That contest I was talking about before?  At the PPM blog?  Well okay, I didn't win win.  I only won the random drawing part.  But that's still winning because there's a prize and there's entering and that's all that's needed for winning, right?  Anyway, I am receiving in the mail a copy of Your First Novel, which is good because I already have the other one in the giveaway and the person who (actually) won claimed it.  When I get it, I'll post a review.

I'm also getting three others in the mail soon.  One is about writing groups and how to make them succeed, which I got based off PPM's weekly Writer Interview a couple of weeks ago with writer Becky Levine.  3am Epiphany I got to help me battle the mythological writer's block, and also just because I respond really well to prompts.  The Art of War for Writers claims to deal with pretty much every step of writing from plotting and characters to querying and dealing with rejection and envy.  Woo envy.  Again, when I get and read through these, I'll post reviews.

In other writerly news, I have finished a very long chapter 5 for something, and jeez.  This chapter should not be 9000 words long.

Cheery-bye, mortals.

A new short-short (not exactly flash, but not short-story length either) has been posted in a friends-locked entry at my fiction journal: one fey thought. 

A Boat Of My Own Making
Word Count: 462

The Rosebush Steward is currently being workshopped by my lovely sweatshop workshop people at Finisher's Group.  We're on chapter 8, which is about a third of the way through.  This means I'm well over the three chapters I need to be prepared to submit.  I need to do my query letter - I feel like I'm just putting it off without any real excuses. 

In other news, I read this great book by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman about writing:

How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide

Witty, fun, great for looking your mistakes in the face without wanting to smack yourself silly.  Or maybe you will, but the point is, you will be entertained.  If you're looking for a copy, Carrie Bailey is giving one away one her blog, Peevish Penman, which I've been following for a while now.  The website itself is full of gems, is loads better than my own neglected writing blog, and of course, FREE BOOKS.  If this one doesn't look like your cup of tea, she's giving away another one called your first NOVEL as well.  I can't speak to it, b/c I haven't read it.

Cheers!