WINNERS, WINNERS, WINNERS of our 2nd blogfest!!

Remember that thing we did last Thursday? Where christy and 30-some other coffee-mug-lovers posted pictures of their mugs and let us take a glimpse into part of their lives (kitchens, dusty windowsills, countertops, and all)?? You remember? Good.

Now, do you remember there were PRIZES?? Here's how it went:

• a really super cool coffee mug that gets along well with others - we swear! (sent to a US address) OR amazon gift card at the same price (sent wherever you are around the world)
• TWO PRIZES (same options) if we have more than 30 participants. 

Okay, so, as you know, there were two prizes awarded. There was only one fair way to do it. I took the first column in the linky pn our sidebar (through #20) and christy took the rest. I picked the one that appealed to me the most and christy picked her favorite. Okay, that might not be the only fair way. But it's how we did it and we're the boss(es). So there ya' have it. Just remember that we appreciate you all and are so happy that you were happy with the blogfest idea. That makes you all winners (we have to say that, we're teachers).

erica's winner is (dum da da dum): Donea Lee

with honorable mention to Madeleine for the doll mug a friend made for her

christy's winner is (dum da da dum): Lindsey Brooks
with honorable mention to Jen Daiker for her apple mugs

What? You're not either Donea or Lindsey?? That's okay - you can still win a fabulous prize!!! Just click over there (points to the right. yes, your right) on the 150 button - we're giving away either the Hunger Games trilogy or the first 3 books of the Gone series (or a prize to be discussed if you already have both) as a thank-you for helping us reach 150!! Just be a follower and comment on that post and I'll pick a winner AT THE SAME TIME the Packers are handed the Vince Lombardi trophy. That's right, I said it. The Packers will win the Superbowl.



It's coming home, baby

(We aren't posting a recipe today because our weekend post will cover EVERYTHING you need to host the ultimate Packer Superbowl party. This is gonna' be a fun week!!)

The 99th Page blogfest

You know us, we always like to be fashionably late to a party. . .okay, maybe not, but better late than never, right (since we didn't hear about this until today and then had to get home from work to post).

BUT here it is. . .the 99th page blogfest hosted by Holly Dodson and friends. Click on her name to find out more and to follow the other bloghop participants. Basically, it's super easy-peasy and you know how we like that (click here to see our own easy blogfest from yesterday!)!!

Here's page 99 of erica's ABNA entry, A New Day.

After I got my clean bill of health, a police officer came in and joined the doctor to recreate the accident for me. I sat on the side of the bed and listened quietly. The news was bad, but not as bad as I had feared and I tried not to cry.

"She should be out of surgery by midnight," the doctor said. He must have decided I could handle more details since he continued on. "The plastic surgeon put fifty-seven stitches in her forehead and around the left cheekbone, so she's going to look bruised and swollen until they come out. Medically speaking, though, her arm is the biggest challenge for the surgical team. It's broken here and here," he said, pointing to his own wrist and arm, "so they have to be careful while they stabilize and set it. Two ribs are broken, but they look like clean breaks and her lungs weren't punctured. Her left hip was dislocated, but we've already reset it without further damage. I won't go as far to say that she's lucky, but I think we all know it could have been a lot worse."

"Can I stay with her?" I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"That's up to your grandparents, at least as long as your mom is unconscious. We won't be allowing her to wake up while we monitor her for swelling, so my suggestion is for all of you to get some sleep tonight. We'll keep this room open for you if you want to stay here."

"What do you want to do?" Grandma asked me.

"I'll stay here. Can someone get me before she wakes up so I can be there?" I asked, leaning against the pillow, exhausted again.

"Yes, absolutely," the doctor said to me before turning to talk to my grandparents. "We'll call you to come back ahead of time if you plan on going home. She won't get to the recovery room for another hour or so."

What do you think? Would you read on?

erica and christy's 2nd BLOGFEST: Simply Hot Mug Shots!

we're proud to host our second blogfest.  thanks so much to those of you who were able to participate today!  we're excited to hop around and see your mug shots.  we've got TWO prizes for our participants!  we'll announce the winner as soon as we finish visiting you all.  (for those of you with as bad of a memory as us, the prizes are:  one mug OR one amazon gift card.  each winner can pick whichever they'd like!)

we've been busy prepping our writing for abna, so if we've been absent as commenters on your blogs lately forgive us.  we'll be back! 

please check out the linky to the right to visit the other mugs.  feel free to sign up today.  we're always last minute in nearly everything we do.  heck, post your mug tomorrow or the day after.  just let us know and we'll swing by! 

we fill our mugs with coffee.  occasionally hot chocolate.  but almost always coffee. 

black.  no sugar. no cream.  mmmmmm.

christy's #1 pick

in door county, wisconsin there is an outdoor theater that i've gone to each summer since i was little

when i met my husband, it became our annual "date night"

each june we leave our boys with my parents, dress up, eat dinner out and enjoy a play at this historic theater

(click this link to visit it online)

christy's #2 and #3 choices

(actually, i have a mug from vegas that should be included in this photo,

but, well, you get the idea.  i'm indecisive.)

  i took ballet for about ten years.  i still dream about it and miss my class. 

 the mug was a gift from a college roommate. 

the colorado mug is from a family vacation we took to estes park. i  love the color and the shape.  (if you were around for the "hook review" post i did a while back, you'll see that i choose books with covers that are this color.)

see?  that's it.  simple. 

happy HOT (coffee) thursday!

