Thursday, June 30, 2011

Darcy and Aliens and France

Mrs Darcy Versus the Alien
by Jonathan Pinnock
Release date: September 2011

A year or two into her marriage, Elizabeth Darcy has much on her mind: she has still not produced an heir for Mr Darcy, there are preparations to be made for the Pemberly summer ball, and her youngest sister Lydia has been abducted by aliens.

As Regency England sleepwalks towards tentacled oblivion, will she be able to reunite with her old foe Wickham and put a stop to their evil plans?


READ a sample from the book.

~*~

Eeeeeeeeeeeek! The end of the month is upon us.

And here am I, at a loss in regards to posts I had envisioned to do for my Jane in June and Books&Brioche features this month.

Make sure and check out all the Jane goodness happening at Book Rat's Jane and June event as last giveaways and goodies are going up as I write!

Fortunately, Books&Brioche ends in August so there is still time yet. AND, what sweetness is riding our way... the Tour de France starts tomorrow!

For now, I give you this post which is a mashup of Jane Austen and France and Aliens...

what??? no zombiessssssssss??? -you ask

aliens, babe, it's aliens this time -vvb's reply ;-D

~*~

PeekAbook:



side note from author:
By the way, I've since been told that I got the title completely wrong. It should be Orgueil et Préjugés. Oops. Still, the video did win the coveted third place slot in the March 2010 You Gotta Read Videos awards.

Of course, the success of this one only increased the demand for the next one. This time around, I decided to be a bit more ambitious and merge in a couple of classic sci-fi clips as well. That meant that I had to make the whole thing black and white, but I think that just added to the charm of it. I think the voices are slightly better blended this time, too ...




Extra bit of fun:
Check out the entry for George Elvis deLonghi Wickham in Wickhampedia.

~*~

fyi: this story started off as a free online serial and has evolved into a book! Let me know in comments if it is a book you would like to read.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

gyre and gimble: end credits

gyre
and
gimble

an Alice in Wonderland
one-day virtual book event
June 29, 2011

Thank you dear adventurers for joining me and Alice for this virtual book event.

Please note all giveaways end July 31, 2011 unless specified otherwise.

THANKS TO: Authors, Publicists and Publishers for Book Giveaways & Guest posts

Broken: A Paranormal Romance by David H. Burton

CatKid: I'm No Fraidy Cat! by Brian James

Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

Follow My Lead by Kate Noble

Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman

My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

The Sky: The World by Jessica McHugh

~*~



'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
- last stanza from Jabberwocky
by Lewis Carroll


~*~

* join Alice for another adventure in October

* image source: Alice in a Bosch Landscape by Jasmine Becket-Griffith

* A bit of feedback on this event in comments or via email (vvb32 at yahoo.com) would be much appreciated.

* Picnik was used for some graphics creations for this event.

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: ends

Whew!

Our Alice makes it out of the maze adventure without further incidents.

She decides to rest awhile by the river bank.

Let's follow her and skip rocks across the Mysterly River...

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--

Down the Mysterly River
by Bill Willingham
Release date: September 2011

Down the Mysterly River is the children’s book debut of Bill Willingham, the creator of the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series Fables. Complete with illustrations by Fables artist Mark Buckingham, it is a spirited, highly original tale of adventure, suspense, and everlasting friendship.

Max “the Wolf” is a top notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he suddenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood. Even odder still, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)—all of whom talk—and who are as clueless as Max.

Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds. Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey. For what purpose, Max can’t guess. But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he’s landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world…


~*~

Win an ARC of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011 -->extended to Aug 14

TO DO:
Explore Bill's site and tell me something interesting you found there.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* image source maze

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: Captain Jack Racine


~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Jessica McHugh
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

His head felt as though it had been hit with a wrench. He’d been hit with enough to recognize the heavy pain, but the sweet and grainy danger lingering on his tongue let him know the laudanum would soon quell it.

He was safe, the world would be right again, and the Opium Girl had his best interests at heart. Not that he cared especially about her heart. She knew what he really wanted and she held it just out of reach, glancing coyly over her shoulder as she bounded around the twists and turns of the garden, farther and farther away from the notorious Captain Jack Racine.

The girl must have been mad.

He nearly crashed into her when he made the next turn. She had stopped running, and she looked slightly different: more petite. Even from the back, Jack knew that she wasn’t his type. Petite girls were too easily spent, too easily offended. Then again, there were always exceptions to the rule.

Jack gave her a bow that bordered on cocky because it was hinged to his high. She turned slowly, and when Jack saw her youth, he stood up as if being pricked by a pin and wondered what the laudanum was trying to tell him,

“Miss, are you alright?” he asked and she replied in a voice as meek as a dormouse,

“I can’t remember the way out.”

