Do a good deed, enjoy a good read for a chance to win!

Want a chance to win this awesome Millennium Falcon soap or the equally awesome Death Star soap made by Soapsudsations?

Go to https://www.facebook.com/TeresaRobesonAuthor/posts/10156251851605328 for details!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

A whine, a brag, and a giveaway walk into a blog...

That sounds like the beginning of a really funny joke. If you think of it, let me know!

Because I'm a lists and bullet-points kind of gal, I'm actually going to continue this way:

Whine:

The editors who don't buy the genres I write think my writing is lovely and wonderful. The editors/agents who do the genres I write haven't given me the time of day. What's up with that??

Brag:

My talented Science Fiction critique group, the Minnows Literary Group, has sold close to 800 copies of our e-anthology, Out of Time (available both at Amazon and Smashwords), since we put in up for sale in early February! We self-published this baby and it's garnered great reviews not just from friends (a huuuuge thank you to all you friends and relatives who loved us enough to buy a copy and leave a review), but from total strangers as well on Amazon and Goodreads.

Giveaway:

There may come a moment in your life when you realize, "hey! I've got too many cookbooks (and I don't even cook)!" Or maybe I'm just projecting. So, I've got too many cookbooks and to make room for some that I actually do use, I'm going to give away one that I never use:

The book, of course, advocate using their pie crust (I never buy pre-made crusts), but the fillings recipes look really good. Lots of nice photos.

To enter the giveaway - and sorry, I'm going to have to keep it within the U.S. and Canada for this time - just leave a comment. If you have trouble commenting on Disqus, pop over to my writer's page on Facebook or my website and leave me a comment through those venues.

Mmmm....pie....

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

An Un-Birthday Giveaway + more!

This is the week I turn 49. Yeah...yay. You can tell I'm just beside myself with joy. Rather than focus on my unfortunate predicament, I'm going to hold an un-birthday giveaway (since today is not my birthday). I'll refer you to Alice in Wonderland in case you don't know what an un-birthday is.

It's not a spectacular giveaway (I'll save that for my 50th un-birthday), and those without younger kids probably won't be interested, but it's my un-birthday and I can give away what I want to. ;)

The prize will be 3 Ladybug and 2 Babybug magazines that have my poetry (I don't think they're my *best* poetry, but Cricket Magazine Group editors thought they were good enough to publish, and that's fine with me).

Since I have no idea how to work Rafflecopter, I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way: you'll have to just leave a comment, or email me if you can't seem to get Disqus to work for you, and I'll put all your names in a container and pull a name out. Or if I get really organized, I will pull all the names out to assign each a number and then use Random.org to pull out a number.

I'll do the drawing on Sunday evening, May 19th, 2013, and post the winner on Monday, May 20th. This is opened to everyone anywhere in the world, not just U.S. and Canada.

So, I lied last week when I said I'd have some thoughts on the SCBWI Midwest Conference to share this week. I decided to pre-empt it for the giveaway...which will give me a topic to post about next Monday, after announcing the winner.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! (Did that make me sound like a cheesy infomercial?)

If you write non-fiction picture for kids, or want to, there is going to be an event running July 1-7, 2013, called WoW Non-fiction (Week of Writing Non-Fiction). It's like a 7-day NaNoWriMo but for writing non-fic picture books. It's totally free to join in the fun, but, and here's where it deviates in a great way from NaNoWriMo, you get to win fabulous prizes such as writing classes, critiques, and more!! It's like getting something for nothing, and how often in life does that happen? I'll be participating and hope you will too.

Okay, now leave me a comment; tell me anything that's on your mind. :) I'll answer any and all questions and put you in the drawing for those 5 magazines.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Valentine Giveaway!

I wanted to spread the word about my dear sister's fabulous new soap-making biz - Soap Sudsations - plus show my readers how much I love them, so I'm combining the two into a Valentine Giveaway! :) 

Here are the hand-made, emollient glycerin soaps that the winner will get - a gorgeous frond soap:

One of these adorable Peace soaps - who couldn't use some peace, love, and clean underarms?

 And a sweet little leaf soap:

These soaps are not only works of art, but they lather beautifully and have great scents. To see more of Monica's super cute soaps, check out her website at SoapSudsations! (Pssst, her husband makes amazing boxes for the gift sets that are a lovely keepsake after you've used up the soaps...so I recommend buying the gift sets.)

To quality for this giveaway, just leave a comment.

