Oktober Blogfest & Halloween Hop!

Bish is hosting a spooky Oktober blogfest today, and this weekend is the Halloween Hop at the blog of Jeremy Bates! I thought I'd combine these two fests in one post!

That's my sister and me in the top left picture. I'm a bunny; she's the clown. Aren't we sweet?

Here are a few fun fast Halloween favorites of mine.

Best Songs for Halloween: Thriller by MJ! Dragula by Rob Zombie! Psycho by Puddle of Mudd! Nightmare and Scream by Avenged Sevenfold! Vampires Will Never Hurt You by MCR!

(Yes, I have a Scary Song mix on my iPod.)

Best Halloween Joke: What do adult ghosts like to drink? BOOze.

Best Halloween candy: I love so many kinds of candy, but my fave are Reese's peanut butter cups.

Best Halloween costume: as a child - butterfly, as an adult- Wonder Woman

Best Vampire Show: True Blood of course!

Tell me your favorites in the comments!

And for the Oktober Blogfest:
MY SCARIEST HALLOWEEN EVER!

My family loves Halloween. Each Halloween we have more family over, and we go trick-or-treating with the kids. One Halloween morning, I ran to the grocery store to get things for our upcoming family party. My husband was incapacitated with a terrible flu so he was banished to the basement. I needed help so I called my dad to watch my three children (ages newborn, 2, and 5 at the time) while I did a quick trip to the store.

When I returned, my daughter was lying on the floor and holding her face. Apparently, right before I opened the door, my oldest son was having a pillow fight with my 2 yr old daughter, and she got hurt and fell to the floor. She was dazed, her eyes were open, and she was crying a little. After I inspected her, she became extremely dazed and absolutely not herself. She is one spunky child, and she was staring into space and not responding to me. I raced her to the emergency room, crying and praying the whole way. I pulled over at one point because she was falling asleep or passing out (even at 2 she rarely took naps) in her carseat, and I was fearful for her. My dad ran to the neighbor to watch my other two so he could follow in his car.

The ER took her after awhile and diagnosed her with a scratched cornea. I do believe she had a concussion, but they didn't diagnose her with that. We came home, let her rest, dressed her in her adorable bunny costume, and then put her in a wagon for trick or treating. This wasn't the scariest health incident regarding my daughter as she's had worse medical diagnoses, but thankfully she is now a healthy (and still quite spunky) nine year old.

The funny thing about this story is my daughter (now in fourth grade) just wrote an essay about her best Halloween. She wrote about the one when she was a bunny and 2 years old. She totally missed the part of her being in the ER that day. Totally forgotten. I'm just glad she remembered the best part of the day!

This is my favorite Halloween picture of my children from that day.


I am featuring a few horror movie actors at the Book Recs of the Rock and Famous tomorrow and Halloween Monday! Find out tomorrow what a major movie star who started in a horror film is reading and on Monday I have one of the most recognizable horror movie characters ever! Please stop by and see what they are reading!

Pay It Forward Blogfest

Matthew McNish and Alex Cavanaugh (the King of Blogfests) are partying Pay It Forward style today. Click on their names to find almost 200 links to those participating. I'm looking forward to checking out some cool new blogs today.

So, which blogs do I want you to check out?

First, I want to give props a few rock star blogs that you probably know. If you don't, click and follow.

Elana Johnson - Informative, friendly posts. Elana is so generous with her time, and she is the Query Queen. And the author of Possession.

Literary Rambles - Major resource of agent info thanks to Casey and Natalie.

Here are some blogs you may or may not be following but absolutely should! Seriously. Follow them. Or I'll scream Motley Crue songs in your ear until you do.

1. CAROLINA VALDEZ MILLER - I have never read more exquisite book reviews than at her blog. She could sell a book about a wombat/laundry basket/Jared Leto love triangle with her perfectly worded, vivid reviews. She is very generous with book giveaways. And she's fun! She was my concert buddy to a 30 Seconds to Mars Blood Ball. Did you hear she's going to Haiti soon? What a woman!

2. CHRIS PHILLIPS - Funniest guy in the blogosphere. He makes me laugh every time. Unless he's making me tear up with his poetry. The man has talent, yo.

