Tag: Mike Jung

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Friday Five: Giveaway Winner & Other Random Stuff

Posted on by beckylevine

1. And the winner of my Random Acts of Publicity contest is…

Mike Jung!

Which is more than fitting because Mike is the one who reminded me about the RAP, AND because Son pulled Mike’s name out of the hat bowl last night, which pretty much proves that the BOOV are out there & taking an interest in our lives. Mike, send me an email at beckylevine at ymail dot com, with your snail-mail address, and I’ll get a copy of Steve Kluger’s My Most Excellent Year out to you!

2. I read through some past chapters of my YA historical, downloaded the newest Beta of Scrivener, and came up with a different way to approach the next scene (one already written in the first draft). Which officially means, yes, I’m back to work on the YA.

3. I have seen several yellow leaves drift out of the trees as I drive up our road into the hills. I don’t think autumn is officially here yet, but between the leaves and the shorter days, I can tell it’s on its way.

4. I realized I have hit a yoga milestone. Well, a few. First, yes, the tips of my fingers have actually touched the ground during forward bends. Did I say my knees were straight at the time? No, I did not. They’ll get there. AND I have gone a week+ without having to take an afternoon nap the day of a morning yoga class. Did I say I wasn’t tired? No, I did not. I’ll get there. I’m counting it all as progress.

5. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Kathryn Fitzmaurice’s latest book, A Diamond in the Desert. This book blew me away. Who says a historical novel has to be heavy on details? Who says it has to bury us in historic figures & facts. Not Kathryn. She’s chosen an amazingly taut, light structure to tell the story of a young boy playing baseball in a Japanese internment camp. And it all works beautifully. Watch for a future interview here with Kathryn about the book.

Posted in Contest, Random Acts of Promotion

Random Acts of Publicity: Steve Kluger’s MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR

Posted on by beckylevine

Mike Jung reminded me that today is Day 1 of the third annual Random Acts of Publicity, started by DarcyPattison as a fun way to promote friends and favorite books. Mike’s running a contest to win THREE books by Julian Hector. You may go enter Mike’s contest, although if you can do so WITHOUT beating out my entry, I would of course appreciate that.

Anyway, in my never-ending quest to get more people to read one of MY favorite books, I’m running a giveaway, too. Never said I can’t steal make use of someone else’s good idea!

Here’s the book:

As you can see from the complete title [deep breath], My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park, the book has everything. Why is it one of my absolute favorites? Because it is very possibly the best love story I have ever read. And, remember, I wrote my master’s thesis on Wuthering Heights (Sorry, Emily!). The story and the characters and the relationships cover every possible form that happy, kind, supportive love can take. The connections and the voices and the humor are outstanding, and if you aren’t smiling, laughing, or saying “aaaaw” on every page, well, then, yeah–this book isn’t for you.

But you know what? It will be.

Just to prove it, yes, I’m giving away a copy of this book. I like Mike’s idea of having us add more promotion to the contest–he’s asked minions enter his contest by leaving a comment listing one of their favorite picture books. So, here, let’s hear your favorite love story. Since this is about promotion, let’s say favorite love story published in the last five years. Yes, you can ALSO add a second favorite from way back whenever–Jane Austen comes to mind–but that won’t enter you in the contest.

And, no, I’m not going to check the pub date on entries–can’t I TRUST you people?!

I’ll announce the winner on Friday, so enter now! And, if you aren’t logged in so that I can click your signature & get an email to you, please make sure to leave your email in the comment.

And have a love-filled week!

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The Honest Scrap Award: Passing Along the Thanks

Posted on by beckylevine

Last weekend, Kim Koning sent me a note that I might want to check out her blog post. What a wonderful surprise to find out that I was on her list for the Honest Scrap blog award. Here’s the description of the award:

The Honest Scrap Award:

This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who often times put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul. This means so much to me as that is the root reason of why and what I write about. I believe writing is your heart without a mask. My writing, whether it be a blog post, a poem, a piece of prose or a WIP is the truest part of my soul. To me writing is about honesty and truth-seeking. There is the saying that the pen is more powerful than the sword. I believe that writing is a way to challenge people and to speak often times for those who cannot speak.

As a recipient, I get to pass the award onto other bloggers who I think meet this description, and then you get to hear 10 honest things about me. Lucky you! I’ll try not to get too gushy. 🙂

Step 1: Sharing the Award

I’m going to pick some of the bloggers I’ve discovered more recently, bloggers who I think examine this writing life closely and, yes, honestly, but mostly with intelligence and imagination.

And ten things about me you may never have wanted to know:

1. I do worry more than I let you see on the blog. So much for completely honest. 🙂

2. Working at my parents’ veterinary clinic, I successfully and without injury held (down) many cats and dogs for exams. I have a huge scar on my hand from the one time I tried to hold my own cat while a vet took his temperature. File that under the category of Should Have Known Better.

3. I don’t really like the beach. I lived near it (5 minutes) for 18 years of my life and lived on it for a year in college, and have probably accrued fewer hours of actual on-the-sand-or-in-the-water time than many people who grow up in the midwest.

4. I took myself off to Great Britain for five weeks when I was 25, by myself, with a backpack and a lot of train tickets. Got lost many times, but lonely only once.

5. Someday I will probably own something produced and manufactured by Apple. But not yet. (Especially now that Scrivener for Windows is “coming soon!”)

6. I don’t like shoes. I wear them because I have to, but only when absolutely necessary.

7. You don’t want to give me a plant. For the house or outside. Not if you care for its survival. Seriously.

8. Years ago, a friend and I rode in the Port Townsend Kinetic Sculpture Race. We won a prize for best costumes. Don’t ask.

9. I type 100 words a minute. And, no, I won’t type all your college essays for you. Been there, done that.

10. When I was in grad school, I worked as a tour guide at Ashlawn, James Monroe’s home in Charlottesville, VA. And, yes, I started saying y’all. It just felt way too rude, in that place, to use California-speak: “Okay, you guys can move into the next room now.”

So there you have it. Happy Honest Scrap Award to Mike, Jordan, Michelle, and Claudia, and happy weekend to everybody else!