Blood, Sweat and Tears...and is your blogfest on this list?

I know some of you are having snow and other cold-related weather events, but down here at the bottom of the earth, we are sweltering. This facebook photo says it all...

Well, not quite all...yes, Christmas was a sweat bath--no roast dinners at my place--but we are continuing to experience heatwave conditions with resultant bushfires which are ripping through the country destroying properties and livestock. Just as well Aussies are a tough lot. Thank God for firefighters! What would we do without them?

Meanwhile, those of us who are not in bushfire areas are surviving on-going temperatures up to 43 deg. Celsius (109 deg. F), by moving from an air-conditioned room, to an air-conditioned car, to an air-conditioned shopping centre, to the pool, to the beach...none of which is conducive to writing. However, write we must...

RomanticFridayWriters has hit the road again, so I wrote my first flash fiction for the year--my story is below this post. I managed to squeeeze the bushfires in, along with a touch of Hugh Jackman.

RFW's FEBRUARY CHALLENGE will be announced in a week's time. It's going to be wow! Hope you can join the writing train--you will have 3 weeks to come up with a 1,000 word max. story/poem after the prompt is announced.

So, moving right along, there are lots of upcoming blogfests in this wonderful community...I've picked a few to pass along. I hope to enter all...

This one is already underway. I'm hoping to find time to slip it in...

To celebrate the release of her novel, you guessed it. 18 Things, Jamie is hosting a blogfest. Between Jan 17 - 24 you can post your 18 Things bucket list. I've been reading some, and they're awesome!

Jamie says:

All you have to do is blog about things on your bucket list.  If you don’t have a bucket list, you should, and now is the perfect time to start! If you’re not sure what a bucket list is (blasphemy!), it’s something completely personal that each person should do (IMHO). It’s a great reminder that gives an extra boost to live life to the fullest and keep us looking forward, even when life wants to drag us down sometimes. Finish a marathon? Read the top 100 books?  I’m looking for fun, heart-pumping, poignant, or inspirational things that you want to want to do, or maybe already crossed off your list. And it doesn’t have to be 18 Things . . . it can be anywhere from 1-18 things (I just needed my title to get out there. Marketing trolls said so!)

Anyone who posts their 18 Things between January 17th-24th can enter to win a number of prizes. 

Click the bucket link to sign up, then read about all the fab prizes--some are already gone, so hurry...

Next blogfest please: 

Click on the badge to sign up -- there's already 69 peeps!

The first is the Re-Introduce Myself blogfest on January 28, brainchild of Stephen Tremp, Mark Koopmans, Elise Fallson and C.M.Brown. who say:

2012 was an amazing year as so many new authors, writers, poets, musicians, and people with something to share such as recipes and movie reviews joined the blogging community. We visit other blogger’s sites and they visit us. But many new bloggers and the more established ones often don't really know much about each other.

So mark January 28th on your calendar for an opportunity to re-introduce ourselves to the ever-expanding blogging community. Simply take a moment and tell us something interesting about yourself. Anything. It can be about writing. Or blogging. Or a hidden talent. Perhaps you’re in the Witness Protection Program. Feel free to keep your post short. This is meant to be a quick and fun Blogfest. I’m keeping mine under 100 words.

Then we have:

Click on the badge for more info...

The Sarcasm Goddess is the whackiest blogger I know. If you enjoy sarcasm and all sorts of ironic posts, you need to follow her. Now she's come up with the idea of sharing one or two of your bestest posts in 2012--bring them out for an airing so to speak. 

She says:

Two weeks from now, on January 31st I will be hosting a linky open to all bloggers. Link up one or two of your favorite posts from 2012 and/or link up one of your most favorite posts of another blogger! And please, spread the word so we can meet lots of new bloggy friends!

The date again is January 31st, because what better day to celebrate last year than on the last day of the first month of this year!

Next Please...

We have voracious author and RFW member, Joy Campbell from sunny Jamaica, who is about to launch her new book Retribution at the end of January. Joy says:

Help me celebrate the release of Retribution by submitting your most interesting stories of people taking another shot at a relationship. 
 .

·         There is no restriction as it pertains to form or genre. Stories can be fact or fiction. Use your imagination, make your stories attention-grabbing.

·       . 
          Somewhere in there, you must tell the reader why the couple broke up and why they feel compelled to get back together. This can be done from any of your characters’ point-of-view.  
       .

·         The word cap is 500. 
       .

