Marianne Arkins gave me the “Creative Writer Blogger Award.” Check out Marianne’s blog for a chance to win her giveaway on the 22nd!

Here are the rules: I tell either six truths and one lie, or six lies and one truth about myself, and you get to figure out which, and leave a fun or silly comment. Feel free to try to figure out which is which!! Everyone is offering a prize, so I will, too:

One person who comments on this post between now and Monday will get the eBook of their choice from Samhain Publishing or Desert Breeze (mine are available at both publishers) or a $5 GC to Amazon.com or BN.com (for those of you with Kindles and Nooks). The drawing will be held 5/24 in the early morning, and I’ll announce it on my blog that day.

First, let me nominate seven other authors for this honor:

* Anne Patrick
* Miss Mae
* Stephanie Burkhart
* Jennifer Shirk
* Celia Yeary
* Evie Alexis
* Rebecca Vickery

Now on to my truths and lies:

1. I was a carhop at a root beer stand.

2. I worked in a bar for a short time during college.

3. I was Rosalind in the OSU production of Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It.

4. My dummy Chris and I entertained my family with my ventriloquism act.

5. My friend, Rosemary and I hitchhiked home from college.

6. While at the Gettysburg Battlefield, I fell, hurt my arm and went to the hospital. (No, not during the actual battle. I’m not that OLD. lol My senior class went there for the class trip.)

7. I wanted to attend Bowling Green State University.

We worked Saturday on opening our pool. The cover itself was good with no leaves, but we had to clean out the leaves and weeds by the white fence. Tom also did all the mowing around the pool before we slowly rolled the cover. Emily, Tom and I cleaned it as we rolled it up. The water was green but clear and not cloudy. We didn’t get any farther because the pump wouldn’t start so I couldn’t backwash and get the chemicals in. I need to buy a new pump and I’m afraid it will cost too much.

Writing news: I received today an acceptance for an article I submitted to WritersWeekly.com. I need to decide what to write on the art form to help the cover artist in designing my new cover for my Christmas book. I’m excited to work with the talented artist for Whimsical Publications books. My daughter Christina read the first two chapters of my wip and she liked what I wrote. That gives me the boost I need to continue with it.

I received a contract from Whimsical Publications this week for my Christmas book. It was with Booklocker.com and the title was The Christmas of 1957. I made it a bit longer and the title now is A Christmas Gift. I never liked the previous title and had planned on changing it to A Gift Forever but decided to stick with the Christmas theme. I’m hoping it will do well with my new publisher. I’m quite pleased about the contract from Whimsical. I already know a lot of the authors published by Whimsical, so excited to be joining my friends. They speak highly of Janet, the publisher.

Because of the short length (21,000 words) it will only be in ebook format. At Booklocker it was in both print and ebook but I think it will do well selling at Amazon Kindle and other online spots. I’m looking forward to a new cover for it.

I started a new scoring project on Monday. I’m busy scoring the 8th grade Science tests for Pennsylvania. I’ve been exhausted at night. The commute has been bad in the morning - it took me 50 minutes to get there one morning when it rained.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. It is hot and humid here so think we better get busy and open our pool.

We have a winner! From the list of commenters, Shawna’s son chose number 8 so Martha Eskuchen wins the wonderful ebook, No Other! Martha will also receive a pair of earrings from Shawna. I’ll have a new blog contest soon!

By the way, Martha is the publisher and owner of eTreasures Publishing.

I’m sorry I’m just now getting the winner posted - our daughter Sara’s been sick since last night. I’m glad she wasn’t ill last weekend because she participated in a walking fundraiser for a camp for the disabled in the Flying Pig Marathon held in Cincinnati. Her event was the day before the main one. Her sister April was her buddy during the special 3 mile walk. Anyhow, keep your fingers crossed that no one else gets sick. Hopefully, Sara will feel better by tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY tomorrow!

REMINDER: If you’ve left a comment on any posts for the week, your name is entered for the drawing on Saturday morning. The winner gets Shawna’s brand new release, No Other and a pair of freshwater pearl earrings!

Here is my review of Shawna’s book, No Other:

No Other by Shawna K. Williams has a rich cast of memorable characters. I instantly felt empathy for Jakob Wilheimer as he goes back to high school where he had left three years earlier to take care of his younger siblings. Once his wronged parents are able to return from the internment camp, he can resume his education. One problem – his teacher is Meri Parker, a former schoolmate. The teacher-student relationship becomes complicated with Jakob falling in love with Meri.

As his love deepens for his teacher, he feels compassion for Meri’s unpleasant situation with her parents. They don’t seem to care for Meri but just are interested in their status in the political and upper class world. In spite of her corrupt parents, Meri is a decent and caring young woman. However, she doesn’t hold the same Christian values as Jakob, but he’s not judgmental and has unconditional love for her. He’s sweet when he invites her to attend Bible studies with him. When Jakob does something he regrets, I felt this made his character more realistic because Christians aren’t perfect and make mistakes. Readers will relate on a deep level to Jakob’s personal struggles.

There are many big moments that touched my heart. One that especially did happens in the deserted farmhouse Jakob’s family lost. During this important scene, we see the joys and laughter Jakob shared with his family in their beloved home. Meri tells Jakob how awful her father treated her. She was robbed of her first career dream by her cruel father.

Shawna Williams brilliantly stirs profound emotions throughout No Other. It’s filled with wonderful drama, romance, and history. I highly recommend No Other. I’m looking forward to reading her sequel, In All Things, in November.