Six Years A-Bloggin’—Happy Post Hoodie-Hoo Day to You

 

February 20 was a blink-and-you’ll-miss it holiday known as Hoodie-Hoo Day. Yeah, I didn’t know about it either until Alexa told me. (Yes, Alexa occupies my desk, telling knock-knock jokes far cornier than the ones I had heard when I was in kindergarten.) What’s that you say? You missed Hoodie-Hoo Day, but you’re wondering what it’s all about? (Well, the hokey pokey is what it’s all about. But I digress.) Here is an explanation of Hoodie-Hoo Day from holidayinsights.com:

It is a day to chase away winter blahs, and bring in spring. After all, everyone in the northern hemisphere are [sic] sick and tired of winter at this point and a little crazy being cooped up inside all winter and not seeing the sun.

O. . .kay then. Don’t let the twitching eye fool you. I’m not crazy.

While I didn’t celebrate the holiday, I love the fact that people keep inventing holidays to inject some cheer into life. (Like International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is September 19.) Injecting cheer into life is kind of the mission of this blog. Which brings me to the first of three reasons for this post.

The title revealed it. This blog is six years old. I never imagined I would last this long as a blogger.

We tend to hear about benchmark anniversaries which are 5s and 10s. But six? Well, for wedding anniversaries, the traditional gifts to give are iron and sugar. I’m not making that up. You can find that info here. But wood is the modern gift. So . . . I guess I should treat myself to a cupcake, a crowbar, and a plank of wood.

 

My niece made this cupcake. 😊

Before I head to the nearest Home Depot to get my anniversary gifts, here is the second reason for this post.

To announce a Twitter giveaway hosted by Laura Sibson. You remember Laura from this post about the cover for her debut young adult novel. Today is the last day to enter, so you still have time to head over to her Twitter page. Click here to do so.

  

⭐GIVEAWAY! ⭐Today is 4 months from pub date for #TheArtofBreakingThings Please ❤️ & Follow. RT to be entered to win one of these amazing #novel19s books that would love to be on your shelf with mine. 😍🤗#giveaway #amwriting #amrevising #writingcommunity

Last but not least, this post is to announce the winner of a preorder of Castle of Concrete by Katia Raina, which will debut in June of this year. This post has the details.

  

The winner of is . . .

Is . . .

Is . . .

Is . . .

Is . . .

Lori from Lori’s Lane!

Congrats, Lori! Please comment below to confirm. And thank you to all who have read my blog over the years!

Author and book photos courtesy of the authors. Wood plank from homedepot.com. Birdgif by Sherchle. Number 1 from clipartix.com. Number 2 from clipartion.com. Number 3 from clipart-library.com. Number 6 from download-free-clip.art. Other photos by L. Marie.

Fall into a Giveaway

Mwahahaha!
I am the creepy pumpkin luminary that presides over L. Marie’s armoire.

Now that it’s fall, I can’t help reminiscing about activities I loved in this season back in the day. When I was in elementary school, we used to bring leaves to decorate the classroom or to use as models for drawing time. Living in a climate where leaves change colors and drop to the ground made leaf gathering extremely easy. Finding a variety of leaves in a neighborhood where maple trees dominated—well, that was more challenging.

Happy fall, leaf. Dare I say, “How the mighty have fallen”?

We’d also make orange and black paper chains to hang on the walls above class drawings of trees with leaves cut out of paper, pumpkins, and other fall-ish things.

And of course, I enjoyed fall treats like Halloween candy (especially chocolate) and caramel apples.

I haven’t made a paper chain in a long while. Apple picking and apple donut eating have replaced the paper chain production. But I still love Halloween candy (especially chocolate) and caramel apples. Other fall food favorites include hearty teas and soups.

Recently, a good friend sent me a box of my favorite tea: maple apple cider. This friend knows who she is, so I won’t embarrass her by naming her here.

But this friend’s generosity reminded me of another favorite, one that isn’t confined to a season or a reason: hosting a giveaway!

I’m giving away a $25 Amazon gift card (or its equivalent on Amazon UK).

All you have to do to be considered for this drawing is to comment below. Tell me a fall tradition you have or a food you love. The lovely random number generator will choose a winner, who will be announced on October 30.

Kirstea says, “Happy Fall!” Obviously, she’s not daunted by the luminary.

Caramel apple from galleryhip.com. Amazon gift card from Amazon.com. Other photos by L. Marie. Kirstea™ is a Shoppie doll made by Moose Toys.

Gloomy Gus Giveaway

Since I’ve been rather a Gloomy Gus lately, it’s time for a giveaway. Who knows? It might become an annual event. (Yes, I realize the irony of using a smiling sun with a “gloomy” giveaway. Irony is what I live for.)

What is a Gloomy Gus? “A person who is habitually gloomy” according to Merriam-Webster.com. Out of curiosity, I searched for the origin of the term Gloomy Gus and found this:

From a comic-strip character created by Frederick Burr Opper 1937 American cartoonist
First Known Use: 1904

Thank you again, Merriam-Webster! Go here to find out more about Gloomy Gus and his brother, Happy Hooligan. This Gloomy Gus is not to be confused with Gloomy Gus the Homeless Ghost, developed by Herbert W. “Red” Holmdale. You can read about that here. There also was a football coach nicknamed Gloomy Gus. The list goes on.

Here’s an idea for a Halloween costume: Gloomy Gus. Imagine trying to explain your costume to someone without a long discussion of existentialism.

Okay, let’s get to the meat and potatoes, shall we? By that I mean the giveaway, though I hope to have meat and potatoes at some point today. One of you will receive a copy of Rogue while another of you will receive an author-signed copy of Gringolandia. These young adult novels were written by the wonderful Lyn Miller-Lachmann, a good friend and supporter of writers whose enthusiasm is always contagious. Here’s the synopsis of Rogue, which was published by Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin:

Kiara has Asperger’s syndrome, and it’s hard for her to make friends. So whenever her world doesn’t make sense—which is often—she relies on Mr. Internet for answers. But there are some questions he can’t answer, like why she always gets into trouble, and how do kids with Asperger’s syndrome make friends? Kiara has a difficult time with other kids. They taunt her and she fights back. Now she’s been kicked out of school. She wishes she could be like her hero Rogue—a misunderstood X-Men mutant who used to hurt anyone she touched until she learned how to control her special power.

When Chad moves in across the street, Kiara hopes that, for once, she’ll be able to make friendship stick. When she learns his secret, she’s so determined to keep Chad as a friend that she agrees not to tell. But being a true friend is more complicated than Mr. Internet could ever explain, and it might be just the thing that leads Kiara to find her own special power.

In Rogue, author Lyn Miller-Lachmann celebrates everyone’s ability to discover and use whatever it is that makes them different.

Here’s the synopsis of Gringolandia (Curbstone/Northwestern University Press):

Daniel’s papá, Marcelo, used to play soccer, dance the cueca, and drive his kids to school in a beat-up green taxi—all while publishing an underground newspaper that exposed Chile’s military regime.

After papá’s arrest in 1980, Daniel’s family fled to the United States. Now Daniel has a new life, playing guitar in a rock band and dating Courtney, a minister’s daughter. He hopes to become a U.S. citizen as soon as he turns eighteen.

When Daniel’s father is released and rejoins his family, they see what five years of prison and torture have done to him. Marcelo is partially paralyzed, haunted by nightmares, and bitter about being exiled to “Gringolandia.” Daniel worries that Courtney’s scheme to start a bilingual human rights newspaper will rake up papá’s past and drive him further into alcohol abuse and self-destruction. Daniel dreams of a real father-son relationship, but he may have to give up everything simply to save his papá’s life.

This powerful coming-of-age story portrays an immigrant teen’s struggle to reach his tortured father and find his place in the world.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that Lyn was interviewed last year when Rogue debuted. Since Gloomy Gus is a cartoon character, it’s only fitting that I give away a book about a character obsessed with a comic book character. Also, the cover reveal for Surviving Santiago, a companion book to Gringolandia, took place here recently, so one very fortunate winner will be all caught up before Surviving Santiago debuts.

For an extra bit of cheer, winners also will receive some crocheted flowers like these (but not these—they’re already spoken for).

Flowers are usually cheerful. Even the rare corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) has a jaunty air. (And no, I will not comment on why this flower is so named. Google will help you there.)

Comment below to be entered in the drawing. If you feel like it, tell me about a time when someone cheered you up or you caused someone to stop being a Gloomy Gus. Winners will be announced November 5. Looking for Lyn? Look no farther than her website.

Happy Hooligan and Gloomy Gus from comicvine.com. Gloomy Gus from robot6.comicbookresources.com. Sun from clker.com. Corpse flower from hometown-pasadena.com.