The Official Recap and Award Ceremony

Recap (presented by Tina)

Wednesday's game, what a beautiful thing?! Well maybe not, but here is how it all went...


Wednesday game morning dawned with Heather busting a move writing the clues. Jon and I scrabbling about the New England terroir seeking a fine metaphor for the phrase before J heads out to sprinkle the clues and the game begins. And la de da all is good. Thinking it's a relaxed game today. Dena not playing until the late game, Kris is the only one there on time and yes, different than last week, but oh well here we are with a book to give away and nothing better to do. Soon enough, Crystal Cook, Jeff, and sarahmullengilbert join the game. 


But Blogger's acting up. We think she may have ate something she shouldn't have, you know with all the different folks around the tent, there is no accounting for what this gal might get into. But she seems hungry swallowing comments, burping up extra spaces. It's getting ugly around here. But then we get to the end, the last clue, here the pressure's on folks, and the lovely blanks at the top of the page and the clues are not adding up. How do you make a phrase from that gobblygook? Kris, who was sorting through the evidence, ready to submit (we had already sent her through the hoops and the gallant player that she is, returned to go through the hoops again) alerted us to the discrepancy:


Kris said...
Just checking - are the phrases for #2 and #6 supposed to be the same?


Can you imagine what it was like in our green room (read: google chat room)???!!!
Ahhh ha! Have we said, it takes a whole blogosphere to raise a game??


Here is what Kris and Crystal did to cheer us up:
Kris said...Don't worry, from the stands here, it all looks like part of the show.
Crystal Cook said...You guys are doing great, I don't even know how you would organize all this, it's pretty amazing :)


Aren't they lovely?!


Well, luckily Jon was wearing his Tarzan suit for the performance. And you know exactly how that is! He went swinging off the fiber optics on his way outa here--we've got this tent wired!--and spread around the correct glitter.


Here is what he said on his return:


Jonathon Arntson said...
Ahem. Is this thing on?


Okay, I messed up and posted the wrong clue at one of the blogs. Like Kris said, were there supposed to be two WRITERS MAKE? No, there were not.


And the players keep coming: Kate, Elana Johnson, Creations By Lyndsay, Serenissima, Dena Daw


The stops are blogs of folks that recently met up at NESCBWI this past weekend, a little WIBIJ trickery: bringing together a real community, virtually. Or (strike that, reverse it) bringing a virtual community together, in real life (IRL)? :

Stop #1 Laura Pauling Exercising the Write to Ramble:

this new hampshire gal explores funny middLe grAde

Underwriting her fiRst drAft, then expanding her trade

she connects WRITEing with life; brings us tips on craft

at her blog, where you've found that you've already laughed.

she helps all to practice the EXERCISING piece

TO RAMBLE, to write, to draft, to increase

the knowledge as a writer, to learn, to grow

she's a wonderful writerly friend in THE know.

Stop #2 Nandini Notes From New England

this NEW ENGLAND gal writes of india and the mystery

of an unlucky girl, born under the wrong sign in history.

but math and horoscopes collide to provide

a sliver of opportunity when she can wed--the wrong guy.

she also collaborates with enchanted inkpot,

and writes middle grade adventures with an interesting plot

of kids taking NOTES FROM a reincarnated cat

to restore world balance and the book of life-stat.

Stop #3 Martha Calderaro Writer, poet, roving pen

this new england gal MAy be a wonderful friend

who keeps tuRning up again and again

THank goodness for whAt coinCidence cAn do

alLowing, DEteRmining, ARranging Our view.

you'll find her penning poetry and writing books,

walking and biking to explore n.e.'s nooks

visiting LIBRARYs on her ONE-CARD TOUR

allowing each spot to show her something more.

Stop #4 Kate Messner Kate's Book Blog

GIANNA postpones projects from beginning to Z

she'd rather run, than identify leaves fromTHE tree

a SPITFIRE, her grandmother has hold of her heart

will she FALL, will she race, will she complete her part?

an enemy, a friend, and complications abound

in the last moment, can all OF those leaves be found?

a BRILLIANT idea is necessary now.

can gianna fulfill her duties somehow?

