The Friday Five

(Photo of Chris Evans from IMDB)

Since I don't have an exciting interview or anything to share, I just thought I'd go with a Friday Five with some FAQ that have come across my Twitter Feed.

1.) Will you be releasing a new contemporary book?

YES. I have been working on another stand alone New Adult title for a little while, but with the great sales of My Paper Heart, readers have been DEMANDING a sequel, so I've also started working on that. I don't have a tentative date in mind right now, but I do have a cover and it's pretty.

2.) Why is the website not "The Punching Bag Fights Back" anymore?

I have a thing for long titles, don't I? Well, coding my own website got annoying and I'm not very good at it, so I just decided to link my blog to MaganVernon.com That way I don't need to code and I can update more frequently.

3.) When will EARCs be ready for How to Marry an Alien?

The book is currently with my editor and I expect to have it back by mid-November. If I'm lucky, I can get everything incorporated by beginning of December and have EARCs out before Christmas. Great gift, ey?

4.) What are you working on right now?

Besides all these edits, working, and keeping up with my family? Uh, well I'm hoping to be done with a futuristic science fiction YA novel soon and getting to the next round of CPs. This is one I may jump in the querying pool with again. I know, bad Magan, but maybe I'll write a post on that...someday.

5.)  Why haven't you talked about Adam Lambert lately?

I'm not saying that we've broke up, but I haven't been spending as much time listening to him or drooling over videos of him. This work thing has taken over my life. I've also been busy drooling over Chris Evans every chance that I get...so....

The Friday Five: LoLCat additon

Have you missed my weekly blogs? Well I thought you would like a little bit of an update, courtesy of LoLcats.

1.)I have been pretty busy working on edits for both Life, Love, & Lemons and How to Break up with an Alien, so...yeah.


2.) T-Rex and I are currently getting bid so we can build an office in our basement. I think he is just sick of me taking over every space with my sticky notes for scenes and putting my laptop on his desk.


3.) I'm back on Weight Watchers. Five pounds lost so far, but I'm hoping to lose another twenty. You would think that gaining fifty pounds with a pregnancy would just cause a fifty pound baby to pop out and I'd lose it all!


4.) I think everyone thinks since I'm published and that other Indie authors have hit it big, that I'm rolling in it. Truth be told, I'm not rolling in it. But atleast I know I have some fans and that you will all still buy my books :)


5.) On Monday March 12th there will be a big reveal of the How to Break up with an Alien cover on the Indelibles blog. Keep watching.

Friday Five

I've been busy and haven't been posting as much as I should.  Between a new job, migraines, a sick baby, and querying my life has just been a little crazy.  So to keep in mind all of the good things that come out of the craziness, this Friday Five includes pictures and what I've learned from Olivia.

1.)  Smile Everyday

2.)Sometimes it's more important to sleep

3.) A book will be judged by it's cover, especially if that cover is bright and shiny.

4.)  If you want to get noticed, you have to make yourself noticeable.  Shout your name from the rooftops, wear silly clothes, and of course smile at every new person that you meet.

5.)  Whenever someone really upsets you or tries to put you down...just remember that we all came out of a woman's uterus, so we all started in the same place.

Happy Friday :)

Friday Five

I'm still here and still pregnant, so I guess I should do some sort of a Friday Five update?  Perhaps?  We'll go with it.

1.)  In blogging news, I have two reviews and TWO contests coming up.  Bwahahahahaha.  Teasing isn't it?  The contests don't have to do with me getting an agent, but they do include some great books.  (One is an ARC that I'm sure many of you have been waiting for by a certain lady with the initials EJ and the other is a book from a wonderful lady who writes about ghosts...and goths...).  I'm hoping to get the interviews and contests up by May, so you may just have to hold still for awhile.

2.)  How am I going to do all these contests with a baby in one hand and my computer in the other?  I don't have to...I picked my Ereader/Tablet.  Yes, I'll probably do a post on this, but after doing some more of my own research my husband bought me the Ipad2 as a mother's day gift.  It's still going to be at least another two weeks before it gets here, but you can except some wonderful 2 am tweets!

