My crazy summer is almost over!!

It's been a hell of a few months. Here's a short recap, if you're interested:

I spent the month of June preparing (and pulling my hair out) for my 20 year high school reunion that I ended up planning pretty much all on my own. Everything went off without hitch though.

The second week of July was our family vacation. Lots of fun in the Caribbean sun!

The third week of July I was in NYC for the RWA National conference. SOOOOO awesome!!!

After that I was in countdown for my sister in law's wedding. Which included a weekend bachelorette getaway for the girls, then a weekend bachelor getaway for the boys. Then came wedding weekend.

And then back to school hoopla.

Oh yeah and I was (and still am) on MAJOR deadline for book 3 in the Classy 'n' Sassy series: ONE SIZE FITS ALL (Penny's story) I managed a 10 day extension from my editor. It was originally due tomorrow.

But now I am settling back into a normal routine. Today is the first full week of school for my kids. I'm looking forward to getting this book finished and the time off I will take after to sit and relax and do some of the things I didn't get to do all summer, like sit on my deck and read. (As long as the weather cooperates).

I've got exciting things coming up. My agent is hard at work trying to find homes for two new books! Woo hoo! Lots of bites. Hoping they pan out soon! And I'll be a participating author at the Angels and Sirens romance event in Pittsburgh, PA in March! Check it out here! I'm trying to get into a similar the event in Cleveland and I will also try to get into the Lori Foster event. I heard it's AMAZING!

How was your summer? Crazy or relaxed? Go anywhere fun???

The Big Fabulous Summer Giveaway!

It's been a loooooong time since I've done a fun contest! And with summer coming, I feel the need to celebrate and get ready for it!!! How about you?? I am so ready for a relaxing summer with lots of fun!

As a kid, I loved summer. I mean, seriously, who didn't? I think my favorite part was having nothing to do. Everyday was Saturday. My family camped seasonally at a family campground, and every weekend that's where we went as soon as my dad got home from work. I had lots of friends there and we always had so much fun. So many amazing memories of sunny summer days swimming in the lake, and warm summer nights with cute boys. ;)

So I want to celebrate summer and it's fun and freedom. No matter how old I am, I will always bask in the joy of warmer temps and lazy days!

The contest starts today and will run until June 15th! LOTS of time to enter and keep earning more entries! I'll announce the winners on my blog on Monday, June 17th! :)

And I know you're wondering...what about the prizes!!! Here is a list of what I have come up with so far! I will be adding more as time goes on. There will be lots of prizes, so many people will win! AND entrants will be able to win multiple prizes!! I plan on getting together some kind of grand prize too. I'll have to see what awesome things I can come up with! :) So, without further ado, here is the list:

- $5 GC to Amazon or B&N, winner's choice.
- $10 GC to Amazon or B&N, winner's choice.
- Digital copies of my Karma books- A Bitch Named Karma and Karma Kameleon (in whichever format the winner chooses).
- Digital copy of my book Paradise Cove.
- Digital copy of my book Soap Dreams.
- Bath and Body Works Pocket Bacs Hand Sanitizer! Five winners, scent selected at random- Margarita, Pink Lemonade, Flip Flop Fruit, Wildberry, and Island Nectar. (US only.)

- Nail buffers and Cake Batter lip balm! Two winners! (Each will win one buffer and one lip balm. US only.)

- Nail polish and polish remover pads! Two winners! (Each winner will receive one polish and one container of remover pads. US only.)

And I finally came up with a grand prize. It's nothing major, but it is something I really would love to keep for myself! So that gives it value, to me, anyway!

- A cool water bottle and box of yummy single serving iced tea packets! (US only)

And who knows...I may add more!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


***Some prizes are only available for continental US residents, as noted. I sincerely apologize for this. The shipping out of the States is just too much for me to swing :( If the winner for a shippable prize is outside the continental US, I will draw a new winner for that prize and offer the original winner a digital prize.

***All winners will be announced on my blog and notified by email. If the winner fails to reply within a week's time, a new winner will be drawn.

