Friday, June 26, 2015

Celebrate: Busy Muse & Giveaways!

Lady in the park
or man's face?

This week I'm celebrating:
1)  I finally got some work done on my WIP.  I wrote 3 chapters (7k) in 3 days.  Yay!  Now *all* I have to do is revise them. 
2)  I worked my muse so hard she completely abandoned me when it came time for this post -- thus the odd illusion pic I put above.  What does it have to do with this post?  Nothing whatsoever.
3)  Inspired by Cathy Kennedy (of Curious as a Cathy blog) and her pictures of her ancestors, I scouted for my grandfather on the net.  I found one pic.  It's in the 40s, on Long Island, and he's standing next to Hedy Lamarr. In fact, it looks like he's got his arm around her!  :O

Have you or anyone in your family taken a picture with a big star?


My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for June 26, 2015:


Free 5 Novels and $5 Amazon Gift Card – Win 30 SECONDS by Chrys Frey, SOUL CUTTER by Lexa Cain, POP TRAVEL by Tara Tyler, CLOAKED IN FUR by T.F. Walsh, and OF BLOOD AND SORROW by Christine Rains plus a $5 Amazon gift card via T.B.Markinson’s Giveaway Rafflecopter. (ends June 30)

Free Rhyming Riddle eBook - Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson of The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow blog are offering their book: Fairday's Riddles: Volume I (Make time to riddle and rhyme! 62 original riddles and illustrations.) It’s FREE at Smashwords if you use this Coupon Code: WQ28B (ends July 1) I got my copy - get yours NOW!

Free MG Historical Pirate Adventure – Win Cast Off: The Strange Adventures of Petra de Winter and Bram Broen by Eve Yohalem on The Childrens Book Review blog. (ends July 8)


Free Historical Novel – win To a Strange Somewhere Fled by DM Denton by leaving your email in the comments on Unusual Historicals Blog. Good chance – only 5 entries so far! (ends June 29) 


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

47 comments:

Sue Bursztynski said...

Wow! A picture with that heroine of science, Hedy Lamarr! You do realise that she (and a man whose name I forget)worked out what was intended to be a coding system for submarines and ended up as the basis for the cellphones we use every day? True! of course, it was never used till the patent ran out, but she did receive a special award for services to science when she was an old lady.("About time!" she snorted. I read about it in New Scientist) Did your grandfather ever mention he might have met someone famous? She would have been working on her bit of science when your grandad met her.

Fascinating picture - our psychology students do something like that as part of the course.

J.H. Moncrieff said...

I haven't had pics taken, but I've interviewed a few celebrities--all part of being a journalist. Kiefer Sutherland was the biggest star, but Matthew Good was the best interview. I was also once assigned to yell questions at The Rolling Stones as they pushed past me. :)

They're surprisingly short.

Blogoratti said...

Interesting picture indeed, and great things worth celebrating too. Have a nice weekend!

Suzanne Furness said...

Glad to hear you have had a productive week. On first glance I saw a lady in the park!

cheerfuloptimistic said...

Good luck with revisions.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hedy Lamarr? Impressive.
Three chapters in three days is even more impressive!
And I saw the man's face first.

messymimi said...

Excellent work! The muse needed some down time.

Fascinating picture, and no celebrities around here except the few local sports heroes.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Glad you got some writing done. That's awesome!

Kate Larkindale said...

Good on you for getting those chapters written! I can't wait to read them. I never get photos taken with the stars I meet…. Probably silly, but I never think of it at the time.

Cathrina Constantine said...

Wow! 3 Chapters in 3 days is awesome. I did that a while back but lately I'm lucky to write a paragraph. My brain is like mush...Have a good weekend.

mshatch said...

It looks like a lady to me, but I can see the man's face, too. Congrats on the 7K :)

Mere Joyce said...

What a cool find about your grandfather! I can't say I know of any celebrity photos with anyone in my family...

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

The picture is a lady in the park. (In my opinion.)
Congratulations on completing 3 chapters. That's awesome. Makes me feel so slooowww.
I've never seen any of my family in pictures with a star. Maybe I'll be the first. :)
Have a great weekend.

Unknown said...

that's AWESOME about Hedy Lamaar! and yay on the writing! I've had a lot of pics with celebs...from like 14-21 ish I was a professional fan girl haha and waited in line to meet quite a few celebs! I also got pics with a bunch when my brother worked for the North Shore Animal League shelter and they had celeb adoption events. and when I was at Conan I met a lot (though didn't get pics with many)) xoxo

Unknown said...

oh! and I totally see it both ways, a lady in the park and a man's face ,ha

Anonymous said...

Congrats on a great word count this week! That's amazing Lexa! Loved the picture and noticed both. :)

I've met several famous people, but the only person I ever took a picture with was Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, which I have since lost. LOL.

I had to update my post because I didn't realize we had a new co-host. Welcome to Tonja! As usual, thank you for hosting CTST. Love you!

Chrys Fey said...

3 chapters in 3 days? That's awesome! You were on a roll! I hope that continues. :)

Thanks for sharing the details about TB's giveaway.

I love illusion pictures. I saw a lady in the park first. I had to look hard to see the man's face.

Shah Wharton said...

Quite a claim to fame! :)

I see both in the image. I usually do on these things?

Congrats on your writer achievement. Loving that.

Have a great weekend. X

shahwharton.com

Tonja Drecker said...

Yay to getting that writing done. Even muses need breaks ;) And the picture is interesting. I wonder how they do that. . .amazing.

