**FREE SPOOKY BOOKS**

As promised, today is the  Friday Fright-Fest Contest

If you tuned in for my last two Trailer Thursdays, I highlighted two of the books I'm giving away:

And here are the final three, for a grand total of FIVE FRIGHTFUL books up for grabs:

Before I tell you how to win, I have to thank some lovely ladies for giving me awards over the past several weeks:

Lady Gwen, Laura B, and Tina Moss gave me awards I've already received (located at the bottom of my blog) so I'm going to forgo the recipient protocol, but I did want to acknowledge their generosity. If you haven't visited their blogs, please hop over and get to know them. They're all upcoming and talented writers, each with her own unique voice.

Sparkly Miss Cherie gave me the "I ❤ Blogging" and because she knows I'm insanely busy, she charitably pardoned me from the step of passing it off to others. She just wanted to share it with me, so THANK YOU, lovely. ♥˘⌣˘♥  

And lastly, Caitlin Vincent and A.M.Supinger  handed over this little treasure:

Which I'm using as part of my contest today. Thank you my pretties!

Okay, the rules for the award state I'm supposed to match/link my own posts with the seven descriptive words given, and then pass it on to seven others.

The free books are going to substitue for the "passing on" portion. (I know, technically I should give away seven books ... I work in words, not numbers! Hee)

And as for the seven links, I'm going to highlight one word in each post I link you to. You won't have to read the whole post to find it, but you WILL have to click over to find it. Think of it as a literary egg hunt.

Once you find the seven highlighted words, you'll need to arrange them into a quote from a famous horror movie and email me your answer (anita(at)aghoward(dot)com). **PLEASE don't leave your answer in the comments because I'll have to delete it.**

Here are three hints to help you figure out the movie and quote:

1. This quote is perfect for my blog, or so says the Mad Hatter.
2. A boy's best friend is his mother ... just ask the skeleton in the rocker.
3. Running a motel can be bloody business.

And here are the seven descriptions and links to match:

Most Beautiful: Angels Among Us, because it's about my daughter who's the most beautiful person in my world. (Okay, my son's beautiful, too, but he'd totally freak if he heard me say that...heh)

Most Helpful: Fishing for readers with a three pronged hook... By putting a twist on the writer's rule of three, I suggested applying it to the first three lines in our novels to lure the reader in, and cited examples from published and non-published works. I also invited my readers to give it a shot with their first three sentences in the comments.

Most Popular: Book Deal! Overwhelmed, Ever-grateful, Blessed, and... Humbled. You guys are the BEST. I ended up getting 90 comments on that post, all because everyone was so genuinely happy for me. I'd also call this one most touching, because I was so moved by the camaraderie.

Most Controversial: Haha. Without question, the notoriously evil panty meme: Personally, I like panties. Still blushing over that one. Heaven help me if my parents ever stop by and read it. Eeps!

Most Surprisingly Successful: Finding my Zen. Another example of how wonderfully supportive my writer pals are. I never expected to have that many responses of people feeling the same way.

Most Underrated: Attack of the Bloodsucking Pygmy Goats...  Not underrated so much for me, but for poor Clive. I told him that silent film would make him a star. We can still make it happen ... let's get that video to go viral, yo! (◕‿-)

Most Prideworthy: Playing With Windows Movie Maker... I had so much fun making my first book video ever, and was so pleased with how it turned out. And it was fun sharing my enthusiasm with you.

Okay, there you have it. Have fun finding those seven words and the quote, everyone! I'll close the contest Sunday night at midnight central, just at the stroke of Halloween. Mr. Random.org will draw five names from the entries and I'll announce the winners on Halloween Day.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a SPOOKTACULAR (and safe) weekend!

First kisses, fiery operas, and blog awards, oh my!

I’ve been looking through my “blog post ideas” document (yes, I’m geeky enough that I actually have one—eek) and realized that I was given several awards over the last few months which I’ve never acknowledged or handed out.

SO, today I’m playing catch-up. As I’ve been prone to do, I’m changing the award rules mainly because if I followed all of them, this post would take the ENTIRE month to read. As it is, we're already bordering on tomorrow.

To save time, I’m listing the original rules to each award along with how I plan on circumventing most of them (heehee).

