Fact Meets Fiction Friday.

Today is the last day for entering my ‘Picture Ireland competition', now’s your last chance to submit your Kinsale location.  I’m off to Ireland at the weekend and I’ll be furiously scurrying around Kinsale like a mad woman.

I’m working on my first pass pages at the moment, for those of you not in the know; these are a mockup of the finished book pre proof reading.  So I’m reading The Carrier of the Mark all over again and loving every second of it.  Even though I know it inside out, I still get so immersed the story, and I just can’t wait until you guys get to read it.  Once I get over the thrill of reading the first pass pages, I’ll have to run through it again for a proof read – now’s the time to catch those pesky errors that evade even the most honed of editorial brains.

I’m keeping this short and sweet today, as I have to go and pack, I’ve so much to do before I go.  My poor husband is being left behind with the twins so I’ll be preparing meals and writing out schedules for the entire week to make sure he doesn’t forget to feed them or something like that.

Next week I’ll be blogging from the emerald isle so times might be a bit off.  Stay in touch via twitter, I just love to hear from you guys.

Talk care guys and talk to you from the other side.

Leigh

Oh and for anyone in MA, remember I'm in Tatnuck Booksellers in Westborough this Saturday for the launch of Clarity by Kim Harrington.  I'll be there from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, if you're in the area, pop in and say hi. 

Fact Meets Fiction Friday – ARC comp and other fun stuff!

This week I commissioned a new website for myself.  Woo! I so deserved a little treat like that.  It’s being designed by Xuni.  They have been designing and managing author websites with skill and panache for a good while know, and you can see some of their fabulous work at Maggie Stiefvater, The Shiver Series , Kimberly Derting, and Carrie Ryan.  I can’t wait to see what they come up with for me, but I know one thing for sure, based on the, The Carrier of the Mark holding page they’ve designed for me, it’s going to be GORGEOUS!!

In other news, The Carrier of the Mark is on 615 shelves on Goodreads and has 656 likes on its Facebook page.  Woohoo! I’m so on a mission to get both of these to 1000, I won’t rest until I’ve reached the golden 1K.

How am I going to achieve 1K?  Hell I don’t know, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let the illusive 1K beat me! 

And even more other news, I’m off to Ireland next week.  In honor of my return home to Ireland, I’m going to run the first ever, The Carrier of the Mark ARC giveaway! This is such a momentous occasion and it deserves something a little bit special.  So, we are going transatlantic in our mission to mark this moment. (Mark... get it? *titter*)

Over on the Facebook page, we’ve been mulling over ideas, and we have hit the jackpot.

Without further ado, I introduce to you;

The Carrier of the Mark, first ever, transatlantic photo competition for a 'so elusive there are none in existence yet' ARC! (Yeah, I could do with shorting the title… leave it with me).

To enter, all you need do is pick a location in Kinsale for me to visit while I’m there.  I will go to this location and get a photo of that exact spot. 

On my return to the US I will post all the photos on the blog and voting for the best photograph will commence.  Now, here’s the science bit, so pay attention.

There will be bonus votes for picking a location that is featured in The Carrier of the Mark, being a follower of my blog or a 'liker' of Carriers Facebook page, and for tweeting this comp.

What do you think? Fun?

Well I think so, though getting to all the locations with be tricky, especially as I’m only in Ireland for five days, but I’m willing to accept this challenge.

What do you win?

1. You will win one of the first ever ARC’s of The Carrier of the Mark.  They won’t be available until Mid-March or so, and the winner will have one winging it’s way to them before even the book bloggers get their paws on them!

2. You will also win your winning photograph of me at your selected location, and I’ll deface both photo and ARC for you if you so wish.

3.I'm also going to include a beautiful Irish necklace, that will be bought in a Kinsale Silversmiths, and will involve you guys in the picking of the design while I'm there!!

Admit it... you sooooo want to win don't you?

The good news is the competition starts NOW!

The bad news is some of the locations have already been snagged (see comments below for Kinsale locations already taken!).

Need ideas?  Well google Kinsale! There are castles, churches, quirky shops, art galleries, schools, beaches, caves, and so much more!

Get googling and submit your photo request in the comments. Closing date for entries is Friday 4th March.

Don’t you just love an ARC giveaway where the Author has to do all the work? Hey… who came up with this niffty idea anyway?

Fact Meets Fiction Friday - No Fiction, All Fact!

As of yesterday The Carrier of the Mark is available to pre-order on Amazon!  This is such a big deal for me.  Indeed, it’s a major deal for any writer to see their work for sale for the first time.  I have been buzzing since I saw my name go up on Amazon, and that buzz isn’t fading yet. Woo!

In honor of this amazing time for me I’m doing a giveaway! Now I’d love to offer you guys ARC’s, but I don’t have any yet, you’ll have to stay posted for those babies.  So in the meantime I’m going to put up for grabs my coveted inkpop bag! This bag is a little bit of my history.  HarperCollins gave me this bag the day I went to New York to meet my publishing team.  It was filled with goodies when I left their offices and stepped out onto the sidewalk and into my new career.

Need reminding of what this bag looks like?  Well watch the video.

Right, now you’ve seen it, you’d like to own that little important piece of my life, right?  Okay, all I ask of you is to pop onto Amazon and have a look at my book.  While you’re there, feel free to pre-order it, but you don’t have to.  Just like it, tweet it, or add it to your wish list, or request the kindle version, or tag it, or do any of the ‘its’ that tickle your fancy.  Oh, and while you’re at it. Pop over to Facebook and ‘like’ The Carrier of the Marks Facebook page.

You don’t have to do any of the above, but I would love you too.  Now, next step leave me a comment telling me what you did and you are entered! For every ‘thing’ you do you get an extra entry!

This giveaway is open to everyone where ever you live... no restrictions.  I’ll announce the winner of the coveted inkpop bag on Wednesday.  Right… ready, steady, go!