3.) In writing news, I decided to put aside my "for fun" novel and start on another project.  It's very gritty, very dystopian and it's a love story.  My original idea ended up sounding like everyone's dystopian project, so actually after reading a review of MEMENTO NORA I thought of how to make mine different.  For now it's a secret and only my critique partners know, but maybe I'll share something someday :)

4.)  When I decided to start doing book reviews, I didn't realize how many of them I would actually get.  It's definitely not a bad thing, but man I feel like I'm giving you all a review a week.  Are you okay with all of these reviews loyal blog readers?  I still have four more books to read before June and if you are tired of my reviews I'm willing to bow out.  I don't want to have a complete review blog, but I actually kind of enjoy reading books and figuring out what I like and dislike about certain writing.  The more you read, the more you realize what you like.

5.)  The hiatus is still coming and I'm sorry for being so grumpy and not posting regularly.  I've realized that there are a lot of ups and downs to late pregnancy and have even been comparing it with querying.  You know how you work for months, years, whatever on a novel and you get out to query and you think your so close to getting that agent and only end up with rejections?  Yeah pregnancy false alarms are like that...  But in the end I know that someday I will have an agent and someday I will have a baby (even those women with the stone babies for 60 years eventually have theres!).  And I actually haven't received a rejection lately, so at least I have something going for me...right?

How is everyone doing?  Did you miss me?

Freshman Five

(Yes that's me in the center doing a reenactment of Romeo & Juliet in English class)

( My freshman yearbook photo.  Yeah it's tiny and yes I had long curly hair and braces...hot)

With lack of a Fangirl Friday interview, I decided to truly embarrass myself and do a little “Freshman Five,” on the blog.  Ten years ago I was a freshman in high school and now I’m feeling very old…I also thought a lot about how people change from their freshman to senior years and how one writes characters differently from age 14 to 18.  So this Freshman 5 adds some random facts about my freshman year that will probably make you giggle and wonder if I’m just making this up, or if you really should feel sorry for my utter ridiculousness.

1.)     My freshman year took place in 2001, that was the year of 9/11 and the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.  I remember sitting in gym class when we heard the news.  I honestly thought that people were just watching footage from the Oklahoma City bombing until there was an announcement made over the intercom.  The rest of the day, the entire school was glued to the TV and I can remember my mom saying, “I’ve never been happier to be surrounded by cornfields.”

2.)    Freshman year was also the first year that I was able to go to homecoming.  But if you look at my pictures—you know the girl with a little extra poundage, braces, and some ferocious eyebrows then it’s pretty obvious why in my entire high school career I had only been asked to a dance as a date ONCE and freshman year wasn’t that year.

3.)    In October I went to one of my first co-ed Halloween parties.  I dressed as a princess and a guy held my hand while we watched Bring it On.  This then ostracized me from the rest of the girls at the party because one girl had “claimed” him and it was wrong of me not to know and to have been hanging out with him at the party.  Girls are mean.

4.)    I had my first boyfriend at the end of my freshman year.  He was two years older and my parents wouldn’t let me go on a date in his car.  It all worked out because he ended up cheating on me with some girl he worked with at McDonalds and promptly dropped out of school that next year.  I really picked the winners in high school.

5.)    My naiveness was to the max at age 14--  I remember the first girl in my class that told me she lost her virginity and I was just mortified.  I had barely kissed a guy let along do THAT.  At the same time I bought my first pair of thong underwear that I refused to wear on days that I had gym class, thought hand holding was one of the best things that you could do with a guy (still do), and had never spooned with ANYONE.

Okay…you can laugh now. 

What was your freshman year of high school like?  Were you as naïve as me?  Have you thought about these things when you write younger characters?

