Great Giveaway

Just a note to tell you that Mark of Royalty is being given away on the Mormon Mommy Writers blog.
Along with the book, they are giving away a DVD copy of the music video, with other special features!
There are several ways you can enter--check it out!
http://mormonmommywriters.blogspot.com/

No time to read?

NO TIME TO READ???

Several weeks ago I met with a friend that I haven't seen for 9 years. We had a great reminiscing and catching up on what was happening in our lives. After a while she told me that she had my book, Mark of Royalty, but that she hadn't read it yet. That's okay. I'm not offended by a long shot. After all, there are several books on my list that I've "been meaning to get to". But then she continued to tell me how busy she was and that she never finds time to read. In fact, it's been years since she's been able to read a novel. I had a hard time keeping my jaw from dropping to the floor at her declaration, and I felt sad. No time to read? I can totally relate to being busy, but surely there can still be time to read. I found myself really wishing I could find some time for my friend. What I did find was some great articles on the subject.

Kenny Silva posted an article: Leaders are Readers. He states that the average American reads 3-6 books a year. That same average American will also watch about 35 hours of television… this week! Hmmmmm, that's interesting. He also suggests making a reading plan. It's easy to do once you consider these facts:

• The average adult reads at about 300 words per minute.
• A 200-page book comes in at right around 80,000 words.
• Using that standard, it takes the average adult reader about 4.5 hours to read a book.

Let’s be liberal with the numbers and say it takes you 7 hours to read a book. That gives you plenty of time to slow down, reflect, take notes, etc.

Take a look at your schedule and see how much time you can carve out for reading each day.

• A half an hour a day comes out to 2-3 books a month/26 a year.
• 15 minutes each day means 1-2 books a month/13 books a year.

That’s right. 15 minutes of reading each day will put you on track to read 4 times as many books as the average American reader.

I've mentioned before that I try to read 27 books a year, or about 1 every 2 weeks. I usually go over. But I admit, sometimes I go in waves. I have a dry spell and then suddenly I find myself completing 2 or even 3 books in a week. But, sadly, that bliss cannot be repeated every single week. Eventually my kids will need fed and the laundry can only be piled so high before it hits the ceiling. In a perfect world, there would be more books and no laundry. I can daydream, can't I?

Okay, kidding aside, I just sucked myself into the "I don't have time" excuse. But life and laundry aren't so pressing that I can't manage to carve 15 minutes out of my day--even during my dry spells. 

But what if you were REALLY busy--like a CEO? They're busy right? Did you know that the average CEO reads 4 to 5 books a month? I'm telling you--leaders are readers.

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, 

or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

^{- Confucius}

Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop

Congratulations to Canda Mortensen,

the winner of my Best of 2011 Giveaway!

Canda, you just won a hard back copy of 

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans

winner selected by http://www.random.org/

What a way to start out the New Year! As always, my goal is to read at least 27 books this year. That's about one book every two weeks. I encourage everyone to try it. It's not hard to do, even when you have to take 6 months of the year to write your own manuscript. 

I have a fabulous list of books that I'm making my way through and I just finished one today. Hooray--my first official entry in my reading journal for 2012! I'm well on my way.
Keep reading!!!

Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop

Welcome to The Best of 2011 Giveaway Hop.  This hop runs from December 27th to 31st and features the Best Books of 2011!

100 Blogs are each hosting a giveaway for their favorite reads of 2011.

I have read 35 books this year...so far. I still have a couple of days left and I think I'll be able to fit one more in before bringing in the new year. It was a tough choice, but I did select my all time favorite read for 2011.

 

I am giving away a copy of:

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 

by Richard Paul Evans

To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey seems like an ordinary 14-year-old. But Michael is anything but ordinary. He was born with special electrical powers. 

When Michael’s best friends, Ostin Liss and cheerleader Taylor Ridley, make an accidental discovery, the trio learns that there are other children with electric powers–and that someone, or some thing, is hunting them. After Michael’s mother is kidnapped, Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers and friends to combat the powerful Elgen and free his mother.

Awesomeness! This book sucked me in right from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. Of course I like YA adventures and this book had plenty. A clean read and fascinating characters, this book kept me turning pages. I would recommend it to all ages. My 15 year old son couldn't get enough of it when he started reading it. He recommended it to all of his friends and even to his bus driver. My parents (in their 60's) bought the audio version. Their reaction: 

Dad: "This is kind of scary."

Mom: "Do you want me to turn it off? We can listen to something else."

Dad: "No. Put in the next cd."

Hmmmm. I wouldn't describe it as "scary". Definitely intense in certain scenes, but not "scary." But my parents enjoyed it, and even bought a copy for my 19 year old nephew who blew through it in 2 days.

 To enter to win this book:

      1. Become a follower of my blog
      2. Leave a comment telling me that you are a follower and include your email address (This will only be used to contact you if you are the winner).  

          Additional entries: Want an extra chance to win? Just Tweet or Facebook about my giveaway and let me know in the comments about what you've done.

That's it! The winner will be posted and notified at the end of the hop.

Below is a long list of other blogs participating in this hop. Just click the links and go check out the books being given away.

Book Giveaway Winner

Hallelujah!!!!! We have a winner!

And our winner is.....(Drum Roll.....)

Runaway Bridal Planner, Kristy Wilson!

  http://runawaybridalplanner.blogspot.com/ 

Congratulations Kristy! 

