One Pushy Fox

Censorship...or, "Oh how that makes me MAD!"

2010-09-20T17:01:00.001-05:00

Note: This post was originally written for and posted on Bewitched Bookworms

I started seeing the "Speak Loudly" twibbon earlier today. I wasn't really paying much attention to it until I realized that this #SpeakingLoudly trend was about banning books. Then I had to find out more, because, as a fan of books (and freedom for that matter), I kind of get cheesed off when people go off and ban them.

So here's the scoop: Banned Books Week is next week and it seems that while many of us will spend this week celebrating both the First Amendment and the freedom we all enjoy as Americans (in this case the ability to read any book we like), a few people are going in the opposite direction and pointing out books that we shouldn't be ALLOWED to read.

One such instance that has gained visibility on Twitter is that of Associate Professor Wesley Scroggins and the opinion piece he wrote advising parents to "be cautious and inquire as to the nature of the material that their children may be exposed to" as the new school year begins. In this piece, he points to three books that the high school students in his community are being exposed to (either at school or by library recommendation) which he feels are particularly offensive: Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.

I do agree with him that as parents, we should be involved in the ideas that are shaping our children and do our best to make sure they are raised with strong values. Unfortunately, where Associate Professor Scroggins and I differ is that I don't believe censorship to be a core value. Which is what I understand he advocated in the June School Board meeting he refers to in his opinion piece.

I also am forced to disagree with anyone who would describe a book that contains scenes describing a young girl's rape as pornographic. Disturbing? Yes. Something I would want to discuss with my child should any of them read it? You bet! But pornographic? As in sexually titillating material having no artistic or intellectual merit? I have to say no on two counts: rape isn't sexy and it is only through shining a bright light on this dark topic that we emphatically state that it is wrong.

I genuinely believe that Associate Professor Scroggins' motives are in no way nefarious, although I would question their logic. I also agree with his call for the parents of his area to get involved. But I would say that a county that restricts basic freedoms in order to feel safe is not free. And it's not the sort of country I want to live in.

Be an involved parent. Talk with your children. And please, I beg you, tell them that censorship never solves problems. It is only through open and healthy debate that our country has ever moved forward. And THAT is old style....just ask Benjamin Franklin who said:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

And what is more essential to us as a nation than the liberties given us by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States?

It's almost here! It's almost here!!!!!!

2010-09-03T11:00:00.002-05:00

I'm just about ready to jump out of my skin because Beautiful Darkness is almost released (38 days and counting as of this post)!!!

Countdown Creator Progreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

And SO many things are being planned in the lead up to the big night when the book is FINALLY available. As I mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to get an ARC copy of Beautiful Darkness from the fantabulous Drea over at Traveling ARC Tours. So keep your eyes peeled for my SPOILER-FREE review over at Bewitched Bookworms which may or may not be scheduled to post a month before the release date AND may or may not be launching some additional Beautiful Darkness loveliness of our own.

Speaking of Caster Chronicles pimpage and loveliness in general, The Caster Girls are spreading the word about how Beautiful Creatures (the first book in the Caster Chronicles) is a YALSA Teens' Top 10 Nominee for 2010. This is SO deserved!!!! Never heard of the YALSA Teens' Top 10 before? Allow me to explain....

Teens from all over nominate their favorite books from the previous year. Nominations are posted on Support Teen Literature Day during National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their three favorite titles. Readers can vote online from Aug. 23rd -September 17th. The winners will be announced in a webcast featuring WWE Superstars and Divas during Teen Read Week, October 17th-23rd.

So please go out RIGHT NOW and vote for Beautiful Creatures because it really should be in the hands of every teen you know (or don't know)! Just click on the link below and you'll be taken to the voting survey. Voting is open NOW and will go until September 17th.

Want even more pimpage and loveliness????

The Caster Girls are hosting a contest to promote Beautiful Creatures YALSA Teen's Top 10 for 2010 nomination!! Want to enter? Here's what the women at The Caster Girls are asking you to do:

1) Add the Beautiful Creatures Teens' Top Ten Button from www.beautifulcreaturesthebook.com to your blog, site, FB page, or all three! The more places you add the button, the more points you earn.

2) Once you place the button on your blog, e-mail us at castergirls@gmail.com. When e-mailing please include your name, blog/website URL, twitter name, and your name. We will verify you have placed the button on your blog.

3) Tweet, Tweet, Tweet and encourage people to vote for Beautiful Creatures or add the button to their blogs. But don’t tweet the same thing multiple times a day. No one enjoys spam. Be creative! When tweeting, we ask that you simply add an @reply to @castergirls so that we see your tweet. The more tweets and @replies we see, the more points you’ll earn.

4) Post a message on your blog, site, Facebook page, or all three! If you post anywhere other than twitter, please e-mail us and let us know.

* We will keep track of your efforts. It's simple - the more you promote, the better your chance of winning.

Contest runs from September 1st – 17th. Winners will be notified by September 18th. If there is anything we can help you with, don't hesitate to e-mail us! If you know someone who wants to join TEAM CASTER, please ask them to e-mail us! We don’t know every blogger & website admin that loves BC.

If you do this, you have the chance to win:

Grand Prize (1 winner)
A signed copy of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES & BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS
2 different BC/BD Posters.

Second Prize (4 Winners)
A Signed Copy of the new BC paperback
A BD poster
1 set of BC/BD buttons
1 set of BD Dog Tags
1 BC Key Chain

Good luck, enjoy and keep an eye out for more news on the Beautiful Darkness front in the coming days!

Happy Birthday, Uhyesplease!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-20T00:00:00.001-05:00

Today is the birthday of my one and only Lemon Sister!!!

Uhyesplease, you are a tireless friend!!
You frequently volunteer your time
betaing the writing of others,
cheerleading more than one writer along,
writing your own works
as well as fabulous book reviews on our beloved Bewitched Bookworms
and are, in general,
an all around wonderful woman!

Uhyesplease, I'm so thankful to call you my friend and sister
and I wish you the very best of birthdays
filled with all sorts of lemony debauchery!!!

If you would like to help me celebrate Uhyesplease's birthday on Twitter,
please feel free to add the following ribbon to your twitter icon for the day!

The ribbon, designed by Danny (of course), highlights
three of the most important ways I got to know
Uhyesplease:
because of ....

her love of Twilight (because we all share this here!)...
her asking me to join her as a Lemon Sister (because twi-girls need love too!)...
and her signing up as a bookworm (because literate girls are HOT!)

So please take a moment and send uhyesplease your birthday wishes!
It will definitely make her day!

Happy Birthday, Danny!!!!

2010-08-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Today is one of our favorite bloggy-girl's birthday!!!

We love Danny so much,
from blog that she writes as Mrs. Vanquish
where she used to tease us with
lovely RPattz videos such as this:

to her latest work as the amazing designer of blogs such as this:

to her MANY fabulous book reviews!

She's so much fun to have around
and we're so very grateful to call her our friend!

Thank you so much
for being such a wonderful friend
and we wish you
the happiest of birthdays,
Danny!!!

If you would like to help us celebrate Danny's birthday on Twitter, please feel free to change your twitter icon to the following for the day!

Love,

Uhyesplease and Pushy

PS - The lovely erikasbuddy was thoughtful enough to pass along this scrumptious present....ENJOY!!!!

Beautiful Darkness is coming!!!

2010-07-23T07:54:00.009-05:00

I know, I know, October can't get her fast enough if your a fan of the Caster Chronicles as I am! And what could me more exciting than reading an advanced copy of the book?

Yes, one of the hands on Beautiful Darkness is mine
and that bad boy is sitting next to me RIGHT NOW!

I so very excited that I was able to sign up for the ARC tour of Beautiful Darkness on the ARC Tour site that is co-run by one of my book bloggy friends, Drea. The site is called Traveling ARC Tours and what I love about this site is that for the cost of shipping the book to the next person in line (normally less than the cost of the book itself) and the promise to review it, you can get your hands on some really incredible ARCs!!! And Drea, Sara and Sharon do all this work pro-bono! God bless these women.

I had the chance to meet up with Drea this afternoon for lunch and to chat about bloggy things. Drea is so laid back and fun and just easy to talk to that I had a fabulous time! And I was able to pick up the ARC for Beautiful Darkness (which I was thrilled to find out that I was first in line for on the tour because I jumped all over the post the second it went up). Here we are grinning like fools over the wonderment that is Beautiful Darkness:

Isn't Drea adorable?!?!
Plus, she's like the coolest librarian ever.
She gave away candy to one of her kids
(which she affectionately calls them)
while I was outside her office.
This woman clearly loves her job and is so very awesome at it!

