Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Contest Winners Announced, and SCBWI in L.A. by the Numbers

Howdy, y’all. I’ve missed you. Each and every one of you.

Okay, so Sam was in charge of my blog while I was gone, and here’s what was accomplished:

1 blog, a day late
No book winners announced

Thank you, Sam, for your tireless efforts on behalf of my dedicated readership. And for forcing me to post on a Tuesday, when no one will be expecting it.

On to the stuff we’ve all been waiting for. Since we are so late in announcing the winners, and since I have a renewed passion for buying books, Smokey the Cat has magnanimously chosen three winners:

Paradox
Mrs. Foltz
Cari from KS

Please email me at brosam (at) gmail (dot) com and let me know the book of your choosing (preferably YA) and your mailing address.

And that's not all. One bonus winner, chosen by me, for the cutest answers to the questions:

Hannah from SLC

Please also email me with a book of your choosing.

On to the blog post! I'll have pictures and stories later, but for now...

LA CONFERENCE BY THE NUMBERS

Number of times we were paged over the airport loudspeaker to ‘please board the flight, so we can take off. This is your last chance’: several

Number of times we heard the announcement: 1

Number of eardrums that nearly burst in-flight: 1

Number of times I complained about said eardrum: 978

Number of times I followed complaining with the phrase ‘I don’t usually complain’: 978

Number of times I threatened to stab my ears while simultaneously shouting ‘Make it stop!’: 2 or 3

Number of times I tried to get away with wearing shorts to the formal ‘Blue Moon Ball’: 3

Number of times I danced in the center of the dance circle: Um… 1

Year of the dance moves I pulled: 1992 (The Funky Chicken)

Number of times I was invited back to the center of the dance circle: 0

Number of times I was asked if I knew Stephenie Meyer: 1 (Really!)

Number of famous authors we ‘sidled’ up to, who turned out to be incredibly nice: 3

Number of authors we sidled up to, who turned out to be butt-munches: 1

Preferable number of sidling cohorts when one is about to sidle: 2 (They’re like sidling wing-men)

Number of television shows filming in the hotel courtyard on our last day: 1

Number of times Emily Wing Smith tried to become an extra on the show: 2

Number of times she impressed me with her boldness and audacity: countless

Number of times she nearly lost an eye: 1

Number of times Bree Despain’s book was mentioned in front of the thousands in the general assembly: 1

Number of times she blushed: 784

Number of times she nearly lost her sense of humor permanently due to hypoglycemia: 1

Number of times I was inspired by Sherman Alexie and Richard Peck: countless

Number of times I wanted to tweet about it: countless

Number of times I didn’t actually tweet about it, for fear Richard Peck would be disappointed in my use of Twitter: countless

How was everyone else's weekend? Anything extraordinary? Does this feel a little weird, being a Tuesday and such?

22 comments:

  1. Wow, the numbers sure don't lie, sounds like it was a great conference. What television show was filming, do you know?

    Congratulations to the winners!!!

    This was my birthday weekend, so hubby wisked me away to the mountains for a three day weekend. It was great, read two books. However, one of the gifts hubby gave me was his summer cold which I'm still fighting. But, it was nice to have a weekend of relaxing, sick or not sick.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Una- sorry about your cold. Were the books good? Any you'd recommend?

    The tv show was "Lie to Me" on Fox. With Tim Roth. Where the guy is a body language expert.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your appreciation hon for filling in on your blog...oh wait, I don't think that was very appreciative.

    It was my pleasure to interact with all of your readers. I didn't want to say it here, but several contacted me by email and they mentioned how wonderful my fill in job was and that I had real potential to be a blogger one day. I told them about my site and they responded with, "Yeah, we have seen your site...and one day you will be a good blogger." Wasn't that sweet?

    I am happy to fill in any time that you leave me all alone with the kids again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sam- I know this sounds crazy, but I'm sensing some animosity...

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOL Butt Munch

    I love you. I can hear your sweet voice now everytime I read your blog and it just makes me laugh even more

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Shell. Right back atcha.

    BTW, I think that's the first time someone's called my high-pitched, nasally voice 'sweet'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ha ha! First, I love the interaction between you (Brodi) and Sam. Awesome! I can feel so much love emanating from you two it's awe-inspiring.

    Second, the numbers were awesome! I feel like I was there with you just with said numbers. Also, I have to ask. Who was the butt-munch? Also, I love the way you describe things.

    Third, congrats to the winners! You may also receive unexpected items along with those locks. It's quite fun!

    My weekend was great. I finished an awesome book. :) I also got some much needed relaxation.

    I'm excited to start reading Shiver by Mary Stiefvater tomorrow or Thursday. I've heard tons of good things about it and I get to borrow it from a mutual friend.

    I can't wait to hear more about your time at the SCBWI.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jenni- what book did you read? Care to recommend? I think for this set of book winners I will include something equally as random as the door locks. Like a box set of steak knives.

    As for the buttmunchy author, I would never name names. But I'll email it to you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Now my weeks counting is gonna be all messed up because I'm gonna keep thinking today is Wednesday.

    When you flew to Pakistan did your eardrums threaten to burst then or is this just an LA thing?

    ReplyDelete
  10. One, definitely. I read Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon and it was really good - it is NOT a YA book. I love her Dark-Hunters series.

    The other I read isn't YA and was just okay, enjoyable but not outstanding. It was called Eve of Destruction by S.J. Day.

    I just finished Accidentally Dead by Dakota Cassidy (again, sorry, not YA) and it was good/enjoyable. It's a very silly paranormal romance-y series.

    I've requested Shiver from my library - I've heard it's good too (and YA).

    I LOVE "Lie to Me", I can't wait for the next season, I really enjoyed the first one. Did you like it?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Debbie- I know about the week being messed up. I mean, should I blog tomorrow? Wait til Thursday? Skip friday?

    And I always have minor problems with my ears on planes, but for L.A. I had ear infections, which made the usual problems feel like natural disasters.

    Una- I've never actually seen Lie To Me. But it looks very good. Perhaps I'll have to rent the first season on DVD since I've seen Tim Roth up close and personal now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey it was mentioned twice! So there :P. And it was actually 856 times that I blushed.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bree-
    Well, I wasn't counting the times you blushed in your sleep. I didn't have the means to document, seeing as I was asleep myself. That's why we need a traveling numbers man!

    ReplyDelete
  14. So I am thoroughly confused. Are you just posting Tuesday and Thursday, following the Sam delay or am I just annoyingly early today? =D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Brodi,
    I laugh so hard I snort everytime I read your blog. Thanks for bringing humor into my days.

    Leisha

    ReplyDelete
  16. Una- I am so confused too! Apparently my brain is on an every other day schedule. Plus I am waiting on some pictures. So, maybe I will just post tomorrow, since I've already thrown everyone off.

    Leisha- glad I produced snorts for you. Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sounds good to me, this will give you Friday off too! Well, I guess Friday off is good for you and bad for us but...

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'll try to do a little somethin' somethin' for friday too. I'll dedicate it to you.

    ReplyDelete
  19. You are too sweet! Thank you!

    Uh-oh, should I be worried now....

    =)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Where are the pictures?! I want to see some pictures of you dancing in the center of the floor! Sounds like you had a good time minus the ear problem. Glad I didn't read about you on the news as "Plane Landing Early Due to Crazy Girl on Board Screaming Something About Making it Stop". Hopefully you were able to throw your name out there to all the publishers and show them who really knows how to have a good time.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Erin- pics are coming on Thursday. Mwah-ha-ha.

    ReplyDelete