She looked like a living doll: her golden hair perfectly coiffed, her dress newly-pressed and trimmed with Brussels lace. He’d had similarly-dressed girls from Caribee Island, but he wouldn’t be repeating those occasions with this one.

“Alice. My name is Alice,” the girl said with a curtsey.

“A pleasure. Captain Jack Racine. Say, you didn’t see another girl around here, did you? A little taller, a little fuller,” he said, stopping himself just before he made an inappropriate gesture.

“I haven’t seen anyone. Not since I got lost in this blasted maze.”

Jack didn’t take much notice of his surroundings until then. He’d seen the greenery in pursuit of the Opium Girl, but with the possibility of good sport around the next bend, he hadn’t taken note of its arrangement. The garden was in fact a widely-spaced hedge maze, taller and thicker than he could have ever imagined.

Or was it?

Jack plunged his arm into the hedge and when he withdrew his hand, it was covered in verdant picocrystals.

“Oh, we’re in my mind. Thank Azaz,” he sighed.

He opened his hand and blew the picocrystals away to reveal a biscuit with words written in pink icing.

“Eat me?” Alice read over his shoulder and Jack snorted.

“I don’t think it’s that kind of dream, darling.”

“Well, are you going to do it?”

“I don't have much of an appetite at present.”

“I’ll do it,” she said, and before he could conjure a false protest, Alice popped the biscuit in her mouth and swallowed.

Her stomach growled and she clutched it with a bashful grin that suddenly grew massive. All of Alice grew massive actually. Jack fell into a hedge as Alice’s head made a quick ascent to the clouds. He could barely make out her face for the wisps of white around her neck.

“I see a plane,” she said in a thunderous voice that rumbled all the way down to Jack’s soles.

“Is it a dual-seat Azaz-450?”

“I have no idea. It’s a plane, Mister Racine.”

“Captain. I didn’t get booted from the RAF for nothing,” he replied. “What’s the color?”

Her mammoth feet shifted, and Jack was forced to remember his dancing skills. Luckily, the laudanum was a natural cultivator for cavorting. Whether he was actually nimble on his feet or not, he was smooth in his haze and dodged every move she made, including when her massive fingers placed a plane on the path.

The Sherwood was as pretty as ever, sparkling in Doctor Azaz’s mechanical dream. The interior looked like new. Even the yoke was free of the teeth marks from the whiskey-filled night when Jack played "Hide the Banger in her Hangar" with the girl from Caribee Island.

There was a vial sitting on his seat; not exactly a rare sight, but vials that graced the seat of the Sherwood were always empty, carnage from the previous night that had tumbled from his pocket in flight. However, this particular vial was full, and it was labeled with the phrase “Drink me”.

Under the usual circumstances, he would have gulped the contents gladly without thought, but the last thing he wanted of his intoxicants was to be demanded into imbibing.

It was difficult for Alice to take the vial from Jack's outstretched hand. Like sausage trying to pluck a pin from a cushion, it teetered and nearly toppled, but victory hit when the elixir touched her lips and called her back to smaller heights.

Alice shrank, crouched next to the Sherwood, panting and puffing while Jack looked down from the cockpit. He helped her inside and couldn't help but chuckle when her face lit up.

He always loved showing off the Sherwood, especially to women. If not for her age, he would have shown her a true wonderland, but he showed her the way out instead.

The hedges were no match for the Sherwood. Even if it hadn’t been a cruise through intoxication, it would have cut the garden to ribbons and left only the memory of imprisonment.

The plane turned maze into runway and haze into reality. Jack was holding Alice’s hand as the laudanum wore off and his own throbbing head as sobriety kicked back in.

He didn't clearly see the woman who sauntered out of his bedroom: an amazing thing considering what treasures she had to see. The wrench-ache peaked and he buried his head under his pillow.

“So you'll come by the shop today?” the woman asked from the sitting room and Jack groaned. “Captain Racine?”

“I have a show today, darling. I need my beauty sleep.”

“But you said last night you'd pop by my sweetshop. For publicity? You asked me to make you the sample tray this morning, remember?”

“Obviously I don't.”

She ripped the pillow away, and although he flopped over angrily, his mood was lifted by her lack of garb.

“Well? Are you going to try the tray or not?” she asked, hands on hips, toe tapping, and charms bouncing with her impatience.

The tray on Jack's bedside table was draped in Brussels lace and piled high with various cakes, biscuits, and drams of flavored tea. She sensually pressed one of the biscuits to her mouth, powdering her lips with sugar. The wrench stopped striking his head when she straddled his waist and the powder sprinkled her chest.

