Jennie Bennett, Romance Author

After trying for several weeks I finally won The Might Pen Award over at Krista Wayment's blog. I'm seriously stoked! Thank you Krista, it's a real honor :) As far as my novel goes I've come to a new conclusion. (I know, fickle me.) But the thing is, I have felt over and over that I am forcing it way too much. You probably haven't noticed but my word count hasn't budged. Why? Forcing. I've read two blog posts this weeks that have confirmed this to me. The first was from a blogger I just meet who happens to live in my small town, Quinn Header . In his post he talks about answering the questions of a Fifteen-year-old aspiring writer. Of course I saw myself as the girl wanting to know how I can get un-stuck. The post was about using other characters to hold your MC up, but that's not what struck me. It got me thinking about how I love all my characters and how I am pushing a few of them into the story. The plan from the beginning has been to make this make...

I made the mistake last week of asking the #goatposse what they were all about. They responded by hog tying me to the ground and telling me that I must participate in the #EVILpanymeme if I ever wanted to see my secret stash of chocolate again. After yelling "Uncle" three times they let me go. To make up for it they gave me some super cool goat bling. Oh wait, how did that get there? I meant this goat bling - Anyway, I can't legally be in possession of such awesomeness without going through with the flogging of evilness . If I'm found carrying said bling, the cops are going to take all the chocolate out of my local grocery stores. Then I'll have to drive forty minutes to the nearest city to get my fix. Since I can't endanger my small town in such a manner, I'm going through with it. What do you call your panties/underwear/undergarments? Do you have any commonly used nicknames for them? I'm kinda vintage (that's a good way of saying old-fashioned) ...

Today is September 5th and that means it's time for the first Campaigner Challenge. Over at Rach Writes the Campaigners have been given a prompt and a word count limit, so we all know what that means -- flash fiction time! I've written a little story that I call Premonition (200 words exactly) enjoy! The door swings open. "Kray is dead." I'm sitting at the kitchen table picking at a piece of toast and reading Bon Appétit . I don't even look up from the recipe for Heirloom Tomato Caprese. "Mini, he was a stray cat. He probably had rabies, who cares?" "Sandra are you out of your mind?" Mini says huffing over to the table and pushing the magazine down flat. "I saw this in a vision, remember?" "Yes, and I'm going grillin' with Bobby Flay." I say picking up Bon Appétit again. "Sandra, quit joking. I told you I would find him in that ditch." She says crossing her arms. "Sure Mini....

Today I have the honor of reviewing Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's book "Am I not a Man? The Dred Scott story." The Blurb: An illiterate slave, Dred Scott, trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, "Ain't I a man?" Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. What I liked: Shurtleff really drew me into 1850's Missouri with concise description and well written dialogue. Pictures at the beginning of each chapter also added to the setting. I had a clear picture of Dred in my head through the whole book because of this. Another helpful item was the Chronology at the beginning, Shurtleff skipped from one time period to another so to have it all mapped out at the beginning...

Can I just say that blogfests are the best? I should really host my own sometime... anyway, I saw this one on a couple of blogs and I just had to join in. It is that fun. For all the info hop on over to Kate Larkindale's blog. Here is the beginning, middle, and end to Earth Song. And yes, the end is a cliffhanger. Let me know what you think...? Beginning : I could die if I am caught here; die on my own land. Middle: I close my eyes and see that I am surrounded by archers on all sides. If I do not move I will die. It is not long enough for me to find my horse, but it is long enough for me to save my own life. End: It is time for our generation to stand; time for the magic to return and the tyranny to end. It is now or never.

Until September 10th the lovely and amazing Abby Flowers is holding a blog-fest called Kurious-Kids, and there are some fun prizes involved! Like so many of us, Abby was introduced to the power of poetry through Shell Silverstein. I'm a big a fan myself, and I would love to win "The Light in the Attic" for my kids. One of many great things about being a mom is that I get to share all the books, games, and toys that I loved as a child with my children. Before my son was born my husband and I went to a local book store and bought every single Dr. Seuss book they had. I love Seuss for so many reasons, but mostly I love him becasue they were the only books my father would read to me. My dad is master of voice inflection, he memorized major poems like "The Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner" and he would practice his recitals on us. I still remember being six or seven and feeling chills as repeated the line "Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink." Anyw...

You may or not remember that I held a giveaway for the premier of Kid History episode 6. Thanks to John Roberts (one of the Kid History stars) I was able to go to this event and have tickets for the giveaway. I had a serious blast! I haven't laughed that hard in ages, my sides are still sore. Yesterday they posted the new episode to their You Tube channel, and since not all of you could go, I thought I would share it here for your viewing pleasure. (Plus I'm in the video at the very end yelling Yellow Gwapes - although only I know where I am, mawhaha!) Have a great day all!