HUZZAHS to Lexcade!!!

HUZZAHS to my dear friend Cate Peace, aka Lexcade, for making it to the quarter-finals in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest!  W00t!!! W00t!!! I'm so happy for her and proud of her!!  I beta-read this a long, long time ago, before it was as awesome as it is now, even, so I can assure you it's worth a read.

Everyone go read the first two chapters of her amazing, soon-to-be-award-winning sci-fi novel, Duality, on Amazon for FREE here:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GEC0OC/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_c-JApb1RP07NW

And don’t forget to “like” it and write a review.

Well, what are you waiting for?  It’s free, and it’s awesome.  Go; go now!  Be a part of ABNA by helping choose the winner!  Yaaaay!!

Blog Award! Yay!

I've been away for a bit due to some gastrointestinal distress.  Sorry about that.

Anyway, I've returned now, weak-stomached but largely intact, and now I have another blog award!  Yaaaaay!!

Much thanks to the lovely & talented Lisa Ann over at Kicked, Cornered, Bitten, and Chased for my shiny new blog award! According to Lisa, "The purpose of this award is to ask bloggers to identify their own blog posts in certain categories."  So. Here we go:

1.  Most Beautiful Post:  Amarantian Palace - my sketch of the Amarantian Palace from my WIP, Eyes of Stone, which is (as you well know) still awaiting judgment from the editors over at Angry Robot Books.

2.  Most Popular Post: Books to Movies I'm Super-Excited About - I guess a lot of people around here read. ;)

3. Most Controversial Post:  Not-So-Great Betas - There seemed to be a lot of mixed feelings about this one.

4. Most Helpful post:  How to Change a Tire - It'll keep you from being raped, murdered, and left in a culvert. You're welcome.

5. Most Surprisingly Successful post:  Dream Log #3 - Second-most hits of all my blog posts. Who knew people were so fascinated with Santa Claus kidnapping people from strip clubs?

6. Post that Didn't get the Attention it Deserved:  Creativity Exercise #8 - I thought it was one of my funnier ones, but apparently Mr. internet didn't agree.

7.  Post I am Most Proud of:  Writing gods - Wasn't sure whether to cap that "gods," but oh well.  This took me many moons to complete, and I'm still adding to it.  All the old writing gods, patron saints, etc., from as many mythologies as I could locate.  I turned them all into jewelry, and I have it on good authority that they bring good luck. :D


And now to pass it on to three other worthy bloggers:

1. Going From Nobody to Somebody

2. Rise of the Slush

3. Mary Ellen's Musings


Huzzahs all around!  I hope to step up the blogging soon; it's just been hard to find the time lately between the new job and the sickness and the school and all. :P 

OoOoO! Another Blog Award!! Yaay!!!

Mucho thanks to Darian Wilk over at Crazy Lady with a Pen for bestowing upon my unworthy person theBlog on Fire Award!

So, hmm...seven things you may not know about me...

1. If I could have any superpower, it would be shape-shifting, because that’s kind of like having all the powers.

2. If I had a genie offer to make me twice as smart but it would make my butt bigger, I’d take the deal. I’m already fat. Maybe if I were smarter, I’d figure out a way to become rich and have my entire backside removed.

3. I hate Ikea furniture.

4. I have an orange tree in my backyard that mysteriously came back from the dead after the week-long ice storm of doom “killed” it last winter.

5. I’m secretly afraid that people will think I’m insane/psychopathic when they read how dark most of my writing is.

6. I have a very low threshold for stupidity. Alsmost as low as my threshold for bad grammar. Almost.

7. I could bore you to tears with my expansive and surprisingly useful knowledge about cables. HDMI, firewire, VGA, SVGA, component...the list goes on and on.

And, last but not least, I pass this award on to seven worthy recipients. Hmm...let me see...

1. The Monster in Your Closet

2. Tara Tyler Talks

3. De's Stories

4. Paranormal Pursuits

5. Writing Cocoon

6. Ink Poisoning

7. Talia Jager

Yay!! :D

Got a Promotion (Sort of)!

Starting October 1st, I'll be the new Binding Supervisor for Collection Development!  It means nothing to you, I know, lol.  Basically I'll be in charge of binding old journals/books etc. into hardcover books, things of that nature.  And I'll have a minion; a student assistant. And no more parking permits or walking 8 blocks in the hail and rain and snow and heat!  HUZZAH!!

