Fun Surprises in My Mailbox

You know how a surprise in your mailbox always - well as long as it isn't a surprise bill - makes your day? Well, this week has been the week for fun surprises in my mailbox, and they truly got me through an exhausting, stressful week.  So I thought I'd share a few of them with you.

First of all is the new haiku collection from my friend Ginny and her co-author, Diane. I think I shared my last one with you here; it was called RESKU and they included poems about shelter dogs with a collection of the most beautiful pictures. This one is HORSEKU and the poems are so fun. These poetic woman went covered everything from zebras to unicorns in the horse family.

Here's a look inside the book, so you have some idea of how they set these up.

I have several animal-loving people on my Christmas list who will be getting one of these books for Christmas this year. I've also had several people ask me about them since I started showing off my RESKU book, so if you want any further info let me know and I'll get you in touch with Ginny.

My next prize wasn't so much a sur-prise because I knew it was coming. My friend David is a manager at MURDER BY THE BOOK in Houston. While I don't get to "see" him very often, I get to chat with him regularly on Twitter. And this is how I order books: "David, can you send me a copy of [fill in the blank]?" And he says, "sure Jen." Then, usually less than a week later the book(s) is in my mailbox. Well, I needed to get my GLASS RAINBOW (have you gotten yours?), and David had signed copies at his store, so I did my little ordering process and this time David said, "can I sell you another book?" O.k., those of you who know me, know this is a silly question, but I said, "oh, I'm sure you can." This is what he sold me:

All David told me was that it was a mystery set in a bookstore in Ireland. Yeah, I know, I'm a hard sell. Anyway, how in the world can you resist a book whose subtitle is "Murder, Mayhem & Damn Sexy Trousers"? I started reading the first few pages and I can tell this is going to be funny. I don't foresee it being totally awe-inspiring but rather completely entertaining. AND, how about this? The trousers? LEATHER! Let the "hemming leather pants" searches begin again! Ha!

MYSTERY MAN is a great example of the value of the indie bookstore. This is a UK publication and I probably would not have ever known about it without David's recommendation. What a treasure trove we have in our indie stores!

Next on my list of prizes in the mail this week:

This title rocks, this cover rocks and IT'S MOE PRAGER!! This bad boy comes out the beginning of October, and let me tell you how much I would love to be in New York for the book launch. Rest assured you will hear more about INNOCENT MONSTER and Reed Farrel Coleman on the blog as October approaches.

And last, and possibly most dear, is this prize:

This was the BIGGEST surprise of all. I had no idea it was coming until it showed up and the gifter caught me completely off guard, warming my heart immensely. I'm sure it's hard to see on this little picture, but the cover of the CD box is signed by Don Winslow. While this gift is amazingly wonderful, what is even more wonderful to me is the fact that my friend who sent it thought about me for no reason in particular. Aren't those just the greatest gifts ever? It was a reminder, when things seem overwhelming and discouraging, I am still beyond blessed in this lifetime.

I hope you had a week full of fun surprises, no matter how they were packaged. And I hope this week brings you even more!

Happy Reading.