I will DEFINITELY be reviewing it over on Bewitched Bookworms, assuming my fellow bookworms don't beat me senseless for scoring a copy but not being able to share it. *sad panda* So please keep an eye out for that.

But to keep your excitement level revved up, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl are hosting a contest on their Beautiful Creatures blog where they'll be giving away custom made Beautiful Creatures buttons.

Definitely go check it out!

So that's it for now. And now I have to go spend time with my Diet Coke and lime, my Kit-Kats and Beautiful Darkness....oh Ethan, how I've missed you!

Want to win a Beautiful Creatures or Clockwork Angel ARC???

2010-06-14T05:54:00.005-05:00

Yeah, I thought that might get your attention. Well...here's the deal, my lovelies!! The super wonderful WonderGirl12

who runs the great blog The Here, The Now And The Books is hosting a contest giving away TWO ARCs of Clockwork Angel and one ARC of Beautiful Darkness!

So fly on over to her site and sign up for your chance!

FREE WRITERS' CONFERENCE!!!

2010-06-14T00:00:00.003-05:00

I know so many aspiring writers would love to attend a national conference but, as we're aspiring writers with out the bankrolls of say, JK Rowling, most of us can't afford it.

THIS IS NO LONGER AN EXCUSE!!!!

The lovely Shannon Messenger, Jaime Harrington, Elena Johnson, Casey McCormick, Lisa and Laura Roecker and Jen Stayrook have put together an online, totally free conference where you can get advice from other authors and meet agents!!!! These women are AWESOME!!!!

Read all about it in Shannon's post here. Then head on over to the conference's website and SIGN UP!!!!

Birthday Mania!!

2010-05-19T21:06:00.009-05:00

So as most of you know, yesterday was my birthday. Yup, this old fox turned 35. I am happy to say that I got many things I was expecting, not the least of which was my annual call from my mother telling me the story of the day I was born (which is pretty interesting, in my humble opinion, since she delivered me at home, essentially by herself, at the age of 19). But as is usually the case, it's the many things I was NOT expecting that made the day grand.

For example.....

Some of my favorite tweeple dressed up in foxy finery on twitter:

The Lemoniest Lemon Sister that there ever was wrote me a HBD post on TLS:

My beautiful Bewitched Bookworms wrote me a HBD post on BB,
noting my love of glitter text and complete with a Hendrix ode to, well, ME!

The AWESOMETASTIC Betti pimped a story I wrote for her for Christmas, prompting me to post it on FFn due to all the wonderful work she put into making this AMAZING banner for it!

Seriously I'm not worthy!!

My sweet, good morning, coffee girl, Danny,
sent me a loverly Beautiful Creatures inspired bracelet
from Mary Tippet Designs:

>

The amazing erikasbuddy wrote me a sequel to one of her fics, Broken, that I adore!!

I cannot even express how humbled and touched I am that so many of you went out of your way to make me feel special on my birthday but I can say, heartily, "Mission Accomplished!!!"

No, no, really, much better than this!
I just couldn't resist! tee-hee!

Thank you, over and over, from the cockles of my little, vixen heart!!!

Vampires in CHICAGO???

2010-05-12T21:11:00.006-05:00

Yes, it's true...vampires have come to the Windy City. And my fellow Bookworms, Heather and Danny, have ARC fever, bad! They even wrote a post about it. And you can read it right now because it was a great review, and then you can start reading the books.

But why am I posting about this here, when it was obviously covered over at Bewitched Bookworms? Because Chloe Neill, the author of the Chicagoland Vampire Series books Some Girls Bite and Friday Night Bites, is offering a chance to win the ARC of the next book in the series: Twice Bitten. And even though it's being released on July 6th, we'd love to read it and give you the scoop over at Bookworms early so you can pre-order with an easy mind.

Oh, and what's more, Heather and Danny (and maybe me if I'm really lucky) will be interviewing her over at Bewitched Bookworms on July 10th and yes, that's just a few days after the book releases. Woo-hoo!

So definitely check out the review of the first two books and keep an eye out over at Bewitched Bookworms for all the news on Twice Bitten.

Being A Writer

2010-04-05T06:24:00.003-05:00

My husband knows me better than I know myself. This can be an odd sensation when we have a conversation in which I learn something about myself that is apparently common knowledge to him. A good example would be how I learned I like to write.

The first conversation, from the fall of 2007 went something like this:

DH: Have you heard of NaNoWriMo?
me: NaNoWhatOh?
DH: National Novel Writing Month. You know...write a book. You should do that.
me: *incredulous stare*

How on earth did he know I should write? I'd never written anything before. And I had just emerged from my year of craziness (a.k.a. the year after my twins were born). Why on earth would I commit to write a novel in a month?

But he was right. I did have something in me. An admitedly HORRIBLE romance novel, but I wrote it. And he was SO SUPPORTIVE of the whole process (and has been every year since) even though he's never been allowed to read a word of it.

NOT. ONE. WORD.

Fast forward to the other day, when he sends me the following because he loves me, which I wanted to share with you, dear reader, because I love you!

60 Writing Tips by 6 Great Writers

Please click on the link to see all of this great article, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. Enjoy!!!

ORWELL'S 6 QUESTIONS
In every sentence that you write, ask yourself,

What am I trying to say?
What words will express it?
What image or idiom will make it clearer?
Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
Could I put it more shortly?
Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

ELMORE LEONARD'S 10 TIPS FOR NOVEL WRITERS
1. Never open a book with weather.
2. Avoid prologues.
Which can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. A prologue in a novel is back-story, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.
3. Never use a verb other than ''said'' to carry dialogue.
Said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb ''said'' . . .
5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
6. Never use the words ''suddenly'' or ''all hell broke loose.''
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
For example, thick paragraphs of prose.
11. If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

ROBERT HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING
You Must Write
Finish What You Start
You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except to Editorial Order
You Must Put Your Story on the Market
You Must Keep it on the Market until it has Sold
Start Working on Something Else

STEPHEN KING’S 7 TIPS FOR BECOMING A BETTER WRITER
1. Get to the point.
2. Write a draft. Then let it rest.
3. Cut down your text.
4. Be relatable and honest.
5. Don’t care too much what others may think.
6. Read a lot.
7. Write a lot.

Have I mentioned that I adore Stephen King? 'Cuz I do. But I have to say my favorite thoughts on this topic are by Kami Garcia on her blog post, The Rules Of Writing, where she talks about how sometimes you have to break the rules. Definitely check it out!

Happy Writing!!

Author Appreciation Week:Titans

2010-03-19T00:00:00.011-05:00

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

So I thought I'd end the week with the titans of YA that drew me into the genre as a kid and then back again as an adult.

As a kid I was always reading; a passion I inherited from my mother and one fostered by my Aunt Sheryl who endlessly supported my intellectual life. These two women introduced me to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, William Golding and Francine Pascal.

photo obtained at Wikipedia

photo obtained at Wikipedia

photo obtained at Wikipedia

photo obtained at Random House

Fantasy, horror, mystery and romance. These authors filled my days with stories that transported me to other worlds and built me into the self confident girl I was.

As a teen, I veered away from authors that would now be considered YA and moved into horror, romance and beyond. But when my younger sister began picking up the Harry Potter books, I got hooked again.

First by J.K. Rowling's amazing world and then a decade later by the love story that Stephenie Meyer dreamed up. And I'm so glad I came back.

photo obtained from Best Fiction Books

photo obtained from EclipseMovie.org

YA is the best of all worlds: it has romance and fantasy, horror and mystery. Whenever I pick up a YA book, I know I'm in for something special.

So a big, end-of-Author's-Appreciation-Week thank you to the amazing titans of YA. I really do appreciate each and every one of you!

Author Appreciation Week:Carrie Ryan

2010-03-18T00:00:00.010-05:00

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

photo by Darren Cassese, courtesy of Carrie's website

For today's Author's Appreciation post I wanted to shine a light on Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead Tossed Waves.

What I appreciate most about Carrie is that her first novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth was written for National Novel Writing Month in 2006. When I saw her at her book signing early this week she mentioned how she was discussing writing a novel for NaNoWriMo with her fiance, JP, to whom the book is dedicated and she was bemoaning how the rules state that you must start a new project. She wasn't sure what to write and her brilliant fiance gave her the best piece of advice a writer can get, "Write what you love."

