Read the Book! See the Movie! At the Same Time! by Alina Adams & Giveaway!

Please help me welcome author Alina Adams to the blog!

Once upon a time, figure skating fans only got to see their favorite sport on television every four years during the Olympics, or shoe-horned in during log-rolling and skeet-shooting on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.”

Then, in 1994, at the US National Championships, Nancy Kerrigan got clubbed across the knee by an accomplice of her rival, Tonya Harding’s, husband, and suddenly, figure skating was the hottest thing over the cathode ray tube.

There were primetimes specials and weekend specials and cable specials.  Amateur competitions, professional competitions, made for TV events, and ballets on ice.  Major networks shelled out big bucks for the privilege of showing even the Junior divisions.

And then, like with all things, the bubble burst.  In 2002, a judging scandal in Salt Lake City over the Pairs competition pained a huge, black mark across the sport – primarily by journalists and others who didn’t even understand how the event should have been judged under any circumstances.

Ratings plummeted, and it was back to television’s basement for figure skating.

I should know.  Because, from 1995 to 2002, I worked as a television researcher/writer and producer for ABC, ESPN, TNT and NBC… specializing in figure skating.

I was in Detroit for the clubbing heard round the world, in Japan in 1998 when Tara Lipinski upset Michelle Kwan for the gold, and, in 2001, I published a children’s book about Sarah Hughes – two months before she came out of nowhere (well, Long Island) to win the 2002 Olympics.

Also in 2002, I was in the process of developing a figure skating mystery series with an editor at Berkley Prime Crime.  We’d gone through a handful of proposals before settling on one we were both happy with.  And then the Pairs judging scandal exploded – and I sent her a one paragraph outline based on the state of affairs that became the first book in the series, “Murder on Ice.”

In “Murder on Ice,” a judge is accused of fixing the results and awarding the gold medal in Ladies’ Figure Skating to a dour, unpopular, untelegenic Russian, instead of America’s Perky Sweetheart.  And then that judge is murdered.  The question is: By whom?

“Murder on Ice” was published in 2003, and subsequently followed by “On Thin Ice,” “Axel of Evil,” “Death Drop” and “Skate Crime.”

In December of 2011, I reissued it, this time as an e-book, “Murder on Ice: Enhanced Multimedia Edition.”

Not only does the electronic version contain all the text of the paperback original, it also includes professional skating videos (courtesy of The Ice Theatre of New York/http://www.icetheatre.org/) embedded alongside the text as part of the story.  (Cool, huh?  Pun definitely intended!)

So the next time there’s a dearth of skating to watch on TV, remember, you always have enhanced multimedia skating mysteries – anytime, anywhere, fitted to your schedule, no one else’s (and incapable of being canceled at a network’s whim, to boot).

You don’t even need a Kindle or a Nook.  All these e-books require is an Internet connection and a free Kindle or Nook app downloaded onto your iPad, your phone, your laptop or even your desktop computer.  Basically, if you can read this, you can read an enhanced e-book.

Not sure if you’re ready to commit to a whole book?  Check out at a $.99 cent sample at http://tinyurl.com/SkateCrime! 

Alina Adams is the author of four romance novels (“When a Man Loves a Woman” is available as an enhanced multimedia edition), five skating mysteries, two non-fiction books, and three New York Times best-selling tie-ins to the soap operas, “As the World Turns” and “Guiding Light.”  She is currently in the process of digitizing and enhancing her entire backlist, as well as partnering with other authors to do the same for their out of print books and media properties.  Read all about it at her website, http://www.alinaadams.com/, or follow her on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002949310031

Alina Adams  has offered to giveaway a copy of "Murder on Ice: Enhanced Multimedia Edition" in either mobi (Kindle) or ePub (Nook) format, delivered by e-mail.

All you have to do to enter for a chance to win is fill out the Rafflecopter form below.


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