Ærenden: The Board Game (Coming soon to a Target near you!)

Pre-race: 5:00am and smiling somehow!
Dressed as my favorite Disney Princess, Belle

What a weekend! I just returned home from running the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Walt Disney World. GREAT experience! There's no better way to see Epcot and Magic Kingdom than on foot as you're blazing (okay, run-walking) through it. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know (and some who really could care less, but are within earshot).

One of my favorite parts, though, was the Expo. For anyone who hasn't run a race before, that's usually the location where you pick up your race packet (shirt, bib, etc) and visit various run-related vendors. Like everything else Disney does, it's no small event. My co-runners and I spent several hours in the Expo over the course of two days, enjoying samples, stocking up on tech tees, and drooling over Princess Half Marathon-themed merchandise. Which, of course, got me wondering: What would Ærenden merchandise look like?

The Creeper Vine 5K: A race you don't want to lose

I know, I know. I'm a long way off from ever getting any merchandise for my books, but a writer can dream, can't she? Of course, I love the shirt my editor made me for my birthday a couple of years ago (pictured); some day I'd love to offer those as giveaways or for sale. And Meaghan and Nick dolls (like Divergent's Tris and Four) might be fun, but what else? I'd love to know what you think! 

One Sentence Challenge: Water

It's Monday! You know what that means...

ONE SENTENCE CHALLENGE time!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by last week. The winning sentence for the challenge word Tornado was submitted by Megan Robinson:

Debris is flying in the sky: shingles, doors, even a car or two, twisting and whirling violently, until it suddenly subsides and all is silent.

Well done, Megan! You've won a Limited Edition, signed and hand-numbered red-ink Ærenden bookmark. These can only be won and you'll soon have the first one!

Readers, think you can do better at crafting a story in a single sentence? Have at it. You could also win an LE bookmark.

This week's challenge word is WATER.

I look forward to reading your submissions :).

Limited Edition Bookmarks! Because, Why Not? :)

As those of you following me on Facebook may have seen, I now have Limited Edition, hand-numbered bookmarks available! Each one of the bookmarks is autographed and available free as a thank you to my readers. How do you get them? A variety of ways! There are four batches:

1. Black-ink Bookmarks (pictured) can be obtained only by coming to one of my in-person events. My debut event for these bookmarks will be the UCF Book Festival in April. After which, watch my schedule or contact me to plan your own event. I love doing book signings, classroom visits, book club discussions...you name it :). 

2. Red-ink Bookmarks can only be won, like through my weekly One Sentence Challenge or through giveaways (Bloggers, feel free to email me if you'd like some of these LE bookmarks for your site). 

3. Blue-ink Bookmarks are for promos, so if you'd like to become an Ærenden advocate by handing out these special bookmarks to family, friends, your book club, school or at other events, or heck, you own a bookstore and just want a stack for your counter.... email me! 

4. Green-ink Bookmarks...well, let's just say I've reserved my favorite color for random and special moments. I may give one out to someone who's done something super nice. I may leave a stack of them behind on the Metro or put a few in a random book somewhere. You never know when these will show up, so just pay attention.

Each batch will be limited to no more than 250. When they're gone, then that's The End :). What's amazing about this is some day they'll be worth....probably nothing, since I'm just a small Indie Author. But the point is to have fun with them!

So who wants one? The first and tenth comments on this blog post will get a green-ink bookmark for their collection :D.

One Sentence Challenge: A Tornado

Starting this week, I'll be offering a one sentence challenge to anyone who wants to try their hand at telling a story in as little space as possible. I'll provide the topic; you comment with your sentence. It's as simple as that. For now, there are no prizes and no winners, though I will highlight the three sentences I like best at the end of the week (and link to those people's websites, if they're provided). Now that I have the LE bookmarks, there actually will be ONE winner every week who will receive a red-ink bookmark. :)

Don't consider yourself a writer? Don't worry. It's just for fun. So have at it. 

This Week's Topic: A tornado.

Example (just a throw-together; I'm sure you can do better!): Nature stirs the air with a negligent finger, pulling water from the sky, dirt from the earth, and releasing both within the wrath of her violent howl.