The Winner, Take Five

We are almost done with our week-long give-athon. After today's comments, I will add up all the comment threads and select one more winner. And then I won't have to bug you again until Tuesday! Phew.

Today's topic is something different than the rest of the week. We've talked about food and reading and ... headaches. (Of course we're going to have a problem with headaches after too much sugar and too much time in front of a book.) Anyway, since my family is a car family, the one question my boys ask the most is, "Mom, if you could have any kind of a car in the world, what would you get?"

This has been my answer for the last several months:

It'd be pretty pathetic if I got stuck in the snow in that! And BTW, that is one of Ben Wilder's cars, so I just helped you with your answer for the Generations Pop Quiz. You're welcome.

However, our whole family wouldn't fit, so we'd have to do this to it:

We'd turn heads everywhere we'd go in that thing, especially if we brought the giraffes along. (It almost looks like the giraffes are in the car, doesn't it. Man the inside of that Jeep is roooomy!)

So what's your dream car?

And winner #5 is another Nicole! Nicole J! You've got some serious good luck girl! I'll email you.

AND ... the countdown gadget has disappeared from my sidebar, which means that Catalyst is now available for purchase! Wowza! Head on over to Amazon and click like for me please! BTW, the paperback version won't be available for purchase for a few more days. Check back, I'll let you know when it's there.

The Winner, Take Four

Are you guys getting sick of me yet? I'll bet you're wishing I'd just go ahead and post the rest of the winners so you don't have to keep coming back. Not gonna happen. But I am teaching you patience. You'll thank me for it someday.

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about food that is so good that it's heavenly. Today, let's go the opposite direction. If all of our favorite, delicious foods are in Heaven, then it only make sense to have the gross foods we despise in Hell. Hell is supposed to be punishment for the wicked, and what could be a greater punishment than having to eat anchovies? And now that I think about it, this theory is a great way to help influence children. "You better be good or your going be forced to eat mushrooms in Hell for all eternity!" It might just work!

So tell me: what food do you loathe so much that you think it's served in Hell? My list is simple: seafood and eggs. Yuck yuck yuck. I will be a good girl just so I don't have to eat those ... ever!

And today's winner is:  Lisa. Yippee Skippy! I'll be in touch!

The Winner, Take Three

For those of you just joining us today, I'm posting a daily topic and having you leave me a comment. If you leave a comment any day this week, you are entered to win yet another copy of Catalyst. That's a total of six copies I'm giving out this week. PLUS! Today I'm giving out a copy of Generations over on Facebook. Exact same topic, exact same rules. You may enter both contests. And you may comment every day this week to increase your chances. Aren't I nice? :)

Today's topic is really simple: What's your favorite candy and/or candy bar?

I'm not a huge candy fiend, but I do like and occasional Swedish Fish or Cream Soda Jelly Bellies. If I'm going to have chocolate, I'll go for Peanut or Pretzel M&M's. I love the crunch!

Want to tell us what you like?

Today's winner is:   Nicole S. Yay Nicole S.! I'll email you with the details.

The Winner, Take Two

In case you missed yesterday's post, there's a lot more going on around here than just announcing a daily winner. You're going to want to scroll down to make sure you don't miss any of the fun. Or you could click here if your scrolling finger is broken.

Thanks for the tips on the headache yesterday. I found that hitting myself in the head with a sledgehammer works really well too. My head's not quite the same shape anymore though. Do you want to see a picture of what my head looks like? Click here. But warning, the picture might be disturbing to some viewers. My toes are still curling just from thinking about that picture.

Today let's talk about something more exciting that headaches: Books! Tell me about your reading habits. How many books do you go through a month? What's your favorite genre? Have you switched to an ereader or will you never be able to let go of it's heavy paper predecessor? And then finally ... what are you reading right now? I'm desperately looking for something to sink my teeth into: any recommendations?

Today's winner is: Brittany!
Last time Brittany won, it was the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. I don't think Catalyst will be as funny, but there are a few hand-drawn pictures in there. Or not. But you'll still like it! I'll send you an email Brittany.

