Curiouser and Curiouser Contest Results

Tonight I came home and received my entry back from Prestigious Contest (names have been changed to protect the innocent). I didn’t final, which is fine–I enjoy reading the feedback. Prestigious Contest is a particularly nice one where the finalists presumably are read by Top Editors, sell their manuscripts, and go on to fortune and fame. Or so many tend to think.

I read my first page of feedback(3 total–wowzers!) and was pleasantly surprised that Multipublished Author said I had great style, good humor, and that I needed to explain more in the beginning. She had a few “Huh?” moments that she thought could easily be resolved with a little more attention to certain questions. Great. I love constructive feedback that tells me specifically what needs fixing. Best of all, she said that she could imagine this selling with some cleaning up.

Then I looked at feedback from Author #2. She started out telling me that clearly I was a beginning author. After I picked up my shredded ego off the floor, she went on to tell me that she felt my entry needed better plot, better characters, and it would have been much stronger without the prologue.

Ah, the kicker. Because, you see, I didn’t write a prologue.

I checked it again. Yes, my title was clearly typed at the top of the page. But I have to wonder–is that truly my score sheet? Or did she send the same one with every entry she judged?

I didn’t write a prologue! There is no prologue! There never was a prologue! To quote Charlie Brown, “AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”

Was I ROBBED of finalist status because of a form contest feedback letter? (Cue the melodramatic music and swooning.)

I guess I shall never know.

The lucky winners!

Thanks to everyone for playing the Animal Caption contest and for the newsletter subscribers.

It was really tough deciding upon the winners for the Animal Captions. They were all so good! But I finally narrowed it down. Here they are:

1st place for:

“Um no ma’am, that’s not mine. I ordered mine well-done.”
by Brian
Winner of the $10 Barnes and Noble gift certificate! Congratulations.

2nd place for:

“Drink my backwash, human scum.”
by Larissa
Winner of 3 books from my list (I’ll send you the choices and you pick your favorites).

3rd place for:

“I swear, I’ll never pee on the rug again.”
by Anna
Winner of 2 books from my list

Honorable Mention (I couldn’t help myself–these were too good!)

“One well-aimed shot and that bird feeder is MINE!!!”
by Tori
Winner of 1 book from my list

Random participant drawing was comment #13. Lori was the lucky winner for that one!

For the newsletter subscribers, I chose the random number 10. The 10th subscriber was Regina Avalos. Thanks to everyone for playing!

Would the lucky winners please e-mail me your addresses? Thanks!

Starting Fresh

I’m still running both contests through midnight tonight! I’ll choose a winner and announce that person on Monday. You can enter the Animal Caption contest or the really easy newsletter sweepstakes by just entering your e-mail address in the newsletter subscription area on the sidebar.

My weekend has been a mixture of revising and polishing my book and trying to come up with ideas for the new medieval. It’s an interesting stage at the beginning. There are so many possibilities, I have to eliminate the cliches and try to find something different. But when you do find that perfect idea, the one that has you just dying to write, that’s the one. Maybe it’s like dating. You have to sort through a lot of frogs to find the prince.

My husband has been building a shed in our backyard. The man still amazes me with his building prowess. I, of course, hated Geometry with a passion and thought it was useless. But last night we were measuring diagonals and trying to determine if the foundation was square (So that’s what they were talking about in math class!). It was off by a quarter inch. Now, to me, that’s close enough! Not for my hubby. He wanted it perfect, and eventually he got it that way. This is also the same man who, when mixing brownie batter, will hold the measuring cup up to the light to check the meniscus (sp?) and determine if it is precisely 1/4 a cup of cooking oil. (He doesn’t normally do the cooking.)

Anyway, if it were up to me building the shed, it would likely tilt on its foundation and come crashing down. But that’s okay–I’m perfectly happy holding the tape measure and letting him make the construction decisions.

So what about you? Do you enjoy initiating home improvement projects, or are you the sort to hold the tape measure? What’s the most complicated thing you’ve done in or around your house?

A second contest!

Keep entering yesterday’s Animal Caption contest. It runs until Sunday, so don’t miss out on your chance for a gift certificate or free books!

Today’s contest is even more simple than yesterday’s. On my side bar, below the menu, you’ll see a place to enter your e-mail address to subscribe to my newsletter. I’m sure you’re scratching your heads right now, wondering what in the world I’d possibly have to write about in a newsletter since I haven’t sold a book yet. Great question! Would it be:
Choice A: I’ll write fascinating accounts about belly button lint and what I’m cooking for dinner…
Choice B: I’ll sell your e-mail addresses to spammers wanting to give you lower mortgage rates and larger male parts…and use the funds to buy a beach house in Maui….
or
Choice C: I’ll use the newsletter to announce my first sale and details about when and where you can order my book.

You’re right! Choice B! :confused2: Gotta contact that realtor….(just kidding). Of course it’s choice C. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to send out an announcement within the next year, but that’s not exactly in my control. You won’t receive anything until I have actual news to share, so I won’t be clogging up your inbox with useless information. So sign up! It’s easy. Just enter your e-mail address in the box on the sidebar, check your e-mail box for the subscription form, and click on the link to subscribe. I’ll draw a name from all the subscribers for another $10 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. How easy is that?

In writing news, I’m working on a new medieval proposal and am stirring up ideas for another Victorian. It’s all part of my plan to dominate the world of publishing. Must Write More. Must Submit More.

And last, but not least, a quick kid story. I’m trying to teach my son how to read since he loves books so much and seems eager. Tonight we were using bathtub foam letters. I spelled the word PAN on the bathtub and as he was sounding it out, I gave him the context clue: “You cook with a . . . ?” and he figured out pan. Then we did MAN. Last, I put up the letters FAN. He was having trouble sounding it out, so I said, “When it’s hot inside, we turn on the??”
His face brightened and he yelled, “Air conditioning!”

