Kristi Chestnutt's Blog, page 19

The End of October-Karma-200 follower giveaway!!!

I know, it's a mouthful, right???
Halloween has put me in the mood for all things spooky!  And the way I see it, I've been lucky enough to win some really cool giveaways lately (once I receive the booty there is sure to be another gushing post about how much I love books...so prepare yourselves...you've totally been warned), where was I?  Oh yeah, the giveaways.  It seems only fair to spread around my good karma and hold another one of my own.  And the fact that I recently hit 200 followers is the perfect time, right?
Right.
So, here's the swag:
Supernatural Season 1 DVD setBecause I love these two hot boys and the current season is lacking something.  Time to go back to the good 'ole days where it all began. Just in case you need some extra convincing:

AND what would a giveaway be without a book? 
Ummmmm, not a very good one.Check it out: Soulless by Gail CarrigerI love this series!
AND lastly, we have one more important item no one can do without:
Raspberry Chocolate Godiva biscuits!
Seriously delicious.
Amazon will ship this package to one lucky winner, to be announced Wednesday, November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving.
The RULES:I'm a fan of the easy freebies.1 - Be a follower2 - Comment below with a valid email address
If you want SUPER extra credit:+1 extra entry for sidebar post+1 for blog post
Let's keep it at that.  SUPER easy, right?  A max of 3 points.  I like it.  The math will be simple.
*HAPPY HALLOWEEN*kristi

7th ''Dear Lucky Agent'' Contest: Young Adult

This contest is absolutely PERFECT (timing wise) for my first chapter revisions! 
I definitely plan on giving it a try...check it out!  Details below...AND make sure you come back by tomorrow for a new GIVEAWAY!

It's certain to be SPOOKTACULAR!


7th ''Dear Lucky Agent'' Contest: Young Adult

Welcome to the seventh (free!) "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest on the GLA blog. This will be a recurring online contest with agent judges and super-cool prizes. Here's the deal: With every contest, the details are essentially the same, but the niche itself changes—meaning each contest is focused around a specific category or two. So if you're writing a young adult novel, this seventh contest is for you!

HOW TO SUBMIT
E-mail entries to seventhagentcontest@gmail.com. Please paste everything. No attachments.

WHAT TO SUBMIT

The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of young adult fiction. You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your entry.

Please note: To be eligible to submit, I ask that you do one of two things: 1) Mention and link to this contest twice through your social media—blogs, Twitter, Facebook; or 2) just mention this contest once and also add Guide to Literary Agents Blog (www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog) to your blogroll. Please provide link(s) so the judge and I can verify eligibility. Some previous entrants could not be considered because they skipped this step!

CONTEST DETAILS

1. This contest will be live for approximately fourteen days—from Oct. 21 through the end of Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010, EST. Winners notified by e-mail within three weeks of end of contest. Winners announced on the blog thereafter.

2. To enter, submit the first 150-200 words of your book. Shorter or longer entries will not be considered. Keep it within word count range please.

3. This contest is solely for completed book-length works of young adult fiction.

4. You can submit as many times as you wish. You can submit even if you submitted to other contests in the past, but please note that past winners cannot win again.

5. The contest is open to everyone of all ages, save those employees, officers and directors of GLA's publisher, F+W Media.

6. By e-mailing your entry, you are submitting an entry for consideration in this contest and thereby agreeing to the terms written here as well as any terms possibly added by me in the "Comments" section of this blog post. (If you have questions or concerns, write me personally at literaryagent@fwmedia.com. The Gmail account above is for submissions, not questions.)

PRIZES!!!

Top 3 winners all get: 1) A critique of the first 10 pages of your work, by your agent judge. 2) A free one-year subscription to WritersMarket.com.

MEET YOUR (AWESOME) JUDGE!


