Tuesday 15 March 2011

Counting to 200 - competition and giveaway



It seems only a moment ago I was celebrating having 50 followers, and now I'm well on my way towards the 200 mark! To celebrate that and to say thanks to all my followers I'm having a competition and give-away.

The Prize

When I reach 200 followers I'll be giving away two shiny new paperback books (Worldwide shipping included).

The first is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. This delightful book is an excellent read, and I didn't want to stop reading when I got to the end.

From the Random House Press website: January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

The second book is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson. This is a humourous and endearing book that everyone will enjoy.

From the Persephone Books website: Miss Pettigrew is about a governess sent by an employment agency to the wrong address, where she encounters a glamorous night-club singer, Miss LaFosse. 'The sheer fun, the light-heartedness' in this wonderful 1938 book 'feels closer to a Fred Astaire film than anything else' comments the Preface-writer Henrietta Twycross-Martin, who found Miss Pettigrew for Persephone Books. The Guardian asked: 'Why has it taken more than half a century for this wonderful flight of humour to be rediscovered?' while the Daily Mail liked the book's message - 'that everyone, no matter how poor or prim or neglected, has a second chance to blossom in the world.' Maureen Lipman wrote in 'Books of the Year' in the Guardian: 'Perhaps the most pleasure has come from Persephone's enchanting reprints, particularly Miss Pettigrew, a fairy story set in 1930s London'; and she herself entertained R4 listeners with her five-part reading. And in The Shops India Knight called Miss Pettigrew 'the sweetest grown-up book in the world'.

How to Enter

Entering for this draw couldn't be simpler:
  • If you're not already following my blog, then add yourself as a follower.

  • Give this competition a shout on your blog, linking back here, and encourage your followers to come and take a look here. If you'd like to give it a shout on Twitter as well, than that would be great

  • Leave a comment on this post, telling me something quirky about yourself.

The winner will be drawn at random from all the entries as soon as I reach 200 followers.

Good luck, and happy blogging. Thank you for being such wonderful people.

50 comments:

  1. Wonderful news- and the giveaway sounds wonderful. I don't give my e-mail out so sorry- I wont be participating in the drawing- but I still think it is a fantastic giveaway and so very neat that you are at 177 following buddies!

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  2. Summer; Thanks for your comment - if it helps, I'm happy to leave a comment on the winner's blog, or receive an email rather than have it in a publicly viewable comment. However, I fully understand if you don't want to give out specific contact information.

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  3. Tony, awesome contest. My email is hooked to my blog, is that good enough? Also, I'll blog about this tomorrow. Right now, I'm headed back to bed. Super contest. :)

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  4. Yay! Awesome competition and congratulations on nearing 200 followers!

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  5. Robyn; Thanks for the follow and thanks for the shout. The email hooked to the blog is great.

    Ellie; Thanks :-)

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  6. Oh Tony! A book giveaway! How can I resist?
    And thanks for the blog award too - yay!

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  7. Congratulations on all the followers! :)

    (I'd rather if you didn't count this toward the giveaway, though. I want to keep my contact information private.)

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  8. ha!!

    I am game!!

    with warm regards
    http://arandomarticle.blogspot.com

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  9. Angeline; Many thanks for the shout on your blog

    Golden Eagle; Thank you :-) No worries, I understand about the contact info - It's always an issue with giveaways, as whatever's given away would need to reach you somehow.

    AllMyPosts; Glad to meet you. Thanks for the shout on your blog.

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  10. Very cool. I schedule my post for the week. I can give a shout out on Saturday if that works for you, let me know. My email is all over my blog, nothing new there, here it is.
    gillael@aol.com
    Nancy
    N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium, Special .99 through April 30
    I hope your enjoying my book. That is one of the worst things about me, longing to go around and ask everyone who got the book what they think.

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  11. Wow! That is fantastic news!! It's a good feeling when you know people are enjoying your blog, isn't it?!

    Put me down! hannah.kincade@gmail.com

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  12. Hi Tony, Great to meet you the other day. Congrats on your increasing follower numbers. Great prizes too.
    My quirky thing would have to be that I make textile figures www.clothdollcreations.co.uk :O)

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  13. Oops, I FORGOT. I put your contest up over at my house. And I forgot to say something quirky about moi. Hmmm The fact that I'd rather have a peanut butter and marshmallow spread sandwich than anything else on earth, does count, I suppose. :)

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  14. Nancy; I've left a comment on your blog. Saturday or any time is fine. Many thanks.