Stop #5 Kris My Writing Journey

this new england gal writes sports books for girls;

with a golf backdrop in which her ya unfurls.

realistically written, ready for agent eyes

she knows ALL ABOUT THE 'how' to revise

down to EARTH, easy to relate

her for-hire book is fresh, informative, great

all SIGNS point to yes, before CAPSTONE's done

you'll learn about the earth, stars, moon, and sun.

Stop #6 Anna Staniszewski Author of Books for Children and Young Adults

she dips her pen in enchAnted ink

wants to make you imagiNe, to make you thiNk.

ya fantAsy, dystopia, fairy tale fun

she'll do it all before she's done.

stop by her blog, you'll soon underSTANd

the importance of world building for your land

and how characters can be written to jump and pop

with her kind support, your pen won't stop!

The phrase had a high level of difficulty, clearly as we, here under the tent, had a hard time making it come out correctly, and presumably we wrote the thing.

These Nor'Easter writers make the perfect storm of kidlit talent.

And there you have it. They sure do! Thanks to our lovely hosts!

Finishers with correct phrase and all that Jazz:

Kris

Crystal Cook

Elena Johnson

Lyndsay

Awards Ceremony (presented by Jon)

Thank you, Tina, for making me relive that experience.  :)

Wednesday's was fun, despite my follies, and the awesome comments you guys left prove it!

At Laura's blog

Jeanne(Serenissima) - social media
necessary marketing
or is life too short?

(That'll be my excuse, Jeanne!)

 At Nandini's:
 Crystal - Coolness in the eyes of your ten year old! That's the best :) It sounds like you had such an awesome time, it's so great to be with other writers who 'get' you.

Kris - I was at the conference, too! I'm super impressed you were able to revise during the conference -- I was completely wipe out, physically and emotionally from it! But it was incredible. It must have been cool to be a driver, even though it was too much time on the road. All those creative people in a small space.

Jeanne - i'll draft to my strengths
revise to my weaknesses
and whine to my friends

(You read my mind, Jeanne.)

At Martha's

Kris - I’m with you! I got totally mushy fangirl when I met Kate Messner and shook Cynthia Leitich Smith’s hand. Such cool talent and awesomely inspiring writers. I’m not sure if zoologists have the same level of awesome, but I might be wrong.  Allyn and Marlee’s talk had me all excited to put away my YA novel (well, not quite) and pull those old PB manuscripts off my computer. Maybe someday!  (I struggle with this everyday!)

Jeff - Getting Dentists to pay attention at conferences must be like pulling teeth since they only like to talk when they have someones undivided attention (i.e. when they have their hands in your mouth).Better that than feeling burned out like the home appliance manufacturers feel after their conferences.
Worst of all are the zoologists. I hear they spend their weekends getting monkeyed around!
(Jeff - You captured the true spirit of WIBIJ?!  Well done!)

Jeanne - dentists learn the drill
appliance guys get plugged in
writers just want booze ;->

(A fact that I consistently prove on a daily basis)

At Kate's

Lyndsay - I'm a teacher, too! I love how books place you right in the heart of history. Fiction that shows how life was at a certain time is so important to be correlated with history lessons. Have fun wrapping up your school year!

Jeanne - this sounds worth reading
if one line could sell a book
varnished faces would

At Kris's

Sarah - What a great quote! One thing I learned at our Iowa SCBWI conference is "if you slap a cute dog on any cover, it'll sell like hotcakes." And lots of good writerly things were learned too :)
How awesome that you're playing along with W.I.B.I.J.! This was my last clue to figure out and I saw your picture up top and was like, hey, she looks familiar :)

Kate - I've often heard of the first draft as the "down draft" cause you have to just get it down. Then the second draft is the "up draft" because you clean it up. I think your write to your strengths, revise to your weaknesses moto fits in with that. It's all a process and nobody can expect it to be perfect in the first go around.

(Srsly, Kate, words I need to start living by!)

Elana - Oh, that's great advice. The best thing I've heard recently is "You can do hard things." It's something I tell myself every day.
How lame am I, quoting myself? LAME.

Jeanne - hey, wait a minute
you had to find your own blog?
a conspiracy! ;->

Dena - Okay obviously all of my writer friends are in New England. Where the crap are all my REDNECK writers?!?!?! Seriously?! All of you guys are up north!!
GREAT advice about putting away a manuscript for a couple of weeks. It's crazy what a difference that makes. It's like I'm looking at it with fresh eyes!

