Alitheia's Continuum

2009-12-17T18:11:00.001-08:00

Stacia Kane Interview/Contest on Bitten by Books!

2009-07-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

Head on over and check it out here on Bitten by Books. Ask Stacia questions, learn more about a fabulous author, and maybe you'll be the one to win the $30 Amazon GC *grin*.

Laid Bare with Flair Contest

2009-07-25T18:32:00.001-07:00

Check out Lauren Dane's latest contest. It's almost over, but she's giving away daily prizes and a heck of a grand prize *grin*.

TAKE ME AWAY contest!

2009-07-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

Check it out =)

Elisabeth Naughton's Stolen Heat Contest

2009-07-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Check out Elisabeth Naughton's Stolen Heat Contest for the chance to win some awesome prizes!

House of Night Giveaway on yaReads.com!

2009-07-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

yaReads.com is giving away Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, and Hunted; from the House of Night series by P.C. & Kristin Cast!

You can find it here.

Make sure to check it out and enter, they are great books and it's dead easy to put your name in the hat :)

Klingon - My New Rose Bush

2009-06-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am filthy. Seriously, I'm now covered in dirt and proud of it. My favorite Aunt gave me a rose bush for my birthday and I've just now planted it. Sorry for not having pictures, it, sadly never occurred to me to take pictures while it was blooming and now it's current blooms are either gone or somewhat demolished thanks to my efforts today. If it blooms again I'll be sure to take pictures.

I have named her Klingon and she is a vampire plant. Barefoot gardening... yeah. Anyway she drew blood twice and for a plant with pink flowers that smell quite lovely, she's quite fierce in her rather large thorns *grin*.

My MotherTongues / Prissy Green Prize!

2009-06-03T10:15:00.000-07:00

Awesome! I won a $50 gift certificate to MotherTongues in a recent giveaway hosted by Prissy Green to honor World Fair Trade Day!

MotherTongues' motto of Wear Words, Celebrate Cultures fits their company to a T. They take words that cannot be directly translated into English, define them poetically and print both on their products made with organic cotton using fair trade practices.

Now on to the good part... what I got with my winnings *grin* well, it wasn't an easy choice. On the one hand there is the Women's Zen T-Shirt Simple. Classic. Made with a 100% organic cotton in India.

One the other the Ubuntu Hoodie in black.

Edgier. Unique and fantastic philosophy. Made with 80% organic cotton, 20% recycled polyester in Pakistan. Plus it has the added benefit of everyone thinking I'm touting Linux... Yeah, you can guess how hard this decision was :P

I am now a proud owner of a Ubuntu hoodie just like the one pictured above. It is warm and comfy, very soft, and fits just right. The material is heavy duty, as is the hardware, and I foresee lots of use that it will take on admirably in its future. Added bonus, there was no plastic bits used in the packaging so I didn't get annoyed and have to pull out scissors. I also really loved that shipping was only $3 and it let my gift certificate apply to it, which was really nice.

My one and only issue is that sometimes the hood covers up the awesome design on the back, but overall I am exceptionally pleased with my gift and choice *happy dance*

Thank-you MotherTongues & Prissy Green!

New on Zazzle - Touch My Coffee and Die Mug

2009-05-25T10:28:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't messed around on Zazzle lately, but this morning I was, um, inspired.

Yeah, lets go with that.

Touch My Coffee and Die by Alitheia
Design custom steins at Zazzle.com

iPod Touch Giveaway on Bitten By Books!

2009-03-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

The original post on Bitten By Books:

The Last First Book We Ever Wrote

Hello there! My name is Bree, and I’m one half of the romance-writing, virtual-crime-fighting duo known as Moira Rogers. I’m here today because Bitten by Books was kind enough to agree to help us celebrate something really exciting that only comes once in an author’s lifetime: the release of the first book we ever wrote.

