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UPDATE:  Random.org went to work and the winners are:  Michelle Harlan and Lynn A. Reynolds.  Congrats!

CLAIMED has officially been released and is out in the wild.  I can’t tell you how much I’ve appreciated the emails sent to me about Dage and Emma’s story—as well as the nice reviews put up on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads.  To celebrate, I’d like to give away two books today—either Fated or Claimed—winner’s choice.  (So there will be two winners, and they each get to choose one book.)

Halloween has past, and I’ve been removing some decorations and putting up pumpkins.  Well, and I’ve been waiting for snow.  It was to have arrived last night, and it’s late.  The vampires in the Dark Protector series are warm blooded, so the snow doesn’t bother them much.  It doesn’t bother me much either.  I’m a firm believer in warm boots and hot chocolate—as well as reading indoors.

But, I have learned a very tough lesson in that I can’t read on the treadmill.  Not that a good book doesn’t occupy my mind.  But my feet are dangerous on their own. 

They need to be watched.

The truly frightening part of what I’m going to tell you is that it’s happened before.  I have fallen off a treadmill many times.  Yeah, I’m a klutz.  So I knew better.  When my sister had free passes to a gym in town and asked me to go with her, I should’ve said no.  I knew even as the words “sure, sounds fun,” fell out of my mouth, that I should say no.

But I didn’t say no.

I went to the gym, fully determined to run for at least thirty minutes as I’m trying REALLY hard to get back into shape.  So I jumped on the treadmill, stuck my earphones around my ears, and blasted cardio music.  Then I made the ultimate mistake.  I opened the book I’ve been dying to read.

All was well for about twenty minutes.  Then…my left shoe caught on the side edge.  I wobbled.  My toe turned inward.  I bent at the waist.  I reached for the wonderful book, and my hands slipped on the book rest.

I windmilled.

Then, like so many times before, I went kalunck, thunk, wack.  If you’ve never had a burn mark on your butt from falling on a still running treadmill, well then, consider yourself lucky.  The only, and I mean only, saving grace of this situation was that my sister jumped into action and yanked the safety cord of the treadmill.  Keep in mind that she was laughing so hard tears literally dropped onto my knee.

Also, just so you fully appreciate the story, I should add that there was a group of on-leave, very hot, army guys pumping iron to the side.  And yeah, they saw the whole thing.  One even winked.  WINKED!

So, as I sit here on my still smarting hiney, I hope I’ve brought a smile to your snowy day.  (Or sunny day, depending on where you are.)  Please leave a comment for a chance to win a book.  Have you ever fallen off a treadmill?  Or, do you have any fun winter plans?  Or even better, what do you imagine a hot-blooded vampire could do with a snow day?   :)