Official Contest Rules:

No purchase necessary. Digital prizes open to US and international, 18 and over. Prizes that must be shipped are only open to US residents, 18 and over. Contest open May 15th, 9 AM EST through June15th, 11:59 PM. Winners will be selected at random and posted on this blog on Monday June 17th at 9:00 EST. Winners will also be contacted by the email address they provided when entering and have one weeks to respond or an alternative winner will be drawn. Entry details posted above in Rafflecopter. Prize descriptions: $5 GC to Amazon or B&N ($5 value), $10 GC to Amazon or B&N, ($10 value), Digital copies of my Karma books- A Bitch Named Karma and Karma Kameleon (in whichever format the winner chooses) ($10 value), Digital copy of my book Paradise Cove ($1 value), Digital copy of my book Soap Dreams ($1 value), Bath and Body Works Pocket Bacs Hand Sanitizer. Five winners, (US only), ($1 value each, total value $5.00), Nail buffers and Cake Batter lip balm! (Each will win one buffer and one lip balm. US only.), ($2 value on each prize, total prize value $4). Nail polish and remover wipes ($3 value each prize, $6 value total. US only), Water bottle and iced tea mix, ($12 value. US only). Odds of winning are determined by number of eligible entries. All winners are final. Stephanie Haefner is not responsible for technical failures. Stephanie Haefner has the right to publicize the names of the winners on this blog. All digital prizes will be awarded via email. Shippable prizes will be awarded via USPS within a week of winner claiming them. Stephanie Haefner is not liable in the event the prize or contest/sweepstakes in some way impacts the winner negatively. Contest sponsored by Stephanie Haefner- haefner919@yahoo.com. Sweepstakes is being regulated in the state of NY. Void where prohibited by law.

Summer's winding down.

In Western NY, you know summer is almost over when the Erie County Fair starts. It started last Wednesday. It's 12 days of fun that ends the 19th of August this year. After that, there's only a couple more weeks til Labor day, and the start of school. Right now everyone is trying to pack in as much fun as they can before life goes back to hectic schedules.

We haven't done anything super exciting this summer. Lots of little things though. We went to NYC the first weekend in June. We have season passes to Darien Lake, a local amusement park. We went to Niagara Falls Canada last weekend (it's maybe a 30 minute ride for us). My daughter did theater camp this summer. My son did a play group. We had a Toga party. We went to the beach a couple times. It's been a fun summer so far. We still have a few fun things left. We're going to the fair tomorrow. I was hoping to take a day trip to Toronto...but we'll have to see about that one.

Around here school starts after Labor Day. I know some kids around the country are starting up this week. But we still have a few weeks. We've already bought new sneakers and clothes, jeans and undies. Gotta get school supplies. I still don't have a list for my daughter, but I won't bore you all with the annoying details of that! My son is starting preschool this year, so I have to get the few things he needs too.

I'm looking forward to the fall and getting back into a normal routine. With my son starting school, though only for 2-1/2 hours a day, it will be time everyday that is silent for me. Pure gold to a writing mama. I need to work on my next book. I need to get something else finished and perfected and out there. I need to grab the attention of an agent if I ever want to get where I want to go.

What I did on my summer vacation....

Today I am participating in a blogfest, hosted by Michael Di Gesu at In Time!! Who doesn't want to hold onto summer just a tad bit longer??? This sounded like a fun way to relive my own vacation and share in everyone else's!

Click here for the list of participants!

So here's my entry:

My summer vacation this year was very close to not happening.

Most years we don't even take a trip during the summer. The weather is so nice here and there is so much going on all summer long that there really isn't a need. We tend to travel in the fall and winter, when we really need a getaway. Our yearly trek to our favorite vacation destination, Walt Disney World, was all planned for November. But then we had to postpone the trip. And this only made me completely desperate to go somewhere, anywhere. But that wasn't exactly easy.

My husband was due for a job transfer this summer and we couldn't make any plans in case the transfer went through. Months we sat around waiting and waiting and finally we just booked a trip. Nothing fancy. Few days at the beach. His bosses had been dragging their feet and it wasn't looking like anyone was going anywhere.

And then, of course, the transfer came through.

Somehow he managed to pull some strings and get the vacation days he needed. We packed up our car, with not a single square inch of room left, and were on the road by 4 am, as planned. We sunned, played in the sand, jumped over waves. We rode thrill rides and coasters of all kinds, and even some awesome water slides. It was fun and exactly what we'd needed!

Summer's last hurrah!

How do you kiss summer goodbye?????

Today I am guest blogging over at Fierce Romance! Come check it out!!!

