Marion uses excellent, sometimes poetic and often hilarious, prose to tell the story of ‘R’, a zombie trying to make sense of his existence. When he eats the brain of a man named Perry, he begins to experience Perry’s memories. Part of those memories include Perry’s girlfriend Julie. ‘R’ subsequently saves Julie and what happens next is an inexplicable connection that will have you glued to the pages.

Well, enough gushing about the book, on to the giveaway details. Rather than have the standard “leave a comment” to enter, I’m mixing things up a bit. For this giveaway, I’d like you to write a zombie haiku!

Yep. You read right. A zombie haiku. To enter, leave a comment with your haiku below.

In case you aren’t sure what a haiku is, it’s a short poem consisting of 3 lines. The first line contains 5 syllables, the second 7 syllables, and the final 5 syllables. Your haiku can be poignant or funny, gross or silly, just have fun with it. No profanity, please. Or, if you absolutely must include a profane word for effect, euphemize it. (Example: s**t.) Thanks.

This giveaway will run until 11:59PM EST April 26, 2011. You can enter as many haikus as you can write (however, duplicate or obviously spam haikus will not be eligible). For extra entries, you can also tweet about this giveaway or blog about it—just make sure to come back and leave a comment with a link to your tweet or blog post.

All entrants must use a legitimate email address (otherwise they’ll be no way to contact you if you win). If you do not have a website or blog, leave the space for a URL blank.

To finish up, there are a couple stipulations: You must be at least 13 years old to enter and the giveaway is open to those with a U.S. mailing address. And if you have any questions, just ask.

Had an unscheduled hiatus due to some familial duties. I’ve still been reading though (and updating my 2010 reading list if you’re curious), just haven’t been blogging about it.

Slowly things are getting back to normal so the blogging should pick up soon.

I had planned to do the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon this year—even had a book pool filled with books perfect for this Halloween season picked out—but I’d thought it was tomorrow. Turns out I was wrong and it was today. To all those officially participating in the read-a-thon, I’m there with you in spirit, reading unofficially. Press on, have fun, read lots.

For the infinitely curious, here’s a small sampling of my planned pool:

Plus a few short stories thrown in for good measure, selected from Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King.

And can you believe it’s October already? That means NaNoWriMo is less than a month away. I thought about whether I’d like to participate this year, and the answer is of course yes. It’s simply too hard to resist.

Although I’ve been feeling the creative juices lately, I hadn’t been writing as much. I’d jot a quick note here or there, or a sentence or two, but nothing serious. Instead I’ve been working mainly on short stories or outlines for longer stories. NaNoWriMo will give me an opportunity to take one of those seedling ideas and transform it into a shitty first draft.

Again I plan to use the Liquid Story Binder software. (Jesse might even give the same 50% discount throughout the month of November that he did last year, so if you haven’t already, it’s time to set your sights on it.) Although I have a fairly good system worked out for new novels, I’m planning to tweak that system to incorporate more Builders (which I absolutely love for writing short stories).

But, for the non-writerly types, I plan to keep this blog mainly about books and my readings and other musings and keep all my writing and NaNoWriMo stuff to my actual writing blog (which is in sore need of an update or three).

Finally, this has been clunking around in my head for some time now, but I’m planning a number of changes around the blog. The first of which might be the design. Although I’ve grown quite fond of it, I think it’s about time to change the look, especially since I’m planning to expand the blog a bit.

Which brings me to my second point: I’m planning to expand the blog a bit. Right now I have a sidebar which lists the books I’m “currently” reading and books which I’ve “recently” read, but they’re dreadfully out of date. Rather than fight with them every so often, I plan to move the “currently” reading section to its own page where I’ll just list my entire TBR pile. I’ll keep the recently read section and update it periodically.

Also, I’ll be starting up a Comment Rewards program. Basically, I have a ton of books which need new loving homes. Some I’ll inevitably donate, but I figure my readers might enjoy some of them. So I’ll set up a comments rewards bookshelf where I’ll select a commenter at random once every couple of weeks to choose a book from the shelf.

All commenters are eligible (as long as a valid email address was provided during commenting), past or present or future. More comments equal more chances to be chosen. That’s it. Assuming all goes well, it will become a long term feature of the blog. I’ll make a formal announcement post when I’m rolling out with it.

And that…is the update.

In my recent review of Morpheus Road: The Light by D. J. MacHale, I basically gushed. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to gush about a horror novel. And thanks to the wonderful book fairies at Simon & Schuster, I’m able to giveaway 5 copies of the finished book. (Hooray for book fairies!!)

