Give the Gift of Books this Christmas … and My Christmas Gift to You!

For me, Christmas and books go hand in hand. Every year when I was growing up, my parents would ask me what I wanted. And every year, I asked for books. And more books. I recall one or two old snapshots in the photo album where I’m sitting behind a stack of books that’s nearly as tall as I am.

Books are one of those rare gifts that keeps on giving. They’re not something that you use once and forget about. Every time you pick up a book and re-read it, it’s like visiting an old friend. And Christmas and gifts books also carry the added draw of nostalgia and special memories.

I am a notorious book-gifter. There was one Christmas a few years back when I realized only after my family had started unwrapping their presents that I had given every single one of them a book of some sort. (Since then, I’ve tried to broaden my horizons a wee bit. There’s nothing so dull as predictability after all.) But honestly, it does make sense. Gifts are meant to come from the heart, and when you love books enough to hunt down just the right sort of book for each person, it’s that much more special.

And when you guys decide to give your friends one of my books, well, that just makes me all sorts of ridiculously happy and honored and humbled too. So, I decided that I wanted to give you a gift as well.

My Gift to You

The one thing that people ask me about the most is a map of Leira. I’ve had a sketch drawn up for several years now, and it’s been through almost as many revisions as the books themselves. But I decided that it was time for me to grit my teeth, dive into the work, and turn my sketch into something worth sharing …

That’s right, Houston we have a map.

So between now and the end of the year, if you purchase a copy of Orphan’s Song or Out of Darkness Rising to give as a gift, I will mail you your very own copy of this luverly beauty below (granted, this is just a sneak peek) printed on gorgeous natural paper and a MP3 song of your choice!

Because music and the Songkeeper Chronicles and Christmas go hand in hand.

How do you claim your gift?

It’s easy. Simply send me an email at thesongkeeper@gmail.com with a copy of your receipt and your mailing address, and I will ship it off to you.

But there’s more. Not only will you get a copy of the map and a brand new song to grace your ipod, your name will also be entered into a drawing for one of the first digital ARC copies of Songkeeper, book two. *grins* High stakes, my friends. High stakes.

Now on to my real Christmas gift …

If you haven’t yet joined my newsletter, now is the time to do so, because on Christmas Eve, all of my newsletter subscribers will receive a bright, new, shiny email in their inbox delivering a sneak peek at the first chapter of Songkeeper!

That’s right, my dears, you could be one of the first readers of chapter one.

If you haven’t read Orphan’s Song yet, I should probably warn you that there will be some simply lovely spoilers in chapter one of Songkeeper. So to save yourself from the peril of discovering something simply dreadful, read Orphan’s Song first and then sign up for my newsletter before Christmas Eve in order to read chapter one of book two.

Now that I have (hopefully) whetted your appetite for Christmas Eve, I’m curious, what is the best bookish Christmas gift you have ever received?