Archive for the 'How coolio is THAT?' Category

October 26, 2008 | How coolio is THAT?, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me

Last week, Miss Sarcastica gave me the biggest honor of slapping me with the “I Love Your Blog” award. My first ever blog award! How coolio is that?

They like me. They really like me.

She says that I motivate her. Sarcastica is an aspiring young author who’s taking her sweet time about starting something, but I know when she gets around to it, it’ll be good. That’s why I love her blog.

There are some rules that go along with this wonderful gift:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog - CHECK
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you - CHECK
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs - I CAN DO THAT
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog - ALREADY DONE
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs! GREAT. I DO THIS EVERYDAY ANYWAY.

So, without further ado, here are my nominations:

1.Crystal Green - Because if I ever miss Heroes, she does a recap on her blog. Oh, and she’s an adult romance author.

2. Stiletto Heights - because she’s an AMAZING artist. You should check out her Etsy store. And her letters to celebrities are pretty funny, too.

3. Mrs. Elf - because she’s a young fashionista-in- training. For someone who’s not so into fashion (that would be me), I love going to her blog and seeing the visual efforts of a look she’s trying to emulate. She puts her own spin on things and more often than not, it works for her.

4. Shrinking Violets Promotions - Marketing for Introverts. Need I say more? Ok, I will. Some writers tend to be a little introverted (raising hand) and I’m talking about personality-wise, not because our work dictates it. This is a safe haven of marketing help for us writers who break into a cold sweat at the idea of marketing ourselves. And we even have our Bill of Rights.

5. Rinda Elliott - the trials and tribulations of an adult romance writer juggling, well, writing and family. Oh, and she’s got this FABOO online store of author swag.

6. Writing on the Wall - fantabulous writer’s resource of all things writing.

7. YA Fresh - where YA authors Kelly Parra and Tina Ferraro talk about YA books and interview YA authors.

8. The Eco Diva - I’ve made the decision to go eco in my business as well as my personal life. This blog was a new find for me and I like that she reviews–and recommends–eco-friendly products and posts eco-Etsy finds.

9. Carrie and Danielle - How to live an inspired life, be true to you and make a difference in the world. Another new find and I really dig the Daily Q&A.

10. Suzy Q’s Sparkle Spot - I visit often, but don’t always comment. She used to be an AZ resident and her husband used to be Darth Vader in our Star Wars gang. Through her blog I can still catch up with her and watch her boys grow up. Oh, yes, and maybe learn how to quilt.

Technorati Tags: Sarcastica, Crystal Green, Stiletto Heights, Mrs. Elf, Shrinking Violets Promotions, Rinda Elliott, Writing on the Wall, YA Fresh, Kelly Parra, Tina Ferraro, The Eco Diva, Carrie and Danielle, Suzy Q’s Sparkle Spot

May 2, 2008 | Book One, Book Stuff, DA Series, Draven Atreides, How coolio is THAT?, Life in General

A while back there was an “Out of the Box” contest about different ways authors go about promoting their books. The one that interested me the most was from an Honorable Mention winner and I liked it so much that I’m stealing it. Actually, it’s a small variation of what the author did.

The countdown to Release Day is on and it’s going to start here.

Starting Monday the 4th, I’m introducing “Miss Snitch Mondays.” From now until the April 17, 2009 release date of A Royale Pain: A Draven Atreides, Teenage FBI novel , I will post the unedited version of this book. Every month will be a different chapter, but since the chapters are so long–and unedited–I will post a few pages every week. Keep in mind that what you’ll be reading is the first draft of Book One, pre-editor and pre-spell check. It’s extremely raw, so there will be spelling errors. Just a few things:

1) This work is copyrighted. If it ends up anywhere else, as someone else’s work, I’ll be sending Butch to your house with a tire iron.

2) Comments and opinions are appreciated and may be taken into consideration during the current revision process.

3) You will have the opportunity to put your name on the DA Book One Pre-Order Notification List at the end of each post. Being on this list entitles the subscriber to 1) Order autographed copies at a discount and 2) Add a personal message to the person(s) of your choice (if it’s a gift)

To get a little more background about Draven Atreides, Book One and the series in general, go HERE. You can also get to know Draven by reading her blog.

Then tune in on Monday. We’re going to start with the first couple pages of the Prologue.

Happy reading!

Technorati Tags: A Royale Pain, A Draven Atreides, Teenage FBI novel, Draven Atreides

April 15, 2008 | How coolio is THAT?, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me

So, last night I went to this networking/board game event, the Ladies Who Launch CashFlow Club;

The CASHFLOW game that “Gets people to take action” was designed by Robert Kiyosaki, international speaker, entrepreneur, investor and bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad. Come elevate your financial intelligence and personal growth through developing relationships that support and encourage success-minded members to achieve money goals.

