Book winner and many musings

The winner of a copy of the wonderful new release THE SEVEN TALES OF TRINKET by Shelley Moore Thomas is Laurel Garver, who if you've never met her is a Hobbit-loving, grammar-loving author/editor/blogger. I drew the winner the old-fashioned way from slips of paper in my hat. The paper was recycled from my WIP, so on the back it read, "You'll wake everyone." There you have it: A very good morning to all.
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Here are some good moments I found recently:
On a trail in the Dana Point highlands, searching for a songbird.

a questioning tweet
above, from a bird as small
and gray as a mouse
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Dozens and dozens, perhaps hundreds of these odd, tiny jellies washed ashore. They look like pretty paperweights, but I wouldn't dare pick one up. Watched my step, as well.
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The space shuttle Endeavour flying over my neighborhood! I loved how the pier was packed shoulder-to-shoulder and the beach dotted with people holding cameras and cell phones, waiting, then cheering. It was like magic came to call, and, for a moment, we were transported.
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So many pretty sunsets. And because we started with good morning, here's a shot of dawn on my block:

PSA: Later this week I have a Q&A with Natalie Bahm, author of THE SECRET UNDERGROUND, and one of the nicest people on the planet.

Prompting Fate (a contest)

Contest time at The Merry Sisters of Fate. Randomly-chosen winners are trying for a signed advance reader’s copy of THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater, a signed advance reader’s copy of THE SPACE BETWEEN by Brenna Yovanoff or a signed hardback of BLOOD MAGIC by Tessa Gratton. The authors are the sisters of fate, if you didn’t know.
The picture prompt for this contest is “The Turret Stairs” by Frederic Burton, and here’s my entry, a flash fiction:

He has no choice. Those are his words, not mine. I feel them like a shard of glass, a needle of ice through my heart.

This is the last time—I have no doubt of this—he will press his body to mine, the final touch of soft lips, hot breath upon my neck.

I cannot look at him.

“I am the kingdom,” he says, as though I need convincing. “What I desire, what I prefer, must always be for the good of all.”

Am I not part of all? But I do not speak those words or any other.

My hand rests on stone, cold as a tomb, centuries of terror held captive in these walls. I must climb into the darkness alone while he will step into the light of ten thousand candles and as many dawns.

“It was your hair, they say, that made them so sure.” He loops the end of my braid around his finger—a red-copper ring. A moan escapes him. He pulls his dagger free and cuts the lock, holding it first to his nose and then tucking it within his shirt. “I will mourn you always.”

I face him finally. “You will mourn, and you will suffer every moment of my eternal imprisonment. I would rather they’d sewn a hundred river stones in my hem or made me run in iron boots fresh from the fire than the end you chose. For you did have a choice, you see.”

“I could not sentence you to such a death!”

“But you have, my love, you have.”

Oh that swag

Ring those holiday bells! Contest alert! Beth Revis has a sack full of goodies to give to 100, yes, that's one hundred winners. That's a lot of envelope stuffing and stamps, people.

There's still a month until the release of her debut YA dystopian, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which has one of the most riveting opening chapters ever. I don't want to give it away if you didn't sneak a peak of it online, but one of the dual protagonists gets put in a position that would scare the bejeebers out of anybody. Made my heart race, for sure.

I was one of the lucky people who won an early ARC. All I'll say (so as not to give spoilers) is Beth continues to weave suspense and intrigue throughout the story in which generations of people aboard a spaceship develop an insular culture and a distorted history of the past. It's both fascinating and chilling as the two protagonists, Amy and Elder, begin to unravel the dangerous secrets of the ship.

Kirkus gave a starred review, and high praises came from YA authors Carrie Ryan, Melissa Marr and Kiersten White. To read the reviews or the first chapter go here.

And now we're all invited to enter to win bookmarks, bookplates, buttons, signed ARCs and, for the grand prize winner, a signed hardback with the amazing reversible cover. That's the reverse cover with the blueprint of the spaceship, Godspeed.

So, what are you waiting for? Speed through cyberspace and enter.

Here, I'll nudge you with a couple of teaser lines from the book:

Sometimes it feels like a thousand years have passed; sometimes it feels as if I've only been sleeping a few moments. I feel most like I'm in that weird state of half-asleep, half-awake I get when I've tried to sleep past noon, when I know I should get up, but my mind starts wandering and I'm sure I can never get back to sleep. Even if I do slip back into a dream for a few moments, I'm mostly just awake with my eyes shut.

