It's ALIVE!

Oh frabjous day, my new website is alive and kicking!

If you were wondering why I've been so quiet in the blogasphere and on twitter lately, it's because I was designing banners and adding text (we won't even mention my intake of caffeine). Heh

But it was worth the drowsy-hazed days and neglected teddy bear (he' still not speaking to me), because I now have a finished creation: simple, functional, and morbidly pretty. All the things I love in a monster, er, website.

Special thanks to Itkupilli, a Finnish artist and designer who offers free blog banners and backgrounds. You can find the "Free Backgrounds and Other Stuff" button on my blog's sidebar if you'd like to check out the artwork for yourself. One of those lovely free banners provided the perfect foundation for my website/blog's theme.

Also, thanks to my wonderful husband, the real mad scientist behind this project, who brought life to my index page, a Gothic Victorian storefront with blinking candlelight. If you'd like a peek at that, hop over here: www.aghoward.com.

Now, the only thing that makes me happier than this sense of accomplishment is knowing I get to celebrate with you!

And celebrate, we shall. Wonderland style, of course.

Welcome to the...

(Yes, that's me in the red wig. Not the best look, I'll admit,
but I'm thinking I could give Ronald McDonald a run for his money.)

Oh, and best news of all? This contest is INTERNATIONAL, yo!


Now, let's check out what's up for grabs.

• 1st Place Prize: A hot off the press signed Splintered ARC

• 2nd Place Prize: Signed 18X24" Splintered Poster

• 3rd Place Prize: Signed title page from an original Splintered galley

• 4th Place Prize:  Assorted Splintered / Alice swag, all signed

• 5th Place Prize: Choice between ONE of these fab YA books:

• 
  6th Place Prize: Set of 5 Alice in Wonderland Mini Book Charms  

• Two super Awesome BONUS Prizes: A query critique by the fabulous Jenny Bent and also one by the fantastic Molly Ker Hawn from The Bent Agency (Please note: Ms. Ker Hawn only takes YA or MG queries, and due to time constraints, her critique will get back to the winner sometime in early September). 

A couple of notes about the prizes: There's something very special about the galley title page, a secret about the book's formatting that has been kept under wraps. Also, about the BONUS prizes, since there are two crits, that means two lucky writers will get the inside track into what an agent likes to see in their inbox.

Now, how do you get a hold of these wonderful prizes? Use my new website linkies at the top of my sidebar. Go to the "Contests and Giveaways" page, and find out how to get your name in the drawing.

See you over there, my little madlings!

Spring *Bling-Bling* Winners!

Today's Posie & Mosey Monday has been preempted by my Spring *Bling-Bling* contest announcement.

Thanks everyone who entered last week!

Here are the winners, as chosen by Mr. Random.org:

1. Mary Frame--Alice in Wonderland Post Card package & bookplate
2. Ricki Marking--Adult Literary Novel package & bookplate
3. Gabi--YA Fantasy package & bookplate

Congrats! Please email me at: anita(at)aghoward(dot)com and give me your snail mail addy and who you would like the SPLINTERED bookplate made out to so I can get those goodies sent your way! Those who didn't win this time, don't worry. I'll be having lots more giveaways in the future!

Also, a quick announcement: 

A while back, I entered a contest for a $500 virtual book tour from TLC. I found out yesterday that I'm one of the five finalists!

If any of you feel up for voting for me, here's the link (no rush, you have until April 14th). I would really appreciate the help! This package could get a great buzz going for Splintered.

Thanks for stopping in today, and have a great week!

A Peek at my Editing Timeline, and a Mega Giveaway of EPIC Proportions!!!

Sorry I've been MIA in the blogasphere and twitter for awhile.

Here's why:

Ever since my publisher bumped up my launch from Spring 2013 to Fall 2012, it’s been pretty much non-stop editing with only 2 - 4 weeks between stints. Want a peek at my schedule over the past few months?

11/1/2011 - Received Content Edit letter w/ six week deadline
12/12/2011 - Turned in content edits
12/23/2011 - Received Line Edits w/ two week deadline
1/5/2012 - Turned in line edits
2/8/2012 - Received Copyedits w/ two week deadline
2/21/2012 - Turned in copyedits

For the record, during those in between stints, I was either holidaying w/friends and family, doing the mommy/wife gig, or writing out three book proposals for my editor to choose from for book 2 of my contract .

