Kelly Bennett's Blog, page 83
October 16, 2013
Her Favorite Food are Red, Blood-red . . .
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here are the Contest Details! (If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this link to the Oct 5th post: http://kellybennett.com/blog/2013/10/i-vant-my-vampire-baby-contest-details
Confessions of a Not-So Baby Vampire #2
Having lived all my 8 years near the strawberry fields of California--"The Fruit Bowl" "Salad Bowl" or "Paradise" Nanny called it, depending on the season--moving to Pennsylvania, arriving Christmas Eve, in a blizzard, was . . . an adjustment. My mom says my brother and I "cried because we couldn't go outside." (I think she's being a bit dramatic...) The sentiment was true enough. I especially missed the abondanza of fruit: red delicious (although mealy) apples, plump red plums, juicy red raspberries, and most of all, heaping crates of field-sweet strawberries so ripe the juices ran blood-red down my arm when I bit one.
In our Easter outfits, check out those gloves and my groovy handbag!
So that first Easter in Pennsylvania, when mom surprised us with a fresh strawberry pie, well, who could blame me?
After double-checking no one was near, I plucked a big red strawberry dripping with glaze from the back of the pie and ate it.
Blood-red desire for more drove me to do something I knew I shouldn't.
I
sneaked back into the fridge, plucked another strawberry out of the
pie. Held it poised over my mouth and bit off the bottom. Then I tucked
it back into the pie, stem side up. The glaze settled in nicely around
it. None would have been the wiser if I'd stopped at one. But I didn't.
Couldn't. Again and again I sneaked back for more.
Who will notice a missing bite or two. . . Pass the whipped cream, quick!
By the time it was served, the pie had shrunk in size by half. I held my breath and hoped no one would notice. And they didn't seem to, not until my mom served up the first slice and several bottomless strawberries tumbled out.
Her Favorite Food are Red, Blood-red . . . ???
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--BEGINS NOW!!!
Here are the Contest Details! (If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this link to the Oct 5th post: http://kellybennett.com/blog/2013/10/i-vant-my-vampire-baby-contest-details
Confessions of a Not-So Baby Vampire #2
Having lived all my 8 years near the strawberry fields of California--"The Fruit Bowl" or "Salad Bowl" or "Paradise" Nanny called it, depending on the season--moving to Pennsylvania, arriving Christmas Eve, in a blizzard, was . . . an adjustment. My mom says my brother and I used to "cry because we couldn't go outside." (I think she's being a bit dramatic...) The sentiment was true enough. I especially missed the abondanza of fruit: red delicious (although mealy) apples, plump red plums, juicy red raspberries, and mostly heaping crates of field-sweet strawberries so ripe the juices ran blood-red down my arm when I bit one.
In our Easter outfits, check out those gloves and my groovy handbag!
So that first Easter in Pennsylvania, when mom surprised us with a fresh strawberry pie, well, who could blame me?
After double-checking no one was near, I plucked a big red strawberry dripping with glaze from the back of the pie and ate it.
Blood-red desire for more drove me to do something I knew I shouldn't. I
sneaked back into the fridge, plucked another strawberry out of the
pie. Held it poised over my mouth and bit off the bottom. Then I tucked
it back into the pie, stem side up. The glaze settled in nicely around
it. None would have been the wiser if I'd stopped at one. But I didn't.
Couldn't. Again and again I sneaked back for more.
Who will notice a missing bite or two. . . Pass the whipped cream, quick!
By the time it was served, the pie had shrunk in size by half. I held my breath and hoped no one would notice. And they didn't seem to, not until my mom served up the first slice and several bottomless strawberries tumbled out.
October 15, 2013
#1 Confessions of a Baby Vampire
In keeping with the contest, daily--from Oct 15 thru 31st, I will post a true confession of a Vampire here on my blog, Kelly's Fishbowl. Please join the fun and share your Vampire Baby anecdotes. Enter the Contest as many times as you like--watch the trailer, post a comment, your entered to win! It's that easy!!!
Confession of a Baby Vampire #1
I didn't have Vampire fangs. But I was a biter. I bit my big brother, Joe. I bit my mother. And one day, when my grandfather, Poppy, came to pick me up at school, he found my teacher in tears. Why? Because I bit and kicked her... Then I climbed to the top of the monkey bars I wouldn't come down . . .
Whoops! I didn't mean to hurt her....honest!
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--is NOW!!!
Here's how: View the Vampire Baby by Kelly Bennett book trailer on Youtube. Leave a comment. You're entered to win you're very own authographed copy of the book. It's that easy!
Confessions of a Baby Vampire
The "I Vant My Vampire Baby" Book Trailer Contest--BEGINS NOW!!!
Click Here for Contest Details. (If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this link to the Oct. 5th post: http://kellybennett.com/blog/2013/10/i-vant-my-vampire-baby-contest-details
In keeping with the contest, daily--from Oct 15 thru 31st, I will post a true confession of a Vampire here on my blog, Kelly's Fishbowl. Please join the fun and share your Vampire Baby anecdotes. Enter the Contest as many times as you like--watch the trailer, post a comment, your entered to win! It's that easy!!!
