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License Plate Revealed & Hacky Sack News

 So it has come to my attention that very few people got last week’s license plate.

My heart is saddened.

Dun, dun, dun, dun . . . dun, dun . . . dun, dun. CAN’T TOUCH THIS. Dun, dun, dun, dun . . . dun, dun . . . dun, dun. HAMMER TIME!

If you are not now singing in your head, then I’m afraid you must have missed the epicness that was MC Hammer. All my sympathy. 😉

And just because I love license plates, here’s another challenge for you: SHKITOF

Now, the announcement you would have all been waiting for had you known about it:

The Hacky Sack Club is back with a new (optional) challenge! And this one is even more embarrassing. Like, I’m already blushing, and the thing isn’t even MADE yet.

Amy Sonnichsen (gosh I love her) and I have committed ourselves to the Hacky Sack Club’s

Yes, you read that right. We’re taking this thing to new heights of embarrassment. We’ll be posting videos of ourselves doing something
ethnically musical on Monday, August 27th. And no, you really don’t want to miss this.

If you’d like to join us, let one of us know. Then when you post
your video, also let us know so we can let all our followers know (so
everyone can visit your blog and join in the mirth). I know you’re all dying to take part!

Just remember, we’re not laughing AT you, we’re laughing WITH you!

For the record, I’m an NOT doing this because I lost a bet (this time). We
at the Hacky Sack Club simply believe that life is too short to waste
being normal all the time.

We also believe that part of a fun community is breaking down barriers and being silly every once and awhile.

If you have already joined the Hacky Sack Club, you do not need to take part in this activity, but we’d love it if you did. And anyone else who is not already a member, we will still send you a hacky sack in the mail when you join. Yay!

That is all. No stress. No hacky sacking required. Visit our Hacky Sack Walls of Fame Shame (Amy’s and mine) for more details. 

So if you were going to join us, what ethnic music would you feature? 

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Change

Life has a funny way of interfering with our best laid plans. I was all prepped to come back with gusto until Change showed up on my doorstep and took a sucker punch at my gut. Rather than give up blogging, I’ll only be posting Mondays for the next indefinite time frame or so.

I know. You are all HUGELY disappointed. But to make amends I offer a nostalgic license plate for you.

Do you get it? Isn’t that just awesome? Gosh I loved the 90’s (*subtle hint*).

And by the way, what are you doing here??? You should be at WriteOnCon!

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Hallooo!

Hello, all my long lost bloggy friends! After nearly two months of absence, I’m back, though it may take me some time to regain my sea legs. So for today, I give you my list of what I accomplished while I was gone:

1. Moved halfway across the country with a husband and 3 small children.
2. No one killed each other in said move.
3. Finished the first draft of my WIP (hurray!)
4. Did not rip said draft into pieces. Yet.
5. Bought a couch. In two hours. (I know! Perhaps my biggest accomplishment all summer.)
6. Beat my sister in Words With Friends by nearly 200 points. (Heehee. Sorry Reb . . . I had to tell someone.)

Anywho, I won’t bore you with the rest of my minutiae. What did you accomplish this summer?

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Yay for Leigh!

I’m not here yet (really), but I had to poke my head in to give a shout-out to my awesome friend Leigh Moore.

Here’s the blurb from PM:

Leigh Moore’s ROUGE, in which a New Orleans chanteuse must decide
between saving herself (and her young charge) from the brothels by
marrying her well-heeled suitor, or following her heart and marrying a
poor stagehand, to Abby Zidle at Pocket Star, by Kate McKean at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency. 

 Go Leigh! Congratulations!!! 😀 And yes, there will be celebration and giveaways here on release day. Now I’m off to do some more happy dance before I plunge back in to the mess that is unpacking.

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Finding Your Platform

Before I started a writing blog, my biggest hesitation was that I felt I had nothing to add. What would my platform be?

Because the word platform? It’s a really scary word. Right up there with Lord Voldemort and Blood-sucking. And if you’ve ever faced a mosquito, you KNOW that blood-sucking is one frightening word.

Obviously, I took the plunge, but easing into a platform that will really keep people coming back is another story.

• First I tried doling out writing advice using real life examples. I like that okay and I still do it sometimes. But it can get boring fast.
• Next I tried being the Grammar Nazi. Because I actually am one. But I just couldn’t make grammar interesting enough. Not like Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares (who has a grammar book coming out soon!). And I didn’t really want to delve as deep as I needed to to make it useful like Grammar Girl. Besides, they were already doing it. So I stopped.
• Then I moved to talking about license plates, which I still love doing. That one stuck. I’ve even had some commenters tell me that they think of me whenever they see a personalized plate. Yay! Of course, if I ONLY did license plates, well, that might get old, too.

Finally, I had an epiphane about my platform. As much as I wish these were me, I will never be the Janice Hardy who doles out AMAZING writing advice on pretty much a daily basis. (Wow, I love that girl.) I will never be the Miss Snark’s First Victim, or even the recently-launched Cupid’s Literary Connection where I connect writers and agents in contests. I will never be the Literary Rambles which is a must-visit for all agent-seeking authors.

The problem? I don’t think it’s that there isn’t room for more blogs like those (just look at Cupid who is doing very well and has already had some success stories). The problem is that none of these types of blogs fit my personality.

If I tried to keep up a blog like that, I would lose interest fast. Not because I don’t love those blogs (in fact, you should all be following all of them!), but because I am simply not serious enough. At least, not when it comes to writing.

