}Wistful Wednesday{Are You Crafty?

I have a confession to make. I am a craft-aholic. I love making things. There is nothing quite like the feeling of taking a pile of nothing and making it into something. Got a skein of yarn and some needles? You can make up a hat, a scarf, a sweater, or any number of things. Have some felt hanging around? You can make a Christmas stocking, a 3-D picture, or even little toys. It is absolutely amazing what you can do with a little bit of nothing and some ingenuity. It also helps if you have someone to guide you.

Me, I have the guru of crafts at my disposal - my mother. My mother is the kind of woman who can do just about anything she sets her mind to, with whatever she has on hand. With a little bit of flour, cinnamon and water, she can make a dough for Christmas ornaments that she makes with her grandchildren. With a little bit of felt and trim, she makes incredible Christmas stockings that people pay good money for in stores. With a few yards of fabric and thread, she makes the most incredible clothes, costumes, and quilts. And with yarn and needles, she makes sweaters and afghans and doll clothes.

Now you're beginning to see where I get it from, aren't you? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I love the fact that I grew up in a house where we were always making something interesting with whatever we had on hand. I was not bothered by the fact that I wore a lot of handmade clothes to school - in fact, I wore them proudly. And one of my favorite things to do as a child was to sift through this big tin of buttons my mother had collected over the years. You just never knew what treasures you were going to find in there.

And right about now, you're probably making another connection. How this crafty little kid became an author. Writing, you see, is much like any other craft. You take nothing - a blank page - and with a little ingenuity - and a good laptop or pen - you make it into something - a compelling (hopefully) story. It was only natural that a kid who learned at a young age to make something out of nothing would translate that to the page, at least for me. First in pictures and then, when the words came, in language. All of my life, whether it was with drawings, writings, or crafts, I have been telling stories.

And that's the way I like it.

So what about you? Are you at all crafty? And will you, like me, be making gifts to give for Christmas this year? Please share, I'd love to know. And you don't have to reveal what the gifts are that you're making - we wouldn't want anyone in our families to get a preview of what they're getting this year!

Getting Contest Ready with Carrie

Hello to all the readers out there!

Both Margay and Gracen had free copies of their books to offer you, but my novels still fall under the "wips" category. However, I wanted to offer you something you might appreciate and tried to figure out what that might be. I soon realized that I do have something to offer, an insider's perspective on writing contests. While I will not give away any "trade secrets," I can look at your manuscript and determine if it has all the elements a first round writing contest judge would expect to see.

Still not sure if you want to enter this drawing? Just read through the following list of questions.

1. Do you just "know," your story is great but can't seem to win writing contests?

2. Do you have cold feet about entering your story for contests because you're just not sure how well you'll do?

3. Do you know something is off with your story, but just not sure what?

4. Have you entered contests but have not received helpful or insightful comments from the judges?

5. Have you received comments, used them but want to see if the improvements have helped?

6. Are you just plain curious to see how your work might be judged in a contest?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this drawing is for you!

To enter drawing, leave a comment. Winner(s) will be selected at random and will be posted on Sunday, so please check back to claim your prize!

[Note: The purpose of this drawing is to provide the winner with critiquing in a format similar to what most writing contests ask from their first round judges. There is no monetary prize nor will manuscript be shown to any editor, agent or publisher.]

I am eager to offer my help to you!

Have a Sparkling Saturday!

Carrie