Deciding that she not only loved her fiance but zombie stories, The Forest of Hands and Teeth was born. She told us how she would get home a few hours before her fiance each night, so her NaNoWriMo routine consisted of writing until JP got home and then reading him what she'd written that day. Am I the only person who thinks that's one of the most romantic things ever????

So if you haven't read her spectacular, spooky and riveting books: Run! Don't walk to your nearest bookstore and pick them both up! You won't be disappointed. She's also fabulous and witty on twitter (@carrieryan), her blog, and in person (definitely check her out at one of her remaining author appearances in Michigan tonight, Washington stage Friday and Saturday and California's Bay Area next Monday and Wednesday).

Hush, Hush contest over at RoaWS

2010-03-17T23:59:00.001-05:00

That's right, folks! The lovely Shannon over at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe is hosting a contest to give away a signed copy of Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick.

And did I mentioned that it's SIGNED by the lovely author?

So if you are a resident of the US or Canada (sorry, Danny!!) and want a shot at winning a signed copy of Hush, Hush, hurry on over to her blog. And if you're not already a member, please tell her that I sent you!

Author Appreciation Week:Maggie Stiefvater

2010-03-17T00:00:00.013-05:00

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

photo courtesy of Maggie's flicker album

For today's Author's Appreciation post I wanted to shine a light on Maggie Stiefvater author of both the Books of Faerie series: Lament and Ballad and The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series: Shiver, Linger (out July 20, 2010) and Forever (planned for Summer 2011).

What I most appreciate about Maggie are her blogs. I adore reading her personal blog, Words on Words, and the one she shares with Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff, Merry Sisters of Fate.

As a struggling writer myself, I really appreciated this post Maggie wrote on plot bunnies because they stalk me like crazy and they're so hard to resist!!! I am now the proud owner of a notebook that goes everywhere with me and where my plot bunnies are firmly caged for further use. So thank you, Maggie!!!

I haven't had a chance to read any of Maggie's books yet, mostly because funds are short and there's an ENORMOUSLY LONG waiting list for them at my library! Seriously, I've been waiting on Shiver for months!!! BUT my bloggy BFF uhyesplease has read Lament and she could not be stronger in her praise for it, which is good enough for me to endorse Maggie's books.

Other things you should know about Maggie:

1) She's very active on twitter at mstiefvater. She tweets about book stuff, blog stuff and just random things too, all of which are way witty and fun! If you don't follow her already, you're seriously missing out!

2) She's going to be in a new anthology coming out, Kiss Me Deadly, which is planned to release this summer on July 27.

So if you don't follow Maggie already, you should definitely check this awesome lady out!

Author Appreciation Week:Melissa Marr

2010-03-16T00:00:00.023-05:00

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

Photo by John Marr, obtained at Melissa Marr's MySpace Page

For today's Author's Appreciation post I wanted to shine a light on Melissa Marr, author of the Wicked Lovely Series of books: Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, Fragile Eternity and Radiant Shadows which will be released April 20, 2010!

While I of course adore Melissa's writing (that's pretty much a given), what I want to particularly highlight in today's Author Appreciation post is that Melissa Marr is one of the driving forces behind the Smart Chicks Kick It tour. This series of events will bring her, her authors-in-crime Alyson Noel and Kelley Armstrong, and sixteen additional authors to twelve cities across the USA, including back to Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL, an event I will DEFINITELY be attending!

Animated gif most respectfully borrowed from
fellow author and tour participant, Rachel Caine's website
where another, equally cool banner for this tour can be found here.

I love the whole girl power vibe behind the event, I love that it's a group of women getting together to support each other and I love the seriously kick ass group of women who joined up. And I love Rachel Caine's button for the event! Seriously, I squeed when I saw that thing.

I also appreciate that, like yesterday's #AAW Authors, Kami and Margi, Melissa has a strong twitter presence (@melissa_marr),which allows her followers to see in real time that she's equally comfortable engaging in witty e-repartee with authors and fans alike.

I had this post all scheduled to go when Melissa tweeted the following this afternoon:

This is exactly the sort of thing I love about author's who are on twitter. Not that every author has to give books away (that would be wicked expensive and just a pain in the behind) but that she had some to spare and thought of her followers. SO NICE!!!! And yes, for full disclosure, I was one of the lucky winners. WOOT for me! But keep your eyes peeled over at Bewitched Bookworms, because you know how I love to spread the wealth. *wink*

If you haven't picked up the Wicked Lovely Series yet, do so IMMEDIATELY! You won't be disappointed!

Author Appreciation Week:Kami Garci & Margaret Stohl

2010-03-15T00:00:00.010-05:00

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

Photo by Alex Hoerner, obtained at Reading Underground

For my first Author's Appreciation post, I wanted to shine a light on Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

They are the authors of a enthralling book, Beautiful Creatures, which I loved so much I have convinced my husband, my two nieces, my best-friend and her daughter to read it. You may have seen a post or two about this book here on the blog. But in addition to that, I appreciate these authors because....

1) They have already written the sequel, Beautiful Darkness, and have promised their readers two more books after BD in what has now come to be known as The Caster Chronicles. This is HUGE for me, since when I turned the last page in Beautiful Creatures I had SO MANY unanswered questions and I wanted more! I can't describe how happy I am that I will get not one, not two but three more novels worth of time in the world that these lovely ladies have created!

2) They are EXTREMELY supportive of their fans online. If you follow them on twitter(@kamigarcia and @mstohl), you know they are always chatting with one fan or another, causing teenagers and grown women alike to devolve into squeeing fangirls left and right. They also are amazing at helping us spread the word about fan driven Beautiful Creature book discussions and contests.

3) They are UNBELIEVABLY lovely, witty and gracious in person. Seriously, if you haven't caught them on one of their book tours you should do so when they go out again! They have a great rapport with each other (which might be expected since they DID WRITE A BOOK TOGETHER) but they also convey a sense of easy camaraderie when interacting with the crowd. And they hugged me when we met, so I will always love them. The end!

So, Kami and Margi, here's to you both! Thank you so much for taking your kids up on their dare to write a novel! I couldn't be happier with the results!

Author Appreciation Week:The Set Up

2010-03-14T00:00:00.006-06:00

Banner provided by the lovely ladies at Novel Novice

I love to tweet. It's seriously an addiction. For example, I wake up every morning at 5:30am in order to write a bit before I have to start my day. But of course I need to check my email first. Oh and Twitter, because all of my online friends hang out there. Cue the clock chiming 6:30am and my husband telling me I need to scramble if I'm going to get my daily workout in. Gah! And my word count....uh....100 words? Yikes! Lame! Twitter, why do you suck me in?!?!

But today's post is not a tale of my slacker ways. Nope! Today I am here to tell you about a week long blogging AND twitter extravaganza thought up by the inimitable Heidi R. Kling, the author of the soon to be released YA Novel, Sea.

You can click on the book above to go to Amazon to pre-order.

I follow her on Twitter and she came up with the brilliant idea (in the shower of course, where all good ideas show up) of doing a week long love fest to our favorite YA/MG authors. She wrote up the non-rules here at her blog, but I'm listing them below, mostly so I'll remember to follow them:

WHEN: March 15-19

WHAT: Write a blog post each day of next week about the authors you appreciate and why!

RULES: There are none. Be creative. If you want to pick five, pick five. Ten favorites? Go for it! Can't choose between your top twenty? Well, then you'll be doing a few a day. And they'll love you for it!

Avatars & Graphics: Feel free to use the one Sara from Novel Novice made (below), there's a few on Twitter, or make your own. Remember to credit the generous, book-loving artists!

What is an "author": Ideally, someone that has sold a novel to an established publishing house. I suppose it could be your cat, if she's purred her way into a contract. For our purposes let's do authors of YA/MG.
How do we spread the word? Post this post to your blog, link back here.

Go on facebook and twitter and use the hashtag #AAW (Author Appreciation) and @ the others you have chosen so they can go back and read your words of praise.

Twitter Avi

Sidebar banner

Regular Banner

So, I have decided to give this a shot. Please check back through out the week to see which authors THIS fox appreciates. You may find that you appreciate them too!

National Read Across America Day

2010-03-02T06:05:00.006-06:00

I love to read.

All my life, through good times and bad, books have been a refuge, a special spot where I could loose myself in another world and bask in the wonder, beauty and sometimes horror of another person's words. When I was small, I was fortunate enough to have a mother who read to me. She read us Tolkien, one of her favorite authors, and I have a particularly vivid memory of being curled up next to her and my older brother, listening to her read to us in Smaug's voice from the Hobbit. It was entrancing.

