Randomness: A list about blogging, vacation, my books, and bunnies

• I missed blogging last week. My good intentions to schedule a post went out the window in my rush to wrap things up at work and home in preparation for a week away.
• Is it really vacation when you're chasing around two children under two? Our week visiting with my sister and her family was a toddler-inspired adventure. I can't say that it was restful, but we did have a lot of fun, and we even managed to catch up on some sister time by staying up late talking after our kids (and later our hubbies) were in bed.
• My fun project this month is to finish the updated edition of my family cookbook. I love the art of layout and editing the eclectic collection into a whole. (Just smile and nod.) I try to give a copy to family members every other Christmas, which makes this edition only a bit over a year overdue. So far it's 48 pages, but I have a stack of recipes yet to add and quite a bit of tweaking to do. Okay, so I confess that I always have more tweaking to do, but there is a difference between "quite a bit" and putting on the final polish.
• Speaking of cooking.... I am really enjoying the use of my Kindle Fire as a cookbook, in conjunction with the Belkin Kitchen Stand and Wand for Tablets that my brother so wisely gifted me for Christmas. Add the M-Edge Leisure Kindle Jacket and my Fire is well protected from cooking splatters and toddler explorations.
• I haven't quite finished re-writes on another chapter of Dormant. See the first and second bullet points. In that vein, if I can stay up late talking to my sister, I can certainly stay up late writing.
• I confess that I still haven't caught up on the housework since the holidays. Our house isn't a total wreck, but it could certainly use a bit of TLC to rescue it from the toys and dust. On second thought, maybe I should leave the toys out to hide the dust bunnies. They've reached a nice status quo.
• Speaking of bunnies.... Did I mention that my last post was my 100th blog? In honor of the occasion, I'm giving away a copy of Pink Snowbunnies in Hell: A Flash-Fiction Anthology to one lucky reader. Just post your own random thought in the comments section below.

$100 raised for the furbabies!

Pink Snowbunnies in Hell: A Flash-Fiction Anthology has now raised $100 to benefit local animal shelters! Thank you for helping turn our humerous anthology into something seriously good for the furbabies.

Winner Announced: Pink Snowbunnies contest and giveaway

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

The winner is.... No one! That's right, I didn't have any official entries for my Pink Snowbunnies Contest, even though I know that a few people intended to submit a recipe.

That's okay, I forgive you. This isn't really a recipe blog, though I do love to cook. I may have to console myself by making one of the recipes posted by my fellow Pink Snowbunnies authors. A Chocolate Nutella Cookies recipe popped up a few times during the anthology creation process. I could make those again, or I may just poll my family on what they would like to help me eat.

Update 9/13/11
I did have an official recipe submission! Becky contacted me via email to let me know that, apparently, her comment did not go through. She will try to re-post. If anyone else experienced the same difficulty, please try again by commenting below or sending me an email. If I don't hear from anyone else by tomorrow, I get to make Mini French Silk Tarts.

Pink Snowbunnies chocolate recipe contest extended

Sunday, September 11, is the new deadline to submit chocolate recipes to the Pink Snowbunnies Contest and Giveaway! Please help me support animals in need. As an added bonus, you can help me over the bumps in my manuscript re-writes; the ratio of chocolate to writing is often inversely proportionate to how well the story is progressing.

The winner receives a free copy of Pink Snowbunnies in Hell: A Flash-Fiction Anthology, in the format of their choice (MOBI, EPUB, or PDF). I will also attempt to make the recipe and blog the results here, including photos.

Submissions can be posted as comments or emailed to jimiripleywrites @ gmail.com.

Pink Snowbunnies Contributors

Happy Labor Day! For me, it was the final day of a weekend spend with my husband's mom and sister. We were sorry to see them leave, but we used the afternoon to take a few boxes out to our new house. Yes we're moving, with all the fun that entails. Fortunately, the temperatures here finally dropped. It's a bit frightening when 88 degrees feels cool enough to throw open the windows, but it's a big break from triple digits. Unfortunately, the beautiful day was marred by smoke from wildfires in the area. We are praying for rain and help for those who lost their homes.

