Category: Midsummer Blog Hop

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 6-23-13

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Midsummer Blog Hop> SFR Brigade> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Sunday Post

Today is pretty much nervous Sunday here at chez Reading Reality. Also frantic Sunday, both at the same time.

I’m having outpatient surgery tomorrow, to remove a kidney stone that has lodged itself somewhere unpleasant. The surgery itself sounds kind of cool. They’re going to blast the little beastie with lasers to break it up so it gets the hell out of Dodge. The problem is that “Dodge” in this instance is somewhere in my insides.

ALA Chicago Conference logoIf all goes well, and it should, on Thursday we’re off to the American Library Association Annual Conference. This year it’s in one of our old hometowns, Sweet Home Chicago.  Galen and I are looking forward to catching up with friends.

Speaking of catching up…

Winner Announcement:

The winner of the copy of A Beautiful Heist by Kim Foster is Pauline Baird Jones

SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog HopCurrent Giveaway:

The SFR Brigade 2nd Annual Midsummer Blog Hop has starships full of prizes to give away  including $150, $50 and $25 Amazon or B&N gift cards (winners’ choices) and a planet-sized ebook bundle filled with awesome SFR titles. I’m also giving away a $10 Amazon gift card here at Reading Reality.

Flirting With Disaster by Ruthie KnoxBlog Recap:

B+ Review: The Original 1982 by Lori Carson
B Review: The Look of Love by Bella Andre
A- Review: Flirting with Disaster by Ruthie Knox
B+ Review The Cursed by Alyssa Day
2nd Annual SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop
Stacking the Shelves (49)

Doctor Who Ten Little Aliens by Stephen ColeComing Up This Week:

The Tower by Jean Johnson (review)
The Seduction of Esther (blog tour review)
Shadow People by James Swain (review)
Doctor Who: Ten Little Aliens (blog tour review and giveaway)
Assassin’s Gambit by Amy Raby (review)

Whatever you’re doing, or reading, this week, I hope it’s fantastic!

2nd Annual SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Book Giveaway> ebook giveaway> Giveaways> Midsummer Blog Hop> SFR Brigade

SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog Hop

Welcome to the Second Annual Midsummer Blog Hop, sponsored by the SFR Brigade. Woo-hoo!

The theme for this year’s Midsummer Blog Hop is out of this world. No really, this is a science fiction romance group, so that’s the theme. Which “out of this world” setting is your favorite? Or my favorite, as the case may be.

USS Enterprise NCC-1701If I had to pick an imagined future that I would want to live in, it would still, even all these years later, be Gene Roddenberry’s vision of the future from the original Star Trek series. By the time that Kirk & Co. flew the original Enterprise out of the San Francisco shipyards in 2245, the Federation seems to have solved most of the problems that we have today. It’s not just that it would take a “post-scarcity economy” to come up with something like the Prime Directive, but that everyone on the Enterprise, and her namesakes A, B, C, D and E all seem to enjoy their jobs and have such purpose. Somedays I envy them. The universe of the reboot seems to have gone to hell in handcart. I wouldn’t want to live there, even if it is entertaining to visit.

What fictional universe would you most want to live in? And which one do you think would be worth an adventure visit?

SFR Brigade Badge As a blogger-member of the SFR Brigade, my mission, and I have decided to accept it (no apologies for trope mixing) is to promote science fiction romance in general, and today, the Midsummer Blog Hop in particular.

~~Giveaway Details~~

On Friday 21st June (that’s TODAY!) the SFR Brigade is holding its Second Annual Blog Hop to celebrate Midsummer!

Here are the grand prizes (open to all!):

  • 1st Prize – $150 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner’s choice) and an ebook bundle (currently Ghost in the Machine, Bayne, Recast Book
    1:Wither, Recast Book 2:Clash, Alien Adoration, Switched, Reckless
    Rescue, Wreck of the Nebula Dream, Keir, Terms & Conditions Apply, The Key, Marya, The Iron Admiral, Sasha’s Calling, Trouble at the Hotel Baba Ghanoush, Winter in Paradise, Once Upon a Time in Space, The Telomere Trilogy, Winter Fusion, Blue Nebula, Demential, Wytchfire, Maven, Fires of Justice, Interface, Girl under Glass, Breakout, The Plan, Starburst and Stark Pleasure.
    Bonus books – Ghost Planet, The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy and
    Deception, and Games of Command)
  • 2nd Prize – $50 Amazon or B&N gift card (winner’s choice)
  • 3rd Prizes – four $25 Amazon or B&N gift cards (given to separate winners and their choice)

For a chance to win one of the grand prizes, use the Rafflecopter at the end of the post.