FYI, once I finally get done w/all the edits and hit the printing presses, I plan to have a post about the evolution of a MS, from the publisher's offer being accepted to the making of a real book, complete with my own personal timeline and a more in-depth description of the editing phases (I might even include visual aids...hee). So be watching for it!

Now, onto the contest part of today's post: There's an amazing giveaway including signed ARCs, books, and tons of swag up for grabs, taking place over at YA Books Central!

Our own authors over at ADR3NALIN3 donated this EPIC prize package to the giveaway...

The ADR3 pack includes:

 - Jordan Dane: ON A DARK WING autographed paperback and a snack pack inspired by her main character.

- Ilsa J. Bick: DROWNING INSTINCT and ASHES autographed hardbacks

- Wendy Corsi Staub: LILY DALE: AWAKENING autographed hardback

- Jennifer Archer: THROUGH HER EYES authographed hardback

- Chris Grabenstein: CURIOSITY CAT autographed paperback and assorted bookmarks

- Dan Haring: OLDSOUL autographed ARC

- Carol M. Tanzman: DANCERGIRL autographed paperback

- Brett Battles: HERE COMES MR. TROUBLE autographed paperback

- A.G. Howard: A creepy Alice in Wonderland themed journal, ribbon bookmark, and a signed bookplate, in homage to SPLINTERED, her upcoming YA Alice in Wonderland spinoff


For a shot at winning this pack -- OR t-shirts, lanyards, temporary tattoos, SIGNED books, SIGNED bookmarks and bookplates, magnets, felt coffee sleeves, shuriken hair clips, a USB flash drive, bracelets, pens, notepads, keychains, and more -- hop over to YA Books Central and get the deets!

Good luck! Thanks for stopping by, and see you next week. :)

Free arcs, gift certificates, and swag ... Oh, MY!

THE RACE IS OFFICIALLY OVER!!

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!

Yay! I'm so glad you're here on the Splintered stop of the YAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes -- a crazy whirlwind blog hop featuring over 50 debut authors and prize packs featuring ARCs, gift certificates, swag, and more!

Want a sneak peek into the prize vault? Here's what I tossed (or gently dropped, rather) into the gift pile:

Lady’s bronze vintage locket/pocket watch inspired by the White Rabbit's watch

If you haven’t yet been to the Apocalypsies website, please click here to start from the beginning and read the complete rules. There are links there to take you to each leg of the race, so you'll find your way back to me all in good time.

Those of you who already followed the yellow brick road of blogs, onward with the race!

Since my book cover is still in the design phases, below is the synopsis which offers the answer to one of the questions you'll be asked in the quiz at the end of this leg of the race. Remember, you must complete ALL FIVE quizzes (one at the end of each leg) to be eligible for a prize pack:

Splintered by A.G. Howard:

For sixteen years, Alyssa Gardner has lived with the stigma of being descended from Alice Liddell -- the real life inspiration for Lewis Carroll's famed novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. But cruel jokes about dormice and tea parties can’t compare to the fact that Alyssa hears the whispers of bugs and flowers ... the same quirk which sent her mother to a mental institution years before.

When her mother takes a turn for the worse and the whispers grow too strong for Alyssa to bear, she seeks the origins of their family curse. A set of family heirlooms and a moth tied to an eerie website lead Alyssa and her gorgeous best friend / secret crush, Jeb, down the rabbit hole into the real Wonderland, a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, creepy and violent counterparts of the original fairytale crew reveal the purpose for Alyssa’s journey, and unless she fixes the things her great-great-great grandmother Alice put wrong, Wonderland will have her head.


WAIT! Before you go – there's a **bonus contest** for my readers to win this:

Set of  6 Alice in Wonderland gift tags/bookmarks from MissBohemia.com

If you'll simply be a follower of my blog and leave a comment below letting me know, your name goes into a drawing. To have your name entered a second time, tweet up this post on twitter (be sure to use my handle @aghowardwrites in the tweet so I'll catch it in my mentions feed) OR share it on FB (include the link in the comments below so I can go check it out). I will close comments at 12pm easter on Monday the 23rd and the winner will be announced here on Tuesday the 24th.

