Friday, December 17, 2010

Happy Holidays to You!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our 12 Days of Bookmas Giveaway. It was fun for us and hopefully fun for you.

Now to announce the final winner in this contest. Yesterday’s question, posted by Kim, was: What books will her son Nicky be getting for Christmas?

And the answer is The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne and Stuart Little by E. B. White.

Congratulations to LisaRealWriter. Please email your contact information to blog@bookends-inc.com and we’ll get your prize out immediately.

As I'm sure many of you have figured out by now, one of the reasons for doing the Bookmas Giveaway was to help promote our clients in a new and fun way. So I'm curious . . . did it work? Did any of you discover a new author along the way? And to continue in the spirit of the holiday, we will randomly choose one more winner from the comments to receive advanced review copies of Curiosity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly and A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett.

With that, I'm ending the year for BookEnds. Today we’re celebrating what’s been a phenomenal year. We couldn’t be more proud of our books and our authors, and we’ll be toasting all of you and your past and future successes at today’s holiday luncheon.

This will be the last blog post for 2010 (unless I suddenly find inspiration over the long holiday break). BookEnds will be closed until January 3, when we return refreshed, rejuvenated, and hungry for big sales and exciting new books.

My plan is to snack on these little treats while catching up on submissions and reading all sorts of published books.

Enjoy!

Sugared Cranberries

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup superfine sugar

Combine granulated sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Stir in cranberries and mix gently. Pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl, reserving steeping liquid, if desired. Place superfine sugar in a paper or ziplock bag. Add the cranberries, and gently shake to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature until dry (about 1 hour).

Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.

Note: The reserved steeping liquid is a fabulous addition to almost any holiday drink. Consider adding it to warm apple cider, vodka for a cranberry martini, or orange juice for a morning pick-me-up.


Jessica

38 comments:

Schoen said...

I discovered Paige Shelton and her Farm Fresh Mystery series. I mentioned on her blog that I was looking forward to reading her book, and she mailed me a copy! Very generous. I received it yesterday and started it last night! I will definitely be buying the rest of the series :) Thanks, Paige!

Anne Gallagher said...

Happy Holidays! Thanks Jessica and BookEnds for all your great posts throughout the year.

Bonnie R. Paulson said...

Have a great end of the year! We will see you in 2011!

And yes the contest was awesome!

braukes said...

Happy holidays! See you in 2011!
(oh, and thanks for the recipe. I've got to try that one.)

Rosalie Lario said...

It worked! I discovered Heather Webber and her fab book, Truly, Madly.

Happy holidays to you and your families, and thanks for all the wonderful blog posts. This is always my first blog stop of the day. :-)

Booklady said...

This was great fun. I've added some new authors to my to read list, Paige Shelton, to name just one. Other authors I was already familiar with and found it fun to check out some of their blogs/websites that I had not looked at before.

Thanks so much for doing this!

Beverly aka Bookwoman

Stephanie McGee said...

Thanks for a year of great posts! That recipe sounds intriguing. I may have to try convincing my mom to give it a go over the holiday this year.

Paige said...

Thanks, Schoen! Glad you got the book and I appreciate the kind words.

I had a great time coming up with the clues, but I also had a fun getting to know Jessica and Kim better. I loved reading about things you two did early in your careers, why you love some of the books you love, books you want your kids to read, etc.

I was also impressed with how quick the Bookends' blog readers were to come up with the answers. You guys are smart!

Happy holidays to everyone! And may 2011 be the most amazing year ever!

Best,
Paige Shelton

PS - Sugared cranberries? Yum!

ryan field said...

Enjoy your holiday.

Peg Cochran said...

The contest was so fun even though I never got any of the answers right! Merry Christmas to all at BookEnds! And thanks for the recipe--someone gave me sugared cranberries once, and I've been dying to make them myself!

Unknown said...

Thanks for hosting the event. I enjoyed visiting all the author's blogs.

I hope you both have an awesome Holiday Season. And a Happy New Year.

Enjoy your break.

Unknown said...

