Random Stuff Friday

1) I really need to capture a vid of my kid brother jamming out that horrendous "It's Friday" song, seeing as that's the first thing I thought of when I started this post. Every time I say something about Friday, he busts out in the chorus of that and it's hilarious! Regardless, it IS Friday and I'm so glad. It feels like it has been a long, long week. Even if I had yesterday off ;)

2) So every year, between Mother's Day and Father's Day, well, things at this Aphayrath house are jam-packed! We've got 3 birthdays (the 2 kidlets & mine, the parents' days, our wedding anniversary), and then this year we had to add to that 4 graduations (1 college, 3 high school), a family wedding and, of course, a lovely friend's HUGE book release & launch party (*ahem* Have YOU picked up your copy of Elana Johnson's POSSESSION yet?? Well, have you??).. and well, yeah, it's been a busy 6 weeks or so. Just listing it out makes me want to crawl back to bed and take a nap.

3) I'm writing again. Woohoo! After a long and unexpected hiatus, it feels so good to get new, albeit crappy, words down again. Love this feeling and have missed it so, but the break was good, I think.

4) We've lived in our house for 4 years now and finally, FINALLY, we've gotten to some MAJOR yard work. In the last couple of weeks, Husband and a couple of his buddies rented a chainsaw from Home Depot and chopped down 2 obnoxious trees that I've totally hated since the first summer after we moved in. One was a nasty tasting purple plum tree with a mean ol' robin that would dive bomb you if you got too close, and the other was a tall flowering shade tree that while the flowers were pretty, they smelled sort of like dog poop. And we have a dog, so I know that smell. GROSS! So yay! Every time I look at our yard now I feel a bit more Zen.

5) And lastly, if you're a local Utah blogger (reader / writer / general supporter of all things wordish) I've still got a few spots open on the locals ARC tour of Brodi Ashton's EVERNEATH (Winter, Balthazar & Bray). Email me at windy (dot) aphayrath (at) gmail (dot) com if you're interested. Spots are filling up fast! - to those of you outside of Utah, I know Brodi's going to have ARCs out with some of the other tours, so keep an eye out!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!

#POSSESSIONparty!

Guess what today is kids? Yes, yes, it's another day of this almost all POSSESSION week!

And for those of you lucky enough to live in Utah, or who were feeling particularly travely and came to visit ... tonight is the launch party for Elana Johnson's book POSSESSION!

Here are the deets:

Come Join the Resistance!
POSSESSION by Elana Johnson
Launch Party at 7:00 PM
The King's English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84105

And a little birdy told me the bookshop has a limited number of copies of the book available for purchase there, so come early!

If you're not able to join us in Salt Lake, well, keep an eye on Twitter and #POSSESSIONparty for live-tweet coverage of the party and maybe, just maybe, there could be some freebies in there for you too!

So if you can come, please do! There will be lots of book bloggers and writers and you may even run into a few familiar names who you can finally say "holy, wow! you really do exist!" to! - I know I've done that more than a few times ;)

See you at the party!

Broken Rules: A Possession Bloghop!

Happy Book Birthday, POSSESSION !

And of course, in honor of this grand occasion, we (Ali, Nichole and I) are along with a whole bunch of Baddies ;) are blogging about a time when we broke the rules! It's not too late to jump on the bloghop and add your blog to the list below and get something posted today - you could win a signed copy of POSSESSION! Or you can send one of us a copy of your receipt from your POSSESSION purchase and get entered to win some personal Elana-time! (All the details can be found HERE.)

So then, on to the rule breaking!

Back in the high school days, I honestly was the ultimate Goodie. I didn't break the rules. I did what I was supposed to do and called it good. There was no questioning and only a little bit of wondering what I was missing out on. I'm from a pretty traditional Laotian family and with that came crazy strict parents and lots and lots of family obligations. Friends they would approve of, and never, never did I just "go out" because, well, that's just not what Goodie girls did. I just did what I was supposed to and called it a day.

Flash forward to the following spring ...

(And yes, I realize technically, I was 19 and an "adult" but really, I still lived at home and honestly - in most Laotian families, age doesn't mean much) ... I'd started hanging out with a different crowd, made some new friends and some of them had some pretty colorful histories.

