Thanks Readers! Holiday Giveaway Week

Tip of the Day: Can't get enough of giveaways? Check out Tina Springer's Livejournal at http://kspringer.livejournal.com/ for a chance to win The Twelve Dates of Christmas. But be quick--her giveaway ends at midnight tonight!

We have got a phenomenal week planned and I am PSYCHED. We're giving away 5 different novels this week, just in time for you to give as gifts. Or keep them for yourself! I would. Not to be selfish but these are great books we're talking about here. And here's our holiday theme: thankfulness. We want to thank you, our readers, for a fantastic year in the blogosphere, a year that I have loved.

I get to start off with a novel I absolutely loved, I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin. This book was so highly recommended to me, I couldn't wait to read it, and I was not disappointed. I Know It's Over is the story of Nick and Sasha from Nick's point of view, and what happens when: they break up, Sasha discovers that's she's pregnant, and Nick's broken heart threatens to overwhelm his life. I am very envious of how well C.K. Kelly Martin writes emotions. Nick and Sasha were portrayed so truthfully it seems amazing they don't really exist.

I asked C.K. Kelly Martin what she's most thankful for in her writing life. (Was it her talent for making her readers feel along with her characters? That wouldn't have surprised me.) She said:

Since my first book was released this year I feel like I have so much to be thankful for but at the very top of this list would be the fact that I'm writing in a place and time that allows me the intellectual freedom to explore whatever themes and subject matter I'm drawn towards. Books do get challenged in North America (the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom received 420 reports of book challenges in 2007) but attempts to restrict access to books like Uncle Bobby's Wedding and The Perks of Being a Wallflower are themselves often challenged. We also celebrate these same books during Banned Books Week in the States and Freedom to Read Week in Canada. I know my agent has faced difficulties in placing I Know It's Over with certain foreign publishers because of its subject matter. In some countries that knocked the novel out of consideration from the very beginning but I'm so incredibly grateful that in a country where a sizeable segment of the population support abstinence-only sex education (although thankfully the tide really seems to be turning on this) and would like to see Roe v. Wade overturned that Random House was willing to publish a book where teen sexuality is explored and abortion is given serious consideration as one option to an unplanned pregnancy. It's amazing to be writing in a time and place where authors can feel free to tell the truth about difficult situations and not have to worry that will automatically mean our books will never have the opportunity to find their way into readers' hands!

I love this answer. You can tell from it how well-thought out and honest this novel is. Thanks, C.K.

So, would you like to win this book for your very own? All you have to do is leave a comment before midnight EST. Mention our giveaway week in your own blog and you get two entries! Just let us know you linked to us in your comment. We can only mail books within the continental United States. Emily will announce my winner in her post tomorrow. And she'll be announcing her own choice of book to give away. Oh, man, wait until y'all see the titles we're offering this week and the authors we've spoken to. You have GOT to check back. And thank you for all the times you've checked us out.

-- Kate, Miss Apprentice Writer