As a teen, when I couldn't relate to people and vice versa, books were my escape to worlds where there were others like me. Stephen King, Margaret Weiss and Henry Miller all fed my soul and my imagination and I am a better person for it, even if I've never succeeded in being normal.

Nowadays, as a woman who works from home and has three tiny, demanding and frequently irrational bosses, fiction has become my refuge again. I read romances, science fiction, horror and intrigue, YA or adult, so long as it takes me from my world into another. Preferably one where with strong heroines and witty dialog!

Every year there are even more great books, in every genre, as writers keep doing that thing they do. And today is National Read Across America Day, in honor of that icon of early childhood literacy, Dr. Seuss.

So please, in his honor and for the benefit of all humankind, take a few moments out of your day today and read. Read for yourself, read to a child, recommend a great book to a friend. When we read we become better people, if for no other reason than we have listened to a new voice.

Beautiful Creatures Contest!!

2010-02-28T16:17:00.005-06:00

Who doesn't love a contest??? I am a fool for them. Which is good, since I've become a follower of so many great blogs because of them. Well here's your chance to become a follower of THIS great blog. Yup, it's the circle of life.

Ok, where was I? Oh, yes, a contest!!! Well as you read earlier in the week,I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with my fellow bookworm Heather in RL and go to the Beautiful Creatures book signing in Downers Grove, IL.

At that book signing, I was well...pushy enough to ask Kami Garcia and Margi Stohl to sign a couple of extra copies of their book; which they graciously did. What does that have to do with you, dear reader? Well, Bewitched Bookworms is giving one away to ONE LUCKY WINNER!!!

So, how do YOU get to be said winner? Easy! Just enter the contest!

So click on the button above to go to Bewitched Bookworms, become a follower and enter the contest. It's really just that easy!

The Fangirl SqueeHeard Around The World

2010-02-25T16:00:00.001-06:00

Image respectfully borrowed from here.

Why the SQUEE? Because I met KAMI GARCIA and MARGI STOHL last night!!!! And believe me when I say that I was in full on fan girl mode. But this is jumping the gun, so let me start at the beginning.

A couple of days ago I noticed that the tour dates on the Beautiful Creatures appearances list had been updated and they were coming to Chicago for TWO NIGHTS. Understandably, I was totally stoked! The question was, should I go alone or should I drag my enabler sister yet again (the post on New Moon shenanigans is STILL NOT UP, I know!)? Then DH, ever helpful, asked, "Doesn't that chick from that blog live in the area?" That chick from that blog....oh, right! Heather from Call of Duty Widow. Well, as a matter of fact she does live nearby, and she even lives quasi-near to the Downers Grove bookstore that was hosting Wednesday's event! A quick tweet off to hmmille and plans were made!

For the rest of the week I was in a tizzy: excited to meet Kami and Margi (oh, yeah, we're TOTALLY on a first name basis now that we tweet each other - lol!), excited to meet Heather, excited to go to my first book signing in 15 years (side note, the last one was for Kenzaburō Ōe, so you're in good company, Ms. Garcia and Ms. Stohl!).

The day arrived and I scurried on down to Downers Grove's own Anderson's Bookshop, a great venue with an even greater hostess, Kathleen. There I picked up my reserved copies of the book for the signing and settled in to wait for CoDW. I wasn't waiting long before Heather arrived.

It was SO much fun to sit next to Heather and chat and joke around. She's as witty and wonderful in person as she is on her blog!

Then Kami and Margi came in and gave an AMAZING talk. It was so much fun to watch them interact with each other and the audience. They were vibrant and funny and an overall great time. If you have the chance to attend one of the last two events on this leg of the tour (Book Inc - Not Your Mother's Book Club, in Palo Alto, CA or Copperfield's Books, in Santa Rosa, CA), you'll be SO HAPPY you did!

After the talk, they started calling us up in groups to get our books signed. I so caught up chatting with Heather that I missed it when they called my signing group. I actually yelped like a small, injured dog when I thought I had been skipped. Not flattering!

I did eventually make my way up there, though and when I got my chance to get my things signed (which may or may not have included more than one book AND two copies of my and uhyesplease's week 4 book discussion from fragile's blog), I introduced myself saying, "Hi, I'm Heather...also known as 'One Pushy Fox'".

Here is where I cringed, because this is the FIRST time I've introduced myself as my blogger self as well and was expecting blank stares and crickets. Couldn't have been further from what happened. Instead I was treated to big smiles and a hug from Margi! (Insert inner fan girl squeee here)

Can you see the gleam of freakish excitement in my eye?
No? Thank goodness!
The flash must not have caught it!

They graciously signed ALL the things I brought for them, commented on how much they're enjoying the book discussion on fragile's blog (and how much they liked the graphics too!) and took a few pictures with me. I was in a daze! I even walked right past fellow blogger Stacy from Page Turners, another great book site! I was just SO caught up in my good fortune and all the goodies clutched in my tiny little paws!

My bounty from the evening!
And yes, uhyesplease, that manila envelope has your signed copy of our book discussion post.
It will be in the mail tomorrow!!!

Well, that's it. I was too hyped up to blog last night but I'm still basking in my post signing glow (and possibly referring to my signed copy of the book as "Precious" in my best Golumn impersonation).

Precious!

And as a thank you to Kami, I'm presenting you with a jacket for all of the Diet Coke you drank while writing Beautiful Creatures....

You've definitely earned it!

Margi, in hopes of helping out during the next writing phase, I'm giving you this:

I found it here where you can also find tons of chapter fueling goodies for your new Veggie lifestyle!

A blogger's work is never done!

2010-02-21T07:18:00.007-06:00

Especially when she keeps joining new blogs! Yes, dear readers, I have joined in with a few of my FAVORITE bloggers to start a new blog:

Bewitched Bookworms is a new site dedicated to the love of the written word. Here you will find eight savvy women of differently likes and temperaments who review everything from classical literature to YA and beyond. We hope to spread our enjoyment of reading and foster an environment where readers can come together and discuss what they loved (or goodness forbid, hated) about the best books of yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Please come check us out!

Voting for the Indie TwiFic Awards is OPEN!

2010-02-20T07:28:00.005-06:00

If you don't already know, the voting page for the Indie TwiFic awards is now open. You can vote for up to 10 stories per category, which is FANTASTIC because there are so many wonderful stories nominated!!! So, please, go, vote and spread the twific love!

Beautiful CreaturesBook Discussion

2010-02-16T15:54:00.002-06:00

Thank you Betti
of Betti.Music.Twilight
for this AWESOMETASTIC
book discussion button!!!!

I mentioned a while ago that I am participating in a book discussion on Beautiful Creatures over at afragilelittlehuman's blog.

Well this is the week that my lemon sister, uhyesplease, and I had our turn to lead the discussion. Please stop on by and show some comment love, not just for us but for all the other amazing women who are posting each week.

Thanks!!!

He who owns the servers....

2010-02-09T07:08:00.008-06:00

Many of you know that there's been some drama in fandom over at FanFiction.net. Apparently, many of the stories we know and love, and write truth be told, are being exorcised for too graphic content. Sexorcised as AngstGoddess003 put it.

It seems like a waste of time to me. Twilight is the second highest written for book on their site (behind, wait for it....yup, Harry Potter.) I mean, they must be at the very least supporting the cost of their servers with the ad revenue they get off of all of the traffic Twilight's fandom sends their way. Right?

I was tweeting with another author last night and venting my ire at the hypocrisy of it all. I mean they're billing themselves as a place where fans can let their imaginations run wild but apparently not to wild. And of course their TOS has the standard disclaimer:

FanFiction.Net reserves the right to decide whether Content or a User Submission is appropriate and complies with these Terms of Service for violations other than copyright infringement or privacy law, such as, but not limited to, hate crimes, pornography, obscene or defamatory material, or excessive length. FanFiction.Net may remove such User Submissions and/or terminate a User's access for uploading such material in violation of these Terms of Service at any time, without prior notice and at its sole discretion.

And the key words appear to be "pornography" and "obscene [...] material". Is The Submissive pornography or erotica? Is it obscene or original? By their very nature, these determinations are not objective. Yet, since the owners of FFn are footing the server bill, they have the right to decide, right?

