I first encountered Kerry Cohen from the audience at a panel I attended at AWP a couple of years ago. She was talking about her book, Loose Girl, and I found her honesty and gutsiness refreshing. Please help me welcome Kerry Cohen to the book giveaway!

Introducing Kerry Cohen

Kerry Cohen is the author of six books, including the internationally bestselling Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity and Seeing Ezra, A Mother’s Story of Autism, Unconditional Love, and The Meaning of Normal. She has appeared on Good Morning America and Dr Phil, and her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and many journals and anthologies. She lives in Portland, Oregon with the author James Bernard Frost and their four children. Learn more at Kerry-Cohen.com.

Learn about Seeing Ezra: A Mother’s Story of Autism, Unconditional Love, and The Meaning of Normal, Seal Press, 2011

Seeing Ezra is the soulful, beautifully written memoir of a mother’s fierce love for her autistic son, and a poignant examination of what it means to be “normal.” When Kerry Cohen’s son Ezra turns one, a babysitter suggests he may be “different,” setting her family on a path in which autism dominates their world.

As he becomes a toddler and they navigate the often rigid and prescriptive world of therapy, Cohen is unsettled by the evaluations they undergo: At home, Ezra is playfully expressive, sharing profound, touching moments of connection and intimacy with his mother and other family members, but in therapy he is pathologized, prodded to behave in ways that undermine his unique expression of autism.

It soon becomes clear that more is at stake than just Ezra’s well-being; Cohen and her marriage are suffering as well. Ezra’s differentness, and the strain of pursuing varied therapies, takes a toll on the family—Cohen’s husband grows depressed and she pursues an affair—all as she tries to help others recognize and embrace Ezra’s uniqueness rather than force him to behave outside his comfort level. It isn’t until they abandon the expected, prescriptive notions about love, marriage, and individuality that they are able to come back together as two parents who fiercely love their little boy.

Powerful and eye-opening, Seeing Ezra is an inspirational chronicle of a mother’s struggle to protect her son from a system that seeks to compartmentalize and “fix” him, and of her journey toward accepting and valuing him for who he is—just as he is.

I asked Kerry three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

I think that my memoirs prove that it is!

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

Self-expression means honesty in communication. I do it largely as a memoirist, but also with my children, partner, and close friends. I believe that who I am as a “writer” and persona closely matches who I am inside, and I’m proud of that. My goal is authenticity in just about everything I do. It’s when I feel most whole and connected to the world and other people.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

Many people feel intimately connected to my work. Others hate me with such vitriol you’d think I killed their dogs or something. My sense is that what happens when you reveal yourself as I do is that people then project what they need to on you. It’s like they I’ve made myself available for their use, to work out their own stuff. I don’t always love it, but I accept it.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

When was the most creative period in your life thus far? What were you doing and why do you think the juices were flowing so well then?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

I am thrilled to welcome critically acclaimed author, Monica Drake, to the giveaway.

One thing that sticks with me about Monica is what a great teacher she is. I participated in a session she gave at Jessica Morrel’s winter workshop last year and I remember having several aha moments in one short sitting, while working on some of her personal writing exercises.

Thank you for helping me welcome Monica!

Introducing Monica Drake

Monica Drake is the author of the indie hit novel, Clown Girl, which was optioned for film by Kristen Wiig of SNL and Bridesmaids fame. Her stories and essays have appeared in the Paris Review Daily, The Sun, The Northwest Review, Oregon Humanities and other publications. She’s currently Chair of the new BFA in Writing at the Pacific NW College of Art in Portland, Oregon. Learn more about Monica at http://monicadrake.com.

Learn about The Stud Book: A novel from Hogarth Press April 2013

A sharp-edged satire of contemporary motherhood from a comic novelist on the rise.

In the hip haven of Portland, Oregon, a pack of unsteady but loyal friends asks what it means to bring babies into an already crowded world.

Sarah studies animal behavior at the zoo. She’s well versed in the mating habits of captive animals, and at the same time she’s desperate to mate, to create sweet little offspring of her own.

Georgie is busy with a newborn, while her husband, Humble, finds solace in bourbon and televised violence.

Dulcet makes a living stripping down in high school gyms to sell the beauty of sex-ed.

Nyla is out to save the world while having trouble saving her own teen daughter, who has discovered the world of drugs and the occult.

As these friends and others navigate a space between freedom and intimacy, they realize the families they forge through shared experience are as important as those inherited through birth.

I asked Monica three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

Self-expression is important to me–crucially so–though it’s possible that when you pose the question and when I answer it, we’re talking about two different things. As I see it, it’s not about expressing some inner self over and over again, as though pulling endless scarves from a hat, a magic trick, neverending. It’s more about processing the world, making sense of it, and putting those thoughts–generated in conversation with everyone and everything–back out into the stream of ideas, perceptions. So it’s “self-expression,” but only when the self is in conversation with others.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

I may have answered this a bit in the first question. To me, self-expression is in relation to the world beyond the self. It’s not narcissistic, I would hope, but rather conversational, and an invitation to others to express their own views, ideas, or angle on the world. I hope it to be a permissive thing, granting others permission to tell stories, and to show what they find both terrifying and delightful in the world.

