New Year’s Blog Hop

Happy New Year - champagne and party decorationHappy New Year! One of the ways I’m celebrating the New Year is by participating in the New Year’s Blog Hop wherein other authors and bloggers are sharing memories, books and giving away tons of prizes. Each stop on the hop has a chance to win a prize (including me) and there’s an overall grand prize.

I thought I’d share one of my more memorable ‘goofs’–I’m a reasonably intelligent person but I can also be ditzy at times (that is possible). It usually has to do with me saying something without completely being aware of my surroundings or who I’m with.

This particular instance was when I was an exchange student in Finland. I’m a senior in high school, and my host father is a member of the Finnish government, so he brings me along with his family to the New Year’s Eve party at the British Embassy which he’d been invited to.

So here I am, completely out of my element at this fancy New Year’s Eve party at a freaking embassy (LOL) and lo and behold, the son of the ambassador is around my age and cute. We start talking and I’m thinking how cool and romantic this is and what a great story this would make (you know, how you do when you’re a teenager) etc, etc. We’re staring out of these huge windows out into the embassy grounds and there’s fireworks going off. Back where I grew up, we didn’t do fireworks on New Year’s Eve, so this was new to me. Anyway, all quite atmospheric and I’m probably nervous as hell talking to this guy.

So what do I say to this cute son of the British ambassador to Finland? “Doesn’t this remind you of The Fourth of July?”

Yep.

In my memory, and mind you this is almost thirty years ago, he looks at me, doesn’t say anything, and walks away. I’m sure it wasn’t quite that abrupt, but the reality is, he took me for an idiot and left shortly after I said that. And if he didn’t take me for an idiot, then he was assuming I was a smartass. Whatever it was, cool moment. Blown by me.

This might be why I like to write romantic comedies with intelligent women being goofy sometimes. My new release is an erotic geek romantic comedy called BEER AND GROPING IN LAS VEGAS.

Here’s the scoop:

Can a djinn and a magic slot machine bring two geeks together?

Riley McGregor is a geek trapped in a Good Ole Boy body and as owner of a microbrewery, smart chicks never look at him twice.

Rejected by a geek who wanted to “trade up,” Mirjam Linna would rather immerse herself in work than be the girlfriend-of-the-moment. Stranded in a Vegas hotel, she makes a wish—a night of hot sex with the man of her dreams. It’s granted. She agrees to dinner, but afterward, she’ll say thanks, but no thanks, and see what’s on the SyFy channel. But when they meet, they’re surprised to find they had a shared connection in their past. Sparks fly as these two learn to be in the moment, be themselves and find love.

Fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, Monty Python, Firefly and Marvin the Martian will enjoy this romantic comedy.

Buy it now on:

Amazon | B&N | ARe

More ways to interact:

trailer | goodreads | shelfari

Prizes!!

So, I’m giving away a $5 Amazon Gift card to one commenter drawn at random. Just make sure to leave your email address in the comment box (not just in the box that asks for email) so that you’ll also be eligible for the grand prizes as well! 

Make sure to visit everyone else in the hop, as we are EACH doing a giveaway. Yep. There will be over 200 giveaways on each blog hosted by that Author or Blogger.

But that’s not all….

We have THREE grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

  • 1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet (US & International)
  • 2nd Grand Prize: A $300 Amazon or B&N Gift Card (US & International)
  • 3rd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more! (US only)

To visit the other participants, visit the blog hop host and start hopping!

Blog hop winners will be picked on January 7th. 

Do you also have a memorable New Year’s Eve story you’d like to share?

100 Replies to “New Year’s Blog Hop”

  1. LOL — that is a great story — and it’s a wonderful experience for a writer to have. 🙂 Happy New Year, and I’m wishing you all kinds of writing successes in 2013. 🙂

  2. You were young. It could have happened to any American. At least you had the opportunity to experience a different culture. Some of us only dream of embarrassing ourselves in other countries. 😉

    katewarrenthewriter AT gmail DOT com

  3. Funny story, I probably would have said something similarly embarrassing 😛

    aircdrewood(at)gmail(dot)com

  4. OMG I should so not be LOLing over that but it’s so the kind of silly thing I might’ve done at that age. 🙂 I thought the same thing of the NYE fireworks when I was living in Germany.

    Happy new year Angela! I’m so going to have to keep an eye on you since you’re new to me and it looks like your writing is gonna be right up my alley.

    always.and.never AT gmail DOT com

  5. That is sadly awesome! LOL

    I love comedies especially about real things that happen to real people. Not because I like to laugh AT someone, but because I know how hilarious to observers it is when I do something dumb. It is just funny!

    Michel_Lee_King(at)yahoo(dot)com

  6. Well, this New Year’s eve was spent trying desperately to get home after holiday travel. We made it, almost exactly by midnight and were SO relieved (the kids too!).
    Good luck with BEER AND GROPING IN LAS VEGAS!
    jessigage at gmail dot com

  7. This is such a funny story! It’s good to know that I am not the only one who sometimes speaks before she thinks.

    ckpoisonedrose AT gmail DOT com

  8. I enjoyed your story of when you were in Finland. I was born in Turku. Happy New Year!

    Kit3247(a)aol(dot)com

  9. No memorable stories about new years. We went to bed pretty early since we have a toddler.

    fencingromein at hotmail dot com

  10. Just think, if he’d not walked away and swept you off your feet –he had ‘first heartache’ written all over him!

    I’ve offered a beer to a Mormon, told an Orthodox Jew how perfect a strip of bacon is in a grilled cheese, and said ‘Top of the Morning’ to a British royal -who also walked away muttering something about ‘bloody americans’

    all in all -it was kind of funny!

