Grammar Geeks Unite on National Punctuation Day!

                                                     by Trina Boice                                             
                                                www.TrinaBoice.com 


Did you know that September 24th has officially been declared as a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis?  Well, now you do, so let the party begin!#$?!  


Our words, both spoken and verbal, really affect our brand and how others perceive us.

The ninth annual National Punctuation Day®, the September 24 holiday that reminds America that a semicolon is not a surgical procedure, will celebrate the 2012 presidential election with a literary challenge — vote for your favorite Presidential Punctuation Mark in one, highly punctuated paragraph!

The rules: Write one paragraph with a maximum of three sentences using the following 13 punctuation marks to explain which should be “presidential,” and why: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark, and semicolon. You may use a punctuation mark more than once, and there is no word limit. Multiple entries are permitted.

In short, persuade them that your favorite punctuation mark should be the official punctuation mark of the President of the United States.  Contest entries must be received by September 30 to be considered for prizes. The winner(s) will receive a box of punctuation goodies, including a National Punctuation Day® T-shirt. Send entries, including name, address and phone number, to National Punctuation Day® headquarters at Jeff@NationalPunctuationDay.com.

In 2011, 220 entries in their paragraph contest were received from the United States, the Netherlands, Malta, Canada, England, and India.  In 2010, 356 people from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy (in Italian!) submitted more than 3,000 entries in our haiku contest, including 73 from a certain New York State employee who shall remain nameless.  

Have a great punctuation day!

Win a FREE Roku by submitting ideas!

                                                           www.TrinaBoice.com

Win a NEW Roku HD player with 450+ entertainment channels available, including hundreds of free movies.

 

Submit a topic for the final episode of my online book How to Stay UP in a DOWN Economy. If your episode idea is selected, you will win a ROKU HD Streaming TV player. If there are multiple suggestions with the same topic, we will hold a drawing for the winner.

Submit your ideas to contest@bigworldnetwork.com. Be sure to include your first and last name. The winner will be notified by email. Contest ends Friday, June 15th at midnight. The winner will be announced June 25th, and the season finale episode will air on July 25th.

By submitting your suggestion, you agree that your topic may be used as an upcoming episode, even if it isn't selected for the first prize as the Season 3 finale. Sponsored by Trina Boice's How to Stay UP in a DOWN Economy and BigWorldNetwork.com.

Earn moola with your writing!

                                                                     by Trina Boice

Calling all writers!

Irreantum, the literary magazine of the Association for Mormon Letters, will be accepting submissions to their 2012 literary contests until May 31, 2012.  Prizes range from $100-$300 and include possible publication in Irreantum.  

Their fiction and creative nonfiction contests are supported by a grant from the Eugene England foundation, and the poetry contest is supported by a grant from Mary Ann Taylor. 

 

Because Irreantum is a journal dedicated to exploring Mormon culture, submissions that relate to the Mormon experience will be given preference in judging. Authors need not be LDS. Please visit http://irreantum.mormonletters.org/ for contest rules and further information.

New Blogger: Cheri Chesley

Here I am!

This morning I was thinking, "What if we all woke up one day to realize we're all fictional characters in somebody else's work?" It's kind of like when Buzz Lightyear realized he was actually a toy and not a space ranger.

I'm really excited to start blogging here with other Cedar Fort authors. My qualification for being here, The Peasant Queen, is my YA romantic fantasy novel. Watch here for information on release dates.

Rebecca asked each of us newcomers to introduce ourselves, so I'll start with my family. I'm married with 5 children--3 boys and 2 girls--and we currently live in Tooele, UT. Aside from writing, I enjoy other forms of creation such as photography, sewing and cooking. Just don't ask me to garden. To go along with my fun pollen allergies, I also have no skill whatsoever making plants grow. Though I am pretty skilled at killing them.

I also have a Mommy Blog, where I post about raising my kids and other fun family stuff. And my Author Blog, where I post about the fun of writing, reading, and the occasional book review. Currently, I'm having a fun contest on my author blog, in conjunction with my sister-in-law's author blog. You can click HERE or HERE for more information, but basically we're recruiting followers as part of our Spring Into Reading contest. Once we both have 100 blog followers, we will do a drawing for the three prizes--a romance novel prize package, a fantasy novel prize package and a mystery novel prize package. Mel(issa) and I are really excited to give out these fantastic prizes, so don't miss your chance. Head on over and follow our blogs to enter!

