Explore This! Vail, Colorado

 Today, our travel inspiration comes from my reading of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. In the book, Calla and her wolf pack are in the Vail, Colorado area, with a new pack about to be created further up into the mountains.

And that’s basically what I think of, too. Mountains, snow, skiing, and drinking hot cocoa by a fireplace. In fact, it’s hard to think of this region without the accompanying snow….but there are the warmer months, when the wilder, greener side emerges. I’m personally not much for skiing, but would be more than happy to taken in the stunning views along with that fireplace scene.

Let’s pretend this is me. I’ve tried skiing but usually do it from more 
of a sitting position 😀

Interview Author Michelle Zink + Giveaway

We are very happy to welcome author Michelle Zink here at Book Lovers Inc today.  Circle of Fire, the last addition to your Prophecy of the Sisters Trilogogy released last week and she is here to talk about her writing and her series in particular. She also brought a wonderful giveaway along so be sure to stay tuned till the end. Give Michelle a warm welcome. 

Jackie: Michelle can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Michelle: Let’s see… I’m a single mother of four kids ages 12 – 19. I’m passionate about my family, reading and writing, movies, and music. I love to cook, learn, and travel, and I try to keep my focus on the important things in life without sweating the small stuff.

Jackie: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser? 

Michelle: It depends on …

The International Giveaways Café (6)

Ir’s Saturday, which means it’s time for our weekly convergence at the Café! Welcome back 🙂

I’ve recently realized how great the café truly is, as we get to share International bookish giveaways, all while enjoying calorie free virtual sweets, lol. Alright, so the “calorie free” part isn’t nearly as satisfying when you don’t actually get to eat anything but just the thought of it sounds good, right?

Anyway, down to business. Take a few moments to read the guidelines, then enter your own link if you’re hosting a giveaway that you’d like to share with the world. Or sit back with your beverage of choice and peruse the giveaways listed.  (Here’s the original link if you’re curious about why we’re doing this.) Lots of the previous contests listed have expired; let’s get those new ones up and spread the word!

I’d …

Genres 101: Westward, Ho! (Today’s lesson – Western Fiction)

In the last lesson, we hit on some strangely named genres. One in particular, Cowpunk, got me thinking about a type of novel that I know very little about: Westerns. Westerns have been a  big draw when it comes to movie making or television series’ but is the same thing true about their bookish counterparts? It hasn’t been for me, that’s for sure, though  maybe I’m just being a little too prejudice (I also wildly dislike country music!). It’s time I open up my world (and yours!) and see what’s out there; what may in fact be great literature but I’ve (we’ve?) just been too stubborn to read.The Western novel is a relatively new form of book, considering it deals with the “New …

New Releases: August 1-7, 2011

A Midnight Dance by Lila DiPasqua

Inspired by the tale of Cinderella, Lila DiPasqua weaves a steamy story that offers a glass slipper, a dangerous deception, and an impoverished beauty determined to find her handsome prince…and make him pay.

Born into wealth, Sabine Laurent and her twin sister lived a life of luxury, their father’s prestigious theater frequented by royalty and aristocracy alike. And Sabine dreamed of her own prince charming—the devastatingly handsome Jules de Moutier.

That was before the loss of her sister and her family’s fall from grace—a disaster Sabine blames on the Moutier family. Now, with her father’s death, she’s inherited his sizable debt and the responsibility of caring for his spoiled long-time mistress and her two wastrel daughters. But with the help of Sabine’s eccentric friends—the balance of her father’s acting troupe—she plans to get very close …

The International Giveaways Café (5)

 Welcome back to our home for International Giveaways. If you’re new to the post, you can click here to see our sentiments behind the Café. Otherwise, please take a quick look at the guidelines below and enter your link for your own international giveaway. Or grab some refreshments and visit the links to enter! It’s a win/win situation, right?!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!Guidelines:

If you have a giveaway you would like to share with our other readers, the rules are simple:

1. The giveaway MUST be available to international addresses (Book Depository does count)

2. Add your link below, in the format shown. (Please use the URL for the contest post, not a general blog URL; you don’t want to make it tricky for others trying to enter)
3. Remove your link when the giveaway has ended (we would highly …

One of us is getting younger today! Happy B-day @seolmara!

Today we want to wish a very happy birthday to our Quirky Lover, aka Jackie!!

We thought long and hard about what would be worth as a bday gift for our Quirky Lover- we can’t just give you something “ordinary”.

So what would Jackie love more than anything else?
(the group puts the thinking hats on)

Ohhhh we know:  42 –  but well that is kind of lame even though it’s actually the best gift ever so we decided for this:

And just for you, we got a special birthday song from one of your favorite *cough* (don’t kill us) *cough* singer… Yes you guessed it? Justin Bieber!!

(ok I should point out that Jackie isn’t really a Bieber fan…or so she says! *wink*)

I guess we should try to redeem ourselves  now. (Muahahahahah) Since you’re suffering from a Heatwave these days maybe what you need …

Explore This! Chicago, Illinois

Recently, I’ve been spending a bit of time hanging around Chicago. Well, not me personally, but through my reading of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden books, it feels like I have, lol. Anyway, I thought it would be neat to see the landscape on which Mr. Dresden has been running around naked, getting shot at, fighting werewolves (among other creepy creatures), and basically causing all manner of chaos.

In searching for today’s pictures, I was surprised by what was most available: city pictures. I had a hard time finding any greenery! I’m thinking this may be because a more intimate knowledge of the city is needed; a better source for which to locate the parts of this town that haven’t been touched by urban sprawl.

The city at night.

Chicago could …

The International Giveaways Café (4)

Big apologies for opening up the Café doors a little late this week! It’s been a scorcher around here for more than a week now and I think the heat has finally gotten to me! Anyway, welcome back to our home for International Giveaways. If you’re new to the post, you can click here to see our sentiments behind the Café. Otherwise, please take a quick look at the guidelines below and enter your link for your own international giveaway. Or grab some refreshments and visit the links to enter! It’s a win/win situation, right?!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!Guidelines:

If you have a giveaway you would like to share with our other readers, the rules are simple:

1. The giveaway MUST be available to international addresses (Book Depository does count)

2. Add your link below, in the format shown. …

Genres 101: Today’s Lesson – Say WHAT?

We’ve covered a lot of the popular genres in these posts, so I thought it was time to take a look at something a little different: weird genres or, more correctly weird genre names. As  I browse the net looking for source material and inspiration, I often come across literary “styles” that I’ve never heard of and, quite frankly, question the actual existence of. Here are some the genres that have made me ask, “Say what?!” (I’m going to link the source page at each unusual name)

Creepy Kids – “Creepy kids horror is defined by its name. Horror mavens have said that children are mysterious strangers coming into the world–and this subgenre takes that unspoken worry and runs with it. Stephen King’s short story and film Children of the Corn are straightforward examples. Many others, such as Richard Donner’s film The Omen, involve a child who …