A-Z Blogging Challenge Day 10: J is for July

Summer is a great time to be in Western NY. Usually the weather is fantastic, especially by July. May is so so...we get good days and bad. June is usually nice, but not extremely hot, usually highs in the mid 70's. But July is when we can really start going to the beach and playing with the hose in the yard.

The kids here are done with school around June 24th...yeah...we go late. So July is the first full month of summer vacation. We almost never go anywhere in the summer. The weather here is too good. We have a lot of crap weather in Winter and Spring and there's no way I am wasting any of my beautiful summer in my hometown by going somewhere else!! We have festivals every weekend and activities galore!

Last week of Summer vacation!

I am both really happy and kinda sad at the same time. I am so desperate to get back to a normal daily routine. So done with the "whatever goes" kind of day. Very much looking forward to structure.

But on the other hand, it's almost September and my daughter is going back to school and I feel like the summer has gone by and we didn't do enough.

I keep reminding myself that I am a work at home mom and not a stay at home mom. I still have work to do...so I can't just do whatever I want every day. Besides, most things take money and we just don't have it.

I got a lot done in July...added almost 30,000 words to my manuscript. The plan was to take August to edit the first half of the book- Karma Kameleon, the sequel to A Bitch Named Karma. And that went well...for like the first two weeks. But the last two....didn't do anything at all. Which is fine...maybe I needed to just chill anyway.

So, here we are....week til school starts. Already have some plans for this afternoon. And tomorrow hubby is off, so we have plans for then too.

Hope the rest of your summer goes well!

Summer's Theme: Too much to do, not enough time

I feel like the summer is flying by. It dragged for a while.....ever since I booked my trip (we booked in June, leaving Sept. 30th). Our weather was really awful for most of the summer...rain, rain and more rain...then it finally got nice. And it started flying by. We had nothing going all summer...then August hit and we've had plans every Saturday. School starts in a little over two weeks. Been shopping and preparing for that. Been planning and preparing for our trip. I've been trying to devote as much time as humanly possible to editing...which gets tough. By the time the kids are in bed, I'm exhausted...and I just don't edit well when I'm tired...it's like my brain can't properly function. My blog has been neglected and I HATE that! (Sorry guys!!)

Why oh why can't I survive on 2 hours of sleep??????

Summer, divorce and some other random things...

Summer is officially here....which means my daughter is home for summer vacation. I never wanted to be one of those parents who one week into vacation is already asking how many days left till school starts. But I can identify......two kids all day annoying each other..... It's only been 4 official days...not counting the weekend- she would have been home anyway. So far it's been decent, aside from the times she comes and asks me to do this and that while I'm trying to get some work done. Does she not understand that her brother's nap time is my only time to get any work done? No, probably not. One more thing that makes working form home difficult! Hubby and I have talked and he understands that my writing is serious and I need to devote real time to it, especially once I start the editing process. It can't just sit...the work needs to get done. The sooner I do it, the sooner it will get published and start making me money!!!

Found out this morning that friends of ours are getting divorced...and it comes as a complete and utter shock. We don't see them as much as we'd like, maybe once a year or so. We had no idea they were having trouble. It's sad; we always thought they made such a good pair. We know the woman's family really well...like psuedo aunts and uncles, cousins. And the way I found out....not sure if I agree with the method. The husband posted it as an event on Facebook. He wrote a long detailed thing...it was well written and explained enough and for the most part, he did it in an unbiased way. Basically said...this is what's happening. Now I wonder if the wife knows he did this....not sure how I'd feel about my soon to be ex blabbing to everyone on Facebook. Though he did explain his reasoning- now everyone knows and he can avoid the awkwardness of telling everyone face to face and having to do that hundreds of times.

I'm pleased that I am (hopefully) back to my workout schedule!! My son seems to play better now so he allows me some uninterrupted time to exercise in the morning. I did some decent leg, thigh and ab exercises and did a bit of cardio. bad back be damned. I got out of my routine for like a month...longer actually, cause my back has been bothering me.....a lot. Well, I am just doing what I can and if it hurts my back I either work through it or do something that doesn't bother it as much. I read an article (after i already decided to workout through the pain, so I must have some kind of smarts here) and it said that you shouldn't stop exercising when you have back pain.

And my last gripe for the day...anyone with kids....boys....PLEASE tell me how to get my 17 month old son to stop chucking his food across the table when he doesn't want it anymore!