I Won!

I've been following several blogs and sometimes I'll leave a comment and sometimes I won't.  Last week there was a posting on Buried Under Books about reading order of mysteries or any books in a series.  It was an interesting article and there was a giveaway.  I won a copy of Real Murder by Lauren Carr. 


Thank you, ladies.  It's been a while since I won anything.  I will call this a late birthday present.  E :)

It's Here!!!

On the 28th of January after attending a Sisters in Crime meeting and upon returning home and joining a chat, I was the winner of the Kindle giveaway (yeah, that's how long ago it was - see posting on my JGDS blog). So last Friday, I emailed the Dorothy again saying I didn't have my kindle after being told the week before I should have it in a couple of days since the check from the publicist had cleared and she needed my phone number. I figured a week of waiting after giving my phone number to her was long enough. So anyway, she was kicking herself saying that she forgot to order the Kindle so how about her paypaling me the funds and letting me order it myself. Works for me. So Friday afternoon, after the funds had been transferred, I ordered my Kindle and by the confirmation email, I figured I would have my Kindle sometime between Wednesday and Friday, the 9th and the 11th. Well Saturday I got an email from amazon stating that my Kindle had shipped - woohoooo!!! -

I don't check my post office box on the weekends but try to at least check it every day when I pick the girl up from school (she has early dismissal, getting out at 1:35 every day and doesn't have much to do before play practice at 3:30, so side trips to the store or gas station or post office are a normal thing now). So I opened my box and there was the yellow slip indicating I had a package. I went inside to get my package and guess what I had? My Kindle. Now it's only Monday, March 7th so consider me surprised to be receiving my Kindle 2 to 4 days earlier than expected.

I had ordered some books (the latest two Jim and Joyce Lavene books - the one in the Missing Pieces Series that just came out a week ago, and the last one in the Ren Faire series that came out last fall that I hadn't read) early this morning (payday) so that I would have books on my Kindle ready for me to read after I explored it a bit. As soon as I got home and turned on the Kindle and started charging it and got the wi-fi turned on, I had books available to me. How cool is that? I also loaded some freebies and a few from Smashwords.com (had to send those to my computer and save them to upload to the Kindle). I explored and read most of the Kindle guide on the Kindle and charged my Kindle up - says it has about a 3-week battery time, will have to see about that. I started reading the latest in the Ren Faire series - Deadly Daggers - after getting set up.

I took some pictures of my new toy. I'll post later in the week about the reading on the kindle, and all - stay tuned - E :)

Here is the box the Kindle comes in - as you can see it's not too big.




This is what the kindle looked like when I opened the box - I thought this was one of those plastic covers on the screen to protect it but this is actually one of the screens that pops up as you shut down the Kindle - this is the first one - it is the definition of kindle.





This is my favorite of the screens that comes up - too bad it isn't in color since the birds would be so colorful - it would be an explosion - lol.






This is a comparison shot of the Kindle and the two boxes - the one it came in and the one the accessories came in (I had ordered those a couple of weeks after winning the Kindle - it's an extra charger, car charger, screen protector, and earphones). I wish I had my ruler up so you could see how thin the Kindle really is but I think you can tell from this picture



Will share more later this week after I've really started using my new toy - E :)

Another winning - June Bug book by Jess Lourey

I'd forgotten that Jess and Dana (Peruvian Pigeon author, a copy of which I have won and reviewed here) were doing a virtual tour and so I stopped by Dana's blog to see what was new from her end and found her schedule. I clicked on the link for today's blog posting and lo-and-behold the contest was very simple - be the first to email Jess with the state flower for Minnesota and win a copy of June Bug. Now this series really sounds good. If you looking for a new author, maybe try this Murder-by-the-Month series.

This ladies are going to be busy for the next few weeks. Stop on by and see what they are up to. See you all in the postings - E :)

Rock of Realm - and the winner is .......

Congrats to Sylvia Dickey Smith for being the winner of Lea's ebook, Rock of Realm. Enjoy - E :)

Petigru Review Giveaway

So, I finally got my kids to cooperate a little and have my drawing. One drew, one read the name and they have both signed the paper to give to the winner - so without further ado - congratulations go to Nancy Jones for winning a copy of the Petigru Review, with my story autographed for her.

Nancy hope you enjoy the story as well as the other items in the anthology (poems, short stories, et cetera) all from South Carolina Writers Workshop members.

Anyone else who would like a copy of the anthology, please see previous posting for information. The anthology is available from amazon.com -

Thanks to everyone who entered - good luck on other entries. See you all in the postings. - E :)