Moving (check), Launch tour (check), Blogfest (check)...OYVEY!

This is not my normal Monday blog post, but there’s good reason for that.  This Friday, I will be flying my son down from Seattle to Arizona State University near Phoenix, and on Sunday, we’ll move him into his residence hall.  Yes, after 2 years of researching schools, college fairs and tours, applications, and essays, it’s all come down to this.  

May I say how stressed out I am, especially since I have to do it alone,

without my husband’s help?

 

Yeah. Super-über mondo-stressed.

Mind you, ASU is the largest public university in the entire US.  That’s nearly 70,000 students, most of whom attend the beautiful one-square-mile Tempe campus, where my son will be living.  So far, we’ve UPS’d one huge box down to his hall, at great cost, too.  The rest will be packed and fly with us. Thank God Southwest Airlines doesn’t charge for checked bags!  Needless to say, I’ve been a busy mama.  So while I don’t have the time to dwell over a thoughtful blog post, I do have time for a few announcements.  

First, my dear friend, Jennifer Hillier, has just released her second novel, Freak.  Though it stands alone on its own merits, it’s also a sequel to her debut novel, Creep, which came out last summer.  (I loved that book, by the way!)  I ordered a hard copy of Freak so Jenny can sign it when I see her at BoucherCon 2012 in October.  I was excited enough just to get my copy, but then I opened it up and saw that she had mentioned me in her acknowledgements.  Yes, more than a few tears sprang to my eyes.  Thank you, Jenny!

Second, after receiving another update from Goodreads, where I noticed one more add to another reader’s TBR list (thank you Lynda R. Young,) I saw that Lisa Regan had updated her review of my book, The Mistaken.  This update has a lot of depth and detail and is not simply a rehashed synopsis.  She shares what she loved most about my story and what she feels makes it special.  My humble thanks, Ms.Regan!  

Next, with my book’s release a short 2 months away, I’m frantically getting ready for my blog tour.  Besides the one arranged by Sapphire Star Publishing, (who, by the way, has a shiny new website) I have my own tour looming ahead.  That’s 15 guest posts and interviews I have to compose.  I’ve already written 10 of them, but I have 5 new additions that came up last week.  (Thanks to those of you who asked me to guest post.)  So yeah, I’m a bit swamped at the moment. 

I did, however, want to mention a couple of other events coming up, like Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Genre Favorites Blogfest on September 17, 2012.  One blogfest, four favorites!  Simply list your favorite genre of:  movie, music, books, and a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!  Alex hosts the best parties, so if you want to participate and meet new people, click here for the latest info.  

Also, on Tuesday, August 21^st, my friend, neighbor, and fellow writer, Angela Orlowski-Peart, will reveal the cover for her new YA paranormal novel, Forged By Greed, set for release in September.  Angela will be my guest that day while we celebrate this important event.

And lastly, I’d like to thank Karen Elizabeth Brown for nominating me for the Liebster Award.  Though I’ve done this award before, it could use some updating, so I’ll try to post about it sometime in the near future. 

Whew!  Can I take a breath now?

Oh yeah, right…I have to go finish packing.

*sigh*

So what have you all been up to this summer?

The Maid's Here & She's Biting Her Nails

She looks just like me!

So normally you wouldn’t be hearing from me until Monday, but I have a few items I need to take care of, and I won’t be posting again until Wednesday, December 7^th, which, as the first Wednesday of the month, is reserved for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. 

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So I’ve done something crazy:  I gave my new query to Matthew MacNish at the Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment.  He posted it yesterday, December 1^st, and critiqued it today.  You might be wondering why I would put myself through that.  Well, I participated in a query blogfest last July, but the query that blogfest produced garnered not a single request, so obviously I needed to revise it.  I came up with a formula for a new one and sent the new query to literary agent Suzie Townsend last month.  She offered a critique as a form of celebration for her recent move to Nancy Coffey’s agency.  For one hour on November 1^st, she accepted all queries via email with a specific subject line.  Then she spent a couple of weeks critiquing those lucky few.  I was one of them, and she gave me some great feedback.  That revised query is now up for  critique on Matthew’s blog.  I have further revised my query after reading Matthew's comments and those of his followers.  You can find that version here on my blog under the tab marked The Query.  And feel free to comment.  I can only improve with feedback.

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On December 16^th, Nicole Ducleroir,  Lydia Kang, D L Hammons, and Katie Mills are hosting the Déjà Vu Blogfest, which gives participants the chance to resubmit their best posts for the benefit of all those who might have missed it the first time around.  After all, it’s easy to miss some awesome posts when you’re away or simply unable to keep up.  Joining this bloghop will instantly connect you to many others who are interested in your writing.  So go to Nicole’s site and sign up using the convenient Mr. Linky’s Magical Widget.  104 bloggers have signed up so far.  Don’t miss out on meeting some fantastic new bloggers and the chance to gain a few new followers of your own. 