“Eat. Drink,” she said.

Again, he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of being ordered around by his indulgences, but he also wasn't in the mood to argue. The laudanum had worn off and he was free of the haze, but the maze was a different story. Captain Jack Racine was still stuck in those hedges, and he was likely to remain so.

~end

Jessica McHugh is an author of speculative fiction that spans the genre from horror and alternate history to epic fantasy. A prolific writer, she has devoted herself to novels, short stories, novellas, and even playwriting. She has had eight books published in three years, including "Song of Eidolons", "The Sky: The World" and the first two installments in her "Tales of Dominhydor" series.

Become a Fan of Jessica McHugh on Facebook!

Guest post created for gyre and gimble event by Jessica McHugh author of The Sky: The World
© 2011. All rights reserved.

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Jessica McHugh
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~


Read more about Captain Jack Racine from The Sky: The World here...

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of author ~--

The Sky: The World
by Jessica McHugh

Win a copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011 -->extended to Aug 14

TO DO:
Visit Jessica's Projects page on her site and tell me which one(s) catch your interest.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* image source alice running

* also part of SteamBoyz event

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: Fairy


The fairy from the maze flutters about on this bright summer day and notices a figure at a stand still in front of the mirror of darkness.

OY! maze fairy exclaims. She swoops down to the rescue.

She hovers and taps on Alices's head and receives no response.

She taps on upon Alice's shoulder to draw her attention away for the ominous mirror.

But Alice continues to see the horrors emanating before her.

Finally, she taps on the tip of Alice's nose.

AND, Alice eyes rest upon her.

Hello? Alice responds with a tentative smile.

Dear girl, come away from that and follow me for a lighter, brighter tale.... maze fairy trills in her tinkling voice.

PeekAbook:



--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of author ~--

Follow My Lead
by Kate Noble

From the national bestselling author: a romantic adventure across Europe starring a marriage minded Duke and an independent beauty...

Jason Cummings, Duke of Rayne is feeling the weight of his responsibilities - one of which is to get married. Being the most sought after bachelor in London can be trying, so who can blame him if he seeks refuge from the voracious hordes of young debutantes at the decidedly female-free Historical Society? Female-free, that is, until Winnifred Crane marches up to the door, demanding entrance.

Despite her prowess as a historian, Winn is denied membership the Society. So she daringly offers an unusual bargain: if she can prove the authenticity of a certain painting, she'll be granted recognition, fame, and respect. But to do that, she must go abroad. And to go abroad, she must have an escort, even a stubbornly unwilling one...

Jason has no desire to accompany Winn on her adventure across Europe, but even he is not immune to Winn's passion for her profession. As the journey proves more difficult than planned, they must work together to stay one step ahead of their rivals.... and the closer they get to the proof Winn seeks, the closer she and Jason become. But as their adventure turns dangerous, can Jason keep this headstrong bluestocking safe? And what will become of their growing bond when the adventure ends?


For more, here's an excerpt.

~*~

Win a copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011

TO DO:
Watch the book trailer above. Tell me which illustration you liked.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* fyi: the book trailer was made by the author, read her tips on how to make one

* image source fairy

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: Mirror


Alice turns the next corner in the maze and happens upon a mirror.

She looks in and sees herself with her trusty vorpal sword.

BUT it is a darker self.

In a dark world.


Alice
Madness Returns
by American McGee

Alice: Madness Returns is a video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, released on June 14, 2011, in North America, June 16, 2011, in Europe and June 17, 2011, in the United Kingdom. It is the sequel to the 2000 Windows and Mac video game American McGee's Alice. McGee, who designed the original game, returns to design the sequel after EA partnered with McGee's studio Spicy Horse.

Alice: Madness Returns takes place immediately after the events of its predecessor.

Alice was released from Rutledge Asylum for the Wayward and Lost Souls at the end of the original game and now lives at an orphanage in Victorian London under the care of a psychiatrist named Doctor Angus Bumby, where she is still traumatized with memories of her parents' deaths.

While heading to a Highstreet chemist, Alice follows a cat to an alley, where, after being confronted by monstrous half-human, half-Jabberwock creatures, she meets up with Nurse Witless from the asylum. Witless implies that Alice has revealed secrets about her family's demise while in the asylum and believes Alice is still very unstable. While at Witless's place, Alice suddenly has a vision of her appearing in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat appears and tells Alice a new law reigns on Wonderland.

Now back in Wonderland, Alice begins to uncover her submerged memories of the fire.

