The contest is over and I have chosen a winner (randomly, using one of those random picker things), and Marie Haney is the lucky winner! Marie will be getting a lot of 2-3 books from my RWA swag bag! Thank to everyone who left a comment, and please stay tuned for more contests!
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As part of the lead-up to the release for Blaze of Winter (Theo’s story) on September 10th, I am thrilled to announce that I will be doing a series of giveaways. I have so much great stuff to send out into the world! It all started when I went to RWA (the Romance Writers of America National Conference), and returned home with a huge bag of swag:
This ginormous “bag of happiness” is filled to bursting with delicious novels, just waiting to be opened and read, and includes books that span a broad range of genres: historical, paranormal, contemporary, series, women’s fiction, fantasy, and more!!
Okay, okay, I’ll calm down.
*Takes deep breath.*
There. I’ve composed myself. Mostly.
Simply because of sheer volume (there were some books I had to remove just to get a good shot of this beast), I’ll be dividing this beautiful monster up into lots of 2-3 books, probably by genre. If you win, you can tell me what kind of books you like best, and I’ll do my best to accommodate you.
I’ve also got some awesome Loveswept goodies – a few paper ARCs from Loveswept authors (*cough* Ruthie Knox *cough*) and some Loveswept gift cards good for free books! Plus, the latest books from Robyn Carr. You won’t want to miss anything over the next month!
Oh, and if you’re really eager to get your hands on Blaze of Winter early, definitely follow me on my official blog tour, where I’ll be giving away a NetGalley preview copy of the book at almost every stop!
Okay, but for today, I need to figure out to whom I should give the first batch of goodies, which will be a lot of 2-3 books from my RWA swag bag. Since I’ve been on a kindergarten kick (my oldest started last week, and you can read the saga of getting him registered here), why don’t you tell me your most interesting kindergarten experience? For those of us who have trouble remembering our own kindergarten experiences, feel free to share an interesting kindergarten experience of a friend or family member.
Rules:
(1) Winner must be a member of my mailing list. Please sign up for my mailing list here.
(2) In the comments section below, tell me your most interesting kindergarten experience / kindergarten experience of a friend or family member.
(3) One random commenter will be selected.
(4) U.S. only, please! (I’ll be shipping paperbacks).
(5) Contest ends 8/31 at midnight, PDT.
Can’t wait to hear your stories!
Hi Elisabeth! (Great name by the way!) When my son was in Kindergarten, the high school 4-H group brought farm animals in to show the kids. But when the teacher explained to me that someone brought in a small snake, of course I wanted to wretch! Then I find out that he KISSED the snake!!! I was a little freaked. I wish I had the fearlessness that kids have. Thanks for the AWESOME giveaway!!
p.s. I am a member of your e-mailing list : )
Haha! That is a great kindergarten story, especially because it puts into sharp relief the issues that we have – or don’t have – and how they really differ from those our kids have. For example, I’m fine with snakes and most insects, but have a hard time with sticky, icky ones. My little guy found a newly-hatched moth, still wet and gooey from its cocoon. He picked it up and held it until it began to dry off. I wanted him to put it back in the woods, but he was having none of it – just let it crawl all over his hand!!
Ah… kindergarten 🙂 I had a lot of fun! I remember one afternoon, we were painting Halloween pictures to hang up in the hallway. I had painted a masterpiece complete with fence, pumpkins, tombstones, and even a black cat and bats! I was so proud of it! I cleaned up my mess, came back to the table, and the kid next to me had painted a huge line right through my picture. I was so upset, I started to cry. The girl who painted on it came over and gave me a hug, said I’m sorry, and told me that she only thought my picture needed “fog” to be scary.
To this day, she’s my best friend 🙂 Who would’ve thought? 🙂
Truly awesome story, Marie! It’s no wonder you remembered that one – you got a best friend out of it!
I don’t remember much about kindergarten (it was a long time ago). I actually remember more about Library School (which was before Kindergarten & then a weekly afternoon during Kindergarten which was half day). We would go to the Library & have story time – we even had a graduation with short robes made out of black crepe paper & even little black hats that looked just like regular graduation hats. I’m sure going to Library School had a lot to do with building my love of reading.
