Killer Characters Blogfest with Prizes...and a Somber Note

I know, I know. I said I was changing my blogging days to Tuesdays and Fridays.

I also said I would post when I felt the need. Well, I feel the need because....

I am lucky enough to be co-hosting a most freakishly awesome blogfest with my blogging buddy Emily Rittel. So if you can't wait to dress up as your favorite character for Halloween why not join us and write about them first...and while you're at it you may just win a KILLER prize!

Here are the rules:



The theme is, you guessed it, Killer Characters! Is there a hero who's haunted your dreams? How about a lower-than-dirt bad guy who's made your skin crawl? Or a spunky sidekick who's stolen your heart? Tell us about them!

Join us in three challenges:
1) Oct 24 post about your favorite literary supporting character
2) Oct 26 post about your favorite literary protagonist
3) Oct 28 post about your favorite literary antagonist
All entires should be 250 words maximum, but you may use all the pictures you'd like.

Choose characters you feel strongly about. They don't all have to be evil—though seeing how it's Halloween, malevolent characters are welcome—but they should be killer (AKA awesome, incredible, terrifying, formidable, etc.). Note: The characters you choose should be famous literary characters. For instance, the Ugly Stepsisters (supporting), Batman (protagonist), and the Wicked Witch of the West (antagonist).
Then write concise, clear, and convincing entries for a chance to win win win. Explain why your characters are the best!

To encourage you to join, we have three killer prizes. We're giving away Elana Johnson's book, POSSESSION, to the third prize winner. The runner-up will receive a 5-page critique from Elana herself, and the winner will receive a 10-page critique from Elana!

Emily and I will judge the contest. The winners will be announced on October 31.

To participate you must be a follower of my blog and Emily's blog. Sign-up in the linky below and e-mail address in a comment below. Then grab the button in the sidebar and post it on your blog to identify yourself. The week of the challenges, blog-hop to read and comment on the other entries. Killer Characters Blogfest is going to be a scream! Hopr to see you there mwuahahaha!

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Now, not meaning to change gears so quickly but feeling I must acknowledge the elephant in the room. Yesterday was 9/11. I know major turn here but every year on 9/11 I submerse myself in documentaries, photos and recaps of that fateful day--now ten years ago. I can't help it. Every year it seems a new story I haven't heard comes up and brings me to tears as fresh as the ones shed in 2001.
I read Robin Week's remembrance which turned me toward Meg Cabot's gut wrenching story and a point I can't help but agree with. It is important to remember.
 I wasn't in any of the devastated places and the closest I came to knowing anyone directly affected by the events was my cousin who was on the second floor of the World Trade Center when the plane hit (she got out safely and very soon after moved to Texas), but I am an American and I am human and would be lying to myself if I said it doesn't affect me in a tremendous way.
With a seven year old daughter and an almost 4 year old son, now I can no longer mourn with my husband in the private way we used to. My daughter is full of questions and concerns and I don't hide what happened from her. But answering my daughter's questions about where I was and what I felt that day forces me to not only relive the tragic events through the eyes of another, but through my own eyes. It reminds me of the worldwide threat we all felt that day--and still continue to feel on some level.
I worked on the 22nd floor of an insurance brokerage in Atlanta, GA and we were told to leave because no one had any idea where a plane might hit next. I remember driving home on 400 in bumper to bumper traffic as we all stared up at the sky, our ears glued to the car radio.
No matter the city or state we lived in we all felt the impact those terrorists drove into each of our hearts, and today, ten years later, I choose to still remember.