Yesterday, while flea-bombing the house (for the second time in a week–the first time didn’t work!), I spent the time banished from the house out on the porch going through boxes of books. I’m still–slowly–working on getting unpacked around here.
Coco had to be banned from the porch for fear she’d decide to chew on the books.
Coco isn’t used to being banned from the porch. She didn’t like it.
She was very sad about it.
And confused about why her giant puppy shoulders couldn’t fit through the porch gate.
And hurt that Dookie-the-farm-shih-tsu got to be on the porch and she didn’t.
Dookie: “Sometimes it’s good to be little.”
I love books and have collected far too many over the years. I’m a compulsive book buyer. I’m trying to be ruthless about cutting down clutter. Part of my goal in living a simpler life is to not surround myself with a lot of stuff. I rarely reread a book–there are too many new books in the world to reread ones I’ve already read–so I’m making myself give away most of my books to new homes and new readers by donating them to the library in Spencer. But books I’ve read are just one part of the problem. I also have boxes and boxes of extra copies of books I’ve written.
I’ve always used these copies of my books in giveaways, extras for booksignings, charity donations, freebies to friends or relatives, etc, but after twenty-six published books, the numbers of extras are getting out of hand and stacking up faster than I can use them at my usual pace. I’m not sure the library would be thrilled to have hundreds of copies of the same books by the same author, so I’m going to try giving them away in greater numbers–starting today. If you’re one of the recipients of the 20 books I’m giving away today, you’ll need to send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Postage for a paperback book is about $1.50, or at least that’s what I remember from the last time I mailed one. When I take the packages to the post office, I’ll make up any difference if there is some. The envelope must be large enough to fit a paperback book. (If you’re not sure, try putting a paperback book in the envelope you intend to send to make sure it fits.)
For this round–I’ll be giving out 20 books, 5 copies each (and I’ll give a “heat” rating) of: Third Sight (a PAX League book, paranormal romance, very hot), The Bride, the Trucker and the Great Escape (light romantic comedy, sweet, not overtly sexy), Cole Dempsey’s Back in Town (Louisiana murder mystery, hot), and Her Secret Stranger (romantic comedy, a little hot).
The book is free, but remember, I’ll need a self-addressed, stamped envelope. I’ll autograph the books. (I hate autographing books–it just makes me feel very silly–but people always seem to want me to, so I will.)
U.S. addresses only, please. (Sorry about that!)
POST HERE, in the comments, where people can keep track of when a book has hit 5 requests so they’ll know to pick another one, and say which book you want. The first 5 people who request each of the books get it, so if you count 5 people who already said one book, then ask for one of the others. I’ll be emailing the first 5 for each book to give you the post office box address where you can send your envelopes.
Of course, I’m not sure there are 20 people who want a copy of one of my books and are willing to pay $1.50 for the postage and send the envelope, so this is a test-run to see if I should do this again or not! If it looks like there’s enough interest, then I’ll do this again, repeatedly, until I get rid of all these books that are trying to swallow my house, so if you miss this one, catch the next one!
P.S. If you did miss this one (or even if you didn’t and you want another book), please let me know in the comments. I’ll plan the next giveaway based on the interest. I have hundreds of copies of my books. If there’s enough interest, the next giveaway will be a biggie. I’ve got to do something about all these boxes!
UPDATE: All the books are taken for this round, but please leave a comment letting me know if you are interested. I’ll use the info to plan the next, even bigger, giveaway. Thanks!
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on July 24, 2008
6:07
am
I would love to have a copy of “Third Sight”.
6:07
am
I hate fleas! I have had very good luck using diatomaceous earth to keep our home flea free. I use it to prevent/treat internal and external parasites on all of my animals and buy it 50 pounds at a time.
6:21
am
6:22
am
6:39
am
6:43
am
6:58
am
I will buy the rest in the series…..where do you make the most money?
7:02
am
Do you mean which type of books sell the best for me? Probably the paranormal romantic suspenses, but none of them make a whole heck of a lot.
7:14
am
7:24
am
7:36
am
7:43
am
http://www.lifeislikechampagneblog.com/
7:45
am
7:46
am
I’ll try The Bride, The Trucker….
Oh and more giveaways are always good!
7:46
am
7:48
am
7:48
am
CD’s Back In Town for me, please & thank you!
7:51
am
Dookie is one cute pooch! That expression is priceless. You know, the picture of Coco with her head through the gate really shows how much she is changing from a pup to a grown-up. I am not sure I like that at all, at all!
7:51
am
7:54
am
7:58
am
8:01
am
8:03
am
8:06
am
8:07
am
8:11
am
Thank you very much!
Poor Coco, it can be such a hard life!
*hugs*
8:20
am
BTW…I adore Coco.
8:21
am
Cole Dempsey’s Back in Town–Annie, Jan, Snapper, Sarita. That’s four. One more anyone?
Brenda, I’ll do six on Her Secret Stranger, too, since you commented before I counted up!
The Bride, the Trucker and the Great Escape–Blessed and Shimmy Mom–three more on this one…anyone?
happyathome–which one do you want??
8:21
am
SMRT!
I to have collected what we call a metric assload of books, but I do reread some of my favorites Lord of the Rings once a year and some others when time allows.
The one I was interested in is already spoken for so I shall wait until another round but this is very cool and a great idea
*thumbs up*
:clap:
8:22
am
8:23
am
~Bonny
8:24
am
happyathome–all that’s left is The Bride, the Trucker, and the Great Escape, so I’m going to “assign” you one of those copies.
