Angie Lofthouse's Blog, page 24

A Few More Days!

Don't forget you still have a few days to enter the Out of This World Adventure if you haven't already. Contest closes on Monday, May 30 at midnight. Check out the sidebar for all the links!

Tomorrow I'm off to CONduit, a science fiction convention in Salt Lake City. I'm on  a couple of panels. "How to add flavor to your vanilla character" on Friday, and "How to give and receive critiques" on Saturday. Should be a fun weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing some friends.

So, I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend! I'll be announcing the winners on Wed. June 1!

There have been issues with leaving comments on blogger the past few days, so if you tried to leave a comment on one of the contest posts, but weren't able to, please email me and let me know, and I'll make sure you get entered!

Fourth Grade Writing Advice

Last week, I went to my son's fourth grade authors party where we got to celebrate all his writing for the year. Super fun! He even had two of his stories published in hardbound books. Pretty neat. During the party, all the kids stood up and offered their best writing advice for incoming fourth graders. They gave the best advice! So, I thought I'd share it with you. I'm just going to paraphrase because 1) Some of them don't talk very loud and I couldn't hear them. 2) This was last week, and I didn't write it down at the time, so you know... This is what I remember of the fourth grade writing advice:

Use good word choice. Like, "He dashed," instead of, "He went."

Create great characters by using people from real life.

Always be thinking of ideas. Write them down

And the best piece of advice from many of the students:

Don't give up. Keep trying. The more you write, the better it will be.
Pretty wise ten year olds, don't you think? They have an amazing teacher.

Then I made my son sign his books for me. That's what author parties are for after all!

Our Last Stop on the Out of This World Adventure!

It's time to wrap up our adventure with our last stop at Aubrie Dionne's blog. She's hosting the story, "Fidelity." Aubrie is fantastic writer of science fiction and fantasy with many published works and recently signed a three book deal with Entangled Publishing! Good for her. She is also a talented flutist and sometimes posts her flute performances on her blog too. I love that.

Head on over to Aubrie's blog to read "Fidelity" and enter to win the Grand Prize Drawing!


PLEASE NOTE: Though this is our last stop, you still have until midnight May 30 to read and comment on any of the stories. The more stories you read, the more times you're entered into the drawing!So, if you're new to the adventure, don't worry. There's still plenty of time to read the stories and get entered. Enjoy the adventure!

Don't forget to check out our other stops:

Ali Cross--"Casualties of War"
Terry Ervin--"Getting Colder"
David J. West--"Highway Songs"
Nisa Swineford--"Brierly's Lilies"
Todd Hunter--"Ripped"
Danyelle Leafty--"Soul Singer"
Elizabeth Mueller--"Among the Silent Stars"
Shallee McArthur--"Blessing Stone" 
Stephanie McGee--"Sacred Places"

2nd to last stop on the Out of This World Adventure

Today we stop by Stephanie McGee's blog. She is hosting my story "Sacred Places." Stephanie writes fantasy/urban fantasy, and she's also a fantastic photographer. Her blog posts are always informative as she shares her journey toward publication.

Stop by Stephanie's blog to read "Sacred Places" and enter to win the Grand Prize Drawing!


You have until midnight May 30 to read and comment on any of the stories. The more stories you read, the more times you're entered into the drawing!

Don't forget to check out our other stops:

Ali Cross--"Casualties of War"
Terry Ervin--"Getting Colder"
David J. West--"Highway Songs"
Nisa Swineford--"Brierly's Lilies"
Todd Hunter--"Ripped"
Danyelle Leafty--"Soul Singer"
Elizabeth Mueller--"Among the Silent Stars"
Shallee McArthur--"Blessing Stone"

Have You Seen These Prizes?

Here's a reminder of what you could win in my Out of This World Adventure:


THE GRAND PRIZE PACKAGE: [image error] A $25 Amazon Gift Card, which I hope you will spend on books!

