Fun Halloween-Themed Blogfest, and Blogging Troubles

I've been having a terrible time coming up with post topics lately, so I was happy to learn about the upcoming Killer Characters Blogfest, hosted by E.R. King at Get Busy Writing,and Deana Barnhart. I love Halloween, so this blogfest seems like a lot of fun to me.

Here are the specifics of the fest, from E.R. King's site:

"The theme is, you guessed it, Killer Characters! Is there a hero who's haunted your dreams? How about a lower-than-dirt bad guy who's made your skin crawl? Or a spunky sidekick who's stolen your heart? Tell us about them!

Join us in three challenges:
1) Oct 24 post about your favorite literary supporting character
2) Oct 26 post about your favorite literary protagonist
3) Oct 28 post about your favorite literary antagonist
All entires should be 250 words maximum, but you may use all the pictures you'd like.

Choose characters you feel strongly about. They don't all have to be evil—though seeing how it's Halloween, malevolent characters are welcome—but they should be killer (AKA awesome, incredible, terrifying, formidable, etc.). Note: The characters you choose should be famous literary characters. For instance, the Ugly Stepsisters (supporting), Batman (protagonist), and the Wicked Witch of the West (antagonist). Then write concise, clear, and convincing entries. Explain why your characters are the best!"

To make the challenge even better, E.R. and Deana are giving away prizes to three lucky winners. To sign up for the fest, just visit their sites and add your blog to the list!

On an unrelated note, I seem to be having problems with Blogger again, and am unable to leave comments on most blogs at the moment. I am also having trouble just getting pages to load. I have fallen behind in my blogging visits and am trying to get caught up, and it's very frustrating to be encountering these issues again.

Here I am this morning trying to visit some of my favorite blogs:

I don't know if this is an issue on my end, or if Blogger is acting up again, but whatever the reason, I hope it is resolved soon so I will be able to get back to my regular blog visits.

For now though, I hope lots of folks will sign up for E.R. and Deana's great fest. I will look forward to reading all the entries, and will keep my fingers crossed that my current issues will be a distant memory by the 24th!

Travels With Clancy: Kentucky Follies and Delhi Flowers

Clancy and I decided to head across the Ohio river to Kentucky for our latest Travels, and visit Big Bone Lick State Park. That was the plan, anyway. That's not exactly how it turned out.

The morning started out beautifully, as we couldn't have asked for better weather. After an extremely wet spring and a terribly hot summer, we've had the best fall in recent memory, with clear days and seasonally cool temperatures. Now that the leaves have started to change, the days are simply gorgeous.

I'd planned to go to some Kentucky parks over the summer, but a massive construction project along the interstate kept me on the Ohio side of the river. There is still construction going on, but I decided to take the Anderson Ferry across the river to avoid it.

The ferry has been in operation since 1817, and runs daily, going back and forth across the river continuously from early in the morning until late in the evening. The cost is minimal, and you rarely have to wait more than a few minutes to catch one of the boats.

Clancy and I drove up just as a boat was loading, so we got on immediately. That was the end of our good luck for the day.

Things started to go haywire while we were on the boat, as Clancy was scared to death of it. Since he loves riding in the car I figured he would be fine with this, as we never left our car during the ride across the river. But, Clancy seemed sure I was driving us into a watery grave from the second we boarded the boat. He wasn't convinced otherwise until we got to the Kentucky side of the river and were back on dry land.

While Clancy obviously wouldn't agree, it was a great morning to be on the ferry. There was fog along the river, and the sun looked gorgeous, and at times a little eerie, breaking through it.

Once we got to Kentucky and Clancy calmed down, I figured we were on our way and we'd soon have a great morning at the park. We drove about 30 minutes from the ferry to where I thought the park was supposed to be, only to find that it wasn't actually there at all. I kept driving, thinking we'd come upon it at any moment, but no such luck. We went on and on along various Kentucky state routes, and finally had to stop and turn around.

I'm wondering now if I was on some sort of unknown hallucinogenic drug last night when I looked up the directions. Maybe someone slipped something into my drink when I had dinner. It's hard telling what I must have entered into Google to get the directions I was following.

After my mishap trying to find the Long Branch Farm, my sister gave me an old GPS she had, so I now have one and could have used it to find Big Bone Lick. But, my fake directions to the park seemed so simple I couldn't see any reason to bring it. I left the GPS at home, and spent most of the morning driving around Northern Kentucky as a result.

When Clancy and I were driving home after I gave up and surrendered to my stupidity, we headed towards the Cincinnati Airport, which is actually in Northern Kentucky, as the road back to the ferry is off the airport road. I got off at the airport exit without thinking that the road off the exit is one way, and only leads to one place - the airport. So, we had to go all the way to the airport and circle the terminals before turning around and going back in the opposite direction, and finally getting to the ferry road.

