Friday, June 21, 2013

Small Celebrations


The end of another week means its time to Celebrate the Small Things with Vikki at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. If you'd like to learn more about this hop and participate, visit Vikki's page and join us here.

I have to admit that this wasn't a good week for me. It started with the first anniversary of the death of my father, and I found that day to be even more difficult than I expected it to be. Between that and some ongoing personal issues, I found myself in a funk and spent most of the week feeling like a bit of a zombie.

But thanks to Vikki's hop I realized today was the perfect day to turn that around and focus on the good parts of the week.

1. I was interviewed by Graeme Ing and my dog Clancy was interviewed by Shelly Arkon and we both had fun doing the interviews. :) We're looking forward to being featured on Graeme's and Shelly's sites sometime soon.

2. I finally made a dent in my TBR list and read great books by two of my wonderful author friends. Lisa Regan's Abberation and Graeme Ing's Ocean of Dust are both fantastic reads!

3. I commissioned the awesome Heather Holden to create pictures of my Polar Night main characters Danny and Aleksei. This was a new experience for me and it was fun to see what Heather created based on the descriptions I gave her. Her pictures are excellent and I'm looking forward to using them to help with my ongoing marketing efforts.

4. I completed my first Rafflecopter giveaway and was amazed at how easy it was to do. I had been kind of intimidated by Rafflecopter and thought sure I would find a way to mess it up if I used it, but I managed to create the giveaway and choose the winner without adding to the abundance of grey hair I already have on my head. Nancy LaRonda Johnson of Writer's Mark won an ebook copy of Polar Night, and I'm grateful to Nancy and everyone else who entered the giveaway and helped make it a success.

I'm glad to put this week behind me but I'm also glad to celebrate the fact that there were quite a few roses among the week's thorns.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

32 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Nancy!
    Sorry it was a difficult week.
    Look forward to your interviews.

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  2. My sympathies for the anniversary. I'm glad the rest of the week gave you some happiness. What a cool idea to have your characters drawn up!

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  3. That's what I love about this hop, no matter how down we feel we can always find something to celebrate.

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  4. *hugs* I'm sorry it was a hard week, but those are great things to celebrate. I can't wait to see the pictures Heather is drawing for your Polar Night characters. :)

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  5. Ahhh glad you were able to read some good books ;)

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  6. Hugs Julie. I've been missing my dad too. He was such a positive, good humored guy I feel like the earth is darker and shakier without him. But I know I'm not alone, and neither are you.

    Can;t wait to see what your characters look like. How cool!

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  7. I'm glad you're feeling a bit better and that this past week is pretty much over and done. Good for you for finding the positives and bright spots, and congrats on all your accomplishments. :)

    Take care!

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  8. Hi, Julie,

    Glad you found a few positives to such a distressing week. We all have them unfortunately...

    I hope the weekend and forthcoming week brings you DOZENS of roses!

    Congrats to Nancy!

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  9. Sorry about your rough week, and I hope you will be feeling much better. So glad the interviews worked out well and builds lots of interest. I love how much marketing you're doing. I've always been intimidated by the rafflecopter too. I'm considering doing it myself.

    Thanks for the shout out! I truly must try and complete the book I'm reading now, so I can quicker get to yours. I'm so looking forward to it. Writer’s Mark

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  10. It sounds like your week was a bit like mine emotionally. Anniversaries can be difficult, I am sorry for your loss. Glad you found some positives to end the week on too.

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  11. Well the end of a distressing week means the end of your troubles in my opinion. The world will return next week with all kinds of exciting things and good news. That's what I believe anyway. Color me a hopeless optimist :)

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  12. Sorry about the bad parts of your week but glad there was good. Congrats to the winner and enjoy your weekend.

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  13. My dad died over 8 years ago and I still miss him! I think a funk is allowed! x

    Will go and check out the interviews! :)

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  14. @Alex, not sure when they will be up but they were a lot of fun to do. Thanks!

    @Annalisa, thanks so much, I appreciate it.

    @Laura, exactly!

    @Cherie, Heather is awesome, I love her comics. Thank you.

    @SK, that was a definite highlight.

    @Elizabeth, I can definitely understand how you feel. Hugs back to you!

    @Madeline, thank you!

