F³A: Things to play with

I went to the darkside.  Yes, by way of the e-reader. *bows to the book gods in apology*.  I bought the Amazon Kindle Fire.  Why you ask?  There are a few reasons.  First and foremost, friends I knew to be good writers were self publishing straight to ebook.  Drat!!!  There is one in particular, his name is Jeff Fielder, I've read his work and I think he's brilliant.  Anyhoo, he published some short stories in his book Voices in the Field and Other Stories.  Then you know what he did?  He put it out in paperback.  I told him he owed me $199 + tax and shipping.

Of course I was kidding because there are other straight to e books I'd like to read.  But that's not the only reason I bought the Fire.  In fact, reading on it is secondary (I still love the feel of a book in my hands and that book smell, yeah, you know what I'm talking about)You know that thing they call the iPad? Well, the Fire does most of what that thing does.  But cheaper.  And smaller (if you like that kind of thing).

The bad thing about my Kindle Fire?  I've had it about two weeks and still not been able to play with it.  Yes, that sucks.  I've pledged to spend some quality time with my Kindle this weekend.

Do you have an e-reader?  If so, what kind did you buy?  If not, what are your hang ups?

Oh, one more thing, Julia Karr, author of XVI (which I LOVED btw) is hosting some of us 2k12ers in her 2k12 Days of Christmas.  Check it out the deets here.

Friday Scribbles:

Christmas song of the week:  The Monkees Riu Chiu.  I saw this on their show and fell in love with it (it was REPEATS people, I'm not that old *cough*)

Movie of the Week: The Ref.  Funniest damn Christmas movie ever with Dennis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis.  If you've not seen this movie, you're not living.

Book of the week:  Still reading (slowly, not because of the book, because of my lack of time) The Wicked and the Just by J Anderson Coats.  Do you like war and cussing and medieval stuff.  Then buy it.  Now.  And I might add, J and I have become friends and she's kick ass awesome.

Quote of the Week: I've got two and they are both from one of my favorite books, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

"Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores."

"There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing."

That is all.  Happy Friday my friends.

Wednesday Weigh In: Dating a chef

This is not what my chef looks like.

Okay, I'm not doing so bad, but dating a chef makes it difficult to stay on track.  I took him to meet my parents last night (yes, another step) and he made gnocchi with chicken and peppers, roasted acorn squash, and we had bread and wine on the side.  Yum.  needless to say, I've not weighed myself this morning. 

The next couple days though, I'm buckling down to lose a couple pounds.  Office xmas party is Saturday and I have to fit into one of my dresses. sigh.

Still have the goal of losing more weight by release date.  That gives me just over a month *hyperventilate*. I think I can drop at least a few by then as long as my chef cooks light for me (or  not at all, lol).  AND no cookies, candy, or other holiday treats. sigh.

Good opportunity for Aspiring Writers

Amazon.com and Penguin have hosted a contest every year for the last four years titled the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest (ABNA).  If you've been following my blog awhile, you'll know that I've entered every year since its inception (and my soon to be release novel, Never Eighteen was entered in the contests first year.  It didn't make it far, so even if you don't win the contest, you still have that shot, just sayin').  

The award is a book deal for one YA and one general fiction novel. A real honest to god book deal!  Many of the non-winners have gone on to be published through Amazon's publishing house, AmazonEncore, or other traditional publishers. Contest starts January 23, 2012.If you're trying to get published, you should seriously consider entering. 

It's not just about the book deal either.  It's about experience.  If you've not queried your novel out yet, guess what?  That's what you need to do to make the first round.  You need to write a pitch.  Terrified?  Don't be.  There's a very supportive group of writers all ready in place on the ABNA forums, some of them having been there all four years.  They have a pitch thread, where you can ask questions, get advice, and even get your pitch critiqued.

The feedback is awesome too.  That is, if you make it through that pitch round.  If you do, you get two reviews by Amazon Vine Reviewers.  Just like any other critique, you take what you need from them and disregard the rest.  Vine Reviewers are human and make mistakes, just pull on your thick skin suit and be ready.  If you make it even further, you can get reviews from Amazon customers themselves.  Also, many of the other writers in the contest review the entrants.  Getting feedback was one of the best things about the contest.

Lastly and most importantly, for me at least, this contest was about the camaraderie.  I had just finished my first manuscript when I found out about the contest. I had never met other writers before and participating on the forum was a great way to do this.  If found people with the same fears and goals.  I even found writers in my own area that I am still friends with (and actually dating one).  Don't feel intimidated writing on the forum either.  Yes, some of them have been there for four years and have inside jokes, but most of them are loving, friendly, talented, and funny individuals and will accept you with open arms.

Really, you should enter.  What have you got to lose?  Click here to visit the ABNA main page and good luck.

Monkey Madness Monday: Megan Messina Bostic is in a relationship with...

Too funny

Yep, I've been labeled.  I'm now someone's girlfriend.  This is a good thing.  We've been together for mmmm, at least a month now, known each other for four years (kind of.  too hard to explain at the moment), it's time to tell the world.

It's been a few months, having someone in my life that is.  This time it's different. Or maybe it's just because it's new.  Who knows?

I'm not used to having someone "do" for me.  I'm the one that is usually doing the "doing". (my god does that even make sense?)  That's not a bad thing either, I mean, in my marriage I was a stay at home mom, so I did for my kids and I did for my husband.  While former grew up and latter worked.

I've been on my own for over a year now, and I've grown accustomed to "doing" for myself be it housework, or putting things together or fixing shit.

My boyfriend (it almost says weird saying it or writing it for some reason) does for me.  It almost seems unreal.  He cooks for me (did I mention he's a chef? There goes my diet), he help me clean the kitchen, he put up my Christmas lights, changed light bulbs, wrapped my pipes.  In my moments of utter neuroticy (I made that word up), he calms me down and makes me take a moment to breathe.

So there it is.  Megan Messina Bostic is in a relationship (picture the Facebook red heart next to that statement).  So far, so good.

Oh, two more things.  Don't forget about my contest on Facebook.  You can win a bunch of Never Eighteen swag and a signed ARC.

Also, I cannot comment on blogs when the comment box is on the post page.  I can only comment if they load on pop outs or new pages.  Others may be having this problem too.  You may want to consider changing your settings on your comments if you're not getting comments.

F³A: Aaaaah, sleep I have finally found thee

Sleep finally found me.  I'd been running on fumes for the past week at least.  4 to 5 hours each night.  Lack of sleep for me comes down to this:

• Apathy
• Lack of motivation
• Delirium
• Irritation about everything
• Inability to put words together to make a sentence
• Inability to know good from evil
• Lack of brain function
• My alter ego Mrs. McCrankypants emergers
• Moments of complete and utter road rage
• My kids thinking I'm psycho

Last night I got 8.5 hours.  No one will die today.  How did I get through it,  you ask?  Thing one and Thing two, as well as their friends who I love dearly, while driving me nuts from time to time, dealt with me pretty good and made me laugh.  Plus, someone who cares about me enough to come over and deals with my shit and does things for me and basically makes me sit, breathe, and feel sane.

Friday Scribbles

Christmas song of the week: Baby It's Cold Outside.  I like most versions, this one happens to be by Willie Nelson and Norah Jones

Book of the Week: The Wicked and the Just by J. Anderson Coats.  Don't usually read historical fiction, but started it this week and so far, it's amazing.

Movie of the Week: Casablanca.  I had never seen it until last night.  It's amazing.  I never really thought Humphrey Bogart was handsome either until I watched in.

Quote of the Week: "I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know? " ~ Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway

Have a good weekend, and get some good sleep.