I express myself in writing, of course. But that tends to involve a long, steady stride, while thoughts come in quick moments. A novel can take years. My first novel took ten years, the second took six. Essays and stories come together a little more quickly, but still not as fast as thoughts. So in between I blog a bit, and blurt on places like Facebook and Twitter and Tumblr, as a way of connecting, finding feedback and insights, while keeping the longer pace and more private process of building a novel going alongside those shorter, public comments, jokes or inquiries. And I take photos. I’m not a photographer, not by any means, but like everyone I have a way of looking at the world, and it makes me happy to snap a picture, send it out through social media, or just tuck it aside for later.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

I hope that when I put my work and ideas out in the world, it fuels the already ongoing conversation, and when I bring my thoughts and experiences to the classroom, I hope it helps build community. I’m sure there are people out there who have heard enough from me. I can be opinionated! I won’t deny it. But I hope that when I put my work and ideas out in the world, and bring my thoughts and experiences to the classroom, it lets my students know that their stories are valuable, even while those stories may be early in process of finding shape. Human experience holds the value we grant it. It’s our job to give our lives meaning. We can do that, in community and in conversation, and I’d say, though writing and reading.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

When you are alone, how do you feel? Who are you when you are alone? What happens when you are alone? Something, nothing, anything?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

I am very pleased to welcome two novelists today, Nicole Baart & Amy Hatvany. Please help me welcome them both!

Introducing Nicole Baart

Nicole Baart lives in a small town in Iowa and is the mother of three young sons and awaiting the homecoming of a five-year-old daughter. After the adoption of her second son from Ethiopia, Nicole discovered a deep passion for global issues and co-founded a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope, that works alongside a church and orphanage in Monrovia, Liberia. An accomplished novelist, she was a 2009 Christy Award finalist for fiction. Her upcoming release, SLEEPING IN EDEN, is a Midwest Connections pick for May. Visit her website at http://www.nicolebaart.com.

Meet Nicole in her video.

Learn about Sleeping in Eden, Simon & Schuster/Howard Books, May 21, 2013

She knew what he wrote . . .

One little word that made her feel both cheated and beloved.

One word that changed everything.

MINE.

On a chilly morning in the Northwest Iowa town of Blackhawk, Dr. Lucas Hudson is filling in for the vacationing coroner on a seemingly open-and-shut suicide case. His own life is crumbling around him, but when he unearths the body of a woman buried in the barn floor beneath the hanging corpse, he realizes this terrible discovery could change everything. . . .

Years before Lucas ever set foot in Blackhawk, Meg Painter met Dylan Reid. It was the summer before high school and the two quickly became inseparable. Although Meg’s older neighbor, Jess, was the safe choice, she couldn’t let go of Dylan no matter how hard she tried.

Caught in a web of jealousy and deceit that spiraled out of control, Meg’s choices in the past ultimately collide with Lucas’s discovery in the present, weaving together a taut story of unspoken secrets and the raw, complex passions of innocence lost.

See reviews of Sleeping In Eden LINK

I asked Nicole three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

My world is a cacophony symphony of self-expression. As the mother of three sons ages 9, 6, and 2, it sometimes seems like the sole purpose of my existence is to admire, encourage, and strive to shape my sons’ fumbling attempts at self-expression. My nine-year-old is an avid hockey player, a sweet, free-spirited soul who wears his hair long enough to flow out the back of his hockey helmet. It hangs in his eyes and more often than not is kinked off the side of his head in little blond whorls and horns that make him look like a homeless child. It doesn’t help that I fear he’s colorblind and can’t put together a matching outfit to save his life. But I love his crazy, misguided, wacky sense of style. It is so distinctly him, and I love it that he feels free enough to express himself through the way that he looks. My two-year-old, on the other hand, is nuts about “nudie time.” What? You don’t have nudie time at your house? Let me enlighten you… It’s the five minutes between changing from pajamas to clothes in the morning and clothes to pajamas at night that my toddler is free to run around the house in his birthday suit. If we let him have his way, he’d exist in this au naturel state 24/7. His stab at self-expression? Slightly less appropriate for public consumption than my nine-year-old’s. As for me, I try to walk that fine line between self-expression that is relevant, edifying, and meaningful to a larger audience (my readers) and the sort of self-expression that is distinctly intimate and should probably be reserved for close family and friends. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the distinction, and because I want to be true to myself and yet honor to the people around me, it’s something I’m constantly wrestling with.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

