I love the blogosphere! Just look at this!

Don't ever think blogging isn't worth it! I've learnt so much with all the writing practise participating in blogfests gives me, I've benefited from valued feedback from other bloggers regarding my stories, I've made great blogging friends who I wished lived next door, I've learnt a little about other cultures, belief systems and genres, I love all the awards you've been generous to pass onto me, but for instant gratification I love winning! Winning, you say? Yep, I've been a winner a lot lately and I'd like to give credit to the generous bloggers who've judged me and sent me prizes. In no particular order, let me list my recent winnings:

• Remember The Bernard Pivot Blogfest? Well, I won! The prize just arrived recently! Thank you to Nicole Duclerior from One Significant Moment in Time who sent me this bunch of goodies below:

It includes the short story anthology, Literary Foray. Nicole has signed it, there is a story by Nicole and several by blogger Jessica Bell et al. Can't wait to stop blogging and start reading! And I'm totally addicted to pens so if you want to keep me happy just send me pens! But there's more!. I also can buy books to the value of $20 on Amazon, so I'm going to buy Ann Carbine Best's In the Mirror and another TBA. Thank you Nicole. You are such a generous blogger.

• Dominic de Mattos of Writes of Passage hosted a No Fear blogfest. I entered an excerpt from one of my 'strong women' stories where my MC is escaping her father's abuse, and lo and behold it was voted the winner! If you'd like to read it, go here.

The prize was $30 which was a lovely gift to receive. Thanks Dom!

• Then J. C. Martin, the Fighter Writer ran a contest, the Race to 200. You had to enter a story where your character is racing. My story showed my MC racing through the streets of LA to save her daughter. You can read my entry here. For me, winning this contest was fantastic. So was the thrilling review my story received from Genna:

MEET ME AT UNION STATION by L’Aussie @ Flashquake


Genna says:

“L’Aussie opens her scene with great attention to detail and with a dire sense of urgency, which translates into a fast-paced snippet that was impossible to stop reading! The intermingling of action, inner thought, and dialogue is ingenious, as every word moves the story along in one way or another. I love the raw emotions she conveys in a matter of paragraphs. This is a testament to her strong control of language and plot structure. She builds suspense through short, terse sentences. I’m hooked!”


My prize arrived recently, Stephen King's The Running Man. Thank you, thank you J. C. Martin!

• This morning the lovely Lynda R Young from A Writer's Journey advised me I came third in a draw on her blog which was to celebrate 500 followers. My prize is a critique of 250 words of a WIP. Boy, the fun never stops! Thank you Lynda.
• And Roland D Yeomans is sending me an autographed copy of a Dean Koontz novel. How sweet is that!
• And the lovely Nomes from Inkcrush is sending me a book this morning just because I commented and just because she's generous and loves to pass books on!

Now there are plenty of contests I've entered and not won (which is more usual for me) but I just wanted to share what a happy winning streak I'm on at the moment. They say "it's more blessed to give than receive" and I"ve loved sending books and packs of goodies to those who won prizes at my Publication Party. Watch out for my next celebrations where I can continue returning the generosity in the blogosphere.

And I should finish with the lovely bunch of roses my husband gave me. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Try to have a listen to Jessica Bell's video promoting her debut novel below. It got lost amongst the A - Z Challenge madness.

Remember my A - Z posts are found on my L'Aussie Travel Blog. Visit a country a day. Fun!