Two more copies of The Bride, the Trucker and the Great Escape are available!
8:24
am
8:26
am
8:33
am
8:40
am
8:44
am
8:49
am
8:56
am
I simply can’t get on board with getting rid of books, though. Clean down everything else, but books are tiny and easy to store. Aside from when I wind up with multiple copies, I don’t think I’ve ever thrown or given away a book.
8:57
am
9:10
am
9:11
am
9:12
am
9:14
am
If you’re reading this now and would be interested in seeing me do another giveaway (with even more books!) please leave a comment letting me know. I’ll plan the next giveaway based on your comments!
9:18
am
9:20
am
9:23
am
Maybe next time… would you/could you target your giveaway for us early birds on different time zones?
Loved your photos this morning!
9:24
am
9:24
am
9:25
am
9:28
am
9:28
am
Thanks,
9:29
am
9:43
am
9:51
am
I would be interested in reading your books, and a contest to win one would just be fun! I apparently sleep in too much! (It’s 6:45 here!)
9:53
am
9:56
am
9:58
am
10:06
am
10:08
am
10:22
am
10:32
am
I love to read and am inundated myself! We have closets full, because we have not gotten new bookselves yet!
10:50
am
11:14
am
11:35
am
Decluttering is the hardest thing in the world for me to do. I’m a pack rat by nature and nurture. We all seem to have that you never know when you might need something mentality, sadly I’m lacking the attics and tons o’ storage space the rest of my family have.
I don’t think I could get rid of too many of my books tho. We love to reread our favorites.
Thanks so much for sharing with us!!
11:45
am
This is a BRILLIANT idea for decluttering! I’ll probably never get up early enough to make the cut but it’s fun to think about.
11:57
am
The Bride, The Trucker and the Great Escape sounds like my level of reading.
Also I like mysteries. I read James Patterson’s books and like them very much, both the police stories and the love stories.
I enjoy your blog and have sent several people to check out all your animals(expecially the baby goats) and Coco is absolutely precious.
12:46
pm
I haven’t read any of your books yet, but they are on my list for my next library trip!!!
12:57
pm
12:58
pm
1:08
pm
1:35
pm
1:42
pm
Poor Coco, that’s ok, one of these days she’ll be big enough to just hop over that little gate!
2:13
pm
Missed this giveaway but will watch for the next one.
2:44
pm
If the bombs don’t do the trick with the fleas just call in an exterminator. I hate toxic sprays, but I hate flea bites even more.
3:24
pm
3:26
pm
I love your blog (and Coco)
3:53
pm
margiesbooboo
3:54
pm
oh, and please give that puppy a kiss on his cute forehead.
4:48
pm
5:05
pm
Q: When will I be able to donate books or volunteer?
A: As soon as we secure space, storage, and equipment, we will be in a position to deploy volunteers and accept materials. We will let the public know when that time comes. If you want to be placed on our volunteer list, please provide us with your contact information including name, address, phone, and email to Marie DeVries, 319-286-5982.
5:41
pm
Salt Water.
After spending hundreds of dollars on chemicals, I bought a spray bottle for $2.50, a box of salt for 30 cents, and my own tap water and found the best solution and the results were FAST. I dissolved a little less than 1 cup of salt in warm water in the sprayer. I sprayed the furniture, the floors, the pets… and let the salt water go to work drying up the eggs that hadn’t hatched. I vacuumed twice a day for two days after letting the salt water solution sit for a few hours… and they were GONE. I do have hardwood floors, so I had to treat them with oil so that they wouldn’t be ruined from the salt water… but it was totally worth it. If we ever even see a hint of a flea these days… I spray the pets and the area rugs… and then they’re gone.
GOOD LUCK!!
5:49
pm
Are you going to RWA SF? Would love to see you!
Melissa
5:57
pm
6:22
pm
6:23
pm
I just read through your whole blog!
…that sounded bad. I’m not a stalker, I swear. I’m just obsessed with someday having a farm similar to yours…I wanted to see how you did it!
I’ve been trying to get one of your books, I even ordered one off of Amazon (but it hasn’t come yet) so this looks like a great opportunity to find one!
7:53
pm
9:04
pm
10:55
pm
12:23
am
1:07
am
1:25
am
2:26
am
Thanks so much for doing this for your readers! :-)
:hellokitty:
1:22
am
2:40
pm
7:50
pm
9:25
pm
1:32
am
3:13
am
10:29
am
I’m a regular reader now, and every day I follow a link at the bottom of the daily post, and then poke around for a few minutes reading a few of the older posts. It’s fun and eventually I’ll probably get to all of your archives one by one.
I hope you have been able to solve your flea problem. I remember 10 years ago we had them so bad they were riding with me in the car! I haven’t tried the salt water trick that another commenter suggested, but I will if they come back in the house.
What I finally did that worked was spray nematodes in the yard. The nematodes are microscopic creatures that eat flea larva. It took about 30 days during which we had to continue to use poison on the animals and in the house, but finally the fleas were all gone. And they haven’t been back! Of course in Houston we have very mild winters and so the nematodes may still be happily living in the yard and munching on any larva that come their way.
All my dogs stay in the back yard, so that was easy enough to spray. You might have a bigger problem with all that area where you dogs range. Still, if the problem resurfaces, it might be one way to reduce the amopunt of sprays, bombs, and powder you need
I enjoy you blog very much and appreciate your telling us about everything–good and bad.
I know you and your family must still miss Honey. Do Clover and Nutmeg seem to miss him as well?
Take care.
Julia