CONTEST...

BOBBIE FAYE'S (kinda, sorta, not exactly) FAMILY JEWELS has hit the stores!

(If you're new to Bobbie Faye, think "action/adventure" and comedy. Or as I like to explain, if Elmore Leonard and Janet Evanovich were to have a bastard love child, it would be Bobbie Faye. Here's where you can see the craziness that went on in book one: here.... and an except of book two: here.)

And to celebrate, it's CONTEST time.

We (and by we, I mean the super cool, amazing and fabulous Michele Bardsley and Dakota Cassidy) are running a blog contest today. Bobbie Faye has been slammed by the editor of her local paper--she owes him money--she sort of blew up a couple of things and ran over a few other things that he owned and he's really not happy about this. She's trying to pay him back by doing an advice column.


Three letters to Bobbie Faye and her BAD advice back... means THREE chances to win... read the letter and then see what ya gotta do to enter below.


And now here's the latest letter to plague Bobbie Faye:

Dear Bobbie Faye:

I have a sort of itty bitty problem. My girlfriend says I'm accident prone, and I'm beginning to think she's right. I'm not sure what to do about it. First, that radio fell in the bathtub, and honest-to-God, I don't remember setting it up there on the edge of the tub, and I almost didn't make it out of there fast enough. And then the bed caught on fire--man, that was a freak accident! I could have sworn the iron wasn't even plugged in on the ironing board next to the bed, but Sally says I sleepwalk sometimes, and turn things on. And then yesterday, the gun fell out of the closet, hit the floor and shot a hole clean through the other side of the bedroom. It's getting to where I just don't know what I'm gonna do next, and Sally and her good friend, the doctor, say there's nothing wrong with me, that I'm just clumsy.

I see you've gone through a whole slew of crazy disasters, and you're still in one piece. Can you give me some advice to help me not be so clumsy?

Signed,

Not Who You Think It Is

Dear Not A Lick of Sense:

Harold. Honey. I know that's you. I tried to tell you last year when the car fell off the jack stands while you were working underneath it that maybe Sally hadn't quite forgiven you for that time with Loretta. It's probably a good bet that she's also found out about Cindy. And probably Mary Lou. And I don't care how you want to think about it, no guy accidentally falls into another woman's vagina. Ever.

And Harold? The UPS guy mentioned he'd just delivered a big ass chain saw to your house, so you might want to re-think that whole nooner thing you've got going with Betsy Ann and get busy packing, while you still have parts to pack.

signed,

Bobbie Faye


NOW, for the contest....


So here's what ya gotta do to enter--

Read Nina's cry from the lovelorn here: http://www.dakotacassidy.net/

Read Patsy's plea here: http://www.michelebardsley.com/

Read Bobbie Faye's newest letter for her column (above) and comment here!

We're all giving away prizes, and you could be entered to win 'em all! Just leave comments at each blog. Each author will choose a winner. And here's what you could win if you come play with us!

Dakota's giving away a signed ARC of ACCIDENTALLY DEAD and an Amazon gift certificate for 15 smackers :)

Michele Bardsley's offered up an ARC of her November release WAIT TILL YOUR VAMPIRE GETS HOME and some Broken Heart goodies.

And I'm giving away a 15$ Barnes and Noble gift certificate and an awesome T-shirt: http://www.cafepress.com/bobbiefaye.245732603


And now those damned contest rules--

Contest begins Sunday June 1, 2008 and ends Monday June 2, 2008 at midnight CST. One winner will be chosen from each blog--so go enter them all!

All winners are chosen at random and must check back at each blog on Tuesday June 3, 2008 to see if they've won in order to claim their prize.

super cool contest STARTING SUNDAY

Hey -- the book is out! I've gotten several emails so far and THANK YOU to everyone who's already bought it, and to so many of you who've said such kind things already. Wow, you know how to make a girl's release week great.

