Book Giveaway for Canadian Readers!

My publisher is hosting a GOODREADS giveaway with 10 print copies of BOOK OF DREAMS up for grabs (click this sentence to go to the blog post that has the link)! As this Goodreads giveaway is only open to the USA, I thought I would host a giveaway of my own, for my CANADIAN readers!

This giveaway is ONLY taking place on Twitter (as in, Twitter is the only place you can enter). It’s easy to enter. Simply FOLLOW ME (if you are not already doing so) and RETWEET the GIVEAWAY TWEET or THREAD. Winners will be announced on Monday September 5th. I’ve made it really easy for you.

Reminder, while you’re here…I will be at the Oshawa Centre Chapters-Indigo at 1pm on Saturday, October 1st, signing copies of Book of Dreams!

The GIVEAWAY TWEET is my PINNED TWEET, which means when you go to my Twitter profile it will be the tweet at the very top of my tweet-stream. Just RETWEET that, or the thread it’s attached to, and you will be entered into the contest.

Here’s a link to my Twitter Profile: @KevinTCraig

Here’s what the PINNED TWEET looks like:

Once you follow me and retweet the pinned tweet, you will be entered. Watch my Twitter on the 5th of September for the announcement of the winners. If you happen to win, I will send you a DM (direct message) asking for your full name and mailing address. Once I have this, I will mail you your copy.

THIS CONTEST IS ONLY OPEN TO THOSE LIVING IN CANADA…mailing address must be in CANADA.

Good luck!

 

Goodreads Giveaway for My Upcoming Novel – BOOK OF DREAMS!

Duet Books and Chicago Review Press are giving away 10 copies of my upcoming release, BOOK OF DREAMS! This GOODREADS giveaway runs until MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2022, so enter soon!

OPEN TO USA ONLY.

10 Copies of BOOK OF DREAMS up for Grabs on GOODREADS! Enter now! USA ONLY.

Here’s the link that will take you to the giveaway page pictured above. Once there, you can click on the button that says ENTER GIVEAWAY (you will have to be logged in to Goodreads):

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY FOR BOOK OF DREAMS

 

Book of Dreams is also available for pre-order wherever books are sold!

Amazon USA | Amazon Canada | Chicago Review Press Print | Chicago Review Press Ebook | Barnes & Noble | Interlude Press | Kobo USA | Kobo Canada | IndieBound | Blackwell’s | Booktopia | Book Depository | APPLE Books | Goodreads

Gaige’s curiosity gets the better of him when he discovers a bookstore on an abandoned street where no bookstore should be. He steps inside and is immediately enthralled by its antiquarian sights and smells. But one book in particular calls to him. It isn’t long before he gets a bad feeling about it, but it’s already too late. The store’s aged bookseller gives him no alternative: once he touches the book, it’s his—whether he wants it or not. It’s bought and paid for and there are no returns. The book leads Gaige on a horrific descent into the unknown. As he falls into the depths of its pages, he loses blocks of time, and his friends become trapped inside ancient cellars with seemingly no means of escape. Gaige soon learns that the ancient bookseller is a notorious serial killer from a previous century, and fears that he has fallen into a predicament from which he may not escape. When all seems lost, he finds the one person he can turn to for help—Mael, a sweet teen also trapped inside the book who didn’t fall for the bookseller’s tricks. Together, they race against time to protect Gaige from joining a long string of boys who vanished without a trace inside the Book of Dreams.

Lastly, I’ll be at CHAPTERS-INDIGO Oshawa Centre, signing copies of BOOK OF DREAMS, on October 1st!

Enter the Goodreads Giveaway today! USA ONLY. Contest closes SEPTEMBER 5th!

GIVEAWAY!! The Camino Club is One Year Old Today!

It’s hard to believe that on this day ONE YEAR AGO the novel of my heart made its way into the pandemic world!

