Winners of the Spring Contest!

Hello everyone!

I'm in high spirits-- just had a lovely morning of NIA (dance), tea at a cafe with friends, and then a fruitful few hours of writing more of The Jade Notebook.  And speaking of Notebooks, yesterday I was delighted to get a UPS delivery...  a package from Random House containing two shiny copies of The Indigo Notebook paperback, with its new cover look.

  (This will officially be on sale on August 10, but you can preorder on amazon or indiebound now).

A cool and refreshing cover, perfect for these 100 degree days we've been having lately in Colorado! I wouldn't mind wading in shady blue-green water right about now...

If you have a few minutes to spare and you like reading about writerly things, swing by The Writing Bug blog, where Kerrie Flanagan talks about "writing what you know", and uses The Indigo Notebook as an example.  (Thanks, Kerrie!)

So, I shall now officially announce the winners of the Spring Contest!  The winners already know who they are... several weeks ago they received their prizes-- copies of The Indigo Notebook audiobook.  Here was the prompt I gave: 

In The Indigo Notebook, Zeeta interviews people about their views on life, and records their answers in her notebook. Invent a few of your own philosophical interview questions. Then write down your interview with a person (or people) (either real or fictional) as a one-page notebook entry.

And (drum roll please...) the winners are EMMA of Bowling Green, Ohio (age: just-turned-14! Happy B-day!) and DESIRAE of Corpus Christi, Texas (age: 12) !!! Huge congrats, ladies!!!

Here's an excerpt from Emma's fabulous submission:

What song represents your life?  “Blackbird” by The Beatles.  “You were only waiting for this moment to be free.”  Out of my first life with my mother, yes it was wonderful, but I’ve spread my wings and am flying through life, but not to fast because I don’t want to miss any of it!

What is the most life-changing thing anyone has ever said to you?  “Hey!  Watch out!  Life’s throwing you a curve ball, but you’re a MVP of the major leagues of life if I’ve ever seen one, so I’m sure you’re going to hit a homerun.”  I heard this from Mr. Dublin, my hermit, philosopher, and avid sports fan I always turn to for advice.  

And an excerpt from Desirae's fabulous submission:

Q: What is your view on life, Mitch?
A: It’s long. It’s a long road that you go down. It’s got bumps and potholes and sometimes there’s bad weather, but whether you want to stop at a nearby gas station or not, you have to keep going because that’s all you can do.

Q: And what do you think of this road?
A: We all go down different roads. Sometimes there’s a fork in the road and you choose whether you’re going down a highway to a big city or to the country. It’s all about the choices you make. The road I’m going down is passing by very fast. I wish I could go slower.

Q: If you could change one thing about the road that you’re currently on, what would that be?
A: I’d want to know where I’m supposed to go. I don’t have a map or directions. I have to go with my instinct, and right now, I’m not totally sure what my instinct is. I would want some instructions on where to go.

Thank you for your wisdom and creativity and overall brilliance, Desirae and Emma!  Keep writing!

Thanks for reading and have a great week!  The Jade Notebook manuscript is calling to me, in all its messy glory...

Cheers,
Laura