Archive for the ‘Notes & Upcoming’ Category

Coming Soon!

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

I’ve finished reading the anthology A Girl’s Guide to Guns and Monsters, as well as Laurell K. Hamilton’s Flirt, so you can expect to see reviews of those soon. I’m in the middle of Amber Benson’s Cat’s Claw, so that will probably be next. I also have review copies of two Stonewall Kitchens cookbooks, concerning breakfasts and winter celebrations, so in a few weeks (once we’ve had a chance to test out some recipes!) you’ll hear about those!

In other words, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it looks like the insomnia’s on the mend and I’ll be back to expounding on what I loved & hated about the books I’ll finally be reading again. I hope your own years are starting off well! :)

Update on 2/18: I’ve put together the initial scaffolding of four reviews: the above-mentioned three, plus Walter Greatshell’s “Xombies: Apocalypticon.” Now that I’m awake and have gotten myself moving again, I hope to work on those reviews over the next few days, plus start reading a couple of more thought-intensive books that I’ve had to delay: Daniel Rabuzzi’s The Choir Boats: Volume One of Longing for Yount and Carrie Host’s Between Me and the River. We’ve also made the first couple of recipes out of the breakfast cookbook and a bacon cookbook we picked up over Christmas, so reviews of those will probably show up in the next few weeks!

There’s something a bit terrifying about having to catch up on nearly three years’ worth of insomnia-induced lack of productive output, but I’ve finally managed to pick a spot and start digging, which ought to make things easier.

Apologies…

Monday, January 25th, 2010

I apologize for the recent lack of content and for my failure to reply to some of the emails we’ve gotten. Long story short: I’ve been dealing with a heck of an insomnia problem that is now getting treatment, so hopefully soon I’ll have some energy again. In the meantime, however, I’ve been pretty out of it, and the treatment is worse than the disease in the first stages, so I’m even more tired for the moment. Reading a book, much less reviewing it, takes a lot more brainpower than I have for now! Assuming the insomnia gets better, however, you should see more from us soon! Thank you for your patience!

The Dewey Tree

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Publicist Lisa Roe has put together a wonderful literary donation project for this holiday season. I’m a bit late posting about it, but please don’t let that stop you from participating if you’re just hearing about it! As she says in this blog post (go read it when you’re done here):

As I write this, I think of a favorite blogger who passed away this time last year. Her spirit lives on in the Dewey Read-a-Thon, Weekly Geeks, and The Bookworms Carnival. She loved reading. She loved books. She supported Banned Books Week and believed everyone had the right to reading material. In her honor, I’m calling this donation project The Dewey Tree. It’s a little bit The Giving Tree, a little bit Dewey, a little bit charity. :-D

Here’s what you do:
*Gather up the books you can live without. It can be 4 books, 10 books, or 20 books!
*Find a worthy group you would like to donate your overflow books to. It can be your local library, a literacy campaign (mine will go to the literacy center I volunteer for), or overseas. There’s a great list of book donation sites here on the ALA. Find a charity that speaks to you!
*Then take a picture of your donation and email it to me (onlinepublicist [AT] gmail [DOT] com). It can be a pic of the mailing label on your package, one of your kids giving a box of books to a librarian, or you handing books over to your literacy center. Be creative and have fun!

I will accept pics (and will post favorites) until January 4, 2010.

The post then goes on to tell you where to go to enter your information to win a custom tote from her!

Dewey was such a wonderful part of the book blogging community. Her readathon was the one real book blogging major activity I took part in as a blogger, and she had a knack for bringing people together in ways that magically didn’t seem to involve a lot of drama or strife. I think this is a fantastic way to honor her memory.

I tend to donate a lot of my review copies to the local library anyway when I’m done with them—but frankly, it’s time for me to do a somewhat more thorough cleaning out of my shelves than that. So next week I plan to post my photo!

Also, anyone who orders from one of our craft stores by January 4, 2010 (errantdreams.shophandmade.com or errantdreams.etsy.com) and has participated in this project can put the words “Dewey Tree” in the “notes to seller” field of their order or payment and I’ll enclose a little something extra with your order, like a hand-sewn cloth gift bag, beaded keyring, or a randomly-chosen recently-published book! This one’s on the honor system, folks, so please be honest! It’s just a little thank-you for doing something nice in Dewey’s memory.

And thank you, Lisa, for putting this together!

Twitter updates

Monday, March 30th, 2009

If you want to follow along with our updates on Twitter, you now can! twitter.com/ErrantDreams

Vote!

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

There’s still time (until the 14th) to vote for us at the Preditors & Editors review site poll. Okay, so we only recently got added, but that won’t stop us from trying! Please vote!

Btw, three book reviews upcoming soon, hopefully this week…

MetroKitchen exclusives & sweepstakes; bookmarks

Friday, October 31st, 2008

Hey there. I just got a press release from MetroKitchen. They’re celebrating their 10-year anniversary with a bunch of exclusive items and a pretty cool sweepstakes. It looks like the sweepstakes itself will start on November 15th.