Within a couple weeks, every rule my parents had ever sent flew out the window, shattering as they hit the ground twenty feet below.

I was staying out all night. Coming home just as the sun was coming up and my parents were leaving for work.

I started dating a guy who, although really nice, was involved in some pretty shady stuff.

And I was spending so much time when I was usually with my brother and sister with these people who, at any point if a member of law enforcement came in, would probably have gotten us all arrested for one reason or another.

The thing here that was hard, was that beneath their activities, most of these people were really nice people. I liked them, as people. Maybe not everything they did, but isn't that always the way it is?

In the end, I got tired, bored, whatever you want to call it, and I walked away from the hanging out at all hours of the night. School priorities and finals came around and honestly, there's only so much of sitting around doing nothing a person can handle before you start to think, "yanno, I could be home sleeping."

I think my biggest lesson here is something that reaffirms a lot of other lessons that we've all been taught. You never really know people until you get to know them. So 1) Don't judge others. 2) Treat people with respect. 3)Always remember the Golden Rule.

P.S. As for the guy I was dating? Because we all know that's where most of the curiosity lies ... Well, his decisions changed a lot of his life and years later, I heard from him after he was released from prison. He found me on Facebook. (True story, I swear!!) It was a very thoughtful and sincere letter filled with apology and regret, as well as hope that he'd be able to get his life turned around and wishing me the best in mine. We're FB friends now and that's about the most contact we have, not for any real reason other than we're just very different people from who we were back then. And lesson 4)? Regardless of how you feel or what you think, people CAN change - they just have to want it and need to have the right motivation.

Your turn! What rules have you shattered??

Random Stuff Friday

1) Holy crow, it's been a while, hasn't it? I swore I was gonna get better at blogging more regularly and then ... well, 4 graduations, 2 birthday parties, revisions, new wips and ... yeah. The list goes on and on. Anyway, I'm back now and--

*** WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POST WITH AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Tuesday, June 7th we will all be wishing a Happy Book Birthday to POSSESSION, the debut novel from the one and only, Elana Johnson and lucky, lucky you could have a chance for some personalized Elana-time! This contest is open from now until Wednesday, June 15th and all winners will be announced by Elana on Thursday, June 16th. For complete details ... CLICK HERE!!! *** WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG POST ***

2) My baby brother graduated from high school this week (yeah, he's the tall one in the middle in case you couldn't tell by the cap & gown) and we're all so proud of him! And the best part about his graduation? I don't HAVE to go to another graduation for at least 2 years (depending on how long he and my sister decide to take until they graduation college!). It's the little things I tell ya!

This is my cute family: Dad on the left, my younger sister, baby brother, me and Mom.

3) Speaking of graduations, 5yo who will be 6yo as of the middle of this month has now graduated kindergarten. It's bittersweet, as a mom. I'm proud of her and she loved school and I hope that continues, but she's growing up SO fast, I almost started crying the other day. I know, lame and emotional, but I bet the rest of you moms out there totally know what I'm talking about. *sniffles*

4) I'm seriously considering shelving a project I've been working intensely on for the last year and a half. Over the past several weeks, I've just fallen out of the mojo of the story and I cannot seem to get a firm grasp on the characters' voices right now. I'm having a tough time with this because, well, despite having "fallen out" with the story, I still really love it. What's a girl to do?

5) Rain, rain, go away, come again another day . . .

Possession: the Bloghop & Contest

**Sorry I've been a bit MIA - things have been crazy busy - but man, have I got a reason to be back in the saddle now!**

The day is almost here, and unless you've been living under a rock or in a really deep, dark hole, you know I mean POSSESSION is almost here!

There's a flurry of ways for you to participate in the fun and win a SIGNED copy of the book or other uber-cool prizes, so you are NOT going to want to miss this week in the blogosphere!

Nichole, Ali and I are hosting the first contest and it comes in 2 parts - and you know what that means right? More chances to win!

PART ONE: Join in the bloghop by signing up today, or any day between now and next Tuesday, June 7th on any one of our blogs. Then, on June 7th, POSSESSION's official book birthday, post on your blog about a time when you had to break the rules for the greater good. 3 lucky winners will receive signed copies of POSSESSION!

