Have You Met Leslie?

Happy Monday Everyone!!!

Today I have the fabulous Leslie Pugh joining us. She is new to the blogosphere so I want you to be sure to hop over and show her some love. Her blog is "Leslie Pugh: One Word at a Time." You love it already, don't you? I thought so!

I met Leslie at the LDS Storymakers Conference and I instantly fell in love. No - not the creepy kind of love, but the "Oh wow! I think you're totally awesome and I can't wait till we meet again" kind of love.

So here she is answering some of my normal/bizarre questions! ENJOY!

Hi Leslie! First off... it was so awesome to meet you at Storymakers this year! You're amazing! And I'm so glad you have your blog up and running! I just had to get you over here for an interview so we could share your super-woman powers!

Hi Leigh!  I'm thrilled you asked me for an interview! I feel honored! And I am so happy I met you and lots of other fantastic writers at my first Storymakers conference. Makes me wish I would have attended years ago.

And thank you for all the tips and encouragement on starting a writing blog while we were at the conference. It really helped me take the plunge into the online writing world.

1. Tell us a little about where you currently live.

Sagebrush, dirt, rocks, Walmart. You said a little, right? Okay, I owe my lovely town more than that. Ephrata is considered eastern WA but is in the middle of the state, has 7000+ residents, and is a sunny, desert region. It took me a while to get used to living in a really small town far away from my side of the family and other important things like Target, Costco and airports. But I love the friendly people in our town, great schools for my kids, and the fact that my hubby only works minutes away.

2. In 40 words or less, tell us a little about YOU!
 Air Force brat, BYU Art Education grad, wife and stay at home mom of three great kids. Book lover and daily reader. Once in a while knitter, scrapbooker and quilter. Loyal friend, follower of Jesus Christ, happy to be alive! 

That's exactly 40! 

 

3. When did you decide you wanted to be a writer and why?
I have wanted to be an author and illustrator probably since the fourth grade when I truly fell in love with storytelling and books. Art and reading/writing have always been my favorite subjects since then. The magical worlds that images and words can pull you into is what drew me to books.

When I went to college I thought briefly about pursuing writing but it just didn't seem very practical, so I studied Art Education to be able to teach K-12. I've been fortunate to stay home with my kids and didn't end up teaching but I still ignored my writing and illustrating dream for years. 

Sometime maybe three or so years ago while discussing books, I think I finally confided to my sister Erin that I wanted to create children's books and to my surprise she wanted to write as well. And I think she had already been writing at that point. I still wasn't quite ready to commit to myself and actually write. So it took me until early this year to actually start writing. And now all my years of pent up writing dreams keep spilling out onto long lists of story ideas!

4. Tell us a little about what you write and a current WIP too, if you want to share!
I am writing a middle grade book about a twelve year old girl and her annoying little brother's adventure when they come across a cursed book of magical fairy tales that changes their lives in a less than happily ever after way. 

Okay... now prepare yourself for my "chocolate chip questions." Lets face it... chocolate is divine and these questions are fun little morsels of divine fun!

Chocolate IS absolutely divine. Especially with caramel. Oooh, or peanut butter. Or mint...

5. Give us your take on why Captain Crunch is the best cereal. I know you have a fetish.

Why yes, yes I do. I rediscovered PB Capt. Crunch when I was pregnant with my first kid 13+ years ago. I craved cereal a lot and when I came across that peanut buttery crunchy goodness, it was love at first bite. I've had other PB cereals but nothing compares to the perfect blend of sweetness, crunch and just enough peanut butter flavor  found in Capt. Crunch. I have to make myself walk by those boxes quickly in the cereal aisle just so I won't buy any and eat the entire box in two days.

6. What secret super powers do you harbor? What super power do you wish you had? I'm wishing I had super metabolism! I could eat whatever I wanted and stay thin! That would ROCK!!! Especially since I'm a chocoholic!
Sign me up for that super metabolism! Just thinking about PB Capt. Crunch now is making my pants tighter! Hmm, super powers, eh? Does being a top notch kitchen cupboard organizer count? That's about all I can think of on my list of current super abilities. As for a power I wish I had - I'd love to transport myself in a flash to anywhere in the world! I'd flash over to hang out with you for a couple of hours, zip over to my mom's for dinner, then maybe flash over to the beach in Hawaii... Like I said, I live hours from the airport so travel at the speed of light sounds mighty fine right now. 