I knew Clancy was mad about getting back on the Ferry, but I told him we didn't have much choice, as the last thing I felt like doing was sitting in construction traffic. We had to wait a bit for the boat for the return trip, and we ended up the first car on board. I told Clancy I was a little nervous this time too, as this was how it looked out our windshield

Thankfully, my brakes were working just fine.  

When we finally made it back to Ohio, I really didn't want to waste the beautiful weather by just heading home after driving all over creation for no reason. Plus, I knew Clancy was fed up with being in the car and wanted to get out and actually do something. So, I drove to our local park, in Delhi Township.

Clancy and I walk at this park regularly, so it is not exactly something new for us. But, the park has a lovely flower garden that is always a pleasure to walk through, so I decided to try and salvage our morning by at least enjoying the flowers.

The garden is maintained entirely by volunteers, and I think they do an amazing job. We did have a great walk, and Clancy enjoyed smelling around and checking to make sure everything in the park was still the same as the last time we'd been there. He seemed satisfied that all was in order.

We had a really nice walk, and got to enjoy the beautiful weather. But I'm not sure I'll ever live down the fact that Clancy and I rode a ferry back and forth across the Ohio river, drove for a solid hour around Northern Kentucky, and went to the airport, only to end up at a park that is less than two miles from our house. I know Clancy was worn out, and no doubt thought I was completely nuts by the time we finished our trip.

It's taken several brick walls to fall on my head, but I've finally learned my lesson. I won't leave home without my GPS again.

Finishing the 400 Mile Fitness Challenge

Back at the end of January, I signed up for the 400 Mile Fitness Challenge, then hosted by the Books, Fitness, and Other Stuff blog. The challenge was to reach 400 miles by the end of this year, either by walking, running, or bike-riding. I've been walking, and I was excited to reach that 400 mile goal this morning. :)

I had only been blogging a month when I decided to sign up for this challenge, and I had doubts about whether I would ever have any success with this blog, or be able to maintain it. The challenge was the first thing that really helped me to start meeting other bloggers, including the very kind and supportive Lynn Marie at Life through Bifocals, and it was also the first time I started to feel a connection to the blogosphere.

As the year went on, I realized that my little runner moving along the exercise ticker represented more than just my exercising goals. She had also come to represent my blog and my writing journey as well.

The blog was in its infancy at the same time she started on the ticker. Now that she's at the finish line, I can't help but look back on how the blog has changed during the journey to 400 miles.

The post that announced my participation in the challenge was my 16th post. This is post number 129. Back in January, I had maybe 5 or 10 followers, most of whom were friends and family. Now, I have 301. Back then, I had never heard of a blogfest or a blog hop, and I had no clue what on earth a blog award was all about. Now, I've been fortunate enough to both give and receive awards, and I've participated in so many fun blogfests and hops, where I've met some amazing blogging friends from all over the world. I've published two articles, been honored to write a guest post for another site, started a second blog, and even overcome my fear of sharing my work publicly.

It's been a good year, and it's safe to say that it all started with this blog. I am going to keep my 400 mile exercise ticker, as it will always be a reminder to me of what you can accomplish when you commit yourself to a goal. And, that you never know what else will come your way while you're on your journey. 

As the ticker has been such a great motivator for me, I've decided to start a new one for my biggest goal, completing my novel Polar Night. I know that 60,000-80,000 words is considered an average word count for a novel, so I'm starting a ticker to track my progress towards 80,000 words. I'm hoping this will be as motivating for me as the exercise ticker was, and I also hope it will be inspiring to track my progress publicly. 

The word count ticker is only at 12,892 words now, and 80,000 looks a long way off. But, I'm confident that I'll get there. And, I'm anxious to find out what new and unexpected joys I'll have as I travel along on the journey.

What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? ~ Vincent van Gogh

Cat Fancy Article

I got such a thrill this weekend, as for the first time (and hopefully not the last!), I was able to go to a bookstore and buy something that contains a piece of my writing!

Back in June, I learned that a query I sent to Cat Fancy magazine had been accepted, and just signing a writing contract was a dream come true for me. I knew my article was scheduled to be published in the November issue, so for months now I have been dying for that issue to hit the stands. Sure enough, now it has!

The articles are not online, but I could not resist taking a screenshot of the table of contents on the magazine's website. If you look closely, you'll see my name under Rescue of the Month on page 10!

This article means a lot to me, not only because it is my first paid print publishing credit, but also because it is about Tabby's Place, a cat sanctuary I learned about through Best Friends. I totally fell in love with the sanctuary when I wrote about it for the Best Friends site, and I'm thrilled to have the chance to give Tabby's more publicity through this article, as I think they do amazing work.