The last few giveaways I’ve held, I’ve asked you to help me create a story, but this time around, I’m going to be different…

One common thread throughout this book was fear, complete and utter.

Imagine for a moment that there was an entity which could climb inside your head and make you believe the most heinous things are happening all around you. What would you see? What is that deep dark fear lurking in the outer reaches of your mind?

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment answering the question above. If you’d like extra entries, there’s a couple ways you can do it:

• Follow me on Twitter +1
• Tweet about the giveaway (include a link to your tweet in the comments) +2
• Add a link to the giveaway in your sidebar +2
• Blog about the giveaway +3
• Become a confirmed newsletter subscriber +3
• Leave a comment on the Morpheus Road: The Light review +1
  (No spammy comments please. Spamminess of comments measured at my sole discretion.)

Entrants must be at least 13 years old. The contest is open only to residents of the U.S. and Canada. (My apologies to my international readers, but I’m limited by the publisher’s shipping restrictions.) The contest is open until 12 Midnight EST on Sunday May 16th, 2010. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me.

The blue one I made for my sister and the white with green stripes, I made for Belle (aka Ms. Bookish).

If you’d like me to make a padded journal for you, there’s still time to enter the giveaway.

In some roundabout way, I landed on a YouTube video of Raven-Symone making a padded journal.

And that was the beginning of the end, because it was also when I remembered I had a bunch of fabric left over from my wannabe fashion designer and plenty of glue sticks and ribbon from my crafty diva phases.

So far I’ve already made two journals (and they were a hoot), with plenty more in the works.

You can click on the picture for a ginormous view

I’ve been using the first journal (the black & white leopard print) as my everyday random thoughts journal and the second (the orange plaid) as my random book notes and grocery list journal.

Frankly, I have no idea what I could use the remaining journals I plan to create for. In that vein, I thought I’d reach out to you. Maybe you could use one to pen the next great memoir. Just don’t forget me when you become rich and famous and have a movie made out of your life.

If you’d like me to make you a padded journal, just leave me a quick comment. In two weeks, I’ll select two* people randomly to choose the desired fabric and ribbon and I’ll get to gluin’. Yes, international readers may partake in the fun.

I can’t take all the credit for this idea, though. It was a post over at Ms. Bookish that got the wheels turning. I offered to make one for Belle, fully expecting her to laugh at me, but she said she was serious about wanting one and then I thought, I wonder if anyone else would be interested in receiving a padded journal.

(*I’d love to make and send a journal to everyone who asks for one, but I do have budgetary constraints. Sorry.)

And without further ado…

Here’s the group story that the contest generated (and I have to admit, I’d love to see what becomes of it):

I never believed in fairy godmothers until one showed up on my doorstep with a broken wand.

With a purple frilly dress and hair all done up in wringlets, she truly looked like something out of a children’s fairy tale book.

Sparkles even covered her entire body, making her shimmer as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

I stood in shock, not sure what to do or I was supposed to invite her inside or not.

I let her in, unsure of what to say, I offered her some honey tea and crackers.

The fairy godmother kindly refused my offer, she asked me to come with her, it was a matter of great urgency.

She reached for my hand and pulled me into the dark and icy night.

As my feet flew out the door, the most amazing thing happened, I never touched the ground, we were flying!

“Just enjoy the flight, you’ll find out soon enough,” she smiled.

Ever since I was a child I had dreams of flying over the New York skyline, but nothing compares to the real thing.

The lights below, shining in the buildings, sparkled like a million stars.

All of a sudden, the wind beneath me started to calm and I realized we were coming to a stop.

I panicked a bit, as I feared for the landing.

To my surprise it was a very soft landing in a strange place I’ve never seen before.

So, I asked my fairy godmother, “Where are we?”

Her answer was one I was definitely not expecting.

She told me that although our surroundings might look familiar, we were actually in an alternate realm known as Magictasia. (Congratulations, Emily!)

She also told me to get ready to expect the unexpected within this realm.

Because beneath the breathtaking appearance of Magictasia lies the truth and history of what she really is.

With that said, we departed deep into the realm of Magictasia.

We knew we had many grand adventures yet to come perhaps many important lessons yet to learn.

I was ready to take on whatever was in store for us because I had a gut feeling that here, in Magictasia, something extraordinary was going to happen.

And I knew I was bound to find out sooner than later.

We stepped through a giant door I had not seen until now.

A warm golden light washed over us and for the first time in my entire life, it felt like I was at home.

Which after the year I had had, I didn’t realize how much I craved that until now.

Using the power that is Random.org, I popped in the total number of approved comments on the giveaway post and asked it to show me the winner—not including my own summary comments. (I’ve made the winning sentence bold.)