7. You're hosting dinner at your place... I'm invited. :) What 3 famous authors would you want me to bring and why? (Do you like how I invite myself?)
 You are always invited! Heck, anyone that's willing to drive to our house in the sticks can come to dinner anytime. Three famous authors I would want you to bring most at this moment are Shannon Hale, Lois Lowry, and J.K. Rowling. Those three are master storytellers that have books that young kids love as well as adults. They are some of the few authors that have books I want to read more than once and have. 

8. What's your favorite thought or quote?

That's a tough one. There are so many that I love but the one that comes back to me over and over is, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home." By David O. McKay. It helps my hubby and I keep our goals focused on our family.

Ah! She's awesome, right?! And I love that quote Leslie. It's wonderful and so true. You guys can also find Leslie in the following places:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Thanks again for sharing with us today Leslie! You totally rock! Now everyone show her some comment love! I know you rock at this!

 

WINNER ~ WINNER!!!

Hey Everyone!!!

In celebration of Halli Lilburn's book, SHIFTERS, being released... I am announcing the WINNERS of the contest!

Winner of the E-Book on Kindle is...

Jenny Morris!!!

Winner of the signed paperback copy is...

Elizabeth Seckman!!!

Congrats to the both of you. Watch for an email from me!

And thanks everyone who participated.

Congrats to Halli too! I LOVE this book. I'm ordering my own paperback! It's an awesome read!

You can find Hallie in the following places:

BLOG

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

AMAZON

CREATE SPACE
The Amazon link is a little slow getting up, but you can find it in paperback on Create Space now! Amazon link should be up soon!

GIVEAWAY!!!

Hey Everyone!!! I told you I had a giveaway coming up! And SHIFTERS is what's up for grabs!!! It is an awesome book by the fabulous, Halli Lilburn! I had the opportunity to read it and it's absolutely amazing! Such a fun read and a totally cool story. You can check out that interview and review HERE!

So, the E-Book is officially released! You can find it now on Amazon (link at bottom of post) and the paperback copy is coming out May 30th!

Halli is giving away 1 E-Book (from Amazon) AND an autographed copy in paperback! I love it!

CONTEST starts today and closes at midnight on the MAY 29th. WINNERS announced on MAY 30th! 

Thanks to Rafflecopter, I have devised a few fun tasks so we can all show Halli some love! You know how to do it, so lets not wait any longer...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am quite certain you want to check out her book trailer while you're here!

   

Now, that you've been a part of all this awesome-sauce... here are a few quick links to make getting this book easier!

Halli's Blog

Twitter

Facebook Group Page

Amazon (E-Book)

Goodreads

Thanks Everyone! And good luck!!

SURPRISE!!!

Is it surprising to hear from me? I know I've been slacking in my blogging. I'm sorry. I'm missing all of you! I promise to be back soon. In fact... I'm working on a giveaway!

For now... you'll be surprised to find that the fabulous, Lara Schiffbauer has invited me to guest post on her blog, Motivation for Creation today! I may or may not have had to bribe her. You'll never know!

Hop on over to see if she actually dared to post it! Then keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming giveaway!

AND, thanks for letting me share on your blog Lara!  You're the best!

Oh! Those High School Dances!

First off... I am at Mark Koopman's today, sporting it interview style! So hop over and check it out!

Now, let me thank Emily and Kelley for coming up with this! Such a fun idea! Seriously... so clever. Emily is the girl who did NOT love this stuff in high school, while Kelly DID love it! I'm going to have to join Team Kelley in saying that I loved high school and LOVED the dances. So.Much.FUN!

So... here are a few pictures along with my questionably funny story!

I'll leave the boys' names out of these since I didn't end up marrying any of them.

BUT... this was one of my favorite dances. We went with the coolest guys ever --- they were so much fun. Paint balling? I think so!

Funny about this pic... besides the fact that we both look stoned, my corsage is HUGE!

Everyone liked to tease me that it looked like part of the flower arrangement.

GUESS WHO?

 Yep. That's me! Figured I needed to share the Marilyn Monroe/Gwen Stephani/ Drew Barrymore look so you could all make fun of me! WOW! You shouldn't have trouble spotting me in the group pic below. (Fun-fact: I gave this dress to my cousin to use for her wedding!)

 

Pic below is of Cottilion. This was my favorite dress EVER! I still have it! You can't really tell, but it has the whole Mortitia thing going on. (notice my lovely "me" tag on my knee.) Yes- it's that cool! This dance was a blast. I seriously wish I still had a reason to get dressed up like this! And yes... that is the same guy in all 3 of the last pics. He's in pretty much all of them, so you're not seeing things.