So why is this just "sort of" a promotion?  Because there's no more money in it, just the experience.  Although I may have to make some squeaky-wheel-type noises over that.  I'm going from a glorified receptionist position to an actual supervisory one, which has way more responsibility and a much harder/more challenging workload, and I don't know if it's fair for me to still only make a lowly receptionist's salary.  Plus, thanks to the whole "government employee salary disclosure" thing, I know that the woman leaving that position has only been there for 6 months and she makes about $3,000 more a year than I do.  So...yeah.  I'll wait and see how this whole thing pans out, though, before I go making waves and whatnot.  I might acyually get more money, or the job may be very different now than it used to be, etc.  Lately the university has had a tendency to change jobs, supervisors, and offices around willy-nilly. 

Heck, my first 2 weeks at this job I went through 5 different bosses.  They cycled them around like a birthday card.  Two weeks ago they changed it again and I had yet another supervisor, and now I'm leaving myself.  Half the people who worked in this office when I started have been moved to other offices/buildings/departments, and others have come in only to be moved yet again.  Fun on a bun.

Ah, well.  It's a good thing.  I want to get into collection development or technical services anyway.  I like me some books (shocking, right?) and I'm not necessarily what you'd call a "people person."  Books don't ask me stupid questions or threaten to call the police if I don't know where the nearest bicycle rack is located, and they don't call me nasty names when I tell them they have a late fine.  Actually, books never get late fines, because they're inanimate objects.

Ok, I'm rambling now. 

Back to work...

Yay free book!

I won a free copy of Phoenix's new ebook, SECTOR C!!  HUZZAH!!  I love free stuff!  I won it last Friday, but I was busy enjoying the non-brain-melting-temperatures all this holiday weekend, so the post had to wait until today.  I've only read the first few pages so far, but I'm digging it.  And I'm beginning to suspect that I'm a tough sell, because I seem to hate so many books lately. 

Everyone check out SECTOR C here, at Phoenix's Blog.  She's awesome!

Or just buy it HERE!


Also, for those of you who are also stalking the Angry Robot people, there is a new question & answer posted up on formspring with a hand-chewingly Cryptic Answer.  I seriously joined formspring just so I could follow them. 

Happy Tuesday!

A Eureka Moment and A Huzzah!

I've recently discovered that what I read has an impact on how I write. The True Blood books are fun and all, but not necessarily conducive to writing epic fantasy. But give me some Brandon Sanderson or George R. R. Martin and suddenly I know exactly how to describe that fight scene I’ve been struggling with. I’m not talking about stealing their words or anything monstrous like that, of course, but I do find certain books and writing styles…inspirational. When I read books by authors I admire, by writers I strive to emulate, it gets my synapses in line and sets my mind into a more creative pattern. I think.

It’s often hard to articulate what your own writing is missing. You know what I mean. The opening scene is ok, but not great. No matter how long or how hard you glare at that infuriating little cursor, you just can’t figure out what’s wrong with that chapter. Last night I started reading Game of Thrones (which is REALLY GOOD, btw), and I only got five pages into it because I suddenly got all these ideas for my own WIP.   I scrawled four handwritten front-and-back pages of dialogue and scene information into the notebook I keep near my bed for just such occasions, and had to force myself to stop at around 4AM so I could get some sleep. The scene I was writing has nothing to do with the scene I was reading about, but it sent my brain and fingers into a frenzy nonetheless.

I always read for an hour or so before I shut out the lights. I’m starting to think that’s why I get so many ideas while I’m trying to go to sleep.

Well. It seems I’ve found myself a new cure for writer’s block. Just goes to show you how right everyone is when they tell you to keep reading.


And a big, bone-crunching roar of Congratulations to Phoenix, who just published her ebook, SECTOR C!

YAAAAY!!  (Muppet-like flailing of arms in joy inserted here)

 Read all about it on her blog, or just Buy it HERE!!!

It's Been a Great Day!!

Thank you SO MUCH to Deirdra Eden over at A Storybook World  for this awesome blog award!!  The Powerful Woman Writer Award!  How cool is that??  And what beautiful artwork!  Thank you so much for the honor.  I'll wear it proudly.  :D


In addition, I have some news.

I got a partial request.

From...

...wait for it...


...well, I know it's gauche to share specifics, so let's just say it starts with a "J" and ends with "wocky."


Can you say "dream agency?"  I knew you could.

I'm Just! So! EXCITED!!

I'm walking on sunshine, even at 9:50 at night, and I gots to sing about it.


Oh, and for those who also submitted to Angry Robot, Donna did a wrap-up post over at her blog.  Check it out!  Interesting stuff.

Ok, I need to go do schoolwork now.  My speech professor seems to be suffering from a delusion that he's teaching doctorate-level presidential speech-writing, so...yeah.  Busy, busy, busy.  :P

HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!

