And the winner is...

Cheree! She won with her guess that I would receive five phone calls on my day off. Cheree, please email me at cole@colegibsen.com with your address and I'll send you your $10 Barnes & Noble gift card.

I want to thank everyone for playing along and entering my contest! I loved the comments - except for Bethany's about the rat. Thanks for the nightmares btw. I'll send you my new therapy bills.

While the phone calls only totaled five today, a couple actually were problematic enough to give me a decent sized headache. Only four more weeks. That's what I keep telling myself. (Is it bad that I've wondered what the punishment would be for freezing one of our two pound sausages so that I could use it for bludgeoning? ...yeah, don't answer that.)

Anywho, I managed to finish my year long WIP this month, so that was exciting. Now it's time to focus on KATANA's last round of revisions so super agent can sell it.

Someone cue Eye of the Tiger for me. It's on.

Another work related hazard...

Another hazard of working at the mall?

Being pulled into random press releases and asked to wear a shirt with an "8" on it.

But in all seriousness, it's a great message. Have a great Thanksgiving and be safe.

 

**CONTEST** Win a $10 Barnes & Noble Gift Card!!!

Because the people at work are trying to kill me you, my friends, get lucky!

This year I took a position at as a kiosk manager for a popular sausage/cheese chain at my local mall. The job would last for seven weeks. Or at least that's what the district manager told me. What she didn't tell me was the job would last either seven weeks or until my head exploded.

Last Wednesday was my day off. During this time I received seven frantic phone call from employees for various things that really didn't need my immediate attention. I didn't think that could be beat.

I was wrong.

Yesterday, Sunday, was another day off for me. The mall closes early on Sundays, and yet, I received EIGHT phone calls. To give you an example of what they sounded like here's and actual transcript.

ME: Hello?

EMPLOYEE: Hey. We can't find the paychecks.

ME: They're in the safe.

EMPLOYEE: No they're not. I looked.

EMPLOYEE #2 in background: I looked too. They're not in there.

EMPLOYEE: Did you move them?

ME: No. I put them in the safe.

EMPLOYEE: I looked in there. I really need my paycheck. Did you take them with you?

ME: No. They're in the safe.

EMPLOYEE: **Exaggerated Sigh** Fine. I'll look again. But they're not in there.

**silence**

EMPLOYEE. Oh my God! The checks are in the safe! They were under the change bag the whole time!

(Keep in mind the change bag is clear plastic)

ME: **click**

5 minutes later my phone rings again

ME: Hello?

EMPLOYEE #2: Just calling to let you know we found the checks!

ME: **hangs up phone and heads to liquor store**

Keep in mind also, that I'm soon to be thirty and most of my employees are older than me.

So here's the deal, in order to keep some semblance of sanity, I've decided to turn my next day off into a contest. That might make the phone calls a bit more interesting. Here's the deal:

Sunday, November 29th, is my next day off. Please put in the below comments your guess as to how many phone calls I receive that day. It might be zero (doubtful), it might be 100 (more likely). If your guess is the same as someone else's I will shuffle the winning guesses and pull out a random name. The winner will receive a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card! Sound like fun? I hope so. The only other contest I could have was guess how many phone calls it takes for Cole to drink herself into a drooling stupor. And the only winner there is me :)

The contest ends Saturday at midnight so get your comments in now!!!

Rifftrax

So my friend Sean J. Jordan turned me on to this website: Rifftrax.



It's by the same guys who did Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - a personal favorite of mine, and yes, I am a nerd.

Here are some samples of what they've done with Twilight that will make you laugh so hard you'll cry.





Go to their website and buy their MP3's. You won't regret it!

An extension of the Drama Post - LIFE DRAMA

Okay, so I had the entire day off work yesterday. I was super stoked to crank out some major wordage and as it turns out, I didn't write a single one.

Why?

Life Drama. We received some pretty upsetting news yesterday that threw me into a major funk.

So my question to you, friends, how to you write through the Life Drama? Or do you hole up on the couch, like me, with a pint o' Hagendaz?

Please comment cuz I really wanna know! (My waist line and my WIP depend on it!)

Blog Chain Post: Drama!

Today's blog chain topic was chosen by Christine who asked:

How do you create a wonderfully dramatic story? Are there any questions you ask yourself, or specific things you keep in mind to ensure that you have the level of tension necessary to propel the story forward?

Now, if you have a moment, I highly encourage you to start at the beginning of this chain and read through. You'll find some fabulous answers. Answers that I was ready to give myself.

Things like:

1. Bringing on the pain. Making your character's fears come to life.
2. Keeping their desires in front of them, but just out of reach.
3. Treating each chapter like its own mini story arc.

Because I'd hate to repeat what's already been said, I can offer what I hope would be one little pearl of wisdom on the matter. It's something my fabulous agent, Chris Richman, has pointed out to me several times.

Short chapters.

Sounds too easy, right?

But it works. Short chapters keep the story moving at a fast pace, and a fast pace equals drama. How many times have you found yourself reading late at night and skipping ahead to see when the chapter ends. If it ends in a couple pages you'll keep reading. And if the next chapter is only a few pages long you'll read to the end of that one. And so on and so on.

But if you're reading late at night and the next chapter break is thirty pages away, chances are you'll put the book down until morning.

So there you have it. Sorry again for the late post. Check out Shaun's response before mine and Rebecca's which will be posted later today or tomorrow.