The Dragons' Bane Trilogy's 5-Year Anniversary {USA + CA GIVEAWAY}

UPDATE 2: The giveaway is now open to Canada!

UPDATE 1: I am currently looking at opening the giveaway up to Canada, as well. More information to come. 

Hello there!

If you know me to pretty much any decent degree, you know that the Dragons' Bane trilogy is one of my favorite YA fantasies ever. And so today, on July 1st 2021, to celebrate the series' five year anniversary, (sorry I don't think I said that part loud enough let me just - FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY) as well as to thank the author, Melody Jackson, for writing this fabulous trilogy and to support her, we're doing our second giveaway!!

(Can you tell I'm really excited? because I'm REALLY excited.)

I shan't doddle. Let's get right into the give away.

-Giveaway Information-

The prizes:

There will be three winners and thus three prizes, just like last time. 

3rd place: A kindle copy of Dragons' Bane

2nd place: A kindle copy of Dragons' Bane as well as Dragons' Might

1st place: The completed Dragons' Bane trilogy! Dragons' Bane, Dragons' Might, and Dragons' Hope, with your choice of paperbacks or kindle copies! (I personally recommend physical because the covers are GORGEOUS and make a wonderful addition to any shelf + seeing the thickness of the books progress from teeny to medium to CHONK is a wonderful thing that sparks the happy juices in my brain and it probably will yours too.)

Bonus: I have six Dragons' Hope bookmarks and six "Honorary Dragon" cards that I will give away to randomly selected people who did not win one of the three prizes. These will be mailed to you. 

(I'm afraid this giveaway will also be limited to the USA. Sorry, international friends. Perhaps we can work on getting you involved another time.)

How to enter:

All I need you to do to enter this giveaway is....

-Share this post so we can reach more people and provide some sort of proof that you have shared it (a link to a social media post that it's in, a screenshot of a text with the link in view, a link to a Pinterest board with it pinned there, that sort of thing) in an email addressed to me (you can find my contact form to the right of this page)

-If you would like to have the chance of winning a bookmark+honorary dragon card, please include "bookmark eligible" in your email to me.  If you do not include this in your email, you will not be added to the bookmark+card giveaway. 

-Comment on this post (about anything, but nothing profane or inappropriate)

How winners will be chosen:

Once you've entered (again, by commenting and by emailing me) and the entry date has expired, I'll draw names at random and we'll see who wins! I will then use the email address they had sent their entrance email to me through and let them know of their victory. 

From there, I'll ask for your place of residence so that I can have the physical copies sent to you (if you're the grand-prize winner and want physical copies; if not I will just let you know when to expect the kindle copy/copies).

(It may take me 1-3 days to inform you of your victory.)

If you win,

Please consider posting it on social media and tagging the author! And if you read the books and you like them, you should reach out to Melody Jackson to let her know! Indie authors love getting comments and encouragement in regards to their books. Also come back here and let me know, so we can talk about it and geek out together.

Also please consider reviewing the books and sharing that review on as many platforms as you can to boost traffic to the series. 

The deadline

The deadline for entering this giveaway will be July 30th. Last giveaway, we only had a few people participating. I'm hoping that this time around we will have much more, so I'm letting this one run on for a longer period. 

During that time, please share this post and other content regarding the giveaway that I put out (it will be able to be found on this blog and on my Pinterest). 

-Information about the Books-

Okay, so now you've read the exciting part, here's the part about the actual books (which is honestly way more exciting). 

Book Description:

I'm only giving the first book's description, because the descriptions for the other two sort of give away the ones before them. Not fully to spoiler point, but it's better safe than sorry.

Dragons' Bane:

What would you do if someone offered you unlimited power?

Would you take it?

And more importantly, what price would you pay to keep it?

The Bane's power is little more than a legend in the land of Calest, one known to many but believed by few. But with a rival country now threatening to invade and once-peaceful dragons attacking their cities, a fairytale may be their only option. 

Lena Made wants no part in finding the Bane. She's seen firsthand how power corrupted her own country, and only want to be reunited with her father. But in order to find them, she must join forces with the distrusting and arrogant Blaze Montego... who needs her help to find the Bane.

With tensions rising on all sides and secrets slipping that could change everything they know about the world, can they find a way to work together and save Calest without being corrupted by the very force they're fighting against?

