workshops have been included on the Top 24 Workshops CD from the Romance Writers of America’s® National Conference CD five times (Bill Stephens Productions).
    6. Jazz played basketball at Metro State in Colorado.
    7. There were between 1000 and 2000 Russian female snipers in World War II. Approximately 500 survived the war.
    8. The windage knob on a rifle controls the movement of the scope setting, usually in minutes of angle or actual inches, to move the bullet’s point of impact to the right or left.
    9. The New Mexico state question is “Red or Green?” and refers to what type of chile sauce should be included with a meal. If you want both, simply ask for ‘Christmas’.
    10. Jazz moved from New Mexico to Colorado just after she turned sixteen.
    11. In Her Sights was a Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® award finalist in 2011.
    12. Luke Montgomery was an Army Ranger before he became an investigative reporter.
    13. In Her Sights is Robin’s first published novel

Get more information about Robin on her website, robinperini.com. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Guest Blog and Winners!

Time for some winners for all the past blog hops & contests!

Those of you who attended the chat with the wonderful Aimee & David Thurlo, thank you! I’ve written to you to get your contact details and the prizes will be going out shortly!

For the Lisa Renee Jones blog for a chance to win HOT VAMPIRE TOUCH and a copy of Lisa’s December release WICKED WEREWOLF NIGHT in e-book as well as a little goodie bag with fun surprises, the lucky winner is Kelly Mueller.

The winner of a LOST T-shirt and a $10 Gift Card from the Spooktacular Blog hop is Amy Stogner!

Please send me your postal addresses so we can get your contest wins out to you.

For a chance for some more giveaways, visit with me later today at the Harlequin Paranormal Romance Blog.

A Paranormal Moment from The Muppets

What paranormal writer doesn’t love a demon in the night doing all kinds of things with the peasantry? Check out this funny take from The Muppets on the classic STAND BY ME!

Also, congrats to Leanne, Rachel, Christine and Kym who won prizes at the live video event on Wednesday night. Thanks to all who came by. We’re working on the dates for the next video chats and I’ve lined up some fun authors to visit, like my Danger Women Writing buddies Lisa Renee Jones and Cynthia Eden. In July I’ll also have Larissa Ione visiting with me!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Events, Coupons and More!

As much as I was planning to do a Thursday 13 today, I am without a thought this a.m. I could not even name 13 things sitting on my desk right now. Well, maybe I could but I don’t think you’d be too interested in knowing. LOL!

I want to thank everyone who dropped by the live video event last night. I had a blast talking with all of you and the marvelous Donna Grant. Donna is so much fun and it was so interesting to hear about her books and her wonderful Dark Sword series. Also got to see her wonderful trailer for UNTAMED HIGHLANDER. Can I say AWESOME?

I’ll be picking winners from the event later this a.m. and posting them tomorrow, so please drop by on Friday to see if you’ve won.

Well, maybe I can after a double dose of coffee since I was both tired and excited after our event last night. Went to bed early as I usually do because I’m normally up at 5 a.m. to head to work. So not fun.

But as I lay there I turned on the television and zapped between PAWN QUEENS and AUCTION WARS. I love seeing what they find, maybe because I’ve recently discovered that there is an adventurous treasure hunter buried deep inside of me. (Duh, I guess I should have realized that way before writing AZTEC GOLD and THE FIFTH KINGDOM, but I didn’t!)

Then I caught my first episode of EXTREME COUPONING. Whoa! A young couple got thousands of dollars of items for FREE. The nice thing was they gave everything away to local area charities.

Next was a single mom who relied on couponing to support her family. More power to her. Why not take advantage of savings, especially in these difficult times.

I used to coupon more. Once saved 75% of my grocery bill with coupons. Now I have little time for that, but I still try to predominantly buy what’s on sale and what I need. I don’t want to end up throwing away items that have reached their expiration date.

I also make sure to check the sizes and prices. 5.98 a pound chicken breasts at 50% off is no bargain. I hate when stores do that to make themselves look good, but are not really giving their customers a break.

So do you coupon? Extremely or just average?

Oh wait. I guess I did have some thoughts this morning. LOL! I hope they made sense.

Busy Monday Morning!

I’m taking a break today from our usual Guilty Pleasure Monday because it’s a very busy Monday morning.

Take a moment to visit the Danger Women Writing Blog where Cynthia Eden is chatting about sexy heroes and offering up an ARC of NEVER CRY WOLF, her June 28th release from Kensington Brava, to one lucky commenter.

Using Random.org, I’ve picked two winners for my Getting to Know You Blog: Cindy L. and Jane T. both win STRONGER THAN SIN T-shirts, copies of STRONGER THAN SIN, bath gels and other goodies!! Please e-mail me your postal addresses so I can send out your prizes.

THE LOST Paranormal RomanceBut the fun and prizes don’t stop there! This morning I am over at Attacking the Page discussing how to write a sexy love scene. Drop by and leave a comment for a chance to win an ARC for THE LOST, the first book in my new paranormal romance series from Forever Romance.