For extra entries, do any or all of the following:

~follow @SoapSudsations on Twitter, and let me know your Twitter handle in your comment here if I don't know you already

~re-tweet this giveaway to your followers on Twitter; again, let me know your Twitter handle in your comment here if I don't know you already

~blog about this giveaway – this will net 2 extra entries - give me the link to the post in your comment here

~LIKE the Soap Sudsations on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Soap-Sudsations/255967871101924 - and comment on her Wall that you’re entering this giveaway

I’ll put all the entries into a random drawing on Monday, February 6^th. If I have a way to contact the winner – through Twitter handle, or on SoapSudsation's Facebook page, or if you left a contact in your comments - I will get in touch with you. If I have no means of contacting the winner, you will have one week (Feb. 13th) to get in touch with me to let me know your mailing info.

*Giveaway is open to those living in the U.S. and Canada

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Quick!!

You have a few more hours to get in on my friend Robin's yarn giveaway!  These were dyed and spun by her and are gorgeous.  And even if you don't want yarn, you should check out her blog anyway because she is one amazing lady who does all sorts of wonderful homesteading stuff.

Ok, now I'm really gone on my break.  ;)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

If juggling isn't your thing - giveaway, take 2

I thought that since only Alina wants a juggling kit, I would offer a second giveaway more suited to a wider audience. And it's exciting too! See?Who wouldn't give his/her left arm to own this Scholastic set of Writer's Desk Reference and How to Spell Like a Champ? Well, now you don't have to give up your left arm; you can win this instead, and save your left arm to fist-pump the air when you're holding this delectable pair of books in your grubby right hand.

I'll do a drawing for this on Friday right after I pretend to do a drawing for the Juggling kit and award it to Alina. Heh. So leave a comment, say anything at all (just keep it G since it's a family-blog), but be sure to have some way for me to find you to tell you you've won.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

A giveaway!

Spring cleaning is a wonderful thing. It allows you to come across items that make you scratch your head and go, "what the heck was I thinking when I bought this??" Nothing like feeling like an idiot who has wasted money to put me in a mood for a giveaway, I always say.

So for all you who are juggling so much - kids, jobs, hobbies, etc, etc, I have the perfect thing for you: a brand new Klutz juggling book and balls kit! (What the heck was I thinking when I bought this?) Not only was that a fun play on words - juggling...*giggle* - but it could relieve your daily stress by helping you focus on a new and different activity. And if that doesn't work, you can wing the balls at the person who is annoying you (please note that the book probably doesn't recommend this).

To enter, please leave a comment about what you normally do to relieve stress, e.g. learning Klingon swear words. Please make sure I have some way to contact you (unless I already know you and know where to stalk you) when you leave your comment - blog addy, email, direction to send smoke signals - so I can notify you if you win. My mind reading skills aren't what they used to be.

I'll be consulting with the Oracle at Delphi - or if I can't get a flight to Athens, I'll use Random.org instead - on Friday afternoon to pick the recipient for this amazing (snort) prize. Bonne chance!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Under the Willow giveaway!

I'm back, sort of. I have a million (slight exaggeration) emails to catch up on (mostly read quickly and delete, but that still takes a lot of time). In the meantime, I want to do you a favor and tell you about the Under the Willow Gift Shoppe's giveaway! ;)If you've never used Carrie's laundry soap, you are totally missing out. I can't recommend it highly enough. My favorite scents are Home for the Holidays and Lavender Grace, but you can be the judge. Carrie offers this laundry soap (made using her own handmade soaps!) in many scents, and they are all amazing. But enough sitting around reading this; go enter, or go buy some!

p.s. the giveaway scent is Whispering Rose!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Virtual award, etc.

Amy, over at Moving on From the Drama, which is always a fun read, very kindly bestowed the above Lemonade Stand Award to me. This award is given to those whose blogs show great attitude and demonstrate gratitude. I'm very flattered...thanks, Amy!

I'm supposed to choose ten recipients for this, but I'm not very good at picking people for awards, as I've mentioned before, because if I'm following you, it naturally means that I think your blog (and you) have great attitude. Also, I know some of you have done this already before, so please don't feel obligated to do it again. But here goes, in alphabetical order because that's just the kind of anal-retentive nut I am:

1. Amber's Ambry
2. Blog of the Soap Pixie
3. Chocolate and Marmalade Tea
4. Craft Knife
5. Much of a Muchness
6. Soap and the Finer Things in Life
7. Twenty-Two Pleasant
8. Under a Shady Tree
9. Under the Willow
10. Whistling Leaf Blower

I had a longer post in mind, but that doesn't play well with shortness of time. So, instead, I'll leave you with this:

Check out the giveaways at the Diary of a Mad Editor!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Sherrie's 1000th Post Giveaway!