Come back tomorrow for more good fortune and don't forget to keep the conversation goin'!

A Week of Giveaways!

Well hi! Watcha doin here on a Monday?

Oh ya, I just remembered you want to find out who has won copies of book two. How could I forget something so important? (I didn't really forget. I was just blessed with a Monday Morning Migraine. What fun!)

So here's what's going on this week: I will announce one winner each day. (Yes, I'm going to make you come back five times this week. What else are you going to do with your time?) I will contact that person via email. Each day, I will ask the rest of you a question or two. If you leave me a comment in the comment thread, I will combine all comments at the end of the week and do one more drawing. So if you didn't enter to win or you are worried that you aren't a winner (just on the blog, because you really are a winner, no matter what) leave me a comment and you have one more chance to win Catalyst. And yes, you can comment every day and quintuple your chance to win. That means I'm giving away six books this week. Yay! The final winner will be announce on Saturday.

But wait, there's more: on Weds., I'll be doing a drawing over on Facebook. All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered to win a copy of book one, Generations. I'll put that link up on Weds.

And there's still more! The form for the Generations Pop Quiz (love the pun?) is now available here. It's super easy, and it's possible that if you haven't read the book you can fudge your way through. Wrong answers don't count against you: you'll still be entered to win. What do you win? Dinner at Applebee's. The more people that enter, the more $ you get to spend on your dinner, so tell your friends to take the quiz too.

Then finally, the reason for all this fun: Catalyst should  might   hopefully will be released on Friday. Oh my! Are you excited? I know I am. (At least I would be if I didn't have this headache.) So that leads to today's comment thread: Any great tips for getting rid of headaches? Please share!

I won't close the comment threads, so feel free to leave a comment on any of the posts, even if that day has already passed by the time you read the post.

Want to know the first winner of book two, Catalyst???
Brian! 
Yippee Skippy! And Brian, you are also the first male to win on the blog! What an honor! Brian, you da man!

Now lets talk headaches:

An Eye-Catching Winner

What fun we had together this week! Thanks for the comments. I'm surprised that no one mentioned "The Ten Commandments." Don't you think that was a really great book to movie adaptation? (Read that with sarcasm.) Scripture stories just don't translate real well onto the big screen, do they? (Although based on the awards and money it made, I might be alone in my opinion. But four hours? Come on! Do you know how many potty breaks that is for me?)

This week's prize is something everyone needs to survive in Hollywood: sunglasses. And sunglasses aren't just for Hollywood though: did you know that sunglasses are a tired girl's best friend? Nothing works better to hide those dark circles under your eyes than a set of big ol' sunglasses. However, here in Montana, sunglasses are only technically needed about two weeks out of the year, so disguising tired eyes with sunglasses doesn't always work. People might think you're trying to be the Unabomber.

 

That Ted knew the secret to looking good. See how much better he looks with a simple pair of sunglasses? I think the reason he got busted is because he lived here in the State of Perpetual Winter and he couldn't keep his sunglasses on all the time. The guy would still be free if he'd picked Nevada as his hideout.

 But not to worry, those aren't the type of sunglasses I'm giving away. Here they are, modeled by the lovely Princess Bean. And from the side shot, you can see that Bean's got some bling.

And this week's lucky winner is (AS PICKED BY RANDOM.ORG) #3 Anne Miller! Holy cow, took you long enough to win! Anne contributed a prize back in June, remember? Anne does beautiful vinyl lettering, pop on over to her blog and take a peek.

Anne, you will look so super cool in those sunglasses that I might just cast you in my next movie. Have your people contact my people: I'll need your address to send the movie contract sunglasses to.

Everyone else, have you remembered to sign up to win a copy of Catalyst? It ends tomorrow! Come back on Monday: I will be giving away one book away all week. And I'm sure we'll find something to talk about!

