Wednesday, May 1, 2019

May Celebration: Moms, Soldiers, First Responders by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

Happy by Terri C. #2220481, Pixabay.com
I'm happy because it's May, and the sun's shining, the flowers are blooming, and the trees finally stopped dumping pollen all over my piece of the planet.

I'm also happy because we had such a great response to our April Easter Egg Hunt.

We appreciate everyone who follows our blog. We'd like to break 100 this month on Followers, and you can help us achieve that.

See on the left sidebar where it says "We Love Our Blog Followers?"

Do us a favor and click Follow and fill out the little form that opens. Then your tiny picture will pop up so we can see your smiling face. Or your dog's smiling face since a lot of people use their pet's photo.

May Celebration

Making each month's book, author, and reader promotion better than the last is difficult, but I think we may have done it with May's Celebration of Moms, Soldiers, and First Responders.

There is no better month to celebrate Moms since Mother's Day is this month. By the same token, there's no better month to celebrate the Heroes and She-roes of our world than May, the month in which we celebrate Memorial Day in the U.S.

We salute and honor all of the Heroes and She-roes, from our precious Moms to:

the men and women of the Armed Forces, active duty and retired, who sacrifice and often pay a high price for defending our freedom

the police who have a daunting job and are in the line of fire on a daily basis

the firefighters who put themselves in harm's way to protect lives and property.

the Emergency Medical teams who race to save lives, and the Emergency Room Doctors and Nurses all across the world.

Heroes and She-roes Celebration

Maya Angelou, an unofficial Poet Laureate of America, may have been the first to refer to women as She-roes rather than as heroines. I like the word Shero because it sounds as if it should be the female counterpart of hero. Heroine always makes me think of leading ladies in novels and movies.

Part of our May Celebration is a Rafflecopter that goes "live" on May 4 so be checking the Blog and the Monthly Giveaway page to see if the Rafflecopter is there and "alive."

The Grand Prize is one (1) $20.00 Amazon Gift Card.

2nd thru 5th Prizes: Ebook Bundles by our bestselling authors. The books being given away are shown on the Monthly Giveaway page.

How To Enter?

You have multiple opportunities to enter.

When the you see the Rafflecopter or the link to it, simply click over and start clicking buttons on it and do the tasks. That's one entry. You can click all the buttons, and you can enter multiple times.

Our policies concerning Promotions and Giveaways, Eligibility, and Prize Award Procedures are shown in detail on our Policies Page. Please read. We strictly adhere to those policies.

Blog Updated

We've done some spring cleaning on the blog. You'll see some new books covers framed in the right sidebar plus some new images scattered around.

New Blog Page

We've added another page to Romance Gems Blog. Click on Listen to Romance or click the tab for it on the Menu Bar.

We have 12 audio books on display. You can click each book and be taken to the audio book webpage where you can hear a sample of the book.

There's nothing like hearing a wonderful romance performed by a talented voice actor.

We hope you like the books so much that you'll buy one of course. *LOL* But, if you don't, you'll have fun listening to a romance novel read aloud.

Pop-Up Giveaway

Do you listen to audio books? If so, what device do you use?

If you don't, what's stopping you? It's the fastest growing part of the publishing industry.

Maybe you don't know how easy it is to download an audio book and listen to it?

No problem. I'm blogging again tomorrow. I'm going to give step by step instructions on how to claim a free audio book from Audible. What's better than free? Nothing!

That means I'm going to give away an audio book today. All you have to do to be entered is to leave a comment with your email address.

I'll choose a winner by random draw and announce the name tomorrow when I blog. this weekend. Sorry, I didn't think this impromptu giveaway through. I'll announce both winners' names in the Comments section of this post and the May 2 post as well as contact them by email.

But Wait, There's More

I'll also give away an audio book tomorrow too! So go to Listen to Romance and look at my 3 audio books on display.

Click on the link to go to the audio webpage and listen to the samples. Sound like fun?

Come back tomorrow and have another chance to win!

Now, kick back and relax, enjoy that golden sunshine. Take a book with you.

I love my Kindle because it can be read in bright sunlight, and the battery stays charged for days.

Maybe we should give away a Kindle on a monthly promotion.

Do you think readers would like that? I asked a lot of questions so give me some answers in Comments.

17 comments:

  1. I hope you guys aren't sick of me by now! That's so cool, I love Audiobooks! That is, if the narrator's voice draws me in. Otherwise, I'd have to stick to the ebook/print version. :D (harperyn at outlook dot com)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, we're never sick of anyone as loyal as you! If you like narrators, mine are superb. Most are Broadway, TV, and movie actresses. That's what I look for when I audition narrators. I don't want someone to just read the book. I want someone who "gets" the book, loves it, and brings the characters to life.

      Delete
  2. Hi Lavender! We love that you are here. And I can't believe how much is happening in May. Joan, it's so exciting. Good luck, Lavender in the contest. There are lots of give aways for you to win.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Nora. It's going to be a great month. May is one of my favorites. I'm just a sunshine girl who finds winter dreary.

      Delete
  3. So excited for all the wonderful things happening here! We love seeing all of you so please keep coming back!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good morning, Kari. Hope you have had a chance to catch your breath. You've been SO busy lately. Today, I'm emulating that picture above, not lying in a field of flowers, but goofing off just the same. I'm going to walk over to the lake and sprawl on a park bench and watch the ducks.

      Delete
  4. What a fantastic month May will be here on Romance Gems! Joan, I think a Kindle would be a great prize for a special month!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Bonnie. I know a lot of readers use their cell phones or tablets, but those can't be seen in bright sunlight. Kindle is the gold standard for reading outdoors.

      Delete
  5. Lots going on this month! Great to see all our followers interacting and winning prizes and books every month. Joan, I too am not a fan of winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathleen, you ought to move to a warm place. Winters are so much better.

      Delete
  6. Thank you all for the giveaways! Yeah, you're probably getting tired of me too... and I love chatting here...


    I have no clue how to even start listening to audiobooks. I've tried an app once, but it overheated my phone, so I uninstalled it. Sorry!
    But it's probably easier than I think, I'm just used to reading my books (I have thousands to read, i'm a book hoarder).


    About giving Kindles: I know some people would love that (Kindles are better than reading on the phone or tablet). But they're expensive, and it would limit the shipping to a US address (I could ask a friend living in the US to receive it, but probably that's not the case for most people). Sorry! [2]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope. Never tired of enthusiastic readers who love books as much as we do. Iris, I know we could deliver to U.S. and to Canada, but that doesn't help you out. I'll check with Amazon and see if it's possible to have a Kindle sent to you in your country. After all, we buy it straight from Amazon who ships it to the winner. I made a note to follow up on that.

      Delete
    2. Oh, it's OK Joan! I know it's not possible (buying on Amazon.com and sending to my country would definitely result in high shipping costs + extra taxes - which can more than double the cost! It's just not worth the hassle!

      Delete
  7. Oh my, I just saw the list of books available for the Monthly Giveaway. I want to read them all! Thank you, authors!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Be sure and read my post on May 2. I give step by step instructions on how to make it happen.

      Delete
  8. UPDATE on awarding the prize. Sorry, I didn't think this impromptu giveaway through. I'll announce both winners' names in the Comments section of the May 1 and May 2 post as well as contact them by email on or before May 5.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Big Surprise. Not. The Winner of today's Audio Book Giveaway is...drumroll please...LAVENDER PERIWINKLE. I have emailed you your Audible Gift Code.

    ReplyDelete

Due to the high volume of Spam comments, we are forced to install Comment Moderation and Word Verification. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.