We Have A Winner!

Congrats to Carrie, who won the Back-to-School giveaway!

You know what's kind of sad, though?  I had 147 entries into the contest, but by the time I deleted the bogus ones, I was down to just 87.  It seems that adults are just as likely to cheat as students are.

Anyway, Carrie's entries were all valid, so I'm pleased to announce that she won.  :D

Don't Forget To Enter My Back-To-School Giveaway!

Just click here to go to the Rafflecopter form.

Every Once In A While.... Reality Checks In

Every once in a while, I laugh at the Pinterest boards of some of my former students.  They pin photos of completely non-accessible guys, like members of One Direction.

I mean, not only is this boy super-famous and surrounded every day by women who want him, he also lives in a foreign country and has a girlfriend to whom he's so ostensibly devoted he had her face (foolishly) tattooed on his arm.
Uh, yeah.  Like these girls even have a chance with him.

Then I remember the pics I tend to pin of good-looking men:

Gene Kelly

John Lennon

Errol Flynn.

They're all dead.

This tends to change my perspective somewhat.

There's Definitely A Story Possibility In This Article

Authors have been at it for centuries: stealing the news and making it into fiction.
One of the earliest novels written in  the USA was Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown.  It was based on a lurid newspaper account of an overly-religious man who believed he heard God telling him to axe-murder his own children (sort of an 18th century Andrea Yates).  But in Brown's novel, Wieland isn't the only person hearing voices that tell him what to do.  Then Robert Louis Stevenson took the stories of Deacon Brodie and twisted them into the famous fiction of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.
Well, now we have this article about Marc Gilbert of Houston, Texas.  It seems a hacker decided to get into the baby monitor of Marc's daughter Allyson and whisper creepy messages to her.  (Can we say "nightmares for life"?  I think we can.)  However, in an even more bizarre twist, it turns out that Allyson is deaf and never heard a thing.
There's a story here.  Someone's just got to use this somewhere.  Only, maybe the monitor should be in the shape of a clown. *evil laughter*
Creepy novel alert!

Writing Update 8/12/13

Naturally, Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire and All in the Half-Vampire Family are still for sale.  (Have you entered my Back-To-School Giveaway?)  Here's more about the rest of my writing:

Becoming Brigid:
1) I'm about to start my umpteenth edit on the book.  It's very nearly there.
2) I hope to be requesting hosts for my cover reveal (not the WIP cover seen elsewhere on this blog) and the book trailer very soon.
3) Besides editing the book, I've been making/gathering cool swag for giveaways.  So far, I've put together two swag bags filled with themed items -- and some that just have lots of girl appeal -- and I've been working on two Brigid-themed altered books.  And, yes, of course, I plan to give away copies of the book itself.
4) If all goes well, the book should be released on (fingers crossed) Sept. 13.

The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay:

(Work-in-Process cover only.)

1) This book has been on hold all summer, as I've been so busy with the other books.
2) It needs more beta readers, as most of my 7th graders were unable to finish it last year, due to standardized testing getting in the way.  Thus, only one 9th-grader and one high school junior have beta read.  However, I've got a whole new crop of guinea pigs potential beta readers with FIVE classes of seventh-graders starting up all too soon.  (Seventh-graders begin school this Friday.  No kidding.)  I will not lack for volunteers, so I'm not the least bit worried about this.
3) I still continue my Pinterest board for Nerissa, as the book may have sequels someday.

The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook:

(WIP cover, but I really like this, so the final cover may be very, very similar.)

1) I finished writing the first draft of chapter 3 last night, and I'm at just over 7000 words.  The rest of the book is in a rough outline stage, and I'm ready to write up a summary of chapter four -- just as soon as I finish this next edit of Brigid.  I hope to be able to finish the first draft of this book by January of 2014.
2) The set of short stories, called The Chocolate Chronicles: Scenes From New Penzance, has been outlined and tied into The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook.  The plan is still to release the stories in e-book form running up to the release of the novel.  The titles of the short stories (in order) are as follows:
a) "The Tale of London Sunday"
b) "The Tale of Agnes Braithweight"
c) "The Tale of Ellen Andersson"
d) "The Tale of Camilla and Oscar"
e) "The Tale of Captain Annie Lovelark"
3) I have no covers designed yet for the short stories, but I believe I will just use variations on the novel's cover, so as to have a visual tie-in to the main story.  After all, I took a couple of dozen different shots of that cover photo, with the pens and gears and ink all laid out in different ways.  It shouldn't be too hard to construct a few different covers.

So, that's the update.  Now, someone PLEASE help me not to get any more brilliant ideas for books until I can get caught up a bit on these!

My Sleepless Weekends Just Aren't What They Used To Be

I've never been a drinker, but for years and years I was a folk dancer (to a limited extent, I still am, but the herniated disc curbs much of it).
There were weekends at festivals where I had almost no sleep: 5-mile parade in the mid-morning, 3 short performances in the afternoon, full show that night followed by dancing with the other groups until 3:00 AM, bus ride back to the dorm.  It was awesome. :D
In contrast, over the last four days, I've had a TOTAL of roughly 8 hours sleep (altogether, not per night).  That's just like the old days, true.  But, if I add that I'm to the point now where I'm REALLY looking forward to my root canal on Monday, I think you'll get a better picture of my current sleepless nights.
*stares dazedly at computer screen*  *tries to ignore throbbing sensation on right side of face*

Yeah, I'm Writing....