How high are your stakes? (Don't Forget to Post Your MUG Shot TOMORROW! blogfest reminder!)

Pitching your novel can be a biotch as Michael at In Time stated in his post yesterday.  A few of us in Blogland recently pitched (or might/will pitch in the near future ...) our sparkling manuscripts to the judges for ABNA.  What joyous fun!?!

I (christy) sent out a few emails asking, What in the H, exactly, is a pitch?  One sentence? (nope.  That's a logline.)  ABNA allows 300 words for us to pitch our glowing novels with.  Okay...what do I need to write with those 300 (or fewer) words? 

What, exactly should your pitch include?  It's a lot like a query.  Minus a few details.  Mostly you need these elements:  MC, setting, hook, major plot points, complication, and high stakes.  Right?

Sooo....um, High Stakes?  Basically:  If_______________, then ______________________. 

This is where I struggle in my query/pitch.  I'm always a bit too vague.  I'll show you some lousy examples.  Lousy, but still in tact in my pitch. 

If Dawn gets caught, the fiery figure will sever the cord between their dimensions, and both worlds will be altered beyond repair.

(okay, so that was an If...and....sentence)

OR

If Dawn can somehow clear her name and share what she learns about the past of the dimensions, she just might save the worlds.

(okay, so that was an If...(comma)...sentence)

reglardless of my own poor examples that don't even follow the "rules" i shared, TODAY WE WANT YOU TO SHARE YOUR HIGH STAKES WITH US IN ONE IF...THEN...SENTENCE!  comments, please!!!!!! 

why... you ask? we can help!  we can lather with praise!  we won't award prizes for your high stakes though. we're saving those for our blogfest (TOMORROW!) and our 150 followers contest (ends 2/6/11)!!!  are YOU in?!????

Slowly but surely, a Twofer Tuesday post (and way huge prizes)

We are very thankful. You guys know that - heck, we can't stop talking about it. We're teachers with students who put their faith in us every day. Moms with kids who adore us. Wives with husbands who, um, yep, we just checked - love us dearly. Bloggers with, yep, we just checked, 140 followers. And we recently got another blog award. Thanks, Nicki (follow her. she's uber-80s-cool)!!

whoa, christy, did you see that? I copy and pasted all by myself!!

Um, we can't remember what the Stylish blogger Award entails. But since I (erica) haven't revealed 7 odd things about myself yet, let's have at'er. (stick with us until the end, or, if you can't, skip down. You'll want to. huge prizes, baby.).

1. When I received this award, I was wearing pajama pants and an Old Navy fleece. No, they did not match. Stylish, eh?

2. I gave birth to my 2nd son 1 hour and 50 min. after my first contraction.

3. I live 40 minutes from the nearest hospital.

4. My 2nd son appeared at 1:36 am.

5. My 2nd son (okay, fine, his name is Jacob) was delivered by an OB wearing only Care Bear jammies and socks (and gloves, of course). (yes, I wanted to name him Good Luck Bear, but kept that to myself until now)

6. My future-husband only met me once before he sacrificed Superbowl Sunday to take me on a first date.

7. We've been together for 16 years, this Superbowl (played by the Packers, if you haven't heard, hehe). (anyone else notice I put these in backwards order? oh well.)

HERE'S WHERE IT GETS GOOD

So, last week we mentioned that we lost followers. No idea why. We hope the count's all wonky, like our friend Su said, but anyway...

We're at 140 followers. We're excited. There's something about teaching that makes us want EVERYONE IN THE WORLD to like us. And sure, we know some people are horrible. Some people are not worthy of our followership (is that a word?). So don't follow us if you are -

-or-



-or-

Other than that, we love you and want you to love us. And feel free to share us with others. In fact, do it for prizes. Good ones. We're hoping for 150 followers.

150

That's a big number for us. We're so, so, so happy with our followers, but we also want new ones. Followers who tell us what they want to hear about from us. Followers who we can follow who tell us what we want to know (okay, I'm a bit dizzy now).

We are in love with 150. Please, spread the word. We want 150. And if you're one of our favorite 150 people in the world (or, er, a follower), you win some awesome prizes. Really.

SO: You have your choice: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (all 3) or The Gone Series by Michael Grant (the 3 that are out).

BUT YOU NEED TO COMMENT HERE BY 2/6/11

AND WE NEED 150 BY THEN, TOO.

So, if you comment, you get an entry. If you advertise, we hit 150. And you can't win unless we hit 150. It's simple. Tell us you want to win. Tell others that they want to win. Then someone wins. It's up to you. No 150, no prize (we're actually not that mean, but if we hit 2/6 and don't hit 150, the prize won't be as good, we assure you) (it might be our manuscripts, due for a critique by you, you never know, hehe). (already own both series? really? let us know and we'll work something out.)

And for all that's wonderful in this world, join our blogfest. It's easy. It's wonderful. IT'S HOT!!!

linky's on the right. one more entry and more prizes there, too! we love our friends!!