Want more information on the contributors to the Pink Snowbunnies in Hell: A Flash-Fiction Anthology? (Rhetorical question—I'm posting it anyway.) Below is a list of the included stories. When available, the author's names are links to their pink snowbunnies announcement. Some of them are also doing giveaways, so you might want to check it out, after you post to my recipe contest, of course. The book also includes author information at the end of every story, so that's worth checking. The book is only .99 cents, and all proceeds go to benefit animal shelters.

Domestic Disturbance, by T.L. Haddix
Wedding Heaven, Ltd, by A.J. Braithwaite
When, by Robin Reed
Where's JoJo? A Bunny's Guide to Family Dysfunction, by Julie Christensen
Wingman, by Nathan Lowell
It Finally Happens..., by Heather Marie Adkins
Careful What You Wish For, by Barbra Annino
Of Demons and Bunnies, by Nichole Chase
Pink Snowbunnies are the New Pink Ribbon, by Jimi Ripley
One Wrong Turn Deserves Another, by Asher MacDonald
Marissa's Tattoo, by Steve Silkin
Eulogy, by Suzanne Tyrpak
The Taste of Pink Snow, by Susan Helene Gottfried
Revenge of the Peeps, by Camille LaGuire
Love in a Time of Bunnies, by Coral Moore
The Bunni and the Bird, by Penny Cunningham
The Recession is Hell, by Randi Rogue
Pink Snowbunnies Acrostic, by Molly Black
Don't Mess with the Meadow, by Rex Jameson
A Gift for a Very Special Girl, by Debora Geary

Incidentally, the graphic designer who created our hilarious cover is Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics. He also did my cover for Dormant. Thank you for the great work, Glendon!

Pink Snowbunnies and the experience of writing versus having written

I'm still curled up like a cat in my virtual windowsill, basking in the brief glow of having my flash fiction story published in the Pink Snowbunnies anthology, as I watch the responses roll in. We even have our first review! I have relished this sense of accomplishment through my non-fiction publications, but this time the fun is multiplied through sharing with 19 other authors. As contributors to a humor anthology, we continue to be anything but serious about the project. The jokes are still flying. This doesn't hurt either:



In the midst of this glow, the essence of a quote by Dorothy Parker came up in a writers' discussion on Kindle Boards: "I hate writing; I love having written." Responses were varied. Some agreed with Dorothy, preferring the post-writing stage that involves anything from editing to book promotion. Others straddled the divide by saying, "A bit of both." Most of the authors participating in the discussion echoed my own thoughts.

I love writing, but I hate starting to write. There are so many other worthwhile things to capture my attention—caring for my family, playing with my toddler, reading, and the list goes on—that I often dread pulling myself away to write. When I make myself sit down and write, the first few words, sentences, or paragraphs are a struggle, and then something magical happens. Like the endorphins from my wistfully-remembered exercise high, a soaring state of mind kicks in. The words flow. The process of writing becomes pure joy and I resent the intrusion of reality forcing me to stop.
Having written is also a great feeling. The little voice telling me that I need to write is momentarily silenced. I experience a sense of mental lightness and accomplishment. Being able to share my thoughts and stories with others takes the fun to the next level.

What I am finding that I do not like is the act of re-writing and self editing. Even though I enjoy editing others' writing, plodding through the mechanics of my own writing is a struggle. I think of new ideas and twists that I would like to incorporate, and then I second-guess myself. Is it too much? Cutting is hard, even though I know that it will enhance the story. I finish an article or story, and then I learn something new that leads to the realization of how much better it could have been.

Writing is both a chore and a passion. The point is to keep moving forward and to enjoy the growing and learning experience along the way. With that in mind, it is high time that I stop procrastinating and get back to the work of rewriting. More color will spread across my Work in Progress bar in the coming weeks.

