Contest Circuit: November 26

What do David Spade, Alex Cavanaugh and the Hobbit all have in common? They make up the oh-so creative themes of December's blogfests! 

I hope you all had plenty to be thankful for this past week. Happy Monday!

Contests: 

Pitch Wars. 31 agented authors or industry interns "coaches" will be teaming up with aspiring authors. Nov 26 coaches will post the genres they are interested in working with. Dec 5 aspiring authors will apply to their 3 top choices for coaches. If picked, each coach will read and give comments about your entire manuscript and query. Jan 23-24 Agents will read pitches and make requests. See any of the coaches' sites for details like Monica B.W's site Love YA!

Operation Awesome is hosting a Mystery Agent contest on December 1. Enter your one sentence pitch for a chance to win a full MS request! The Mystery Agent is looking for YA and MG. See site for subgenres.

Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Nov 30. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jessica Sinsheimer.

Savvy Authors is hosting a Pitch Your Book opportunity to Kerri Nelson of Prism Book Group on Nov 30.

Scribophile is hosting a NaNo Spectacular First Chapter contest. Ends Nov 30. Cash prizes of $50 and $25 available. You must be a member, but membership is free.

Scribophile is also hosting a Haiku Break Contest for cash prizes. Ends Nov 30.

Blog Hops and Flash Fiction:

Victoria Smith and Jaycee Delorenzo are hosting The Mating Game Blog Hop. Choose a couple from your MS. On Dec 3 hop around to five judges' blogs where they will have dating game type questions for your characters to answer. Then post those answers on Dec 10.

Romantic Friday Writers is hosting Holiday Spirit Blogfest. They are looking for excerpts of up to 800 words (fiction or nonfiction) that focus on a family tradition, unique family recipes, inspirational articles - anything that captures the holiday spirit of whichever holiday you celebrate. The linky will be open from Dec 12-31.

I'm a Reader Not a Writer and Oasis for YA are hosting their third annual Mid Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop. Sign up if you'd like to participate in the giveaway, or check out the list of 100+ bloggers already signed up to giveaway great prizes! Dec 21-27.

Morgan Shamy, Mark Koopmans, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp are hosting Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest on Dec 10-12. Pay tribute to rock-star blogger Alex Cavanaugh by answering questions that describe him: What does he look like? Who would play him in a documentary? Who does Alex remind you of? There is a bit of flash fiction fun and you can comment to Mrs. Cavanaugh for bonus points. Since Cavanaugh is such an enigma, these answers will be fun to read. The prize is one of the best parts... signed copy of CassaStar or a picture of Alex and a download of him playing his guitar (either of which are not to be shared online). The masterminding behind this one cracks me up. Well done Morgan, Mark, David and Stephen!

Emily R King and Tammy Theriault are hosting "And You Are...?" Blog Hop. For this clever and entertaining blog hop, Mrs. Claus is giving away three presents to three lucky people who answer David Spade's interview questions. Dec 3.

Word and Stuff is hosting Baby Faces Blogfest on Dec 2-3. For Trisha's first blogfest celebrating her blogiversary, post a picture of yourself as a baby/toddler or tell a story about yourself when you were a baby.

Tyrean Martinson and M. Pax are hosting Hobbit Fest. To celebrate the movie's release, Tyrean and M. Pax have four Hobbit related questions for you to answer. Dec 14.

Giveaways:

The Giveaway of all Giveaways....Beth Revis is giving away nearly 50 signed books - and amazing titles at that. Seriously - go to her site just to see the list she's complied. Ends Nov 30.

Smitten Over Books is giving away a pre-order for one of 11 upcoming new releases next year. Ends Dec 25.

Contest Circuit: November 19

Happy Thanksgiving week! I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season. At the very top of that list are family and friends - new friends, old friends, blogging friends...I'm very lucky to have such great people in my life. Safe travels for those of you traveling this week! May you all be surrounded be good company and good food.  

Contests: 

Pitch Wars. 31 agented authors or industry interns "coaches" will be teaming up with aspiring authors. Nov 26 coaches will post the genres they are interested in working with. Dec 5 aspiring authors will apply to their 3 top choices for coaches. If picked, each coach will read and give comments about your entire manuscript and query. Jan 23-24 Agents will read pitches and make requests. See any of the coaches' sites for details like Monica B.W's site Love YA!

Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Nov 30. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jessica Sinsheimer.

Savvy Authors is hosting a Pitch Your Book opportunity to Kerri Nelson of Prism Book Group on Nov 30.

Scribophile is hosting a NaNo Spectacular First Chapter contest. Ends Nov 30. Cash prizes of $50 and $25 available. You must be a member, but membership is free.

Scribophile is also hosting a Haiku Break Contest for cash prizes. Ends Nov 30.

Blog Hops and Flash Fiction:

Victoria Smith and Jaycee Delorenzo are hosting The Mating Game Blog Hop. Choose a couple from your MS. On Dec 3 hop around to five judges' blogs where they will have dating game type questions for your characters to answer. Then post those answers on Dec 10.

Romantic Friday Writers is hosting Holiday Spirit Blogfest. They are looking for excerpts of up to 800 words (fiction or nonfiction) that focus on a family tradition, unique family recipes, inspirational articles - anything that captures the holiday spirit of whichever holiday you celebrate. The linky will be open from Dec 12-31.

I'm a Reader Not a Writer and Oasis for YA are hosting their third annual Mid Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop. Sign up if you'd like to participate in the giveaway, or check out the list of 100+ bloggers already signed up to giveaway great prizes! Dec 21-27.

Morgan Shamy, Mark Koopmans, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp are hosting It's Time to Give Back on Dec 10-12. They will be sharing details on November 19. Until then, they are keeping us all in suspense with their promises that this will be epic. Looking forward to learning more!!

Emily R King and Tammy Theriault are hosting "And You Are...?" Blog Hop. For this clever and entertaining blog hop, Mrs. Claus is giving away three presents to three lucky people who answer David Spade's interview questions. Dec 3.

MizB at Should Be Reading has several weekly events: Musing Mondays, Teaser Tuesdays, WWW Wednesdays and Friday Finds. For Musing Mondays, MizB asks and book/reading related question and you answer on your blog. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme where you share 2 sentences from your current read to entice others to read it. For WWW Wednesdays, you share what you're reading, what you've just finished, and what you think you'll read next. Friday Finds shares books you've heard about throughout the week. See her site for details.

Alison Can Read and Parajunkie host Feature and Follow Friday. Want to build your followers? Sign up on their linky to meet new bloggers. Follow them, leave a comment and they will follow you. Once a week, one blogger is featured. See their site for more details.

Tyrean Martinson and M. Pax are hosting Hobbit Fest. To celebrate the movie's release, Tyrean and M. Pax have four Hobbit related questions for you to answer. Dec 14.

Giveaways:

The Giveaway of all Giveaways....Beth Revis is giving away nearly 50 signed books - and amazing titles at that. Seriously - go to her site just to see the list she's complied. Ends Nov 30.

Tara Tyler and Cassie Mae have reached 500 followers and are giving away fabulous prizes to celebrate: a blog banner designed by Tara and a critique by Cassie. Ends Nov 21. 

Smitten Over Books is giving away a pre-order for one of 11 upcoming new releases next year. Ends Dec 25.

Wanted Readers and Live to Read are giving away 23 books of really great titles. Ends Nov 24.

I Miss You Blogfest

So for the first part of this blogfest, we are to list 1-3 bloggers we miss.

(1) Ruth Lauren Steven - No matter what Ruth writes about, she manages to crack me up. Ruth is doing NaNo right now, so she ha plenty going on. Still, I miss her posts.

(2) Hope Roberson - You can still find Hope over at Falling For Fiction, but some of my favorite posts from Hope have been on her own blog. Hope's had a very busy fall season that will likely continue into the winter. Hope has a very witty writing style that pinpoints exactly what I'm thinking or feeling in a humorous way.

(3) Now three bloggers I miss because I've been ridiculously busy and haven't stopped by their blogs as much as I'd like: Katie Mills aka Creepy Query Girl, Julie Dao at Silver Lining, and Rachel at Rachel Writes Things.

That's between 1 and 3 bloggers, right?

