Who Likes Books for Cheep?

Like most other bookworms, great books make their way onto my "things I'm thankful for" list every year. It's hard to choose favorites, but  I went ahead and picked five books/series that I read in 2015 and am thankful for.

The League of Princes Trilogy by Christopher Healy. Has anyone else read these books yet? You need to. They have pretty much everything I ask for in fairy tale retellings. Adventure, humor, a few touching moments, references, intricacy. Maybe my ships didn't quite work out the way I wanted to, but I still love these books, and I'm glad that I finally picked them up early this summer.

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. My mother brought home the first book of this trilogy and made me read it, saying that it'd be a good study for my own writing. And, indeed, it was. Ah, Constance. Or, shall I say, Ah Contraire ...

Bones of Makaidos by Bryan Davis. Ah! Such a conclusion to the Oracles of Fire series. Also, there were some interesting thoughts in there that caused me to think through some of the plot elements and prophecies in the Rizkaland Legends, which is always wonderful.

Goldstone Woods by Anne Elizabeth Stengl. After my library got through Shadow Hand, and I picked up Golden Daughter, I proceeded to devour this series. Honestly, I've never read such a deep, meaningful, intricate, high-concept series. I love these books.

Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight. No contest here. Not only are the books amazing, but through its small fandom, I've gained a good number of friends.

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to another great year of reading! Speaking of more reading, here's one more thing to be grateful for. Books on sale! In honor of Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a group of independent Christian authors banded together to offer over seventy discounted books on Nov 27-30. There's literally something for everyone.

Every single book listed on Indie Christian Books is on sale in one or more ways. Find discounted paperbacks, dozens of books offered with free shipping, $0.99 ebooks, package deals and more. Even if you have a budget of $0, new reading material awaits you.

Don't know what to pick? The fearless Indie Christian Books team created a quiz that will generate a book list perfect for you! Check it out!

What awesome reads of 2015 are you grateful for? What books are you looking forward to reading in 2016?

A note on the Ebooks Only page. All books are listed as "Sold Out." This only refers to paperback copies of these titles. Please click onto the product pages to find descriptions and links to discounted or free ebooks.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Leah E. Good for her work organizing this sale, Gloria Repp for completing the time consuming job of uploading book info to the sale website, and Hannah Mills  for her fantastic design work on the website graphics. Hannah can be contacted at hmills(at)omorecollege(dot)edu for more information about her design services.

A Thank-You To my Friends

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! I'll start us off with a picture of me making pancakes at the age of three, because I was that kind of kid (I'd cleaned the floor the night before ... with crisco) and this post needs a picture and I'm not getting anything beyond blogger and email to load on my computer. It's frustrating, and I'm not sure why. I've been sick since Sunday (hopefully, it will have cleared

Anyways onto the title.

Thanksgiving. The time of year to give thanks for what you have. I could list out all the usual, of course, family, food, the christmas presents I'm going to get this year, the fact that I haven't coughed myself to death this week. (There's a respiratory virus going around my family, and ... yeah. According to my aunt, she thinks it's one that has landed a lot of other people in the ER. Fortunately, we have Essential oils, and we've been weathering it. Kinda. My inspiration has plummeted ... though I did break through on some block on Fire and Song. I've hit a ... slow point in Water Princess, Fire Prince only raking in wordcount when I've hit a few worldbuilding points. But, onward.)

Instead, I'm going to list the people of Blogger that I am especially thankful for.

1. Kiri Liz She gets first place because she was one of the first to follow me. She's one of my favorite authors as well - and she isn't even published yet! (But I've read one and a half of her books plus a short story, so I know what I'm talking about ... though I still need to send her feedback *whistles*) She has a natural cadence with words, and the ability to spin a story to its full potential. Plus, she's a sweetheart and has reviewed more of my books than any other reviewer.

