KILLER CRAFTS & CRAFTY KILLERS HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE--CYBER MONDAY EDITION

Today is Cyber Monday. Around the world tens of thousands (if not more) people will be stealing time out of their workday to nail down some of their holiday shopping, hoping to score some great gift deals. Over the next few weeks we’ll all continue to shop, often online. So here at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers we’re offering some gift suggestions in the form of books—both the old-fashioned kind and the digital kind—that will make some of your recipients squeal with glee—or in the case of today’s offering, drool with delight.

Up first today is Bake, Love, Write: 105Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing, a dessert cookbook and so much more. This book not only includes 105 scrumptious dessert recipes, but it introduces readers to some wonderful authors who offer advice on life, love, and writing. Best of all, by purchasing this book, you’re helping feed hungry kids. A percentage of all sales will be donated to No KidHungry.

Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Adviceon Love and Writing

edited by Lois Winston

What do most authors have in common, no matter what genre they write? They love desserts. Sweets sustain them through pending deadlines and take the sting out of crushing rejection letters and nasty reviews. They also often celebrate their successes—selling a book, winning a writing award, making a bestseller list, or receiving a fabulous review—with decadent indulgences. And when authors chat with each other, they often talk about their writing and their lives. Recipes. Writing. Relationships. In this cookbook 105 authors not only share their favorite recipes for fabulous cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and more, they also share the best advice they’ve ever received on writing and relationships.

Authors who participated in Bake, Love, Write include: Brenda Novak, Lois Winston, Debra Holland, Dale Mayer, Shelley Noble, Caridad Pineiro, Diana Orgain, Lisa Verge Higgins, Lynn Cahoon, Jasmine Haynes, Jan Carol, Meg Bellamy, Bobbi Chukran, Melissa Keir, Amy Gamet, Kristy Tate, Terry Shames, Barbara Phinney, Kitsy Clare, Raine English, Cathryn Cade, Haley Whitehall, Shilpa Mudiganti, Melinda Curtis, Jessa Slade, Jill Blake, Daryl Devore, Molly MacRae, Elizabeth Rose, Helena Fairfax, Lourdes Venard, Jessica Aspen, Maegan Beaumont, Kay Kendall, Elizabeth John, Victoria Adams, Cyndi Pauwels, Alice Loweecey, June Shaw, Donnell Ann Bell, T. Michelle Nelson, Nina Milton, Pam DeVoe, Skye Taylor, Conda V. Douglas, Pepper Phillips, Judy Alter, Cadence Denton, Lesley Diehl, Erin Farwell, Regan Walker, Kaye Spencer, Barbara Monajem, Kathleen Kaska, Catherine Kean, Rose Anderson, Suzie Tullett, Deborah Hughes, Cynthia Luhrs, Judy Baker, Alicia Dean, Leslie Langtry, Janis Susan May, Mitzi Flyte, Ruby Merritt, Renee D. Field, Kathryn Quick, Susan Cory, Judy Penz Sheluk, Kay Manis, Kathryn Jane, Debra Goldstein, E. Ayers, Chantilly White, Sloan McBride, Triss Stein, Ana Morgan, Adele Downs, L.C. Giroux, Pamela Aares, Nancy Warren, Barbara Lohr, J.J. Cook, Lynn Reynolds, Cori Arnold, B.V. Lawson, Lynn Franklin, M.L. Guida, Irene Peterson, Sue Viders, Liese Sherwood-Fabre, Susan Santangelo, Sheila Seabrook, Elaine Charton, Sharleen Scott, Kathy Bennett, Jody Payne, Reggi Allder, Ashlyn Chase, Beverley Bateman, Susan Lohrer, Donis Casey, Barbara Leavy, Stacy Juba, Karen Rose Smith.

Check out the Bake, Love, Write video author Kaye Spencer created for the cookbook.

Buy Links

Paperback

Kindle

Kobo

Nook

iTunes

Google Play

A SPOOKTACULAR SCAVENGER HUNT

Last week Lois Winston mentioned that there would be a scavenger hunt with lots of prizes in connection with the debut of Bake, Love, Write: 105Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing. Well, it’s going to be a Halloween Scavenger Hunt!

For those of you who like dealing with the spooky, join us to do something cooky!

From October 6th through the 23rd, over 30 authors featured in Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share DessertRecipes and Advice on Love and Writing are hosting a Halloween Scavenger Hunt. 

Here’s how it works: Participants visit the website or blog listed for each featured author to find a Halloween graphic hidden on one of the website or blog pages. The more sites you visit, the more chances you have to win. There are over 60 prizes with multiple winners. The list of prizes and the dates they will be given away is here.

