Thrilling Results!

This was a stupendous blogfest! I enjoyed each and every entry. So much so that I had to give you a little blurb about each one. It was tough to pick winners, but here they are:

Christine Rains - First dollar story! - Won a copy of Heather's Maguire's Corner

Huntress - Magic secret exposed - Won an ARC of Tara's Pop Travel

C. M. Brown - Life after an alien apocalypse - Won a $20 gift card from Heather

The Beveled Edge - A thrilling love poem - Won a graphic from Tara

And I was going to list honorable mention, but they were all so good, I won't leave anyone out! Outstanding entries! Thanks, everyone, for participating!!

Angela Brown in the Pursuit of Publishness - A romantic save

Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh - Mini Alex's First Concert!

Heather M. Gardner - Steamy "almost kiss" scene

Stephen Tremp - Finished the third book in his series

Father Dragon Writes - Family to the rescue!

Queendsheena - A world of music loses its only hope for peace

Elizabeth Seckman - Sex talk!

Thoughts and Ideas from Deanie Humphrys-Dunne - Never give up!

Michelle @ Writer~In~Transit - Preparations for a dangerous safari

Sydney Aaliyah Michelle - Love scene with a taste of peppermint

Carrie-Anne's Magick Theatre - Fire!

For Science! Dr. Faerie Godmother - The sun goes out!

Writing Off the Edge - Haphazard teleportating ability discovered

Tyrean's Writing Spot - Exciting snorkeling experience

Mary Pax - Super moon and gangsta cows!

Donna Hole - Love twists

Suzi's Ice Box Art - Heather's Mom!

DAILY DRAMA OF AN ASPIRING WRITER - Writing and blogging achievements

Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts - Riveting exorcism excerpt

ClareDugmoreWrites - Model encounter!

Writing on the Wall - Horse shows and speech coaching

Writeful Melodies - Confession of having two lovers

PepperWords (M Pepper Langlinais) - Confirmation of writing talent

I also wanted to share pictures from my "Swag Bag Stuffing Party!" I had a few friends over this week to help me get ready for my real life launch party. We stuck stickers, stuffed bags, and made crafty bracelets and centerpieces. And then we had more than a few laughs!

a few drinks...

a few snacks...

a lotta work!

a lotta fun!

pretty QV bracelets! (smart, holographic, watch-phone replicas from the book!)

I am the luckiest girl!!! I have awesome friends everywhere! Thank you!!

a thrilling weekend with a happy ending

Today is the day! I am so excited to read your thrills!

I wasn't planning to write anything, but I have to tell you about my thrilling weekend, a totally high/low time - just like a rollercoaster.

The losing started Thursday evening. My poor little guy's team is good, but since we won our division last year, we were forced to play up. We're not that good, so the other teams have been beating us and it SUCKS! Luckily, the boys get over it quickly with an ice cream or a swim. So, from Thurs to Sat we lost four games. My oldest team is very good, but I got the privilege to watch them lose their first two tournament games, as well.

But the lows continued. Little things kept going wrong. I spilled my coffee, slammed my finger, and then there was, The Hotel. An older specimen with a slow elevator and printed warning signs all over the place, a broken window here, one slow elevator that broke (yes, we were on the third floor), and to top it all off, one of the moms found a bed bug. We checked out.

In a deep depression at all the loss and bad luck, I went home to my dog, had a drink, and watched a movie - The Silver Linings Playbook. That was so SWEET! And in the morning, I wrote. That helped! I even finished my rough draft of Simulation! The rest goes like this:

• HIGH - got a call the boys won their morning game and would play for championship!
• TORN - am I a jinx? should I stay home? No! I should go back! I'm NOT a jinx, that's rubbish!
• LOW - fifteen minutes into hour drive, accident ahead causes standstill, for THIRTY minutes.
• HIGH - arrive on time and see boys play and have great attitudes!
• LOW - for my son's first at bat, he gets hit in the eye with a ball!
• HIGH - THEY GO ON TO WIN 7-6!!! 14 YO STATE CHAMPS!!
• LOW - my car is dead from middle son sitting in it the whole game without turning it all the way on...
• Praise God! It finally starts with jumper cables and we make it home...

This is real life thrills, folks. Emotional ups and downs. A thrill a minute! Wasn't planning on spouting today, just reading! But I had to share. And the good, though less in quantity, outweighs the bad in quality! We won! I finished! And so much to look forward to ahead!

Still time to whip up a story or tell a truth!

Waaaa?

One of my favorite lines from Despicable Me. Love those minions!

And I say it now because I can't believe how many friends are publishing books these days! Here are just a few I am celebrating today (with Vikki's weekly Celebrate the Small Things)

Cherie Riech!

