Random Stuff Friday with A Couple Winners Too!

1) I'm not sure if you're here to read my randomness or if you're really here because you entered a little contest Debbie CranberryFries and I kicked off a couple weeks ago. I seem to remember it included something like some cinnamon bears . . . and, oh yeah, A SIGNED ARC of the fabulous Brodi Ashton's EVERNEATH! Plus a second prize pack filled with all sorts of Everneathy goodies. So if you're name is LESLI LYTLE, come on, up! You're the next contestant on the Price is Right - oh, wait. Well, Lesli, you're our big ARC winner!! We'll be getting in touch with you for your shipping info. And because one winner is never enough, ALICIA GREGOIRE, you're the very lucky winner of some Everneathy stuff. We'd show you what's in there, but then we'd have to let Hades have you. We'll be contacting each of you for details! Congrats!!

2) In other, more random, stuff . . . a couple weeks ago I blogged about my nephew J3 (cousin's youngest son) saying that Reading is Boring. Blasphemy, right? I thought so too. Well, the other day my other nephew, J2 (J3's older brother), was sitting around in my parents' backyard with us, looking at some little American flags that came off my daughters' bikes. (They were decorated for a kiddie 4th of July parade we did for our family picnic.) Here's the conversation --

J2: Hey.
Me: What?
J2: America only has 50 states?Me: OMG, you're not seriously asking me this.
J2: I thought there was 55.
Me: How old are you again?
J2: 16.
Me: And you're really asking me this question?
J2: Really, I thought there was 55. Or maybe 48.
Me: *looks away, ducking head down*
My sister: Yeah, now you know why he failed 9th grade.

I still don't know what to say about this conversation, so instead, I'll leave you with this cute picture:Yes, those are the flags I mentioned above . . .

3) Did I tell you about this awesometastic new blog that I'm lucky enough to be a part of? It's over at Pots 'n Pens where you can meet some fabulous writers and get some tasty recipes! You can read all about writers and food and writers writing about food and did I mention the food? Yeah. Trust me, that's enough to get me anywhere most days :) and if you're interested in seeing where this all started, you can go check out Sarah Bromley's blog about how Pots 'n Pens was born!

4) At the day job, things are a-changin' . . . and as Bossman likes to say, "with all changes come opportunities." That's a code for us who have worked for him over the years. When he says, "I have an opportunity for you . . ." what that really means is . . . Guess what? There's more stuff we gotta get done and have I got "an opportunity for you." I'm in the midst of LOTS and LOTS of opportunities. Things that I'd avoided learning or even touching with a 10-ft pole in my near 6 years here, yeah, they're in my lap now. *sigh* . . . opportunities, man. They are EVERYWHERE! So needless to say, things overall have been CRAZY busy!

5) Two weeks ago today we were headed up to Rockport Reservoir (just up past Park City, UT) for some camping. On the way there, I got a phone call from my sister asking me "What is a good name for a boy dog?"

This is what, er, who she came home with on that fateful Friday:

Don't let the adorableness fool you. Inside, he's wolf, all the way. Even if he's only 15 lbs and a foot tall right now. Lol!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Fireworks and Real Days Off

I realized earlier that I hadn't blogged yet this week. I even tweeted it. But still no blog topic that came to mind. So I figured, I'd blog about not blogging.

On Monday, I was going to be all cheesy and put up this quote:

"You gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July"

- Katy Perry, Firework

But then ... I didn't. No reason. I just seem to be less onliney when I have real days off, it seems. By "real" I mean, days when I don't head into day job, days where I am not running through airport terminals to catch a flight here or there.

Just a real day off to be me, hanging with the family, being mom and wife and reluctant dog owner, wannabe gardener and sometimes-the-food-is-edible cook.

So maybe I was just owning the few days off I had, even if I've got a few more coming (in just 12 more days!! woohoo!!).

Hope everyone had a great time this past weekend, that things were chill and relaxed and you got to spend some time just hanging out.

