All the Gratitude!!!!!!! SipSwap!

Several months ago, I signed up to participate in this cool blog hop called SipSwap. The idea behind Sipswap was for writers to exchange mugs with other writers. Most of us love a hot beverage when we write, so it was a perfect idea. The brain children behind this fun exchange were Jessica Love and Kelsey Macke.

Well, guess what?

Lucky me got picked by both of them!!

Jessica was my Sipswap person, having drawn my name for a mug. First I got a sweet card from her saying my mug was on its way from an Etsy seller and she didn't want me to think I'd been forgotten. That was on Friday I think. On Monday, November 26th I came home to this:

It was absolutely silly my reaction when I opened the box. I'm in the pre-publication stage where I haven't gotten edit notes and the book deal still feels kind of like a dream I might wake up from at any moment. So opening that box and seeing those words, IN PRINT, blew me away. I might have shed a wee little tear. So, utterly perfect this mug. Plus, it is a great drinking mug. I've had coffee in it 2 mornings this week.

The mug has my book's  name on it!!!!!

I put it on top of my TBR pile and imagined it as a book!

But just when I thought my warm, fuzzy feelings couldn't possibly get any fuzzier, I came home to ANOTHER box in my mail. This one from Kelsey Macke. At first, before I opened it, I was all like, "Huh? But Jessica drew me." Then I opened it and saw this:

And I was still all like, "Huh?" Then I opened the card and found yet another sweet note, telling me I'd won the giveaway from Kelsey's blog. Wowee, color me lucky, look at this plunder:

Thank you, SO MUCH, ladies. This was such an awesome idea and I love my spoils (the Godiva pretzels may or may not be half-eaten already). My Write or Die tag is on my bulletin board. I'm keeping the awesome skeleton mug for my tea at school and my title mug at home for coffee. I will be caffeinated in total style. (P.S. Kelsey, I loved your note card so much I went to her website and ordered some for my sister-in-law for the holiday)

Okay, I'm off to brew a cuppa! Cheers!

November #wipmadness Wrap-Up - December's Host - And a Final Winner.

So, lucky for us, Charlie Holmberg, has agreed to host the #wipmadness crew for the month of December. Starting next Monday we'll be checking in over at her blog: Myself As Written

Thanks Charlie for stepping in! Not sure who's up for January, February we'll be over at Ghost Girl's blog, and of course March is reserved for our founder, Denise Jaden.

All right - I know this is really the reason you're all here. The final winner as chosen by random.org is:

#2 - Angelina

I swear to goodness, there's no orchestration on my part, but dang if the muse doesn't know who needs a little pick me up this month. So Angelina, I'll need you to pop back to week 2, send me a color, size, and mailing address for your T-Shirt.

For the rest of you, if you're interested in one of these beauties, just shoot me an e-mail and we'll discuss. I wish I could make one gratis for everyone but, hey, I'm a teacher and I haven't gotten that advance check yet. Anyway, you may want to wait and see how they turn out.

WIP Madness Week 4- November Check-In #wipmadness

This week has flown by like the frenzied flight of a turkey escaped from the Butterball plant.

I hope my fellow Americans had great holidays with family and friends, or solo should that be your preferred way to roll. I went to a great "orphan" Thanksgiving with 19 amazing free thinking artist and entrepreneurial types, then had a visit on Black Friday from a high school buddy in town (Asheville, anyway) with her family. I've also written - a ton- am back up to 30k (more by the time this posts) on the WIP and I hope I won't get stalled again. I would love, love, love to finish the first draft by the end of winter break. NANO is also winding down for many of you. I've read numerous success stories on Twitter, but honestly, words on the page equals success. No matter the count. But, how'd you do?

Speaking of December, who's our host? I can't remember. I plan on posting again tomorrow (Tuesday) with the announcement of the 4th week winner of the T-shirt and I can link to our next host then.

And before I announce the winner, here's what I want to know. At the beginning of our month, we named three things our protagonist is thankful for. Now I want you to name three things your antagonist is thankful for. I find this tough for my current WIP because I don't have an obvious antagonist, so I'm going to go with Sammy from Sing To the Wind.

1. He's thankful for his long Kid Rock hair.
2. He's thankful that he doesn't have to pay rent and that his in-laws are dumb enough not to ask for it.
3. He's thankful he's found a way to make some money without having to sucker up to a real job.

Oh yeah, it's time to announce a winner. Not counting Kim from this week's comments, there were 14 yet-to-win commenters to draw from. Random.org chose #8.

Shari!

Even though it was all random.org's doing, this is fitting. Shari asked for hugs from her #wipmadness peeps this week, and look Shari! It's telling you to Nourish Your Muse :0)

(Pop me a DM or an e-mail (up under my profile on this blog) with your color preference and size and mailing addy. The colors are listed under week 2's post.)

And remember, check back tomorrow to see this week's winner (so if you want a chance, post today!). I'm doing it then so I can get the shirts, ordered, silk-screened and off to the winners. And if you're hosting for December, let me know that, too!

