Thursday, May 31, 2012

My Final Talent: Video #5

This post will be brief since I was up so late last night watching the USA get thrashed by Brazil (4-1). Sigh.

But I couldn't miss posting my final video. My duty is now fulfilled. Hope you enjoy!

(For those who don't know, Leigh Moore and I were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and the pennance for missing a day was posting a Hacky Sack Club video. I missed 5 times!!!)


So what talent have you been cultivating?

P.S. All the winners in my giveaway have been contacted, and the books are on the way. Thanks for entering, and enjoy!


Thursday, May 24, 2012

You Are Beautiful!

So last night I stayed up late watching Pride and Prejudice with my husband (the long version), and I completely spaced on scheduling a post. But this song has been stuck in my head all week.

I just love it. I love the music. I love the video. I love the message.


Take this with you today. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Happy News and High Heels

Before I cut you a slice of my humble pie humiliation, I wanted to share some great news:

Angela Cervantes, one of the amazing writers in my critique group just had her book announced in Publisher Weekly!
"Anna Bloom at Scholastic has bought a debut middle-grade novel by Latino Writers Collective founder Angela Cervantes. The story centers on a Latina sixth-grader who, while volunteering at an animal shelter, discovers that she has a lot in common with the abandoned cats and unwanted dogs there: they want a loving family, and she wants her mother—who was deported to Honduras—back. Publication is set for 2013. Adriana Dominguez at Full Circle Literary brokered the deal."
So very excited for her! You can check out Angela's website, or congratulate her on Twitter: @AngelaCervantes. Yay Angela! Doing the happy dance for you. :D

Now, on to that other thing. Video #4.

(For those who don't know, Leigh Moore and I  were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and the pennance for missing a day was posting a Hacky Sack Club video. I missed 5 times!!!)



For the record, I sustained an injury in the making of this video. Darned high heels gouged me! I guess this'll teach me not to skip out on writing.

And if you haven't entered, and want a chance to win one of those books, you still have time! Just CLICK HERE. (Wow. Writing it in all caps like that makes it look kindof spammy. But it's not. I promise.)

So can you walk with a book on your head?

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Humiliation With a Side of Awesome

As promised, video #3. Here I reveal some of my lesser-known talents. What are they? You'll have to watch to find out! *cue evil laughter*

(For those who don't know, Leigh Moore and I were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and the pennance for missing a day was posting a Hacky Sack Club video.)


Oh! The subterfuge of it all!! Sneaky little beggar.

Despite appearances, the side of awesome I mentioned is not my son (though even I have to admit it was pretty funny). The side of awesome is that I am giving away a boatload of books!

Since we are moving, I'm trying to clear off my shelves. Rather than give my precious books to just anyone, I thought I would offer them up to my lovely followers. Unfortunately, and I hate to do it, but since there are so many, I just don't think I can afford the international postage on that many items, I'm going to have to limit it to US/Canada.

Okay, but now I feel too bad, soooo, I will draw the name of one international commenter and send them a book. So here are the rules:
  1. You must be a follower.
  2. Leave a comment with your e-mail and please mention if you are international or US/Canada.
  3. For international participants, you have until May 29th to enter, and hopefully I'll have the winners posted by Thursday.
  4. For the rest of you, the contest is on-going until the books are gone and I announce the end. I'll start picking winners at random very soon. Tomorrow maybe? Don't you just love the randomness of it all?
No extra entries for tweeting or passing on the word, but I would love it if you did!

There will be as many winners as I have books to give away (which is a lot), and as a thanks to pay it forward (NTM, you're the best!), one lucky random person will also win a $10 Starbucks card (I don't drink coffee, so when my husband won it at work, I knew just what to do with it!).

Please note, the books are used (read at least once), but they are all in very good shape, and most are pretty recent. Most.

And since it will be a media mailer, there won't be a warm, fuzzy note with it, but know it's there in spirit.

Love you guys! Thanks for reading my posts, and laughing at my crazy videos (you DID laugh, didn't you?!!!). Thanks for your support and for generally keeping me sane in this Wonderland World we call Publishing.

Monday, May 14, 2012

License Plate Characterizations

I don't want to overload you on the videos all at once, so today I'm giving you a break, but my third video of humiliation will be up Thursday. For those who don't know, Leigh Moore and I were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and if you missed a day, the penance was posting a Hacky Sack Club video. So that's what that's all about.

Anyway, on the other things. In my extended absence, I saw a plethora of great license plates that I've been dying to share with you. I'll just mention a couple with today.

The first is one I saw on a black BMW:

MR WNDFL

The second is from a black sedan with tinted windows (seriously):

HYRD GUN

On this last one, my first question is "Who would advertise that on their license plate?" and next "How did it get through the DMV?"

Anyhoo, that said, I've been thinking a lot about characterization as I've been working on my latest manuscript, and I'm finding that little details like these can really make your characters pop. With these license plates, I get an immediate image of these people. Granted, they may or may not be correct, BUT it's a start for making them real.

I know I've asked the question before, but do you know your character's personalized plates? And what about the car they would be on?

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Blowdryers and Characterization

Day 2 of my Hackey Sack Club humiliation. Today I'll cut right to the video, with a brief footnote to mention how impressed I am with the video program for capturing such a . . . shall we say expressive  moment as the stand-by picture. Yoinks.


My husband informed me that they just did a poll or something on the number of blowdryer users in the world. So here's my deep question: Do you use a blowdryer? Does your main character? (I had to tie this in to writing somehow!)

Monday, May 7, 2012

Silliness Ensues

I'm back!

April was a weird month for me in that it seemed to last forever (a la my husband's job), yet at the same time went by in a flash (a la my goals). I wasn't a total stranger to the blogosphere (thanks Ruth!), but I wasn't exactly a close friend either. I think acquaintance is the word. ;)

As for my writing challenge with the fabulous Leigh Moore (1K of writing a day), I missed 5 times. Five!!! So that means I will be embarrassing myself a la video for the Hacky Sack Club pretty much most of this month. Hopefully a la your viewing pleasure. ("A la" is my pet phrase of the day.)

Like Leigh, I can't decide if I'm more embarrassed by that expression on my face at the first, or by my horrible accent. Anyway, enough chatter. First installment, here:



So now that I'm back, did I miss anyone's happy news? I'd love to hear your shoutouts for yourself or your friends. :)