The Happiest Place on Earth... and a Winner!

My 5 Kidlets with my parents.
Princess celebrated her birthday in
Disneyland!

Love all the faces, especially
my littlest one's. So funny.

I've been notably absent from the blog for a few weeks, but I've got a better than average reason why. I went to Disneyland! Yahoo! We packed up our five kids and my awesome parents (extreme good sports) and drove the 16 hours to the Magic Kingdom. Some people can make it there faster, but we drive a 12 seater old Ford van that protests mightily at anything over 65mph.

What made it especially fun is that the kids had NO IDEA it was coming until the day we left. I told them that their ailing great grandmother wanted them to wash every tombstone in the cemetary behind her house because she loved to walk there and wanted it clean. My awesome kids were not only willing to do this huge task, but kidlet #4 even packed pink washcloths so she could wash with her favorite color. They thought it would take the whole week. *Evil laughter*


4 of the 5 Kidlets used the force to fend off
Darth Vador and Darth Maul.
The Force is strong in our family.

Kidlet#3 cracks me up! And yes,
Splash Mountain is my favorite ride!



The answer to that age old question:
"Where did I come from?"
From the store of course.

So that morning, we drove to my parents for breakfast and told them we wanted a picture in the driveway with grandma's poster, but as they unrolled this long scroll, it said, "Swore Kids, You Are Not Going To Logan. You Are Going To . . . . " and then the garage door behind them opened to reveal a big poster "DISNEYLAND!" with fun little things and balloons that I got from the dollar store. They were so shocked they stood there dumbfounded. "What? Really? What?"

When it sunk in, Kidlet #4 started screaming and running all over the place while Kidlet #2 just hugged me and cried. It really took most of the trip there before they really could wrap their brains around the fact that they really, really were going. I'll post the video later.

We put the Disneyland poster in the back window of the van and wrote "Or Bust!" on it and all the way there, people honked and waved--some even hung out the window of their cars with their hands clasped together yelling, "Take me with you!" It was so much fun.

Anyway, I'm remiss on announcing the winner of my last giveaway!

And the winner is . . .

Sarah (AKA IdentitySeeker)

Congratulations! Let me know what book you'd like and it's yours!

I hope you've enjoyed these few glimpses of our fun.

What was the best vacation you've ever taken?

March Blog Hop and Hunger Games

Okay, so is anyone excited about The Hunger Games movie coming out next week? We are counting down the days at our house and Kidlet#1 has finally convinced Kidlet#2 to read it.

Can I just say that I'm thankful for awesome books and for Hollywood people who decide to make movies out of them? I've watched the previews and I think they've got a great cast.

Are any of you going to the midnight movie? We, alas, must wait till the next day because the kids simply can't stay up till 2am and remember anything they've seen, but we'll be there bright and early for the matinee!

In celebration, I've decided to do a giveaway.

The winner will get to choose from the following ebook choices:

Book 1 of the Hunger Games

Sweet YA Paranormal anthology. Have you read it yet?



My kids always raise their eyebrows at this one, but despite the cover, it's not a romance. It's an awesome urban fantasy.
This is the 1st in the Mercy series, one of my all time favorites.

A collection of essays discussing the deeper implications of the Hunger Games.

How to enter: Make sure you follow this blog, then leave a comment with your name and email. Tada! You're entered.

You can earn extra entries if you post about this elsewhere, just let me know where.

I'll draw a winner April 2nd.

Want more prizes? How about Amazon gift cards and a Kindle Fire? Check out the March Blog Hop! You can jump in anytime you want!

Winners of the Transcendent Giveaway!

Special thanks to everyone who entered the Transcendent giveaway. If you would like another chance at winning, be sure to check out the publisher's contest that runs till January 15th. More than 25 prizes will go out in that one!

And the winners are....

Drum roll please....

Kristin Feliz with goodie bag #1

Jennifer with goodie bag #2

And

Diana with goodie bag #3

Congratulations ladies!

And thanks again to everyone that entered!

That's a fun way to start out the year. What New Year resolutions have you made this year?

Over 25 Free Books, Ebooks, and SWAG in This Giveaway!

