Follower Love Giveaway Results!!!

here is the official name-drawing bucket

(as you can see we are very official here in the palmer house...)

here are ALL the names!

here is our cute little name-drawer.

he's going in...

he has the winner!!!  (drum roll please)

and the winner is...

Congratulations Zombie Girl!!!

I'll be contacting you shortly.

Thanks so much to everyone for participating.

i LOVED reading about all your Second Kiss's.

And just for fun...

my second kiss was on a cold december night

on the street in front of my house

leaning against his car.

i was so nervous

and he had a lot more experience

and i was giddy for the rest of the night.

Happy Valentines Day!

Just Kiss Already Blogfest (and a sneak peak of the sequel to Second Kiss)

i've had so much fun with contests and blog hops to celebrate the day of love that is just around the corner. however, i just realized that they'll all be OVER by the time valentine's day actually arrives!  so for a special little v-day treat i've decided to participate in the "Just Kiss Already" Blogfest hosted by Stina Lindenblatt and Christina Lee.
the blogfest is just about posting a 250 word (or less) segment of a kissing scene of either your own writing or from a book you want to share.  even though i am absolutely IN LOVE with the book i'm currently reading Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly - the girls in the book are young and haven't quite come across any big romantic kisses.  so for this event i'm going to post a little sneak peak from my current project (the sequel to Second Kiss).  Of course this is just part of  a rough draft and may not even make the final cut but for those of you have read Second Kiss you may be interested to see what happens to Gemma and Jess a little bit later...


Okay this is more than 250 words.  But if you don't want to read past the 250th word you don't have to. :)


I should have been paying more attention to the bottle and the people around me.  Because when Jess’s spin landed on me there were a million things I should have done, that I didn’t.  I should have kissed him on the cheek the way Drew did.  I should have looked at Lauren and remembered how much she liked him and how good of a friend she was to me.  And I definitely should have considered the consequences. 

But I wasn’t paying attention… not enough anyway.  I was thinking about Jess and how perfect and strong his hand looked as he spun the bottle and rested it on the carpet waiting to see where it landed.  And when he followed the rules of the game and crawled toward me I should have smiled politely and given him a friendly kiss.  Because it was only a game of spin the bottle and Lauren was right there, waiting and watching.  I shouldn’t have crawled toward him – but then again, he shouldn’t have crawled toward me either, especially not with such a deep and determined gaze.  I shouldn’t have allowed my heart to beat a million times a minute.  And he shouldn’t have taken such a deep breath.  I shouldn’t have lightly glossed my lips with the tip of my tongue   I should have pursed my lips.  I should have gone for his cheek.  But I didn’t and neither did he.  He went for my lips and I went for his and when we should have pulled away – when the universal allotted time for a spin-the-bottle kiss was over – we should have pulled away!  But neither one of us did.  Our lips were soft and inviting and accepting and moving and I only realized that we had been kissing for an entirely inappropriate amount of time when Drew gasped and Greg cleared his throat and I knew we had broken the cardinal rule.

Follower Love Giveaway Hop

This hop was organized by I Am A Reader, Not a Writer.  I am truly excited about participating in this blog hop because its my FIRST blog hop and because i love valentines day!

How the blog hop works: Over 200 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another.  (see the linky list at the bottom of this post.) The hop runs from Tuesday, February 8th through Sunday, February 13th.  

What I'm giving away: Second Kiss Valentine's Day Package which includes a signed copy of Second Kiss and an exclusive "Second Kiss" charm baracelet. 

I absolutely LOVE the charm bracelet that Sara from SimpleSerendipity created for this package.  It is simple, stylish and looks just like the bracelet i imagine jess tyler giving gemma in the book.  As a special treat for this blog hop i got the chance to interview Sara. she is such a great girl and i would love for all of you participating in this Love Hop to be able to get to know her a little bit better:

npbooks: Who taught you how to make jewelry and how long have you been doing it?

simple: I started making jewelry 4 years ago when a friend invited me over to a girls night out at her house.   My friend Shannon introduced me to the wonderful world of beads.   I walked into the office in her home and sat in amazement at the beautiful, variety of beads she had tucked in little organized containers.   I grew to love the nights out at Shannon's place, making something with my hands and chatting with the women folk. When Shannon moved, I wanted to carry on the tradition.   So, that's when my own personal bead collection began to grow.    It hasn't stopped growing since.

npbooks: If you could only wear one form of jewelry (earrings, bracelet, necklace, ring, etc.) for the rest of your life which would you choose?

simple: Of course, I would pick my wedding ring, for sentimental reasons.   But, if I'm not being sentimental, I would say earrings.   Definitely earrings.   Sometimes you'll see me without makeup on, but still wearing a pair of earrings.   Go figure.  I love that wearing earrings with a t-shirt instantly makes me feel less frumpy, stay at home, sweat pants, mom-ish.    My only problem, as of late, is my 16 month old also has a love for my earrings.   That's ok,  some women put up with way more pain to wear high heel shoes on a daily basis.  I can deal with the occasional little tug from a tiny hand. 

npbooks: You're a full time wife and mother of three.  When do you find the time to make all this jewelry?

simple: Last year, when my husband found out he was getting a pay cut from work, I knew I wanted to do something to help out.    I  wanted to figure out something I could do after the kids went to bed.   That's when I remembered my huge Rubbermaid tub full of beads sitting in the closet.   I knew that would be something I could do to help add a little extra to our budget.    When I opened up my Etsy shop, I wasn't prepared for the overwhelming response.   Some nights I would stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning just trying to make and fill all the orders that were coming in.    Beads and kids don't really mix, so evenings are really the only feasible time to make jewelry,

npbooks: Do you prefer silver or gold or something else?

simple: Silver, definitely silver.   I also really like antiqued bronze metal.   It has that vintage look.   I don't have anything against gold, I just like the look of silver better on me, so that's why I make more products with silver.   But, I'm happy to customize an order for a customer who prefers gold.

npbooks: And since you are the creator of the exclusive "Second Kiss" charm bracelet, how old were you and where were you at when you had your SECOND kiss? 

simple: If I'm counting the truth or dare kiss I had in 6th grade as my "first kiss", then my "second kiss" was when I was 18 and in my first year of college.   It was a really good kiss, to a really self absorbed,  narcissistic  guy.   Fortunately, I found someone else later on in life who knew how to give a really good kiss and was also a genuine good human being.   I am lucky to be married to him. 

To see more of Sara's simple yet stylish jewelry check her website out here.

To enter this Giveaway:

Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment about your own second kiss (please keep it clean. :))  Also give me a way to contact you.  

(Last day to enter is Sunday, February 13th)

Optional Extra Entries:

+1 Post something about my blog or book on Facebook/Myspace/etc.

+1 Post a little something about my book, Second Kiss, on your blog

(additional entries will only be given if you leave the link to your posts in your comment!)

Thanks for stopping by everyone and Happy Valentines Day!!!