At the gentle urging of Miss Java from QT & AW, I gave the Angry Robot people a tentative, uber-formal, and grossly apologetic nudge about my full MS submission of Eyes of Stone, since I sent it in on March 2nd and had yet to hear back from them.

Good thing I did, because my reader meant to send it on to the editorial staff some time ago, but her email played a cruel joke on the both of us and it never got sent on. 

Until today!!

Oh, I'm missing the scope of this announcement:

MY NOVEL WAS PASSED UP TO THE EDITORIAL STAFF AT ANGRY ROBOT BOOKS!!!! 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEEEE!!!!!

I almost had to stay home from work from all the joy.  Anyway, my reader (Liz) emailed me to apologize for the wayward communications and she said she LOVED Eyes of Stone.  All caps L-O-V-E-D!!!  Then Lee emailed me to apologize for the frustration and assure me that my MS would be read ASAP.

I don't suck!!  Not even a little!! 

I may pass out!  I'm SO EXCITED!!  I have to use so! Many! Exclamation! Points!!!!

And the Winners are...

It's Monday, and time to announce the winners of my 100th Post Blogiversary Contest!!

I was very scientific in my choosing 3 random winners for this blog contest.  I wrote each entrant's name on a slip of paper, swirled them around in a cup, and drew out three names.  SCIENCE! ;)

The lucky three winners are:

1. Darien Wilk

2.  Jennifer

3.  Ash-Krafton

Congrats!  You've each won a glass tile pendant!  Shoot me an email (to beckahrah @ gmail.com) with your shipping information, and I will email you the templates I have already, but you can request a different one if you like.  I can make any picture, drawing, etc. into a pendant, and since I'm custom-making each of them anyway, it's no trouble to make you whatever you'd like.

Congratulations again, and thanks to everyone who entered! 

Blog award! Yaaay!!

Much thanks to Jennifer over at The Writing Cocoon  for bestowing upon me the Liebster Blog Award!

The goal of the Liebster is to showcase up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The rules:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who bestowed the award on you
2. Reveal your top three picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love
5. Have bloggity-blog fun!

So, in honor of the rules, I hereby pass this blog award on to:

1. Blackbird in my Window

2. Going from Nobody to Somebody

3. Kicked, Cornered, Bitten, and Chased

Congrats to everyone!  Have an awesome rest of the weekend.  

Blog contest winners will be announced on the morrow.

So Many Babies!!

Everyone I know is having/just had babies!  Lol!  Here are a few born within the last month:

This is Zach, born to my husband's childhood best friend's little sister last week.

This is Julian, born to my childhood best friend Arianne about a month or so ago, posing for his parents' directing company (She played Nicholas Cage's daughter in "Drive Angry!"  I know her!  Lol.  Now Everyone go rent "The Other Side of Paradise" at iTunes!! ).

And this is Austin, born exactly 12 hours ago at 12:43 AM to my husband's childhood best friend Nathan, and of course Austin's Mommy, Charissa.  She wanted him for a very, very long time, so I'm very happy for them.

There are a few others, but I couldn't find their pictures.  I also know a few people who are pregnant.  There are little tiny people simply everywhere!

Does that make me want to have one, you ask?   HECK, NO!  

I know, I know, kids are miraculous and beautiful and they give your life purpose and love and joy and joyness.

Blah, blah, blah.  They’re also expensive and inconvenient. 

I can hear my Mom sighing now; she's been collecting toys for her future grandchildren since I was 17 years old.  And yes, it was a mixed message, and I told her so at the time (who tells their 17-year-old, "Don't have sex until you're married, but look at the toys I bought for your kids"?).  It's been 12 years since then, and not a single grandchild in sight.  I'm the oldest and the only one who's married, so her highest hopes rest on me.  Plus I'm not quite so crazy as my brother and sister.  (Don't like that, Paul? Maybe if you emailed your sister every once in awhile I wouldn't insult you quite so much. :P )

No, we have dogs and a goddaughter and furniture and liquor and fancy electronics, and that's just how we like it. 

But congrats to all the new & future Mommies out there anyway!

And this is just for fun, and apparently it's the best way to have 400 babies, were you so inclined:

Oh...and does anyone know why my posts won't show up in Dashboard for like 5 hours?  I've tried changing up the "Post Date & Time" settings, switching internet browsers, and everything else I could think of.  I posted this at 12:45PM, but I'm willing to bet you don't see it in your Dashboard until at least 3, maybe not even then.

ANNOYING.

Anyway, have a great weekend, everybody! 

Got a Scholarship!

My college called me yesterday and said a last-minute scholarship had come available, and they'd like to award it to me if I was interested.