On with the awards!

Thank you sparkly Cherie from Ready. Write. Go. for the Cute Blogger and Awesomesauce awards!

In turn, I bequeath the puppy to:

Anne Michaud

Stephanie Alexander

J. Lea Lopez
Jessica LeSaicherre
Lori M. Lee

Puppy Club rules are:

1st RULE: You do not talk about Puppy Club.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about Puppy Club.

Hee.

Instead, you talk about 5 books/films/TV shows you’ve read or watched in the last 12 months. In answer to this, let me direct you to the list of seven books that made me who I am today. I figure they’re even more consequential than the ones I’ve read recently, considering how they shaped me when my mind was young and pliant.

My Awesomesauce nominees:

Mindy McGinnis for consistently coming up with new series ideas for her blog along with clever acronyms to represent them. She ROX at this! Just go see!

Bethany Crandall because she's not only witty and charming, but she's also a spectacular writer and #goatposse activist. OH, and she has a hamster living in her brain. If that's not awesomesauce, I don't know what is.

Jenny Phresh because her diabolically wicked and sharp wit never cease to amaze, astound, and impress me. She's also a respected member of #goatposse and can write prose as eloquent as any Charlotte Bronte poem when she sets her mind to it, both of which are no small feat for a pony.

Michelle Simkins, a faerie queen with a green thumb, a crafter, a writer, and an exceptionally creative blogger who excels at networking. Oh, and she's #goatposse, too. How she juggles all of these talents and still has time to twitter-play with us is beyond me. Such a busy lady deserves a side of Awesomesauce on her full plate.

Rules:

1. Thank and link to the person who gave me this fabulous piece of work. Check!

2. Pay it forward to no more than one person per month. Elaborate why said person is deserving of said award. Yep. I cheated on that. But it's justified! Since I've had this award going on three months now, I opted to nominate three winners. And I added one extra for next month, because I doubt I'll be giving the award out again after this.

3. Answer the following questions:

- What is your favorite song currently playing on your iPod, CD player, etc.?
Letters VS. Numbers - My Turn to Evil. Because it's EPIC and the words are disturbing. 

- If we peek into your Internet history, what would we find?
Lots of research on opera and also tigers eye gemstones. They both play roles in my current YA WIP, a Phantom of the Opera spinoff. One opera in particular: The Fiery Angel, is very symbolic throughout the story.

-And lastly, what is your all-time favorite movie that you watch over and over again?
Some Kind of Wonderful. BEST FIRST KISS EVER! I related to the story because I crushed on my best friend in high school and he never knew. Unrequited love is so deliciously painful! But this movie always made me smile because the ending is what I would've wanted for us (back before I met super-hubbie and found TRUE love, that is).  ;) 

Next, A.M. Springer of Inner Owlet (aka Owlgoat), Liesl of Writers Ropes and Hopes, and Brenda from Write Turn Ahead handed me this lovely little award:

Liebster is German for either “friend” “favorite” or “lobster”. I’m not sure which. So either my blog’s appreciated by these generous ladies for its charm, or it has really big red claws that are tasty when steamed and they’re craving some seafood. Whatever the case, THANK YOU ladies, for the gift!

The rules of the award are simple:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog or twitter.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have bloggity-blog fun!

 

The goal of this award is to spotlight up and coming bloggers who currently have less than 200 followers. Since I don’t technically qualify, I won’t be posting the award at the bottom of my blog with the others. But I WILL take this opportunity to pass it on to some excellent bloggers who deserve 200 followers and more. And since three people gave it to me, guess what? I get to pick FIFTEEN to pass it on to. Squee! If you have never visited these blogs, please take the time to drop by soon. They're so worth the visit.

1. Kimberly Brock

2. Jennifer Archer

3. Ryan Graudlin

4. Gennifer Albin

5. Dawn Sparrow
6. Amanda Ashby

7. Jane Gray

8. David Kazzie

9. Lisa Ann

10. Kathryn Elliott

11. Sarah Skilton

12. Marian Vere

13. Anna Banks

14. Suzanne Payne
15. Katianne Williams

Last but not least, Anne Michaud at Musings & Little Obsessions gave me the versatile blogger award. Thanks Anne! This lady is a fabulous short short story writer, so hop over to her blog and check out her prose. 

