Friday, November 9, 2012

Autumn's Harvest Blog Hop

Click on image for more blog stops
 Grand Prize Winners:
Kindle Fire Winner:
Tina B.
$50 Amazon Gift Card:
Sarah L.
Swag Pack:
Lynn Cahoon
 
                                                e-book copy of The Whisper of Time:
                                                                        Cass 

                              A big thanks to everyone who stopped by and hopped this weekend! 

Hi and welcome to the Autumn's Harvest Blog hop! Instructions for the hop said "Write a funny, entertaining, enjoyable post about autumn." Easy peezy lemon squeezy (or is that apple cider pressy?) said I. After all, autumn is a lovely season. There are colorful leaves and apples and...
      I sat down and started to write. A strange thing happened; I began to feel like a pupil in Mrs. McGillicutty's fifth grade classroom. Mrs. McG had just given us an assignment: write a theme about Autumn.  I stared at the empty blue book laid out on my desk, blue lines waiting for words. I chewed my pencil eraser.
     "Autumn? Autumn?" I thought to myself. My mind went blank and I began to panic. I stared out the window for a time. A small bird landed on the chain link fence and flitted away. Poetry! I thought. That was it! I would write a poem! A rhyming poem would impress Mrs. McG!
    I made a list: Autumn, Got em, Bought em, onion. I started to write:

There's apples in Autumn
The orchards they got em
The trees got red leaves on em
We're all out of onions
     Mrs. McG read over my shoulder and shook her head. "Ute, Ute, Ute. The orchards they got em? That isn't grammatically correct. It's barely English."
    I began to erase with my chewed down eraser, leaving skid marks and a hole where the poem used to be. I turned the page and began again. I'd use fall this time. Fall was easier to rhyme than autumn. I made a list: Fall, ball, small, tall, wall, brawl, sprawl. I could've gone  on all day. 
    Mrs. McG took off her reading glasses. "You're going to write a quatrain rhyme using fall? How very hickery dickery of you. If you're going to write a poem, write a real poem." I'd forgotten. Mrs. McG was a bit of a poetry snob. And I wasn't really in the fifth grade.
    A real poem. Okay. What do I associate with Autumn? Death. You know, short days, dead leaves on the ground, All Soul's Day.
              The end is near come, November
the last of the leaves is fallen,
withered and brown
darkness gathers
  Mrs. McG  sighed. "Did you not read the directions? They say light and funny. When did dead leaves become funny?"
     "It doesn't have to be funny," I told her. "It said entertaining."
      "Yes. Readers are always so entertained by depressed poets. Especially during a fun giveaway blog hop. "
     There's just no pleasing this woman. I turn another page. I write:
      I like the fall
the leaves and all
the trees so tall
and onions, too.
I close the book. Mrs. McGillicutty's going to give me an F. I know it.


Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of The Whisper of Time.

click on image for more about my books
When fate offers Gwynn Powell a chance to start over, she jumps at the opportunity. Laid off and living with a husband whose gambling problem has eaten through a good part of their savings, Gwynn buys a farmhouse sight unseen, leaving both her marriage and her old home behind.
But fate has more in mind for Gwynn than just a new home. The farmhouse, tucked away in the Green Mountains of Vermont where even GPS can’t find it, is also a step back in time. And Slate Peck, the farm’s caretaker and part owner, is tied to Gwynn’s destiny in ways she never expected.



Be sure to stop by at the other hop stops. Leave comments here and at other stops for chances to win these great prizes: 
1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet
2nd Grand Prize: A $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card
3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains 10+ paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!
With one chance at each stop and over two hundred stops, that's over two hundred chances to win!! Even Mrs. McGillicutty has said I'm good at arithmetic!


26 comments:

  1. great post!
    Christina Livingston mygirls01(@)yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Interesting post!

    deborah.sletten@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. love it!!

