I Vant My Vampire Baby! Contest Details
Just in time for Halloween...
Enter now to become one of 3 lucky winners in theI Vant My VAMPIRE BABY contest!
Prizes include an autographed copy of VAMPIRE BABY by Kelly Bennett for your little ghost or goblin – along with fun VAMPIRE BABY swag such as bookmark, postcard, and fangs.
It’s easy to enter, here’s what you do:
1) Check out the VAMPIRE BABY book trailer on YouTube
2) Post a comment about the book trailer on that page (below the trailer)
3) You’re entered! It’s just that easy!!
Don’t miss out – be sure to enter today...and tell your friends!!
The contest will run from 10/15 to midnight 10/31/13! Three winners being selected and posted on Facebook at Kelly Bennett Books and in the book trailer comments on 11/1/13. Be sure to check for your name to see if you’re one of the 3 winners!
Click to view: VAMPIRE BABY book trailer on YouTube
Happy Viewing!
JUST KEEPS GETTING WEIRDER . . . Dimples!
For some, it may have been a passing thought. One of those "Boy if only I had dimples, too . . . I'd get to be Goddess-of-the-Whole-Entire-Universe-and-Beyond" thoughts that cross your mind when you saw __________(fill in the blank). And if you're honest, after my last post, you might have given serious thought as to whether you could grow a pair--of dimples that is--by sucking on popsicles. You might even have popped for a six pack of strawberry ice on a stick--less than 100 calories each! Checked into Cool Scuplting. Or, in a burst of guilt-free glee, googled recipes to make your own. Sorry to say, I still don't know how many popsicles one must suck to develop face dimples. I'm still working on it. . .
But I did find some interesting recipes for various flavors. Here are my fav fruit pop recipes.
It's weird enough to think of someone putting so much thought into how dimples are formed. And it just keeps getting weirder:
Our frieghbor, Brian, just sent me an article about a woman who wanted dimples so badly--and thought everyone else did, too...enough to pay for them--that she invented a dimple making machine!
Anyone in the market for "A fine set of dimples?"
Here's more about Isabella Gilbert and her contraption, along with other "bad inventions":
It just keeps getting weirder . . .
Popsicles
What Inspires: POPSICLES I’m waiting in my dermatologist’s office to have my annual “mole check.” (Moles? Creepy name, always makes my skin crawl. . . Is one more burrowing up from under my skin right now???) Anyway . . .
There is a brochure on the table for a non-invasive fat melting procedure called “Cool Sculpting.” (Oh please, do not pretend you wouldn’t pick up a brochure promising “fat melting”, too.) The explanation inside explains that the revolutionary discover which lead to “Cool Sculpting” technology came because someone noticed that children with dimples eat more popsicles.
Who do you suppose that “someone” was? And how was the data gathered? Did someone race around after Ice Cream trucks? Or did someone take playground to playground surveys.
Genetically speaking: “Dimples are visible indentations formed as a result of the underlying flesh of the cheeks. . . actually the manifestations of a birth defect resulting from a shortened facial muscle. A dimple is the outcome of a fault in the subcutaneous connective tissue that develops during embryonic development.” (From a BRAIN TRAIN post about dimples.)
Genetic’s aside: It seems the icy popsicles being sucked against the inner cheek of the child over an extended period of time kills fat cells in the cheek. Makes um less “cheeky” (If I’d known that I might have sent a couple certain someones chasing the Ice Cream Truck more often.)
Which jives perfectly with more from the BRAIN TRAIN: And sometimes, “A variation in the structure of the facial muscle zygomaticus major is known to cause dimples.” And leads us back to “Cool Sculpture”:
Does this mean that people with only one dimple only sucked popsicles on one side? And did that someone tally statistics to find out if there are more right-side suckers or left-side suckers? Or is the split pretty much fifty-fifty dreamsicle-style? If that’s the case, fair jurors could be almost guaranteed (if we limit the drawing pool to folks with dimples in both cheeks.)
I always wanted dimples. I used to stand in front of the mirror with my cheeks sucked in wishing I had them. I wonder: If I start sucking popsicles now, can I grow some dimples? (Or is it lose?)
And what about people with dimpled chins? Where do they suck their popsicles?
Remember the adage “Dimple in chin, Devil within”? Is “Devil” a euphemism for unflavored popsicles (otherwise known as icicle)? Weather-wise it’s been called devilishly cold—so cold it feels hot as the devil.
Dimpled knees?
Dimpled butts? ………………………………..Fudgesicles? (I know, I shouldn’t have . . .)
Or Dimpled feet? …………………………………… Say maybe what’s the idea behind Michael Frank’s odd-but-catchy ditty: “Popsicle toes are always froze . . . ”
Popsicles . . .
Burning Man
What Inspires: BURNING MAN
Upon arrival at Reno Airport, last Monday, we were greeted by all manner of folks holding "I NEED A TICKET!" signs.
"Ticket to what?"
Near baggage claim, a row of tables crowded with "interesting" and "artsy" types with yarn woven into their hair and camping gear, busily passed around papers and scribbled on sign up sheets. The buzz was audible, their excitement, catching. What ever sort of camp or convention they were going to, I wanted to go to.
Then I spotted a poster of a metal sculpture mounted on a pyre and knew:
BURNING MAN is an 8 day-long event held in the Nevada desert, about 100 miles north of Reno.
