Tuesday, November 29, 2011

My Un-Grinching Giveaway

I am normally not Grinchy at all, but this year...
I am normally one of those crazy people who actually doesn't get at all annoyed when stores start putting out Christmas stuff before Halloween. Despite my penchant for horror writing, Halloween is a holiday I can do without. No, it has nothing to do with me not liking its evil roots--that's not an issue with me--it's just the idea of spending $30 on a costume for each kid so they can wear it for about two hours, griping the whole time about how this is too loose and that is too tight, so they can collect a pile of candy, more than half of which will go in the trash. So, fine by me to skip right on past Halloween straight to Christmas. I love the decorations, the music...the movies!

Most years, the inside of my house is decorated all but the tree itself a week or so before Thanksgiving. I try to hold out, I really do, but always give in. I start with multiple Nativity scenes, one of which is hand-painted by me, then go on to my nutcracker collection. A smattering of miscellaneous figurines and wreaths get spread around. Then the very day after Thanksgiving, the tree and outside lights go up.

My daughter IS this cute, or the decorations might still not be up!
But this year I've had an oddly hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Not a single decoration went up before Thanksgiving. Actually, it took my daughter begging me to put the tree up all day--aaaallll daaaay--on Monday to get me to start pulling out boxes. I didn't put up everything, either. Yep, even half my nutcrackers went back into the box and into the closet.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, I need to do something to get me feeling Christmas-y. I thought maybe giving some books away might help.

So, I am going to run a contest for one copy each of four books. As in, if you win, you get all four.

They are as follows:

A signed copy of my novel, MG fantasy Finding Angel.

Angel doesn't remember her magical heritage...but it remembers her.
Magic and science collide when she embarks on a journey to her true home, and to herself.
Angel lives with a loving foster family, but dreams of a land that exists only in the pages of a fantasy novel. Until she meets Gregor, whose magic Talent saves her life and revives lost memories.


A signed-by-me copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Just for Preteens, which contains my story "Armored and Dangerous" (a tale about the time I found strength in a very odd place when faced by a bully).

A signed-by-me copy of Aquasynthesis, the anthology featuring short stories by all the Splashdown Books authors. Three of my stories are found inside.

A not-signed-by-anyone-because-I-ordered-it-from-Amazon-and-the-author-lives-in-Kansas-but-I-live-in-Florida copy of Odd Little Miracles by Fred Warren. It is a collection of his short stories, which are what made me buy his book, The Muse, which is what got me interested in Splashdown Books as a potential publisher because I *adore* his writing.


These are all brand-new, unread copies, that I bought to sell. So, if you enter but happen to have one of the titles already, think "gift." :D

Now, how to enter.

I hate trying to track these things, to be honest. I want to make it easy on you, and on me. Each of the following gives you one entry:


  • Leave a comment here, on THIS POST. (If you comment any-ole-where on the blog it makes it very hard for me to track it down.)
  • Friend me and/or become a "fan" on Goodreads and send me a message.


*Make sure your comment or message states that you are interested in the giveaway, please!*

I will contact the winner on December 13th, so if you are giving one or more titles away they'll reach you before Christmas. (I hope.) (I really should have thought of this earlier...)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good idea! I can thin of some giftees already.
Cindy Smith

Anonymous said...

Awesome giveaway :) The Chicken Soup for the Soul book for Preteens would be perfect for my 12 yr old sister.

Anonymous said...

Awesome giveaway :) The Chicken Soup for the Soul book for Preteens would be perfect for my 12 yr old sister.

Ralene said...

Ooo, count me in! I haven't read a couple of those, and the other two would make great presents! You know how to get ahold of me if I'm lucky enough to win!

Fred Warren said...

I'll toss a can of Who Hash into the bag by making that a *signed* copy of Odd Little Miracles, which I'll send to the winner, unless Kat just wants to unload her copy. :)

Kat Heckenbach said...

Fred, you are so awesome :).

Emily's Reviews said...

I've yet to meet a book contest I didn't spend a crazy amount of time trying to get entered in. Thanks for making this one so easy!

Joy Hannabass said...

What a wonderful idea....and I would love to read any of these books since I haven't read them!
Blessings.....Joy
ibjoy1953{at]yahoo[dot]com

Randy Streu said...

UnGrinchifying. What a wonderful idea! Also, big fan of free books here, so...

Edgy Inspirational Author said...

I hope to win your book, Kat. :)

joyfulhutch[at]msn[dot]com

April Washington said...

This sounds interesting. I would love to add this book to my collecton. I love reading to my daughter b4 she goes to bed at night. Sometimes she wants one book sometimes she wants two. When she bring her library books we read both sometimes three at a time. She likes to read to me some times. I'm a big kid myself. I didn't get this with my first daughter cause I was at wor when she went to bed. I hav a second chance and I'm having fun.

ct1030@verizon.net said...

I want to win, I want to win!!! (wish I were as cute as your daughter).
Thanks Kat, great idea!

Kristen Stieffel said...

I've been a bit of a Grinch myself recently. I also have not decorated. Thought about it. Ironed the tree skirt. But got no further, not even a wreath on the door.

I love your proactiveness of giving something to feel ungrinchy.

Kat Heckenbach said...

Thanks for the entries so far, folks!

And Kristen...iron the tree skirt? I can't say I've ever done that ;).

Maragret Flint Suter said...

this is a fun idea and a cool way to get a chance to read something in different genres than my usual comfort zone...not grinchy at all this idea, very generous! Count me in!

Unknown said...

Would love to read these books! Here's to a blessed Christmas spirit...giving away things is sure to help!

Galadriel said...

Sign me up

Galadriel said...

Sign me up for sure.

Lola Wilson said...

Great idea! I would love to win your books. I am so proud of you! I don't know how you do it all!

Kessie said...

Hey, I'll toss my hat into the ring. Sounds like a pile of fun stuff, and I love getting more books.

I'm having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, too. I decided to get some candles and do Advent with the kids this year, and my attitude has really turned around. Funny how looking forward to celebrating Jesus makes everything better.

Amy Deardon said...

Kat, your books and stories are so great! And BTW I loved your Back to the FUture commentary on the previous post too :-)