Friday Five for November 6, 2015

1. Did you think October was the month for treats? No way! There are lots of chances for you to win this month. TB Markinson holds a monthly book giveaway. She has five awesome books for you to win, and this month, The 13th Floor Complete Collection is one of them. Untethered Realms is touring with their new short story collection, Mayhem in the Air. Get exclusive excerpts and enter for a chance to win a $40 gift card. Last but not least, Realms Faire 2015 begins on Monday. Huzzah! Tons of medieval games, giveaways, and grog. I'll be hosting the Drench-a-Wench event with a giveaway every day.

2. I recently had two short story rewrite & resubmits, and now I have two acceptances to Every Day Fiction! "Paid" is a little noir cop piece with a twist and "Ligeia's Song" is about a girl kidnapped by pirates and pit against the Sirens. Every Day Fiction is having a few technical problems at the moment, but hopefully they'll be back very soon.

3. This week, my mom was down and we did our Christmas shopping. I'm almost all done. Just a few special gifts for my son that I'll need to get online. I also make a calendar every year on Shutterfly with pictures of my son and give it to the relatives.

4. I'm tuckered out today. I'll get back into the swing of things and catch up with everyone next week. Have a good weekend!

5. Oh! I was so surprised last week to find I was a winner in Yolanda Renee's Desperation Holler Halloween Challenge. It was so much fun answering her scary interview questions and finishing off a piece of flash fiction. Check out all the authors' awesome stories on her blog. I would definitely do it again next year!

Friday Five for October 30, 2015

1. Big excitement this week as Mayhem in the Air is now available. It's a marvelous collection of short stories from the talented authors of Untethered Realms. My horror sci-fi, "The Silent Wind" is included in the anthology. Next week, we'll start a two week tour with exclusive excerpts and a giveaway where you could win a $40 gift card! The collection is only 99 cents. A steal with all the awesome stories in it!

2. Oh, more fantastic short stories! I received word yesterday that 9Tales Told in the Dark #7 is available for pre-order and will be released November 23rd. My horror story, "All I Want For Christmas" is one of the nine scary tales. This makes up for the rejection I received earlier this week.

3. I've had a good writing week even with my son having a couple of early dismissal days from school. I finished the first novella in a new series for my publisher. The series is called The Sasquatch Susies. I'll leave it to your imagination what that's about for now.

4. My mom will be visiting next week. We do all our Christmas shopping, so we don't have to freak out at the last minute. It's nice to have it all done before December, but it's difficult to find places to store gifts in our little house! Not just store them, but keep them out of sight of my little guy.

5. One day until Halloween! I love this time of year. We had a fun time last weekend at the Trick or Treat Trail, and we went trick or treating at the university on Wednesday. Tomorrow I get to see all the costumes as the kids come to our door. My little guy, er, puppy is super excited.

(My son and his buddy at the Trick or Treat Trail.)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Friday Five for November 30, 2012

1. I'm a NaNoWriMo winner! I didn't finish before Thanksgiving, but a virus attacked me. Knocked me out for two days. I still made the goal with time to spare. I haven't managed to find time to get back to the story and finish it yet, though. It's been such a busy week.

2. Most of my Christmas shopping for the family is done. We're on a tight budget this year. I'm doing a photo theme. We had a family portrait done. It's... um, department store quality. Every family needs at least one cheesy department store photo, right? Everyone's going to be looking at my son anyway. That's what I tell myself. I also made up calendars with pictures of my son on Shutterfly. I love their site. It's easy to use and such prices for products people really love.

3. This past month I've been dealing with a health issue that secretly weighed heavy on me. I have no idea why I was quiet about it and brushed it off even with friends and family. During my recent mammogram, they found a lump. I went in for an ultrasound to confirm it and then had a biopsy done. I told myself and everyone else I wasn't worried. Yet when the results came back that it was benign and truly nothing to be concerned about, I felt so light and relieved. I guess I was more worried than I let on even to myself. I believe it's so important for women to do regular self exams and have mammograms starting at the age of 40. If there's history of breast cancer in the family, they should start younger than that. I also learned that finding a lump is more common than I realized. So many of my friends came out and told me the same thing happened with them. I had no idea. Why do women never talk about this amongst ourselves? There's no shame in it and no woman is alone in it. There may be a month dedicated to breast cancer, but talk still isn't happening as it should.

4. My mom is coming for an early Christmas visit next week. We'll be picking her up at the airport on Sunday afternoon and then going to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Mmmm. There will shopping. A lot of shopping. I'm exhausted already!

5. I've been working on posts for my 1301 blog tour. I'm so excited. I have the schedule locked in and I have fantastic hosts. If you'd still like to be part of any of my blog tours for the 13th Floor series, you can click on the tab above to find the dates for each book.

Here is my 1301 blog tour lineup:

Dec. 13 - Cherie Reich and Livia Peterson
Dec. 14 - Nick Wilford
Dec. 15 - Tania Walsh
Dec. 16 - M. Pepper Langlinais
Dec. 17 - Aubrie Dionne
Dec. 18 - Clare Dugmore
Dec. 19 - Kyra Lennon   and Jackie Felger
Dec. 20 - Shannon Lawrence

Have a great weekend! 

Monday Moments

I still haven't gotten back to writing. This isn't good! Today was just so busy. Hopefully tomorrow I'll enjoy a quiet nap time and get back to my story.

I have my writers' group this coming Saturday. I submitted the blurb for Sorrow Phage to be critiqued. My CP, Cherie Reich, helped me already with it. I still need to think of a new title for the novel. Why did Vampires in a Mortuary suddenly pop into my head? Darn Snakes on a Plane. I can have my protagonist screaming, "Enough is enough! I've had it with these demon killing vampires in this brother-father mortuary!"

My Christmas shopping is done. I mailed out the packages to my family in Canada today. I also received packages from my mom today. She told me to open one gift early. A new digital camera! She just wants her daily photo of my son.

My doctor's appointment went well today. All my tests came back clean. Surprisingly, with all the treats I've had lately, my blood sugar was excellent. I have one more test next week just to clear out the final possibility. I'm starting a new medication, but everything is good. High blood pressure is nothing to ignore or mess around with.