My reviews:

Here are my reviews of all of the books:

Dragons' Bane Goodreads review

Dragons' Might Goodreads review

Dragons' Hope Goodreads review

About the Author:

Melody Jackson is a young "crazy dragon lady" and a lover of all things geek. She resides in the rainy state of Oregon with too many books and not enough time to write (or read) them all. When she's not spinning the tales in her head into stories, she can be found working undercover at a grocery store or gathering intel for her next stories, and food for the dragons. 

Dragons need pizza too, you know?

Author's Socials:

Goodreads

Official website 

Pinterest 

Other:

If you need more motivation for joining this giveaway, or if you're in the fandom and want more fandom-y content, here's my Pinterest board for the Dragons' Bane trilogy fandom: 

Dragons' Bane fan board

Keep an eye on that board for story pins relating to the giveaway, reviews, and general Dragon Bane related content. 

((By the way if you happen to make fanart for this series and make it public, please shoot me an email or a DM on Pinterest - I would love to save it to my board/share links to it/support it in general.))

******

Okay, there you have it, our second giveaway! This one I am especially excited for because this series has been with me for so long. I read Dragons' Bane and Dragons' Might quite some years ago, and then bought the full series in paperback and reread them, then read Dragons' Hope for the first time. And I am so, so glad I did that, because on the reread (or actually, it might have been a re-reread, as I think I read DB and maybe DM twice) I noticed so many things I didn't pick up on the first go, so when I went into Dragons' Hope I was practically enthralled with all of the details, foreshadowing, character growth, and such things that I probably wouldn't have picked up on if I hadn't reread the books recently. 

Not saying you have to do it that way, just that I did, and it made these books even more precious to me. 

So, being able to give back to Melody Jackson even just a little bit, and giving the opportunity for more people to read it, and possibly getting more people into my very small fandom, makes me so so happy.

(I might actually do a post declaring my adoration for this trilogy and showing an absurd amount of photos of my copies and talking about all my fangirl-ness which has been contained for far too long. I also might do a "book discussion" post, discussing these books individually and maybe as a whole. Maybe in separate posts? I don't know. If you have thoughts, please do share them.)

One last thing before we close off: You may notice that this is both a post and a page on my blog (the "Giveaways" page). This is because I want to continue to post on this blog without this page getting lost. You do not need to comment on both the post and the page, and you do not need to share both of them. You can comment on either the page or the post, and you can share either of them (though only the post is able to be pinned on Pinterest). 

Alright, so that's that. Are you going to join the giveaway? Have you read the books before? Do you like dragons that eat cake? Because if so you will love this book. Do you prefer teacups or mugs, or does it vary given the context? How has your day been?  

I'd love to hear your answers to all of these things in the comments below. 

Most excitedly, 

- EP

Book Discussions: Eragon by Christopher Paolini

 

Hello reader! 

Today's book discussion is going to be about Eragon, the first book in the four-part series called The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. 

I had been meaning to read this book for a very long time, I grew up constantly hearing about it, and now I finally have. And since beginning it, I was made aware that Eragon is actually quite the controversial book. Some people hated it with a burning passion and others defended and loved it with a burning passion, and then others just said "eh it's a thing" and left it at that. 

Now I want to put my two cents into the hat. 

I want to start by saying no, you cannot watch "Star Wars: A New Hope" and know the entire story of Eragon. They aren't the same stories. Paolini did not just rewrite Star Wars. 

But I will follow that up by saying yes, inspiration was clearly taken from Star Wars (and also Lord of the Rings) for many elements of this book. 

It seems to me that Paolini did what many young writers are guilty of; they absorbed their favorite story and - likely unknowingly - leaked parts of it into their own story. Eragon is a farm boy, there is an evil Empire, Eragon lifts rocks with magic at one point, Eragon has an old man mentoring him, and three spoiler-y things happen that are very clearly taken from Star Wars.  

While at a glance this seems to be a plagiarized story, Paolini took a different approach to each thing and they all carried a different weight and/or consequence (good or bad) that was relative and relevant to the story. And that is not all that Paolini did. He did write non-Star Wars-y things (it's an almost five-hundred page book, after all). 