    @Michael, that would be nice, here's hoping. :)

    @Nancy, I hope you will enjoy the book whenever you are able to get to it, it was fun to have a friend win! And I think you will find Rafflecopter is very simple if you decide to do it, if I can manage it anyone can LOL.

    @Suzanne, I'm sorry you had a bad week too. Thanks so much and I hope your weekend will be better.

    @Michael, that's a good way of looking at it, thanks. :)

    @Sheena, thanks so much, I hope you have a good weekend too.

    @Carolyn, oh, the interviews aren't up yet but I will share when they are, thanks! And I guess we never stop missing people we love, do we?

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  15. I've always felt a bit intimidated by Rafflecopter, but maybe I'll give it a go now. Have a great weekend :)

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  16. Congrats to Nancy! I'm excited to read your and Clancy's interviews. That's awesome about Heather doing some pictures for you. I love her stuff!

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  17. Hooray for roses! You are growing quite a beautiful garden. ;)

    I hope you find that each anniversary gets a little easier.

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  18. @Rebecca, you definitely should, it turned out to be really easy! Thanks and I hope you have a great weekend too.

    @Christine, I do too, Heather's great.

    @Nicki, I think it will, thanks so much.

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  19. Huges on a tough week. Sorry to hear that.

    Oceans of Dust is a really excellent read. I enjoyed it.

    Ooo! Can't wait to see how your characters came out! I'd love to do something like that with mine at some point.

    Hope this weekend is the start of a better week.

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  20. I'm also intimidated by Rafflecopter. I don't understand it. Sounds like an interesting week. Have a great weekend, Julie.

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  21. It's lovely you found the roses among the thorns. (That's such a beautiful expression.) I'm glad you found good books to read, gave interviews, and have new character pics. I hope your weekend is fun and restful. :-)

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  22. Dragon hugs arriving, Julie. I am glad you and Clancy had fun with interviews. And I look forward for those pictures of your main characters!! Sorry I missed the giveaway but I'm glad it turned out to be a success. :) Have a good weekend and may next week be better.

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  23. *hugs* Sorry this week has been so tough for you! I can't imagine what it must feel like to lose a parent, so no wonder the anniversary tore you up. I think it's great how you were able to find some positive things to highlight despite that, though. (Thanks for the shout-out, btw--so glad you ended up liking what I made for you!)

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  24. I'm sorry about the rough week. It will get easier in time. You'll never get over missing him, but it will get easier.

    Lots of other good stuff going on, though. You're really good at the promotion side of things. Good for you. And good for you having some down time to enjoy some good books.

    Happy weekend.

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  25. At least the week is behind you now... and it can only get better. That's how I tackle hard weeks... try to imagine it will get better:)

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  26. I understand about your dad. The anniversary of my dad's death is June 15.

    Congrats on your giveaway. Rafflecopter doesn't like me.

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  27. I am sorry you had a difficult week, anniversaries can be so hard.
    Congrats on working rafflecopter - I find it baffling!

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  28. @Mary, thanks for the hugs! And if you do decide to get pics done Heather is just great.

    @Cathrina, thanks, I hope you have a good weekend too.

    @Lexa, thanks! It's a nice weekend so far.

    @Al, thanks for the dragon hugs!

    @Heather, thanks so much again for doing the pics, it was fun working with you.

    @Susan, thanks so much, I appreciate it.

    @tf, that's a good way to tackle them!

    @Carol, hugs to you!

    @Vikki, thanks so much. And I found it totally baffling too so I'm actually amazed it worked LOL.

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  29. Hi Julie - I'm sorry about your father ... those remembrances are tough .. my father's of long ago always sort of jolts me ..

    However you've been achieving loads .. reading (something I need to do!) .. and then sorting your giveaway and getting on with marketing aspects .. clever you - have an easier week ahead .. cheers Hilary

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  30. Sorry about your sad week.

    You've been busy. Hope next week is great and happy for you!

    Thanks for visiting and following my blog art:)

    Mary Montague Sikes

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  31. So sorry to hear about your sad. Hugs.

    But congrats on all good things.

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  32. @Hilary, thanks so much, I appreciate it.

    @Mary, my pleasure, I love your paintings.

    @Nas, thanks!

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