Hey guys,
First off, if you haven't already, be sure to check out the cool SWAG I'm giving away on my blog to celebrate Transcendent.

Robot Playground, the publisher of Transcendent, is hosting this huge giveaway of all these awesome books from amazing writers like...

Lani Woodland
Melanie Marks
Elana Johnson
Karen Hoover
Heather Justesen
CK Bryant
Tristi Pinkston
Cindy Hogan
Laura Bingham
Cheri Chesley
RaShelle Workman
Ali Cross
Cathy Witbeck
Tori Scott
Elizabeth Mueller
KC Blake
Rita Webb
& Wendy Swore (That dashing, amazing, brilliant writer)

I mean really, can you get any cooler than that? With twenty five different prizes, your chances are really good.
Here's the link.

 It runs through January 15th
Have fun!

If you could choose any prize for a giveaway, what would it be?

Awesome New Paranormal YA Anthology!

I'm thrilled to announce the release of Transcendent, a new YA paranormal anthology which includes two of my short stories, Strike and Spectre. Check out these excellent reviews:      

"Transcendent is deliciously creepy with hauntingly unforgettable stories that will keep readers glued to the page--even after the lights go out." --Elana Johnson, author of Possession

"Holy cow, I loved this book!!! I'm not usually a short story person, but this was full of creepy tales, love stories, ghosts, and things that go bump in the dark. A fascinating, well written paranormal collection I'd recommend to any and all!" --Karen E. Hoover, author of The Wolfchild Saga

"Mystical, romantic, and downright otherworldly, these stories will open your imagination to the possibilities of all that lays unseen with our mortal eyes." --Tristi Pinkston, author of the Secret Sisters Mysteries

"Transcendent offers everything you get from a full-length novel but in bite-sized pieces--perfect for those times when you only have a few minutes to read!" --Ali Cross, author of Become

~ Back Cover ~

Discover the secrets of a siren, fly with a hawk girl over the mountains of Montana, and flee supernatural party-crashers as the décor comes to life in this magical journey through paranormal stories.

Along the way, watch for ghosts in a haunted house, or ride through the moonlight with a stranger. Save a comatose boy who has lost his soul, and don’t forget to bring your garlic and wolfsbane—you never know when the shadows will snag you.

Transcendent includes eight stories of magic, love, death, and choice by some of the newest names in young adult fiction. Also included, are stories from Lani Woodland, Melonie Piper, (the co-author of Strike) Rita J. Webb, Melanie Marks, Heather McCubbin, and Evan Joseph.

You can purchase an e-copy of Transcendent on Amazon now for just 99 cents. This clean, fun read, would be great for any teen or YA reader who'd like a little dip into the paranormal!  

The hard copy will be available soon. I'll update you as soon as that becomes available!

Isn't that awesome news? While I'm at it, here's one more fun bit of news to share!

 Aspiring Writers Short Story             Winning Entries:     Another of my stories as just come out in this anthology of twelve winning stories, each only 750 words long. My story, Voodoo Hog, not only won the horror competition, but is the overall winner of the collection. All proceedes from this book go to St. Lukes Children's hospital, the charity of my choice. I loved writing this story because I only had 750 words to tell a whole story, so every word had to count.  This collection is available on Lebrery. for $4.00--all of which goes to St. Lukes.

Winners for the Variant Giveaway

With the help of Kidlet#5, we've chosen the winners for the Variant givaway!

And the winners are...





........drum roll please.......

Lolawid

And  kbrebes

Congrats, ladies! Look for my email today.

The Winner of POSSESSION by Elana Johnson is....

ALEX HOAGLAND!
Congratulations!

We gave each entry a different number, cut the papers up, and had my youngest girl pick a paper with her eyes shut.

Thank you to everyone who entered! I do a giveaway every other month or so--so stay tuned for more good things.

Happy Summer!

COLORLESS Won 3rd...

Just a quick note to say that my alternate history WIP, COLORLESS, won 3rd place at the Storymakers first chapter contest. Yep, having a pretty good day...

I shall now go do the happy dance.

Winners of Adopt a Book!

Thank you to everyone who adopted a book. I’m sure they will be well loved and cared for in their new homes.


