Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Big Birthday Giveaway!

ETA: GIVEAWAY CLOSED

In less than four hours, I officially leave my twenties behind and enter my thirties. And I'm way more okay with that than I thought I'd be. When I think back to where I was ten years ago, as I entered my twenties, it's boggling to see how far I've come.

Since I turned twenty, I....

lived in four different states.
interned for John Wells Productions, in California.
graduated college pretty high in my class.
wrote ten novels.
wrote three full-length screenplays.
wrote two television episode scripts.
wrote a LOT of fanfiction.
welcomed my niece into the world.
made some amazing new friends.
lost my paternal grandmother.
said goodbye to two kitties.
bought my first car all on my own.
signed with a wonderful agent.
sold six novels.
sold foreign rights to two of those novels.
realized my dream of being a published author.

There are a lot of in-between things I'm missing, for sure. A lot of milestones, heartbreak, excitement, and boredom. There are things I haven't done yet and am sad to be turning thirty without those experiences. But I have time. And I came to a very Zen-like conclusion the other day: my twenties were about work, and my thirties will be about play.

I want to travel more. I want meet that someone special. I want to experiment more with my cooking. I want to learn a foreign language (my Spanish is terrible, and Pig Latin doesn't count).

So...this post has been all about me so far. Time to make it all about you, my loyal blog followers and fans. Talk to me. In the comments, I want you to tell me one thing you want to do if you were granted the wish. You'd be given the money, the access, the opportunity to do one cool thing (realistically, no "I want to grow six inches taller" or "I want to colonize the moon").

Do you want the chance to meet a famous person? Do you want to take a bike tour of Italy? Do you want a week-long Alaskan cruise with your significant other? Tell me a little dream in the comments section, and I'll enter you in the giveaway.

What am I giving away?

Glad you asked.

Three lucky winners will each get a signed copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD, a bookmark, two Dreg/Triad pins, and a "Note to Self" mini-notebook.

One Grand Prize winner will get this loot:

Photobucket

What's in the photo: a signed copy of THREE DAYS TO DEAD, a bookmark, two Dreg/Triad buttons, a "Blah, Blah, Blah" sticky note pad, Romance Novel magnetic poetry, a little vampire VooDoo doll keychain, and an AS LIE THE DEAD cover flat (signed or un-signed, as the winner prefers).

The giveaway is open until 10pm Eastern, Monday, June 28. I will randomly select and announce the winners on Tuesday, June 29.

Remember, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me something you really want to do, given the chance. What's your fun wish?

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really want to be a full time jeweler and make a living doing it!!
Synde

Spav said...

I would choose to do a world tour. Visit every (or almost) country in the world and stay the necessary time in each country to get to know it and it's culture.

Jerrilynn said...

I'm a new empty nester...I want to go back to school and get my degree!

esperanza said...

Although it would be pretty cool to take a world tour, I would want to be able to have the time to take a cross country driving tour. One of my goals in life is to travel to all 50 states. So far I have crossed off 7, so I have 43 more to go. Maybe someday...............

Jacqueline C. said...

I would love to trek from one end of Europe to the other; hitting famous places and little known gems. I'd also love to dive in the Great Barrier Reef.

heatwave16 said...

I would love to take a Mediterrean cruise. Visit Spain...Italy...Greece. That would be so wonderful.

heatwave96(at)hotmail.com

Dee said...

I want to up and move somewhere by the beach - like Costa Rica...and maybe teach English or something while learning to surf and traveling.
dmarkley199(at)gmail(dot)com

Pamk said...

I want to travel to autralia and new zealand.

Carol M. said...

Hi Kelly. I want to go to england someday fairly soon.

And, congrats!

Barbara E. said...

My fondest wish is to take a trip to Great Britain to see all of the sites I've been reading about for so many years. It would be awesome to spend about a month traveling around England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

Unknown said...

Congratulations Kelly. I hope you're proud of that list...it's a good one.

I would like to visit Hokkaido, Japan and see the towns and countryside where one side of my family is from.

Blodeuedd said...

Open to all?

Bf is having his 30th bday this week too :) Congrats!

I have two wishes in a way, one is to fully commit to the dream I have. To not just see my writing as a hobby and actually try to get them published. Fulltime polish them and send them in.

Or visit Ireland, Scotland, and Wales :)

Christine said...

this might sound a little bit geeky, but I would use the money to buy all the books I want to read and that have half a year of vacation or so to read them all. :)

Anonymous said...

I want to become a published author. And travel to the UK- specifically Ireland and Scotland.

MrsMixx said...

