Fast Five Friday

Fast Five Friday is a weekly blog hop created at Cover Girls. Its purpose is to connect with writers, readers, viewers, and bloggers, and the topics revolve around lists. 

 Go HERE to learn more about Fast Five Friday.

Sept. 25: 5 most anticipated books

After You by JoJo Moyes (scheduled for Sept. 2015)

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis (scheduled for Oct. 2015)

Nowhere but Here by Katie McGarry  (scheduled for May 2015)

Heartless by Marissa Meyer (scheduled for Nov. 2016)

Hunted by Meagan Spooner (scheduled for winter 2017)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love to write flash fiction? Love prizes? Check out the 4th 

annual Spooktoberfest HERE.

Zombie Apocalypse: Survival Kit & Crew Bloghop

We've been impatiently waiting for The Walking Dead premiere on October 12, so to bide our time, we thought a zombie themed blogfest would quench our zombie thirst.

Zombie Apocalypse: Survival Kit & Crew Bloghop

Post date: Friday, October 10, 2014 (cause no one wants to post on show day!)

Hosts:  
Dani @Entertaining Interests
Mina @Some Dark Romantic
Jackie @Bouquet of Books

Details: To help build your zombie apocalypse dream team and survival kit, you will need to pick ONE person and/or ONE item for each of the topics listed in the below categories.

(Items you already have on your person: undergarments, shirt, bottoms, socks, tennis shoes & a backpack. If you want special shoes and/or boots, jackets, belt, etc.; those are extra and will need to be listed for one of your items below.)

And since this bloghop is all about having fun, if you have kiddos and/or pets, we can assume they are safely tucked away in a safe haven somewhere while we’re out in the world fighting off zombies, so do not worry.

With the characters below, please include the book, movie & TV show they stem from.

The Walking Dead character is the only one that needs to be from a zombie themed entertainment outlet, but please feel free to choose characters from your other favorite books/movies/tv. They may or may not be zombie related. It's all up to you. Just let your imagination flow!

Crew:

1 The Walking Dead character

1 book character

1 movie character

1 TV character (other than TWD)

1 loved one

1 friend

1 freebie

Backpack:

1 comfort item

1 weapon

1 luxury item

1 food item

1 medicine/first aid item

1 hygiene item

1 freebie

Background:

Outpost

Outbreak

Cause of it

Cure (if applicable)

1 item you NEED to find

1 item you WANT to find

Method of travel

**Please display the above badge on your blog.

**Join us on Friday, October 10^th to build your zombie apocalypse dream team and survival kit.

**Spread the word via twitter, facebook, your blog, etc.

**Sign up in the linky so that we can visit you and your crew on Oct 10th.

**Most of all, HAVE FUN!

Celebrate the small things and Spooktoberfest announcement

Celebrate the Small Things is the fun weekly meme hosted by Viklit @ Scribblings of an Aspiring Author, where we share things we wish to celebrate, and then hop around to other bloggers to rejoice in their celebrations, too. :) Go HERE to sign up and join the celebration!

My celebrations: 

• Christine Rains has a cover reveal to share. You can check it out at her site HERE or at Cover Girls HERE, and I'll be posting her reveal this weekend as well. Congrats, Christine!!! 
• Dani and I are announcing our blogfest today! You can learn more about Spooktoberfest below.
• I went to a flower show this week and learned some cool stuff to utilize in the shop. I'm so excited to make new things!
• Went to the movies and a walk n' talk with my BFF. <3

What things are you celebrating this week?

With the oncoming of the spookiest holiday of the year, Dani @ Entertaining Interests and myself are bringing sexy back – er –SPOOKTOBERFEST back this October. We had a great turnout last year, read some awesome entries, and gave away some amazing prizes!

We hope we'll have a great turnout this year, too!

Spooktoberfest Requirements:

1. Follow us - Dani and Jax, if you don’t already. We love meeting new bloggers, and we do follow back.

2. Your Flash Fiction piece should be between 300 - 500 words. It can be scary, funny, action-packed, romantic, or whatever you choose. Just let your creativity flow!

3. You must choose 3 of the 6 words listed below to include in your flash fiction piece…

WRETCH (ED)

IMPEDING

ALIEN (S)

SKELETON (S)

POTION (S)

MASK (S)

4.  Highlight those 3 words you in your story so we can find them.

5. Choose at least 1 of the 4 pictures below to be the setting for your flash fiction piece.
A forest, a cave/mine, a road, or a stairwell

photo credit of forest and cave: DANI
photo credit of road and stairs: ME 

6. Post your piece any day from Friday Oct 25th thru Monday, Oct. 28th.

7. It’s a blog hop, so… hop around to other participating blogs and leave them some awesome comments.

8. We'll announce the winners on Thurs Oct. 31, 2013 - Halloween! Dani and I will each choose a winner. You read that right – two winners! Woot!
9. Most important of all.... Have fun!!!

