Angie Lofthouse's Blog, page 10

Thanksgiving Giveaway Winners!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the Thanksgiving giveaway. Think of all the good we did in the world! Way to go.

The winner of the drawing is:

Rochelle Rudd!  
Rochelle wins Checkin' It Twice, Stolen Christmas, and Sing We Now of Chirstmas!

Congratulations. =D

And as a special thanks from me, everyone who commented on the giveaway post gets a free e-copy of my Christmas novelette Joy Ride! (Just as soon as it's available, which should be shortly. Before Christmas anyway.)

Once again, thank you! I hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving.

Now on to Christmas!

I Hope You Make the Best of It

I stole this from a friend on Facebook. F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of my favorite authors.

“For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Remember, there's still time to enter the Thanksgiving giveaway through Thanksgiving!

Short Story Contest Results!

Photo by Julien TromeurThe results are in!
The Notes From the Writing Chair Short Story Contest received twelve entries from eleven different authors from all over the world. I had a blast reading them, but judging is always so hard!

First off, I want to give a huge thank you to my story wrangler, the incredibly talented and handsome Tracy Lofthouse, who made sure I could do the judging completely blind. He did a great job managing it all.

And now... Announcing the winning entry in the Notes From the Writing Chair Short Story Contest:

The Favourite by Almiria Wilhelm!


This is a haunting fantasy about a dance teacher and her star pupil set in a fascinating alternate world. I can't wait to share it with you! The story will be published here on the blog in January. Plus, I'll do an interview with Almiria, so we can all get to know this talented author better.

Thanks so much to all of you wonderful people who entered and helped me promote this contest. I think there will be more short story contests in the future!

A little thanks and giving

You would be hard pressed to find anyone more excited about Christmas than me. I'm kind of like the Whos down in Whoville. Can't wait for trees and lights and carols and shopping and Christmas stories!

But I also love Thanksgiving. I love the food and being with family. But most of all I love the thankfulness. The opportunity to humbly thank our Creator for the bounty all around us. A season of gratitude is just the thing we need to curb the greed that can creep into the Christmas season.

So I thought, why not put some thanks and giving into our Thanksgiving?


Now being grateful and giving to help those in need is it's own reward, but I thought I'd offer a little incentive. Everyone who participates in this little Thankfulness blogfest will be entered to win (what else?) Christmas story collections!
A signed copy of Checkin' It Twice, which contains my story "Broken Things." A signed copy of Stolen Christmas, which contains my story "Shepherds and Kings." An e-copy of Sing We Know of Christmas. (I'm not in this one, but all proceeds go to benefit kids with Down's Syndrome.)




Here's what you need to do.

Comment on this post with five unique things you are grateful for. Try to think outside the box. (1 entry)
Donate something to a charity (money, food, clothing--anything). It doesn't have to be a big donation. (1 entry)
Do something kind for someone else. Again, it doesn't have to be big. Just do something to make someone else's day a little brighter. (1 entry)

Fill out this form letting me know you did these, and you'll be entered. In fact, as many times as you do these things, you'll get another entry!

So let's get out there and put some thanks and giving into Thanksgiving! I promise you'll be glad you did.

A Career-Changing Performance

Writing is not a performance art. We don't stand up on a stage and create a novel in front of a live audience. Thank goodness, huh? (Actually, I quite like performing, but not in that way!)

Our performance comes when a book or story is published and out there for everyone to see.

I read an article about a rising opera star that really inspired me. It talked about all her grueling hours of rehearsals as she prepared to perform at Covent Garden, and how terrified she was the evening of her dress rehearsal. It got me thinking about how it might apply to writing. Do we not have to put in many grueling hours before our creations are ready for their performance?

This line struck me: Relaxed, focused, and prepared, she entered the stage for the dress rehearsal—and had a wonderful experience.

 Relaxed. Focused. Prepared.
I realized this is exactly how I need to approach my writing sessions.

 The article went on to say:

  “At her core she is incredibly focused, and by the time she had an audience, she was prepared to give a career-changing performance." 

There it is again. Focused. Prepared. And think about it. A career-changing performance. Isn't that what we all want our books to be? 

So, that's what I'm thinking about now. How to put in the time and the effort, the focus and the preparation to see that my novels deliver a career-changing performance.

This could change everything!

As I have mentioned before, I desperately want to shorten the time it takes me to write a novel. I am hoping to start in November and write a novel in 100 days. Isn't it interesting how the universe seems to put things in your path just when you need them most? Yesterday, I read a blog post (actually two) from Melanie Bennett about how she significantly increased her word count without spending more time writing. She referred me to a post by Rachel Aaron about how she went from 2K to 10K per day. (Per day! And here I'm aiming for 1K per day. Baby steps, right?) Her triangle is so simple and yet amazing. Knowledge, time, and enthusiasm.