Authors participating include: Lois Winston, Brenda Novak, Caridad Pineiro, Jessa Slade, Kathryn Jane, M.L. Guida, Skye Taylor, Cathryn Cade, Victoria Adams, Sharleen Scott, Kathleen Kaska, Erin Farwell, Daryl Devore, Cynthia Luhrs, E. Ayers, Chantilly White, Helena Fairfax, Molly MacRae, L.C. Giroux, Stacy Juba, B.V. Lawson, Ruby Merritt, Kay Manis, Ashlyn Chase, Kitsy Clare, Elizabeth Rose, Liese-Sherwood-Fabre, Sloan McBride, Elaine Joyce, Debra Goldstein, Barbara Phinney, Alicia Dean, Haley Whitehall, Terry Shames, Melinda Curtis, Lynn Cahoon, and Renee Field.

Here’s what you need to do: On October 6th, visit Sloan McBride’s blog where she’ll have all the information posted, including links to the authors' websites/blogs and a link to a page to type all the answers. If you want to have a handy reminder, you can also download the page of authors, websites/blogs, and for typing your answers here. The page will give you the authors’ names and links to their websites/blogs where you’ll search for the Halloween graphics. However, the graphics won’t be posted on the authors’ sites until October 6th. Rafflecopter will be used to determine prizewinners.

Here's the IMPORTANT part -- once you've filled in your answers, you must email the document to Sloan at sloanmcbride@gmail.com.  She’ll review the answers and will enter your name the number of times that corresponds to the number of sites you visited and provided the correct answers.  

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR LAUREN HAWKEYE

Lauren Hawkeye/ Lauren Jameson once spent an entire year narrating her own life internally. No, really. But where she was just plain odd before publication, now she can at least claim to have an artistic temperament. Learn more about Lauren and her books at her website. 

When you make the decision to have a child, your first thought isn’t often about what could go wrong. The fact of the matter is, however, that you roll the dice every time you mix that cup of genetic soup… and sometimes that soup comes flavored with Type 1 Diabetes.

My son Benjamin was diagnosed with this disease at just two years of age. I was, for lack of a better word, absolutely dumbfounded. Not only had we thought that we’d had a perfectly healthy child, but even weirder than that, I’d been a volunteer with my friend Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research for several years. She was the one who told me to take him to hospital. With no history of diabetes in our family, I thought, what are the odds?

But that’s exactly the point. It can happen to anyone. It can happen to you. And while yes, at least diabetes is treatable, it’s still a scary, scary thing to live with, especially as a parent. There is nothing that will prepare you for a life of counting carbs, sticking needles into your sweet child’s flesh, dealing with hypoglycemia, and being the meanie that says your toddler can’t have the grape juice at his preschool’s Mother’s Day tea party.

This is why I’m so glad that some force in the universe led Brenda Novak into my life. Though once I was only vaguely aware of diabetes at all, I now, like Brenda, desperately want a cure. While I have volunteered with the auction in the past, this year she gave me an opportunity to make a bigger difference by helping to put the A Sweet Life boxed set together. This set features fourteen—that’s right, FOURTEEN—full books from New York Times bestselling authors. It’s available for only $2.99. And it’s only available until the end of May.

Why should you go buy this set RIGHT NOW? Apart from the fact that all proceeds (every penny) go straight to the Diabetes Research Institute through Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research, if you wait until it’s gone, you can expect to pay over $50 to get all of these books onto your e-reader. So basically… if you like contemporary romance, why wouldn’t you?

A Sweet Life

Featuring a foreword by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Debbie Macomber.

1500 pages/ 675,000 words

I Only Have Eyes For You by Bella Andre (The Sullivans)

The only woman wealthy Irish pub owner Jake McCann wants is the one he can't have--Sophie Sullivan, his best friend's off limits sister. But when the beautiful librarian appears on his doorstep as his every fantasy come to life, even though Jake knows loving Sophie isn't the right thing to do...how can he possibly resist?

On A Night Like This by Barbara Freethy (Callways #1)

From #1 NY Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy comes the first book about the Callaways, a big Irish family born to serve and protect, many as San Francisco firefighters.

May Day! by Heather Graham

Members of the Krewe of Hunters team plan a relaxing vacation to jolly old London for the English celebration--they never figured that a May Pole just might be murder.

Shopping for a Billionaire by Julia Kent

When mystery shopper Shannon Jacoby meets billionaire Declan McCormick with her hand down a toilet in the men's room of one of his stores, it's love at first flush.

Built to Last by Susan Mallery

The tale of Aaron Cross, a man who doesn't know he needs saving...until he meets Marissa Spencer, a heroine inspired by the real life founder of the Motheread/ Fatheread Literacy Program.

A Baby of Her Own by Brenda Novak

Delaney is tired of waiting for the right man--all she wants is a baby. After seducing a handsome stranger, she returns to Dundee to find that same man is actually taking up residence on a ranch just outside of town--where he will very likely realize she's expecting.

Dare to Love by Carly Phillips

In relationships, Ian Dare offers the bare minimum--until one glimpse of sensual Riley Taylor changes his perspective. Their affair heats up and love comes into play, but Riley's secret past just might cost them everything.

Executive Seduction by Jennifer Probst

When Chandler Santell turns to Logan Grant, the most ruthless CEO in the finance industry to save her beloved Yoga and Arts Center, she never intended to have seduction as part of the plan...