·         Indicate on your blog post, by the relevant badge, whether you’re in the fact or fiction category.  
      .

·         There will be voting and prizes, so it’ll be a reader’s choice situation, where you get to choose your favourite anecdote/poem/refection/story. The best piece of fact and fiction—as determined by your vote—will receive a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card, so that’s two prizes. 
      .

I will be reaching out to a few trusty bloggers so that in the event of ties, we can have a tie break decision. If we cannot decide on a winner in either category, prizes will be divvied up between the best two entries and the loot (meagre as it is) shared.
.

I hope you’ll join the fun and sign up below to participate. Entries open now, so get cracking on those stories. (NOTE change of date from Feb 1 to Feb 14 - Valentine's Day!)

Last but not least...

This bloghop is to help Andrew who has cerebal-palsy. Nick Wilford wants your 500 words of flash fiction on the theme, Overcoming Adversity. He will collate the stories and all proceeds will go towards Andrew's college fund. This is a great challenge. I hope you'll join me in posting a story between Feb 4-5th.

So I'll wipe my fevered brow and leave you with these inspiring thoughts...I'm doing a lot of the Read, Read, Read, Read (in my air-conditioned bedroom.) Have already read 7 books in January. Luckily, I don't need much sleep!

• Are you finding it hard to get writing in 2013?
• Does weather influence your writing? Good or bad way...
• What are your writer's goals for the year?
• Are you inspired to enter any of these blogfests/bloghops?
• Do you know of any more blogfests? Leave a comment... 

Holiday season blogfests hotting up! So do you know of any blogfests to share? Ann Best's new memoir...

How're you doing? Not too ground down with all the writing projects? Just a short post before I get back to work. I want to share with you some up-coming blogfests and I'm hoping if you know of any more, you'll share with us all.

1. On December 2, Romantic Friday Writers have their first blogfest of the month based on this image: 

Challenge No 26 – post on Friday December 2^nd

Response to image.

Write a 400 – 600 word (or less!) story/poem based on this image. You might write a Christmas tale, a spooky tale, a fairy story, a fantasy…the sky’s the limit! You don’t have to use all the details in the picture, but your story will reflect the image in some way…

Linky will be posted on Thursday December 1^st .Go here on December 1st to submit your entry...

Good luck with your entry! Please post the image in your sidebar and spread the word.

2. Madeleine Maddocks of Scribble and Edit is hosting her cliched blogfest on December 5th.

Go here for more deets. You can join up with the linky NOW! 

3. The Insecure Writers Support Group posts for December will be on Wednesday December 7th. This, like RFWer is an on-going 'blogfest'. Go here for more deets and sign up. This is Alex J Cavanaugh's brain child.

4. On December 16, there is the Deja Vu blogfest. Love this as it's going to give everyone a chance to read a blogger's best (ITHO) posts. You know, those posts that you wrote maybe when you had 10 followers, you took so much care, yet only 2 people ever read it! Find this little gem, dust it off, and post it so we can all enjoy it! 

Go visit Nicole Duclerior at One Significant Moment at a Time for more deets! 

Onto books/blog tours/book reviews etc etc...

Many bloggers are getting impatient with posts pushing books, so I thought I'd include a little shout out with a post, rather than do a whole post. I understand the 'blog tour' fatigue that's hitting us, but I also understand that authors (especially our blogger-friend authors) need to get the word out, so...

Today I'm giving Ann Carbine Best's latest memoir a shout out. Ann is an inspiring 71 years old and after pubbing her first memoir through WiDo Publishing, she went it alone this time. She worked her way through all the e-pub formatting, published on Smashwords, then goofed with Amazon and had to withdraw it. Now she's figured out Amazon Kindle, so Imprisioned is available through both Smashwords and Amazon. I have read Imprisoned and can highly recommend it. I've posted a review on Amazon. Go Ann!

• Now you have 4 blogfests. I haven't been visiting as many blogs as usual due to my commitment to finishing my NaNo first draft, (27,500+ words thus far), so I'm sure there's many, many more. Please leave a comment and tell us about it!
• I've had positive comments about my Disqus comment system. Just a request...I hate filling out that 3-field thingy too - Name, email, blog link, but once you do it the first time it will auto-fill from then on. If you don't fill out the URL I can't easily visit your blog. Please...

STOP PRESS! - I just saw another blogfest for Dec 8-10 at http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/ 

I love the blogosphere! Just look at this!