Now for the FUNNY STORY...

at least I think it's funny now.

I promise you don't want to miss it.

I don't have a picture to share of this one, but that's probably good. He's not either of the guys in these pictures.

The first dance I went to, I was a sophmore. Now, I was at a new school where I didn't know anyone and I wasn't 16 yet, so I wasn't technically supposed to date. (Yes, this is a Mormon thing.) But... it was really close to my birthday and it was girls choice.

SO... I had a HUGE, MASSIVE crush on my older brothers friend. Lets call him Moe!

And even though Moe had a girlfriend, he was 19 years old and he was more than willing to take his buddy's little sophmore sister to the dance. *fans self with excitement*

We went! Had so much fun! Took a picture where I was giving him a piggy back. This was a large feat cause he was a huge football player. 

HERE'S WHERE IT GETS GOOD...

He's taking me home. We're going a weird route, but I'm too excited and nervous to care.

*yes. I'm giggling already.*

He starts talking to me about his girlfriend, and how he's worried that she is cheating on him. This makes me sad. How could she? Does she not see how awesome he is?

Then he confesses. "I just drove by the guys house and her car was there." Yes, it's somewhere around midnight.

Uh-oh.

So, being the awesome date that I am, I agree to drive by again to make sure.  

The car has just pulled out of the drive way so we follow it.   Oh yes. We're following the car now. We follow it up a main road, in a pretty big city, next to the JB's restaurant where all the cops eat.

The light turns red and we stop next to the other car.

Moe is out of our car before he can put it in park. (Remember, I'm not 16 yet, so I'm trying unsuccessfully to put the thing into park.) In the meantime Moe, has ripped the car door open on the other car and is beating the living heck out of the guy in there. Yes, this is the alleged cheater-man.

I finally get the car in park. Dive across the seat out the other window, grab Moe's arms and pull him back. (I don't know how I did this... remember Moe is HUGE football guy with lots of muscle.) His girlfriend and another girl are screaming at him, but thanks to adrenaline (only explanation) I have managed to pull him away. Yes, there was an excessive amount of blood covering cheater-boy. LOTS. OF. BLOOD.

Two second later a million cop cars pull up, several of them shouting, "Put your hands on the car!"

YES, I put my hands on the car too. They didn't care about me. They hand-cuffed him.

His girlfriend had to calm me down. No, I wasn't crying about the violence, I was crying because Moe was being arrested and I was worried. I felt so bad for him. 

His girlfriend  had her friend drive her car with cheater-boy. Probably had to go bandage him up. Then SHE, yes, the girlfriend... had to drive me home, while offering explanations about Moe being jealous and this guy was just a friend. Awkward, yes... but she knew me and knew I loved Moe. Also knew it was a little girl crush. Just take a minute to picture this awesome moment. Ahhh - the memories!

Best part was waking up my parents to tell them I was home and bawling cause Moe was in jail! My dad rushed to bail him out but his girlfriend was already there and took care of it.

Answers... NO- I wasn't mad a bit. I just felt bad for him. Now I laugh so hard at this story. OH. MY. HILARIOUS!

And YES - he felt TERRIBLE! Poor guy went and bought me a stuffed animal (Simba - from Lion King) and apologized to me and my parents over and over. None of us cared. We all still love him to this day!

Alright... if you can beat that story - I have GOT to hear it! Chasing dates girlfriend down, beating the hell out of anonymous jerk, ready to be arrested. Date getting arrested and his girlfriend driving you home so your dad can go bail date out of jail. Yeah - that will never be forgotten!

Spill the beans on your best or worst or funniest date story!

And check out everyone's posts for the hop!

1.	Emily R. King	18.	Analog Breakfast
2.	Kelley Lynn	19.	Cortney Pearson
3.	Elizabeth Seckman	20.	Writing Through College
4.	ilima todd	21.	Jaycee DeLorenzo
5.	Jaye Robin Brown	22.	Carrie Butler
6.	Cassie Mae	23.	Danielle@EntertainingInterests
7.	Suzi	24.	Lara Schiffbauer
8.	Angie Cothran	25.	Victoria @ Twenty Something Fiction Writer
9.	Ruth Josse	26.	Stacy S. Jensen
10.	Theresa Paolo	27.	The Submission Process
11.	Writing With Hope	28.	Brinda Berry Blogs
12.	Queendsheena	29.	Amy Sonnichsen
13.	Leigh Covington	30.	Ink Spot Plot
14.	Shelly Brown	31.	Trisha @ WORD+STUFF
15.	Kate Coursey - Weaving Colors	32.	tara tyler
16.	Writings, Workouts, and Were-Jaguars	33.	Charity Bradford
17.	Jenny S. Morris

