The Way We Wish It Was.

  I think that fantasy is, at heart, "history that we wished would have happened". We wish there really had been a time when unicorns frolicked in green pastures, and we sure as certain wish we were in it!
 As a writer of fantasy, I have a corresponding love of history. Not the sort of history about battles; (who, where and when,) but the feel of ages past. Including the tiny, day-to-day details and household objects. {I once found a picture of a drop spindle unearthed at a Scandinavian archeological dig, and was happy for days.}

I just love that sort of stuff.

 And of course, what they wore. Those are really breath taking.
Yes, I'm talking ancient, but also even just a few centuries old.  I think one of the main draws to this genre is our insatiable longing for 'the way it was', and even better "the way it might have been".
Even if it wasn't really that great in centuries past, we love the smell of those pages. Like all nostalgia, we embellish on the truth, and the further back it goes the better it looks in the eyes of the present.
 It's not a modern wonder; when the printing press started up and the Brothers Grimm collected up German fairy stories, what time frame were they set in? A century or so previous.
 And I'd be willing to say that's why most fantasy is set the in 'medieval days'; the press started a burst of creativity, and most 'fairy-tales' were set in the previous century or two, to make them more interesting. This set a precedent that continues today.
 (Yes, it's a theory. But a sound one, I say. ;-) )

 So that's why I love researching ancient ways and means and including them in my plot-lines. It's fascinating, just whole great barrels of fun, personally. But I also hope that other people will enjoy reading these little tidbits of information as much as I do putting them in.
And maybe they'll research it, too. And then maybe they'll go out and make a modern reproduction.
  ...and send me a picture.
 That would be totally amazing!

Winners Take Note!

Hello everybody!
And welcome to the real, wide world, after the wonderful time we all had at the Announcement Party.
(Thank-you so much for all coming, it wouldn't have been the same without you!)

 We are seriously going to have to do that again sometime.

 But not too-oo, too soon, because there's still A Lot of confetti we have to sweep up. Oh, and those streamers? They clog up a vacuum like you wouldn't believe.

 Anyway! As a postscript to our very fun evening, I am needing to ask that the winners contact me with the email addresses that they want their copies of Jeweler's Apprentice sent to.

 So, Janessa and Michelle: I need the addresses to send those to. You can leave them in the comment box, with (at)'s and (com)'s if you prefer, or drop them off at my facebook page, or Tweet them to me... I'm open! Just get them headed my way, and if you would like, I can certainly delete them from the net after I've collected and used them for addressing your prize packages.
 Thanks so much for getting right back to me!

 And here's hoping everybody is having a great day!
 (We are. It's sunny, sunny, sunny outside!)

And the Winner Is...!

 Today is the 16th, so that means that today's the day that we all get to find out who are the lucky winners of the Jeweler's Apprentice Novel Give Away!

 Drum roll please...

 Wait!
First we have an announcement.

 Due to all the loverly people who took the time to stop by and enter, (sometimes mutlitple-ly!) we have a grand total of 32 entries!
    *Whoops of joy can be heard off stage.*
 Thanks so much for helping make our first give-away here a great success!
Applause all around for everyone who entered!
         
*Thunderous Applause.*

 And, because we topped the thirtieth entry mark, we now have Two Winners!   *More Applause.*

 And now... we get to see who those Two Winners are!            *More Applause.*

 Drum roll, please.... 

  *Hushed tones...* Due the random nature of our Random Number Generator, we will now plug in the entire thirty-two entries and see which is chosen by the RNG.
  By the way, we are using the "True Random Number Generator", if anybody cares about that detail.

 And.. the number is... 31!
 
   And number 31 is...
                                         ...Miss Michelle O.!

  See, sometimes it pays to be almost late!  ;-)

We give Miss Michelle a great big hand,
                                                                      *Thunderous Applause!*
...and thank her very much for participating in our very first book Give Away!


*Confetti falls out of the air onto everything; and a band starts playing.*

*Miss Michelle  bows to the crowd, smiling and waving.*  *More Applause.*

 Thank- you for being with us, Miss Michelle! And enjoy the story!

    *She blows a kiss to everybody and exits stage right.*
            *The confetti clears out of the air and the band stops.*

And now... for our Second Winner!

