By now, most of you will know I don’t need much of an excuse to be celebrating something Blackthorn related, but this truly is a special day for me. Three years ago today, Blood Shadows, the first book in my Blackthorn series, was published.
Someone asked me earlier how I was feeling three years ago today. The honest answer? A nervous wreck! But it was also an incredible day. Believe it or not, Blackthorn was actually sixteen years old by that point – it had been a labour of love whilst I held down a teaching job and worked on other books in the years that passed. At the time, I had no intention of attempting to get it published. Instead, I wrote it for the love of writing it – and I just couldn’t stop.
Blackthorn has come a very long way since then – and my readers have been a HUGE part of making that happen. So, to say a big thank you for all your support, I ran a giveaway this week both here and on Facebook. Thank you for the amazing response and to everyone who entered – whether via email, this blog, or Facebook. Congratulations to everyone who has won and, for anyone left disappointed, giveaways happen throughout the year so keep a look out! I’m already plotting my Jask-related giveaway for Blood Instinct next year. 😉
And the winners are (you’ve won the prize above your name)…
WINNERS – PLEASE EMAIL ME with your postal address. For those of you who have won signed prizes, don’t forget to let me know if you’d like them signed personally to you! And congrats again! 😀
And to finish, for those of you who have never seen it, I thought I’d share the book trailer that launched not only Blood Shadows but my Blackthorn series. The soundtrack Bookouture chose is called ‘Superhero’ by Tim McMorris. (Oh, and don’t be thrown by the original cover!)
Three years ago this week, Blackthorn was launched. Blood Shadows, my debut novel, was released by Bookouture on 27th November 2012. Since then, Blackthorn has gone on to sell in six figures, with over three thousand four and five star reviews. And it’s thanks to yourreviews and your support that the final four books in the Blackthorn series were signed last year, as well as Blackthorn being discovered by Tantor Media who converted the first three books to audio.
My readers are such an important part of Blackthorn so, to mark the occasion and to say a massive thank you to everyone who has supported me, I decided to launch the biggest Blackthorn giveaway to date.
If you’re a big Blackthorn fan, this is your chance to get your hands on some Blackthorn treats – some of which are limited editions, never to be repeated. The full list of items is below, with a brief description of each. They’re listed in no particular order.
HOW TO ENTER
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is tell me:
HOW YOU DISCOVERED BLACKTHORN
AND
WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THE SERIES.
It’s that simple! You can leave your answers:
in the comment section below, or
on my Facebook page (where I’m simultaneously running the giveaway), or
The giveaway is open NOW and closes Thursday 26th November at midnight (UK time). Entries after this time will not be eligible.
HOW WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN
Anyone is eligible to enter. All entries will be assigned an entry number. Numbers will be selected using a random generator and winners will be announced this Friday evening (27th) to mark the official anniversary.
As with all Blackthorn giveaways, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are – the prizes can be posted anywhere. One of the winners in the last giveaway was on the other side of the world in New Zealand!
BONUS ENTRY NUMBERS
You can only enter your answer ONCE, but for the first time ever in a giveaway, I’m going to give you the chance to win more than one prize as well as increase your chances of winning.
Whilst ensuring I don’t exclude anyone from entering, this is ultimately a thank you giveaway so I wanted to include something extra to show my appreciation to everyone who has gone that extra step to support me and Blackthorn. So, if any of the following apply to you, tell me in your answer and your name will be entered more than once.
Let me know if you:
Have liked my Facebook page, follow me on social media, or follow this blog. This is worth one bonus entry.
Have left a review for a Blackthorn book on Amazon, Goodreads or any other relevant review site. This is worth one bonus entry.
Have left reviews for all five Blackthorn books. This is worth two bonus entries.
That means any one person can have their name entered up to FOUR TIMES which not only increases their chances of winning but means they could win up to four different prizes.
So it’s clear, here are some examples:
“I discovered Blackthorn on Amazon. I really like the plot twists.” Your name will be entered once.
“I discovered Blackthorn on Amazon. I really like the plot twists. I follow your blog.” Your name will be entered twice.
“I discovered Blackthorn on Amazon. I really like the plot twists. I’ve liked your Facebook page and I’ve reviewed all five Blackthorn books.” Your name will be entered four times.
THE PRIZES
As it’s three years since the release of Blood Shadows…
PRIZE ONE – TWO SIGNED PAPERBACKS
ABOVE: There is one prizeof a signed paperback copy of bothBlood Shadows AND Blood Roses. These books have the original covers, as per the launch in 2012. The covers were created by top UK cover designer Henry Steadman who has designed covers for international bestselling authors such as Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell and Dan Brown. Less than fifteen signed copies of each are in circulation. I will never again be giving away signed copies of the original books, so these are a real collector’s item for avid Blackthorn fans!