(Submissions close in 11d 12h 32m)

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StoryMakers 2012

This was my first year to attend the LDS StoryMakers conference. I'd heard wonderful things, but you have to remember... I didn't step out of the writers closet until last August. I was excited to attend this year, even though I do get a little nervous before a conference. Can I just tell you that I was not disappointed? It may take me years to absorb all the awesome knowledge. I learned so much, made new friends, hung out with old friends, and enjoyed every minute! Here are a few pics of some people you might recognize!

The fabulous, David Powers King, arranged a wonderful dinner on Thursday night. There were so many people there - it was awesome!!! Lots of Facebook and blogger friends. This is when I finally met Angela Cothran for the first time (in person, of course!) I was stoked. And you may notice that Elana Johnson is there. I was feeling pretty cool when she sat at our table! AWESOME!!!

(L-R)  Emily R. King, Angela Cothran, Deana Barnhart and me!

E.R. King came all the way from Washington and Deana came clear from Kentucky! Whoo-hoo! I'm so glad they did! This was my first time meeting all three of them! So lucky!

This is at snack time on Day 1. Me and Emily R. King. That girl is gorgeous and sweet and wonderful!

(L-R) Jessie Humphries, Ruth Josse, Katie Dodge and Chantele Sedgwick.

First time meeting Jessie Humphries in person. Yeah - she's totally the coolest and not a B-Word at all! I'm lucky enough to already know Ruth, Katie and Chan because they're in my crit group! Oh-yeah!

(L-R) Brenda Sills & Jeigh Meredith

Can you say awesome? I've known Brenda for a while, and I just met Jeigh! Both such great ladies!

(L-R) Jessie Humphries, Me, Erin Summerill & Leslie Pugh.

Can you tell that Leslie and Erin are sisters? They are, and they both rock! Love these ladies! Leslie is just getting ready to start her blog - so I'll be sure to link you over when she has it up and running.

(L-R) Jeigh Meredith, Chantele Sedgwick, Katie Dodge, Tasha Seegmiller, Ruth Josse, Melanie Fowler and Me!

This was my first time meeting Tasha! My word - she is gorgeous and unfairly tall.I mean, like super model tall. I wish I were that lucky. Plus, she's uber cool! And... I'm lucky to already know Mel too, cause she's part of my crit group as well!

Same peeps joined by Angela Cothran, David Powers King, and Jessie Humphries!

See... I told you I was lucky!

(L-R) Emily R. King, David Powers King, Jessie Humphries, Erin Summerill and Leslie Pugh

Me and Erin after one of the panel sessions. An awesome panel, BTW. It contained Elaina Johnson and David Powers King! So great!

 (L-R) James Dashner & Jeff Savage

And there was no way in heck that I was brave enough to ask these guys to take a picture with me (even though they're so super nice, I know they would have) but I still took a picture of them, during their class with Robison Wells on plot. Man, was it awesome. If you ever have a chance to hear any of these men speak, be sure to be there. Even better when they're all together. They're hilarious!

I'm kind of disappointed in myself for not getting the camera out much on Saturday. I totally missed pictures with Peggy Eddleman, Shallee McArthur, J.A. Bennett, Shelly Brown, Chad Morris and lots, LOTS more! It was a pleasure getting to know you all better! And this month is dedicated to getting some much needed work done on my book!

"Z" --- The End of the Challenge!

Wahoo!!! I made it through the A-Z Challenge!!! And it was awesome! I honestly didn't know what to expect with this challenge since I wasn't blogging during this time last year... but... I really enjoyed myself! AND, I met some wonderful new peeps who I know I will be stalking through the blogosphere! It's been a blast!

So, in honor of Z... here's a few "Z-words" I like!

 

 

 

zeal·ot/ˈzelət/

1. A person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political or other ideals.

za·ny/ˈzānē

1. An erratic or eccentric person 

2. Amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic 

zeal/zēl/

1.  Great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective

Alright everyone... it's been a blast! Thanks so much for all your support and for all the new friends! You guys are great! I will be posting less often now. April was busy with birthday and other fun, so May is going to be full of writing! Wahoo!

 Any "Z-Words" you're fond of?