For the second part, people I'd miss if they stopped blogging. This list is even harder....I have about 30 blogs that I love to visit as often as I can and then others that I stop by less often and find myself asking why I don't stop by there more.  I love our hosts' blogs, Alex, Matt and Andrew, I've somehow negated them in my mind because they are our hosts (and that way I can still mention them and then mention more people).

(1) Barbara Watson and Natalie Aguirre are so classy and lovely they must be mentioned.

(2) Eeks! I had about ten other people I wanted to mention like Julie DeGuia for her Wordless Wednesday posts that I love and Suzy for The Big Reveal posts that are always so fascinating...but I've run out of writing time this morning!

This is my last official day of maternity leave. The family and I are off to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and I'm running late (which is oh, so rare for me.....)

Each of these ladies is a seriously talented writer that can make just about any topic interesting!!

Hubby yelling (kind of)! Must go now!!!

Contest Circuit: November 12

Reason #54 why giveaways are so awesome: A couple weeks ago I entered Rebecca Taylor's giveaway for a Kindle and won. Since then I've become a Kindle addict.

Reason #19 why giveaways are so awesome: Because sometimes they also benefit a good cause. See Sharon Bayliss's giveaway below.

And while you're at it, sign up for one of theses fun and entertaining blog hops! I'm so impressed with the creativity behind these.

Contests: 
Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Nov 30. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jessica Sinsheimer.

Blog Hops and Flash Fiction:

Andrew Leon, Matthew MacNish and Alex J. Cavanaugh are hosting "Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest" on Nov 16. List bloggers you miss who you haven't heard from in a while as well as 1-3 bloggers you would miss if they ever stopped blogging.

Victoria Smith and Jaycee Delorenzo are hosting The Mating Game Blog Hop. Choose a couple from your MS. On Dec 3 hop around to five judges' blogs where they will have dating game type questions for your characters to answer. Then post those answers on Dec 10.

I'm a Reader Not a Writer and Oasis for YA are hosting their third annual Mid Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop. Sign up if you'd like to participate in the giveaway, or check out the list of 100+ bloggers already signed up to giveaway great prizes! Dec 21-27.

Morgan Shamy, Mark Koopmans, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp are hosting It's Time to Give Back on Dec 10-12. They will be sharing details on November 19. Until then, they are keeping us all in suspense with their promises that this will be epic. Looking forward to learning more!!

Emily R King and Tammy Theriault are hosting "And You Are...?" Blog Hop. For this clever and entertaining blog hop, Mrs. Claus is giving away three presents to three lucky people who answer David Spade's interview questions. Dec 3.

MizB at Should Be Reading has several weekly events: Musing Mondays, Teaser Tuesdays, WWW Wednesdays and Friday Finds. For Musing Mondays, MizB asks and book/reading related question and you answer on your blog. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme where you share 2 sentences from your current read to entice others to read it. For WWW Wednesdays, you share what you're reading, what you've just finished, and what you think you'll read next. Friday Finds shares books you've heard about throughout the week. See her site for details.

Alison Can Read and Parajunkie host Feature and Follow Friday. Want to build your followers? Sign up on their linky to meet new bloggers. Follow them, leave a comment and they will follow you. Once a week, one blogger is featured. See their site for more details.

To celebrate the release of her book, Haphazardly Implausible, Miss Jack Lewis Baillot is hosting a Book Blog Party. Sign up to be featured on her blog and write about your book or recent project. Sign up before Nov 14. Posts will be featured Dec 17-22 and Jan 7-12.

Tyrean Martinson and M. Pax are hosting Hobbit Fest. To celebrate the movie's release, Tyrean and M. Pax have four Hobbit related questions for you to answer. Dec 14.

Giveaways:

Sharon Bayliss is hosting a giveaway that supports the American Red Cross. Curiosity Quills is donating half of all proceeds for several of their books. To add her support, Sharon is giving them away. Enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win them from her and support a great cause!

IWSG and I'm Thankful For My Readers Blog Hops

I like to end on a positive. Because of it, let's start with Insecure Writer's Support Group.

