Congratulations To Our 1st Winners
Yes, these are way overdue (SO SO SORRY!) But it is now time to announce the winners of our first 5 contests. We’ve also got another set of books ready to give away that will be posting over the next few days. So be checking back for several books for tween girls and a newly released chick lit book.
The winner of the hat donated by Lucy Adams
#18 Leah – Diaries of a Domestic Goddess - Send me your contact info Leah, and I’ll forward it on to Lucy!
The Winner of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk High School
#2 gahome2mom of http://lovingheartdesigns.blogspot.com. Send me your contact info and I’ll forwad your information on also so that your book can be sent to you!
The winner of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School
#3 also gahome2mom of http://lovingheartdesigns.blogspot.com.
And the Winner of Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday
#21 was Colleen at http://kennedyandzach.blogspot.com/. Congrats Colleen. I have this book here at the house so as soon as you send me your contact information, I’ll get it in the mail to you!
And our last prize to announce: This Is The Day
Another Double Winner - Colleen at http://kennedyandzach.blogspot.com/.
Meet Lucy Adams & Win a Cap – ENDED
Our Grand Opening is starting late due to an online break I took, but we are starting with an awesome book review and prize. The book is If Mama Don’t Laugh It Ain’t Funny by Lucy Adams and was a blast to read. I’m so excited to be introducing you to Lucy during her If Mama Blog Tour 2009.
I felt an instant connection with Lucy as soon as I found out she was a teacher; however she teaches much younger kids than I do. (She’s a second grade teacher, and I’m a high school teacher.) She graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in education and continued her education earning a Master of Science in psychology from Augusta State University.
Lucy is also a syndicated columnist and her articles Life’s Little Lessons are published in newspapers across Tennessee and Georgia. Lucy has been married for 15 years and is the mother of four children. In addition to being a teacher, an author, a newspaper columnist, a wife, and a mother, Lucy also maintains a blog.
She is a true southern lady (currently residing in Thomson, Georgia), and as a lifetime Texan, so many of her stories hit so close to home. If you are a southerner, each of the stories in If Mama Don’t Laugh, will hit home. I found with almost every story that I could relate the stories to someone in my community.
Lucy was nice enough to give me an interview. Enjoy getting to know Lucy Adams (and keep reading for your chance to win a prize from Lucy).
How did you get started writing?
My high school friends would tell you that they always knew I would be a writer. My college friends would tell you they were all surprised. My husband says I’m not the same woman he married; that it’s like my alien inside took over.
I always wanted to write. I sort of gave up on it, though, after high school, seeking to do more practical things with my education and my life. It wasn’t until I was 34, with four children ages 6 and under and a husband who said we needed extra income, that I got up the courage to act on it.
I typed up sample columns and went to my local newspaper and asked if I could write for them. Then I called back the editor again, and again, and again, until he said, “Yes, if you’ll quit bothering me. I’ve got work to do.”
Now, going a day without writing is like going a day without oxygen.
What inspired you to take your previous writings and turn them into a book?
So many things inspired me to write If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny. My husband stayed after me about doing it. Readers of my weekly newspaper column frequently asked me when I planned to write a book.
The turning point came when a publisher called me and asked if I was interested in writing a how-to book on parenting. Wow! I was flattered. But when I finally got my puffed up ego to sit down and be quiet, the reasonable, logical side of me said that it was dangerous territory to trod. After all, my own children aren’t fully cooked. I’ve yet to see the end product of my own parenting. Who am I to tell someone else how to do it? I had to call the publisher and decline the invitation. While on the phone, however, with newfound confidence clutched in my sweaty palms, I pitched the idea for If Mama. He liked it.
If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny was also inspired by my need to prove that life is more than a collection of chaos bookended by rare moments of calm. Every moment counts. Every minute of every day has a purpose. I have found that by learning to live in the little moments, I open myself to the biggest lessons and the best rewards. And, of course, humor. The smallest sliver of a second contains a complete journey. So much more happens between loads of laundry than wiping noses, folding shirts, and scrubbing the kitchen floor. In fact, most of life happens at the same time that I’m driving carpool, cleaning toilets, and scorching spaghetti.
How did you narrow down what stories to put in your book?
I read and re-read my stories so many times in the writing and editing process. One of my first criteria for including a story in the book was that it still had to evoke laughter or tears from me after looking at it so many times.
I also selected stories that received a lot of comments from my newspaper column readers. There’s no better way to gauge audience approval than through direct feedback.
How does your family feel about their lives being published?
I have to admit, there’ve been a couple of pieces I published that sent my husband over the edge. He has actually given me a list of things I can’t print about him in the newspaper. For example, I can never write that he “squealed like a school girl.”