(I'm not in New England and I am very redneck.  No, srsly, I forgot to wear sunscreen on my run yesterday.)

At Anna's
Crystal - Attack mode! Battle cry! Huzzah!! WIP, you may now fear me!

Excellent motivation, I’m with ya.

(This is the Crystal that sends me inspirational emails every week?)

Elana - Good luck with your goals. *insert battle cry* I’m with you! I will write a lot this week. How’s that for specific? Ha!

Jeanne - no more excuses!
i’ll start my next manuscript
and eat more salad

Dena - Yes Yes! I need the powers of the bunny!!!!! I have taken a break because I’ve been reading a buttload of YA books, but I have had a PB ready for submission for about a month now and I have yet to submit it! I must harness the powers of the bunny and get on it immediately!

(I have learned so many things about Dena via WIBIJ, nothing more prevalent than her affinity for the word 'butt'.)

Award Ceremony

Despite the mix-up, we have winners!

Best Comment has never been harder to award.  There were so many great options showing support, wit, and writing love. But the difficulty of the phrase made it easier to narrow. With her haiku-like comments, Jeanne wins the award for Best Comment!  She embodies so much fun in her comments and they make me smile when I am far from my computer.  Thanks, Jeanne.

First place was a nail biter since my mess-up left the players in a disoriented state. The first place winner finished after telling me what I had done wrong and cheering us along as we fixed the problems.  Yes, Kris is the winner of 1st Place AND a free book!  Kris, you get to pick out of these books.  Thanks and nice work!

Official Recap and Awards Ceremony!

We never know who is coming and we can't see you when you are here. We have your words, and that is all. The fantasy that we cling to is that J is out and about spreading glitter in the form of comments and H and I are back home holding down the tent. And you come for the greatest, most friendly show on earth. Thanks for making it true!
So Heather got a chance to pick Casey's brain(thanks Casey for the feedback and the awesome support). And I got a chance to pick my own and these were the things that we came up with: We want to create a place where folks could discover new blogs and new books, a place for people to come together to see each other and be seen.

The work of this blog is transparency. It has promotional possibilities, educational, and social. The point is to come here and be. To SEE each other. To provide a map to the inconceivable, the writer's blogosphere. We do the research and gathering, but it only works when you come and pay attention. And that includes paying attention to your neighbors. They are the stars. The stops. The players. The cheerers-on. Thanks for letting that begin. Stay around and let us see where it goes.


And help us do it better. Like Casey, give us your two cents. Leave it in the comments. Find the feedback form along the side. Submit your questions in the Ask Us Anything form. Join us in our circus ring, perform or have the circus come to your town. We would love to see you, sign up your blog and describe it for us. We will design our clues and a theme just for you. Maybe someday you will do it for us. This is a community and we love you people!


Heather's rhymes awesomely capture the beauties of our Debut Run # 2. Go check out these brainchildren, buy them, sign up, and love up their authors.

STOP 1:

sarcastic and funny, and a bit of a sleuth
an outsider, a newbie, a little uncouth
living in quiet, he takes his Days Dark
lip reading secrets, mystery's lark.

death comes a knockin' while on the school trip,
so smiley and he, into truth, take a dip.
uncovering secrets, about everyone
much wit is revealed before Hamburger's done.
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin Josh Berk

STOP 2:
she's charmed and she's popular--until her last Fall

seven do-overs in total as death does a stall

day, by day, by day, she retries
her mistakes, her wastes, her life, her lies.

Before moving forward she first must move back

and put meaning within everything that did lack
again and again and again she must right
the flaws in herself and the dark for the light.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver


STOP 3

random facts have a calming effect on the day
when the school bell rings out--one's expected to play
with the anomalous mass of bully and friend
which is which? it's so hard to know in the end.

Reinvention makes sense, as do numbers galore
and inventions and science they never did bore
one Thomas Edison or, one eddy, at all
and learning social cues puts you ahead of the ball.