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And lastly, Murees Dupe at Daily Drama of an Aspiring Writer has bestowed the Liebster Award on me.  And while I have received this award a few times, I never miss the opportunity to spread the word and introduce a few bloggers with less than 200 followers.  So go visit these wonderful folks and follow:

1.                    The hilariously cheeky Al Penwasser

2.                    My best friend and talented cohort Lisa L. Regan

3.                    The brilliant and insightful, Lora Rivera

4.                    The always fun and kind Carrie Butler

5.                    The brave and compassionate Julius Cicero

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That’s it for now.  I’ll be back on Wednesday for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

A Little Halloween Housekeeping

This is just a quick mini-post since I will be blogging for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group on Wednesday.  Today I'm doing a little housekeeping.

First off, Laura Barnes over at Laura B Writer has graciously critiqued my blog this morning.  She’s a marketing consultant with loads of experience in writing, as well.  She was very complimentary and had some great suggestions on how to improve my blog.  Some I will definitely do.  Others I haven’t a clue on how to fix so I’m not sure what I’ll do.  But overall, Laura has been very helpful.  She does these critiques for free so contact her if you want any feedback on your blog.

Second, I’ve been very fortunate to receive a couple of blogger awards in the last two weeks. 

The first one is the Friendly Blogger Award from Gary & Penny over at Klahanie.  Thanks, Gary!  This is a new one for me.  Go check out Gary’s blog.  It’s both beautiful and inspiring.   

 

The second is the Liebster Award from Rebecca Kiel.  This is an award given to up-and-coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.  While I have received this award before, I still want to thank Rebecca for considering me.  I feel quite privileged!  Last time I received this award I think I had like 40 followers.  Now I have a combined 164 through Blogger and NetworkedBlogs so you can see it really works!  

In response to these illustrious honors, I will quickly list a few blogs I believe worthy of your attention:

BarbaraKloss over at Scribbles-n-Jots 

Carrie Butler over at So You’re a Writer

Cynthia Chapman Willis over at Laptops & Lattes…An Author’s Journal

Happy Halloween everybody!

Hey You, Over Here, Look At Me!

            I’ve been crazy busy for the last week and am waaaay behind in my blogging duties, both in reading and in writing, but it hasn’t been from a lack of desire.  I’ve actually been quite anxious to make today’s post since I was nominated for The Liebster Blog Award by not one follower, but by three!    

  

The first came in last Friday by the lovely L.G. Smith over at Bards and Prophets, a delightful blog I’ve been following for quite some time now.  The second nod came on Saturday from my new friend, Robin Weeks, a talented writer I met during last month’s Gearin’Up To Get an Agent Blogfest.  She critiqued my query and I was BLOWN AWAY by her skills!  And the last one was from one of my newest followers, Jessie Humphries over at  B-Word. 

The goal of the award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. 

The rules of the award are:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!

            I love the idea of this award because it’s supposed to increase the traffic on your blog and hopefully garner more followers.  So here are my nominations for The Liebster Blog Award:

Lisa L. Regan – I have countless reasons to nominate Lisa.  She’s my best friend and writing soul mate, the best critique partner anyone could ever want, and she’s written two fantastic books, both out on submission with all the major publishers.  This girl is crazy talented.  And she is brand-spanking new to Blogger, so she could use your support.  Do yourself a favor and check out her blog.

Al Penwasser – I don’t know Al well personally, but his blog is one of the funniest ones out there.  I visit Al when I need a good laugh and smack upside the head to make me take life a little less seriously.  His insights are both touching and hilarious.  So if you ever need cheering up, go see Al. 

Laila Knight  - Laila, one of my earliest followers, is a precious jewel.  She’s a talented writer, she’s funny, quirky and posts everyday.  Yes, everyday!  I don’t know how she does it, but everyday she offers her unique perspective on new topics, mostly about writing and sometimes about sexy loves scenes.  Very steamy.  Very hot!  That’s my Laila!

 Lora Rivera  - I haven’t known Lora for very long.  She’s another terrific writer I met during my last blogfest.  Her blog is filled with all things writing which I love, love, love.  Mostly, I admire her talent.  She was one of my finalists as a judge in last month’s blogfest.  The first 200 words of her novel were incredible and I just wanted to keep reading.

 Jeff King  - I love Jeff’s blog because I can exactly relate to where he is in his writing career and all the questions and turmoil he experiences as he journeys toward publication.  And he is one of those followers who truly follows and comments on my inane posts.  He is every blogger’s dream follower, so do your self a favor and follow him.

And for an Honorable Mention:  Tara  at Much Ado About Writing - I love this girlie.  I met her through Rachelle Gardner's blog some months ago and she's become quite a good friend to me.  Now, she doesn't post very often, but I love reading when she does post, and I think if she had more followers, she'd feel compelled to grace us with her wisdom.  So please, head on over to Tara's and follow, if for no other reason than I'd like for her to write more often.