Nicki Elson's Blog, page 24

Cheers to Mr. Arlee "Lee" Bird!

Today is the Cheersfest for one of the blogosphere's favorite and hardest working fellas----king of the A to Z Challenge, the one, the only (I hope)...(wait, was that out loud?) Mistah Arlee Bird!!!
This superfun blogfest is brought to you by Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King, Stephen Tremp, and The Ninja Captain himself. Visit any and all of these bloggers for the full list of Festers. 



Please allow me to tell you a little bit about Arlee...

Why did Lee come up with the A-Z Challenge?
I believe he made it up as a colossal joke that we all fell for.

If someone dreams about being a juggler, what does it mean?
It means that he has the balls to dream big.

Is a post by Mr. Bird worth two in the bush? 
Um, I have to take a pass on this one. Way waaay too many inappropriate responses popping into my head.

Who could play Lee in a documentary? (Living or dead.) 
I think only Lee could do the job properly.

A man known only as The Juggler is most famous for tossing out internet challenges. Some say he’s mad, looney as a bird, while others hail him as a genius. I personally think mad genius is more like it. Mal, Zoe & the crew have their Browncoat brigade, but those who follow The Juggler call themselves Brown Jackets…because they're slightly more stylish. They mix in with regular folk throughout most of the year, but in April, that is when they come out by the hundreds and proudly display their letters. All twenty-six of 'em.


Enjoy the Fest, Lee!  You deserve it. I'll be putting my brown jacket back on again in 2014 for A to Z. Can't wait!!

Go Ahead, Make an Octogenarian's Day...and Win #Prizes!

[You can find my entry for Lexa & Julie's Dream Destinations Hop here.]
Last week I told you about a 1,000 Posts Giveaway that Janie Junebug is doing, and now I'm going to make it even easier for you to enter by including the Rafflecopter here. The biggest thing Janie hopes to accomplish through this giveaway is to round up 80 birthday cards to send to her mother-in-law, Margaret, on her 80th birthday. You can learn more about this fantastic lady here. When you send a card, you'll earn 10 entries in the giveaway (though I know your real motivation is simply to be the kind person that you are).

The cards have started coming in, but time is ticking and 80 is a big goal, so if you can, please send a card for Margaret to:
Janie GoltzPO Box 61371Jacksonville FL 32236

To SWAY you further, after you mail the card, e-mail me at elson.nicki@gmail.com with subject heading: "I sent a card to Janie" and I'll send you a free digital copy of my short story that features three octogenarian sweeties (in three formats: Mobi (works on Kindle), ePub (works on Nook), and PDF). 
Rafflecopter prizes include books, two Amazon gift cards, one T-shirt, and $150 worth of editing by Mz. Junebug, who in addition to being hilarious and wonderful is a professional editor. Full prize details here. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lexa & Julie's Dream Destinations Blog Hop & #Giveaway

We're celebrating the release of Julie Flanders' The Ghosts of Aquinnah and Lexa Cain's Soul Cutter with a Dreams Destinations blog hop. Aaand Lexa & Julie are hosting a great GIVEAWAY.  Visit either Lexa's blog or Julie's blog to enter and also to find the Linky list so you can travel to more dream destinations.
It was unbelievably difficult for me to settle on just one place. I decided to make it somewhere I'd never been before...and then I decided to stop over thinking and just pick a place already...and I landed at Piazza San Marco in Venezia, or as we call it for some reason, Venice. (Does anyone know why we don't all call it Venezia?)
I would stroll the square, sidestepping pigeons and saying "Buongiorno" to people whose eyes met mine, not worrying about my sorry accent. I would have tickets for that evening's opera in my pocket and a caffe-flavored gelato in my hand. I'd be wearing a darling scarf I'd just purchased, arranged in the most stylish of ways. I'd be digesting the Eucharist I received that morning at the basilica and still smiling about something flirty the adorable gondolier said to me the night before---right before I handed him the biggest tip he'd gotten in a good long while. Specific enough for you? 


How about you? Where's your dream destination?  


Congrats to Julie & Lexa!!!

 


  

Techno Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est? #IWSG

It's the first Wednesday of the month, time for another round of posts for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by Alex J. Cavannaugh. Click on either of those links to see whassup with other insecure writers. The malfunction I'm having this months is...technology.

