It started with them blowing a swooshy feel-good breeze up my skirt:  they said they "valued my ability to inspire my followers through writing" and they wanted "to tap into my creative juices" to help develop a storyline for a little boy and his magical bed.  Then they slathered icing on top:  my contribution would be compensated.  

GoodnitesBrand_logo Though I appreciated their pitch–ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  GETTING PAID FOR MY TIME AND WRITING INSTEAD OF RECEIVING A PRODUCT???–I thought they contacted me by accident.  The sponsor was GoodNites, makers of disposable sleep pants for kids who wet the bed, and a)  my children were too old for this demographic, and b) we never had to deal with the issue of bedwetting when they were younger.  

Ready to decline because I wasn't interested in inauthentically prostituting my blog for cash, in response to my concerns their PR team explained a) this was not a product endorsement, b) my youngest at 12 was in the upper-age range for the product, and c) (my favorite point…) they liked the way I wrote about establishing ritual and tradition with my family!!!  

They might not have had me at "Hello", but by "How you doin'?", I was theirs.  

Over the course of several emails and phone calls, I learned more about the campaign:  GoodNites was hosting Bedtime Theater, a free audio series about a little boy and his magical bed, and a group of bloggers were to write the ending nine chapters.  We'd get to give away THREE $175 PRIZE PACKS and judge contest entries from YOU, YES, YOU! listeners who wrote a chapter in the audio series…the winner of which would walk away with $2,500!

I committed to the project, and then…

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I faced one of the biggest writing challenges of my {coughcough} career:  I had to write my chapter!  Fiction {horrors!}.  I've never really dabbled in writing fiction, and as the lucky next-to-last writer, my directive was to begin tying up ALL THE LOOSE ENDS THIS CRAZY GROUP OF BLOGGERS LEFT FLAPPING IN THE BREEZE!  

Sweet mercy–considering their diversity, mad writing skillz and apparent OVERACTIVE IMAGINATIONS that was no small task!  The surprise to me was…

…I loved every minute of it.

And I cannot wait for my chapter to go live!  

Let's just say I let my imagination over-activate, too.  So much so, the PR team told me I was a leetle…too…graphic…with my first submission.  Teaser:  Had I written "Alice in Wonderland" I totally might've been credited with the "OFF WITH HER HEAD" declaration…!

Just sayin'….

Anyways, I hope you'll gather up your babies–toddler through middle school–and listen to Iggy's Adventures.  Use the audio chapters to establish a fun night-time bedtime ritual with your children and on March 1 you'll gain access to the chapter I wrote!

This has GOT to be one of the most exclamation-marky posts I've ever written, but lovies, I've had to keep quiet about this since November!  To help me celebrate the official launch of Bedtime Theater, I'm excited to give away the following prize pack valued at $175:

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Basic entry couldn't be simpler:

  1. Subscribe to PENSIEVE in a reader or via email **and**
  2. Leave a comment below sharing your favorite nighttime bedtime rituals.

Winner will be selected by random draw from qualified commenters :).  Deadline to enter is Friday, February 26th at midnight EST.

Gain additional entries by doing any of the following;
be sure to leave a separate comment for each:

Stumble this post {pretty please} and writing a glowing review of it :).

Copy and tweet the following or feel free to use your own language (comment the URL of your tweet):  Wow–@PensieveRobin is giving away a $175 prize pack {iPod Shuffle & MORE}!!! http://bit.ly/BedtimeTheaterGiveaway #BedtimeTheater 

Write a post about Bedtime Theater and link to this contest post.

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{Thanks to Goodnites for including me as one of their Bedtime Theater bloggers. Kudos to them for a creative approach to partnering with writers and building a multi-layered campaign!} 

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