Cast Your Eyes On This ... *

I'll admit it: publishing a book is pretty awesome. Seeing your name in big, bold letters on the cover of a book--your book--is one of those high moments in life. But you know what's got to be even better? Seeing that book made into a movie. I think it's something that all author's dream of: seeing their story on the big screen. Although ... I don't really know why. Movies rarely live up to the book. Think about it: you hear of your favorite book getting made into a movie and you get so excited about the casting and the news of the filming. Just watching the trailer gives you goose bumps. But then you go see the movie and what do you say? "Eh. It wasn't as good as the book."

For some reason, that never stops us from dreaming about it. And there's another funny thing that we authors do: we post pictures of our dream cast, even though everyone knows that the author has nothing to do with the casting of the movie (unless you're J.K. Rowling). And more than that ... since characters are typically based on a myriad of traits pulled from real people, it's absolutely impossible to cast someone who matches that role exactly. I think sometimes the casting comes close to what the reader or author had envisioned, yet other times, I bet the author is thinking "what the???" (Yes Twilight, I'm talking about you.)

So I've come up with a solution. I'm going to become a casting director so that I can cast my own Wilder Times movie.** (Yes, that would be one of my more brilliant thoughts. I don't know why every author doesn't do the same.) And like I said before, there's not anyone out there who exactly matches how I picture the characters in my head. So I've realized that I need to cast based on the character's key traits. Everything else can be enhanced by make-up and CGI. And acting skill is also not at the top of the list: it seems that this skill can be acquired, at least by the third installment. (Yes Twilight, I'm talking about you again.)

Do you want to see who I would cast as the leads in Wilder Times? Of course you do!

First up: Ben Wilder. Key traits: amazing blue eyes and a silky smooth singing voice. And the winner of that role is: Jared Leto.

 

Or at least that's who would have gotten the role if this were 1995. But since Jared is now old (ya know, like my age) and he now looks like this: 

Wait, that picture is a few years old. Let me find a different one. (BTW, blue eyes always look better with lots of black eyeliner, don't you think? Or not ...)

Shoot, also a few years old. I'm searching Google databases for a more current one. OK. Here we go:

Dang, that one is a year old. (I think he changes styles more than Lady Gaga.) Oh well. I think you get the point. Jared can't play a teen heartthrob anymore. BUT! He can play Ben's dad, Dan Wilder. It's perfect. Dan is a former 80's rock star and big-time party guy. Jared fits that role well and I don't think he will mind the demotion: I hear his band is doing quite well anyhow. 

So taking the role of Dan Wilder, I give you Jared Leto: 

This picture is very fitting, because he looks mad. Why is Dan Wilder mad? Well, because he's dead and nothing ruins your day more than being dead.

Then Dan needs a beautiful Italian wife. And when you think of Italian actresses, you think of this gal: 

The lovely Monica Bellucci will be playing the role of Lena Santareno-Wilder. (She actually looks a whole lot like how I picture Lena.) And yes, she looks older than Dan because she's still alive. Lucky her!

So those two pretty people combine their genetics and make our hero: Ben Wilder. (Again, we're back to looking for great blue eyes and a nice voice.) So my pick for Ben is: 

Hudson Thames. Don't know who he is? Well, let me tell you how I found Hudson. I saw him in a VW commercial (which we take notice of around here, since we seem to have a thing for VW's) and I said, "My, what big blues eyes you have." And he said, "All the better to play Ben Wilder with." So I looked him up and found out that he's also a musician. I said, "My, what a set of pipes you have," and he said, "All the better to sing the songs on the soundtrack with." *** And then ... get this ... I found out that his brother's name is WYLDER THAMES. Say it out-loud. Do you get it?! Is that just the coolest coincidence ever? That sealed the deal for me. Hudson Thames IS Ben Wilder.

(BTW, the name Wylder should have been on last week's post. In fact, I think I'm going to name Ben's son Wylder. The baby would be Wylder Wilder. Don't laugh, it could happen. My sister dated a guy named Reid Reed. And are you wondering if Ben is going to have a son? Well, you're just going to have to wait another year to find out when book three comes out. Mwhaaaa!) 

