Mindy McGinnis stops by Unedited today. She's fabulous and everyone should know it! She's the owner of the awesome blog Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire. You all know when someone stops by we don’t ask the usual questions. That’s right, because I’m an unusual being (once seen as a negative, now viewed as a positive). So let’s get started on all things random.
Showing the Real Mindy
1. What guy’s name do you find sexy? Jack. It’s a ROMANCING THE STONE thing.
2. Do you like that manhole covers are always round? If you were to be more creative what shape would you choose and why? A triangle. It’ll add to the whole Illuminati mystique.
3. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, what would be the plot? No idea on plot, but I can say genre-wise it would definitely not be a romantic comedy. And it would have be animated. Just cause I say so.
4. If you were a salad, what kind of dressing would you be? Ranch. Yum-yum calories!
5. If you were forced to steal something, what would it be? Why would you choose it? A book. A really old one that there was only one copy of or something. Because I’m qualified to care for it much better than whatever museum it’s in.
One-Word Randoms
Elevator or Escalator: Escalator
Black or Striped Cat: BUH-lack
Writer or Reader: Ouch
Dancer or Singer: Neither
Query or Synopsis: Query!
Isn't she amazing? If you don't follow her, you should do so now... she's AWESOME!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
YA Tournament of Heroines
The YA Tournament of Heroines hosted by the YA Sisterhood (they really rock your socks off) is about to begin! Now this is beyond awesome but there is even more exciting news:
I've been selected as the advocate for Hermione Granger!
To see a list of the other advocates and their competitors click here.
You all know I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, even more so I love Hermione as if she was my best friend. In this, I'll be asking for your assistance. As an advocate I'll be doing the during work... telling you (even though I don't need to) how awesome she is and why she deserves to win each match.
Wanna really show your support? Here are some ways:
VOTE! This is where it all counts. For each 24 hours the characters will be battling it out so watch out for Hermione and make sure you cast your vote for every match. Your votes do count!
Follow me on twitter! This will give you constant updates on where the matches are at and when our girl is up to bat!
Tweet with us using the hashtag #HEROINETOURNEY
Tell your friends! The longer the list of friends the better chance Hermione has! Don't be shy, this is our time to shine!
Post about the awesome! If you are a part of a Harry Potter fansite tell them about it! If you just have a love for Hermione, give a shout-out! Everything counts for our dear Heroine! Let us not disappoint!
Support with banners! I've made some super fun Hermione badges and banners! Grab them, utilize them! Stick them on your cats, your dogs, or just your blog... that's cool too! Just make sure they're plastered over the blog universe. We want her to shine! This is, after all, her debut! (link them back to YA Sisterhood so EVERYONE can join!)
The tournament begins December 1st, starting with two matches:
Clary vs. Kate
Juliette vs. Cammie
Don't forget to head over and vote! A new match will take place each day until the final victor is chosen. Hermione knows, statistically speaking, her odds are great.
Hermione's first match will be against Claire from the Morganville Vampire series. We're up December 5th, where we'll go head to head for 24 hours! SAVE THE DATE! Tweet it out! Tell your fan pages!
Keep your wands at the ready! The battle is about to begin and I'll want your help! Let's dominate the competition! Thank you for your future votes for the future champion, Hermione Granger!
I've been selected as the advocate for Hermione Granger!
To see a list of the other advocates and their competitors click here.
You all know I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, even more so I love Hermione as if she was my best friend. In this, I'll be asking for your assistance. As an advocate I'll be doing the during work... telling you (even though I don't need to) how awesome she is and why she deserves to win each match.
Wanna really show your support? Here are some ways:
VOTE! This is where it all counts. For each 24 hours the characters will be battling it out so watch out for Hermione and make sure you cast your vote for every match. Your votes do count!
Follow me on twitter! This will give you constant updates on where the matches are at and when our girl is up to bat!
Tweet with us using the hashtag #HEROINETOURNEY
Tell your friends! The longer the list of friends the better chance Hermione has! Don't be shy, this is our time to shine!
Post about the awesome! If you are a part of a Harry Potter fansite tell them about it! If you just have a love for Hermione, give a shout-out! Everything counts for our dear Heroine! Let us not disappoint!
Support with banners! I've made some super fun Hermione badges and banners! Grab them, utilize them! Stick them on your cats, your dogs, or just your blog... that's cool too! Just make sure they're plastered over the blog universe. We want her to shine! This is, after all, her debut! (link them back to YA Sisterhood so EVERYONE can join!)
The tournament begins December 1st, starting with two matches:
Clary vs. Kate
Juliette vs. Cammie
Don't forget to head over and vote! A new match will take place each day until the final victor is chosen. Hermione knows, statistically speaking, her odds are great.
