International Author's Day Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Good morning and welcome to Ann's Afterthoughts. This is the place where I can be myself. The place where I expound on anything and everything. The place where I promote my writing and that of other authors. Today's post is sponsored by Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay, a wonderful blogger/reviewer in India.  http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/  For today's post I wanted to give a nod to some of my favorite authors from years past.

As a child I read a lot. I discovered Poe's short stories when I was very young--they terrified and delighted me. I also loved Ray Bradbury and Mary Stewart. Bradbury's speculative fiction and Stewart's fantasy fiction transported me to other worlds. In addition to my books, I grew up watching The Twilight Zone and Star Trek on television. It wasn't until I discovered Nathaniel Hawthorne that I came back down to earth so-to-speak. Later there was Stephen King. I could write an entire post on my love/hate relationship with his work (maybe I'll do that later, suffice it to say I've read almost everything he has published).

For now let me direct you to the remainder of the hop (see the link at the end) and to my own giveaway, a digital copy of Memories from Maple Street, Pawprints on My Heart (an anthology of true stories about beloved pets from best selling authors), OR a digital copy of Takers: Apocalypse in Eden, my latest speculative fiction novel. TO BE ENTERED IN MY GIVEAWAY, SIMPLY LEAVE ME A COMMENT WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. Random.org will choose the winner on July 19th.