This fantasy short story collection features five men from the Kingdom of Foxwick.

A blind teen seeks a place in the kingdom. A dragon seer journeys to Wintermill to spy on the queen. A sword master’s worst fear comes true when he fails to protect the royal family. A king falls in love with an herb witch, but will she feel the same way? A hunter will rise to the challenge to hunt down a man-eating monster.

Here's how you can get MEN OF FOXWICK for $0.99!

Angela Brown!

What harm can come from a kiss?

Caine Fordham knows the danger all too well.

As the Kill Circuit’s top lady-killer, business is good. Yet Caine knows the life of an assassin isn’t meant to last forever, just as love is impossible for him. Who could love a man with poison lacing his veins and a kiss that kills?

When Caine decides to take one last job, deal out one last kiss, he discovers there’s more to life than death, and more to love than pain.

Here's how to buy ATONE on Amazon!

and soon to be released by
Peggy Eddleman!

12 year old Hope lives in White Rock, a town struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. The bombs destroyed almost everything that came before, so the skill that matters most in White Rock—sometimes it feels like the only thing that matters—is the ability to invent so that the world can regain some of what it’s lost.

But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb's Breath— the deadly band of air that covers the crater the town lives in— than fail at yet another invention.

When bandits discover that White Rock has invented priceless antibiotics, they invade. The town must choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from disease in the coming months or to die fighting the bandits now. Hope and her friends, Aaren and Brock, might be the only ones who can escape through the Bomb’s Breath and make the dangerous trek over the snow-covered mountain to get help. For once, inventing isn't the answer, but the daring and risk-taking that usually gets Hope into trouble might just save them all.

Put SKY JUMPERS on your Goodreads want to read list!

Don't those sound great!
And yesterday, I got the best surprise from my wonderful friend, C.D. Coffelt, aka Huntress. She wrote (and then tweeted about) the best post promoting Pop Travel! She wrote a super fresh blurb and made me wanna cry, it was so good! I can't wait for her to get a cover for her soon to be released book so I can show it off!

She also advertised Heather and my blog hop coming up on Monday...
The Thrill of It All!
Still time to sign up and tell us what thrills you!
Prizes to be awarded Friday, June 28.

Yay! Awards! Part 2

Where on earth have I been! This is the longest I've been away from my blog. I know you missed me. Ha ha. You're so busy, you probably didn't even notice! Well before I take care of awards, here's a quick update of why I've been such a blogging slacker.

First, I appreciate all the IWSG bad review advice & comments. With all your support, how could I worry! Second, Pop Travel is just about ready for publication, preparations for my book launch party are coming along nicely, and I am working on blog tour posts! Third, I have rough drafted 15 chapters for Pop Travel's sequel, Simulation, while waiting to edit PT! And lastly, baseball season is, dare I say, in full swing, lots of games all over the place. Exciting times!



Today I am continuing my award reception and bestowments!
Barbara and J.M. Filipowicz awarded me the Leibster - complicated, full of elevens, and fun! This award deserved its own special day... it's a lengthy process!

Barbara's questions:
1.  What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? chocolate chip cookie dough
2.  What type of book do you like best? well-written - ha ha! fantasy =)
3.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Atlanta (closer to family)
4.  What would you do with the money if you’d won a million dollars? build a house in Atlanta, pay off debts & support missionaries
5.  Which actor would play you in the next blockbuster film? ME? My life isn't film worthy, but in POP TRAVEL, my male lead would be either Leonardo DiCaprio or Chris Hemsworth
6.  What’s your favorite book from childhood? the Xanth series by Piers Anthony
7.  Would you like to read about a cowboy or a CEO hero? Cowboy!
8.  What do you want your grandchildren (or friends, if you have no grandkids) to remember about you? I want my future grandchildren to remember I was a fun and happy Christian - and those things can go together!
9.  What’s your favorite quote? Mark Twain is my favorite person to read the quotes of, here are two, "It is easier to stay out than get out." and "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." (source)
10.  What do you like best about yourself? my determination...
11.  What’s the most important item in your bucket list? to see my future grandchildren!

J.M.'s questions:

1. What drew you to write in your chosen genre? I write all over the place, because I read all over the place! My chosen genre is whatever I imagine =)

2. Planner or pantser? Planner, else I'd never get anything done!

3. Is there something you have written/published/done that you wish to shamelessly promote? (Use this question to do so). Of course. POP TRAVEL, comes out July 7 or July 13... the date fluctuates.

4. What book should I absolutely read? the Bible

5. When you aren’t writing/blogging, what are you doing? chauffeuring, doing housework, or procrastinating doing housework 

6. The new Mars colony needs writers, do you sign up to go or stay on Earth? It depends, will I have all the comforts of home? Or will I have servants?