    Fall is my favorite season so I love hearing about your memories — love the changing leaves, anything pumpkin and halloween!!

    booksconsidered[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Autumn is my favorite season! Thank you for the giveaway!

    verusbognar (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love your poem!
    I really want to read this book!
    D'Ann
    dldauthor@frontier.net

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the great giveaway!! jenni_bearz(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  7. It’s hard to say what exactly would be my Go-To Autumn Romance book. When I think real hard about it, I would have to say it has a sexy, strong, determined male that when it comes to love is just lost. Then there has to be a woman who is usually in need of help or needs to know what love and family is. Together they heal each other and love turns out to be their greatest gift. I also love a happy ending at this time of year, usually where the epilogue has them starting their own family to love and cherish. Oh….and definitely HOT loving too!

    Angelheart618@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love reading about things that go bump in the night this time of year. Thanks for the fun!

    zenfoxflowerATyahooDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
    cassandrahicks1989@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for the giveaway!

    aprilnu2003@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love the burst of colors! The fall earth tone colors are very festive and beautiful. I am lucky to live where you can see the seasons change. Unfortunately, at this moment I can’t recall where autumn was a major focus of a given story. I love reading any time so the season doesn’t matter.

    Thanks for the opportunity to meet you, share and explore your site.

    Belinda G
    belgre AT Comcast DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ha! Autumn just inspires poetry, doesn't it? Thanks for the chance to win!

    dancingcelt at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love the cooler weather.
    magic5905 at embarqmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mr. McGillicutty, huh? Such a name...
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for being in the hop! The things I love about fall are cooler temps, sweaters, and hot apple cider donuts!

    jochibi AT yahoo DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love the cooler weather and the changing colors of the leaves in autumn. Thanks for the chance!
    sqwalker2@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
    elizabeth @ bookattict . com

    ReplyDelete
  18. My favorite thing about Autumn/Fall is the changing color of the leaves, orange, yellow, red, even purple. They are so pretty. My least favorite thing is raking up those pretty leaves. LOL I love to curl up by the fire and read a hot romance book on a cold fall evening. Thanks for being part of the hop and for the chance to win. <^_^>
    reneebennett35 (at) yahoo (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love the fall because of the football games and tailgating with friends and family! And of course having a campfire with roasted hotdogs! Thanks for the chance to win a great giveaway!

    kacidesigns AT yahoo DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your book covers are very nice. I live autumn because of the fall foliage, cool weather, and pomegranates! Thanks for participating in the blog hop!

    brendurbanist at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. where i live i love to watch the mountains changing colors. thanks for joining the hop. Miriam.whitewolf@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. I love autumn with all the brilliant colors: oranges, yellows and reds of leaves. I love crisp, cool mornings where the sky is so blue it looks endless and the air is so fresh in your lungs. I love snuggling up in a warm throw on a cold autumn day with a good book. Of course, I love snuggling up with a good book about anytime of the year. I love Thanksgiving because it is a time to remember all the many blessings in my life and express thanks. I love baking spicy pumpkin pies with dollops of cream.

    I like stories of the unexpected. I also love the steamy passion but I hate mentioning favorite authors because the list is long. I appreciate the many styles authors use to weave stories of mystery, love, intrigue, preternatural and inspiration. I love reading because I can go anywhere, any time in my mind and imagine indescribable things.

    Thank you for this contest and the opportunity to be introduced to new authors.

    Gail djgandyfan@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks for joining in the hop. It was great to be introduced to your work.
    My favorite part about autumn is that the cool weather gives me the perfect excuse to keep my oven full of yummy deliciousness that I really can't do during two of the three other seasons. I love the feeling of being able to have yummy stuff baking while I nestle in with a good read.
    planterofhope(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  24. The upcomming Holidays is one thing that I like about Autumn

    BeckeyWhiteATgmailDOTcom

    ReplyDelete
  25. I really like the changing colors.
    Thanks for sharing! Its a fun hop!

    bacchus76 at myself dot com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and participating in the hop!

    ReplyDelete