Category Archives: Giveaway

Winner!

Posted on by

Congratulations to Shari who is the winner of a $5 gift card this week. Let me know if you want it for Starbucks or Amazon!

I’m going to put the word count marathon on hold until I’m writing again. I expect to be digging into some fantasy stories in a couple of weeks. I’m way behind, so I’ll need to turn in the big numbers.

I got the pictures for chapter two of my nail book done. Hooray! It has more than chapter one. I have five more chapters to go, so I’ll see how it falls out before I start shifting things around.

I’ll still be checking into the blog this week. I have an assignment for my graphics design class I might post here for fun. Please feel free to chime in with how your writing week is going any time!

I’ll leave you with two pictures I put together for a bit of fun. The background is one of Julie’s Photo Flare pictures.

tech3

Spark Tally!

Posted on by

So how did your week wrap up?

More photo editing for me. Yesterday I redid the first chapter without text. Today I worked on the second chapter. Still no voice for the book, which is distressing. Maybe after I get the layout down the words will come.

I saw exciting news today that I wanted to pass on. Some of you may recall that I have a short story in the anthology A Kepler’s Dozen. The editors are doing a new collection!

If you want to read more about it, check out David Lee Summers Blog. I’m going to try to put romance aside enough to get one submission in, but it’ll be tough. I hope you guys submit too!

Here’s a clip to whet your interest:

Three years later, the number of planets has literally exploded and we find ourselves looking at a proverbial wild west. So, we want to continue exploring what Kepler’s worlds might be like by telling stories of the rugged men and women who either might explore those worlds, or might come exploring Earth from those worlds. The anthology is tentatively titled Kepler’s Cowboys and you can click here for the detailed guidelines. Submissions will open on June 15, 2016 and we’ll remain open until we’ve filled the anthology.

Tomorrow I’ll draw a name from the commentors this week to give away a $5 gift card to Amazon or Starbucks. Post your progress today for a chance to win. Whatever it is you’re working on. Like me you may not have a word count, but I’d love to hear about your project.

canstockphoto17584318

 

Winner!

Posted on by

I spent the day making a cover, and I’m super proud of it. Today I learned how to make a flaming letter on GIMP:

B

 

I’m so excited! And I’ve learned how to rotate text and create bigger letters than the rest and how to merge two images together. The new cover for the serial is Awesome. At least I think so. I’m hoping it attracts new customers.

But you guys probably want to know the winner. It’s Holly! Holly please LMK if you want the gift card to Barnes and Noble or Starbucks. Yay!

Thanks to everyone who participated! I’m doing a word count marathon again this week, but without the giveaway. Please come by!

Catching up and Word Count Marathon!

Posted on by

Hey Guys!

I’ve been away too long. What are you up to? What’s going on?

A bit of sadness entered my life a couple of weeks ago. A lovely friend of mine past away unexpectedly. I met Ellen Howard 17 years ago at a games night right before my son was born. At the next games night, she had a baby quilt for him. A quilt! Quilts take so much time and imagination that I couldn’t believe she was giving him one.

Over the years, we were lucky enough to receive more handmade gifts from her–each of the kids got a quilt, we got wall hangings and coasters. I wanted to post some of them here because I always found her work inspiring:

IMG_2896[1] IMG_2897[1] IMG_2898[1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ellen will definitely be missed.

In writing news, I’ve been working hard. I wrote the last episode of my serial and decided when it reached 20,000 words that it was actually two more episodes. Thank goodness the first half was exactly what I wanted for episode 8. The second half must be completely rewritten.

So this week I’m going to do a Word Count Marathon! Not only do I need to finish the final episode, but I have two other stories I need to make headway on. Well, one of them isn’t a story. It’s a non-fiction book, but it still needs to get done! My goal is 10K words a day. I know. Ha ha. I haven’t been able to do that yet. I know tonight I won’t be writing 10k, but maybe tomorrow.