Awesome, right? We sure think so! Of course, the part that takes a little bit of explaining is the part where Crux is, in fact, our sixteenth ebook to be released. A lot has happened to us since fall of 2007, when we first sat down to try and tell the story of Mackenzie and Jackson, the heroine and hero who have to fight an evil supernatural conspiracy spanning generations to win their chance at a happy ending. We scampered off to hone our craft on short stories and novellas and learned from our experience. But we always came back to this story, because in the end we loved our tough determined heroine and her smooth talkin’ detective hero too much to leave alone.

Today, in honor of Crux’s release, we’ve teamed up with Bitten by Books for a chance to make someone else just as excited as we are. We have in our possession a NEW Apple iPod touch 8 GB (1st Generation) (Retail Value $229.00), perfect for listening to music AND reading books through the awesome application Stanza. The Apple iPod touch 8 GB also holds 1,750 songs or 10 hours of video. Go here to read all about it. We’re also going to give $50.00 and $25.00 Visa Gift Cards to two lucky runners up! All you need to do is read the rules below and enter this awesome contest. And if you happen to pick up a copy of Crux, we hope you’ll love Jackson and Mackenzie as much as we do!

Book Excerpt: “Jackson Holt makes a decent living as a private investigator in New Orleans, home of one of the largest underground supernatural populations in the United States. He and his partners have never met a case they couldn’t crack…until a local bar owner asks him to do a little digging on her newest hire.

New Orleans is the fourth destination in as many months for Mackenzie Brooks, a woman on the run from a deranged stalker. After all, any man who shows up on her doorstep claiming to be her destined lover has more than a few screws loose. But crazy doesn’t explain why he always finds her no matter how far she runs.

When her well-meaning boss puts a PI on her case, Mackenzie comes face to face with the incredible truth: magic is real, and whatever spell has kept her hidden and separate from the paranormal world is rapidly deteriorating.

With time running out, she has no choice but to trust Jackson as he struggles to uncover the truth of her past-and her destiny.”

*****************************************************************************
Moira Rogers is one (well, they are actually two, lol) of my favorite authors and I hope you check this out *grin*. Not only are they offering up fabulous prizes, but Bitten By Books has a ton a ways to enter, including buying Moira Roger's e-books! Have fun *evil grin*.

Mermaid Dreams Can Come True

2009-02-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the story of Nadya Vessey, an Australian woman who lost both her legs as a child only to become a mermaid in her later life (the original story can be found here). It's not only inspiring, but it reminds me of a very fond dream I had as a child, lol.

When I was a kid (7 or 8, I think) I traveled to Weeki Wachee Springs (It was a privately owned amusement park at the time) and my first dream job was born. I wanted to be a Weeki Wachee Springs mermaid *grin* (actually, I'm not sure which came first, Blue Angel pilot or mermaid... but, I digress.)

Needless to say not much came of it except a lingering ability to swim with my legs together, but for a couple years there my favorite response to adults asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up was a mermaid (oh the faces they made, lol). Maybe it was that dream that makes me love this story so much, but then again, who wouldn't like it?

Coupon Giveaway #1

2009-02-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

I have a confession to make. I have a problem. It's called coupon-itis *grin*. I get the Sunday paper and clip out all these little money saving wonders and what happens? I use a few, but most are not for items I buy, and they end up going in the recycle at the end of the month *sigh*. It's a vicious cycle and I hate to see all my coupon clipping hours go to waste so I had a thought. Instead of letting these coupons go unused, why not give them away? Hopefully someone out there can use them even if I can't *grin*.

So here's the prize:

Over 100 Manufacturers coupons valued at $100+. They are individually clipped and ready to go and all good till mid-March or later.

Excited yet? maybe? yes? no?

Want to know how to win? It's simple really. Leave a comment, any comment, from now till Midnight EST on 2/27/09 and I'll pick a random winner. U.S. & Canada residents only at the moment, though that might change in the future (yes, this might become a monthly giveaway). Want extra entries? Subscribe to my blog via email or feed reader and leave another post letting me know you did so. Same deal if you become a follower.