So, what's a conscientious smut-peddler to do? Well, there are a few takes. My initial reaction was to yank my stuff off FFn. I do hate hypocrisy after all and wouldn't leaving my stuff up on FFn while ranting about it make me the biggest hypocrite of all? But then the question became, if I'm not posting to FFn, where would I post? The lovely ysar posted a very informative list of alternative sites and their pros and cons on her blog. But as another friend pointed out, the reason we all post to FFn is because that's where the most readers are.

Hmmm.....she has a very good point. Her take was to lay low, since she too writes NC-17 content occasionally and let the storm pass. And I have to admit that it's a good plan, but it still seems unfair to me. Some get punished because they are popular while the small fries continue to slide under the radar. Then again, I could yank my stuff but what would that prove? It's like getting flipped off by a kitten. You'd just laugh.

So, I guess I'm wondering if there's another option out there? Anyone have any ideas? Post a comment and let me know what you think.

Beautiful Creatures:The Love Just Keeps Rolling In

2010-02-09T07:02:00.003-06:00

Didn't win the Caster Girls contest? Yeah, me neither. But FRET NOT!! For the lovely Mrs. V over at Let's Ride the Vanquish is hosting a wonderful contest for everyone who has fallen in love with Beautiful Creatures!

Enter for the chance to win an exquisite bracelet from Mary Tippet Designs. There are six different ways to get entries into the contest, or do them all for a possibility of 17 chances in this drawing. So if you haven't already entered, what are you waiting for????

Dazzling is up for an Indie

2010-02-02T15:15:00.006-06:00

The other day I got the fantastic news that Dazzling was nominated for an Indie Award in the new Love Conquers All category! Here is what the officials over at The Indie Twific Awards had to say on this new category:

Focused on exactly that, love overcoming great odds, this category will encompass those completed stories in single chapter or short story (less than 50,000 words) that deal with the concept of great love conquering all that gets in its path. Canon, AU, AH, all takers are welcome so long as they are well written and concept of love overcoming great odds.

I am so grateful that someone out there enjoyed this one shot enough to recommend it for this contest. To my nominator, and to every single person who has given me the gift of their time to read my story, I say, "Thank you so very much!" I appreciate each and every one of you far more than you will ever know.

Voting begins on February 20th. I hope you will take some time out and vote for my story. And with that, I'll leave you with the crazy-awesome banner Betti made for Dazzling:

Thanks again!!!

Betti's amazing story, Your True Colors, is also up for an Indie in the AH story that knocks you off your feet category! Many congratulations on the nomination, Betti, and good luck in the contest!!

Beautiful CreaturesBook Discussion and Contest

2010-02-01T16:15:00.018-06:00

Hello, lovelies!!! I hope the new year is treating everyone well. I am keeping busy, as always. And one of the things I am doing over the next few weeks is participating in Fragile's Beautiful Creatures book discussion.

Haven't read Beautiful Creatures yet????? Click on the pick to get it on Amazon.

It's only $10.52 and it's eligible for free shipping!

Haven't read the kick off or the first two discussion posts??? Click here, here and here to bask in the wonderment that is this discussion. Please join in and help make this discussion a success.

And for a SQUEE thought, the authors are aware of the discussion from fragile's tweets and I wouldn't be surprised if they popped in to see how it goes!

In the same SQUEE vein, there's a contest going on over at Caster Girls, a Beautiful Creatures fansite, where you can win 12 autographed copies of Beautiful Creatures for your very own bookclub!!! To enter, go here:

Well, good luck all and I hope to see you around fragile's site, especially on Valentine's Day, when I'll be hosting that week's discussion with the lovely uhyesplease, my Lemon Sister.

Twifans band together to help Haiti

2010-01-15T06:16:00.008-06:00

image by carenl, borrowed from mskathy's blog

This past Tuesday, a 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti. It was the worst since 1770 and destroyed most of the capital of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. According to the Red Cross 1 in 3 Haitians were affected by the quake. That's approximately 3 million people in need of emergency aid in a country considered to be the poorest in the Western hemisphere.

Around the world, people are organizing to help and the Twifandom is no different. Amazing fanfic author, mskathy has made the following offer to those who donate at least $5 to the relief efforts: The Haiti Relief Twi FanFic Authors Compilation.

Donate at least $5 to a charity of your choice, to help Haiti, and you will receive a compilation of varying length pieces (not necessarily lemony, not necessarily TwiFic) from the over ninety fanfic authors that have volunteered already. Please donate NOW. Then go here and sign up to receive what promises to be an amazing collection of fiction!

Tay-Tay's in the house!

2010-01-12T20:01:00.010-06:00

When I entered into Mrs. V's great contest I didn't really think I'd win. I don't normally win these sorts of contests. But when I saw I was about to be the proud owner of a new Twi-figurine, I knew just who I wanted:

No, no, I'm not Team Jacob (seriously, Cutie!!!) but I do love the idea of having this great little guy around to stage epic battles with (UYP, when are you coming to town so we can cause some mischief with these little guys???????).

So thank you, once again, Mrs. V, for my new dolly, for having the contest in the first place and for just being an amazing bloggy friend. I'm so lucky to have found you!!!!

And for your enjoyment, here are the pictures of what happened when Jacob tore his way out of his nice brown box:

What the F@$%, Foxy!!!! Who the HALE is this???

URGGGG!!!!! I....AM....TAY-TAY!!! OPF is my girl now!

Jacob: Oh noes!!!!!! Edward, who is this giant!
Edward: Stay still, Jacob! These small foxes can smell fear.
They feed off it.

Edward: Please, little foxy girl, I'm begging you.
Don't make me kiss the dog.
He stinks!!!
Jacob: You're no rose yourself, leech!

Something for that rarest of breeds...the Spoiler Bunny!

2009-12-28T11:13:00.003-06:00

There are no ACTUAL spoilers in this post!

So, as more and more bloggers join the Twi-Purity camp,
it's nice to know there's still a little love for those of us who don't actually want to be saved.
Mrs. Vanquish made some Eclipse buttons for the Spoiler Camp
over on her Twispired Blog Design site

They're adorable (OF COURSE) and completely free for the taking.

Thanks again, Mrs. V!!!!! Being naughty never felt so good!

Mrs. Vanquish hits 100 and has two give-aways to celebrate

2009-12-22T05:42:00.011-06:00

One of my favorite bloggy people,
Mrs. Vanquish,

just hit her 100th follower the other day
and is now hosting TWO give-aways to celebrate!!!
Go check it out!

While you're there, if you don't already follow her,
(and you really should, it's easy, just click the follow button *wink*)
check out her awesome posts.
And the Rob videos.
Sweet Jesus, the Rob videos that melt panties!

Here's my personal favorite:

*sigh*

Oh and did I mention
she not only writes insightful and funny posts
on her personal blog, Let's Ride The Vanquish,

but runs a blog design site, Twispired Blog Design
(she did my design which I adore, thank you very much),

is a big presence on tons of blogs in the Twi-blogosphere
and is just in general an awesome person in RL???

Well, she does and is all of that.

Go show her some love!!!

Looking for something angelic?

2009-12-10T06:08:00.013-06:00

Hello, loves! I just saw this contest over at The First Novels Club to win a copy of Hush, Hush and Fallen. They appear to be YA novels centered around angels. I haven't read either but they both sound interesting from what I've read over at FNC. Here are the descriptions (the first is an excerpt I found on the FNC site, the second was found on Amazon's site):

Hush, Hush

Falling in love was never so easy . . .or so deadly.

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Fallen
There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

So head on over to their post and sign up for a chance to win a copy of both. Or just head over to your local book store and pick up a copy and support an upcoming author! It might be you someday, right?

Twispired Blog Designs fixes this Fox!

2009-12-08T19:42:00.007-06:00

So initially I started the blog in order to facilitate my super secret identity: One Pushy Fox. Before then I had been lurking about, leaving comments on sites under my ID which led people back to my personal blog which was little more than a virtual scrapbook for my kids. Cute? Sure. Twilight related? Absolutely not. So, I created a new handle, selected the standard black layout and this blog was born.

But then I started writing. Sure I had tried my hand at NaNoWriMo over the past couple of years, but I never felt that my characters had something to say. Then I read fanfiction and I found characters that had A LOT to say. Sometimes I needed to find out what made the B-list characters in Twilight tick. Sometimes I needed to branch out and write stuff so completely off the wall I'm not sure it would still constitute fanfiction, but I started writing and it felt good.

The bottom line is that I post here more often than I imagined I would and I think I'll be posting even more as the days go on. So when I saw what Mrs. Vanquish was doing for some of my other favorite blogs, I knew it was time to retire the sleek black look for something more me.