As Robbie Burns noted in his poem To a Mouse, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley.” or, translated, The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
We did not foresee a pandemic crashing in ahead of the release of The Camino Club. It certainly is interesting to launch a book in Covid Times…as I’m certain any author on the face of the earth could agree.
Still, we make do. We persevere. We soldier on. We do all the other sayings that get us through unsuspected and difficult times.
The Camino Club was published by DUET BOOKS, the YA imprint of INTERLUDE PRESS.
The Camino Club has had some great success in the year since it left my publisher’s loving embrace and was set free in the world. For one, it can now be found in roughly 500 of the world’s public libraries (and maybe even some school libraries?), including 10 of the branches in my own hometown of Toronto. I’m thrilled to see the reach it has had in the world beyond the nugget of an idea that it was as I walked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route across Spain in May of 2014.
It was featured in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, KIRKUS REVIEWS, and BOOKLIST. All three gave it lovely reviews, of which I am extremely proud.
I’m thrilled to see that something that meant so much to me as I envisioned it, and worked so hard to bring its vision to life, was met with such positive energy in the world beyond its birth. Even if it was birthed into a world rife with major catastrophic uncertainty.
Today, on the 1 year anniversary of THE CAMINO CLUB‘s release, I’m hosting a GIVEAWAY for a paperback copy! Not just any paperback copy, but one with the little SILVER MEDAL award sticker on the front cover! The Camino Club won silver in the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Teen Fiction!
Click the pic below to visit the IBPA announcement page:
The giveaway will take place on TWITTER. All you need to do is RETWEET my announcement or my PINNED TWEET to enter. A winner will be chosen randomly from those who retweet. Open to international entries. Retweet by OCT 12th, 2021 to enter.
Here’s a link to my pinned tweet that you have to RETWEET in order to enter: MY PINNED TWEET
Good luck! And if you don’t win, you can always pick up a copy WHEREVER books are sold.

Giveaway to Celebrate THE CAMINO CLUB Being a FINALIST in the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Teen Fiction!

Hello Readers!

Recently I discovered that THE CAMINO CLUB was a finalist in the 2021 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for TEEN FICTION!

I thought I would celebrate this achievement with a little giveaway. This one will be for a PRINT COPY of THE CAMINO CLUB being sent directly from my publisher INTERLUDE PRESS and DUET BOOKS.

All you have to do to enter is RT (Retweet) my PINNED TWEET on TWITTER. RT the tweet before midnight on APRIL 17th (USA and CANADA only for this one!) and you will be entered to win a paperback of THE CAMINO CLUB. (NO NEED TO FOLLOW ME, JUST RT THE TWEET.) Since I’ll be purchasing this one from the publisher and having them mail it directly to the winner, this copy WILL NOT BE SIGNED.

You can click on the image below to go DIRECTLY to my TWITTER PROFILE. The pinned tweet at the very top of my timeline is the one you need to RETWEET. I will be choosing a winner at random and contacting them for their address on the 18th. (I even included my pinned tweet in the picture below, so you know which one to RETWEET. (-: )

Enter by midnight on the 17th!

The GOLD & SILVER winners of the 2021 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Teen Fiction will be announced during online ceremonies between May 11-14, 2021.

Read the press release on the finalist list HERE.

Thank you for entering and GOOD LUCK! If you happen to win this copy, I hope you enjoy reading THE CAMINO CLUB!

Buen Camino!

Paperback Giveaway for THE CAMINO CLUB!

Just a quick post to announce a GIVEAWAY happening on TWITTER. I’m giving away ONE paperback copy of THE CAMINO CLUB!

Contest open internationally until the end of Monday November 23rd, 2020! At midnight, entries close.

The winner will be announced on TUESDAY NOVEMBER 24th, 2020!

All you have to do to ENTER for a chance to win is LIKE MY PINNED TWEET and RT MY PINNED TWEET.

Here’s the link to MY TWITTER ACCOUNT…click on the pic below:

twitter

More about The Camino Club:

After getting in trouble with the law, a group of wayward teens are given an ultimatum: serve time in juvenile detention for their crimes or walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across Spain over the summer holidays with a pair of court-appointed counselors. Although they come from diverse backgrounds, the unlikely friends try to make the best of their situation. The pilgrims grow closer on their journey, but they may not make it to their destination—the Cathedral in Santiago. If they do, will they each find what they’re looking for, and will their newfound friendships endure?

BOOKLIST, SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL and KIRKUS REVIEWS gave The Camino Club some wonderful reviews:

Enter the contest today, for your chance to win a paperback copy!

RETWEET AND LIKE MY PINNED TWEET!

The Camino Club Goodreads Giveaway Alert!

For my American readers, my publisher has created a GOODREADS GIVEAWAY for 10 print copies of THE CAMINO CLUB! The giveaway is live now and it runs until AUGUST 24th, 2020.

