UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy!
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Local schools announced a holiday—likely because they knew few students would show up and teachers would want to watch the total eclipse of the sun, too! So the three kids were with us.

All my siblings—two brothers and my sister—my daughter and her kids gathered at my brother’s place across the highway for a viewing party. We arrived at 11:30, set up the chairs facing the sun, handed out approved eclipse glasses, and roasted. The temperature was a very balmy 84 degrees, hardly a cloud in the sky. By the time the show was all over we did have sunburns. 🙂

Of course there was plenty of time for silly photographs. My daughter played “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and we all sang so loud we could hear neighbors laughing. The 10-year-old was our self-appointed timekeeper who let us know the countdown to the “totality.” There were plenty of goosebumps and oohs and ahhs when the totality occurred and the world grew dark.

Afterward, we weren’t as interested in watching the sun “grow bigger.” My brothers set up the grill to fry a ton of fresh-caught bass with hush puppies and tons of yummy sides. So, so, good. I am so grateful we could all be together for these few days, and to enjoy the eclipse. We’ll all carry memories of a very unique event.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me when your family gathered for some fun event! And did you get to watch the eclipse?

No contest today. Not much of a post, actually. LOL

All my siblings, my two brothers and my sister, are here. We all gathered at my place for a meal yesterday and to reminisce here at the family’s old homestead. We haven’t been together for a few years now, since my mother’s funeral. It was nice.

The local school district gave the kids the day off, so my three grandchildren are enjoying the “holiday” too.

Today, we’re doing a big fish fry. My brother from Georgia brought 18 pounds of fish he’d fished himself for it. We’ll have our folding chairs set up in the yard. We all have those special glasses. I can’t wait! So much bother for 2 minutes of awesomeness.

And this morning, I’m up early because I have to write a chapter before I can go enjoy the day. Tomorrow, I’ll write the last chapter and be done with Tyson’s Mission. I don’t plan to write a single word for the rest of the month—a mini-vacation for me to catch up on everything I didn’t get done while I focused on the book, like cleaning and straightening my office, folding and putting away clothes… Basically, everything. I get tunnel-vision when I’m writing.

So, to everyone in the Eclipse “Zone,” have a fun day. I hope I get a picture or two to share! ~DD

Last couple weeks…

• I wrote quadruple the amount of pages I usually write for Tyson’s Mission and have been putting in 12-14 hour days, just on writing, this week!
• I read more stories submitted for the Secret Identities anthology—but did not finish as planned!
• I finished one editing project for another author.
• I’ve created art every day for #The100DayProject.

This next week…

• Watch the eclipse with family—weather permitting!
• I will finish Tyson’s Mission which releases on April 23rd!  
• I will work on two editing projects for other authors!
• I must finish reading the rest of the stories for my next anthology, Secret Identities.
• I will continue creating small art daily for #The100DayProject.

Again, it’ll be a crazy-busy week! I’m ready for a vacation!

Open Contests

1. Word Search: Colors of Paint (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Easter Stories (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: What I’m bingeing now… — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Happy Easter & March Into April (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Another lost art? (Contest) Plus, Open Contests! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Flashback: Gunn’s Mission (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
7. Word Search: Eclipse Words (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Happy Tell a Lie Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
9. First Contact Day (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
10. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Eclipse Fantasy — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Diane Sallans!
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One family member is arriving tonight. My sister will be arriving maybe Sunday night…? Anyway, it looks like the weather might cooperate with Monday’s eclipse—the only total solar eclipse we’ll see here until 2044!!! I’m so excited—or as excited as I can be as I have a deadline approaching that is kicking my ass and I have been writing for 12+ hours a day. And yes, I have to finish the book on eclipse day. Gah! Yes, feel sorry for me. I could use an attagirl!

Anyway, today’s puzzle is fun. With all the weird nonsense online about the upcoming eclipse (what on earth do earthquakes have to do with eclipses?!), I thought the image I chose would be fun. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, and then tell me the wildest story you’ve heard about Monday’s eclipse or eclipses in general! Have fun!

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
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I know. I’m showing my nerd-side again. But this is an IMPORTANT holiday (to Star Trek fans, anyway)!

It’s the date, in the year 2063, when Vulcans land on Earth and introduce themselves. It’s the day when Earth begins the process of “joining the club” of star-traveling worlds. Such a momentous thing, don’t you think?

I have a love-fear relationship with the idea of aliens arriving. Yes, I read War of the Worlds when I was a kid. I watched the old black and white Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and for years afterward, I had nightmares where my parents were taken over by aliens and smiled those eerie smiles at me.

I also watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind—and yes! I could so be Richard Dreyfus’s character becoming obsessed with messages he couldn’t quite figure out and then happily letting the aliens lead him on board the spaceship at the end.

And then there was the more accessible, highly addictive weekly thrill of Lost in Space and STAR TREK! I always, always wanted to be Captain Kirk’s girlfriend. I was never a Spock girl, but I’d paint myself green and dance for that man.

More likely than Vulcans landing on the planet to make contact, I’m sure Michael Crichton had it right. Our first encounter won’t be with sexy, pointy-eared aliens but with a deadly, extraterrestrial microbe that will infect the human race as in the Andromeda Strain. Go ahead. Pee on my parade.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, describe what you think our first encounter with aliens will be like!

UPDATE: The winner is…Linda Rhoden!
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Today is Tell a Lie Day! That’s a weird one, right? Shall we celebrate it? I’m trying to figure out a way to make it fun and not obnoxious. Yes, we all tell lies, whether it’s to praise a someone’s haircut we hate. Or to tell a family member—“No, that dress doesn’t make your ass look huge.” You don’t say, “Honey, it’s not the dress,” do you?

Sooooo…

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, I want you to tell me a great big, juicy whopper of a lie. Have fun with it. 

UPDATE: The winner is Jane!
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Next Monday is going to be a big day for folks in my area. Schools will be closed. Everyone I know is planning a party. My sister and brother are driving down to enjoy the view from my other brother’s yard across the road. I bought the glasses and the T-shirt!

Of course, I’m talking about the GREAT SOLAR ECLIPSE. Which we may or may not be able to observe. The weather forecast changes daily. We can only hope that the stars align, along with the sun and the moon, so we can observe it all happen. Otherwise, we’ll get to enjoy total darkness during a thunderstorm. Woohoo.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you will be a lucky person to be in a place to observe the phenomenon—and do you have party plans?