UPDATE: The response has been so good to my contest that I'm going to do an extra drawing to give away 10 personalized and signed bookplates that you can place on your own copy of Splintered one day:

Just an example ... I promise to use your name. Oh, and my signature isn't nearly that neat. ;)

This means I’ll be pulling 10 more names from Random.org so you all have ten more chances to win. My way of thanking you for your interest in the book!

Ready to move on? Awesome! Click here to go to the next stop on the race, and good luck!

***

Want to know more about Splintered?.

Click here for a sneak peak at Splintered's sexy antagonist and the skateboarding / gothic fashionista heroine.

Still want to see more?.

To check Splintered out on GoodReads,

Click Here...

Thanks for stopping in, and have a great week!

Step Into My Nightmare ... and win a prize.

If you'd like to know what the first half of the title is all about, you'll have to visit my new young adult and middle grade group blog, ADR3NALIN3: Books that are worth losing sleep over. I spilled my guts out over there today, almost literally, sharing some of my weirdest fears and how I developed them. As to the prize part, we'll get to that in just a second...

I've made some changes on my sidebar to reflect efforts at building an online presence for my upcoming book, Splintered, and ADR3NALIN3 is one of those changes. That doesn't mean I won't still be posting here. I'll continue my Monday poetry spots here, keep posting any news I might have, and also have my QueryTracker series every first Friday.

But two Wednesdays a month I'll be posting at the new blog. I'll keep you apprised of where I'll be by the calendar on the sidebar.

Speaking of the calendar, as you can see, I'm taking part in a HUGE blog race next week with 58 other Apocalypsies -- fellow 2012 debut authors of YA and MG books -- and there will be prizes galore to be had! More deets are to come on Monday, but for now, here's a sneak peek at two of the prizes I'm putting up for grabs:

Alice in Wonderland gift tags/bookmarks from MissBohemia.com

Lady’s bronze vintage locket/pocket watch

So if you're interested in free goodies, stay tuned.

Be sure to visit and promote the ADR3NALIN3 blog. There are some great YA and MG authors over there, several already published and with a large fan base, so I'm hoping for good things all around.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you next week for the YAmazing Race and MGnificent Prizes! Until then, have a fabulous and safe weekend.

Fun for Me-me = Free Books for You-you!

First, a quick promo for all of my zombunny loving compatriots: If you enjoyed Clive the Bloodsucking Pygmy Goat...

And his silent adventures on my blog over a week ago, please hop over to Michelle’s poll and check out the other entries for the zombunny prize. No matter who you vote for, just please vote! Plus, while you’re there, explore Michelle’s awesome blog. She’s not only crafty, but also has a green thumb and writes beautifully. Her blog has something for everyone!

Onto the meme/book give-away contest. My cake-worshipping blogster Carissa tagged me with a fabulous meme, and then my pal Colin from twitter did the same. So, twice tagged is twice blessed. :)

But the blessings don't stop there my book-loving friends, because this meme will take a very lucrative turn for you in the end…

Off we go (and disregard the strange highlighted letters for the moment, you'll understand their purpose later)!

  

1.      If you were a vampire, which celebrity would you first sink your teeth into?

 Kristen Stewart, of course. All the cool vampires want to sample Bella’s fragrant blood. ;)

2.      What’s your middle name? No, not your real middle name, your MIDDLE name.

Jelly Bean. And I refuse to explain, so have fun conjecturing. Heh.

3.      You’re stranded on an island. There’s a monkey with you there, but he’s not too chatty. You also have a ball at your disposal. A ship passes by, but it’s daylight. How will you attract their attention?

Who said anything about attracting attention? Why would I want to escape? I have a Monkey who’s useless for company and a big bouncy ball. I have everything I need to stay occupied and in shape for the rest of my castaway life.

 4.      What are you secretly afraid of? And what are you REALLY afraid of?

Never having my books in print.

Waking up one day to realize I’ve been kidding myself and I CAN’T write AT ALL. EEPS.

