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The latest Goodreads giveaway is up and running for US and Canada residents. There are five paperback copies of Days Gone Bad up as prizes, so be sure to enter if you’d like a chance to win!
Giveaway ends August 04, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
We set foot on the Civil War battlefield known as Stones River. Union and Confederate lines, three miles long, engaged in one of the bloodiest battles of the war in these woods and fields.
There is a gravity here, in the rocky earth known as the Slaughter Pen. It’s believed the location was named by men from Chicago. Men who worked in the slaughterhouses drew a parallel between those places and the blood of hundreds of men that formed rivers among the rocks. Trying to imagine assaulting such a position, or retreating over such volatile terrain, is nothing but the stuff of nightmares.
This angle shows the channels where men hid in natural trenches. Some of them are deep enough to stand upright in and be almost completely concealed.
McFadden’s Ford was home to the last action of the battle. Confederates were cut down by 57 cannons mounted on a rise above the river. Shot, shell, and canister took a vicious toll.
One of the people that made our visit to Stones River so informative and entertaining was Jim Lewis, a ranger and historian. His knowledge of the battlefield is astounding, and I would highly recommend joining his tour group if you have the chance to visit Stones River.
In the end, the battle cost 19,000 dead and wounded. A horrific price by any standard.
Well, I’ve had a bit of radio silence the last few days as I dig deeper into editing book two. It’s going well, and at the moment it looks like we’ll be able to hit a release date sometime this fall. I’ll definitely post more details as we get closer. For now I must return to assassinating comma splices. Fare thee well.
I’m sure some of you have noticed I love the work of Patricia Briggs. Well, I left out one small detail. When I had the chance to meet her at a book signing, I picked up an extra autographed copy of Frost Burned. This week, I am giving that copy away along with In Darkness We Must Abide by Rhiannon Frater, a signed copy of Days Gone Bad, and another Worrible!
My Book Addiction (a fantastic review blog you should check out) recently introduced me to Rhiannon Frater. Rhiannon has written some excellent zombie novels and a vampire serial (In Darkness We Must Abide) I can’t put down. If you’re a fan of zombies or vampires, there’s a very good chance you’ll like her work.
Be sure to enter the giveaway! Good luck!
We ventured out to the Saint Louis Renaissance Faire last weekend. It was a blast; from the fudge shop (of which I could not stop picturing Foster going crazy at), to the amazing costumes, to the coolest ocarinas I’ve ever seen. I ended up coming home with a replica of The Ocarina of Time and a Mario mushroom themed ocarina. We also had a chance to enjoy the Greenleaf Singers doing their renditions of some classic music from the 1400s to the 1600s. I’ll be looking forward to next year’s faire!
The fudge shop:
Ocarinas by STL Ocarina:
The Greenleaf Singers:
This fairy was carrying around two of the fluffiest rats I’d ever seen. She was great with all of the kids that swarmed her:
As many of you know, I go to a lot of toy shows and conventions. Sunday was the Toyman Toy Show in Saint Louis. While you might expect the buying and selling of toys to be the highlight of a toy show, one of the highlights for me was meeting the very talented Matt Hiebert. Matt’s book, Blackhand, is currently in Amazon’s Top 100 epic fantasy bestsellers. That is, well, epic! Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of Days Gone Bad, Blackhand, and a mini-Worrible!
Pictured, Matt and Eric:
