CONTEST! Over at Valor!

My publisher is having a contest to see who can come up with the best theme for their huge launch party that they're having for 6 of their authors. If you win, you get a basket with all six brand new books, and dinner for two at Applebees.

Check it out!

http://valorpublishing.blogspot.com/

Many of you have asked me if I'll be coming near your city on my National book tour, for my TV & radio interviews, signings and speaking engagements.

I just got the list from the publisher. I don't have dates, yet.
But these are the cities and order:

New York City, NY
Baltimore, MD
Jacksonville, FL
Chicago, IL
Denver, CO
Phoenix, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
San Jose, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA

I would love to meet you if I could! It would be so awesome!
Jenni

VALOR PUBLISHING! My New Home!

I've had interest in my Jane Austen series for quite a while now... as some of you know, and I've finally chosen a publisher who I believe will treat me and the books the best. I wanted AWESOME marketing! And thanks to Valor Publishing, I'm going to get it!

Here's the lowdown of my life the next few months and what Valor is like:

I'm a happy girl. It's a smaller publishing house, so there's no advance--but then I get all my royalties when they come in--unlike Penguin, or Harper Collins, or S&S--it takes years for you to see a dime if you get a big advance... They're releasing the book (the northanger affect) June 1st (just as the Twilight movie Eclipse is released) and they're scheduling me for a 21 day/17 city tour around the US right afterwards (starting in new york and ending in Seattle)--They take care of everything, flights, hotels, food--I'm so excited!

They are also providing me with a publicist, to help keep me organized and ready to go, buying my business cards etc. I'll also go through training classes, so i know how best to deal with the media..etc... Okay, so I don't need this one but--hey! I may learn something. LOL!

The next few months they're looking into writers conferences as well. They want to get me out and visual ASAP--especially with the Twilight/Jane connection, in The Northanger Affect.

At my launch party, they said they usually hire a band, and go all out with refreshments, etc... so already we were talking a twilight/jane austen fangirl bash.

They have connections with hollywood and will be first going to see if they can get interest in the big screen before they go to TV land. Yay!

ALSO!!!! AFTER speaking with me and meeting me and seeing my background in professional theater--I get to go to their recording studio and begin recording--me reading the books for audio, CD and MP3 downloads! Which will include even more royalties for me! YAY!

I'm so happy and I feel awesome about it. It's like, finally! They were who I was meant to go with all along.

The president of the pub said she laughed so hard while reading Northanger that she woke her husband up! He had to come downstairs to see what was so funny! Eeeh! Okay... I'm learning to breathe now.

Just wanted to pass on the awesome news!!!

PS can you see now why I love a smaller publisher who'll take care of you....????

As a refresher... here's the blurb for my Northanger rewrite:

This modern Gothic remake of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, and nod to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series, will leave you in stitches--literally.

Seattle Washington, and the Russo family, are no match for Claire Hart and her savvy knowledge of all things vampire related. Thanks to her obsession with the Twilight series--if there is anyone who would know a vampire when she saw one, it's Claire. And she's positive totally hot Tony Russo is a vampire, she just has to prove it! Follow Claire's hilarious journey on her first summer adventure away from home, where she learns everything isn't what it seems, and in some instances, reality is way better than anything she'd ever find in a book!

Note from the author: I knew from the beginning that Northanger Abbey would be my biggest challenge to rewrite. Since it is the most unfamiliar/unread of all the Austen books. I love it! I think it is extremely funny and a complete satire of the gothic novels that were popular at the time. To modernize this, I needed to base my story off of massively popular modern gothic novels. Enter the Twilight Series.

I'm BACKKKK!!!!

Yep! It's me. Really. Look!

BOO!

We've moved into our new house in Pleasant Grove, Utah... where my hubby is the newest Air Force Recruiter in town. (and the cutest! *grins*)

And the best part is... after six months of waiting, I finally have my computer back! Wahooo!

I missed you guys!

Here, are a couple of pictures, of Halloween over the weekend. I've got chloe and carson with me. princess and a ghost--yes, the child is so imaginitive, you have no idea! LOL! And I was a witch! check out that FABULOUS witch hat! So fun!

PS! Oh! And we've got some news! Finally, finally, after 9 miscarriages... baby number 7 is on the way. Can't you see my smile? We're sooo happy! How have ya'll been?

5 yr old versus Sprinkler~Sprinkler Won

So living back in the good ol' U.S. of A. has had its surprising moments for my kids. Too many to write them all down actually. And believe it or not we're still getting chuckles out of their amazement over the simplest things, daily.

Take, Carson my 5 yr old, who has apparently never seen an automatic sprinkler in his entire sheltered existence. I know, gasp!, I mean I do try to keep them as sheltered as possible, but I guess a mom can't shield her kids from everything the US may expose them to.

So there was my little unsuspecting 5 year old, gallivanting across the lawn in my mother's backyard. I'd been trying to convince him to come into the house and enjoy his breakfast, but to no avail. I was just at the point of death threats that went something like this--

"Carson Douglas James if you do not get your butt in this house right now, I'll--"

When all at once the nasty, mean sprinklers popped their ugly heads up and pummeled him with gallons of water from every direction. The poor kid froze and panicked. I could barely make out his sputtered reaction,

"Mom! Mom! What... is... happening... to... me?" Spit, cough, sputter. "What is.... this thing?" Hack, spat. "Why is the ground....spitting on me???? WHY??? HELP ME!"

I laughed. Of course I did. What else was I supposed to do? Seriously, he should always listen to his mom in the first place.

But I do have to admit I laughed louder a couple of days later when he came in the house soaked again--having just had his second bout with the sprinklers and lost.

"Mom! Grandma's yard is crazy! It keeps attacking me with water for no reason! I don't think it likes kids on it's lawn. That's it. I don't care what you guys say, I'm playing inside!!"

Carson 0

Sprinkler 2

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

This just cracked me up! Who hasn't had to deal with this! Love to all the dads out there today!!! Happy Father's Day!

My Pretty Husband

Every Sunday I let my little girls bedeck themselves in my pot of loose glitter. (The kind they sell in the makeup aisle.) They usually sprinkle a bit on their cheeks and a smidgeon on their hair so they feel like Fairy Princesses in their beautiful dresses from their Fairy Grandmother....

Well, a couple of Sundays ago (our last Sunday in England to be exact) we were running around our hotel room like mad to get everyone dressed. So when my daughter asked if she could put the glitter on Chloe (2 yr old) I thought nothing of it... until she whispered, "Uh-oh!"

When I glanced over the baby's head was literally drenched in a sea of glitter--and the pot was half gone! LOL! --This pot will last us a good year, usually. Anyway, we were super late so I just brushed off what I could and we ran out the door, glitter streaming behind me.

Fast forward to church were my hubby is now holding said glitter pot baby and then zoom forward a little more where we are in our Sunday School class together and Chloe is playing happily in the nursery with the other 2 yr olds. With all the children gone, I can finally snuggle up to my hubby and hold his hand during the class. Which I do until I notice his suit is winking back at me.

At first I just brush off the offending glitter and giggle quietly to myself. Until I notice the glitter doesn't stop. As I pull back my eyes slowly travel up the sparkly suit to the sparkly white shirt and tie to the even sparklier cheeks and jaw line of my totally manly hubby.

I begin to laugh as I frantically wipe at his cheeks. Glitter is everywhere. Even his eyes, forehead and hair! --And my wiping was only making it worse! LOL! So after a few more laughing attempts I finally shrug and say, "Well, you'll just have to be my sparkly fairy princess today."

Then my hubby, without missing a beat, gasps affronted and says, "Excuse me? I'm your sparkly vampire, remember?"

LOL! So there you have it. Stephenie Meyer has officially made it cool for men to be sparkly. Who knew, glitter would bring out the vampire in my hubby? I sure didn't... but uh, ahem--just where did I put that pot at...?

Life & Books Update

I've had a lot of people ask me to update what's going on in my crazy life... so here it is:

As of right now we're with my mom and dad in New Mexico, right up at the top of the state by the Four Corner's Area. Due to my hubby's recruiter training school we're gonna be here until October (until the first quarter of the kids school is over) at that time we'll be moving to Provo Utah... and hopefully Mark and I will have the new house all ready for the kids.

So for those of you who have just joined us, my family and I just relocated to the States from England last week.

Whew.

Now on to the books. Most of you know I've written 7 books in the past year. Only 2 are ready for submissions. The other 5 are in various states of rewrites and will not be submitted--or even thought of being submitted to publishers until my agent, Kirsten Manges, has her twins in August! (So exciting!) So after my final move in Oct, Kirsten and I will get back together and start submissions on the next one.

Pride & Popularity--book one and the book that got my agent, went out to the publishing world in Oct. By November we had three publishers very interested (On second reads!). Then the publishing world folded and all three came back with a thanks, but no thanks. We had one publisher willing to do rewrites with us and talk to me directly on what she envisioned. But after waiting 4 months for the editor to find the time for P&P she came back with a 'no thank you' as well.

Which however disappointing it may be for other authors, I took it as a massive relief and sign! First off, I was able to write three separate books that had nothing to do with my Jane Austen rewrites, one of which is with publishers now. And it gave me the opportunity to meet Candi and Kasie, two of the most AWESOME proof readers of all time. They both read Pride & Popularity and were able to point out exactly what was wrong with it and why the editors may have passed.

So after 4 months of waiting for the editor, I was FINALLY able to add the revisions to Pride & Popularity that needed to be there. The whole book is so much stronger now! And I'm super excited about sending it out, we just won't be able to until after Kirsten's twins are born, since she'll be part of the negotiations and she's already working on my top secret book, that I'll be able to reveal to you soon. That book--is my 7th--and just might be the first book sold! LOL! Ironic right?

So there it is. My update. My first book is still on hold--but so awesome now, I can't believe it! And I can't wait to share it with new editors--unless there is one that has just happened to stumble onto my blog and would like to read it before the end of the month--then contact Kirsten Manges--you won't be disappointed! LOL! Hey a girl can dream, right? And my 7th book will hopefully be sold soon! I'll let you know. Meanwhile, I'm revising...

Persuaded (Totally awesome Persuasion rewrite--well, if you like 4-wheeling it is!),

Emmalee (Super cute Emma rewrite!),

The Northanger Affect (So FUNNY! it's my modern Stephenie Meyer/Jane Austen spoof),

BFF Notebook (with co-author Kasie, about two girls who write in a notebook back & forth trying to solve the love mystery of just who their secret admirers are),

Prince Tennyson (the sweet book about the 10 yr old girl, who's dad died in Iraq the year before and now she wants to prove if God is real or not)

and writing Mansfield Ranch! (Yes, girls... it's speaking to me again!)

Eeeh! I love being an author!

FYI

IF you take 6 of these (Redheads who have lived in England the past 5 years)












And let them play out in the New Mexican sun









Without thinking about the importance of This:
















You get 6 sizzling bacon strips instead of children.






Just a friendly reminder of course. I always remember to lather generous ammounts of sunblock on my children every single day. ALWAYS. This is just to inform other moms with 6 redheaded children, who are unnaturally white from five years of no sun exposure, who just happen to read my blog. You know, just doing my duty as a concerned parent and all.

Erm, and just as a precaution, does anyone know the best way to change crisp bacon back into skin? You know, in case I ever did need to know.

The USA Rocks!

We're here! We're here! I can't believe it, but we've finally made it home! And even though I miss Europe like crazy, there's no place like home...

It's been so much fun getting to show the kids all of the American stuff they've never seen before like, stores, restaurants, vehicles, signs, MOUNTAINS! But their most favorite thing to see was the US Flag. My kids were so excited seeing the flag as we were driving on the Utah freeway, that they all immediately put their hands over their hearts and began to recite the pledge of allegiance. LOL!

Then as someone would see another flag, they'd quickly place their hands over their hearts and do it again, and again, and again... for every flag they saw. Until soon, they were saying the pledge so fast you couldn't even understand the words.

Finally Maralyn, my 7 yr old said--as each brother pointed out a different flag at the same time-- "Sheez! There's too many! I'm telling you, Utah is is just too American for me. How are we supposed to do this all day long?"

They all agreed that maybe saying the pledge for every flag was just a bit much.

I for one was very grateful they stopped! LOL!

It's good to be home! And back! I'll be checking your blogs on and off all day, I can't wait to catch up with you all!

Love,

Jenni and the whole James Gang!

STOP the MADNESS!

I'm Moving today. Yep. The movers are here as I type, scrambling all around me to make sense of my mad, mad house. I took a quick break to say howdy and answer emails before they take away my desktop... then it's on to the laptop for 2 1/2 more weeks. Soon, I'm gonna be a bonafide American again. Eeeh! We all are. My children are going to be able to say they're American and really know what it means. I love AMERICA. I love England, and Europe... it's just that there's really no place like home! I can't believe it, after 8 years, 3 more kids, 11,000lbs of stuff, we're really coming back!

So the real question is... Can the USA handle the James Gang? We're bringing our crazy, spasmodic, wildly laughing sparks--and there's nothing anyone can do about it now! Muhahaha! <--Yes, just scared a mover guy with my wild maniacal laughter.

PS In other news... I googled myself last night! LOL! And thanks to all of my wonderful readers, facebook friends, twitter peeps, and people who advertise my blog on theirs... I'm now (With the most common name on the planet) officially #1 on the google search! I used to be on the 3rd page! LOL! WAHOO! Yeah, my 9 year old, has finally called me cool. He was like, "Mom! You're on GOOGLE!? No way! Now I believe you're cool!"

"Gee, thanks Tanner. I guess I feel cool, too." LOL!

So there you have it. This is what Cool feels like.
Ok off to clean more, and more, and more, and more....! Ciao, dawlings!

Awards & Blogging LOVE!

I was very blessed to not only be awarded with this award once... but TWICE! Thank you so much, Debra & Amber! I love reading your blogs! They bring smiles to me everyday. I'm extremely flattered and humbled to receive this from each of you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! And as you can see... it is decorating my blog as I type!
So you know what this means, right? I get to award this award to twice as many of my favorite blogs! YAY! If you get a chance go and check them out... I love, love, love reading blogs. I find them so fascinating and fun and purely enjoyable! So without further ado... I present you with the One Lovely Blog Award.

This award is for 10 new blogs (which means 20) that I have stumbled across that I would like to present and here they are in no, particular order:

1. http://dramaqueensguide.blogspot.com/ She presents drama fit for a queen! Love your blog!
2. http://occasionallyj.blogspot.com/ She presents an adventure in every post! So Exciting!
3. http://seanandregina.blogspot.com/ An amazing mom raising four boys, and a wonderful advocate for down syndrome! Love you!
4. http://rock-more.blogspot.com/ A young wife living her dream on her own & also teaching herself how to run marathons! You inspire me!
5. http://nikkiloftin.com/ A busy mom and new writer with dreams and speed as fast as mine! LOL! Plus a real sweetheart.
6. http://philosophyofklo.blogspot.com/ High School teacher with amazing insights and the ability to post more than one blog a day.. bow to your expertise at blogdom!
7. http://louderthannoise.blogspot.com/ Super cute, fun mommy writer who's also a dead ringer for Kristen Stewart (you know, bella in Twilight!)
8. http://www.provocationofmind.com/ Fun, make you laugh girl--with a bit of the wildside! LOL!
9. http://pattinielson.blogspot.com/ A writer and mom who's posts make me smile, giggle, and snort! Thanks Patti.
10. http://loredanatironpandit-dailywriting.blogspot.com/ An amazing mom and deep thinking blog full of poetry, prose and poise.. Love your blog!
11. http://wendword.blogspot.com/ Mom, blogger, writer, with incredible insight on her writer journey--oh! And the PRETTIEST blog background ever--very talented!
12. http://writermomof5.wordpress.com/ gorgeous mom of 5--author, editor, writer--who has some of the most amusing tweets in the the twittersphere!
13. http://midnightmeditations.blogspot.com/ This girl is funny! And wickedly talented with her photoshop abilities--also mom and writer! LOL!
14. http://grosvenorsquare.blogspot.com/ One of the classiest ladies on the web--and a gal after my own heart, since I LOVE to read historical novels!
15. http://lamoss.blogspot.com/ Amazing photographer, blogger, writer & book reviewer, her blog delights me every time I read it!
16. http://somethingshewrote.blogspot.com/ A wonderful, deep compelling blog, with a wicked sense of humor! Love your blog!
17. http://imnotcrazymommy.blogspot.com/ No she's not crazy, but she'll sure make you laugh! Love your blog!
18. http://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com/ This girl rocks the writing world! Her posts are filled with amazing writing ideas, and subjects. if you're a writer check her out!
19. http://olsens7.blogspot.com/ Cute crafting mom with lots of ideas and full of life & energy!
20. http://sgkrishnamurty.blogspot.com/brand new blogger, awesome writer, beta reader, and friend!

These are just a sample of the amazing blogs I've stumbled across recently! Thank you, for letting me pass the word and love along. And oh yeah, you now get the wonderful honor of distributing to your ten favorite new blogs!

Plus, if you get the chance, go add these gals to your blogreel, you won't regret it!

PS Also, head over to Debra's blog and celebrate her 100th post with her! She's giving away BORDER'S GIFT CARDS! How awesome is that, right?

Wanna Kiss?

Mark & I took all 6 kids to the dentist yesterday for our final checkups before we move. The kids were awesome! No really, they were. Of course it helped that the office had a VHS player and some old movies my kids hadn't seen (They watched 3! LOL!) Anyway, I learned the most amazing thing! LOL! I have Super Powers! True story. Who knew, right?

So Apparently, the reason why I've NEVER had a cavity is because I have Super Saliva. That's right. I'm Super Saliva Girl! (Yeah, I could've hoped for a different super hero name--but beggars can't be choosers!) This super spit is so awesome, it has bacteria that fights off all other cavity forming/gum disease bacteria. LOL! Squirmishly Gross and sort of Fascinating, right? And guess what? I can pass on my uber cool drool to others through Kissing! LOL!

So now I've been tormenting my children. I know, gasp! Me torment? LOL! I've flat out told them I'm giving them kisses--lots of kisses, since once we move back to the States we've got to pay for dental again! LOL! Then I've decided, once I pass on my Super Cavity Crime Fighting Protection Plan to them, we can use our powers for good and continue to combat cavity crime everywhere! Soon the whole world will be protected from nasty cavities and gingivitis! I knew there was a reason I had so many kids! LOL!

So what do ya say? You wanna kiss? LOLOL!

A Winner for the Antique Book Giveaway!

Thank you so much for everyone who joined the contest! I had 52 entries (after all of the extras).

Thanks to random.org
The number was 30!

Congratulations Debbie! You've won the book and the treasures inside!
I hope you enjoy them!
Please email me your addy & I'll get it sent to you ASAP.

Also, to those of you who haven't won yet, don't worry I'll have another Giveaway soon! Eeeh! I LOVE these books! Oh, and if aren't one of her 300+ followers yet, what are you waiting for? Get over there and join her blog! I promise you won't regret it! http://suburbsanity.blogspot.com/

Thanks again!
Jenni

Kids Scare ME!

Do you ever forget you have kids? I mean, like do you ever go about your day thinking you're a whole lot younger than you are--carefree and no responsibilities? Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's my own denial spewing forth to kick me in the butt every now and then. But seriously, I swear I have NO idea when or how I've had the time to have 6 kids. I don't even know where they came from to be honest. It's just been like a blink and Bang! kids are everywhere and calling for me. "Mom! Mom! Mom!" And just between you, me, and the lampost, that can be totally terrifying, especially when you're still one hot twenty year old who's just awakened from a crazed reality show induced dream--only to find out it's real.

Sigh. It's true. Kids scare me.

Seriously. They can scare the holy be-geebers out of me… Picture this:

There you are minding your own sweet ‘much needed special mommy-time’ business, shopping in the clothing department, trying to find your inner youth once again, when-- Wham! Up comes some nasty-haired, snot-nosed, totally neglected kid out of nowhere heading in your direction. You’re instantly drawn to the two very different scuffed up shoes, dirty jeans and backwards shirt. Disgusted, you’re frozen to the spot. As the child (you think it’s a child?) approaches closer the overwhelming aroma from it begins to harass your nostrils… Completely grossed out and hoping it won’t touch you... you unfreeze long enough to try and find your phone… it is your duty as a citizen to call social services and make a report! When low and behold, this grimy dredged up creature stops in front of you and says, “Hey, Mom! Can I have a toy, please?”

Of course nothing is more terrifying to a mother than sending your gorgeous perfectly pressed and beribboned child on the school bus only to pick up the same filthy snarled-haired walking explosion a few short hours later… which always (yes, personal experience here) goes something like this:

Mother: What have you done to yourself?! Hello? Those shoes were brand new!
Child: I don’t know.
Mother: Do they even have soles anymore? Come here. Come HERE. Come here and let me see your shoes. Oh my gosh! What is wrong with your tights?!
Child: I don’t know.
Mother: We should just call them Looses now, because there are so many holes in them there is no way they can be tight anymore! (GASP!) Did you cut your dress?! Your new Birthday Dress?!
Child: No.
Mother: No! No? Are you kidding me? What is this then? Where did all this stuff --is that mud?-- come from?
Child: I don’t know.
Mother: Fine. (Deep breaths) Okay, then where are Mommy’s barrettes I put in your hair this morning? The pretty ones from Daddy? Are they in your backpack? You still have them right?
Child: Uh--What barrettes?
Mother: The sparkly barrettes with the ribbons you have been asking me to wear for months now--where are they?
Child: I don’t know.
Mother: You LOST my barrettes?
Child: No. My hair was bugging me, so I took them out.
Mother: When?
Child: This morning, on the ride to school.
Mother: You mean your hair has looked like this all day?!
Child: Yep. And my teacher says I can’t play at recess if I come to school with lots of holes in my tights cuz it’s too cold.
Mother: What?!
Child: Sides, I don’t wanna wear tights anymore, they’re too itchy and my legs hurt from scratching them.
Mother: Okay. You know what? Go sit down and put your seat belt on. I really don’t want to know anymore.


--The movers pack up my house in two weeks! My time is not my own, nor is my internet letting me do more than post blogs and answer emails--I'm hoping if you all bear with me two more weeks I'll have AWESOME internet access and be able to catch up on your blogs! I'm having withdrawls--you have no idea! I miss you guys so much! ALSO! I'm doing the winner of the Antique Book Giveaway tonight--It'll be posted tomorrow!--

What is THAT???

Driving around the world with my six kiddos can really take its toll on a vehicle. We clean our van out once a week and I am still amazed at the amount of stuff I find EVERY Friday. It's always an adventure of sorts, because you never know what you'll find. Sometimes I wonder if my kids just try and surprise me to get a reaction. "Let's do something really gross and watch her squirm!"

I’m not kidding, as I was cleaning it out the other day, I came across...

