October 31, 2008 – Write From Karen

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! Thanks to everyone who visited and left comments!!

CONGRATULATIONS go to Rachel from The Science of Music!

In the event I can’t reach Rachel before 5:00 p.m. November 3rd, I will contact the second person drawn.

Did you know the Fall round of Bloggy Giveaways has started? And OF COURSE, I must get involved because HELLO?! I love to give things away. 🙂

This go-around, I’m opting to give the following three books away, together and as part of a set:

(I know there are four books in this series, but this way, you can decide if you want to buy the last book or not. 🙂 )

These are brand-new paperback books, (*Added: I just discovered that Eclipse, the third book listed, is only in hardback. So, the first two will be paperbacks, the third will be hardback) wouldn’t these make GREAT Christmas gifts??

Here’s how you can win them:

1. Leave one comment per day, please – each comment counts toward one ticket.

2. Subscribe to my feed. Each feed subscription counts as one ticket. If you already subscribe (thank you!!), then please let me know in your comments and I’ll add another ticket for you.

And that’s it! I’ll tally up the number of tickets for everyone and then run the number through random.org at 5:00 p.m. U.S. central time Friday, October 31st. The winner will be announced on my blog, as well as emailed.

I’m sorry, but this giveaway is only open to U.S. addresses at this time. International shipping just isn’t in the budget right now. 😦

So, what are you waiting for? Leave a comment and have fun browsing the rest of the giveaways! I know I will!!

Life-condensed

Hailed On

October 31, 2008 Karen

Well, that was unpleasant.

I am currently at the public library and I not only ran into some heavy rain, but hail as well.

Rain? I can handle. Hail? Not so much.

I’m driving an ’08 Vibe and the thought of having hail damage freaks me out. Luckily, the library used to be an old lumber yard and they have huge carport structures back behind the building. So, I raced to get under one …

… me and about half a dozen other people.

I can’t really tell at this point if there is any damage, but I’ll be on pins and needles until I know for sure.

In addition, this is Halloween. And there are a TON of little kids dressed up in costume. I’m assuming the library is having some kind of shindig for the children. This also means there are a ton of screaming, yelling, excited children running around.

Swell. At least they are adorable to look at or I might have to get cranky. *grin*

Quick note: I haven’t been to this library in quite a few months. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had added quite a few cubicles, complete with power bars, as well as a few funky tall tables and chairs, next to outlets, I might add. I’m currently sitting in a cubicle, though I wanted to sit at one of the two funky tables.

Only I couldn’t because one table is occupied by a sleeping student and the way the tables are situated, I would be sitting facing the kid and I didn’t want him to think I was staring at him.

Which I would totally be doing if I were sitting at the next table. Not because I’m weird like that, but because I’d be staring and zoning while thinking (I do that) and it could be misconstrued as being stalker-ish.

Another quick note: My mini-Dell is acting squirrely. It keeps toggling from top of page to bottom of page, while I’m typing. Most of the time I don’t notice what’s going on and keep on typing, in the middle of another paragraph because the cursor jumped so I end up spending all of my time undoing the last command and putting the cursor in the correct position. It’s beyond frustrating. It could be a setting, or maybe I’m hitting something by accident, but if we can’t figure it out soon, it may have to go back to the shop.

And there is no way I can use it for NaNoWriMo because I’ll be typing, fast, and I don’t have the time or patience to deal with a bi-polar computer.

It’s a good thing I have my Toshiba laptop to fall back on (and from which I’m typing this now).

In case you’re keeping track, I now have four computers, all to myself.

I’m beyond spoiled.

And yes, I’m embarrassed to tell you that.

Photos

Happy Halloween!!

October 31, 2008October 30, 2008 Karen

(GD was a clown in 1993).

I stumbled on this GREAT link. It’s scary, creepy and it gave me goosebumps when I watched it so I wouldn’t recommend watching it in front of little children. Shoo them out of the room, dim the lights, turn your speakers waaaay up and enjoy. If you get a chance, browse around the rest of the site. There’s quite a few creepy stories to watch and read. Happy Halloween!

Have a GREAT time with your little ones, tonight! We plan on renting a scary movie and/or some scary games!

NaNoWriMo

50,000 Words or Bust!

October 31, 2008October 31, 2008 Karen

This is it, we’re down to the final wire. NaNo starts at midnight tonight. Of course, I won’t be up at that time, but the challenge officially starts. Just to forewarn you now, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have in the coming weeks to update this blog. I still plan on posting pictures and I have nearly half a page of drafts that I’ve written over the months, so there IS material.

Keep an eye on the NaNo gauge in the sidebar. I also plan on posting a cute cartoon that shows my progress, too. If you don’t see it steadily inching upwards over the next few weeks, contact me and ask me why the heck not?? Tease me, torment me, goad me into finishing. You see that nifty NaNo 2008 participant graphic in the right-hand column? I want one that says WINNER. And you can only get one of those IF you submit 50,000 words or more by the end of November.

Do I have any idea what I’m going to write about? Yes, I have a tentative outline that will guide me for the first several chapters, after that, well, I’ll let the characters take control and see where they take me.

I plan on getting up about 5:00 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday this weekend to get my word count in. If I don’t get my writing done before the family wakes up, I’m doomed (I get too distracted and there’s chores and you know, actually paying attention to my family. :D)

As long as the weather cooperates, I plan on hanging out at the MSU library. It only costs $2.25 to park there for three hours and I can pound out 3,000 words in three hours, right? *gulp* If the weather doesn’t cooperate, then I’ll be heading toward our public library (because I won’t have to walk so far to make it indoors).

And if the family is home and won’t leave me alone, there’s always our Cub. Whew! My fingers are tired just THINKING about all of this typing ahead of me.

So, consider this “official” notice – this blog will be sporadic at best in the coming weeks. I’ll try to write a word here and there and let you know how I’m doing but really, the gauge will say it all.

I’m really pushing myself this year. My goal is to actually write 100,000 words. I know. I’m insane. BUT, I’m determined to give it my best effort so we’ll see. That means, I’ll need to write 3,333 words every day in order to make it. I’m thinking that I’ll most likely finish the story before 100,000, but who knows. Wish me luck!

Oh, and did I mention that we’re going camping next weekend? And that the husband, GD and the father-in-law’s birthdays are this month? And of course, there’s Thanksgiving. And the promise of another project to start (which always stresses me out). Then, the regular answering email thing (I get a lot of emails – requests to update websites). OH yeah, this is gonna be a FUN month …

I’m off to mentally prepare for the next 30 days of intense writing.