What I Did on Summer Vacation - NOT!

I've wondered and prayed for days about how to write this blog post. Last night, I couldn't sleep and began reading. The book shared stories of hurting people, and within their stories, I found my "how-to" for this blog - just write it openly and honestly, with lots of prayer.

Our plans for the summer here at WIP and PNP were to host the Joy Tour, with a Beach Party Bingo. Except a few weeks into the event, I was waylaid. Big time.

Luke shares this story in his eighth chapter:

And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,  came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped.  And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”  But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.”  When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.  And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8:43-48 NASB)

Well, this summer, I identify with that woman. Thankfully not for twelve years, but for seven long, brutal months. Since February. The longer it went on, the stronger it got, and the weaker I became. Right before we left for St. Louis, I read that Cod Liver Oil would help, so I chugged the stuff the week before and all during that week, and thankfully, I was able to function without any major mishaps (like Greenville. I'll spare you the details, and I know you're grateful.) Did you know that Cod Liver Oil tastes like orange creamsicle. No, I'm not kidding, and no, I've not lost my mind. The stuff was actually GOOD.

But once I got home from St. Louis, I crashed. A couple of weeks later, I took a turn for the worse, and had Tim drive me to the emergency room. As they were admitting me - paperwork and vital signs (no needles at this point, for those of you who know my normal reaction to those) - I had a seizure that lasted three to four minutes. One minute I was in the doorway being wheeled toward a room, and the next minute, I was in the room and they were attempting to get me on a table with an IV in my arm. Have no recollection of what happened in between. (And we have no explanation for the seizure, except possible dehydration.)

My blood count taught me something I did not know. Normal blood count is 12. They give transfusions with a blood count of 7. Mine was at 8.

Because I have no insurance - have had none since I became a full-time freelancer in 2005 - they sent me home, doing nothing more for me than an IV drip of fluids and taking a CBC. They told me to get plenty of rest and call a gynecologist. After days of calling clinics, doctors, health departments to no avail - they either wanted too much money in advance, they didn't take cash patients at all, or they weren't booking appointments again until October - Tim and I decided to just doctor me at home.

I'm now taking lots of supplements, eating plenty of iron-rich foods, drinking lots of fluids filled with electrolytes (water wasn't enough), and resting entirely too much for my own sanity or for my regular schedule. One week ago today, the flow stopped, and I am beginning to feel human again. I've quit fainting when I take showers, I've cooked dinner a couple of times, and I actually walked through a grocery store yesterday for the first time since June.

I've also been back in the office full-time for a week. I'm still trying to get caught up, and find myself explaining delays several times a day - so I decided to share my saga here. It's not something I wanted to share, and not something I felt I should or could share until tonight, but after much prayer, and a dose of humility, I began typing.

We'll get things back on track here in the coming weeks - we already have some fun things in the works. And yes, we're still giving away the huge gift basket at the end of this month - stay tuned for it. You can visit this blog post for our last entry to see how to enter, or to get more entries.

The Lord gave me JOY as the word for this year. And it's our theme for the summer. In the midst of this trial - and a few others tossed my way at the same time (BIG SIGH) - I can honestly and fervently repeat James' words:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NASB)

Count it all JOY. Because it produces ENDURANCE. I've learned endurance. I'm in this life for the long haul, to tell people about Jesus, and to share the message of Jesus through our books, through our actions, through our very lives. He loves YOU and don't you forget it. He died for YOU - so that YOU might spend eternity with HIM. Tell that to someone TODAY. Right NOW. And if you don't know Jesus, I'd love to tell you more about Him - just leave a comment or send me an e-mail - editor [at] writeintegrity [dot] com. He's the Love of my life!! No, He doesn't promise a pain-free, hassle-free life here on earth - but He does promise a life everlasting with Him that IS pain-free and hassle-free when we get to Heaven. Will I see you there?

The JOY of the Lord is my strength. He supplies it all. 