In Too Deep by RaeAnne Thayne

Though fiercely drawn to the comfort of Andrea McPhee's arms, Will Tanner isn't sure he can find room for a woman like her in a life focused on vengeance--until he discovers she has secrets of her own.

Every Girl Does It by Rachel Van Dyken

Amanda gets a flash from the past when the nerdy kid she rejected in high school suddenly reappears in her life...dead sexy, he's all man and he wants her.

Homecoming Season by Susan Wiggs

Miranda Sweeney and her family find hope and healing while spending an autumn at Willow Lake after Miranda survives breast cancer. Inspired by the founder of Cottage Dreams.

Unspoken by Lauren Hawkeye

Once, Ellie Kendrick was the only thing that Dominic Gabriel wanted. Now she's back and her version of what happened between them so long ago makes him question everything he knows about himself.

Sweet Memories by Steena Holmes

Thinking her marriage is over, Tessa is shocked to fall into the arms of her husband... literally. What's a girl to do when her heart still goes pitter-patter for a man who ran out on her once but comes back determined to take another chance?

Take Me, Cowboy by Jane Porter

Jilted at the altar, Jenny Wright is devastated that bull riding champ Colton Thorpe witnesses her shame, but tough sexy Colton is a man who knows what he wants... and he wants Jenny.

Find A Sweet Life until May 31 at the following vendors:

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

iTunes

All Romance eBooks

BRENDA NOVAK'S ANNUAL ONLINE AUCTION FOR DIABETES RESEARCH

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is a three-time Rita nominee. Her books have won many awards, including the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne and many others. Brenda joins us today to talk about a topic near and dear to her—her annual online auction to raise funds for diabetes research. Learn more about Brenda, her books, and the auction at her website. 

Cilene Dion concert
and meet & greet

How would you like to attend a Cilene Dion concert and meet the singer? Spend seven nights in Hawaii? Become a character in a John Lescroart novel? Have author Hank Phillippi Ryan attend your book club? Become the owner of a Kindle Fire HDX filled with six Sandra Brown novels? All these and more can be yours if you participate in author Brenda Novak’s annual online auction for diabetes research at http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com from May 1 - May 31st.

Brenda started the auction ten years ago, as a way to fight back after her youngest son was diagnosed, at five, with Type 1 Diabetes. Since then, she’s become acutely aware of the need for more research, and the funding that makes it possible.

Thad and Brenda

Brenda stops by today to tell us:

Ten things I love about my annual online auction for diabetes research:

1.     It reminds me that people are GOOD. More than good—AMAZING! Every year, I approach over 1000 donors and ask them to once again contribute a good or service to be auctioned off for the benefit of those suffering with diabetes. And the response is almost always an overwhelming yes, with fellow writers and industry professionals leading the pack in generosity. Touches my heart every year.

2.     I love, love, love getting the positive feedback when an aspiring writer gets an agent, sells a book or finds great value in published author’s mentorship or critique. Or when someone enjoys one of the trips—or another item they’ve won. It makes me feel good to know the auction is a win/win.

7 nights in Hawaii
donated by author Cindy Sample

3.     Watching and charting the numbers. My family wants to  kill me every year because I’m absolutely ADDICTED. I check and check and check—and pray and pray and pray that our totals go up.

4.     I love knowing that Author Lauren Hawkeye’s son, Ben, and that my son, Thad, probably won’t have to cope with diabetes longer than another 5-10 years because of the fabulous research we are funding.

Book club visit from
Hank Phillippi Ryan

 5.     I love so many of the cool items—like the Celine Dion tickets/meet-and-greet, the Kindles and Nooks, the promotion packages for authors, the cool jewelry, the handmade chocolates, the designer handbags, the themed baskets and the agent/editor evaluations.

6.     I love my auction team—my assistant, Anna and the four auction volunteers who have been so loyal and devoted this year, which include Danita, Stephanie, Debbie and Janice. These people have been instrumental in the auction’s success. I enjoy our planning sessions and getting to spend time with these wonderful people.

Kindle Fire HDX
w/6 Sandra Brown novels

7.     I love talking to the press and trying to get the word out. It’s certainly given me a lot of experience with handling interviews!

8.     I love that the auction runs every May because it’s a celebration of Mother’s Day and my birthday, which are usually only a few days apart. After ten years, May would not be the same to me without the auction.

Your name in a John
Lescroart novel

9.     I love that my kids and other members of my family (like my sister, Tonya) do what they can to support me by making things they can donate. My husband and children pick up part of the household load so that I can focus on the auction.

10. I love that my dream has come true. When I first started the auction, I imagined what it would be like to raise $1 million. It’s all I could think about. Now we’ve raised over $2 million and are shooting for $2.5!

If you would like to be part of this fun event, please join me! All you have to do is register at http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com and the information you need is right there (or feel free to email me with any questions via the contact button on my website.)