My Adventures in Weight Loss @ Weight Watchers Week 36

Woohoo! I lost weight this week!!

2 whole pounds! Yay!

Weight: 182.2 lbs.

A to Z Challenge April 2015

So everybody it's that time of year again! Yup that's right April's A to Z Challenge sign-ups are open!! Did you take the challenge last year? Are you taking the challenge this year? I did and I am. Currently I am #296 the Linky. This year, as with the last two, my theme is a whole month of reviews from A to Z. I've already got some of my letter locked in, but I'm still looking for an x and a y and some letter are always up for debate. So if you are an author, or know of one, who might be interested in having their book reviewed for the event let me know. Just email me and make sure that in the memo section of the email you put a to z challenge and what letter you are hoping to fill. As I said, some letters are already taken, but some are just filled at the moment with place holders. (Random books I've picked up in case nothing else has come along in time.)  

Interested in signing up for the event? Or just finding out more? Click here to go to the Blogging from A to Z April (2015) Challenge.

My Adventures in Weight Loss @ Weight Watchers Week 35

Again I gained this week, but not as bad as last week. Only .2 lbs. I think it's because of the shots. Yes, let's blame it on the shots.

Weight: 184.2

My Adventures in Weight Loss @ Weight Watchers Week 34

This week...not so good. I gained back 2.6 lbs.

Weight: 184 lbs.

My Adventures in Weight Loss @ Weight Watchers Week 33

Because of my phone debacle there won't be any pics again until February. So I'll just get on with the good news this week! I lost more weight!

1.2 lbs. Yay!

Weight: 181.4 lbs.!!

My Adventures in Weight Loss @ Weight Watchers Week 32

So I got a new phone. Which was awesome! However...I fell behind on setting up my posts because of the holidays and getting my shots this month. Did I mention I'm got 3 sets? Once every 2 weeks. The first set was only 6, but the second and third were 8 a piece.  Then I dropped the stupid new phone. So I went and got a new one. (Yay insurance!) But I forgot to send the pics from my phone to my email before I returned it. So AGAIN...no pics.
But I lost the last of the 3 lbs I gained 2 weeks ago. Finally.

Weight: 182.6

Interview with Christopher Cloud (& a Giveaway!)

Christopher, Do you have any advice for new writers/authors?

There’s an old adage in the writing business that insists writers should write what they know. Twenty-years ago that was true, but not today. The availability of the Internet affords writers the luxury of writing in-depth on any subject. Your story may require a great deal of research, but if you’re willing to invest the time, the Internet allows a writer to qualify himself/herself as an expert on any subject. The Internet has eliminated those long, exhausting trips to the library, and outshines even the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

What are your writing tips for others?

Don’t be afraid, at first, to write poorly. All writers, from Stephen King to Mark Twain, have written stories they’re not particularly proud of.  These stories are usually shoved to the back burner awaiting a serious rewrite. Most never see the light of day. I look back over stories I wrote in college and cringe, they are so poorly written. But that’s how writers improve. There can be no success without a few failures. We cannot all be a Truman Capote, who is said never to have received a rejection letter.

 

Tell us a little about your next book or writing project.     

    

At the moment, I’m between novels. I have established a few criteria for all of my novels, and my next is no exception. The story must be either middle-grade or young adult and have some social relevance. I've boiled my story ideas down to three candidates.

More about Christopher Cloud:

Award winning author Christopher Cloud began writing fiction full time after a long career in journalism and public relations. He writes middle-grade and young adult novels..Cloud graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. He has worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist at newspapers in Texas, California, and Missouri. He was employed by a Fortune 100 company as a public relations executive, and later operated his own public relations agency. Cloud attended high school in Japan, and lives in Joplin, Missouri. His website Is: www.christophercloud.com

Where else you can find Christopher around the web:

Christopher Cloud's Website

Christopher's Blog

***** Now onto the giveaway! Christopher is being kind enough to offer a print copy of Adelita's Secret to one lucky U.S. winner or an e-copy if the winner is located internationally!     *****

Here are the rules! 

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is enter using the Rafflecopter form below! 

·     The winner of the contest will be announced on this blog

·     The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only for the physical copy or kindle version and international winners will receive only the kindle version

·     You will receive your choice of a physical copy or kindle version, if that is what you prefer in and are located in the U.S., of the book Adelita's Secret. If you are located outside the U.S. you will receive an e-copy. The winner will receive the book within two weeks after the winner is announced

Remember to please leave your email address in the Rafflecopter so we have a way to contact and verify the winner's information! This is important. If you do not leave an email addy then I won't be able to contact you and therefore you won't be able to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt from Adelita's Secret

With her free hand, Coronela snapped her fingers twice.

In the next instant, Adelita had the oddest sensation that her body was being painlessly disassembled, one molecule at a time. With a dreadful suddenness, she was next sucked into the pages of the hundred-year-old diary, millions of molecules per nanosecond. Her stomach lurching—the molecules had been reassembled instantaneously—she found herself in a long, dark passageway rushing headlong toward the black unknown. She was accelerating through the shadowy burrow, weightless, the wind pushing against her face and tugging at her hair—it streamed in the air like a windsock.

The uneven stone walls of the expansive tunnel were smothered with the stark, chilling images of shabbily dressed peasants in hand-to-hand combat with uniformed soldiers in pith helmets. The dark and murky visions streaked past at an alarming speed. The deadly crack of rifle fire and the choking screams of people dying resonated in Adelita’s ears. Her tongue tainted by the unmistakable taste of metal, the smell in her nostrils was so vulgar that she knew it could only be that of human blood. Too terrified to watch any longer, Adelita closed her eyes and prayed the journey would soon be over.

Quite unexpectedly, Adelita’s feet touched solid ground.

*****Want to get to know  Christopher Cloud? Want a chance to win your own copy of Adelita's Secret? Come back Friday for your chance to win!*****