I can't end this post without saying a special thank you to our authors for their patience, their prayers, their support, their encouragement, their love, and their patience (yes, I said it twice - because they've been so incredibly patient!) Thank you for standing in the gap for me, and for being women who encourage, inspire, challenge, delight, and deliver. And for writing stories that encourage, inspire, challenge, delight, and deliver. What a blessing you are. And thank you for making my 50th birthday so fun! I love y'all!!

And a special thank you to my husband Tim. He has taken on so much this summer - and taken such good care of me. God blesses me hourly with this precious man, and I'm so grateful.

PS: Merriam-Webster defines menopause as "the natural cessation of menstruation that usually occurs between the ages of 45 and 55; also : the period during which such cessation occurs ." One thing that has puzzled me all summer long is WHY women dread menopause? I just keep longing to get INTO it. They need a new word (besides the cutesy and totally inappropriate 'peri-menopause' that I was introduced to when I was 28) to describe the year or two just PRIOR to menopause. Who wants to help me coin a new word? Suggestions?

Favorite Childhood Summers - Part 3

The Beach Party continues. Thanks for your patience as we weathered a tornado and loss of power and internet for a few days.

Last week, we began talking about our childhood summers (Part 1, Part 2). And Ann Knowles provided a helpful blog on writing book reviews.

Today, we'll finish up the childhood summer posts, and we invite you to share some of your own memories with us! If you want to share a photo, send it to me at editor [at] writeintegrity [dot] com and I'll share them on our Facebook page!

Now more of our authors share their favorite childhood summers:

Maria (Mariska) and J.A.

J.A. MARX - Estes Park, CO, where the population fluctuated by the millions. During the winter, we claimed about 5,000 residents (’70s). But once summer hit, we swelled to a million, and not all were tourists. Many were families who’d bought second homes so they could escape the sweltering south.

Several of those families lived in my neck of the woods (literally). My parents were both real estate brokers and therefore knew every resident in the development. They had become good friends with the Peers who lived just over the hill. Lucky for me, the Peers’ grandchildren routinely visited from California. The youngest, Maria, and I played every summer throughout our grade school years.

My favorite thing to do was put together performances for our families. We did great during rehearsals, but when show time came, Maria giggled our act out of business. Talk about frustration! I don’t recall us completing a single performance.

Maria apparently gained some confidence during secondary schooling because every once in a while I catch her, Mariska Hargitay, playing Olivia on Law and Order, SVU.

Maybe today we could pull off a decent performance—without her tittering. She definitely made my summers memorable.

PEGGY CUNNINGHAM - My grandparents owned a summer home in the country. My times with them are by far my most wonderful memories of my childhood. They would take me with them on weekends, and most of my summers were spent at this place we called The Farm, even though it wasn’t a farm––more like a setting from a storybook. My collie dog, Nellie became my best friend as we hiked through the woods and the meadows daily. My grandparents cooked the most delicious Italian meals, and relatives visited on the weekends. My cousins also stayed with us at times, and family bonds were cemented at The Farm every summer of my childhood.

STEPHANIE CRAIG - It's hard to remember what summer of my childhood was the greatest.  While in elementary school, they all were great.  We had a swimming pool, the only one in the neighborhood, so all the kids wanted to be at our house during the summer.  We rode bikes, had sleepovers, and played backyard games.  My family never took any summer vacations, but I never felt like I missed out on anything because spending time with my friends in my backyard was better than a vacation.

VICKI TIEDE - My childhood summers all blur together as they were all much the same. We lived in the country only 3 miles from town, but you would have thought we were 20 miles out. We would say "goodbye" to our school friends on the last day of classes and wouldn't see them again until the fall. Our days were filled with wild, imagination-filled adventure on the farm, camping in a pick-up camper, walking beans, often painting something (fence/barn/etc.), 4-H, and the county fair. I loved every minute of it.


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Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3
Authors' Childhood Summers - Part 1
Authors' Childhood Summers - Part 2
What is a Book Review?

Favorite Childhood Summers - Part 2

Water. Summer is not summer without water, whether it be a lake, an ocean, a river, a Slip-N-Slide, or a sprinkler in the backyard.

Does water play a role in your childhood summers? Tell us about your childhood summers for a chance to win the massive Beach Basket Extravaganza we're giving away. Check out the new goodies we added on Monday!

