Camp Awesome

Please help me welcome Meghan Hill as today's Wednesday's Guest. When I reviewed her book, Making Room for You, on Sunday, I thought she was going to give us more tips about how to clear up the clutter in our homes, but this story is much more entertaining. And maybe the book has all the tips we need. When you finish reading about her adventure on the river, hop over to The Blood Red Pencil if you have a moment. I'm doing my monthly humor post over there, and a good chuckle might get you over the hump. If you need more laughs, you might want to check out the Hump Day Funnies that LD Masterson does every Wednesday. In the meantime, grab your beverage of choice to go along with the scones, sit back, and enjoy Meghan's story.

Don’t ever set out to “float” the Yakima River in Washington State with 14 people and weighed-down canoes rented from a local university. Don’t start several miles upriver where signs caution that the waters are too wild for watercrafts and human beings. I did and the group and its friendships barely survived. 

Years ago, shortly before the 4^th of July, my ex-husband and 12 of our friends set out for a three-day river trip. We loaded the canoes with sleeping bags, tents, backpacks, bins of food, coolers, and enough beer to keep a small city drunk for weeks. It was immediately clear we hadn’t thought out what the weight of our bodies and excessive stuff would do to the canoes, which sunk into the river, barely clearing the surface by an inch.

Late in the day, we set sail. We didn’t need the warning signs, as experience taught us we were in trouble. Five minutes on the water and oars flew out of people’s hands. Two of the four canoes tipped, tossing people and flotsam downriver. One man in a lone kayak whirled out of control in the strong eddies. A couple of women almost drowned. We tried to right ourselves and the same scene played out once again before some of the guys said we ought to pull out of the river to shore and think.

We set up camp along the river that night and spent the evening discussing our predicament over cans of Coors Light and Gardetto’s. It was clear that the women in the group were not amused, full of fear and angry at their boyfriends and spouses for putting them in harm‘s way. I found myself identifying more with the men in the group, sensing adventure and an opportunity to conquer fear.

The next morning, as we prepared to set out, I was chosen to ride solo in the kayak as all the other men needed to physically and emotionally protect their women. Day two proved just as disastrous as the evening before. We lost sunglasses, car keys, wallets, sleeping bags, clothing, and cases of beer to the river as boats tipped over and swirled us every which way downriver.

I almost drowned that day until my friend Jake swam to the edge of the river and held out an oar for me to grab onto. After hours of canoes tipping, losing more belongings, and several more near-drownings we pulled off the river again to set up camp for the night. You never saw a more solemn bunch. Sunburned, mosquito-bitten folks. We had scrapes all over our faces and shoulders from getting caught along the sides of the river where the current pulled us and our canoes toward sharp, dry tree branches lining the bank. We couldn’t have a fire because we selected a spot in tall, dry grass. We glumly realized most of us would be sleeping out in the open as we’d lost our sleeping bags in the constant boat tippings.

My friend Tom asked a couple of us to go for a walk with him. He said, “I know people are angry and scared. But I think this is awesome. This is Camp Awesome. This is a great adventure.”

I agreed wholeheartedly and felt I’d be a jerk if I said that aloud to the rest of the group, who were obviously miserable. We finished our river trip the next day and made it back to our cars alive. Everyone was more than ready to go home, cursing the poor planning and communication that defined the trip. I personally relished the experience. It tested us and revealed our qualities and responses to danger and disaster. Despite the fear, the fights, the tears, I felt strong and stoic and marveled at how rarely we take risks or welcome them. People couldn’t leave fast enough and I was eager to know how soon we could plan to set out on the river again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meghan Hill’s expertise as a professional organizer, lifetime of writing, and years of studying self-development culminated in Making Room for You, her first book. Organizing for over 100 clients in Los Angeles, often overhauling entire homes and commercial offices and acting as a personal coach, has given her invaluable insight into the process of organizing and allowed her to gain a deeper understanding of what people need to sustain an orderly and serene environment. Her countless day jobs and exploration of what it means to be human is endless fodder for her imagination and writing. Born in Seattle, Meghan now lives in Walla Walla, Washington. She is currently mining her 87 journals for a series of books to publish.