The Duchess gives Alice her Pepper Grinder and asks her to retrieve Pig Snouts for her. Afterwards, Alice continues on to the Mad Hatter's realm, as she and the Cheshire Cat believe that Hatter may have something to do with the ruin destroying Wonderland.

Arriving in Hatter's realm, Alice discovers that the now-monstrously mechanized March Hare and Dormouse have violently taken over the land, dismantling Hatter into individual limbs and enslaving the Dodos. After finding his head and torso in a junkpile, the Hatter requests Alice help him recover his lost limbs...

READ the rest of this storyline at wikipedia
.


Excerpt from Revolver: McGee Talks About His Video Game, Marilyn Manson by Kory Grow

REVOLVER: As twisted as Carroll’s book can be at points, it’s still a children’s fairytale. Why has it had such a huge impact on this particular horror game and, in your opinion, horror and hard-rock music in general?

AMERICAN McGEE: The original books provide an amazing wealth of ideas for characters, setting and story. Alice herself has appealed to generations of readers, and by virtue of her new storyline, now also appeals quite well to horror game enthusiasts. The Alice character everyone knows from the books is appealing because of her fantastic imagination and curiosity; with the games we’ve turned that imagination into a sort of psychological super-power and used curiosity to drive her towards overcoming sometimes horrific obstacles.

What was the inspiration for turning this fantasy into something terrifying? Are there any other horror games or movies that inspired this vision of Alice?
McGEE At the moment of inspiration for the game, I was listening to “Trip Like I Do” by the Crystal Method. Back at my desk it was Rob Zombie’s “Living Dead Girl” and various tracks by Manson, NIN, Tom Waits and more that really drove a lot of the initial tone for story and characters in the game.

Games didn’t so much inspire the core ideas as inform me as to what I didn’t want to do—having come from a background of development on games like DOOM and Quake, I badly wanted to move away from the “Space Marine” horror theme—and Wonderland offered a great opportunity to explore really surreal environments and characters.

READ the full interview here.


PeekInside:



~*~

* the visuals really grab. if I were a gamer, this would definitely be one stuck in my game console

* image source header game screen

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: Fingers


Alice turns another corner and finds herself in Fingers Forest. This mini-forest in a maze hold fingers of persuasion.

fingers point the way
read read read read read read read
just here come follow


Fingers point to a newly published book that awaits your reading...

--~ eBook Giveaway courtesy of author ~--

Broken
A Paranormal Romance
by David H. Burton

Three days before her twenty-fourth birthday, Katherine Gregory receives a letter from her deceased mother. It details a faery curse in which the eldest child in each generation will die in their twenty-fifth year.

Three days before her twenty-fourth birthday, a new love interest comes knocking, and her first love has returned - neither men are what they seem, and Katherine may have to choose between them.

Three days before her twenty-fourth birthday, Katherine must decide if this is all real, or if the strange visions she's been having are just a figment of her imagination.

The race to unravel the mystery begins, and Katherine must solve it – for any day after her birthday could be her last.


~*~

Win a copy of this ebook!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011

TO DO:
Visit David's site, leave a comment on one of his posts and let me know which.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* image source gloved hand

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: CatKid


~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Brian James
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

Alice rounded the next corner of the maze that was beginning to seem to her as if it had no beginning and no ending and whole lot of confusion in between the two. She stopped suddenly when happened upon a strange girl with the ears of a cat and the tail to match…

“There! Good enough to eat!” I, CatKid, shouted as soon as I finished drawing my newest scribbled masterpiece on the walls. Then I smiled my whiskers real proud. That’s because coloring a crayon masterpiece is tough work.

“Who…are you?”

My ears perk right up at that sound and I spin around my tail to see a girl standing there. “Guess what?” I say. “I didn’t even know you were there. That’s what.”

“But who are you?” the girl asks. “My name is Alice by the way.”

“I’m CatKid. I’m one whole half cat and one whole half kid,” I say with a big smile. “Who are you?”

“I’m Alice,” she says. Then she scratches her head and looks at my drawing kind of funny. “Why did you draw cookies on the wall?”

“Because I’m hungry. And plus, I really like cookies. My dad says I’m one smart cookie, that’s why. But that doesn’t even make any sense because I’m not even a cookie. I licked my arm once and it didn’t taste like coookies, that’s how I found out,” I tell her. Then I reach out and pull a cookie off the wall. That’s when my drawing turns into a nice warm gooey and delicious cookie. “Want one?”

“How did you…I mean, can you really eat those?” Alice asks.

I smile my whiskers and lick the melted chocolate chips from my lips. “Only if you use the right crayons,” I say. Then I hand her a cookie, only she refuses to eat it. I roll my eyes. I think maybe this girl is crazy.

