Independence Day PRIZE DRAW - what's YOUR celebration?

HAPPY 4th JULY to all our readers, and a WONDERFUL PRIZE DRAW for you all!

The authors at NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS have plenty to celebrate this July - new books, new awards, life and job changes, the support and love of family and friends. And we recently passed 150,000 HITS on this blog! Thanks so much to everyone who's visited, supported and promoted us. We really appreciate it, and we really enjoy sharing our posts with you.

So ....What about YOU? We'd love to hear from you as to what YOU can celebrate this year, whether it's something in the world at large or something closer to your home. We can all identify with these. It may be celebration of a new law, a sports win, appreciation of your family and pets, or maintaining your health. It may be as huge as winning the Lottery (we wish!!!) or more personal such as mastering Facebook, getting a promotion, putting on/losing weight, or finally finishing that DIY that's been nagging at you since last year! In other words, we'd love to hear anything and everything, there are no rules (apart from basic decency, of course).

We'd just like to celebrate and share the positive with you all :)

And anyone who comments will be entered in the Prize Draw for TWELVE books from a selection of our fabulous authors. Yes, there's one prize and it's made up of 12 BOOKS and one lucky commenter will win it! That's definitely something to celebrate :D. Just make your celebratory comment on this post, and the winner will be chosen at random on July 14.

So here what's our authors have to share with you this July 04. Please feel free to browse their website, see their books, and enjoy keeping in touch with them.

Cathy Perkins: I’m grateful for friends and family. This year, we’ll celebrated one daughter’s marriage and another’s career change, cheered when my books hit category lists, worked with an architect on house plans, and been blessed by good health. Wishing all of you a wonderful upcoming year full of fun and adventures of your choosing.

Julie Moffett: I'm celebrating a move to a new house, a son who graduated from high school with honors, another son who just finished 1st grade, and a nice day job with a wonderful company!!

Julie Anne Lindsey: I'm celebrating because book three in the Patience Price series arrives in September and book 1 was selected for the Harlequin Book Club and all the mystery club readers will get a copy of book 1 in the mail this November.

Jean Harrington: In 2014 going forward into 2015, I'm celebrating the vibrant life of my wonderful country--despite its flaws and problems.  In that regard, a country can be a lot like the hero of a novel, wonderful though flawed.  And well worth the read!

Rita Henuber: I feel grateful to all those who have given so much to allow me to live the life I do. I hope I do them justice.

Ana Barrons: I've just had my first book released in print version (Son of the Enemy), and I'm so thrilled! I only wish my mother was still alive so I could put it into her hands. She would be so proud of me. 

Anne Marie Becker: I released books 4 and 5 in my Mindhunters series this year, and am writing the final installment. I’m excited to wrap up the mystery that’s run as a thread throughout them. I’ll also be celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary with my own, real-life hero, later this year.

Toni Anderson: I've had a lot to celebrate, writing-wise this year. My self-published book, THE KILLING GAME, is a finalist in the Romance Writers of America® RITA® Award, and both it and my Montlake Romance title (DARK WATERS) are finalists in the National Readers' Choice Awards. And to cap it off, my other self-published book, HER LAST CHANCE, finalled in the Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence in Romantic Suspense. Results for all the contests are announced at the RWA national conference at the end of this month. Another milestone is that I published my tenth novel in June. It feels like a good year with plenty of reasons to celebrate. I am so very, very grateful.

Clare London: I've recently left work - amicably! - and am looking forward to a significant change of lifestyle, and hopefully more time for writing. My family are employed, relatively healthy, and all have a great sense of humour! I'm also welcoming what will be the 6th annual UK Meet for GLBTQ authors, where I'm on the organising team; launching my own "accountancy for authors" service; travelling to the US again in Oct for the GayRomLit convention. Oh, and I'm meant to be finding enough time now to clear out my shoe cupboard...:)

Marcelle Dube:As for my causes for celebration, they are too numerous to list, so I'll limit it to a few. First, I'm Canadian, so my day of celebration actually falls on July 1st, Canada Day. So by the time you read this, I will already have celebrated all things Canadian. On the 4th, I will celebrate my good neighbours to the south. I celebrate the fact that I have two healthy, smart and wonderful daughters, a bevy of great friends, and a great job. And finally, I'm thrilled to be finished the first draft of my latest Mendenhall Mysteries, featuring Chief of Police Kate Williams. Yee haw!

Shirley Wells: On a personal note, I'm celebrating moving into my new home which will be lovely when I've cleared a bigger path through the maze of boxes. On a professional note, I'm celebrating the release of my 7th Dylan Scott mystery, Dead End.

Josh Lanyon: I have been so angry and bitter over a number of recent decisions by our Supreme Court that it was actually difficult for me to consider what I had to celebrate this Independence Day. And then I remembered that however biased and unconscionable these latest decisions are, I still live in a country where I am not only allowed to feel anger and frustration, I can express that anger without fear of legal reprisals or state-condoned violence. I can work openly to change what I don't like. And -- as anyone who watches the nightly news can contest -- that is no little thing. So yes, there remains much to be grateful for -- and to celebrate.  

HAPPY JULY 04!

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All prizes are in ebook (your choice of format, where available) unless otherwise stated.

Julie Moffett - No Place Like Rome

Shirley Wells - Dead End

Ana Barrons - choice of backlist

Jean Harrington - Designed for Death

Clare London - Freeman

Anne Marie Becker - choice of backlist

Julie Anne Lindsey - Murder by the Seashore AND Murder Comes Ashore

Toni Anderson - A Cold Dark Place

Rita Henuber - boxed set Fatal Obsession OR choice of backlist

Marcelle Dube - choice of backlist

Cathy Perkins - The Professor OR an ARC of Cypher, releasing in August

Josh Lanyon - choice of AUDIO books