Winners!!!

I'm sorry for the delay but it's time to announce the winners:

Huge Giveaway: Ally (from Myspace)

Romance/Paranormal giveaway: Amber (two books) and Cheryl (one book)

I wrote all of you, so if you are seeing this go and check your email. If you didn't win, I'm sorry but thanks for playing along and buying Willow (if you did) and if you didn't buy Willow...what are you waiting for??

Also, I'd be happy to post your reviews on this site or any thoughts you had about the book, so get in touch.

Our First Reader Review: Leave Your Thoughts!

Gandy is a reader from the Willow Myspace (didn't know there was one? I started a fan "site" if you will...link at the bottom) and once she finished the book, she was kind enough to give me her thoughts. If you have NOT read Willow yet and do NOT want to have any spoilers, I wouldn't read this...but I know a lot of you have already read it, so check it out and leave your thoughts for Gandy!!

I don't even know where to start....the book was full of emotion. Just imagining this young woman cutting herself made me shed a tear or two. I loved how her relationship with Guy grew into beautiful love. I also shed a tear or two when her brother finally opened up to her. I especially loved the end when she was strong enough to let the blades go into the water.



I would really be interested in a sequel. I'd like to see their relationship blossom and see how her brother handles it when he finds out and see how counseling can help her....I know there are young women out there who cut themselves...it's great that this book is out there. It just might help them to stop!!

http://www.myspace.com/willowbyjuliahoban

Winner of Penguin Pack!

Thanks for posting everyone. The winner of the Penguin prize pack is Megan! I emailed her, so please get in touch ASAP so I can pass your info along. If not, I'll have to find a new winner.

I hope you all are planning on buying Willow. You still have time to enter the HUGE giveaway. You know you want too!!

Julia Hoban Speaks Out: Thank You!

Writing WILLOW was difficult, but truly expressing my thanks to everyone who contributed to this site is impossible! I wish I could say just how much all of this has meant to me, but honestly, words fail me.

It is nothing less than incredible that a group of people, none of whom have ever met me, have come together, and put such thought, effort, and energy into celebrating my book.
Some readers have said to me that my character Guy is a little too caring, a little too compassionate. It's not a comment without merit, but my reply has always been that I based him on my husband.

Now however, when someone asks me if there are people who are really that good, I will point them here. Because, the best answer to the question "Is it really possible for someone to be that kind, that generous to a complete stranger?" is simply "Have you seen GettingtoknowWillow.blogspot.com?"

The Party Shall Live On!

I said this in a past post, but in case some people didn't see it...you have this week to finish reading all the posts and leaving a comment to enter the Penguin Prize Pack (details for that in the first post!) End date: April 10

Sharonanne has a guest post, and I forgot to put an end time to that...so I'll just make it April 10 as well!

Thank you to all the bloggers and authors who donated a review, guest post, prize, etc. to make this a fun party for Julia and everyone else. I really do hope you will go out and buy a copy of Willow. I did, and I'm so stoked to have a finalized version, even though I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy (Thanks, Julia!)

Remember, you have until April 30 to buy a copy and send in proof to enter for TWO romance/paranormal books of your choose from the list and also to be entered for the HUGE giveaway of gift cards and other books.

Spread the word about Willow and this blog, as it's not going anywhere after the party is over. To keep the love living on, I'm willing to post any or your thoughts and reviews once you read Willow.

If you are a book reviewer, I'll re-post it if you send it to me and if you aren't, then consider this your shot to share your thoughts about the book! If you ever have any questions about Willow, leave them in a post and I'll try and find the answer for you, or maybe we can even do a future Q&A with Julia...just depends! So get out there and get the book. And follow this blog!

Alisa M. Libby on Debut Novels: Last Guest Blog

The Debut Novel

Let's pause for a moment and contemplate the immense accomplishment of the first novel. Writing is a largely solitary act, and while clicking away on your little keyboard in a dark and secluded chamber it's difficult to imagine that your words will one day be released to the larger world. Publication is, in my experience, by turns joyful and terrifying--sometimes both of those feelings at the very same time.

I've heard it said that it takes a person's entire life to write their first book. That said, let's raise our coffee mugs in cheers to Julia, for having accomplished this feat with Willow. Not only has Julia written her first novel, but she chose to tackle huge, dark, terrifying subjects in doing so. May we all be so brave as we click click click out our dreams, in the shadows.

Cheers to Julia, from Alisa M. Libby

Author of The King's Rose, a novel about King Henry VIII's fifth wife, and The Blood Confession.

http://www.alissalibby.com/

Sharonanne Guest Blog + Contest!!

The loss of a parent during childhood is something only those who have fully experienced it can understand. Losing a parent at such a young age leaves you with this feeling of emptiness than is difficult to describe. It is like you are normal one moment and the next a part of you is gone forever. Willow loses not one but two parents in an accident that she thinks is entirely her fault. Author Julia Hoban does a brilliant job In Willow of making Willow’s grief real. Willow and her emotions leap out of the pages.

I probably found Willow so easy to relate to because of my own past. I was 11 when my father died suddenly from a heart attack. At the time I was so young and I thought that I did something to make him leave. Willow especially feels this way because she was driving the car when both of her parents were killed. Willow handles her feelings of guilt by cutting herself. For a while, in my early teens I handled my grief in much the same way.

This is not something that I usually to reveal to people for obvious reasons. However, I don’t think I can write this post about my own experiences with loss without mentioning it. I went through a very dark period in my early teens very much like Willow. I didn’t know how to release my emotions so instead of crying I would cut myself. Now years later I can look back on my past and see that my dad’s death was not my fault and that it is okay for me to express my emotions.

Willow really was a special book for me because of my past and I really cannot thank Julia enough for writing it! I only wish that it had come out 15 years ago.


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Thank you so much Sharonanne for sharing your story with us all!

If people comment on this guest blog, they will be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com

This is open to whoever Amazon ships too!

http://www.sharonlovesbooksandcats.blogspot.com/