So is it like Star Wars? Yes, very much so.

Is it Star Wars? No, it is not. 

Will it bug a Star Wars fan to read? Very likely. 

Does this alone determine if it is a good or bad book? No, it does not. 

Okay, so there's my thoughts on that part. With that out of the way, let's talk about some other things Eragon takes from. 

Eragon is one of many fantasy stories which uses the "classic" fantasy themes. Dwarves use axes and live underground, elves are regal and don't like dwarves or humans and they use bows, and humans are humans. The "chosen one" trope is definetly here. It's got its own equivalent to Tolkien's orcs. It's got a battle. It's got a cool sword. It's got a dragon. It's got a girl good with swords.

Part of me wanted to dislike that, but then I thought about how that wasn't exactly an overused set of tropes and themes back in the day, and that even if it was, it's one of those things that isn't necessarily bad to be used repeatedly. What I mean by that is there's some things that get bad the more you use it, and some that you just come to appreciate for being a "classical" element. Like how some dairy products you do not want to sit around forever, but the longer cheese is set the better it is. Kinda. 

So those classic elements aren't something that I hold against the book for reusing. And I actually really liked how Paolini went about doing them. Because, again, while he did take things from previously established stories and reused them, he didn't just do that. I wouldn't say he made it his own, but he made it so it's not quite the same, which kept it interesting.

And then there were the things that he actually made himself. Such as the world (which was thoroughly designed), the languages (which were mostly used for cultural purposes, such as names, but well thought out), the magic system (which was a language and was very believable). Some of which I've actually seen in some of my favorite fantasy books, having no idea that they were taking from Eragon.  

The storyline is a classic fantasy storyline. Boy finds out he's the chosen one, boy goes on mission to... well no, not save the world. Actually, he just wants revenge. Hm. That is kinda different for a "chosen one" trope. I appreciate this.

Anyways. It isn't an incredibly unique storyline, but it is familiar and again, interesting, and the other elements which I mentioned helped to flesh it out considerably. 

Now, let's talk about the writing style. Because I think this is the part I had the most confusing time with. 

Paolini's writing style was very confusing to me. Not because he wrote in a super complex way, but because usually the narrative was fairly bland, but then it would become engaging at other parts. If I were to see this problem in my own writing, I would say that it was probably happening because I as the writer wasn't as engaged in some places as I was with others. 

That may be Paolini's reason as well, but I don't quite think it is. And I say that because it wasn't always the exciting action-y parts that got me engaged, and it wasn't always the slow conversation and journeys that lost me. I don't quite know how to explain it. 

To deal with the parts when I wasn't engaged, I either skimmed, or I had to really lend the book my imagination so I could get more entertainment out of it (by that I mean I would have to add tones to the narration and dialogue, decide what the characters were thinking to make what they said more relatable, change the ways characters worded things, and at times add body language and facial expressions where they were lacking. Basically, I had to insert my own ideas that seemed mostly in line with what was actually happening so that I would stay interested). 

Then there was the lack of characterization. I believe this contributed to my above issue. I don't mean to say that the book had no character, but more of that the character that the book did have was spread across everything, including the actual characters. 

This may just be a personal preference, but when I write, my characters use different vocabulary from one another and from the narration. For example, in my current WIP, my MC would say "maybe," and my supporting male lead would say "possibly." It goes a bit deeper than that, but I'm sure you get the gist of it. 

Paolini's characters, specifically after the first hundred pages or so, didn't do this very much. The exception would be with Brom, Orik, and Saphira. Everyone else tended to use the same wording and for the most part think the same way, which made it hard to really like any of them, because they didn't stand out from one another in any consistent way. 

Overall, it was a decent book. I didn't enjoy all of it, or even most of it, but it did keep my interest and I don't regret reading it or anything like that. I still have a lot of respect for the book given that the author was so young when he wrote it. He proved that a young author can succeed, and for such a young author he did a really good job. 

So,  I respect Eragon and Christopher Paolini quite a bit in that regards. However, I didn't really like the book itself. It was okay, and I don't have any direct issue with it, and I did really like some aspects of it and certain lines, descriptions, interactions, etc., but it's not really a book that I'd miss if I lost my copy, you know?

