5 Reasons You Need Fun TODAY

It's way too easy to get swept up in the seriousness of life. Don't you agree?

So here's a reminder to be a little lighter hearted, to do things that make you laugh, to take time to occasionally be a kid.

1. Because...Oooh! Bouncy!

It's way too easy to get paranoid about taking risks or looking silly.

2. Your inner child is DYING to come out.

No seriously! If you don't let it out occasionally, it will die.

(And who doesn't miss playing in the ball pit?)

3. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Let the consequences be what they are!

Dive!

(I wonder how many times he washed those pants and still found leaves hiding in them.)

4. Allow yourself to occasionally be silly on the job!

A little groove goes a long way.

5. We all want to be Superman. I mean, er, fly!

You can't fly with out the danger of falling/crashing.

AND NOW, don't forget that

Have a magical day, and win a book below!

Two weeks ago, Liz Long shared SUPERNOVA along with two truths and one lie. Anyone who guessed was entered to win an eBook.

The game:

1. I've appeared as a Jeopardy contestant.
2. I have interviewed Kevin Costner and Bill Maher.
3. I was once involved in an FBI case.

The lie: #1. 

From Liz: My husband and I love Jeopardy; I've always loved it to be honest, watching it almost every night growing up. We're those people who shout the answers at the TV because we're so excited when we know it. Maybe one day I'll be on there, but it would have to be one of those specific ones, like College Jeopardy...Author Jeopardy? ;)

And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Tyrean Martinson!

Congrats, Tyrean!

Speaking of fun, you can win an AMAZING book from one of the funnest people I've had the pleasure of knowing online (and it has nothing to do with our matching first names):

Since her release from the psychiatric facility and into the smothering guardianship of her aunt, twenty-one-year-old psychic Tatum Torabi has been sneaking away to sell curses and plagues in the underground, a black market known for illegal and supernatural wares.

Tatum’s unique abilities catch the attention of a hella-creepy trash peddler who offers her a job tracking down people who owe his boss “a favor.” She couldn’t be less interested, but when she refuses, the company forces her compliance by threatening the lives of the only family she has left.

Because tracking barely scratches the surface of what they really want from her. There’s a reason Tatum is so good at making curses, and they want her to use those skills for a much darker purpose.

Buy your copy on Amazon.

Ready to meet the author?

Krystal Jane is the author of supernatural and paranormal fiction. She lives in the Tennessee Valley with a collection of swords and daggers. She hopes have a full fledged collection of medieval weapons one day. 

When she's not hoarding stuffed pandas, hourglasses, and Hello Kitty replicas, she can be found drinking chai tea, knee deep in Sudoku, in a YouTube hole, or blogging about books, writing, and random things at KrystalSquared.net.

Krystal loves cheese but can't eat it so much anymore so she saves it for special dishes like Panera's Fuji Apple Chicken Salad with Gouda. Otherwise she dives into her new vegan favorite: Follow Your Heart Vegan Parmesan Shreds - makes the best pizza for people who can't eat cheese!

Krystal gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. If you guess the lie, right or wrong, you will be entered to win an A bookmark, print copy of NO REST FOR THE WICKED, and dark fantasy coloring book. (Open internationally.) IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT WITH AN EMAIL ON THE PROFILE, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IN THE COMMENTS OR EMAIL IT TO crystal@crystal-collier.com WITH YOUR SCREEN ALIAS.

You have until Tuesday, June 6th at 2 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answer on June 7, 8 a.m. EDT.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. I once got lost in England, alone, at night, by myself. I was coming back from seeing Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Opera House in London and went out a different exit than planned. I found by way back by following signs for the British Museum as my hotel was off an adjoining street. I only ran into three weirdos.

2. I once got lost in Spain coming back from Castle Alcazar in Segovia. I wandered around the mountains for a couple of hours looking at the pretty scenery before growing tired and taking a trolley to the cemetery across from the hotel, which was the closest he could get me on his route. 

3. I once got lost in Switzerland. I got distracted by the pretty buildings on the way to see the famous Lion Monument in Lucerne. I lost my tour group, and was found by the trip director on my way back to the prison hotel who took me on a walking tour of the city while he ran some errands.

So sleuths, which is the lie? If you could abandon life today, what kid-like behavior would you engage in? Have you met Krystal Jane? Do you like paranormal books?

What is Value?

How do you place value on things?

When my husband and I were first married, he informed me that when buying things, he was a quality vs quantity type person. I scratched my head and responded, "As long as it's cheap." (In true poor college student fashion.)

Over the years, I've come to value his initial stand. Value for me means something holds its worth over time and through whatever difficulty or abuse may come. If it's a great waffle iron, it can take a licking and keep on producing crispy deliciousness. If it's a written work, it can stand the test of years and criticism (even the negative kind) and still remain a shining beacon of thought.

More importantly, I think that applies to how people live. The values we hold will prove themselves over time to be faulty, or pillars of truth. If you look at how people are living--their level of happiness, their mental state, their relationships--you can assess how true their value system is. Apply the scientific method by observing the experiments that are already in progress. What they/we believe is either a true principal, or it's not. So then the challenge becomes to find the examples of success in the areas that matter most and emulate their way of living.

Speaking of change... This year I'll be in a couple AMAZING anthologies and I wanted to introduce the first one:

Awesome, right?

Lastly, I'm giving away books!!!! Check it out and enter to win.

ENTER HERE

 

Now how about ANOTHER giveaway?