Ebook Challenge

Today's Wednesday's Guest is Jay Hartman, one of the partners at Untreed Reads, a terrific ebook publisher. The folks over there came up with this idea for something fun to do during the bleary days of January. I am pleased to have several of my titles among the hundreds of books offered by Untreed Reads. They all qualify for this special.

Let's all have a glass of lemonade and pretend it's summer. :-)

January is typically the month where people set all types of goals and challenges for themselves. One type of very popular challenge is to read a certain number of books over the course of the year.

We think reading is pretty essential to a happy life, and challenging yourself to read more over the course of a year will keep your brain as healthy as giving up chocolate cake or soft drinks. So we want to make it even easier to help you meet that goal.

We've setup The 2014 Untreed Reads Ebook Challenge to get everyone's brains all fired up. If you'd like to participate, all you need to do is the following:

1. Send your name and email address to 2014Challenge@untreedreads.com . If you're participating in another reading challenge on the Internet, be sure to let us know that too. We won't EVER share your info with anyone else, but we'll add you to our New Releases newsletter so you can see the great new books coming down the pike...plus get even more coupons!

2. Each month we'll send you a coupon good for a free download from our store (http://store.untreedreads.com). You can choose any title up to $5.99 and in any format you prefer: EPUB, PDF or Kindle.

3. Read the book and leave a review in our store and as many other places you can, such as Amazon and Goodreads. Please leave an honest review! You'll also need to include in your review that you received a free copy of the book in exchange for a review. The government requires that. Darn red tape!

Don't break your resolution to stop procrastinating! We're only accepting sign-ups through January 31st, so be sure to take advantage of this great opportunity!

On another note, I will be out of town until next week, so I am taking a break from blogging. See everyone next week.For a little bit of fun for your Wednesday check out the nonsense Slim Randles shared at The Blood Red Pencil.

I also want to mention that my mystery, Boxes For Beds, is on a special countdown sale at Amazon through Saturday.  If you missed out  on getting a copy when it was offered free, this is your chance to get it for only $1.99. After that, the price goes back to $3.99. If you don't have a Kindle reader, you can get Kindle Apps for all other electronic devices. Here's what one reviewer had to say about the story, "Excellent characterization and a good plot."

Finally, here are a couple of jokes I stole... er.. borrowed from my friend LD Masterson.

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn sing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

That's all folks. Have a great week.

Blog Award

I'm doing something different this Friday. My friend Nancy Cohen honored me with this lovely blog award recently, and I want to thank her for considering my blog worthy of an award. Nancy is the author of a cozy mystery series that feature a sleuth who is a hairdresser. I have read Shear Murder and enjoyed it a lot.

 The rules for this award are:

1. Link back to and thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Post the badge on your blog.
3. Answer the questions posed to you.
4. Nominate five bloggers who shine a little light in your day and notify them.
5. Ask five questions for your nominees.

Since I always hesitate to impose rules on my blogger friends, I encourage those that I nominate to think in terms of guidelines, not rules. And now to answer some of Nancy's questions.

1. What genre do you read for fun? I read primarily mystery for fun.

2. Do you revise as you go along or wait until your first draft is done? I do some revising as I go along. Often my writing session begins with reading through the last chapter or scene to jump-start the next action in the book, so I will tweak some as I am doing that. Still, I will also end up doing one or two revisions when the whole story is complete.

3. What advice would you give aspiring authors? I would encouring aspiring authors to learn perseverance and develop a thick skin. Those that succeed are those who keep writing, and those who improve their craft are those who are willing to take constructive criticism and editorial input. I would also tell them to read as much as possible in all genres, as we absorb good writing techniques as we read.

4. Do you have beta readers and who are they? For my latest release my beta readers were Dani Greer and Cathy Richmond. Dani is the acqusitions editor for Little Pickle Press, and Cathy is the author of best-selling Christian fiction. Both are writers for whom I have a great deal of respect.

Now I would like to pass the award on to:

Helen Ginger, who has a terrific blog where she shares information on writing and the publishing business, as well as some great book reviews.

LD Masterson, who always has something fun and interesting on her blog. Love her Hump Day

Susan Swiderski, who does fun posts with lots of pictures and clever captions. It's always fun to visit her blog.

Marilyn Meredith, who is an amazing woman and my idol. She is not afraid to admit her age, 87, nor how many books she has written and published, 35. 

