Bookish And Not So Bookish Thoughts - 5 September 2019

Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts is a Weekly Meme hosted by Christine @ Bookishly  Boisterous.

Hey Bookdragons! Today I'm doing something a little different. As you may know I'm a member of the street team for Julie Eshbaugh's upcoming novel, Crown of Oblivion. I just finished reading it and it got me to thinking about the memories I'd never want to forget and the memories I'd gladly give up (since entering the race in the book means you must purge all of your personal memories). Here are 5 events in my life I'd never want to forget...

1. When I was four my mom, grandmother, and great uncle went to Disney World. We took the train from Milwaukee and the kitchen on the train had no power from Chicago to Washington, D.C. so the only food they could offer were frozen hot dogs. When we got to D.C. I dropped my beloved stuffed animal, Baby Bop (the green dinosaur from Barney) down the escalator and a very mean woman behind us who was in a hurry said someone should throw it out. I got Boppy (as I called her) back and we got on the train to Orlando. At Disney, my great-uncle who was an older gentleman took the top bunk of the bunk beds in our hotel room and got his boxers caught on the ladder then later misheard one of the Disney employees (a little person) who wanted him to come forward in line and told the little man off. I'll spare you the exact thing he said but it still cracks my mom and grandmother and I up. Later in our trip we went to visit one of my other great uncles who lived in Florida and there was a black swan outside a restaurant and my second great-uncle was afraid I'd get bitten.

2. When I was about 9 and my sister was 3 we went to the Wisconsin Dells in the month of March. My sister, who was prone to coming down with illnesses had an ear infection and screamed well into the night. We had to walk her up and down the hall to wear her out. When she got back to our hotel room she got in bed with my grandmother bringing along a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine which she opened up and began showing my grandmother, yelling, "girlfriend! make-up! nail polish!"    

3. In January 2014, I received an email from a publisher I had sent my first manuscript to offering me a publishing contract. I was so excited I couldn't believe it was real.

4. Shortly before Christmas 2017 I received a package from UPS. Thinking it was a Christmas package I was expecting but not seeing a return address I opened it... and found an ARC of The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco. Sourcebooks Fire had granted my request and sent me an ARC! My grandmother thought I was insane as I jumped up and down and screeched in excitement.

5. In January 2018, only days after my book CurseBreaker released, I found out it had been shortlisted for a fantasy fiction award.