EMILY GIFFIN Signed Copies of WHERE WE BELONG & SO MUCH MORE!!!

Winners announced (see next post for details):

*Lizett Torres (lizette34)

*Absolutahnie

*A.C.

*Bookaholic (aka pigsrcute)

*Na S. (Cambonified)

 

Let's Celebrate Spring and Books & Fabulous Authors!

We've got some great things happening at Booking with Manic today, first and foremost, we are giving away FIVE SIGNED COPIES of Emily Giffin's book WHERE WE BELONG which is out now in paperback!

THERE. IS. MORE...

How is THAT for exciting! I am also kicking off this giveaway with a brand-new segment I'll be adding to all the features called THESE THREE THINGS (Triple Tees), in which the authors will share something personal either about themselves or their book.

Here are Emily's "Triple Tees!" and they all have to do with her book, WHERE WE BELONG:

So, take it away Emily!

1.  The original working title for the book was SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE, which was my favorite option! Ultimately, my publisher shot it down because of the Kelly Clarkson song, and I've since come around to WHERE WE BELONG (SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE just doesn't sound right anymore!)...

2.  There is a very brief shout-out tucked into the book to my high school (and early college) boyfriend -- the only time I've ever directly referenced a past relationship of mine in one of my books. Incidentally, we are still great friends and he is a TV writer out in Hollywood who provided a lot of advice and professional insights into Marian's career.

3.  Marian's high school character is, in part, based on a girl I was friendly with in high school, who went through something very similar before graduation. How she chose to deal with the situation is reflected in Marian's choices in the book, though they are not perfectly identical (thankfully!). I've always both admired and wondered about how she cameto the decision she did, which is something I really wanted to explore with Marian's character. If you read the book, you'll know what I mean!

Thank you so much Emily for sharing a bit more about your personal experience with writing Where We Belong in the very first segment of THESE THREE THINGS!

Along with FIVE winners receiving WHERE WE BELONG SIGNED COPIES, each of those winners will also receive an e-book copy of WHAT SHE LEFT US, my newly released book. (of course I have to pimp it, right?) And if you already bought it, well THANK YOU, and in that case, you may choose an e-book of that same cost on amazon, and I'll send that one to you instead!

But THERE'S MORE! (Of course there is because I'm MANIC!)

These five winners will ALSO each receive books from these amazing authors in their batch of book goodness:

 Amy Hatvany

Gwendolyn Gross
Anita Hughes
Katherine Center

The lucky FIVE winners will ALSO get some surprise books from some of these authors and they will be mix-and-match, so you won't know which books I'll send to you:

Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Leslie Daniels, Bethenny Frankel, Susan McBride, Hilary Reyl, , Patricia Harman, B.A.Shapiro, JillKargman, Julie Klam, Erin Duffy, Kristyn Kusek Lewis, Natasha Solomons and more.

So to recap, FIVE winners will receive a SIGNED copy of Emily Giffin's WHERE WE BELONG and either my new book, WHAT SHE LEFT US or another same priced e-book. AND, each of you will also get books from Amy Hatvany, Gwendolyn Gross, Anita Hughes, and Katherine Center! Plus in your prize pack, you will get a random selection of books from other authors listed above plus some more that I haven't even named here!

So, who wants to win some great books? Here's what you'll have to do…

TO GET ONE ENTRY: Enter HERE in the comments by just typing "EG ROCKS" and leave your email address or make sure you leave an identifying original name/contact info.

GET ADDITIONAL ENTRY BY TWEETING (just copy and paste this tweet):

@emilygiffin @stephanieelliot Win signed copies of Emily Giffin WHERE WE BELONG & other great books here! http://www.manicmommy.blogspot.com

GET THIRD ENTRY BY SHARING THIS BLOG POST ON YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE and MAKE SURE TO tag me and Emily (if you and I are not friends, friend me at https://www.facebook.com/StephanieSteinElliot)

You can only enter a grand total of THREE times (on blog, by tweeting and via FB. Tweeting or extra FB shares do not get you more entries, but ARE very much appreciated! :)

Sound easy!?!? It's SOOO easy, and so much fun! Jump on it folks, there are so many great books out there waiting for homes! And thank you so much for stopping by Booking with Manic!

