Contest Winners--and Everybody Wins!

by Laura Crum

I drew the three winners of my contest out of my old cowboy hat this morning.

First place winner is Linda, who requested Cutter.

Second place is stillearning who requested Moonblind.

Third place is Kate, who also requested Cutter.

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy these stories. All three of you must email me your snail mail addresses ASAP so I can mail you the books. Email me at laurae@cruzio.com

Each of the three winners gets the title of their choice from the eleven published books of my mystery series featuring equine veterinarian Gail McCarthy. The twelfth book in the series comes out this spring (2012), by the way.

And now, for all of you who entered, here’s another way to win a free book. My publisher has agreed to send a free copy of “Going, Gone”, my most recent novel, to anyone who agrees to review it on her/his blog or on Amazon. All you have to do is email Susan Daniel at susan@danielpublishing.com and give her your snail mail address and your agreement to email her a copy of your review when you post it. So for all of you who requested “Going, Gone”, and any of you who would like to read it, here’s your chance. Send Susan an email before next Friday (August 19^th) and she will put you on the list and send you a book. Everybody can win a free book! You must email her by August 19^th, as this opportunity closes then.

For those who requested the earlier titles, I know they can be hard to find and sometimes pricey. If you really want a specific book, my friend Wally, who boards his horse with me, has copies of all the books at his feedstore. If you call the store (831-728-2244—in California), ask for Wally or Lynn and give them your credit card number, they will mail you a signed copy of any of my books. $20 for the hardcovers $15 for the trade paperbacks. This includes shipping to anywhere in the continental United States. Wally won’t ship outside that area, and he doesn’t do the internet, but if you want your book personalized, he’ll bring it over here for me to write you a message.

Someone asked about my favorite title, and that’s a hard one. Like most authors, I think, I like certain things about each book—they all have their strengths and weaknesses. The overall reader favorite is probably Slickrock. People either love or hate Breakaway, which is my darkest novel. I really like this book. The last three titles (Moonblind, Chasing Cans, and Going, Gone) have to do with raising a child, and again, people either love them or hate them. Those who hate them have (usually) never had a child and find the whole subject boring. For me, though, these books are probably my favorites because the things I’ve learned about life through having a child have been very moving to me and I’ve tried to weave these insights into the stories. And yes, there is lots of horse action and an intense mystery plot in each book as well.

Most of my books are available online and the last three can be ordered directly from the publisher. Ordering info is posted on my website—just click on my name on the sidebar to go there. Don’t forget, you can all have a free copy of “Going, Gone” in exchange for reviewing it on your blog or on Amazon. Just email Susan at susan@danielpublishing.com within the next week to request your book.