Congrats to Totally Tina! & The Chocolate Party

Congratulations to Totally Tina Scott on winning the Mormon Mommy Writers blog contest. She's the winner of the delicious assortment of Japanese chocolate AND a signed copy of my Coming-Soon book BIG IN JAPAN, due out July 21st in hardcover. Tina is a great writer and artist. In fact I have two of her books on my shelf right now. My kids were reading her book COYOTE'S GRAND ADVENTURE just yesterday. It's a favorite!

Thanks for playing! And a big thanks to Megan Oliphant over at Mormon Mommy Writers for featuring me in their Anniversary contest! Good times, ladies.

In the background I am listening to the screams of my daughter's 7th birthday party (I'm hiding. How awful am I on a scale of 1-10? It's just for a sec, I promise.) We're having a CHOCOLATE PARTY (her request. More evidence I'm a good parent.) They're done dipping fruit and pretzels and marshmallows on skewers and are ready to play "Pin the Oreo Top on the Oreo" with the construction paper Oreos the birthday girl made. Then it's time to make the Chocolate Boxes! Very fun. Verrrrry messy. What was I thinking. Oops. Disaster. Chocolate covered strawberry-marshmallow on the carpet! Dash!

MMW Giveaway!

I want to extend a big welcome to all the Mormon Mommy Writers Readers who are visiting this blog today. Mmmwah! Glad to see you. Grab a piece of candy, pop it in your mouth and join the sugar rush going on over here day in and day out.

Over on Mormon Mommy Writers my awesome friend (who writes like a DREAM) Megan Oliphant has interviewed me about writing and about my new upcoming book Big in Japan, how it came to be, and a little bit about what it was like to get inside the head of a six-foot-six hefty blond sumo wrestler--even though I'm a short brunette who NEVER goes out in just a diaper. It was a really fun interview to do.

And now, for the BEST part. Along with her interview, there is (drumroll, please) a GIVEAWAY. I know how we all love a giveaway. Follow the rules posted on MMW, and you can enter to win a selection of awesome Japanese candies AND a signed copy of Big in Japan as soon as it is released.

COOOOL!

And when will that be, you ask? I got an email from Jolly Fish Press, my publisher, and they have moved up the release date from fall to JULY 21st!

Yee haw. The world has barely 6 months left to wait to read its very first (and will it be a last and only as well? We'll see!) sumo wrestler love story!

Here's the blurb I like to share, the "elevator pitch," if you will.

24 year-old Buck is a big fat nobody until he goes to Japan and accidentally becomes the first blond sumo wrestler. There he has to win the Emperor's Cup and save the girl.

Now, be honest with yourself. Haven't you always subconsciously been waiting for a story just like this? Haha. Me too.

Go enter! Win!

And the Winner Is...

A hearty congratulations to Crystal Dotson of West Virginia!

She has won a copy of my book Delicious Conversation for her correct answer in the 3rd Annual Summer Treasure Hunt--Dig for Clues and Win contest.

The book has been mailed and is on its way to her house as we speak.

There are lots more prizes throughout the rest of the month, so be sure to check out the link above and enter and win!

Summer Treasure Hunt--Giveaway!

Hey! I'm so excited to be a part of the 3rd Annual Summer Treasure Hunt: Dig for Clues and Win! There is a prize to WIN every single day in the month of June. My day is TOMORROW, and a lucky reader/player can win a copy of my most recent book, Delicious Conversation, mailed directly to his or her mailbox (within the U.S.). Cool, right? Plus there are a lot of other neato prizes, books, iPod covers, cool stuff. The authoress organizing the event is a friend of mine, Joyce DiPastena, a fine writer and a lovely person.

http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/3rd-annual-summer-treasure-hunt-dig-for.html



Here's a link to her blog with all the rules and stuff. I hope everyone will play and blog hop and WIN. And any of you newbies to my blog, please feel free to follow and to comment and stuff. I always feel validated and special and stuff when I get new followers and nice comments. Mean comments, well, I probably don't need a lot of those.

Meanwhile, I'm still not eating sugar, but I am chewing gum. A LOT of gum. I bought a zillion pieces of sugar free Extra Dessert Delights Key Lime Pie. It's so much like candy I hardly notice I'm off sugar.

Guilty admission: cold cereal is getting too much of a free pass in this time of Lentish denial. I think I ate half a bag of Malt-O-Meal Blueberry Frosted Mini-Spooners (the knock-off of Mini-Wheats) yesterday. That's a lot of spun wheat, I tell you. But that blueberry flavored frosting on top of each wheaty bite was so yummy. I had to force myself to resist today. Maybe the kids will eat the rest of the bag at breakfast tomorrow and my temptation will have passed.



Now, where's my green gum?