I've never been to Burning Man. The first I heard of it was in a Reno bike shop a few years back when the salesperson suggested I could get the best deal on a used bike the weekend after Labor Day because thousands bring bikes to ride at Burning Man (as no cars are allowed inside) and then dump them rather than pay to have them shipped home.
The rest I had heard of Burning Man was it's a week-long camp out in the desert, with no amenities, lots of drugs, music, art and wild costumes.
The latest I'd seen of Burning Man is an exhibit in the Reno Airport (while waiting to leave Wednesday) of massive, detailed, awe-inspiring sculptures erected in the desert: :
metal ships cast adrift in the sand sea;
pyramids,
twisted semi-trailers squirming skyward.
spaceships,
sea creatures . . .
and of course, the human effigy from whence the gathering takes it's name. Burning Man is torched the last Saturday night of the gathering.
Afterwards, and through today, the 1st Monday in September, Labor Day, participants dismantle the community. . They pack out their trash and tents and disburse.
If you'd like to know more about Burning Man, you'll find oodles of photos, videos, blogs, etc. etc. and so forth . . .
But you might not find THIS. . .
And
THIS, coupled with the thought of 50 to 60,000 people from 22 countries
coming together to celebrate, create and support art
--and others just out to have a grand time--is what inspires me about a week-long camp- out with strangers in the middle of the arid, hot, dry, summer, hot, dry, dusty, hot, dry desert.
THIS:
STARRING: VAMPIRE BABY!
VAMPIRE BABY has fangs and she knows how to use them! See for yourself! Watch the VAMPIRE BABY book trailer NOW!
YOUCH Tootie! NO BITE!
Trinidad State of Mind
What inspires: The Trinidad State of Mind
In Trinidad, "liming" is socializing; "wining" is dancing; both are national pastimes. And, I've noticed, although no longer property of the British Empire, residents still adhere to the motto "Keep Calm and Carry On." 
Unlike in England, however, in a distinctly Trini way, the compound phrase has been split. Sometimes Trini's "keep calm" in the face of hardship, sometimes they "carry on".
And when the situation calls for it, as it did yesterday, Trinis do both!
Each weekend, thumping and bumping party boats set off from Port-of Spain on Trini-style versions of Gilligan's "Three Hour Tours." Packed with revelers intent on pursuing the national pastimes these "Booze Cruises" make their way "Down de Islands" (DDI for short), and back. 
Yesterday, being a usual Sunday afternoon, the air should have been alive with the sound of party boat revelry. But it wasn't. This morning, our friend and upstairs neighbor, Brian, sent news why. The usual Sunday afternoon party boat--aptly named the Harbour Master--packed with 504 passangers, ran aground. Seems whoever was at the helm failed to master his way around an artificial reef.
Imagining the scene, you might picture mayhem, bedlam, chaos . . . At the very least wailing, weeping, and threats of law suit. I did...
But that is not the Trini way. 
Among the passengers on board was a 25-year-old celebrating her birthday. Cassandra noted how the boat suddenly stopped and whoa-is-she "spilled her drink." She went on to say "The party continued and even when I left there there were still people dancing on the boat but we never felt unsafe....she and her friends never felt that they were in any danger since the lights of the capital were clearly visible." The owner of the boat seemed similarly unconcerned. He planned to wait for the next high tide and see what happened...
Cassandra said, “This is Trinidad."
Keep Calm and Carry On.
Here's the link to Trinidad Express story: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/540-rescued-220137561.html
Family Affair
August 13, 2013, at 11:04 am (Tulsa Time), My son--my baby boy--and his wife Michelle, had a baby!
Bennett weighted in at 8 lb, 9 oz; 21 inches long.
Already comfortable--a true lion, he didn't even bother roaring!
Baby Bennett and I getting acquainted--a warm loaf of lovies!
Mama Michelle and Papa Max holding their bundle--6 hours after his birth! Proud Papa Max with his baby boy!
Our world has now and forever been changed!
Welcome Bennett Sam Goldman!
Battling the Buts
When my friend Teri was in Paris, a few years back, I went to visit her. 
One day she came home all a-twitter. She had been invited to a party by a guy she had seen, often, at an internet cafe. 
(A handsome, Frenchman).
Later, she and I, her brother Anthony and a guy friend of his, discussed whether she should go to the party or not:
"But . . . do you think he really meant to invite me?" she said. "Maybe he was just being nice . . . "
"Did he look at you?" Anthony and friend asked.
"Yes."
"Then he's interested."
"But . . .
"Did he smile at you?" Anthony and friend asked.
"Yes."
"Then he's interested."
"But . . .
"Did he talk to you you?" Anthony and friend asked.
"Yes."
"Then he's interested. . . . GO TO THE PARTY!!!!"
It's the same with writing, or any creative, non time-card activity. When it comes to our definition of "working" or not, we go all middle-grade and dismiss all that goes into the process with that 3-letter word: "But . .. that doesn't count... "But . .. I'm not really...
To counteract those insecure boogies, I've created this litmus test. (I've used "writing" as my creative endeavor. Substitute yours for it.) Then print it out and post it prominently. The next time buts get the better of you, give yourself the test.
Am I Writing?
Are you thinking about your story?
You're writing!
Are you doing research for your story?
You're writing!
Are you reading words written by other writers, especially those you admire...or not?
You're writing!
Have you written words today? A grocery list? An email? Notes for your story? ...any at all?
YOU ARE A WORKING WRITER!!!!!!!
--Read. Respond. When in doubt, repeat. Repeat as needed.