An 8x10 print of the view from the writing chair. (An out of this world view don't you think?)
A science fiction themed mug rug to hold your mug of--whatever you like in your mug. Donated by the talented Lindsay of Linz Sews
And a copy of my all-time favorite out-of-this-world adventure, Ender's Game!
Pretty awesome, eh? The last two stories will be posted in the next few days. You'll have until May 30 to enter. Here are the stops so far:


May 9: Ali Cross hosts "Casualties of War."
May 10: Terry Ervin hosts "Getting Colder."
May 11: David West hosts "Highway Songs"
May 12: Janyece Swineford hosts "Brierly's Lilies."
May 14: Todd Hunter hosts "Ripped."
May 16: Danyelle Leafty hosts "Soul Singer."
May 17: Elizabeth Mueller hosts, "Among the Silent Stars."
May 18: Shallee McArthur hosts, "Blessing Stone." Don't miss your chance to enter! Tomorrow, Stephanie McGee hosts "Sacred Places."

Next Stop on The Out of This World Adventure

Today we travel to Shallee McArthur's blog. She is hosting the story "Blessing Stone." Shallee writes YA science fiction. I've had the privilege of reading one of her manuscripts and it was fantastic! Shallee also raises money to help children in Ghana get an education. That's awesome.

Go check out Shallee's blog to read "Blessing Stone" and enter the Grand Prize Drawing!




You have until midnight May 30 to read and comment on any of the stories. The more stories you read, the more times you're entered into the drawing!

Don't forget to check out our other stops:

Ali Cross--"Casualties of War"
Terry Ervin--"Getting Colder"
David J. West--"Highway Songs"
Nisa Swineford--"Brierly's Lilies"
Todd Hunter--"Ripped"
Danyelle Leafty--"Soul Singer"
Elizabeth Mueller--"Among the Silent Stars"

Today's Stop on The Out of This World Adventure

Today we head on over to Elizabeth Mueller's blog. She's hosting the story, "Among the Silent Stars." Elizabeth's first novel, Darkspell, a paranormal romance, will be released this fall! How exciting is that? Elizabeth is also a fantastic artist and I love her deeply honest and emotional blog posts.

Pop on over to Elizabeth's blog to read "Among the Silent Stars" and enter to win the Grand Prize Drawing!




You have until midnight May 30 to read and comment on any of the stories. The more stories you read, the more times you're entered into the drawing! Enjoy the Adventure!

Don't forget to check out our other stops:

Ali Cross--"Casualties of War"
Terry Ervin--"Getting Colder"
David J. West--"Highway Songs"
Nisa Swineford--"Brierly's Lilies"
Todd Hunter--"Ripped"
Danyelle Leafty--"Soul Singer"

A new week, a new stop on our adventure!

Today we head over to Danyelle Leafty's blog. She's hosting the story, "Soul Singer." Danyelle is a beautiful writer and a fantastic friend. I just love her to pieces! She writes fairy tales with unusual twists and turns and I always love reading her thoughtful and insightful blog posts.

Stop by Danyelle's blog to read "Soul Singer" and enter to win the Grand Prize Drawing.




You have until midnight May 30 to read and comment on any of the stories. The more stories you read, the more times you're entered into the drawing!

Don't forget to check out our other stops:

Ali Cross--"Casualties of War"
Terry Ervin--"Getting Colder"
David J. West--"Highway Songs"
Nisa Swineford--"Brierly's Lilies"
Todd Hunter--"Ripped"

Next Stop on The Out of This World Adventure

I hope you are all enjoying the adventure as much as I am! Today we stop by Todd Hunter's blog, The West(ern) Chronicles, where he hosts the story "Ripped."

Todd writes space adventures about space pirate Aston West. He has two novels, a novella and dozens of short stories. They are fun and adventurous tales about a space pirate with a heart, probably more of a heart than he sometimes wants to have. I really enjoy reading his work.

Stop by Todd's blog to read "Ripped" and enter to win the Grand Prize Drawing.


You have until midnight May 30 to read and comment on any of the stories. The more you read, the more chances you have to win!

Don't forget to check out our other stops:

Ali Cross--"Casualties of War"
Terry Ervin--"Getting Colder"
David J. West--"Highway Songs"
Nisa Swineford--"Brierly's Lilies"