Behold the wonderment that is
Mrs. V's bloggy designing mojo!

I still find it difficult to believe that I got so much for so very little. First off, this whole process took less than a week. Seriously. All that while Mrs. V was working on three other blog redesigns, her own blogs AND working her full time job! Secondly, she was patient and encouraging through my MANY questions and vacillations (at one point I had over 100 fonts I was trying to choose from for my header). Thirdly, she has continued to hold my hand with my many last minute questions as I have decided to load the code myself. Finally, did you see my header??????

The whole process couldn't have been easier or more pleasant and I really value the time and effort she put into this. All this for less than my last Zazzle t-shirt order.

Mrs. V - Thank you again! Many, many times!! From the very bottom of my heart!!!! I love this new layout and I'm so happy I asked for your help!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

2009-12-08T16:34:00.003-06:00

If you're here and you see some oddness over the next few hours, please just be aware that my design is under construction and all will be fixed by tomorrow morning!

Follow Cutie's Cue, as always

2009-12-01T14:36:00.005-06:00

So I got the information on this in an email from Cutie, and I decided to enter as well. Apparently the author of Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe is hosting a contest, starting today and ending on December 10, 2009, in which the winner will receive a signed copy of Twilight (by Stephenie Meyer, not the author of Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe, who I'm sure is lovely, regardless).

I've copied the rules from Cutie's post below:

1. You must be a follower of the blog to enter.
2. You must have a US address to ship to.
3. You must fill out the entry form to enter.
4. You can earn bonus points by posting about the contest
(sorry side bars don't count) and/or by tweeting about the contest.

To find the complete set of rules click here.

Here's RoaWS author meeting Mrs. Meyer, how cool!

NaNoWriMo comes to an end....what's next? A small tease!

2009-11-30T20:29:00.007-06:00

So this morning, around 7:30 am CST I finished it. I passed the 50,000 word count mark on my NaNoWriMo novel. It was wonderful, it was amazing, it was about halfway finished. I kid you not, this story still has so much more to cover! Sheesh! But I found out a few things this year. First, not having a newborn at least doubles your chance for success. Second, waking up at the ungodly hour of 5am is possible if you have interesting people waiting for you. Third, my husband absolutely cannot sleep if I'm not next to him in the bed. So weird, but so nice when he's making coffee as I type!

Anyway, as I look back on what I've written over the past month (and try not to denigrate it) I'm happy that NaNoWriMo inspired me to try this again. And I've decided to stop ragging so much on my own writing and accept it for what it is, an escape.

Which got me wondering, what are those of you who wrote for NaNo (and even those of you who write non-fan-fic fiction) planning to do with the novel(s) sitting in your computer? Please let me know in the comments!!!

I have decided to edit mine and start posting it here. I have a few other commitments to take care of first (Christmas is right around the corner after all) but it's definitely on my to-do list.

So with that in mind, I'm posting the preface right now. It is still rough but it sets the background for the story and acts as a teaser of sorts. I hope you enjoy it!

In 1953, Dr. Eric Loveland, wrote a book making another case for eugenics. Though the topic was considered taboo by many, tainted by Nazism and the Holocaust, Dr. Loveland still felt that society could benefit from shining the rational light of science onto the irrational behaviors of the heart. The backlash against the book caused the doctor to be shunned in all intellectual societies and ultimately cost him his tenure and chair of the Harvard Department of Biological Chemistry.

Embittered, Dr. Loveland left the east coast and moved with his wife, Jane, and a select group of followers to his private South American compound, Coquimbo. The size of a small country, Coquimbo offered an amazing variety of geography: mountains that ran to snowy heights in one direction and to crystalline blue ocean waters in the other. Inland, the land was fertile and rich, providing its owner the ability to grow nearly anything, from wine grapes to palm trees, corn to orchids. By the ocean, the waters were placid and clear, wonderful for fishing, sailing and scuba diving to see the diverse exotic marine wildlife. It was Eden. It was the perfect place to start anew.

That’s precisely what Dr. Loveland and his band of dreamers did: they created a utopia, a wonderful world where the ills of the outside world were eliminated, where every person was wanted, loved and absolutely essential to the fabric of society. And when the flu pandemic of 1968 decimated the world’s population, leaving whole countries in ruins and most of the earth in apocalyptic abandonment, isolation saved the inhabitants of Coquimbo So, while the rest of the world was a lost wasteland, Coquimbo began to thrive.

After one hundred fifty years, Coquimbo was a bustling miniature metropolis. The benefits of “creating a selective society” had bloomed and Lovelandians, as they called themselves, were reaping the rewards of their leader’s dream. Coquimbo was a country where every person grew up knowing their role and feeling secure in the belief that everything they needed for a full and happy life would be provided – from the mundane, food and shelter, all the way down to the ideal profession and their genetic soul mate. It was perfect and everyone was happy.

The Twitarded Meme Game comes to Foxyville

2009-10-25T21:41:00.008-05:00

Woot! I got tagged!!! By now, you all should know the story behind the Twitarded Meme Game. BUT, if for some reason you're reading about it here first, I'll recap it for you: JJ and STY have asked every blogger tagged to answer seven questions and then tag four other blogs to answer those seven questions in turn. And so on, and so on, and so on.

I was actually tagged twice. Once by the excellent KG of I Heart Mythical Creatures and once by sjAimee of Straight Jacket Aimee. If you haven't read their posts already, please, please DO!

OK, so the seven questions are:
1) What is the craziest/most stupid thing you've ever done (that you would be willing to share!)?
2) One my personal favorite games: Fuck, Marry, Kill. With the Twilight cast.
3) What is your favorite band/type of music?
4) What is your favorite movie besides Twilight?
5) Do you RL life family/friends know you’re addicted to Twilight? A blogger?
6) How many hours a week do you spend doing Twi related things? You know, blogging, looking at pictures of the cast, reading fan fiction, etc.
7) Any random fact you might want to share. Big or small, it doesn't matter.

Here are my answers. Note, if you already read the Meme post on The Lemon Sisters, you'll notice that my answers are eerily the same. :)

1) What is the craziest/most stupid thing you've ever done (that you would be willing to share!)?
Wow! This is a tough one. Not that I haven't done crazy or stupid stuff, just that I'm not sure what to share without scaring all my twi-buddies off. Hmmm.....OK, how about this.:

After I graduated college I moved to California to live with my on-again, off-again boyfriend from high school. Despite the fact that it was THOUSANDS of miles away from anyone I knew or loved. Despite the fact that our relationship really wasn't going anywhere. DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE DOUCHE-WAD HAD JUST CHEATED ON ME!!!

I know, I don't fully understand it myself. The saddest part is that no matter how much my friends and family begged me to come home, I kept sticking it out. At least until he asked me to move out because he needed more space. I WAS STUPID!!

2) One my personal favorite games: Fuck, Marry, Kill. With the Twilight cast.
So easy. Fuck Jasper (I agree with sjAimee on this one, you know that boy's got some kinks!), Marry Edward, Kill Renesmee. What!?!?! Yeah, I said it. Something about that little tyke bothers me.

3) What is your favorite band/type of music?
I would say that if I had to pick a favorite band it would be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I love rock in all it's forms but Tom's always been my boy.

4) What is your favorite movie besides Twilight?
Would you believe that it's Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? I freaking love that movie. I've watched it over and over and over again. It never gets old for me.

5) Do you RL life family/friends know you’re addicted to Twilight? A blogger?
Some do. The DH obviously clued in when I started to divvy up my spare time between the laptop and his junk. *wink* I recently came clean to my sister and my RL BFF, but only partially (they don't know about THIS blog, just that I have a twi-blog for my writing). No one else knows. And I'll be keeping it that way, thank you very much.

6) How many hours a week do you spend doing Twi related things? You know, blogging, looking at pictures of the cast, reading fan fiction, etc. Too many! I know, I know. Like the rest of you I wished I got paid for this. I'd be RICH! I'd guess that I spend about 6-8 hours a day blogging, reading/writing fanfic, keeping in touch with my twi-girls. Just writing that down made me feel a little pathetic. :(

7) Any random fact you might want to share. Big or small, it doesn't matter.
My BFF and I have been friends for 13 years. We're so close that when we were in our early 20's my mother thought we might actually be "together". We weren't but if she were a guy, she would have given Mr. Foxy a run for his money.