5.      Describe your best friend in five words.

I have two besties, so this is both of them combined: Effervescent, Irreverent, Cheerleader, Mobster, Funny.

6.      What’s your current favorite song? What about the annoying one stuck in your head?

Fave: Every Car You Chase – A remix of Sting’s Every Breath You Take and Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars. One of the best mash-ups I’ve ever heard.

Most annoying ear worm: That irritating opening song from The Nanny.

7.      What’s the last movie you watched? Was it good? (Fishing for recommendations.)

Battle: Los Angeles. (It was hubbie’s night to pick--heh.) It was okay. Wreaked a little of Independence Day, which I thought was much better. For an excellent movie, I’d recommend The Fall. Beautiful cinematography, unique and emotional storyline, and superb acting.

*** CONTEST TIME ***

Here’s where I cheat. Instead of tagging anyone, I’m turning this into a CONTEST!! Each of you will have an opportunity to win one of these three books:

And I’ll even stick in some fancy brand spankin’ new bookmarks from my crit partners’ newest releases:

Here’s how you get into the drawing: I’ve spelled out a four-word movie/play title in the above answers. You can find it by looking for the highlighted letters then unscrambling them.

 Here are the clues:

 I’m giving the first word of the title away since it’s only one letter: A

Second word can be found in both the question and answer part of #3.

Third word is in the answer of #4.

And fourth word is in the answer of #5.

Want another hint? Here’s the premise of the story:

A wacky tale where everyone is besotted with each other, but the wrong way around. They live happily ever after once they're paired off correctly.

And here’s a little known tidbit about the author. He wrote his own epitaph:

Good friend for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the dust enclosed here:
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones.

Anyone who figures out the title of the movie/play can either DM me on twitter or email me here: anita(at)aghoward(dot)com. Good luck!

*PLEASE don’t leave your answer in the comments.* We want to give everyone a fair shake at figuring this out. All of the right answers will go into a drawing.

The contest will run until Thursday (August 4), 11:59pm central. I’ll announce the three winners on Friday.

Until then, have a great rest of the week!

Attack of the Bloodsucking Pygmy Goats...

Nope, it's not my usual posting day. Once again, zaniness has infected my blog. The talented Miss Michelle Simkins has knitted a most adorably cute and creepy zombunny named Ryan:

He's one of a kind (and shares my son's name), so I must needs to have him! I'd like to prop him cozily beside my keyboard and sing happy songs to him each day. But I'm not the only one who wants him *eyes Justin warily*. Michelle, in her generosity, has concocted a contest to settle the question of Ryan's destination.

Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to, "Create something involving some kind of cute fuzzy thing that is also a monster. Whatever you like, so long as it is cute evil."

SWEET.

I accept your challenge, oh Michelle of the brilliant nonsense!

Introducing Clive, the Bloodsucking Pygmy Goat, in a silent movie adaptation of his evil night on the town.

Thank you, Clive! Take a bow for the audience.

Ermmm. He's looking a little hungry, so we should move along to the credits. I'd like to thank Kevin Macleod for providing the free royalty-free song clip at his website: http://www.incompetech.com/.  And google images for providing the silent film stills and intertitles.

Disclaimer: No salesgirls were harmed in the making of this film. Any transfer of blood was consensual and soon forgotten.  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend, everyone! (Watch the skies ... those might be more than bats up there.)

Contest shout-outs...

Thanks to everyone who visited my "Whose Line Is It?" post last week where I offered a chance to win my critique partner's hauntingly lovely YA debut from HarperTeen (click cover for excerpt):

As promised, I drew a winner from the six readers who answered correctly. But before I announce who won, I want to first give out the answers and personally acknowledge each of those readers for taking the time to play, because I didn't make it easy. They really had to work for a ballot in the drawing!

The challenge was to find three classic sentences hidden within a nonsense paragraph I'd written, and match the sentences to their famous original titles. Here's the paragraph again:


Morning light coaxes me awake. I crawl out of bed and stretch, arms spreading to the ceiling. My legs and ankles pop and snap. Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! My pet lizard watches from his terrarium, unimpressed. If only I could've been his maker. Even better, if I'd made the world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source: many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. I shudder, remembering the dream I had last night. I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room ... the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. Fears of waking to a world where my existence was of little consequence. The same world wherein I now stand.

