"It's My Birthday" Mini-Contest!

WOO!!! It is my birthday!!!! (Just like last time, I scheduled this post for 7:12 am so it's all like 7/12, July 12, all awesome and stuff, BUT I ACCIDENTALLY DID IT FOR 7:12 PM SO NOW IT'S ALL RUINED. ARG! Let's see if Blogger lets me go back in time and say that I posted it at 7:12 AM.)

Last year I did a sort of mini-contest where everyone shares something about a birthday, and an awesome suggestion: Why their characters have the birthdays they do.

I want to do something like that this time, too!

(Woah, it's really been a year. That's crazy.)

However, I'm going to be out for a while due to vacation stuff (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) SO I won't be around to really do Contesty regulation things.

So here's the Mini-Contest!

Share a funny story, nice story, heart-warming story, etc., about a birthday (doesn't have to be yours!) and put it in the comments below. I'll pick the best one and schedule a post for Monday to post it :) (However, your entry has to be in by afternoon on Saturday (tomorrow) because I'M LEAVING!!!)

Yes. I know. Kind of silly, maybe pointless, but just good fun :)

About Query Kombat:

The agent round is coming to a close tomorrow, and more than half of the 16 entries have gotten requests! But we hope to get bigger. We seriously hope to do more. Next year, we're going to plan it further in advance and get more agents to stop by (and invite the AWESOME agents that already did to come again! They, truly, were fantastic (and if you're reading this, agents, we all hope that you find a future client from this contest!)).

Hopefully, you entrants got a lot of help from the various critiques you got from being in the Kontest, and also from the Twitter mini-critiques we hosts did for those who didn't get into the Kontest. Hopefully, your 250 and query got stronger even if you didn't get requests (your entries are still AMAZING, trust us!).

You guys are going far, and please keep in touch with us to share success stories :)

Yay, Query Kombat! And yay, Happy Birthdays!!!!

Fun Facts about Charles Dickens for his BIRTHDAY!!

WOOO HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!

Technically, his birthday was on Thursday (February 7th). I'm writing this on the 7th, but as this will post on the 8th, you might get a bit confused.

Born February 7th, 1812, he died at age 58 on June 9, 1870. He was one of the greatest novelists of all time (as you probably know).

I've only read two of his works (A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations), but I LOVED Tale (not Great Expectations so much). I own Bleak House, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol (which I've started), and David Copperfield, and they are waiting to be read. COME ON, TO-BE-READ PILE! SHRINK!

Here are some fun facts about this great novelist:

1. His full name was Charles John Huffam Dickens (hehe).
2. He was never knighted by the Queen (writers didn't get knighted much, and Dickens' personal life was a bit shady). So no 'Sir Charles Dickens' for him.
3. He was involved in a theatrical company.
4. He was quite the social activist!
5. He pioneered the serialization method of writing by publishing a few chapters every month or so (this, inconsequentially, made him able to change parts of his books at the suggestions of his friends). Dickens was today's Desperate Housewives. This method of publication became the standard of 19th century publishing; even in Russia, Anna Karenina and War and Peace by Tolstoy (a huge Dickens fan) were published serially.
6. His favorite book written by himself was David Copperfield (saying it was like a favorite child).
7. His bestselling book was A Tale of Two Cities.
8. His most critically acclaimed book was Bleak House.
9. His (arguably) most popular/influential book was A Christmas Carol. It gave birth to a lot of parodies, movies, etc.

Which of those four books is the 'best' book? What's more important: the writer's love, the audience's love, the professional's love, or society's love? Ponder THAT!

Here are more fun facts that haven't been covered by me. Did you know he saved live when a train derailed?

In the meantime, celebrate the birth of one of the most influential writers of all time, and a person beloved by many novelists to this day :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLES DICKENS!! I can't wait to read more of your books! May you rest in peace, buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey (was I the only one who thought 'Westminster' was 'Westminister' until spell check told me it was wrong?).

What is your favorite Dickens novel?

Birthday Contest WINNERS!

Ok, first off, the winners. More bloggy info is below, so don't skip over it :)

The winners are:

1. Kendra Conine
2. Stephanie Adele
3. Kela McClelland
4. Caterina Torres

Yay! Thanks guys! Email me (SC_Author@yahoo.com) what prizes you would like :)

Ok, secondly, a HUGE thank you.