PART TWO: Anyone who pre-orders a copy of POSSESSION between right this moment and June 7th, will be entered in a drawing for an awesome prize of your choosing. What are the choices you ask? Well ... you'll get some one-on-one time with Elana and you get to choose what that time is used for! A query crit? An online chat? A Skype session? Yep, totally up to the lucky winner!

Feel free to advertise this contest on Twitter, your blog, Facebook, or even by skywriting if you want! The more entries, the more fun!

Good luck to everyone!

Oh, and P.S. All winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 8th! ***UPDATE: The contest has been extended an extra week!! You've got until Wednesday, June 15th to enter and Elana herself will announce the winner on Thursday, June 16th!***

A Pretty Possession

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to get my hands on this:

Isn't it pretty? Yeah, I think so too. So anyway, thanks to Elana for giving me an opportunity to read this before it's June 7th release.

In case you've been living under a rock or something and need to know what POSSESSION is all about, here's the blurb straight from Elana's blog.

About POSSESSION: Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

Now, I haven't done many book reviews on here lately. Partially because I just haven't and the other part because, well, I haven't had a whole lot of time to read. But when the opportunity to read POSSESSION presented itself, I could not pass that up. I had to make time to read it!

Many who know me know that dystopian's not really my thing. I've read a couple here or there that I've really enjoyed, but like, I have yet to read HUNGER GAMES. *ducks flying tomatoes* It is in my TBR pile, but yeah. Anyway, so POSSESSION.

Add this to the ammo trying to convert me to be a dystopian reader! Elana does a great job with the world-building, the sci-fi was just enough without going over the top and making me lose interest (yanno, not being a sci-fi fan), and the storytelling sucked me in, making me feel so much of what Vi is going through. . And the characters, oh, the characters. Vi's just snarky enough to still be likable and when it comes down to it, she is such a girl :). Jag, he's a Bad boy - what's not to love? And Zenn, just trying to be Good. *sigh*

The entire premise really made me think about my own life and who's really in control. Me? Or is everyone around me really in control and just making me think I am.

Not on your to-reads yet? Go add it. Now.

Happy Reading!

Random Stuff Friday

And welcome to the very first list of random thoughts for 2011. Are you stoked? Yeah, I thought so. Me too. Why? Because I've been so filled with randomness for the last couple weeks and I didn't have anyone who would truly appreciate it.

So here goes. But don't set your hopes too high. No guarantees on how exciting or random these thoughts may actually be.

1) So I watched Eclipse with the fam the other day and I think 5yo's comment is the one that resonates the most of all that we said/thought during

the movie: "That vampire has a hairy chest." And you know, it's funny she points that out because I have made that observation before (like when I watched New Moon). And I think I was just obsessed with the hair (pieces) in this movie. Like how come Jasper's formerly pale blonde hair is now golden curly locks, like he should be hanging out with the three bears or something? Luckily, Alice is still awesome, so that made up for a lot of the bad hair. Also, there was still lots of ... "omg, that's SharkBoy!" but that's a conversation for another day.

2) Holiday cards are still coming in the mail. I don't necessarily call them Christmas cards because we have a couple friends who send New Year's cards. Which is cool. But yesterday when I opened one ... holy crap, I got a paper cut! Oh how a paper cut can cut my productivity in half. It's in a weird place on my right pointer finger. I'm right handed. This causes much maneuvering and careful typing and writing. It sucks. My brother and I decided that a death via paper cuts would be one of the most horrific things in the whole world.

3) Speaking of the mail. Look what else came:

I won SUBJECT SEVEN off Solvang Sherrie's blog and ElanaJ was kind enough to let me have a chance to read POSSESSION before it's released in June. Who's jealous? Go on, admit it. I know you want to. :)

4) As I type this, it is 14* outside. I know that's not as cold as some places where you guys live, but I also know that is still pretty FRIKKIN' cold! It's no wonder I own so many sweaters.