7. What is it like where you live? Messy

8. Describe your writing space. See above.

9. What is your main goal for the future? To see my kids be successful in life (and hope they will want me around!)

10. Any advice for those who’ve read this far? Way to go! Thank you for your attention! Only one more!

11. Quick! Compose a Haiku! 

May it never be

said I didn't try my best

before moving on

Okay. Whew. I now pass this onerous task on to these sweethearts... up to them if they are up to the challenge!

Carol K -- Sheena -- Carrie Anne -- Trisha -- Yolanda -- Samantha

Christine -- Michelle -- Mark -- MJ -- Sydney

And here are my questions...

1. What's your nickname? (make one up if you don't have one)

2. What genre do you read most?
3. What celebrity would you love to meet?
4. What is your favorite age?
5. Facebook or Twitter?
6. What awesome thing will you do when your book is published?
7. What book would you like to see turned into a movie?
8. Where were you born?
9. Name a place you'd like to visit some day.
10. Are you a Summer, Winter, Fall, or Spring?
11. Any regrets?

Thanks for playing! What have you been up to?

Being without internet is like having my arm chopped off.

Well, not really. But you know what I mean. I have only been without it for two days, where losing an arm is more permanent and painful. I actually got a ton of writing done. But zero blogging and communicating... ah!

So here is my better late than never IWSG post. I kind of feel inspired to write more about internet dependency, but I will save it for when I have more time (so, never?)

Hey Fellow Writers!

I am not going to complain today. I always complain. I should be happy, right? My first book comes out in a month! But, it doesn't make me worry less. I'm a terrible worrier. I still have jitters about it. What if no one reads it? What if everyone hates it? And I'm really afraid of reviewers –not for myself and my book sales, but because some people listen to them as fact. I tell myself it can't be helped and come what may. But still, I worry!

And that is what I am going to talk about today. Bad Reviews and how to embrace them as part of the process.

Bad Reviews are inevitable. With all things in life, we have to take the good with the bad. I tell my boys, "Bad things make the good things more valuable." If there was no bad, we would have no appreciation for the good. We appreciate being well a lot more when we are sick. We appreciate what we have, when we lose it. And we appreciate our parents, when we have kids, our youth when we're old, etc. The moral of this story is: make the most of what you have NOW!

Part of appreciating something is finding the good that comes from a bad thing. As writers, we know every awesome ending comes after our hero suffers or loses something big. So what about bad reviews? Well, let's see some positives:

• We should assume they read the book, which, in my own experience, means it held their attention enough to read the whole thing.
• They also felt strongly enough about the book to say something publicly
• Some folks read a bad review and it makes them curious enough to see for themselves – creates a buzz. No bad publicity? Well…
• We can take these reviews and build on them. Use criticisms to improve our next book, or not.
• And remember, some of these people could be bitter writers who haven't been and probably never will be published – and we are! Nyah!

Taking bad reviews with a grain of salt and a dab of humor is necessary. It's just one person's opinion. Personally, I feel some reviewers write bad reviews for a hobby. Some have nothing good to say about anything. And some might have had a poor childhood, so sad.

But seriously, do not let anyone who writes a really mean, cutting review affect you. He is a bully. Trying to illicit a response from you. It is up to us to choose how we respond. And that is my advice to you, and myself. Choose not to respond poorly to a bad review. Learn from it, shrug it off, and move on. Easy for me to say since I haven't gotten one yet.

Now I ask you all. What do you do when you get a bad review?

As always, thanks for listening!

June, already?

Well, I made it through my first round of edits. I'm that much closer to it being ready to go!
BTW - Do you all know how to view all the bits of a piece of writing? Every tab, return, and space! Well, I didn't and now I do. And when I did, I saw little hidden bubbles (like degrees?) here and there throughout my MS. So weird! I have no idea where they came from! You might want to see what's hidden in your MS.

Now, In Blog News!
I wanted to tell you all about Rachel Morgan's new media adventure - she is hooking authors up! Book covers, book trailers and more. I am most impressed with the animated book covers! They catch attention - wow! Check it out and like it on facebook!

Find Morgan Media in the following places online:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | DeviantArt | YouTube

DL Hammons' WRiTE CLUB 2013 kicks off tomorrow! You want to submit to it!

Wednesday is the first Wednesday of the month - and you know what that means! Insecure Writers Support Group! Hosted by our Insecurest leader, Alex! Wait, I meant Alex the Supporter Extraordinaire!

Don't forget to sign up for Heather's & my THE THRILL OF IT ALL blogfest! On June 24, share a thrill - whether from your writings or from real life! The biggest thrills win prizes!