My first giveaway and it's for coupons... go figure *grin*

P.S. I also have some Winn Dixie & Publix coupons and ones that expire a bit sooner that I'll throw in if the winner is interested.

New Blog Theme

2009-02-16T08:39:00.001-08:00

In case nobody noticed I switched up blog themes recently. I was a fan of Dark Minima for quite awhile until I discovered the wonder of free blogger templates (yes, I know I should have googled it long, long, ago). After about two (or more) hours of surfing the web and Pyzam.com I happened upon Mystical and the rest, as they say, is history.

Swagbucks

2009-02-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

I read about Swagbucks on a blog awhile ago, but didn't join. I forgot about it until a recent blog post about a winner brought it to my attention again and I decided that you never win if you don't try (yes, Rachel's famous tagline on giveaways is now getting to me) so I'm giving it a shot :) I've got five swagbucks so far, three for signing up and two with my first search so I'm faintly optimistic at the moment. We'll see how it goes and I'll keep you updated if I win a HP Photosmart Printer or new LCD screen monitor (yes, I aim high, lol).

I Won NaNoWriMo!

2008-12-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it! :) With 52042 words in one month, I have successfully completed NaNoWriMo. My novel isn't quite finished, I got close, but I still have some scenes to wrap up in my first draft and then start the rewrite. I started the month after deciding about four days prior to give NaNoWriMo a shot and wrote the whole shebang without more then an inkling every now and then of where it was heading. The strangest thing by far was it actually turned out to be exactly what I had said it was going to be in my prologue (don't ask, it was inspiration) and I didn't even realize that I had foretold what it became until I got near the end... mind twister, that. Now to finish my story and begin the rewrite *happy dance*

P.S. Yes I know this is five days late, but since NaNoWriMo ended everything I had been putting off came back times ten to steal away my time ;P

NaNoWriMo - Day Fourteen

2008-11-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

When one is in the middle of NaNoWriMo it is not the time to start wondering about the exact dimensions of a building that seems to keep changing. At least that's what I keep reminding myself ;) hmm... built on top of a vortex? might work, it is sort of a Sci-Fi after all...

NaNoWriMo - Day Seven

2008-11-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Some people say when in doubt kill a character. I say when stuck make your main character go through a life changing coma. It may sound like a soap opera, but an unexpected out of the blue coma can liven up any story =P Especially when even the author didn't see it coming...

8000 Miles + 7 months = One well traveled package

2008-11-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

So for those of you that don't know about Bookmooch Barter, we once had a Google group where you could trade BM points for non-book items. The group eventually had to be shut down due to members abusing it and Bookmooch, though there is supposedly a forum in the works where such trades are now back online. I myself received several music CDs and other items in trade for points and other items on my barter list (I figured it would be a good way to get rid of some of my pre-yard sale items). One such trade I made for about thirty scratched CDs (for a project) from South Africa in February. I knew they had been sent surface mail and I wasn't worried about waiting and then I lost the rolls of nylon twine I used to bind them together for my project. For a couple weeks I was worried that I would get the CDs and then have to go buy more twine to use them, but as the weeks and then months went by with no twine and no CDs I stopped worrying and started thinking that maybe the package had gotten lost or held up in customs (hey, a large amount of CDs coming into the country? you never know). Imagine my surprise when not two weeks after coming across my twine while attempting to control the clutter I receive the CDs in the mail. Seven. Months. After. They. Were. Sent. *sigh* Serendipity strikes again.
CD Snowflakes here I come... and right in time for the Holidays too *grin*

NaNoWriMo - Day Two

2008-11-02T13:54:00.001-08:00

Obviously the second real reason for having NaNoWriMo in November is the end of Daylight's Savings Time. This event tells our minds we now have an extra hour to write even if our bodies are tired.

