Tuesday, August 31, 2010

September is contest month!!

Yes folks, you heard right. For the month of September, I will be hosting a contest. And what a contest it will be. At least, I hope you think so.

I'm celebrating the release of not only a lovely new website, but also the long-awaited release of the short story sequel to A Piece of My HeartCONSTANT CRAVING.

September is the month of romance and love in Ireland. All month, people from all over Ireland gather in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare for the annual Matchmaking Festival. This tradition dates back decades, to a time when parents would bring their sons and daughters of marriageable age to the town and hire the local matchmaker to organize some weddings. This took place just after the last harvest of the year, which was the only time during the year when farmers could take time away from their homesteads. Without matchmakers, it would have been near impossible for farmer's children to find husbands and wives on their own because they would have spent most of their time on the farm. This was especially true for island folk.

Another love tradition revolves around the Claddagh Ring. The original ring was designed around 1690 in the Claddagh region of Galway City. This ring has long been used as an engagement ring, the tradition of which continues today. The Claddagh Ring got its design from the old pre-Roman Fede Ring, which was a band with two hands clasped in the front, signifying the hands of friendship and the bond between husband and wife. The Claddagh Ring goes on to include a heart between the hands which is crowned. The heart represents love, the hands friendship, and the crown loyalty.

Claddagh Rings may be given as friendship rings or promise rings, worn on the right hand with the crown pointing out (hold your hand upright and the heart and crown face upright).

As an engagement ring, or even as a wedding band, the ring is worn on the left hand and worn with the crown pointing out, as above.

Above all, these rings must be gifts of love and never purchased for oneself!

The Lisdoonvarna Matchmakers Festival and the Claddagh Ring feature in A Piece of My Heart, so what better time to have this contest!

So here it is. The contest is simple. Answer five questions and submit them to me. On the first of October, all entries will be put into a container and randomly drawn, third to first place.

ALL BUT ONE ANSWER can be found on this website. The bonus question is a pure guess for you. The answer has no bearing on the other questions and will not affect your entry into the draw. It's just for fun and to see how well you really do know me. And . . . the person who gets it right will get an extra treat in their prize package!!

OH! You want to know what you'll win? There are FIVE prizes on offer —

Third Prize - Three winners will get digital copies of A Piece of My Heart and Constant Craving. These are PDF versions, but we'll be happy to supply an e-reader specific copy on request.


Second Prize - An autographed copy of A Piece of My Heart, Constant Craving on disc, a certificate of ownership of land in Ireland (compliments of A Piece of Ireland), and a plush Jess dog toy. . . Molly's puppy from A Piece of My Heart.

And the Grand Prize - An autographed copy of A Piece of My Heart, Constant Craving on disc, a certificate of ownership of land in Ireland (compliments of A Piece of Ireland), and a ladies silver Claddagh Ring!

And yes, the winning Claddagh Ring is given with all of the meaning the ring signifies!

So get your thinking caps on. The contest will run until midnight 30 September, that's Irish time . . . 4pm PST or 7pm EST.


Good luck!

{Disclaimer: The photos shown above of the dog and ring are not the actual prizes, but representations from those line of manufacture.}



Thursday, August 26, 2010

AVAILABLE NOW: Constant Craving

Available now: Constant Craving, the short story sequel to the award winning A Piece of My Heart.

The perfect life Mick and Kate thought they had was slowly dissolving. With Mick obsessing about the farm and Kate thrown into a life of domesticity, both lose some of what they'd fought so hard to regain.

It all comes to a head when Kate suspects Mick of having an affair. Kate’s parents step in to give each of them advice from their own years of marriage.

Now, both Mick and Kate have set their own romantic plans in motion, but it could all fall through when Kate nearly blows up the kitchen.

Reviewers are already hot on this story. Log into my site to see what they're saying.

Constant Craving is only available as a digital download through Smashwords and Kindle. Smashwords offers a Kindle version, as well as versions for your own digital book reader. Log in to read an excerpt, then click on the links to buy your own copy.

Don't forget that A Piece of My Heart is also available on Smashwords and Kindle. With the holidays coming up, what better gift for the one you love than a download of both stories onto your loved one's reading device?!

OK, hands up. Who noticed I've got a newly designed website? And it's purple!! I'm lovin' it :-) And I hope you do to.

I've also added the links to my articles blog, Hearticles: Articles with Heart. I publish articles for writers every other Sunday. The most recent just published on the 22nd. My topic was Romance in History. Drop over to read the full article and be sure to leave me a comment or question. While there, if you haven't read them already, look at the other articles and feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

As well, my non-author blog, Heart Shaped Stones, also got a facelift. I don't have a regular posting schedule, but I recently posted an article with some fabulous recipes of my own. Check out Farm to Fork to see what I cooked up with those fantastic office-grown tomatoes! Put your bib on!!

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Contest

To celebrate the release of Constant Craving and the newly designed sites, I'm hosting a month-long contest for the month of September.
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I'm posting a notice here on the 31st at which time I'll tell you about the rules of the competition and about the THREE prizes.
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Winners will be announced by a random draw on the 1st of October.
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So bookmark this site and come back on the 31st to enter your chance to win!

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Monday, August 02, 2010

Celebrations Galore!

The Long and the Short of It Reviews is celebrating their third anniversary in style. They're having a scavenger hunt that runs from August 2-29 and culminates in a two-day live author chat that final weekend (28th and 29th) in their Yahoo Groups, during which they'll announce the winners.

What are the prizes? THREE Nook eBook Readers that come with $50 Barnes and Noble gift certificates AND are already pre-loaded with dozens of romance and juvenile fiction eBooks, including A Piece of My Heart!

How to win? Log into The Long and the Short of It Reviews and follow their simple instructions. Click on the LASR Logo to follow the scavenger hunt on my site.

Good luck!!

Also, A Piece of My Heart (<---click here) is now available in the Kindle Store at Amazon. Finally!!

Read the excerpt for this story and the reviews on the book's page here on my website. A Piece of My Heart is currently available at a number of online retailers, including Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada and others. Also through Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million (in-store orders taken), Booktopia (AU), CoffeeTime Romance, Eason Booksellers (Ireland), and Smashwords.

Be sure to bookmark my site and come back for more information later in the month for a contest with more fabulous prizes. My contest runs the month of September and will celebrate the launch of my newly designed website AND the highly anticipated release of the short story sequel to A Piece of My Heart -- Constant Craving!

The perfect life Mick and Kate thought they had was slowly dissolving. With Mick obsessing about the farm and Kate thrown into a life of domesticity, both lose some of what they'd fought so hard to regain.

It all comes to a head when Kate suspects Mick of having an affair. Kate’s parents step in to give each of them advice from their own years of marriage.

Now, both Mick and Kate have set their own romantic plans in motion, but it could all fall through when Kate nearly blows up the kitchen.

Wow! Can you imagine? You'll have to read the story to find out how that happens.

Until then, head over to The Long and the Short of It Reviews and get winning a Nook!

As always, I love hearing from readers, so drop me an email!

~ Kemberlee