I’ve sent an email to the winner. If I don’t receive a response within 72 hours, I’ll select another entry.

That’s all for now. Thank you again for participating and keep an eye open for upcoming giveaways!

Here’s a rundown of the story:

For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone… until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn’t just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.

With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can’t solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.

In a breathtaking debut from Alexandra Bullen, WISH asks the question: If you could have anything, what would you wish for?

Since my Hush, Hush giveaway was such a success (and a ton of fun to boot), I decided to keep the format. Basically, to enter the giveaway, you must help write a story…this time around, a fairytale.

In this post will be a sentence which will serve as the beginning of our story. The first person to comment must copy the first sentence and add another sentence to the story, the person after that must copy the previous commenter’s sentence and add another sentence, and so forth.

I know, I know…the torture! the agony! the inhumanity!! You’re probably naming all the ways you aren’t creative, but I beg to differ (don’t you remember that awesome finger painting you did when you were six that could rival a genuine Van Gogh?) and plus, wouldn’t it all be worth it if you win a copy of Wish?!?

So without further ado…

Here’s the first sentence:

I never believed in fairy godmothers until one showed up on my doorstep with a broken wand.

Soooo…LET’S GET CREATIVE PEOPLE!

Some end notes:

• Yes this giveaway is open internationally, so even if you’re on the other side of the world, feel free to jump in. (If you’re under the age of 13, please make sure you have your parent or guardian’s permission first.)
• If you wish to have more entries, I suggest subscribing to the comment thread, telling your friends, and adding more sentences–one at a time–to the story. (Only one new sentence at a time, meaning no back to back sentences are allowed…so, more participants = more chances for you to win. Also, please don’t try to cheat because I’ll know and you’ll be disqualified.)
• Please, let’s keep the profanity to a minimum. I don’t have a problem with it, but my readership has varying sensibilities…
• Questions? No problem, just shoot me an email (todayiread[at]gmail[dot]com) and I’ll answer ASAP.
• Most important note of all? HAVE FUN!

The contest will be open until 11:59PM EST Friday January 29, 2010. I’ll comb through the entries and select a winner on Sunday January 31.

There were a number of entrants and I must thank each and everyone for indulging me; I know the barrier for entry was slightly out of the ordinary. And I certainly hope you all had as much fun as I did watching the story progress.

It was so much fun that I’m thinking of making a weekly game of it—a group story written one sentence at a time—but that’s for later. Now, it’s time to select a winner.

The final story is below; the winner’s sentence is in bold:

I was told once that angels couldn’t bleed, but the one sitting across from me was covered in blood. (original sentence)

He sat stiff and rigid, and barely glanced in my direction; I could tell he had been through a rough time, the wounds helped to prove it.

I leaned forward, wanting to help. But I didn’t know how to help – and I didn’t want to ask the obvious question of “are you ok?”

I realized the blood he was covered with was not his; it was mine.

It didn’t seem real, somehow.

I simply couldn’t figure out how it could be my blood. I couldn’t, couldn’t remember how I got injured, how I got here, anything, not even my own name…

I frantically searched my brain for any clue as to what my name was, and then I thought to look in my wallet – which I had forgotten at home that day in a rush to meet with him.

I began to breath hard, my hands began to shake, and he looked at me and smiled a sad sweet smile that made what was left of my blood heat up.

Cautiously, I looked him in the eyes wondering if it was possible that he could have inflicted these wounds upon me, wondering if I was here with him because I was dead. He didn’t look like he could have killed me, he had no weapon.

And, now that I thought about it, I was in far too much pain to be dead. He touched my cheek and asked me if i was ok, cautiously looking over his shoulder at something that i hadn’t noticed before.

Unsure as to whether or not I was okay, I didn’t answer and instead tried to get a closer look at what he was looking at, whincing in pain from the effort.

It was an indistinct shape, as if it was blurred at the edges, or perhaps, made of smoke.

I tried to think of what it could be – having never seen anything like it before. Is it really what it seems?

The shape took the outline of a human – or human like figure – and started walking toward him, my heart frozen with terror at what might happen next.

Suddenly strangely drawn to the smoky human figure walking towards us, I reached out as if to touch it, but, in a soft, cracking voice that sounded as if it hadn’t been used in ages, the angel spat out a harsh “No!”

I recoiled – though ‘fell back with a gasp of pain’ might be a better description.

He stood up and told me not to touch the figure, that if I did only pain and suffering would come to me.

I thought to myself, what could be more painful than the state I was in at this moment?

“What are we doing here?” the angel asked the figure as it emerged from the smoke; already his voice was much stronger.