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas by Jacqueline Houtman


STOP 4
19th century america was enthralled with the sisters,

real foxes and tricksters of mrs. and misters.
cracking knuckles and joints, they pretended the Dead

were speaking aloud, "We Hear them," they said.

never caught in the lie until love came to call
the guilt of their life catches up with them all
or at least with the one who stands to lose most
is it possible to give up your life for fake ghost?

We Hear the Dead by Dianne Salerni


STOP 5

not a book to be searched or one title to read
but a different debut coming out of the seed
a forum to chat, to play and to Talk
no need to bring anything, Tracy supplies Chalk.

whether writing that draft or that pesky revision
Crossing out adjectives, beating into submission
or seeking for agents, or just wanting to find
other like minded writers of your very own kind.

Tracy Edward Wymar of Crossing Chalk and his new message board Chalk Talk.

The Race:
Drama at the tent: squealing with each new arrival, puking bunnies and tutus and donkeys, disruptive neighbors(DARN THEM), and for added difficulty, Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall bearing googlable similarities to Fallen by Lauren Kate(who knew!). Charmed by cheerers on, hearts rising to our throats at pleas of help, the tent was a tense and tumultuous place. WE LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!!!!

The fast racers all rolled into Tracy's at the same time and then returned to unscramble the phrase: Here Ye, Here ye, free books to the witty.

Finishers:
Crystal Cook
Sarah Mullen Gilbert
Jeff Baird
Casey McCormick
Kelly Freaking Polark
Dena Daw
Kris Asselin
Serenissima (aka Jeanne)
Elana Johnson

Congratulations to all! We have heard that these clues were hard! As was the unscrambling!

Favorite comments:

At Josh Berk's blog:

Casey:

Has anyone told you how awesome you are lately? Yes? I thought so. (Awesome, Casey!)

Kelly:

Most excellent vlog of MBT Theater, Sir Josh.
My only wish is that the tune "Boob Sweat" makes it to Itunes so I can purchase it and play it over and over until it becomes one of my Top 25 Played songs. (Knowing Kelly, the threshold a song would have to pass to be in the top 25 most played songs in her iTunes is like 8,000.)

At Lauren Oliver's blog:

Elana:

Oh my heck. My desk is my dining room table too. Tablers unite!! (It's all about the lingo!)

Laura:

I'm wondering what you do on the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh days too? :) (Me too! She's a writer and a superhero. She's probably dating Clark Kent Jr. too.)

Dena:

My day is much less interesting than yours, I'm afraid. Flying to New York to promote my best seller book is way overrated. Not to mention the book signing I did for all of those people waiting in the rain...camped out and what not. Then I had to drag my butt out of the Hilton and to a conference to be recognized and honored with awards and applause...god, how boring. All I really wanted to do was sit in my private sauna and have a margarita or two. Oh well, I guess I'm off to do that now.... (I maybe believed her for like a split second)

Jeanne:

A mango, an egg
and a salute to the Sun,
So different from me,
and my pop tart on the run.

(She was channeling the true spirit off W.I.B.I.J.?!)

At Jacqueline Houtman's blog:

Dena:

My granddad used to fry spam for breakfast and have it with eggs. Yum. But I wouldn't recommend that...he also ate squirrels. (I can't decide which part is funnier, that Dena's own grandfather consumed her greatest fear or that squirrels are her greatest fear. Now, I know she's going to go into a long-winded comment about how I have irrational Kabourpphobia (Yeah, that's right D, my fear has a name!) but pincers are so much scarier than fur ball tails! -J) (It's awesome that Dena can bring squirrels into almost all WIBIJ games)

Jeanne:

The "AM" in SPAM stands for HAM.
That much I can see.
But with SPIT and SPLEEN and SPECIMEN,
The "SP" frightens me.

(And again)

At Dianne Salerni's blog:

Sarah:

As for the question [Have you ever been on a date stranger than this?], I don't know if it was technically a date, but my husband and I spent Valentine's Day milking cows :) (Holy cow, that's romantic! And gross ;)

Jeanne:

Nooky near the dead,
Some find that hot?
Um, I dunno,
Well, okay, why not?

(And again!)

At Tracy's blog:

Jeanne:There's a guy I know,

A miserly fellow,
He keeps armpit-stained shirts,
and dyes them yellow.

(And yet again!!)

Thank you, again, to everyone who participated and commented!

