Monday Miscellany

Due to LIFE!!!!! 

This will be my last post until after the first of the year. So I'd better make the Monday Miscellany good, hadn't I?

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Raffelcopter did its thing and chose four winners in the Two & Twenty Dark Tales Giveaway: Congrats to Pat Kahn for winning the paperback and the signed book plate. Sheri Larsen, Carolyn Brown and Tess Watson won signed book plates. Thanks to all of you who entered.

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This is a  SLIDE SHOW that's funny and informative for any of us who write books and who blog and tweet about that fact. It takes a minute, but the message is perfect. Most of you have this down pat, but some may not.

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My book purchases for last week were: Lynn Kelly's Curse of the Double Digits and The Mistaken by Nancy S. Thompson. Now I can curl up under the tree and read, read, read. Did you buy books this December? Are there any you've fallen in love with? How about a gift suggestions while there's still time?

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I'm always in a fuddle about GENRES and SUB-GENRES, but here's a great UNFUDDLING LIST that helped me out. Thanks to Al Diaz who posted this.

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And just to make this truly Miscellaneous, here are some random thoughts on this season. 

• It should have snow because Hallmark says so.
• We need a remake of "It's A Wonderful Life."
• Gifts: I'm giving money to charities this year and hugging each member of my family a little longer. 
• I'm giving up on hoping for world peace. Instead, I'm asking for increased understanding and tolerance on a local level. 
• Like Charles Dickens, "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

I'm not going to make any more promises than that last one. It's a biggie and deserves my undivided attention throughout 2013. 

Merry Christmas and  Happy Hannaka, wonderful readers.  See you all again 2013.  Inshallah.  :-)

Book Event, New Books & Her Grammarness

Book Event

This December Writers4Writers is spotlighting Nancy Thompsonand her book, THE MISTAKEN. Be sure to check out the book AND join in spreading the word about this author and her work. It's easy to do: 

Go to Stephen Tremp's blogger home and follow the easy directions.

The Two and Twenty Dark Tales Giveaway will end shortly. I'll post the winners on Monday Miscellany. Would appreciate some tweets if you have time. :-)

New Books

A few weeks ago I won The Mapmaker's Sons by V.L. Burgess. Thanks again to The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow for choosing me as the winner. I loved the book and read it quickly. You can see my review on goodreads or Amazon. 

Her Gramarness

Remember that sneaky grammar quiz from last week? Well, here are the answers and a short explanation. At the end is the winner!
1. Correct: "Now I lay ME down to sleep" is the opening to that old child's prayer. (It used to scare the bejeebers out of me when I had to recite it.) But this sentence would take the present tense, transitive verb lay because of the object that follows it, ME.
2. Incorrect: My manuscript lies moldering on my C drive. (Unfortunately, this is a true statement.) But the reason the verb should be present tense, intransitive is there's no object following.
3. Correct: Sit down and write if you want to publish a book. Set (most general usage) means put or place something. Sit means put your butt in a chair.
4. Incorrect: Now you need the put or place verb. He sets his pen aside and falls across his desk. "The End."
5. Incorrect: It's one of those dangling modifiers we talked about a week ago. Who's on the parapet, looking wild-eyed? The person referred to as "I" in the sentence or Madame Cuthbert? Semantically, it makes sense that you want to refer to the Madame C. I saw Madame Cuthbert, on the parapet, looking wild-eyed like a hungry zombie. Best rule: Put the modifier right up close and personal to whomever you're describing. 
It's a tie. THE WINNERS ARE JEMI FRASER & THE GOLDEN EAGLE. Any time you need a pair of eyes to read your first 5 pages, you've got it. Just let me know.

Monday Miscellany, Alex Fest, Christmas Recipes.

I'm festing and hopping all over the BlogOSphere today. The holiday season for events is in full swing. Hope you enjoy these because they were a lot of fun to participate it. Sooooooo, without more preamble, here are they are.

Here's the blogfest to wrap up 2012. Those who joined had to respond to 4 questions, which included writing a piece of Flash Fiction (100 words, using all prompts). 

What does Alex look like?

Taut, muscled and stealthy, Alex is truly Ninja head to toe.

Who could play Alex in a documentary?

Johnny Depp is a dead ringer for Alex. I’d say he should play Alex in any documentary.

Who does Alex remind you of?