I was puzzled more than fearful, but I felt like I was not supposed to see such a confrontation.

Those blank and life-grabbing eyes…

My heart pounded just as he was about to reach my skin…And then the angel grabed him…

He caressed me as if there was only me as I tentatively looked into his seductive eyes.

Suddenly, the angel’s face changed to one of anger, and he growled to me harshly under his breath “You have to leave here now! I don’t know how you got here, but this is not your fight!”

I was hurt by his words because for some reason, deep in my soul, I did not want to leave him alone.

I stood up and looked at him and said “No. I will not leave you.”

But I could not find the courage to resist, and so I ran from there, not looking back even when I heard the sound of two worlds coliding.

I knew I couldn’t get far, that the one still standing would reach for me soon enough, and I hoped it was the angel, even if my fascination with the creature was growing at every breath I took.

I stopped to regain my breath, leaning against a wall and praying to whoever would listen.

I was no longer sure that I could pray to the Guardian Angel I believed to have since childhood, for one had just stand before me and screamed.

Yes, he saved my life, but that did not hide the fact that he was a creature that inspired much fear.

The exploding sound, just centimeters away from me, came with a wave of dust covering everything around.

I could only understand that one of them had just landed with great force in the terrain that was before me, but I was unable to even guess which one by the mere sight of that silhouete.

As the dust began to settle, I finally could make at who it was – and a smile began to creep upon my lips; even though I fought to keep my face a mask.

An email has been sent out to the winner. If I don’t receive a response within 48 hours, I’ll select another winner. Congratulations and again, thank you for humoring me.

This is one highly anticipated book, especially because of that burning hot cover…yummy half naked guy…hooray to that cover designer.

There has been much talk in the blogosphere by those few lucky enough to have received a review copy and much drooling by those who can’t wait for October 13th to arrive fast enough.

Now, if you’re in the latter category, here’s a chance for you to get your very own ARC.

You’re probably staring at the screen a little cross-eyed wondering what I must be smoking if I’m willing to part with my amazing, drool-worthy copy of Hush, Hush, but fear not…the copy I’m offering up for giveaway is an extra ARC sent to me by the wonderful folks at Simon & Schuster.

Since I want to do something a little different for this particular giveaway, it’s not going to be your typical “leave a comment to be entered” post. Nope. Not at all.

Well, you still have to comment, yes, but that’s not all. In order to be officially entered in this Hush, Hush giveaway, you must help write an angelic story.

WTF?!? I hear you muttering…

Let me explain.

In this post will be a sentence which will serve as the beginning of our story. The first person to comment must copy the first sentence and add another sentence to the story, the person after that must copy the previous comment and add another sentence, and so forth.

I know, I know…the torture! the agony! the inhumanity!! You’re probably naming all the ways you aren’t creative, but I beg to differ (don’t you remember that awesome finger painting you did when you were six that could rival a genuine Van Gogh?) and plus, wouldn’t it all be worth it if you win a copy of Hush, Hush?!?

So without further ado…

Here’s the first sentence:

I was told once that angels couldn’t bleed, but the one sitting across from me was covered in blood.

Soooo…LET’S GET CREATIVE PEOPLE!

Some end notes:

• Yes this giveaway is open internationally, so even if you’re on the other side of the world, feel free to jump in. (If you’re under the age of 13, please make sure you have your parent or guardian’s permission first.)
• If you wish to have more entries, I suggest subscribing to the comment thread, telling your friends, and adding more sentences–one at a time–to the story. (Only one new sentence at a time, meaning no back to back sentences are allowed…so, more participants = more chances for you to win.)
• Please, let’s keep the profanity to a minimum. I don’t have a problem with it, but my readership has varying sensibilities…
• Questions? No problem, just shoot me an email (todayiread[at]gmail[dot]com) and I’ll answer ASAP.
• Most important note of all? HAVE FUN!

The contest will be open until 11:59PM EST Friday October 16, 2009. I’ll comb through the entries and select a winner on Sunday October 18.

It was a fun read with a lush description of New Orleans, so anyone who reads it should feel like they’ve been transported there if only for a few hours.

Now, without further ado (since I know you’re all anxious to find out who’s won), here they are in no particular order:

• Beth
• Anna
• I Heart Book Gossip
• Shawna Lewis
• Paradox

Congratulations! I’ll be sending out individual emails this afternoon. If you haven’t received an email from me within 24 hours, please check your spam filter and if it’s not there, send me an email directly (todayiread[at]gmail[dot]com) and let me know your mailing address.

If you didn’t win this time around, don’t fret. I have a couple awesome ARC giveaways planned—one starting this weekend (i.e. tomorrow).