Starting today and until Saturday, post your writing goals, or how many words you’ve achieved so far. Or both! On Saturday, I will put all the names of people who have participated in a hat and draw a winner. If you’ve commented on multiple days, I will put your name in all the times you’ve commented. The winner will receive a $15 gift card to either Amazon or Starbucks…winner chooses.

Join me in my fun. Let’s get some writing done!

Solstice Spiced Coffee

Posted on by

Welcome to the Winter Solstice Blog Hop hosted by the Pagan Writers Press! Everyone in the Hop is giving something away, so please be sure to check out the other blogs!

Here at Enchanted Spark, we are all about inspiring others. When invited to join the blog hop, I first thought I’d do a flash fiction story taking place on the solstice, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to post a recipe to give readers energy and inspire them through the rest of winter. I’m proud to say this recipe only took me one try to get right. Usually I slave over these things. I’m writing the magical attribute next to the ingredients.

Solstice Spiced Coffee
(for energy, love and prosperity through the winter)

2 rounded teaspoons instant coffee
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (prosperity)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (prosperity)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (divided) (love)
2 teaspoons maple syrup (divided)
boiling water

In a small bowl mix together coffee, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar. Divide evenly into two coffee mugs. Pour six ounces of boiling water into each mug and stir. Add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon maple syrup to each mug and stir. Enjoy with a friend!

The book I’m promoting has nothing to do with winter solstice, although if you stretch the theme to include anything about the sun, then mine is perfect 😉 A Sunset Finish is about a violin, a ghost, and a romance:

Stephanie Minagawa travels to Albuquerque as a last resort for her music career, only to have her violin split apart in the arid air. When she takes it to a repair shop on the pueblo, she enters a world of spirits and yearning. Her body is taken over by the ghost of the craftsman’s dead wife, and she must decide between the quiet death she’s longed for, or claiming a new life of music and love.

The first three people who give me the title of their favorite winter food in the comment section will receive a free e-copy of A Sunset Finish in whatever format you need.

Happy Solstice!

Please visit the other blogs in the Pagan Writers Press Blog Hop!

A Writer Reviews: Dancing Gods: Indian Ceremonials of New Mexico and Arizona By Erna Fergusson and 50 Likes Giveaway!

Posted on by

I grew up going to the Erna Fergusson library in Albuquerque, knowing she was an important historical figure to New Mexico, but I thought her great work was her New Mexican food cook book. My dad used to cook her recipes and they are fabulous. However, I never realized she was a tour guide through the pueblos of New Mexico, and her even greater work is Dancing Gods: Indian Ceremonials of New Mexico and Arizona.

I used Dancing Gods extensively to create the ceremonies in A Sunset Finish.  Each tribe has different dances and different costumes, but there were also many similarities that I culled from for my story. Her writing style is poetic and made what could’ve been a very technical book an enjoyable read. Perhaps my favorite chapters were about the rain ceremonies. In one chapter, she talks about the rainbow and forming clouds before the dance. In another chapter, she talks to a man who’d been away to college and was back to participate in the rain ceremony. They had a very enlightening discussion about how he puts together his knowledge from school with the religion he believes in.

The snapshots into pueblos are from the middle of the twentieth century, and I wish she were alive to do another book now that looks at all the changes that have happened since then. She noted in her book that the Sandia Pueblo (the one closest to me) had been devastated and was just a tiny community. Now they own one of the most successful casinos in New Mexico.

On writing forums I see a few people writing novels with Native American folklore. If you’re writing one that takes place in the Southwest, you have to be sure to read Dancing Gods. The current edition has a forward by Tony Hillerman, who was a famous author from New Mexico.

And Now for the Over 50 Likes Giveaway!

Folklore has always been important to me from the time I was in elementary school. Please post below what culture’s folklore you are most interested in seeing in more fiction. The first five people who post will receive my e-book A Sunset Finish.