This month marks the end of an era. After Thanksgiving, my maternity leave is officially over, and I return to work. My writing time has already deteriorated...and I'm mostly okay with that. My boys are my first priority and they've needed me these past few months. Not only have they needed me, I've loved my time with them. But once I return to work, what happens to my writing time then? What happens to blogging or critiquing or the pursuit of something I love and believe in and want to be good and successful at? (We're ignoring the horrible grammar in that last sentence.) Time is already limited. What will happen to it once I return to work?

(and now for my lame attempt at a natural transition between the two blog hops)

Blogging and visiting blogs has already taken quite a hit these last few months as life has gotten busier and of course, more beautiful. I'm so thankful to those of you who have stuck with me. I'm thankful for those of you who read my posts and leave comments. I'm thankful to those of you that I email weekly. I'm thankful for so many other writers, moms, teachers, Packer fans, NICU survivors and parents, Chicago residents, Ohio residents that I've connected with at some point this year. I've never believed I would feel like I'd developed relationships through this crazy blogging thing we do.

I'm thankful for my CPs and Beta readers - those who have kicked my ass with a 10 page critique, those who have read the whole damn thing, those who have volunteered to read it, and those who have read the same first chapter 642 times for every time I've rewritten it. I hate to name names....I feel like I'm going to leave someone out and I'm terribly nervous about it...but a special thanks to CPs and Betas Neil, Patrick, Dahlia, Carmen, Hope and Ryan. All of you are such amazing writers - thank you for the encouragement, the feedback and sometimes the smacking around you've given me and my MS.

Last but not least, I'm incredibly thankful for my real life friends and family who have no real interest in the writing process but still read my blog anyway. Thanks Jackie, Trende and Mom. ;)

Thank you Vikki and Tara for this awesome blog hop!

So many people and things to be thankful for this year...Happy IWSG!

Contest Circuit: November 5

Happy NaNoMo for those of you ambitious enough to participate! One post I came across that I wanted to pass on was Krista Van Dolzer's Two Writerly Ways to Help Those Affected by Superstorm Sandy. She mentions some great opportunities for a good cause. I'll be back for my dual post on Wednesday for IWSG and I'm Thankful for My Readers Blog Hops. Until then, let me know if I missed anything! 

Happy Monday!

Contests:

Miss Snark's First Victim her third annual Baker's Dozen contest with 13 agents. YA/MG submissions are Nov 6 and Nov 8. Submissions include the first 250 of your MS. 

NA Alley is hosting Agent in the Alley with Julia Weber for NA manuscripts on Nov 7. Include a blurb about your book (no more than 200 words) and the first 250-300 words.

Women on Writing is hosting a flash fiction contest due Nov 30. Open prompt should be 750 words or less. The contest will be judged by agent Jessica Sinsheimer.

Writer's Digest is holding a Short Story competition. Enter your story by Nov 15 of 1500 words or less for a chance to win $3000, national exposure and a paid trip to the Writer's Digest conference in NYC.

Blog Hops and Flash Fiction:

Tara Tyler of Tara Tyler Talks and Vikki of Scribblings of an Aspiring Author are hosting I'm Thankful for my Readers blog hop on Nov 5-8. Post a thanks to your readers during those dates in any creative way you can think of. They will also be offering incredible prizes for the most creative and the most heartfelt posts. Prizes include a blog banner design and MS critique. 

Andrew Leon, Matthew MacNish and Alex J. Cavanaugh are hosting "Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest" on Nov 16. List bloggers you miss who you haven't heard from in a while as well as 1-3 bloggers you would miss if they ever stopped blogging.

Victoria Smith and Jaycee Delorenzo are hosting The Mating Game Blog Hop. Choose a couple from your MS. On Dec 3 hop around to five judges' blogs where they will have dating game type questions for your characters to answer. Then post those answers on Dec 10.

I'm a Reader Not a Writer and Oasis for YA are hosting their third annual Mid Winter's Eve Giveaway Hop. Sign up if you'd like to participate in the giveaway, or check out the list of 100+ bloggers already signed up to giveaway great prizes! Dec 21-27.

Morgan Shamy, Mark Koopmans, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp are hosting It's Time to Give Back. They will be sharing details on November 19. Until then, they are keeping us all in suspense with their promises that this will be epic. Looking forward to learning more!!