Yeah. Cryo sleep is like that.

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Another suggestion: preorder a copy to gift someone. They'll be over the moon.

Contest winner, ropes for NaNoers and haiku, oh yeah

See the guy who fought his way up that pile of boulders to the top of the mountain? That's for you courageous writers tackling NaNoWriMo this month. I know you've got your gear in shape, all you've got to do is press on each day, scrambling upwards bit by bit.

I'll be cheering you on, even though I'm sitting this one out in order to rewrite.

My best advice is take it a step at a time. When it seems you can't go on, when you're exhausted or stumped, go on anyway. If you've got 800 words and don't see how you'll double it before bedtime, keep going. I was shocked to find energy if I didn't let myself give up. It's possible to make your goal, but, if life gets in your way and you can't, then look at it as a chance taken, a grand adventure into possibilities. It was never about winning or losing. It's about the challenge and opportunity. Best wishes to you all.

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Now for the winner of my book giveaway for All Hallow's Read, which I sorted from my witch's hat, of course. A hardback of Carrie Ryan's THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH goes to:

Kathryn Jankowski

Please send your mailing address via email to me.

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And when I came upon this mysterious hunk of granite, which speaks to me of ancient ceremonies or cosmic magic, I had to write a haiku.

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the ancient boulder

wears its sun face forever

written in stone

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Whatever you're doing this November, may you stumble on wonder and reach the top of a mountain.

Pumpkin face

This year's pumpkin is full of glee of the scary sort.

Of course, I did reveal its face by stabbing and hacking and peeling. Who knows what lies within until we set it free?

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You still have until midnight to enter my mini-contest for All Hallow's here.

Happy Halloween.

Stay safe and gleeful.

P.S. I plan to hand out goodies to cute goblins and watch old episodes of Supernatural. How about you?

Of spooks and contests, hee-hee

I love fall and Halloween. There's excitement in the air and it's not just sugar-induced. The air's crisp and clean. People dress up silly and tell spooky tales. What's not to like?

I saw this ghost pinned to a massive redwood trunk while I was walking back from the lake, and I had to steal his image. Now, he's forever caught in digital limbo.

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bwa-ha-ha-ha

Last year's pumpkin. I haven't carved this one yet. I love me some scary squash.

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And I found a witch's broom!

Really, I think she got zapped by another witch and fell to earth.

Or maybe she upgraded to a Firebolt and tossed this one aside. Did she take the magic off it first?

Now I wish I'd brought it home.

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Neil Gaiman has come up with a brilliant idea for all us bookloving, writing fanatics. All Hallows Read gleefully suggests that we give gifts of scary books as a new Halloween tradition.

So I'm going to give away the very scary THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan to one lucky person who leaves me a comment. All I ask is that the comment tell me one of your favorite scary reads and that you follow my blog. Contest closes midnight Oct. 31.

*This is not my contest for reaching 300-plus wonderful followers. That will come soon. I'm having fun looking up the number three and dilly-dallying.

Up a tree with me (and a contest!)

What gets our attention? Often, it's the thing out of place, the unexpected. Like this duck up a tree. I see ducks paddling along, leaving rippling wakes. Sometimes, they're tail up, looking underwater for some delectable or they're waddling along the shoreline. Although I've seen video of odd ducks who nest in trees and make their ducklings leap out, free-falling to the ground (well-padded), I've never seen a duck in a tree. Hence the photo.

This got me to thinking how the best stories surprise us, make us do a double-take or sit back and ponder. A good writing experiment would be to comb through our stories looking for places we could put our characters up a tree--metaphorically, of course.

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HUGE CONTEST ALERT

Okay, so I really want to whisper instead of shout this, because everyone with a picture book manuscript is going to jump at this chance, and I so want to win!

Dear Editor (Deborah Halverson) is celebrating her six-month online anniversary with a free picture book edit. This is truly amazing for the winner. Deborah was an editor with Harcourt Children's Books for a decade.

If you aren't reading her regularly, you're missing out on lots of advice about writing and the industry.

The rules for this contest are a picture book for ages three to eight, text only and no longer than 2K. Deadline is midnight PST Oct. 10. Specifics on how to enter are on her site.

