Blog It Out, Bitch Scavenger Hunt

I like giving away prizes. For the release of The Twin Prophecies: Rebirth, I gave away a Kindle, an autographed copy of the book, and a role in the follow-up book, The Twin Prophecies: Origins (Spring 2012), and all you had to do then was just buy the book.

To celebrate the release of Blog It Out, Bitch, I’m giving away $50 to Amazon.com and this time, you have to do just a bit more than buy the book. After you’ve bought it, pay attention to what you read. You’ll need to be on your toes in order to find the ten items in the Blog It Out, Bitch Scavenger Hunt.

All ten answers can be found within the book. When you’ve found them all, send me an email with the answers (in order). I will randomly pick one winner from all qualifying entries. In order to qualify, your entry should be 1.) correct (all ten answers) and 2.) received before November 10th, 2011. For some of the questions I’ve included the month/date of the blog to make it easier to find within the book. Here are the clues to the ten items/answers you must find.

Blog It Out, Bitch Scavenger Hunt

 

1. The total amount of money (written in this format $0.00) mentioned in the blog, “Hookers Fascinate Me.”  (Jan 2007)
2. The soap opera mentioned in the blog, “Nina Does Goodwill.” (Jan 2007)
3. The blog in which I watch The Departed and The Prestige. (2007)
4. According to Kali, action is what? (2007)
5. The sum of the number of tips in “An Open Letter to White People” and the number of to-dos on “Kali’s List.” (March 2008/May 2008)
6. In “Picking Up Tips” I say what two things are two of my favorite things? (Jan 2007)
7. The number of blogs with Nina in the title + the number with Kali in the title + the number with Donny in the title + the number with Jack in the title =
8. In BIOB, I’m plagued by which two animals? (Hints: In the backyard/on the road.)
9. How many blogs are there in Blog It Out, Bitch?
10. How many parts are there to “The Ugly Truth?” (Jan 2008)

 

Blog It Out, Bitch Now Available on the Kindle

Blog It Out, Bitch is now available for download to your Kindle or Kindle app. The paperback will be available through Amazon.com in the next day or so. I’ll let you know.

Meanwhile, Kindle readers, happy reading! And pay attention to what you read. It will help you earn a chance to win a $50 Amazon.com e-gift card. Details coming soon.

If you’re not much of a detective, and still want a chance to win something, you can. Share this post on Facebook and Twitter and instruct your friends who buy the book to let me know you sent them. Whoever refers the most people will receive an autographed copy of Blog It Out, Bitch in paperback PLUS a secret mystery prize. Here’s what they need to do:

1. Buy the book.

2. Forward their purchase email confirmation from Amazon.com to nina@blogitoutb.com.

3. Put the words, “(insert your name here) sent me!” in the body of the email.

That’s it. I will keep track of how many people have listed you as a referral. You can check your standing with me at any time. The contest ends on November 6th and is good for purchases of the Kindle edition AND the paperback. The same person can enter you for every copy of the book (Kindle and paperback) they purchase. So, if someone you refer buys one Kindle copy and two paperbacks, you have three entries. The person with the most referrals as of midnight on November 6th wins.

(To win the $50 gift card, you’ll have to use your brain so read carefully. Again, details on that contest later.)

Buy the book now. (And make sure to “like” the Amazon page.)

Blog It Out, Bitch Trailer

And because I just had to use this music…

Blog it Out, Bitch the Book

Coming September 2011

 

I Need You!

I have been agonizing over how to shake up my site. Make some changes. Talk about new things. Talk about old things in new ways. Part of my absence has been due to the fact that real life, at some point, has to take precedence. Sad, but true.

But now that I’m all settled in the new house and found a really nice new rhythm to my life, I’m ready to get back on the blogging horse and ride that bastard!

I need your help. I’ve been tossing around ideas with my bestie (BFF or best friend for those of you not prone to talking like a 12 year-old girl) and not hitting on anything that made me feel like, “Yeah, I’ll write a blog tonight!’ Then I realized I should be asking you. Yes, you.

What do you want to see/read more of? What are some blog ideas you’d like me to tackle. Any ideas for weekly features? I’ll take your suggestions and completely disregard any that suck. But that shouldn’t stop you from participating!

OK. I have to run. I have company coming over for lunch today and I need to find a shirt that will lessen the humiliation factor when Jack pulls one of my tits out at the dining table.

P.S. I have lots of pics of the new house and kids coming up. So, hit me up with those ideas and look forward to new blogs next week. In the meantime, go to the main page and check out my awesome new banner!

