Friday Fun

Yvie here, ape-friends! Doing my usual job of launching everyone into the weekend with some internet fun.

the weekend would be a lot more fun, though, if it just wasn't so hot

Before we get to that, though, my Mom's query is up on Matt's blog, so if you would like to stop by, she'd really love it!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's get to the funs!!

Puppy eating a lime

Wednesday Weird: Tomb Treasures

In 2008, archaeologists got a chance to crack a tomb from the Ming dynasty in Shangsi, Southern China. They were the first ones to visit the grave since the occupants funeral.

They'd brought a camera crew to create a documentary as they excavated the tomb. But while they were filming they found something much weirder.

When the were trying to remove the soil encrusting the coffin, a chunk broke off and hit the floor with a metallic clink.

They picked up the object and discovered it was a ring. But not just any ring.

The removed the dirt from the ring and it turned out to actually be a watch. A Swiss watch that had stopped at 10:06 am.

The watch itself was estimated to be 100 years old, buried in a tomb over 400 years old. Watches weren't even invented in the time of the Ming dynasty, and Switzerland wasn't even a country.

So how did this mysterious timepiece find it's way inside an undisturbed tomb?

Thoughts? Theories? Throw them my way!

In Which I'm Going Back To School

So, one of my goals/resolutions for 2013 was to look into Hamline University's MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. It's a low residency program which means if I decided to apply I'd be able to keep my job, which is a requirement when you have like a mortgage and junk.

So look into it I did. I did Internet research and I attended a luncheon info session. And everything I saw made me like the idea even more.

So I got my ducks in a row and I applied. And then I tried not to think about it. I was pretty sure I had a good chance of getting in, but of course you never know. I knew of one person who had applied and didn't get in so it was clear they didn't just take anyone, you know?

But then a few weeks ago I got a phone call from Hamline and they told me I'd been accepted!!!

Yay! Woo! I'm so super excited!

I'm also excited because two of my local writing pals may also be applying, which would be awesome if they did and they got in.

I don't start until January (they asked if I wanted to start in July, that they'd make room for me, but I said no. Way too soon for me) which means I've got around 5 months to prepare. I have to read 120 books by the end of my first year and they want 40 of them done before you start so I'm going to get started on that immediately. I also am going to try and curtail a lot of my frivolous spending. It's never too soon to start saving for those student loans.

Exciting times in the future for me!

So how are things going for you? How's the summer treating you?

In Which I Take A Shory Hiatus

No blog posts this week, pals. With the holiday and going up to the cabin, I figured I'd just take this week off.

I'll see you all next week and I hope you have a great 4th!

Breaking Glass Blog Tour!

Woo hoo! Today is the day for my stop on the Breaking Glass Blog Tour!

What's that, you say? You don't know about Breaking Glass???
Well then, I guess I'll have to rectify that!

See this awesome chick here?

This is Lisa Amowitz. And she wrote a book called Breaking Glass. And sold it to Spencer Hill Press. And that lovely book will be released in July!!

But who is this Lisa? And what's so great about her book!

Keep reading!

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.

When she hit her teens, she realized that Long Island was too small for her and she needed to escape. So she went to college in Pittsburgh. Go figure.

On leaving college, Lisa became a graphic designer living in New York City. She eventually married her husband of a zillion years, had two lovely children, and was swept away to a fairy tale life in the Bronx, where, unbelievably there are more trees and wilderness than her hometown. She can see the Hudson River from her kitchen window.

Lisa has been a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which will be released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014, along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future, along with graphic novel style art

So, as you can see, Lisa is pretty cool. As is her book:

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he’s not sure whether they’re real or if he’s losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

Exciting, right?? And where can you find the awesome book? See these links!



Add Breaking Glass to Goodreads!

Support and Indie Bookstore!

Buy it from Barnes and Noble!

Buy it from Amazon!


And of course, we can't have a blog tour without a giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway items include a Custom Pendant, Signed Arcs and Original Breaking Glass related Art!

Fun times!

Huge congrats to Lisa, who's really an awesome, lovely person. True Story.

In Which I'm A Published Author!! (Again!!)

Woo Hoo!!

Guys, GUYS!

I've got news!

Well I guess this isn't news if you're friends with me on Twitter or FB. Or pay attention to my sidebar (which, der, who does that?) But even if you are, this includes UPDATED news!

I sold my short story SMOTHERED!

Dark Moon Digest, the horror quarterly, wanted to put out a YA edition. And, well, derp, I happened to have a YA horror story ready to go. And they had published me in the past. So submit I did.

And then on a day I was feeling low, I got an email saying they'd love to publish it! Yay! Confettis!

And now it's available for purchase!

And. AND! My name is listed on Amazon under the book description.

And. AND!! Jonathan Maberry, author of Rot & Ruin (which is fabulous, btw. You should read it) ALSO has a story in the collection! (Twin pointed out that that could mean he might read MY story. That hadn't even occurred to me)

So Woo! My first published story wasn't a fluke. AND this is a YA sale, which is awesome. AND it turns out I was just excited for this one when it arrived as I was my first one. Good to know the excitement doesn't fade.

*SPINS AND FLAILS*

In Which I'm Away

Hey all. I'm at a conference today, so no real blog post.

Have a great weekend!