If you're playing Beach Party Bingo with us, here are this week's cards:

Week 2 - HOPE
Week 2 - JOY

We continue sharing some of our authors' childhood summers. If you missed any of the previous posts, check out the links below. We'd love for you to show your support for our authors by checking out their websites (linked below) and their books over to the right - we're having a summer sale on print and digital books, so now's a great time to stock up!

JENNIFER FROMKE - I’m switching the question around (sorry!) Best thing about summer as a child: going up north. It’s a “thing” in Michigan to go up north. Almost everybody does it at some point. Lots of people do it every weekend. My family had a place on a lake and we’d go up for weekends, playing in the water, hiking in the woods, hanging out with cousins and aunts and uncles, playing cards, picnics by the water, croquet, waterskiing, campfires, sailing, boat rides, s’mores, canoeing, swimming, and looking for Petoskey stones in the water. These are my favorite summer things from childhood.

LYNDA LEE SCHAB - All of them! We didn't have video games back then, but found ways to entertain ourselves (Can you imagine?). The best memories I have include getting the neighborhood kids together to play a mean game of Kick the Can, spending 10 hours a day in the pool, and reading under a shade tree. Oh, how I long to enjoy the lazy days of summer again!

MARIE WELLS COUTU - the summer before I went into 7th grade, when my family traveled from Kentucky to Niagara Falls, and through Canada, visiting Toronto, stopping at a so-called “ghost” town, and on to Sault Ste. Marie (I especially liked the name), Mackinac Island, Detroit, in the process seeing all 5 Great Lakes. It involved a lot of car time, but it was my first time out of the U.S., with many memorable experiences.

RUTH O'NEIL - Summers as a kid kind of all run together. Summers were always filled with camping, parades, cookouts, swimming, and playing outside all day long. We often went to my Grandparents’ summer home in PA for a weekend getaway.

MARJI LAINE - In 1976, my family went to Boston to visit my cousins. Best Fourth of July celebration ever. And their small town even had a giant cake - largest my 8-year-old self had ever seen.

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Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3
Authors' Childhood Summers - Part 1

Favorite Childhood Summers - Part 1

Our Summer Beach Party continues! If you've missed all the fun, check the links below to see what you missed last week.

We’re adding more to the Beach Basket Extravaganza this week!

WEEK 1:

• 42-quart plastic tub to fill with goodies all summer long!
• 2 extra-long beach towels
• 1 pair of fun sunglasses to bring some bling to the beach
• A festive photo album as a reminder to capture all those summer memories
• $50 Visa gift card
• Paperback AND digital copies of Stalking Willow by Fay Lamb and Destiny Defied by J.A. Marx

WEEK 2:

• $50 Darden Restaurants Gift Certificate (can be used at any Bahama Breeze, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, or Seasons 52)
• Giant Beach ball
• Fun inflatable Air Mattress for swimming
• Beach Badminton set
• Paperback AND digital copies of A Familiar Shore by Jennifer Fromke and For Such a Moment by Marie Wells Coutu

This week, we’re talking about our childhood summers. Long, sun-filled days overflowing with games, laughter, fresh foods, and new adventures. Evenings filled with fireflies, star-gazing, and learning to distinguish between the sounds of frogs and crickets. I long for those days again at times, what about you?

Readers, share with us some of your favorite memories of childhood summers.

This week, our authors will share some of their favorite childhood memories. I love getting to know our authors more with all these answers! Be sure to check out their books, too - all the links are over to the right. And click on their names below to visit their websites and blogs.

We're having a summer sale on all the digital books, and even on several of the print books too, so now's a great time to stock up or try someone new. You may discover a new favorite author - or more!

Authors, share with us your favorite memories of childhood summers.

Photo courtesy of Fay Lamb

FAY LAMB - The summer I turned twelve years old. As Stephen King said, in Stand by Me: “You’ll never have friends like the friends you had when you were twelve years old. It was the first summer I spent at my grandmother’s house in Louisa, Kentucky. I was a shy backward kid whose doctor ordered me to Kentucky to de-stress, and one neighbor girl asked me if I wanted to play kickball. I joined in with several kids in the neighborhood, but she and I were inseparable for several summers after that, and I’m still friends today with her and several others.