Hermione's first match will be against Claire from the Morganville Vampire series. We're up December 5th, where we'll go head to head for 24 hours! SAVE THE DATE! Tweet it out! Tell your fan pages!
Keep your wands at the ready! The battle is about to begin and I'll want your help! Let's dominate the competition! Thank you for your future votes for the future champion, Hermione Granger!
Friday, November 25, 2011
TANGLED TIDES: Team Merfolk
Hello? *knocks on computer screen* Are you there? I have something to share and the NEWS is HUGE!
TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper has been released and your hands NEED to be on this delicious tale!
There are so many amazing sea creatures but I've chosen Team Merfolk. You'll have to read the book and decide where you'd like to stand. So what better way to entice you then to share a blurb of this sea journey!
Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.
When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.
Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.
I know... I know... it's that awesome!!!
Now, the reason I chose Merfolk? First off... who doesn't want to have MER in their name? That's a given! Second, they are of the sun, need warmth, gifted singers, and can control water.
What? You want to know if possess any of those? Sheesh! Of COURSE NOT! That's why I want to be on their side. After all, I'm always cold so would love to be warm! The ability to sing?? I'm just looking for the ability to not be tone deaf... and can control water, I mean, that's just one bad ass ability!
GO TEAM MERFOLK!
--
So go buy this book! Karen is a doll in the blogging world and should be shown appreciation for all the hard work and dedication she gave to this book. She's a knockout role model and I know would be honored to have you snag a copy!
Here's her details:
Website
Amazon
Rhemalda Publishing
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Enjoy your Black Friday and get your hands on this book! You won't regret it!
TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper has been released and your hands NEED to be on this delicious tale!
There are so many amazing sea creatures but I've chosen Team Merfolk. You'll have to read the book and decide where you'd like to stand. So what better way to entice you then to share a blurb of this sea journey!
Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.
When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.
Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.
I know... I know... it's that awesome!!!
Now, the reason I chose Merfolk? First off... who doesn't want to have MER in their name? That's a given! Second, they are of the sun, need warmth, gifted singers, and can control water.
What? You want to know if possess any of those? Sheesh! Of COURSE NOT! That's why I want to be on their side. After all, I'm always cold so would love to be warm! The ability to sing?? I'm just looking for the ability to not be tone deaf... and can control water, I mean, that's just one bad ass ability!
--
So go buy this book! Karen is a doll in the blogging world and should be shown appreciation for all the hard work and dedication she gave to this book. She's a knockout role model and I know would be honored to have you snag a copy!
Here's her details:
Website
Amazon
Rhemalda Publishing
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Enjoy your Black Friday and get your hands on this book! You won't regret it!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Why do I share my secrets?
Statistically speaking... (no, really, the statistics for this blog say so)... you guys adore Thursdays posts. And though some of you are lurkers (i love you so), those who comment always tell me to keep at it. So I do. And I'm not sure why. I'm airing out the dirty laundry that normally should be swept under the rug. Though, I can't help myself. Your longing as me longing to share. That is our twisted relationship in a nutshell, isn't it?
Let's not waste time on introductions. If you're new WELCOME, if you're seasoned WELCOME.
1. I never, and I mean NEVER, use the end of a the toilet paper roll. I would be the one who throws just enough for one more use, and yet, I don't like too. Thank God for husbands.
2. I'm a sucker for the street corner needy people. When they gaze into my eyes and I have cash on hand by the end of the transaction I'm broke. I don't know what it is, after all, I'm not rolling in the dough here, but they get to me. What's frustrating is when I see them at the same corner every day... (that's when they're shoveling a wad of cash to someone else who needs more then they do.)
3. I saw Twilight: Breaking Dawn and I'm not afraid to tell the world. I was the nerdy girl in line at the special preview 8pm showing mocking all the midnighters for having to wait in line (I felt slightly guilty). It was delicious. Since I'm also a Harry Potter fan I giggled with joy when I saw it still had the highest midnight showing (yes I love HP more than Edward & Jacob...)
4. I have too many idea notebooks and not enough time. This could be fixed if I stopped baking so many delicious pies for the upcoming holidays, or put down the cookie dough... alas, I love my sweets, therefore I must learn to multi-task. Outline while eating cookie dough. Why hadn't I thought of that before?
5. I've never had a week long vacation (until two weeks ago). This isn't counting those family vacations, when you're sixteen, you'd like to forget about. No, I'm talking a delicious pool side vacation, mixed with amusement park fun (HP WORLD YO!) It was amazing and I can't wait to do it again... in ten years.
So, what are your truths? Are they as detailed and boring as mine are this week?
Let's not waste time on introductions. If you're new WELCOME, if you're seasoned WELCOME.