Random Stuff Friday and #everneathARC Contest Extension!

1) I was in San Jose for day job earlier this week and had a chance to come back on an earlier flight. It turned out to be the absolutely worst flight I've ever been on since I started traveling with day job. Turbulence from takeoff to landing - like the takeoff and landing were the smoothest parts of the whole flight! Makes me dread the next flight I've got to get on in a couple weeks. :(

2) So I know I've been a bit EVERNEATHy this past week, but come on! Have you seen the cover of Brodi Ashton's book? How could you not gasp at the beauty of this thing? Plus! How could you NOT want your very own??? Last night was supposed to be the end of the #everneathARC contest, BUT due to popular demand, the continued influx of entries, Debbie CranberryFries and I decided to EXTEND the contest another few days! So NOW you have until Tuesday, July 5 at 5pm Mountain time to get your Tweet on! Go check out the deets HERE or HERE! And remember, if you don't win the #everneathARC, you could still get lucky and win yourself a whole load of EVERNEATHy goodies! GOOD LUCK! ( And big ol' fat thanks to Brodi for being such an awesome author support of the contest!)

3) It's the beginning of Independence Day weekend. I'm off work early today and then don't have to come back until next WEDNESDAY! Woohoo! Our big plans this week: the kidlets are going to be in a parade, big family barbecue and fireworks! Always a fun time. Good food, friends and family, and fireworks. That's what it's all about!

4) Also, if you all will remember my twitpic from earlier this week:
after 5 days of untangling on/off, I swear I'm making progress:I know, I could totally go buy another $2.99 thingy of yarn, but I'm finding this whole untangling thing a bit cathartic ... good thing I told Husband he wouldn't have a scarf until ice fishing season in January, so I've got some time to finish untangling!

5) Don't know about the rest of y'all, but I've got a 4 and a 1/2 day weekend this weekend :) Off mid-day today and not back in the day job until Wednesday! So don't forget to get all EVERNEATHy and enter the deadline-extended contest ... be safe on the roads / with the fireworks / working the grill ... and don't forget to have an absolutely awesometastical weekend!

Quote of the Week

"Let's meet at that one place by that tree where we went that one time."

Jack
-EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton (January 2012, Balzar & Bray)

What was that? What am I talking about? Oh, you haven't read part 2 of the exclusive Brodi Ashton interview to know why that's this week's quote. Well, what are you waiting for? You even still have a chance to win an ARC of Brodi's debut novel, EVERNEATH!! Click HERE for the details on how you can still enter to win!

EXCLUSIVE Interview & #everneathARC

UPDATE: The #everneathARC Contest has been EXTENDED! For your chance to win, keep reading, but know that you now have until 5pm on Tuesday, July 5th to get your tweet on!

A few weeks ago, I had a Twitter conversation with a friend that basically ended up with me landing an awesome opportunity to FINALLY be one of the cool peeps to get an EXCLUSIVE! I mean, come on, who doesn't want one of those, right? And what did I get? Well, according to Michael of HarperCollins, I got the ever-amusing Brodi Ashton! Well, an EXCLUSIVE interview with Brodi, I mean. Along with Debbie over at CranberryFries, we were able to get some insights into Brodi's life, writing and the world of her debut novel EVERNEATH (coming January, 2012).

Ah, yes. EVERNEATH. What is it, you ask? Well, here's the lowdown:

EVERNEATH is partially based on the Greek myth of Persephone: 17-year-old Nikki's been banished to the underworld escapes to return to her former earthly existence with her family and boyfriend. The catch is that she only has six months in this real world before being sent back to Hades, this time forever.

Now if that doesn't sound like you need to CLICK HERE to go add it to your GoodReads, I don't know what does!