3. THE PRACTICE ROOM - Tina and crew set up times each week day to write and then reconvene in a chat room to discuss your writing progress or whatever else is on your mind. This is a great motivator, and also a great resource for moral support! (And of course some laughs are interspersed in between the encouraging words!)

Special Bonus Recommendation:

Author ADAM REX.

Did you know this talented artist had a blog? Adam shares sneak peeks of his illustrations or random photos of pigeons on his porch or even pictures of himself in a dress. Did you know he was my all time favorite author? The man writes picture books, poetry, middle grade AND young adult. And he's an extremely talented illustrator. And quite witty. So check it out. And tell him his number one fangirl, Kelly, sent you.

Lastly (shameless plug alert), check out my new blog Book Recs of the Rock & Famous! This week I have an alternative rocker and a funny lady sharing their current reads! Thanks, and have a most excellent weekend!

Kick Butt Debut Author Spotlight

Welcome to a Kick Butt Debut Author Spotlight! Go to Christina Lee's blog to find links to other blogs who are celebrating favorite authors.

Today I am spotlighting one of my favorite middle grade authors, Anita Laydon Miller!
Not only can she dance and make me laugh, but she writes awesome middle grade e-books.
Just this year she has debuted her first middle grade novel in March and her second great kids' ebook in August.

EARTHLING HERO
11-year-old Mikey Murphy wakes to find a stranger in his room—a kid who looks exactly like him. Meeting his alien clone and his clone’s sister is just the start of Mikey’s adventures. Can he befriend the siblings, bust into a military installation, fight expert assassins, discover an evil alien’s lair and save the world?

A SCARY GOOD BOOK
Two words change 12-year-old Hannah Stone’s life forever: Help me. With her best friend Ollie at her side, she’ll do anything to save a life. But will she lose her own?

Both books are selling well, and it's no surprise. Earthling Hero is an exciting sci-fi adventure book, and A Scary Good Book is very suspenseful, and even a bit creepy. I highly recommend both! And best of all, both books sell for only 99 cents!

Check out the brand spanking new trailer of this mg mystery!

You can visit Anita at her two blogs, Anita Laydon Miller and Anita Laydon Miller's Middle Grade Blog.

Also, please visit my other blog, Book Recs of the Rock and Famous! Today an eccentric, alternative rocker shares what he is currently reading.

I'm Burnin' Up.

The lovely Susan Fields tagged me a fun, random meme many moons ago. Thank you, Susan, for the opportunity for a random, quirky Q&A. I'm also combining this with the Blog on Fire Award that I received from Julie Fedderson, especially since the first question is hot, hot hot! Thanks, Julie!


Let's do this!


1. Do you think you're hot? (this question struck me as odd, but I'll answer it anyway!)



I do I have to admit, I do think I'm hot occasionally, but when I'm all dressed up (which isn't too often). Confidence is okay, right? But most of the time I feel like a regular middle-aged mom. Which I'm proud to be!

2. Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment.

I have a similar northern lights background on my computer. I've had it since I got the laptop 4-5 years ago. It's pretty! I have seen the northern lights. Beautiful!




3. When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

Last night I made a chicken recipe in the crockpot with Russian dressing and apricot preserves for my dad and stepmom. It was yummy!

4. The song(s) you listened to most recently?

Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO because it reminds me of my recent Florida trip with the girls.
And I do enjoy it even though it's not my usual hard rock. You can't help but dance to it!

5. What were you thinking as you were doing this?

My kids are SO loud!

6. Do you have nicknames?

Many call me Kel. When I was younger, my parents called me Smel. And a few friends call me Kmp!


I'm supposed to tag others for the meme, but I get uncomfortable doing that for some reason. I will, however, give the Blog on Fire award to Jimmy Garcia. Go to his blog to find out why. I've also won other awards in the past few months from awesome people, thank you! Forgive me for not writing them down when I read them! I'm an airhead that way! They are appreciated!!

If you'd really love to answer these randoms, please do and consider yourself tagged!

Also, I have a comedian up at the Book Recs of the Rock and Famous today! Check and see what inappropriate question I asked him!
Lastly, I'm going to ask you all the same question Susan did. Do you have any nicknames? Tell me in the comments!