I might re-write Dorothy Parker's quote thus: I hate beginning to write; I love writing and having written.

Pink Snowbunnies Publication and Giveaway

A sleep-deprived author mixes up her metaphors.

A graphic designer has too much time on his hands.

Twenty writers, fueled by copious amounts of chocolate, dream up quirky, funny, and occasionally creepy stories.

And the Pink Snowbunnies in Hell: A Flash-Fiction Anthology was born.

These are very short stories, under a thousand words each. Some have actual bunnies. Some take rather offbeat trips through the underworld. And some just have a character that shares the sleep-deprived author’s mixed metaphors.

All proceeds from this anthology are going to local animal shelters. Pink snowbunnies can take care of themselves, but thank you for helping us support those animals who do need a little assistance.

My flash fiction story, "Pink Snowbunnies are the New Pink Ribbon," is now available for your reading pleasure. The humor flash fiction anthology includes stories that are "a bit of strange, a bit of funny, and a bit of sweet," as a fellow Snowbunnies author so aptly said. Some take the location literally; I didn't, in a way to which my fellow Texans may best relate.

My story introduces the main character from my pending novel, Dormant. Meet Jackie Davenport on her first day as a reporter for the Chronicle. For those wondering, my story is at Kindle Location 357, and there is a click-able table of contents to make it easier to locate.


Contest and Giveaway
To celebrate publication, I am hosting an appropriately chocolate-fueled giveaway. The person who comments with the most creative chocolate recipe will win a free copy of Pink Snowbunnies in Hell: A Flash-Fiction Anthology, in the format of their choice (MOBI, EPUB, or PDF via email). Consider adding extra hilarity through puns or unusual ingredients, but don't get too crazy; I actually want to make and eat the recipe! Links to online recipes are allowed. This does not have to be your original recipe, but feel free to give it a new name.

The contest starts now and ends on Thursday, September 8, Sunday, September 11, 2011. The winner will be selected and announced here on Friday, September 9, Monday, September 12, so please check back and/or make sure you include an email address. (If you would rather not leave your email address, you can email me at jimiripleywrites @ gmail.com.) As a bonus, I will blog the story and photo of my attempt—successful or not—to create the chocolate decadence.
 
The anthology is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

My Story in a Humor Flash Fiction Anthology

My very first flash fiction story, "Pink Snowbunnies are the New Pink Ribbon," made it into the Pink Snowbunnies in Hell Flash Fiction Anthology!

Pink snowbunnies? Where? It's a long, entertaining story. Well, it was entertaining to participants anyway, and we hope the anthology will be as well. I'll try to capture the highlights.

As things sometimes do in internet land, an innocent chat between writers resulted in a comment that was immediately deemed epic. Debora Geary disputed a post by saying, "I think pink snowbunnies will ski in hell first." This was an artistic version of the "not a chance in hell" idiom. Any number of other writers immediately hopped on the idea, all in the spirit of good fun.

Debora took it a step further when she quit her day job to write; she celebrated by proposing the Pink Snowbunnies in Hell Flash Fiction Anthology. The requirements: 100-1000 words, must contain some variation of the suddenly famous "pink snowbunnies will ski in hell" phrase, humor, and PG13. Authors took up the challenge. Puns and other hilarity ensued, along with quite a few references to chocolate and Nutella cookies. It must be admitted that many of us were blowing off steam while temporarily avoiding our current work in progress.

Entries were evaluated by a panel of judges. Their job wasn't easy. The anthology may be available as early as August, so watch my blog for updates. Proceeds will be donated to an animal charity. I also plan to post links to some of the stories that didn't make the anthology. Here's a start:

• The Lounge Lizard, by J. A. Titus
• Dinner with an Old Friend, by Buddy Gott

I'm excited to have this opportunity to introduce my main character, Jackie Davenport, in a lighter moment. During her first week at The Houston Chronicle, Jackie is given an impossible assignment. Not one to give up without a fight, she writes a unique article. How is a cause for hilarity with a Texas flair.