Free Stuff!

Lately it's been like Christmas at my house!  Practically each day has brought me something new and wonderful to my door.

I've gotten books!  And books!  And more books!

I also got some of this stuff:

But most recently, I've gotten bookmarks!  Elemental bookmarks!  And they are GORGEOUS!!

And because you guys are awesome (and I've been feeling really bad about being so absent lately--I swear it's for a good cause--> revisions), I'm giving these bookmarks away for free!  Just send me an email (emilywhite_1112(at)yahoo(dot)com) with your address and I'll get one out to you!  I'll even include a super special note from yours truly!  And!  I'll send more than one if you promise to hand them out to friends, coworkers, your local library, whatever you can think of!

Believe me when I tell you again that they are G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!  Everyone is going to want one!  :D

Lagging Behind

I snatched the photo from here

This is how I feel. 

I've been so focused on family stuff, vacations, revisions, etc., that I feel like I've missed the gunshot and everybody else is steaming on ahead of me. 

Do you ever feel that way?  Like you just can't catch up with all you've missed?  What do you do in situations like that?

Oh, and apparently some pretty great books have been coming out over the past couple weeks, and I completely missed it.  Please do update me on all this.  I feel so left out.  :)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children--The Book Trailer

It's Monday!  And that means it's time for Monday Morning Movie!

Miss Victoria Caswell requested I post this trailer over a week ago and I've been very rude by delaying it.  I will delay it no longer!  :)

If you would like a book trailer posted on this blog, please feel free to email me any time.  I promise to not make you wait.  ;)

Enjoy!



From Goodreads:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather—were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.


A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

My Thoughts:

Oh wow.  This trailer made me REALLY want to read this book.  Actually, it made me NEED to read it.  First of all, the whole Grandfather telling his grandson a story gave the trailer a Princess Bride vibe--which is of course awesome.  But the creepiness reminded me of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Or really, anything done by Tim Burton.  <---also huge pluses in its favor.

But what really sold me was the fact the Grandfather set this story up so well I was actually leaning toward my computer to hear what he had to say, and then he says he's not going to finish it.  GAH!  Must read now!!

If I actually gave out ratings for book trailers, this one would get five, very bold, very bright stars.

How about you, dear readers?  Are you dying to buy this book as much as me?  Do you have an even better example of a book trailer to share?  Let me know!  :D

A Tale of a Girl Who Went to Atlanta Part 3--The Luggage of Doom

Click here for Parts 1 and 2 of the Altanta Trip Series.

So Gorgeous and I spent the rest of Wednesday evening with his family.  My BIL drove us (Gorgeous, myself, and their sister) around Atlanta, showing us all the sights and finally took us back to his apartment where Gorgeous's mom and grandparents were waiting. 

Obviously, we were still stressed about the incident at the hotel and though Gorgeous's family was very nice and supportive, I don't think we were really able to relax until the next morning.

The evening at the hotel was rife with excitement as Gorgeous and I were repeatedly awoken by gunshots, sirens, and honking horns.  Apparently, this is not a normal occurrence; we were just lucky.  :P  By the time morning came, I think we both might have gotten about four hours of sleep.  Still, there were wonderful plans for the day, so we drank lots of coffee and went to our luggage to get ready.

Yes, THE luggage.  The luggage that cost us $50 to check when just a couple years ago (maybe less) it would have been free.  (obviously, I'm angry at the airline and you'll definitely understand why by the end of this series).  I checked out the garment bag first when it became immediately apparent something was wrong.

The hangar that was supposed to be securely attached to the bag (in order to hang it up) was gone.  I hadn't noticed this the night before because we'd just laid it on the floor.  So, there was damage.  But wait!  I then found a nice little hole ripped in the bag indicating someone had been dragging this bag on the ground (a very light bag that had a total of three dresses in it--I didn't even have to drag it on the ground to carry it).  More damage!  Yay!

And then I opened the other bag.

That hat I'd told you about in Part 1--the victorian-style hat I'd trimmed myself to wear on the day of the wedding--it was totally crushed.  I'd packed everything just right so that the hat would NOT be crushed simply because another piece of luggage was put on top of my bag.

Three instances of damage and I paid them $50 to do it.  I was getting really ticked.  But since this was still supposed to be a wonderful vacation, I tried my best to brush it aside so Gorgeous and I could enjoy the day we had planned with our family.