MARIE WELLS COUTU - the summer before I went into 7th grade, when my family traveled from Kentucky to Niagara Falls, and through Canada, visiting Toronto, stopping at a so-called “ghost” town, and on to Sault Ste. Marie (I especially liked the name), Mackinac Island, Detroit, in the process seeing all 5 Great Lakes. It involved a lot of car time, but it was my first time out of the U.S., with many memorable experiences.

DEANNA - All my summers were great growing up: Vacation Bible School, Scout camp, my first summer jobs, riding bikes, eating popsicles, picnics in the park downtown, building secret clubhouses. All of it was wonderful. The freedom children today don’t know.

Don't forget to sign in to Rafflecopter for your chance to win the ever-growing Beach Basket Extravaganza!

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Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

Friday Fun!

It's Friday, so it's FUN day! We're playing a virtual game of beach volleyball over on Facebook - if you see the volleyball and want to get in the game, just leave a comment on that FB post, and one of the players could volley the ball (or spike it, if I know J.A. Marx) to YOU! Then you just volley it to someone else by tagging them when you share it on your wall.

Here's the photo to look for:

Radiant Joy is looking for sandcastles. I started looking online for some to share, and found this fun video that turned into an ad. I'm not promoting the product, just sharing the fun.

J.A. Marx's new supernatural suspense, Destiny Defied, is no longer free, but you can get print and digital copies on sale now! Check it out!

[REMINDER TO WRITERS: The deadline for the first round of the Books of Joy contest is next week - June 15! You could win a publishing contract for your SERIES of books!]

And don't forget - enter to win our humongous gift basket we'll be giving away in August, valued at over $500! I'll have more pictures and add more goodies to the basket on Monday!

Yesterday, a reader asked about the Bingo Game. All the answers for this weeks' cards will be found in the blog posts about the authors' vacations.

If you're just joining us, click on the links to read all about our summer Beach Party.

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

Readers: Have you ever built a sand castle? Tell us about it!

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Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

A couple of quick notes before we discover more favorite vacations!

Yesterday afternoon, I announced all the details about the Beach Party Bingo Game. I'll add new bingo cards there every Wednesday. You could win YOUR name for one of the characters in an upcoming book!

Also, TODAY is the final day that J.A. Marx's novel Destiny Defied is FREE on Kindle! It has some great five star reviews already. Here's a snippet from one: "You won't forget these characters and won't want to because their stories continue. In this book, the foursome hunky guys meet Chiara. [nothing over PG in this book] And she is something else! Her genre of Embattled Spirits is teamed up with psychology and spiritual warfare and make this an interesting read."

Now, more of our authors' favorite vacations.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Fromke

JENNIFER FROMKE - Grand Cayman with 6 kids, 4 adults, perfect weather, and a pile of books. The view is breathtaking. I could almost literally sit there and stare at it all day. The sand is pure - all crushed coral, clean, beautiful. The water is clear, clean, turquoise. And the food on the island is first rate. Plus, we didn’t use our phones for a whole week (in order to avoid the international rates). That might be the best part. Great togetherness, stunning scenery, warm water and sun. Can’t wait to go back someday!

VICKI TIEDE - Two years ago we took our kids to FL, rented a house and enjoyed everything Disney and Universal Studios and the beach had to offer.

MARJI LAINE - (This is really hard. I'm a homebody.) The year before we got married, my fiance joined my family on a ski vacation to Red River, NM. There were 12 of us in all, staying in a large condominium. Skied all day and laughed all night. I love being together with my family!

If you're just joining us, catch up on all the fun by starting here:

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

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Let's Play Bingo!

I decided to do a separate post for the Bingo Game, so all of the information and links wouldn't get lost. Each week, I'll add the new bingo cards to THIS post, and then bump it to the top on Wednesdays.

Here's how we play.

Each week, I'll post two Bingo cards - HOPE and JOY.