Coming Up on Blog It Out, Bitch

I haven’t forgotten you. It’s just that a funny thing happens when you graduate: you kinda have to find a job. Also, a funny thing happens when you have kids: they kinda have to be fed.

Starting next week, I’m back on a regular blogging/writing schedule. What do you have to look forward to? Glad you asked.

Mommy Monday: You Can’t Make Me! – What are the consequences of forcing our kids to participate in activities FOR us?

Blog It Out, Baby: Breastfeeding at 48 Months (Yes, that’s 4!)

Nina’s Top Ten “Don’t You Hate It When…”

Weekly TV recaps of: 24 and Lost and POSSIBLY American Idol (only because Ellen has joined the show.)

Book Club: You can vote now between:

- Holler at the Moon by Tinesha Davis

- Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

- Hold Love Strong by Matthew Aaron Goodman

I eventually want to read/discuss all three, we’re just voting to see which one goes first.

“What about Fluke?!”

I know, I know. I read it, it was great. Not my favorite Christopher Moore book (A Dirty Job holds that title), but it was pretty funny. My favorite part was his explanation as to why his ex-wife was a lesbian – she, her female co-worker, and their boat were mistaken for a whale vagina by two dueling whales penises and subsequently drenched in whale jizz. I kid you not.

Fiction: How Jenna Found Out I Loved Her – a coming of age story with a twist.

And the return of Ask Me Anything plus, I’ll take blog requests.

Hope you’ll stick around. And tell your friends.

I’m Baaaack!

I am back amongst the living. Well, the blogging anyway.

You may have been wondering what’s going on and why I’ve forsaken you so. Here’s the scoop:

School

I am officially a college graduate. Well, maybe not an official graduate seeing as how I didn’t (and don’t plan on) participating in any official ceremony and I won’t get the actual paper degree until May 2010 (more on that in a few secs.) But I have completed all the requirements (and then some) for an Associates degree in Journalism/Professional Writing.

Did you know you have to apply to graduate? Yeah, neither did I. And because I’m a master procrastinator, I didn’t apply for graduation until the last day of class (last Tuesday) of my last semester. That’s how I roll. So, I obviously missed the deadline for Fall 2009 graduation, and I’ll have to settle for Spring 2010. No biggie. I won’t be heading to UGA for my Bachelors till Fall 2010.

Family

My kids are super. They’re still cuter, smarter, and more awesome than your kids.

More on the kids in the Mommy Monday/Blog It Out, Baby blogs this week. There’s been haircuts (yes, plural), new words, and a boy/girl dance.

Work

Yes, you read that correctly: it says WORK.

So, these mystery shops/merchandising jobs have been taking up the majority of my time. They don’t pay a whole lot, but like almost everything else in life, it’s a hustle. I’m signed up with over a dozen different companies. On days when I had school, I’d schedule myself for 3-5 assignments in that area of town. Since I was spending gas anyway to go to class, I might as well pick up a few jobs that pay anywhere from $5-$20 a piece. I’ve made $80 just by doing simple jobs on my way home from school. Sometimes it’s doing a secret shop of a fast food place or gas station, other times I’m going to Targets or Walmarts and making sure that a certain company’s toy display is set up correctly.

My favorite assignments have been the revealed secret shops. I’ve gone to some fast food places near my house and ordered a burger only to test if the person will try and upsell me fries and a beverage. If they do, I go inside and present everyone on duty with $10 VISA gift cards. If they don’t, they get a “better luck next time” letter. Another time I had to go to a chain bookstore and see if a sales associate and coffee barista greeted me within five minutes. When they did, I presented them each with $20 gift cards. Not a bad way to earn money for my daughter’s laptop, no?

Diet

I am down yet another jean size. Don’t ask me how. I’ve been half-assing it this semester, and really hoping to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. I guess maybe it’s all this leaving the house I’ve been doing.

Writing

A return to blogging also means a return to querying Sharing Space and working on my next novel, “Tales From the Biosphere.” I have the next eight months to write (and read) for leisure and it feels great!

I have a lot of good blogs and stories coming up so I hope you’ll stick around. So, that’s what’s up with me. What about you?

My Very First Blog

Weekend before last we were at Michael’s picking up some stuff for our many projects around the house. As we were checking out, my daughter spotted these little diaries for $1. I had already paid for our stuff, didn’t have cash and didn’t feel like charging it so I told her I would make her a journal at home.

Flash to a few days later and she has decorated a spiral notebook and written her name across the front.

Her first entry? “Dear Diary, Mommy is scared of deer.”

Why she gotta call me out?