Amie Borst

This morning my husband smiles at me and says, "Hey, you know what today is?" Me: "Ummmm....Friday?" Him: "Yeah, there's that. And there's the fact that it's the 26th." Me: "Okay. Great." Him: "You know what that means right?" Me: "That Halloween is 5 days away." Him: *rolls eyes* "That too." Me: *awkward silence* Him: "It's exactly one year - that's 365 days - until your book, Cinderskella, is released into the world." Me: *acts coy* "Oh right. I knew that." *contains need to dance around the house Gangnam style* Oh - what the heck! I'm dancing anyway!!!!! SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! One year, people. ONE YEAR!

Halloween is only NINE days away! Not like I'm counting or anything. Not that I'm excited. Nope, not at all. Since my book, Cinderskella, is inspired by all things Halloween, I thought it would be perfect to host a contest in honor of my (its-only-one-year-to-Cinderskella's-release-date) book! So....its a super simple contest. Just leave a comment about your funniest, cutest, scariest, spookiest Halloween costume, party or moment and I'll vote on my favorite! The only rule: Please keep your comments G-rated. While I love all things Halloween, I prefer the Disney version of things ;) For example: My favorite Halloween costume is to pin smarties candies all over my pants and go as a "Smarty Pants"  My favorite Halloween experience was when I was a teenager living in New York.  I worked at  Haunted Hayride and would get "hung" by an executioner 30 times a night.  I was harnessed into this contraption and a trap door would open beneath

On October 1st, my publisher, Jolly Fish Press, launched a fantastically frightening contest. Some of the JFP authors have written scary short stories for you to enjoy, just in time for Halloween! It's called "Creative Frighting" and you can find the contest here . My 12 year old co-author and I wrote one, too! It's called The Tale of Annabelle Craven and can be found here . We had loads of fun writing it and we hope you enjoy reading it! We'd love for you to read some of the wickedly awesome stories in the contest and vote for your favorite! Why? Well, you'll get a chance at a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble! We also hope that ours happens to be your very favorite!  Why?  Well because that would be awesome! So, what are you waiting for?  Get your spook on and start reading!  And if you should feel so inclined, after you've voted, come back and tell us which story was your favorite! Happy reading!  Happy Haunting!

Lehua is the author of a fun middle-grade read, One Boy, No Water which released on September 28th.  Her launch party was a huge success, with crowds of people waiting in line for a signed copy of her book!  She has graciously agreed to write a guest post today about her writing life.  I hope you'll put on your fuzzy slippers, warm up your drink and stay a bit! Once a publisher makes the sign of the cross over your work, blessing it and pronouncing it fit for public consumption, a lot of people want to know about your writing process. It’s kinda like being the fat kid who suddenly loses a lot of weight; everybody wants to know how you did it, especially if all you ate were Cheetos and watermelon seeds and your cardio program consisted of dancing naked in the moonlight to a Johnny Cash soundtrack. Wow. Think I just gave myself a nightmare! Plotters want to read about how you outlined every nuance; pansters want to hear how the story grew organically into tightly woven plot.

It happens to most of us at some point or another. For my daughter, it came sooner than I would have liked. You see, when we moved into our house just over 5 years ago, she was a pre-schooler and now...well, now she's growing up, maybe just a little too fast. Shortly after we moved in, I decorated her bedroom, perfectly sweet in a shabby chic, toddler pincess sort of way. But as it happens with children, she grew up and grew out of her bedroom, quite literally. The once cute furniture was now to small to store her clothes, or even sit in. So, I knew it was time for a transformation. I spent all summer painting walls, sanding furniture, painting furniture, sanding and painting, sanding and painting until my fingers bled. Because that's what most moms do for their kids. And I transformed her bedroom into a more grown-up style, in a NYC chic, french boudouire sort of way. It's a style that suits her perfectly, my little fashionista. Something old.... Bec