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! 

Blindsided Christmas Photo Bloghop

Kyra Lennon wants to see our Christmas photos. All dressed-up or acting silly. It must be a new photo or taken over the last few years. No childhood pictures. Just post your picture between November 26th and December 7th. There's prizes! Click on the badge for details and the linky list to visit other participants. It's going to be so much fun!

Okay, you're not going to see me in these pictures. I don't remember the last time I wore anything festive. Sorry. My son is much, much more photogenic anyway!

Christmas 2010 in Santa pajamas

  Christmas 2011 in a Christmas sweater

and sharing a treat with a friend 

 December 2011 wearing jingle bells

Blindsided Blog Tour - Guest Post on Romance by Kyra Lennon

I'm thrilled to have the lovely Kyra Lennon here with me today.

She's celebrating the release of her new contemporary romance novel,

Blindsided.

Take it away, Kyra!

Blindsided is all about a holiday romance. Those words usually bring to mind sun, sand, cocktails, and making out on the beach with an oiled up hunk. But in Blindsided, the holiday isn’t on an exotic island, it’s in dreary old London in December. And it’s Christmas! Even so, there is no shortage of romance, and it is, I think, enhanced by the season.

So what is it about Christmas that brings out the romance in people? Is it the overall message of love that seems to resonate in the air at this time of year? Is it just that everyone seems to be happier once the snow begins to fall, and Christmas music is being blasted from every speaker?

For me, it’s all about the cold. There is something magical when the air turns crisp, and all you really want to do is drink hot chocolate and snuggle up with your special someone. Of course, there are other ways to keep warm when the weather turns cold *wink wink* but it’s not ALL about that. It’s just knowing there is someone beside you to share that special time of year.

For Jesse and Isabelle, well, there are a few things happening there. For Isabelle, it’s the first stirrings of young love, for Jesse, it’s the realization that not all girls want to date him because he’s got money. But the beauty of London in winter, and the excitement of doing festive things like ice skating in Hyde Park add to the magic of their romance.

What do you think makes Christmas so romantic?

Author Bio: Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. After years spent working in retail, where she met enough versatile characters to write hundreds of books, she finally took the plunge and quit her day job. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012. While fiction writing has always been her passion, she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites. 

Blindsided blurb: After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter’s cousin, Isabelle.

Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they’ve gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He’s everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?

Buy Links:  
Amazon.com
Amazon.uk

Find Kyra online
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads 

Teaser Tuesday with The Wind Through The Keyhole

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

A new addition to Stephen King's Dark Tower series. I was a little worried about it, but I slipped easily into the world again. It's a story within a story within a story. When you read it, it makes sense!

Here's your teaser:
"The new plug's a lot deeper than the old ones, and everyone knows there are demons in the earth. Mayhap one of the miners struck on one, wakened it, and was done a mischief by it." (page 64)

In NaNoWriMo news:

The end is near!

I'm at 47000 words. So close!

I lost two days because I was sick. Some weird Thanksgiving virus. The turkeys are striking back! I'm going to try to push myself today and make the goal. It might also be the end of the novel. Not a long one this year.

Okay. I'm taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

Write!

1301 tour, tabs, NaNo update, and reminders

Thank you to everyone who responded about the 13th Floor blog tours. You guys are awesome! I have the second, third, and fourth book tours filled, but I would love to have a few more for next month. If you have a day open between the 13th and 20th, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it. I will also happily do a couple of stops on the same day if you're interested in helping with one of the tours next year.

You might have seen I learned how to create tabs on my blog. (Thank you, Stephen Tremp!) I have one specifically for The 13th Floor series. I have all the dates up there for all the cover reveals, release dates, and blog tours.

I'm doing well with NaNoWriMo. I'm over 45000 words, and I'm writing the final battle. I hope to complete the novel by the end of the weekend. For those of you who've hit 50000, congratulations! And for those who are still typing away, keep going. There's still one week left. You can do it!

Don't forget the Writers4Writers Group has their first monthly event on December 6th. It's a great way writers can help their fellow writers.

Next week, the marvelous Kyra Lennon starts her Blindsided Tour. She'll be stopping by here on Wednesday. Yay!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to

all my American friends and family!

I'm thankful for all of you.

May this season bring you wonder

and awe as if seen through

a two-year old's eyes.