Wow – I’m really impressed you can remember back to Library School. I wish I had gone to a school like that! I think I did straight pre-K, and then Kindergarten. I do remember both – mostly the crafts! 🙂
I don’t really know if it’s all THAT interesting. But I was the kid who never wanted to go to school. Not because I didn’t want to be there, but because I spent my whole life with my Grandfather taking care of me. My mom use to take me to school every morning. And EVERY morning, the same thing happened, I cried. So my Kindergarten teacher decided to give me some extra TLC. I got to always sit in her lap, while the other kids got upset about not being able to have a turn. It got to the point of I looked forward to going, because I got special treatment. My mother NEVER knew this was going on, until probably fourth grade. By then the teacher became the school nurse. I scraped up my knee and she cleaned it for me. But instead of her blowing on it, as she applied the medicine, she told me to do it myself. I didn’t like having to do it myself, so I went home and told my mother that she hated me. My mother confronted the nurse and all my secrets were spilled…. 🙂
Oooh, snap! I can’t believe you kept the secret for that long! I’m also glad you had such a nice teacher/nurse. I hope your relationship didn’t suffer after that! 🙂
Hi Elizabeth! When we were enrolling our daughter into kindergarten, the school we wanted her in only had one available spot left, as first preference went to returning preschoolers and she hadn’t gone to that preschool. The doors to the school opened at 7 am, but the lines started forming long before then. My husband went to the school at midnight and paid a college kid to take his place and spend the night for him and hold his place in line. My husband relieved the kid around 6 then next morning (there was already a line). We got the 1 spot. As far as I know we still hold the record for the earliest to show up. But it’s an awesome school!
Oh, I wish Mr. B could have paid a college kid to take his place when he camped out to get our oldest into first session kindergarten, but I don’t think it crossed his mind. In fact, right behind him in line was one of the 1st grade teachers at the school, who needed to enroll her own kindergartener!
It has been so long since I was in kindergarten that all I remember is napping and playground. that was 62 years ago and kindergarten wasn’t as exciting as it is today. I have pre-order your next book on my nook and anxious for it to be active. I am a great fan or Robyn Carr and enjoyed your pictures from the convention.
Hi, Jo-Ell! I’m so glad you liked the pictures from RWA. It was such a thrill to meet everyone, and I freely admit to being more than a bit star-struck (especially with the inestimable Robyn Carr!). And yes, I think kindergarten today is *much* more exciting (at least from what my kid tells me about the first week of school)!
The thing I loved about Kindergarten was \”Jump Rope For Heart Days\” ~ Not sure if they still do those but I loved competing against the other classes; I still have my heart-shape trophy – you would have thought I won an Olympic event. I took it everywhere with me. I turned 34 yesterday, so it has been a while but I still remember that happy moment.
Yes! We did Jump Rope for Heart, too. I loved doing that! I practiced and practiced until I could do multiple double-unders in a row!
When my youngest went off to Kindergarten, after dissolving in tears, I realized that I actually had three hours to do what I wanted!! Sat down and made a list of all the things I wanted to get done! When I was finished, it was time to pick him up. :). Eventually figured it out!
Oh, I’m still working out the timing thing. How can I squeeze in a lot of work in three hours? It is tough, but I’ve made a plan. Now to stay focused….
My best memory of kindergarten is when my mom took us to our first day I was crying because I wanted to be with my mom and dad that day and not go to school! My sister was okay and calm though about it.
I’m pretty sure I was happy…and that my parents cried!
Last year my child had a hard year. Not at first, she loved kindergarten. We had a fabulous teacher, so wonderful I didn’t want to move. However, we had. I tried to get my husband to see if we could get our orders pushed back. With no luck, we moved my little girl had to start anew with a different teacher and kids. At the end of week she said she wanted to go back to California to Mrs. Tuttle and her old friends. It broke my heart. We hope that we have a good year now we are in first grade.
Ugh, moving mid-year is so tough! Kudos to your whole family for managing such a difficult situation and coming through with flying colors!
When I was in kindergarten, my boyfriend Craig told me one day that we should get engaged. I asked what that meant, and he told me that it meant that we would love each other forever. I said that sounded like a really big deal and didn’t know that I was ready to do that (a commitment-phobe at age 5!) but melted when he pulled the ring out of his pocket, still in its plastic bubble from the machine at the grocery store. Thirty years later, I still have this ring in my old jewelry box that’s at my parents’ house.
So sweet! Does the ring still fit? And do you still talk to Craig?
There were five Jennys in my afternoon kindergarten class. And we all knew how to read before kindergarten, so we were in our own reading group. More proof that Jennifers will be able to take over the world some day and make it better. 😉
As someone who gets called “Jennifer” a lot – I’m not sure what makes people think I look like a Jennifer – I approve!
OK, this shows my age a little, they didn’t have kindergarden when I started school, I started school in 1st grade when I was 5. we visited an aunt in my moms home town and she had all this pretty gravel and let us bring some home, when I took it to show and tell, my bag broke in the hallway and there went all my pretty gravel.
Awww…Nancy! I’m so sorry you lost your gravel! I hope you found something else for show and tell that was equally cool.
I remember starting kindergarten even though it was so many years ago. What I remember the most is that I couldn’t open the milk container.
Good luck with your giveaways, Elisabeth!