The Wowza Palooza Pub Day Party!

Bring on the fireworks, baby, 'cause it's the pub day for The Key & the Flame! Let's get this party started.

Why, thanks, Leo, don't mind if I do. I'm sure that's sparkling white grape juice in that glass, right? This is a family blog, after all. Now, don't go asking me to make a speech. Please. It's too much.

Well, if  you insist. Thank you, Ron, and all the Hogwarts kids. I appreciate your support. I couldn't have gotten to this point without you. Sorry, what? Where's the what? The free stuff?

Oh, you mean the giveaways. Yeah, let's not pause too long to congratulate my achievement. Let's get right to the booty. In honor of the next book (no more on that for now), let us salute the booty and start giving stuff away.

 Today's giveaway features a personalized signed book, a $20 Amazon gift card, and a nifty bag o' swag, including

• Key & the Flame stickers
• a premium tasseled bookmark with key charms
• The Key & the Flame buttons
• signed author bookplates
• your very own plush Golden Salamander, who will protect you forever, just as he does Holly in the book
• a key pendant necklace

You can see photos of some of this cool swag right here.

But before you run and enter the giveaway, check out the other fun Key & the Flame events on the blogosphere today:

•  Melanie Crowder offers a sneak peek at Chapter 1 of the book on The Lucky 13s
• Rebecca Behrens chats with me at OneFour KidLit
• Author Tamera Will Wissinger (Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse) officially kicks off the blog tour for The Key & the Flame with an interview at Smack Dab in the Middle

The blog tour rolls on until April 13! Get the full schedule right here. 

-- SORRY, THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED. CONGRATS TO OUR WINNER, MARIA S. OF PENNSYLVANIA! --

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Countdown to Pub Day Party Giveaway #4!

Blogfrogs, I can hardly believe that 4 weeks from today--*cough*gasp*choke*--I'll be celebrating my very own Pub Day. But until that time, I've got one last giveaway before our final wowza palooza party day. It is my distinct honor to offer you ...

(trumpet fanfare & drumroll)

The Cavendish Home for Boys & Girls
by Claire Legrand

Goodreads has this to say:

At the Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, you will definitely learn your lesson. A dark, timeless, and heartfelt novel for fans of Coraline and The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Victoria hates nonsense. There is no need for it when your life is perfect. The only smudge on her pristine life is her best friend Lawrence. He is a disaster—lazy and dreamy, shirt always untucked, obsessed with his silly piano. Victoria often wonders why she ever bothered being his friend. (Lawrence does too.)

But then Lawrence goes missing. And he’s not the only one. Victoria soon discovers that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is not what it appears to be. Kids go in but come out…different. Or they don’t come out at all.

If anyone can sort this out, it’s Victoria—even if it means getting a little messy.

This book has a timeless, Roald Dahlesque quality--i.e., fantastic writing--and is seriously creepy. Kirkus Reviews called it “a heartwarming friendship tale . . . A thoroughgoing ickfest, elevated by vulnerable but resilient young characters and capped by a righteously ominous closing twist.” This is a book with a great friendship at its heart as well as more than a few chills and scares.

So I'm thrilled to be giving away a hardcover copy of this novel along with three of my fab The Key & the Flame bookmarks! This is a short giveaway, frogs--just one week. So the tension won't last forever. By the way, hearty congrats & confetti to Mike C. of Illinois, who won last month's giveaway and is now enjoying his very own copy of The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver.

But that's over and done. This giveaway's happening right now. So go ahead. Get in on it!

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Countdown to Pub Day Party Giveaway!

--SORRY, THIS GIVEAWAY IS OVER--

The party just keeps rocking on, blogfrogs! Pub Day for The Key & the Flame is fast approaching, and once again, I'm giving away some marvelous middle-grade fiction to celebrate. Last month, Chelsea P. was the lucky winner of Jacqueline West's Spellbound. And this month, hang on to your bookmarks because someone will win ...

(ta-da-da-da-da)

The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver (yeah, in hardcover!)
author website

The scoop from Goodreads:

One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was quite, quite different.

When Liza's brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers' nests, where she encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests--or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.

From New York Times best-selling author Lauren Oliver comes a bewitching story about the reaches of loyalty, the meaning of love, and the enduring power of hope.

