Monday, September 21, 2015

Google Books, Realms Faire, IWSG Anthology Contest, and Birds

Wonder what ever happened to Google Books? Between lawsuits, settlements, and issues, the project sits in limbo right now. Read the full story at the New Yorker


Can anyone identify these birds?

Yes, they’re cute. But they and their mom have been snacking on my tomatoes. Not cool.


The IWSG Anthology Contest is open until November 1st.

You don’t want to miss this opportunity!

Ten winning stories will appear in a royalty-paying anthology next year.


The Realms Faire is coming!

November 9 - 13 - games and prizes.

A Thunderclap is set up to announce the Faire before it begins. If you can support us through Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, please sign up for the Thunderclap.

This year’s events:

4th Annual Joust

Hosted by MPax. Prizes for the winning knight. Prizes drawn daily for the crowd.

Up to 10 knights can joust. Each will battle daily. Magic words will be granted to each knight to pass out to their adoring fans. Knights score points by commenters using their magic words. Knight with the most points at the end of the week wins. What does the knight win? A year of promo on my blog in the slider and a tumbler printed with your championship boasts and badge.

Winners are drawn daily from the adoring crowds.

Beware the Vortex

Hosted by River Fairchild. Prizes drawn daily.

A vortex opens. Five people are trapped in the Underworld with only one way out – challenge an immortal to a contest of skill. The odds are against those brave enough to accept but enthusiastic fans can help them win their freedom with magic words given to each contestant. Daily prizes awarded to each challenger and a commenter chosen at random.

Dueling Bards

Hosted by Cassandra Webb. Daily prizes.

Your character squares off with another writer’s darling. Can you win? The audience decides.

Unicorn Hunt

Hosted by - me!

You are charged with tracking down the unicorns!

Every day, a new blogger will host a photo. You will have to find the unicorns in the image, much like the famous “Where’s Waldo?” Leave a comment stating how many unicorns you find in that image. The most correct guesses out of five, wins.

Prizes will include books and gift cards.

Five images – many unicorns – only one winner!

The Hero’s Dilemma

Hosted by Tyream Martinson.

Hero’s beware! Here at the House of Hero’s Dilemma, a new cliff-hanging adventure will dangle new heroes above the depths of destiny or despair. In 100 words or less, a hero will face a danger in story form.

Each day, the people of Realsmdom will decide the fate of these heroes in three sentences or less. If fateful endings are giving answer in poetic form, an extra entry for prizes will be awarded.

Daily e-book prizes will be awarded via random name-pulling from the entries. Everyone is invited to participate.

People of Realmsom, you have the power of storytelling might to decide the fate of the would-be heroes. Will they die in glory or shame, live in victory or defeat? It is up to you.

And, after you have decided the fate of the Hero’s Dilemma, try your hand at the other Realms Faire Events for more fun and prizes!

Phasers

Hosted by Untethered Realms. A simple word game. Prizes drawn daily.

Soak-A-Bloke and Drench-A-Wench

Hosted by Christine Rains.

Come by and soak a blogging friend with wet sponges… or witticisms. Prizes drawn daily.

Who Roams Here

Hosted by Julie Flanders.

Each day I will give clues to a famous ghost from literature or movies. I’ll give new clues throughout the day until someone guesses the right ghost. The first one to guess correctly will get a $5 Amazon gift card and a bundle of ebooks. The only rule is that the same person can’t win the daily game more than once.

At the end of the week everyone who left a comment will be entered into a drawing for the grand prize which is a $30 Amazon gift card and a bundle of ebooks.

Riddle Me This

Hosted by Cherie Reich.

I am a book so popular they made a movie of me. Within the what if realms I lie. Horror? Fantasy? Or am I Sci-Fi? A riddle every day during the Realms Faire for you to take your best guess and have a chance to win a prize most splendid.

Hall of Doors

Hosted by M. Gerrick.

Every book offered as a prizes will be hidden behind a doorway. Under each door will be the blurb for the hidden book. Each correct answer will be put in the drawing for the book given as a prize. random.org will be used to pick the winners.

Stockade Brigade

Hosted by Mary Waibel.

Warrants of arrest have been issued for select authors accusing them of witchery and wizardry. The pillory has been erected and the trial dates set.

Good people of Realmsdom, I call upon you to bear witness to these trials and offer your testimony for or against the author’s crimes.

Points will be awarded for wordsmithing a comment in your best Olde English afore 8 of the clock in the Eastern time on the following scale:
5-Ye speak as one from the days of Queen Bess.
4-Ye could pass muster as a Ren Faire cast member
3-Ye could pass as a Ren Faire attendee
2-Ye wouldn’t be foolin’ yer mother
1-Ye stand out like the sun in a cloudless sky

An e-book will be given every day to the witness who scores the most points. Fear not, your daily score will be accumulated and the person with the highest score shall receive a special prize at the end of the week. So, brush off your Olde English and prepare to testify.

VelociRaffle

Hosted by Realms Faire. Prize packages up for raffle.





Are you participating in the Realms Faire?

42 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

I'll be visiting some of the participants.

Ann Bennett said...

Realmsfaire looks like a busy,very busy hoot. I will most definitely stop by.

Mason Canyon said...

Looks like the Realms Faire is going to be quite interesting. Hope the birds leave your tomatoes alone, definitely not cool.

Anonymous said...

Aww, such cute little birds. Sorry they're eating your veggies though. Finding the unicorn sounds like a blast! The Faire sounds like it's going to be a ton of fun!

LT said...