I'm already looking forward to my next post. See you in 2 weeks :)

"Altared Plans" Book Trailer Contest

by Rebecca Talley

Who doesn't love contests?

I want to spread the word about my LDS romance Altared Plans. After all, what better Christmas gift than a light-hearted romance novel?

I created a book trailer and would love to have you post it on your blog or on Facebook. If you do, I'll enter you into a contest to win a $20.00 gift certificate to Amazon. Here's the rules:

1. Post my book trailer on your blog or on Facebook. Here's the url to pick up the embed code.
2. Leave a comment here and let me know you posted it and the address of your blog or Facebook page.
3. Deadline to enter is November 15th at midnight. I'll choose a random winner on November 16th and post it here. Be sure to check back to see if you've won.
4. You can enter each time you post it to a blog or post it to Facebook.



Thanks for participating in the contest and helping me promote Altared Plans.

By Love or By Sea WINNER

I'm pretty excited about this! I love book give-aways! Who doesn't like a FREE book? Anyway, two weeks are finally up and the winner of

By Love or By Sea

by Rachel Rager

is...

Lynn Parsons

Congrats, Lynn! Just send your mailing address to

rachelrager(dot)romance(at)gmail(dot)com

and I'll get that out PRONTO!!!

(I hope you love it! And I hope if you didn't win, you will still read it! And make sure to check back to see if you win one of the other books too.)

And, for anyone who wants a thought provoking question. . .

When Caleb Newman left for sea, he had different reasons for leaving than the popular opinion. If events had occured differently at the ball when he saved Alice's virtue,

would he have made the same decisions? If not, what would he have done differently? And how would Lydia Burns effect the dynamic of the story?

(Read By Love or By Sea)

Leave me a comment with your thoughts! I can't wait to hear them!!

Happy Kisses!

The Ball's in Her Court Giveaway!

This month as part of the End of Summer Giveaway, I'm offering an autographed copy of my book, The Ball's in Her Court, which won't be released until October. I dont have a cover yet, either, but it should be coming before too long, and I promise to post it as soon as I have the final version. I'll be picking a winner for my book on August 28th, so make sure to leave me a comment to enter the contest.

Denise DeWalt thought she had it all together and put the past behind her. Then an incident in her apartment parking lot brings the memories of her abusive childhood back to the forefront. When her past continues to haunt her, she decides the time has come to look for her birth parents. She just hopes the family who saved her from a life in the foster care system will understand.

Rich Jensen felt drawn to Denise the moment they first met--when he was introduced to her as her new boss. Though he knows he should keep things professional, every instinct has him finding ways to get to know her better. As he watches her struggle with her search and her past, he wonders if there's any hope for a future, but he's willing to give her time. The ball's in her court.

And to tease you with a little taste, a scene from the first chapter:

The afternoon was almost over when Denise caught her first look at the promising interviewee. Southwick ushered him into the room like an old friend. The younger man exuded authority and self confidence from the tip of his well-polished shoes to the mass of brown hair on his head. The body in between was broad shouldered and powerful looking as well. It wasn’t until he turned his gaze around the room that Denise saw his confidence went all the way to the core.

His dark eyes saw right through her, jolting her, stealing her breath, and there was something familiar about him. Denise wondered if the lightening bolt of recognition wasn’t where the aura of power came from. Or was it the other way around? His eyes widened for a moment before he blinked and returned his gaze to Southwick.

Denise could feel her pulse beating a wild tattoo in her veins. She calmed her expression and fought to make her insides comply as well. Maybe he attended the University of Utah or had a sibling who did. Or maybe he reminded her of someone she once knew. She clung to those explanations, though none of them accounted for the something more than recognition bouncing around inside her.

When Southwick reached her and Richard Jensen extended his hand, she took it in her own. A strange tingle began at her palm and extended up her arm. She met his brown eyes—eyes that would have seemed too big on any other face. Somehow the strong chin and cheekbones seemed perfectly suited to them. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Denise.” The words flowed like Southern honey from his lips—strange for a guy from Chicago.

“Finally?” Denise smoothly withdrew her hand from his grasp, desperate to break a connection that had her antenna standing on end. She wondered why her hands weren’t shaking when her insides were doing a tango.

“I’m Lily’s cousin. You are the one who told me about this company,” he murmured.

“And we’re sure glad you did. I know Jensen here will do well, though he’ll have quite a job to fill my shoes!” Southwick said, pounding Richard on the back and grinning.

