Down Under Has It — The Lords of the North Winners

A little history before I tell you something about the two winners of The Lords of the North audio books. A few years ago I had a giveaway of this book, and after I announced the contest had begun, the BBC contacted me to ask me if I wanted some more books. I said, “Sure, just let me know how best to order them from you, because it has been a bit difficult.” The woman I spoke with said, “No, we’ll give them to you. Just tell us how many you want and where to send them.” You could have knocked me down with a feather, but I recovered long enough to ask for three books. I wish I had been more on the ball and asked for a dozen. :D I gave away two of the books and planned to give away the other but never got around to it until now.

In the meantime, I found a windfall of books and was able to obtain several others from a dealer for a decent price. I’ve been sitting on those for at least a year. But my friends, life has been chaos at my house, so yeah, this is the first opportunity I’ve really had to do this, and I say that because most of my posts are by the seat of my pants, but a giveaway has to be more planned out. Okay enough of this, onto the winners. (is that a comma splice? I’m never sure. Yes, I suck at grammar).

Because of so much interest in the audio book, I decided to award two winners. The first winner will receive the 10 CD set, and the second winner will receive a 1 CD set. Other copies i have will be awarded another time. Probably later this year.

Being my usual curious self, I wanted to know about these two winners, what there interest was in the book and about being fans of Richard Armitage.

The first winner is Carolyn:

A beautiful beach in Adelaide

A beautiful beach in Adelaide

I have tried everything to get this set and all to no avail – my life is now complete. The only thing to surpass this would be to meet RA, and with Adelaide being a bit of an Australian backwater I don’t hold much hope for this – still I didn’t expect to win this fabulous prize and look what happened!

I’m relatively new to the world of Richard Armitage, although, now that I’m going through a retrospective of his work I realise that I’ve seen him many times over the years as I’m a big fan of BBC drama.

My sister introduced me to him (metaphorically speaking) about 18 months ago and I’ve been in awe ever since of his talent, thoughtfulness, humility and not forgetting his stunning good looks. This ‘introduction’ came at difficult time for me and I found his hard work, good humour and determined attitude quite an inspiration, which encouraged me to take steps to get my own life back on track – a work in progress…

More of Adelaide

More of Adelaide

I think I’ve seen every you-tube compilation, and interview, and if I could, I would have seen him in London in the Crucible, however, I did the second best thing and saw him in the Old Vic Cinemalive, at two of the three screenings here in Adelaide last month. I continue to be amazed by the way he immerses himself in the character and his power in a live performance.

Between my sister and myself I believe we have every DVD he appears in and NOW every audio book. We’ve also seen his big screen movies whenever they are screened (usually more than once) and then get the DVD for the collection.

I’m also part way through the book ‘North & South’, I’ve finished ‘Urban Grimshaw and the Shed Crew’ and I’m waiting with bated breath for the cinema release. I can’t wait to see his portrayal of ‘Chop’.

Now that I will have this set, if there’s something of his I haven’t seen, read or heard it must be very well hidden!

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Carolyn, thank you so much for sharing that and for the lovely photos of Adelaide! Oh, and you do not live in a backwater. I do. LOL! And I just have a feeling you are going to meet up with Richard Armitage. That’s my gut talking to me, and it’s usually right! :D

The next winner is Bluebunny:

I am delighted to have found myself as one of the winners of the competition run by Frenz to have the audiobook The Lords Of The North by Bernard Cornwell read by Richard Armitage. This audiobook will be a valued and rare addition to my vast collection of Richard Armitage works. I wish to thank Frenz and the BBC for this competition. It goes to show that the BBC take notice of fan websites and are checking up on blogs. I am thrilled to have found a website that shares my interest in all things Armitage like this website.

How I came to be a Richard Armitage fan is quite simple, I saw a random episode of Robin Hood in 2009 and thought who is that guy playing Guy of Gisborne? I wasn’t hooked on RA at that moment in time but throughout 2009-2010 was keeping an eye out for what he was acting in every once in a while. From watching Spooks I was hooked on Lucas but actually fell in love with the whole Spooks series from start to finish. When he was cast in The Hobbit I was overjoyed because he was in my part of the world the Southern Hemisphere.