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for:

THE AWARDS CEREMONY!

(Presented by Jonathon)

The top spot and first place, by a few moments goes to...

Crystal!

Best comment was extremely hard to choose. There were so many great comments, as you can see above. One person totally brought it and made us proud. We couldn't choose just one because all were so impressive! The winner of best comment is...

Jeanne!

Heather removes her rhyming top hat: Serenissima is AWESOME with the rhyming clues. I BOW TO HER RHYMING AWESOMENESS!


Crystal and Jeanne please email us with address information and a book chosen from this list.

But what of the crafty third book we have to give away you may be asking? Not so easy to distribute! We answer. You are all are so fantastic! Encouraging, tweeting, commenting with brilliance! Hmm, who gets the third? Just because we are tricky and hoping to see more of you here, we will give it away at the next WIBIJ game in two weeks! Be there (HERE) or be square!

The Official Recap and Award Ceremony

The next WIBIJ game will post on May 5th, at 1 PM eastern!
Follow Heather's clues to new or familiar blogs. Show up right on time to play the fast action game, or come anytime during the next 24 hours to play the relaxed version. We invite folks to hang out in the cheering section too (more cowbell, please). So many ways to get involved!

Next game there will be prizes for our fabulous winners. Keep your eyes peeled for details! PRIZES, people!!!

The Recap (Presented by Tina)
This past race began with Blogger pacing her cage. Here at WIBIJ?!, when working with our exotic animals, we always use B.F. Skinner's theory of OPPERANT CONDITIONING, connecting each of Bloggers behaviors with a cue and immediately rewarding her when she behaves the desired way. Her preferred behaviors are 1) publishing all of Heather's clues in non-wonky manner and 2) when she does wonk the clues, letting Heather approach without biting her head off.

Picture of Heather with our beloved Blogger

Once we have CAPTURED the beast (B.F. Skinner terminology) this game runs like butter. Then all that's required is SHAPING (yes, we know Blogger would be better off in the wild and we are putting Heather at serious risk) Taming a wild beast is like trying to train the wind.

The Stops
This race brings us to the women of the Internet, these gals have got Blogger in the palms of their hands. Our theme this week was blogs that help authors blog and write better.

Stop 1: Shelli at Market My Words, a fairie-like blog for adults, giving us the tools we need while providing such fun, this post asked her commentors to give their fourteen-year-old selves advice, based on the premise of Sarah Mylnowski's new book Gimmee a Break.

Stop 2: Casey at Literary Rambles not only keeps brilliant records of agents out there for us when we need but she offers a forum for our tip and tricks, our want-ads, providing series on tighter writing. Not only does she have killer content but she is a friend to all that cross her cyber-path.

Stop 3: Sheri Larsen's Writer's Alley provides a place for writers to spread their words, she is welcoming and energetic and a founder of Inkwell a community for writers that is growing like gangbusters, check it out! She also played our game with wit and winsome style (and for that she has us eternally in her pocket)!

Stop 4: Tahereh at Grab a Pen, brand spanking new to blogging, Tahereh is all freshness and love. She splashes on the scene with tons of visual appeal and boldness. Thanks for being there for all of us, Tahereh, you are our BESTIE! Querypolitan = awesome

Stop 5: Elana Johnson helps us with the most difficult, and keeps it real! Not only is she the Query Queen, she is a friend and a real writer with real writer problems and we can connect with her on a daily basis. As we learned from her post she vomits her first drafts, she let's us know exactly how and when she blogs, she shows us how to do it!

Our Racers:

Dena: What is there to say about Dena, our recurring champion? Except we command you, BOW TO THE QUEEN!

Jeff: HOORAY! He is a hero to our eyes. Not only did he take on our undefeated angel with storybook like bravery but he does his own personal good on his blog. Check out the Debut Author's Blog. His interviews are worth your time.

And Sheri, her Graffiti Wall is a wonder to behold. And the way she looks at you over her glasses, leaving cheeky responses. She put in a good race.

Other racers: Our beloved Kris, finding her way here between work and kids and her book. Kelly our gal about the blogosphere, perhaps you have seen her rocking at a concert near you too.

The Phrase: Paying it forward, one post at a time.