The HOPE card represents answers from WIP authors, the JOY card represents answers from PNP authors - and yes, some authors are on both cards!

First, download the cards (click HOPE and JOY for each card), then read that week's blog posts to find the clues. Under the clue, type (or write, if you can scan the document to email it) the AUTHOR'S NAME associated with that clue.

To show an example, I'll post a picture here.

You would read that weeks' posts and discover that CHAMPS ELYSEE was mentioned in J.A. Marx's answer on Tuesday's post, so you'd type/write J.A. MARX in that box.

I'm going to give another example and a hint for this week. On both cards this week, you'll find 40th Anniversary. We have TWO authors who mentioned favorite vacations then - one author, Marie Wells Coutu, writes for WIP and the other, Peggy Cunningham, writes for both PNP and WIP, so you'd put Marie's name on HOPE's card, and Peggy's name on JOY's card.

We'll make it easy for you - you can get ONE bingo - vertical, horizontal, or diagonal OR you can fill the whole card. If you fill the whole card, we'll put it in the bucket twice to give you an extra entry.

When you've filled out the card, e-mail it to me at magnificenthope [at] yahoo [dot] com with BINGO CARD - WEEK [#] in the subject line (replace the brackets and hash tag with the week number, please.) Deadline to submit cards is Wednesday of the following week, all during the contest. (Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. Eastern time - so deadline to submit cards for Week 1 is 6/12, Week 2 is 6/19, etc.) The cards have to be submitted weekly by deadline to qualify for weekly and grand prizes.

Starting on Friday of the 2nd week, we'll announce weekly winners from the previous week's entries. We'll draw winners from correct entries and give away some digital books. But that's not all.

At the end of the summer, all bingo cards submitted with correct answers, are eligible to win a unique grand prize - we'll use the winner's name (first and/or last, winner's choice) in one of our upcoming books!! (And no worries - we won't use your name in a negative way!) If you have a preference on genre and/or author, include that preference in the email, along with your contact information. We can't guaranteed that you'll get exactly what you want, but we'll do our best to make it happen.

Weekly winners announced on Fridays, beginning next week. Grand Prize winner announced the first week of September.



Read More:

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2

Print version is ready ahead of schedule
so it's available TODAY! 

Before we get started with the Beach Party Bingo, I thought I'd let you in on a little secret! Marie Wells Coutu's debut novel, For Such a Moment, is ready ahead of schedule! You can order the print version as of TODAY! The Kindle version will be here soon!

Revealing her secret could save lives … or change hers forever. In this book that re-imagines the story of Queen Esther in a contemporary setting, Ellen Neilson enjoys her comfortable life as the wife of an American CEO. Having lived in America since the age of ten, she has forsaken her mixed heritage and kept aspects of her childhood secret. Her husband has become engrossed in his job, and she believes having a child will salvage their troubled marriage. When her cousin Manuel, whom she hasn’t seen for twenty years, shows up as one of her husband’s managers, Ellen fears that her past will be revealed. The company buys a banana plantation in her native country of Guatemala, and Manuel informs her that illegal pesticides have poisoned the water. People are dying, but she doesn’t know who’s to blame for the cover-up.

Wouldn't this be a great book for the beach? Let's get back there!

As I compiled the list of all the various questions and answers, I didn't read them - just scanned. When I got ready to create this post, I realized we had TWO favorite vacations that occurred on 40th wedding anniversaries! Love that!

Readers, share with us your favorite vacations for a chance to win! Did any of your favorite vacations fall on an anniversary? 

More of our authors share their favorite vacations.

MARIE WELLS COUTU - February 2012 when we took our children and 3 grandsons on a week-long cruise to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, and Grand Cayman to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary (which was actually in December). We also celebrated four birthdays that actually occurred close to or during the trip.

RUTH O'NEIL - Atlantic Beach weekend with my sister. No one called me “mom” or needed me for any reason for three whole days! The sharks were a bit disturbing, but let’s be honest; I hardly ever go in the water anyway, except to pee.

