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!