In addition to the grand prize, one lucky commenter at Reading Reality will be chosen by the ever popular Random.org to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card from yours truly. So be sure to leave a comment here before you hop around to the rest of the SFR Brigade.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
And please be sure to visit the other blog hop stops:

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 6-16-13

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Giveaways> Midsummer Blog Hop> SFR Brigade> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

Sunday Post

If you ever have the chance to go to a live performance of Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, go! It’s a load of fun. Yesterday was our second time, and it was just as much fun, although entirely different. The show was being broadcast as we were listening, so it was strange but neat hearing the NPR intro kind of while being inside it.

Winner Announcements:

Gaming for Keeps Blog TourThe winner of the copy of Big Sky Summer by Linda Lael Miller is Natasha D.
The winner of the copy of Gaming for Keeps by Seleste deLaney is Erin F.
The winners of the 3 copies of Jack Absolute by C.C. Humphreys are Sam S, Justin M. and Shelley S.

 

A Beautiful Heist by Kim Foster

Current Giveaways:

A Beautiful Heist by Kim Foster (ebook, INT)
$5 Gift card (Reading Reality giveaway) 3 $100 Gift Cards and Signed set of all 3 Hearts of Anemoi books from Laura Kaye (Tourwide giveaway) Both INT
SEAL of Honor swag plus character named after them in Tonya Burrows future book (Tourwide giveaway)

Blog Recap:

Heart of Obsidian by Nalini SinghB Review: Against the Wind by Regan Walker
B Review: A Beautiful Heist by Kim Foster
Guest Post by Author Kim Foster on the Irrestible Appeal of a Good Heist + Giveaway
A- Review: Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh
B Review: South of Surrender by Laura Kaye
Guest Post by Author Laura Kaye on Contemplating Zombies — The Walking Dead + Giveaway
B- Review: SEAL of Honor by Tonya Burrows
Guest Post: Author Tonya Burrows on Alpha Heroes + Giveaway
Stacking the Shelves (48)

 

SFR Brigade Midsummer Blog HopComing Up This Week:

The Original 1982 by Lori Carson (blog tour review)
The Look of Love by Bella Andre (blog tour review)
Flirting with Disaster by Ruthie Knox (review)
The Cursed by Alyssa Day (review)
The 2nd Annual SFR Brigade Mid-Summer Blog Hop!!!!!

What are doing with these fantastic long days of summer?

 

Midsummer Blog Hop Giveaway!

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Blog Hops> Giveaways> Midsummer Blog Hop> SFR Brigade

Welcome to the Midsummer Blog Hop, sponsored by the SFR Brigade.  Woo-hoo!

As a blogger-member of the SFR Brigade, my mission, and I have decided to accept it (no apologies for trope mixing) is to promote science fiction romance in general, and today, the Midsummer Blog Hop in particular.

Isn’t it funny that there are LOTS of Winter Solstice stories, and not so many Summer Solstice stories? In the dead of winter, we’re all huddled around the campfire (metaphorically speaking), with plenty of time to tell stories.

In the height of summer, we’re too busy running around to sit and tell stories. There is one very famous mid-summer story. It’s a classic. But not, unfortunately, science fiction romance.

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, of course. Definitely fantasy, and not science fiction. Darn.

Just because I can’t find an appropriate midsummer-themed science fiction romance doesn’t mean it isn’t worthy of celebrating. After all, each new planet that an SFR writer creates is going to have its very own midsummer solstice. They aren’t all going to be on June 23.

Let’s just celebrate the one in our little corner of the galaxy with a giveaway, shall we? In addition to the Grand Prizes listed below, I will be giving away a US$10 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to one commenter chosen at random from the folks who participate here at Reading Reality.

~~Giveaway Details~~

On Friday 22nd June (Pacific Time) the SFR Brigade will be holding its first ever Blog Hop to celebrate Midsummer. 36 fabulous science fiction romance authors will be telling you mystical or scientific stories related to the event, and they’ll each be giving away a prize – books, gift cards, swag bags…and lots more!

Plus there’s TWO GRAND PRIZES!

1st Prize – a Kindle Touch or Nook Touch
2nd Prize -a library of science fiction romance titles from over 20 authors (these will be mostly ebooks with one print anthology), and an Anabanana Gift Card.

All you need to do to enter is pop along to the blogs listed below and comment on as many as you want (only ONE comment per site will count as an entry). Each time you comment at a stop, you’ll earn one entry into the grand prize – so the more sites you visit, the greater your chances of winning. The winners will be drawn at random on the 24th June and announced on this site. The list of participating authors can be found below this post. Spread the news!