PEGGY CUNNINGHAM - It was only a short get away, but memorable and just what we needed. We were on furlough and made it a point to block out two days for our 40  ^th anniversary. It was September. When we arrived at the lakeside resort hotel, it was apparent tourist season had ended. The silence in the lobby calmed our stressed mood. We had a lakeside view from our room. The misty air with the fragrance of pine trees set the mood for relaxation. For two glorious days, we listened to the rain pounding on the deck outside the sliding doors while we huddled by the crackling fire and watched movies and ate take out from the nearby restaurant. Did I mention the hotel was owned by a man from our hometown who invented the Big Mac?

LYNDA SCHAB -  Definitely the All-Inclusive resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There's nothing like lounging by the pool with umbrella drinks, with nothing to do except read a good book.

STEPHANIE CRAIG - After three long and tiring years of a pediatric cancer battle for my son, we were fortunate enough to go to a resort called "Give Kids the World" in Kissimmee, Florida.  It's a place exclusively for wish kids (from organizations like Make-A-Wish) and their families.  They gave us tickets to all the major attractions in the area.  But the resort itself was amazing.  It had a pool with the best splash pad we've ever seen.  The playground area was a life-sized game of Candy Land.  It had a magical Castle with a merry-go-round for the kids.  Every day, they left gifts for the kids and every night they had a themed party such as Christmas, Pirates and Princesses, or Candy Land night.  Plus they had so much more.  Any family would be thrilled to stay at a resort like that, but after spending years in treatment and in and out of the hospital, it was absolute paradise.  It was the first time we really were able to dream about what life could be like after treatment. 

[Ed. Note: Shannon Vannatter is running a special series all month long on her Inkslinger blog with the authors of Heart Bouquets. Be sure to check it out - I know they're giving away some prizes!]

DIANNE E. BUTTS - Hmm. Hard to pick a favorite.

Maybe it was last year in 2012 when we drove from Colorado to Orlando and got to see a large part of the U.S. we hadn't seen before. In Orlando we visited the Holy Land Experience, which was very awesome and memorable. Then also rode a bunch of rides at Universal Resorts and spent a day on the beach at Cocoa Beach. Or my favorite might have been in 2010 when I spent two weeks in Los Angeles at the Act One: Writing for Hollywood seminar. That was definitely the longest trip (time-wise) I've ever been gone from home, but was more work than vacation. But then my husband drove out and picked me up and we took a vacation. We spent some time on a beach near Malibu.

If you haven't picked up your copy of Destiny Defied - grab it now! The Kindle version is FREE through tomorrow!


Answer this question in the comments for your chance to win!

Bingo cards aren't quite ready - I'll post them and the rules to that portion of the game on Friday!


Readers, share with us your favorite vacations for a chance to win! Did any of your favorite vacations fall on an anniversary? 





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Read More:

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1

Beach Party Bingo is off to a great start! We'll have posts all during the week, but we're also having fun on Facebook and Twitter, so come join all the fun! Yesterday, we started a game of virtual beach volleyball - and Magnificent Hope joined in the fun!

But Radiant Joy wasn't about to be outdone - she decided to throw her own little contest over on the Pix-N-Pens Facebook page. She's wanting readers to send in photos of SANDCASTLES!

We asked our authors to tell us about their favorite vacations. We'll share their answers the rest of this week. Readers, we want you to share your favorite vacation with us in the comments. And be sure to sign in to the Rafflecopter below for more entries in the Beach Bucket Extravaganza worth over $500!

Be sure to come back tomorrow to read more AND get the whole scoop on the BINGO portion of this beach party!

And now, here are some of our authors' favorite vacations:

DEANNA KLINGEL - I had a very romantic week in Paris with my husband in 1979 that I will always

remember.