One of the reasons I chose to set Three Daves in the 1980s was because I didn't want to have to deal with modern technology. So that novel is purposely dated. But my WIP is set in current times, and I'd rather not have it feel out of date for at least a decade or so, but at the rate technology is advancing, I'm afraid the manuscript might become technologically obsolete before I even finish the second draft.

I dealt with this issue in Divine Temptation by minimizing the use of technology and keeping any references very general, but this new one is an office romance, so it's not quite as easy to avoid. I've got the MC using a laptop to pull up spreadsheets and update a PowerPoint presentation, and I wonder...should she be using a tablet? Can you do spreadsheets on a tablet? And will anybody be using PowerPoint in a couple of years? Does anyone use it now? (Please forgive my ignorance---I haven't worked in a real office since the 1990s, and the place I work now is in the land where time stands still.)

And what about texting? I hear talk of this newfangled talk-to-type, so will having my character wear texting gloves be old school in 2015?

Help me techno-soothsayers!    

Thanks and Giving #Giveaways #BlkFriExtra

# 1: My knightly prizes arrived! Thank you, thank you, M.Pax for your generosity and for hosting this most awesome joust. I'm extra excited to dive into The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear AND to wear my steampunk knight pin by Dire Steampunk. In the spirit of giving I'll let the kiddos have the chocolate...really!



#2 The sassy, sweet & sexy Janie Junebug is hosting a great giveaway of books, gift cards, T-shirts & editing!  And because she's such a giver, she's giving bonus points for anyone who contributes a birthday card for a special person who's celebrating a BIG birthday. 


#3 It's here - the Black Friday Extavaganza!!! Enter to win one of four $50 Amazon Gift Cards by following authors of these fabulous books. Laura Howard has been the amazing ringmaster of this event, and you can visit her blog to enter. Also, if you're on Facebook, be sure to stop by the event page for additional Black Friday giveaways all day long.



I hope you're all in for a fun Friday!  Right now, I'm off too enter some giveaways, do a little online Black Friday shopping and knock out some editing on draft 2 of my WIP...all while still attempting to digest all that food from yesterday, oy.

We Did It!!!

Sing it with me... We are the champions, my frie-ends, we'll keep on fightin' 'til the end...  Or if you like it 2005 World Champion White Sox style... Don't stop believin' ...  But you know who says it best? YOU! Your faithful cheers and poetry and songs not only made my day every single day last week, they took us straight to the top. Thank You! And thanks for your comments on the animaknights featured here---I'm so happy everyone enjoyed them as much as I did.

Let's let the Fallen Monkey say it for all of us, eh? This was her 3-part Joust comment on Friday:
I sought a soothsayer to divine Lady Elson’s fate,and what she had to say was great!“Gather three vine leaves with spots,” said she,“as the first of which you must bring to me..."
“Next fetch me twenty rodents’ toes,and you will ease Lady Elson’s woes.But not before you bring of thinethat which you hold most divine…”
“But Lady Elson is whom I hold divine!”And to my plea, she replied, “That’s fine.Bring her to me so I may hold her handand only then shall we understandhow vine leaves, toes, and the Lady threecan only spell out VICTORY!
I must also thank my fellow knights. For without them, there would've been no one to knock off of the ponies, am I right? I tip my giant stick thingy to the fabulous Star Knight (a/k/a Ellie Garrat), K.E.N. (a/k/a K.E. Nowinsky), Sir Burns (a/k/a Melanie Schulz), Xanthus Ehrensvard (a/k/a Christine Rains), Ghost Knight (a/k/a Angela Brown), Lady of the Lab (Sandra Ulbrich Almazon), Sir Elias Gargarin Tavish (a/k/a Karen Elizabeth Brown), Lady Patricia Lynne, and especially Lady Mary (a/k/a Mary Waibel), who put up such a formidable challenge, I was left with no choice but to activate my own personal Torchwood on the final day.

And gramerci (that means "thank you"---I looked it up) to M. Pax and all the other hosts of Realms Faire events. It was a splendid and most excellent good time. All I hoped to gain from this experience was to have some fun and make everyone on the internet just a little bit a'scared of me, but it turns out I get prizes too!  I'll share a picture of my spoils when they arrive.

And again, thank youuuuuu!

No Joust is Complete without a Dark Knight... #grogz

I've be dying to share this clever cat with you. Isn't it freaky? And it turns out Lady Elson just may be the dark knight of this joust---I had no expectations of getting this close to the lead; I just didn't want to show up with nothin'---but yesterday we closed the gap to 6 votes!!!

