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.

 

Contests and... Cool Things?

Don't judge; alliteration's not my strong suit. And with the weather getting colder and more rotten, it being a Monday, and my baby STILL refusing to exit my womb, I have to admit I'm not at my most inspired today. 

BUT all is not bleak! The 300 Followers Contest ended last week. I've been having trouble finding the time to blog lately, but I haven't forgotten about the contest, oh no! I didn't make it to 300 followers (sob) but you're all so awesome I've decided to give prizes away anyway. 

So I'm going to pick two winners at random (instead of the original three, because I didn't make it to 300 after all) - and announce them later this week. Yay!

And for those of you who may need a pick-me-up today (like me) - and for all the Star Wars fans out there - here is a link to the BEST ADVERT EVER.

What about you? Anything funny or cool to share today?

Inspired by...

THE LOST GIRL is on Goodreads! I don't even have a neat bit of preamble for that piece of news - it's just so exciting! Do pop over and have a look. Things really feel like they're kicking off and although there's not a whole lot on the book's page yet, it's there and it feels so real now.

 In the wake of the listing, and the announcement on Bookseller, I've had a bunch of people on Twitter ask me questions about the book. And, of course, one of those questions has been about the inspiration behind a book. Authors inevitably get asked how we/they came up with a story. I love hearing the answers. We seem to get ideas everywhere. It's amazing.

So, how to find these ideas?

1. Dreams. Stephenie Meyer famously said Twilight was inspired by a very vivid dream.

2. Song lyrics. Music always helps me! Sometimes a certain line or phrase, paired with a certain bit of music, will send me racing for my laptop.

3. Other books. Ideas can be pilfered freely from classics, myths, fairy tales, poems, other novels. Ideas are rarely brand new. THE LOST GIRL owes a great deal to Frankenstein. More often than not ideas are recycled, revamped, reused, re-a-lot-of-things. But there is a very clear line to be toed here. There's a difference between being inspired - and just plain old copying.

4. News, movies, conversations. Pay attention to what's going on around you. You never know what might set a story-spark ablaze.

5. People. It's amazing how a certain characteristic in a friend or a stranger can send you into a frenzy of excitement. An author I know once tweeted that, while out at the supermarket, she saw a stranger with such wild, moody eyes she couldn't resist writing a story about him.

Where do you find your ideas?

And a little reminder: the 300 Followers Contest ends in six days! PRIZES IN THE OFFING! Please do tweet, blog, just generally get the word out if you can - I'd so appreciate it!

The 300 Followers Contest!

A couple of days ago this blog got its 200th follower! Yay! Huge thanks to all of you, you can't imagine how much I appreciate it. But I'm going to show you. Yes! A contest! A kind of help-me-get-to-300-followers contest!

  With prizes.

So here's how it's going to work. If this blog gets to 300+ followers by the 30th of November, I will pick three winners and give away one of the following prizes to each of them-

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*

*okay, I should probably mention I am not the best baker in the world, and I don't actually know how feasible posting a box cupcakes is, so maybe only pick this one if you're really not tempted by the others...

How to enter-

1. Become a follower, unless you already are.
2. Comment on this post. Please make sure you include an email address in your comment!
3. Pop the contest button in your sidebar/blog, linking it back to this post.

That's it! You don't have to write a post or tweet about it, but it would be very lovely if you did. It would really help me get the word out.

(And, of course, if more people find out about it and want to join in, the more likely it is that I'll get to my goal by the end of November!)

The prizes will be given away to three randomly chosen winners if I get to 300+ followers by that date. If we get there and you win, all you'd have to do is pick the prize you want and email me letting me know your choice!

Once again, thank you to everyone who got me to 200. You're the best.

Happy Friday!