ILUMINE'S WISH Winners!

Holy smokes. It's almost 10PM and I didn't post this up yet for everyone! I'm so sorry! (Blame it on my... cat?)

First, in a totally non-grammy-winning speech sort of way, I want to say thank you to everyone who helped host, run, post about, and participate in the ILLUMINE'S WISH event. It was, in my opinion, a huge kick-butt success! I may not have pulled numbers like a well known author, but I'd like to think I did a buzzworthy number for someone still dipping her feet into the realm.

Winners for the different variety of prizes that were offered on a mix of blogs will be emailed or mailed out some time this week. I have it all sitting in my living room taking up approximately half of my floor and a loveseat, so... yeah. Kind of needs to get shipped soon before my family revolts on me for kidnapping the house with my stuff.

What I CAN announce in stark clarity are the winners of the ARCs of OBUMBRATE that was held right here on my blog. I will be emailing all the winners tomorrow, and those who don't get back to me within 48 hours I shall have to pass on and pick another. Standard policy and all the shnaz.

I know, I know. Get to the point, Alivia.

Alright, so the winners of the 5 ebook copies of OBUMBRATE are...

1- Christina Bahr
2- Jessica Haight
3- Helen Bush
4- Nancy Storey Allen
5- Alicia Marie Ezell

UPDATE: All five ecopy winners were emailed with the copies as of 10:40PM on May 6th! Please check your emails, ladies. 


Yay! Big round of applause to the first batch of winners!

Oh I know, you want to know about the paperback winners, too. No worries, I have them right here!

The winners of the 5 paperback copies of OBUMBRATE are...

1- Dana
2- Terri Matlock
3- Artemis
4- Vivien
5- Emily Rencich


A huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge congratulations to all of you! I'd start keeping your eyes on the mail over the next week or so!

Don't forget, this Friday April 20th will be the cover reveal of OBUMBRATE right here on the blog! I believe it may be going on another blog or two as well (I've been hiding from my inbox) so don't be surprised if you see it popping around all weekend!

A Little Bit About OBUMBRATE and ILLUMINE Launch Party Update!

I originally had planned a Valentine's Day blog post on the ups of red hot smokin' love and compare it to broken-hearted/anti-Valentine's day blues, but life sort of got in the way. So to try and keep up with updating my blog on a regular basis I figured I'd show you guys just what I've been up to since my last post!

Big things first! There's a giveaway running on Goodreads right now for a chance to win one of four signed paperbacks of Illumine. And I'm SUPER proud to say that the giveaway has only been up for two days (after them confirming it and all) and at the current moment of this post has 323 people requesting it! Umm, excuse me while I scream bloody murderous glee over that.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

If you haven't entered in it yet, there's still time! Here's the widget.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Illumine

by Alivia Anders

Giveaway ends March 02, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Next! Kelly from Reading The Paranormal did a review of Illumine and was nice enough to post it on Goodreads! Very nice, thank you Kelly!

Illumine also went up on iTunes and Kobo (FINALLY).

I did an author interview for Megan McDade over at Reading Away The Days! Thank you, Megan!

Alexa over at Pages of Forbidden Love was sweet enough to feature Illumine this past week! Thank you too, Alexa! (PS- Kayden didn't have a Valentine... he did think about bringing you a flower, though!)

And, to save the best for last... I'm hosting an all-day Facebook event in honor of the paperback release of Illumine! If you've never been to one of these before, it's super easy.

Step One- Log on Facebook. RSVP to link.
Step Two- Log on Facebook on day of event, pop in, say hi, participate in games, win prizes and have fun, and do it in whatever you want to! Pjs, costume, birthday suit... (maybe not the birthday suit) but you get the point! RVSPing to the event and showing up the day of is highly recommended. Why? Well, let's just say everyone who shows up will get a beautifully exclusive sneak peek at Obumbrate and its cover!

Well, what are you waiting for?!

I Confide My Innermost Secret!

Yep, the title is true. I'm going to spill something super-secret with you guys today. But shhhh, try not to tell anyone else. Or tell them and spread the laughter!

First things first, though! I had planned this blog post originally with the intention of semi-spamming Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else each day for the whole week. This past Saturday, February 4th, had been a little bit of a monumental day for me spiritually. And I'll explain why.

