SO. MANY. GIVEAWAYS.

I like presents. Chances are, you like presents.

So let me fill you in on a few ways to acquire a few more this year.

1) First of all, in case you didn't see my last blog post, bloggers J. A. Bennett, Leigh Covington and David Powers King are currently running the "Wrap It Up" Blogfest - and there are prizes. If you want to know more about this, then check out my last post (linked above), or any of the three bloggers mentioned (and also linked) above.

2) The next giveaway you can find out about here, or just watch the following video. This is definitely worth it, because not only are the odds fantastic (right now I can hear Effie Trinket in my head: "May the odds be ever in your favour!"), and not only are the prizes awesome, but also, for every entry Beth Revis (who is running it) will donate $1 to World Vision. Definitely check this one out.

3) And finally, the League of Extraordinary Writers is offering the chance to win more books. If this sounds appealing, then you can find out about it here.

So, there you have it! Three awesome giveaways, from several awesome people.

May the odds be ever in your favour!

The "Wrap It Up" Blogfest

Guess what I've been doing?


WRITING!


Of course, you probably already knew that. But I've been doing not just any writing, I've been doing special writing. The writing that I've been doing over the last few hours is a gift for someone.

Said gift-writing was brought on by one of the greatest blogfests I've come across, presented by J. A. Bennett, Leigh Covington and David Powers King: the "Wrap It Up" Blogfest. I like this blogfest because it extends beyond the blogosphere and involves influencing people around you in your life.

You can visit the linked blogs for more details, but this is the challenge that was posed:

Write a piece of flash fiction, poem, or song (300 words or less) for someone you know (real or imaginary). Post it on your blog anytime between now and when the linky closes, then give it to that someone before the new year.

Give it in the form of an email, printed on fancy stationary, or laser-etched onto a solid gold plate. Your choice. And it can be any genre.

So, allow me to present my flash fiction piece for this blogfest. I'd prefer not to say who it's for, because that person could be reading these very words, and then the surprise would be ruined. And we all know what ruined surprises are: not surprises. Exactly. Anyway, I digress. Here it is:

*     *     *     *     *

I remember when I was younger, you told me of the Star in the Beyond.

     I had always wondered of its secrets. When the Festival of Dreams began, I sat under an orange sky and gazed into the white disc on the horizon. Whispering questions. How did it shine so; why did it heat my blood and bones? And on and on I asked.

     Not a minute had passed; then you were beside me, answering riddles that consumed my thoughts. You explained all I had to know, filled the lonely emptiness inside my mind with your knowledge. And life as a youth was perfect.

     Then we watched together until the Star dimmed, hiding beneath the circle of the Earth. The sounds of the celebration faded and darkness overtook the world. So, it was at that point that we spoke of the other stars, the pale twinkles in the twilight sky. But none were fascinating as the Star in the Beyond was.

     As the night lingered on, I grew tired and fell asleep where I lay. For a time, we parted.

     But with the Star-rise, I sought you out once more. You answered gladly, and the Festival sprung to life again. With sleep, new questions had formed within my mind, complexities that I would have never imagined yesterday. And yet, you answered all the same.

     Soon I set out to reach the Star, and you were there beside me. We walked and fixed our eyes upon the disc of light, you helped me up when I fell, and you were simply there. And thus we walk, even now. We continue onwards, the destination still afar.

     But, one day, I will reach the Star in the Beyond. And I know that your undying support is what will have made it possible.

If You Want To Be A Writer ...

... there are two things that you have to do - so says Stephen King. Read a lot and write a lot. Allow me to share with you my experiences the former.

Let's wind the clock right back. As in, right back. Directly after I was born, my fantastic mother (love you, Mum) was now running around after three boys under five years of age, trying to look after us, feed us, and turn us into socially acceptable human beings. And let's be honest: my brothers needed a lot of work. So, in the midst of all this chaos, she just completely forgot to read me any books in the first year of my life.

Fast-forward to when I was five. At this point time, I was just learning how to read, write, hold a pencil. Mum always tells a story about how she was tucking me into bed one night when I decided that this would be the fantastic time to tell her that I loved words and sentences. So I did. And she thought it was pretty much the best thing ever. No doubt this story will come up at my 21st, 50th, and then again at my funeral.

Anyway, after expressing such an interest in the written word, one would think I would actually begin to read. And I suppose, to some extent, I did. Said extent, however, was basically limited to reading Peter Pan picture books.

Several years passed, in which time I didn't really read at all. To be honest, I couldn't really be bothered with other peoples' stories - I wanted to tell my own. Of course, there were a few books, but not nearly as many as one would expect from an aspiring writer. I remember picking up The Lord of the Rings. And putting it down again. Repeat, times twenty. (For the record, I finally did actually read The Lord of the Rings - I finished it something like seven years after I started it.)

But the realisation of, and these were the exact words, "I should read some books," came when I turned fourteen. I was given a bookstore voucher and, when I went to spend it, I discovered that I hardly recognised any of the titles on the shelves. And so I finally got into reading. A bit.

The next realisation, "I should read lots of books," came about a year later, on my fifteenth birthday, when I tried to compare the number of books I had read in the year since my first realisation to the number of books I had left to read before I had read every single book in the world. Yeah. You can imagine what that comparison looked like.

Now, six months later, I think I'm doing quite well. I've surpassed my goal to read thirty books this year. In the last month, I've made an addition of fifteen books to my bookshelf, including these:

That's a five volume poetry collection of the best work from the best poets since the 1300's. I know, I'm a book nerd.

Anyway, tell me, what are your experiences with reading? Have you always been an avid reader? Not yet? Or were you like me?