Joan Reeves, who is always promoting fellow authors, as well as offering all kinds of helpful posts from editing to setting up an office.

And my questions for my friends - should you choose to answer:

1. How long do you spend putting together a blog?

2. What other writing do you do?

3. Do you blog because you like to, or because you were told you have to by a publisher?

4. What is a story your family likes to tell about you?

5. When you visit another blog, do you promote it on social media?

Friday's Odds and Ends

Tonight and tomorrow I will be in Tyler, TX for the East Texas Bookfest in Tyler, Texas, and, as usual, I left too many things until the last minute, so I will be busy most of today getting everything in order. There are always so many little details, like don't forget the flyers and your toothbrush and your books. Not to mention the list of things to do to get all the animals squared away and make sure my husband has some help if he needs it.

So, I have no blog post idea at all. Instead, I will just give you links to some online friends who have neat things to share.

First up is Alex J. Cavanaugh. I love his brief music and movie reviews, and he always has updates on what is new with some other author friends. He is good about sharing.

Another writer friend is LD Masterson. She frequently has humor on her blog, but also hosts authors who are on blog tours. A recent post is from a mutual friend, Marilyn Meredith who is touring with her latest book, Raging Water. 

Helen Ginger, one of the team members at The Blood Red Pencil, also has a very popular blog, Straight From Hel, where she shares tips on writing and publishing, as well as offering book reviews.

Susan Swiderski has a fun blog, I Think, Therefore I Yam. She does some great pictorial essays that I always enjoy. I admire someone who works so hard to entertain her readers.

And in closing, here is your funny for the day from one of my favorite comic strips, Pickles. Earl is lying on the sofa reading a magazine and Nelson, his grandson leans over to ask, "Where do we go when we die, Grampa?"

Earl says, "I don't know about everyone else, but I'm staying right here."

"Right here?"

"Yep. I'm going to have my ashes scattered over this sofa."

Nelson then goes to Opal who is in the kitchen and asks, "You have a really good vacuum, don't you Gramma?"

Friday's Odds and Ends

Have you heard about the New Jersey mother who was arrested for allegedly bringing her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth, where the little girl was reportedly burned? It is still not clear whether the girl was actually put in the tanning booth or she did just get sunburned playing outside. What is truly bothersome about the story, however, is the fact that the woman is apparently addicted to tanning to the point that her skin has turned the color of mahogany. That is scary on so many levels for her health and the future health of her daughter. Is she telling the daughter that is is okay to expose herself to harmful UV rays just so she can look like a piece of furniture? 

Last week my blogger friend, LD Masterson, gave me the Kreativ Blogger Award. I was honored to be listed with some other bloggers, all who have terrific blogs. LD had a great blog, and I hope you will pop over to visit her. She has an interesting post up right now with some tips on effective blogging for writers that she picked up at the Erma Bombeck writer's workshop.

According to the rules of the Kreativ Blogger Award, I am supposed to list ten things about myself that most folks might not know. Hmmmm...... Since I have been blogging for a long time and am pretty much "out there" when it comes to sharing, I'm not sure I can come up with ten things.

Not to worry, though. I doubt the world will come to a crashing end if I bend this rule just a bit. (smile)

1. I hate wearing dresses. Once I no longer had to dress up for my job, I abandoned most of my dresses and suits.

2. I spent a number of years as a hospital chaplain. Hence the dresses and suits.

3. I have a hard time making a decision. A fact that will not surprise my family and close friends.

4. When I first started writing, about age 9, I only wrote about animals.

5. That trend continued into high school and my first boyfriend wondered if there was something wrong with me if I preferred animals to people.

6. I got over it. And him.

Now I need to pass this award on, so I will pass it to a few of the new friends I made via the A to Z Challenge.

Susan Flett Swiderski, with her blog I Think, Therefore, I Yam - who shares artwork and quotes that inspire and amuse.

Dana from The Daily Dose - whose blog takes me back to the days when I was a 30 something mom trying to write in the midst of chaos.

Huntress who writes at Spirit Called about urban fantasy and things in general about being a writer.

Thelma from Widowsphere who loves yellow and offers quotes, lovely pictures, and other items to uplift your spirit.

If you are not already familiar with these blogs, I hope you have a chance to stop by for a visit. You can even go visit if you are already familiar with them. (smile)