Book Contest & Blog Bling

First, let me tell you about a fab contest that ends on Sunday. Over at Totally4YA they are giving away a copy of FALLEN by Lauren Kate.

Second, I got some blog bling from the wonderful Cambria Dillon. And not just any bling, it's bling for style! Heh heh. That's right broomstick skirts and colorful scarves are back! Er, well maybe it's just for my blog style?

Well either way the rules say I've got to thank and link back to the person who sent it (done), tell you seven things about myself and then pass on the stylish award to ten recently discovered then tell them about the fabulous award they just won!

Okay, so here it goes...
1. I have a (some would say irrational) fear of buffets. You will never, ever catch me eating at one. Or any communal food really. Yes, I do the office potlucks. But I have to be first, and I only eat food made by the people whose houses I've been too and can verify the cleanliness of their kitchens.

2. I eat pizza with a knife and fork. As a kid, I had braces and you pretty much never get to bite into anything. I just sort of stuck with it after that. I still don't bite into apples either. Pretty much all fruit gets cut up first.

3. When I met Neil Gaiman at the premier of Coraline, I just stood there gooey-eyed with my copy of The Graveyard Book clutched to my chest. My friend had to pry it out of my hands and offer it to him saying, "I thinks she wants you to sign this." ((still blushing))

4. I need my coffee in the mornings. My naturopath tried to get me off of it, but my co-workers emailed her (we're all friends - so it's not weird they'd be emailing my doctor) to say that she had to cease and assist.

5. I've always wanted to either shave my head or wear dreads but am pretty sure I could pull off neither and instead continue to admire women who can. Perhaps one of my characters will sometime.

6. When my sister and I were kids, our dad hated to fly so we took nearly every summer vacation in a motorhome. To this day we both have an affinity for this method of travel, yet neither of us have been able to convince our husbands the four of us in a small space would be fun.

7. I believe in ghosts, because as freaky or weird as it seems, I've seen a lot of them. (but then agian, I have a writer's mind, so who knows what I've been seeing!)

NOW on to the fun part... The awards!
1. The Xanax Diary
2. Read Now Sleep Later
3. Jennifer Fischetto
4. On Beyond Words & Pictures
5. Joey Nichols
6. Totally4YA
7. Rebekah Purdy
8. Kit Forbes
9. Kelbian Noel
10. The First Cut

Congrats to all the wonderful blog bling winners! LOL And thanks again to the lovely Cambria!

Six Sentence Sunday #3

It's Six Sentence Sunday! Go and visit the other participants!


This SSS is an excerpt from another YAFF Muse short called THE JOURNEY. It's another magical realism this week, but not for YA. The dialogue is between a couple standing at a train depot on the verge of a major change in the relationship as well as their last journey together. You can see the full short story here.

“When we laugh, the train will go faster though we wish it wouldn’t. When we cry, it will slow though we wish it speed. We will scale mountains and plummet down the other side, but we will be together.”

“What if it breaks down?” I asked, tears cresting the corners of my eyes.

“Ah, and it might, but what’s a journey without a few breakdowns?”

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you enjoyed it!