OK, now for the hard part. Most of the blogs I follow have already been tagged but here are a few gems that have escaped untagged as of yet:

House of Jackassery
Call of Duty Widow
An Insomniac Pisces Random Obsessions
Eyes of Amber

Dazzling Wins!

2009-10-17T04:37:00.009-05:00

Yesterday morning, while I was running around the house like a chicken with it's head cut off, my cell phone rang with a 319 area code. 319? Who the heck could that be? Oh, it was uhyesplease. Now I had just posted my slash post to The Lemon Sisters and my first thought was, "Oh crud, I've offended someone." Nope, that's not it. My lovely, lemony UYP just called to tell me that the winners were out in the Love for the Unloved contest and Dazzling won!!!

I squeed! I jumped up and down. Mr. Foxy gave me a big high-five and he and the little foxes sang me a victory song (along the lines of "Foxy's so awesome! Foxy's so awesome, yeah!). It was quite a moment.

And I tweeted all of this (naturally) but I just wanted to take a second to thank a couple of people who went a long way to making this possible.

First ly: uhyesplease. Girl, how I love you!!!! Who told me there was such a contest? You did. Who encouraged me to enter? Yup, that'd be you too. Who read, not only countless drafts of Dazzling but also the other crud that I worked on before Dazzling became the idea that I ran with. Uh hunh, that'd be a big YOU! Everyday you encourage me to not only write, but write better. You are made entirely of awesomesauce.

Secondly: Betti. Not only did you read my story and review it, but you made it a one-of-a-kind, button-guru original button! And wrote about it on your blog !

And since I clearly can't stop at thanking just two people, let me also thank afragilelittlehuman and Mrs. Vanquish.

Fragile, you make me smile everyday, you push me to be a better writer just so I can keep up with you and you're so supportive it makes me want to cry.

Mrs. V, whenever I'm getting the inevitable "my writing sucks" blahs, you invariably pop up and tell me how much you enjoyed the last piece.

I know that's not everyone, but it's 5 a.m. here and rather than ramble on naming ever single person I love, I'm going to get some coffee. But before I do, I just want to add one last thing.

It is amazingly flattering to be supported by so many awesome women. I adore you all!!!

Yep, I'm crazy...

2009-10-09T20:43:00.010-05:00

So with the holidays approaching and everyone in my family (except the insanely supportive DH) pretty much in the dark regarding the extent of my twi-sanity, what should I do?

Well, first of course, I'll definitely plan to do NaNoWriMo because I do that every year. It's this super fun challenge to write a novel in a month, no problemo!! But that doesn't feel like enough. Hmmmm.....what else can I do?

Oh, yeah, launch a new blog with my twi-BFF, uhyesplease, that requires me to read TONS of fanfic. Sounds good, I'll just squeeze that in right *looks around for a free time slot* ooh, here. *shoves "clean the bathrooms" out of it's previous timeslot*. Oh yeah, that looks good. Clean bathrooms are overrated. I mean, my kids are just going to shit all over that toilet anyway, right?

Oh, and I think I have some more time left. *eyes calendar entries for other chores* Yep, I think I'll also see if I can convince fellow bloggy friend, fragilelittlehuman, to start writing a collaborative fanfic with me. Cool.

And you know what will be awesome? If I decide not to outline it, so I can pretty much fly by the seat of my pants and write without know too much about what fragile's going to be writing. That sounds smart!

Ok, smart I may not be, but crazy I am in spades. So you know I totally signed up for both.

So if you haven't seen the tweets already, go and check out the blog I started with uhyesplease, called The Lemon Sisters. You won't be disappointed.

And if you like my writing, or even if you hate my writing but LOVE fragile's writing (and who doesn't?), please head over to the blog we set up under our combined moniker fragilefoxes for our new collaborative effort, In The Blood.

And if my DH buys me a sweet new jacket for Christmas that's a pretty shade of white and has lots of fun buckles, well, you'll know where to find me at least. :)

Could I be more flattered? No, I could not.

2009-09-24T15:11:00.011-05:00

So today, I was all excited to be a-Twitter (ha, ha, ha) about the new site that uhyesplease and I launched where we will be writing about our favorite lemons, our own writing and other randomness. It's called The Lemon Sisters:

Then, I saw this tweet:

I adore Betti and I love the way Fanny and Artsie review, so headed on over and what did I see???

This:

and this:

*thud* I. AM. DEAD! Seriously. As a chronic self-doubter, I was all prepared for the flamers when I published both I Favor Fire and Dazzling, but I have been greeted with nothing but love and appreciation. If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. I LOVE ALL OF YOU WOMEN (and any male lurkers out there, you're included too!)!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who shores up my frequently spineless ego. You *points to all the girls in twi-land* complete me.

Oh, and if you haven't read Betti's post yet, there's a note on the bottom:

You can SO BET I'll be writing this for Fanny. In the mean time, I'm compiling a list of good Isle Esme one shots for Betti, so if you have any recommendations, please pass them along as well.

Dazzling is now available

2009-09-22T15:41:00.012-05:00

Hi, all, so I finally got Dazzling posted today. I've submitted it for the Love for the Unloved contest. So click on the link here and enjoy!

Preview of Dazzling - Love for the Unloved one shot

2009-09-18T10:32:00.008-05:00

So, as drunkenly promised, here's a small portion of what I wrote for a one shot I've called Dazzling. It's for the Love for the Unloved contest and the premise is that Kate and Garrett met before we read about them in Breaking Dawn. They met in mid-eighteenth century Paris, during Louis XVI's heyday. If it sounds very romance novely, I apologize. :) It was actually inspired by Annie Lennox's version of Whiter Shade of Pale.

Excerpt from Dazzling :

He turned and he must have caught my scent. He started to make his way toward me through the ballroom; steadily, ignoring the humans in his path as if they had been pigeons in the square. The women next to me, the ones who had been discussing him only a moment ago, sucked in a collective breath as he approached them, only to let it out in shared, disappointed huffs when he sauntered past them and approached me.

He took my hand as if we were well acquainted, bowed over it and then turned it in his own exposing my wrist. Slowly, never taking his ebon eyes from mine, he kissed it, slightly flicking the point where my pulse had beaten long ago with his tongue. I raised a pale brow. Well…that was… surprising. And erotic, truth be told. I wasn’t used to men being so forward with me, but for some reason, it suited him.

Without saying a word, he tucked my arm in his and led me around the dance floor, where several couples could be seen promenading and engaging in discreet conversation. I told myself that I followed him out of surprised interest. It was curious for one of our kind to act so directly, especially in a public venue. But truthfully, I was also attracted to him, and that fact made a difference.

“You must forgive my forward nature, mon ange” he purred, not bothering to lean down since he knew I would hear him. “I’m fairly new to this life and I haven’t learned all the social rules. But when I saw you, I simply couldn’t stay away.” His eyes searched mine, looking for something, perhaps acceptance.

I looked away, annoyed with myself for caring what this nomad thought or needed. Who was he to me? “It’s not really de rigueur,” I said in a bored tone. “Even humans don’t drag off women they haven’t been properly introduced to.” I planted my feet firmly and turned to stare at him, ire evident on my face. “What do you want? I’ve no time for the games of a newborn.”

He should have cowered. He should at least have been taken aback. But the arrogant bastard actually smiled! It was a glorious, wicked smile that made my stomach flutter; until my annoyed sensibilities woke up. It was just a smile, he was just another immortal. I should move on before we started to attract attention.

But I didn’t want to move on. I wanted to drag him off and see what other things his mouth could make me want, make me feel. As if he could read my mind, his smile stretched even more devilishly across his face.

Could today get better? Buttons, porn and lemon-sisters

2009-09-17T21:56:00.009-05:00

So, I think I mentioned that

I. BOUGHT. MY. TICKETS. BIOTCHES!!!!!

Yeah , so I'm pretty stoked about that.

Also, I've been working on two one shots for the Love for the Unloved contest which are coming along swimmingly.

The first is a canon piece about Kate and Garrett. That's done, been beta'ed by my absolute masta-beta (her term not mine *wink*), uhyesplease, and been sent off to Project Team Beta for the final check before I submit it. I will post some previews later, hopefully

The second is a super fluffy, seriously poronographic piece that I'm not entirely sure I'll publish because it embarrasses the crap out of me.

Note : uhyesplease, you know I'm sending it to you anyway because we lemon-sisters have to stick together!

Anyway, I'm getting all this done when my kids are sleeping in the afternoon when I get a little tweet-tweet from the fabulous Betti of Betti. Music. Twilight. What has she done?

SHE MADE ME A FREAKING BUTTON!!!!!!!!!!!!

