Check It Out!

Oh, happy day! I won Jackee's 100 Followers Contest over at Winded Words and my prize came today. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm so excited - I can't wait to take a nice long bath with all my new soaps and scrubs and lotions. Thank you, Jackee!

There's so much going on in the blogosphere at the moment, I just can't keep it all to myself!

First off, I hope you all got the chance to check out the entries in Lilah Pierce's Last Lines Blogfest and Charity Bradford's Baking Blogfest on Saturday. I entered the Last Lines Blogfest and enjoyed it so much, I'm going to be signing up for many more in the future. I've added a list of upcoming blogfests to my sidebar. This week, be looking for:
Raquel Byrnes hosting Primal Scream Blogfest on May 5.
Andrew Rosenberg hosting Bad Girl Blogfest on May 7.

Sharon Mayhew has posted her interview with author Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey) over at Random Thoughts. Be sure to check it out and sign up to win an autographed copy of one of Laura's books.

T.J. Carson of T.J. Carson's Writing Endeavor is the proud hostess of The Famous Friday Contest. It's fun and easy to play - just name the noun you'd most like to be, give three reasons why, write a brief paragraph about what you would do if you were this noun for a day, and be creative! T.J. announces the winners of the previous week's contest and begins accepting entries for the coming week on each Friday. She also passes out a stylish Fabulous Friday Winner badge to each week's three winners (you can check it out on my sidebar - that's right, I'm a Famous Friday Hall of Famer!)

Carolina Valdez Miller over at Carol's Prints is hosting the Will Grayson Squared Dance Contest to celebrater her 300 (wow!) followers. Congrats, Carol! Enter by May 25 to win some fanastic book packages.

And lastly, T.J. Carson has tagged me. I must answer the following five questions five times and then tag five people, so here goes:
Question 1: Where were you five years ago?
1. Taking the Institute of Children's Literature Advance Writing Course.
2. Sending my youngest child off to kindergarten (which was not a tear jerker, but an "hallelujah!" moment for me)
3. Several pounds lighter than I am right now. :(
4. Recovering from running my first (and only) marathon.
5. Not reading nearly as much fiction as I do now.

Where would you like to be five years from now?
1. Agented.
2. Published.
3. Several pounds lighter than I am right now. :)
4. Sending my oldest off to college (that probably will be a tear jerker for me.)
5. Contemplating my husband's retirement and a move to somewhere warm.

What is your to-do list today? (this is an easy one since it's sitting right next to me!)
1. Finish wip edits so it can sit for a week before final read-through (done!)
2. Write tomorrow's blog post (in process).
3. Research agents (not done yet).
4. Do bible study for tomorrow's class (not done yet).
5. Run on treadmill (next up).

What five snacks do you enjoy?
1. Fiber One bars (which is a constant source of amusement for my children, but they're really, really yummy!)
2. Yogurt.
3. Peanut m&m's (or any form of chocolate, really).
4. Grapes.
5. Cashews.

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
1. Buy a house on the ocean in California.
2. Buy a house in Hawaii.
3. Buy a house in the mountains in Colorado (that would be my hubby's choice - not mine!)
4. Donate to animal welfare charities all over the place.
5. Put my kids through college with no loans.

And now, I get to tag five of you: (okay, I really can't count - I'm a writer not a mathematician!)
Tag! Sharon Mayhew at Random Thoughts
Tag! Jackee at Winded Words
Tag! Old Kitty at Ten Lives and Second Chances
Tag! Niki at Wool 'n' Nuts
Tag! Theresa Milstein at Substitute Teacher's Saga
Tag! Amy at The Invisible Sister.

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Last Line Blogfest

Lilah Pierce is hosting Last Line Blogfest today (today being Saturday - ignore the time stamp on my post, it's all messed up). This is my entry. It is the end of a chapter taken from my epic fantasy, In the Seventeenth Year. In this scene, Ellis has just learned that her trusted friend Kaden has been working as a spy for the evil King Xavier, and now she's run into him at the outdoor market. Ellis's three sons are on a quest to overthrow Xavier, and their lives are put in danger by Kaden's betrayal.



Ellis's jaw tightened. "He was not watching me. You were watching me for him."

"I must say, I have done my part admirably over the years."

"Did he pay you?" Ellis asked. "Did you sell your soul for gold? Or power?"

"Neither. I have never asked for anything more than retribution, pure and simple. When Xavier visited me the day after my family was murdered, I asked for his help, not the other way around."

Ellis scowled. "Your only motivation is hate. Your heart is even blacker than I imagined."

"Ellis? Is everything all right?" Ellis and Kaden both jumped at the sound of an unexpected voice. Ellis turned to see Bremer watching her, his wide eyes full of concern.

She managed a stilted smile. "Yes, we're fine. Kaden was just saying goodbye."

Bremer eyed Kaden suspiciously, but Kaden ignored him and continued to stare at Ellis. "Yes, we were just saying goodbye. Do take care of yourself, won't you, El?" Limping closer, he wrapped his arm around Ellis and leaned in, putting his mouth against her ear. "Soon you will bury your dead, and then we will be even."