Grumpy Bulldog's "The Bah Humbug Blahg Fest"

The 12 Things I Hate About the Holidays:

 

 

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a Christmas display in August.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a woman with pepper spray.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a BMW backing into me.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, children asking for toys.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Holiday Fruitcake!
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a debate over "Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays"
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a homeless man telling me to "Fuck Off" when I buy him McDonalds.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a psycho knocking me to the floor on Black Friday.
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a thief taking presents from my trunk.
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a Santa with a bad attitude at the mall.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, $3500 worth of car repairs.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, the commercial with dying African children.

All right, I tried to be cute; but all these things really do bug me - and I'm fully prepared to accept the fact that this makes me a bad person.  I really enjoyed this blog fest, it allowed me to put on my grumpy hat for a while!  Check out the host of this fantastic "Grump-fest" here.

The Contest

Well, I haven't received a single entry; so I can only assume that it is a busy time and I should not have made this contest so rushed.  So here's the deal:  I AM EXTENDING THE ENTRY DEADLINE TO DECEMBER 31, 2011! :)

HERE ARE ALL THE OTHER DETAILS (reposted from original):

Whether you are Muslim, Mormon, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist, Anarchist, or anything else: I believe we all believe in making the world a better place.  At least I do, so in honor of the holiday season (and to see if I can drum up any more readers!) I am hosting a contest! :)

It will be very simple.  I want to read your most original, scary or uplifting holiday story (I like both, so since this is my contest - I figure I'll make you write what I like to read!).  Now, notice I didn't say "Christmas"; it can be ANY holiday you celebrate!  It does NOT have to be a holiday that occurs in winter months.  The entry can be no more than 500 words.

I do not know how to do the wonderful "Linky Lists" like Rachel Harrie over at Rach Writes did during the Campaigner Challenge, so here are the requirements:

1. Post your story on your blog
2. Mention my blog and this contest within that post
3. Comment here that you have posted and link back to the SPECIFIC post
4. "Follow" my blog! :)

That's it!  What you can win is some pretty cool stuff.

First place: $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
Second place: A beautiful E-Reader cozy (that I will purchase from the fantabulous ZiziRho Designs, your choice!)
Third place: A leather writing journal

All entries MUST be posted by Saturday, December 31, 2011.  I will have the three winners posted on my blog by Thursday, January 5, 2011.  How am I going to pick the top three, you may ask.

I am going to pick the top ten (that is, if I get more than ten entries!) and then...well, you see I have a mother that does nothing but sit and read, constantly; so I've enlisted her to be my judge.  She has no qualifications other than spending every dime she gets her hands on - toward more books!  I'll be submitting the top ten stories to her, anonymously, and she will pick her three favorites.  ;)

I hope those of you that read this blog regularly will find this fun, and I hope that I can reach 100 readers by the word getting out there about this contest. 

Thank you to Michael Offutt, Sarah Pearson, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Angela Brown for their amazing support! :)

Spreading Holiday Cheer: A Contest for My Readers!

Greetings!

Whether you are Muslim, Mormon, Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist, Anarchist, or anything else: I believe we all believe in making the world a better place.  At least I do, so in honor of the holiday season (and to see if I can drum up any more readers!) I am hosting a contest! :)

It will be very simple.  I want to read your most original, scary or uplifting holiday story (I like both, so since this is my contest - I figure I'll make you write what I like to read!).  Now, notice I didn't say "Christmas"; it can be ANY holiday you celebrate!  It does NOT have to be a holiday that occurs in winter months.  The entry can be no more than 500 words.

I do not know how to do the wonderful "Linky Lists" like Rachel Harrie over at Rach Writes did during the Campaigner Challenge, so here are the requirements:

1. Post your story on your blog
2. Mention my blog and this contest within that post
3. Comment here that you have posted and link back to the SPECIFIC post
4. "Follow" my blog! :)

That's it!  What you can win is some pretty cool stuff.

First place: $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
Second place: A beautiful E-Reader cozy (that I will purchase from the fantabulous ZiziRho Designs, your choice!)
Third place: A leather writing journal

All entries MUST be posted by Monday, December 19, 2011.  I will have the three winners posted on my blog by Friday, December 23, 2011.  How am I going to pick the top three, you may ask.

I am going to pick the top ten (that is, if I get more than ten entries!) and then...well, you see I have a mother that does nothing but sit and read, constantly; so I've enlisted her to be my judge.  She has no qualifications other than spending every dime she gets her hands on - toward more books!  I'll be submitting the top ten stories to her, anonymously, and she will pick her three favorites.  ;)

I hope those of you that read this blog regularly will find this fun, and I hope that I can reach 100 readers by the word getting out there about this contest.

Self-Sabotage and Other Epic Failures/Insecure Writer's Support Group

NaNoWriMo came and went, it ended with a fizzle for me.  I had 45,000 words on the 25th and considered myself "Oh SO CONFIDENT"; then I deleted 20,000 words after a day's break from the writing.  Why did I do that?  I didn't cut and paste into a new document - I DELETED THE WORDS!  I am a self-sabotager of the worst kind.

I wrote furiously from the 27th until the 30th, but furiously for me - with a sick baby, a sick 10 year old, a sick me and a sick husband who had to go to work - well, that translates to about 3 or 4 hours a day.  I average 1000 words an hour.  It wasn't going to happen.

Since my epic failure, I have been licking my wounds.  And thinking about my worst enemy - myself.  I made it to 47,000 words; but that doesn't really matter, does it?  I failed.

Do any of you struggle with self-sabotage?  Do you find yourself becoming your own worst enemy - in relation to your writing, or anything else in your life?  I'd be curious to see if this is unique to me; or if, perhaps, all writers (and humans) suffer with this a bit.  As part of the great Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group, I'd love to read whether any of you have ever dealt with this?

Can't wait to hear from you all!