Now he needs a girl to crush on. Key traits for Katrina Hayes: more cute than pretty, more wholesome than smexy, more bubbly than a roll of bubble-wrap (which means endless hours of fun, but without the annoying pop pop noise).

So here's Kat: 

Olivia Holt from Disney's Kickin' It. Isn't she ... adorable? Hudson, do you want her number?  Because I could totally hook you up.****

And then lastly (but not leastly), Kat's best friend, Jackson Scott. Key traits: guy-next-door kind of look, tall and skinny, more into being smart than worrying about his looks. 

This is Callan McAulifee (also a cool name) you may have seen him on I Am Number Four. (But if you haven't seen it, don't waste your time. Cool concept, poor execution.) The only thing that's a little troublesome about casting Callan is that he and Olivia actually look like they could be brother and sister, but that might make the BIG lie even more believable. *****

Whew, that's my cast. Pretty awesome, huh?

So now let's chat about book to movie conversions. What movie do you think is the best adaptation of a book? How about the worst? Any movies that were actually better than the book? Or talk about characters as well: was someone ever cast in a role and you went: Yes! That's exactly how I pictured them? 

I'm not going to add any input on this topic, as Blogger sent me a warning saying that I have over-exceeded (not a real word, I know) my word usage for the week. Blogger told me to stop hogging the conversation and let my friends say something. The floor is yours ... 

Oh, except I need to tell you that you only have four more days to enter to win a copy of Catalyst:Wilder Times. And if you haven't read Generations yet, you're going to want to so you can take the quiz and enter to win dinner at Applebee's. The quiz will be up next Monday and will run through Oct. 9th. For the full details of both contests, go here.

It's really your turn to talk this time ... leave me a comment about movies and books and you could win the weekly prize. But make sure you've seen the disclaimers below.

* Alternate Post Title: What Lori does when she is bored with editing.

**Wilder Times has not been optioned for film. YET. This post is based on the practice of positive thinking. Also note, I am not inducted into the CSA. Does anyone know what it takes to get into the CSA? That's the next thing I'll Google  when I'm procrastinating my line edits.

***This was not an actual conversation. You should know by now that pretty much everything in my life is imaginary.

****I don't actually have her number, but I have a teen boy in my house who would like me to get it.

*****I'm so close to spoiling this for those of you haven't read Generations. Don't worry, I won't say anything else too revealing. But don't you think you aught to read it so we can let everything out in the open???

Ok, for real's now: leave me a comment. I won't say another word. 

Word!

I'm naming a winner

There's a lot of super good ideas for names out there. Thank you for helping! Now I just need to come up with characters for all those names. Do you dare me to put all those names in one book? That could be fun.

So I had a hard time picking a gift for this contest. I didn't know if everyone would appreciate a baby-related gift. But as it turns out, the winner could have used something babyish. But too late! I didn't get a baby gift. Instead, the prize is (another) iTunes gift card. Why? Because I already had one. And because you can play Name That Tune with it. And you noticed the title of this week's post, right? "Name That ...." See: it totally fits.

This week's winner gets $10 to spend on music. (Or movies! Or books!) I imagine that you'll find a few odd names while you are browsing around on iTunes. And the winner as selected by Random.org (which I still do, but no longer take pictures of the winning number. Yes, I'm lazy.) ... #4 Bigskyboys! It's been a while since you won. I'd say you're about due to be paid again, since you are so super diligent to leave comments on my blog. What good friends I have. (Really, I do. Me a lucky gal.)

I'm way excited about next week's post. See y'all then.

Name That ...

Every time we suffer through a long winter here in the Flathead, a strange phenomena occurs the following fall: we have a baby boom. This fall, practically everyone is having a baby. Yes, it was a looong winter. No, I'm not announcing anything (thank goodness). While the new little munchkins are exceedingly cute and snuggable, I'm glad to give them a squeeze and then hand them back to their mothers. I don't miss the sleepless nights, the endless poopy diapers, and having my body turn into a dairy. I also don't miss having to name the little squirts. That's a daunting task. What if you name them something they eventually hate? What if people make fun of them? What if everyone else decides to name their kiddo that exact same thing? Or the problem we have--what if the boy name you use becomes a popular girl's name? Sigh.