“Oh.” Denise felt stupid the moment the sound left her mouth. No wonder he had seemed vaguely familiar, Lily had shown her his picture after Denise had sent him a list of companies he might want to check into. “Well, welcome to our little family.” Hoping to inject a note of levity, she jerked her thumb toward Jake. “Don’t take the joker here too seriously. And don’t let him anywhere near your soda if you don’t want it tampered with.” She forced a smile and hoped it looked sincere.

Richard glanced over at Jake and smiled, turning his slightly nicer-than-average face into something only a step below breathtaking.

Or maybe she was a bit short of breath after all. His gaze returned to her. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

You can read the whole first chapter on my Website here. But first, leave a comment so I can enter you to win a copy!

By Love or By Sea - Give Away!

I thought I'd give you a little treat and include a small section of my book. I'm so thrilled with the idea of this contest! And I hope you will all eagerly leave me a comment! I will announce the winner on Sunday, August 23rd. (So just leave me a comment about how much you want to read it and how much you adore me and you are automatically entered!) There will be prizes given away between now and then too from other authors, so make sure to stop by and see what they are! I wish you all the best of luck and happy kissing.

As Alice began on her journey home and passed through the town, she exchanged pleasantries with a few people but mostly kept to herself, enjoying the view of the vast ocean growing in front of her and the goings-on of the town...
Then, as though nothing more than a mirage, she saw a tired man crest over the hill coming from the beach and walking towards her. The distance between the man and herself allowed her time to stare at him without being obvious. The tall man wore a tattered pair of trousers and a fairly clean, cotton shirt fastened only by three lower buttons, allowing his vast muscles to protrude from beneath as he carried a knapsack on his shoulder. His skin was bronzed from what she assumed were probably years spent in the sun. His sandy whiskers weren’t long but had obviously been neglected for many days, and his blonde hair was nearly as white as old Mrs. Winters’, but unlike hers, his hair traveled halfway down his back.
He sported an odd appearance, yet he was almost intriguingly familiar...
“Excuse me, miss?”
Alice turned at the sound of a soft, masculine voice and there, looking expectantly at her, stood the man she had been visually devouring only moments before. “Yes?”
“I realize this is probably a strange thing to ask, but . . .” He paused and looked at the inquisitive eyes that were lingering on him from passing spectators. He seemed suddenly less sure of himself. “D-do you know if the . . . the Newman’s still live around here?” he asked in a lowered, hesitant voice.
“Well, sure. They’ve lived west of town about a mile for longer than I can remember.” Then as curiosity got the better of her, she could not restrain the question from escaping her lips. “Are you one of Augustus’s nephews? You bear a striking resemblance to Augustus himself.”
The man chuckled uncomfortably and pushed a hand through his tangled hair. “Well, thank you, miss, but I’m not his nephew.”
A look of pain seemed to cross his face before he tipped his head to her in parting and left her alone to ponder on the encounter. Alice knew she had never seen this man before. She would have remembered. His weathered face made him appear quite old, and she felt a stab of sorrow at the look of pain that had so recently crossed his face. The look in the man’s eyes caused him to look somehow even older than he did at first sight.
That evening as she sat in the parlor with her nana and pappy, her gaze lingered on the fire while her embroidery sat forgotten on her lap. “What has your mind in a tumble tonight, peach?” Gretchen asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she answered casually...
“Well, are you just going to sit there until she drags it out of you, or are you going to tell it to us straight out?” Henry asked, equally concerned about his granddaughter.
“I don’t really know what to think, Pappy. My mind’s all muddled up and I can’t seem to make heads or tails out of anything.”...
“Why don’t you start by telling me how things were while you still could make sense of them,” Gretchen encouraged.
“Well, I went to see Mama and everything went well. She was attentive to me, and we had a real nice time. I came home, just like I always do and then . . .”
“Yes?” Henry said when she paused.
“Oh, I don’t know what to think,” Alice whispered desperately. “I was walking home, and then there was this man who came over the edge of the hill. He’d obviously come from the beach.”
“Was it Clarence?” Gretchen interrupted. “He’s normally coming back to town about that time of day.”
“Of course not,” Henry put in. “She would have recognized him.”
Gretchen and Henry were both completely captivated by what Alice had to say, but in truth Alice could not figure out what she was thinking. So how on earth did they think she would be able to tell them a story they could understand? “No, it wasn’t Clarence. In fact, I don’t know who it was. My gut instinct tells me he was a ghost, except he spoke to me.”
“A ghost?” Gretchen laughed. “Really, peach! What would put your mind to thinking something as crazy as that?”
“I’m serious, Nana!” Alice whined loudly.
“All right then. What was it about the man that put it into your mind that he was a ghost?” Gretchen asked repentantly.
“Well, he looked real enough, but he reminded me of . . . He kind of looked like . . .”
“Who?” Henry coached.
“I don’t know if I can utter his name.” Gretchen’s rather disappointed look displayed itself blatantly upon her face. Alice knew her grandparents were dissatisfied with her answer, but she didn’t know if she could tell them who the man looked like. So she changed the direction of the conversation. “He spoke to me though. His voice was low and hushed, as though he was afraid to speak.”...
“Alice, who was it that the man reminded you of?” Henry asked.
“Pappy, I don’t know if I can utter his name,” Alice whimpered.
“And why not?”
Alice hesitated, attempting to give enough information without actually having to say the man’s name aloud. “He died about six years ago in a ship wreck while he was at sea as a merchant sailor.”
“Are you trying to tell us that you spoke to Caleb Newman on the street in town today?” Gretchen asked reverently.
“I don’t know that it was him, Nana. And besides, how could it be him? Remember? Grace said there were no survivors.”
“But . . .”
“No, Nana. I’m certain my mind was just playing tricks on me. It was probably some poor sailor, anchored in town for a few days.” With that, the topic died, and the conversation moved on to other things, but that night as Alice lay in bed waiting for sleep to engulf her, the image of the man on the street kept her weary mind company. He was, after all, intriguing and very striking in his appearance, no matter how tattered and tired he looked. The thought of him being an older version of the ever-so-handsome Caleb Newman made the mystery of the man all the more enticing. He had been such a good looking young man; tall and very handsome. Rolling over with a smile on her face, she eventually found respite as she fell asleep thinking of the young man she’d thought of so often before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UC78cx-kE