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Right now I'm feeling laptop love. I've been away from home--unexpectedly up a tree--for days due to a family situation. It's raining and I'm listening to the soft patter and putting up this post. The view from the tree limb is pretty good, actually.

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing for a signed copy of Michelle Davidson Argyle's CINDERS, a dark, intriguing story of Cinderella after the fairy tale ends.

The winner by random draw is:

Stephanie Thornton

Please e-mail me your mailing address, Stephanie. To sleuthwood (at) yahoo (dot) com

And everyone, please check out Michelle's blog for interviews, contests, updates, etc. Hope you're all having a great weekend.

Contest reminder

I'm not going to be around today, but I want to post a reminder that a signed copy of CINDERS, a dark and riveting look into Cinderella's future, is up for grabs. The novella by Michelle Davidson Argyle, one of the Literary Lab hosts, is a gem. Just leave a comment on the last post, not this one. Happy Thursday, everyone.

Playing with paper and a winner announced

I am the maker of this particular version of the world (with a little help from cut-up magazines). This week, I went crazy with the craftiness of collage-building. After finding pictures that suited my novel-in-progress, SEA DAUGHTERS, I played around for hours, shuffling images from one spot to another. Sigh.

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But before I talk more of that, I need to announce the winner, chosen by random draw, of DELTA GIRLS by Gayle Brandeis.

Winner is: Jemi Fraser!

Jemi, please e-mail me your mailing address and I will send the book with haste.

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And now back to playing with paper.

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Here is my protagonist, a teenager who loves to surf and is falling for a guy at school who is aiming for the pro circuit.

They have some good times, but there's something in the water--

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Here is Boyfriend. Do you require more?

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I didn't paste the images down or make collage boards. I scattered these montages after photographing them. It reminds me of sand-painting, a creation made for a moment in time and then erased.

Of course, I hope my story will go on living--someday in a book that draws readers into this world. I think this visual, textile playtime was good for me as a writer. I spent time with my characters in a dimension outside my head. Sort of.

Cheery nonsense, good friends and super contests

Dr. Seuss was such a great motivator, wrapping empowering messages in the most delightfully silly language. The author, whose name was Theodore Seuss Geisel, has been widely quoted as saying, "I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells."

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Another writer suggested starting every day by writing a limerick as a way to achieve the same thing. I've yet to try. It sure would be a fun addition to my morning coffee, so here goes:

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There once was a girl from the sea

whose life was wrapped in ennui

until one day she stepped out

and kicked off her doubt

and now she's content to just be.

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I put up HORTON HEARS A WHO! cover because I want to also share this little gem from it:

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Don't give up! I believe in you all.

A person's a person, no matter how small!

And you very small persons will not have to die

If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now and, TRY!

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I don't know about you, but I want to make myself heard. Each of us has a voice, a story, but it may not be heard if we think we are small.

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Now, I want to shout-out two of my favorite bloggers who have contests going on to mark milestones.

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Wen Prior at On Words and Upwards is celebrating her almost-anniversary, giving away books and other treats. Wen's humor and storytelling shine through in her posts. She is not only a prolific blogger, she writes fascinating tales, paints and plays music. And she also writes killer pitches and recently was one of five people picked out of 500 in agent Rachelle Gardner's one-sentence summary contest. Visit Wen. Stay awhile. You won't be sorry.

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Angela Ackerman at The Bookshelf Muse has created a site that is like the most amazing Thesaurus ever. Do you need help thinking of new ways to describe anticipation or guilt? Maybe you've never been to an abandoned mine or prison cell. She's got descriptions to help you. So many people make their way to her blog, she is celebrating more than 800 followers and more than 200,000 page views! Whew. Her prizes will knock your socks clear off. I was lucky enough to win a critique from her once. Trust me. You want to enter.

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Okay, then. If you have anything silly to say, please do!

Winners, yay!

My lovely daughter brought me those gorgeous ginger flowers and took me to see Iron Man 2 and dinner and then was my draw-person for the non-high-tech, completely random contest draw yesterday.

I wanted this to be homey, so I typed up each name--some of them thirteen times, but I love you guys! Then I cut the name strips up and mixed them thoroughly in this cottage-box. And the winners are:

Anna Staniszewski

Yat-Yee Chong

Storyqueen (Shelley Moore Thomas)

Anna's name was drawn first so she gets first pick of the gift card, critique or books. Yat-Yee is second and then Shelley. I will email all of you, too. Thanks everyone for entering. I had so much fun reading the haiku and comments.

