Thank yous, and a month of giveaways

Today’s post is a compilation of thank yous to other bloggers for books I’ve won and blogging awards I’ve been given, and the first giveaway of several planned for this month. 

One of the first writing blogs I discovered, and still one of the best, is Literary Rambles.  It’s a great source for information on literary agents.  I’ve followed Casey (and now Natalie, too) for longer than I’ve had a blog of my own.  In addition to weekly agent spotlights, Literary Rambles features author interviews (see my interview here) and book giveaways.  I recently won a copy of Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris – thanks Natalie and Casey!

Jemi Fraser is the author of another fabulous writing blog, Just Jemi.  A few weeks ago I won a prize on her site that I was thrilled about – a copy of the Emotion Thesaurus by Becca and Angela of The Bookshelf Muse.  This book is an incredibly helpful tool for writers; in their own words; it “explores seventy five emotions and provides a large selection of body language, internal sensations, actions and thoughts associated with each.”  Thanks to Jemi for passing along this amazing reference book.

I also want to thank some bloggers who have given me blogging awards.  I’m very grateful to everyone who reads my posts, and it means a lot to me when someone chooses me for an award.  Many thanks to the following people who have selected me lately:  

Becki’s Whole Life

Living Life

Go bake yourself

Kittie

Ellen B

Art of Natural Living

And now, as promised, the first of several August giveaways.

I started reading Angela Felsted’s blog shortly after I began my own.  From the beginning, I was impressed with the beautiful way she had with words.  The poems she posted on her site were intriguing and accessible, and made me want to read more.

She and several other writers have published Poetry Pact, and it’s a terrific collection.  One of Angela’s poems, “A Jar of Fireflies”, is so evocative that you’ll find yourself dreaming of summer twilight.  Jessica Bell’s “Once” is beautiful and moving, and I hear something new every time I reread it.  And “The Stolen Egg” by Lydia Kang is a paragon of brevity.

There are many more beautiful poems in this collection, and I’d like to give a copy to one of my readers.  If you want to enter, be a follower of my blog and leave a comment below.   I’ll give you an extra entry if you also tweet about the contest and let me know in a separate comment.  (Sorry, this week’s contest is open only to readers with an American or Canadian address.  Because the book is just available in the U.S, an American winner would receive a new copy, while a Canadian reader would win my very gently-used copy).  You may enter until midnight (EDT) Monday, August 13 and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, August 14.