Just a quick post to let you know about Sherrie's (Twenty-Two Pleasant and Frenchy's Finds) lovely giveaway! Go check it out. :)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

The I-am-on-Artfire Giveaway

Today is the day! I finally opened shop...*drum roll*...on Artfire!

Artfire is having a very special free-listings promotion for the month of October, making it too irresistible. I may still try Etsy later, but for now, the OPEN sign is at Artfire!

To celebrate, I am giving away this very cute (if I do say so myself) doggie bone ceramic bead.It measures about 1.25" (35mm) wide, and about 1" (25mm) high. And, if you're interested in matching paw print beads, they're at the shop!

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment for this post. As well, because I love my regular readers/commenters, I'm going give everyone who left a comment in September one extra entry for each comment, and will do the same for the October blog post comments.

Good luck!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Food, kids, upcoming giveaways

It's officially Autumn - both climatologically and astronomically - and because the weather is cooling, I'm back to happily baking, starting with Coconut-Cranberry Chews (thanks to Abby for the recipe!)I'm making tiramisu today, using the sponge cake recipe from the King Arthur Flour cookbook, and Lavender Soap's mascarpone topping recipe.

Last week, our friend, Carol, gave us some concord grapes. The harvest wasn't great this year, but there was enough to attempt a juice recipe I saw in Mother Earth News. Since we'd run out of quart jars from canning 80+ jars of tomatoes, I had to make do with other jars we still had left. But, aren't they cuuute? Egassner might recognize the smaller jars as the ones she'd canned tuna in (very yummy tuna it was too!).Here's the recipe by Suzanne Mullins of Charlottesville, VA:
Measure 2 cups of whole stemmed grapes into a quart jar.
Add 1 cup of sugar (more or less to taste)
Fill the container with boiling water.
Process it for 10 minutes in a water-bath canner.
6 weeks later, strain out the liquid, dilute this concentrate by half with water, and you'll have 2 quarts of ready-to-drink grape juice.

Speaking of cuuute, here are the teens (ds#1 is the hunched one to the left...egads that kid has bad posture) doing the biology lab - thanks, Meg for passing along your lab stuff and your knowledge!!! - that I'm running for them this year.
On Friday when dh had a late day, I made anchovy pizzas for dinner (using the dough recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day), and I also made bleu cheese dressing for the salad made with lettuces and greens from our garden. This is a bleu cheese dressing recipe from dh's mom that I've never tried before. It turned out really well! Here it is, in the little blue bowl that used to belong to my dear MIL, and the recipe in her own handwriting:As for the giveaway, the prize will be this handmade (by moi!) bone-motif ceramic bead. But, you'll have to come back mid-week for details. Yes, I'm a tease."I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Another nifty giveaway - Product Body stuff!

Joanna, Product Body Blog, is also having a giveaway! I'm addicted to her products, from Crush on You to Creme Fresh. Once you try her skin & bath offerings, you'll fall in love too.

I'm not telling you this so you can win; I'm telling you this so I can have another entry in her giveaway. LOL!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Michelle's Oh Too Cute Giveaway

Michelle (Chocolate and Marmalade Tea), and mom to the cutest cat in the world (*smooches* Quincy), is having a wonderful giveaway! Go check it out, and I'll be back tomorrow. :)
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Burnt Mill Candles and Soaps floored me!!

...in a good way, of course!

When we got home today, there was a 10 pound (no kidding; I weighed it) package for me in mail box from Burnt Mill Candles and Soaps!! She had a giveaway last month, and I was the winner, but I never imagine I'd get 10 pounds of soaps! Holy cow!One of my favorite scents/colors of the lot:And because I'd mentioned in her blog that I'd never experienced the Pink Sugar scent before, she gave me a bottle of her fabulous Room/Body Spray!!Thank you so very much, Burnt Mill Candles and Soaps, for your generosity!!!

The only downside is: I have so much soap, I won't be able to buy any for a while. ;)

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Suds to Love made me hurt my jaw

That got your attention, didn't it? Hah! But, really, Trisha of Suds to Love did make me hurt my jaw, and I'll tell you why. ;)

Trisha posted a giveaway (I try never to miss a giveaway from my soaper friends because they are the best giveaways on the Web...truly!) of which I was the winner!

