Happy first Friday the 13th of the year! That is right! Clearly this year promises to be an awesome one since the first month gets this honor. I know some of you are thinking, who cares? or rather this is supposed to be a lucky day... Psst to that! It's not an unlucky day, just like I suppose it isn't a lucky day but it merely reflects our own beliefs. If you believe it will be an awesome day... it will be. The power of belief and all that jazz!

If you feel that this day is terrible and should just be skipped over... well I hope no black cats cross your path. They might cause inexplicable chaos to happen in your life. For me this little guy only brings a big smile to my face and makes me want to get another kitty- of course the kitty pee that was in a VERY NOT CATBOX spot this morning, also makes me not want another one! LOL

You may want to avoid ladders too. But I think that this is just logic for anyone... if you see a ladder, you probably shouldn't walk under it... I mean all sorts of crapola could fall on your head, killing you instantly. Or at the very least taking off your ear on the way down! So you should definitely avoid them... Or if you need to use one make sure it isn't an old busted one. It could really hurt if one of the steps broke and you fell or worse hit a certain part of your body. OUCH!

You should also avoid witches, especially ones selling big red apples. I mean, they might want to sacrifice you to some crazed witch god or goddess. And if they have apples you know that you're done for anyways. I'm just saying, after all, witches are more likely to be crazy on the 13th landing on a Friday!

I'm just kidding... Friday the 13th is my FAVORITE day that comes randomly walking along. I have ALWAYS owned a black cat, so I don't really think they are unlucky. They have just been pegged with a bad rap- much like pit bulls. Ladders can be very useful tools, so if you need to use one today- have at it! As for witches... having been a practicing Pagan since I was twelve, I can only assume that some might find this day to be good for certain spells (oops, I guess I'm out of a broom closet or something). Anyways, enjoy the day and don't let silly superstitions stop you from conquering it and making it yours!

It is after all... just another day! So get out there and enjoy it!

The ball has dropped, and you hopped. You happily bounced from blog to blog reading people's memories, sharing some of your own and happily entering to win various prizes.

Will you be the one that is immortalized as a character in Bella Tristezza, the third installment of the Bella Series?

Or will you win a digital copy of Bella Notte, the first book in the series?

Or better yet, did you win the Kindle Fire or Amazon gift card?

_

Let's start with my stuff first!


The winners of the 3 digital copies of Bella Notte (picked by random.org) are:

1. Lori Z.
2. Bre A.
3. Shadow


The winner of the namesake in Bella Tristezza (also picked by random.org) is...

SHADOW (You are one lucky bug!)

The winner of the Amazon Gift card:
from VK Syke's site - June


And the winner of the Kindle Fire!:
from Malia Mallory's site - Lilaz!
_

Congratulations to all the winners and a BIG thank you to those that entered as well as Carrie Anne for hosting it the entire thing!

_I don't know how many times I spent New Year's Eve with my Mom staying up waiting on the ball to drop.

We would sit on the couch, occasionally getting up to pop a popper or refill our glass of child wine (sparkling cider). She spent so much time trying to make sure that the experience was amazing. She never wanted me to be bored with life. We'd watch old time movies or how New Year's was celebrated around the world.

One year, she filled our hallway with balloons full of paper punch outs- you know from when you are making a 3-hole punch. I held my nephew in my arms, he must have been 4 or 5 at the time and he tightly clutched a sewing needle between his little kid fingers. The balloons dangled from the ceiling, awaiting their moment of ultimate destruction. I walked him around the tightly enclosed space. POP! POP! POP! The balloons exploded in a musical rain of paper and balloon parts. The downstairs neighbor came up and pounded on the door with his meaty fist.  Apparently we had woken him up. But it didn't matter, no, we were busy enjoying the passing of the old into the new.

Especially as we watched the clock tick closer to midnight.

So many memories of years drifting into the history of my life, but none of them would be what they were if it wasn't for my mom and her always trying to make the moment memorable. I can only hope to be as cool a mom as she was to my kids...

Maybe this year we'll create our own holiday to honor the silly antics of our parents as we were growing up!

Now for the interesting part...

You've read my memory or at least skimmed it...I want you to leave a comment with the best silly antic your parent/spouse/sibling/friend ever did that when you look back, it makes you smile. At the end of the day I will giveaway  3 digital copies of Bella Notte (or you could opt for a digital of Brody and the Skypirates, but it's best shown in color) and ONE special person will get their name featured as a character (not necessarily a large role) in my third book in the Bella Series, Bella Tristezza! Have your namesake immortalized!

Follow the blog to remember to find out if you're one of the winners!

Please take a moment to 'like' me on facebook

_Everyone that makes a comment on ANY blog also gets entered into the grand prize drawing which is for the 1st prize of a Kindle Fire and 2nd prize of an $80 gift card for Amazon! Get commenting!

Make sure to check out the main hop page to see all of the prizes and contests going on! You'll want to enter for the GRAND PRIZE too it's AWESOME!

Many self-published writers seem to take great pleasure in posting their sales and numbers. This may be the only time I end up doing it... it was a HUGE pain to figure out the dang numbers.

But I figured that since the year has ended, I should in fact have a complete total of how I did in the two months I was selling.

So of the three things that I have up for sale:

Bella Notte (complete novel), Brody and the Skypirates (illustrated children's book) and A Bella Notte Christmas Story (short story)

Here are my sale numbers:

Total of books sold for 2011 (November 21- December 31st): 344

Total books sold in November: 48
Total books sold in December: 296

(Nice increase, I think)

Numbers for Brody and the Skypirates:
November: 7 (this includes the two paperbacks that sold of it)
December: 7

Perhaps this books needs to be marketed to an actual publisher or something that knows how to push an illustrated children's book because I clearly don't. LOL...

Numbers for Bella Notte:
November: 37
December: 240 (includes 4 paperback sales)

Sales are clearly picking up. Will this hold into the new year? I've no clue. I increased the price from 99 cents to 2.99 since the Christmas Story is 99 cents, and the picture book is 1.99. Bella Notte has a whole hecka lot more words than either of those works. Will this lead to less sales, probably... but it is worth more than I was selling it for before.

Numbers for A Bella Notte Christmas Story:
November: 4
December: 53

Sales are lower on this one because I've had it listed as free on ARe, and in Smashwords. I've also adjusted the price of this one to 99 cents now on ARe and Smashwords. What will this do? Who knows. LOL... I am constantly screwing with prices it feels like and trying to find the right one.

What does all of this mean?

To be truthful, I'm not sure. I know that sales are better than the first month, but that could be attributed to the fact Bella Notte and Brody weren't live until the 21st-ish. But I don't think that is all. I'm hoping that this year will bring many more sales and that this time next year, sans the Zombie Apocalypse, I will have lots to report and many successes- the same I wish for all of my writer friends and anyone starting a new adventure this year! Try to take some risks! I know that I am when I release the novella I am working on.

Catch ya all on the flip side... remember to check out the blog on the 4th for the New Years hop! I hope we all aren't zombies later too! Or that the world hasn't blown up or anything odd... it would really kill my sales! ;0) Happy New Year everyone!