However, I do plan to read on through the rest of the books This is partly because I'm curious about what will happen (how the story will go from where it left off), and now I'm invested in just seeing how Paolini went on as a writer through the series. The evolution of his writing, I suppose, as I then want to read his newest book, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. 

So, those are my fresh thoughts on Eragon. I wrote this the day I finished it, so I might have left out some things and my thoughts might not be concrete, but it is what it is. 

What are your thoughts on Eragon, The Inheritance Cycle, and Christopher Paolini as a writer? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

- EP 

P.S. Yes I'm still being lazy and not including post graphics. bite me. 

"Ignite" by Jenna Terese - Cover Reveal!

 

Hello everyone! 

One day, I was doing something (I can't be bothered to remember what), and I randomly thought "hey I wonder if Jenna Terese has gotten anywhere with publishing yet." Because, you see, I follow a great amount of people and often fail to keep track of all of them. 

So I made my merry way over to her website and lo! Behold! She hadn't just gotten "anywhere," she had gotten to the end goal of publishing and was now getting together a team for a cover reveal and had added it to GoodReads with a synopsis which sounded really cool. 

I was surprised and excited and after scolding myself for not paying better attention to the blogs I follow I signed up to participate in the cover reveal. 

So here we are!  Today, I am very pleased to say, is my cover reveal post for Jenna Terese's book Ignite, which is coming out on July 2nd of this year!

Before I show you the cover, here's information on the book. 

The synopsis: 

What if superhumans weren't considered heroes?

When Scarlett Marley is attacked by an illegal super with fire powers, she doesn't get burned, but now she has a fire-like glow flickering in her eyes.

With superpowers criminalized, she has no choice but to turn herself over to the Superhuman Containment Facility, or risk hurting everyone she loves. 

Her normal life seems lost forever, until she is selected to be one of the first to receive the experimental cure to destroy her powers. In exchange, she much first complete one mission:

Infiltrate and capture one of the largest gangs of supers in the remains of once-great Rapid City. 

With the cure and all her future at stake, Scarlett is prepared to do whatever it takes to bring these criminals to justice so she can return to her family. But this gang and their leader, Rez, aren't what everyone says, and Scarlett begins to question everything she was ever told about the SCF and the fire flowing in her veins.

The cure is her only hope for returning her life to what it was before, but is that life worth returning to after all?

 

Okay, now let's get to the cover reveal...

A little farther down...

Almost there...

Okay so maybe not "almost" but you're getting there.

TA-DAAAAAA!

There it is! There's that super amazingly cool cover that we've all been waiting for! (Seriously whether you like superheroes or not you have to admit that is an awesome cover.)

I am really very excited for this book. Like I said, I didn't know Jenna was not only so close to publishing but was actually towards the end of publishing, so I didn't have a hype buildup but was instead smacked with the hype out of nowhere and here we are now. 

I really would very much so like to read this book sooner rather than later. 

So, you know, if you maybe liked it enough to recommend it *subtle nod to the indie recs page*  or maybe you're curious and would like me to review it first *less subtle nod to the indie recs page* then you know, maybe you could just *gesture very unsubtly towards the indie recs page* recommend it to me so I would hm, say, be obligated to prioritize it above the books which I actually own maybe possibly probably?  Maybe? 

Anyways. Back into the more serious business...

 If you would like to follow Jenna, you can do so here: Linky-Link

And if you would like to preorder Ignite, you can do that here: Clicky-Link

And if you would like to add Ignite to your GoodReads, you can do that here: Clicky-Click

So then, what are you waiting for? Go to all the links! Preorder the book! Add it on GoodReads! Share all the other cover reveals! Go tell Jenna how excited you are! 

Go forth and support the indies, ink gremlins! (<<Is that what I'm calling readers of Bleeding Ink from now on? Possibly. Probably not as I'll forget it in .2 seconds but it works for now.)

Have a wonderful day (and if you're having a horrible day so far just remember that it'll probably be a lot more wonderful if you preordered the book) and safe journeys! 

- EP

The Sunshine Blogger Award Tag

 

Greetings.

I have been tagged with the Sunshine Blogger blog tag, tagged as "blog tags", as you can see below this post in my blog's tags. Thank you kindly, Ariel, for passing it my way once more. I award you the award for awarding people with awards.