Joyeux Anniversaire!!! It's amazing you accomplished your dream before turning 30 =) I can only wish to follow your example (not with writing though I have no talent whatsoever for that).

My dream is to do a roadtrip throughout the US...It wouldn't be so hard to achieve if i wasn't living in France *wink* I've dreamed of doing that with my Best friend for years...now she's happily married in the US but I'm still here. So I hope one day I will do this road trip and visit all the States I've always dreamed of visiting. =)It might never happen but at least i'm hoping. ;)

Jessica @ a GREAT read said...

Oh wow. What do I really want to do? I want to be a writer! It's been my dream since I was 13 and I've been working harder at my WIP lately. More like editing it since the story's all there and then I have to start querying agents and start that ever so fun process!

Authors I talked to said it was pretty long for some of them, a few others said it was a little shorter. Everyone has a different experience.

So my wish is that I get to be one of those lucky few who have a short trip to getting the agent and getting the publishing deal. That counts as 1 wish, right? ;)

Karen said...

I'd like to spend a few months living in a cottage on the Isle of Skye...I saw pictures of it when I was like 10 or so & something about it just spoke to me.

(And I'd like to be a published author...)

dave p said...

Happy Birthday!!

I would like to take a month long road trip around the US, finding local music to see/hear each night.

Katie said...

If I could do anything at all, I would go to the 5-star Four Season's tented camp in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It is the middle of the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia and just looks awesome!

Happy Birthday!
Katie

CrystalGB said...

I would love to go on an African safari.

Crystal816[at]hotmail[dot}com

Marguerite Butler said...

Happy Birthday, Kelly! My goal is to be able to flip flop jobs and be a part-time lawyer and full-time writer instead of the other way.

Michelle R said...

I want to write a book!

Unknown said...

My fun wish is definitely to travel more. I love exploring new places with my family. We are all excited to go to Disney again :)

kylie said...

Happy birthday, Kelly! The 30's are wonderful. So many things I'd like to do: travel, become a mom, open a business & be my own boss or start a foundation. I don't think I can choose just one! Okay, one random thing to throw in: how about a house by the ocean?

jeanette8042 said...

I really want to travel more to places like Japan and Scotland.

Anonymous said...

Hey Kelly, I think I would like to meet Glenn Beck or Garth Brooks, but a world tour would be fun too.

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Well, first... Happy Birthday!!! I hope you had a wonderful day. :) Everyone deserves it on their birthday.

As for what I would like to do... I would enjoy maybe getting the time to try my hand at writing. But I would love to take my son to Disney world for a great week. :) We are hoping to do that in the next few years, but you never know. :)

hayden392@comcast.net

Karen said...

Happy Birthday! And congrats on having your dream fulfilled :D Not many people are as lucky as you (that's a compliment).

Anywhoozles, as to the question, I think a big dream of mine would be able to have a great profession I enjoy while being able to make my parents proud ;) I'm not fond of travel, but maybe I'll open up to it and want to experience new environments!

Sue S. said...

I would wish to win the lottery, than I can make many more of my dreams come true!

Caitlin F. said...

The thing I'd probably love to do the most is travel, sightseeing Europe, just simply being there would make me happy. Getting the chance to go to Ireland, to see the place my family came from with my own eyes. Going to Japan, Australia, etc. I'd love it.

(And just to please my inner geek, I'd love to meet David Tennant, lol.)

Lorena said...

If money was no object, I'd visit all the English-speaking countries in the world with my husband. While I also speak Spanish, he doesn't. Besides, who wouldn't want to see everywhere Britain was?c

Carrie S. said...

I would want to travel, go to Europe and all those amazing places!

k_sunshine1977 said...

i want to have children. without getting into it, let's just say that me and my fiance are going to have a long road to travel.....

k_sunshine1977 at yahoo dot com

Midnight Sapphire Books said...

A wish? WoW There are so many things I want to do. But on top is a trip to Europe. I would love to visit Italy, France, Spain and so many more ...

midnightsapphires7@gmail.com

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Well, I commented before about wanting super powers... And then I read the rest of the blog and realized it had to be realistic... So i'll comment again. Lol.

I would love to travel to all my favourite places; Italy, France, Panama, Thailand and America. I'd love to learn Spanish and French.

But honestly, I'd love to be a contestant in Survivor the T.V programme and meet my favourite survivors (Rupert Boneham and Colby Donaldson)...

Happy birthday by the way. Best of luck (:

elriic(at)hotmail(.)com

Kelly Meding/Kelly Meade said...

Thank you everyone for the amazing comments and the birthday wishes! The response was great.

Good luck, and I'll have the winners posted this afternoon!

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