If you have ANY questions, leave them here in the comment section. You must come back to the blog to see if you've won - I will list winners in a separate post during the week of April 29!

Thank you to Emily, Amy, Gwendolen, Anita, Katherine, (Stephen & Kate too, and everyone else's awesome publicists) for making this giveaway possible and to all of the great authors who write the wonderful books I'm able to share here on Booking with Manic! You're all amazing and I'm so grateful I get to give books to everyone -- I LOVE doing this! 

Some small but important details you should probably read:
If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please leave a comment on this post and use an identifying name when commenting. It's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in a few days to see if you've won the book -- I will either list the winner in a new post OR highlight the winner's name at the top of this post, or tell you where you can find the winner's name at the top of this post. I do NOT personally contact the winners. It is YOUR responsibility to come back to see if you've won. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher or author within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot[at]gmail.com. Thank you for your support!

Winners Announced!

Hi everyone! Back from my trip to San Diego and I've chosen some winners. I hope one of the lucky ones is you, but if not, I've got some amazing books coming your way, including books from Amy Hatvany, Stacey Ballis, (whose new website design I LOVE!) newcomer, Charity Shumway, Snarky Mommy aka Amy Sprenger and loads, loads more! I can't wait to share them all with you. 


But for now, here are the two winners I've got for today. The first lucky winner will win a copy of WHERE WE BELONG, Emily Giffin's amazing book, which has sold out in stores across the country. That lucky winner is Cheryl B, who first felt like she belonged when she was in college, where she, like me, met her hubby! Congrats Cheryl -- send me your full name and address and I'll get your copy of WHERE WE BELONG out to you!

The next winner has won ELEVEN books from the Summer Book Celebration Major Giveaway. This one was so much fun to do, I think I may do this quarterly! I'll choose some of my faves and offer up a little 'gift' batch of books for you all to enjoy! The winner of the books by Megan Abbott, Sere Prince Halverson, Catherine McKenzie, Nichole Bernier, Tracey Garvis Graves, Rainbow Rowell, Sarah Healy, Anita Hughes, Zoe Fishman and Camille Noe Pagan goes to: EKB who entered the contest while she was vacationing in Cape Cod!

So ladies, please send me your full names and address to stephanieelliot@gmail.com and I'll make sure you get your books.


Thanks everyone for entering, and be on the lookout later this week for another great feature and giveaway!


Peace Up!

WHERE WE BELONG by Emily Giffin

Winner announced here!

Where We Belong

Emily Giffin

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Well, it's here, another long-awaited Emily Giffin book! Waiting for an Emily Giffin book is like waiting for your very own birthday or for Christmas or for your summer vacation. It's just one of those things that as a reader, I anticipate now every year as something to be really excited about. And unlike birthdays, for me anyway, Emily's books do keep getting better year after year! Haha! (not that my birthdays are terrible, but getting older is not always the most fun thing to do. Getting a new Emily Giffin book however, is the most fun thing to do!).

I remember the first time I saw Something Borrowed in the store. It was the shiny pink and diamond embossed cover that got my attention, and then, like probably most of you, I was hooked with her endearing loveable characters, even difficult Darcy. 

I followed Emily and since I lived in what was once her hometown, I was fortunate to get to meet her at some signings. The first time I met her at a reading, she was sharing stories about SoBo and SoBlue, but I noticed her third book up on the podium. When she asked if there were any questions in the audience (which back then, it was held at the library where her mother worked and there were about 20 of us in attendance!), I boldly asked her, "What does one have to do to get that copy of that book right there?" and I pointed to her ARC of Baby Proof. 

She kind of smiled at me and said, "Email me and I'll send it to you."

She's just that cool of an author, and I emailed her and she sent me her original ARC of Baby Proof. 

The next time I saw her was at an Aurora Lit Fest and my dearest bestest friend Swishy was with me, and we hung out with Emily, and when she went up on stage, she asked us to hold her sweater. OK, we were giddy with excitement. Would we hold Emily Giffin's sweater!??!!

YES. We would. 

Because we were her original fans. 

That day she shared secrets with us on how to pose for best-ever photographs and told us about a reader who didn't care for her books because they were too "matchy-matchy." 

