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!

Publication Party! Everyone Welcome! Authors! Writers! Friends! Prizes!

Get out the Jimmy Choos, pick up the tux from the dry cleaners, dust off that sexy little black dress - it's party time! Pop the corks! Set out the nibblies! Er, what is the occasion? Well, I'm celebrating passing 300 followers, which is awesome and thank you my lovely followers, but that's not the main game. The main game is getting published! That's what all the hoopla is about. Read on...

Well, dear readers (to coin author Jane Austen), I've been studying your 2011 Resolutions and seeing a trend - so many writers are looking for publication this year, moi included. We've spent 2010 writing our drafts, editing, revising, now we want to find a way to get our work in print. So, where to from here? And what is print these days anyway?

We know the world needs our books, our magazine articles, our works of brilliance. But how can we show the world what we've been doing? How do we get our work published?

Let's ask the experts.

So! I'm hosting a Publication Party with guest speakers and they won't be boring I promise! They've been where we are today -polishing their stories until they shine and wondering where to go next..?..?..?

I've spent the latter stages of 2010 reading up on traditional publishing, self-publishing, e-publishing, mystic publishing (just kidding)...but I really need some guidance. And it doesn't just have to be a book you want published - I, and many of you write magazine stories and are always looking for a new market, so I had this idea...I want to read about how writers like us reached the Holy Grail of becoming a published author, so I have asked authors who many of you may know to come to our party and tell us about their journey: I've asked them to speak on the topic - How did you get published?! What did your journey look like? 

Starting this Wednesday, 12th January, the Publication Party will kick off with author Christine Bell who is giving away a book and a critique to a lucky commenter or two.

There will be a guest post every Wednesday following into mid-February, with some guest authors offering a book giveaway or a critique or a prize of their choosing, to commenters to their post. I assure you there will be a book given away at each party! Names will be drawn and good news will be whizzing to your place! You will have 5 days to comment on each post. The draw will close each Monday at 8pm NY time (check the clock on my blog!) 

I will be tracking the comments, and all of you who follow me and comment on EVERY POST during the Party Season will be in the draw to receive a book (paperback) from yours truly, as my way of saying thanks to you for attending and thanks for being one of my 300+ followers. There will be a GRAND PRIZE for the first commenter drawn who attends every party - I have put together a writer's package of Aussie Awesomeness for you! I have several books to give away so you are in with a chance no matter where you live. Every time you comment you will need to leave your email address to be in the draw to win a prize! We're all too busy writing to be hunting for email addresses!

What are you waiting for? Get ready. Grab my button (copy the code) in the top left sidebar so you won't forget to come back this Wednesday and every Wednesday into February! You can delete it once the party is over if you wish but why would you want to? There's always a party of some sort happening here, lol!

I can't wait for this party to kick off!

PARTY SPEAKER SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Jan 12th - Christine Bell

Wednesday, Jan 19th - Clarissa Draper

Wednesday, Jan 26th - Alex J Cavanaugh

Wednesday, Feb 02 - Helen M Hunt

Wednesday, Feb 09 - Lisa Maliga

Wednesday, Feb 16 - N R Williams

Wednesday, Feb 23 - Ann Best

So in the above list there are fantasy authors, a mystery author, a sci-fi author, a short story author and memoir authors. No matter what their area of expertise, we can all learn about how they were able to take that giant step from writer to author! Join the party on Wednesday January 12th! Tell your friends! The more the merrier!

Any questions, just ask.

RSVP below...

Denise