2. Miss Melody. I call her and her siblings my personal fanclub. She has read more of my unpublished work (including the original draft of the Ankulen) than any other person (except me and maybe my mom). She has read my Bookania's aloud to her siblings many time and they constantly ask when the next will be released (Or so she tells me). She emails me more often than any of my other readers, and I'm always so encouraged by her feedback on my books. She's a jewel. She may not comment often, but she always likes my posts on facebook, and I know she's reading them.

3. Jack. I can't forget my coauthor of course. Truth be known, we haven't done a terrible lot of talking in the last few weeks, and I'm not sure when she intends to send her next chapter back to me. (I might just get impatient and write up mine without it.) But she was my first faithful commenter, my fourteenth follower (and thus my Bilbo). So even though our correspondence has sadly fallen apart, I'm very grateful for this girl and that I took the time to give her advice about spine art two years ago.

 4. Jaye L. Knight. One of my favorite Indie authors, I can't help but mention her. She's been over to my blog several times for many reasons, and she is one of my inspirations. (Incidentally, the interview I had with her back in January is one of my top-hit posts.)

5. Sarah Holman. This young woman here has done more to unite Homeschooled authors than anyone else, I'm willing to say. I'm so glad to be part of her group, and she is a brilliant author herself as I have loved all of her books that I've read. She's taking an internet break right now, which I say more power to her, since she's a very busy person.

6. Abbey. This is a sweet young girl who is currently my most faithful commenter. It is always so encouraging, as a blogger, to get comments, and I'm thankful for everyone who has, but especially her, and especially that time when she and Maryanne (one of my characters, it was a Character Encounter) helped talk me through a pretty low point for me this year.

7. TomWildRose. The first time she commented was about my CE's, which, at the time, I'd become rather discouraged about since there weren't many people participating. If she ever does get her stories written, I will certainly read them, since the world she's built seems so beautiful and complicated. Her courage to pick back up her pen after so many years of letting her stories sit encourages me as well.

8. Rhoswen If it wasn't for her adding Sew, It's a Quest to her goodreads two years ago, I probably wouldn't know all of you lovely people, and that would be sad.

9. Katelyn If it weren't for the linkup she was holding at the time (see above) again, I probably wouldn't know all of you.

10. Cait. Because she lives in Australia and that's awesome, and has a super-popular blog and yet still has time to reply to all of the comments, and (sometimes) visit the commenter's blog. I try to do this ... but don't always succeed. I stand in awe of her.


And there are more, so many more of you I could name and lavish praise upon, However, I'll just give you a blanket thank-you,

Okay, it's a scarf, not a blanket, did I mention I have internet issues?
I'm limited to the pictures I have in my picassa account.

Thank-You!!!!
I love each and every one of you dearly, even if I didn't mention you above.

And, for the record, I have no idea why I add a hyphen to thank-you. It just looks better to me.

The reason I had to cut it short is that I have something else to share with you. You see, I always run some sort of Black Friday sale with my books, but this year, I have joined up with a whole group of authors who are also running sales, both on Kindle books and paperbacks. Paperbacks are part of the "Black Friday" sale, while Kindles are marked as "Cyber Monday." Personally, my own sales are starting today, but that's because I had already set them up when she contacted me, and that's how I roll. Many of the paperbacks have coupon codes. Those are valid at CreateSpace (where the link should take you) and you just copy them into the coupon code box when you get to the payment page (if I remember right, that's where it is) and then voila! Savings! (Also, if there's only one code for an author, it applies to all of their books)

I don't know, exactly, what sales are going to be run on all of them (beyond the ones marked with coupon codes) but it's still going to be fun.

I know I've had my eye on quite a few of these books for a while. Sigh. I need a job again. My plan to go job hunting back in November ... fell through.