I got the box in the mail a couple of days ago; I opened it expecting a couple of bars of soaps and maybe a couple of other bath and body products that Trisha makes. Instead I peer in and I see this:A box jam-packed full of these delectable goodies!! That was when my jaw hit the ground...ouch! snort!

WOW!!! Check it all out:There were:
Orange Mocha Foamy Soap
Orange Mocha Lotion Bar
Orange Mocha Foaming Sugar Scrub
2 Lip Balms: Cherry Vanilla and Ginger PeachA Bubbly Bath Bomb in French Croquembouche (which I'm going to use tomorrow in a luxurious bath)
4 Valentine Soaps in Tropical Mango, Tropical Fruit, Strawberries & Cream, and Limeand a managerie of cold-process soaps:
Green Pineapple
Wise Men
Sweet Lavender Lemon Martini
Peppermint Cocoa
Orange Mocha
Fresh Snow
Winter Wonderland
Auld Lang Syne
and TWO Crantini - Trisha remembered that my sister (the lush) and I love Crantinis, so the sweetheart sent two so that I can give one to my sister without having to share my own!

In addition to hurting my jaw, Trisha is also making me not want to be environmentally conscious because now I want to take a shower four times a day just to try all the soaps! Just teasing you, Trisha...LOL!...because you are an absolute love!! I can't thank you enough for this package!!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Thankful Thursday

Well, this week, I'm thankful

1) that I don't have a bad, full-blown cold like many poor folks have been having...I have just a teeny one. ;}

2) for the awards I've been receiving, the latest from Rose at All About Cakes3) for all the generous giveaways from other folks. Today it's Urban Debris.

It's been an up and down week here; hope everyone else's has been good or better!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Oh, d-d-d-d'oh!

That was my best impression of Piglet-meets-Homer Simpson. Thank you; you may hold the applause. ;)

It actually refers to my continued flakiness: I forgot to specify the end date of my giveaway. I'm going to pick 2 recipients, one for the books, one for the tomatoes, on January 30th, the last Friday of the month.

I should know better than to cover too many topic in one post. :>

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Yet another giveaway, Valentine crafts, and awards

I wasn't going to post so soon, but wanted to pass along and acknowledge a few fun things. :)

Firstly, Allover Art is having a giveaway at her blog! You should check out her lovely art on Etsy too.

Next, for cute Valentine craft ideas, look no further than Urban Debris' blog post.

Lastly, but not leastly *grin* is the award love that I've received lately.

From Stace at Stace's Space, this baby, as well as thisWendy at Athena Academy also gave me the Hooked On Your Blog award, so I'll combine the two. :) The rules are:
*List six things that make you happy.
*Pass the award on to 5 other bloggers
*Link back to the person who gave you the award.
*Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know.

Well, 6 things that make me happy are:
1) sunny days! Like today. It's 12F out, our thermostat is set on 68F, but because it's sunny, it's 70F in our living room...woohoo!
2) that my kids are old enough to let us sleep in in the mornings.
3) when I can breathe normally. I have some funky allergies that either make me congested or make me gasp for air like I can't fill my lungs.
4) meals that dh cooks with all, or most, of the ingredients from our own homestead (e.g. when he makes Laura's home-fries with our own eggs, potatoes, kale, onions, etc.)
5) knowing people actually read my blog, let alone give me awards...that definitely makes me happy (can't help it; it's the writer in me. I yearn to be read at some deep level).
6) ok, this is corny, but waking up each morning (even though I really hate to wake up...did I tell you I have some of the best dreams??...and get out of a warm bed). It means I'm alive, still, and I have a chance at tackling a whole 'nother day. Plus, I have indoor plumbing (see my previous Thankful Thursday post); what more can a gal ask for, really?

All right, then. I've linked back to my awarders (yup, made the word up), but per my usual lame self, I can't pick 5 people to give this to. I am hooked on more than 5 blogs (I'm hooked on way too many blogs for my sanity or productivity), and I'm even pretty good about commenting on each blog I visit. So I pat myself on the back, and pat all the rest of you on the back, and will move on.

Navita of the Zaayeeka blog, which never fails to have marvelous recipes (how am I suppose to maintain my weight reading all these wonderful food blogs??) gave me this award:I've had this award before, but one can't be loved too much!

Happy Friday, everyone; and hope your weekend is filled with fun and relaxation!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe

Another Giveaway notice

The Soup Diva is trying to drum up some visitors and has a lovely contest for a really cute apron from Carolyn's Kitchen (Michelle at Chocolate and Marmalade Tea, I think you'll love these!). Go enter to win and show her some bloggy love too!

"He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home." ~ Johann von Goethe