Contest Winner

Big thanks to everyone that played along. The answer was "Sid" and it refered to the cashier that takes Chrissy's driver's license and debit card into the back room. Most people got it, a few of you didn't, but that's okay too.

My apologies for the delay in announcing the winner. My husband has started working out of town and that makes his weekends home precious and busy as we fit a week's worth of family time into a few days. Yesterday I had cub scout camp and today I drove up camp stuff for girl's camp. So, I'm finally finding my feet. We had enough correct entries to do two books in the drawing and the winners are:


Alice Bazel

Jennifer Shelton


Be sure to send me an e-mail with a mailing address and the person you want the book signed too.

For anyone that didn't win (so sorry) but would like to pre-order a signed copy to be mailed when the book is released, there are instructions on my website on how to go about this. Deseret Book is allowing me to do this and it will be available until September 1st.

Thanks again for playing, everybody, it makes me feel so special to get e-mail :-)

New Cover~New Contest

Isn't she cute? I absolutely love the cover and already pronounced generations of blessings upon the designer. It's in the running with the cover of To Have or To Hold for my favorite cover of all time and I'm very happy with it. I think it does a good job of communicating the book--which is a little bit romancy--and reflecting the main character--who is a high-heel fanatic. It's always a great day to see what you're baby is going to look like.

I don't remember if I've told people how covers work on books--lots of people think that the author chooses or is somehow instrumental in designing the cover. Not true . . . mostly.

I have chosen exactly zero of my covers. I have had covers sent for my approval, and I have made suggestions, but the final cover is up to the publisher. They also own the copyright, meaning that I can't use it without their okay (though they are always okay with my using it). However, if for some reason I got rights to a book back, I would not get rights to the cover, which is why most reprints have a different cover.

I do know some authors that did design their own cover, and most self-published authors do, but typically if you go through a traditional publisher the cover is out of your hands. Apparently they think the graphic designers with all their fancy degrees and years of experience with image design know more about covers than you, the writer, does. Weird.

Anyway, it's dang exciting for me to have the cover and be able to decorate the world with it. The book is slated to be released in September and I'm getting my marketing ducks out of the pond and lined up right and proper. Which brings me to my next point:

CONTEST!

Along with the cover, the first two chapters of Her Good Name are now on my website. In order to enter the contest you have to read them and answer the following question:
"What does her name tag say?"

To answer this DO NOT PUT IT IN THE COMMENT TRAIL OF THIS BLOG, because that would give away the answer which would significantly decrease your chance of winning. Instead, e-mail it to me at kilpack@gmail.com. All the right answers will go into a drawing.

The prize is a signed, dated, and numbered copy of Her Good Name when it comes out in September. I will do one book for every fifteen entries into the contest and announce the winner at the end of this week (July 11)

Sooooo, have at it--in inbox is poised and at the ready! Go here to read the first two chapters

This and That

So we got back on Saturday and we survived, although that last day of flying home about broke me. I love my kids, really, but dang was I tired of them by the time we got home. Funny thing about vacations, even in a different country where they speak a different language, you're eating out all the time, and having the time of your lives--the whining does not stop. We started all the kids out at 20 points, which they lost each time they were pills and gained back when they did something particularly appreciated. #1 came home with 5, #2 had 2, #3 and #4 will owe us for some time. But it was lots of fun and a great thing to share with our kids. However, I'm glad to be home too.

I took my Isagenix stuff with me and did about one shake a day as a meal replacement; we were lucky in that we had a blender in our rental place. I weighed myself the morning after we got back and had only gained 1.2 pounds even though we ate out 2 meals a day and I wasn't living as if I were on a 'diet'. I was quite pleased with that. In a couple days I'll be starting their maintenance program and I'm looking forward to that; it will be interesting to see if I'm able to maintain and still feel the balance mental stuff I've appreciated.

I managed to write 25 pages using my beloved Alphasmart, I read 4 novels, got a tan, napped nearly every day and didn't wear make-up for a week. It was awesome.

Last night I made my kid's favorite dinner--Taco Salad--a unique meal in that they ALL like it and it's full of good stuff like veggies and beans they that they usually don't like. It's an easy thing to make a 'base' for that keeps in the fridge and can be mixed with the lettace, dressing, and chips at the last minute. I thought I'd share it with you guys for no particular reason.

Nonna Mae's Taco Salad

1 lb hamburger--drained
1 packet taco seasoning
1/4 cup water
1 green pepper, diced
1 can olives, sliced
1 can beans (any type, not seasoned) drained
1 can corn (optional)
chopped cilantro (optional)
sliced mushrooms (optional)
3 chopped tomatoes (optional)
1/2 bottle Catalina salad dressing
1 bag iceberg lettuce mix or the equivalent of head lettuce
1/2 back Nacho Doritos crushed (can use other types of corn chips, doritos are out favorite)

Brown hamburger, add seasoning and water, mix well. Add green pepper, olives, beans, corn, cilantro, mushrooms & tomatoes. Mix well. This is your base and can be refrigerated and used as needed. When ready to serve, mix base with lettuce and dressing, mix well. Add chips last and serve. Keep in mind that the chips will go soggy relatively fast (about an hour or two), so add them just before serving. If your base is still warm when you mix it with the lettuce, the lettuce will lose some of it's crispness, which is why this works really well do to the base ahead of time then cool before mixing together. The base freezes well, just leave out the olives, mushrooms, and tomatoes until serving.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.