Side note - not required: If you have a twitter account and have the extra time - go ahead and send out a tweet letting us know you have posted your submission (this step is very helpful for us.) Below is our @ accounts and the hashtag.

@JackieFel

@danibertrand

#Spooktoberfest

PRIZES: A grab bag (more like a box of awesome Halloween stuff) and candy. The winners will get the biggest bags we can find of their favorite candy along with some spookified items.

Oh, and yes, this blogfest is international. So what are you ghouls waiting for? Sign up using the Linky Thing below and spread the word!

Blog Hop Reveal - Confessions

Dani @Entertaining Interests and I have so much fun hosting blogfests that we decided it was time to do another one. This one is geared toward confessions...

These are my confessions **cue Usher music**

A confession is a statement made by someone, usually a personal fact that they would not prefer to keep hidden. 

Spill. We want to know what not-so-dark secrets you have. If you want to share the dark ones, by all means, but this is the world wide web, so... yeah, that saying "What happens in Blogosphere, stays in Blogosphere" ... That probably won't happen, so use your own discretion.

It can be fun facts about yourself, important memories, or a mixture of both. 

We just want to learn more about you.

Examples:
Do you secretly love a one-hit-wonder band?

Do you snack on food at the grocery store?

Do you want to share a recent dream? Dirty or clean *wink wink*

Are you a road-rager? What things do you do when you’re road-raging?

The sky is the limit when it comes to confessions.

• On Friday, August 30th, post your confessions.
• Make sure to post the Confessions badge on your blog.
• You don’t have to be a blog follower but we'd appreciate it.
• You can also follow us on Twitter @danibertrand & @jackiefel and don’t forget to Tweet your blog confession using #confessions.
• And most importantly, sign up in the Linky Thingy below and hop around to other blogs on August 30th!

Spooktoberfest Winner and Runner-ups!

You all made it so hard to choose a winner for Spooktoberfest! Now I know how Adam Levine feels on The Voice... trying to choose between all of those amazing people. That's how I felt after I read and reread over these entries.
Dani and I enjoyed hosting this blogfest. Some pieces made us laugh. Others had us scared out of our minds. And a few brought a chilling tear to our eyes.
That's great writing, folks. Thank you for participating and for sharing your talent with us. We're honored beyond belief.

My choice for Spooktoberfest Winner:

Crocked by Some Dark Romantic - Mina Lobo. 

You can read her amazing entry HERE.

Congrats, Mina! I will contact you soon about getting your prize to you!

My choice for Spooktoberfest Runner-ups:

*Carving by Writing Off the Edge - L.G. Keltner 

*Randomness by The Growing Writer by Von L. Cid. 

You can read their chilling entries HERE and HERE.


Winner and runner-ups, please feel free to put the above badges on your blog if you want to... or not. The choice is yours. :D

You can view Dani's selections HERE.

Again, thank you all for participating and sharing your stories with us. 
Dani and I hope you had fun! We sure did! 

Until next time... happy writing!

Halloween Hop!

Jeremy Bates is hosting the Halloween Bloghop. Name your favorite monster movie or book and your Halloween costume. Then hop around to other participating blogs to see their choices, too!

I'm not dressing up this year, but my lovely sons came up with a cool idea so maybe we'll do it next year. Their idea... the six of us would be The Avengers. They said my hubby and I would be Hawkeye and Black Widow (I wish I could look like that! LOL.) Then from oldest to youngest, our sons would be Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and The Hulk. (Yeah, my 6 yr old would be the biggest superhero in this brood even though he's the youngest. :D )

Favorite monster movie: that's a tough one because I love horror movies. I have a list a mile long, but for this, I'll choose something with zombies... Dawn of the Dead, the remake.
Favorite monster book would be Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.
Visit other bloggers in this blogfest HERE.

And make sure to stop by tomorrow to see the winners for Spooktoberfest!!!

Spooktoberfest Bloghop is here!

It's time for Spooktoberfest!!! Dani and I have been so excited for this!