And the nominees are:

Caitlin Vincent
Jemi Fraser

Tonya Kuper

Rachel Brooks

Jane Sadek 

The rules are:

1. Thank and link to the person(s) who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to five blogging buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

To whit I direct you to an earlier post where I met the requirements (same rules as The Stylish Blogger Award) with the seven reasons my MC is way cooler than me. And for a little teaser, that post inspired another I'm planning in a couple of weeks called: seven ways my antagonist is way tastier than a cookie. Heh.

Well, that's it for the awards folks. Whew. Congrats to the winners, and to the rest of my lovely readers, thanks for bearing with me! Have a wonderful last half of the week and a restful and productive weekend. :)

The First Bi-Annual Wonderland Bloggy Awards

Last week there was a BLOG AWARDS BOOM and I was so thrilled to receive three (one of which was triple bequeathed to me--squee!).

But even more fun than receiving them, was anticipating who I'd be giving them out to in return. I had blogger buddies all lined up, and then KABAM, several of my nominees started getting the same awards that I planned to give out -- from one another no less. Hmm. I'm sensing a conspiracy here. ;)

Well, since I had a QueryTracker interview with a very special guest, and didn't want to horn in on her weekend highlight spot, it gave me some time to make my own awards and sets of rules.

So, in honor of my Alice In Wonderland spinoff which is out on sub, I decided to bequeath some Wonderland themed awards. :)

First, I need to take care of the awards I received, then we'll move on to the Wonderland nominees.

Thank you, Deirdra, for this lovely award with no stipulations other than that I enjoy it.

Make sure you hop over to Deirdra's blog, A Storybook World. She's incredibly talented, does all of her own artwork, and also has interviews with literary agents and authors, scheduling them in advance on her side bar so you can watch for when your favorites will be guests.

The next two awards I received share the same rules (or at least close enough for passable), so I'm combining the requirements which I'll spell out after the presentations. I'd like to thank all of the gracious ladies who nominated me!

Bequeathed to me by: Bluestocking Mum,

and bequeathed from me to:

1. Ashley Graham

2. Anna Zagar

3. Jennifer Archer

4 & 5 go to the combined blogging efforts of:

Jessica LeSaicherre and Kaya Koban

Bequeathed to me by: Robin Weeks, Lori M. Lee, and Jenny Phresh 

and bequeathed from me to:

1. Rachel Harris

2. Kayeleen Hamblin

3. Mandie Baxter

4. Kaylie Austin

5. Pam Asberry

Here are the rules for both awards:

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.

2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to five buddies whose blogs epitomize said theme.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

Okay, now here are my seven random things...

1. When I was three, I fell down two flights of stairs at church and amazingly survived without even a scratch. My older brother was there and screamed for my mom who had just turned her back for a second. I have no memory of the event, but I firmly believe that I didn't fall ... I was shoved. It was an intentional bid for attention from BIG BRO because I was the cutest of the lot.

2. I have freaky feet. My second toe is longer than my big toe. My brother always teased me about them and I'm still self-conscious today. So forget fitting into those stylish flip flops with the slanted soles; in the summer, it's crock shoes all the way for this girl.

3. I had pet guinea pigs growing up. My brother mastered a squealing technique that could set them into a high-pitched-fever-fest, and they wouldn't shut up until I fed them some lettuce. Have any of you ever heard a guinea pig squeal? It will set your teeth on edge. Are we seeing a pattern here? Yes, my brother was the bane of my childhood. I still love him, though I'm open to creative outlets for my pent up frustration. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and actively considered.

4. At the age of seven, after watching a Twilight Zone marathon with the family -- the highlight of which was an episode about a murderous talking doll, a pre-cursor to Chuckie fame -- I went in my room to get ready for bed. I used to collect dolls and one of my favorites, a Spanish beauty in a lace and satin dress, sat on my dressor.  As I put on my pajamas, I couldn't stop staring at her, noticing for the first time how creepy she was. Maybe it was a result of staring too long without blinking, but the edge of her mouth appeared to wriggle, forming a sneer. I screamed at the top of my lungs, tossed her in the closet, and decided that I would never like dolls again. We got rid of the collection shortly thereafter, and to this day, dolls still creep me out.

