My New Kindle

HOW MY WRITING'S GOING:
I'm working on the first fifteen pages of my new wip for a local SCBWI Advanced Writers Retreat in April. The first fifteen pages will be critiqued by Viking Children's Books editor Kendra Levin at the retreat. I can't wait to hear what she has to say!

A GIFT:
My hubby got me a Kindle for Valentine's Day. It was quite a surprise - I hadn't even asked for one. I haven't bought any books for it yet because I have such a stack of previously purchased books already waiting for me. I did put my own manuscript on it, though, and it was so cool to read my book on my Kindle! Which brings me to...

A VERY HELPFUL POST: I found this post on agent Vickie Motter's Navigating the Slushpile blog about formatting your manuscript for an e-reader. The changes are so easy to make, and make such a difference on an e-reader. I downloaded both my original manuscript and my manuscript after making the changes, and it was so much easier to read after following Vickie's instructions. If you aren't reading Vickie's blog, you really should! It's packed with practical and easy-to-follow querying advice.

HOW ABOUT YOU:
Are there any extra-super-helpful blogs you'd like to give a shout-out to?

Lotsa Links

HAPPY NEWS:
I recently won a signed arc of May B by Caroline Starr Rose on Terry Lynn Johnson's blog and a copy of Sh*t My Dad Says on Medeia Sharif's blog. I can't wait to get started on both of them!

WHAT I'M READING:
Right now I'm reading TickTock by Dean Koontz. Sometimes I'm just in the mood for horror, and you can't go wrong with Koontz.

HOW MY WRITING'S GOING:
I'm sorry I didn't post last week - I ended up taking an unexpected break to finish up a project. I promised I'd tell you how I did finishing the rough draft of my wip the week before, and I did it. I didn't even have to totally neglect the treadmill - bonus!

AN AWARD:
I was honored to receive the Great Comments Award from Cynthia Chapman Willis. I'm to pass this on to 20 great commenters. I'm so thankful to all who regularly (and even not-so-regularly) visit and comment that I really would love to share this with all of you, but I'll go ahead and follow the rules and just pick 20:

Sharon Mayhew
Jackee Alston
Dezmond
Old Kitty
Talli Roland
Amy Sonnichsen
The Happy Whisk
Brian
D.L. Hammons
Golden Eagle
Kelly Polark
Lenny Lee
Lydia Kang
Sheri Larsen
Stina Lindenblatt
Robyn Campbell
Lynda Young
Theresa Milstein
Medeia Sharif
Joanne DeMaio

HOW ABOUT YOU?
How is your writing going? Have you won any blog contests recently? Any other horror fans out there? If so, who is your favorite horror author?

Tumble For Ya Blogfest

Today I'm participating in the Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest hosted by Nicki Elson, Suze from Analog Breakfast, and M. Pax from Wistful Nebulae.

Do you recognize the guy in the poster? He was the very first love of my life - John Taylor of Duran Duran. Man, I loved him! I mean, look at that poster - it's larger than life size! That, by the way, is my sister standing in front of it, not me. You think I'd put a picture of myself in the 80s on my blog? I'm not that brave!

I never got to see Duran Duran in concert (it's a good thing, I probably would have had a heart attack), but I watched their videos practically round the clock. My BFF and I used to spend hours and hours in front of MTV, back when all they showed were videos. At the top of the hour, they'd show teasers of three videos they were going to show that hour, and Bestie and I would squeal like, well, preteen girls whenever they showed a clip of Duran Duran. That's one of my favorite 80s memories!

So there you have it, I've confessed my 80s crush. Who was yours? And if you weren't the right age to be crushing on celebrities in the 80s, which 80s celeb would you have crushed on?

Be sure to visit the other blogfest participants here.

The Home Stretch

WHAT I'M READING:
I just started Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, and I'm really enjoying it so far. This one has been on my TBR list for a while - I'm so glad it finally made it to the top of the list!

DON'T MISS:
The Tumble 4 Ya Blogfest on Friday! I'll be doing a special Friday post this week, and I can't wait to show off my 80's crush!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:
I WILL finish the first draft of my wip this week, even if it means letting my treadmill collect a little dust. I'm in the home stretch now - time for some marathon writing sessions! Okay, now that I've made my goal public, I have to do it, right? I'll let you know next week how it goes.

HOW ABOUT YOU:
Are you signed up for any blogfests? How's your writing coming?