Requirements:

1.  Your Flash Fiction piece cannot be any longer than 300 words. Sorry… that’s part of the challenge. It can be scary, comical, romantic, whatever you choose. Just be creative!
2.  You must use the MANDATORY 5 words listed below:

   cobweb(s) 

   cauldron(s) 

   jack-o-lantern(s)

   ghost(s)

  razor(s)

3.  Post your Flash Fiction piece any day from Friday Oct. 26 - Monday, Oct. 29^th. 

4.  Follow Dani and myself if you don’t already. We will follow back. And if we miss it, let us know so we can follow you.
5.  It’s a blog hop, so hop around to other participating blogs and leave some awesome comments.
6.  Have fun!

Dani and I will each choose a winner and post them on HALLOWEEN, Wednesday, Oct. 31^st.

PRIZES: The winners will get the biggest bags we can find of their favorite candy along with some fun items.

Not required but it'd make us smile... if you have a twitter and have extra time, it'd be cool if you sent us a tweet that you've posted your submission. 
Our accounts and hashtag: 
@Danibertrand
@JackieFel
#Spooktoberfest

Sweet Kiss

Screams and eerie music bounce off the walls as Ben and I enter the town’s annual Haunted

Cave. Flickering lights from inside the jack-o-lanterns line the floor and cast dancing shadows around the space.

“Ethan told me it’s not so bad,” Ben says, taking my hand in his.

I shiver, but I’m not sure if it’s because of his touch or the creepiness of this place.

“Are you scared, Ash?”

“A little.” I stare at a cauldron bubbling over with smoke and green goo.

He wraps his arm around my waist. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

White sheets dangle from the ceiling like laundry set out to dry. In one swift move, the makeshift ghosts fly toward us. I jump and dig my fingernails into Ben’s arm.

He lets out a light laugh and tugs me closer to him. His arms become my safety net as we make our way through the hellish maze of creepy zombies, headless bodies, and mask-wearing creepers.

 An amputated hand points us to an arched doorway covered in cobwebs. We walk through and brush them off. I smile, thankful the exit sign is just a few feet away.

Ben pulls me to his chest. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I guess not.” I shrug.

“I told you I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” He tilts my head and runs a finger down the vein bulging in my neck. “But I’ll need to break that promise now.”

Ben puts his lips to my throat, caressing my skin with his tongue. His teeth sink in, and I cry out. My neck stings like I’m being cut with a razor.

Blood drips from the wound, and I melt into him as memories of my life fade away.

Thanks for reading my flash fiction piece! Please check out the other participant's entries below!

Express Yourself Meme - Language people!

It's time for the Express Yourself Meme - week 3 co-hosted by Dani and Me!

What language would you like to speak and why? 

- I'd love to learn French. I think it sounds so exquisite and flows beautifully.

- Also, I know it's not a "language" but I'd love to speak in an Aussie accent. THAT would be really cool. (I'm a sucker for accents... aka Hugh Jackman *sigh*)

Are there any languages you'd like to speak?

Care to join the Express Yourself Meme? Sign up in the weekly linky so we can see your choices!

What's Your Chocolate? Blog Hop

It's time for the “What’s Your Chocolate?” Blogfest hosted by M. Pax, Laura Eno, Brinda Berry, and Ciara Knight.
How to participate? Click on one of the names above and join. Then post about your favorite chocolate – what it means to you, where and when you indulge, a favorite memory – anything chocolate-related.

I LOVE chocolate and eat it whenever I feel like having it, which probably isn’t the wisest thing to do, but we only live once, right?

My chocolates of choice? 
Hershey's Kisses Dark Chocolate
Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolate with Almonds
Fannie Mae Dark Chocolate Bar
Peanut Butter M&M's
Peanut Butter Twix
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

But my absolute favorite is dark chocolate and the kind would have to be Dove Dark Chocolate Almond Promises. Talk about yummy.

When you unwrap it, not only do you get a piece of chocolate, but also a message on the wrapper.

Some of the wonderful Dove inspirations found inside…

*Perseverance is a synonym of victory
*Believe in yourself
*Think without boundaries
*One’s best success comes after one’s greatest disappointments
*If you fall down 7 times, get up 8
*Compromise is a sign of strength, not weakness
*Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently

I think it’s cool that some of the messages can even be referred to in the writing world as well as used for inspiration, motivation, and strength.

Make sure to hop around and check out other bloggers in the What’s Your Chocolate? Blog fest!

Spooktoberfest Blog Hop

Who’s up to their old blogfest tricks again?

Dani at Entertaining Interests and myself, that’s who.

Spooktoberfest is where cobwebs tickle your nose, cauldrons are brewing, jack-o-lanterns light the way, and ghosts go bump in the night. Oh yeah, watch out for the razors!

