hope springs eternal

for someone who never wins anything, I am forever entering contests. the most recent contest I am entering is the Dear Lucky Agent contest over on the Guide to Literary Agents Blog. this is a super helpful blog btw. it is chock full of valuable info for authors trying to become agented. the info is not only useful but it's entertaining too! anyway, this uber fab contest has a prize of a critique of the first 20 pages of your urban fantasy or paranormal romance manuscript so jet on over and check it out! look under the blogs I dig and click on it!!!

cookies and karma

today I got a lesson in karma I think. it involved money, cookies and welfare. I was at the grocery store check out line and ended up delivering a spontaneous tirade on people on welfare who probably didn't need it. then, I was interrupted by a lady behind me. I told her to mind her own business basically and told her that in my job I saw PLENTY of welfare abuse and I felt I had the right to my opinion. so as I trotted off in a sanctimonious huff, I stopped at the girl scout table where they were peddling their yummy wares. I pulled out my money, paid, thought I replaced it in my pocket(bad move I know) and left. when I discovered the money was gone, I wondered if it was karma reaching out to me over my less that charitable attitude. it seems probable. taking away money from me to make me more needy so I can better understand their POV. sigh. it was a painful experience but I guess most beneficial ones are. and I didn't even buy the kind of cookies I like best. I bought my mom's faves. dang.

and the big winner this week is...

this week's big winner of the 25 dollar i Tunes gift card is... Kim Offiler! Yay Kim! And because I'm such a softee, the runner up winner is EJ Stevens. She wins a 15 dollar iTunes gift card. Thanks ladies! email me your addresses and I will get these out to you both.
This weeks prize is a dozen yummy cookies from uber bakery Sugar & Flour. she creates the most divine sugar cookies. Maddy and I are addicted to the mini cookies. you can check out Karen's yummy creations at sugarandflour.etsy.com . same rules as before but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE spread the word!!!I love you guys but I'd like to see some new names in the drawings!!

madeline and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and me too

we love this book at our house. I like the title. today, it fit. so I'm getting ready to go to my weekly craft and gab lunch and the school nurse calls(this is never good) to tell me Maddy got hit in the face with a door and had a cut on her face that may need a stitch. I'll be right there, I say. okay, it's NEVER good in nurse talk when there is hesitation in the words may or cut. that's actually code we use to tell other nurses, dude you better look at this. all in all, the cut would have needed 2 stitches and or skin glue and a plastic surgeon because it's her face. I elected to skip it because it would have involved shots and painful manipulation of her skin. I just brought her home bandaged her up and medicated her with love. sigh. I hate seeing my baby in pain.

helllllooooooooo? don't forget this week's BIG prize

still no word from big winner Kittie Howard. Girl, where are you? let me know your address so I can get you your gift card.
also, don't forget this week's prize...a 25 dollar iTunes gift card. everyone who played last week is entered but if you send someone to the blog and they let me know it by following, you get 5 extra chances.  easy peasy!

and the gift card goes to...

 

sounds kind of oscar-like doesn't it? anyway, using the ultra scientific method that I found  of selecting a name that I found on classtools.net, I have the name of this week's winner. The lucky person is (cue drumroll) Kittie Howard!!!YAY!!! email me your address and I'll send it right out to you. thanks for entering. actually thanks to everyone and everyone who entered last week gets into the drawing for next week's goodie!

this week I am giving away a 25 dollar iTunes gift card!AWESOME! same rules! I'll select a name using the same superior scientific method and announce it next friday. hopefully earlier in the day. this week's announcement was delayed by illness. sorry. anyway, congrats Kittie and keep following for more fun and prizes!!

only a few hours left

 

just a little while before the first drawing in my 4 weeks of epic win shindig. this week I'm giving away a 25 dollar barnes and noble gift card. just leave me a comment here or see the post below. I'll be drawing tonight and announcing the winner and next week's prize tomorrow! it's a super easy way to score some swag!

don't forget! you can be a weiner!!!!

 

this post has nothing to do with the weinermobile but I like the weinermobile so there it is. just a reminder about my 4 weeks of epic win contest. I'll be drawing for the winner or weiner HAHAHAHAHA thursday latenight and posting it on friday and then announcing the next contest. tell a friend!

hey, look!

over at Elana Johnson's blog there is a contest that can only be described as epic. lots of great prizes for authors. tons of ways to enter. her blog should be called Elana Johnson,Super Genius. GO CHECK IT OUT!! actually, don't just check it out, follow her blog because she has tons of great info for authors and her ebook  From the Query to the Call it chock full of crucial info for authors at the querying stage. so not only is she a super genius, she's like a sage.
ElanaJohnson.blogspot.com

Happy Valentine's Day

 

meanwhile back in reality land...I hope everyone had a super day of love. I worked and then came home to my little valentine, Maddy. being single sometimes is rough but my Maddy makes everything top notch. 

holy crap the place is haunted

 

so there I was...my head hurting so bad that I wanted to kick my own ass when I hear my daughter talking. now I'll preface this by saying we were alone in our house. now her talking is not uncommon. she has a vivid imagination and spends hours playing by herself, having epic conversations and adventures. this was different. it was like she was having a conversation with someone that she wasn't playing with. like an adult. my ears pricked up and I heard her tell whoever that she was going to be 8 in may. that was enough. I got up and went into her room and she was alone playing. I asked her who she was talking to and she told me she was talking to the man.at first I almost laughed because I thought "the man" as in the establishment but then I got serious. I asked what man and she told me xxxx. she said the name of the man who lived here before who committed suicide. pee pee pee. 

