Category Archives: Giveaways

Contest Time: Gini Koch!

What do we all need at the beginning of a New Year? What else, but a calendar! And what could be better than a calendar featuring the amazing artwork of Dan dos Santos as seen on Gini Koch’s sci-fi romance Alien Series covers.

Enter our latest drawing to win this 2012 calendar plus a copy of her latest book, released December 2011, Alien Proliferation.

Want more than one entry? Post a link to the Fictorians blog on your facebook page or your own blog, or tweet the details of our contest. If you do any of these things, leave the details (including your web address and twitter handle) with your comment. There’s a maximum of 4 entries per person (one for each method of entry). Leave a comment  telling us in 25 words or less who your favorite book character is and why. See our examples below.

If you’re not yet familiar with the series, but would like to be, then just say so or make something up. It’s all good. Just make sure you let us know, and let me know you’d rather have the first book in the series rather than the fourth.

Entries will be accepted until 9pm PST on Friday, 30 December.  We’ll announce the winner on January 6th, and send the prize the same day. Is the whole contest too spread out? A bit. But hey, it’s the holidays. Cut me some slack, here.

Oh, and those examples; here’s Gini’s comment on her favorite hunk in the series. “I go for Martini, of course, because he’s pretty much the perfect man — intelligent, handsome, caring, brave, understanding, sensitive, but willing and able to kick butt as needed. However, I also go for Chuckie. Because he’s the same, with extras on intelligent. Sure, he’s not A-C handsome, but he’s still hot for a human, and he has all the rest of Martini’s qualities, including being sensitive and caring, without being empathically talented. Chuckie is the epitome of every nerd guy who’s made good. I don’t know that Martini could exist in the real world, but I know Chuckie can and does.”

Of slightly less interest…okay, maybe of much less interest, here’s mine: I go for Chuckie, too, but Gini pretty much summed up the reasons why, so I’m going to take a slightly different direction. My second-favorite character was the poofs. Yeah, they’re cute, cuddly, etc….but they turn into vicious, uber-doberman-type, guard-bears. What could be cooler than that? I want a gray one with black spots and I’ll name her Frill.

It’s that easy. Let us know what you think; fb, blog and twitter the contest location to others; and win a calendar and a free book. You can buy Gini’s books at Barnes and Noble,  Amazon, Mysterious Galaxy or your local bookseller.

And the Winner is…

The adjudicators

Thank you to everyone who dropped by the Fictorians over the last week to enter our Jacqueline Carey giveaway.

We have enjoyed reading about your favourite characters and I’ve added a few books to my “must buy” list. The lucky winner of a signed copy of Jacquelin’s latest book, Saints Astray, is… <drum roll> Jalen! Congratulations, Jalen. Send your mailing details to me at k.quillinan at yahoo dot com and I’ll pass them on to Jacquelin.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and a special thank you to Jacqueline Carey for making this contest possible.

 

Click here to read the first chapter of Saints Astray

Click here to order from Amazon.com

Characters We Love (with Jacqueline Carey giveaway!)

It’s been a big week here at Fictorians. Just a few days ago, we had our very first superstar guest post with David Farland talking about the future of publishing. We have more excitement today with a giveaway by the very excellent Jacqueline Carey.  More about that soon…

I’ve been thinking this week about what makes a memorable character. Every now and again, along comes a character who is so alive, they seem to jump right off the page. This is the character who climbs into your head with you and comes along for the ride as you read their story and then lingers in your memory long after the book is closed. This is the character you want to be or, at least, to hang out with.

I didn’t discover fantasy until my early 20s (unless we’re counting Enid Blyton) and one of the first memorable characters I encountered was Phedre no Delaunay from Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart. Phedre is a vibrant and beautifully-drawn character, sold into indentured servitude as a child and then raised as a spy and a very special type of courtesan. She’s intelligent, poised, determined, and just a little bit devious. She faces heartbreak, treachery and murderous plots, all while seemingly never getting a hair out of place.

Jacqueline Carey’s most recent novel, Saints Astray, which continues the adventures of Loup and Pilar from Santa Olivia, will be on the bookstore shelves any day now. To celebrate, Jacqueline is offering a signed copy of Saints Astray for one lucky Fictorians reader. To enter, leave a comment below telling us in 25 words or less who your favourite book character is.

Want more than one entry? Post a link to the Fictorians blog on your facebook page or your own blog, or tweet the details of our contest. If you do any of these things, leave the details (including your web address and twitter handle) with your comment. There’s a maximum of 4 entries per person (one for each method of entry).

Entries will be accepted until 9pm PST on Thursday, 17 November. All entries will be transferred to our special winner selection machine (ie a baseball cap) and a random entry drawn. The winner will be announced on Saturday, 19 November.

Sorry, this offer is available to US residents only.

Jacqueline Carey - Saints Astray Image

 Click here to read the first chapter of Saints Astray

Click here to order from Amazon.com