PRIZE TWO – ONE SIGNED AUDIOBOOK
ABOVE: There is one prize of a signed Blood Shadows unabridged audiobook, narrated by British award-winning actress Anne Flosnik and produced by Tantor Media. The audiobook consists of 10 discs and has a running time of 12 hours. This is the last time a signed Blood Shadows audiobook will be given away.
And now that we’ve come full-circle with Blackthorn’s latest release marking a revisit to Kane and Caitlin…
PRIZE THREE – A2 SIGNED ‘BLOOD DARK’ POSTER
ABOVE: There is one prize of a one-off, signed Blood Dark poster featuring Kane. The poster is a superb, high-quality A2 poster print on satin 200gm paper.
PRIZE FOUR – A SIGNED PAPERBACK COPY OF ‘BLOOD DARK’
ABOVE: There is one prize of a signed paperback copy of Blood Dark. Book length: 398 pages.
And to celebrate three years of Blackthorn…
PRIZE FIVE – A HEART-HANDLED MUG (BLACKTHORN COVERS)
ABOVE: There is one prize of a Blackthorn mug featuring the first four covers (new covers as per the relaunch).
PRIZE SIX – A HEART-HANDLED MUG (BLACKTHORN HEROES)
ABOVE: There is one prize of a limited-edition (never to be reproduced) Blackthorn mug featuring Blackthorn’s four heroes.
PRIZE SEVEN – SIGNED POSTCARD AND KEYRING
ABOVE: There are three prizes of a signed Blackthorn high-quality postcard and keyring, featuring the Blackthorn logo as designed by Henry Steadman.
PRIZE EIGHT: A SET OF FOUR SIGNED POSTCARDS
ABOVE: There are three prizes of a set of four Blackthorn high-quality postcards featuring the first four book covers. Each will be signed by me.
PRIZE NINE – A SET OF FOUR BLACKTHORN HERO STICKERS
ABOVE: There are two prizes of a set of Blackthorn hero stickers. These are waterproof and all-weather vinyl stickers designed to last forever and can be used on everything from iPhones to bikes. They measure 74mm x 52mm. Each winner will receive one set containing all four heroes.
That’s it!
Good luck to everyone who enters! And thank you again to everyone who is supporting my series. I’ll be back on Friday to announce the winners! Have a great week! xxx
Friday 27th November marks three years since Blackthorn was first published. As I can’t let that go by without marking the occasion, I’ll be launching a special anniversary giveaway on Monday. Here’s a sneak peek of a few things to expect:
I hope you’ll join in the fun when the time comes! I already have readers on Facebook trying to guess what’s in store from the images above. It should be a good one! xxx
It’s great to be featuring in the ‘Celebrity Interviews’ section of Female First today – the UK’s largest independently-owned online women’s lifestyle magazine.
Avid readers of my blog might recognise this (slightly) adapted version of a previous post…
Blackthorn: A Dark and Twisted Fairytale?
If you have a few minutes, you can read the feature here.
It’s been an amazing day for Blackthorn, but I’m not sure how much I deserve it this week! I’ve been mercilessly teasing my readers on my Facebook page (after doing the same to the Into the World of Blackthorn group first) when I asked them this question:
You can only wear ONE T-shirt. Which do you choose?
Kane dies, we riot.
Caleb dies, we riot.
Jask dies, we riot.
Eden dies, we riot.
I think the main problem was the statement I posted at the end:
Think carefully because there could be serious repercussions!
In the words of Colette: “Lindsay I think it’s safe to say you just might have a riot on your hands now for suggesting that kind of madness…”
Well, I think I nearly did!
Now obviously I’m not really cruel enough to make anyone choose between them. After all, their fate was marked out years ago as most of you well know… 😉
Anyway, in between me working on BLOOD INSTINCT today, things started getting busy for Blackthorn in Amazon’s charts after Bookouture ran some promo for my series.
For the first time ever, Blood Shadows not only hit #1 in both Amazon’s U.K. and U.S. Gothic Romance chart at the same time…
…but it also simultaneously hit #1 in both the U.K. and the U.S. Paranormal Vampire Romance chart too.
Blood Shadows even reached #3 in the overall Paranormal Romance chart AND #23 in the main Romance chart (thanks for pointing that one out, Fiona)!