How surprised am I? Well, as I told her, I squeed loud enough to make my baby cry. Seriously.

Well, I just don't know how to top this day. I'm going to finish my whiskey, write some more porn and then head to bed. I wish you all a seriously lovely evening as well!!

I have the BEST. SISTER. EVER!!!!

2009-09-17T21:06:00.008-05:00

That's right peeps, I. BOUGHT. MY. TICKETS! And I'm going to the a theater close to my house, but I was nervous about going by myself. I mean what if there were Twilight haters waiting the super spooky parking lot or something, right? I would have sucked it up and gone alone but then my ABSOFREAKINGLY AWESOME SISTER AGREED to come with!!!! This is my sister who is 13 years younger than me and politely mocks my obsession with all things Twilight. But she loves me enough to come with me.

So this is her, by the way. No she's not a 1950's housewife. I mean seriously, how old would that make me?!?! But she does enjoy dress up still. I don't mock. I just love.

By the way, this is my husband (yes, from Halloween a few years ago). He is the SUPER-DUPER-FREAKING SWEET-HEART who will be taking the Friday off after New Moon opens to watch our children so I can sleep afterwards.

So I guess this goes to show that even though my BFF can't make it, I have plenty of enablers around to help my realize my dream of squeeing like a school girl with the rest of you from 12:01 am Friday morning until the last credits. And I just wanted to say that they're awesome.

Hope you all have your enablers lined up too. If not, I'll squee extra hard for you!

BFF does NOT want to attend New Moon premier! Gasp!

2009-09-13T16:08:00.005-05:00

Can you believe this? I saw my sweet heart, bff last night and in all my twidiot glory I started to gush about how tickets are now on sale for the New Moon premier. Who else would I go to the midnight premier with than the woman who got me hooked on this crack? No one! Then she lowered the boom. She wasn't going.

Now don't hate her. She's stronger than I am, she was able to fall in love with these books and walk away after the first reading. Yes, we did see the movie together, but I was so apprehensive of seeing it (two words: spider monkey) that I wasn't going to go to the premier.

But this is different!!!! I am FAR deeper into my obsession than I was a year ago and New Moon looks like it's actually going to be FREAKING AWESOME!!!! How can she not want to go?!?!?!

Then it occurred to me, technically, I don't HAVE to go with her. Sure, I would look like an AMAZING looser going to the premier by myself, surrounded by a hundred panting tweens, but really, personal embarrassment isn't holding me back too much these days, is it.

So can I fake it? Can I go to the midnight show without her and take that secret to my grave? Can I not????

WHAT THE FANDANGO!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-09-03T07:58:00.000-05:00

So I live in a large metropolitan area. I always have. I love little towns, don't get me wrong, but I was spoiled at an early age by all the perks of a big city (Chicago to be precise). Yes, yes, I know the downsides but I'm a big-city kind of girl and I've never regretted it. Until Fandango started to screw with me.

Exhibit A:

(list courtesy of twilightmoonlighter.com)

That's right: Champaign, Forsyth and Bloomington, Illinois can ALL BUY THEIR TICKETS NOW but us big city Chicagoans must wait!!!

WHAT! THE! FANDANGO!!!!!!!

Is a confident writer an oxymoron?

2009-08-26T14:23:00.000-05:00

In general I think of myself as a fairly confident person. Not that I'm all that and a biscuit on the side, but I'm good, thank you very much. I'm 34 years old and cool with that (even though my inner 15-year-old boggles at where the years have gone). I no longer work for corporate America, but when I did, I occasionally had to voice my opinions, sometimes forcefully, and I still felt like I did it without descending into full on bitch territory (my co-workers may disagree...but that's another topic). I now am the often frazzled mother of three kids three and under and I am proud of how hard I work raising these amazing kids and how lucky I am to have this time with them.

But, let's face it, I have my insecurities too. And one of them is my writing.

I'm a reader by nature and I wrote a bit in high school and college, like everyone else, but didn't pick up writing again until I was home with my kids and in DESPERATE need for a creative, quasi-intellectual outlet. My husband mentioned an event he had heard about, National Novel Writing Month, and suggested that I give it a shot. I did. And I loved it. There's something so freeing about "meeting" these amazing characters and finding out what makes them tick. I love the high I get when I'm writing and the characters wind up doing something I never would have suspected, almost as if they're real people. It's so much fun!!

But it was always PRIVATE fun. I NEVER let anyone read what I wrote. Not my husband, not even my BFF who I wrote my first story about. NO ONE!!

Then, a few years later, I found myself in the twi-verse, befriending some AMAZINGLY talented blog writers. And reading fan fiction for the first time. And wondering how embarrassing it would be to write fan fiction. Especially if it turned out to be really bad derivative drivel. However, I was lucky enough to join up with three amazing cohorts who encourage the hell out of me and made me want to write more.

And then a few weeks ago, I finally got up the gumption to post something on FFn. I told myself I would do it to find out how bad my writing was, because as much as I love my twi-BFFs, they never flamed me. Not that I want to be flamed, but you know how you always wonder, right? But as the reviews came, no one flamed me! So I submitted the story to Project Team Beta to get some constructive feedback, and still I did not get flamed. And then I got a review from the amazing FireCrotch over at WBPH where she said I need to "have a little more confidence in [my] skills" and it occurred to me, is there a point at which a writer starts to feel confident about their writing?

I am in NO WAY comparing my writing to the many amazing published authors out there, but I wonder, does Stephenie Meyer ever worry that no one will like her next book? And for reasons other than it not being Twilight-related?

So, if any writers/artists are out there reading this, let me know...is there hope? Will I ever become confident enough to hit that submit button without my insecurities forcing my heart up into my throat? Or is that uncertainty part and parcel of the whole creative process?

I've finally got it up

2009-08-12T08:07:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, that's what she said! Anyway, I'm finally publishing something small in an attempt to find out how I can improve my writing. FFn was the easiest to publish to so it's there now and I'm in the pre-beta process over at Twilighted.net. It's been an interesting experience trying to publish this and I have gained TONS of respect for those of you who actually publish. If you read it, I hope you will enjoy it, but mostly I'm hoping you'll be kind enough to give me your honest feedback. I DEFINITELY want to improve and PROMISE to accept constructive criticism. :)

So if you're so inclined, you can find my very first, super short, one-shot here: I Favor Fire.

The waiting is the hardest part...

2009-08-10T07:43:00.000-05:00

So, I finally pulled up my big girl pants, screwed up my courage and wrote something small that I thought I might be willing to share with the twi-world at large. Just a lemony little one shot, nothing big. I got one of my twi-bffs, the lovely uhyesplease, to beta it for me and I was already to upload it and find out whether it blows chuncks or not, when....FanFiction.net and Twilighted.com told me I need to be patient and wait. Boo!

I have to say that I appreciate that Twilighted.com takes the time to filter out the stuff that's not ready to be published. I read a lot of fanfic and I hate it when I start a story excited by the idea and the writings just not there. But when it comes to my story, well...I just wasn't planning on waiting. Hurm....

And in FF.net's defense, I could upload it to my previous account, but I created a special foxy account for these stories and now I have to wait two days so they know I'm not a spammer. Bummer.

So...for those of you waiting with baited breath (*crickets chirp*), well, for anyone mildly interested, it's going to be a few days. I'll let you know when it's up. Until then, I'll be waiting.

Hello, Twi-world!

2009-08-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

So, for those of you who don't know "me" and have followed my blogger id here, let me introduce myself. I'm a twi-addict, probably a lot like you. I'm over 30, ecstatically married to the best guy ever (for me, I'm sure all of you who are in a relationship are with "the best guy ever" for you *wink*), have three bouncing baby foxes and I fell hard for Twilight almost a year ago.

I love this story. But more than that, I love the people that Stephenie Meyer's story has brought together. Intelligent, witty, wickedly funny women who aren't ashamed to show their inner geek and discuss the science of Twilight (seriously, frozen balls, Mrs. V???) or bask in the warm, glowing glow of RPattz's hotness (thank you, www.gossipgirls.com for the pic). And men, apparently, which I think is so amazing and makes me blink in astonishment because I would TOTALLY have pegged this as a chick only phenomenom.

I read the blogs, I comment a lot, I occasionally sneak a guest post in and I write (as yet) unpublished (because it's pretty silly) fanfic. With any luck, and a whole lot of polishing, I'll be pimping out a fanfic story or two soon, via this blog.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and believe me, you'll see me around!