Don't ever think blogging isn't worth it! I've learnt so much with all the writing practise participating in blogfests gives me, I've benefited from valued feedback from other bloggers regarding my stories, I've made great blogging friends who I wished lived next door, I've learnt a little about other cultures, belief systems and genres, I love all the awards you've been generous to pass onto me, but for instant gratification I love winning! Winning, you say? Yep, I've been a winner a lot lately and I'd like to give credit to the generous bloggers who've judged me and sent me prizes. In no particular order, let me list my recent winnings:

• Remember The Bernard Pivot Blogfest? Well, I won! The prize just arrived recently! Thank you to Nicole Duclerior from One Significant Moment in Time who sent me this bunch of goodies below:

It includes the short story anthology, Literary Foray. Nicole has signed it, there is a story by Nicole and several by blogger Jessica Bell et al. Can't wait to stop blogging and start reading! And I'm totally addicted to pens so if you want to keep me happy just send me pens! But there's more!. I also can buy books to the value of $20 on Amazon, so I'm going to buy Ann Carbine Best's In the Mirror and another TBA. Thank you Nicole. You are such a generous blogger.

• Dominic de Mattos of Writes of Passage hosted a No Fear blogfest. I entered an excerpt from one of my 'strong women' stories where my MC is escaping her father's abuse, and lo and behold it was voted the winner! If you'd like to read it, go here.

The prize was $30 which was a lovely gift to receive. Thanks Dom!

• Then J. C. Martin, the Fighter Writer ran a contest, the Race to 200. You had to enter a story where your character is racing. My story showed my MC racing through the streets of LA to save her daughter. You can read my entry here. For me, winning this contest was fantastic. So was the thrilling review my story received from Genna:

MEET ME AT UNION STATION by L’Aussie @ Flashquake


Genna says:

“L’Aussie opens her scene with great attention to detail and with a dire sense of urgency, which translates into a fast-paced snippet that was impossible to stop reading! The intermingling of action, inner thought, and dialogue is ingenious, as every word moves the story along in one way or another. I love the raw emotions she conveys in a matter of paragraphs. This is a testament to her strong control of language and plot structure. She builds suspense through short, terse sentences. I’m hooked!”


My prize arrived recently, Stephen King's The Running Man. Thank you, thank you J. C. Martin!

• This morning the lovely Lynda R Young from A Writer's Journey advised me I came third in a draw on her blog which was to celebrate 500 followers. My prize is a critique of 250 words of a WIP. Boy, the fun never stops! Thank you Lynda.
• And Roland D Yeomans is sending me an autographed copy of a Dean Koontz novel. How sweet is that!
• And the lovely Nomes from Inkcrush is sending me a book this morning just because I commented and just because she's generous and loves to pass books on!

Now there are plenty of contests I've entered and not won (which is more usual for me) but I just wanted to share what a happy winning streak I'm on at the moment. They say "it's more blessed to give than receive" and I"ve loved sending books and packs of goodies to those who won prizes at my Publication Party. Watch out for my next celebrations where I can continue returning the generosity in the blogosphere.

And I should finish with the lovely bunch of roses my husband gave me. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Try to have a listen to Jessica Bell's video promoting her debut novel below. It got lost amongst the A - Z Challenge madness.

Remember my A - Z posts are found on my L'Aussie Travel Blog. Visit a country a day. Fun!

Bickering Blogfest - June 30 (Secrets Blogfest entry below...)

Thank you Kristen for hosting the Bickering Blogfest. My entry is from an early scene in a short story. The couple have a long-standing row about their differing aims in life. He’s Mr Important Bossy Boots and she is fast tiring of being Mrs Dutiful Nobody Wife. The MC has made her choices and is taking a beach walk, looking back to past events that brought her to this wonderful place in her life. I warn you though, I'm a lover not a fighter, so I know it's a bit weak...


I stopped for a break, realising my breath was coming in ragged gasps. ‘Too much chocolate cake!’ I chuckle to myself, ‘or is it just thinking about Michael that makes me breathless?’ I look across the rolling ocean. I shake my head. Sighing, I walk to my favourite spot amongst the dunes and spread my towel. Lying in the dappled shade watching the puffy clouds drifting overhead, my mind wanders…

…When we returned from our backpacking adventures, we fought bitterly. Michael insisted we buy a small apartment in inner-city Brisbane so he could be close to the law courts. I wanted to live in a leafy suburb, one with lots of coffee shops, maybe even buy one.