And I am so thankful for each of you! This coming March will mark my 2 yr anniversary hanging with #wipmadness and that is awesome.

WIP Madness Week 3 - November Check-In #wipmadness

It's time! For those of us down in the lower half of North America it's a week of feasting, family drama and joy, and best of all...turkey! (or tofurkey)

So, in honor of the holiday here's what I want to know. How's it going with your writing? What's your favorite family holiday dish? And third, does food or a family gathering feature in your manuscript?

For me, I've had a slow but steady week of writing. The manuscript I've been wrangling with is coming to life and I'm back up to 22k after scrapping 38k, then 18k, then figuring out the parts of each I loved and stitching them together. I've reached the end of most of the stitching and am forward drafting again. I've set a goal to be first draft complete by the end of December. With Thanksgiving break (only 2 1/2 days + weekend) and Winter Break (2 weeks) approaching, I think I can pull this off.

Second, I love the oyster dressing my family in Alabama makes. Oh man. I won't get to have it this year. *sad face* Oh, and pecan pie. Man, I love pecan pie. Maybe I'll make some. (Random fact - Pecan Pie has the highest fat content of just about any pie out there - of course, this is why it's my favorite.)

And for the third question, Yes! My current WIP  is all about gourmet popsicles and enchilada casseroles - I hunger after certain scenes. Claire loves sitting down to dinner with Asa's family because it's bright and lively and alive. No big family gathering though.

Okay, enough talking. I know why you're all here. The prizes. The mystery. The BFD.

So, using random.org sequence generator, and skipping last week's winner, Rachel, in the count. This week's winner is #5

Kim!

Kim, you'll need to go back to last week and let me know your color preference and size, either in the comments or via e-mail. I'll also need a mailing address.

Obviously, the copyright statement won't be on your T

This, my friends, is what's going on the t-shirt. I took a silk screen workshop at my art ed conference and came up with this! I liked it enough to share. I'll be printing in white ink on colors dark enough to show it, and black ink on white. I won't print until I have all our winners and see if anyone else would like to purchase one. So I'm looking at printing in early December. FYI.

Happy Holiday week, fellow Americans, and, Canadians, we'll gorge for you like you did for us last month!

WIP Madness Week 2 - November Check-In #wipmadness

Hello, my fine feathered friends. Right. You're not ducks. But I've always loved that phrase.

So last week we looked at what our main character's were thankful for - this week let's talk about you. Is there one thing that happened in your past week, writing life or personal, that made you say "Awww, I'm so grateful for that."

For me, it was a small group of fellow crazies who've formed the #5amwritersclub on Twitter. Our own @kiperoo is among this elite crowd of ugly-breathed, caffeine-chugging, loo-loo birds. They got me up and working every single morning this past week. It was great. Usually I skip at least one day, but not this week. And because of that, I'm solidly working on my WIP again.

So, THANK YOU #5AMWRITERS CLUB! I am GRATEFUL for you.


Anyhoo, it's time to announce the winner of the 1st week's TOP SECRET WRITER GONE WILD DIY PRIZE. Counting individual commenters (there were 19 of you when I wrote this post), then using random.org sequence generator - it's #8.

Rachel!

So, here's what I can tell you now. You will be getting a t-shirt. Something will be done to this t-shirt. What, I cannot reveal. But what I need from you, Rachel, is 2 things. Your size (s-2xl - ladies sizes) and color preference. And for the rest of you, you might win - so pick out a color and a size, just in case. Mwaahaaaa. It's good. I promise.

Click below to change colors:

Azalea

Black

Caribbean Blue

Charity Pink

Chocolate

Heather Grey*

Hot Pink

Key Lime

Navy

Red

Violet

White                  

WIP Madness Week 1 - November Check-In #wipmadness

Hi WIPMadness Peeps and Tweeps - I hope your November has gotten off to a blazing start. I know many of you are doing NANO and this will be a great opportunity to shout and scream (or tear out your hair) about how it's going.

For the rest of us, what's on tap for November? For me, I just want words on the page. I'll set a goal of 20K and see if I can get there. Still struggling with this WIP.

So here's our game this week. It's Thanksgiving month here in the US of A - and there's loads to be thankful for in our real lives, but this week, I want you to tell us 3 things your current main character is thankful for.

Actress, Molly Quinn, is who I envision for Claire. Source

For mine, Claire, she's thankful for

• her car, because driving helps drown out the noise of life
• Jimmy Carter, because he's her idol
• the boy, Asa, who runs the popsicle stand and makes life seem interesting again

Now, I mentioned on Deb's blog last month there will be surprises this month. But the surprises are sort of special-order surprises, so I'll draw a name each week, and then I have to get a piece of information from you in order to MAKE your surprise. That's right, it's gonna get all crazy DIY up in here. But I think you will want this! So be sure and join in this month. And there's the teaser....:0)