5) My brother's a big fan of YouTube. So's my sister. And so are the kidlets depending on what's playing. Here's the last video that had 2yo, 5yo and me laughing so hard we were crying. And my sister and brother laughing so hard at us. I dare you not to have a giggle fest! Oh, and it's better if you watch it in full screen :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Awesomeness Everywhere!

If you missed out on yesterday's huge-ungous blogfest to Spread the Awesome, because you were sick or on vacation or living under a rock or something ;), you can check out all the books/authors featured at Elana Johnson's blog. There are still a ton of contests open, so poke around to see if you can get hooked up with free books - some signed by the awesome authors!

Holy wow! There were so many awesome books out there, some I already had on my TBR list, but so many others I was just getting introduced to. Love discovering new books.

I'm off to see what I can find at the library and bookstore.

And in case you haven't yet, don't forget to head over to my post on Elizabeth Scott's Awesomeness for a chance to win one of TEN signed copies of her books - contest open until Sunday, May 9!

Query-tastic Contests!

Did you see it? Did you miss it? I surely hope you did not!

 

If you did miss it, head on over to Elana blog and check out her Query-TASTIC contest. This is running in conjunction with Shelli's contest over at Market My Words (deets on that one below also).

 

Elana's running this great contest and here are some of the awesome prizes she's got up for grabs:

• A query critique from one of 5 amazing agents!
• A copy of Elana's ebook - From the Query to the Call (which I can totally vouch for and say it's made of all things useful.)
• Or (a personal fave of mine as well) Super Sticky Post-It Notes

So hop on over there and get yourself entered!

Once you're done there, head on over to Shelli's blog and check out her contest. There's more to be won!

Shelli's offering up:

• A query critique from one of 3 awesome agents!
• Daily prizes throughout this Mardi Gras week
• And 2 grand prizes - 1 each for the agented and unagented author!

So go check out these contests and good luck to everyone!!

Friends Rock & Devil-bugs, well, Don't

Just found out my car needs new brakes. So this morning, I had to drive Husband's Devil-bug to work. Big Kidlet calls it her Ladybug. Thing is louder than all get-out and it feels like you're sitting on the ground. I love that Husband loves it, but I don't. So yeah. I call it the Devil-bug. Visual aid to help you understand:

Anyway, instead of focusing on the $$$ it's gonna cost to take care of my car, I thought I'd highlight the bright side of my past week (and a half) or so.

The lovely Mary Campbell over at Writer's Butt Does Not Apply to Me gave me the Circle of Friends Awards. I'm not really sure how this works, so I will just dip my head, curtsy and say, thank you much, Mary! I'm so glad we've met. I love meeting people who don't think I'm crazy. Lol!

Also, Elana Johnson gave me the Happy 101 Award. So even though I started this post not so happy, we're going to end on a happy note: with 10 things that make me happy.

1. My family
2. Good books
3. Mrs. Field's Peanut Butter Nibblers
4. The smell of the inside of a bookstore
5. Pandora
6. Days off from day job
7. Sushi dinners (the good kind you go out for, not the pre-made tray from Wal-mart)
8. Finishing (a book, a first draft, revisions, a kick-A query, the dishes, the laundry ... etc)
9. My kidlets' laughs
10. Cupcakes

This is another of those awards that seem to have been going around, and I'd like to pass it on to all of you, my awesome followers who make me happy every time you pop in for a visit!

Tried to keep it brief. Not sure if it worked. Ahh, well, I'll try again next week.
Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

Empty Shelves

Firstly - Happy Birthday Elana!! Yay for birthdays! And even more yay for cake!! Hope you have a day made of awesomeness. *Hugs*

Okay, so this has been a CRAZY week around here. DJ stuff has sort of taken over my life. There were some important peeps in town and now that they've returned to their homeland I can finally breathe again.

Except now I'm so freakin' tired I'm not sure my body can take the added pressure of maintaining lung function. Between that and the planning for my last work trip of the year next week, I'm pretty much zapped.

Drained.

Simply put: exhausted!

I'm taking this weekend to do some recoup. Focusing on some editing and aiming to get in some reading. But *sigh* I actually don't have anything new to read. My to-read shelf pretty much looks like this and the book you see on there, yeah, that's not even really a book, just one of the many currently blank notebooks I keep around the house.

