Industry Snapshot: The 21st Century Author

Join part three in the Industry Snapshot 2013 series: The 21st Century Author. This interactive event takes place on Coffee Time Romance's Coffee Thoughts blog. Ten authors discuss today's publishing options and share their experiences with traditional vs Indie publishing. Ask all your publishing related questions this weekend, July 27th and 28th, and hear what some best-selling authors in their fields have to say.

Christmas In July Blog Hop Winners

Congratulations to my blog stop winners! Drawn by rafflecopter were:

Shannon, who won the $15 Amazon Gift Card and

Alina, who won e-copies of Moons' Kiss and Fallout

I had so much fun meeting everyone and hearing your stories of Christmases past. A warm Merry Christmas to everyone who visited and participated. May the wonderful memories you've read about give you ideas for creating future cherished moments for your children, friends and loved ones.

Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog! Escape the heat of summer with snowy thoughts of Christmas in July. Here’s your chance to win gifts, including a $100 or $25 Amazon Gift Card offered by Books To Go Now. That should help with Christmas gift buying! Eligibility requires that visitors comment on this post and include their name and email address. The more blogs you visit and comment upon, the greater your chances to win.

What’s your favorite or most unforgettable Christmas memory? I can’t remember Christmases as an adult without remembering my holiday wedding preparations. One of the things Harold and I thought we’d do was move some of his infrequently used belongings into my attic in advance of the Big Day. That would eliminate one to-do item from a long list of tasks that needed completion and would free us to enjoy our honeymoon afterward without thoughts of things left undone. Right? Well . . . .

Moving went according to plan until I was following Harold across the attic and he got really short really, really fast. “Harold!” I gasped and nearly dropped the box I carried in my haste to reach him.

He straddled a floor beam, one leg hanging down out of sight through a hole in my living room ceiling. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Images of a visit to the emergency room and a groom on crutches flashed through my mind. How had he not noticed where the attic floor ended and raw beams began? Even as we climbed the attic stairs, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind to mention the limited floor space.

It took a moment, but he assured me he was all right. Still shaken, we climbed down the stairs to inspect the living room. The hole in the ceiling was large. Falling plaster had wiped out the Christmas tree.

“What a big footprint you have,” I murmured in awe.

Our eyes locked.

“At least Santa won’t have difficulty getting in to leave presents,” I said.

The prizes:

What’s your most memorable holiday event or gift?

I’m giving away a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card (winner’s choice) to one lucky winner, and gifting electronic copies of my science fiction novel Moons’ Kiss and the futuristic romance Fallout (co-authored with Jon Kohl) to a second lucky winner. Enter via rafflecopter to win one of these fun prizes, and don’t forget to comment on this post (and other participating blogs) for a chance to win one of BTGN’s great prizes. Thanks so much for visiting. And Merry Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Upcoming Events

I'm excited to be participating in Books To Go Now's Christmas in July Blog Hop, taking place July 19th through the 22nd. BTGN is offering a $100 Amazon Gift Card as the top giveaway prize, and a $25 Amazon Gift Card as a second grand prize. I'll be giving away a $15 Gift Card to Barnes & Noble or Amazon (winner's choice) as a top prize, plus electronic copies of the Sci-Fi novel Moons' Kiss by Kimberly K. Comeau and the futuristic romance Fallout, co-authored with Jon Kohl, to a second lucky winner. Return this weekend for full details on how to win.

Equally exciting is the third installment in Industry Snapshot 2013, this one investigating The Twenty-First Century Author. (The first two installments included interviews of The 21st Century Publisher and The 21st Century Agent.) The interactive author event is taking place July 27th and 28th at Coffee Time Romance's blog. Learn what it takes to succeed in today's publishing world and ask questions of the participating authors.