Breakfast was the first thing planned and my BIL picked us up again in the morning to take us to his apartment so we could wait for his fiance to show up.  When she did, a few of us walked to the restaurant while our grandparents rode in the car.  It was a lovely walk in a very nice neighborhood.  My soon-to-be sister pointed out a plot of land my BIL had dreams of buying one day and I couldn't help but agree with him that it was gorgeous.  It was a huge lot (especially for a city) and completely wooded.  I love the woods and enjoy the conveniences of a city, so I was totally enamored.

The restaurant was a cute little bakery that also had a wide selection of breakfast foods.  Gorgeous, being the eater he is ordered this:

Look at how huge that is!!  And it's got peanut butter in the middle!

And here he is ready to devour it:

He almost ate it all, too.  The waiter was VERY impressed.  He said he'd seen a total of four people ever finish the thing.

All the stresses of the previous day and just a couple hours ago were quickly dwindling away.  I could almost forget my total rage at the airline.  I was even having so much fun, I decided to take a picture of my BIL and his fiance:

I'll pause for the awwws :)  They really are a very cute couple.

So, after a rough start of a vacation, everything finally seemed to be turning around.  We still had a full day ahead of us--the men had to get tuxes and the ladies had a nice night of getting our nails done planned.  But you'll have to wait for Part 4--(title not yet thought of)  ;) to hear about all that!  

Do any of you, dear readers, have any vacation stories to tell?  Any airplane woes? 

Woops!

So yesterday I mentioned I'd be doing the Monday Morning Movie today (and I even have a really great trailer that someone sent me), but I sent out that post before I saw that my first round of edits from my editor came yesterday.  So yeah...blogging will be cut back just a teensy, weensy bit.  Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays only, I'm afraid.

You must wait to see the trailer until next Monday!  But it's worth the wait.  I promise.  :)

In the meantime, if you find anything around the blogosphere or have a really amazing post you just can't bear for me to miss, please let me know!  :)

A Tale of a Girl Who Went to Atlanta Part 1--The Flight of Horror

Monday Morning Movie will be pushed to tomorrow

Hello, strangers!  It feels like it's been so long since I've been around the blogosphere.  It's hard to believe it hasn't even been a week.  But oh, what a week! 

It started with packing on Wednesday.  And me being the ever wise and scrupulous packer, I fit everything into two pieces of luggage (a regular bag and a garment bag) so that my husband and I could each have one thing to check (and therefore save some money).  I was amazing with my deft organizing skills!  No one in the history of the world had ever packed as well as me!  Clothes were in their proper place!  The toiletry bags were wedged in so neatly!  Even the victorian-style hat I'd trimmed all by myself to go with my dress the day of the wedding fit perfectly between my shorts and blankie.  Nothing could come against me!  I was on fire!

And then we got to the airport to check in.  Still, I was as happy as I could be.  We wouldn't have to pay to check any luggage because my husband and I only had one piece each!  This was all going to go perfectly!

So I slid my credit card through the machine and punched the buttons with vivacity.  How many checked bags?  Only two, I say!

...

...

...

That's $50, please.  Would you like to pay for that with your credit card?

WHAT THE FREAK?!

Yeah, it seems that with a certain airline, you have to pay for EVERY PIECE OF LUGGAGE YOU CHECK.  And of course, with such a hefty fee, you'd expect some level of professionalism with regards to your belongings (more on that later).  I was deflated.  $50 for two pieces of luggage.  Emily had been used.

But I paid it.  What else could I do?  They could not be carried on.

The rest of the airport experience went by dismally.  $50?!  I just couldn't get over it.  I'd packed so well for nothing.

During our second flight (yes, we had a layover in Charlotte), and several hours later, I was starting to feel a little better.  Time was indeed healing my wound.  Unfortunately, the middle seat in which I sat was making me nauseous.  I eagerly waited for the flight attendants to come by and offer me my drink.  Ginger ale would hit the spot and calm my squirrely tummy!  The minutes dragged until one of the attendants came out with a basket of drinks.  But wait!  I thought.  You need a cart!  That little basket isn't enough for all of us!

It wasn't indeed.  But it was more than enough for first class. 

I waited.  And waited.  Thinking perhaps they were simply waiting for us to hit the middle of our flight when the pilot came on and said we were only minutes outside of Atlanta and would be beginning our descent. 

Now let me tell you, dear readers, that a nauseous tummy is more than happy to oblige you with a few extra flips and churns when a plane starts descending.  I didn't know if I'd make it.  I needed that ginger ale!

