It's HERE!

   APHRODITE'S WAR is finally here!  It felt like the day would never come, but yes, my second novel is here! http://www.amazon.ca/Aphrodites-War-ebook/dp/B00F8LJJSA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1379425838&sr=8-2&keywords=Aphrodite%27s+War  The blog tour is is full gear for it, and if you're interested, here's the link! There's going to be a lot of giveaways.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/440785532611199/621291374560613/?notif_t=group_comment_reply

This is the first blog post, done by my friend Mimsey--http://themimsey.blogspot.ca/2013/09/a-mimsical-interview-with-donna-milward.html Mimsey's become a good friend and doing this interview was like talking a an old pal.

Thanks to my sweet husband, I had a lovely launch party that I spent two day recuperating from. I gave away a few keychains, a notebook, and magnetic calendars.

Currently, I finished Chapter 19 in 'Chasing Monsters', only to delete three of the last pages. I think I'm about to introduce a new character. Wish me luck!

Until next week!

September, What's Your Hurry?

My sweet Grandma 

What the hell is going on? There is no room to breathe and take stock of what's going on. It's already September 19th, and "Aphrodite's War" has only been out for two days, officially. I feel as though I spend half my days on the computer, marketing and writing, and the other half doing things like harvesting, socializing and possibly sleeping. Or at least a reasonable facsimile of those things.

Facebook is my marketing best friend and my time-wasting enemy. Today I closed the page I was writing on to look up police jurisdictions for areas in certain parts of North-Central Alberta.

I ended up answering a bunch of Facebook messages, Tweeting, and building a profile page plus pages for Thoeba and Aphrodite's War on StoryFinds.

It wasn't until I got to my Tuesday night meeting with my Shenanigans group of friends that I remembered that I didn't get that done. I got the dishes and laundry done, plus making that phone call to our previous insurance company, but I never got around to calling the Pet Behavioral Hotline about how Spartacus Jones keeps attacking Freya for either play or territory and we-have-no-idea-why there is so much hissing.

Oh yeah! And my Grandma is up for a visit! That's an especially big deal because:

a) She's the last grandparent I have.
b) She got my Uncle Jerry to fly with her up here all the way from Manitoba. (He's in his late sixties.)
c) She's 91 years old. (WHAT? When did that happen?)

I feel like a shit because I just talked to her a month or so ago, and heard two things:

a) I heard my poor Grandmother ask if was EVER going to come visit her in Manitoba...I hadn't been back there since my teens. I couldn't give her a decent answer. Honestly, WHEN is a good time to drop everything and fly down to Winnipeg?
b) She pointed out that in July she was 91 years old. My jaw hit the floor. I kept meaning to phone her. Honest. But the truth is, the last time before THAT phone call that I spoke to her, she was turning 89.

I am swamped, but I'm going to spend as much time as I can with her. I gave her an "Aphrodite's War" calendar magnet and a T-shirt for her "Brag Bag", but there's NO WAY she's getting a book this time.

She's got glaucoma to the point where she can't actually see, but that didn't stop her from lending "Thoeba" to her Jehovah's Witness friends and her Lutheran family.  "It's very well written, but CERTAINLY not my cup of tea."--was the common quote.

Please, please, PLEASE God don't let my relatives read "Aphrodite's War."

Blogs, Events, and Parties, Oh My!

September is kicking my butt. Seems like there's a ton of things to do in both my personal and writing life.  Not that I'm REALLY complaining. I'd rather be swamped than bored.

Of course there's the usual harvesting, canning and wall washing. No doubt followed by wallpaper peeling and painting if my best friend Darci gets her way.

But August ended with the wedding of the decade (see previous post) and things haven't slowed down since.

If I didn't include Tara's birthday parties or Scott's visit from British Columbia, Canada things would still be interesting.

APHRODITE'S WAR comes out on the 17th! SCREAM!! That means all kinds of interviews and blogs, including a blog tour done by the awesome women behind TTC&B2B Blog Tours, Jessica Johnson and Tammy Middleton. Trust me, these ladies ROCK! The event is called
 "STACCATO AUTUMN FAMILY LINE-UP."