October 30, 2008 – To celebrate MetroKitchen.com’s 10 year anniversary of selling on-line direct to consumers, companies like Mauviel and All-Clad Metalcrafters LLC and Wusthof have created new and unique products to be sold only at Metrokitchen this holiday season. MetroKitchen is the only internet retailer to have the opportunity to carry these tailor-made, exclusive products and offer them online to their loyal customer base starting early Fall. For more information about the 10 year anniversary new and exclusive products, please click on this URL
http://www.metrokitchen.com/metrokitchen-10-year-anniversary

This Fall, MetroKitchen.com celebrates 10 years as the premiere on-line retailer for top brands of cookware and cutlery. Over the span of 10 years, MetroKitchen has expanded its upscale
product line to include other kitchenware products, such as gourmet electric appliances and wine accessories. While most online retailers have come and gone, and other home goods stores struggle, MetroKitchen continues to grow and expand its selection of product lines, establishing unique relationships with the top brands used by and found in professional chefs and finest kitchens around the world. MetroKitchen CEO Lynn Clarke says, “Every employee at MetroKitchen follows the guide of treating our customers the way each of us wants to be treated. That’s why top brands such as All-Clad, Wusthof and Mauviel have selected us as their on-line retailer.” MetroKitchen is proud to offer several exclusive product sets for the upcoming holiday season from top cookware/cutlery brands such as All-Clad, Wusthof, Henckels and Mauviel.

Additionally, MetroKitchen in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America, will be promoting a new sweepstakes in honor of MetroKitchen’s 10 year anniversary, with several valued prizes, including a vacation CIA bootcamp getaway at an exclusive CIA locationTo check out the MetroKitchen 10 Year Anniversary Exclusives, visit: http://www.metrokitchen.com/metrokitchen-10-year-anniversary

About MetroKitchen: Metrokitchen.com has been in business since 1998. It was the first website in the world to sell only top brands of cookware, knives and small kitchen appliances. All-Clad chose
MetroKitchen.com to be its first on-line retailer. CIA cookware and Marcus cookware secured exclusivity rights with MetroKitchen when they introduced their cookware into e-commerce.
MetroKitchen ships directly from its warehouse in Atlanta within 24 hours of receiving an order. MetroKitchen is a privately held company.

About Mauviel: Mauviel, the renowned French copper cookware manufacturer, is one of the only copper cookware manufacturers left in the world today. Mauviel artisans blend handwork techniques that date back to the Middle Ages with modern technology to make beautiful cookware that lasts a lifetime, whether it’s used in the home or in a commercial environment. The Company is located in the Normandy countryside of France in the town of Villedieu

Also, just a reminder that all of our first round of hand-made beaded bookmarks are on sale (all have been marked down 20-30%) at our Etsy store (errantdreams.etsy.com). They make great holiday gifts for your favorite readers, and they come packaged in little jewelry gift boxes!

Upcoming & Handmade Bookmark Sale!

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Since I’m now definitely receiving more review books than I can review all of, instead of telling you which books I’ve gotten in total, I’ll just let you know which are in the immediate upcoming queue to be reviewed. This week I plan to review Turback’s coffee drink cookbook, as well as a backyard cooking cookbook from Chronicle. I have some kitchenware to review from Cuisipro: measuring spoons, a pastry blender, and cookie cutters. And finally, next on my novel list is Lora Leigh’s Mercury’s War.

You might have noticed that a few weeks ago we opened a shop on etsy [errantdreams.etsy.com] for some of our handmade goods (jewelry, bookmarks, trinket bags, ornaments). Well, I just received a new shipment of bookmark-making supplies after using up all of my old stash, so in celebration I’ve marked down ALL of the old bookmarks by 20-30%. They make great stocking stuffers, and they’re wonderful for treating yourself with too, so grab ‘em while they’re cheap! You’ll find all 11 bookmarks in the widget below, or you can click on this link [link] to visit the bookmark collection:

Upcoming & Notes, 8/21/08

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

Caribousmom is hosting a giveaway of David Fuller’s Sweetsmoke—you have until September 3rd!

You have until September 25th to enter the contest for a copy of Acacia by David Anthony Durham from Fantasy Book Critic!

Join in on Shiloh’s Five Books Meme!

 

Upcoming & Notes, 7/25/08

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Another giveaway: win a copy of a book that sounds highly entertaining over at the Boston Bibliophile: Bobbie Faye’s (kinda, sorta, not-exactly) Family Jewels. You have until August 7!

Win a copy of Rachel Vincent’s Rogue over at F&SF reviews—you have until the 31st.

The Waiter’s Waiter Rant is finally coming out. Go grab it!

A Reader’s Journal is giving away a copy of Henkin’s Matrimony—enter before 8/19!

 

Author Stuart Clark is holding a giveaway until August 31:

To celebrate Stuart completing the manuscript of book two of the Project U.L.F. series, he has decided to give three lucky people the chance to win a free copy of Project U.L.F. These books will be signed, first edition hard covers.

 

Participate in the memorial for blogger Sherry. Rest in peace…

 

Since I’ve gotten rather fond of DeviantArt of late, here’s a great charity announcement:

deviantART will celebrate it’s 8th birthday on Thursday 7th August 2008. In celebration, we will donate 10% of the total print sales from our Store made on the 7th August 2008 to Project FOCUS: Art for AIDS Orphans in Uganda, a project which is registered with Global Giving.

You’ll find the store here.

 

Upcoming, 7/8/08

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

B&b ex libris is having a giveaway for a copy of Did I Expect Angels? You have until Sunday the 13th to enter!

It isn’t a book, but it’s still utterly cool… enter to win a gorgeous quilt at the Old Red Barn Co.! (Thanks, Caribousmom!) You have until July 23d. (Note: ORBC blog plays music on arrival.)

Dovegreyreader scribbles has a giveaway of Ekaterinburg, The Last Days of the Romanovs, signed by the author!