Book Buying Etiquette and Have A Chance to Win Some Books by Rob Thurman

Please note date change for book buying - starts the 2nd of March and ends the 7th of March.

Ok, readers. If you want to help the authors that you love, like or simply tolerate. If you want them to keep writing their books. If you want to help them make a bestseller list ... please don't buy an author's book way ahead of its release date. Buy during the release week, on the release date and in the following 2 or 3 weeks. For example, if a book is released on Tuesday, February 23, books bought starting on Sunday, February 21 will be included in all the zany calculations that some bestseller list makers use. Others calculate from the official release date. I can't explain how each of the bestseller lists are determined because it's arcane (paranormal even) and different for each list, but I do know that buying out of the release window hurts and does not help authors. Of course if you can't get the book in the first 2 or 3 weeks buy it when you can, just don't buy it EARLY. It's best to buy it on the release date and soon after.

And now a giveaway to illustrate buying during the initial release period:

Buy a copy of Roadkill, the 5th Cal Leandros book, by Rob Thurman between the 2nd and 7th of March, 2010. Email a copy of your dated receipt to TheQwillery aht gmail daht com. If you submit a receipt you will receive 10 entries.

and/or

We'd love for you to buy the 5th book, but you can also leave a comment explaining why you would like to read the Cal Leandros series. Leave a comment and get 1 entry.

So to recap:

1) Buy Rob Thurman's Roadkill between March 2 and March 6, 2010.
2) Email a copy of your dated receipt to The Qwillery by March 8th, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
3) Good for 5 entries.

and/or

1) Leave a comment telling us why you'd like to read the Cal Leandros series by March 8th, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
2) Good for 1 entry.

All entries will be placed in a suitable receptacle and one drawn to receive the first 4 Cal Leandros books.

Please note this giveaway is only open to those of you with a US mailing address.

Cal Leandros Books 1 -4:

Book 1 - Nightlife

Welcome to the Big Apple. There's a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side---and that's only the beginning. Of course, most humans are oblivious to the preternatural nightlife around them, but Cal Leandros is only half human.

His father's dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares---and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal. Why? Cal hasn't exactly wanted to stick around long enough to find out.

He and his half brother, Niko, have managed to stay a step ahead for four years, but now Cal's dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him: He is the key to unleashing their hell on earth. The fate of the human world will be decided in the fight of Cal's life....

Book 2 - Moonshine

After saving the world from his fiendish father's side of the family, Cal Leandros and his stalwart half brother, Niko, have settled down with a new apartment and a new gig-bodyguard and detective work. And in New York City, where preternatural beings stalk the streets just like normal folk, business is good.

Their latest case has them going undercover for the Kin, the werewolf Mafia. A low-level Kin boss thinks a rival is setting him up for a fall, and wants proof. The place to start is the back room of Moonshine, a gambling club for non-humans. Cal thinks it's a simple in-and-out job. But Cal is very, very wrong.

Cal and Niko are being set up themselves-and the people behind it have bites much worse than their barks...

Book 3 - Madhouse
Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother, Niko, aren't exactly prospering with their preternatural detective agency. Who could have guessed that business could dry up in New York City, where vampires, trolls, and other creepy crawlies are all over the place?

But now there's a new arrival in the Big Apple. A malevolent evil with ancient powers is picking off humans like sheep, dead-set on making history with an orgy of blood and murder. And for Cal and Niko, this is one paycheck they-re going to have to earn...if they live long enough to collect it.

Book 4 - Deathwish

Half-human Cal Leandros and his brother, Niko, are barely getting by with their preternatural detective agency when the vampire Seamus hires them. He's being followed, and he wants to know by whom. But the Leandros brothers have to do more than they had planned when Seamus turns up dead (or
un-undead).

Worse still is the return of Cal's nightmarish family' the Auphe.
The last time Cal faced them, the Auphe were almost wiped out. Now they want revenge. Cal knows that before the Auphe get to him, they will try to destroy everything and everyone he holds dear. Because for the Auphe, Cal's pain is a pleasure.

And they're feeling good.

*******

The covers alone should make you want to read these books!

Rob Thurman can be found on Twitter, her website and LiveJournal.

********

More Rob Thurman Contests plus (will be updated)

Rob Thurman is giving a sneak peak at the 6th Cal Leandros book if you purchase Book 5! Details here.

Rob Thurman is Dame for A Day at Deadline Dames. Books will be given away. Check it out here.

Cat and Muse Interview: Jezebel interviews Cal Leandros and Robin Goodfellow!

Contest at Mark Henry's Blog for a chance to win original  Mark Henry Snark Art!

Save Amanda Feral !!!

And the winners are.....
Irwirum/Larena and Jacabur2008!

Please send your snail mail address to The Qwillery at theqwillery aht gmail daht com so that The Qwillery can send you a MMPB of Happy Hour of the Damned and a cute Zombie Devil Duckie!  Thank you to everyone!

Remember -- Battle of the Network Zombies is out today.

As part of the Save Amanda Feral movement, The Qwillery invited some of Mark Henry’s peers to blurb about him or the Amanda Feral series. Some were entirely speechless, others not so much:


"Mark Henry is a loveable, incorrigible scoundrel who tells the best damn stories about the worst damn people. His vampires, werewolves, zombies, and demons are fundamentally horrible, yet you root for them anyway -- which is truly the mark of a master, in my not-so-humble opinion. The Amanda Feral books are much, much funnier than hell."  ~ Cherie Priest


"If picking best friends from the dead were a team sport, and I was the captain (of course I'd be the captain)--I'd choose Amanda Feral to be on my team. She's like my fashion savvy, fabulous, designer shoe-wearin' twin. Only not... because well, you know, she has that eating people habit I can't seem to break her of. So maybe we're more like fraternal twins than identical..