But even though my child-bearing days are over, I still don't get out of the name dilemma. As a writer, I have to give careful consideration to each character's name. I have to avoid strange spellings, similar sounding names, even using too many names that start with the same letter. And as I'm learning, writing a series is a whole new ballgame. I might mention a character only once and give him an average name like Mike and than forget and call someone else Mike in the next book.

It's kind of strange how some names come out of the air without really attaching a real person to that name. And then later, you realize that you've used names from half of your extended family and most of the children in the 6th grade class.  For me, it's never intentional to name a character after a real person--unless I'm trying to serve a vendetta. (Beauregard  was such a big jerk when he dumped me just before prom, so in my next book, my villain will be named Bequregard. Ha ha ha! Revenge is mine!) However, I do feel like I'm running out of names. Pretty soon all my characters are just going to be called Bob. Even the girls. Unless! Maybe you can help!

Share your favorite names with me. Do you have any old family names that you would like to revive? How about names that are really edgy but you were too afraid to use them? How about a name that you've just always loved, but never used? Do share! And not only will one random commenter win a weekly prize, you might just see your suggested names used in a future book. How seriously awesome!

(Notice I said name(s). Anyone leaving just one name will be branded as greedy. Unless you plan on having as many kids as the Duggar's, you should have plenty names to share. And guess what! I could even use last names. If you've heard a really cool last name, share that too.)

And don't forget!!! I'm giving away five copies of my new book. All you have to do is click here and give me your name and contact info. You get bonus entries if you do extra things to help promote my book. It's a win win situation!

A Winner in the End

Sounds like y'all had great summers. And it sound like we all could have used a little more time and money, and possibly a little less roundness. :) Seiperts, your roundness was the good kind of roundness--it will be gone by next summer. As for me, that new cookbook of mine will just keep adding roundness for years to come.

To all you fall lovers out there: you traitors! How could you betray summer like that? But ok, I admit it. Fall's kinda nice too.

And lastly to bigskyboys: holy cow you are a freakin' genius! I honestly had never thought of going to the lake while the kids are in school. And this comes from the diligent, devoted mother who forgot to send pencils with the school supplies. Pencils!

This week's winner gets a warm, fuzzy, fleece blanket. It's snuggleriffic! It will keep you warm on those chilli fall mornings.

The winner is #8, Seiperts! Yippee! A blanket for you to take naps with your newest little hombre. Contact me ...  I think I know a way to get this to you. :)

And guys, make sure you check out the next post. It's that awesome thing I've been talking about. You excited? I know I am. Or maybe I'm super tired. Yep, that's what I am. Getting up early doesn't agree with my constitution. I'm going to start typing like this klsangah itaj ahgakhd  if I don't hurry and get some sleep!

Fall Fun-Fest!

It's the final countdown: only 21 days until my second book is released! That means it's time to throw a Par-tay, complete with door prizes. No need to RSVP: you're welcome to just pop in anytime. Want to know what the door prizes are? Of course you do!

I'm giving away 5 copies of my new book, Catalyst: Wilder Times AND I'm giving away a dinner at Applebee's.

Now pay attention: you don't want to miss any of the details on how you can win.

First up, you have a chance to win one of five copies of Catalyst. This one is super-simple. All you have to do is go here (I'm using the stagnant blog so it's not so crowded around here. Nothing ruins a good party like overcrowding, especially when you're a hermit from Montana.) and fill out the form. The more you do to show that you are a Wilder Times fan, the more times your name is entered into the drawing. All the links you need to follow to get added for extra entries are in the sidebar. The form will be available now through September 23rd. Then come back to the blog starting on the 26th: one winner will be announced every day. And then ... duh duh duh, Catalyst will be available to the public. Yay!

