NEWS FLASH: It's National Dog Day and the kindle version of my debut, HOUSE BROKEN, is only $1.99! Check it out here.

And now on to other news...

Sad to say, because it's been so fun, but this is the last week of the #MiddleofSomewhere giveaway. Well, in truth I'm only a little sad, because the reason it's ending is because next week THE BOOK WILL BE OUT!

Yeah, that's me, psyched up about something. Unlikely it was a book, though. Probably a stuffed animal or chocolate raisins--I was big on those--or maybe my brother got his head stuck between the couch cushions. Doesn't matter, the feeling's the same. Psyched!

Back to the giveaway. As usual, lots of terrific entries. Let's start with this one, to remind us that although August is drawing to a close and the kids are heading back to school, summer is still with us. I suggest you keep this image in your mind while shoveling snow this winter.

I'm a nature girl through and through, so it's good for me to be reminded that there are other somewheres, like our amazing National Historic Landmarks, and other heritage sites. Kennecott Mines is in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska. I've been to that park, but not these copper mines.

The next entry was taken in Olympic National Park in Washington state. That's Hurricane Ridge in the background. We've had a lot of entries from the Pacific Northwest, and you can see why. So beautiful!

We haven't had a selfie somewhere in a while, and this is a beauty. I love her windswept hair and of course, the Grand Tetons are looking mighty fine as well, especially with their dusting of snow.

I've already mentioned snow twice, so please excuse me for mentioning it again. I admit I love snow, having been born in a snowbank in Vermont. I know it can be a nuisance to deal with, and anyone who lived through last winter in Boston is excused from agreeing with me, but snow is magical. Look at this!

Congratulations to this week's winners and thanks to everyone for participating in the giveaways and sharing your #MiddleofSomewheres! (Winners, please email me your mailing addresses here.)

I'll be traveling around the country on my book tour starting 1 September (launch day!), so please look at my event page and see if I'll be near you, okay?

Enjoy the last of the summer and if you're travelling to the #MiddleofSomewhere, stay safe!

Thanks for reading! To return to the FICTION WRITERS BLOG HOP on Julie Valerie’s Book Blog, click here: http://www.julievalerie.com/fiction-writers-blog-hop-aug-2015

When the illustrious and generous Eileen Goudge tagged me for a blog roll, how could decline? She answered these same questions, so check out her post, and those she tagged, and tagged her, and I tagged, and...What? You haven't got all day? Okay, then, start here and see how it goes. The laundry can wait. And the kids can drive themselves. You'd be surprised.

1. WHAT AM I WORKING ON? Yesterday I sent my agent what I hope is the final version of my second novel, Middle of Somewhere. What a pain in the arse that one has turned out to be. So what I’m working on now is absolutely nothing. Knowing me, that will last through the weekend—maybe. I started a new novel when I thought my second one was done and dusted (joke’s on me), so I’ll get back to work on that. It’s a coming-of-age story set in Vermont in the 1970s. I’d tell you more but if I did, I’d then have to kill you. And nobody wants that.

2. HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF ITS GENRE? It’s written by me! Seriously, I’m with a women’s fiction imprint, which is fantastic, but my style is…oh, I hate this question. I can be both irreverent and poetic, and my writing reflects that.

3. WHY DO I WRITE WHAT I DO? I get an idea and begin writing. There are stories waiting to be told hiding absolutely everywhere. For House Broken, the idea was of a woman who believed behavior followed principles, and that people, like animals, were shaped by their environment and their natures to do what they do, for better or for worse. Usually for worse. I followed the scent from there.

4. HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS WORK? I’m not sure I’ve been around long enough as a writer to have a process. I tend to write clean first drafts. House Broken is pretty much how it came out the first time through. Took me four months. The second one? Not such a straight line. I’m open to whatever it takes, though, and I’m lucky to have an agent and an editor who are behind me either way.

5. AND THE OTHER PART OF THIS QUESTION, HOW DOES MY WRITING PROCESS NOT WORK? If I am stuck, it’s because I don’t understand something: a character’s motivation, the point of a scene, the relationship between characters, the meaning of life. For me it doesn’t work to sit there and push through it. I do something else: take a walk, garden, scribble in a notebook, talk to my husband about it until he wishes he never met me. I don’t panic. I’m too old for that.

I’ve tagged a wonderful writer to follow me: Ann Garvin, dog-lover and talented author of The Dog Year and On Maggie’s Watch. I’m eager to hear what she has to say, and I think you should be, too!