So I humbly ask, if thee hath energy left for one last push, get thee to the final joust and cheer Lady Elson, Divine, and Three. Each cheerer will be allowed to leave three comments, earning a total of 9 points, if it be not too much trouble...

Let us make the other knights Feel the forsooth*!(*quoted from Sir Chris Fries, who spoke Medieyoda yesterday
The prizes at today's Joust are: ebook copy of either Being Human or Snapshots by Patricia LynneA signed paperback of choice by M. PaxCD of Czech Fairy Tales by Dennis Strachota$25 Amazon Giftcard from  Kimberly Afe
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for making this week so funneth!

Jedi KNIGHT (geddit?) #grogz

The force is strong with my loyal cheering section!
My goblet overflows with gratitude. Today's peanut gallery is open here if ye be not too hoarse to shout another round of Lady Elson, Divine & Three.  A simple sentence will do, but below you'll see two knaves true, who hath taken their service to the extreme.

In yesterday's cheers, Sir Chris Fries hath created his his own languageI call it Medieghties:
Like wow and forsooth! Methinks it would be most totally gnarly if Lady ELSON were to win this rad and regal joust. Fair Dudette, I’d be quite enchanted and all like, “Wow! How un-bogusly DIVINE and huzzah-ish!” Verily, I would refrain gagging myself with a spoon at least THREE times by the morrow, lest I miss the bitchin’ merriment that would ensue!


If ye be the kind to start you day with a song,be enchanted by Lady Jennifer Lane's seranade:
She’s a LadyWhoa-oh-ohShe’s a Lady
Lady Elson is fineShe’s damn near divineShe's a Lady
She’s a Lady Lady Elson feels freeTo snog Daves, yes all threeShe’s a Lady


Your comments at today's Joust will get you entered to win:
ebook copy of either Taking Time or Passing Time by Ellie GarrattA character named after you in Ellie Garratt’s upcoming science fiction seriesebook of Lyon’s Legacy by Sandra Ulbrich Almazanhandcrafted steampunk pin by DireSteampunk from M. Paxebook of choice by M. Pax (Backworlds series, The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear, and Semper Audacia)Plus Untethered Realms is offering a Big FAT Kindle giveaway!

Medieval versus 80s - What's Your Poison? #grogz

Aww, dost though think yon squirrel is verily stuffed into yon suit of armor?
The Joust continues at the fair M.Pax's blog, so if ye be so inclined, pray thee go thither, my lords and ladies, and speakest these good words:

Lady Elson * Three * Divine  
Ugh. You have NO idea how long it took me to write that. Every time I try to talk Medieval, it comes out all piratey...or drunk Irish. So now I revert to 80s-speak:

I, like, totally appreciate all the awesome comments you're leaving at the Joust. You guys are cracking me up! Totally. Don't forget, your way cool comments at the Joust get you entered to win prizes. Cool beans, right? Today's awesome prizes are:

ebook copy of either NeverLove or The All Fall Down by Angela Brown$25 Amazon gift card from Melanie Schulzcopy of The Newstead Project by Melanie SchulzMedieval Poison
 


80s Poison

Let's Kick Some Metallic Booty #grogz

I found exactly five adorable pictures of animals all knighted up, which means you can expect one each day of the Realms Faire & Joust. Here's a link to today's post , where you have until 8pm EST to cheer for the knights. I just realized that Lady Elson counts as one of my words, so, if you'd like to cheer for me, simply leave a comment at M. Pax's daily post using any combo of these words:

Lady Elson *  Three * Divine

If you're not sure what to say, here are some of the comments that made me smile big yesterday. Cutting and pasting is not against the rules. ;)

This is Three times Divine
Divine things come in threes!
Huzzah for the divine Lady Nicki Elson.
Three cheers for her quest and what-not…Hip, hip huzzah!
The tale of Lady Elson is indeed most divine, with her daring-do against the Daves a-three!

Thank you, thank you for helping this Lady to not feel like a loser. Your comments at the Joust get you entered to win a prize!  Today's prize is:
ebook copy of the 13th Floor Complete Collection by Christine Rains$20 Amazon gift card from K. E. Nowinskycopy of Going Off Dreams by K. E. Nowinsky