Fight Back Friday

So it’s been kind of a crazy/grumpy week for the Punching Bag, so to express my frustration I thought I would write a few open letters…

Dear mother nature,

March is the start of spring.  Please be advised that you have NOT been following through with this.  It’s time for everyone to put away their winter coats and quit with this snow and freezing rain stuff.

Desperate-for-sunshiningly-yours,

Magan

Dear pregnancy,

Why didn’t anyone tell me in my sex education classes that there is NOTHING fun about being 8 months pregnant?  Everyone says that you can eat what you want, wear big clothes, and how exciting it is to see your child move.  But what they don’t tell you is that you don’t sleep the last month, almost everything will give you heart burn, and eventually you stretch out your maternity leggings.  If you could be over soon, that would be awesome.

Uncomfortably yours,

Mama Magan

Dear person-that-asks-too-many-questions-or-comments-on-everything-class-or-meetings,

Yes, we all know that you are intelligent and are sure that you are great at what you do, but PLEASE just put your hand down for two seconds so that we can all get out of this class or meeting and go home.  I’m sure you can talk to the instructor after class if it’s that important.

Really-wanting-to-get-the-heck-out-on-timely yours,

M

Dear retail businesses,

Please stop going out of business and only giving me a short notice.  What if I have gift cards that I want to use?  What the heck am I supposed to do with my free movie coupons?  If you would have just let me know a month ago that I would need to use them soon I would have rented THE SOCIAL NETWORK sooner.

Giftcard-hoardingly yours,

Mrs Vee.

Dear Mean girls,

High school is over.  Making fun of people for your own gain just makes you look petty and silly.  Do you really need to sit and gossip about things that aren’t that important like what someone is wearing or how their hair looks?  I’m sure that all the problems in the world can be solved by you sitting on your butt and complaining, so maybe you should put that to use and call up some foreign leaders.

Geekingly yours,

The punching bag

Yeah they may be snarky, yeah they may be random, but someone has to tell these people and things!  Do you have any open letters that you would like to post?  What do you want to fight back?

Friday Five: Housekeeping

Housekeeping, Housekeeping.  No, I'm not coming to interrupt your hotel sleep.  I'm here to just do a little housekeeping of what I've been up to courtesy of a Friday Five.

1.)  Fangirl Friday.  I've been keeping up with it pretty well, but decided that it is one of the things that people like most about this blog.  So I decided to e-mail two authors or one author and one publishing professional a month and hopefully be able to post at least two interviews a month.

2.) How to Date an Alien.  Oh you have noticed that is finished and seeking representation?  I guess I couldn't hide that one *grins*  We shall see what happens with my journey into writing Science Fiction, but I believe that good things come to those who wait.

3.)  Baby Bump watch.  Yes, I try to keep alot of non-writing stuff off of the blog, but the bump is now 33 weeks along and I look like I stuffed a basketball under my shirt.  If I'm not blogging or tweeting as much end of March/beginning April it's because I'll be doing this thing called "giving birth."

4.)  Reviews.  I know you are all waiting for my upcoming reviews of ARCS...and I was actually going to say that I haven't received any, but I recently received two ARCs and I am going to try to get them read and reviews posted in March.  Unless of course I give birth or something then they might be put on hold.

5.)  Contests.  Yes, one is coming.  I PROMISE.  I'm just waiting for something epic to celebrate...like the birth of a child or an agent offering representation.  I also need something cool to give away (any ideas besides books?)

I know this is more than five, but I've got alot going on in March (professionally, writing wise, and personally), so I'm going to try to keep my MWF updates, but if I can't then please don't hate me.

What contests do you want to see?  Do you have any housekeeping that I should be aware of?  Are you stealing my ARCs?

The Friday Five: Snowpocalypse Addition

Sorry I haven't been very attentive to other people's blogs or Twitter the past couple days.  The midwest was hit with a Snowpocalypse giving us over a foot of snow and even higher drifts.  I promise to be more attentive next week and even have a Fangirl Friday interview to post :)  So since my Internet is FINALLY not spotty I thought I would post a Friday Five this week.