And now I'm off in a rush to one of my face-to-face critique groups, so I will be back to respond to any comments later. Happy day, all!

Get it write

Most of you have, no doubt, already heard of the amazing auction site Do the Write Thing for Nashville set up by authors Victoria Schwab, Myra McEntire and Amanda Morgan. But if you haven't, please click on the link and check out the signed books, manuscript critiques and agent phoners that are up for bid. The monies raised (more than $9,000 so far) will aid flood victims in and around Nashville.
I will announce winners of my first-year blog anniversary contest Monday. Thank you so much to all who entered. Happy Mother's Day, everyone.

A winner and a new contest!

Can anyone guess--by looking at the seahorse-riding girl I put on this post--who won a copy of THE STOLEN ONE by Suzanne Crowley?

I chose the winner in a random drawing, but when I saw who it was, I just had to do something sea-whimsical. Anyone who follows her blog can probably guess:

KAREN AMANDA HOOPER!

Email me your snail-mail address, Karen, and happy reading!

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Monday's Spreading the Awesome blog event was an incredible way to start this week, which is my anniversary of becoming a blogger and starting Talespinning. What a year it has been!

The best part has been meeting so many wonderful writer/bloggers. From each of you I have learned something or enjoyed a laugh or a celebration. I thank everyone who has become a follower or left a comment. You're all amazing!

But enough of the speeches and on with the celebratory contest. I will choose three winners. First randomly-picked name gets first choice of one prize, second gets second, etc.

Because people have different desires I want to leave it open which type of prize suits you. So here are the choices:

* $20 gift card for Amazon, Borders, Barnes&Noble or Powell's.

* A critique of first 15 pages or opening chapter of your work-in-progress.

* Choose any two of the following books:

DULL BOY (Sarah Cross)

THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH (Carrie Ryan)

EYES LIKE STARS (Lisa Mantchev)

ETERNAL (Cynthia Leitich Smith)

BLUE MOON (Alyson Noel)

THE DEAD & THE GONE (Susan Beth Pfeffer)

Points:

+1 comment

+2 new follower

+3 already following

+4 blog, tweet, sidebar, whatever

+5 write me a haiku and put it in the comments

Add 'em up with your comment, and put your email if I'm not going to find it by clicking your name. I'm going to leave this contest up until midnight Saturday, May 8.

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Those of you who've been visiting me awhile know I love haiku--the three-line, five-seven-five-count Japanese poetry that distills a moment in nature. They go something like this:

dawn tide washes in

angel-wing shells and remnants

of forgotten dreams

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So what's the tide washing in for you lately?

What a rosy day!

I'm giving myself this little bouquet today because I won two contests, have more than 200 bloggy-friend-followers and will celebrate my one-year blogversary next week.

But I am seriously standing here with my jaw on the floor over this: I won a query critique from an agent in Sarah Wylie's awesome contest celebrating her book deal for ALL THESE LIVES! My head is in the clouds, and I better secure it back in place so I can send off my best pitch, you know?

Next, I won an ARC of Lisa Desrochers' PERSONAL DEMONS, which I'm eager to read. Woo-hoo!

And finally I am so grateful to all the wonderful people who became followers of my blog this year. I plan to hold a contest next week in appreciation. Does anyone have preferences about prizes? My short list is a 15-page critique, gift card or books, but I'm not sure what people most want. Again, thanks to all of you for making this past year and today so awesome.

Eleventy-One winner and fairytale fractured!

I'm tickled to be chosen as second runner-up in Laurel Garver's Eleventy-One Celebration. I've won a critique from Laurel, which makes me go squee, but I'm also honored to be part of what she's doing.

Laurel named this contest after Bilbo Baggins' 111 birthday in order to celebrate a milestone of her own. Laurel always comes up with thoughtful and thought-provoking ideas, so for this contest she requested scenes that are dialogue-driven and feature persuasion and negotiation.

I sifted through my manuscripts and came up with a scene in a fractured fairytale I wrote called "Princess Charming."