And here’s the list of the proud parents with their new books:

lisasanuma , Unlocked, Ten Key Tales

Renee Miller , Artemis Fowl, and The Wish List.

Michelle Teacress , Artimus Fowl, The Opal Deception

Ladies! Congratulations. Please be sure to email me with your address!

Winners of the INTRINSICAL Givaway!

Ding, Ding! Time's up! Special thanks to everyone who posted a comment for Lani Woodland's awesome novel, Intrinsical.  We put each of your names on a paper a mixed them all up in a bowl. My 6 year-old drew the winning names.

The winners of the signed Intrinsical bookmarks with the cover picture on them:

Jen Wilks

Ariell Larson

&

Rachelle

The winner of the signed copy of the book Intrinsical, by Lani Woodland is...

...drum roll please....

Gail!

I will mail your bookmarks off tomorrow and Lani will mail Gail the Book directly.

Happy writing everyone. I hope you are all having a wonderful October!

Winners of the UNLOCKED Giveaway!

First of all, don’t forget to get your own free ebook download of Unlocked, Ten Key Tales. Wouldn’t you want to read my story, Crop Circles? One super easy click and this YA anthology is yours. http://www.unlockedproject.com 

Now, onto the contest results…

I wrote the names of everyone who entered a “keyn” response to the Unlocked giveaway on cards, put them in a bowl, mixed them up, and then had my 3 year old hand me three of cards.

And the winners of the Unlocked paperback copies are…. Drum roll please.

Angie

Debbie Davis

&

Grandpa Goose

*Cheers! Yay! Woot Woot!*

Congratulations to the winners and a heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered.

Book Trailer for Unlocked & Book Giveaway!

Hi everyone! This is the book trailer I've been working on for UNLOCKED, the YA anthology that will be available for free downloads on August 13th. I've just received permission for the music so I'm very excited! I hope you like my first attempt at making a video!

Now, how would you like to win a free physical copy of Unlocked?

Each story in the book contains the word key, though each used the word's meaning differently. So here's your challenge: Think of an unusual way to use the word key and post it in the comments below. At the end of August, I'll draw 3 names and send each a copy of UNLOCKED.

Post your email like myemailATthisserverDOTcom to avoid spam.

Extra entries for every tweet, facebook mention and blog. Be sure to report what you did.

August 13th is nearly here! I can't wait to share this with you all.

Winner of the Drabble Contest...

First of all, a big thanks to all you awesome writers who played along with my Drabble Contest. Your entries were great fun to read!

And the winner is.....*drum roll*......*using Random.org*......

Little Berry Girl!

Congratulations! You requested Seasons of America Past, by Eric Sloane. Consider it done.

Everyone, when my blog hits 100 followers, we'll play another giveaway game. Thanks for sharing your time and talents with me.

-hugs-

...and happy writing!

My Horror short, Voodoo Hog, won!

I've got some fun news today, I wrote a horror short for a writing group competition and it won! That means that it will be included in an anthology at the end of the year. I'm really excited because for one, it's a nice suprise, and for two, I've never written anything horror before so it was really a challenge for me to write. This next part is cut and pasted out of the thread so you can see the announcement. Anyone want to do the happy dance with me? *doin it, oh yeah, doin the happy dance*

"The Winner of February's Aspiring Writers Short Story Competition


Before I begin, can I give a big thank you to both all the participants of the February competition and all the judges who gave their time in marking what was a really interesting and close fought fight for the genre of 'Horror', which for many of you took you way out of your comfort zone.

I trust that everyone had as much fun reading the stories, as I'm sure the writers had in writing them. The judges certainly weren't unanimous in their decision, which shows both the diversity and quality of the writing.

When collating all the scores, the lead kept changing all the time, which demonstrating how close it was at the top.

In 3rd place was 'Oh Dear' written by Candice Adams

In 2nd place was 'There's only room here for myself by Julia Tagliere

And the winner of February's Aspiring Writers Short Story Competition is..................

...Wendy Swore for 'Voodoo Hog'

So a BIG congratulations to Wendy for an excellent contribution and a worthy winner of our first monthly competition. Wendy's story will now go forward to our Grand Final at the end of the year"