Sunday Funday, including contest winner! (17)

Happy Sunday, everyone! And what a happy Sunday it is...for many reasons. The most important to you being, of course, that I'm going to announce the winner of my 100 followers contest today!! *throws confetti* But before I give out his or her name, I'm going to give the Sunday Funday links, and tell my super-awesome good news!!!!!!

Good news first...which actually came about because of some dreadfully awful news. A few months ago, my Dell laptop bluescreened (if you don't know what that means, it's essentially the death rattle of an old computer). A few days after that, it happened again, and I got depressed. But then it didn't happen again, and I thought I would have plenty of time to save up for a new computer.

Then last night I plugged my WIP flash drive into my computer, only to be met with, you guessed it THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH. I was terrified, and vowed to never turn on that laptop again, unless it was to get all of the data off it. So today I took a trip to my local Apple store, and I am now the proud owner of a brand-new MacBook!!! It's gorgeous and I love it, and maybe I wasn't totally saved up for it, but this is my livelihood (freelance writing) and future (the novel) we're talking about here, so I feel it's justified. Plus this officially puts VLOGS on the table, as I now have iMovie and a video camera. Awesome. 

I also have a fun announcement. Awhile ago, Sara McClung dared me to post a video of me from my embarrassing days starring in high school musical theater. I more or less ignored her comment, but the whole time I was thinking...I've made my deal with the universe, but I haven't made my deal for when I find an agent. So, to make it official: when I get an agent, I will post a video from my theater days. Whether it be a snippet of my college performance in the Vagina Monologues or my duet from Footloose, you will see me...onstage...*sigh* I might even put up a poll and let you people decide how best to embarrass me. I get the feeling you'd enjoy that.   

OK, now for the Sunday Funday links!

On Friday, I wrote a post about what gold medal winner Evan Lysacek taught me about writing. Frankie Diane, one of the most inspiring yet-to-be-famous authors I know, was inspired by this and wrote an amazing post in response. I was touched by what she wrote, and agree with her completely - I've definitely had similar experiences to hers.

Sara McClung is having an amazing contest!! Seriously. You need to check it out.

Jenn Johansson discussed what a trip through the McDonalds drive-through taught her about writing and plotting. 

Speaking of pop-culture references, Shelli from Market My Words gave a few rejection lessons from American Idol.


Have you seen Maggie Stiefvater's rant about YA literature? No? You should.

OK...now for what you're actually reading this post for...the winner of my 100 Followers Contest!!

I used random.org to calculate a winner. Everyone got one entry. And random.org picked No. 30, which is...

Sarah! (Falen Formulates Fiction)

Congrats, Sarah! Here's what you won...

• The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (Second Edition) by Renni Browne and Dave King
• 2 Moleskine notebooks for jotting down your writerly ideas
• A homemade seedbead bookmark, made by yours truly, to mark your place in your favorite works of fiction and non-fiction

Sarah, you have 48 hours to get back to me with your address! If I don't hear from you, I'll select a new winner. 

Thanks to everyone who entered! In the past two weeks, I've gained almost 40 new followers (welcome, everyone!), so it seems like the 200 followers contest isn't far away...