Monday, November 15, 2010

Books Make Great Holiday Gifts!!

It's true, books do make great holiday gifts! Even better gifts are books signed and personalized for a specific friend or family member on your list!

So if you buy yourself a copy of The Transformation of Things between now and December 1st, I will send you another free signed and personalized copy for you to give as a gift to a family member or friend of your choice. All you need to do is:

1.) Purchase the book. (Find it easily on Amazon or in person in Barnes & Noble, Borders, or nearly any bookstore!)
2.) E-mail me at jill(at)jilliancantor.com with the specific information about where and when you purchased the book.
3.) Let me know how you want your free holiday gift book signed and where you want it sent.

Could I make your holiday shopping any easier?!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Morning Person

I know my blogging had been a little spotty for the past week, and as I blogged about once before I have been undecided about whether or not to keep at this now that The Transformation of Things is out. My original plan was to set a deadline for myself back in August, 90 days of being positive until the book's release, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, I am feeling a bit reluctant to give this blog up now. It has been a challenge on some days, but also, really fun to blog about positive things and hear all the positive responses I've been getting in return. So I guess the conclusion I came to is I'm still going to try to update this blog, as often as I can. With positive things, of course!

I wanted to write about something that's been happening to me for the past week. I've been waking up early. Really, really early. Like 5 AM early. And I find myself wide awake. If you knew me a few years ago, or maybe even a few months ago, you would know how strange this is. I have always been a night person, the kind of person who would stay up way past when the kids went to bed to work on my writing, and then who would have to be literally dragged out of bed after hitting sleep on the alarm 20 or so times! I began waking up slightly earlier after younger child began waking up early over the summer, but I was always up reluctantly. This waking up early, on my own, is a new thing to me.

I know part of it is probably due to stress and excitement from the book launch, and the feeling of having so much to do in the day. But I've noticed something at 5 AM. It's dark. Very dark. And also quiet. Very, very quiet. I've found myself lying in bed, trying not to disturb any of this. (The children have super ears, and I'm sure if I were to get up, they'd be up within seconds). So I've just been lying in bed trying to think about the day, what I have to do, what I want to do, and also think positive thoughts about what I want to happen and what I want to accomplish.

And do you know what I've realized: I actually love these moments. I feel so much better during the day having had these dark quiet moments to reflect, than the way I used to feel having to drag myself out of bed. Does this mean I've become a morning person now? I'm not sure -- but I do know my college self is off somewhere rolling her eyes at this post :)

Are you a morning person or a night person? Have you ever found yourself waking up at crazy hours when everyone else is still sleeping? Do you enjoy this time or wish you could fall back to sleep?

Friday, November 5, 2010

A contest to end the week!

I'm getting to this post a little late today, but I wanted to end this week with a contest! If you're out over the weekend and you see The Transformation of Things in the wild, take a picture and send it to me at jill(at)jilliancantor.com.

I'll randomly pick one picture-sender to win a signed copy of the book next week, and I'll post the pictures here (with your permission).

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, November 4, 2010

A link

If you haven't already read this, check out this post by Barbara O'Neal over at Writer Unboxed. She talks about practical magic for writers, and about how thinking positively and visualizing what we want is necessary to succeed as a writer. This is exactly some of the stuff I've been wondering about/trying these past few months on this blog, and reading her post only inspired me to keep at it!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Being Thankful

Writing this blog over the past few months, I've come to appreciate more all the things I'm thankful for. So when Chick Lit Central asked me to blog about this for their site, I was happy to put it all in writing! You can read my list over at Chick Lit Central today and also enter to win a signed copy of The Transformation of Things!

And something I am also thankful for -- all my cyber friends who blogged, tweeted, and Facebook-ed about The Transformation of Things release yesterday!! It was a great day, made even better by all the virtual love and support I felt! I stopped in Barnes & Noble and was thrilled to find the book on The New and Noteworthy Paperbacks table! And though my stop at Borders was a little less exciting (When I couldn't find the book, the manager finally located it in an unpacked pallet of books in the back), my sister found it nicely displayed at her Borders in Florida, and even sent me a picture.



It's a little hard to tell here because the picture is small, but notice she is standing right in front of the book, The Good Sister! (My dad pointed this out right away!) In case you were wondering she bought this copy, and also one at Barnes & Noble, so she is a good sister :)

I ended the day with a great celebratory dinner out with my family and cheesecake. What could be better?




Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Release Day Contest!

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS is out today!!!

Check out the Release Day contest over at my author blog. If you are one of the first ten people to purchase the book today, and leave me a comment over there, Avon will send you another one of their Avon A titles for free! And I'll throw in a signed bookmark.

Monday, November 1, 2010

It's Here! It's Here!

The title of this post is, of course, referring to fact that THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS is out this week!!!! Tomorrow, to be exact :-) So, all this week I'll be pointing you towards places/ways to win free books! And if you happen to pick up a copy of the book, let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Today I'm having a contest over at my Facebook author page. Click here to head over there. Or, if we're already Facebook friends, you can find it there as well. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. One grand prize winner will win a signed copy of THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS and a signed copy of the fabulous Melissa Senate's new release THE LOVE GODDESS' COOKING SCHOOL. Two other winners will each win one of the two books. The contest ends at midnight tonight, just in time for me to start my amazing release day contest tomorrow over at my author blog. (Check back tomorrow for details!).