Want to Win Some Major Orson Scott Card Prizes???

It's contest time (again!) here on the blog.

LDStorymakers is an amazing writing conference held every year in Utah, and open to all writers of all genres, in the LDS, national, and self published markets. Classes will be geared to different skill levels, ranging from beginning writers to published authors, focusing on craft and the business of writing. The 2013 conference sold out, attracting almost 500 writers and authors eager to learn more about their craft and the publishing industry. Many got to pitch their projects to some top agents and editors. The next conference will be April 25-26, 2014 at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah.

And here's your chance to meet

ORSON SCOTT CARD!

who is the keynote speaker at LDStorymakers in 2014.

This year, we have five amazing agents / editor who will be attending  - we'll be announcing them on the facebook page, along with our author faculty, so keep posted! Registration opens in December.

Mark the date now! Spots will go quickly.

Now onto the contest information:
The prizes packages are listed below, so check out the spectacular things you could win. Rafflecopter will choose 2 random winners in order. Sorry, but this contest is only open to those living in the U.S. Winners will be notified via email and must respond within 48 hours to claim their prize, or another winner will be chosen.

Prizes:
First Place Prize Package
2 tickets to see Ender's Game
SIGNED copy of books 1-4 in the Ender's Game series: ENDER'S GAME, SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD, XENOCIDE, and CHILDREN OF THE MIND
Ender's Game swag

Second Place Prize Package
SIGNED copy of Ender's Game
Ender's Game swag

Deadline:
The contest closes November 16 at midnight (PST).

Additional entry points:
Monday through Friday (Oct 28 – Nov 1) we’ll be announcing the agents and editor coming to the 2014 conference. Check on the Storymakers facebook page each day and enter the name posted on the rafflecopter form for up to 5 extra entries.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NaNoWriMo or NoNoWriMo?

November is my favorite time of the year. The gorgeous fall colors, building leaf piles with my kids, celebrating my birthday and 30 whole days to focus on a first draft of a new book.

Or maybe not a new book . . .

Sometimes I hit mid-October and even though I soo want to participate with my fellow NaNoWriMo companions, I am a good chunk into a current work in progress and don't want to set it aside. Or I'm deep into editing mode and just want to get that project finished so it can go out on submission. When I'm in this situation, I have a huge internal tug of war. To NaNo or not to NaNo???

The soluntion? NoNoWriMo.

I can't take credit for the awesomeness of NoNoWriMo. It was actually someone in one of my Authors Incognito writers group who came up with the idea. Each year, Authors Incognito puts together a fabulous database so we can track our NaNoWriMo progress. It's so cool to hit December 1st and see the amazing amount of words our group wrote! We do lots of sprints, prizes, and other fun activities to keep reaching for our 50K goals.

A few years ago, we had several group members who were already partway into a current work in progress or deep into edits, so we started a NoNoWriMo.

NoNoWriMo is when your goal doesn't fit into the official NaNoWriMo guidelines. For example, it could be an editing page count goal. In our Authors Incognito tracker, we added the option for participants to track the number of pages they edited and also to add comments on what they accomplished. It also let participants set more than one goal for the month. If someone finished edits and decided to work on outlining their next book, that became part of their NoNoWriMo challenge.

The best part is no one in the group missed out on the awesome energy we create in November. Those working on edits still participated in sprints, activities and reported their progress.

So, what are you working on this November? A NaNoWriMo or NoNoWriMo project?

$25 Giveaway and Cover Reveal for The Accidental Marriage!

About THE ACCIDENTAL MARRIAGE: Nina Rushforth was born with a silver spoon caught in her throat. She and her father have mapped out a future that includes a brilliant legal career, a marriage to an equally stellar attorney or Wall Street whiz kid, and eventually the production of three perfect children. A semester at St. Andrew's University in Scotland, was part of the plan, but falling in love with a handsome missionary was not.

Six months later, after Elliot returns from his mission and after a tumultuous courtship, Nina finds herself teaching at a junior high school, learning to keep house in a minuscule apartment, and living with a man who doesn't know any more about being married than she does. Intimacy, cooking, laundry, lesson plans, and a tug-of-war with a possessive mother-in-law prove to be more overwhelming than Nina can successfully manage. The newlyweds awaken to realize the head on the adjacent pillow belongs to a stranger.

This novel captures the heartbreak of young love caught in the turbulent social crosscurrents of the 70's, at a time when brave women struggled to find dignity and equality in the workplace, as well as peace at home.

Publication Date: December 10, 2013

The Accidental Marriage can be pre-ordered at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Praise for THE ACCIDENTAL MARRIAGE:

“A thoughtful, heartbreaking, and often laugh-out-loud romp… Annette Haws explores the interesting question: What keeps a marriage together?”

--Terrell Dougan, a columnist for the Huffington Post and the author of That Went Well: Adventures in Caring for my Sister

“Haws delivers a story that makes you want to rush to the end to find out what happens and prose that makes you want to slow down and savor it.”

--Karey White, author of For What It’s Worth, Gifted, and My Own Mr. Darcy

“If you want a story with plot, character and real, deep meaning that will leave you thinking long after you’re done, this is the book for you.”

--Shannon Guymon, author of Do Over

About Annette: Annette Haws’s literary strengths are based upon her experiences in the classroom. She began her teaching career as a junior high teacher in Richmond, Utah and ended it teaching Sophomore English at Murray High School in Salt Lake City. However, her favorite assignment was a five year period at Logan High School teaching English, coaching debate and mock trial, and watching the antics of her own three children who were also students in the same school.

Her first novel, Waiting for the Light to Change, won Best of State in 2009, A Whitney Award for Best Fiction, and the Diamond Quill Award for Best Published Fiction in 2009 from the League of Utah Writers. In July of 2008, the Midwest Book Review selected it as a Top Pick for Community Library Fiction Collections.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Annette-Haws/449482665167812

Website: http://annettehaws.com/

Blog: http://annettehaws.com/?page_id=14

Book on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18275669-the-accidental-marriage

Annette on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1404936.Annette_Haws

Giveaway!

Enter below to win $25 in cash!

a Rafflecopter giveaway