Annette Lyon's Blog, page 32

WNW: St. Patrick's Edition

Just for fun, I thought I'd do a little digging to find out the background of some words centered around St. Patrick's Day and/or Ireland.
Here's some of what I found:
slogan According to my trusty OED, back in the 1500s in both Ireland and Scotland, a slogan was a war- or battle-cry. A slogan usually used a person's family name or a location that they'd yell out.
It comes from sluagh-ghairm, which, broken down meant host (sluagh) + cry or shout (ghairm).
Quite a different meaning today, when...

Lots 'o Giveaway Winners

I've had two giveaways going on at the same time over here, and today I'm announcing the winners.
FIRST GIVEAWAY:Rachelle Christensen's OfficeBox/Wrong Number giveaway has two steps. First, the 25 blogs participating each pick a preliminary winner who gets a prize package that includes:A ScrapMaBobA self-healing cutting matA ribbon box(That's a retail value of about $48.00.)
The 25 preliminary winners go on to be part of the grand prize drawing for an Original OfficeBox and a copy of...

Supporting Our Soldiers' Families

Prior to writing Band of Sisters , I watched a close friend go through her husband's deployment. We lived just around the corner from one another, and my youngest was the perfect age to play with her children.
I was more than happy to fill in as a last-minute babysitter or lend my husband to fix a clogged garbage disposal or whatever. A couple of times, she used me as a listening ear, even though, much as I tried, I knew that deep down, I didn't (and couldn't) really have a clue what she was...

Friday Writing Journey--Woot!

Today I have nothing profound to say. Instead, I'll just squeal.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Okay, that was fun.
The Triple Book Launch Party THIS evening, March 12, from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pmAt the new Deseret Book just outside of University Mall (Near the movie theater.)
Julie Bellon, Sarah M. Eden, and I will be there with our brand new books and (we hope!) a good number of attendees.
Door Prizes!More and more people keep donating door prizes. That's reason enough to come, for sure! The latest...

Author Interview: Rachelle J. Christensen

I've known Rachelle so long that I don't remember the exact moment I met her, but it was probably at one of the first LDStorymakers conferences. I've always been impressed with her determination to work (versus the writers who daydream but aren't willing to invest the blood, sweat and tears) and to learn (too many people refuse to set aside the ego, thinking they know all).
Her first novel, Wrong Number, is now available. I look forward to reading it, but I must admit that when I heard what i...

Go for Launch: Door Prizes Galore!

If you weren't excited for the Triple Book Launch Party YET . . . you will be after reading this post.
Here are some of door prizes we have in store for those who attend:


Pendragon's Book BindingThe nearly lost art (truly an art!) of hand-bound books is alive and well at Pendragon's Book Binding. Their work is stunning, high-quality, and costs about half what similar companies typically charge.
One winner gets a hardbound journal, 8.5" X 5.5" with 160 sheets (320 writing pages). The actual...

Share the Launch Love

It's almost here!
Sarah M. Eden, Julie Coulter Bellon, and I are revving up for Friday's Triple Book Launch Party!
THIS FRIDAY, March 126:00 pm - 8:00 pmDeseret Book at University Village(East of University Mall in Orem)
Get ready for a bunch of great door prizes. (They'll be announced here soon. We've got a bunch of awesome stuff!) Friday will be a ball.
Whether you love Regency Romance, Thrillers with lots of suspense (and a little romance thrown in!), or women's fiction (or know someone who...

The Office Box & Wrong Number Book Launch

The Original Scrapbox has a brand new piece of organizing furniture and you have a chance to win it! Introducing the Office Box...

And we're celebrating the launch of Rachelle J. Christensen's suspense novel, Wrong Number, with a chance to win an autographed copy!





The Office Box was created as an addition to the line of incredible scrapbooking furniture The Original Scrapbox has to offer, such as The Workbox and The EZ View Craft Desk.


I'm hosting a preliminary giveaway with a prize package...

WNW: Band of Sisters Edition

With Band of Sisters now in stores (YIPPEEEE! . . . ahem), I thought it would be appropriate to have a Word Nerd Wednesday centered around some of the words relevant to the book.

Private First Class, First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, ColonelThese are the ranks of the wives' husbands, in order from lowest to highest. I picked Sarah's brain quite thoroughly on a lot of this. (She's one of the five wives the book is dedicated to.) I had to figure out what their ranks would realistically be...

A Last and a First

Last Saturday marked the end of the 6-week creative writing course I got to teach down in Spanish Fork through their parks and recreation program. I had a fantastic class eager to learn. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I loved watching them grow so much in just six weeks.
At our last class, Jessica G (we had two Jessicas), who decorates cakes professionally, brought a cake for our class that looked like a book. She took a picture, which is good, because we made short work of the cake. YUM...