Tag Rules:

~ Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog. 

~ Answer all the eleven questions sent by the person who nominated you. 

~ Nominate eleven new blogs to receive the award and write them eleven new questions. 

~ List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your blog post. (I cannot be bothered for the latter presently. I will hopefully update this post some day and add the graphic.)

Questions from Ariel

What's your favorite song at the moment? Why do you like it?

It would likely be shanty "The Wellerman Come," as I've listened to many a cover of it and find myself singing it constantly. 

As for why do I like it, I'm always fond of a ballad. Songs to covey emotion are great, but songs that tell a story are my favorite. And this one always has a strong and free attitude to its sound which pairs with its story very nicely. 

Favorite book at the moment?

I don't know what I would've answered literal moments ago, but having just peeked at my older posts I found my one regarding The Last Dragon/The Last Elf by Silvana de Mari. And once again, my adoration and affection has been claimed by that darling book. 

It is perhaps my all-time favorite book. There's so much to love about it, and I miss reading it dearly (for I have lost my copy). 

If you were sucked into the world of your current WIP, what would you do? How would you make a living? Which characters would you get to know?

Ah, Ariel's slipping in world building into a tag, isn't she? XD 

If I were sucked into the world of "Roslyn," I would probably find my hope sinking faster than an anvil in water. Assuming, that is, that I would be sucked into the world as it is during my WIP and not before or after. Aside from that, the only other thing I think I would do is [spoiler] and stalk my characters as they go on their adventure.

To make a living, I would have to heavily rely on my knowledge of this world and the people within it to coax my way into odd jobs here and there. That wouldn't work often, but it would so that I could survive. Possible. Likely not. But there's a chance. 

For what characters I would get to know, probably my antagonist. He's a curious fellow, and strangely he and I are in agreement on some things. It would be very interesting to interact with him and see him actually doing the things that he does. 

What book is top on your TBR right now and why?

I have many fighting for that place at present, and unfortunately none of them are the ones I own. 

The Dragon Within by Melody Jackson and Mirage by Miranda Marie hold sentimental priority, as those authors are two of my favorites and those books mentioned are the only books of either that I haven't read yet. 

Sing To Me Of Rain by E.B. Dawson holds the top of my TBR for anticipated releases because it sounds and looks like an amazing book. 

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini is top for books that I already own because it's huge and seeing the giant stack of books sitting on top of my desk every night as I fall asleep, knowing they are unread, is intimidating. I am currently reading Eragon and not making great progress, but it is my hope that as the books progress, I get more engrossed with them. 

What subjects are you fascinated with these days? What's the latest fun fact you've learned on that topic?

I've been looking at sword stuff (though that's not really anything new) and author stuff, and learned that a sword Brandon Sanderson uses in one of his books is inaccurately made as a long sword, and more important that Sanderson new it was inaccurate but that his agent or editor (I forget which) made him change it because apparently using words that readers know is more important than being accurate.

If you could go to any three places in the world, where would you go and in what order? What activities would be on your "must-do" list?

Assuming I get to stay for a while, Ireland is priority. There I would volunteer to work at Mossy Bottom for a time, expose the countryside, and though I'm not at all a fan of alcohol, I'd have to spend some time in a pub (it's Ireland, after all). Not drinking, but sitting in a dark corner and observing everything like I'm Aragorn in the Prancing Pony, until the loud noises scare me away. 

Next would be Egypt, but not just anywhere in Egypt. You said "anywhere in the world," so I'm going in and under the Sphinx, exploring the covered place before its paws and slipping under the holes along its sides, and getting to see inside the figure itself without breaking that seal on its head. I want to know what's in it, and by use of this strange magic that is letting me go anywhere, I will just poof inside and poof back out once I'm done. 

Now for the last one I'm torn between Peru and Mexico for other archaeological reasons, and will thus instead choose neither because I can't decide. So instead I choose the underwater forest of somewhere. I don't know where it is, but it's beautiful and I want to see it by myself (with the proper equipment, lest I drown). 

If you could do anything with your hair for a day and have it go back to normal the next day, what would you do?

Well I'd have it turn into a fish and walk about freaking people out, of course. Or perhaps I'd turn it to water, still connected to my head of course, that stays in one form and floats around and all. That would be cool. Oh oh oh, it would also be cool to have all of my hair replaces with flowers, styled in a bob with the buds and blossoms all facing outwards. 