Awards (Presented by Jon)

1st Place

And of course, first place goes to the beloved Dena. I am so glad she's endearing, otherwise this could get old. But instead, I feel privileged to present her with 1st Place every other week. Since I know Dena really well, I know that her first place finishes give her motivation each week and that's what we're all about here, after all.

Best Comment

We saw funny, motivational, and honest comments this week. Nice work guys! Here are my favorites:

Kelly at Shelli's

Too fun, Shelli! I was wondering what that was all about on FB last night!
I agree with most things that you said, except the part of Duran Duran. I still and always will love them! :)
I actually wouldn't tell myself to change too much, because I love how my life turned out. I wouldn't want to accidentally alter the pathway there!
What a cool concept for a book!

Kris at Shelli's

I so love this idea. I wish wish wish I could tell my high school self to get over the crush I had for 4 whole years that made me ignore all the boys who might have been nice! Oh, and keep writing. ;)

Dena at Elana's

LOL at word vomit!!! I vomit out my PB's all the freaking time!

Sheri at Elana's

I'm what you'd call a skeletal pantser. ";-) Write out a few notes that just happen to have A or 1. in front of them. Sketch out a few more and then type away. I love to see a curve or twist I otherwise would not have created had I outlined to the hills. But that's just ME.

Kelly at Elana's

I have a general plot/conflict and general ending then go from there.
I can't wait to word hurl tonight!

Dena at Sheri's

That book sounds awesome!
I really enjoyed reading this interview because I can relate as a mother...and it's true, writing PB's is CRAZY HARD!!! I love your dedication to your craft and I'm trying to "work" at it as much as I can, but with two little kids, sometimes it just seems impossible! So glad to see you've had success! It gives me hope :-)

Kris at Tahereh's

I'd totally subscribe [to Querypolitan]! I can lose weight while I write - that would genius.

Jeff at Tahereh's (wrong post, right blog, but we loved it!)

Totally happens with my blog too. Somehow searching "Thomas Edison" brought someone to my web page... go figure.

The winner of the Best Comment Award is Kelly and her comment at Elana's because I love the sound of 'word hurl'. Well, the sound the words make not the action. Maybe Kelly could do a vlog on word hurling. I keep saying it over and over. "word hurl word hurl word hurl" Kelly--here's your award to proudly display on your blog! Congrats, and great race!

Official Recap for WIBIJ?! Game 3 (Presented by Tina)

You'd think that your carnival hosts would be wizened and jaded by now, spitting snuff and cat calls at the passers by. No we are not, we are right proper with finger sandwiches and lemonade. Heather and I make a point to wear our best aprons to the tent and you will never catch us without lipstick. J heads off to spread glitter with a jolly wave. It is like a set for Leave it to Beaver around here, except with Lions named Google and Elephants called Blogger. But we are crafty beneath this homespun appearance, Heather made this run just a little harder.

The Race:
Dena arrives and pleasantries abound. Oh, yes we can see this race coming from a mile away. The beautiful Dena has done it before and she will do it again. She is the lady of the hour, both to her children and to us. She can pull out the big comments, typing with a baby in one hand and spare diaper in the other. But then out of nowhere  comes Jeff. Who is this stranger and does he dare challenge Dena? The crowd goes wild. Jeff announces a competitive streak and Dena says, "Bring it!" Fingers to the keyboard, they were googling!!!

The Stops...
Exhibited such synchronicity! First, when we chose these May debuting books, two of them featured wolves. Well, that seemed lucky. Little did we know, that that was only the beginning. Heather designs her race in relative blindness. Yes, these blogs know we are coming. They are prepared to put up a post and sit tight while our challengers cover the wires. But, morning of the race dawned with beautiful echos and reflections throughout.

At stop one: Christy Raedeke at Juvenescence had put out an all points bulletin for a monkey! (First wolves and now a monkey.) You may want to head over there to see why. Please let her know if you have a lead on a talented capuchin(or other ideas, i.e. squirrels in makeup and men in gorilla suits)! Christy's book Prophecy of Days - Book One: The Daykeeper's Grimoire comes out May 1st!

At stop two: Kristen Chandler at Kris Chandler Stories: the Blog the synchronicity continues with more animals. Her post is a tribute to Kit, a John Wayne strutting, beloved bad boy cat, may he rest in peace and a pleasure to read. Kris' book Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me comes out May 13th!