    cristinegasser (at) gmail (dot) com

  11. My new years have all been rather bland and typical.Loved your story.I wonder…do you think they sit around trying to talk like us..like we do others??? just wondering…lol
    peach_hugs@yahoo.com
    hope your new year is blessed with much laughter

  12. Haha! Great anecdote. Funny!

    Thanks so much for the chance to win. It’s a great way to start the year. No major resolutions beyond reading a lot (let’s go 50 books!) and staying active (jog, jog!), but I hope you have a great year 🙂

    Thanks again!

    hisboywonder(at)gmail(dot)com

  13. Thanks for the give away as an american with british family members i can tell you they don’t like being reminded brits have a long memory even if it happened in 170ish years ago lol. He was rude you were being you lol…

    j.m.platt83@gmail..com

  14. super kewl giveaway, thanks for participating! If there’s a wrong thing to do in any situation, I’ll find it. LOL
    jennirv4967 at gmail dot com

  15. Thank you for sharing your story!

    A few years back, we were having dinner out on New Year’s Eve when I got a call telling me that there was a fire near our house. Dinner ended early as we rushed home to make sure the kids were safe.

    Thank you for the great giveaway!

    – Tin (khriscc at yahoo dot com)

  16. On NYE, my friends and I waited for midnight outside while tending a fire so that lighting the fireworks would be faster.
    bituin76 at hotmail dot com

  17. I don’t really do anything special on new years. Just spending time with family and friends. Happy New Year and thanks for the giveaway!
    ~Krista
    pinkbonanza{ AT }gmail{ DOT }com

  18. Oh aI am so glad I’m not the only one! Not that I was an exchange student in FInland. (Although that would have been weird if I was) But I fell like I am a reasonably intelligent person and I will say something absolutely ridiculous, goofy, absurd and any other adjetives that can describe how spazzy I can be.

    So thanks for the story and the chance to win!
    rae.gwendy(at)gmail(dot)com

  19. He lifted an eyebrow and paused before his answer smug spilled out. “Why no, it does not remind me of the fourth day in July. It does remind me of a Saturday in June, when we celebrate Her Majesty.”
    “Oh right. How silly of me. What’s say you and I go celebrate being young, fun, and good-looking? Our lips would look fantastic over there, don’t you think?”

    Just thought I’d give you a happier ending. 😉

    j.lennidorner@facebook.com

    Happy New Year from What-Are-They.com ! I hope you have a great one. Thanks for taking part in the hop.

  20. The book sounds really cute 🙂 I have a mad love for everything geeky and/or dorky! No particular memorable moments stand out. But a few years back, I was at a New Years eve Party at my bosses house with my fellow coworkers and when the clock struck midnight, I remember being horrified at being in a room with all these stuffed animal heads. Left right after the clock struck midnight, too.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    readsalot81(@)hotmail(dot)com

  21. Thank you very much for the great giveaway and fun blog hop!
    I wish you a very Happy New Year!
    Latisha D
    tishajean@ charter.net

  22. the book blurb sounds good 🙂 can’t think of any really “memorable” new year’s eve — mine tend to be quiet. happy new year.
    gamistress66 (at0 aol (dot) com

  23. I spent one New Year in China and that was different.
    I love the title of the new book! What would Mr. Thompson think? Probably love it!!
    Thanks for doing the hop!!

    grapeapril75(AT)gmail(DOT)com

  24. no mine are actually quite boring and end with me ether falling asleep before the ball drops or just forgetting about it completely
    kaholgate at ymail dot com

  25. Even with an IQ of 157, I am capable of some pretty weird, goofy, and stupid things. I also have a tendency for spoonerisms, and impromptu dancing as I try to keep from falling when my center of balance decides it doesn’t like gravity.

    Most of my New Year’s Eves look the same. My mom and I traditionally have our “midnight meal” on New Year’s Eve (consisting of appetizers and snack foods) while we wait for the ball to drop. (We used to watch the Twilight Zone marathon on SyFy, but since we cut cable in 2012, we didn’t this year.) We sip on sparkling pear juice instead of wine.

    tp DOT quixotic AT gmail DOT com

  26. Hi! Happy New Years! I spent the day with my family. We watched movies, put together a puzzle and toaster in the new year. Thanks for the awesome hop and all the giveaways! This is so fun! I love these hops! I always meet new authors, reconnect with old ones and my TBR list grows by leaps and bounds! Thank you!! Have a great day! Best wishes and many blessings to you!
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

  27. Happy New Year! My New Years traditions are easy, I spend time with my family and friends. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new year. My resolutions this year is as always to loose a few pounds and spend a little more time with my family.

    Ifightforlove36@gmail.com

  28. My funny story, well it was funny to us, was the fact that my fiance and I really wanted crawfish for New Years Eve dinner. He’s from Louisiana and we haven’t had it in forever! He and I we went out looking everywhere for it and still couldn’t find any. Later my mom and I went out and we finally found microwavable crawfish. We brought it home and he was like “in all my years…..I have never seen anything like that..” It was too funny. It came out good though, not as great as fresh crawfish but the best we could do!

    Thanks for participating! Happy New Years!

    Ash

    Ashwayvpa (at) aim (dot) com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.