Some sort of rotten (I believe) fruit species… the only identifiable part was their stems (Hence the fruit analyses)
30 sheets of computer paper –some with lovely princess Martian drawings, others completely mark free but wrinkled (basically useless for the printer, now)
About 25 books, I guess to read when they get bored? As if driving with 8 people in the vehicle could ever make someone bored…
3 coats that have been missing
4 half empty various sized water bottles
5 combs
2 pairs of shoes (How they made it from the van to the house without their shoes is beyond me),
A jewelry box (Yes every girl must use driving time to properly select a beautiful accessory for the day)
3 forks (what in the-? Forks? Don’t even want to know…)
2 pairs of scissors (Who got out mom’s sewing scissors? Urgh! And just what have you been cutting?)
One small sleeve cuff off a white Church shirt, presumably cut with the forbidden scissors. (Great. It was the brand new shirt, too!)
6 of mom’s magic markers… (that explains the smell yesterday, still not sure what they wrote on…)
Fingernail polish (Heavens! Maybe that was the smell!)
2 stolen bags of chips from the cupboard (probably a week old… NICE.) now crushed and scattered all over the floor… (Eww)!
Before the cleanup was through I found several candy wrappers, school memorabilia, rocks, sea shells (I guess to keep the rocks company), DVD’s, a lone bag of groceries that had rolled under the seat (thank goodness it was canned goods!), mismatched socks, broken sunglasses and a portable CD player... But the kicker of them all was the live plant that my daughter had apparently been keeping in the minivan…

“Bailey, what is that sitting in your cup holder?”
“Oh! It’s a plant.”
“Yes, I see that… Why is it there?”
“Cause, its our Minivan Plant.”
“Oh-oh, our minivan plant… (As if every minivan had its own live plants in their cup holders) And how long has it been there?”
“Ever since we made them at school, its good for the environment…”
“Bailey, we cannot keep a plant in the van.”
“But, Mo-om, my teacher says it helps clean the air… and I thought cuz the van always smells funny, we could keep it.”
“Good argument, Bailey… the plant stays.” (Who knows, we may be onto something?)
Bet you wished you had your own Minivan Plant!

ANTIQUE BOOK Giveaway!

It's that time again!











This time I have for your reading pleasure...
Ann's Great Adventure by, E.E. Cowper
Published by Blackie & Son Ltd.

There is an inscription on the inside cover that reads:

Hilda Haynes
3rd Prize II Class
Eynesbury Church Sunday School
Christmas 1937
A.R. (Unreadable) Phillips

So what's even better than the super exciting cover...

And even more exciting back cover...














IS WHAT'S inside. Here are Some treasures that are tucked among the pages of this book. How cool is that, right? I LOVE Treasures!



So would you like to own this book?
You do?

Here you go. These are the directions. Pretty simple this time:

1. Leave a comment = 1 entry
2. Follow the blog. Become part of the James Gang Outlaws. Already are? Just Remind me. It counts as an automatic 2nd entry.
3. Really, really want this? Advertise it on your blog. (You can even use my pictures) Then come tell me about it. For every person that comes here and leaves a comment from your blog and mentions your name--you get another entry. Plus, they'll be entered as well.

Good Luck!
Contest Ends Next Friday!

Jenni James

Caught my sheepish hubby watching Twilight!

Yes, folks. My hubby is a Twilight fan!

I should've known something was up a couple of days before Easter when he unwrapped the new DVD from the store bag and handed it to me.

"Here, ya go. Happy Easter. I know it's early, but I thought you'd want to watch it."

He clearly had just bought it. But what surprised me more, is this man is ALL about gifts. So much so, he'll hord totally awesome presents for months--just so on the "ACTUAL DAY" I get bombarded with the perfect gifts. He loves the wait, because apparently it'll make the holiday much better.

So as he hands me Twilight, I instantly feel guilty. "What? No, don't give it to me now, just wait a couple of days and give it on Easter. If it's my Easter gift then I can't watch it now." Sheez.

"Oh--uh, ok, then this is just something for you and your sisters to watch then." (remember they were here visiting me?)