In 2012 I was quite randomly on holiday in New Zealand and was able to go to the Hobbit Premiere in Wellington. I saw Richard Armitage first hand in the flesh and was lucky enough to get an autograph from the man. Anyone who says he can’t get any better looking hasn’t seen him in person. Since Wellington I have become a huge Richard Armitage fan. I have most of Richard Armitage works but my collection is still not complete. I know for me being a RA fan makes me a happier person because the man is well just a man but he has a conscience and seems to be genuine. These days people like him don’t exist. Thanks again for the lovely competition.

Bluebunny, well said. His character is wonderful to observe, and I’m so glad you got to meet him! Maybe you can advise Carolyn? :D

To both of you, thank you so much for sharing, and please know it was my pleasure to give away these books. I hope you enjoy them immensely.

Monday was Bernard Cornwell’s Birthday

Yep, I know it was Cornwell’s birthday ’cause he’s my friend on Facebook, and FB reminded me. No, I don’t know how old he is. We’re not that close. And since I don’t get on Facebook much, I missed the notice earlier, but today I saw it, and now I’m going to deal with a loose end.

I’ve got some audio books the BBC sent me in order to give them away. In particular, The Lords of the North as read by Richard Armitage.

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This is one of the best reads by Richard Armitage, but I’m not sure it’s for everyone. Nah, you’ll like it if you’re an RA fan and especially if you’re nuts about his voice. You may also become a Bernward Cornwell fan. I speak from experience. Oh sure, I started off with a rabid need to have this book simply because Richard Armitage narrated it. About Cornwell I knew very little. And it was a helluva feat to track down my first copy of this book, and I spent — I’m not telling you how much money I spent to acquire my copy — a chunk. When I was done listening to it, I knew i had to read the first two books in Cornwell’s Warrior Chronicles aka Saxon Stories. Yep, that’s right LOTN is the third book in that series. I’ve now read six of the books, and Cornwell just published the eighth book, The Empty Throne.. I’ve gone on to read some of his Sharpe Series as well.

If you would like to win this audio book, just make a reply on this post between now and the end of the day on March 4th. Be sure to include your email address in the email field of the comment, and that way I can contact you if you win. Winner will be chosen randomly from the comments. I’ll announce the winner on Friday, March 6.

Please note: if you have never commented on this blog, your comment will be moderated, which means it may not show up immediately. As to the deadline, it will be the time you actually make the comment that counts toward it and not when it’s been approved to show up publicly in the comment section of the blog. Because I always like to give people every available opportunity, the deadline is the last possible time on March 4, 2015 which means midnight GMT-12 (aka Baker Island Time — a place about 3,000_ west of Hawaii; how much more fair can I make that? :D ) When you make your comment, you must include your email address in the email field. For your own privacy, please do not put it in the body of your comment. That is not necessary. Also, “Likes” are not the equivalent of a comment. They never have been, but I’m making that clear in this note. You must make an actual comment.

All of that aside, good luck!

Additional note: I also have a few extra copies of some of the Heyer audio books. I’ll give those away this year too.

A Thank you and a Note About Upcoming Events

ThorinThere are so many of you who have been gracious enough to share a lot of information with me. I want you to know I appreciate your notes. It has kept me apprised of what’s going on; otherwise, I would be completely clueless.

I have been distracted by getting a business off the ground, which I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to do. But a business is like a child. When it’s an infant, you cannot leave it alone, and it demands most of your attention. That meant other things had to go, and sorry, Richard, but that included you.

Thankfully, baby has calmed down a bit and will now let me sleep through the night, as it were, so I can spend a bit more time with the Richard stuff. And as we’re all about to witness the last push for the Hobbit series, I have some fun planned. Most of which involves giving some things away. Some of the items were given to me, and some I’ve acquired on my own. We’ll see if the donators want credit. If so, I’ll give credit like mad. Otherwise, the items will still carry some value (sentimental if nothing else) for those who are interested.

Other than that, thanks for bearing with me when you’ve asked me if I knew something, and my response was, “Huh?”

Note: I really, really haven’t forgotten about The Lords of the North audio book. I still plan to give at least one of those away as well. But the timing isn’t right yet.

There May Still Be a Chance to Go to The Crucible

If you are really wanting to go to The Crucible, there may still be a way. A well-wisher who wants to remain anonymous has approached me about doing another giveaway. I will come with details after the June 21st performance has come and gone. Just hang onto your sanity in the meantime, which means you probably shouldn’t look at this below. :D

Richard Armitage Crucible Rehearsal

I know…

I know…

Look away if you have to; otherwise, you may run yourself crazy.