    Hannah; It is indeed :-) You're in the competition.

    Madeleine; It was fun, wasn't it. I took a look at your web site, and those are some fabulous dolls! Quirky and fun.

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  15. Robyn; He he. Welcome back. I think I prefer the peanut butter with a little salt, but I see the appeal :-)

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  16. Congratulations on (almost) 200! Great contest!

    One quirky Thing: I once joined a wildlife rescue organization in Florida and ended up raising two orphaned squirrels named Kipper and Hazel, released them when they were grown just like "Born Free" (but with squirrels).

    I'll add your contest to my blog!

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  17. Perry; Many thanks for the shout. Squirrels can really tug at your heart-strings. Some people say they're just rats with more fur, but I say they're really cute.

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  18. Congrats at reaching nearly 200 followers.

    Something quirky about me? I like even #'s. I give the pepper grinder an even # of twists. I also check under my bed before I go to sleep. You never know.

    I'll put this giveaway on my sidebar and mention it on Facebook.

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  19. Theresa; I sympathise with the even numbers thing - it's a bit like not stepping on the lines between the paving slabs. Once it's in your mind it's hard to shake off.

    Many thanks for the shout :-)

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  20. Good luck on your milestone! If you haven't already joined th April 2011 A to Z Challenge, this is a great way to meet new bloggers and gain more followers.

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  21. Stephen; Thanks :-) I thought about the A-Z but I'm not sure that I'll have enough time for that as well as all the other stuff I'm doing.

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  22. I'm too far away to participate in the contest, but I am enjoying your blogs and did give a shout-out. I'd name a quirky thing, but my blog probably has far too many of them as it is! <:-}

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  23. Tammy; Many thanks for the shout. I've added a few words to the post to say I'll ship worldwide, so distance isn't a problem if you'd like to enter.

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  24. Hi Tony, thanks so much for stopping by to say hello. I enjoyed your story above, and am your newest follower. Have a great weekend!

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  25. Oregon Gifts; Thanks for the follow, it's great to meet you.

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  26. Hi Tony, Congrats on nearly 200 followers.
    You've picked two great books for the giveaway. Glad I stumbled across you. Will mention this in my blog post tomorrow :)Have a great weekend!

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  27. Hi, Tony,

    I remember how excited you were when you did hit your fifty mark... Congrats on nearing 200!

    I'll give you a shout out next week SO happy you and Margo entered my blogfest. It should be awesome.

    A quirky thing about me? Hmmm. I absolutely LOVE the sun, but I hate the heat. Bright sunny days are the best, but when it gets about 80F, I hate it.

    Have a great weekend. I hope you and Margo are doing something fun.

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  28. Congratulations! Your Google and Networked Blogs followers total 197 at the moment! Nearly there! Perhaps I can help nudge it along by linking this to my blog? :)

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  29. Kangaroobe; Thanks for dropping in, and many thanks for the shout.

    Michael; Thank you, and many thanks for the shout. We're really looking forward to the HP blogfest, and I've got a pretty good idea what I'm planning to say. I'm with you on the sun. We get a few cold sunny days in spring here, and they're my favourites.

    J.C. Martin; It'd be great to have a shout - thank you :-) Yes, I should add my Networked Blogs followers to my Google followers, and of course, I have no idea how many rss followers I have!

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  30. Count me in!!

    http://precociousscribe.blogspot.com/
    you can email me from there. if not let me know.

    Quirky things... hmmm i have a massive collection of embroidery threads. Not that many people know that i do that in my spare time :-)

    I also have a 200 followers contest over on my blog you should pop over :-)
    http://precociousscribe.blogspot.com/2011/03/200-followers-giveaway-enter-here.html

    sarah

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  31. Sarah; Now, I'm not sure I want to know what you plan to do with those embroidery threads :-) There's a story in that somewhere. I just went over and entered your competition. Yey!

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  32. I missed seeing this when I was signing up to follow your blog - which by the way, thanks for following mine too! But Margo mentioned it on her blog to check yours out for the 200 followers. Something quirky about myself - what's not? Not sure if this is quirky or not, but I still love writing (by hand) letters to people by snail mail. And you give me hope that I might get 50 followers!

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  33. Hi Lynn, thanks for entering for the giveaway. You made me laugh - fourty years ago I wouldn't have believed it if someone said that it would one day be unusual to write by hand - It just goes to show how quickly things change. Good luck reaching 50 followers - you'll be there soon.