It depends on the day: Shinobi-Wan Kenobi on his stealthy days and Steve Irwin when he’s stalking alligators.

How Does He Do It?

Nimble Ninja Xela crept forward. His taut, muscled form gliding in silence. Feeling his way in darkness, yet seeing more clearly than ordinary warriors in sunlight, Xela, could be mistaken for Shinobi-Wan Kenobi or—Johnny Depp. He had to bring the list to the NNG (Next Ninja Gathering), and he had to do that without the Listmaker’s knowledge. He stepped up to a lighted window. Inside, the Listmaker slumped at his desk, snoring. In one leap, Xela popped open the window without a sound, slipped the list from under the sleeping man and exited with next week’s book releases.

Now, don't miss the other 5,000 fest posts. 

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Character interviews are always kind of fun. I chose to interview Weasel. He's the twelve-year-old sidekick for my MC in Alligators Overhead. Let's see if I really know this kid. Here's Weasel answering the questions.

Hi, I'm Weasel and just so you know, that's a nickname my dork-head brother laid on me. I'm fine with it, really because my real name kind of sucks. No. It really sucks, so I'm not telling you what it is. They call me a "brainiac." I'm in 7th grade, but I go to the 8th grade class for math because . . . well, I already know 7th grade math.

I'm supposed to say something about how I feel about winter, but I live on the edge of the Ornofree swamp in the southeastern part of the U.S. We don't get too much of what people think is winter. Maybe 60's in the day and 40's at night in December. When we get a winter storm, it's cold and wet. And I like that because sometimes they close school and I can stay home and read, which is what I like most. See? I am a Brainiac.

All I need to laugh out loud on any day is my friend, Pete. He's amazing for making all kinds of mistakes and getting into all kinds of trouble. The problem is, while I'm laughing, I have to figure out how to get him and me out of the trouble he's stirred up. 

I played truth or dare on a camping trip once. I'm not good at lying, so I chose truth all the time. Pete was with me. Guess what he chose?

My best winter memory is the time Pete got caught playing hooky just before Christmas. Principal Pitt gave him detention every day for a week. I had a lot of time to catch up on my reading. I guess by now you know what I do most of the time: work on getting out of trouble that Pete causes or read.

A book would be my best creative Christmas gift ever. I'm reading the bio of Queen Victoria. You know who she was, right? And I guess that answer another question because that's my favorite book right now. 

I might start a snowball fight, if I had some snow, but then maybe not. I'd probably not get the first snow ball off. Pete would be way ahead me on that one.

My family celebrates Christmas like most people, I guess. Mom puts up one of those trees from Walmart, Dad sprays some "evergreen" stuff around the room, and then we go to dinner at a restaurant we all like--Guido's Chinese Palace.

Hey! Great that you wanted to interview me. I kind of liked this.

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Want to join the fun? Here's the Linky:

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Christmas Countdown: 15 days and counting! 

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If you're in need of some simple and tasty recipes for this busy time, go visit SOUTHPAW. She's posting some great menu ideas . . . really. I have tried several and they are delicious and some are fast. My kind of meal!

Two and Twenty Dark Tales & Day Laughs Night Cries

Book Events

Two and Twenty Dark Tales

Giveaway with signed bookplates

 DARK retellings of nursery rhymes.

I will a very lucky reader a copy of  Two & Twenty Dark Tales, which will have a signed bookplate included. Authors who signed the bookplate: Nina Berry, Suzanne Lazear, Nancy Holder, Gretchen McNeil and Moi!
I will also send these bookplates to 3 other readers, so they can add it to their copy of Two & Twenty Dark Tales.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hop on this today! We're featuring Nancy Thompson's MISTAKEN. 

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New Books

Peaches Ledwidge's 

Day Laughs Night Cries 

Getting 5 Stars on Amazon!

During the light of day, young Peaches is quiet, shy, and loved by her mother, the members of her church, and the people of her Jamaican village. But when darkness falls, night brings a catastrophic event that thrusts Peaches to do the unthinkable. Day Laughs, Night Cries - a timeless and universal mother-daughter story - rattles with love and hate, tension and chaos, trust and distrust, hope and despair. It whispers of childhood physical assaults and traumas. It reveals teenage confusion and street survival. This engaging account applauds the resilience of the mother-daughter bond.