Tamar Rydzinski is a literary agent at the Laura Dail Literary Agency in NYC.
HAPPY WRITING!  And if you enter, good luck!  ;-)*hugs*kristi

The Wednesday Review

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I loved continuing Sam and Grace's story and this book definitely didn't disappoint!

Maggie's writing stands apart with it's often poetic feel, her style absolutely beautiful.

My only complaint was that with 4 POV's, there were times I had to flip back a page or two to remember who was talking.

View all my reviews

Did you read it?  Love it?  What are your thoughts?
 
*take care*
kristi

Sunday Ramblings

Full thoughts just aren't happening tonight, so it's time for a random rambling post of what's going on in my head.  Fun, right?

MUAW HA HA!  (weak attempt at an evil, scary Halloween laugh...don't worry, I have a full week to perfect it.)

*First of all, go Texas Rangers!  In case you weren't already aware, this is the first time in franchise history that the team has made it to the World Series...it's post season history in the making.  As a hard core Red Sox fan, the game in my mind, ended on a perfect note.  And because my team is out of it and I have several friends and family in the Texas area, I'm backing them!  GO RANGERS!  (plus you just have to love Hamilton, right?)

*Apparently when I revise/edit it's important to print it out occasionally to see just how bad things are.  Why don't they look like that on my computer screen?  Chapters 1 and 2 have now been revised like, 35 times.  I just can't get them to flow right.  This whole paper vs electronic thing has me wondering about E-readers.  I wonder if there's a difference in the way we read and comprehend them in comparison with real books. 

*I made Asparagus Soup for the first time last weekend and came to this conclusion:  Buy it canned.  Less work and tastes just as good.  It seems wrong to have to cook something, put it in a food processor, and then cook it again.  Don't get me wrong, it was tasty, but just not worth the two hours of effort.  See below picture for the prettiness of my effort (and because all that time seriously needs to be documented).  Feel free to comment on how glorious it looks.

Okay, I admit it, it looks a little like pea soup of the Exorcist variety.
*I'm totally multi-tasking right now and watching the Vikings vs Packer game.  Good game, but a lot of strange calls and things.
*I have a surprise date night planned with the hubs this Friday (plans are a surprise anyway) and I'm like a giddy teenager!  I'm horrible at keeping secrets, so I'm actually quite proud of myself!  Only a few more days!
*I'm addicted to the Book Thief.  Not my usual kind of book, but it's really good. 
*Another thing I'm addicted to?  Running in the crisp fall weather...absolutely lovely.  The park near my house has a two mile loop around a lake and it's just peaceful.
*Anyone know a good place to buy petite sweatpants?  Seriously.  I have this problem every year.  I'm five foot and most petite pants are still too long.  It seems REALLY wrong to have to get sweatpants hemmed and I'm too old to pull off the "cut off" version I used to sport.
*Can you believe the holidays are around the corner???  What happened?  And what did I do this year?  And is it just me or do the stores keep putting Christmas stuff out earlier and earlier?  So strange to see Christmas stuff next to the Halloween decorations.  Don't get me wrong...I love Christmas, but come on!
Okay, only six minutes left in the game...gotta' run!
Have a good week everyone!*hugs*kristi

Tuesday Inspiration!

This past weekend I re-fell in love with this man:  Marc Broussard. 

Amazing voice, amazing sound.  His album Carencro is pure genius.  Every song is fabulous and his voice drips with soul.  It's just good stuff.  Very good stuff.

It's certainly inspired me and allowed my mind to drift off to places only found in my latest manuscript.  It's mellow and moody for sure.

Check it out:



Watcha' think?

Hope your week is off to a great start!
*hugs*
kristi

Hey you!

