Pay it Forward Blogfest!!!! (not forgotten...just a little late!!)

Hi my fave bloggers/followers/friends ~

First of all I want to thank Matthew Macnish over at The QQQE for his tactful, round-a-bout reminder that I signed up for this blogfest ~ :)  (doh!)  I haven't been on track all week... (sorry if you stopped by for Writerly Wednesday or Find the Story Friday and found nothing...)  #Doneafail.

But, better late than never, right?  And I certainly don't want to miss the chance to Pay It Forward to some wonderful bloggers I know.

#1 - Alex J. Cavanaugh (who's also co-hosting this blogfest, of course!!)  He's seriously one of the nicest, pay-it-forward-est, sci-fi awesome, movie buffs and bloggers out there.  If you don't know Alex, go visit him.  NOW!  (pretty please?)

#2 - Michael Di Gesu of In Time...  another super nice guy/blogger.  Michael always seems to have just the right words I need to hear (read) when I need to hear (read) them.  Plus, he's a kick-a designer and illustrator.  Again - if you don't know Michael, VISIT!!!

#3 - Shannon Whitney Messenger.  This gal REALLY knows how to pay it forward.  She's always passing on her precious arcs, her knowledge, and sharing her wonderfully fun and funny personality.  I get a kick out of every single one of her posts.  You should visit her blog.  Today is good.  :)  Like, now.  I'll wait...

You're back?  Ok - I think I only needed to list 3.  I could list MANY more!  This blogger community is pretty darned awesome.  If anyone ever wants to organize a face-to-face blogger meet-and-greet one of these days, I would seriously consider coming!  (oh, you know I'd love to meet any one of you in person!)

I wanted to pay-it-forward to one more person, though.  That's my cousin, Amy Richardson.  She's new to this whole blogging thing - and I'm hoping if I can drive followers/readers her way, she'll keep at it.  She should.  She's a great writer/person with some wonderful ideas and talent to offer.  (LOVE you, cous!)

Please know that I think all of my blogger friends ROCK!  And if you'd like to discover even more great blogs and read more pay-it-forward blog tributes, make sure you click above on Matthew's or Alex's links for the full list of blog participants.

And I hope you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Find the Story Friday ~ I know what I did last Summer...

:)  Today, Michael at In Time... is hosting the "What I did on My Summer Vacation Blogfest"!!!!

Click here to see ALL the participants!!!

Well, those of you who've been around for a few of my recent Find the Story Friday posts will already know about my trip to Canada.  Yep - that was the family vacation this year.  And I'll have to admit...I sort of make a bee-line for the local cuisine when I go on vacation:



Poutine!!!

  

Ok...not exactly "local" but the schnitzel was divine!!


 

Sweets are a must...it's inevitable


And you simply can't go into the National Parks of Canada and not see some of the local wildlife:



Ahhh, look at all the babies!!!! :)



 And if you're ever in Banff...you ABSOLUTELY MUST GO to the Banff Springs (haunted) Hotel!  So cool:

My niece (left) and daughter (right) - gorgeous girls!!

And, of course, the scenery all around is just absolutely gorgeous:

The mysterious Hoo Doos...

Brrrrrrr....

I usually throw a few more little trips into my summer plans - hit a few farmer's markets, festivals, there's the 4th of July with friends and family, etc.  There's always something!!  And I try to go somewhere different, some place I've never been before, each and every year.  Southern food is calling my name lately...does anyone know of a nice place to stay down South???

What did you do on your summer vacation?

Happy Friday, all!

Writerly Wednesday ~ Blogfest, Contest and a Question!!

Welcome to Writerly Wednesday, Friends!!

So - I'm short and sweet today.  Or, well...my blog post will be.  (although, I am admittedly short...5' 3 1/2"...*sigh*)

My good bloggy friend, Michael, of the In Time...blog is having a blogfest on Friday, Sept. 23rd:

You should TOTALLY sign up for this!!  What's better than summer vacation pics and LOTS of them???  :)  You can read all about it by clicking HERE.

And now for some contest news ~ this one just sounds amazingly awesome!!  Miss Snark's First Victim blog is gearing up for the 2nd Annual Baker's Dozen Agent Auction!!  If your logline is picked - you could have agents warring over who gets to read and possibly represent your book!!  BIDDING WARS, my friends.  And all logged on-line for the world to see.  It's open to Adult and MG/YA submissions - so if you've got a pretty polished novel - I'd do a quick spit-shine and hustle on over to MSFV's site STAT!

And finally, a question.  Does this font make my prose look big?  :)

Happy Hump Day!

Find the Story Friday!!! TAG!

Happy Friday, all!!  First ~ your pic of the week:

~

~~

~~~

~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~~~~~

~~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~

~~~

~~

~

little snafu with my pic this week - but, I found this worthy one here.

Did you play TAG as a kid?  I remember playing kissing tag in 3rd grade... ;)  One of my first kisses came from a friend who found me huddled and hiding inside a big blue tractor tire on the playground.  I remember it seemed wet and sandy and, let's face it.  A little awkward.  3rd grade boys just don't quite know what to do with their mouths...yet (thank goodness!!).