Laurel and I are running the snippet simultaneously, but please visit Laurel's blog for her insights on craft, which are worth your time. And please return to read her other winners during this week. (Addendum: Oh, my. I just came back from reading what Laurel wrote about this piece, and I'm almost speechless. Thank you, Laurel!)

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Alphonse Mucha's Princess Hyacinth seems to have an appropriate attitude to illustrate my scene. This is meant to be fun, so I hope you enjoy!

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The princess entered the Grand Hall. This being a formal occasion she wore a multi-layered, buttercup-yellow silk gown, which she smoothed nervously.

All heads turned in her direction. She curtsied toward the far end of the hall where her father and mother sat on gilded thrones, wearing their gold-thread brocades and crowns inlaid with rubies and emeralds. In their private quarters, her father called her "Charms" and would pad about in warm slippers. But this was Court.

"Princess Charming, come forward," called King Ormond.

Charming wondered if she would've had to bow instead of curtsy if he'd commanded her to come in knight's armor. Thank goodness she didn't have to clank and clunk across the room.

At the foot of the dais, she curtsied again.

"Princess Charming, you soon turn seventeen and take on your destiny. We wish to give our royal blessings for undertaking the long and difficult journey ahead of you."

Charming's stomach lurched. "If you please, sire, I am not sure that particular destiny is really mine. It's such an ancient legend and probably just a tall tale. And, well, times change."

King Ormond scowled. "We've discussed this before, Princess. It's been reliably foretold that you will leave your home and find an enchanted castle hidden for two hundred years and break the curse upon it."

Charming looked to her mother and saw eyes filled with tears. But they did not fall. The Queen would never let loose a tear in public.

"But I've never gone beyond the local township and know nothing about lands afar. I might get lost."

"You should have paid more attention to your geography lessons. Ever since you could talk you've been told you have a destiny to fulfill. If you don't attend to your training, it's your own fault."

Charming tried a different approach. "Please, Father, don't send me into the wilds alone. What if I'm attacked by a bear? Or fall into any abyss?"

The queen sucked in her breath, barely audible but, still, a crack in the veneer. The king, on the other hand, jabbed his finger in Charming's direction. "I've spent a small fortune on you--trick riding, broadswords, jousting, close-encounter dagger fighting. By now, you should be prepared for anything."

"But it's all academic, isn't it? I've sparred with teachers and boys from court, not dragons or ogres or whatever."

"Enough!" King Ormond slapped a hand on the arm of his chair. "What is it you don't understand about destiny? It can not be argued with, ignored or circumvented. It will happen, no matter what you do to try to avoid it."

Charming's heart beat a rapid tapping in her chest. Her mouth was dry. She swayed, feeling a tad dizzy. He really meant to send her away!

The king's expression softened. "Only you can bring good fortune on us. After all, it was your great-great-great-etcetera-grandmother, on your mother's side, mind you, who was related to the witch-woman that caused this mess, putting a spell on a poor prince. So really, it is up to you to set it straight and remove this shadow from our realm. Go with our blessing."

"Huzzah! Princess Charming!" cheered the courtiers.

When she turned to acknowledge them, she saw through the open doors that servants were dancing in the corridor. It was one thing for it to be her destiny. But now it seemed she was responsible for the future well-being of all her people.

She had no argument for that.

Stepping up and a contest not to miss

Some journeys are daunting. The climb into the unknown can be scary. Where are you going? Do you know what you're doing? Is there an abyss ahead?

I started photographing stairs just because they were there and intrigued me, but I've been thinking there's a metaphor that fits writing.

In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck wrote: "Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond the work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments."

What does that mean? Do our dreams precede us or overtake us? If we didn't dream, we'd have no hopes or goals. Dreams are necessary, and so is the hard work that can make them real.

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A fellow writer and blogger, Sarah Wylie at Sarah With a Chance, made her dream real. Her debut novel, All These Lives, will be published by FSG/Macmillan. To celebrate, she is holding the most awesome contest. If you don't follow her, this is a chance to win a super prize and read one of the funniest, most talented bloggers around.

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Back to musing. Since this is still National Poetry Month, I'm tossing a couple of haiku in this post, too.

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the ancient stone steps

tell no tales, give few clues of

who ventured this way

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Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland said, after she fell down the rabbit hole, that now she would think nothing of falling down the stairs.