First, my books ... not because I'm the author, but because my pen name is Ardnek and that puts me at the front of the list. (Reason  2. for my choice of pen name, I'll admit). All three books are 99 cents, though The Ankulen only lasts until Tuesday. I don't remember exactly how much longer you have on the other two. I didn't want to cut Ankulen short, but I ran out of promo days available. So, anyways.
Edit: For some odd reason, the promotions I'd set up for Saffron's Big Plan and Do You Take This Quest? deleted themselves. I've got them set up again, but because it's taken me so long to catch this error, their price won't go down until Sunday.
The Ankuluen: Cyber Monday
Saffron's Big Plan and Other Stories: Cyber Monday
Do You Take This Quest?: Cyber Monday

Faith Blum
A Mighty Fortress: Black Friday [V4Y5K36D -- 10%] and Cyber Monday)
Be Thou My Vision: Black Friday [7626YZAK -- 20%] and Cyber Monday

Sarah Brown
The Prodigal Pup: Black Friday and  Cyber Monday
Learning Lessons from Furry Friends: Black Friday [SB14CP31 -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Kelsey Bryant
Family Reunion: Black Friday [YFY84GHU -- 20%]

Elizabeth Ender
Ransomed: Black Friday [GNE6VUXY -- 30%]

J.J. Francesco
Blood Chain: Cyber Monday

Julie Gilbert
Nadia's Tears: Cyber Monday 

Leah Good
Counted Worthy: Black Friday [K7CVNEER -- 40%] and Cyber Monday

Melody Grubb
The Land of Calais: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Warmth of His Eyes: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Send Me, Lord Jesus: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Rachel Heffington
Anon, Sir, Anon: Black Friday [9MTYHSX3 -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Rebekah Jones
Journeys of Four: Cyber Monday
Grandmother's Letters: Cyber Monday
A Year with the Potters: Cyber Monday

Jaye L. Knight
Resistance: Black Friday [Q45HN6G9 -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Tina M. Neely
Diamond Hair Princess: Black Friday

Joel A. Parisi
Shadow Play: Cyber Monday

J. Grace Pennington
Radialloy: Black Friday [Y2XHGYDN -- 25%] and Cyber Monday
In His Image: Black Friday [KXNZ7PYN -- 25%] and Cyber Monday
Machiavellian: Black Friday [UFXGUYMM -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Jennifer Sauer
Why Rodney Never Should've Gone to the NAPIC: Black Friday [F76DDR7S -- 45%] and Cyber Monday

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
Touch My Tears: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Third Side of the Coin: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Cara Simmons
The Haven: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Leviathan: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Champion: Black Friday and Cyber Monday 

Jordan Smith
Finding the Core of Your Story: Black Friday [NL4NJXWS -- 30%]

Rachel Starr Thomson
Reap the Whirlwind: Cyber Monday
Lady Moon: Cyber Monday
Angel in the Woods: Cyber Monday

I can't speak for all of these books, but I will tell you that there are some good ones on here you won't want to miss. (And I don't want to miss them either.)

And here are a few more that the coordinator, Leah Good, listed as "optional." I'm not sure exactly what that means, so I'm just going to post them too.

Therese Heckenkamp
Past Suspicion: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Frozen Footprints: Black Friday

Melika Dannese Lux
City of Lights: Black Friday [FNB98MY6 -- 35%] and Cyber Monday
Corcitura: Black Friday [GU46WHKT -- 55%] and Cyber Monday

T.R. Lykins
Last Heartbeat: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Life Gift: Black Friday and Cyber Monday 

Melanie D. Snitker
Calming the Storm: Cyber Monday

So go forth and purchase books! Make an author's day, and give them one more reason to be thankful. 

Thankful Thursday - The Classics

I'm thankful for the classics. I'm thankful that those wonderful writers of yesteryear took the time and effort to put pen to paper and then to send the wonderful bits of manuscript into their various publishers. I'm thankful that the readers of the stories loved the stories so much that they never let the books go out of print, and now we can read them any time we want.