Was I interested?  Heck yeah, I was!  Thank goodness I hadn't already started paying my tuition or bought books yet, because this scholarship will cover all of my tuition, fees, books, and supplies for the next year.  HUZZAH!!!!  Such a relief!!!

All i have to do now is attend the mandatory awards reception.  I think I can handle that.  :)

Blog Award! Huzzah!

Oo!  I've received another blog award!  Thank you to Tara over at Tara Tyler Talks for the honor!

Ok, so 7 things about me...hm...

1. I'm a devout Christian but I have a serious phobia about going to church.

2. Apparently my house is considered the 'party house' in our HOA, thanks to my husband's pool hall & bar in our garage.

3. I am a Christmas fanatic, with a capital J-I-N-G-L-E-B-E-L-L-S.  I have 8 Christmas trees...I think.  I can't remember exactly.  And that's just on the inside.

4. I hate chick lit with a vehemence that borders on the demonic.

5.  I wear T-shirts and jeans everywhere, even to work.  I've often looked for jobs that would allow me to wear t-shirts and jeans.  I hate dresses, make-up, and all other girly paraphenalia; always have, always will.  Except jewelry.  I do LOVE me some jewelry, as long as it's sparkly.  I'm very dragon-ish that way.

6.  I think Kirsten Wiig on Saturday Night Live is too much of a mediocre thing, and she needs to go away.  She's in every sketch, and she's not very funny.  Except for Target Lady.  She can stick around.

7.  If I could have one super power, it would be shape-shifting.

And I have to pass it on to 5 people?  Hm.  Ok, then.  If you've already received this award, well, you're sweeter than you realized, I guess. :)


1.  Bekah Snow (who spells Rebekah correctly, btw)
2. Adventures of the Cautionary Tale
3. The Query Goblin
4. To Win the Lottery of Words
5. The Monster in Your Closet

So the rules for receiving this award are (as I understand them):

1.  Thank the person who gave you the blog award & post a link back to their page on your blog
2.  Post 7 random facts about yourself on your blog
3.  Send the award out to 5 other "Irresistably Sweet" people

Published again!!

Huzzah!!  Just got a short story published!!  Happy dance all around!  It's a horror story entitled, "Awfully Disappointing Either Way."

Check it out here:


The Fringe Magazine


Yay!  So excited!!

(What makes this even nicer is the 3 query rejections right alongside this acceptance email. The writing gods giveth, and the writing gods taketh away...)

OoOoO! Another Blog Award!!

 Infinite thanks to Lexcade for bestowing upon me the

I feel all squishy inside!

As with the Versatile Blogger award, there are rules.

1. Thank and link the person who nominated you (done!)
2. Share seven random facts about yourself (If you've done this one already, list seven of your favorite things)
3. Pass the award on to five buddies
4. Contact the winners to congratulate them.

Ok, so, hmm...who to share this award with?  It seems like everyone's already gotten this one at some point or another (lol), so I'm just going to parcel them out to anyone who I think has an awesome blog and if you've gotten it before, bask in the glory of receiving it yet again! :)

1. Ebysswriter

2. Girls PWN

3. Flights of Fantasy

4. Phoenix Sullivan

5. ReaWrite

Yay, presents!

Ok, so seven of my favorite things...

1.  Book:  The Song in the Silence by Elizabeth Kerner.  Seriously, I love this book.  I have gone through 3 copies of it from all the re-reading.  It's been something like 8 years since she last put a book out and I just found out she's about to release another.  I'm so excited!

2.  Movie:  Children of Men.  If you haven't seen it, you simply must.

3.  Person:  My husband, David.  He cute.

4.  Song:  Apocalypse, Please by Muse.  MUUUUUUSE!!  I love their music!  It's so dark and a little twisted, just like me. ;)

5.  Food:  It's an Armenian dish called "pennerlies."  They're these little puffed dough pockets filled with cheese you can't find anywhere but Wisconsin.  I try to wheedle my Mom into making them for me every year on my birthday.  I can make a lot of Armenian food myself, but I've never attempted pennerlies. I don't have a dining room table or an oklavu (Armenian rolling pin that looks like a broom handle) with which to roll the dough out to the size of an entire dining room table.

6.  Fantastical beast:  Dragons.  OMG, dragons!

7.  TV show:  Dexter!!  Again, it's all creepy and twisted, and I like a touch of insanity in my fantasy world.  Not in my real world, though.  Keep that to yourself. :)


Oh, and to my blog contest award winners...I mailed your pendants out today!!  Sorry they took so long, but the humidity has been abysmal and it took all week for the glue to dry. :(  I'm still a little concerned about them, so if the bubble wrap makes them look all funky in transit, let me know and I'll redo them for you.

