In true BuzzGirl tradition, we're doing a release week special here on the blog, and this week's theme is SUMMER CAMP! (And, no, Steph did not know this when she stole my thunder two weeks ago.) Not only will the BBGs be dishing on their own personal summer camp experiences, but you will have a chance to win your very own autographed copy of GODDESS BOOT CAMP every single day!
Now, let's start dishing....
When I was little, I dreamed of going away to a wilderness camp, like the one Hayley Mills (and Lindsay Lohan) went to in The Parent Trap. Everything about it--the friendships, the activities, the personal growth--sounded like bliss to me. Only I never went to wilderness camp. Instead, I spent more summers than I care to remember in ... basketball camp.
From the summer before my junior year. That's me on the far right.Once a summer my parents would drive me to Bloomington, Indiana, to attend the Indiana University Girls' Basketball Camp. Instead of the smell of campfire, I had the smell of a sweaty gym. Instead of long hikes in the woods, I had the long walk down the hill to the field house (and then back up at lunch time and at the end of the day). Instead of the cabin-against-cabin prank war, I had a cutthroat, single-elimination basketball tournament. Instead of canoeing across a pristine lake, I had sprints up and down the court.
Because Pheobe, the main character in OMG and GBC, is a cross-country fiend, readers often ask me if I'm a runner, too. When I get done laughing I tell them, "No, I hate running." But whenever I had to put myself into Phoebe's running shoes, to feel what she felt at the end of a multi-mile run, I just take myself back to those painful weeks of basketball camp.
Okay, now for the good stuff—your first chance to win a copy of GODDESS BOOT CAMP! Here's the question you need to answer:
If you had to write about a character going through a physically grueling activity, what personal experience would you draw on to make it seem real? (In other words, what's the physically hardest thing you've ever done in your life?)Good luck! All the week's winners will be announced on Sunday, so be sure to check back.
Hugs,
TLC
OH. MY. GODS. (now in paperback!)
GODDESS BOOT CAMP (out this week!)
teralynnchilds.com
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25 comments:
Congrats on the release of GBC! I'm so excited too!
I've had some pretty grueling basketball games and practices before so I'd probably draw on those experiences.
bball11kt@sbcglobal.net
Soccer Camp at Bucknell University sophomore year of High School. The walk to the fields (which we made multiple times a day) was a mile long, with hills. Plus, when we got there, I had to play an hour and a half long game and, as a forward, I'd be sprinting the entire time. It was ridiculously hard...but I got in shape for the season!
It's going to be a great week, and I'm so glad to be apart of this!!!
I suppose all my years as a racing swimmer qualify for my hardest workouts, especially those close-to-the-finish races, when I pushed myself to the max to win...
Congratulations! What a fun week for you.
The most grueling thing... it would be training for my black belt test. We had to run two miles in under 16 minutes and we practiced three times a week right after our karate class. Fun times.
Nothing is more demanding to me than having to carry my driver from the golf cart to the tee, or having to drag by putter from the cart to the green. Killer!
Congrats on the release!!!
Physically grueling? Me? Hmm...that's going to take some thought.
Okay...having thought, I would say it was running for the bus every morning in middle school. I hate to run, and it would have been catastrophic to miss the bus, yet I was late every morning and had to run desperately to intercept that vehicle of doom.
Gosh, I've had an easy life. :-)
Cara
Dodgeball, kickball, baseball, basketball, football, and have I mentioned anything that involves a ball!? Gym all together is the most awful class ever lol
Wow, congrats on your new book relase, I love the book cover!
The hardest physical activity I would include was my 7kilometers (30 minutes long )bike ride everyday, back and forth to school.
The second choice would be the monday morning first period gym class in high school, where we had to do things like running tests and cooper tests..without a warming up. (imagine the muscle cramps the next day..yay)
Marjolein
My biggest physical challenge was being a cross country runner in high school. It has created a foundation for endurance in other activities in my life, such as backpacking in Spain in super rainy and windy conditions! The connection to cross country was one of the reasons I loved OMG. I can't wait to read GBC. I would be so excited to win a copy. My students would be thrilled too!