I'm thankful for a mom who loved the classics. I'm thankful that she has taken every opportunity possible to immerse V and I in wonder of old books. They were our bedtime stories as we went to sleep (book on tape of course, and, frankly, I can't remember half of what I listened to, it was so long ago), we would watch movie adaptations when we could get our hands on them. Our daily walks were spent hanging on her every word as she told us various obscure fairy tales from Andrew Lang's Colored books.

Ooh! Nutcracker Easter Bunny!

Our book shelves are covered in volumns from signet paperbacks (I believe that's the name of the publisher ... I can't remember the exact name off the top of my head), and, whenever it is possible to pick up a new one, or a hardbound copy, we jump at the chance. A good number of these books have taken up permanent residence in my room.

Not only is our physical bookshelf covered, but our Kindles (please note that on this link, there are books that are not classics, but I have no  control over the list. They are mostly classics, as near as I can tell, though.) are full of ones we picked up for free. Half of what is on V and my MP3 players are stories recorded by LibriVox. Project Gutenburg is a permanent bookmark easily accessible on my computer.

I am thankful for the classics, thankful that I had the privilege of growing up with them at my finger tips. Thankful that my mother understood that there is no one too young for them.

Thankful Thursday - Computers

I am thankful that God has given us the intelligence to come up with computers. They make life so much easier, especially in conjunction with the internet.

 - Typing is faster and doesn't cramp your hands as much.
 - Once computer takes up far less room than a hundred notebooks
 - You can talk to people even at long distance
 - You can store so much information
 - Digital pictures are far cheaper than film
 - Games ...
 - And so much more!

Thankful Thursday - New Shoes.

Thanks Gma!!!!

Thankful Thursday - Yarn

The title of my blog is Knitted by God's Plan. This is because I love to knit. One of the most important part of Knitting is yarn. In fact, if there was no yarn, there would be no knitting. You can knit without needles (it's called finger knitting, very awkward, and all you can make is rope, but it is still knitting. Or you could use a knitting circle, a spool knitter, a knitting machine or skewers. I have used all but the machine ... and the only reason I haven't used a machine is because I haven't figured out how to cast mine on yet.), but you can't knit without some sort of yarn. True, you can use ribbon or plastic bags ... but I lump everything that you can wrap around those needles and loop together in the happy category of yarn.

There are so many types of yarn. I have a toy box full of it. There are the cheep yarns, which tend to be a bit coarser and thinner, there are baby yarns that are soft and thick, there is fun fur ... Fun fur is my particular favorite. It's so much fun. It's harder to crochet with (I love crocheting, too. I usually make my fake food with crochet), as it is harder to see the holes, so I mostly knit with it. You can use ribbon, or if you're really desperate, you can cut plastic bags into loops, link them together, and crochet or knit with them. I'm making a mat out of plastic bags right now.

All in all, I'm so thankful for yarn. I'm glad God gave man the ingenuity to come up with it!

A yarn Ice Cream Cone I made.

Thankful Thursday - Giraffes

I am thankful for giraffes. I fell in love with giraffes at a young age on a trip to the zoo. I have been collecting them ever since, and have a huge collection. (Somewhere upwards to a hundred figurines, pictures, and stuffies). Most of my giraffes have names - usually based on their appearances (such as Carrie for a carosel giraffe, or Stony for a stone giraffe, or Giant and Mega-Giant for my two biggest) or who gave them to me (such as one named V. after my sister.)

Me and Crackers. (He sings Animal Crackers when you push a button on his leg)

Some fun facts about giraffes:

They are six feet tall at birth - that's as tall as my dad!
Like humans and most other mammals, they have seven bones in their necks.
Like cattle, giraffes are called bulls, cows and calves.
They have blue tongues.
They have LONG tongues.
My favorite giraffe is the Masai, which has star-shaped spots.
I, unfortunately, have only found one Masai giraffe figurine.
The most common breed of giraffe is the reticulated, which is what most of my collection is.