I have to admit I've been on a high all weekend since I saw this magazine on the stands, and I hope I don't come down any time soon. :D

I'm so grateful to have the chance to share this publishing milestone with so many wonderful blogger buddies. It's a great thing to be able to travel on this writing journey with all of you, and I hope we all have many successes to share in the months and years ahead! :)

And speaking of successes, my friend M. Pax is throwing a party today to celebrate the publication of her novelette, Semper Audacia!!  I'm sending huge congratulations and giving her a standing ovation, and I can't wait to party with her later today. Woo-hoo Mary!

Coffee Time with Rosalind Adam

If you want to have some fun and also support a great cause, head on over to the wonderful Rosalind Adam's site for Macmillan's World's Biggest Coffee Morning.

Rosalind and her sister are hosting the event, and they're serving lots of yummy food and drinks. You can dress up in your coffee time best and hang out with Rosalind and all her guests. The fun is scheduled to go on all weekend.

But it's not just about fun, as the event is registered with the Macmillan Cancer Support Team, and is all about raising money for Macmillan, the team that cared for Rosalind's mother before she passed away from cancer earlier this year. When I visited the blog a little while ago, the coffee party had already raised 112.50 pounds! (Sorry, I don't think I can type the UK pound sign on my keyboard! If there's a way to do it, I sure don't know what it is.)

So go visit Rosalind here for all the info, including the link for donations, and have a great time for an even greater cause. 

I hope everyone has had a good week! I've been busy writing my WIP and am still very excited about it, but I've ended up behind on everything else as a result. I hope to get back to a normal blogging routine and catch up with all the blogs I've missed next week.

Happy weekend, and Happy October, to all! :)

Saturday Writers Writing Contest

I just wanted to spread the word about a great writing contest I learned about when visiting my buddy Becky Povich.

Saturday Writers is a chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild, and the group is currently holding their 10th Annual Fictional Short Story Contest!

The contest is open to all writers, and all subjects or genres are welcome. The entry fee is $7 per story, and prizes are $100 for first place, $50 for second place, $25 for third place, and certificates for fourth through sixth place.

The deadline to enter is November 1, 2011, so there's plenty of time to get a story together and enter. You do have to send entries by snail mail, so you'll need to have your entry postmarked by the November 1st deadline. And if you have more than one story, you can enter up to three times.

The Saturday Writers work hard to encourage and support all writers, and this contest is a great chance to support them while also entering your work in a fun contest.

To get all the details on the contest, click here. Good luck to everyone who decides to enter! :)

Google Earth and Coldfoot, Alaska

I've been making tons (for me, anyway) of progress on my Polar Night story this week, and a big reason for that is a tip I read on Jacqui Murray's great blog, WordDreams.

Jacqui wrote about using Google Earth to search out the locations she was writing about, allowing her to travel the same streets and towns as her characters. I'd never thought about using Google Earth for this purpose before, but because I am writing a story that takes place in an area I have never been, I couldn't wait to try it.

I have to admit, I've now become a little obsessed with Google Earth. ;) Polar Night is set in Alaska, and I feel like I have spent most of my week virtually visiting the state.

My main character is based in Fairbanks, and being able to travel around the streets of the city was just amazing to me. To "see" the stores and banks and gas stations my character will be passing as he drives around Fairbanks was more helpful than I ever could have guessed, and inspired me to want to write and write and write. And then to write some more. :)

A good part of Polar Night takes place in the Arctic region of Alaska, and I was totally fascinated to be able to view a town called Coldfoot. Coldfoot began as a mining town in the early 1900s, and is now a truck stop on the legendary Dalton Highway. I knew I wanted to base one of my characters in an Arctic region town, and when I discovered Coldfoot I couldn't believe how perfect it was for my story.

I loved looking up Coldfoot on Google Earth, and also found some great photos of the town on TripAdvisor. While I would not want to be in this snow myself, just looking at the photos makes me feel inspired again. I couldn't ask for a better setting for my story.


This photo of Slate Creek Inn Coldfoot Camp is courtesy of TripAdvisor



This photo of Slate Creek Inn Coldfoot Camp is courtesy of TripAdvisor

I know I still have a lot of research to do in order to be able to understand the culture and feel of Alaska, and I would give anything to actually be able to travel there and see it in person, but for now I am thrilled to be able to virtually explore this amazing state. I'm so grateful to Jacqui for this tip!

If you're not already familiar with WordDreams, I would highly recommend a visit, as I always think Jacqui offers valuable advice and tips, and also great writer's resources.

I'm hoping for a productive writing weekend to close out my productive week. Whatever you're planning for your weekend, I hope you have a great one ahead! :)