~end

CatKid meets Alice, guest post created for gyre and gimble event by Brian James author of CatKid series
© 2011. All rights reserved.

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Brian James
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~


Read more about CatKid here...

--~ Book Giveaway ~--

CatKid
I'm No Fraidy Cat!
by Brian James

Win a book from the CatKid series!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011

TO DO:
Visit Brian's site, leave a comment on one of his posts and tell me where.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* image source created by author, Brian James

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: Thing of Things


~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Daniel Coleman
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

While wandering through a maze in Wonderland, Alice comes across a group of unusual...Things. Ollie, a character from Daniel Coleman's novella, Jabberwocky, also stumbles upon the odd gathering.

"And what curious fellows are these?" asks Alice to no one in particular as she turns a corner in the maze.

"Creatures?" asks one of the peculiar little people. "Where?"

"Why, all around, of course. Including you I should think."

The pointy-nosed, blue-haired youth gives her a perplexed look. "And I should think the only creature here is you."

"Me? But I'm no creature. I'm Alice."

"And I am Thing 448."

A short young man carrying a bow enters the clearing holding an arrow to the string of his bow. When he sees the odd scene he says, "Chipper chaps cheerfully chatting and...chasing?"

"Good morning, Sir," says Alice, for though the youth is only a few years older than she, he wears a uniform.

"Ollie," he answers. "Have you seen a Jabberwock perchance?"

"I'm not familiar with such a creature, unless these lads are Jabberwocks."

"Neither creatures nor Jabberwocks," says the smiling elf.

"I beg your pardon."

"After so much time in Wonderland, I would think one would learn it isn't respectable to beg."

The odd little people run and jump and jabber throughout the large clearing. "Quite the contrary," said Alice. "It seems the longer I stay in Wonderland, the less I seem to learn."

"What kind of creatures are these?" asks the soldier.

"They aren't creatures at all," answers Alice, proud for having learned something. "But I haven't yet discovered what they are. Although I think learning that you don't know things is not the same as learning things. "

"Things! Yes," says the minikin and offers a hand to shake. Alice accepts the hand; to do otherwise would surely be poor manners.

"Things?" she asks.

"Yes. We are Things."

"And are you a boy or girl Thing?"

"Why should I have to pick one?"

"Pick?" asks Alice. "Why, one doesn't pick. One just is."

"Unless one isn't," says the Thing.

"How can one isn't?" asks Alice. "I mean, how can one not be?"

"What number are you?"

"I don't know what that has to do with the question," replies Alice. Is there no end to such creatures in Wonderland?

"How can you know if you haven't answered it?"

"Alright then, I'll answer," Alice says. "I am not a number?"

"And how can one not be a number?" The small creature looks as confused as Alice feels.

"The same way one is neither a boy or a girl," says Alice.

"Aha, you see?"

"I don't think I'll ever see."

While Alice tries to make sense of the logic, Ollie speaks up. "As entertaining as this has been, I need to find Tjaden before he finds the Jabberwock." With a small bow he adds, "Farewell, flustered female. Find fortune's favor."

Thing 448 returns to his romping and reveling.

Alice, as perplexed as ever, wanders back into the maze.

~end

Guest post created for gyre and gimble event by Daniel Coleman author of Jabberwocky
© 2011. All rights reserved.

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Daniel Coleman
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~


Read more about Ollie here...

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of author ~--

Jabberwocky
by Daniel Coleman

signup to win this book


~*~

* The thing was the assembly of the free people of a country, province or a hundred (hundare/härad/herred). There were consequently hierarchies of things, so that the local things were represented at the higher-level thing, for a province or land. At the thing, disputes were solved and political decisions were made. The place for the thing was often also the place for public religious rites and for commerce. - per wikipedia

* image source dr seuss things

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Maze: begins


Alice has decided to leave the company of bogovoes, tove and raths. She is being called to enter the Maze and explore its treasures encased within the hedges. However, she will have her vorpal sword close at hand in case she runs into the Jub Jub bird, Bandersnatch or Jabberwock.

Do you dare join her on this venture???

You might run into a meld...



You might bust a gut from...

This Is a Book
by Demetri Martin

From the renowned comedian, creator, star and executive producer/multiple title-holder of Comedy Central's Important Things with Demetri Martin comes a bold, original, and rectangular kind of humor book.