Confession of a Baby Vampire #1
I didn't have Vampire fangs. But I was a biter. I bit my big brother, Joe. I bit my mother. And one day, when my grandfather, Poppy, came to pick me up at school, he found my teacher in tears. Why? Because I bit and kicked her... Then I climbed to the top of the monkey bars I wouldn't come down . . .
Whoops! I didn't mean to hurt her....honest!
October 14, 2013
An Anthor's Fear . . .
If a tree falls in the forest and noone is near, does it make a sound?
The question was first posed by Philosopher George Berkeley, in A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (pub. 1710). Here's the passage "But, say you, surely there is nothing easier than
for me to imagine trees, for instance, in a park [...] and nobody by to
perceive them. [...]
Help! I'm falling and I can't get up . . .
In June 1883, in the magazineThe Chautauquan, the question was
posed, "If a tree were to fall on an island where there were no human
beings would there be any sound?"
The question was answered with an emphatic NO!
"Sound is the sensation excited in the ear when the air or
other medium is set in motion."[3] . In other words, if there is no ear near to hear it, there is no sound.
If a book is published and nobody reads it? Then it is no book.
Spoken or not, this is every author's fear. And we are a fearful lot:
First, we fear we won't be able to tell our story . . .
Then, we fear our story will never be published . . .
After, we fear no one will want to read our book. . .
And in-between, before and after there are a byzillion other smaller fears... (Is it any wonder so many notable authors, as Mr. Bojangles put it, "drinks a bit"?)
They make housecalls . . .
That's why I did it--4 am wake-ups, 3 flights, 6 hours drive--Why I went to Fenton, MO, where, thanks to Deborah, the Barnes and Noble Community Relation's Rep, and Rebecca Grose, my publicist, visited 6 schools, gave 6 school and 2 store presentations, to read. Read it I did. I read VAMPIRE BABY at least a dozen times, and NOT NORMAN, A Goldfish Story, too!
What ohhhh, what a joyful time it was!
Gretchen, the brand new Guffey Elem librarian, came by the store after work just to scoop up copies for her library!
Angie and "Granny from Philly" brought the triplets, Jacob, Ryan & Kevin, by for Storytime (and Granny asked where I got my hair cut, but didn't think it was worth the trip to my Trini hairdresser, Helen...)
Mrs. O, the Trautwein Elem librarian broadcast the program and answers to their most excellent questions throughout the school. I've met David Shannon...does that count??? And yes, it really did take me 2 years to write that book with just those many words...
B&N Children's Section welcome
What these pictures don't show is a couple hundred K-2nd graders, in all manner of costume and hair-do, eyes bright, shaking their fingers and shouting out "NO BITE!"
Music to my fearful author's ears!
The "I VANT MY VAMPIRE BABY" Contest begins Oct. 15. Enter to win!
October 5, 2013
I Vant My Vampire Baby! Contest Details
Prizes include an autographed copy of VAMPIRE BABY by Kelly Bennett for your little ghost or goblin – along with fun VAMPIRE BABY swag such as bookmark, postcard, and fangs.
It’s easy to enter, here’s what you do:
BABY on YouTube between 10/15-10/31/132) Post a comment about the book trailer on that page (below
the trailer)
3) You’re entered! It’s just that easy!!
Don’t miss out – be sure to enter today...and tell your
friends!!
The contest will run from 10/15 to midnight 10/31/13! Three winners being selected and posted on Facebook at Kelly Bennett Books and in the book trailer comments on 11/1/13. Be sure to
check for your name to see
if you’re one of the 3 winners!
Happy Viewing!
October 3, 2013
JUST KEEPS GETTING WEIRDER . . . Dimples!
For some, it may have been a passing thought. One of those "Boy if only I had dimples, too . . . I'd get to be Goddess-of-the-Whole-Entire-Universe-and-Beyond" thoughts that cross your mind when you saw __________(fill in the blank). And if you're honest, after my last post, you might have given serious thought as to whether you could grow a pair--of dimples that is--by sucking on popsicles. You might even have popped for a six pack of strawberry ice on a stick--less than 100 calories each! Checked into Cool Scuplting. Or, in a burst of guilt-free glee, googled recipes to make your own. Sorry to say, I still don't know how many popsicles one must suck to develop face dimples. I'm still working on it. . .
But I did find some interesting recipes for various flavors. Here are my fav fruit pop recipes.
It's weird enough to think of someone putting so much thought into how dimples are formed. And it just keeps getting weirder:
Our frieghbor, Brian, just sent me an article about a woman who wanted dimples so badly--and thought everyone else did, too...enough to pay for them--that she invented a dimple making machine!
Anyone in the market for "A fine set of dimples?"
Here's more about Isabella Gilbert and her contraption, along with other "bad inventions":
It just keeps getting weirder . . .
September 19, 2013
Popsicles
What Inspires: POPSICLES
I’m waiting in my dermatologist’s office to have my annual “mole check.” (Moles? Creepy name, always makes my skin crawl. . . Is one more burrowing up from under my skin right now???) Anyway . . .
