BIG GIVEAWAY!

Well, it's BIG for me!

Because I'm giving away THREE prizes, and you get to choose the one you want. As always, my giveaways are SUPER EASY. Today I'm asking for two things:

1. You are a blog follower (see right-hand sidebar -- old and new followers have equal chances)
2. Leave a comment telling me which prize you want 

 Now for the prizes!

• FOR WRITERS: A manuscript critique by yours truly (Any manuscript, any length, any genre; I'm a YA writer, but I read all over the place; I don't have a lot of credentials to throw at you--just a BA in creative writing-- but I have learned quite a lot in the last four years, since I started writing with the goal of publication ... and it never hurts to have another set of critical eyes on your ms, right?)
• FOR READERS: I'm giving away TWO reader prizes: Any book from The Book Depository (max price-- $20US). They ship anywhere in the world, FREE. Is that cool or what?

This contest is open internationally. I'll keep it open for a full week. Contest closes Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 11:59p.m. PST.

Please, please, please enter! And hooray for 200 followers! I am so thankful for every one of you!!

Truth Tuesday: The Bead

WARNING: Do not attempt the following at home. 

Moments before The Incident

Last week my dad and I were in the living room talking. I was sprawled on the floor taking pictures of my sweet baby girl, when all of a sudden--

Choke, cough, splutter!

"Oh my gosh, she's choking on a bead!" I screamed. "She's choking on a bead!" 

I swiped the inside of her mouth with my finger. She gagged one more time and then blinked at me as if to say, "What are you so upset about, Mom?"

I pryed Gabe's good-behavior bracelet out of her fist and counted the beads on it. The latch, which I thought was pretty secure (or I wouldn't have let her play with the thing in the first place!) had come open and there were definitely some beads missing.

But then I remembered seeing one on the kitchen floor the day before. And then one of my children found another one under the sofa ...

My math skills aren't so good, but I think that means:

1+1=2

3-2=1

So, just one bead.

One missing bead.

Bad Mom.

Horrible Mom.

Step 1: Self blame

Step 2: Call the family doctor-- in this case, my father-in-law

He assured me if she wasn't coughing, then she'd probably swallowed it. "Just monitor her diapers and make sure it comes out the other end."

It did. The next morning.

I almost took a picture, but then decided not to.

I paraded the diaper around the house, however, to show everybody. I'm kind of used to baby poop, so I wasn't expecting the looks of disgust that greeted me when I showed off the miraculous bead.

"Well, Gabe," I told my seven-year-old son, "it wasn't damaged at all. I could wash it and put it back on your bracelet."

One horrified look was enough to convince me this was not something the boy wanted. 

So the bead went in the trash.

The baby did not choke to death. 

And even though I'm a laid-back mother of five

I LEARNED MY LESSON.

BIG GIVEAWAY coming...

BIG GIVEAWAY this week at The Green Bathtub ... starting Wednesday ... to celebrate 200+ blog followers!

I'm thinking of giving alittlebitofeverything prizes, ie. manuscript critiques (by yours truly--for writers), gift card (for non-writers living in the United States), and a book (for non-writers or serious readers who live outside the United States). And I'll let you choose the prize you'd like most. Sound good?

I want to start the BIG GIVEAWAY on Wednesday because I have a really gross Truth Tuesday planned for tomorrow. *evil laugh*

In bittersweet news, my dad left to go back to Hong Kong today. He was here for two weeks and it was so fun to have him! He helped my dashingly handsome sidekick build The Great (retaining) Wall of Prosser in the backyard and part of our new cedar fence. He also read to the grandkids, washed lots of dishes, spoke at our church several times ... oh, he was wonderful to have around. We'll miss him a lot. Come back anytime, Dad!

It's a free-for-all in the comments. Anything you want to tell me about your week? I'm all ears. (If you have your email enabled in your profile, I can respond to your comments via email. I love to do that! Just fyi.)

Can You Believe...

...the size of these blueberries!

And I don't even have particularly small hands.

This is what I love about living in an agricultural area. I bought these yesterday from our local farmer's market. We're still waiting for the peaches and apples to ripen. They're late this year because it's been such an unusually cool summer. (Sorry, Texans, I know it hasn't been for you!)

I love summer. I'm sad it's already dwindling. My kids start school next week!

What are some of your favorite things about summertime?

A Mother's Work is Never Done

Maybe I should have realized this before, but some lessons take longer to learn than others:

If I try to get everything else done before I write, I will never write.

When I was a kid, my parents taught me to do the hard/boring/distasteful activities (like homework and dishes) first and save the easy/fun/incredible activities (like writing -- yes, even then it was writing) for last. To this day, I generally follow this rule of thumb.

I'm grateful to my parents. This is a valuable lesson and has saved me from becoming a huge procrastinator.

Still....

Washing dishes/folding laundry/mopping=Yuck

Writing=Yay!

But I'm finding if I try to get everything done around the house first-- empty out that laundry basket, clean the kitchen, wipe the toothpaste spit off the bathroom mirror-- then I will NEVER, EVER sit down to write.

Not that I'm planning to let the house go to pot.

But I need to be willing to brush a few things under the rug. It's a sacrifice, yes, but *saintly sigh* one I am willing to make in the name of my "career." *ahem*

How about you? Are you an work-first-then-play type of person, or are you able to play first without inflicting a major guilt trip on yourself?

**Great news! I have a new nephew-- Jonathan Mark. He came out screaming, which, when you're born at 33 weeks is a VERY GOOD THING. He's a strapping three pounds, three ounces. As far as I know, Mommy and baby are doing well. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Crazy Days

If I thought life was crazy before....
It just got crazier.

My sister-in-law, who is expecting her sixth child, was admitted into the hospital yesterday with extremely high blood pressure. She's at 32 weeks, and they're trying to hold off until Friday to deliver the baby, because that will put her at 33 weeks.

