Hear ye! Hear ye! ARE YOU LISTENING??? Gather 'round and settle in
people! Kathryn and Shelley have a BIG announcement...*DRUM ROLL,
PLEASE!*
Ahem *Shelley clears her throat and leans in* Is this mic on? *Kathryn pushes Shelley aside and steps up to the microphone*
[And so it begins...]
*In unison they shout* HOLY CROW- MACAROONS-CRAP BALLS! (Yes, we're quoting a couple of our fave heroines here)...
TSK TSK What to Read is ONE YEAR OLD!!! We know, right?! (Insert
appropriate celebratory expletive.) Time flies when your nose is stuck
in a good book- or two or three...
It's been a great ride so far. We've met so many wonderful folks;
readers, authors, fellow bloggers, artists, and all sorts in between.
Made amazing friendships all over the world- even in Hell- and
strengthened those bonds that brought us together in the first place.
Can we have a HELL YEAH, Road to Hell-Hellhound sisters?! And can we get a howl for the Grey Wolves Wolf Pack *AWOOOOOOOOOOO*?! YEAH!!!
It hasn't all been wine and roses. We've had to make hard decisions,
compromises (it's a partnership here), and concessions, find our footing
while diving off of cliffs and flying blind, and at times swallow our
pride. There's been bloodshed, sweat and tears. Frantic late night
calls, last minute changes and cancellations, a few missed
opportunities- and few that made our year. Some people just blew us
away. So yeah, it's really been pretty amazing.
But we're still learning the ropes, and discovering who we are and
want to be in this HUGE and ever growing book community. It's not easy.
It's a lot of work... Meeting deadlines, finding our voices, attempting
to be original and entertaining *cough*, honest, humble and helpful. We
are here for the books and the wonderful word smiths that give us such
beautiful and often terrifying escapes. We struggle at times to do a
book and it's author justice when they've just blown us away and left us
speechless, or to honestly critique with respect and insight for those
that didn't. Sometimes you really want to just shout "WHY?!?!" "What
were you thinking?!!" "OMG, that totally blows!" BUT we're here to
encourage, maybe inspire and share, share, share. So though there has
been heartache and pain, there has also been joy and love, and absolute
awesomeness. (Yes, it's a word, dammmit!)
Not only have we read some of the best books we've EVER read this
past year, we've been surprised, honored and immortalized in a few- even
a New York Times Bestseller. Yep, we're bragging today-(just a wee
bit),and still beaming and blushing. We've discovered and sponsored some
brilliant Indies, and have been recognized and gifted by them for our
efforts- which is beyond thrilling and humbling at all once. But we
acquiesce, it's not really about us. It's about the BOOKS. The AUTHORS.
And of course, the READERS. For without you all, well, we'd not have
much to celebrate. And we may never have met...*sniffling* Oh, the
HORROR! As it is, we can't imagine not being friends and compadres and
NOT talking about books. Should that occur it may very well be the end
of the world.
Now then, we couldn't end this post without a shout out to those who
have been there from the start, become our best friends and biggest
supporters and given us so much help, love, understanding and very
special gifts that make our hearts swell, our tears flow (ok, that's
mostly Shelley), and let us know we might actually be doing something
right.
Our biggest love and thanks to...
Gracen Miller (whom without we would not have come together),
Samantha Young, Nely Cab, Misty Provencher, Quinn Loftis, Michelle
Leighton, Shelly Crane, K. A. Turner, D. C. Grace, Chantal Fernando,
Andrea *Andie* Kozári (The Secret Sanctuary of Books), Jean Vallesteros
(Jean BookNerd), Annabel Cadiz (Team Nerd Reviews). We know there are a
TON of others we could name, but did you really want to hear more from
us at this point? Yeah, that's what we thought.
Now let's PAR-TAY!!!
So we know...enough with the rambling... let's get this party
started. PARTY?! Where's the party? Oh, right...RIGHT HERE! And what's a
party without fun and games, and presents, er- prizes and CAKE! *Wait!
There's cake????* Of course there's cake...BEEFcake. As in swoonworthy,
heartbreaking heroes and bad boys!
Ok. Ok. We'll get to the prizes. We've got two (2!!!!) fantabulous
giveaways for you. Just our way of saying THANK YOU....for your support,
your encouragement, and for being your awesomesauce selves.
Prize #1- A $50 GIFT CARD for (your choice) Amazon Books or Barnes
and Noble. Simply fill out the rafflecopter form below. This contest
will run for two weeks.
Prize #2- A SIGNED BOXED SET of hardcover-HARDCOVER TIGER'S CURSE
saga by Colleen Houck *This is unfortunately US only* And for this
one... you gotta work a little.
Whaddya gotta do??? Here are your choices ALL IN THE FORM OF A POEM:
1. Write a poem based on the TC saga. 2. Tell us why you should win- are
you Colleen's biggest fan? Spoken your undying love for Ren or Kishan?
Made Kelsey's famous cookies? OR do you have a story to tell about
meeting Colleen? 3. If you haven't read the series, tell us why you'd like to have this
beautiful set. This contest will run for 2 weeks. We'll pick our top 5
faves and then let
random.org choose our big winner.
Grab a beverage and some goodies and get creative- or just fill out
the form. We can't wait to see what y'all come up with. AND best of luck
to you all.
Now let's PAR-TAY!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Shelley: I want to give special "I love and respect you more than I
can say" thanks to Kathryn for being the best blog partner a girl could
ask for, for being an A-MAZ-ING friend-confidant sounding
board-proofreader-critic-graphic genius and posting QUEEN.
Hey, is there any of that Micah Kool-aid around? *pours a goblet full* I
raise my glass to you, and toast to another phenomenal year... and as
many more as you can put up with my quirky, prone to passionate
outbursts, procrastinating and ever forgetful and unorganized self.
I LOVE YA, GIRL! Without you I couldn't do this- well, and it certainly wouldn't be as much fun.
Kathryn: Awww girl...You know that I feel the exact same way about you...Major hugs to you and ALL that you do...You are just as much my confidant-sounding board-proofreader-critic-writing genuis- FRIEND EXTRAORDINAIRE!!! I couldn't have asked for a better blog partner in all that we do...we have come so far in one year and I look forward to this year and many more!!
So, *raisies glass* I toast to you my dear sweet friend...May we have many more fun, eventful years like this one!! CHEERS!!