On top of that, Blood Shadows entered the Top 100 on Amazon.com’s main charts, reaching #66. It also broke into the Top 20 in Amazon’s Canadian main chart for the first time ever, and reached #1 in three paranormal sub genres there: Vampire Romance; Fantasy, Futuristic and Ghost Romance; as well as Werewolves and Shifter Romance (Blackthorn is nothing if not diverse). And we nearly, nearly got into the Top 200 in the U.K.
I was equally thrilled that Blackthorn as a series also entered the Top 100 on Amazon.com in three different charts: #15 in Most Popular Books in Paranormal Romance, #32 in Most Popular Books in Genre Literature and Fiction, and #82 in the Most Popular Books in Romance. 🙂
And it seemed we just couldn’t keep Kane down today as Blood Dark hit #1 in Top Rated Gothic Romance and #1 in Hot New Releases too!
APOLOGIES (sincerely) to anyone who has glazed over with all the numbers, but this was one of the best days Blackthorn has had. And to finish it off, Blackthorn was featured on My Guilty Obsession Book Blog‘s Facebook page after one of my lovely readers, Amanda Perrie, applied for them to put me in the author spotlight for the day – which included dedicating their banner to Blackthorn. Thanks so much, Amanda. And thank you too, My Guilty Obsession Book Blog, for hosting me. <3
I’d also like to say a massive thank you to my lovely street team who only just started this week but are already working busily in the background looking out for opportunities to give Blackthorn a shout out wherever they can. Thank you, Darklings! (If you’re a dedicated Blackthorn fan who loves being on social media, feel free to contact me if you’d like to find out more about the team.)
That’s it – no more chart talk! Thanks so much for bearing with me, and to everyone (including the wonderful team at Bookouture) who was a part of making this happen. Have a wonderful weekend! xxx
The most frequently asked question I’m getting through at the moment is about when will BLOOD INSTINCT be out. All I can tell you is that it’s currently in progress and Bookouture have it scheduled for release next year. I’ll share updates as soon as I can.
I know new readers are finding Blackthorn every day so, if you don’t already know, there’s an email sign-up option available for those who solely want to be notified whenever a new Blackthorn book is released. If you haven’t done so already, click here if you want to be sure not to miss the last three books in the series.
You can also keep in touch with all things Blackthorn by subscribing to this website (via the side bar), and/or by following my Facebook page. Both will give you access to stage-by-stage notifications and updates more regularly.
As well as that, there is now the ‘Into the World of Blackthorn’ Facebook group set up by – and for – readers who want to chat all things Blackthorn. It’s a very relaxed, fun, and interactive group, and I visit there regularly to post updates and answer questions as well as responding to readers’ requests such as letting you interview Blackthorn’s characters etc. Anyone who loves Blackthorn is welcome to join.
Thank you for all your queries. I know you’re keen to get your hands on your next installment as soon as possible, which is why I’m going to get right back to it!
Before I go though, I’m thrilled that BLOOD DARK hit the #1 spot on Amazon UK’s Gothic Romance chart again today. As always, thank you to every single person who continues to read, rate and review my books on sites such as Amazon. I know I’ve said it before, but you really do make a difference.
I’m uber-excited to have found out today that all five Blackthorn books are currently in the Top 10 in Gothic Romance on Amazon UK! A huge thank you to everyone who continues to read, review, and spread the word about Blackthorn – I really appreciate it. <3
Just over a week ago, I launched a giveaway asking you to let me know where in the world you are in order to be in with a chance of winning a signed paperback of Blood Dark.
Entries came in from all over the U.K. – from Wales to Northern Ireland, as far up as Inverness in Scotland, and throughout England from the North East to the North West and all the way down to the southern coast. The largest number of entries came from the U.S. and covered nineteen states – from Washington, Oregon and California right across to New York and Rhode Island. Entries also came in from Canada, Hawaii and even New Zealand on the other side of the world from here!
Huge thanks to everyone who joined in, whether it was via the comment section here, email, or via Facebook. Although it wasn’t essential for entry, I absolutely loved seeing all the pictures you sent through of where you were whilst reading Blood Dark – so thank you to everyone who shared those. There could only be two winners though.
Randomly drawn today, those winners are:
Massive congratulations, Dale and Lorrissa! Please either contact me here or privately message me via Facebook to pass on your address and I’ll have your signed copies of Blood Dark in the post to you asap. 🙂
And, of course, commiserations to anyone left disappointed by not winning this time, but look out for another giveaway coming in November for a special celebration!
If you haven’t already done so, you only have a few hours left to enter my giveaway to win a signed paperback of Blood Dark. Signed Blackthorn books are rarely given away, so grab the chance while you can! You can enter by clicking on this post, via email or via my Facebook page. Thank you to everyone who has entered so far. I’ll be announcing the two winners on Monday.