Our extended family has divided up their five kids between ourselves for the time being.My mother-in-law has taken charge of their one-year-old, bless her heart.

Football season is starting and my brother-in-law is the head football coach, so he's pretty busy.

To be honest, I don't know how these next couple months will look. The doctors said the baby may need to stay in the ICU for six to eight weeks, and the hospital is a forty-minute drive from our town.

I think we're all a little panicked. Especially my sister-in-law, who is an amazing, do-it-all sort of mom.

Prayers appreciated.

I haven't forgotten about the 200 follower party. I guess I'm at 201 right now! Thanks, peeps! I'll see what I can come up with, hopefully for next week. We'll see how things pan out with the new baby and how long I have extra children in the house. Sound good?

Thanks for hanging with me here.

MAY B. Winner!

Congratulations to the MAY B. ARC winner

JODY R. 

(Jody, I'll email you to get your mailing address.)

Congratulations!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered. I wish I had 31 ARCs to give away. *sigh* 

BUT, there may be more book giveaways in the Green Bathtub's near future. I'm getting dangerously close to having 200 followers, which means it's PARTY TIME!!

What do you like best for prizes-- books? critiques? chocolate? gift cards? a little bit of everything? Let me know in the comments.

Olivia Reviews MAY B.

May B. is a exiting emotional book. I thought it was scary at first when May was trapped in Mr. Oblinger's house alone.The book was so exiting, I read it in one night!

~ Olivia, age 9

Yes, folks, there's a review of Caroline Starr Rose's MAY B. from a real live child reader! Aren't you dying to read it? Well, there's still approximately 6.5 hours left to enter the ARC giveaway for MAY B. Just click >here< and leave a comment. 

Light Blogkeeping

Just a few loose ends to tie up, plus a couple things to announce:

1. The giveaway for Caroline Starr Rose's MAY B. is still in full swing. Just leave a comment after the previous post and you'll be entered to win an advanced reader copy (ARC) of Caroline's incredible debut MG novel. JUST CLICK HERE.
2. For those of you wondering, my dashingly handsome sidekick was addicted to the book series The Hunger Games. Many of you guessed correctly! He's finished with them all now. His quick review: Liked the first one. Wasn't too impressed with the second two. I think he couldn't drop his science-teacher persona long enough to accept all the crazy things that happened in the second two. My ability to suspend disbelief must be more practiced than my non-fiction-reading hubby's. *grin*
3. My ten-year-old did NOT win the library coloring contest. BUT she did win last week's library trivia, and got a frizbee as a prize. All is well. (The most disappointed one in our household was my five-year-old, who was told by her older sister that she would "definitely win" the coloring contest for her age group. I thought this little twist of human nature was interesting. I wonder how often we're disappointed because other people had high hopes for us.)
4. Wendy Paine Miller asked me to guest post (!!) so I'm over at her blog today if you want to check out my post there. I did not realize how nerve-wracking guest posting would be for me. I seriously psyched myself out! But it came together at the end. (Phew!) CLICK HERE for the guest post.
5. In other news, my dad is here visiting from Hong Kong, as are my aunt and uncle from the rainy side of the state. It's fun to have family here, and our busy summer is busier than ever. Writing time? HA! I'm looking forward to getting into a routine in the fall. I think I've given up on finding a regular summer writing schedule. *sigh*

How are things going for you? Any light blog keeping you want to take care of in the comments?

WQI & ARC Giveaway: May B.

I'm so, so, so excited. Author Caroline Starr Rose agreed to do a World's Quickest Interview (WQI) with me! Caroline is an incredibly talented writer and a very sweet blog-friend. And, because she's a former teacher, she's a huge advocate for literature in the classroom. Her blog is very wise and informative, so if you're not already a follower, check it out. 

 

Earlier this year, I was privileged to win the ARC of her debut middle-grade verse novel, MAY B. And today I'm -- *sniff, sniff* -- giving it away to one lucky winner. It's really okay, though. I'll buy my own copy when it comes out in January. MAY B. is the kind of book I want to own in hardcover, so it will last through all my five children reading it and someday my grandchildren.

Now, without further ado, I give you the amazing Caroline Starr Rose and her very short answers to my very short questions:

Describe your book in one sentence.

Abandoned and alone, May must fight to survive a harsh winter and even harsher school memories as she comes to terms with who she truly is.

How long have you been writing?

Thirteen years.

Who or what inspired this book?

Laura Ingalls love, Hatchet fascination, and curiosity about the way children with disabilities would have been treated in the past.

How long did it take you to write this book?

I started the first draft in 2007 and wrote in fits and starts during the 2007-2008 school year.

Besides writing, what do you like to do most?

Reading, running, cuddling with my boys, and eating green chile and curry (not together!)

Cats or dogs?

Both. We have a goldendoodle whom the groomer transformed into a weird-looking poodle, but we'll keep her!

Do you have a favorite Smurf?

I don't remember many names, just the fun little figurines.

Chutes and Ladders or Candy Land?

Snakes and Ladders (I learned to play in Saudi Arabia where I had lots of British friends).

What’s the best thing about life right now?

Watching it all unfold.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Remember you have something unique to say. Your work can only get better if you keep at it.

 

 

Thank you, Caroline! 

If you'd like to win a MAY B. ARC, just leave a comment below, telling Caroline how amazing her interview was and how much you'd love to win a copy of her book. I'll keep the giveaway window open until Friday, August 12, Midnight PST. Then I'll pick a winner using random.org.*

Got it? Okay, fly away to the comments!

*Oh, and yes, I'll open this contest internationally. Caroline and I both have international backgrounds, so it would be unfair to leave out our international friends, right? This is the kind of fine print I like to write.