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  34. Hi Tony! I just got here in time. 3 followers to go. I missed Margot's unfortunately.

    As quirky as it gets with me - I love to run and always take my tiny chihuahua/mini foxy cross who is the size of a tissue box (large,ha ha). We get all sorts of laughs and people are stopping me all the time just to pat the dog, not me...lol...

    Denise<3

    Your parcel is in the mail. Should reach you this week. I rushed it in the end so it's not all prettyfied but I'm sure you'll understand...better posted in a hurry than not...

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  35. Congrats, Tony...you are close to the 200 follower landmark. I brought you a little closer, you are now at 189. A couple of days and you would have crossed 200. :)

    A quirky thing about me, I have this habit of correcting the spellings when my friends email or message me. They prefer talking than writing to me.

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  36. Denise; Yey! Thanks for entering. Thanks for sending the parcel - no worries about hurried packaging - I'm looking forward to sharing them out with Margo :-)

    Rachna; I'll be okey, as I nevor speal anythoing wronglie... oops! :-)

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  37. Hi Tony - I am already a follower of your blog, and I gave your contest a shout out on my blog on my most recent post. Quirky thing...hmmm...when I butter bread or spread mayo, peanut butter, whatever, I have to spread it evenly, and all the way to the edges of the bread. Also, I eat everything in a circle!

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  38. Hey, Tony,

    I can't find your email, but I just wanted to let you know that I gave you a shout out today.

    Here's the link... http://writing-art-and-design.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-madness-and-what-can-be-learned.html

    Just seven more.... YAY!

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  39. Lisa; Many thanks for the shout on your blog. Spreading to the edge is rather important - I'm with you on that one :-) Maybe I'll try eating in a circle too.

    Michael; I just put my email in my blogger profile, so it's easier to find. Many thanks for the shout on your blog.

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  40. Hi Tony - Nice to meet you - found your fab blog through Michael at In Time. Erm... quirky comment... I'm afraid of heights but I worked as a trapeze choreographer and stiltwalker for a circus for a while.
    Nice to meet you
    Laura x

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  41. ps popped your badge and a link in my sidebar on http://dailydodo.blogsopt.com
    Lx

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  42. Laura; Hi there - nice to meet you. Thanks so much for dropping by. Wow - a circus! I'm in awe! I can't begin to imagine what it takes to choreograph a trapeze act.

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  43. Hi Tony, I popped over from Laura's and L'Aussie's places. As an avid reader, I had to join in...that plus I really hate missing a party.
    Congratulations on almost 200. Myself I am still working toward the 100 mark.
    I will add you to my side bar now.

    Pamela Jo
    http://theresjustlifeyaliveit.blogspot.com

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  44. Opps forgot to say a quirky thing about me.

    I can never be still. Even when I sit to read, my foot is bobbing up and down. My dad said he could always tell when I got to a really interesting part in the book, because my foot would stop and my big toe would go up.

    Okay maybe more than you wanted to know, but you did ask.
    Pamela Jo
    http://theresjustlifeyaliveit.blogspot.com

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  45. Pamela Jo; Many thanks for dropping in and entering for the giveaway, and million thanks for the shout on your blog. I recognise the foot bobbing thing, as I do it myself, but my toe is a little more inert :-)

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  46. Hello Tony,

    I'm a follower, I'm putting your contest up on my sidebar. I don't tweet so can't do that...

    Quirky, eh?

    I can touch the tip of my nose with the tip of my tongue. (It's the sort of thing you do when you're from the Dark Side of the Woods, lol)

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  47. Tristan; LOL - I guess touching your nose with your tongue is the kind of thing we all try to do when we've had a couple of pints at the pub. Most of us can't of course. Million thanks for the shout on your blog.

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  48. Oh nice! I LOVE Guernsey Literary... such a great book. Prolly one of my faves. And would love to read Pettigrew.

    I'll tweet to send some blog lurve your way. And something quirky about me? I don't like clutter on the table while I'm eating:crumpled napkins, straw wrappers, etc.

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  49. Pk Hrezo; Many thanks for your tweets and your entry. I'm the opposite with clutter - I'm one of the most untidy people I know. I try, but... It's difficult being tidy :-)

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  50. Congratulations on your 200 mark. It's still climbing.
    Manzanita
    Wanna buy a duck

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