Stealing from All-A-Dollar... Does it get Whiter Trashier than that?

Yay Friday, Y'all.

1. I'm slowly making my way through the entries in the Free Query/First Page Friday Challenge, so if you've sent me something, they are getting done. On a first come first served basis.

Here's an excerpt from Cam Ballou's entry.

I know what you are thinking, how horrible that sounds…someone praying for death when, on the outside, they don’t have a thing in the world to be unhappy about. In my defense, I am only trying to eat myself to death, which all in all is a very long and drawn out method of suicide which will likely only result in high cholesterol, diabetes, heart problems, cancer and obesity and get me nowhere.

I think this is a great example of "voice". Every editor and agent talks about voice, but it's very hard to explain other than to say "I know it when I see it." For me, when I read this, I don't hear the writer; I only hear the main character with a glimpse into her life.

Anyone else want to define "voice"?

2. Alice Pope from Children's Writers and Illustrators Market spotlighted me, Bree Despain and Emily Wing Smith on her blog. Check it out if you get a chance.

3. I've been finding those mini bottles of Diet Coke, which make me feel like I'm ingesting less of the hard stuff.

But then, I went to All-A-Dollar, and guess what I found? Mini old-fashioned Coke glasses! Can you believe it? It's a Christmas Miracle.

(Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong)

I grab 40 of them, and remark to the woman next to me, "Can you believe the treasures here?"

And she's all, "You're blocking the Smershey's Shmocolate Kisses. Can you be crazy somewhere else?"

I pack the glasses tightly into the store basket, and I receive permission from the manager to take the basket off the premises and to my car. But once I'm at my car, I realize I can't have these loose little gems rolling around everywhere on the drive home, and possibly breaking.

What would you do?

Me too. I stole the shopping basket from the Dollar Store. Aside from placing dirty diapers in our porch planters, this is the most white-trashy thing I've done.

4. Sam and I came out of a family Christmas party to see Kid B, asleep in the car like this:

That's gotta win some award, doesn't it?

5. I was checking out the search terms that lead to my blog the other day. I found "alien boobs."

First off, I have never blogged about alien boobs. Second, *who types this as a search term? I mean, seriously?

*If this was you, I apologize.

7. So, what are y'all doing this weekend?

Do you Have a Query or First Page you'd like to Share? and The True Meaning of Gauntlet.

Free Query Friday

1. To fill the void left by Free Book Friday Holiday Hiatus: Do You Have a Query or a First Page you'd like me to read?

Occasionally I get asked to read queries or manuscripts, and too often I don't have the time, or I'm not able to get it done in a timely manner, or people realize I just can't read good.

But I thought it'd be a fun holiday experiment to change that. So, if you'd like me to read your query or first page, send it on over. You can even request "no feedback" if you'd just like to share it with me.

I hesitate to call it a present, because that implies my feedback is worth something. But I will say sometimes, as writers, we need to bounce stuff off someone who doesn't know a thing about the story.

So, I'm opening it up now. Email me your query or first page, or any other one-page piece you've been working on. Share. Tis the season for sharing and stepping out of your comfort zone. (My personal favorite Christmas Carol- "Step out of your Comfort Zone this Season")

My email is on the sidebar. It will remain anonymous. Nobody has to know. And if I get some good ones, maybe I'll post them and we can discuss why they're so good.

It's a challenge! Will you take the gauntlet? (Which, by the way, I always thought a gauntlet was some sort of weapon, like a sword, but it's really a glove. Did you know that? Me neither. So I've been trying to use it in a sentence: "Boy, it sure is gauntlet- weather out there. It's so cold.")

2. Kid C brought home his latest self-portrait from school: It's cute and all, but it sorta makes me worried I'm going to walk into his bedroom one day and find an ear lying there on the floor.

3. I live in Utah, so I found this funny:
(There are some adult references... it's a prime-time show. Viewer discretion advised.)



4. I'm going to a book launch party today for Beautiful Creatures, so I will stock up on signed copies for when Free Book Friday gets going again in January.


5. Next week we'll begin compiling our lists for good books to give away as presents, so be thinking!

Anyone doing anything fun this weekend? I have a family party, a family party, and a family party.