Google, Neptune, Houseparty Wrapup and JC Martin's Great Contest

our and my favourite plus sign, Google, asks What Do You Love? A new way to search when you're looking for videos or maps or blogs or... instead of real research.

For instance, you could look up Neptune, which just completed its first orbit since it was discovered in 1846. If you lived there, you'd be celebrating your first birthday!

All houseparty all the time around here, I know. But it ties into A Round of Words in 80 Days, this time.

Not only was Ron Wodaski's Mall at the End of Time an amazing, exciting, unexpected location to hang out in (I churned out 39,180 words and some of it was backstory that's directly usable in the wip), this month marks the first anniversary of the Cherry Hill, Georgia houseparty, hosted by Zan Marie.

Which means... one year since I rediscovered my love of writing romance, one year since Rosa's affair with Lord Rochester, and one year since I started writing Rosa's story in earnest. Now I'm *gasp* 20 pages away from finishing the latest round of edits on Out of the Water. We're on Lesson Two in Barbara Rogan's fabulous Revising Fiction Workshop and, so far, I'm on track to begin querying in the autumn. I hope!

J. C. Martin, who's just released Stories for Sendai, has a blogiversary! With a great contest, to boot.

"Write a story (or a personal account) that begins with the phrase: "A lot can happen in a year…"

The catch? It must be a drabble, i.e. exactly 100 words long, no more, no less. The starter phrase will not be included in your word count."

Here's mine, based on Rosa in Out of the Water:

A lot can happen in a year.

Last spring I was a child, following my parents across the mountains. And then I fell down the cliffside. I'd never made choices on my own before, but I've grown, and believe I've actually made the right decisions in the past few months, especially in the man I married. When my father returned and questioned my choice, that's when I was the most stubborn, and he came around. Now my husband and I are leaving the city and I have no idea where we're headed. Though there's the two of us now. I like sharing the decision-making with this man.

Starting my reread of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tonight!