It worked for me. I definitely plan on picking up a few of your client's books during the holidays. I'm also especially looking forward to C.C. Hunter's "Born at Midnight."

This was really fun! And like others have said, thanks for the wonderful blog posts throughout the year!

Victoria said...

I'm definitely going to be trying the sugared cranberries!! How festive!

And it was fun getting to know Jessica and Kim better; happy holidays everyone!

Sofie Kelly said...

I'm sneaking in to say I'll add a bonus to Jessica's giveaway and send an advance copy of Curiosity Thrilled the Cat and some other goodies to the first person who correctly guesses what I do besides write. (Write in another genre and do a lot of laundry are not the answers I'm looking for, although technically they are correct.)

Please make sure I have a way to contact you if your guess is correct.

patlaff said...

Sorry to say, it did not work for me. I read your blog during lunch and have only a limited time to dedicate to learning all I can about the industry. I need more incentive to leave my six or seven dedicated sites than receiving something I can already get for myself: a book. A query critique or maybe a first-five-pages critique would probably have gotten me to click around.

Peg Cochran said...

Here's a guess for Sofie--do you do art? Paint?

Sofie said...

Peg, you're on the right track.

Booklady said...

Sofie - are you a graphic artist?

Beverly aka Bookwoman
bevarcher (at) me (dot) com

Sofie said...

Beverly, you're close too. Hint: it does involve art, but not always paint.

Booklady said...

Are you a scenic artist?

Beverly
AKA Bookwoman
bevarcher (at) me (dot) com

Peg Cochran said...

Some kind of mixed media?

Schoen said...

Mixed media artist?

Kari Wainwright said...

Have a terrific holiday! Thanks for the opportunities to win books and for a really different recipe to try.

gkw9000 [at] gmail.com

BW said...

Mixed media (you paint and make collages).

Sofie said...

Peg got it first! Mixed media artist is right.

Thanks everyone for your guesses and thanks Kim and Jessica for letting me hijack comments today.

jill said...

Although I have not had time to play along (I'm writing EXAMS!!), I have enjoyed reading the guesses; and yes, I did check out some of the clue-givers websites, learning new things along the way.
I have enjoyed reading your blog this year and look forward to new things in the new year!! :)

BookEnds, A Literary Agency said...

Thank you everyone for your feedback and participating in the Bookmas contest. I have a winner!

Congratulations Rosalie Lario. Please email your address to blog@bookends-inc.com and we'll get the galleys in the mail to you.

Happy Holidays!

Jawad Haider said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Cindy,

C.C. Hunter's Born At Midnight is awesome! But I gotta say that Alone At Dawn, book #2 in the Shadow Falls series and out in October, 2011, is even better.

Faye

Unknown said...

Faye,

Awesome!! You are so lucky to have already read them both! I've added "Alone At Dawn" to my list of books to buy in 2011!

Carol J. Garvin said...

The sugared cranberries sound like a tasty but sane Christmas nibbler! Thanks for the recipe. Have a blessed and joy-filled Christmas.

Sheila Cull said...

Thanks again Jessica and Bookends for what I've learned throughout this year because of you. Remember? I started blogging because of you and Bransford and he's obviously not a lifetime agent. But, I'd bet you are.

Chelsea Talks Smack said...

Ooooo, perhaps I should make these?!

Booklady said...

I received my prize pack today. Thank you so much for a wonderful contest. I'm looking forward to reading the books and thanks for helping discover some new authors.

Beverly aka Bookwoman

Gabriela Lessa said...

Happy holidays to you too, Jessica and Kim! And thanks again, Jessica, for your wonderful interview on my blog. Merry Christmas and wonderful 2011 to you!

Robena Grant said...

Happy holidays to everyone at Bookends, and to the readers of the blog. Thanks for another wonderful year of entertainment, advice, and sharing. See you in 2011!

Diane J. said...

The contest looked great, sad I missed it. However, it did get me Googling some of the books and I've got some on my must-read list. Thank You!

Can't wait until you are back in 2011!

Sheila Deeth said...

Thanks for your great posts through the year. Have a wonderful break and I'll look forward to reading more in 2011