Awesomeness Alerts

I've been busy. I mean really, really, busy. And sick. But of course, I can't stay away too long. I thought I'd pop in for some randomness and share some of the awesome things I've been hearing about around the blogosphere.  

1. For Banned Books Week, I purchased a book that had been banned for my ten-year-old daughter.  It was Scary Stories Treasury by Alvin Schwartz. We love it! I actually got all three of my kids (yes, the two teenaged ones, too) to sit and read with us with the lights off and a flash light in hand. It was beyond thrilling...and scary.They asked to do it again the next day. Then my daughter took it to school and read it at recess to some of her friends!

2. One of my favorite blogs, The Bookshelf Muse, has moved to a new location. You should definitely check out the new site which is now titled, Writers Helping Writers. And in conjunction with the big move, and the launching of two new books, The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes (October 21st) and  The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Flaws (October 21st), they are giving back to the writing community in an awesome way. I'll write more on that in a few days. So stay tuned. 

3. There's a great contest about to take place at Miss Snark's First Victim's blog. It's called, The Baker's Dozen. This contest offers writers an opportunity to have their work critiqued by published authors, editors, and agents. And if that wasn't exciting enough, it's an auction where agents bid for pages on the stories they like the most. Some even request the full manuscript! Get all the awesome details HERE. 

What have you been up to? 

Have a great day. Read a book and laugh!