There is a super cool contest on Sunday -- come back here for details, but there is going to be great giveaways. It's a very SHORT contest, 'til Monday at midnight, so come check it out.

Blogging on Murderati...

Yikes, forgot to put up this link:

the tipping point...

And there's a contest running for the comment section!

Blogging over at Fog City Divas today...

Today, I'm over at the fantastic Fog City Diva site... and there's a great prize for one of the commenters (come on over and see).

This one is... nutty. Swear, I was not drinking. I had a FEVER. That is my story and I'm sticking to it. ;)

Contest up over on Murderati...

Come by the blog -- titled Dear God... (the stick turned blue)... and leave a comment to be eligible for two signed books, the first one (Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day) and (Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels -- which will hit the stores on May 27th, but I have a couple of advanced copies for this contest this week and next.

Come in and say 'hi' or wish someone a happy mother's day (your mom, someone else's, doesn't matter), or tell something you did to drive your mother batty.

And spread the word if you know someone who'd like two free books, one not even available for another two weeks. (You can see the good reviews on this site under the books section.)

-thanks,
-t

I loved this blog entry of Joshilyn Jackson's:

Treat or Retreat (were sitting in a boat?)

Trust me, you'll enjoy.

okay, now I'm curious

To the person who found my blog by typing in the search string, "guy i've been dating disappears"... I am curious. Were you looking for Bobbie Faye because you'd offed someone and needed advice about how to find them? or help hiding the body?

(Bobbie Faye is kinda a pro at both, but right now, we're trying to behave ourselves over here.)

book 2, first sighting

There is nothing quite so otherworldly as receiving the package from the publisher that has the first copy of your new book inside. In spite of having seen it in its many incarnations (from manuscript to copy edits to first pass page proofs to galleys), none of those are really the book yet. They make it almost real, but it's not until you're holding that final copy that you feel that sigh, the smile spreading across your face, that your hands keep touching the cover reverently, and you know, it's real. It's done, here, your new baby, about to go out into the world.

There is also a strangeness to holding your book for the first time, because so much of what we do is via the internet, that these final stages feel like a real countdown. The cover is a nicer green than what shows up on the online jpegs (and I noticed for the first cover for Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day, the jpeg shows up as very blue, but then when you see it in the bookstore, the actual book cover is way more of a pale green.) In fact, the book looks a lot better with that pale green, and I still haven't figured out why the jpegs were so different than the final cover.

For this second book, the green you see online for Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels looks almost turquoisey green, but when it arrived today, it actually looks a lot hipper... it's more of a spring green, more olive to it, more of a current color (to me).

But those are just the first things you notice when you're holding you own book for the first time. Much like you run your hands over a baby's face, memorizing features, so you catch yourself doing with the book cover. Oh look, you think, they embossed all of the diamonds, too. Even the crawfish and the TNT plunger have nice embossing and depths and shadows. You turn the book over, reading the back copy and are thrilled. And you peek inside, flipping through the pages, looking to see how certain things finally came out once the final art was done, and you're very happy.

When I set that book down, I think about the year that was the making of that book; that needs to be an essay somewhere all by itself, because there were about a million changes in my life, most of them for the good, but all very very busy, and woven into that craziness was the writing of this book. At times, it seemed impossible that it was going to work out, but at the end, at the next to the last pass, I realized it had finally come together. This book make me work harder than I'd ever done as a writer, because I was reaching for more, bringing Bobbie Faye more into her own, more into having to deal with consequences and facing choices, more into having to start facing some of those things she'd really rather have been happily in denial about.

It was a tough year, physically, but extremely gratifying, with family and friends and now... a book to show for it. I think I will always look at that book as my most difficult challenge to date, but the one I'm proud of.

I can't wait to see them in the stores at the end of this month.

Stuff Cajun People Like

Okay, this is probably my new favorite website. I think it's funny and accurate as hell:

Stuff Cajun People Like

(swiped from the wonderful Cajun Kitty)