Throw Me Somethin', Sistah! Winner!

But first, a few more Mardi Gras Public Service Announcements:

Tourists:

Please be warned that the green light at that crosswalk is for turning cars. The big yellow hand? That means you need to wait for the little walking man to show up. It isn't brain science, people. Or rocket surgery.

Also: Stop wearing flip-flops in the French Quarter.

You'll thank me later.

Seriously, when people come here, particularly during this time of year, it's like they leave their brains at the airport. Okay, rant over. Sorry, folks. Nothing to see here.

On a vastly more important note, I've tallied up everyone's entries, assigned them all numbers in the order you posted your original comments, and according to the random number generator, the winner is #11, which, by my count, is Icy Roses! Yay!

If you're unable to contact me by the end of the day with your snail mail, I'll figure out some way to track you down, but the sooner you get it to me, the better your chances of getting it this week! Mardi Gras is in 8 days, people! Sorry to everyone who didn't win, but here are some pics from Saturday's night parade, Pygmalion to ease the blow. (Or possibly make your Mardi Gras fever worse, I don't know)

And just to make you hungry, here are some of the delicious shrimp we ate, and a link to an awesome recipe for Louisiana style barbecue shrimp, with a fun little friendly debate in the comments. We love our food almost as much as we love talking about food here in New Orleans!

Did I mention that my husband's 21 year old niece and two of her friends are coming to stay with us? My husband keeps telling me that they're adults now and not to freak out, but I'm such a worry-wart sometimes. They're going to have a ton of fun, I'm sure! Stay with me throughout the week for more pics of my Mardi Gras Madness!

Twenty-Five Years Wasted...

Not me! I promise!

That was the theme of this year's Krewe du Vieux, for its 25th anniversary. It was a crazy time, lots of dancing and drinking and throws and friends. It was fun marching through the streets, right next to the crowds instead on up on a float, away from everything.

Here's our float all finished, but without the lights on. The little musicians are paper lanterns with sparkly tails: voilà, the Spermé Brass Band! (As opposed to the Treme Brass Band, who arrived late and drunk to play at my friends' wedding. C'est la vie!) I'll try to find another pic of it at night to post. I burned the crap out of myself putting the feathers on that Mardi Gras Indian!

Here's the first float with the KdV logo, and since you can see the next float in the background, I thought I show that one in all it's oily glory. As you can see, the floats are always pretty topical.

 The best parts of the floats are often the little details you don't see at first, like the signs on this one:

 And to finish things off, here's a picture someone took of my husband and me in the parade at mardigrasparadeschedule.com. Pics of the entire parade are here.

I'm the blue thing in the middle ground. ;) My outfit is made mostly of a blue tarp, which was a pretty common costume for the Halloween and Mardi Gras after Katrina, which is when the first season of Treme is set. It's Tremeja-vu all over again! My husband is supposed to be a sperm, but you can't see the big annoying tail he's got in this picture. You also can't tell from this picture, but I was dancing, and second lining like a maniac for most of the parade. This is near the end, since I'm almost out of beads, and my husband is covered in beer. Good times! I can't wait until next year!

Of course, next year, I'm going to take the next Monday off, because I needed an extra day to recuperate before going back to work. I wasn't the least bit sick, just sore from too much dancing. Seriously, I had a limp!

Don't forget about my contest, to win a little Mardi Gras Madness of your own! Hope you feel like funking it up!

WiP Wednesday: Rocking the Multiple First Person Perspective

Great balls of fire, it's been forever since I talked about the WiP!

To be honest, I haven't worked on it in a while, not since I started getting feedback on revisions for Evangeline. Been thinking a lot about it, though. For those of you who don't know (that would be everyone outside my crit group, lol!) I've got a title! A title I love.

I've decided to go with Aether, which is the substance my sorcerers harness to work their "magic". I've also decided the sub-genre is now aether-punk, a term I thought I made up, but the interwebs, they proved me wrong.

More importantly than the title, I've decided to change my format from a single first person pov, to THREE first person povs. (Don't worry, it's past tense. I'm saving present tense for my novel with four first person povs. ;D  How ya like me now?)