Demetri's first literary foray features longer-form essays and conceptual pieces (such as Protagonists' Hospital, a melodrama about the clinic doctors who treat only the flesh wounds and minor head scratches of Hollywood action heroes), as well as his trademark charts, doodles, drawings, one-liners, and lists (i.e., the world views of optimists, pessimists and contortionists), Martin's material is varied, but his unique voice and brilliant mind will keep readers in stitches from beginning to end.


~*~

* let me know if the book is one you would consider reading

* image sources maze, brain teaser

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Bandersnatch


Bandersnatch: A swift moving creature with snapping jaws, capable of extending its neck. A 'bander' was also an archaic word for a 'leader', suggesting that a 'bandersnatch' might be an animal that hunts the leader of a group -per wikipedia

~*~

Amongst our guests today: if you are one of these (based on your answer from the rsvp teaser post) please answer the question that pertains to you

Bandersnatch - what paranormal creature do you hunt?

krysykat of Because I Said So - I'd hunt Will 0' The Wisps, catch them with my paws. and maybe let them go just to catch them again.

hmmmm: for those a bit twisted...

Bandersnatch
by Paul Tremblay and Sean Wallace

It may or may not be frumious, but this original anthology from Tremblay (City Pier: Above & Below) and Wallace (Jabberwocky 2) positively revels in the "strange, dark, and unpredictable."

Nearly all the 13 stories have both feet firmly in the avant-garde. Several tilt toward black-humored horror, and even the authors' bios run to the bizarre.

Talking animals and strange landscapes abound, from the taiga and bears (but no lion) in Alan DeNiro's surreal opening tale "Taiga, Taiga, Burning Bright" to the genetic hybrids in Karen Heuler's "Down on the Farm," which concludes the volume by evoking both Poe and Orwell.

Dogs in particular are well represented, figuring in Heuler's story as well as Ursula Pflug's "Border Crossing" and Bogdan Tiganov's "The Children." An iguana and a soda can trade quips in Seth Ellis's "The Sidewinders," and "Scar Stories" by Vylar Kaftan personifies a cat, a punchbowl and the party where they're present.

This corner of the genre is very much an acquired taste, but for those who dig that funky groove, this anthology more than delivers what it promises. -- Publishers Weekly


~*~

* let me know if the book is one you would consider reading

* guests specified their character persona on the teaser post

* image source

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Jabberwock


Jabberwock: When a class in the Girls' Latin School in Boston asked Carroll's permission to name their school magazine The Jabberwock, he replied: "The Anglo-Saxon word 'wocer' or 'wocor' signifies 'offspring' or 'fruit'. Taking 'jabber' in its ordinary acceptation of 'excited and voluble discussion.' -per wikipedia

~*~

Amongst our guests today: if you are one of these (based on your answer from the rsvp teaser post) please answer the question that pertains to you

Jabberwock - what is your favorite fruit?

AimeeKay of How can you help? - Mulberries

Freda of Freda's Voice - pomegranate

Michelle of The True Book Addict

Misha of My Love Affair With Books - apple

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of author ~--

Jabberwocky
by Daniel Coleman

“One, two! One, two! and through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack!” Blood pounded in Tjaden’s ears as he breathed in the acrid odor, and his sword didn’t falter. Not after the convoluted road that had led him to set out alone to find and slay the manxome Jabberwocky. But the secrets he’d learned about the Jabberwocky’s sorrowful past made it a sour victory.

How different would the situation be if the girl he loved wasn’t at risk? Why didn’t anyone tell him the dark secrets surrounding the Tumtum tree?

Jabberwocky, a short novel by Daniel Coleman, is the untold story inspired by Lewis Carroll’s epic poem. Meet the characters and creatures that inhabit the world long before Alice ever fell down the rabbit’s hole.

While staying true to every detail of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, Jabberwocky provides twists that will keep you turning pages. You might know how it ends, but you won’t believe how it happens.


~*~

Win a signed print copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011

TO DO:
Visit Daniel's site, leave him a comment on one of his posts and tell me where.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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~*~

OR pick up a free ebook version courtesy of the author...

for kindle

for other e-formats at smashwords

-HURRY, ebook offer is good until June 30

~*~

* guests specified their character persona on the teaser post

* image source

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Jub Jub bird


Jub Jub bird: 'A desperate bird that lives in perpetual passion', according to the Butcher in Carroll's later poem The Hunting of the Snark. 'Jub' is an ancient word for a jerkin or a dialect word for the trot of a horse (OED). It might make reference to the call of the bird resembling the sound "jub, jub". -per wikipedia

~*~

Amongst our guests today: if you are one of these (based on your answer from the rsvp teaser post) please answer the question that pertains to you

Jub Jub bird - what is your passion?