5. I had an imaginary friend named Zalicah when I was three. In spite of the intricate story I wove of her demise involving a runaway cat and a car without breaks, she was rumored to have been seen honeymooning with Bart Simpson somewhere in the Poconos just last month.

6. My family lived in Ohio during my Kindergarten through second grade years. The snow storms were legendary. We once had drifts so high they formed a ramp that reached over and above our six foot fence. Our Irish Setter scaled it and slid down the other side to play with the neighbor's Chihuahua (who just so happened to be his best pal).

7. The first time I ever went snow skiing, I plowed down a woman on the bunny slope. As I watched her laying there, crying and screaming that I'd broken her back, I made a vow never to ski again. So shaken by the incident, I rode down on a snow mobile with one of the workers. When I saw the same woman be-bopping around at the bottom of the slope about twenty minutes later, flirting with the ski patrol dudes, I decided, "Oh YES. I will ski again. And I will be BETTER THAN YOU." And I did, and I was. Knowing what I do about publishing now, I can see that was just a taste of the tenacity and courage I would need to make it in this biz.

WHEW! This is one long post ... and we're not done yet.

It's time for the Wonderland Bloggy Awards presentation.

I've met so many incredible bloggers over the last few months, so I'm going to be very generous with the awards (this is a bi-annual event, after all), in hopes you might meet one another and see the unique sparkle in each blog that makes it shine.

And the nominees are:

1. Cherie

2. Lori M. Lee

3. Carissa ELG

4. Deirdra Eden Coppel

5. Rebecca Dupree

These talented bloggers not only rock at writing, but they're artists, too. Better I give them this award than attempt to tell them how impressed I am by that. Otherwise, I might start babbling like a crazed groupie.

 1. EEV

2. Katey Taylor

3. Sophia Richardson

4. Dawne Webber 

5. Huntress

Simply put, these ladies are confident, savvy, and have attitude -- all of which comes across in every post. (BTW, Katey could also have been a recipient of the Artistic award, but I could choose only one. I chose wisely, I think.)

 1. Robin Weeks

2. Sophie Li

3. Marewolf

4. Marybk

5. Keriann Greaney Martin

These blogs are sometimes thought provoking and informative ... sometimes whimsical and witty. But whatever the case, I leave each post looking at the world or my writing craft with a fresh and new perspective.

1. Jessica Nelson

2. Angela

3. Bluestocking Mum

4. Katelyn Torrey

5. Lisa Ann

What can I say but that these blogs always inspire me! They spark my writer's soul with their poise and optimism, and nurture my spirit with wisdom and encouragement.

 

1. Nina Badzin

2. Jen Daiker

3. Leigh T. Moore

4. Mindy McGinnis

5. Krista V. 

These blogs provide a service -- be it agent interviews, writer interviews, or informative posts -- that offer insights and advice to up and coming writers. They are instrumental in helping others navigate the choppy and murky waters of both publishing and public image.

   

1. Bethany

2. Kalen

3. Jenny Phresh

4. Jenn Johansson

5. David Kazzie

I always leave these blogs smiling, sometimes even doubled-over laughing. Their farcical, droll, and eccentric ramblings are one of a kind, comparable only to the Hatter himself.

And there you have them: the First Bi-Annual Wonderland Bloggy Awards nominees. Congrats to all of you!

As for rules, there aren't any. Just take your award with you and display it on your blog as a tribute to your talent. You work hard on your posts to give us informative and entertaining reads. This is my way of showing my appreciation. If you find or know of another blog (or five) that's worthy of your award, feel free to share it with them, although it's not a requirement.

Here's hoping I didn't forget anyone. But if I did, I'll be passing out another award on Wednesday which I received over the weekend, not to mention, we'll be having another Wonderland Awards presentation in six months. :)

Until then, happy blogging, and congrats to all of the recipients!


P.S. To post your award on your blog, just right click on the picture here and "save picture as." If you're on blogger, from your dashboard go into 'design' and 'add a gadget' and download the picture. I'm not sure how to imbed it on other blog formats. But with a little experimentation and ingenuity, you'll figure it out, because you're all a bunch of smarties. :)