You're probably now at the stage where you're wondering, okay, so who is this Brodi character, anyway? Well, she, like about 2.7 million other people (give or take a 100,000) lives in Utah. She's married with two young boys who still have no idea why she's at the computer all the time. Brodi has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Utah and a Master's degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. Several times a week, you can catch up with her and her amusing antics on her blog HERE. And sometimes, if she's not around, her hilarious husband covers for her and it's worth keeping up with the blog just to read his posts sometimes!

And now on to the EXCLUSIVE! part 2. (You can find EXCLUSIVE! part 1 at CranberryFries!)

Me: So Brodi, can you share your favorite one-liner from Everneath?

Brodi: I love it when Jack says to Nikki, "Let's meet at that one place by that tree where we went that one time." And Nikki knows exactly where he's talking about. It really shows how much history they have together and how well they know each other.

Me: What was your first thought when you saw your cover?

Brodi: My first thought was pure joy, and then relief that I wouldn't have to be one of those authors who has to pretend she loves her cover. I absolutely love love love my cover! [Me too!] It's really what I had pictured, only way better because I'm not very creative.

Me: Does thinking about the upcoming signings and other public events make you nervous? Or have you not thought about the groupies and paparazzi who will be stalking you at said events yet? Oh, should I have not brought them up... ?

Brodi: Ha ha ha. For some reason, I have not been worried about paparazzi. Mostly I just hope at least two people turn up to my signings. And then I hope those two people aren't my husband and my mom.

Me: How has working with a "real-life" publishing house editor affected your writing? Do you drink more Diet Coke now than in the era BE (before editor)?

Brodi: I'm lucky enough to have the world's best editor by my side, Kristin Daly Rens. Seriously, I think she was recently voted "Smarted editor on the planet" and was awarded a golden burrito. She taught me (by force, which may or may not have involved a whip) [dare I even ask??] to never stop asking questions about the world in my book, and thus made it a stronger book. And she loves Diet Coke and cinnamon bears as much as I do.

Me: You're working on Everneath 2 right now, what's been the most challenging aspect of writing a sequel?

Brodi: The most challenging aspect has been trying to keep my focus when all this exciting stuff is... I HAVE A COVER! BECCA FITZPATRICK BLURBED MY BOOK! ARC's ARE ON THEIR WAY! ... Sorry... where were we?

Me: What, besides the cinnamon bears and Diet Coke, gets you "in the mood" to throwdown some major wordage and get the creative juices flowing?

Brodi: My friend and critique partner Bree Despain and I have been holding "Word Wars" on twitter where we write for an hour straight and then report back our word counts. It's all about getting as many words as you can, so it allows you to write crap, which is the first step toward writing awesome. Any writers can join in!

Me: And finally, with your books having Greek mythology in the roots, if you suddenly discovered you were a Goddess, what's the first thing you'd do?

Brodi: Easy. I'd cure cancer.
That's kind of boring, though, so how about I'd cure cancer, and I'd also give me the power of having acid for blood. So if someone picked a fight, and made me bleed, they'd be sorry.

Thanks so much for your great answers and giving us some insight into the book as well as you and your writing! So basically what it comes down to is, Don’t mess with the Diet Coke & Cinnamon Bears powered Goddess Brodi, or else you’re gonna be in big, BIG trouble!!

But WE are not in trouble and I know you’re DYING for this next part! … but before we begin, let’s check --

Do you have a Twitter account? Good.

No? Better get one asap or else you're gonna miss a chance to win your very own Brodi Ashton-signed and donated ARC of EVERNEATH! Here's all you've gotta do:

Go get the first half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet" from CRANBERRYFRIES’ #everneathARC post HERE

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Okay, got it? We’re back now? All right.

Add that to this second half of the "OFFICIAL Brodi-approved #everneathARC tweet":

I want the #everneathARC NOW!!! (deets: http://bit.ly/fLhG0)

Now, put them together and go TWEET IT!!

Easy-peasy right? Of course it is!

