Hello, all! Today is my birthday, and to celebrate, I’m hosting three giveaways for copies of my novels.
One giveaway is right here. Just comment on this post between now and Friday the 27th at 5PM EDT with your personal favorite birthday tradition: a food you like to eat, a restaurant you visit, some media you partake of, or so on. One lucky commenter will get a copy of all of my Ree Reyes ebooks so far: Geekomancy, Celebromancy, Attack the Geek.
Next, if you sign up for my mailing list, you’ll be entered to win a set of the Ree Reyes ebooks or a copy of The Younger Gods. Everyone signed up by Friday at noon will be entered to win.
And third – I’ve posted a giveaway on r/fantasy here. I’ll give away two copies of Shield and Crocus as well as a copy of The Younger Gods.
Also, I reserve the right to give away additional prizes because I feel like it. 🙂
When I was younger I would always try to get my friends together for a night of gaming and possibly bad movies. It is a little harder now that we are all in out 30’s but there is no better way to celebrate a birthday that with some friends and some games.
That sounds like an excellent tradition! Nothing like some games and bad movies to strengthen the bonds of friendship. Because after a movie as bad as Manos: Hands of Fate, you need friends to make sense of the world again. 🙂
My partner and I were both born in July. Rather than plan multiple parties or worry about gifts, we hold an annual barbeque and bonfire. There’s a ton of food, badminton, board games, homemade marshmallows, and a kiddie pool filled with craft beer and cider.
Happy Birthday, Michael!
That sounds wonderful! I am a huge fan of barbeques and bonfires. Also, I may need to steal the booze kiddie pool idea – that’s brilliant.
Happy Birthday!
Since I met my husband, my birthday (mid December) tradition has been walking from center city Philadelphia to South Street and wandering shop to shop. There’s nifty coffee house on 4th we like to go to, and we stop in every curiosity/thrift shop along the way. Sometimes we’ll get dinner. It’s wonderful to spend the day with my husband, doesn’t cost a lot of $ and good exercise!
How cool! That sounds like an excellent tradition – fun, thrifty, and romantic!
Always try and have a day out somewhere but the main birthday tradition is DO NOT WORK ON YOUR BIRTHDAY
Right there with you. I took the day off and had a wonderful relaxing time.
In recent years, it has become a tradition to watch Time Bandits with my family in the evening after all the festivities have come to a close. It’s one of my all time favourite movies, and it is an excellent way to unwind at the end of the day.
Also, there is no cake; there is only Key Lime Pie.
I am two-thumbs-up on birthday movie festivities. I should think about what movie I’d want to be my birthday celebration film. The Princess Bride, Star Wars, or The Court Jester are probably the leading contenders.
Happy birthday!! These days, the tradition I’m most fond of is going out to our local “fancy” Italian restaurant. But when I was a kid, my mom always had a cake and a family party, and since my birthday is in July, those were some great parties! A fish fry from our freezer (that my dad caught from the lake – the fish, not the freezer, LOL) , along with corn on the cob and loads of other fresh veggies from my dad’s garden. All the local cousins and aunts and uncles gathered around and the kids all spilled out into the yard. Those were some great times, and I miss them.
How cool! Thanks so much for sharing that story – there’s nothing I love quite so much as a big gathering of friends and family.
My parents used to take me out to this Portuguese restaurant where I would get this AMAZING Portuguese steak. If you haven had one before, it’s basically sliced/whole red-peppers and sunny-side up eggs on the top of the steak, with sliced (or cubed) white potatoes around in, sitting in the plate the juice that the steak was cooked with. Word’s don’t do it justice. It is delicious.
Only go there once a year though (for obvious health reasons).
That sounds *amazing* Yes perhaps not so healthy, but *amazing*.
Firefly marathons. Unfortunately just enough episodes to watch the whole run in one weekend.
Last year, my daughter decided that since I was working so much, we were going to have a Firefly marathon for my birthday, well the Saturday after the day actually. So we watched the whole run, ate a lot of popcorn. Had a talk halfway through about how it wasn’t Kaylee’s fault that the ship broke–because she did tell Mal to get her the right parts. And how yes, my daughter could be a starship mechanic, if only that was a common thing, that it wasn’t a “boy” job. “Actually,” she said ten minutes later, “I think I’d rather be Zoe. She kicks ass.”
It was a really good birthday.
Keith – that is a triple-layer cake of awesome – and I wholeheartedly support Firefly Marathons, having been to a lovely one a few years back. And it sounds like you are doing a fine fine job of Geek Parenting. 🙂
Oh she’s ahead of the curve on that. My wife finished her doctorate last year and then bought a blue hatchback, and so of course that’s the TARDIS, because every Doctor has to have a TARDIS. Her mother is a geek of the more epic fantasy and Star Wars sort. I prefer weird and urban fantasy. Opposites attract, they say. 🙂
My favorite birthday tradition is gaming. Whether it ends up being board games or role playing games, nothing says happy birthday to me better than a good old monster stomping.
The best version of this was put on by my wife this past year for my golden birthday and it is a set of memories that I am still cherishing!
Yay, gamer birthday! I’ve got a few new games I’m hoping to pull out next weekend for the weather-delayed birthday party – King of Tokyo and Lords of Waterdeep. Plus probably some Slash, because it’s hilarious.
For every birthday I get a book. Seriously, it’s the only consistent thing about my birthday. It’s in October, and I’ve had years where none of my friends was in town, years where I was too broke to go out anywhere, years where my damn birthday was completely forgotten by my family – but I’ve always managed to get a new book. I count on that.
That is a lovely constant to have. My birthday book this year was Javier Grillo-Marxuach’s SHOOT THIS ONE, which I look forward to digging into soon.
For my birthday we always go to the Mexican restaurant in my small town for dinner. We know the owners pretty well, so they like to stick a cheesy sombrero on my head and sing Happy Birthday. The food is delicious, the company wonderful.
Cheesy Sombrero? That sounds dangerously delicious. And how cool to be known and welcomed by the owners for that birthday tradition.