NaNoWriMo - Day One

2008-11-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Obviously the real reason they picked November for NaNoWriMo is because of the sugar induced creative high that comes with leftover Halloween candy. As I venture into this crazy land of word counts, creative highs and lows, and a story I hadn't even known was waiting to be told before today (or last night), Skittles are my friend.

Mraz Mania

2008-10-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my insanity posts trend (okay, I'm trying to start a trend ;P) I thought I'd post something I've been re-discovering lately. A couple years ago I really got into Jason Mraz's music, I think I listened to his song "Wordplay" a million and a half times, but then when he had no new music coming out I sort of went on to other things. Two days ago I caught an episode of Ellen and was reintroduced to Jason Mraz when he plugged his new album We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things and book A Thousand Things. Subsequently, both are now on my must buy list, but to tide me and my readers (if I have any ;P) over till the buying of said items I have created a woefully incomplete mix of some of his older and new music.

Katamari Krazy

2008-10-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

I don't even play Katamari Damacy and this makes me want to play it so bad.

Katamari on the Rocks from http://tiffany.vox.com/

Bulow, Princess Place & Crazy Critters

2008-08-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

I had me some fun the other day. I traveled over to Bulow Creek State Park (once Bulow Plantation, where the once thriving sugarcane plantation and mill stood until the Second Seminole War) & The Princess Place Preserve (once Estate) which had an interesting changing of hands from husband to wife to new husband who happened to be an exiled Russian Prince and later after his death from the 'Princess' to new owners and then Flager County and the State of Florida bought it and turned it into a Preserve. The ruins of the sugar mill were interesting, the 'Palace' a beautiful elaboration of traditional cracker house design, the first in-ground concrete pool looked quite tempting ever though not open to the public, but over all it was the Crazy Critters that I had fun with. First the appearance of the not native breed, but definitely Florida born armadillo. Then this little crab followed by a rather shy gopher turtle, then three deer (all does)that were surprisingly still while it took me eight frames to remember that, yes, I have a digital zoom as well as manual and they waited till I had exactly one shot closer up before they bolted. After that I saw another rather more intrepid gopher turtle who decided to not only let me take his photo (totally guessing on that, I have no idea how to tell gender with turtles) before deciding the car was rather too big a turtle to take on as we left. Samples of my favorite pictures from the day are below, I had some fun with shadows and angles at Bulow. (btw, the wood building you see in several of these photos is the Stables at Princess Place and the first few were taken on the drive out)

A Little Something About Me

2008-07-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

Right, so I've had this blog for awhile and have yet to actually post anything (I know, I'm terrible) and I figure it's high time for me to write something since otherwise I'll just waste time on other virtually useless endeavors. I'm a amateur photographer (as I haven't even attempted to sell any of my stuff yet) and a reviewer for Bitten By Books a site for anyone interested in urban fantasy, horror, and paranormal books =) I'm also an acknowledged book addict with my Mt. TBR numbering at 364 as of yesterday (this number changes frequently)

I have an addiction (As if isn't painfully obvious from the pictures) and it is absolutely not helped by Bookmooch, my favorite book swap site, though I hear a twelve step program is in the works ;) One of my favorite projects that I do on the site (well besides swapping books) is creating maps of all the places I've sent and received books to and from. I have two sets of maps for both (i.e. one country map & state map for both sent and received), but for point of reference I'll show you the countries I've sent books to and the states I received books from since they are definitely the most impressive =)
I have sent books to or within 21 Countries:
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, the U.S., and Venezuela
I have mooched books from 48 States:
I have not mooched books from Alaska & Wyoming. (Wyoming remains the one state I've neither sent nor received a book from, but I hope to change that soon.)
So, that being said, does anyone else out there have a TBR pile bigger then mine? I figure if I keep collecting books at this rate I will be swallowed alive by them in approximately 10.7 years. That is, of course, assuming I don't find time to read and get rid of a bunch of them before that occurs ;)