Now, if you want some extra chances to win ... there's a few things you can do, and NO, you do NOT have to keep track of your points or come back to us with an email or anything like that. If you just do any of the following things, we'll take care of all the math, counting and adding and stuff for you!

+1 following either of our blogs (+2 if you follow both) - new and old followers, same number of points.

+1 commenting on either of our #everneathARC blog posts (+2 if you comment on both)

and the big one ...once the cover is revealed and available on the PageTurners blog you can get

+5 for changing your Twitter avatar over to the EVERNEATH cover and leaving it up for the next week! (we'll be spot checking - no work necessary from you other than the switch over)

And don't think the ARC is all we've got up for grabs! If that's not enough for you, there's an awesome second prize surprise basket containing oodles of EVERNEATH-y goodies! You won't be disappointed!

This contest is open to all US residents only (sorry international peeps) through Thursday, June 30 and we'll be announcing the winners on our blogs Friday, July 1.

UPDATE: The #everneathARC Contest has been EXTENDED! For your chance to win, keep reading, but know that you now have until 5pm on Tuesday, July 5th to get your tweet on!

And now that you’ve finally reached the end of this forever long blog post – hey, my name is Windy, I can’t help that I’m a bit long-winded, okay? – Click on over to the PAGETURNERS Blog for the big reveal of EVERNEATH’s breathtaking cover! You won’t want to miss it!!

Random Stuff Fri--er, Thursday

1) I know, today isn't Friday, BUT you'll still want to come back tomorrow as the lovely Debbie -i.e. CranberryFries - and I have the fabulous opportunity to offer to you ... the very FIRST Arc contest for Brodi Ashton's EVERNEATH! Along with exclusive interviews with the Bro-meister, this contest runs alongside the cover reveal for EVERNEATH that will be hosted on the PageTurners blog! So I'll see you back here tomorrow, right? Right!

2)In other randomness, I confess, I forgot to blog last Friday and by the time I got around to realizing it, well, I couldn't remember all of the week's random stuff and I was distracted by life-ish things and just didn't get to it. I'm doing better this week, because, well, as I write this, it has just become Wednesday, which means, I'm trying to keep track of the random stuff that's going on. Yay for me! I know, this is weird to those who know me and know I'm a bit of an overplanner and a little Type A. But there you have it.

3) I've been saying I've wanted to learn to knit and crochet forever. I've taught myself how to do needlepoint pretty decently, and, well, that's about it. Unless you count coloring in the lines to be really crafty. But anyway, so my sister learned how, with some help from Mom and Dad. So then she tried to teach me. Apparently I was pupil # 3 to try to learn. I didn't do half bad, but pupil #4, well, just the fact there was a pupil #4 was surprising. So there I am, sitting on my parents' couch with my almost 20yo sister AND 18yo brother learning how to knit. In his words: It takes a REAL man to be willing to learn how, even if I never do it again. Which is true, to that. Because, yanno, my dad totally knows how to knit.

4) A conversation between Husband and 3yo after family dog (a 1 1/2 yo boxer) spastically ran through the house and knocked a bunch of stuff over while we were trying to organize food list for upcoming camping trip --
Husband: maybe we'll just eat Kentucky Fried Dog (yes, I know it sounds gross, just go with it)
3yo: Do you mean Lucy?
Husband: Yes. She's crazy.
3yo: We can't eat Lucy.
Husband: Why not?
3yo: She's a person too.
It was a little bit "aw, cute" and a little bit "how does this kid put this logic together??"

5) And since I started with bookish, EVERNEATH-y stuff, I thought I'd end with some bookish, EVERNEATH-y stuff: LAST CALL for UTAH Book Bloggers!!! If you're interested in the Locals Arc Tour please email me at windy.aphayrath (at) gmail.com by 5pm Mountain time on Friday, June 24!! .... For those of you who have already emailed / signed up way back when the first call went out - I've got you on my list and I've already contacted those of you who I needed additional information from. I will be emailing everyone over the weekend with more information!