I made a huge mistake using Lulu then Google Books with my first book which is a memoir. I asked Google to pull it - never saw a sale. I did learn lots on who not to use as a publisher.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Wrens? Very cute. We gave up on veggies this year! Sounds like you've had some luck with tomatoes (until the birds started in on them!)

Realms Fair looks really fun!

Hart Johnson said...

Thanks for the reminder on the anthology! I finally hammered out my piece of history to change, so hopefully I can come up with characters and plot and all... erm...

And the Realms Faire looks awesome. I will keep my eyes open!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Diane - those little birds have very long beaks - so completely unsure ... must be American!! I've no idea re Google books ... there is a lot happening in those listings you've given us - I shall be around! Good luck with yours .. cheers Hilary

nashvillecats2 said...

Not too sure about the birds but they do make a lovely picture.
I will visit most certainly some of participents of the Anthology.
Great post to read Diane.
Yvonne.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Mason, all of my tomatoes have holes in them.

Trace, if there were sales, bet you never saw any money from them.

Elizabeth, I'll do a search for wrens and see if it matches.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

No idea on the birds.
I'm ready for the Realms Faire!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Google books? Where is it going? I'll be enjoying the visits during Realms Faire.

Susan Says

cleemckenzie said...

I know what you mean about snacking birds. They did in several of my heirloom tomatoes this year. Bad birds.

I'm sitting on the sidelines a lot these days, trying to sort out a lot life issues, so I'm not jumping into IWSG Anthology, but I'll be there to cheer. The same goes for Realms of Faire. I think I already did my Thunderclap support for that. Will check.

Jennifer Shirk said...

I didn't know what the Realms Faire was and had to click on the link. Looks very fun!

Sorry about your tomatoes. That's frustrating!

dolorah said...

Yipeee!! So much excitement

Sarah Foster said...

Those birds are cute but I'd be pretty mad if they were eating my tomatoes, too!

Sheena-kay Graham said...

Hells to the yeah I am taking part!

Chrys Fey said...

Those birds are cute. But sneaky with your tomatoes. I'm not sure what they are.

I've already helped with the Thunderclap. And I can't wait for Realms Faire to start. I'm curious to see which authors will be arrested in the Stockade Brigade.

Jay Noel said...

Whoa! Looks like the Realms Faire is going to be HUGE this year.

J E Oneil said...

I'm afraid I don't know much about birds. If it's not a blue jay or a cardinal, I'm lost.

The Realms Faire sounds fun. I can't wait to see your Unicorn hunt.

shelly said...

Busy, busy.

J.L. Campbell said...

Lots of jousters participating in the Realms Faire. Sweet!
Hope those birdies give your tomatoes a rest.

Patricia Stoltey said...

The Realms Faire sounds like fun. I'll do my best to tune in. You IWSG people are playing a lot...is anyone actually writing? :D

Karen Lange said...

Not sure what kind of birds they are. They look familiar though. The Faire sounds like great fun!

Tammy Theriault said...

The realms is way intense! Have fun!! And I have no clue about the birds. Haha

Sherry Ellis said...

I don't know what kind of birds they are. They're cute. Too bad they're eating your tomatoes!

I'm doing the anthology contest. I've written 4,924 words so far. :)

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

LOL. What a lineup! Thanks for keeping me smiling!

Vanessa Morgan said...

Oh, I love the idea of the anthology contest. I'm going to check it out to see what it's all about.

TBM said...

I'm terrible at knowing the different types of birds. I can spot a pigeon and that's about it.

Anonymous said...

There is a lot of fun stuff happening at the Faire! Searching for unicorns in photos I'd like to check out for sure. Thanks for bringing Realms into my world (that currently is without unicorns)!

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

This post read like a meeting of some fantastically creative minds. What a fun place you have here, Diane.

I'm sorry to say that the bird on the left has Donald Trump's coloring So I imagined the one on the right is attempting to talk some sense into him and get him to stop eating your tomatoes.

Maurice Mitchell said...

Google Books was a good idea but it's had a lot of challenges. So many awesome contests and prizes are coming so thanks for the heads up. I love the Renassiance themed ones. Huzzah!

Cherie Reich said...

I wish I knew more about birds to be able to tell you what kind they are. The Realms Faire is going to be awesome.

Crystal Collier said...

So much AWESOME! I've played in past years and even offered a prize or two, but lately I'm so sleep deprived I'm no good to myself or anyone around me. This too shall pass. In the meantime, I'll probably come play.

M Pax said...

My friend Kristin would know what kind of birds.

Huzzah for the Realms Faire!

Loni Townsend said...

Are they finches? That sucks about the tomatoes. I hope you find a way to save your fruit!

I'm looking forward to the Realms Faire, though I don't know how much I'll be able to participate. It still sounds like fun!

Stephen Tremp said...

Realms of Fire is fun. Looking forward to the event again! And I think the birds are George and Martha.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Susan, looks like Oyster is failing, too.

Karen, I will. Thank you.

Patricia, I've been writing and now I'm ready to edit.

Wonderful, Sherry.

Robyn, that bird needs a more persuasive argument.

Loni, someone said they were wrens.

Stephen, now I know what to call them.

H. R. Sinclair said...

I like the way the birds are just looking at you, taunting you.

Wow, Realms Faire looks bigger than ever this year.

Anonymous said...

I know people who complain about birds pecking at fruit before they've been picked. They are cute, though. The Faire looks like it'll be fun.

Tyrean Martinson said...

I'm not sure about the birds- are they related to some kind of chickadee? (You can tell I have no idea, but they remind me of some of the tiny birds around here.)

Thanks for letting us know more about Google Books!

Donna McDine said...

Awesome events...quite unique!