I've known there was something in this house since we moved in. the first day I heard a voice call my name. not a normal voice either. I hear noises, see shadows and my room is always freezing. whoever this is, I have spoken to it and asked it NOT to talk to my child but I guess he forgot. thankfully we are moving soon. I don't want anymore contact with xxxx. I hope he can find peace. ghosts always seem cool on tv or whatever but real ones are scary.

I'm thinking big! 4 weeks of epic WIN

after my post yesterday I got to thinking...winning begins with me so in order to get the karmic wheel spinning, I am giving away a prize a week for the next month.YAY! 

this week's big prize is a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card. just follow my blog and leave a comment to this post. I'm looking for comments about why you write or blog. what drives you?it doesn't have to be anything earth shaking just tell me the truth! if you are a blogger and you post this contest on your blog, you get +5 points. if you post it on facebook you get +5 points(you have to friend me). following my blog is a necessity.you get a base 10 points for it.sweet!!

so it breaks down...

follow my hilarious(snort) blog and leave a comment +10 points

post this on your blog +5 points

friend me and post on facebook +5 points

I'll draw the winner and email you for your address and poof!blog swag headed your way!!

good luck and thanks!

I never win anything

I hate this picture because it doesn't look like me now. see the pic below for the now me but I digress. I never stinking win anything. yes I know it sounds like I've been eating the bitter butter but it's the truth.  I enter everything and never win.not so much as a sandwich. when I was on Jeopardy...you got it. I lost. stupid rime of the ancient mariner. I so thought I had it sewn up.the category was famous englishmen and being the unapologetic anglophile that I am, I was like it's in the bag. crap no! since then I have noticed that one of the writers has a serious hard on for samuel taylor coleridge  and there are always questions about him and his work. I can't complain too much because there is also a Gator because there are a lot of UF questions too. anyway. I seriously hope my luck changes soon. Not that I hold any ill will toward anyone. I'd just one day like to read you won instead of better luck next time. if that happens, we are having one rocking party!

every girl's crazy bout a sharp dressed man

 

so I was watching this show on Sundance about the legendary Savile Row and its bespoke tailors. this was like watching soft porn for me. I am an admitted sucker for fine clothes for men.I suppose it comes from my costume design training but even before that I just dug a well dressed man. you can take a bum and dress him in one of these suits and NO ONE will know that he's not a millionaire. clothes make the man. there is just something about a well dressed man that kneecaps me and these suits are the epitome of well dressed and well heeled. also there is such a tradition and aura of mystery about these shops and their clients and the discretion they practice. they're like the swiss bank of of suit making. they won't tell you who their clientele is while the client is alive. I just love it. I passed my love of fine men's clothing to my MC Eamon. He's been a client of the legendary Huntsman & Sons since the first world war and takes great pride in his clothing. he's a clothes horse but not in the obnoxious way. I like to think that his clothing adds to his powerful appearance and mystique.(like a vampire needs mystique). but I think his clothing and where he gets it from tells quite a bit about him. and I like that. I think about him in a Huntsman suit and my little heart just flutters!

winner ...for now

well, for now the big name winner is Eamon. Sidney is now Eamon. I thought it was kind of nifty and different. I haven't written it in stone yet I'm just testing it with my betas before super editor gets it. I also changed the name of his true love from Colette to Amelie. I feel like I stuck them in witness protection and gave them a new name. but like I said before, you give someone a new name and they have a whole new appearance. I know someone, okay he's the love of my life who I keep perfect in my mind. anyway, in high school he started going by his middle name which was cooler because he felt like his name was was holding him back. well he was right. he was the senior class president and he's been a kick ass success in his life. maybe he would have been anyway but I am betting that he would have had to work much harder as Norman than Dan.

einstein's desk...I don't feel so bad now

Dr Kaku (if you don't know who that is... he's a GENIUS) posted this pic today on facebook and I thought ah, look at that. Einstein had a desk that looks like mine. I like that.
I am no housekeeper. my work spaces are cluttered but I like them like that. I know where everything is though. and I get a sense of comfort from it. I figure if it's good enough for geniuses then it is good enough for me. neat desk keepers are always baffled by me but I say let them scratch their heads and wonder. their desk will never be compared to Einstein's!

it's february and this might brighten your wintery blues

OMG if he showed up anywhere near me...anyway. I've been noticing a lot kinda angsty, worried posts from writers I know. I hate that. maybe it's the long winter. maybe it's publishing or maybe it's just the mysteries of the ether.I don't know. I keep wishing for my chums to break out of it. a few days ago I had my bout of it and Super Editor brought me out of it. everyone needs a Dorrie. she's so awesome. she is my one person fan club. she said in an email that she was anxious to read how I had managed to bring everything together in my rewrites. that was one of the best things anyone has ever said to me. it gave my sagging confidence a much needed boost. I know it's an awesome story that IS different from other vampire stories but hearing an actual publisher turned editor say it is made my day.