#Giveaways, movies, music and more: this week's writerly news

A reader's life motto

Howdy! HAPPY NOVEMBER! Real quick before I forget, the #JLBbirthdaybash ends tomorrow, so if you're wanting to increase your chances of winning the Carpe Read 'Em mug and notebooks and such, don't forget to click the giveaway in the sidebar!


Well, after a couple of Fridays off, I'm back! *passes out mugs of steaming hot coffee* Between doing The Princess Bride for the #JLBgivesawayaDVD (it'll be up Monday), the LOOP giveaway, the Goodreads OPEN THY HEART giveaway, the awesome WoWs coming up (did you see Wednesday's???) and other stuff, I'd say November is going to be a great month! :D

And now for the most recent happenings on my end...

1) It's official... I will be having two women's fic books coming out early next year. I'm very excited. They will have a very different look compared to the YA ones, but I'm quite happy with the results, and can't wait to put them up on Goodreads. *does little dance*

One for you, one for me! :D Aren't they
SO PRETTY next to my owl bookends?

2) If you tried to enter the LOOP giveaway and had issues with the free entry, I fixed it. Had something wonky in my setup, but now all's well--you just have to answer a question so that Rafflecopter will let you have the free entry. :)

Yes I did have to do the vinyls photo.
Because. *adds to Christmas list*

3) I'm currently IN LOVE with Sleeping At Last's Yearbook Collection album, and trying to find a way to buy ALL THE SONGS. (The digital album is like $27, that's how many songs there are. But, I mean, really, all of the albums rock. Not just this one.) *stares longingly at vinyls*





4) Mandie, Tabitha, and I are watching Catching Fire in honor of Mockingjay's upcoming release for November's #nerdherdmovienight this Sunday, November 2nd at 6:00 PST. Feel free to watch it along with us on Twitter! 

5) Most recent enjoyable recipe made: these Crispy Smashed Roasted Potatoes. So simple, yet so yum!

6) I'm sure most of you have seen the Insurgent moving 3D posters by now, but I'd love to know what you think. (I haven't read it, so I'm not really affected in that way.) 


Welp, that's about it! :) Have a blessed weekend everyone, and happy November! 

This week's writerly news, my new favorite song, + more

Our poolside friend on Wednesday.

Summer vacation is upon us. For me, that means triple-digit heat (the other day it was 109), my daughters (now officially a freshman, sophomore, and junior in high school) and I using the pool a lot, tons of photo-taking, pool-side reading, more food preparation since everyone's home all day (thank God for fruit in season right now) recovering from 8th grade graduation festivities (while preparing for my youngest' own party next week), and a whole lot of other stuff. 

So... I don't have a lot to share. In fact, my brain is on duh mode, writing-wise, which I'm finding to be very frustrating. I actually thought about whether I should share this or not, but decided that all writers know about times when you seriously want to do anything BUT write, and readers deserve to know it's not all butterflies and happy songs when you write all year long. Honestly, I think my brain just needs a break. Which stinks, because I have things I want to get done, but when you're not feeling it, you're not feeling it.

I've even been missing my fun twitter chats, because it's TOO BUSY ROUND THESE PARTS. (One positive sidenote: I am getting quite tan from the many outdoor festivities. Hoorah!)

Anyway. The lack of posts =  proof of summer life. (I hadn't missed a Waiting on Wednesday for a long time either until this week, so that was weird.) Of course the #JLBgivesawayaDVD of Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken is going, and for those of you waiting on bookmarks, hopefully by the end of next week Hafsah will have had a chance to work on stuff, so I can order them. :)

Since I don't have anything exciting to share from the writerly aspect, here are a few noteworthy things that have recently grabbed my attention:

OVERJOYED by Bastille (acapella) is my new favorite song (I need to be able to buy the version of this NOW). I guarantee you will listen to this one over and over. 

Magic Mountain's Colossus Roller Coaster Closing in August (When I hear the word, Colossus, I always think, whiplash. Curious to see what they replace it with.)

Escape-Artist Horse, "Houdini"  This guy is the cutest.

#30daysofbookstagrams (If you're not following me and would like to, click the Instagram icon at the top right corner of my blog.) Here's June's list (feel free to join in at any time!):

This upcoming Sunday is Father's Day, so for anyone looking for ideas, here are a few ideas I've found to come in handy (remember, you can always change word gifts to Dad or Love or Father, et cetera).

Also, tomorrow night (Saturday), at 9 EST, my #nerdherd pals Mandie and Tabitha and I are watching The Proposal together on Twitter. So... if you want to go see a movie with some pals but don't want to change out of your PJs, feel free to join the convo at #nerdherdmovienight :D I'll bring the chocolate!

And, that's about it. Have a blessed weekend, everybody!