The object of the game is to think outside the box, financially, to get out of the Rat Race (middle to low income) and on to the Fast Track (think Donald Trump or Bill Gates level). This game is 10 times better than Monopoly! The board pieces are mice, cheese and chips (like gambling chips) in coordinating colors. To win, you either need to get to your new Cashflow Day Income Goal (once you reach the Fast Track) or buy your “dream”. So, you’re given an Income Statement sheet that looks like this: CLICK PIC FOR BIGGER VIEW (then click it again to an even closer look)

This is considered to be the Rat Race side and everyone starts out on this side of the paper. You first pick a profession (I think there are close to 20 different professions) and then you pick a “dream” on the Fast Track portion of the board (this can be anything from a vacation to a material item); you set your piece of cheese on this dream because it’s what you’re trying to attain once you get on the Fast Track. All the dreams have monetary value. My “dream” was a Kids Library for $175,000: A wing to the public library devoted to young writers and artists. Fitting for me, don’t you think?

As you can see, I got lucky and chose Lawyer. The information on the card (Salary, Expenses, liabilities, Per Child Expense and Total Income) is to be transferred to your sheet. The board is made up of green, yellow and purple spaces. In the inner circle (a.k.a The Rat Race, obviously) the yellow spaces represent a Paycheck. Every time you pass it, you get your “paycheck” from the bank. For instance, my original paycheck was $2000-something. So, every time I passed the yellow space, I received money from the bank. If you forget to say “paycheck” when you pass it, you don’t get it. Just like in real life.

The green spaces represent the “Market”: opportunities to buy something. If you land on this space, you have an opportunity to choose a Small Deal card or a Big Deal card. The only difference between the two is that the Big Deal cards require more investment (if you’re allowed to sell it to another player, you can). The purple spaces are “Doodads”. If you land on this, you have to choose a Doodad card, which also means you have to give up money. Also, when you start out, you don’t have kids until you land on a purple spot marked Baby (you can have up to 3 children); then that Per Child Expense is added to your Total Expenses. There was also a Charity space, too, and if you landed on it, you got a chance to roll with 1, 2, or 3 dice for 3 turns (if you land on this spot in the Fast Track, you get to roll 1, 2 , or 3 dice on every turn). In order to get out of the Rat Race circle your PASSIVE INCOME has to be greater than your TOTAL EXPENSES. Bevla, the moderator, messed up calculating this and I ended up on the Fast Track sooner than I should have (oops! LOL), but I had fun doing it. I got on the Fast Track by buying a Duplex for $5000 and then selling it for $150,000. I never landed on Baby and I never forgot to say Paycheck.

The Fast Track side looks like this: (more…)

Technorati Tags: Ladies Who Launch CashFlow Club, Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad

February 26, 2008 | Book Stuff, How coolio is THAT?, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me

I’m being profiled today on The Brown Bookshelf as part of their 28 Days Later Campaign. I share the spotlight with author, Shane Evans. You may remember that I was doing my best to spotlight the chosen authors and illustrators on here, too, but, geez, it just got to be too much. I mean, 28 people were chosen, a lot of whom have won numerous awards for their work. It was tough to keep up and I kept forgetting. So click on over and check out my in-depth interview, see all the other folks who have been spotlighted…

and then come on back over here for a chance to win an autographed copy of my second book, Dance Jam Productions (that’s Mataya Black Hawk, the MC)

and a Red Pump SassyPurseCandy keychain:

All you have to do to enter is answer the following question in the Comments section:

If a dance step was going to be named after you, what would it be called?

Name will be drawn on Sunday, announced Monday. Good luck!

Technorati Tags: The Brown Bookshelf, 28 Days Later Campaign, Shane Evans, Dance Jam Productions, SassyPurseCandy

January 31, 2008 | How coolio is THAT?, Life in General, The 4-1-1 on Me, contests

Remember this post?

They’re going to announce the prize winners tomorrow and I just got an email today announcing that they’ve whittled the finalists down to 41 people.

Guess who’s on the list?

THAT WOULD BE ME!!! AAAAAHHHHH!

There are only three placings and here’s what you get:

Grand Prize: A comprehensive editorial evaluation of the complete manuscript, followed by a line-edit of the entire manuscript by Renni Browne. If the winning manuscript does not already have a literary agent, it will be entered into our Agent Matchmaking program.

2nd Prize: A coaching line-edit of the first 50 pages, which includes hands-on editing and polishing of a writer’s style with attention to quality and flow of narrative voice, dialogue, proportion, mechanics and overall readability.

3rd Prize: A query and synopsis critique or a critique of the first 10 manuscript pages.

Although it would be nice to win the Grand Prize, I would be just as happy with third. Wish me luck!