We dove down while my stomach fought to stay somewhere in the clouds, wedging itself in my throat.  I tried to look out the window, knowing I just needed to look at something that wasn't moving around so much, but my husband kept sitting forward then sitting back to catch little cloudy details here and there.  His bobbing head didn't help at all.

Luckily, I didn't actually throw up.  It was close, but I made it.  And as we were taxing (taxiing?  taxying?  sp?!) up to the terminal, I turned to him and said, "From now on, I get the window."  And he agreed.

Come by on Wednesday as I continue the tale with... The Credit Card that Wouldn't Work

And the Winner is...

I used random.org today, and out of 31 entries, came up with...

11

So the winner is...

Lynda R. Young!!!!

Woop!  Woop!

I'll be emailing you shortly, Lynda.  :)

Thanks to everyone who participated!  And because you've all been so wonderful and supportive, I'm going to give you something really special.

Have a great week and weekend!  And don't forget to check out Wicked and Tricksy this Friday to see my guest post on villains.  Actually, you should check them out everyday because this is a whole super-duper villains week!  See you on Monday!

What's Coming Up This Week and Why I'm Telling You Now

I'm leaving for Atlanta tomorrow for the wedding of the century!  Actually, it's my BIL's wedding, but I'm pretty excited about it.  Unfortunately this means my presence on the internet is going to be severely lacking.  But there's some great stuff going on that I don't want you to miss!

1. The Celebrate Good Times With Me Giveaway is almost done!  The winner of Half-Blood, Daimon (prequel to Half-Blood) and Minder will be posted tomorrow.  If you haven't entered yet, hurry up!  All you have to do is comment on the post!

2. I'm guest blogging over at Wicked at Tricksy on Friday for their Villains Week.  Excellent... *done in my best Mr. Burns impression*

And finally, because I've been posting a bunch of book trailers I haven't particularly cared for lately, I decided to post one I found that I absolutely love.  It's the Spanish version for Kiersten White's Paranormalcy.  Enjoy!

Monday Morning Video Brought to You By The Marbury Lens

After all the drama that's going on with WSJ (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, you will by the end of the day--practically every other blog is mentioning it), I thought it would be appropriate to post the book trailer for Andrew Smith's The Marbury Lens.

For all my new followers (welcome!  The cookies are in the oven!), Monday is the day I post book trailers.  If you have one you'd like to see or discuss on the blog, send me an email at emilywhite_1112(at)yahoo(dot)com.





From the back of the book:

Sixteen-year-old Jack gets drunk and is in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is kidnapped. He escapes, narrowly. The only person he tells is his best friend, Conner. When they arrive in London as planned for summer break, a stranger hands Jack a pair of glasses. Through the lenses, he sees another world called Marbury. 


There is war in Marbury. It is a desolate and murderous place where Jack is responsible for the survival of two younger boys. Conner is there, too. But he’s trying to kill them.

Meanwhile, Jack is falling in love with an English girl, and afraid he’s losing his mind.  Conner tells Jack it’s going to be okay.

But, it’s not.

Dun, dun, duuuuuunnn!!!  (okay, I added that, but it really needed to be in there)

My thoughts on the book trailer:

Honestly, after reading the book, I felt it could have been done better.  In fact, I wondered for a moment if it was a fan-made trailer, but it says it was uploaded by the publisher.  And the music kind of reminds me of Jurassic Park.  But I'm coming at this as a huge fan of the book, so maybe nothing would please me! 

Note: I just watched it for the third time and it's growing on me.  At first, I thought it was done too simply, but now that I think about it, the story-line is so complex, maybe the trailer HAS to be simple in order to not be too confusing.

How about you, readers?  Would you purchase the book based on the trailer alone?  Am I totally wrong and way too biased to judge?

Tag, You're It!!

I've been tagged!  Oh no!!!  But now I have the power... Mwahahahahaha!  Be afraid!

Carol Riggs has done the dastardly deed and now I must answer a few questions before striking upon five hapless bloggers.

Do you think you're hot?
Yes.  Yes I do.

I didn't always, though.  There was a time in my life when I thought I was just about the ugliest creature to ever grace this Earth.  Over the years, I learned not to care what other people think, so now when I look in the mirror, I likes what I sees.  :)  Plus, my husband tells me I'm gorgeous all the time and his is the only outside opinion that matters.

Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment.

