New! No Needle Contest!

Debut Authors: Eileen Cook and Jenny Gardiner

OK, let’s have another contest. Want to win some great reads from some great author pals of mine? Well, OK then. Let me just tell you a couple good stories here then.

BUT FIRST! There’s always a first, isn’t there. Wanna enter? Gotta read.

You.Are.My.Captives.

First, I was bummed out today. Yep, and there’s always a story about ME, right? Because it’s all about me; me being whiny and crabby and bitchy, and woeful. That’s just me. I was having me a little pity-party on why I don’t have a novel out there yet. I don’t understand how it was completely feasible to write a 400-page novel when I had one child in diapers, and two toddlers running around like crazy lunatics, and now, I’ve got like two-thirds of them out of the house for six full hours, and I haven’t been writing, and how it’s impossible to write the next one. And how I have completely SUCKED at keeping my New Year’s Resolution. (Thank you all for not even remembering what it was! Because, apparently, I don’t even remember it either.)

Then I thought to myself that I could just give up and just say I’m not gonna be a writer anymore, or I could NOT give up and be like these two terrific ladies I’m going to tell you about in a couple seconds.

I think I’m not going to give up quite just yet. I’m tired, yes. But not too tired where I want to quit.

So, here are two new fabulous debut authors on today’s bookshelves that you MUST check out. They happen to be friends of mine I’ve had the pleasure of knowing through some great writer’s organizations online.

Up first is the talented author, Jenny Gardiner, whose debut novel, Sleeping With Ward Cleaver has already received rave reviews and has a great cover blurb from Meg Cabot, THE author of Princess Diaries. You know, it really doesn’t get any better than that for your first novel!

And the cool thing about Jenny is that she didn’t quit. She dreamed of writing (like me), wrote (like me), got rejected (like me), kept going (like I’m going to do), entered a contest, WON A PUBLISHING CONTRACT, and about a year later, here she is… a real-live PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

With a real-live book! I’ve not had a chance to read Sleeping With Ward Cleaver yet, but as soon as I’m done with my pity-party, I’m going to, but from what I know, it’s a fab and fun read, with lots of warmth and wit! To give you a sneak peek, you can even read the first chapter here!

And then, be sure to read more about Jenny over at her website, www.jennygardiner.net.

And she also is one of the Debs at the awesome writers’ website, The Debutante Ball, which is a goal of mine someday—to be invited as a Deb because this is where the crème de la crème of up-and-coming authors go for their pre-party before publication!

And allow me to introduce to you another fabulous up-and-coming novelist, and who would have ever predicted this? I mean, this is just sooooo Unpredictable! And yes, this is my corny, quirky little way of introducing the title of Eileen Cook’s debut novel.

And Eileen, like Jenny, just happens to be another Deb from The Debutante Ball, (along with fabuloso pal Jess Riley—Hey there Jess!)

I don’t know how Eileen and I hooked up online (sounds kinda swarmy in a Swingers movie kinda way, doesn’t it?). But if there were ever four Internet chicks to be on the lookout for, I would have to say the four who come to mind are Eileen, Jess, Swishy and me, just judging from our online banter and camaraderie the past two years.

And the four of us will have the chance to be united in real-world life time in just a few short weeks when we celebrate Eileen’s debut when she comes to a nearby not-to-be-named location. Yes, there will be pictures. Yes, there will be Swishy/Manic/Jess/Eileen stories. Yes, there will be mayhem, and quite possibly jail time. And with Swishy there, possibly Jail Bait! Check back at the end of the month for that blog post.

Digression is a terrible thing to waste, especially when there’s a contest to announce! Breathe a sigh of relief all you needle-fearers because, while the Blood Donation Contest is still in full swing through Valentine’s Day, this contest involves nothing more than a mouse and a click and a few kind words to our fabulous and talented debut authors!

Both Jenny and Eileen have kindly agreed to give away a signed copy of their debut novels (you did, right gals? Cuz if not, I’m totally screwed and will just have to go out and buy copies and forge your signatures, and you know I will do that, right?)

And to top off this prize--like a signed copy of their book weren’t enough--I will toss in a gift card--either a Starbucks or Cold Stone Creamery (your choice) but it’s only going to be for FIVE BUCKS per winner because I am seriously going to go broke with all these dang contests I’m holding.

So, here’s what you need to do.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: When you enter the contest at their blogs, please make sure to leave a link to your own blog or include your email addy so we have a way to contact you if you are the winner! (I already notice some of the earlier entrants have not done this so you may need to go back and leave another comment please!)

Second: You only need to enter once please!

To win Unpredictable, click HERE and leave a comment telling Eileen that Manic Mommy is so UNPREDICTABLE!

To win a chance to Sleep with Ward Cleaver, WHOOPS!... I mean, to win a copy of Sleeping with Ward Cleaver, click HERE and leave a comment for Jenny—say Manic Mommy wants to sleep with Ward, yeah, that’s a good one, then she’ll know for SURE that I sent you to visit her!

You’ll have up until Sunday night to enter the contest, so stop on by and tell these incredible and talented ladies hello from Manic Mommy, and you can enter over at both of their sites for a chance to win BOTH books. And if you don’t luck out and win, Amazon.com is bundling the books as a package deal and you can order them together online!

Congrats to Jenny and Eileen! And good luck to all you who enter. You know life is just so unpredictable, like did you even think when you clicked onto Manic Mommy that there'd be ANOTHER contest you could enter? I mean, you never know what may happen next... Who knows, you may just end up sleeping with Ward Cleaver.

Is it wrong?

Peace UP!