Thanks so much for all the amazing comments and stories in the comments of the post! I loved each and every one of them, and I know I'll be going back to the post to just reread them once in a while. I love personal stories :) You guys are AMAZING. The reason I didn't reply to your comments like I usually do is because I'm a technology failure. I so stupidly thought that if I comment, it would interfere with the Rafflecopter contest thingy and put ME in the drawing. But, that only happens if you enter. Who knew.

ANYWAY, thank you so much guys! Your compassion and support are truly unrivaled.

Yesterday was a fun day, and my legs are aching because I ran a lot. Why? My sister threw me a surprise (but I already knew) paint ball birthday party! It was TONS of fun. I only got hit five times out of seven games! (Which is pretty good for me. My cousins went after me so I got out. The two times I didn't was when we were on the same team :) ) I actually got two people out as well!! And these were like the legit paintballers, who come dressed up like a tree and stuff, so it was pretty awesome. One of those hits might have been my sister's -- we were shooting at the same time. But it was fun :) Personal rant over.

WIP progress report

I am writing it in longhand and I am LOVING the voice! Also, I love feeling the pages I've written :) I'm getting about 5-8 pages a day, so around 1,250-2,000 words a day. I'm enjoying it a ton :) Thanks for all your help and support!

How are your WIPs and MSs going?

Happy Birthday to Me XD (And a Birthday Contest!)

By the way, check out my interview with the AMAZING Kela McClelland :)

Today is my birthday :) EEP! Yay :) I even published this post at 7:12 AM (Central time). (This is an Emergency Thursday Post, by the way.)

A depressing confession to make:

A few moths ago after I just finished the first draft of my MS, I had come to the decision that I would have a literary agent by this day. It was my resolution. Obviously, revisions came into play, and for seven months, I revised and edited. So I changed my resolution. I changed it to: My MS would be in the hands of a few agents who requested the material. I would have requests at least.

But this didn't happen at all. I clung to one last hope but it disappeared, and now, that MS, the one I love, is sitting and resting for a few months, so I can get a fresh eye one it.

Obviously, my resolutions failed. Utterly. In all intents and purposes, I did not accomplish anything that I set out to do over the last seven months. I was a hopeless case, and I was a failure.

But the thing about being a writer is this: It is all about the journey. These past seven months have been amongst the most rewarding months of my life, where I met amazing people on Agent Query Connect and where I achieved so much in my writing. In the past seven months, I met so many great people in Twitter, on QueryTracker, on contests, even on blogs (especially on blogs). Writers are the most amazing people I have ever met. Their compassion and support when things get so dark, so dreary, and so hard, mean the world to me.

My MS is so strong right now, stronger than it ever could have been if I did not meet the amazing people that I did in the last seven months. This time period has been amazing. I would not trade the experiences, the hardships, and above all, the people, for all the agents in the world (I can't believe I just said that). Becoming a writer, even an unpublished one, has been the best thing in my life. I don't think I failed in the resolution I had made for my birthday. I am a writer now. And I feel like one too.

So, after all that sentimentality, I racked my brains for a fun contest to do on my birthday, and here it is :)

A contest! Here it is:

1. In the comments below (using the Rafflecopter), post something such as:

a) A special, funny, memorable, etc. moment about any birthday you had.

b) A great memory of any birthday you or anyone had.

c) (The fun one) A reason you gave your book's character the birthday he/she has.

For me, I gave Alphi the birthday of the Spring Equinox, because that is the day of change from the dreary, pain and death of winter to the hope of spring. (I gave her love interest the Autumn Equinox for the opposite reason but with summer, hehe.)

The prizes:

You must be a follower of this blog to enter.

The Rafflecopter will pick five people to win, randomly! And the prizes are (specify which you would like in the comments below, along with the birthday thingy above):

1. A query critique to put on this blog.

2. A first 250 word critique (to put on this blog).

3. A birthday memory you would love to write and share (to put on this blog).

4. Any birthday thoughts you have, relating to writing or just life (put on this blog).

5. A shout out?

6. A intercomputer hug?

If you think up any other prizes, tell me in the comments and I'm sure we'll work it out :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(Can I just say how much I LOVE the Rafflecopter website? This is my first time using it, and it was the easiest thing in the world. I'm not kidding. And I suck at technology. That website is the first and only business that I ever voluntarily sent a praise email to.)

Thanks guys! You are seriously, the best :)