Come hang out poolside!

Guys, guess what? The fabulous Angela Cothran has come back to blogging! (I think she realized how much more fun blogging is than unpacking after a cross-country move.) She wants us to come hang out with her at her new digs where, seriously, she has a pool. What say you? Feel free to come in whatever you're wearing. I swear I probably won't push you in.

And I swear we'll talk about more than just this:

Heck, we might even talk about writing! Come join us at Angela's. But bring your own sunglasses. I already stole borrowed hers.

And the winner is.....

First, thank you so much to everyone who entered the One Year, One Month, One Day, One Incredible Giveaway Blogiversary! You sure can make a couple of girls' blogiversary awesome!

And the winner is....

Faith E. Hough!

glitter star backdrop (christmasstockimages.com) / CC BY 3.0

We'll be getting in touch soon, Faith.

One Year, One Month, One Day, One Incredible Giveaway!

Today is my one year, one month, and one day blogiversary! *Tosses confetti* Thanks for coming by to celebrate with me!

My fabulous writing / blogging bff, Jessie Humphries at The B-Word and I started our blogs at virtually the same time, holding hands and fumbling through the dark together. And when you fumble together, it’s only appropriate to celebrate together. Especially when it adds to the epicness of it.

Because oh my goodness, THE EPIC.

Here’s the thing. We love you guys! We’ve been constantly amazed over the past one year, one month, and one day at how welcoming, supportive, helpful, kind and hilarious you all are. We wanted to show our gratitude.

So, we are giving away to one lucky winner......

(Drum roll, please)

Always wanted an e-reader? Here’s your chance to win! Already have one? You can get your choice of a gift certificate to Amazon, your choice of books from The Book Depository, or if you’re in the U.S., books from your favorite indie bookstore! This giveaway is even open internationally! (Where you live might affect the prize available to you. You’d have a choice of Amazon if it’s available in your country, or books from The Book Depository anywhere in the world.)

The giveaway opens today, on my one year, one month, one day blogiversary, and ends next Monday (July 23) at midnight EST, on Jessie’s one year, one month, one day blogiversary.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


What? You want even more chances to win? Head on over to Jessie Humphries: The B-Word, if not for more chances, then do it because Jessie rocks! Plus, I hear she’s offering free spooning.

Buried

I have been a bad blogger lately.

It's not that I don't love it! And every day I hate not knowing what's going on with you guys. It's just a very unfortunate bi-product of some insane deadlines. (Plus, there's kids who need a mom... a hubby who needs a wife...) But soon. Soon..... I have third round edits due this week, then it's possible I'll have a 2-3 week breather before copy edits arrive. (Who's that calling my name? Ahh! Book 2! I had almost forgotten you were over there! We'll hang out soon. I promise.)

But until I get that breather, my desk has been feeling a little like this:

What do you mean? My head totally matches with my body. And I could totally be smiley in a desk like this. And I totally still use a phone with a cord.

And do you know what helps when your desk is feeling like that? Looking at desks that don't. (If your desk is feeling like the one above, go ahead and salivate at these.)

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Check out the desktop space! I WANT THAT SPACE. AND THOSE WINDOWS.

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Do you know what? Forget the desk. I just want to work here:

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Has your summer been more full of work or play? And when you are working, where do YOU want to work?



Thank you so much, E.D. at (Not) Just Another Writer for the Kreative Blogger award!

Oh, the epicness! The EPICNESS!! (Seriously. You want this prize.)

Do you know what's six months from today?

That's right! 2013-- the year that holds a special place in my heart *cue cheesy grin*. ANYWAY, as a Lucky 13s group, since that's when our books start coming out, we decided to have a giveaway! We have each chosen a book that has influenced us, and we are giving them ALL away to one lucky winner!! We'll each ship the book we've chosen off ourselves, so you'll get 20 different packages in the mail! Can you even imagine how fun it will be to get your mail each day? *cue jealousy for not being able to enter myself*

Seriously. Feast your eyes on the awesomeness:

I know you're dying to go enter right now. But first, a little on why I chose the book I chose.

I read a ton of MG to my kids. If you asked any of my kids what their favorite book I've read to them is, they'd say without hesitation GREGOR THE OVERLANDER.

Why? A few things, I think. First and foremost-- THE CONFLICT!! Yeah. I think we can all agree that Suzanne Collins is pretty darn good at conflict. It meant that my kids were glued to the books! Nothing like a little mortal danger to keep you wanting to know what happens! She made likeable, flawed characters. An incredible setting. Unique and unforgettable secondary characters. An interesting and gripping plot. And a tag-along two-year old you can't help but love. I guess why I picked this book as being one of the most influential to me, is that it really showed that when you don't coddle your characters, your book gets so much more interesting.

Thanks for sticking around long enough to read that, when I know what you really want to do is get on over to the Lucky 13s giveaway! I'm so excited for this giveaway! Best of luck!!

Oops!

Doh! I was writing my post for tomorrow, and forgot to change the scheduled date before I clicked "publish!" (I hate when that happens!) So.... If your reader sent you here anytime before Monday morning, just forget it ever happened. ;)

BUT DO COME BACK TOMORROW! I'm talking about a seriously epic giveaway. You definitely won't want to miss it.