Summer sale! Print and digital formats
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FAY LAMB - My children were still young, and my husband and I planned to surprise them with a special trip. If they’d known they were going to Disney World for the first time ever, even though we only lived forty-five minutes away, they wouldn’t have slept that night. So we told them that we were going to their great-grandma’s house. She lived in Avon Park, and we’d been going for visits so much that the kids just didn’t want to take the drive. To get to Avon Park, you have to drive through Orlando and past the exit for the theme parks, so the ploy worked wonderfully. When Marc veered in another direction away from great-grandma’s, the car got very quiet. I turned a bit so I could watch the boys. Our youngest, Ethan, wasn’t in the mood for looking out the window, but our oldest, Corey, was watching the passing scenery. His eyes narrowed as we kept passing the information signs. Then Marc turned into the drive toward Disney where it was obvious we were on park property. “Ethan, we’re going to Disney World!” Corey screamed. I have never forgotten the delight in their excited chatter.

J.A. MARX - Alpine Sledding and the Louvre

December 2010. Before the nest emptied out, we made our last Christmas together a memorable one. We rented a flat for the week that cost a fraction of the price of a hotel in the picturesque town of Interlaken, Switzerland, in the middle of the Alps. 

On Christmas Day, while the townspeople celebrated in their homes, we rode the train to the slopes. Each of us got our own metal sled with a canvas seat.

We rode the gondola up through the clouds to the top of the mountain where the yellow avalanche warning light was flashing. I glided up to a metal barrier and peered over the edge into a snowy abyss at least a couple thousand feet deep. From there, we zigzagged down the slope—for almost 2 hours. A most adventurous ride.

To France, via train. 

Accrued Marriott points allowed us to stay free right on Avenue des Champs-Élysées. While touring the Louvre, climbing la Tour Eiffel, and visiting other attractions, we feasted daily on giant crêpes lathered with Nutella. 

In Paris, you walk. Everywhere. In spite of eating all their good food, we came home thinner, our soles worn. 

Best vacation ever.

FREE ON KINDLE THIS WEEK ONLY!

And we've got some FUN news to share today. 

Destiny Defied is FREE on Kindle June 4-6! So grab your copy NOW!

Supernatural Suspense Destiny Defied by @JA_Marx FREE on #Kindle <Tweet This>

Trapped on a mysterious island, eighteen-year-old Riki finds refuge with four strangers. Isaac, the rugged EMT, insists no one else is around, but Riki cannot ignore her fear that someone is stalking her. Unless she finds a power truly great enough to overthrow Darkness, Riki will choose death over returning to captivity. 

Lord Vétis, high priest of a cultic underground, will stop at nothing to reclaim the chosen one, but he must do so before her introduction to the real world ruins her royal destiny. Using black magic, he manipulates Riki and her self-assigned bodyguards, triggering a battle that consumes the entire island. The underground will never allow Riki to live out her dreams of a normal life…something she has never known.

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Read More:

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3

Beach Party Bingo!

It's been quiet here on the blog lately - we've been planning and plotting and working behind the scenes to create a fun summer event. And today, we get to share it. I LOVE summer. And I love the beach. So this summer, we're throwing a virtual beach party.

Welcome to Beach Party Bingo!

We've asked all our authors to share some favorite things, and each week, we'll share their answers in blog posts, two or three times per week. I'm loving the answers coming in, so it promises to be a great time.

Beach Bucket is waiting for YOU!

There will be one theme per week, and it's that theme that will help you win our GIGANTIC Beach Bucket (42 quart!) filled with goodies. Each week, through August 30, we'll add a few more goodies to the basket.

This week, we'll start the basket off with:

• 42 quart plastic tub to fill with goodies all summer long!
• 2 extra-long beach towels
• 1 pair of fun sunglasses to bring some bling to the beach
• A festive photo album as a reminder to capture all those summer memories
• $50 Visa gift card
• Paperback copies of Stalking Willow by Fay Lamb and Destiny Defied by J.A. Marx

We're using Rafflecopter to give away this GINORMOUS Beach Bucket - you can earn up to 10 entries a day for your chance to win!

We're also giving away some weekly prizes - more details about that on Wednesday!

Tomorrow, we'll begin sharing our authors' answers to this:

Tell us your FAVORITE VACATION ever.

That's our theme for this week, so readers, share YOUR own favorite vacation in the comments here and/or on any post this week.

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Recap of this week's posts:

Beach Party Bingo
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 1
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 2
Let's Play Bingo!
Authors' Favorite Vacations - Part 3