Can you guess???

The lovely Brenda Drake is hosting a blogfest today. We need to post the first 250 words of our novel, and a panel of judges will see if they can pick the character' age. So, here is the first 250 words of The Boyfriend Plague. Let's see if you can guess how old my MC is...

I squirmed on the splintery wooden bench. The room was too small and the irregular buzzing that crept over the lopsided swinging doors set my teeth on edge. Each burst sent a cloud of rusty orange scattering through my skull.

“Is this okay, Livvie?” Mel leaned over and pressed a slip of paper onto my knee.

I studied it for a moment, still trying to shake off the burning color my synesthesia had painted the world. “Yeah. It’s perfect.” I grinned at her, but my lips trembled so much I’m sure it was more a grimace.

“What about yours?” Mel turned to Hannah who had her paper crumpled in her fist.

She smoothed it out against the taut fabric of her jeans. “It’s good. I don’t think Mom could tell she hadn’t signed it.”

Mel sighed and glanced down at her own scrap of paper. “At least they’re all different. And how close are they going to look?”

Hannah’s eyes roved the enclosed space, photographs curling on every wall. “It’s a business right? They want to make money. I bet they just ask for these things ‘cos they have to.”

“You’re probably right.” Mel stood up and folded her permission slip back into her pocket. “I wish they’d hurry up though.”

“Me too.” I shifted again, my butt numbing against the hard surface. Coming here had seemed a good idea, but now, after almost half an hour on the wrong side of the doors, the stinging scent of rubbing alcohol drifting across us, I wasn’t so sure.

Neglected - I'm sorry....

I feel like this blog has been somewhat neglected this week. Apologies. A lot of exciting things have been happening, and somehow blogging has slipped through the cracks. But now that Authoress's Baker's Dozen auction is over, I feel like I can breathe again, and we can get back on schedule.

If you haven't ever been to Authoress' blog, I urge you to head over there. She offers some of the best opportunities for writers on the web. I feel so privileged to have been a part of the auction this year (and I got a request!!). But there are contests every month too, as well as critique sessions and all kinds of other events to benefit you and your writing.

If you're the kind of person who doesn't enter contests, you should. I've had several requests for Taillights this year, almost all because of contest entries. I'm not saying give up querying and focus exclusively on winning contests, but it does seem to be a beneficial added extra! Plus you get feedback from other writers, and meet fabulous new people. Some of my most valued beta readers are people I've met while part of contests.

Are you a contest person? If not, why?

Santa-Fest is here!

This is such a fun idea! I just had to join in.

It's a Secret Santa. But online. And for writers. You sign up, and using a random number generator, the organizers assign someone to gift you and someone for you to gift.

The gifts are all based on your imagination. They should be free, and email-able.

Some ideas are:

• Poems or images created specifically for your secret friend.
• An opportunity to guest post with you (once your name is revealed, of course)
• A page/query/synopsis or other critique of their writing
• A blog badge
• The list goes on

The Basics

1. Though it’s not mandatory – follow Loralei Hall and Laura. They're the two ladies hosting this contest and are totally awesome bloggers as well.



2. Sign up on the linky-list on either Laura or Lori's blog by the 12th December – this will ask for name, blog address and email address – these are necessary for the whole thing to work, but don’t worry – they won’t pass your email on – just the blog address! The list will close promptly and busy elves will get to it....



3. On the 13th December you will be emailed the Blog address of the person YOU are creating a gift for (just so you know - it isn't a direct pairing - just because you're creating for them doesn't mean that they're the same person creating for you!)



4. Email your gift by the 19th December... busy elves will start digitally boxing your presents.



5. On Christmas morning, every single person who signed up will receive their special bloggy gift.
   

Though this isn't technically a blog-hop, the ladies recommend checking out everyone's site when you have a moment, whether or not you're gifting them. You have a couple of weeks to make the rounds, and there's so much fun out there that it will be worth your time.

One last thing, all gifts will be sent from santafest(at)hotmail(dot)co.uk, so make sure to add the email address to your filter list if you have one. Only Laura and Lori have access to this email, and they promise not to spam anyone ^_^

So what are you waiting for? Sign up below and let's all celebrate together!

Things Change....

Last night a group of us mothers got together for a wee end of year bash. We rented a private cinema a friend of mine has in his garage, had some food and wine, and watched Dirty Dancing.

Back when I was about 18, I loved Dirty Dancing. I must have watched it hundreds of times (I know this because I could recite pretty much all the dialogue along with the film last night) and never realized how terrible it is. Because it is absolutely TERRIBLE. The whole thing, from beginning to end. Not just cheesy, but appallingly bad.

Amazing that my teenage self didn't figure that out. I was a film buff, even then. But somehow I overlooked the badness of this particular film. Now I can't. Maybe it's because so much time has passed since I last watched it.

Is there any film you once adored that you've gone back to and realized it's terrible? Or a book?