In my previous post, I shared what readers have been saying about Blood Dark and, this week, official blog reviews have continued to come through too. Here’s a huge thank you to:
“If you haven’t read the Blackthorn series from the very beginning, might I strongly suggest that you do that and soon…I will admit that before I dive into a new release in this series, I go back and re-read the previous stories so that the entire universe of Blackthorn flows like a movie to me. It’s what I do to immerse myself in this world that is not ours but unique to itself…I would highly recommend this story for anyone who knows the Blackthorn universe, anyone who enjoys a deep down experience of being sucked into another world and left breathless. No, that’s not an extreme thought and you’ll know that once you read Blood Dark.”
“I was figuratively biting my nails and holding my breath, racing through this book… It’s very well written. The tension and urgency is razor-blade sharp… Blood Dark made me very happy. It’s not sappy and it skirts a very fine line between PNR and UF… It’s dark, violent and genuinely suspenseful. Recommended.”
“This is one of the best dark and mysterious vampire paranormal series ever, and this the latest book does not disappoint at all. This is a rare book that keeps you burning the midnight oil as you just cannot put it down…The whole series is brilliantly written…I can honestly say that with hand on my heart if I could give this book more than a five star rating I would…the romance between Caitlin and Kane is sublime; it is a romance against all the odds.”
“Blood Dark gripped me, broke me, shocked me and then broke me some more. Author Lindsay J Pryor delivered more than I could possibly have imagined…the cleverness of the plot can only be applauded…I can say that this series is hands down the best series I have ever read. Each book is as strong as the next one and always offer up the unexpected to keep you pinned on the edge of your seat…Be brave and enter the world of Blackthorn. It’s dark, ridiculously clever, and incredibly stunning!”
A massive thank you too to every single person who continues to leave ratings and reviews on sites such as Amazon – it truly makes a huge difference in the background. If you haven’t yet left a review for Blood Dark, please do!
Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway. xxx
Happy Friday, everyone! And to make it even better, here it is… your chance to win a signed paperback of BLOOD DARK! I have TWO copies to give away!
I know Blackthorn has readers from all over the world so, for this giveaway, I’m trying to track down where Blood Dark has gone.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO ENTER IS:
Leave a comment telling me where in the world you and your copy of Blood Dark are. You can tell me the country, city, village – be as specific as you like!
You can enter here, via my Facebook page, or you can email me. It’s not essential for entry, but a picture would be great if you’re entering via email or Facebook. It could be of you, your pet, or even a local landmark alongside your eBook or paperback of Blood Dark.
THE REST OF THE RULES:
The competition is open now and will close next Friday (2nd October) at midnight, UK time.
The two winners will be drawn randomly and announced on Monday 5th October. Obviously, winners must be willing to email me their addresses! And, no, Kane will not be delivering it personally… 😉
If you haven’t yet started reading it yet, here’s just a sample of what readers are saying so far:
“This book had me gripped from beginning to end, it was like an emotional roller coaster I didn’t want to get off.” ~ Louise
“I COULD NOT PUT DOWN!!!!! I wanted so badly to take my time and savour the world of Blackthorn slowly but I couldn’t stop reading… The characters are so alive and complex. The storyline gets deeper and bigger… Blackthorn is on the rise and no one can stop them!” ~ Demei
“Just finished it…..Omg I loved it….had me crying at one point… roll on the next book can’t wait to find out more.” ~ Sarah R
“Fantastic! Better than I anticipated. I am now trying to forget all about it so I can read it again!!” ~ Carrie
“Have to say this book blew me away. The intensity kept me on the edge. Felt like crying at times also… My fav in the series so far and that is saying a lot.” ~ Mena
“Read it all last night. Couldn’t put it down!! Omg please tell me the next one is out real soon!” ~ Sam
“Just finished blood dark wow bloody brilliant book loved it.” ~ Gillian
“…this book is a winner! This series continues to captivate me and the next one in the series – Blood Instinct – can’t come fast enough!!” ~ Suzanne
“5 Stars for Blood Dark is NOT enough!!!” ~ Amanda
“Seriously one of the best series I’m reading right now.” ~ Sarah
“Another success! Dangerously dark and captivating!” ~ Brickley
“Awesome series!!!!! Lindsay Pryor has nailed this book!” ~ Jennifer
“I laughed, i cried, i shouted at the pages as there were so many twists and turns… by the end of the book i was an emotional wreck… This is without question the best series i have read in a very, very long time.” ~ Niamh