However, if you want me to choose something possible, I would make my hair as long as Rapunzel's and braid it up like hers and see if, by use of many braids and tugging and tightening, I can make it the same length she had it when she'd gotten it braided. 

Once that experiment was done, I suppose I'd just cut it all off and donate it, assuming that the hair on my head goes back to normal the next day, and the seventy-something feet of hair that I've cut off will not cease to exist. 

What's your favorite tea? (Or coffee, if you're a weirdo who likes that bitter bean water.) 

Oh dear, are you trying to offend the Americans and Ethiopians? Tsk tsk. 

But to answer your question, it depends entierly on the type of tea. 

For black, Twinning's Irish Breakfast is my favorite. 

For white, passionfruit is my favorite.

For herbal, peppermint. 

For fruit, lemon ginger or peace ginger. Apple cinnamon is also could, but I must use heaps of sugar for that one so I usually reserve it for special fall nights. 

If you were to grow one type of plant, what plant would you choose?

Oh, I do not like this question. There are very many good and important plants. Hm. To answer this, allow me to tell you a story which took place three years back. 

I was crammed in a vehicle with several peers as we were traveling. These peers were not people that I particularly liked or disliked. They were just other humans. 

One way or the author, someone was talking about aloe vera. It may have even been me. Then a lad kept asking questions about aloe vera, such as "can you eat aloe vera?" "can you drink aloe vera?" "can you swim in aloe vera?"

To which I, having knowledge of the plant, replied "yes but it's not going to do much good for you," "technically, you could, if you scrape out the goop," and "I do not know. I suppose you might be able to with enough goop and liquid from the plants." 

Then he and another boy began discussing ways of using aloe vera to end world hunger. Some scheme involving dropping cats strapped with the plants off an airplane (using grocery sacks of parachutes) over  Africa so that the cats would (I am assuming, this was not specified) deliver the plants to starving people once they landed. 

When you keep that all in mind, these lads raised some fair possibilities. Given that you can eat aloe vera, that it has medicinal purposes, that (being a plant) it retains liquid, and that it is a hearty plant which produces more plants rather quickly depending on how you care for it, I cannot think of a plant that would be better to have for practicality. 

Your thoughts on dancing?

It is a quaint activity, especially when done in ballrooms and when taking the form of a group dance, it is a wonderful way to bring a community of people together to have good fun which isn't related to any of the great offendable subjects, and it is well for encouraging affection, even if one's partner is barely tolerable. 

In other forms, such as ballet and various styles and performance types, it is an art and fun thing which I admire and would quite like to do, but alas, cannot. 

What's your favorite Summer activity?

Reading outside during sunset. Sitting in a tree. Reading while sitting in the tree during sunet. Complaining about the humidity. Gardening.  Camping and hiking are wonderful as well, but those I'd prefer to do in Spring and Fall. 

Oh, I also enjoy inflating the giant llama unicorn that sprays water and that is affectionately named "Gandalf" so that I may watch my nieces (and my nephew, once he is old enough) play in it. And perhaps play in it a little myself.  

Mostly, anything that I can do while sitting on my porch as the sunsets is a good activity.

Eleven new questions for those who I have tagged: 

~ What is an unpopular bookish opinion of yours?

~ How do you feel about receiving and sending hand written letters? 

~ If you could swap places with anyone in the book community (reviewers, bloggers, writers, authors, etc.) for a day who would it be with and why?

~ What is your most anticipated book release of this year?

~ If you could bring back any trend from the past and implement it in our culture for the present to the foreseeable future, what trend would it be? 

~ You have to pick one of your least favorite songs to play at your funeral. What song do you pick?

~ What blog have you been following the longest? 

~ Name a indie song, book, and/or movie that you enjoyed. 

~ Would you eat a live worm if it meant you would get an endless supply of gummy worms afterwards? 

~ What is one thing someone has dong "For The Aesthetic" that you was incredibly ridiculous? 

~ How do you organize your books? ("I don't" is a perfectly fine answer.)

