Blogging News, a Readathon, & a Giveaway

Happy Labor Day to my American friends!  Sadly, this was a much-needed break already and I've been busy, busy, busy.  I spent some time on Saturday canning tomatoes, which turned out to take much longer than I remember.  Thankfully  they are all finished though, so like those Little House on the Prairie books I read a million times when I was younger, I'm ready for the blizzards of winter to hit!  (Also thankfully, there will be no side of beef hanging from my back porch to go chop off a piece.  That part of the story I conveniently skip in my own life.)

Today is my day to happily read to my heart's content.  Speaking of which, I recently joined the Dewey's Read-a-Thon being held on October 9th, the day after my birthday.  I can't think of a better way I'd rather spend my first day being a year older than to hide away behind a stack of good books!  If you're not familiar with this Read-a-Thon, it basically is a time that everyone who participates will read for 24 hours straight.  I've yet to ever read the entire time, but have definitely enjoyed trying.  There are often great challenges to join in if you're reading is slacking off, as well as wonderful cheerleaders who stop by to give you encouragement.  Here are some of my experiences if you're interested (cheering for Read-a-Thon 4/09 and reading for Read-a-Thon 10/09).  As always, it will be a great time, so head over to sign up today!

Also, launching today is a great new Jane Austen website being hosted by twenty great Austen writers.  Sharon Lathan, writer of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy: Two Shall Become One, Loving Mr. Darcy, My Dearest Mr. Darcy, and soon to be released in October, In the Arms of Mr. Darcy (which I'll be reviewing SOON), is heading up much of the action.  They have some really great posts up already, along with a fun looking scavenger hunt that I think I'll interrupt my reading today to go participate.  Stop by Austen Authors today to join in the Austen fun and to read great posts by many wonderful authors.

 Last up, I have a giveaway I kept meaning to post and decided that now is a great time to share!  This past summer I went into a Polynesian store at the local mall in Kaneohe, Hawaii.  We frequent that mall because it has our closest movie theater.  One day while we were waiting for our movie to start, I noticed these cool bookmarks made out of Samoan print designs that had been cut into strips.  The lady in the store (also Samoan) told me it was just their way of preserving the artwork once the piece could no longer be used (why it couldn't be used, I don't know).  I thought they were pretty interesting and bought a bunch of them to share!

If you'd like to have me send you one of these unique bookmarks, just fill in the form below with your information.  I'll draw FIVE winners, and the drawing will run until Sunday, September 12th at 11:59 pm (MST).  This giveaway is open internationally!



Good luck!