Requirements:

1.  Your Flash Fiction piece cannot be any longer than 300 words. Sorry… that’s part of the challenge. It can be scary, comical, romantic, whatever you choose. Just be creative!
2.  You must use the MANDATORY 5 words listed below 

   cobweb(s) 

   cauldron(s) 

   jack-o-lantern(s)

   ghost(s)

  razor(s)

3.  Post your Flash Fiction piece on your blog anytime between ...

Friday Oct. 26 - Monday, Oct. 29^th.  The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Monday.
4.  Follow Dani and myself if you don’t already. We will follow back.
5.  It’s a blog hop, so hop around to other participating blogs and leave some awesome comments when the stories are posted.
6.  Have fun!

It'd be super cool if you'd post the Spooktoberfest button on your page.

Dani and I will each choose a winner. That's two winners total. 
We will post our decisions on HALLOWEEN . . . Wednesday, Oct. 31^st.

PRIZES: Candy and a grab bag of awesome stuff. The winners will get the biggest bags we can find of their favorite candy along with a bag containing some fun spookified items.

This blogfest is international. 

So what are you guys waiting for? Sign up using the linky thing below and spread the word on your Blog, Twitter, Facebook, owl messenger, or however you want!

V is for (The) Vampire Diaries

The TV series, set in Mystic Falls, Virginia stems from the books written by L.J. Smith. Kevin Williamson took the novels and put his magic to work.

It follows the life of 17 yr old human, Elena Gilbert. She falls in love with Stefan Salvatore, a vampire,

but also has feelings for his older vampire brother, Damon.

While Stefan is sweet, gentle, and giving, Damon is wild, sarcastic, and malevolent. The brothers fall for Elena, partly because she resembles one of their past loves, Katherine, a long distant relative of Elena’s.

All of this drama stems from the founding families who “protect” Mystic Falls from vampires, but they should be concerned with other paranormal beings lollygagging about…. ghosts, witches, and  werewolves.

I LOVE this show...  the vampires and magic and love triangle. I'm Team Damon, though, there are times I feel like Elena belongs with Stefan.


Check out other A to Z Bloggers of the challenge.

And please take a look at the

First Fight/First Kiss Blogfest.

I'm co-hosting it with Dani @ Entertaining Interests. We're excited and can't wait to read your entries!

Click on the pic below to sign up!

U is for Unveiling....

.... a blogfest!

Back in February, Dani @ Entertaining Interests and I began talking about hosting a blogfest. We passed ideas back and forth until we finally came up with the perfect one.

First Fight/First Kiss Blogfest

Why is it perfect?

While Dani’s more into “let’s kick some butt” scenes and has a hard time finding her inner love, I dig the “kissing, be still my beating heart" moments. That’s not to say I don’t like writing fight scenes, because I do. It’s just that the love scenes are my favorite to read and write.

This blogfest forces many of us to work on our not-so-favorite scenes and make them shine.

Also, what happens after a good argument? - Making up!

Share your 1^st FIGHT and 1^st KISS scenes in your MS’s or WIP’s.

If you’re not a writer, please share with us your real life firsts. We want to read and experience them all!

The First Fight/First Kiss blogfest will go as such:

• Post 1 will be on Tuesday, June 12 - Share with us your 1st FIGHT scene on your blog. It can be a lovers spat ...or a battle scene ...or a classic fist fight. It can be physical or verbal, fists or magic. Whatever you want to share.
• Post 2 will be on Thursday, June 14 - Share with us your 1st KISS scene on your blog. It can be a peck on the cheek or a full fledge kissing session. Whatever you would like to tell us.

Details for the First Fight/First Kiss blogfest:

• Follow Dani @ Entertaining Interests & myself, if you haven’t already.
• Sign up using the linky thingie below.
• Display the gorgeous First Fight/First Kiss Blogfest button on your blog. You can grab the code off to the side on my blog.
• Post your 1st fight entry on June 12, 2012.
• Post your 1st kiss entry on June 14, 2012.
• Hop around to the other blogs and comment on their wonderful 1^st fight and 1^st kiss scenes.

Prizes? Absolutely!

Dani and I will each pick our favorite scene from each day. That’s 4 prizes total, folks. What are the fabulous gifts for the winners? $10 email-giftcards to Amazon or Barnes & Noble so you can choose that book you’ve been wanting or download it to your Kindle or Nook.

Sounds like fun, right? So what are you waiting for? Enter using the linky thingie below and pass the word around.