yo
Welcome to the Freedom Giveaway Hop!

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Also it is my first giveaway!! So I’m very excited.

This hop was organized by I am a reader not a writer and Simple Stacie.

Over 190 participating blogs are offering a book related giveaway and we are all linked up together so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. 
This hop runs from Friday, July 1st to Thursday, July 7th.
I thought a lot of what to give in this my first giveaway. What came to my mind is that the better price I can give you is to have the chance to buy the book you want so I’m giving:
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$15 US gift certificate to buy books on Amazon.com.

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Or if you live Internationally and can't use a US gift certificate or would prefer to choose a book then you can choose a book of your choice from the Book Depository up to $15 US.



To enter the giveaway you have to be a follower of this blog and leave a comment to this post with your email and your GFC username. I will choose the winner with random.org
Last Day to Enter is 7/7/11

Optional Extra Entries:
+1 Like my Facebook page. You have the option on the sidebar.
+1 Follow on twitter (@anabelgonzaher)
+1 tweet or post on Facebook about this contest. (You have to give me the link)
Giveaway Details:
For this extra entries to count you will have to put them also in your comment.
You could see the others blog participating in the list below. Go visit them all for a better chance to win something.

yo
A few days ago I went to my appointment with my psychiatrist. I have to say that deciding to go to one was the best decision for me. I’m a depressive person and I need help, I’m not embarrassed to tell it.
Anyway he said to me that many writers had melancholic temperaments, and that for people with this character usually was easier to write.
So I searched for melancholic personality and this is what I found:
Personality Strengths of the Melancholy
Deep and thoughtful
Analytical
Serious and purposeful
Genius prone
Talented and creative
Artistic or musical
Appreciative of beauty
Sensitive to others
Self-sacrificing
Conscientious
Idealistic
As a parent, sets high standards and wants everything done right.
As a homemaker, keeps everything in order.
As an employee, schedule oriented and hard working.
A list maker and keeper.
Personality Weaknesses of the Melancholy
Easily offended
Can get too caught up in details
Doesn't do well with change.
Struggles with insecurity
Tends towards depression
After reading this I thought that you can have this but also have some characteristic of other temperaments so I searched for the four basic temperaments in Wikipedia and are these:
Sanguine
The Sanguine temperament personality is fairly extroverted. People of a sanguine temperament tend to enjoy social gatherings, making new friends and tend to be quite loud. They are usually quite creative and often daydream. However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament. Sanguine can also mean very sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful. Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful and sometimes a little sarcastic. Often, when pursuing a new hobby, interest is lost quickly when it ceases to be engaging or fun. They are very much people persons. They are talkative and not shy. Sanguine can be sometimes emotional.
Choleric
A person who is choleric is a do-er. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were choleric. They like to be leaders and in charge of everything.
Melancholic
A person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very considerate and get rather worried when they could not be on time for events, melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art - and can become occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. A melancholic is also often a perfectionist. They are often self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is sometimes they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.
Phlegmatic
Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, calm, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators. They can also be very passive-aggressive.
LaHaye believes there are twelve mixtures of the four temperaments, representing people who have the traits of two temperaments, called Mel-Chlor, Chlor-San, San-Phleg, Phleg-Mel, Mel-San, Chlor-Phleg; and the reverse of these: Chlor-Mel, San-Chlor, Phleg-San, Mel-Phleg, San-Mel, and Phleg-Chlor. The order of temperaments in these pairs was based on which temperament was the "dominant" one (this is usually expressed by percentages). A person can also be a blend of three temperaments. Other four-type models, such as Social Styles, also have similar blends q.v., and in the five temperament theory, the blends are defined along the three areas of "Inclusion", "Control", and "Affection". The blends expand the number of types to sixteen (twelve blends of two types, plus the four pure types) or more (for blends of three).
Ok I’m not a psychologist or a psychiatrist but I see that maybe us that are writers have in our personality some traits from melancholy. At last I have a lot of them.
Also he said to me that people who had a painful childhood or painful moments in life were better writers according to many studies and that even when writers deny it in many of our stories you could find many things about us. Well, I can understand this; maybe you can create better a tortured character when you had lived hard situations yourself. If you had lived a perfect life it will be hard to relate, but not impossible.
I was shocked about all this information and I’m for sure checking my story to see if there’s something about me.
I think I’m a melancholic-phlegmatic with a little of choleric.
What do you think? You think writers have melancholic traits? Do you think that people who had lived painful moments or difficult moments become better writers?
yo
I know it’s been a lot of time since I posted. Things over here were crazy. Anyway I’m making myself the promise to post at least two times a week so I hope I can keep it.
Now a few things of what’s going on in my life:
-          I’m moving forward with my translation and improved a lot my voice (at least I think). Also I made a huge advance, I wrote the prologue directly in English and I like it. I’m so proud of myself right now!!
-          Carlos is now in his final exams in preschool and next year he will enter elementary school. I don’t know where time went. Anyway he still has problems with his TDA and impulsiveness but I hope that with time we can help him control it. At least he I having great grades if you don’t count discipline.
-          On the other side Alex seems to like making things, to learn and cooperate. I hope things could be different for him.
-          I had spent a lot of my time reading, studying and memorizing vocabulary. My head is starting to spin with so many things.
-          Right now I’m listening to Stephen King : On writing and it’s great. First of all it seems that I haven’t lost my English ear and also the book is great!
-          The last book I read was Passion of Lauren Kate:

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"Every single lifetime, I'll choose you. Just as you have chosen me. Forever."

Luce would die for Daniel. And she has. Over and over again. Throughout time, Luce and Daniel have found each other, only to be painfully torn apart: Luce dead, Daniel left broken and alone. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way. . . .

Luce is certain that something—or someone—in a past life can help her in her present one. So she begins the most important journey of this lifetime . . . going back eternities to witness firsthand her romances with Daniel . . . and finally unlock the key to making their love last.

Cam and the legions of angels and Outcasts are desperate to catch Luce, but none are as frantic as Daniel. He chases Luce through their shared pasts, terrified of what might happen if she rewrites history.

Because their romance for the ages could go up in flames . . . forever.
My opinion:
The best of the series so far. I didn't like so much Fallen because of the writing I found myself skipping a lot of paragraphs. But this one is very, very good.

Lauren Kate shows in a unique way the different times were Luce lived with Daniel. I found myself in Egypt, Jerusalem and even in my very dear Chichen Itza!

I like this book so much because it tells us how the curse began. Why Daniel is the way he is now and to see the magnitude of his love. To really see they are soul mates.

It is a prequel but also moves forward the story leaving us at the edge of the seat with the ending. I can't wait to the next one!

I now really love Daniel and like this new mature Luce, the way she grew up in this book.

I hope you’re having an amazing day!


yo
1. I love the hunger games books! They have a great world building and I'm learning a lot of good writing!

2. Sott, my instructor in my writing class, said to me that my current problem is my narrative voice that maybe is getting lost between all this two languages so I have to find my narrative voice in English. Something that the first days seemed impossible to me, there are a lot of things I don't know, many rules of grammar, a lot of words I don't know to manipulate them and create my own voice. But I know I have one and have to find it in English! My husband told me why I was on a hurry, to take one step at a time, to continue studying, to keep reading a lot, to see more movies and programs in English and to find someone to talk with in English. And that if that takes me a lot, I should take that time and do it because is my dream and I choose a hard dream.(Wait time something hard for me) So I'm back on track. Any suggestions for finding my narrative voice are welcome as well as ways to improve my vocabulary. Oh and if you want to talk with someone that haven't talked in English for a long time, here I am!

3. I’m almost recovered from my cold but now I have Carlos sick! Oh my, we have a lot of viruses around here.

4. My little boy is starting to sleep all night it seems that finally we found a way to control his reflux, well at least for a few days!

5. Yesterday my husband surprised me with the new CD of Roxette. Maybe you don't know but I'm a huge fan. In Madrid he once but ticket for a small and intimate concert and it was perfect. Hearing again Marie's voice brought back to my mind this song:
Roxette, Almost Unreal


I know that the Mario Bros film was terrible but the song is great. Here I put you the lyrics:
Babe, come in from the cold and put that coat to rest.
Step inside, take a deep breath, and do what you do best.
Yes, kick off them shoes and leave those city streets.
I do believe love came our way, and fate did arrange for us to meet.

I love when you do that hocus pocus to me.
The way that you touch, you've got the power to heal.
You give me that look, it's almost unreal. It's almost unreal.

Hey, we can't stop the rain, let's find a place by the fire.
Sometimes I feel, strange as it seems,
you've been in my dreams all my life.

I love when you do that hocus pocus to me.
The way that you touch, you've got the power to heal.
You give me that look, it's almost unreal. It's almost unreal.

It's a crazy world out there. It's a crazy...
Let's hope our prayers are in good hands tonight.

Oh, I love when you do that hocus pocus to me.
The way that you touch, you've got the power to heal.
You give me that look, it's almost unreal.
It's almost unreal, so unreal.

Yea come on and do the hocus pocus to me.
The way that you touch, you've got the power to heal.
You give me that look, it's almost unreal. It's almost unreal, yea.

It's almost unreal. Do the hocus pocus to me. Do the hocus pocus...
Happy Weekend!