AND THE WINNER IS....

This winner for the Cross & Crown giveaway is calilathisway from tumblr. Congrats to calilathisway. If she does not respond within 24 hours then I will pick a new winner. Thanks for participating everyone!!!

Hump Day Pretty

Happy Hump Day! Get excited. Only two more days til Friday. These fellows want to celebrate with you. :D

Hump Day Pretty

Halfway through the week! Congrats. You can totally make it the rest of the way. Here's some encouragement. :D

Poem Post #6

Sometimes, poetry is most powerful when read outloud by it's author. Today, I am going to share a video from Button Poetry. The poem is titled "21" by Patrick Roche. 

Cross & Crown Giveaway

Let's get started with a list of all the booty. ;) 

1.) A pre-ordered eBook copy of Cross & Crown by Abigail Roux from Riptide Publishing.

2.) Minion themed duct tape - for all your kidnapping and sexy times needs.

3.) Minion Bandaids - for all your wound care needs.

4.) Vinyl Minion doll - just because.

5.) Minion themed recipe cards (not pictured).

6.) Cross & Crown/Nickels themed sticker collection.

7.) "LUCKY" postcards.

8.) Candy/Snack/Beverage combination of your choice.

9.) Anything else I feel like adding at the last minute. ;)

How to enter 

On tumblr: Reblog for one entry. Follow for one entry. Like for one entry. Reblog as many times as you want but it will only count once. Make sure your ask box is open. If it isn't, I'm just going to pick someone new.

On Goodreads: Comment on this thread with your preferred contact info (PM, email, smoke signal, whatever).

On Blogger: Comment on this post with your preferred email address. A follow will get you an extra entry.

THIS MEANS YOU CAN HAVE UP TO SIX ENTRIES FOLKS!

The Details 

I will pick the winner on Friday, May 30, 2014 at 8:00pm CST. I will use random.org to select the winner. The winner will have 24 hours to get back to me, at which point I will select a new winner. 

Good luck!!

Poem Post #5

Today, I am sharing another favorite poem: Emily Dickinson's Because I Could Not Stop For Death. It is just so beautifully written. It makes smile, sigh and think of Sally Sparrow (of Doctor Who) saying "sad is happy for deep people."

Because I Could Not Stop For Death (479)
By Emily Dickinson

Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –

The Carriage held but just Ourselves –

And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess – in the Ring –

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –

We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed Us –

The Dews drew quivering and Chill –

For only Gossamer, my Gown –

My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed

A Swelling of the Ground –

The Roof was scarcely visible –

The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet

Feels shorter than the Day

I first surmised the Horses' Heads

Were toward Eternity –

Hump Day Pretty

Gah...it's only halfway through the week. I think I need some hot guys to even be able to contemplate continuing on. I guess I can share with you guys. :D

Tuesday Teaser

Hello All - I finally have a title for my Love's Landscape story!! For some reason I just couldn't settle on one for this story. I am still not 100% pleased with it but I think it will stick.

So without further ado, I give you an excerpt from To The End.

***

"Iryandeth Hirat. That was your full name. I called you Iry for short."

MarShael had sat up as they were talking but at that statement, Deth surged forward and pressed him into the bed again, knife once more at his throat.

"That's a lie. I grew up as a dedicant to the King's Assassins. It is all I have ever known. I am here to kill you because you have betrayed your King."

A look of revulsion flitted quickly across MarShael's face but was quickly pushed aside. Cautiously, as though he realized how close to death he really was, MarShael lifted a hand and placed it against Deth's cheek.

"My name is Akrandsmar Shaelen. You would call me Akr. Mother hated it. So of course I refused to respond to anything else."

Suddenly, a memory flashed through Deth's mind. A small bright room filled with cheerful laughter. A woman, no older than he was now baking bread with two young boys sitting at the table throwing scraps of dough at each other.

His hand shook and the knife was close enough to Akr's throat that blood began to trickle down towards the bed.

"No." Deth whispered. But even he could recognize a losing battle while he was still fighting.

Akr saw the opening. "Iry. Let me show you. Let me help you remember who you are. Let me show you what I'm fighting for."

Deth had almost given in until that last part. He was a King's Assassin, bred to do his will, loyal to the end, beyond question and this man was a traitor. He lifted his arm to slit Ak..no MarShael's throat but at the last minute, diverted the blow. He brought the hilt of his knife down on MarShael's head and knocked him out.

Hump Day Pretty

Happy Wednesday. Here's some pretty to get you through the rest of the week. :D

Poem Post #2

Back when I was in grad school, I took a class on caring during crisis - specifically spiritual distress and how to deal with it when your faith or the faith of someone close to you has been rocked by a traumatic event. The following poems was in one of our texts and I don't think I have ever connected with a poem so dramatically at the time I read it. The idea of this "fact of glass," that there are some things that cannot be changed no matter how many times you bang your head up against them, resonated. It's hard to really say why this poem is so important to me, even all these years later but every time I read it, it rings through me.

Up Against It 
By Eamon Grennan

It’s the way they cannot understand the window

they buzz and buzz against, the bees that take

a wrong turn at my door and end up thus

in a drift at first of almost idle curiosity,

cruising the room until they find themselves

smack up against it and they cannot fathom how

the air has hardened and the world they know

with their eyes keeps out of reach as, stuck there

with all they want just in front of them, they must

fling their bodies against the one unalterable law

of things—this fact of glass—and can only go on

making the sound that tethers their electric

fury to what’s impossible, feeling the sting in it.

Do you have any poems that resonate with you? I'd love to read them! Post in the comments (can be original or not).

Teaser from Love's Landscapes story

I am not sharing a snippet with you yet (I will at some point). Today, I am going to share a creepy little audio file I made of a "nursrey rhyme" from my universe. ;) Unfortunately, I am not sure how to post the audio file over here so I am going link over to my tumblr.

Check it out here. Also, in case you don't remember, this is the picture and prompt I worked from.

Enjoy.