The WILDEFIRE Olympics Day 3: Pay-it-Forward Day

This is me autographing copies of WILDEFIRE at a toddler table in toddler seat at Brookline Booksmith. I felt like I was in Gulliver's Travels.

When it gets to be one season, or one month, or one week, or one day before your book's launch, it's easy to get swept up in the frenzy of full-blown self-promotion mode. You spend two years of your life writing, and rewriting, and revising, and nurturing this 393-page creature, and it's only natural as you're finally releasing it out into the world to do everything you can to ensure that it soars as high as it can.

But sooner or later you have to take a step back and come to terms with a few things:
1) Even with a few thousand twitter followers and facebook friends, even with the amazing continued support and enthusiasm of the book-blogging community, you're only reaching a microcosm of the people who will eventually read your book. And that's great.
2) If you talk about your book or the craft of writing constantly, all you'll end up with is a hoarse, scratchy voice, and that makes it awfully difficult to do book readings.
3) You're not just a reader, but a writer, and you're time is better spent sharing with others the books that you love.

So today, I give you day 3 of the WILDEFIRE Olympics: Pay-it-Forward Day. All you have to do for today's task is to go out and do something nice for a (non-Wildefire) book that you love. You can do anything: Write a nice review for it and post it on GoodReads, Amazon, and B&N. Go like or comment on a handful of thoughtful well-written reviews for it. Surprise a friend by mailing or ordering them a copy of a great novel. Then just post in the comments below what you did and what book you did it for. (Selfishly, my ulterior motive is to hear some summer reading recommendations from you).

My wholehearted recommendation to you today is one of my favorites from 2011: WITCH EYES by Scott Tracey.

If you want a glimpse into what makes WITCH EYES one of the fall's best upcoming paranormal romances, take a gander at this teaser from chapter 2:

There was a moment where time seemed to fracture, a crystalline snapshot of the world where Uncle Jonathan had started raising his arm, his face full of fear and alarm. Where motes of sunlight lay poised above me, and the westerly breeze was tangible and tangled up against my skin. It was as if the world around me had called a time out.

Then the landscape expanded into something larger than four dimensions, the binding boiled itself down to an alphabet of magic, and the visions swallowed me up.

Elegant prose. Explosive magic. A fresh, seductive romance. And hellhounds. What more do you want?

Witch Eyes won't hit bookstores until September, but one lucky reader who participates in Pay-it-Forward Day and posts below will win a signed ARC. And of course you'll be entered to win one of the two 16x20-inch WILDEFIRE canvas prints I'll be drawing on Sunday.

So go do something nice for a great book, then head back here and let me know what you did. As with the other day, you can comment below anytime between now and Sunday July 31st when I draw the winners. To wrap up, as usual, I give you a flashback video from Karsten's Greatest Hits.