Fear of the unknown is often worse than the actuality. If we don't create due to fear of falling, of failing, we never will go anywhere. I want to go, really I do.

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I was out for a walk when I passed a house overgrown with feral grasses and dandelions. The rose bushes could barely be seen. I thought it was a shame the homeowner had neglected the garden. And then I saw him. A very old man, wearing a faded plaid flannel shirt, scraping his walker along the edge of the garden, stooping slowly to grab a weed and pull. I felt like crying then and saw his world with different eyes. With small, painful steps, he was fighting the odds.

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What is stopping you? What is halting me?

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twisting, timbered stairs

keep me climbing just to see

what might wait beyond

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One step at a time.

Into the mystery.

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(Disclaimer: No, I didn't trespass beyond the "private" sign. I'm using my poetic license, which I have around here somewhere.)

Witches and zombies and poems, oh my!

It's April First, which means April Fool's Day and National Poetry Month (you didn't see that coming, did you?).
I'm not playing tricks on you, but I am going to be playful and post some zombie haiku I wrote for a contest Angela Ackerman at The Bookshelf Muse held some time ago. I won a highly coveted critique from her. Still grateful.
Also, I just got picked as a Most Relevant finalist in Andrea Cremer's paranormal haiku contest, although I didn't win the ARC of her upcoming NIGHTSHADE. Her sorting hat picked someone quite deserving, but I soooooo want to read that book! *howls mournfully*
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So here you go--a string of spooky, funny or just-plain-gross haiku.
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heads thrown back, ears flat,
wolves howled the moon loose from its
mooring in the trees
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hovering around
a circle of ancient stones,
wraiths found their anchor
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the witches circled,
gazing on the flightless creatures
impotent below
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my darlings, my dears,
bring me back a nice spoonful
of brains for our tea
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along the old road
not a soul--only echoes
of shuffling footsteps
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wrapping moist innards
in bamboo leaves, she pauses
to lick her fingers

Why Beth Revis inspires me

With all the news of downsizing in publishing, of people stacking up rejections, of people leaning toward self-publishing, of advice on how to keep your spirits up, of how bad the odds are, there have still been moments of uplift when a blogging friend signs with an agent or another gets a book deal.

But nothing has sent my heart racing like the news that Beth Revis has a three-book, "major" deal. Here is a snippet from Publishers Weekly: "In another major YA acquisition before the Bologna Book Fair, Ben Schrank at Razorbill pre-empted North American rights to the debut novel by high school teacher Beth Revis, Across the Universe...Schrank said he thinks the book will do for popular sci-fi what The Hunger Games did for post-apocalyptic fiction."

Wow. Double Wow. Get the heart monitor.

In celebration, Beth has a contest you don't want to miss--for both writers and readers.

But I'm going back to a quieter time, when I met Beth online. Over and over, she inspired me with her posts. Plus, she loves art and music, sharing wonderful pictures and videos--so, triple interest for me.

In June, she wrote about finishing the above-mentioned YA--and that she had written 10,000 words the day before to do it! This has a lot to do with Beth being a teacher who has limited time for writing. So two wows in that.

In July, she held online critique sessions for any of her readers who wanted to go public. I did it as did many others, including Beth. It was scary and helpful for me and generous of her.

Skipping ahead to October, she did an overlook of her revision process, which was insightful and useful, for sure.

In November, she talked of how time-consuming the query process can be. But she approached querying the smart way, having done her research, and she'd bookmarked helpful sites And, as always, she thanked other bloggers who helped along the way.

In December, *wild dancing* she signed with Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House. Holy Toledo.

On Jan. 1, Beth made some wishes to the universe--like for a book deal, maybe several, and a chance to write full-time. Um, I think the Universe listened.

But I really want to point out the Dec. 15 post when she honored books that inspired her on the journey to writing this one. She mentioned how THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner has an unreliable narrator, and this gave Beth ideas for one of her own narrators, and how THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX by Mary Pearson freed her to write sci-fi based more on characters than science.

So this is a little bit of why Beth inspires me. Follow her, read her. I think you'll be inspired, too.

And the winner is

The winner of a personalized signed copy of MY LIFE WITH THE LINCOLNS by Gayle Brandeis is:

C. Lee McKenzie at Sliding on the Edge

Thank you so much everyone who entered, left comments, spread the word. You guys are the greatest! Lee, please email me your mailing address.