*Frenz talking to herself again*

Behind the scenes photo courtesy of The Old Vic Theatre

The Winner of the Crucible Tickets

Thank you again to those of you who submitted entries for the Crucible tickets. I had a hard time deciding on a winner, but I have made a decision.

As to the reasons that were given for wanting the tickets, most of them were highly personal and not really conducive to sharing on this blog. Just know that everyone had a good reason, and I wish I could have given tickets to all of you!

The winner is Meg.

I sent Meg a note right before publishing this piece, so she may not even know yet.

Whenever you see this, Meg, congratulations!

Richard Armitage Crucible

Thank You to All Who Entered the Crucible Giveaway

Richard Armitage CrucibleThat title just about says it all.

The other thing I need to say is the entry window is now closed.

I will be posting the ticket winner’s first name at about 7am BST tomorrow.

A follow-up note with information on how to claim the tickets will also be sent to the winner.

Thank you again for entering!

Edit: I have also sent confirmation emails to all who entered. If you did not get one, it means I did not receive your email.

It Coulda Been Me…

Don’t let June 21st come and go with that thought. Enter the giveaway for two tickets to see The Crucible.

Thankfully I have already gotten some entries this morning. Thank you for those! But a reminder that the rest of you still have over seven hours to send an entry.

So that there is no confusion about whether I received entries, I will send a confirmation to each of you who enter.

And for those thinking about it, you are going to feel like this if you could have entered and chose not to:

Richard Armitage Urban
Richard Armitage and Fraser Kelly on the set of Urban and the Shed Crew

Behind the scenes photo courtesy of Amanda Kelly on Twitter, and is she Fraser’s mother? That what it says on her Twitter profile, but I don’t know ’cause I’ve been out of the loop. Someone educate me quickly! :D

You’ll Be Able to Go to The Crucible When Pigs Fly?

Well…

pig flying

And she landed on her feet. A very good sign. :D

I’m not making this up. Read about it here.

And after you get done reading, and if you’re reasonably close to London (read that: you don’t have to do strange and unnatural acts to get there next Saturday night), you should enter the contest to win some tickets. Details here.

Would You Like to Go to The Crucible?

That’s the question.

And if the answer is, “yes, but I don’t have the money,” then you may be in luck. I bought two tickets for opening night (actually, it’s a preview night*), June 21st.

I know what it feels like to want to attend something and the funds simply aren’t there, or feeling guilty about indulging in something that’s not a necessity. Well…if you have a way to get to the Old Vic Theatre, you may end up with some tickets.

This is a one day contest. No, make that a contest for about a day and half, because I’ll announce who gets the tickets on Sunday morning BST.

Here’s what you need to do:

Send me the reason you want the tickets in 200 words or less. No, you do not have to write 200 words. That’s just the limit for the wordy among you. Images or graphics or anything that is not necessarily text may also be included. Any of it can be funny, sad, absurd, heart wrenching. I don’t care. Just make it good. And if you win the tickets, share your experience in a guest post on RAFrenzy.

Entries need to be in by Midnight (BST) tomorrow night, June 14th. Send them here.

Have Fun and Good Luck!

Richard Armitage Crucible

Richard,

I know you were dying for me to come to your performance in The Crucible. ;-) But I simply can’t make it. My business is going great guns, and I would be a fool to go anywhere right now. I hope you understand that.

But I did buy two tickets today so someone who really wants to go, but couldn’t otherwise, can attend. I hope you will be there on preview night, my friend, so that my purchase is not in vain.

Signed,
Your Crazy Fan :D

P.S. Stay healthy!

*Preview night is tantamount to a dress rehearsal. It’s been my experience that performers are much more accessible after these performances than the regular performances. I think it’s because things are much more relaxed and performers also appreciate people being willing to sit through something which may not be completely polished. Again, that’s been my experience (mostly with the Metropolitan Opera in the U.S. but some with theater productions), so take that for what it’s worth to you.

edit: It has not escaped my attention today is Friday the 13th. I’m not superstitious and hope you’re not either. :D

Lords of the North Giveaway Contest

LOTN-1

As I write this, I think it’s almost 9:00pm in the UK. If you hurry and get in your entry by midnight UK time, you might have a chance to win a copy of Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell as Narrated by Richard Armitage. Details here.

I’m not going to go on and on about this book. I’ve already done it several times and so have some others both here and here. And all the gushing was entirely justified!