Winners and, um, Way Cool Stuff

I'm really not having a good week with this whole alliteration thing. (I am a writer. Honest. But a poet, me is not.)

As promised, today I'm announcing the winners of my 300 Followers Contest/giveaway! A huge, huge thank you to all my new followers - and to all the old ones who tweeted/blogged about the contest and put the button in your sidebars. Thank you for all your support!

I put your names in one of those cool online number generator thingies and here we are. I didn't make it to the aforementioned 300 followers, but I got over halfway there and am excited enough about it to give prizes away anyway! So two winners get to pick one of the following

a query critique
a 20-page manuscript critique
a £10 Amazon UK voucher (or a $15 Amazon US voucher if you don't shop on the UK site)
a box of homemade cupcakes*

*but really, don't pick this one. Baking and me are not the best of friends.

And the winners are

Janet Johnson and

Alex (from Odd Socks and Pretty Frocks)

Hooray!

As for the 'way cool stuff', I've read quite a few great books lately and I thought I'd share some of my recent discoveries. Who doesn't love a good book recc, right? 

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

This is my absolute favourite recent read. Narrated by ten-year-old Jamie, it's honest and funny and so not the soppy, grim, bleak thing it might have been in a different author's hands. Grab it. It's sad but you'll laugh. It's amazing.

Build a Man by Talli Roland

I've read all of Talli's novels (and her guide to London, but that's a whole other kettle of fish!) and this one was hands-down my favourite. I don't know why. Maybe I just loved main character Serenity's first-person narrative, maybe I loved how funny and sweet it was, maybe it was a lot of other things. But it's such a fun read. 

Wildwood by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis

My editor Sara sent me this one (so maybe it's not officially out yet, I'm not sure) and I'm so glad she did because it's absolutely lovely. It's a mixture of fantasy and real-worldliness; I guess you could say it's a bit C.S. Lewis-y, only better (I never was a fan of the Narnia books, but that's just me).

Oh, and while I'm on the subject of way cool stuff, UK blog-readers? If you haven't had the Swiss cream bun at Greggs yet, get your hands on one now. I would commit criminal acts for them.