Michael had his way as usual, so we settled into our jobs and our new digs. He was snatched up by a prestigious law firm, while I took the first job I applied for—a journalist with the Courier Mail, a Brisbane daily. Michael had a meteoric rise to the top in International Law, travelling constantly. My ambitions lay elsewhere.

We entered a very turbulent period. On the few occasions we saw each other our conversations went something like this:

Me: ‘Michael, what sort of job requires you to work 16 hours a day?’

Michael: ‘Don’t ever call it a job. It’s a career. Why don’t you put a bit of effort into your career?’

Me: ‘How much effort does it take for me to hang around outside the Law Courts and shove a microphone in the face of the latest paedophile, white-collar criminal or wife beater?’

Michael: ‘That’s just your problem, Cassie. You’ve got no ambition, no drive,’ he sneered. ‘You could be where the action is, reporting from Baghdad, Afghanistan or Darfur. But what do you do? You rust away in a no-news town, counting your precious pennies for your ridiculous coffee shop.’

Me: ‘At least I’m not wasting my money on designer clothes.’

Michael: Sniffs. ‘My career demands a certain quality and Armani does very well. Anyway, I’m too busy to have this conversation. I fly to Moscow in exactly three hours.’

Me: ‘Moscow. How exciting. Plenty of Armani there I don’t think.’

Michael: ‘You’d be surprised what’s there. You’re just jealous. And you don’t like vodka. Really Cassie, you’ve become such a bore. Get yourself an assignment somewhere exciting and we might have something to talk about when I get back.’

I knew we were over. We weren’t a team any more. Had we ever been? But I’ll give it one last shot, I promised myself. To me, marriage was forever, but my resolve on this point was weakening. My resolve to own my own café wasn’t.

The decision in the end wasn’t as tough as I’d thought it would be. I took a plumb reporting assignment based in Paris, with opportunities to travel all over the world, not to mention the market research opportunities.

Even though I’d done what Michael wanted, our relationship didn’t improve. The spark had gone and neither of us had the time nor the inclination to do anything about it. We were both on the move constantly. We became tired of meeting in London, New York, Paris, Prague. We met less and less. I finally decided I was ready to make my dream a reality. I arranged a meeting with Michael.

‘Michael,’ I began tentatively over a snatched lunch in a sumptuous New York eatery. ‘I’ve had enough. I can’t stand this jet-setting life any longer.’

‘Oh, no, not this again.’ He snapped his snowy white napkin, throwing it across his lap.

‘You know what I’ve always wanted. I’ve put my dreams on hold for so long. I have enough capital to sink into my bistro. I’m ready.’

Michael looked across the table at me, an eyebrow cocked. I saw him glance around the room in case anyone was eavesdropping. Appearances were so important to him. ‘Cassie, are you still on about that?’ his voice was steel coated with velvet. ‘You haven’t mentioned it for ages. I thought you’d seen sense. It’s a stupid idea.’ He picked up his cutlery again. ‘I’ve always thought so and I haven’t changed my mind. All that hard work. Let someone else do it. Keep on the other side of the counter.’ He stabbed the space between us with a speared asparagus stalk, looked me in the eye, dared me to challenge him. I did.

‘Michael,’ Patient voice, ‘you know I’ve had this dream forever. I’ve taken jobs I’ve hated, travelled to places I’d rather never have seen, seen things that will disturb me all my life. As I said, I’ve had enough.’

‘Cassie, you always were a wimp. Always satisfied with so little. Never wanted to do anything important in your life. Food! Food! Food! What is it about your obsession?’

‘Why are you so against this dream of mine? There’s no shame in providing food for people. People always have to eat.’ I could hear my voice rising. ‘I’ve had lots of ideas I’ve never been able to share with you.’ I leaned closer, trying to placate him. ‘My idea is to provide healthy options for people. Light French fare. Taking the best of the cuisine I’ve discovered, and adding less fat and sugar.’

‘Fat free food tastes like crap. No-one will buy it.’ He folded his arms, leaned back in his chair and stared, his eyes like fire. It was the end of the matter as far as he was concerned.

‘Low fat can taste amazing,’ I continued. My turn to slap my napkin into my palm. ‘I’ve done my homework. My travels have shown me I’m on to something. Look at all the diabetics in the world. How do they get on when they travel to France or Italy? What about the gluten intolerant? Those on special diets? They can’t eat cheesy pizzas and creamy sauces. I could start a line of healthy, specialised food.’

‘You’re such a dreamer.’

‘That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me for, like, forever.’



© Denise Covey 2010