Last week Anna Simpson shared with us WHITE LIGHT, along with two truths and a lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win signed bookmarks and an awesome charm bracelet.

The Game:

1. I have stood exactly where I was born and it is in the middle of the produce section of our local grocery store.
2. I was given a tarot deck from a complete stranger.
3. I overcame my fear of spiders when my son mimicked my jumping around like a lunatic when he was two years old.

The lie: #3. Alas, Anna has never overcome her fear of spiders. Beware the eight-leggers!

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Shannon Lawrence!

Congrats, Shannon! 

And now for this week's feature... 

Leon Garber has his reasons for ridding the world of abusive people, call it justifiable homicide.

Opportunity comes knocking from Like-Minded Individuals, Inc., a global company fulfilling the needs of clients: new identities, security, and even lists of potential “projects.” But let’s not call it “serial killing” (such a nasty term). For Leon, it’s a dream come true. However, LMI’s put a target on Leon’s back, with no indication of why. 

LMI, the police, sanctioned hit men, and a vicious psychopath are after Leon. He collides with other Like-Minded Individuals: The Good Samaritan Killer, The Mad Doctor, Donnie and Marie (don’t ask). Heads are chopped, dropped, and swapped as Leon fights for his life. But nothing will keep him from finishing his current project. Not even the chance to fall in love.

Sometimes a killer business idea is just that. Killer.

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author?

Stuart R. West is a lifelong resident of Kansas, which he considers both a curse and a blessing. It's a curse because...well, it's Kansas. But it's great because…well, it’s Kansas. Lots of cool, strange and creepy things happen in the Midwest, and Stuart takes advantage of them in his work. Call it “Kansas Noir”. Stuart writes thrillers tinged with horror and horror tinged with humor, both for adult and young adult audiences. Secret Society is the second of his novels to be published by Books We Love Ltd. He's also the author of the acclaimed Tex, the Witch Boy series published by MuseItUp Publishing. His first novel from Samhain Publishing, Demon with a Comb-Over, comes out March 1st. He’s married to a professor of pharmacy and has a 22 year old daughter who’s still deciding what to do with her life.

You might find him enjoying Jalapeno Havarti cheese (A little fire with your cheese, what could be nicer?) while watching Hitchcock films with his wife.

Stuart gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win an eBook of SECRET SOCIETY! (Open Internationally.)

You have until Tuesday, January 26 at 1 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on January 27.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. I had over 50,000 movies on videotape in my basement. Due to mold and obsolete equipment, my wife and I recently rented a huge dumpster just to haul the tapes away.

2. Fifteen years ago I was in an alternative/rock/country-funk/performance art/comedy band. I wore pajamas and slippers for every show. My character was a sort of demented hillbilly who toted around a saxophone, but rarely played it.

3. I have webbed toes. But it's a bonus, because in high school gym, I was a championship swimmer. Shoes are hard to fit, though. I have to have them special ordered from WebsRUs.

So sleuths, which is the lie? What's something you value? Do you read anthologies? Do you like thrillers? Have you met Stuart before?

How to NOT Write a Novel Beginning

As part of her new Word Master Challenge series, one of my genius blogging friends, Misha Gericke, has put together the January contest--to write an awful, yet entertaining beginning to a book. Her words specifically:

In less than 300 words, I want to see your idea of the WORST beginning you can possibly write. The funnier and more creative you are, the better. 

This was too fun to resist. I started with the "It was a dark and stormy night" angle, then transitioned to "The alarm jolted him out of bed", but ultimately, I had to go with my gut:

Para-Cliche 

Once there was a girl named Martha. But Martha wasn’t like other girls. Martha had a problem. See, Martha didn’t have two parents, or a pet cat, or a car named Dear John, or a house for that matter. Martha lived in the tumbleweeds of a triathlon training ground, and Martha was a fairy.

What kind of parents named a fairy “Martha”? Why, the kind who proscribed to Better Homes and Better Gardens, and then got themselves blown up in a car-jacking on their way to meet the infamous namesake of their one and only child, Martha Stewart.

But that’s not who our story is about.  

Cedric, the guardian angel and muse of a certain now-dead magazine writer, faced the greatest dilemma of his cherubic career. And what is that, you may ask? His charge was dead. No, worse than dead. He was undead—munched on by a mindless zombie while snoozing at the Chicago airport between interviews about the difference of western and eastern influenced garden gnomes.

Returning to heaven now was not an option. So Cedric packed his red and blue flowered knitting handbag, strolled on down the highway, and stuck out his thumb, hoping to find someone he could dress up and pass off as his dead…undead writer.

A sleek black car hissed to a stop on the ice-covered curb. The privacy-tinted window rolled down and a man wearing dark fifties shades grinned, flashing a set of sharp canines.

“Good evening,” he clucked through a thick Transylvanian accent. “Do you require a, uh, lift?”

Cedric thought there might be something strange about the driver.

“No, I am not a blood-sucking child of the night.” The driver lifted a hand and ruffle-laced sleeve. “You will be perfectly safe in my car.”

Cedric shrugged and climbed in.   

And there you have it--a rip on the Paranormal trend using true and tried techniques that send literary agents running for the hills. Given another hundred words we would have met a werewolf, and perhaps a ghost too. Another two hundred words, we probably would have waken up to an alarm clock on a dark and stormy night. Alas, you can only go so far in 300 words. Oh, and enjoy this Crystal Collier original, brought to you by my liberated inner cartoonist.

So, friends, what's the worst beginning you have ever read to a story?