Giada of of Dr. Stravagante’s Traveling Book Circus - Cooking is surely one of my many passions, along with archery, drawing, writing, reading, playing the piano, learning new languages...

WATCH OUT: for those with a passion for cooking...

Everything Alice:
The Wonderland Book of Makes and Bakes
by Hannah Read-Baldry and Christine Leech
Release date: August 2011

Whether you’re looking to throw an Alice in Wonderland themed party or just love to add a bit of Mad Hatter whimsy to whatever you make, Everything Alice has something for you.

Inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Hannah Read-Baldery and Christine Leech dreamed up more than 30 projects to make and bake, including a hand-sewn White Rabbit toy, pompon-decorated slippers fit for a queen, a curious cake stand made out of vintage dishware and a selection of royally delicious recipes.

Add to the mix charming photography, exquisite paper-cut illustrations and snippets of Wonderland lore and you've got a craft and cookery book that's as fantastical and fun as the tales that inspired it.


~*~

* guests specified their character persona on the teaser post

* image source

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


Borogoves, Toves and the Raths


Borogove: Following the poem Humpty Dumpty says, " 'borogove' is a thin shabby-looking bird with its feathers sticking out all round, something like a live mop." In explanatory book notes Carroll describes it further as "an extinct kind of Parrot. They had no wings, beaks turned up, made their nests under sun-dials and lived on veal." -per wikipedia

Tove: Humpty Dumpty says " 'Toves' are something like badgers, they're something like lizards, and they're something like corkscrews. [...] Also they make their nests under sun-dials, also they live on cheese." -per wikipedia

Mome rath: Humpty Dumpty says following the poem: "A 'rath' is a sort of green pig: but 'mome" I'm not certain about. I think it's short for 'from home', meaning that they'd lost their way". -per wikipedia

~*~

Amongst our guests today: if you are one of these (based on your answer from the rsvp teaser post) please answer the question that pertains to you

Borogoves - what color(s) are your feathers

Toves - won't you tell us your favorite cheese

Mome raths - what shade of green are you?
Samantha of Maat's Feather Of Truth

Are you attending this Alice event as one of the three above?

OR are you one of these three - jabberwock, jub jub bird, bandersnatch?

OR are you UNDECIDED???


--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--

My Life Undecided
by Jessica Brody


Win a copy of this book!

Open to all.

Offer ends: July 31, 2011

TO DO:
Answer the question above.

IF you are a Borogove, Tove or Rath, please answer your individual question as well.

AND, leave your email (if I don't already have it)

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Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~

* guests specified their character persona on the teaser post

* image source

~>~ gyre and gimble schedule ~<~


gyre and gimble: schedule


gyre
and
gimble

an Alice in Wonderland
one-day virtual book event
June 29, 2011

O frabjous day!

Callooh!

Callay!


Welcome to a day with Alice!

Schedule of events:
details and links will be filled in after posted
per usual links are also on the sidebar


note: as this is a one-day event, posts will go up hourly between 5am-5pm

teaser

5am: welcome and schedule

6am: Borogoves, Toves and the Raths
- My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

7am: Jub jub bird
- Everything Alice: The Wonderland Book of Makes and Bakes
by Hannah Read-Baldry and Christine Leech

8am: Jabberwock
- Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman

9am: Bandersnatch
- Bandersnatch by Paul Tremblay and Sean Wallace

10am: Maze begins
- This Is a Book by Demetri Martin

11am: Thing of Things
- Alice Meets Ollie by Daniel Coleman

12pm: CatKid
Alice Meets CatKid by Brian James
- CatKid: I'm No Fraidy Cat! by Brian James

1pm: Fingers Forest
- Broken: A Paranormal Romance by David H. Burton

2pm: Mirror
- Alice: Madness Returns by American McGee

3pm: Fairy
- Follow My Lead by Kate Noble

4pm: Captain Jack Racine
- The Sky: The World by Jessica McHugh

5pm: Maze ends
- Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

6pm: End Credits

Announcement: of giveaway for Hatter

Announcement: winners for giveaways that ended July 31

Announcement: winners for giveaways that ended August 14

~>~ Treasures Along The Way ~<~


Giveaway: RSVP for Alice-related prize

Giveaway: My Life Undecided by Jessica Brody

Giveaway: Hatter by Daniel Coleman

Giveaway: Jabberwocky by Daniel Coleman

Giveaway: CatKid: I'm No Fraidy Cat! by Brian James

Giveaway: Broken: A Paranormal Romance by David H. Burton

Giveaway: Follow My Lead by Kate Noble

Giveaway: The Sky: The World by Jessica McHugh

Giveaway: Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham

and so it begins...
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
- Jabberwocky
(first two stanzas)
read the complete poem
by Lewis Carroll


It is a hot summer afternoon and we sit with our Alice beside the tum tum tree. Alice spies movement in the hedges over yonder. We walk across the lawn and witness toves in the wabe.