At stop three: Christine Johnson brings up the controversial (or all we all in agreement here, editors rock!) future of book publishing, specifically self-publishing. If you have an opinion (and I know you do) go and leave it! Her book Claire De Lune comes out May 18th!

Finally stop four: The Debut Authors Blog. What?? Is that Christine Johnson again?! And is she is being interviewed by our very own scavenger Jeff Baird?! The echos and revolutions continue. Go and check out the questions, they're not your usual fare. And the answers aren't bad either! (There are two versions of the blog, one just for blogger. Our comments ended up at both. For added challenge see if you can double comment! May the synchronicity never end.)

Missing!
Our heckling section! One donkey-riding (and the TURBO donkey his/herself), tutu-wearing, vacationing (let's hope not in the hospital because that's where she was headed in her last joking comment was seen in these here parts) Ann Marie! Racers beware, I believe she is prepared to heckle the next time! (All are welcome to join, as long as it is in respectable, Leave it to Beaver type fun).

Our phrase: April previews bring May debuts!!!

Award Ceremony (presented by Jon)
1st Place:

Dena had a fierce competitor in Jeff. He was speedy! And had the distinct advantage of knowing the last blog (and then there was that surprise(!) overlap between the last two blogs). The two dueled around the blogosphere until even Harry Potter caught wiff of Dena and Jeff's battle. But in the end, it was Dena's defense of the Dark Arts, oh, no, I mean in the end it was Dena's defense of her reigning title as the W.I.B.I.J.?! queen that brought down the house in her favor.

Best Comment:

My two favorite comments were left by Jeff.  At Kris Chandler's blog he said, "Reminds me of my old cat, Zeno. She killed a Doberman once…. Violence came back to haunt her though when her days were ended by a rapid possum " (Wow, she killed a Doberman, but stood no chance against a possum?  I am amazed.) 

and 

at Christy' Raedeke's blog Juvenescence he said, "I will read your book solely based on monkeys... I mean we share a common ancestor and all. If it helps, I know a guy with a gorilla suit and I bet he would do origami in it for less than 800 dollars. Just sayin..." (Can you imagine trying to make a tiny crane with those sausage fingers?)

Jeff is the winner of Best Comment! (and thanks for giving Dena a serious run for her money!) Jeff make sure to pick up your award, and do with it what you will!  

And a huge shout out for being so darn faithful and beloved goes to both the lovely Kelly Polark and her magnificent and smiling presence (we loved your turn of WIBIJ's turn of phrase!) and the powerful scavenger with google in her back pocket, Dena Daw. We would like to thank Kelly and Dena for being so supportive of W.I.B.I.J.?!  No matter their schedule or how many children are running around screaming, they have been here for us. We truly appreciate it you two!  I love Dena to death, but I'd love to see someone take her down!!  Just kidding.  Not.

Official Recap for WIBIJ?! Game 2(presented by your game masters):

The Big Top was a little calmer at the beginning of our second official game. Even Jon’s acrobatics were in slow mo. The thing was, these were blogs that were chosen expressly because of our love for them and we wanted our crowd to love them up too. Even as Jon turned mid swing, waved, and then set out to spread glitter, H and I fussed with the canvas, picking up stray peanut shells and wondering what the days performance would bring. We had this down, we knew, but the game is only as good as the folks who come to play.

The beautiful Dena showed up right on time, the first sign that our race was going to be a success. She signed in and blasted past, before Heather could tip her top hat. If you recall Dena was our first ever racer, sending her kids to graze as she raced the wilds of our internet during the first race. This time our stunt master conducted the race with her children on her lap!! Dena had commented on four stops before Kris arrived beneath the canvas! Kris was steadfast, leaving her comments and returning to update us on her progress, and her words, bringing in Prof. McGonagall and squirrels, none too shabby. Then, there were sightings out in the field of a third mystery speed racer, eventually blowing us all out of the rings with comments and stealth. Laura wowed us with her game dexterity and her lisping(see below!!) retorts! Finally, even the lovely hosts of our clues showed up, with encouraging words, cheering racers on!

And then we knew, this race was a thing of beauty!!