Cover by: Terra Weston Koster

 
It starts on September 17th, and promotes several other Staccato authors as well. We'd all love it if you could join us. So would all these other people who volunteered to help out with our on-line party...


http://themimsey.blogspot.com 

http://drwrnmk.blogspot.com 

http://sinfulreview.wordpress.com

http://www.worldsofwonderment.blogspot.com

http://bookend2bookend.blogspot.com

http://www.ohmyshelves.com

http://randommusesomy.blogspot.com

http://beccaannesbookreviews.blogspot.com

http://jessica13bridgers.blogspot.com

http://tamssbookblog.blogspot.com

http://www.echibbs.blogspot.com

http://jacintamareeauthor.blogspot.com

http://revloush.blogspot.com

Hope I didn't miss anyone. Thanks all of you for your participation. I'll be checking these blogs out and I can't wait to see what comes up!

Best. Wedding. Ever.

Jeremy and Rebecca Reid

What happens when two creative and playful people meet as Zombiewalkers and fall in love? They have the most amazing Zombie Wedding never seen before, and I just GOTTA share it with you. It felt like the day wouldn't get here, but when it did, all Hell broke loose.

It was my first time as a zombie. I gleefully tore up some of my clothes and bought four tubes of fake blood. I must say it was very liberating to wake up with bedhead, plaster my skull with tons of hairspray and call my hairdo done. That was another 40 minutes I could fret over my makeup. My husband chose to be a zombie hunter, and had his outfit done in minutes.

Me and the Troll

If I had any doubts about our costumes, they disappeared the moment we arrived. There is no right or wrong way to dress as a zombie or zombie hunter. Especially when you're surrounded by cool people who just want to have fun with it.

The ceremony's first unique twist came when Jeremy's groomsmen wheeled him to the altar in a black casket. The dapper dead man crawled from his coffin and took his place next to the creepy clergyman while a cloaked figure lit all the candles.

Jeremy isn't a morning person...

Then the speakers blared with 'Living Dead Girl' by Rob Zombie, and minions shuffled in, led by a ring bearer in a white top hat and an insane flower girl who tossed flower petals as though she wanted to kill everyone with them. The undead took positions alongside the aisle, allowing the bridesmaids to lurch by.

Then came the bride, who managed to look beautiful and ghastly at the same time. At first glance, you would think her gown had a pink tinge to it. Upon closer inspection, you would see that the color comes from a fine mist of blood droplets. Isn't it freakishly lovely? Well done!

You are looking delightfully pale, Rebecca

My favorite part was when they asked if anyone 'objected' to the union. Sure enough, some unfortunate jumped up and started yelling about how HE should be marrying the bride. The bridal party descended upon him, spraying his blood and ripping off his arm. They stepped back into place, leaving the corpse in the aisle. A groomsman chewed contentedly on the appendage for the remainder of the ceremony. The victim didn't move again until the end, when he 're-animated' and led the procession out. He made a great MC for a newly dead guy.

Guess they couldn't wait for dinner.

While the wedding party left to take pictures, a bunch of us helped set up for dinner. Everybody chipped in to set up tables, chairs, settings, centerpieces, wine and food. It's not work when everyone's having a good time doing it.

Did I mention it was potluck? There was chicken, ribs, meatballs, buns and bannock, salads, and desserts. I piled my plate, but still didn't try everything. And I MUST talk about the cake!

Chocolate dirt, gumball eyeballs and a skeleton bride and groom

 The three tiers were covered with a sort of Frankenstein skin of the best fondant I've ever tasted. I hate fondant, but I ate every bite of it. I asked the creator, Amy Mancor, how she actually managed to make fondant so edible, she told me she makes her own....Of course she does. Why should I be surprised? She is, after all, the owner/operator of  'Wicked Sweets' and has her own blog at ...amymancorscakes@tumblr or you can email at amymancorscakes@gmail.com. 

As always, the first dance was sweet, but it wouldn't be zombie without 'Thriller' would it? Wanna see it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkbeNDMY_k&feature=share

And let's not forget the entertainment: Banshee, Charlie Vegas, and Delilah LeDouche did beautiful burlesque dances. I'd show you photos, but I forgot to ask permission from any of the girls to post their nearly naked bodies on my blog...Sorry! But if you're interested, I think all three of them have fan pages on Facebook.

The rest of the night was dedicated to hanging out with old friends and new, everyone comfortable in their own decaying skin. Have you ever had the rare experience where EVERYTHING was great, and nothing went badly? Where every person you met was pretty damn cool? This was the whole package.

Days later we're all Facebook friending each other, posting pics and tagging. We'll be talking about this for weeks. Thank you Rebecca and Jeremy. That really was the Best Wedding Ever.

'Rebecemy' and 'Danna'