Let's get in queue! Alice squeals with glee.

So, we too gyre and gimble...

~*~

* this schedule also houses complete books mentioned for this event.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Save My Soul by Zoe Winters

Save My Soul
(A Paranormal Romance: Preternaturals Book 2)
by Zoe Winters

Published: 2011
Publisher: Incubooks
Genre: Demons, Paranormal, Romance
Paperback: 300 pages
Rating: 4

Description from the amazon:
All he’s asking for is her soul.

After buying the antebellum home she’s fantasized about since childhood, Anna Worthington discovers Luc, a dangerously seductive incubus who has been trapped in the house by a fifty-year-old curse. To rid herself of her problem house guest she’ll call on a priest, gypsies, ghost hunters, and the coven of witches from lust bunny hell. All she has to do is resist him long enough to break the spell so they can go their separate ways. If she doesn’t, she could die. And that would be the best case scenario.

Zombie sighting:
She stretched her arms in front of her like a zombie and wandered around the living room making woooo noises.
-location 318, chapter 2


My two-bits:
In-a-word(s): bond
I am still new to the demon world and this story was a good way to get them on my good side. Luc is such a sweet demon if demons can be sweet that I found him as irresistible as the main character, Anna.

I should also mention that the demon focus was on an incubus.

ooo, and there is a cool twist in the end that I liked to this paranormal romance.

PeekAbook:

Book Trailer: Save My Soul by: Zoe Winters from Zoe Winters on Vimeo.



~*~

* review copy courtesy of author
* part of Save My Soul blog tour - check out the other stops for more details on this book and goodies

Tour Schedule


today's blog stop:
June 28 – Paranormal Opinion

Winners for June pt3


Here are the winners for giveaways that
ended June 19, 24 and 26, 2011

Thanks to all contestants!


The Highest Stakes by Emery Lee
Winner: Debbie


Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach
Winner: Thao Huynh of Neverending Recipes


Replay by Keira Lea
Winner: IdentitySeeker of Random Thoughts of A Confused Adolescent...


Her Wild American Self by Evelina Galang
Winner: AimeeKay of How can you help?


Captain Wentworth’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Winner: Laura of The Calico Critic


Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
Winner: krysykat
Winner: Michelle of The True Book Addict
Winner: Sullivan McPig of Pearls Cast Before a McPig

Fae Eye for the Golem Guy by Robert Roman
Winner: Sakira

Android Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Ben H. Winters
Winner: Giada of Dr. Stravagante’s Traveling Book Circus
Winner: heykiddego
Winner: Susanna of Susie Bookworm
Winner: Samantha of Maat's Feather Of Truth

Other Side of Life by Jess C. Scott
Winner: Denise Z

Raven's Kiss by Toni LoTempio
Winner: mbreakfield of Book Lover and Procrastinator

The Apothecary by Samantha Jillian Bayarr
Winner: Kiwi of Assortments

Pistons and Pistols by Regina Riley
Winner: Stacy of A Place to Imagine

The Adventures of Miss Upton and the Sky Pirate by CJ Archer
Winner: Freda of Freda's Voice


Hard Day's Knight by John G. Hartness
Winner: Audra of Unabridged Chick

Giveaway still open...

Pat the Zombie by Aaron Ximm
Winner: still open for entries, need 11 more entries to close
feel free to signup (if you haven't already)

~*~

* easter egg giveaways: are surprise giveaways embedded in posts that sometimes have an egg image at the bottom or simply hints at a giveaway for comments participation throughout the event or just because i'm feeling generous

* to see the original giveaway offer, click on the prize title links

* I will email winners for mailing addresses.
Winners, feel free to contact me with your info if you don't get my email
or if you are just too darn excited and want to let me know -- like NOW ;-D

* contest policy

* keep in touch with my giveaways and learn about other book giveaways by joining the GoodReads Book Giveaways group

* if not this time, maybe next time

--> check out the current giveaways and upcoming events on my sidebar


Monday, June 27, 2011

rrRoad trip coming in july

rrRoad trip
a virtual book event
july 24-27, 2001

If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
-Route 66 lyrics


Books featured: mostly YA themed

Charlie No Face
by David B. Seaburn


Happy Birthday to Me
by Brian Rowe


more to be encountered along the way...

~*~

* image source event badge of 66 Mustang, Route 66

~===~ rrRoad trip schedule ~===~


 
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