Which reminds me - I've been TAGGED!!  Michael @ In Time tagged me first.  If you don't know Michael, he's seriously one of the nicest, most supportive, just darn awesome bloggers out there!  Go visit him NOW!  Pretty please?  And if you're in the mood for pics of some lovely beaches, please go visit my second very lovely tagger, Danette over at There's A Place I Dream About.

Ok - so a few questions to answer:

1.  Do you think you're hot?  HAHAHAHA!!  Oh, I'm not sure I can type an answer to this with a straight face...  unless you mean heat hot and then, yes.  Summer is not always my friend...

2.  Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment:  Ok - this if from my work PC: 

3. When was the last time you ate chicken?  Yesterday - chicken and black bean burrito from Taco Time, yummmmmm.

4. The Song/Songs you listened to recently?  I can't seem to get enough of Ke$ha's Blow.  (ok, sorry.  that just sounds wrong...)

5.  What were you thinking while doing this?  Quit lolly-gagging!

6.  Do you have nicknames?  What are they?  The acceptable nicknames are Done (as in condone), my Dad calls me Ea (ee-uh), or when he thinks he's being funny - Flea (flee-uh).  I had an 8th grade PE teacher call me Donut, because she never could pronounce my name.

7.  Tag 8 blogger friends:

I'm sure by now - all of these people have been tagged.  And I hate to pick just 8 - because you're ALL fabulous!!  But, if you don't know any of these wonderful bloggers - I encourage you to visit them:

Jess at Falling Leaflets

Alex J. Cavanaugh

Colene Murphy

Abby Minard

Donna K. Weaver

Kari Marie

Meredith at Fairy Tales and Cappucino

Amy Richardson (a newbie to blogging and my cousin!!)

Who's listed as #1:  Jess!!  She's frawesome!!  If you need a writing tip, or link, or editor blog, or info on anything writerly related - Jess is your gal.  Her links are as amazing as she is!!

Say something about #5:  My sister from another Mister!!  :)  Change one little letter and Donna could be me!!  And she's from UT to boot ~ crazy!

How did you get to know #3:  Colene is a blogging buddy from way back!  (Ok, last fall...but still)  She's easy to get to know, so personable, edgy, tells it like it is and just cool.  Plus we share a secret love for Xena. :)

How about #4:  Abby was one of my very first followers and a fellow BtVS lover!  And also another mother to an awesome only girl.  She's an awesome blogger buddy to have.

Leave a message for #6:  Hey, Kari!  What's up, girl?  I hope someone has told you today that You Rock!

Leave a lovey-dovey message for #2:  Alex, how did you end up there??  Hmm...well, something to do with "frakking" came to mind, but as we're both married...that just seemed inappropriate.  :p  So, I'll go with, "Love long and prosper!"

Do #7 and #8 have similarities?  Meredith and Amy?  They're both kick-a writers who share a dream.  They both know me (to some extent).  They're both seriously talented and awesome!  Three's good, right?

Have a great weekend!!

A Hand of Poker with the Weasley Twins ~

Hi All!  I won't be featuring Writerly Wednesday today.  I hope you'll forgive me?  Instead, I'm participating in a Harry Potter Best Buds Blogfest, hosted by Michael at In Time...   Please check out Michael's blog - he's awesome and an HP Super-fan! - and check out the other entries in this fun event.  The challenge was to create a 350-word flash fic involving you and two HP characters you'd love to hang out with. 

Here's mine:

I dropped the cards to the table when the jack in my hand stabbed his spade-scepter into the tip of my finger. I sucked at the blood that appeared at the point of strike.

“Must we use your Poking Poker Cards?” I asked George.


George ran a hand through his mop of red hair and grinned. His eyes scanned the shelves behind me. “I’m sure I’ve got a pair of gloves around here somewhere.”


“Oh, I saw the hot-hand gloves earlier. No, thanks. I’ll take my chances with the jacks.”


George sucked on his pipe and iridescent bubbles blew high into the air.


“What you got, Bro?” He said to the apparition sitting between us.


Fred waved a misty hand through the cards set in front of him and frowned. “I don’t know why you two insist on dealing me in every time.”


I picked up Fred’s cards. He had three kings. The King of Hearts started making kissy faces at me.


“It’s because you always win, my friend. Even when I know your cards.” I winked at him. “Besides. I like having you here. Seems like old times.”


Fred smiled and touched my hair. It was a cool breeze against my cheek.


“I could always whip you at poker, Donea.” Fred agreed.


Small licks to my palm made me squeal and I slammed Fred’s cards face down.


George laughed so hard, his pipe went flying to the floor. I punched him square in the shoulder.


“Ow. What was that for?”


“You put that snogging spell on the King of Hearts again, didn’t you?”


Fred snickered.


“Well, at least its antics let me keep an eye on the little bugger,” George said.


“Umm, I believe that’s called cheating?”


“Fine. Call.”


We laid our cards face up, turning over the two blind cards we always played with to make things fair for Fred. I had a pair of jacks. George looked pretty smug with his three aces, until he spied the two queens that paired with Fred’s kings.


“Fred wins again,” he said.


I smiled at my dear friends as he waved his hazy hands about in victory.


“As he should.”

 
:)  Happy Wednesday, everyone!