An odd encounter

Found an odd white furry bug on my wall today.  Took a picture but it was so tiny, its hard to see.  Click on the pic to enlarge.

Anyone know what this critter is?  And if its harmful to plants?


EDIT: So, through the magic of Twitter, we've discovered that the odd white bug is actually the larval form of a ladybird beetle, a predatory beetle much like the ladybug.  They are also known as Mealybug Destroyers, because they eat the harmful mealybugs that like to munch on your plants. (They also look much like their prey; mealybugs are white and furry, too.)

So, mystery solved.  Learn something new everyday, right?

Iron Fey boxed set giveaway

The IRON LEGENDS is out today!

Exciting, isn't it?  Also very exciting, check out what I received on my doorstep today.

 

 

 

 

 

A couple pretty, individually wrapped Iron Fey box sets.  So, in honor of The Iron Legends release, I'm going to be giving one of these away.  But not just any box set, no.  Not only will you get the signed poster that comes with the set, lookee what I did to the box itself.

 

Yep, I signed the box.  In pretty gold ink.  The only one of its kind now.  Are you getting excited?  Here is the box set from a different angle.

 

And here is the back.

 

 

 

 

 

So, ready for the giveaway?  It's quite easy this time.  Since today is the release day for THE IRON LEGENDS, I want you to go out, get a copy, and take a picture of yourself with it.  Then send me the link in the comments or on twitter.   

 

Pretty easy, yes?  Unfortunately, since Iron Legends hasn't released internationally yet, I realize it will be harder for some people to participate, but I'll still make this international.  Contest will run until September 22nd, and the winner will be decided via Random.org. 

 

 

(Pictures of Kindle/Nook/Kobo editions also count.  As does a pic of an order confirmation, if you're afraid the book won't get there in time.)

 

 

Remember, your picture should be of you and Iron Legends, which is this book here, not the boxed set, which is not out yet.

 

 

Everyone got that?  Okay, good luck!  I'll be waiting for your pictures.  :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

The Iron Legends blog tour: Summer Court

The Iron Legends blog tour kicks off!





With a visit from Puck of the Summer Court.  Go to Pageturner's blog here: here for a chance to win some cool prizes, and to have Puck regale you with is favorite places to go in Arcadia.

One week until Iron Legends!

Which Court do you belong to?



Iron Legends Contest winners

Gaaaaaaaaah.

Okay, you guys.  You make it SERIOUSLY HARD to choose just three winners.  Every single entry was beyond fabulous, and I was amazed at the love shown for certain characters ( especially a certain ice prince, lol).  I want to give you ALL a prize.  Alas, I do not have 182 copies of Iron Legends to give away, so I must stick with just three.  But you all did such awesome work, you should be very proud of yourselves.  It took me over an hour to finally pick the three winners, which are...

Louisse Ang (Louisse_ang@yahoo.com)
Liselle (roseliagreen33@gmail)
Nicole Lily (Nicolexx@live.com)

So yes, you three will be recieving emails from me very soon.  Or you can just email me your mailing addresses so I can send you shiny new copies of The Iron Legends. 

For everyone else, thank you again for entering.  And don't worry, there will be more contests/giveaways on the horizon.  In fact, I just got several extra Japanese versions of The Iron King, so there might be a special contest for those coming soon.  Keep your eyes peeled.  :)

-Julie

A tribute to Sniper Cat.

It is with great sadness that I announce that our wonderful orange, one-eyed kitty Sniper lost his battle with cancer today.  He was diagnosed with Lymphoma earlier in the year after we noticed his eye getting cloudy and swollen.  His eye was removed, and we'd hoped that the cancer was contained soley in the eye, but a couple months later lumps started appearing on his chest and face, and we knew his time was about done. 

He was put on medication to slow the spread of the cancer, but we knew it was only buying him time and that eventually, we'd have to let him go.  He had one more good month full of love and treats and spoiling, before his health went rapidly downhill  and he began to deteriorate.  Today, we made the desicion all pet owners dread: to end his pain and let him go gently into that eternal sleep. 

I cried the entire time.


But, as the great Dr. Seuss said: "Don't cry because its over, smile because it happened."  And though we will miss Sniper cat terribly, we had six wonderful years with him, and he will always be in our memories.  So this is a tribute to our awesome one-eyed kitty who loved life, and a reminder to love those furry family members who share your world. 

Our boy.

Sniper in his box.

An early pic of Sniper before he lost his eye, with his best friend, Shinobi.

We'll miss you, Sniper cat.

Love, your humans.

Kawaiiiiiiiiiiii!!!

MEEP!

Look what came today!

The Japanese versions of The Iron King!

Aren't they awesome!?!  I love them!  There are two different covers because the book is split into two volumes.  I love the one of Ash in his "long black coat."  The artist got him down perfectly.

Sadly, I don't have any extra ones I can give away, though I did also get a few of these little beauties:

So I will be doing something with these Grimmy bookmarks soon-ish, maybe a contest or a giveaway, so keep checking back here or on Twitter.


-Julie

Signing this Sat. at Joseph Beth

Just a quick note:

I will be at the Joseph Beth Bookstore in Cincinnati this Saturday, along with 8 other YA authors including Rae Carson, Saundra Mitchell, and Sara Rees Brennan, for BEACHY KEEN II.  There will be much fun, laughter, and general hilarity, so you should totally come and see us. 

Also there will be SWAG BAGS.  Containing a copy of THE IRON LEGENDS and lots of other cool things.  So...incentive!

Check out the event here: http://www.josephbeth.com/KidsEvents.aspx

Saturday, August 4th at 1pm.  Hope to see you there!