Kirkus Reviews named this book one of the Best of 2012, calling it "[a] refreshingly creepy, intricately woven tale.... Richly detailed, at times poetic, ultimately moving; a book to be puzzled over, enjoyed and, ideally, read aloud." 

As usual, I'll throw in a few The Key & the Flame bookmarks signed in my own illegible hand to add to the prize pack. So go ahead! Enter already.

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Woo-Hoo! Another Winner!

Fanfare and confetti all round! Congrats to Chelsea P. of Portland, who won the January Countdown to Pub Day Party Giveaway. Yes, Chelsea, we'll fly you and the companion of your choice on an all-expenses-paid trip to Rome, Italy! And what's this? A NEW CAR ?

Sorry, Chelsea, I was in Bob Barker mode for a minute. You won't get the trip, but you will get a lovely copy of Jacqueline West's novel SPELLBOUND, the second in the BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE series. And I'll throw in some bookmarks too.

Did you miss out? There's more great middle-grade kidlit to come. Look for the next giveaway on February 5, when I'll be giving you a chance to win a hardcover edition of a best-selling author's book. Details to come!

Countdown to Pub Day Party Giveaway!

ONLINE COUNTDOWNS

--SORRY, THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED. MORE TO COME!-- 

--SEE THIS POST FOR THE WINNER--

Yes, party blogfrogs, it's time for another giveaway as the Countdown to Pub Day Party rocks on. If you're unaware, I'm giving away awesome middle-grade fiction on the first Tuesday of every month right up through April, which is the pub date for The Key & the Flame. Last month, Kit G. was lucky enough to win a copy of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Cathrynne M. Valente. But this month, I'm giving away the amazing ...    

The Books of Elsewhere: Spellbound by Jacqueline West
author website

from the book's Goodreads page:

With no way into the house's magical paintings, and its three guardian cats reluctant to help, Olive's friend Morton is still trapped inside Elsewhere. So when Rutherford, the new oddball kid next door, mentions a grimoire--a spellbook--Olive feels a breathless tug of excitement. If she can find the McMartins' spellbook, maybe she can help Morton escape Elsewhere for good. Unless, that is, the book finds Olive first.

The house isn't the only one keeping secrets anymore. Mystery, magic, corruption, and betrayal abound (plus just enough laughs to take the edge off). You'll never guess what happens next in this thrilling, chilling second volume in the critically acclaimed series.

I love this series--the creepy old house, spunky heroine Olive, and Jacqueline West's exquisite writing that brings the story right out of the pages into your head. This is the second book of the series, but it can easily be read independent of the others. Enter below to win your own paperback copy as well as a few signed The Key & the Flame bookmarks.
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The Countdown to Pub Day Party is a monthly giveaway leading up to April 2. Every first Tuesday, I'll give away a copy of great middle-grade fiction by today's best authors. Stay tuned for more free stuff. 

Congratulations!

Fireworks and fanfare and hearty congratulations to  Kit G., who is the first winner in my Countdown to Pub Day Party giveaways! She will soon be the proud owner of a copy of Cathrynne M. Valente's The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making as well as a few of my own The Key & the Flame bookmarks. Huzzah, Kit!

Feeling growly with envy and morose because you didn't win? Never fear. I've got monthly giveaways going on until Pub Day (April 2, 2013). The next one is coming up on New Year's Day, so come on back and try again.


image courtesy of wikimedia commons; (c) Kabir Bakie but resuable under Creative Commons License 2.5.

Countdown to Pub Day Party Kickoff

ONLINE COUNTDOWNS

-- SORRY, THIS GIVEAWAY IS OVER --

Let the Countdown to Pub Day Party commence! The Key & the Flame will be hitting the shelves on the first Tuesday in April, and I'm celebrating the countdown for the next four months. The first Tuesday of every month up till pub date, I'll give away a copy of a marvelous middle-grade novel. On April 2, 2013, our party will culminate in a wowza palooza giveaway of a hardback, signed copy  of The Key & the Flame, accompanied by much swag and fanfare. So let's get started with the very first Countdown to Pub Day Party Giveaway, which is ...

(trumpets please)   

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
author website (which is quite cool in its own right)

the description from Goodreads:

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.

Charming, fun, fabulous--you will love this book, which is the first in a series. Enter below to win your very own paperback copy, and a few signed The Key & the Flame bookmarks too.

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