Yes, you!
::: waves frantically at screen :::
Hi!
I don't know what's gotten into me today.
Maybe it's the fall season (which we all know I adore)or my friend's adorable new baby (seriously precious!) or my awesome bloggy friends (you know who you are)or my own, sweet, family (I'm a lucky girl)
BUT
for whatever reasontoday, I'm feeling the LOVE!
AND
I don't want to keep it to myself!I want to spread the good cheer!
CONSIDER YOURSELF HUGGED!
Or maybe squeezedOr, if that makes you uncomfortable, Maybe one of those one armed hugs.
Still too much?What about a light tap on the shoulder and a smile!
THANK YOU!
For what you ask?
For being youfor readingfor saying hellofor existing
Yep, it's that kind of day.
*hugs all around*kristi

The Wednesday Review

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had a hard time getting into this book at first...it was a slow start for me. BUT a friend of mine finished it and raved about how good it was, so I kept reading.

SO GLAD I DID! (And thankful for good, wise friends!)

I became hooked half way through the second chapter and honestly couldn't put it down. I love when a book does this. (NOTE: There are only seven chapters and the first one is a doozy.)

BUT you know what's even better? When a book makes you think AFTER you're finished. When you can't stop thinking about the relevance of the story. It did that, without me realizing it until the very end. I still think about it.

There's a very thought provoking, moving, relevant message submerged in this story and I think it's one we could all benefit from reading. This book makes you think about the kind of person you are and the kind of person you want to be and what kinds of things in life can hold us back and change everything.

View all my reviews

Has anyone else read this?  What did YOU think?

*take care*
kristi

I'm surrounded!

They're everywhere!!!
Amazing, tantalizing, drool-worthy, books!
Need proof?
Of course you do.
Here are some of the buggers:
See how they sit there, all shiny and new, taunting me?

They're stacked in piles everywhere I go, just waiting, begging to be read...


This is the place of honor, my nightstand.

 Sure, I'll admit it, it's taken me awhile to get through a book lately. 
I've been in a reading slump. 
BUT I'm back.  And oh, how I've missed you!
Sweet, sweet addicting books.
*Ahhhhhh*kristi ;-)

Teaser Tuesday!

I'm baaaa-aaackkkk!

How is everyone???

I figured it was only fitting to return from my unplug with a Teaser Tuesday, right?

I was able to get alot of revising and reworking done last week and it seems I'm on a roll!  Of course, I feel this WIP editing should really be called "The Overhaul", because that seems much more accurate.  Everything is changing for the better and so far, I'm really happy with my progress.

But enough of me droning on, let me jump into it.

We've been having some wet, rainy weather here in NC the last few weeks, so I thought I'd share a similar scene from my current WIP, The Tutelar, from Chapter 7--Coming to Terms.

Gusts of wind blow the rain sideways, soaking us before we can even step out from under the awning. The umbrella tucked beneath Van's arm is useless and we decide to make a run for it.

His lime green convertible is parked just around the corner, about six car lengths from the door. Van gives my hand a squeeze and we take off, the puddles splashing up around our heels as we run, the water attacking us from every possible direction.

Once we're close, he drops my hand, and I run around to the passenger side door, ready to open it the minute it's unlocked.

Van curses behind me as he struggles to free his keys from the front pocket of his jeans. He frantically passes me his coffee cup and uses both hands to wrestle the key fob from his damp pocket.

The keys put up a fight, but he finally pulls them free. We both laugh as he pushes the button, unlocking the doors.

My wet clothes squeak against the leather seat as I slide into the car and slam the door behind me. I try to catch my breath, but water drips from the edge of my bangs, down my nose, and onto my chest, sending a cold shiver racing through my body.

All thoughts and comments are welcome!
 
So, did I miss anything exciting last week?
 
How's your writing or reading coming along?
 
*hugs*
kristi

An Unplug!

Good morning blogosphere! 
Just wanted to say a quick hello and let you all know that I'm going to be unplugging this week in hopes of working on my current WIP.
There are lots of revisions and editing to be done!
Wish me luck and I'll see you all next week!
*hugs*kristi
PS-chances are I will still be visiting and commenting while on "break".  I mean, come on, I can't quit COLD turkey.  I need some form of procrastination.