I have just realised that I am much luckier in the blogosphere than I am in real life! In real life, I never win anything. I won £5 on the Lotto in 1987 but nothing since, until I started blogging that is. A couple of weeks ago that nice young man, Donal Skehan over at The Good Mood Food Blog sent me a lovely book of Healthy Heart Cooking by Sally Bee; my prize for winning a competition on his Facebook page.

And now I hear that because I was the 100th follower of Karen Jones Gowen’s blog Coming Down the Mountain: From Reclusive Writer to Published Author, there is another book winging its way to me, this time from the USA. Karen’s second book (respect sister writer) is called Uncut Diamonds. She describes it as a 350 page novel, a mix of chick lit and women’s fiction. It’s Steel Magnolias with Mormon characters, following the lives of two sisters, one married one single, set in rural Illinois during the 1970’s. Well being a child of the 70s myself and a HUGE fan of Donny Osmond, that sounds just great! You can buy (sorry) your own copy from her website!

So it is a nice balance to also let you know about another book project. Gareth Pearce is a good guy who is putting together a book of stories to raise money for Concern’s work in Haiti. Gareth says that ‘we Irish all have at least one good true story to tell – whether it be funny, sad, poignant, surprising…’ So if you have a story which might fit the bill send it to Gareth at [email protected]. For more information see http://www.trueirishstories.com/