Thursday 22 September 2011

Sparky Goes To The Zoo - Guestpost and Giveaway

Today I have a very special guest visiting my blog and there's also a giveaway!

With us here today is Sparky!
Some of you might know Sparky from an earlier visit or from the books Embers & Sparks by Laura Bickle. (Those of you who haven't read Embers and/or Sparks yet, should certainly stay tuned for the giveaway.) Sparky is the loyal sidekick of Anya in those books, but in his daily life he helps Laura with her writing. Today he will tell you about one of his adventures:

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Sparky Goes to the Zoo
by Sparky Salamander


Contrary to what some might think, life as a salamander is a bit more than helping my owner write. There's a good deal of that going on, to be sure.

But all work and no play makes Sparky a dull boy. And bored salamanders cause all manner of trouble.

So my owner took me to the zoo today. She promised to me that I would get to see more exotic animals than I usually do.

I was looking forward to a new adventure. I saw a lot of animals I hadn't seen before. Like a polar bear exhibit. They're BIG animals.



I met all kinds of snakes.

We also saw tigers. The tigers were sleeping in the afternoon sun. My owner held me over the fence and told me to stop wriggling, or I'd fall in. If I fell in, she told me that she was NOT going in to get me.

And swans,

Bats,

Penguins,

And kangaroos, oh my

We also looked for some distant relatives of mine:

Alas, the hellbender was hiding under his rock. I was disappointed that he wasn't feeling social.

But we got to meet some alligators up close.

And also a giant monitor lizard.

And a dragon display.

But the absolute highlight of the trip was this very familiar creature, a cousin of our dear friend Sullivan. I wish you could have been there to see him.

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Wow! I do indeed wish I could have been there.

Sparky: thank you for sharing your trip to the Zoo with us.

For those who are interested: Over on my other blog you can see what places I would take Sparky to see if he ever visited Groningen.

Now on to the giveaway I promised:

In honor of Sparky coming over to visit my blog and because I'm almost at 120 followers I'm giving away one copy of either Embers or Sparks by Laura Bickle.

To enter you need to:
- Be a follower of this blog
- Leave a comment for Sparky and/or Laura
- Leave a way for me to contact you

This giveaway is international and will end on September 30th.
A winner will be picked and announced on October 1st.
I will also send the winner an email.


18 comments:

Laura Bickle said...

Thank you so much for hosting Sparky today! He always has so much fun with you, Sullivan!

Sullivan McPig said...

I always love getting together with Sparky!

Laura Bickle said...

Sparky loves getting together with you, too! :-) He's wagging his tail and smiling at the screen!

Unknown said...

Please don't enter me as I already have my copies of both books (and love them!), I just wanted to say Hi to Sparky and thanks for telling us about your adventure in the zoo! :-)

Those who haven't read this urban fantasy series of Laura Bickle yet, trust us, it is amazing, so you'd better enter for your chance to win ;-)

Hey Sparky, Sully (and Laura)! *Stella waves*

Laura Bickle said...

Hi, Stella! Thanks so much for the good thoughts and good wishes! It's great to see you! Sparky says "hi". :-)

Unknown said...

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to pick up either book yet, though they've been on my radar. This post just bumped it up in my priority list. ;) Very cute!

<3,
-J

Laura Bickle said...

Thanks, Jess! I hope that you enjoy Sparky. He tends to be a wriggling handful of trouble! :-)

M.A.D. said...

Mary D
zenrei57 (at) hotmail dot com
GFC follower: Mary DeBorde

Funny you having this sweet giveaway --- I'd just added Embers to my wish list a few days ago lol

and LOVE all the ah-dorable pix :D
Hugs to Sparky~

_yay_ said...

Lol - so cute. Hiiii Sparky :-) I bet this was a fun adventure.
Thanks for hosting the giveaway and making it international. Yay!!!
sk_86(at)gmx(dot)de
GFC: _yay_

LadyVampire2u said...

I wish I could have gone to the zoo with you Sparky. You and Laura look like you had so much fun. Thanks for the chance to win Embers!
GFC: LadyVampire2u

LadyVampire2u AT gamil DOT com

donnas said...

Looks like Sparky had a lot of fun. Thanks for the chance!

bacchus76 at myself dot com

Laura Bickle said...

Thanks for adding me to your wish list, M.A.D.! Sparky sends hugs!

_yay_, Sparky is thrilled to meet you!

LadyVampire2u, we had a lot of fun! Wish you could have joined us. :-)

donnas, Sparky doesn't get out much, but he has a lot of fun when he does!

Mary Preston said...

What a great time you all must have had.

GFC: Mary Preston

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Yto said...

a really cute post. i am hearing about sparky for the first time. he is making me curious about the books.

witchvela at web dot de

Sullivan McPig said...

Thanks for dropping by everyone!

Laura Bickle said...

marybelle, it was lovely!

Yto, I hope that you enjoy Sparky. He's a lot of fun to write.

Thank you, Sullivan! Sparky is wriggling in delight!

Aik said...

I would love to visit the zoo too! Sparky, you're so lucky!

aikychien at yahoo dot com

Aleksandra said...

Hahaha, seems that Sparky had lots of fun :) I've read Embers & I loved Sparky :) Can't wait to see what's he up to in Sparks, so thanks for the opportunity to win :)

sandric.sk at gmail dot com