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Here’s the blurb, ICYMI:

After getting in trouble with the law, six wayward teens are given an ultimatum: serve time in juvenile detention for their crimes, or walk the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route across Spain over the summer holidays with a pair of court appointed counselor/guides. When it becomes clear the long walk isn’t really all that much of an option, they set out on a journey that will either make or break who they are and who they are to become.

The epic trek across Spain begins OCTOBER 6th, 2020! Don’t miss out on your opportunity to snag a copy from Goodreads! CLICK ON THE PIC BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO THE GIVEAWAY PAGE AT GOODREADS:

GoodreadsRead what KIRKUS REVIEWS has to say about THE CAMINO CLUB by clicking on the pic below:

kirkus

Head on over to GOODREADS now to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

#IReadCanadian – A Giveaway!

Today (Wednesday February 19th, 2020) is #IReadCanadian Day!

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To explain the idea behind I READ CANADIAN, here’s a screenshot from the I READ CANADIAN WEBSITE:

iread

I have lived in and around Toronto, Ontario for all of my 53 years. I checked with the judges, and apparently this makes me CANADIAN. I also happen to be an author. ERGO…if you read MY books, you are in fact READING CANADIAN.

I thought I would give a quick description of TWO of my books with links so you can check them out. You can read the synopses in the links, so I’ll just give a quick picture for each here.

Two of my books are with a small publisher in Montreal, Quebec called MuseItUp:

IMG_20151118_144656SUMMER ON FIRE: This is the story of three friends who do something very idiotic. The thing they do–accidentally set fire to a barn–sets off a chain reaction that includes broken limbs, bodies, lies, the testing of friendships and the complicated relationships of siblings that don’t like each other but still feel the bonds and pulls of loyalty.

SUMMER ON FIRE is currently on sale for around $1.

SUMMER ON FIRE USA AMAZON

SUMMER ON FIRE CANADA AMAZON

 

IMG_eq0dsbPRIDE MUST BE A PLACE – Ezra is extremely pissed that homophobia still exists in his school, especially since his best friend Alex always finds himself the target of it. The two, along with Ezra’s other BFF Netty, form a Gay Straight Alliance. But this story is also about the complicated relationships that occur when you become close with someone just because they’re the same as you. Ezra and Alex formed their friendship around their sexuality…not because they shared the same values.

PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE USA AMAZON

PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE CANADA AMAZON

My other novels were with publishers who have since closed their doors. They are still available and you can find them on Amazon. HERE IS MY AUTHOR PAGE ON AMAZON

sebastians-poetBefore the details of the giveaway, I wanted to point out that SEBASTIAN’S POET is definitely the most CANADIAN of all my books. It takes place in Toronto’s Beaches District in the 1970s. It focuses on Sebastian, a young boy who is mostly neglected by his father and abandoned by his mother. A folksinger comes into his life and changes it forever. The folksinger is based on LEONARD COHEN. There’s a cameo appearance by Gordon Lightfoot. It’s set in Canada and it is ALL Canada. It’s my homage to Cohen and to the Beaches.

SEBASTIAN’S POET USA AMAZON

SEBASTIAN’S POET CANADA AMAZON

 

The Giveaway. It’s over on TWITTER so you’ll have to go find MY PROFILE over there (Hint—the words MY PROFILE in that sentence are linked to my profile. Just click the link).

Just FOLLOW and RETWEET the tweet about the giveaway. That’s the whole thing…all you have to do to enter. The PRIZE? One paperback copy of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE…delivered to anywhere in North America. (-:

 

Announcing a Pride Giveaway at BOOKS AND LADDERS! Head on over!

Jamie at Books & Ladders is hosting WE CAN(ADA) READ for the month of September. Check out the hashtag #WeCanadaRead on Twitter and Instagram for some great Canadian content all month long! (Check out the full schedule in the link below for the Pride giveaway, to see the daily list which includes other bloggers taking part) You can find Jamie on Twitter at @booksandladders

Visit the beautiful BOOKS AND LADDERS INSTAGRAM PAGE HERE!

Books & Ladders is currently doing a giveaway for paperback copies of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE, so you should head over there and enter! There will be one for someone in Canada and one for someone in the United States! GOOD LUCK! Click the link below:

BOOKS & LADDERS PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!