I've been mostly re-reading the same books over and over again the last few weeks because there just hasn't been anything recently released I've been hanging on the edge of my seat for.

I did just finish Hush, Hush, keep an eye out for my Recent Reads post on it. But other than that...

My list of BooksIHaveToGoBuyRightThisSecond is looking a bit scant. So you guys have any recommends for me to use a recently acquired giftcard on? I'm pretty open for anything YA...

Recent Reads: From the Query to the Call

Book: From the Query to the Call by Elana Johnson
Book Count: 30

Last week I mentioned a new e-book coming out and I'd already received my preview copy, but I hadn't had a chance to read it yet. But I have now and it is available to everyone TODAY!!!

**UPDATE: Click >>>>HERE<<<< to go get your copy!**
Okay, so you've written a book. Maybe a couple. Or four or eight or thirty-two. But you've finally finished that one. The one you feel really has a chance at getting published. If only you could get it into the right hands. What now? What next? How do you even do that??

Well, here's some help!

Firstly, I have to be honest. I have a very short attention span when it comes to instructional "how-to" guides about anything besides home improvement projects or cooking (because I'm just that sad in the kitchen). So, at first, I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, the title is pretty clear, but you just never know, right?

There are a lot of "how to get published" books out there. There probably is some valuable information in them too. Somewhere. You may need to don a wetsuit and oxygen tank before you dive in. No idea how long it could take to find what you're looking for.

I was concerned needlessly. Elana Johnson's e-book is 63 pages of valuable info that every aspiring author should read. It's what I think totally fits into the description of "Short, Sweet and Straight To The Point."

This is not a book about how to write a book. It is not a book about how to edit a book. It is about what to do after you've written your book, gone through 30 iterations of editing it and hashing it out with your beta readers / crit group(s), etc and have mentally and emotionally (to some degree anyway) braced yourself for the inevitable rejections that will come.

From the Query to the Call is just that. It takes you on a journey from writing a "Killer Query" through the what happens after you send it out, all the way through what happens when you get THE CALL!

Elana addresses questions with sound advice and real world examples. There are points made around what NOT to do when you get a rejection. What a simple cover letter responding to a request could be. Suggestions on what to do while you're waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

Some of my fave parts:

• Interviews with agented authors.
• Tips on researching agents.
• Sample query letters. (A must read!)
• Links. Links. Links. **

**Because this is an e-book, there are links EVERYWHERE so you don't have to try to figure out which article Elana is referring to, or which blogs she referenced. Soooo helpful and such a time saver!

I have to be honest, this is the FIRST writer's guide-ish book I have ever FINISHED. And it was probably because the book is concise and written clearly with the end reader in mind. I was finished reading it before I even realized I was done and I've already been able to use it as a reference!

If you're an aspiring author sitting in that limbo of having just finished your wip and are now considering seeking representation, research is key. Take a look. Read a book. Might I suggest this one? And seriously, it's 63 pages of some of the best information that will take you From the Query to the Call.

Sorry, that last line is oozing of cheddar, but it made me giggle when I typed it. So I had to keep it. :D

Wowza!

So normally, Wednesday would mean that it is time for a wip update. But, yanno, I wasn't really feeling in the updatey mood. Could be because I feel like I've done NOTHING for the last week. We had too much family time over the weekend. Or maybe just because I have something MORE EXCITING to talk about than how many words I attempted to write. (The number is so pathetically low, I don't even want to get into finding an excuse.)

Anyway, many of you know my awesome friend ElanaJ. She's supportive to other writers, between her personal blog and the QueryTracker stuff she does, it seems Elana always has answers. And now behold: a bunch of those answers are coming in e-book form! W-O-W!

From the Query to the Call is an awesome resource on, well, everything from writing a fantabulous query to fielding all those calls from agents who are fighting to represent you (the situation we ALL want to be in!). The e-book will be available later this month, so keep an eye out! I'll have some more insight on the book later this week, but I wanted to make sure that if you didn't already know about it... you do NOW!

Oh, yeah. You can become a Facebook Fan of the book HERE.

SEPTEMBER 14, kids. Pick it up!