Some Good Stuff You Ought to Know About

A little later today I'll add the name of the person who won a copy of Ashley March's Seducing the Duchess in yesterday's guest giveaway.

And here's the news! Jenn LeBlanc is our winner! Jenn has been notified by e-mail, and as soon as we have her mailing address, her book will be on its way.

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Don't forget there's a giveaway going on right here as well. If I ever reach 300 blog followers (the Blog Follower Crawl), I'll give away one $25.00 gift certificate from amazon.com. And the longer it takes, the more competition you have because one comment per person per day since May 2 is an entry.

Alex J. Cavanaugh suggested I move my Follow gadget up higher in my sidebar, so I've done that. Alex visits and leaves comments at many, many blogs per day, and that has been a struggle for me since I'm involved in so many other activities. So many fun things to do, so little time.

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We're going through a cold, rainy spell here in Northern Colorado. It was so dry for so long that our lawns and trees and gardens were beginning to suffer.

Cold rainy days are good for writing in a cozy office or coffee shop, curling into a comfy chair with an afghan and a cup of tea and reading a good book, or wrapping up in that same afghan and taking a nap. Sometimes it's hard to choose one over the other.

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You brave fiction writers out there...are you brave enough to submit the first 1,000 words of your novel for a possible free critique in the pages of Writer's Digest? Kristin Nelson of Nelson Literary Agency will select a few of the submissions for an honest, personalized critique. "She’ll explain what might entice an agent or editor to read further, and what might stall your submission’s chances before it starts..."

All of the information and rules are at There Are No Rules by Jane Friedman, a Writer's Digest blog.

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For a head's up about what literary agent Kristin Nelson likes and doesn't like in submissions, scroll through some of the posts on her blog, Pub Rants.

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Sylvia Dickey Smith has just started a new blog called Writing Strong Women. I hope you'll stop by and read her posts which will go up on Wednesdays. The first is called Steel Magnolias: Born or Made?

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Do you visit Chiseled in Rock blog regularly? If not, let me call your attention to a new project called Eat Brains Love: One Zombie’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and any Destination Her Gold Card Can Buy. You don't want to miss this.

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For those of you who enjoyed Margaret Frazer's guest post here on Monday, there's an excellent interview with Margaret conducted by Elizabeth Zelvin posted at Poe's Deadly Daughters.

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And finally, I'd like to mention that blogger friend Ann Best announces the release of her memoir, In the Mirror, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets. I just ordered my copy from WiDo Publishing but I think it will be available from amazon.com soon.

In the Mirror by Ann Carbine Best is the memoir of a woman who planned on her marriage lasting forever.

When Ann marries Larry in September of 1961, she’s certain he will be that eternal companion. Eleven years later, she is devastated to learn that he’s been having affairs with men. She wants to help him. She wants to save her marriage.

However, powerful emotions pull Larry away from his family, and eight years later their marriage ends. As a single parent, Ann is now faced with four grieving children who don’t want to leave their father and their home in Utah Valley. But Ann needs to start a new life in a new place.

In the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Ann at last makes peace with the past.

I'm looking forward to having Ann her as a guest blogger in the near future. Watch for her name to show up on the guest list in my sidebar.

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Have a wonderful weekend.