Julia Thorley said...

Let the Muse have the weekend off, Lexa. I'm always happy to ponder over an optical illusion. Amazing Hedy Lamarr story. I've nothing to top that.

shelly said...

The pic is definitely a face of a man and of a lady standing beyond a tree. If your muse is taking a break so should you.

Hugs and chocolate!

Melancholy and Menace said...

Congratulations on completing three chapters :)

Neither myself nor my family have had any photographs taken with famous people. I have met the odd local celeb. but no-one worth mentioning.

Have a wonderful weekend! ♥

Tyrean Martinson said...

Pictures like that disorient me because I see one image after the other, repetitively. It's odd . . . but at the same time they are interesting. I think it makes a good writing prompt! :)

Way to go on your WIP!!!

Karla Gomez said...

I NEED TO START WRITING!!!
What a lovely drawing. Feels so magical :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on making progress on your WIP! Hope you have a nice weekend :)

Rachel Pattinson said...

Congrats on your WIP! I saw the man's face first - took me a while to see the woman! As far as I'm aware no one in my family has had a photo with a celebrity, though I once sat across from Emma Watson in a Starbucks and I've met Philip Pullman - do those count?? Have a great weekend :)

stephen Hayes said...

The first thing I see is the man's face. Glad your muse is working overtime.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I saw the woman first.

I've had my picture taken with author Catherine Coulter. We were on a panel together, and after spending some time with her, I really wasn't impressed.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Rachel, those definitely count! Was Philip Pullman nice? I've chatted with George R R Martin in a hotel foyer during a science fiction convention in Melbourne, though that was before anyone outside SF fandom had heard of him. We probably couldn't get him back for a tiny convention now. I've done a panel with Charles De Lint... Well, when you're in SF fandom, you meet quite a lot of big names in writing, ditto with children's and YA fiction. No photos with actors, though I did once chat with George Takei at a room party at a Sydney convention. Lovely man!
And yes, well done on all that writing. It's great to be on a roll.

Ravyne said...

Congrats on getting some work done on your WIP, Lexa. I know how satisfying that can be :) Sorry your muse abandoned you. Mine take vacations all the time too lol. I don't think anyone in my family has ever taken a photo with anyone famous.. but that was a great find with your grandfather! Have a great weekend!

Lori @ The Rattling Bones

Anonymous said...

I saw the face first. Yay on the 7k. I've never taken a picture with a celebrity.

SENCO Cat Herder said...

What an interesting picture - I haven't seen this one before - saw the man before the lady! Well done on writing so much and I am sure your muse will be back shortly. Thanks for the Celebrate - it cajoled me back after having been so busy :) http://lexacain.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/celebrate-busy-muse-giveaways.html

Michelle Wallace said...

Lovely illustration.
I saw the lady in the park.
Congrats on 7K!

Michelle Wallace said...

Lovely illustration.
I saw the lady in the park.
Congrats on 7K!

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne said...

Oh, such exciting things to celebrate, Lexa. good job! Your grandpa must have been a famous person. I think my Dad sat next to a famous actress on a flight to the Bahamas once. My Mom teased him. she said she saw how big his eyes were, even with sunglasses on! Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

alexia said...

Nice on the 7k in three days! I got my pic taken with Neil Gaiman at a signing. That was pretty amazing!

kimlajevardi.com said...

I saw the man. Yay for 7k! I had a picture taken once with Bill Nye the Science Guy. He's famous among science teachers. ;)

Catherine Stine said...

Yay for you getting to your writing goals. Um, yeah, my dad got his picture taken with President Ford and my son got his pix taken with Cory Booker and Chuck Schumer when he interned for them. Pretty cool stuff.

Birgit said...

I saw the woman walking first. Can you post that picture of your grandfather? This picture would be so neat to see especially since he was with Hedy Lamarr (not Hedley:)). She was one of the great beauties but also highly intelligent who invented, with a Hollywood composer, a system to try to block the radar or something like that. The war people never took them up on it but this is why we have cell phones today. BTW-The was did use it later on. I love her quote "If you want to look beautiful, just stand there and look stupid."

T.F. Walsh said...

Well done on the three chps... yay. I'll be jumping into them this week:)

I can see a female in the photo.. had to concentrate to see the guy.

L.G. Keltner said...

Three chapters in three days is awesome!

SpacerGuy said...

7K words in three days! No stopping you now! I spotted the outline of the man and the lady in the park is the nose, haha. I had my photo taken with General Veers played by Julian Glover.

Dixie@dcrelief said...

Lexa, I need to be removed from Celebrate for a while. I hate for others to stop by when I have no post. I'll catch up later, as I love this blog hop! Thank you.

DMS said...

Hi Lexa, I see both the lady and the man's face. Fun! Also, thanks so much to foxy for sniffing out Fairday's Riddles! Stephanie and I really appreciate you sharing the riddle book. We're on a bit of a writing break this month, but I enjoyed dropping in to visit! :) ~ Jess

L. Diane Wolfe said...

That's impressive. My great-great grandfather was an ambassador to China and I have photos of him with the Emperor.

cleemckenzie said...

Hedy Lamarr was one beautiful and very smart woman. I can't remember exactly what she invented, but it was significant.

Here's to many more productive days.

Yanting Gueh said...

Congratulations on the chapters, Lexa. I downloaded the Fairday Riddles some time back and will check out the MG historical fiction. Thanks for letting us know about the freebies!

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