1.)  On the baby front, I'm still due in April.  Had a sonogram yesterday and baby is measuring big in her head and legs, but smaller in her waist.  I hope she keeps the long legs and tiny waist because that will help her out with the opposite sex later in life.

2.)  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!  Since I didn't have much for Internet the past couple days I did ALOT of revising on How to Date an Alien.  Long story short:  It may actually be completely revised by next week.  SQUEE.

3.)  The above picture is of my husband shoveling our back deck free of three foot snow drifts so that our dog could go to the bathroom.  She did keep getting stuck at the bottom of the deck and would cry till we coaxed her up.  She's a strange dog.

4.)  I want to do a blogfest, but can't think of when to do it or what kind of blogfest.  Thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated.

5.)If you haven't noticed that I have a few new obsessions besides just aliens.  The show FACE OFF on SyFy has kept me up past 9 o'clock on Wednesday nights and I'm pretty stoked that they have an alien makeup challenge in the next episode.  I've also been watching BEING HUMAN that is also on the SyFy network.  I know I should get a life besides the television, but you try being on bed rest for two and a half days plus stuck inside without Internet during a snowpocalypse!

How has the weather been where you live?  Did you miss me in my absense?

The Friday Five

The Friday Five:  BABY EDITION

So, some of you may be sick of hearing about my pregnancy and others of you are eagerly awaiting to here if baby is a boy or girl.  Well after the 19 week ultrasound, we're pretty sure that it's either a boy or a girl...  But let's list off the Friday Five with how the Old Wives Tale's stack up.

1.)  If your baby's heartbeat is over 140, then it's a girl.  The heartbeat started out at 140, went all the way up to 160 at one point, and has stayed pretty steady at 145.

2.)  If you're carrying your baby low, then it's a boy.  I'm carrying very low, I was in maternity jeans during the first trimester, because baby was right at my pant line!

3.)  If your skin is breaking out, then it's a girl.  I haven't had this much acne since I had bad bangs and was in middle school!

4.)  If you are craving sour food, then it's a boy.  I love pineapple, alot.  I can eat a whole can in one sitting.

5.)  So am I having a boy or a girl?

The answer is...


Have you guessed it?


Did the Old Wives Tales give it away?


IT'S A GIRL.

We thought she was a boy, it's true.  But the proof was in the pictures! (Sorry, not putting my daughter's lady parts on the internet, but you can see her face and legs!) I guess that explains my acne, the heartbeat, and the fact that somehow I can write a really good emotionally angsty teenage girl right now... I think I'm in for a treat in the future!

I will keep everyone posted on updates and until then my baby girl and I are going to keep trucking along on our editing!  (Yes, she helps by kicking me, so I can't sleep and then get up to edit.)

The Friday Five

So...most of you have been waiting for my vlog and wondering why I haven't been around much.  So, since I didn't check my e-mail early enough to post my Fangirl Friday interview, here is my Friday Five for what I've been up to these past two weeks.  And to say I'm sorry for not being around, so I'll make it up with a great interview and some interesting posts next week!

1.)  In case you didn't know I moved to the other side of town.  We went from a 1000 sq foot slab house to a 3000 sq ft home with three bathrooms and a finished basement.  I'm still hunting through boxes to find stuff and a bunch of empty boxes are sitting where my couch should be.  When I do, I'll be blogging from there instead of on the floor near my fire place.

2.)  I'm in a wedding this weekend.  One girl dropped out at the last minute, so my pregnant butt hoped down to David's bridal and got a dress.  There are alot more things that go on in a wedding for a bridesmaid than I realized and because of it I've been very, very busy when not at work.

3.)  I'm working on line edits for the second draft of HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN.  Once those line edits are done, I'll plug them into my manuscript and hopefully get it sent off to beta readers.  A few are doing Nano, but they'll have time in December and I'm meeting with my lovely (PUBLISHED) critique partner next Wednesday.  (Her first novella is coming out soon.  I would post the cover, but it's erotica...soooo...)