A Chance to Win "Mormon Mishaps and Mischief"

By Cindy Beck

In case you missed Jillayne Clements' post last night, we’re holding a giveaway here at the Writing Fortress. For your edification, let me just tell you what we are not giving away—a llama, Gila monster or night on the town with Burl Ives (which you'd probably appreciate not winning, since he's passed on).

Most, or possibly all of the prizes are real, live, printed-on-the-page books by authors here at the blog.

Unfortunately, the printed-on-the-page book that co-author, Nichole Giles, and I have written (with stories compiled from other great authors as well) won’t be out until December, but we wanted to give our 90 million readers a chance to win it.

What? We don’t have 90 million readers? Okay … 89.9 million.



Our book, Mormon Mishaps and Mischief: Hilarious Stories for Saints, contains humorous, true stories of Latter-day Saints that will have you holding your sides and laughing. It covers everything from bloopers at the pulpit and gaffes at priesthood camp outs to blunders during family home evening. The book makes a great gift for yourself, family, friends, or even a Christmas gift for your home teachers—when they finally show up on December 31.

How do you win a copy of Mormon Mishaps and Mischief? Just leave a comment on this blog entry and we’ll throw you into the random generator … well, not actually throw you, but your name (which will be assigned a number) into the mix and pull a winner two weeks from now, when Nichole posts her thoughts here. That person will win a copy of the book and we’ll send it when Mormon Mishaps and Mischief comes out in December.

Best of luck to each of you!

~ Cindy and Nichole

Drum Roll, Please . . . .

by Rebecca Talley

Before I announce the winner of our contest, I wanted to thank all of you who participated and became followers of our blog. I hope you've enjoyed the blog and that you'll return often. We'll be holding more contests in the future.

I hope you'll share our link with others, submit questions to us, and interact with us regularly. Writing can be lonely at times and we all experience rejections, frustrations, and bumps in the road. Together, we can all cheer each other on and support our crazy addiction to the written word.

Thanks again for participating. We appreciate your support!

Without further ado, the winner of Altared Plans is . . . . Cheri Chesley.

Cheri, please email me your address and I will get a copy sent off to you. I hope you enjoy it.

We Want Followers Contest

Announcing a contest:

Since we love followers, we're going to hold a contest. If you sign up to be a follower of this blog, you will be entered into a contest to win Altared Plans, an LDS romance by Rebecca Talley.

Rules:

1. Become a follower of Writing Fortress by midnight June 29th.
2. A name will be chosen by random on June 30th and announced here.
3. The winner will need to supply his/her address to receive the book.

That's it. What an easy way to win a book!