Just until a few days ago I had a picture of my eldest son on my computer screen, but I decided to change it for this little game, so now this is what I see everyday:

I retrieved this picture at coolvibe.com

I just love the gentle curves to this picture. 

When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

Actually, it's been a while, which is surprising because I eat chicken all the time.  In fact, I'm planning on having it tonight, but that's not the question so...hmm...I don't even remember.  It must have been some time last week.  I love eating fried, marinated, bbq'd, roasted, in a soup, in tacos, any which way you can think to make it, I'll eat it!  Well, I won't eat it with disgusting foods, like eggplant.  Blech!

The songs you listened to recently?

Well, just yesterday I listened to Made To Love, by Toby Mac and a Tchaikovsky cd.  

What were you thinking as you were doing this?

About a scene in Morcah I wanted to work on and paying bills.  I really hate bills.  :P <----that's a disgusted face, not a cute one.

Do you have nicknames?

A couple.  Most people call me Em, but one friend likes to call me Fat Ass Emily.  Fat Ass Emily is a superhero who constantly fights against the evil Bowl Man and his sidekick, the Indonesian Spoon.  You have to watch out for those two.  They'll fling hot soup at you! 

Tag five blogger friends (mwahahahaha!  finally!)

Justine Dell

Victoria Caswell

Melanie Schulz

L.C. Frost

Kate Ellison

Who's listed as number 1?

Justine Dell!  She's an awesome writer and blogger who has recently published a book under the name, Livia Dane!  If you do not follow her, you must!  She always has such fun posts!

Leave a lovey dovey message for number 2

Oh, Victoria, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways!

1. You are awesome

2. You always make me smile

3. I look forward to your phone calls and emails with great anticipation 

4. You are just about the cutest person I've ever met

5. I truly believe you are my twin

6. You are awesome (it needs to be said twice)

How did you get to know number 3?

She's been tormenting me since the day of my birth (and by that, I mean she's such a lovely sister ;) )

How about number 4?

I started following her blog several weeks ago when she first started blogging (and came highly recommended by Victoria) (and yes, she is just as awesome as Victoria always said she was), but it wasn't until recently that we really started talking outside the blog.  Not only is she nice and fun to talk to, she's a super cool writer with a super cool agent--Weronica Janczuk.  Again, if you're not following her, you must.  

Say something about number 5:

What can I say that I haven't already said over the last week?  Kate just published The Curse Girl and she is also adorable with a purple bow in her hair.  And if you ever wondered which team you should be on (team unicorn or team zombie), Kate has made the decision so much easier with a very hilarious and thoughtful post.  Plus, she accompanies her posts with stick-figure drawings.  How can you get any better than that?!

Your turn

Do you know any of the lovely ladies I've listed?  Do you have anything to say about them?  And what song have you listened to lately?  Oh, and do you like eggplant?  If so, how?! 

Celebrate Good Times With Me!

Last week, I made a very big announcement!!  So today, I'm celebrating with a giveaway!!!

And because I love Spencer Hill Press so much and am so excited to be a part of the family, I'm going to be giving away three of their books to one very lucky winner!!

A copy of Minder!

Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place. Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control. A stray thought can burn a building to the ground. And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads. But it's still better than New Jersey. Especially once she meets the man of her dreams...










A pre-order of Half Blood!!

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi—pure-bloods—have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals—well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.

Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:

Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.

Unfortunately, she’s crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn’t her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck. 

And a copy of the prequel to Half Blood:  Daimon!!

"Love in my world usually ended up with someone hearing 'I smite thee!' as she was cursed to be some lame flower for the rest of her life."

For three years, Alexandria has lived among mortals—pretending to be like them and trying to forget the duty she'd been trained to fulfill as a child of a mortal and a demigod. At seventeen, she's pretty much accepted that she's a freak by mortal standards… and that she'll never be prepared for that duty.

According to her mother, that’s a good thing.

But as every descendant of the gods knows, Fate has a way of rearing her ugly head. A horrifying attack forces Alex to flee Miami and try to find her way back to the very place her mother had warned her she should never return—the Covenant. Every step that brings her closer to safety is one more step toward death… because she's being hunted by the very creatures she'd once trained to kill.

The daimons have found her.

All you have to do to win these three amazing books is comment!  And be a follower.  That's it.  If you'd like to spread the word by posting about it or clicking the twitter and/or facebook buttons below this post, that would be much appreciated.  :) 

I'll announce the winner next Wednesday!!  Good luck!!!