The hardest physical activity that I can think of is giving birth, I can't think of anything else since I didn't play sports in school.
Biking across the state (especially when it rained)!
Hi!
I loved the first book. Also, I am reposting the contest at yacontests.blogspot.com
If I was going to draw on a physically grueling experience, then I could choose one of two. I used to be in the military (no lie, but I'm also not the type). I only really started exercising before going to basic training. It took me 4 months to do one push-up. In any case, Army basic training (Boot Camp is a different branch) was the first time in my life I ever exercised 6 days a week. Running, push-ups, other stuff. I still don't know how far we actually ran on run days...
The other experience I could choose is current (and non-military related). I want to run a marathon by the time I am 30, so I am training. I should be able to run one in October and this week I will run 10 miles for the first time ever. Training is tiring.
Thanks!
Cari
neohippy10AThotmailDOTcom
physically hardest thing? humm... being out of shape and climbing Enchanted Rock. In May.
Could have been worse... could have been August.
I'd make them go through gymnastics. Oh gods! That was HORRIBLE. It requires physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, grace and most importantly: discipline (which I don't have).
I tried all the different gymnastic events during camp. It is without a doubt the hardest physical thing I had to do. I'd definitely prefer hours of belly dancing compared to gymnastics, and I LOATH belly dancing. The first time I did belly dancing, I had a cramp in my side that wouldn't go away for a week.
And gymnastic's worse than that! D:
CONGRATS Tera!!!! Love the high school pic! = )
Congratulations, Tera! So excited to read GBC!
As for physical labor, you know I worked in Alaska nine summers and one at a resort in the Cascades. Once I trapped a candy-stealing squirrel (in a non-harming cage) and had to release him into the wild -- does that count?
Yay on the release! That's so awesome :)
I think my most physically grueling experience so far would be carrying my twin daughters for 8 and a half months, being in labor for 48 hours, then having a c-section after all of that really painful labor!
I think if I ever wrote a book (which I want to someday) it would be based off my experience of ending up pregnant at age 18 and giving birth to twin girls. That, by far, has been the most physically intense (and of course emotional) thing that I've experienced in my life so far.
Not that being a mother at my age right now isn't hard either.
-Breanna
Comgrats on the release of Goddess Boot Camp!
I'd say the physically hardest thing I've ever done is YOGA! It may sound harmless but I couldn't do all the complicated poses. The easiest one was the one you lie down and just close your eyes. It's easy to *cough* fall asleep *cough*. xD
I guess I'm not the most flexible person. Hahaa!
HAPPY RELEASE!!! My biggest challange was walking on the Great Wall up, down, up, down, up, down....
They have tons of souvenir booths there! That's crazy!
Thanks, everyone, for sharing your tough experiences! Makes mine seem a little less extreme. =) Be sure to check back on Sunday for the contest winners!
I honestly can't think of anything physically grueling i've ever done. I am a very lazy person.
Hi Tera,
I was so excited to learn that you are continuing Oh My Gods with Goddess Bootcamp. I can't wait to read it!
My most physically grueling experience was trekking up Masada at 5 am. Not only was it dark, but the people mover was not available. I had to take the "snake path" as it is nicknamed up the steep cliff to reach the mount. I was the last one to make out of a group of thirty. It is supposed to be this spirtual experience to go reach the top of Masada to pray and revel in the awesomeness of the desert. For me it meant panting out of breath and turning bright red from head to neck. Not great for group photos. It was definetly rewarding to have completed this experience. I am just so glad I never have to do it again.
probably the most grueling (for me anyway) was figure skating. Seriously people can laugh about us in our skirts and prancing aroudn to music, but it is HARD. Both literally and figuretively.(the ice is NOT a friend!)
I remember when I was learning my axel (it is the only "real" jump that you take off forward and it is also the only one where in order to complete a single you need one and a half revolutions and to compete a double two and a half revolutions)
After I was done I would go home and find myself covered in black and blues. It was a very VERY good thing it was the winter or bathing suit, I would not!
xoxoxo
Nice blog you got here. It would be great to read something more about that theme.
BTW look at the design I've made myself A level escort
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