4.)  I'm looking at a new position in my company.  Yes, let's add more to my plate!  There is a department that I've wanted to get into since I started with the company and now a position is finally open that I'm qualified for.  If I get this position, I'm going to give something awesome away...I just don't know what yet.

5.)  I'm half way through my pregnancy!  Yeah!  It seems like only 4 and a half months ago I was out playing volleyball and going out afterwards...now I go to bed at 9:00 every night and really enjoy pineapple.  I do have a little bit more energy and I'm not getting sick all of the time, but I'm still tired.  There is a lot of preparation one needs to do before having a baby and frankly it's exhausting!

So yeah, I'm sorry, I have a lot of excuses, but next week I will make it up to you with: a preview of HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN, An interview with Jill Wheeler, and maybe I may even get my vlog working!

Till then happy Friday and have a great Halloween weekend!

Friday Potluck

So have you checked out http://karenjonesgowen.blogspot.com/?

Yeah she's throwing a labor day bbq and already I've gotten 5 new followers who are looking for pralines.  There are actually five batches of pralines and a candy bar cheesecake in my freezer if anyone would like to come on by!

Well I guess with a little inspiration from her bbq and since I've been noticeable absent for a few days...I thought that I should do a Friday five a little potluck style.

1.)  Some of you -may- be confused at posts about an agent.  I do have an agent, BUT it's not a literary agent.  Too add to the stress of preparing for baby and following hurricanes, my husband and I decided to put our house on the market.  If you are in Illinois and would like a nice small house you can call my real estate agent.

2.)  To the new people:  HEY.  I should say something witty... Uhhhhhh...  Usually there is a Fangirl Friday, but I am waiting for interviews back from Stacey Kade (who was just talking to me on Twitter and I fangirled out) and Kristin Walker (who um told me that she loved this blog and I shrieked like a little girl).  Otherwise I talk about my WIP, being a geek in high school and graduating to former sorority girl/fortune 500 company employee.

3.)  My WIP is a contemporary women's fiction with more details right there on the side bar.  If you would like to, you know, represent me or help me get this bad boy published I'm all ears.  I'm also working on a sci-fi fantasy novel called HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN.

4.)  I'm making beer bread because my preggo self thought it sounded good.  You should really be here right now.

5.)  I'm just going to search for a random picture and put it below...yeah me!  (Oh...that's Chace Crawford.  My husband asked why I have a picture of Chace Crawford, shirtless, on my computer.  I stammered and giggled...)

The Friday Five

Okay...so I know you were all expecting a Fangirl Friday today, but I've been a bit busy and do have two authors lined up for Fangirl Friday interviews.  There will also be a Fangirl give away for blogfest, so don't get too bummed!

So instead I'm taking direction from Mandy Hubbard's livejournal and doing a Friday Five.

1.)  I had my first ultra sound yesterday.  Baby's heartbeat was 140.  An old wives tale says if the heartbeat is above 140 it's a girl and if it's below 140 it's a boy.  Thus, baby hasn't decided it's gender yet.  (Picture above).

2.)  I have 35 pages left to revise/edit for MY PAPER HEART and they are coming along VERY slowly.  I know where the story is going, but sometimes life and TV gets in the way of that.  (And figuring out that the story went in a completely different direction than it originally started.)

3.) I have an in-person critique partner who writes Erotica!  She is buying me a smoothie before our local RWA meeting on Wednesday and we're going to discuss our project.

4.)  I'm going to make mousepads for "The punching bag" part of my giveaway and the "Fangirl" part will be a book from "The Fangirl's bookshelf."  Watch for it with blogfest September 9th-12th.

5.)  My husband would like me to tell the world about our Staffordshire terrier named "Snogs" and to share a picture of her.  So here it is (and my husband putting up Christmas lights last year): 

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!