I found both posts hugely inspirational. I think this could really change my life. I am so excited to try. Go read them and tell me what you think!

Now for a couple of announcements.
Photo by Julien TromuerFive more days to enter the short story contest! The entries are starting to flow in and I am so excited to read them. If you're thinking about submitting, please do. Any genre, under 7500 words. Go for it! Deadline is October 31.








 My short Christmas story, "Broken Things" comes out in the anthology Checkin' It Twice on November 15! Yay! I've been interviewed over on the Checkin' It Twice blog. Come read about my love affair with all things Christmas.

Have a great weekend!

Why Write?

It's a question I've been asked many times.

Photo found hereWhy do you write?
I think there are many answers to that. I write because I enjoy it. I love to create characters and plots. I love to connect with readers. I like to daydream. I want to develop my talents. I feel like it is an important part of my life.

I don't really have to answer that question for myself anymore. I've got lots of reasons. I think a better question is

Why do we need writers?
Does the world need writers? I sure hope so! There are enough of us out there.  But why does the world need writers, really? Particularly writers of fiction?

Storytelling is as old as humanity. I've heard it said that fiction is the truest form of writing, because in story, we are really telling the truth about ourselves and our lives.

I think we need writers to help us see ourselves as we really are. But I want to hear your thoughts.

Why do you think the world needs writers?

The Next Big Thing Blog Chain

I was tagged for this fun blog chain by David West at Nephite Blood, Spartan Heart. I get to talk about my WIP, or one of them anyway. So here goes!

What is the working title of your book? Shattered Skies. I got that from the hymn "Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" from the line that says, "Ere long her king will rend the skies..."

Where did the idea come from for the book? It's the third in the series that begins with Defenders of the Covenant. (The second is called The Ransomed Returning.) I just put all my characters into another crazy, difficult situation to solve. I came up with a villain I really love--a woman who is passing herself off as a goddess and trying to take over the world. I also wanted the main characters to continue to grow and change.

What genre does your book fall under? LDS science fiction adventure.

What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I really have no idea. I'm not all that familiar with actors names. Angelina Jolie might be good for the false goddess. That's kind of how I picture her. Only bald...

What is the one sentence synopsis for the book? Ha ha. I really haven't come up with one yet, so here goes. When a terrible illness and a beautiful goddess threaten the peace across the world, Derek Halstead and the rest of Zion must once again rise to the challenge. (Wow. That's bad. I'll have to work on that one.)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  Neither. I assume it will be published by my current publisher, Walnut Springs. I don't have an agent.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Fifteen months. I'm hoping to shorten that for my next project.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Is it bad that I can't think of any? My genre is not that big. But really it has the same elements as any sci-fi adventure novel, just with religion added in too.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? It's the last of the series and wraps up all the characters' stories. I am so going to miss them when it's all said and done!

Now to tag some others!

TM Hunter at The West(ern) Chronicles
Terry W. Ervin II at Up Around the Corner
Jackee Alston at Winded Words
Tyrean Martinson at Tyrean's Writing Spot

And anyone else reading this who wants to participate.

More Than Words

I'm a word lover. So are you, I think. I love the nuances of meaning and the subtle connotations. I love word origins and derivations. I love the way they sound rolling off my tongue and the way they look written on the page. I love to string them together to make something magical. I'm guessing you love that too.

So, why then, am I so caught up in numbers so often?

Numbers like blog comments, Facebook likes, page views and followers. Numbers like sales ranks and reviews and ratings, and now the worse yet, Amazon's author ranking.

I feel like I'm living in a Max Lucado storybook where we all get numbers stamped onto our foreheads so we can be sure and now exactly where we stand in comparison to everyone else. I don't even know why these numbers mean so much to me, but it sure is easy to get caught up in them.

I don't like it. I don't like the way it makes me feel.

My self-worth is not defined by an Amazon ranking or the number of comments on a blog post.

My success as a writer is not defined by how many books I've sold. (Maybe in some ways it is, but not in the ways that I am going to use to determine my success.)

I'm finished with those numbers. I am who I am. I've done what I've done. And I think I have a lot to feel good about. So do you.

I'm not paying attention to those nasty numbers anymore. Let's surround ourselves with beautiful words instead.

My Cartoon Makeover!

I won a cartoon makeover from the talented Sarah Anderson!

Cartoon Me

Cool, huh? Sarah is fairly new to the blogging world, so why don't you hop over there and make her feel welcome by following her blog!

Thanks a million, Sarah!