 Drum roll... please....

Wait!
     We have an explanation.

*Hushed tones.* Due to the multiple nature of our entries, all entries entered by our First Winner will now be removed from the computing entries. Since Miss Michelle only had One Entry... it will be removed, and our final number of entries in this give away is....
                                              ...31! 

Drum roll, please.

And the chosen number is....
                                                ... number 18!


        And number Eighteen is....
                                                         ... Miss Janessa P.!


       And here's a great big hand for Miss Janessa!
                                                     *More Thunderous Applause.*
  ...and thanks so much for being a part of all the fun here at E. Kaiser Writes-A-Blog for our very first book Give Away!

 *Confetti falls out of nowhere and the band starts up again.*                   *Everyone applauds.*

Wait!

 *The band stops.*

 Miss Janessa P., unfortunately enough, left us no way to contact her.
                                                                                                             *The crowd gasps in sorrow.*
          But! Since she subscribed to this blog, she will be getting this post... and so will be able to contact us immediately with the information we need to send her very own copy of Jeweler's Apprentice winging its way over the interwebs!

 (However; if Miss Janessa P. doesn't get back with us by the 20th, we'll assume that the subscribing didn't work out, and re-award the Second Prize to another entry. Thanks so much for understanding!)

  And, since we can't contact her, she isn't able to Be Here, (like our previous winner.) We are all sad, because we love to get people up on this stage... but we understand.
     (Need not be present to win.)                   *(But must be able to be contacted! Of necessity!)*

                Thank-you everybody for joining us tonight!

 *The band jumps into full swing and the streamers are thrown from the upper balconies.*

   Let's give another big hand to everyone who entered this very fun event, and here's a bucketful of best wishes for the year ahead of each and every one of you!

 *A Truly Thunderous Applause rises above the band tune.*

 And let's all head over to the back for a heaping plate of good food, and something cooling to drink.
Double Ice in mine please, and let's make it a milkshake. (Wait! Is that a soft serve ice cream? ...Well...  ...That's good too!)

And as the party gets started here on the web, we leave this stage with a few words.
  Be happy, healthy and wise; Drive safely; and Be sure to come back!

 Good night to all!


                                                                       *Fade to black.*

                                                                              *Black.*

Contest Ends on the 15th!

Okay! 2012 is with us, and we're ready to roar through this upcoming year!
   Here's hoping you'll always take the time for the important things, and sneak a little fun-time in between!
  I've been busy working on getting things lined up for this last lap of winter; before we burst into spring. Can anybody say "Time flies"? Ack! I'm not ready for summer yet, but I already feel it's heat breathing down my neck. Somebody tell my it's only my mind playing tricks on me. Please! Quick!

 In other news, my book Give Away is still running! Your chance to win a completely free copy of the young adult fantasy, fairytale style, novel Jeweler's Apprentice. It's in e-book, and you can have it sitting on your computer in minutes.
(No E-reader? No problem! There are free apps for that!)

  This has been a lot of fun! Already we have 20 entries; and if we reach 30, I'll put 2 books out to give away!

 So come on in and enter, people! ;-) Talk your reader friends into dropping by and adding to the tally!
 
 They've got a whole week left to do it in... But hurry! 'Cause they'll forget if they wait too long!
(I've done that myself lots of times, so I know exactly how that goes!)

Remember: They can enter multiple times, just...
Leave a comment saying you'd like entered;
 Subscribe to this blog; (Don't be scared; I won't drown you in junk!)
'Like' my author page on Facebook, E Kaiser writes;
mention the release of Jeweler's Apprentice on your FB page;
Tweet about it; (please use #Jeweler'sApprentice hashtag.)
or follow @EKaiserWrites on Twitter;
for a chance each to win a Free copy!

Be sure you do leave a comment on this post, or the post below, alerting us to the number of entries you have, and also which ways you've entered.
A comment per entry makes it easy for us to count, but if you mention them all in one, it's okay, too.

 And, the Last Day of the contest will be Sunday, Jan. 15th. After that we'll do the Random Number Generator thing, and announce the winner!

  I'm getting so excited!

 Cheers all around!
 Elizabeth Kaiser