Here are the classic quotes and the titles they belong to:

Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! - Alice in Wonderland 

A new species would bless me as its creator and source: many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. - Frankenstein

I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room ... the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. - Jane Eyre

And a shout-out to our savvy detectives, in no particular order:

Angela

mary_j_59

Cherie

Cathy

Marybk

Carly

Great job to all of these ladies! Make sure you click on their names to visit their blogs which are every bit as brilliant and industrious as their sleuthing abilities.

Now for the winner: Cathy, aka, The Total Book Nerd!

Looks like your years of being a book nerd have paid off, my well read friend! ;) Email me at anita at aghoward dot com with "blog contest" in the sub line. Include your mailing address along with who you would like the autograph to be made out to. I'll get the book sent your way asap.

Thanks again everyone who popped in and commented. Those of you who didn't win, please do order a copy of THROUGH HER EYES by Jennifer Archer. It's a must read for anyone who loves an eerie ghost story with a romantic twist. Also, drop by Jennifer's blog for a glimpse at her personal writer's journey along with some great writing tips.

Hope you all have a wonderful and productive Monday!

Whose line is it? *CONTEST*

This contest is now closed. Please check back on Monday, April 11th, when I'll announce the winner!

Before I explain my title, I'd like to announce that on Friday Kristine Carlson Asselin will be my successful QueryTracker guest. She has some interesting insights on how QueryTracker provided interaction with an agent who helped make her book "representation ready" for a completely different agent. Please stop by and give her your support!

Next, I 've been itching to have a contest. I want to do something unique that will support the launch of my crit pal Jennifer Archer's debut YA from Harper Collins (released yesterday).

So, I came up with the Whose line is it? game.

The Rules:

I'm going to spotlight sentences from three of my favorite classic novels. The twist is, I'm padding them in a paragraph with my own words. If you can find the three sentences that aren't mine and match them with their book titles (I'm providing a list below), your name goes in a drawing to win a personalized autographed copy of Through Her Eyes. And for the record, the story and writing are every bit as lovely and haunting as the cover (read an excerpt by clicking on book).

Here's my paragraph.

Morning light coaxes me awake. I crawl out of bed and stretch, arms spreading to the ceiling. My legs and ankles pop and snap. Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! My pet lizard watches from his terrarium, unimpressed. If only I could've been his maker. Even better, if I'd made the world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source: many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. I shudder, remembering the dream I had last night. I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room ... the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. Fears of waking to a world where my existence was of little consequence. The same world wherein I now stand.

Whew. It's not easy trying to tie three very different voices together in a paragraph. *mops brow with hanky*

Okay, here are the title choices:

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I'll run the contest through Thursday. If no one guesses the answers, then I'll draw names from those who leave a comment of any kind (even if you're just saying "hi") and the name I draw will win the book.

I'll announce the winner on Monday (April 11).

If you're game, copy and paste your sentence choices along with the matching titles in your comment.

Good luck!

And do remember, Google is your friend...

Why I left my first agent (or did she leave me?)...

If you'd like to know the answer to that teaser, I'm dishing the dirt (more like picking off lint balls) in a guest post over at Mindy McGinnis's blog, Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire.

Also, I'd like to announce two FABULOUS contests in the works. And no, neither of them are mine, but I hope to have one going soon...

Hmm, another teaser. Heh.

Contest one:

My crit pal, the lovely Jennifer Archer, wants to give you a brand new FREE Kindle, iPod Shuffle, leather bound journal, or an autographed copy of her ghostly YA novel...



Simply click the beautiful and mysterious book cover for details. ;-)

Contest two:

One of my new blogger acquaintances, Carolina Valdez Miller, has just signed with agent Vickie Motter. Her crit partners are generously sponsoring a contest with gifts ranging from: a $25 Amazon Gift Card, a 1st page critique from the afore mentioned agent, a Kindle and signed hardbacks of recent and popular books.



Click the champagne bottle for details.

Good luck to all who choose to participate!

And don't forget to drop by Mindy's blog for my guest post!