:D

My first blog award!

Thank you so much to LisaAnn over at Kicked, Cornered, Bitten and Scratched for endowing upon me the Versatile Blogger award!!

It's my first blog award!  Yaaaay!  How exciting! 

In return, I should like to pass this blog award on to:

1. Adventures of the Cautionary Tale
2. JetInk
3. Mary Ellen's Musings
4. Blackbird in My Window
5. Daniel Kaye


Ok, now on to my seven random facts:

1.  I spent five years frittering away money at Court Reporting school before realizing that I actually can't write at 225 words per minute.  I am enrolled part-time at a REAL school now, mostly because I can't afford the student loan payments.

2.  I am 1/4 Armenian.  I wrote a children's novel about my great grandmother, Serpouhi Boranian, and her family's struggle to flee the Armenian Genocide.  No, it's not published.

3.  I once qualified for MENSA...but only for the language portion.

4.  One of my life mottos is:  "Can I make that cheaper?"  It applies to clothes, jewelry, purses, food, blankets, carpentry, etc.  I do all manner of crafts and other projects.  I have built a shed, sewed elaborate Halloween costumes, crocheted blankets, and more, mostly because I'm too cheap to buy them myself.

5.  I love baking!  I'm told I make some mean cakes & pies.  My personal favorite is the white chocolate respberry amaretto custard.

6.  I trained my dog Punkin how to close kitchen cabinets because I was too lazy to get up and shut them myself.

7.  I am one of the most introverted and shy people you'll never meet.  I'm only witty and charming on paper.


That's it!  Thanks again to LisaAnn for this honor. 


On a personal note, it's been a great month so far!  I was published for the first time, I got 1 partial and 1 full request from two different agents, my mortgage payment finally went down from the back taxes my mortgage company messed up last year, and I'm still waiting to hear back from the Angry Robots, but Osama bin Laden is still dead. 

Huzzah! 

Have a great week, everybody!

I! AM! PUBLISHED!! Blog contest tomorrow to celebrate!

WOO-HOOOOOOO!!

I am officially published! My satirical piece, entitled Motivational Speakers, was selected as the Editor’s Choice piece for the May, 2011 edition of Writer’s Beat Quarterly. Ahh! I’m so excited! Check it out here, or download the .pdf file directly HERE!!

I’m on page 12. Ahh!!

Stay tuned; I’ll be hosting a blog contest tomorrow to celebrate!!  There will be jewelry involved.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!

EXCLAMATION POINTS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Oh; also, Happy Star Wars Day to everyone!  May the Fourth be with you! ;)

Congrats!

A friend of mine made it to the quarter-finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest for his literary/horror novel entitled The Boy Who Wasn't There.  Go, Nik!!!!  Amazon just posted sample chapters for free (and you can get the Kindle app for your phone or PC for free, too!), so check it out, like it, and post a review if you're feeling frisky.

The Boy Who Wasn't There

Download the Kindle App for your PC for FREE here!

Congrats to Phoenix!

Huzzah!! Phoenix's new short story anthology hit amazon today!  Congratulations to everyone who contributed!  I'm sure your book will be a great success.

Phoenix's Announcement on her blog

Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever - Buy it here!!

Repeating myself

For those who don't know, I submitted the first 15,000 words of EYES OF STONE to Angry Robot Books.  Much to my everlasting joy and surprise, less than 24 hours after I submitted it, I got back:

"I have very much enjoyed what I have read of Eyes of Stone and would like to request to read the full manuscript.  Please send the full novel..." 

Had to read it thirty, maybe forty times.  Heck, I've gone back once every couple of hours and re-read it, because Lord knows how familiar the aspiring writer is with rejection.  We all need a little boost every once in awhile.  I still go back and read the partial requests I got from DM and BookEnds, even though one's still out and one was ultimately rejected.  But we gotta take what small victories we can get, am I right?

I'm thinking about posting some of my worldbuilding exercizes on here later on, because 2 of my current 3 followers (kisses to all of you, btw) have read something of my novel already and perhaps they'd be interested in knowing how, exactly, the gargoyles turn to 'not-stone.'  Or what Laryial's principal export is.  Or maybe they won't.  Don't know.  We'll find out!

I'm also working on some character sketches.  I have a good idea of what Tarcos and Sefal look like, because they look kind of like celebrities.  That wasn't intentional.  I flipped on the TV, got my first look at said celebrities and thought, "Holy crap; it's like they posed for it."  I'm not gonna say who for now; maybe I'll get some work done on them and post em up...see if YOU can tell ME.