1. I never, and I mean NEVER, use the end of a the toilet paper roll. I would be the one who throws just enough for one more use, and yet, I don't like too. Thank God for husbands.
2. I'm a sucker for the street corner needy people. When they gaze into my eyes and I have cash on hand by the end of the transaction I'm broke. I don't know what it is, after all, I'm not rolling in the dough here, but they get to me. What's frustrating is when I see them at the same corner every day... (that's when they're shoveling a wad of cash to someone else who needs more then they do.)
3. I saw Twilight: Breaking Dawn and I'm not afraid to tell the world. I was the nerdy girl in line at the special preview 8pm showing mocking all the midnighters for having to wait in line (I felt slightly guilty). It was delicious. Since I'm also a Harry Potter fan I giggled with joy when I saw it still had the highest midnight showing (yes I love HP more than Edward & Jacob...)
4. I have too many idea notebooks and not enough time. This could be fixed if I stopped baking so many delicious pies for the upcoming holidays, or put down the cookie dough... alas, I love my sweets, therefore I must learn to multi-task. Outline while eating cookie dough. Why hadn't I thought of that before?
5. I've never had a week long vacation (until two weeks ago). This isn't counting those family vacations, when you're sixteen, you'd like to forget about. No, I'm talking a delicious pool side vacation, mixed with amusement park fun (HP WORLD YO!) It was amazing and I can't wait to do it again... in ten years.
So, what are your truths? Are they as detailed and boring as mine are this week?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Self-Publish Lifestyle
Today I've brought in Heather Thurmeier, who has graciously decided to share with us, the reason she self-published! After all, as writers we should keep all our options open and dive in when we feel the timing and opportunity is right!
Heather has it all, from agented to published to self-published. She can tell you what each phase feels like and why she's recently taken the road to self-publish town.
Take it away Heather!!
Why I Self-Published
No it wasn’t for the fame and fortune of it. LOL. Do those things exist for people who are new to the business and go it alone? I don’t know. Ask me in a year and maybe I’ll have an answer. So far I can buy a fancy coffee at Starbucks, but not a fancy car. ;)
There’s been a lot of chatter around the web about self-publishing and whether it’s bad or good or great or will end the publishing world as we know it. Mwhahahaha! (Evil laugh.) I don’t know the answer to that. All I can offer is why I decided on this route for this book.
I’ll give you a hint… It’s not because I can’t sell my work to publishers or because it’s too crappy to land me an agent.
I am agented. I am published with an epublisher. I am actively perusing traditional publishing with New York. And I just self-published a novel. Why?
Because I can.
Amazon, Nook, and Smashwords are available options for authors looking to get their books into the hands of readers. Not every book written will get picked up by an agent and then picked up by a big publisher—that’s a fact. But does it mean that particular book is garbage? Nope. Well, I’m sure agents and publishers see their fair share of not-so-good manuscripts in the slush pile. But it could also be as simple as that particular book not fitting a specific mold. Is it possible that book still has a market and a readership out there somewhere? Yep. And you might be able to find it on your own.
I’m not a die-hard self-publisher on a mission to convert you. I’m not a die-hard traditionalist either. Heck, I haven’t been around long enough to have a solid opinion on either of them! Since I’m new to this whole writing and publishing business, I figured why not try out all the options available. The fact is self-publishing is an accessible, viable, and sometimes a lucrative option. And it’s definitely one that’s worth exploring.
Pros: You have full control over content, cover, price, and distribution. And you have potential to earn high royalties.
Cons: You have to do the work to polish that content, produce a good cover, monitor your price in the marketplace, and spend the HOURS it takes to format, upload and distribute your book. And you have to put up the cost for those things out of your own pocket.
Now that I’ve self-published one book, I’m not sure if I’ll do it again or not. It was hard and time consuming but also satisfying and rewarding. For me, exploring all options in publishing is important so that I can make the most educated decision for my books, for my career, and ultimately for my readers.
What you have to consider now is what’s best for your books, your career, and your readers. What option will you choose? Or will try them all?
Heather Thurmeier
~Heart, humor and a happily ever after
Website: http://heatherthurmeier.com
Twitter: @hthurmeier
Facebook: Heather Thurmeier, author
Email: HeatherThurmeier@gmail.com
Blurb for BUNNY HILLS AND BIKINIS:
Amelia Brooks agrees to a weekend retreat in California, thinking it will be held in sunny Malibu only to find out she’s stuck in chilly Lake Tahoe for four long days—just what a girl from Minnesota wants to hear in the middle of winter. Now instead of wiggling her toes in the sand, her feet are squeezed into her new manufactured-by-Satan-himself-uncomfortable boots. If that’s not enough, Amelia’s obnoxious colleague William has decided this is the weekend they'll finally be together and he won't keep his thoughts—or his hands—to himself.
