Blogoversary! Contests! And...A Story of First (and Unrequited) Love

Have you heard? We're having a month-long party here at The Novel Girls in celebration of our one-year blog anniversary! That's right, it's actually been a year. I know, I can hardly believe it myself, but I swear it's true. Really. Trust me on this.

And in honor of all of you: our readers, commenters, lurkers, and um...even those of you who happen by here after searching for some really odd stuff, we are giving away some great prizes. There's five of us TNGers, and look at that...there are five weeks in September. Can you guess what that means? Well, you don't have to, 'cause I'm going to tell you.

Each week beginning with this week, one of The Novel Girls will choose the topic AND offer up a prize, and the rest of the girls will write about that topic. At the end of the month, all entrants (even the five weekly winners) will be entered into winning a grand prize. Cool, eh?

So how can you win? Here are the rules...(which, by the way, will also be posted in the sidebar. If they're not there now, they will be soon. Promise!)

The Novel Girls Blogoversary Giveaway Extravaganza!!

There will be one winner chosen each week of posts (5 weeks = 5 winners!) and one grand prize winner chosen at the end of the month (chosen from all entries received from now until the end of September) who will then receive a $100 Amazon Gift Certificate.

You can increase your chances of winning thusly:

1 point for commenting (one comment entry per post, per day)
2 points for being a new follower of TNG
2 points for already being a follower
2 points for tweeting about this contest
3 points for adding TNG to your blog roll
5 points for posting this contest on your blog

All you have to do is tell us in your comment where you've spread The Novel Girl love and we'll tally up your points and put that many entries into our sorting hat until it comes time to choose our winners! And remember, the more days you leave a comment, the more chances you'll have to win the Grand Prize, even if you've already won a weekly prize.

Contest is open to any and all! Good luck!
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Sweet, huh? Also, you'll have to check in each week to see what that week's prize is anyway, so you might as well rack those points up with a comment a day.

And guess what? This week is MY week. That's right, all mine. I pick the topic and this week's giveaway. Soooo, what's the prize?

TWO books of the winner's choosing from Dorchester Publishing, delivered right to your door. Any two books you want from their massive lineup of titles. Even cooler, a good portion of Dorchester's titles have "Browse the Book" widgets right on the book description page, so you can read a few a chapters before deciding.

Okay, now that I've written enough for two posts, I'm actually going to write my post for the day....ready? Yes? Just scroll down...

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Choosing a topic for us here at TNG isn't easy. I mean, we've already talked about a lot of different things on this blog, and Maureen jumped on "Reality Shows" before I could even blink. Sigh. So, after flipping through old posts, trying to come up with something that resonated with me AND that we haven't done before...I settled on First Love(s).

Really, not a huge surprise, as I am a romance writer, after all. Love is sort of my thing.

So, on to my post! Here...we...go...

There are actually two first loves I could talk about, and as luck would have it, both are also stories of unrequited love. However, this post is long enough, so I'll just share one of the stories...the better of the two, and it's actually about a boy's first love for me.

They say love starts young, and oh were we young...like kindergarten age young...and he wooed me with all the fervor that a five-year-old boy can have.

His name was Danny and he lived across the street from me. I remember his first and last name, I remember a lot of the methods of devotion he bestowed upon me, but sadly, I don't remember what he looked like. I'm sure he was quite cute, though. I mean, come on, he had to be. To this day, I haven't met a Danny who isn't cute.

Anyway, Danny liked to give me gifts. He started with drawings, colored pictures, and ripped out pages from his story books. Quickly, he moved on to bouquets of flowers (oh, okay, dandelions...but come on, he was FIVE), and often he would bring cookies from his home across the street to share with me at mine.

I remember I enjoyed this attention. For one, I always had someone to play with who...well, doted on me. And for two, who doesn't like free cookies? Until the day he kissed me, that is. Sure, it was only on my cheek, but...ew! I so didn't get why he did it. I mean, yuck, kissing???? I'm pretty sure I said the word "yuck" right after the kiss and right before I scrubbed at my cheek with my hand. And then, if memory serves, I ran inside and refused to come out until the next day.

My reaction troubled him. So much, that he upped the game in impressing me. Now, instead of sweet gifts, that in his mind, took little effort, he went hunting and gathering for me. You know, it's that "man gene," and yes, it exists in five-year-olds. What did he hunt and gather for me? Worms. Ants. Spiders. Caterpillars. Even a few frogs. Some tadpoles, too. He even put many of these "gifts" in boxes for me to open.

After a while, he tried to kiss me again, but he must have figured he'd worked hard enough to bypass the cheek, cuz he went straight for the lips. My reaction was not any better than the first attempt, though. Danny, rightly deciding that his attention was better spent elsewhere, picked another girl on the street to devote his time and affection on. I even remember her name.

Carol. Who apparently appreciated all of his gifts far more than I did, because...

Once the attention stopped, I wanted it back. I started giving Danny gifts...drawings, colored pictures, cookies...heck, I even went so far as to give him some of my books. WHOLE books, not just ripped out pages. But alas, his affection was not to be returned.

Hmm. On hindsight, I should have given him a box of frogs...

So yeah, that's my story, and it is (believe it or not) completely true. I learned my lesson, though...and the next time a boy came calling (3rd grade, also a Danny), I let him kiss my cheek.