Hope you'll check this one out, buy it and review it. Writers need reviews. They help keep us visible. 

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Her Grammarness

The Prescriptive Hat

Want to take a little test? Just for fun & maybe a small prize (A FIRST 5 PAGES READ AND CRITIQUE.) for ONE "A" student? Come on. You're good at this stuff. I see straight A's for everybody. In your comment just tell us which ones are incorrect. If you're looking for Xtra credit, make 'em right in the comment. You can also opt out of the crit and just have fun.

1. Now I lay me down to sleep.
2. My manuscript lays moldering on my C drive.
3. Sit down and write if you want to publish a book.
4. He sits his pen aside and falls across his desk. "The End."
5. On the parapet, looking wild-eyed like a hungry zombie, I saw Madam Cuthbert.

Insecure Writer Me

I loved this!

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Here's what one very powerful and wonderful lady had to say about this nagging insecurity.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  Do the thing you think you cannot do.  Eleanor Roosevelt

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And so now, I'm going to try and write a book--do that thing I think I cannot. What will you do to gain strength, courage and confidence and say farewell to INSECURITY?

Monday Miscellany Here on The Write Game: A New Book and Some Blogfests

I don't usually post about new books on Monday,  but sometimes we need to adjust to fit other schedules. I hope you enjoy reading about this book.

First Time: The Legend of Garison Fitch

"What if history didn't happen that way ... the first time?"

Garison Fitch was one of the most revered scientists in the Soviet Americas until he left fame behind to work on a secret project in his log cabin in the mountains of Marx.

But something went wrong. Instead of traveling interdimentionally, Garison has traveled through time ... twice.

Now, he's in something called "The United States of America" and a woman he's never met before is calling herself his wife. It it a hoax? Or, has he somehow changed history? 

If so, can he return the world to what he believes is "normal", or must he live in this strange world he created?

Excerpt:

Heather's Diary

March 15, 2005

I am so scared.

I was expecting today to be one of the greatest days of my life.  It was supposed to be one of the greatest days in the history of the world.  In the grand scope of science and history, maybe today will go down as a great day, for the most ambitious experiment in the field of quantum realities seems to have been at least a partial success.

As this once promising day winds down, though, I have to think it's the worst day I've ever known.  It's the end of the day, the sun has gone down just like it's supposed to and everything seems fine about the world except that I am alone in my bedroom.  My husband is in the house, but I don't want him in here.  I'm afraid of him.

Afraid of Garison?

Somehow, I know it's not his fault, though.  He must have gotten hit on the head, or been drugged or something.  Because the Garison who came back from the experiment today isn't the Garison I married.

Something is wrong with him.  I have to find out what so I can help him.

What can I do?  And what if I can't help him?  What if this is permanent?

Maybe I'm being silly.  Maybe this is just temporary.  It all started just this afternoon, after all.  Maybe it'll be gone in the morning and everything will be back to normal.

He claims he's been gone five years, though.  And he looks like he's been gone five years or even more.  What if that's true?

What can I do?

$25 Tour wide giveaway. Go to  Rafflecopter 

Purchase

Kindle * Nook * Smashwords

Welcoming a new book is always a nice way to start at new month. Hope you'll support Garrison and buy his book. 

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And we have other ways to welcome December, too!  I can't believe I'm doing this, but here it is,  Babyfaces Blogfest. Want to reveal the youngest YOU? If I can do it, so can you.

I'm guessing I was about two here,  and when I asked my mom where this was taken, she said Modesto--you know a hot valley town in California. This picture happened way before Valley Girls became popular. Want to see what other bloggers looked like back at the beginning, before writing set in?

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And then, of course, we have the Christmas Photo Hop started by Kyra Lennon. Can't pass this one up, can we?

Check out the other Festive Christmas PEEPS!

You have to add the audio yourself. "We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (There's some repeating here, then) Bring us some figgy pudding. Oh, bring us some figgy pudding. Oh, bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer." How did I do?

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Since I'm into my blogfest mode, here's another one that's coming up. It's different because it's for one blogger who supports, entertains and informs us all the time. You might want to join the fun, so here are some places to go to find out what's afoot.  

Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp

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If you have book coming out in 2013 here's a place to go for a super book trailer. MISTY TAGGART creates some very special, unique trailers.  I loved mine. You'll love yours.