Tag Archives: dead of winter

100 things-updated!

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I updated my “100 things about me” list. Rand had recently suggested that I do this, and making a new blogfriend in the past week made me want to get on that right away. 😉

I’m counting this (with a link to that) as a post for this week…I didn’t have much time to do anything this week, with grades due and having to choose winners for the Dead of Winter Contest (many, many thanks to Eden, btw, for taking the lead on that one).

Someday soon I think I’m going to add some items to that list, which was originally written in 2004! Before I met Rand!

Not tonight, though. I’m off. ‘Night all!

Random Monday Things

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In easy, bullet-point form.

  • Over the weekend, I purchased this book. It is chock full of low-fat, low-calorie recipes involving PUMPKIN! WHEE!
  • As of today’s “Biggest Loser” weigh-in, I am down 5 pounds from the weight that so horrified me and prompted me to join the competition. That’s nearly halfway to my target, so yay.
  • Eden just invited me to a Facebook event that brought this song to my attention. I was amused, so I thought I’d post it here. (It’s a Steeler fan parody of Beyonce’s “All the Single Ladies.” Darn it all, that song is catchy.)
  • Eden and I chose and notified our Dead of Winter contest winners. Yay!
  • It is mid-term/Regents week at school, and the marking period closes Friday. That means I have no classes to teach this week, but I have a TON of work to do. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I proctor exams. When I’m not doing that, I’ll be grading or entering grades.
  • Rand and I decided to attend Trinity @ 7 last evening. We enjoyed it, and will probably be back. What makes it even more enticing? Completely randomly, we ran into his cousin Paul and his girlfriend Tyra there. Tyra was reading! Small, small Buffalo world.
  • Have not yet located a Wii. I just need to sit down and make phone calls one of these days.
  • Chatted with my dear friend Stephanie today. It had been far too long! So thanks again, Stephanie, for pinning me down. 😉
  • Through a serendipitous series of events that led to me being online friends with Jessica (aka miss_shortskirt), I got to read an ARC of Ally Carter’s upcoming book. Squee! I *heart* this series.  I’ll have to post a review.
  • Since I was a slacker and didn’t really post last week, I forgot to mention the inauguration. I got to watch for a bit at school, and I thought it was incredibly moving.  Yay, President Obama!

    Is there more? Probably, but that’s all I can manage for now. Toodles!

    Dead of Winter contest open

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    Dead of Winter
    The 2008 contest is now OPEN.

    Dead of Winter is a fiction contest (any genre) for stories with supernatural elements or themes. Ideally, stories should be set in autumn or winter. The most original, most haunting stories will be chosen for publication.

    Details, including specific theme and length, are announced November 1.

    The deadline for submissions is December 21.

    Entries are blind-judged by Baker & Billiard. Decisions are final. Winners are announced January 31.

    Winning stories are published in the March issue of Toasted Cheese. Winners receive Amazon gift certificates: $20 for first, $15 for second, $10 for third.

    Stories submitted to the 8th Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2008) should follow one* of the following themes:

    * Alaska
    * Alternative Santa
    * Blood River Bridge
    * Ventriloquist

    The word limit is 4,500 words.

    The contest opens on November 1, 2008 and the deadline for submission is December 21, 2008. E-mail entries to dow2008@toasted-cheese.com. Your subject line must read: Dead of Winter Contest Entry.

    Post any questions you have about the contest in our DOW thread at the forums. Please do not post any part of your entry in the thread.

    You may post your work for feedback at one of the critique forums but please title your post “DOW entry for feedback” or similar so that the judges don’t read it.

    Be sure to (1) set your story in winter (2) write using supernatural elements or motifs (make our spines tingle, make us hesitate to turn out the lights, etc.) and (3) use one* of the themes provided.

    *You are welcome to use more than one of the themes in your story (for example, you could write a story about a ventriloquist and set it in Alaska) but you must use at least one of them and make it strong enough so that we know which theme you’re focusing on.

    Only ONE entry PER AUTHOR, not one entry per theme.