I smile and shrug at my sisters. "Ok, thanks!"

Uh, hello? Warning flag. How did I not catch it? Oh, I know! Maybe it was because when I had to forcefully drag this guy to the theater to watch Twilight, he grumbled about it the whole way home. "It was okay, not that great. we should've just waited till video. Dumb, chick flicks....Blah, blah, blah...."

Anyway, so here's my poor hubby desperate to watch Twilight and me oblivious. Instead, my sisters and I wait until the next night when hubby and the kids are in bed, and put it on. Of course, we LOVE it.

Now my hubby has a problem. I've already watched it. He can't just ask me if I want to watch it, because he knows I'll know something is up. So instead, he waits a whole week & a half, until I'm upstairs reading and all the kids are in bed, before he sneaks down and turns it on.

As it was, he'd already watched a third of it by the time I came downstairs to answer email. We both froze as I entered the family room doorway and saw the movie. "What are you doing?"

"Just watching a movie, why?"

"A movie?" I grin. His huge eyes are hilarious. "Just a movie? Mark, you're totally watching Twilight. MY Twilight. My Easter gift." I'm so shocked, I begin to laugh.

"So?"

"So? So? I thought you hated that movie. Now i'm coming downstairs and you're secretly watching it without me?"

"What's the deal? Can't I watch a movie before I go to bed?"

"You're so going down. You like that movie, admit it!"

"Aww, come on, Jenni. I'm tired, I needed something to help me fall asleep--you know how I always fall asleep on the couch if I watch a movie. You know that! I'm just using it to fall asleep." This is true, every action movie he watches at home--he crashes halfway through.

An hour later, the movie is finished and my hubby is wide awake.

So now I must ask, should I be slightly disturbed? Or just embrace the awesomeness that is my hubby? LOLOL!

#1 Way to Enhance Your Career!

GET A PUBLICIST. Then LISTEN to them.

Kudos to the publicist of Lindsay Lohan and a Fabulous way to flip the jokes said about her, head over heels.

So you got that? Now we know what we need to do once we become so completely famous that we mess up and go crazy and all that other stuff. You know, when the paparazzi are so annoying that we can't walk to the store without thousands of pictures being taken of us. Sigh. Fame. It's so overrated. Hehehe! Enjoy.

I LOVE IT!

I know I shouldn't, but I L.O.V.E. Love editing! Love it! It's so awesome! Yeah, it's work, but it's a cool 'my story is getting closer to getting published' kind of work.

Every edit I do and complete I get excited about. My story just gets better--and in some cases a WHOLE lot better! So embrace your awesome editness and the chance you get to see where you went wrong in the first draft and perfect it!

Sigh, perfection. It's a beautiful, unattainable thing, isn't it?

So, I'm halfway through my Prince Tennyson edits! I haven't looked at this book for 6 weeks now. It's so good! Eeeh! I'd forgotten how good it was. <=Which, i can totally say by the way, because I didn't really write this one. Had lots of divine help and just channeled. Right? It's not bragging if you really didn't write it, right? Holy back flippin' cow, I can't wait for Kirsten to read it!

But first... Must. Perfect. So you wanna know the coolest thing that has happened while editing Prince Tennyson? Do ya? Do ya? (LOL! I'm so laughing at myself right now, I'm such a dork seriously! LOL! ) Anyway, I found the section i'm going to read out loud when this book gets sold. You know, the part you have to read at your launch party--or wherever!

Eeeh! Yes, I did warn you i'm a dork, right? Well, i have the canny ability to see the future--okay, so not the future-future, but where my dreams and goals end with this book. If I can see that vision, that hope, of where I see myself reading out loud from a published copy, then it'll happen. I know from experience, I'll just EDIT, EDIT, EDIT until I get there.

See why I love editing so much? For me, it's not the despair and discouragement that it'll never, ever happen for me--I'll never get it right, so I'll never get published. Nope, for me, it's the reality I'm one step closer to fulfilling my dream! I LOVE Editing!