Animal Caption Contest!

Okay, first contest is starting today! It will run through Sunday night, so you’ve got time to enter.

First prize will be a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble.
Second and third prizes will win prize packs of free books of your choice from my collection.
And I’ll even draw a random participant to win a free book, just for playing along.

Write a one-sentence caption to go with one of the following pictures. Please include the number of the picture you’re captioning.

Example: Picture #1: This Bud’s for ME, pal.

If you don’t feel like writing one of your own, feel free to leave a comment or respond to other people’s captions. Have fun!

Picture #1:

Picture #2:

Picture #3:

Website Face-Lift

Notice anything different around here? Go and visit the rest of my site! Come on, you know you want to. The blog page will be updated later today, and I’ll be adding my welcome message to the home page with news and the latest things I’ve added. Don’t worry–that foreign language stuff is just a place marker. It will go away as soon as I have the login stuff to do a true welcome message.

To celebrate the new design, I’m hosting a contest! Actually several! You can win gift certificates and free books. (Sorry, until I hit the NYT bestseller lists, can’t give away a trip to Hawaii. Darn it!) And you won’t have to think too hard on these, I promise.

As soon as everything’s updated, I’ll start the contests. Check back for details!

So what do you think of the new design?

Water Phobia

My son has a strange water phobia. He hates having water squirted at him, poured over him, or sprinkled on him in any way. I tried to give him a shower instead of a bath once, and he screamed and cried through the entire ordeal. Today was water play day at daycare, and as soon as he saw the bathing suit I had laid out for him, he started whining, “I don’t want to go to water play.” I assured him that he didn’t have to go in the sprinklers and it was okay to just wear the bathing suit to school. He eyed me with the suspicion of a boy who’s accustomed to his mother sneaking vegetables into his food.

He’s also terrified of swimming. Last year I enrolled him in a Mom and Baby swimming class. He sobbed his way through the first three classes, arms locked around my neck in a death-grip. By lesson #4, he started to relax, and during the last two lessons, he eagerly enjoyed them. I want to enroll him in swimming again, just to help him lose the fear of water. And yet, I have a feeling that there is no way he’ll go for it.

Do your children have any fears? How have you helped them overcome those?

P.S.–in another funny moment, a stranger complimented him on his Superman cape and shirt, saying, “I like your shirt.”
My son: “Yes, I’m sure you do.” :confused2:

Contests

So I got to thinking about contests the other day when I was planning my new website. I’d like to do them, and there are so many creative ideas out there. At the same time, there are also what I’d call the “Annoying” contests. You know, the ones where you have to answer about 35 billion questions and you actually have to think? I tend to avoid those. Then, too, sometimes there are the–comment here and I’ll draw a lucky winner–contests which require nothing at all. I like one that’s in the middle.

One of my favorites was done by Kate Rothwell. She did one contest where she chose some funny pictures and you had to make up either a blurb or back cover copy or something amusing to go with it. Reading the comments was a hoot! I think I may steal that idea or tweak it to make my own contest. I have some duplicate books from the RWA conference that I’d like to give away in celebration of finishing my book.

My web designer showed me another mock up yesterday and I LOVE it. I have a feeling I’m going to be logging on, staring at my pretty design and sighing in adoration. If you hate the design, don’t tell me. I’m in my happy place right now.

So tell me–what’s the most fun online contest you’ve entered or what’s the most annoying contest you’ve ever seen? (No need to give names on that one–let’s play nice.)

Stick a Fork in me

I did it!!:crazyjumping: I’m finished with the book! It’s done!

So tell me, what’s your favorite way to celebrate finishing a book?

It took me 22 pages and about 5 hours of gluing my butt to the chair with no e-mail or blog breaks, but honey, I am PROUD of me. I have never worked so hard in my life. I thought I only had about 13 pages to do. Heh heh..wrong!

But that’s okay. I feel like I walked through fire, sacrificed a few million brain cells, and I have a 369 page manuscript to show for it. The edges are jagged and this puppy needs some serious polishing, but it’s there. :headspin:

The Big Finish

Today I am going to finish the draft of the book. I’m going to ignore the little voices in my head that are scared silly and who are whining, “But the hero has no internal conflict!” :blahblah: Yes, he does. It’s going to be fine. Plus, I’ll be stuck at the car dealership waiting on my car maintenance (I think I would rather have the skin peeled off my body with a butter knife than wait around at a dealership. They are AWFUL!!).

But, on the bright side, I do have two bits of good news to share. One, I’ve been asked to join the columnists at Dot Moms. I’ll let you know when my first column is up. So exciting! Because, of course, I NEVER write stories about my kids. Nope. Not me.

(Okay–can’t stand it. Quick story to embarrass my son.) We were in church yesterday and I need to get him used to going to children’s church because I signed him up for religious education classes. I went along with him because otherwise I would have had to pry him off my leg. Anyway, we got to the prayers of the faithful and his teacher asked if there’s anything he wanted to pray for? My son bobs his head furiously. “And what would you like to pray for?” she said softly.
“Star Wars shoes,” my son replied with all seriousness. :starwars: Hoo boy. Guess he needs classes worse than I thought!!

In other news, I am working with a web designer right now to update the look of this site. This was my treat for receiving a request for revisions (of course, you realize that if I don’t sell this book, I shall be strongly tempted to hurl myself off the side of a cliff). The designer is Emily with CiaoMyBella. They do a wonderful job! Anyway, it will happen any day now…I’ve seen the mock up and it is fabulous. Pretty, pretty, pretty. Can’t wait!