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Friday, July 9, 2010

Three Cool Things

1. My friend and fabulous author Laura Moore has the cover art now for her new book, Believe in Me--coming January 26, 2011!! This is the second in her Rosewood Trilogy. I loved book one, Remember Me, and am anxious for this one to hit the shelves, too! (But look at that poor man on the cover...having to wear a shirt in the heat like that. I do wish--for his own sake, of course--that we could convince him to remove it completely. ;)

2. I totally love being one of the lucky "Beta Testers" that Starbucks sends coffee treats to on occasion...LOVE it! Especially when I get a box on my doorstep with more VIA® Ready Brew (you all already know what a fan I am :) AND, to my surprise and delight, the new Starbucks VIA® Iced Coffee! It is GREAT!! (And, no, they didn't tell me to say that. They do not, in fact, even know I'm blogging about it, but I was excited and wanted to share.) I checked it out online and came across this coupon for $1.00 off a 5-pack (good until 8-29-10, reg. price $5.95), just in case anyone is inclined to try it for themselves. Or...

3. You could simply win this Friday Mornings at Nine T-shirt & Starbucks VIA® Coffee package* from me! Why? All together now: Because it's a Friday morning at NINE and I've grown really attached to hosting giveaways then :). I'll pick the winner next Wednesday, the 14th, from those who leave a comment in this post. If you don't win this time, don't worry, there will be more drawings soon...AND, if you're going to be at the RWA National Conference in Orlando, stop by my table during the Wednesday night Literacy Signing and I'll just give you a coffee packet!!

Okay, that's it for me. I'm headed offline for much of the weekend to write, write, write, but I'll be thinking about you all and wishing you a relaxing few days. Anyone got fun plans??

*Coffee package includes Starbucks VIA® 3-pack Italian Roast (regular), 3-pack Italian Roast (decaf), 3-pack Colombia (regular), and 2 individual servings of Iced VIA® (sweetened). YUM!!

17 comments:

Pamela Cayne said...

What a lovely way to start my Friday! I only wished I drank coffee so I could get more excited about the Starbucks VIA, but I think I'll do okay with Laura's new book! ;-)

This weekend? Writing, shopping for last minute things for Nationals, and maybe some pre-packing. I'm going to need a nap!

Virginia C said...

Hi, Marilyn! Happy Summer : ) The cover for "Believe in Me" has certainly made a believer out of me--yes, indeed!!!

Thank you for a very generous giveaway! Since coffee is one of my four food groups (the other three are chocolate, cheese, and cookies), anyone who gives away coffee and related goodies is the soul of beneficence! I know that you love ice cream. Coffee is my all-time favorite ice cream flavor!!! Stay cool : )

gcwhiskas at aol dot com

Edie Ramer said...

I gotta agree about the cover. Much too hot for a shirt.

Your coffee gifts make me wish I drank coffee. I'm a tea drinker, but I am a reader.

Happy writing this weekend!

Laura Moore said...

Marilyn,

You are the best! Thank you so much for putting my book cover on your terrific blog and thanks Pamela, Virginia, and Edie for the nice comments about it. The guy is pretty fine, I have to say. Luckily, the hero of Believe in Me just happens to be tall, dark and handsome!

Thanks again to you, Marilyn, I've become a huge fan of Starbuck's Via. Do you know that you can mix it into shakes--chocolate for instance? Delicious!

Take care,

Laura

Marilyn Brant said...

Pamela~Happy Friday to you!! Prepping for the conference makes me sleepy, too ;). Hope you have as restful of a weekend as possible!

Virginia~Isn't that cover great?! Glad to know another coffee lover (I'm a fan of tea, too, though :), and OF COURSE chocolate, cheese and cookies!!!!

Edie~I'm a beverage gal and drink coffee, tea, hot cocoa...all with great abandon ;). Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

LAURA!!! You are SO welcome! I saw that cover and thought--THIS must be shared!! And I'm so glad you like the VIA, too! It's so good with chocolate. (Okay, just about everything is good with chocolate...)

Okay, back to work for me. Hugs to you all!

Anonymous said...

OMG I love you for sharing that coupon!!!!

Tonya Kappes said...

I'm glad you're taking the weekend to write, write, write! It's hard to do that.

I have my local RWA board meeting and meeting after with romance suspense author Jeanne Adams giving us the low down on how to despose of those nasty dead bodies! So what if I get excited about DEAD peeps!!!!

Judy Croome | @judy_croome said...

I agree whole heartedly that the guy on the cover should remove his shirt completely - for health reasons, of course, but off it must come!!! :)
Judy

Robin said...

Hope you're having a nice weekend, Marilyn! We're enjoying a lazy day today and then it's baseball tomorrow. Love Laura's cover - congrats to her!

Pamala Knight said...

Laura's cover is gorgeous!

The Starbucks folks are showing their smarts by continuing their relationship with the greatest coffee lover ever (that means you dear, lol) and sending out the new VIA samples. To Edie's tea-drinking point, when can we expect a tea blend from Starbucks?

miriama said...

Iced Via? That sounds delicious! I am going to have to check that out.

Thank you so much for sharing the coupon!

Anonymous said...

Okay, so if we know you, and you know Laura, and she knows the photographer, and he/she knows the dude in the shirt - don't we get to have a little meet-n-greet with the dude in the shirt, all of us very closely related people???

Mhm. :)

Anonymous said...

ps, that was spj

Anonymous said...

Hot cover!

I like the Colombia better than the Italian Roast - medium roast needs less half and half than dark roast. The single serving/traveling size is excellent though. And I'm got to try it iced although I prefer no-calorie sweeteners.

Thanks for having this contest!

cories119[at]yahoo.com

Marilyn Brant said...

*waving* Thanks so much to all of you for stopping by!!

Tina~glad you liked the coupon, Starbucks Girl!

Tonya~Jeanne Adams is so nice, I'll be that was a fabulous meeting!

Judy~I see we are of one mind--LOL!! I just adore Laura's cover, but I'm so, so *concerned* about that cover model...sigh.

Robin~Hope the game went well!! xo

Pamala~A tea blend...Mmmmmm, that would be GREAT! Fingers crossed they'll do that for us sometime soon ;).

Miriama~I thought the Iced VIA was quite good--sweetened just enough, IMO (a bit too sweet for my husband, though, who drinks his coffee black), and I found it really easy to prepare. If you like the regular VIA, I think it's worth a try!

SPJ~You are nothin' if not TOTALLY logical, my friend!!!! LOVE the way you think! xo

Cories~I prefer the Colombia to the Italian Roast, too (!!), but we're in the minority, I think. I hosted a taste test last summer with the regular VIA and the Italian was more popular (at least in my informal poll). Personally, I think the nutty flavor of the Colombia blends esp. well with chocolate, and I drink it mixed with cocoa fairly often ;).

Sunnymay said...

I love knowing how regular Friday Mornings at 9 will be. It gives me another place to go hang out. There's a book called Tuesdays with Morrie and this has a similar feel.

Marilyn Brant said...

Aw, thanks, Sunnymay!! I'm so glad you decided to stop in. And I really enjoyed Tuesdays with Morrie, too--both the book and the film. It's rather different thematically from my upcoming novel, but it's quite flattering to have my book compared to such a popular story! :)