Good News and Five Things

Two pieces of good news for this Tuesday morning ~ celebrate with me!

1. I won Liana Laverentz's award-winning novel Thin Ice from the LASR website. Can't wait to read it!

2. My editor at Samhain sent me an email regarding my second submission to her, and said "Allie, I’ve read and, unsurprisingly, really enjoyed the first chapter of One Night in Memphis. If the manuscript is still available, I’d be thrilled to take a look at it. Thank you so much for the submission."

Fingers crossed for another contract!

And now, the "5 things" meme that's been circulating the last few days. Hey, you wanted to know more about me, right?

What were you doing ten years ago?
1) Adjusting to living in a brand new town
2) Adjusting to a brand new job
3) Writing a book that never got published (and probably never will)
4) Planning a cross-country trip with my ex-boyfriend
5) Listening to my best friend gush about the guy she met in a bar...who is now her husband and the father of her 3 kids

What were you doing one year ago?
1) Setting up my writing website!
2) Writing (of course)
3) Starting up my regular running habit again
4) Spackling and painting my linen closet
5) Planning a trip to New Hampshire for a holiday getaway...and to meet Marianne

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Trail mix
2) Quaker Oat Squares (much better as a snack than a cereal)
3) Lime Tostitos
4) Dark chocolate
5) Apples - only in season! (which means right now, I'm in heaven)

Five Songs you know the lyrics to:
1) Almost anything from a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical
2) "Ave Maria" ( I sang it at a friend's wedding)
3) "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood
4) "Respect" by Aretha Franklin
5) "The Star Spangled Banner"

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1) Build a lake house on our property upstate
2) Pay someone to replace the siding on our house
3) Donate a good chunk to the animal shelter where I volunteer
4) Take a tour of the British Isles
5) Spend a month in Italy

Five bad habits:
1) Obsessing over things I cannot control
2) Speaking before I think (this doesn't happen as often as it used to, thankfully)
3) Eating too much sweet stuff
4) Spending too much time on the computer *not* writing
5) Skipping workouts

Five things you like to do:
1) Write
2) Run 10K races
3) Play my piano
4) Read good books
5) Travel

Five things you will never wear again:
1) Legwarmers (80s, anyone??)
2) High-waisted jeans
3) Leather
4) Reebok sneakers
5) A perm (oh yes, I loved the big hair of the 80s as well)

Five favorite toys:
1) My laptop
2) My cats (they wouldn't like to be called *toys*, but oh well)
3) My Ouija board (even though I haven't used it in ages ~ it used to be THE thing at sleepovers
4) This great wine bottle opener
5) The game Memory (especially played with my niece)

Five things you hate to do:
1) Make cold calls
2) Discipline students
3) Clean the cat box
4) Read badly written books
5) Lose touch with friends

Five people to tag:
1) Anyone.
2) Who.
3) Wants.
4) To.
5) Play.

Have a great Tuesday!