The funniest part is, I started out thinking I was only going to add one additional pov, but one of the characters was all like "Not without me, you're not!" I'm glad he did, because I feel like I have a better handle on his voice and personality than the others. I guess that means I'm really just a seventeen year old boy at heart. ;)

So here's the crux of my post. Quite a few books have been published lately with alternating first person povs: Across the Universe by Beth Revis, Lisa Desrochers' Personal Demons, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver books. Personally, I love a well-written alternating first person pov, probably because I love first person so much that I enjoy the ability to get deeper into someone else's head with the intimacy that first person offers, and I particularly loved Lisa's style in writing both Frannie and Luc. They seemed so distinct, I was never confused about whose "head" I was in.

Sure, some authors do it better than others, but I'm curious to hear what you all think about multiple first person books. They've been around in literature for some time now, of course, but is this a trend for YA you think will pass? Or is it here for the long haul, as a proper pov alternative to third person?

I'd love to hear what y'all think!

Write On, Teens!

I just heard about this on Miss Snark's First Victim's blog, and had to share. I'm not sure how many teens follow this blog. I should be so lucky, right? ;) But I'm always so amazed, and jealous of the things teens have these days that I would've killed for.

Industry blogs at my fingertips? Forums to connect with other writers, even other writers my own age. Fifteen years ago we teen writers were living in caves and scrawling in our spiral notebooks with *gasp* PEN! I know that sounds hard to believe, now that every family owns 3.8 computers (a statistic I just made up this second), but writing used to be a lonely business.

So if you're feeling lonely, young writers, know that others out there are lonely, or misunderstood, or just too smart for their own good. ;) There's no reason not to connect with others, learn, and grow as a writer. You'll have a head start that will not only help you improve as a writer, it may help you get published someday.

 So check it out today! If you're not a teen, tell one!

Carnival Time: Throw me Somethin', Sistah!

Now that it's February, (it actually got cold enough today to sleet, people!) the moment has come for my second annual Carnival Time Celebration! Eh la bah! Time to bid farewell to the flesh, before the fasting of Lent (Read: Fish Fry season, sooo much less decadent, right?).

It's been said that Louisianians are the happiest people in the country.

We all know the secret: Carnival! (PSA ahead: Mardi Gras is just one day, y'all. Fat Tuesday. Also, it's called a streetcar, not a trolley, and it runs in the neutral ground, not the median. The more you know, and all that.)

I'm super-psyched to be a part of Krewe du Vieux this year. Even though I have to work this Saturday, so I won't be able to make my own sperm on a stick for the parade. Yes, that is what you're seeing in the above pic. While most of the major Mardi Gras krewes have floats that are more or less kid-friendly, our little confederation of sub-krewes is all about the satire, baby.

Fairwarning: I spent most of Sunday afternoon decorating a 3.5 foot paper mache penis to look like a Mardi Gras Indian for our float, Treme-ja-vieux. (Or Tremeja-Vu. I'm not sure if we agreed on how to spell it yet. There was much beer involved in the process, so be impressed that we even figured out two spellings, m'kay?)

Wish you could all be here for the festivities! But since you can't, I'll send Mardi Gras to YOU:

One very lucky entrant will receive a box of Mardi Gras throws and other NOLA goodies (CC's chicory-blend coffee, carnival themed notecards, etc.) by random selection. I'll reveal the winner on Monday, February 28th, but until then, there are plenty of ways to earn extra points.

Simply commenting below will earn you +1


Old follower = +2
New follower = +1
Post about this contest on your blog, or link in your sidebar, or tweet = +2 (+6 if you do all three. Or don't. Maybe you want to keep the chances of winning high, and keep the info to yourself, but that just ain't in the spirit of the post-Christmas, pre-Jazzfest season, now is it?)

And if by then I have 300 followers, I'll select two winners instead of just one. 'Cause that's just how I roll. Also, if you could add up your points in the comments I'd really appreciate it. (Because I'm probably going to be hung-over on Monday and won't want to think real hard. Thanks in advance.)


Good luck, and tune in for more Carnival Time fun until Mardi Gras day, March 8th!