Amelia’s ready to kick off those boots and peel off her wooly sweater once she meets Nate Miller—the workshop’s hunky presenter. But Nate's not ready to settle down. He's seen his workshop buddies fall in love then fall out of the running for being promoted to the big city workshop circuit and he's not about to let that happen to his life's dream—until he gets involved with Amelia. Now he's not so sure he can walk away at the end of the weekend with his heart intact and his promotion in hand.
Now Amelia's got four days to stave off William's persistent advances long enough to fall in love with Nate and possibly…learn to ski the bunny hill.
Available at:
Amazon.com -- http://bit.ly/sMZYXC
Smashwords.com -- http://bit.ly/sgV55A
Go check out Heather! She's amazing!
Heather has it all, from agented to published to self-published. She can tell you what each phase feels like and why she's recently taken the road to self-publish town.
Take it away Heather!!
Why I Self-Published
No it wasn’t for the fame and fortune of it. LOL. Do those things exist for people who are new to the business and go it alone? I don’t know. Ask me in a year and maybe I’ll have an answer. So far I can buy a fancy coffee at Starbucks, but not a fancy car. ;)
There’s been a lot of chatter around the web about self-publishing and whether it’s bad or good or great or will end the publishing world as we know it. Mwhahahaha! (Evil laugh.) I don’t know the answer to that. All I can offer is why I decided on this route for this book.
I’ll give you a hint… It’s not because I can’t sell my work to publishers or because it’s too crappy to land me an agent.
I am agented. I am published with an epublisher. I am actively perusing traditional publishing with New York. And I just self-published a novel. Why?
Because I can.
Amazon, Nook, and Smashwords are available options for authors looking to get their books into the hands of readers. Not every book written will get picked up by an agent and then picked up by a big publisher—that’s a fact. But does it mean that particular book is garbage? Nope. Well, I’m sure agents and publishers see their fair share of not-so-good manuscripts in the slush pile. But it could also be as simple as that particular book not fitting a specific mold. Is it possible that book still has a market and a readership out there somewhere? Yep. And you might be able to find it on your own.
I’m not a die-hard self-publisher on a mission to convert you. I’m not a die-hard traditionalist either. Heck, I haven’t been around long enough to have a solid opinion on either of them! Since I’m new to this whole writing and publishing business, I figured why not try out all the options available. The fact is self-publishing is an accessible, viable, and sometimes a lucrative option. And it’s definitely one that’s worth exploring.
Pros: You have full control over content, cover, price, and distribution. And you have potential to earn high royalties.
Cons: You have to do the work to polish that content, produce a good cover, monitor your price in the marketplace, and spend the HOURS it takes to format, upload and distribute your book. And you have to put up the cost for those things out of your own pocket.
Now that I’ve self-published one book, I’m not sure if I’ll do it again or not. It was hard and time consuming but also satisfying and rewarding. For me, exploring all options in publishing is important so that I can make the most educated decision for my books, for my career, and ultimately for my readers.
What you have to consider now is what’s best for your books, your career, and your readers. What option will you choose? Or will try them all?
Heather Thurmeier
~Heart, humor and a happily ever after
Website: http://heatherthurmeier.com
Twitter: @hthurmeier
Facebook: Heather Thurmeier, author
Email: HeatherThurmeier@gmail.com
Blurb for BUNNY HILLS AND BIKINIS:
Amelia Brooks agrees to a weekend retreat in California, thinking it will be held in sunny Malibu only to find out she’s stuck in chilly Lake Tahoe for four long days—just what a girl from Minnesota wants to hear in the middle of winter. Now instead of wiggling her toes in the sand, her feet are squeezed into her new manufactured-by-Satan-himself-uncomfortable boots. If that’s not enough, Amelia’s obnoxious colleague William has decided this is the weekend they'll finally be together and he won't keep his thoughts—or his hands—to himself.
Amelia’s ready to kick off those boots and peel off her wooly sweater once she meets Nate Miller—the workshop’s hunky presenter. But Nate's not ready to settle down. He's seen his workshop buddies fall in love then fall out of the running for being promoted to the big city workshop circuit and he's not about to let that happen to his life's dream—until he gets involved with Amelia. Now he's not so sure he can walk away at the end of the weekend with his heart intact and his promotion in hand.
Now Amelia's got four days to stave off William's persistent advances long enough to fall in love with Nate and possibly…learn to ski the bunny hill.
Available at:
Amazon.com -- http://bit.ly/sMZYXC
Smashwords.com -- http://bit.ly/sgV55A
Go check out Heather! She's amazing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)