There is a brochure on the table for a non-invasive fat melting procedure called “Cool Sculpting.” (Oh please, do not pretend you wouldn’t pick up a brochure promising “fat melting”, too.) The explanation inside explains that the revolutionary discover which lead to “Cool Sculpting” technology came because someone noticed that children with dimples eat more popsicles.
What's Your Favorite Flavor?
Who do you suppose that “someone” was? And how was the data gathered? Did someone race around after Ice Cream trucks? Or did someone take playground to playground surveys.
dimples
Genetically speaking: “Dimples are visible indentations formed as a result of the underlying flesh of the cheeks. . . actually the manifestations of a birth defect resulting from a shortened facial muscle. A dimple is the outcome of a fault in the subcutaneous connective tissue that develops during embryonic development.” (From a BRAIN TRAIN post about dimples.)
Genetic’s aside: It seems the icy popsicles being sucked against the inner cheek of the child over an extended period of time kills fat cells in the cheek. Makes um less “cheeky” (If I’d known that I might have sent a couple certain someones chasing the Ice Cream Truck more often.)
Which jives perfectly with more from the BRAIN TRAIN: And sometimes, “A variation in the structure of the facial muscle zygomaticus major is known to cause dimples.” And leads us back to “Cool Sculpture”:
dreamcicle
Does this mean that people with only one dimple only sucked popsicles on one side? And did that someone tally statistics to find out if there are more right-side suckers or left-side suckers? Or is the split pretty much fifty-fifty dreamsicle-style? If that’s the case, fair jurors could be almost guaranteed (if we limit the drawing pool to folks with dimples in both cheeks.)
I always wanted dimples. I used to stand in front of the mirror with my cheeks sucked in wishing I had them. I wonder: If I start sucking popsicles now, can I grow some dimples? (Or is it lose?)
And what about people with dimpled chins? Where do they suck their popsicles?
Remember the adage “Dimple in chin, Devil within”? Is “Devil” a euphemism for unflavored popsicles (otherwise known as icicle)? Weather-wise it’s been called devilishly cold—so cold it feels hot as the devil.
Dimpled knees?
Dimpled butts? ………………………………..Fudgesicles? (I know, I shouldn’t have . . .)
Or Dimpled feet? …………………………………… Say maybe what’s the idea behind Michael Frank’s odd-but-catchy ditty: “Popsicle toes are always froze . . . ”
Popsicles . . .
September 2, 2013
Burning Man
What Inspires: BURNING MAN
We came to Reno to celebrate my mom's 77th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!
Upon arrival at Reno Airport, last Monday, we were greeted by all manner of folks holding "I NEED A TICKET!" signs.
"Ticket to what?"
Near baggage claim, a row of tables crowded with "interesting" and "artsy" types with yarn woven into their hair and camping gear, busily passed around papers and scribbled on sign up sheets. The buzz was audible, their excitement, catching. What ever sort of camp or convention they were going to, I wanted to go to.
Then I spotted a poster of a metal sculpture mounted on a pyre and knew:
Burning Man 1
BURNING MAN is an 8 day-long event held in the Nevada desert, about 100 miles north of Reno.
An Arial of the community erected in the Black Rock Desert for 8 days only
I've never been to Burning Man. The first I heard of it was in a Reno bike shop a few years back when the salesperson suggested I could get the best deal on a used bike the weekend after Labor Day because thousands bring bikes to ride at Burning Man (as no cars are allowed inside) and then dump them rather than pay to have them shipped home.
50 to 60 thousand people, from 22 countries participated this year.
The rest I had heard of Burning Man was it's a week-long camp out in the desert, with no amenities, lots of drugs, music, art and wild costumes.
The latest I'd seen of Burning Man is an exhibit in the Reno Airport (while waiting to leave Wednesday) of massive, detailed, awe-inspiring sculptures erected in the desert: :
350 some art pieces created for the event
metal ships cast adrift in the sand sea;
Larry Harvey is credited with starting Burning Man
pyramids,
twisted semi-trailers squirming skyward.
spaceships,
sea creatures . . .
All manner of material and media are utilized
and of course, the human effigy from whence the gathering takes it's name. Burning Man is torched the last Saturday night of the gathering.
Burning Man some say originated with "Wicker Man" but Larry disagrees
BM leaving
Afterwards, and through today, the 1st Monday in September, Labor Day, participants dismantle the community. . They pack out their trash and tents and disburse.
If you'd like to know more about Burning Man, you'll find oodles of photos, videos, blogs, etc. etc. and so forth . . .
But you might not find THIS. . .
And
THIS, coupled with the thought of 50 to 60,000 people from 22 countries
coming together to celebrate, create and support art
--and others just out to have a grand time--is what inspires me about a week-long camp- out with strangers in the middle of the arid, hot, dry, summer, hot, dry, dusty, hot, dry desert.
THIS:
Burning Man principles (813x1024)
August 30, 2013
STARRING: VAMPIRE BABY!
VAMPIRE BABY has fangs and she knows how to use them!
See for yourself! Watch the VAMPIRE BABY book trailer NOW!
YOUCH Tootie! NO BITE!