Which brings us to the stops, oh we are proud of these hosts! These were the kind of blogs this game was designed for!! Each blog, beautiful and unique, these ladies have voice and presence, and know how to use it. Our theme this week: the blogs of picture book writers.


Off to stop one: Corey Schwartz Where rhymes and information, and self-deprecation all charm away, along with Thing 1 and Thing 2. Her post for the race was about being ditzy and commentors were out to validate, with stories of their own and reasons why that non-linear thinking will serve a writer. Love being shared by all.  (I am still 1000X ditzier than anyone, despite Corey's protests. -J)

Stop two: Marisa at Elegant snobbery. Beautiful illustrations galore and here we have music and all things spring, butterflies, rainbows, and fluffy kittens.  (There are even scary sock monkeys there! -J) The comments were epistilary and full of all sorts of fauna.

Stop three: Storygueen(Shelley) at Storycastle, which is a kingdom in of itself; everyone leaves Storycastle with a little more than when they came.  Give your internal editor a makeover and Shelley may claim him (or her) as her own, and you're a little proud she does it too. Everyone is inspired in the comments over there. Watch out, you may not want to leave.  (It's like magic! -J)

And then we get to Jacqui's room where Jacqui Robbins welcomes us to her circle. LeBron James and lies galore, but a writing lesson too. Check her out for Write This book Inspirational Moments. She is an inspiration herself. And the comments that follow, full of lies and fictions and even some truths.  (This chica is like my new favorite, which I can get away with because we live in the same state and she lives in my favorite city in said state.  GO BLUE!)

And surprise, at stop five, a familiar and oh so game friend: Dena Daw at My Journey to Becoming a Published Author. Dena was our first player. Way back last time, our first horn tooter, way back after last game, and she is a picture book author, not afraid to share her journey with us. Check her out. Bring her some socks! She will make you laugh and maybe even make you want to hold her son.  (Definitely will make you laugh. Not sure yet about holding the son. -J)

All race completers entered the correct phrase: A PICTURE BOOK IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.
Dena Daw
Kris Asselin
Laura Pauling
Kelly Polark
Even Heather's son! But technically he's disqualified because he didn't leave comments or sign in to play! Maybe he will next time. Dena crossed our finish line first, entering the phrase and then rushing off to feed her children. Only proves that that mother CAN do it all. Looking forward to all the books we will see from her some day! Two races down and she wins the speed round of both. I challenge you folks out there, give her a run for the award!!!

The glitter we found spread all around:

Kelly at Storyqueen:

-Can I borrow Harrison as my inner editor? Though I think I picture mine as me in teacher mode. And I need to be harder on myself!
When I was in fifth grade I wrote him a fan letter and received back a picture with his stamped signature. I was in love with Han Solo/Indiana! My biggest dilemma was which movie was my favorite: Empire Strikes Back or Raiders of the Lost Ark! Ahhh,such simple times...

Kris's comment at Elegant Bloggery:

-The sun is shining in my front window for the first time in days.  No kittens or bunnies around.  But a fat squirrel did run across the street a few minutes ago.  Does that count? Nothing like good tunes and a sunny day to make procrastinating feel like you've accomplished something.  Oh, and if it makes you feel better, I once cut 15K from my WIP (when it was only 20K). It's better now. ;)

But Laura's comments all over were stunning. The comments referred back to themslves, the lie at Jacqui's fueling the muse at Shelley's, and the game itself coming up at her comment on ditzery being written in her genes, but her one at Dena's was our favorite:

-Protest! Thou cannot winneth wheneth a bloggeth is onest of your ownest. :) Realleth, it's okayeth withith meith.

Awards Ceremony:

Laura's comment is the winner of our Best Comment Award, a coveted prize, one that is won with wit and well-wishes.  Laura's comment embodies both criteria to a tee!  Laura, feel free to snatch up this Best Comment Award, and do with it what you will!  You've earned it!

Dena is our first place winner.  Despite being unopposed for much of the race, she remained focused on beating the clock and her previous W.I.B.I.J.?! record set during out last game.  Steadfast and witty, Dena owned this race and I challenge someone to give her a run for the medal next time.  Unless you're too chicken.  Dena--soon you'll have enough first place awards to wallpaper your blog!