Ahem... but if I were dead--she'd be my homeslice. Amanda Feral rocks!" ~Dakota Cassidy


"Mark Henry is the king fu master of snark." ~ Mario Acevedo


"Mark and I are Twitter addicted.On the flight home from Dragon Con 09 we decided to share an online service on our only charged electronic device - my iPod. Well, as you can imagine, it was a twitter blizzard and we got so confused that Mark tweeted as me and I tweeted as him..Things were said by him (as me) that I may never live down (so dirty). Maybe that is a good thing.

It was like the Hanukkah of iPods even though my battery said it was going to shut off it never did..not until we landed...only with Mark Henry can you have Twitter miracles. He's a good friend and mentor...and a dirty dirty perv."  ~Synde Korman, League of Reluctant Adults Moderator


"Mark who?" ~Nicole Peeler


"Mary Henry writes the most filthy-minded, vomit-inducing, mind-exploding zombie fiction you'll ever read. You'll laugh until you pee your pants, but you'll join the rest of us fools who soiled our underwear and ended up on the floor curled into the fetal position. Those weekly visits to the shrink won't stop you from picking up more Amanda Feral adventures, either. Go on, addict, enjoy the crack that is Happy Hour of the Damned. I'll see you in group. (Don't talk about your mother. We all know it's Mark Henry's fault.)" ~Michele Bardsley


“Only Mark Henry can make zombies sexy! Read Amanda Feral or he will send his uberstyilsh, diabolical creations after you!"   ~Molly Harper


"Hey Mark--where's the Dragon King?" ~Jeanne Stein


"Mark Henry needs to be stopped. He's been brainwashing us with his preternatural mind control skills. Otherwise, how could we possibly find books filled with zombies, fashion and explosive diarrhea jokes funny?

Because of Mark's books, I, myself, have experienced the shame of spontaneous oral incontinence in public. That's why I started a new group called Team Beige. Team Beige is for people who prefer their comedy only mildly amusing and always politically correct. We prefer puns over cutting wit. We prefer political correctness over boundary pushing. And for the love of all that's holy, we never ever enjoy reading about zombie sex. Or sex at all, for that matter.

If you haven't read Mark's books (Happy Hour of the Damned, Road Trip of the Living Dead or the forthcoming Battle of the Network Zombies), I suggest you run out now and buy copies for yourself and all your friends. How else will you be able to fully understand the scope Mark Henry's depravity? Don't hesitate, friends: Team Beige needs you today."  ~Jaye Wells


Finally, a photo of Mark Henry courtesy of Rob Thurman:


Mark 'Hung Like a Woolly Mammoth' Henry will come to your porch and shake his sweet angel ass if you save Amanda! Or, if that's not your thing, Mark Henry and his sweet angel ass will *not* show up on your porch and respect your restraining order if you save Amanda!

~Rob Thurman

(Photo by FeyCreations)








The Qwillery is giving away 2 copies of the Mass Market Paperback of Happy Hour of the Damned each with an adorable Zombie Devil Duckie.

So here is what you have to do to have the chance to win a copy of the novel and a duckie: leave a comment. That’s it. We’ll put all the names in a hat or some other suitable receptacle and pull two out. Ok, we’ll make it more interesting – if you tweet the contest, we’ll put your name in for the tweet as well. You can tweet as much as you like, but it only counts once. If you also mention the contest on Facebook, we’ll add your name again. You can mention it on Facebook a zillion times (which would probably cause everyone to unfriend you), but you only get one extra entry. So you can get your name placed in the receptacle a maximum of 3 times (comment, tweet, FB mention). Provide us a link in the comments so we know that you tweeted or Facebooked.

The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth. Contest ends at 11:59pm Eastern Time on Monday, February 22, 2010.

The Amanda Feral Series:

Happy Hour of the Damned

Road Trip of the Living Dead

Battle of the Network Zombies
(releasing February 23, 2010)


You can find Mark Henry at his website and at The League of Reluctant Adults. You can join the Glamazombies (his Yahoo Group) here.

Click to join markhenry

Come Hell or High Water Photo Contest - And the Winners Are...

Voting has closed. We had a record 166 votes. Thank you very much to everyone who voted and to the wonderfully creative people who submitted photos! And the winners of a signed copy of Come Hell or High Water by Michele Bardsley are:

Nicole Bryant (Photo Six) with 36% of the vote

and

Melody Prater (Photo One) with 22% of the vote.

Congratulations. I'll be contacting you to get your snail mail address so I can send you each your book.

Look for a new contest starting soon! Up for grabs - 2 copies of the MMPB of Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry. Each copy will come with an adorable Zombie Devil Duckie. You'll have to feed it graaaaaaains. (Not really, it's plastic).

We like them all so... a poll to pick the winners - Come Hell or High Water by Michele Bardsley

Michele Bardsley and I like all of the pictures submitted in the contest, and we can't decide. So we're going to have a poll to decide who wins. That's right YOU get to decide! All of the entries are below. Vote by number for your favorite. The top two vote getters will receive signed copies of Michele's Come Hell or High Water. The voting is open until 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time on Saturday, February 13, 2010. Here are the wonderful entries:

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Vote in the poll at the top right. And now you know why we can't decide! Thanks for helping us.