I love to laugh, joke around, get a little silly. Because I am serious enough in every other aspect of my life, I need the outlet. I remember agreeing to write an article in college about which grocery store to go to. My research started out serious enough, but it quickly turned into a series of limericks about the pros and cons of the various stores. Yeah, I have no idea if they printed it.

So while this isn’t exactly the platform I originally imagined for myself. Humor and inspiration have become my thing.

Why?

Because it’s what I need. It’s what will keep me coming back and writing posts. It’s what will keep me sane.

(But isn’t it ironic that this post doesn’t exactly fall into either of those? Please ignore my inconsistency and just go with it.)
So how about you? Have you figured out your platform? How did you find it?

P.S. This will be my last post for a while as the move is sneaking up quickly. I hope to be back by August or even sooner. Have a great summer!

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My Final Talent: Video #5

This post will be brief since I was up so late last night watching the USA get thrashed by Brazil (4-1). Sigh.

But I couldn’t miss posting my final video. My duty is now fulfilled. Hope you enjoy!

(For those who don’t know, Leigh Moore and I were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and the pennance for missing a day was posting a Hacky Sack Club video. I missed 5 times!!!)

So what talent have you been cultivating?

P.S. All the winners in my giveaway have been contacted, and the books are on the way. Thanks for entering, and enjoy!

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You Are Beautiful!

So last night I stayed up late watching Pride and Prejudice with my husband (the long version), and I completely spaced on scheduling a post. But this song has been stuck in my head all week.

Take this with you today. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

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Happy News and High Heels

Before I cut you a slice of my humble pie humiliation, I wanted to share some great news:

Angela Cervantes, one of the amazing writers in my critique group just had her book announced in Publisher Weekly!

So very excited for her! You can check out Angela’s website, or congratulate her on Twitter: @AngelaCervantes. Yay Angela! Doing the happy dance for you. 😀

Now, on to that other thing. Video #4.

(For those who don’t know, Leigh Moore and I  were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and the pennance for missing a day was posting a Hacky Sack Club video. I missed 5 times!!!)

For the record, I sustained an injury in the making of this video. Darned high heels gouged me! I guess this’ll teach me not to skip out on writing.

And if you haven’t entered, and want a chance to win one of those books, you still have time! Just CLICK HERE. (Wow. Writing it in all caps like that makes it look kindof spammy. But it’s not. I promise.)

So can you walk with a book on your head?

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Humiliation With a Side of Awesome

As promised, video #3. Here I reveal some of my lesser-known talents. What are they? You’ll have to watch to find out! *cue evil laughter*

(For those who don’t know, Leigh Moore and I were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and the pennance for missing a day was posting a Hacky Sack Club video.)

Oh! The subterfuge of it all!! Sneaky little beggar.

Despite appearances, the side of awesome I mentioned is not my son (though even I have to admit it was pretty funny). The side of awesome is that I am giving away a boatload of books!

Since we are moving, I’m trying to clear off my shelves. Rather than give my precious books to just anyone, I thought I would offer them up to my lovely followers. Unfortunately, and I hate to do it, but since there are so many, I just don’t think I can afford the international postage on that many items, I’m going to have to limit it to US/Canada.

Okay, but now I feel too bad, soooo, I will draw the name of one international commenter and send them a book. So here are the rules:

1. You must be a follower.
2. Leave a comment with your e-mail and please mention if you are international or US/Canada.
3. For international participants, you have until May 29th to enter, and hopefully I’ll have the winners posted by Thursday.
4. For the rest of you, the contest is on-going until the books are gone and I announce the end. I’ll start picking winners at random very soon. Tomorrow maybe? Don’t you just love the randomness of it all?

No extra entries for tweeting or passing on the word, but I would love it if you did!

There will be as many winners as I have books to give away (which is a lot), and as a thanks to pay it forward (NTM, you’re the best!), one lucky random person will also win a $10 Starbucks card (I don’t drink coffee, so when my husband won it at work, I knew just what to do with it!).

Please note, the books are used (read at least once), but they are all in very good shape, and most are pretty recent. Most.

And since it will be a media mailer, there won’t be a warm, fuzzy note with it, but know it’s there in spirit.

Love you guys! Thanks for reading my posts, and laughing at my crazy videos (you DID laugh, didn’t you?!!!). Thanks for your support and for generally keeping me sane in this Wonderland World we call Publishing.

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License Plate Characterizations

I don’t want to overload you on the videos all at once, so today I’m giving you a break, but my third video of humiliation will be up Thursday. For those who don’t know, Leigh Moore and I were doing a 30K in 30 days challenge, and if you missed a day, the penance was posting a Hacky Sack Club video. So that’s what that’s all about.

Anyway, on the other things. In my extended absence, I saw a plethora of great license plates that I’ve been dying to share with you. I’ll just mention a couple with today.

The first is one I saw on a black BMW:

The second is from a black sedan with tinted windows (seriously):

On this last one, my first question is “Who would advertise that on their license plate?” and next “How did it get through the DMV?”

Anyhoo, that said, I’ve been thinking a lot about characterization as I’ve been working on my latest manuscript, and I’m finding that little details like these can really make your characters pop. With these license plates, I get an immediate image of these people. Granted, they may or may not be correct, BUT it’s a start for making them real.

I know I’ve asked the question before, but do you know your character’s personalized plates? And what about the car they would be on?

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