But you'd like to win dinner at Applebee's too, wouldn't you? Don't worry, even if you win the book, you can still enter. The entry form will be available on Sept 25th and will close on Oct 9th. But I'm going to make you work for this prize: it's a check your Generations IQ test. Not to worry, it's an easy test with just a few questions based on the book, (i.e. Q:What color are Ben Wilder's eyes? A: Red. At least when he has a hankering for some fresh flesh. Oh wait, maybe I'm thinking of the wrong book. Blue. His eyes are blue.) So if you haven't read Generations yet, you're going to want to get cracking: you have one month to do it. Why would you want to read Generations?
Because:

• It's only 99 cents. What else can you buy for less than a dollar? Not even a pack of gum my friends!
• It's a sweet romance, but it's a quick read and you don't need to use a dictionary to understand, ala Jane Austen.
• After spending your 99 cents and giving up a few hours of your time, you could win dinner. Do the math: it's totally worth it.
• It's actually a kinda good book. You might like it. You might even really, really like it. 

I bet you want to know how much money I'm going to give you to eat at Applebee's. Well, that's totally up to you guys. The more people that enter the contest, the more money I'm willing to spend. We'll start at $10. But! If more than 15 people enter, the amount will bump up to $25. But! If more than 30 people enter, the amount jumps to $50. But! (Yes, I'm doing Kid History #3, thanks for noticing) If 55 people enter, I will give $75. But! If 80 people enter, (I know that many people won't enter, I just like giving my fingers a workout.) I will give away 100 completos! So if you want to win up to 100 hotdogs dollars, you need to tell every person you see to get a copy of Generations and get reading. It is back to school time so you should be setting a good example for the kiddos and by showing them how much you love to read.

Phew. Got it? Good. Because no way am I typing all that again.

The End Is Here

Do you remember me taunting you with the promise of something awesome this week? Well ... you're just going to have to wait. It's not ready yet. I know you really had your hopes up. But come back on Thursday and I'll tell you all about it. Promise.

And until then, allow me to give you more bad news:

It is with a heavy heart and much solemnity that I tell you the following: summer is over. I know it is rather unexpected. September--which once seemed so far away--is now at hand. 

As is often the case when we aren't given enough time with something we hold so dear, our hearts are filled with regret. "If only" seems to dominate our thoughts.

So I give you my "if onlies" for our beloved Summer 2011.
If only you would have been a little bit warmer, then I could have picked huckleberries.
If only you would have given us one extra day in the week, then I could have spent more time at the lake.
If only you would have made gas prices cheaper, I could have traveled more, and I could have had more company come visit too.
If only you would have given me a bigger stomach so I could eat more fresh food.

But, not wanting to seem all negative, I shall pay tribute to the great memories Summer 2011 left behind.
I liked it when you took my family to Birch Lake, and how the kids jumped off the snow banks and into the freezing water.
I liked it when you gave us this cookbook, and when you introduced us to this corn. (That corn isn't heavenly. It's so good it's a sin. Seriously.) (Oh, and BTW, technically it was my lovely mother-in-law who introduced us to those things. But summer helped too.)
I like it when you brought family to our house. And I liked it when your brought us to see the grandparents, both sets.

So now it's your turn: Tell us  your "if onlies" for summer. And tell us what was great about your summer. And then we will pass around a box of tissue and sob uncontrollably as we think how it will be another 10 months (in Montana) before we see summer again.

A Heavenly Winner

You guys have such good taste! :)

Based on the title of Tuesday's post, did you think this book would be the prize? If so, then I totally tricked you! Ha!

This week's prize is like the food post: it will make you drool but you don't have to worry about calories. That's because you can only smell it, not eat it. 

 

 

It's a good thing that they don't bottle scents of all of our favorite foods. Could you imagine a pizza candle? Or a seafood candle? Not so appealing, huh? But these little candles are my fav's. They smell so real! So the winner gets a birthday cake candle and a sugar cookie candle. And the winner is ...

#3! The Edgertons! Wahoo! Contact me to get your prize. (I'm getting rather tired of posting the Random.org winner frame. You guys trust me, right? If not, you can file a complaint here.)

Now make sure you come back next week: I've got all sorts of fun stuff going on in September--you better not miss it!