I won things, I won stuff, got awarded, s'all about meeee!

Ahem. Yeah.

So anyway, I like, won!!!

"Won what?!" you ask.

Well, let me tell you! Firstly, I won the Power of Tension Blogfest Contest. And this is pretty special to me, largely 'cause of the competition I was up against! Everyone did such a great job in the Blogfest and I am really honoured to have won! Thank you so much to Cally Jackson and Rachel Morgan for hosting this great event, and for everyone who voted for me! :)

Secondly, I won a prize in Rosie @ East for Green Eyes's What's the Score? Blogfest! So thank you so much Rosie!!

In other news, I also want to thank (in a big way!!) E.J. Wesley for the love he brought me and many others in this entry.



And finally, I want to say THANKS to Carolyn Arnold for the Irresistibly Sweet Award she gave me - which, incidentally, always reminds me of a pepperoni pizza and not a pavlova. :P


Don't you think?!?! Okay, so I guess it's just me... Still, that's why I keep thinking it should be called the Irresistibly Savoury Blog Award! ;) Either way, thank you Carolyn for thinking of me! :) *puts on her horribly sweet smile for all to see*

Basically, THANKS everyone!!! I lurve you! :D

Power of Tension Blogfest - I'm a finalist!

Hey all. I'm excited, because I'm one of six finalists in the Power of Tension Blogfest!! There are a bunch of amazing other excerpts in the finals, and I encourage you to read all of them and vote for the one you like best! You can find links to all the finalists' excerpts HERE.

Voting ends by the end of June 7th AEST time (yay, Aussie time!! :D).

I also want to thank Cally Jackson and Rachel Morgan for hosting this blogfest, which was a lot of fun! I read so many great excerpts as a result of it!

I want to mention that my laptop is really not happy with me and won't let me do a lot of things with Blogger at home. Meaning I have to wait till I'm at work to comment on people's blogs. I'm not sure I should blame my laptop, but if Blogger functions okay at work it can't be Blogger's fault, right??

Now, a BuNoWriMo report for Day #1 (yesterday). I wrote about 1,900 words, bringing my total wordcount for this particular work to about 3,400. I have yet to get started on Day #2's writing session, but I'm almost there! Just wanted to post this first.

The Power of Tension blogfest

It's time for the Power of Tension Blogfest, and here's what's required:

"Give us an excerpt (up to 300 words) from your manuscript or recently completed work (or just a random scene) that just drips with tension and will tie us up in knots wanting to know more. It doesn’t matter what the piece is about, as long as it screams tension." - Rachel Morgan & Cally Jackson

I'm going to share an excerpt from one of my Chrysalis stories. I'm sorry to say it's 12 words over the 300-word limit. I snipped what I could but I think I left the essentials. I could be wrong of course. :D Feedback is of course welcome!

The story was originally in past tense, but I switched this excerpt to present because I felt that would increase the "immediacy". I think I caught all the "need to switch that from past to present" moments.

Anyway, here goes:

I make it to the corner store with minutes to spare.

Rushing down the kitchen and bathroom aisle, I dart around the corner and see the storeroom door. Suppressing a yell of triumph and relief, I fly at the door and rattle the handle—it turns. I fall on it, push, slip inside. My breaths are harsh in my ears, but at least they’re still coming.

Time, time, so little time.

I begin to whimper as I lock myself in and throw my dusty backpack on the grimy white tiles. Sometimes I can’t help making those sounds. It’s been so long since I spoke to another human being. Talking to myself is a substitute. And when the words won’t come I just make sounds.

Human sounds, I think.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember.

Silent tears make tracks through the dust on my face as I kneel and rummage through my pack. Compulsively I check my stopwatch and nearly cry out.

Less than a minute to go.

The syringe is in my hand, but I can’t find the scarf. I curse and dig deeper, fingers scrabbling. Where the hell IS it?

I look around in mounting desperation, and see a bungee cord. I don’t even stop to wonder what that might have been used for originally. I snatch it up and wrap it around my arm, breath tearing in and out of my throat. My veins pop out under my skin, and I quickly fill the syringe with sleep syrup. Then I stick myself.

When it’s over and a tiny speck of blood is all the sign that I’ve made it in time, I pack away my materials and lean back against the door, eyes closed. Tears continue to bubble over, making my eyes sting even more. But I’ve made it in time. I’m sure I have.

Reality fades, and I play dead.