Monday, January 30, 2012

Unhelpful Monday Observation

Yesterday we were all getting ready for church and my son didn't want to sit still for a second to let my husband do his hair. He was too busy. I glanced over after my husband tried his hardest and my son rushed off and I said, "That looks awful." He agreed. So as soon as I was done getting ready, I went to try to make the boy presentable. There was one section on top that wasn't working right. Finally, after trying for a few minutes, I realized......

"Did you cut your hair??" I asked him.

"No."

"Yes you did. When did you do this?"

"Last night when [13 year old] was babysitting."

My husband, taking a breath of relief from the other side of the bathroom, said, "Thank goodness. I thought he was going bald."

It was so funny to me that my husband and I came to two totally different conclusions. And, of course, my conclusion was right (like always), but it got me thinking about how fears and experience play a part in how we interpret life or the stories we read. We can write stories but we have no control over how those stories will be interpreted by the reader because everyone brings their own experiences with them. What's my point? I don't know. I rarely have a point. It was just an observation. Plus, I wanted to make fun of my husband. He thought my five year old was going bald. Ha!



Thursday, January 19, 2012

It's Back

I'm a happy girl. American Idol started again last night, season one, one (as we heard from Randy on many occasions throughout the episode). I love that show. Love it. I thought I would hate it without Simon. I thought Simon was what I liked so much about the show. But no. It's not true. In fact, I tried to watch X Factor this season (because of Simon) and I only made it about half way through the season. So it must be the format of American Idol that I love. These first several weeks are my favorite where we get to see the raw emotion of a dream becoming a reality. It makes me so happy. So happy that I felt the need to gush about American Idol on my blog. It's on again tonight for those of you who didn't realize it had started. Which, btw, it used to be that you'd have to be living under a rock to not realize the shows that were about to start. But now, with DVRs I never watch commercials so I'm constantly uninformed about what the networks think I can't live without.

Also, if I'm going to write a post about American Idol, I can't stop there. The Voice starts in a few weeks too. ..............................Sorry, I was thinking about Adam Levine and don't remember what point I was going to make. Just watch him. I mean it.

One day Adam Levine is going to respond to me on Twitter. In the mean time, I will continue to pretend like I'm witty when I respond to his tweets as though we are having a conversation. A conversation where one person is talking and the other person is ignoring them. That's still considered a conversation, right?? I'll go ask Adam what he thinks.

In totally unrelated news, don't forget to sign up for our contest over at Friday the Thirteeners! The contest ends tonight! There will be 13 winners so your chances are pretty high. :)

We need a picture of Adam to end this post right, don't we? I agree.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Happy Friday the 13th

I love Friday the 13th! I always have. Even as far back as high school it was a day I looked forward to. I don't know why, but good things always happened on those days. The tradition has continued into adulthood and one of my favorite days ever (the day I sold my book) ended up being a Friday the 13th. So it's only fitting that I'm involved with a new blog called Friday the Thirteeners--a small group of authors debuting in 2013. Head on over there and check it out! You can win some stuff too!

Also, I joined the main blog group for YA and middle grade authors debuting in 2013. It's called The Lucky 13s. It's a very fun group and if you're interested in who and what is debuting in children's lit in 2013 that is definitely where you're going to find it. They always have fun daily postings--interviews, writing advice, etc.

I know what you're thinking. Why in the world would Kasie join 2 blogs when she has a hard enough time maintaining her own?!? (Don't tell them, but it's because other, smarter (cooler) authors are blogging with me and they are really good at keeping up on blogging. So see, I'm very practical.)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Wednesday Reads--The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.



















Can I tell you how much I loved this book? I love it when I read two books in a row that I absolutely adore. First VARIANT and now THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. It's a mouthful, but even the name makes me smile because of the scene in the book where it's referenced. See, I'm smiling again. It's my favorite book of 2012 so far. Sure, it's the only one I've read in 2012, but we won't get into sticky details like that.

Here's the Amazon blurb:

"Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. She's stuck at JFK, late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon to be step-mother that Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's in seat 18C. Hadley's in 18A.

Twists of fate and quirks of timing play out in this thoughtful novel about family connections, second chances and first loves. Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it."

It totally made me believe that, Amazon, you're so smart. I loved it.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Winners!!

So, I learned my lesson a while ago and no longer do contests which require me to personally pick a winner. It's too hard to choose. I feel guilty and want to let everyone win. But even using random.org to pick my winners, knowing I could blame it on a computer generated program, I still wished I could let you all win. This is impossible. There's no way I can do 40 critiques. I only have time for 2 critiques. But after the first number came up and it was:

C.A. Marshall (Congratulations!! I'll email you) I noticed she had requested a book in the comments section. I thought, I scheduled myself time for 2 critiques, so I should definitely pick 2 more winners.

The second random number generated by random.org (remember, not me, a computer program) was:

Larissa (Yay!!!) After all my reasoning about being able to do 2 critiques, I noticed Larissa hadn't specified what she wanted. So it's possible Larissa also wants a book. Which is totally fine. I will email her and find out. :)

The last random number drawn, and I'd like to think it was because she somehow sent threatening letters to random.org or maybe she also promised the website something she has no intention of actually delivering, was:

Sophia Chang (I expect my army of Chinese children very soon). From now on I will try my own over-the-top promises when entering contests because obviously the positive vibes those promises sent into the Internets somehow came back to reward you. (I'll email you)

Congratulations to the winners!! Happy New Year, everyone!