Without going into layers of detail, I lost a sibling years ago. His name was Holden, and he passed in 1999 at the age of four months. At the time I had been in second grade, just a child, but being a curious creature who knew too much for her own good at too young an age, it hit me. Hard. I missed weeks of school from the grief, and when I did return all I did was take out his picture from my pocket, stare at it and cry. It had been a breaking point for our family, but in the same breath it taught me to cherish life and to keep those who meant the world to me as close as they'd allow me.

February 3rd marks the day of his death. Every year we go to his grave and leave flowers, sometimes send balloons, leave toys, anything for a small smile in the face of something so heart-crushing. Last year was one of the more humorous years. Ice had collected so thick over the roads and layers of packed snow beneath it that we couldn't get the car up to his grave. We ended up spending about an hour breaking ice and gripping onto each other as we pulled ourselves uphill.

Every year, his death affects me. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and the life he should have had, but in the same breath I know he's our little angel, and he shows it. One of the first times I had considered writing for a career I experienced a 'paranormal experience'. I know some believe in it and some don't. I never did until that day. Now I look for specific signs, like when a certain set of words appear to me or music specifically dedicated to him that's beyond outdated comes over the radio for no reason.

The experience I had in the middle of work a day his date of passing this past weekend reminded me that I was slacking in writing my draft for Obumbrate, and that he was watching. I'm onto you, little brother. Stop scaring me at work! That was a little something I wanted to share with all of you.

Now, that was only one part of my huge post! Part two is a round up of all the blogs I've recently found who's posted reviews on Illumine!

First is Opinionated Mama with her 4-star review!

Second is Nat & Dee's Book Nook with their 4-star review!

Third is BookStacksOnDeck with her review!

And lastly is Hopelessly Devoted Bibilophile with her review, too!

I encourage all of you to check out the blogs I've mentioned, each one is pretty unique. They all do share one thing in common, though; they're all friendly and love books! (Whoops, that was two, wasn't it?)

Okay, and now for part three of the super-awesome post! The Teaser Tuesday of Obumbrate is a small excerpt between Essallie and Kayden. Enjoy! (Please note this is from the ARC of Obumbrate, and it may not reflect word-for-word what the final product may be.)

I watched the expression in his eyes turn soft, dim glimmers of something kind shining inside them. He reached out to stroke my cheek, his thumb igniting sparks from my skin, like flicking a lighter on. "You remind me of someone." He paused. "For a second I thought...maybe part of them was reincarnated into you."

I studied him carefully, running my eyes over the cuts and burns that littered his body. He looked like a giant mess of ripped tissue paper. "Who do I remind you of?"

He shook his head, the broken look on his face nearly crippling me. Rising to his feet, he stumbled and gently swore. "Doesn't matter who. What matters is that where this person went, it isn't possible to come back."

"Don't stand up," I started to say. I'd barely made it to my feet when he spilled forward, collapsing into my arms. Adjusting my stance to save us from a spill into broken glass and blood, I muttered under my breath. "You have got to be the heaviest thing made of smoke. Ever."

Leaning off of me, Kayden grinned like a jackal, blood smeared across the bridge of his nose and cheek like blush. If we weren't in the middle of a pile of dead bodies, I might have smiled too. "Admit it," he said. "You like this. You wouldn't know what to do without me."

I ignored his words and the hammering in my chest, doing my best to keep him from dragging us to the ground. "How exactly do you get better? Because there's no way I can carry you like this forever."

For a second his gaze returned to the serious Kayden I was accustomed to. "Do you really want the answer to that?"

I locked eyes, prepared to dish the first retort on my tongue, and stopped. Even with his brooding stare my heart felt like it could explode at any moment. I didn't want to look away from him, because what if that last time I saw him was his last? If he died right now, how far did I really think I could get before I'd break down and sob? I realized that while I told Ari my scars were his to guard, Kayden had the same right, maybe even more. I couldn't see the final picture without him, couldn't stand the thought of letting him go. And yet, if I didn't...

"Essallie?" Kayden tilted his head to the side.

Something screamed inside of me to respond. Something, anything. Anything that didn't involve flinging myself into him and kissing him like I'd never see him again. I had to hate him, hate him to the very core so Ari wouldn't kill him. So my heart would survive the break. Demons and angels didn't mix, they couldn't. No amount of love could fix something like that.

And lastly- part four of the longest post I've ever created, I will be posting a video talking about the paperbacks of Illumine, a little about my terrible addiction to caffeinated beverages, and where I'm going to be this spring for a book signing event! Booyah!  

(P.S.- If you've made it this far, I commend you. Have a cookie, or a cupcake. Just don't touch my coffee.)