And just in time for Christmas. 

The prize, A Christmas to Remember, is a fabulous collection of short stories by 14 Covenant authors. Thank you to all who entered to win this book. I wish I had enough to give to everyone who entered; the stories are so touching and fun to read. 

For those of you who want to buy a copy, I just received an email from Covenant that said that they are sold out of the printing, but there are still some copies available in some stores.

Winner chosen by Random.org

So Christmas is just around the corner and I've been inundated with the Christmas spirit. Christmas activities will do that to you. My oldest daughter was in the community play which meant that we attended The Best Christmas Pageant Ever-- 5 times.

My son is in the high school band so we went to the Christmas Light Parade--twice, and the band concert. 

Our oldest daughter is in the choir, so we attended that Christmas performance as well. Our youngest daughter is in the Musical Majors which required my attendance at 6 traveling Christmas performances, and 2 school performances. And my brother-in-law sang a solo in Handle's Messiah. I've heard him sing--a lot. But I've never heard him sing like he did that night. It was amazing. 

I love the Halleluiah chorus. It's such an amazing feeling to see everyone in the audience stand for that part of the program. So for your Christmas enjoyment, I found this video on YouTube. This little village in Alaska really has it going on when it comes to Christmas spirit. 

Check it out! It's well worth your time. 

Hallelujah!!!! 
Merry Christmas!

Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop

I'm participating in the Give Books for Christmas Giveaway Hop, hosted by Inksplasher.

The hop runs from December 1 through the 15th. All books will be shipped on December 16th. We can't guarantee books will arrive in time for Christmas, but we're going to give it a good try!

At the end of this post, you'll see a long list of the participating blogs. Just click the links and go check out the books being given away by other bloggers.

I am giving away a copy of:

A Christmas to Remember

This is a fabulous collection of short Christmas stories by 14 Covenant authors, including me!

Perfect to share a short story with your family each night before bed to give them a little Christmas spirit. 

 
To enter to win this book:

      1. Become a follower of my blog (right sidebar, "My BFFs")
      2. Leave a comment telling me that you are a follower and include your email address (This will only be used to contact you if you are the winner).  

          Additional entries: Want an extra chance to win? Just Tweet or Facebook about my giveaway and let me know in the comments about what you've done.

That's it! The winner will be posted and notified at the end of the hop.

1.	Inksplasher (US)	6.	Immortal Mine	11.	LDS Publisher                16.  Nichole Giles
2.	Jennifer Hurst	7.	Maria Hoagland	12.	Carolyn Frank
3.	FALL	8.	The Last Word	13.	K.C. Grant Writer's Corner (US)
4.	Geek Girl	9.	Weaving a Tale or Two	14.	Publish Novels or Bust (US)  15. Heidi Murphy (US)
5.	Heart on a Chain	10.	Tristi Pinkston

4 Tips To Push Through Writer's Block

Sometimes I feel like this. 

Here's some writing tips to get your feet back on the ground and get you moving again.

If you are one of those ambitious writers that took on NaNoWriMo (writing a book in a month), I sympathize with you. I know first hand the unmistakable feeling that your brain is leaking our your ear. Forcing creativity day after day until there is nothing left inside that hollow shell we call a skull. Have you ever written so much that you feel like you need a month to recover and rebuild your lost gray matter? It doesn't have to be that way. We can refresh in a short amount of time and keep on writing. I came across an article recently that describes 4 things you can do to reboot yourself. Here's what I learned:

1) Channel Your Flow. 
The frontal lobe of our brain is a big control center; one that needs to be quieted in order to let our creative energy flow. Try this simple exercise to channel it's energy in the right direction: Take several minutes before you start writing to reflect. You know--get in the zone. I would add here that deep breathing also helps to calm and focus your thought process. It's during this reflection time that you set parameters for your brain. Think about what the subject of your piece is and what is the main idea that you want to convey. A few minutes of this exercise before writing will help glean some "Aha!" moments.

2) Cultivate Mindlessness
Schedule at least 30 minutes a day to not think. That's right. Don't think about anything--especially your current work in progress. Completely zone out. Do some yoga, stare at the sky, take a hot shower, or do some "mindless" work like gardening or sorting mail. Do whatever as long as it relaxes you and doesn't require any thinking.

3) Change Your Scene
I'm not talking about the scenes in your manuscript. I'm talking about you. Go somewhere new. Exposing yourself to a different environment forces your brain to reprocess stored content. In other words, it can give a new prospective to your original ideas which can inspire creative breakthroughs. So go somewhere new. Try writing outside, go visit a new bookstore or coffee (hot chocolate) house, spend some time in a park, library, or restaurant. Or you can be freakishly weird like me--I like to spend time in graveyards.

4) Nudge Your Muse
This is a hands-on approach to inspire you. Take a paper and list some key ideas from your story, jot down characters, and phrases. Now look for new connections between these elements. What does your protagonist’s secret mean for her enemy? How does the war-torn setting color your character’s first romance? The more connections you make--the more ideas you can add into your story. Personally, I like to find something that connects to several things and make it an underlying theme throughout the book. It's fun.

If you want more than a summery on this article, you can check it out here:
http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/4-ways-inspiration-helps-you-beat-writers-block?et_mid=526100&rid=3088815

Now go write!