I’m Honored!

Not a big fan of Elmo, but the napkin seemed  appropriate for the occasion.

Although my posts over the past few weeks suggest otherwise, I am eager to stop the self-promotion and get back to the business of writing about writing.

And so help me, I will do so beginning this weekend – even if it kills me.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t first thank a few fellow online scribes who presented me with blogging awards over the past couple of weeks.

I’m feelin’ the love.

The lovely Khaula Mazhar and Amanda Leigh each nominated me for the Lovely Blogger Award! (Even though Khaula presented it in a bwa-ha-ha-I-hope-you-enjoy-all-the-work-I-just-gave-you kinda way, I still find her lovely.)

I’m feelin’ the Leibster, too.

Raging Gail nominated me for a Leibster Award, which was both a lovely and leibster-y thing to do!

And the wonderful Susan Rocan at mywithershins tagged me with some fun questions.

That is not the first time Susan questioned me by the way; she also just interviewed me on her blog! Do take a look if you wish. She’s a great interviewer. She is also a kind and thoughtful person – even though she does not share my appreciation for goats. Nobody’s perfect, I suppose.

Adorable.

Each of the above honors requires me to answer questions and nominate other bloggers. To give each award the attention it deserves, I’m going take care of them one at a time over the next couple of months. So please don’t interpret my delayed followup as a sign of ingratitude. Believe me, I’m appreciative. Thank you all!

We Have a Winner!

The Grand (and only) Prize!

Two weeks ago, I posted a contest on my blog to win a free, signed copy of my upcoming children’s book Sarah Gives Thanks.

The response was incredible! It’s amazing; all ya gotta say is “Win my book!” and people will stop by to say “Hi!” and “Gimmie a book!” That’s certainly what I would do; offer me a chance to win a free book and I’ll prove it.

You had to be in it to win it!

To be entered in the contest all you had to do was to come up with a clever interview question for illustrator extraordinaire David Gardner. Then, because getting questions without answers isn’t all that interesting, I also asked you to answer the questions you provided.

A lot of great questions came in. (And, yes, a couple of wisenheimer ones came in, too.) After taking pains to narrow them down, I am pleased to report that my co-interviewers are:

Vanessa Chapman
JT Clayton
Kaleidoscopebrain
Wendy Lawrence
Cathy Ballou Mealey
Lauri Meyers
Nancy Tandon
Madame Weebles
Anne Woodman
Writerlious

Now don’t fret if you don’t see yourself up there. As long as you asked and answered a question (no matter how wisenheimer-y) your name was put in the hat to win the book.

And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The Big Winner!

To keep things good and fair, I brought in an unbiased third party to draw the winning card.

The sober judge.

Isn’t he cute?

OK, let’s get started!

Shuffle…shuffle…
And the winner is…
Ta daa!

MADAME WEEBLES!

Congratulations, Madame! To collect your prize, please go up to the menu option “Write Me A Note” and give me your mailing address. As soon as the book comes out in September, I will send you a personalized copy.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

And for those of you who STILL want a free book, go to David Gardner’s Blog right now. He’s decided to hold the EXACT SAME CONTEST! Good Luck!

Rantless Raves

The reviews for Sarah Gives Thanks are in! And they’re good!

I approve.

Here’s one from School Library Journal:

“More of a biography about Sarah Josepha Hale than a holiday book, this well-researched, engaging read-aloud offers youngsters a glimpse into the lives of women and families in 19th-century America as well as to the history of how Thanksgiving became a national holiday.”

And Kirkus gave me a Starred Review!

“Amusing and perfectly chosen anecdotes highlight the qualities that made Hale such a success—curiosity, thirst for knowledge and determination… Readers will look forward to more from this talented author, who has penned a perfectly paced, rousing biography.”

I mean, woah.

To celebrate this news, I shall doodle pictures of wild animals.

Yes, yes, I know. I don’t celebrate like normal people.

On a related note, the response to last week’s Sarah Gives Thanks book giveaway was overwhelming! More than 20 people responded and the drawing is on!

Next week the winner will be announced. Good luck!