Nominees:

Mary from Wild Writing Dreams 

Miranda from Virtual Paper

Julia from Julia's Creative Corner 

Julia from LitAflame 

Anyone who cares to participate 

((Yeah I'm not tagging all eleven people. And I'm not actually going to tell these people that I'm tagging them, either. Not because I'm lazy (though I am) but because bloggers get swamped with tags fairly often. If you are one of the bloggers that I tagged and you just so happened to see this post, congrats, you've been tagged!)) 

 Well, that's the end of it the tag. Now that that's done, have you ever noticed that the tags always refer to the tag-ees as nominees? And the tag is called an award? So you're nominated someone for an award, but how do you actually win the award? There's been thousands upon thousands of people "nominated", and some of us have been nominated several times, so do we stand a better chance than others of winning the actual award? What is the actual award? When will we know if we've won it? 

I imagine that at the end of the world, when all has turned dystopian and smoke randomly emits from the earth for aesthetic, everyone wears gas masks, modern electricity as we know it has ended and been destroyed yet we still have some technological advances, a voice will randomly say over a loudspeaker (there is a world-wide intercom system, you see) the name of the winner of the Sunshine, Liebster, and other such awards. Then the voice, distorted and monotone will say "your prize will be delivered to you within forty-eight hours."

The winner will wait in suspense. All gas-mask covered faces, all lifeless eyes, will turn to them. The world will hold its breath to see what the long-forgotten nominations they'd received throughout their internet life could have won them. Jealousy and curiosity will mingle, but no one will attempt to pry the award from this fortunate soul, whatever it may be. No, they have to much respect for the years and years of unknown anticipation. The great and terrible prize - whatever it may be - will be the victor's alone. 

An hour passes. Ten. Twenty. Forty-seven. 

The vvm-vvm-vvm-vm of a spinning helicopter - a rusted and ruined device barely managing to stay in the air - can be heard over the ignorant simplicity of radioactive birds' song. The helicopter comes to hover over the victor. A rope ladder - oh prehistoric wonders that remain even so far into the future - is dropped, uncoiling itself, reaching out to the victor. 

The victor tentatively closes their hand around it. They climb up a few of the twisting rungs. The ladder is lifted into the helicopter as unseen hands pull it in. All people watch, their necks craned upwards as the victor disappears inside. 

The flying vehicle sputters. It drops a bit. it lifts more. Then it turns, heading a distance off, higher and higher while all watch. And then? Then, my dear losing nominee, the helicopter self destructs, and we unfortunate losers of this award are left in the misery that is the future while the victor finally gets to rest. 

Or something like that. Who knows. 

Anyways. I hope you enjoyed the post despite the fact that I haven't bothered to edit it. Have a great day. Remember to come back on July 1st for a fantasy trilogy giveaway. 

    Regards,

                        - E.P.

Giveaway Update: TFRC winners and July 1st

 

Greetings! 

This past April I announced I was hosting a giveaway for The Fire Rain Chronicles. *Today, I officially conclude that giveaway and congratulate Sophia and Libby on winning their prizes! There was a bit of confusion when purchasing the copies, so they may arrive to your mailbox/inbox a bit later than expected, but they are coming! I'm very sorry for the inconvenience, and I hope you two enjoy the books when they find their way to you.

*I wrote this on the twelfth but didn't finish it so I didn't post it. So technically, it was already concluded, but I am officially concluding it now.

You may have noticed that we had only two winners when I said there would be three prizes. This is because only two people entered this giveaway. I'm learning it is a difficult thing to promote giveaways, and so for the giveaways to come (after the July 1st one) I'm going to change my method of promoting them. In addition to that, though, I ask that you readers help spread the word when giveaways are being hosted here, as that will bring in more attention, and more attention is more support towards the indie author we're hosting. 

But in the mean time I have one extra prize, the copy of Azalei's Riders. With this one, I intend to reach out to a reviewer with an established audience and offer them it for free in exchange for a review. 

The coming giveaway in July will be of a very similar nature to this one as it's too late for me to make any big promotional plans this time around, but hopefully it will get more attention anyways. Please remember to spread the word about it and the indie authors page to writers and readers alike.

Thank you for much for reading this. I hope you'll come back on July 1st for the Dragons' Bane trilogy five year anniversary giveaway. 

Wishing you a good day, 

            - EP