Later that year when she came back to town and did a bigger event, she invited me out for dinner and margaritas. What kind of author takes the time to make a fan feel THAT special? She's truly unique. The night before I moved from the Chicago area to Arizona she had a signing. I made sure I was there to let her know how much she and her books meant to me so I went there with my copy of Heart of the Matter. She knew I was moving away and leaving the very next day and she let me cut in front of everyone.

 

As an author, she means the world to me. She's inspiring, kind and good-hearted. I also consider her a true friend of mine. 

And now she's got a trillion fans and a trillion of followers but Emily makes time for so many of them, and she reaches out to them and is kind enough to share her life with them on Facebook and Twitter and she's doing it here today by giving away a copy of her latest, Where We Belong.

I'm so happy that I get to share her latest novel with you all!

Emily Giffin’s books unfold like a slow satisfying meal – one that you don’t want to end – but one that you can’t wait to get to the dessert. Where We Belong is one of those books where you can’t wait to find out how it ends but you also want to prolong the reading for the pure enjoyment of Emily’s words.

The summer Marian graduates from high school, she has a summer romance with sort-of-rebel-outsider musician and fellow classmate Conrad Knight, who she has known since sixth grade, and discovers that he is the love of her life. She knows he is not going to college and she is, and that their summer will only be that – a summer romance.

When she ends up pregnant, and he tells her that he loves her, she commits the biggest of lies and decides (out of love for him maybe, or fear for her own future – that’s for you, the reader, to decide!) to tell him that she is actually NOT pregnant.

Marian breaks things off from Conrad, takes a year off from college, has the baby, gives her up for adoption, then goes to college and goes on with her life, to become a famous TV producer.

Fast-forward 18 years and she’s in a committed and loving relationship with Peter, the CEO of her network, and hoping to get married and start a family of her own. Her television show is doing great, she lives in NY and life couldn’t be more perfectly scripted. 

Then Kirby Rose lands at her doorstep.

Kirby has never really fit in with her family – her perfect younger sister and her boisterous dad and protective mother. She’s always been a bit of a loner who loves playing the drums. After she turns 18, she decides to find her birth mother. 

When she heads to NY to meet Marian, Kirby will turn Marian’s world inside-out. Kirby has been Marian’s best kept secret, and only her mother knew that Marian had a daughter she gave up for adoption. This secret (or lie, as Marian’s boyfriend neatly points out) will bring to light the fact that keeping Kirby a secret was wrong on so many levels. 

There are layers to Where We Belong and surprises along the way that will keep the reader enthralled throughout. You will root for Kirby the whole way through, and find her endearing and brave. I can see how Marian made some of the decisions she made, and I was very sympathetic toward her. In fact, Emily writes all of her characters so that there is no one ‘bad guy’ and you will feel for each and every character, from Marian to Kirby’s adoptive  parents; and even Marian’s own mother, who while you might not like her very much, you will understand why she acts the way she does.

One caveat: As with all Emily’s leading men, you will fall in love with both Peter and Conrad – she writes such sexy men in such diverse ways. 

I have to say I closed the book and wondered where life was about to take some of these characters I had really come to care about. One thing I knew for absolute certain was that Kirby was going to be absolutely, 100-percent OK, and that made for a completely happy ending. After all, there would be no story had there been no Kirby.

I also think that Emily put her heart and soul into this book, as she has with her others, but in the case of Where We Belong, I think it will inspire people who have been adopted or even women who have given up babies to search for their biological children. And if Where We Belong brings a happy ending to even just one family who has felt the need to search, then that is an incredible gift of this book. 

Phew, this was one of the most emotional posts I've written. If you'd like to win a copy of Where We Belong, tell me about a time in your life where you've felt the most like you've belonged. It could be a moment, or an age, or an event, or a celebration … just somewhere or some time when you felt completely encompassed in the feeling of belonging!

And thanks Emily, for quitting being a lawyer! But also, it's time you come to Arizona for a book tour.

XO

Important note: 

Next week there will be a HUGE one-day book giveaway with 10 BOOKS BEING GIVEN AWAY IN ONE BOOK POST -- DON'T MISS IT! 

If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please use an identifying name and it's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in about a week or so to see if you've won the book -- I will highlight the winner's name at the top of this post. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!