Much thanks to Jamie and her crew over at BOOKS & LADDERS, not just for raising a voice for PRIDE but for showcasing Canadian talent throughout the entire month. Check out the site and discover some new (to you) Canadian authors!

books

Book Giveaway and Update…

Just a quick post to let you know I’m having a book giveaway contest over at my TWITTER ACCOUNT. To enter to win a signed copy of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE, all you have to do is RETWEET my PINNED TWEET and FOLLOW ME if you’re not already doing so. You have until April 20th, 2018 to enter!

books.jpg
Copies of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE, my 6th novel!

Also, while I have you, I will be at the APRIL WCDR NETWORKING MEETING in Whitby, Ontario, and I will have copies of PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE for purchase.

The April Network Meeting is on:

Saturday, April 21st – Monthly Network Meeting with Megan Beadle on Agents – Find One. Sign One. Scholarship winners will also be announced.

Registration is not yet open, but if you keep checking back on the WCDR website…it should be opening soon. If you’re in the GTA, you should come check it out. April sounds like a pretty good meeting to try out the organization. Hope to see you there!

Don’t forget to head over to Twitter to enter the giveaway!

Looking to purchase an e-copy of Pride Must Be A Place? You can find it here:

AMAZON KINDLE USA

AMAZON KINDLE CANADA

KOBO

BARNES & NOBLE NOOK

 

A Sure-Fire List to Help Motivate Your Inner Writer Into Actually Writing! Follow This List Carefully and You Will Be Writing Again!

Have I done a list lately? I should keep a list of the lists I list. Or is that list the lists I keep?

In a writing slump? Finding it hard to finish that Great Canadian (American, Armenian or otherwise) Novel? Trying to dedicate more time to writing this year because you’re one of those people who makes New Year Resolutions? Follow this list to a tee and you should find yourself back on the writing wagon. If you’re already on the writing wagon and you follow this list, you will find yourself even more connected to your writing. My point? Follow this list and you will write more.

The questionnaire
Do not skip items on this list. Follow it closely, or there is no hope for you. If you falter, you might go gently into the night and get lost forever in the vast vacuous land of NOT WRITING. Proceed with caution and a willingness to adapt yourself to the points made on the upcoming list you are about to read…

How to Write When You’re Not Feeling Writerly (OR When You’re Feeling Stabby and Murderous Towards Words, How Do You Embrace Them and Make Them Work in Your Favour…Even Though You Hate Them)


  1. Turn OFF the social media and Click the wifi to OFF. I know it’s impossible to imagine, but these things are distractions…killers of the imagination, even while they are stimulating it. If you follow this first item in this list, you will significantly increase your outflow of words. The increase could quite possibly be tenfold.
  2. See the first item in this list. Quite frankly, if you got this far in the list you aren’t following the steps properly.
  3. ARE YOU STILL HERE. Stop reading this. Turn off the internet and write.
  4. Don’t make me yell at you. SIT. WRITE. Open only one window…whatever program it is you use to write with.
  5. I’m gonna keep this list short and to the point. Only 5 items. Item 5 is CLOSE THIS WINDOW. SIT. WRITE. <<This advice works if you’re a beginner writer, or if you’re someone like that up-and-comer Stephen King…who has a couple books under his belt.

If you’re still here, clearly you’re not heeding my warnings. If you’d rather read than write, click on the image below to get yourself over to GOODREADS to enter to win a paperback copy of my latest novel, BURN BABY BURN BABY. The contest ends JANUARY 11, 2015!

goodreads

If you’re on INSTAGRAM, follow the steps in the picture below to win a paperback copy of BURN BABY BURN BABY in the INSTAGRAM contest! The easiest way to enter this one would be to go to Instagram and repost this image from my account. Instagram is sometimes tricky with resizing, etc.

Follow the Directions in this image to enter to win a paperback of Burn Baby Burn Baby on Instagram!
Follow the Directions in this image to enter to win a paperback of Burn Baby Burn Baby on Instagram!

Okay…now there is still a chance for you. Turn it all off. SIT. WRITE. That’s it. That’s all you have to do. No magical equation. No tricks or gimmicks. To write more all you need to do is write more. One word in front of the other without the everyday distractions that weigh you down and mess with your creativity and drive. SIT. WRITE.