Thursday’s Children July 11, 2013

 

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

This week Kristina and I are launching the Like A Virgin Writing Contest!

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Part of the festivities include a blog hop to help contestants get to know each other by answering Seven Questions. Thursday’s Children can play too if they like, or you can do a “standard” inspiration post, or you can talk about a “first”. Your choice. The linky on my post is the regular Thursday’s Children blog hop. If you want to answer the questions and be part of the Like A Virgin blog hop (opens Friday), the linky will be on the Like A Virgin website.

Here are the Questions. Oh, and we want the Truth (not a Dare)~

  1. How do you remember your first kiss?
  2. What was your first favorite love song?
  3. What’s the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day?
  4. Who’s the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer?
  5. Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?
  6. For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot or setting?
  7. What’s the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone’s tongue when they think of your writing?

Here are my Answers.

1. With disappointment. Beginner syndrome for both of us.

2. “Uncertain Smile” (The The) If you’ve never heard it, or are feeling nostalgic, click here

3. I read what I wrote the day before.

4. Stephenie Meyer. I know, I know. But I read TWILIGHT and the writing didn’t blow me away, so I thought I should give it a shot.

5. Yes, basically. But in between it had other first chapters.

6. Plot. The same can’t be said of my second, but can be said of my third and fourth. General setting has been a “given” so far, therefore I don’t count that as coming first, though maybe it does. Hmm.

7. Haunting. Because my favorite books are the ones that haunt me years after I’ve read them. P.S. I don’t think I’m “there” yet.

Now, I can’t wait to read all YOUR answers! Or about your “first”, or whatever inspires you this week.

Here are the Thursday’s Children codes for this week. If you use Blogger and have trouble with the Linky, try deleting the ” marks and retyping them when you paste the code in html mode.

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And here are the Like A Virgin Blog Hop Codes. Again, if you have trouble getting the linky to show up on your post, try deleting the ” marks and retyping them. To join the Linky List go to the Like A Virgin website.
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Thursday’s Children July 4, 2013

Next week, I hope you’ll all join in for the Like A Virgin Contest “Getting to Know You” blog hop! Go here to see the list of questions to answer. Think of it as Truth or Dare (without the dare…)

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This week I am Inspired by Author Kimberly P. Chase…

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

A weekly blog hop where writers share their inspirations. Please join us!

I’m delighted to offer the APOLLO ACADEMY cover reveal as my Thursday’s Children post. I met Kim last year when I was pre-agent and just entering the world of CPs, contests, and in short, sharing my writing with strangers. She had an agent and therefore in my view, had at least one foot in The Promised Land. She was a judge/mentor in two contests I entered and was unfailingly gracious, enthusiastic and encouraging-a perfect role model for giving back. Writers like Kim made me want to host a writing contest too, and fortunately my partner in crime, Kristina Perez, was eager to do the same and we’re about to launch the Like A Virgin contest!

Now I get to say “thank you!” to Kim in a meaningful way. Without further ado…

THE APOLLO ACADEMY by Kimberly P. Chase
Launches: 8.6.13


Cover Art by Cliff Nielsen



ABOUT: As the heiress to Titon Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she wants—clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. All she really wants is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-prone life for the stars. Becoming the first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the Apollo Academy is exactly the chance for which she has been waiting. Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill her.

Early praise for The Apollo Academy:“I am obsessed with this book! Suspenseful, sexy, and just a great read!” -Cora Carmack, New York Times Bestselling author of LOSING IT.

“Exquisite worldbuilding, thrilling suspense, and a sexy flight instructor! Chase’s exciting debut novel is one you don’t want to miss.” – K.A.Tucker, Author of Ten Tiny Breaths and One Tiny LieAdd The Apollo Academy to your GoodReads Shelf!

AND WE’RE ALSO REVEALING THE BOOK TRAILER! About the author:


Kimberly P. Chase holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which basically means she’s kind of a geek and loves flying airplanes. Naturally, her books tend to include aviation, hot flight instructors, aviator glasses, and—let’s not forget—kissing! When Kimberly’s not writing or reading, she’s hanging out with her husband, four-year-old son, and two dogs

 
 
WAIT! THERE’S EVEN MORE AWESOME….AN APOLLO ACADEMY SWAG BAG IS UP FOR GRABS! ENTER BELOW:
 

And now here are this week’s Thursday’s Children codes…

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Thursday’s Children 1/31/13

A weekly blog hop where writers come together to talk about whatever inspires them. Join us!

A weekly blog hop where writers come together to talk about whatever inspires them. Join us!

Inspired by Valentine’s Day…Not

The MC in one of my books has this to say about it, “Valentine’s Day. Ugh. Corny. Mushy. Scripted.” Yes, she’s a jagged little pill, but I have to agree with her on at least one point. “Scripted”. This is the part that irks me most about Valentine’s Day.

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Also that it’s an excuse for some really bad poetry…

Starting in January, you can’t escape the admonitions to tell your loved ones that you love them.  Even the very young are not exempt. A typical kindergartener spends a week embellishing an empty Kleenex box to function as a card receptacle. Then another hour or so deciding whether she likes Madison enough to give her the Sleeping Beauty card, or whether she should get the somehow less desirable Snow White card. There will also be arguing about why she has to give James a card at all, since just yesterday he called her a nasty name on the playground. The answer to that last one is “Yes, you have to give him one too.” Because it’s Valentine’s Day- the day we tell people we love them, whether we feel like it or not. And even if we do feel like telling a special someone “I love you” on February 14, chances are it will come across as obligatory, rather than genuine.

Don’t get me wrong.

Love inspires me more than anything.

I’m in love with it.

Every book I’ve written is a love story.

I see no reason to stop writing about love.

But love doesn’t arrive on cue, with chocolates and flowers in hand.

Love is messy, raw, scary, funny, euphoric, inconvenient…and a thousand other things. Love is the most powerful force in the world. Celebrating it requires more than one day, one card, one dozen red roses.

So, how do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Do you enjoy writing about love?

Here’s the WordPress code for your post.

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