A flash giveaway

Charlie thanks everyone who has sent him get well messages.  The bite in his neck is healing well and cleanly  and apart from   boredom which is driving him crazy he is  so much better.  He chased his sister Ruby around the house at  speed in the middle of the night (using our bed as a launch pad!) just to have something to do. It sounded more like a  herd of buffalo than 2 small furry creature. Well, small where Ruby is concerned!
Anyway, I think  he's feeling  so  much better and the cone comes off v soon so that will please him.

While I'm away for the weekend, I'm going to run a flash giveaway to celebrate the weekend. But this time the book isn't mine - remember how I promised I'd try to persuade the Babe Magnet into letting me off  a couple of copies of his  book for writers to share with you - well, he's agreed, and I have two copies of Write Your Self  to give away.

This book got a great 5 star review from Simon Whaley on The Business of Writing.

There are many books about how to write. There is plenty of advice online about how to journal. What Write Your Self does is merge the two together - become a better writer by journalling your journey of exploration, as you discover your inner writer-self.

This is a practical book, packed with exercises, and oozing with examples. Stephen begins by raising a theme, issue or idea, and then follows through with an example. After that, it’s time for you, the reader, to have a go … (top tip: treat yourself to a brand new journal at the same time as you buy this book).

What makes this book different is the way Stephen encourages you to learn more about yourself as a person, as well as about yourself as a writer. Doing so not only helps you explore the direction in which you’d like to go with your writing, but it also helps you mine your wealth of life experience for potential material to write about.

Despite not being a poet, I particularly enjoyed the poetry chapter, and the idea of taking an observation from the day and creating a short haiku from it. Most people can manage 17 syllables, yet after a month of observations you have at least 30 of them in your journal. That in itself is an impressive body of work. But you’ve also learned more about how you, as a writer, observe the world around you.

I’d recommend reading this book at least twice: once right through, to absorb the idea and premise behind the text, and then a second time, with your journal at the ready. Tackle all the exercises within the book and Write Your Self will map your journey from thinker and observer into a thought-provoking writer.


There's a great interview with the author on there too.

To enter, just leave a comment below - sending get well wishes to Charlie, or saying why you'd like to win this book.   Giveaway open internationally; prizes posted next week; nothing to do with FB and all to do with me; you don't have to buy anything to enter; and names will be drawn at random.  

 Charlie will pick the winners - a little something to keep him from getting bored  and an allowance of extra treats on the names of entrants  for him to choose when I get home on Monday. (And then he'll be  able to go outside again!)

. Have a great weekend.