And every now and then my parents will question something I put in print. My friends laughingly say things like, “Uh oh, you’re not going to put that in the paper are you?”
But my children seem to go out of their way to give me topics to write about. I even find myself lecturing them on not doing brainless things just to see if I’ll write about them.
What is your favorite story in If Mama Don’t Laugh?
My favorite story is “I Hope I’m Getting Smaller,” about an interaction with my then 4 year-old daughter about loving “bad guys” and what God would want us to do. We shared an amazing moment when I had a revelation about my relationship with my daughter, as well as about how she and I both understand God. It was such a profound experience; tears fill my eyes every time I read that story.
Another of my favorites is about Noah, the three legged pig. But that story is best consumed a little bit at a time, so I won’t go into detail here.
What was the hardest part of putting together and publishing If Mama Don’t Laugh?
The hardest part was deciding that the manuscript was finished. Every time the publisher sent me a proof, I sent back a mark-up with changes. Finally the editor quit sending me proofs and declared the manuscript done. Unfortunately, I’m only a perfectionist about my writing. The rest of my life is going to hell in a hand basket.
What has been the most exciting moment in the If Mama process?
Doing television interviews. For one of the interviews, my husband and kids came to the studio and watched. Then my host gave us a VIP tour of the television station which included letting my kids play with the green screen. Bobby Thomson, the baseball player who hit the shot heard round the world, was also being interviewed on the same program that day, so we got pictures and autographs.
If your readers only got one thing from If Mama Don’t Laugh, what would you want that to be?
That life is short, without a lot of big moments outside of marriage proposals, weddings, and children’s births. So it’s important to live it all in the everyday small moments. That’s where the marrow of our existence is.
Do you find yourself watching in your life for “stories?”
I don’t watch for them as much as other people do. Friends and family always point out what they think will make a good column subject.
Mostly, I find that when I’m not “looking” is when everything happens.
What process do you use for remembering these stories?
I keep a notebook and a pen with me at all times. Ideas suddenly come to me and I have to write them down or I’ll never remember them. I also have lots of scraps of paper stashed here, there, and everywhere with various notes. Sometimes writing a story is like piecing a puzzle together, literally.
What’s in the future for Lucy Adams – another book? Expansion of the newspaper article?
I’m currently working on my second book of humor about the tight places and uncomfortable conversations in which we find ourselves; you know, like walking out of a bathroom with my skirt tucked in my panties. Look for it in the summer of 2010.
My blog series on Southern Girls Living Fearlessly will continue. I’m also working on turning it into a monthly column, and, in the future, a humorous book of off-center advice from a woman learning it as she goes.
You’ll find a brief review of If Mama Don’t Laugh over at my personal blog, All About Kimberly. Want to purchase a copy of If Mama Don’t Laugh, It Ain’t Funny? You can do that at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Books a Million. You can also purchase an autographed copy directly from Lucy at her If Mama site.
And now for the contest. Lucy has generously donated a If Mama Don’t Laugh baseball cap for one lucky reader.
So how do you win this contest?
REQUIRED ENTRY:
Visit http://www.ifmama.com/blog.php and make a relevant comment on Lucy’s blog. Then come back and tell me which post you commented on and what you said.
EXTRA ENTRIES:
**To earn these entries you must first complete the REQUIRED ENTRY**
**For each extra entry, you must leave an additional comment**
- Place my button in your sidebar (Grab it on the right sidebar) or add a text link
- Subscribe to my feed
- Follow me on Twitter and tweet this contest out! (you must leave a link to the tweet)
- Add me to your Technorati favorites (leave your username)
- Blog about this contest (WORTH 3 ENTRIES – LEAVE 3 COMMENTS) linking to this post and Lucy’s site.
But wait! I’m upping the ante. For all the contests being posted over the next week, I’ll give you TWENTY (yes you hear right) TWENTY extra entries if you head over to MomCentral and vote for my blogging friend, Trisha, to win an Electrolux washer and dryer. She’s #8 strawberryred. After you vote, come back and tell me you voted and leave your Mom Central username. You can then comment 20 times for 20 entries for each of the grand opening prizes!
The Fine Print
- Must be a US Citizen
- Contest ends Friday, March 27 at Midnight CST.
- You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address.
- All entries will be verified before naming the winner.
- Winner has 72 hours to claim prize and then a new winner will be selected.
Want to Win Other If Mama Don’t Laugh Prizes?
Lucy is giving away an apron on her blog and you can have another chance at one of these nifty caps at 3 Garnets & 3 Sapphires.