Self-expression to me is all about communication. We want people to know who we are and how we feel and why we see the world the way that we do… And so we engage in a dialogue (sometimes conscious, sometimes subconscious) that begs people to react and respond to what we are presenting. My art is obviously writing, but I have more than one form of it. At my heart, I am and always will be, a poet. But my poetry is raw and wild, more often than not ripped from my soul in moments of great and devastating emotion. I don’t share my poetry with anyone. It’s my own personal composition, a place for me to look in the mirror to admire and mourn the things that I love and hate in myself and the world around me. But then I take those expressions and I weave them into the books that I write, carefully choosing where I soften and blend and where I allow unvarnished candor to shock and surprise. I know there are some people who would consider me a fraud because I carefully sift the things I want to say. But I believe I express myself better when I consider my audience and allow them to see the parts of me (and the parts of my worldview) that will be the most significant and meaningful to them. Who am I to assume that people need to see and appreciate every form of my self-expression? Isn’t their journey about them? And isn’t it my prerogative to unveil myself in varying degrees? For example, I’m a wicked good dancer. Really, I am. But the only person who knows that about me is my husband. I dance for him, and no one else. And I’m okay with that.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

I think that self-expression is often a bit narcissistic–we are, after all, focusing on ourselves and our own desire to be seen, be known, be understood. And yet, our attempts at self-expression can also serve very unselfish purposes. We encourage one another when we are honest with ourselves. Every time we try something new or discover a passion that we didn’t know existed, we allow everyone around us to consider the potential inside of themselves. Let me give you an example.  A couple of years ago a dear friend of mine battled cancer. After she emerged victorious, she gathered a small group of friends together and invited us to join her in training for a marathon. I think to her the idea of reclaiming her body and the latent possibility contained within it was irresistible. And we all caught the fever. I’ve never run a day in my life, and yet, at the end of our training I completed a triathalon–and I didn’t just survive it, I kicked ass. My friend’s self-expression changed my life. I hope to do the same thing when I express myself through my writing, my parenting, my teaching, my non-profit work… I hope that when I fumble my way toward self-expression (when I put pen to paper or wear a t-shirt proclaiming the beauty of adoption or try to explain why I feel the way that I feel) that I empower and encourage the people around me. Isn’t that the point?

Introducing Amy Hatvany

Amy Hatvany graduated with a degree in Sociology only to discover most sociologists are unemployed. Soon followed a variety of jobs – some of which she loved, like decorating wedding cakes; others which she merely tolerated, like receptionist. In 1998, Amy finally decided to sell her car, quit her job, and take a chance on her true love – writing books.

Since then, she has authored five novels, and last year, her book Outside The Lines was selected by Target’s book club and Costco as a Buyer’s pick. Her latest, Heart Like Mine, explores the complicated dynamics within blended families. www.amyhatvany.com

Learn about Heart Like Mine, Atria, March 2013

Thirty-six-year-old Grace McAllister never longed for children. But when she meets Victor Hansen, a handsome, charismatic divorced restaurateur who is father to Max and Ava, Grace decides that, for the right man, she could learn to be an excellent part-time stepmom. After all, the kids live with their mother, Kelli. How hard could it be?

At thirteen, Ava Hansen is mature beyond her years. Since her parents’ divorce, she has been taking care of her emotionally unstable mother and her little brother—she pays the bills, does the laundry, and never complains because she loves her mama more than anyone. And while her father’s new girlfriend is nice enough, Ava still holds out hope that her parents will get back together and that they’ll be a family again. But only days after Victor and Grace get engaged, Kelli dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances—and soon, Grace and Ava discover that there was much more to Kelli’s life than either ever knew.

Narrated by Grace and Ava in the present with flashbacks into Kelli’s troubled past, Heart Like Mine is a poignant, hopeful portrait of womanhood, love, and the challenges and joys of family life.

See reviews of Heart Like Mine, A Novel LINK

I asked Amy three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

It’s a huge part of my life. I spent many of my younger years holding my thoughts and feelings inside–I think out of some strange combination of societal expectation and fear of not getting my needs met. But eventually, circumstances put me in a place where expressing myself, showing the very core of me to not only the people in my personal life, but also my readers, became as vital to my survival as taking a breath.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

For me, self-expression is vulnerability. Opening up those sometimes hard to reach places inside you and sharing them. Writing has always been how I connect with the world; how I express my thoughts and feelings–even the ones I’m not conscious of. I also talk a lot.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

I hope it impacts them positively. My greatest hope is that something I’ve written helps someone see the world in a new and different way. And even more importantly, makes them feel a little less alone.

As for how it impacts my family, I have to admit, it sometimes causes them to eat more pizza than they probably should, but only when I’m neck deep in a book and simply have to get the rest of it on the page!

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

What is your favorite color and what does this color make you think of? How is this color connected to who you are?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

I am thrilled to welcome Caroline Grant back to the giveaway! Please help me give Caroline a warm welcome.

Do you know Caroline Grant? If not, you should!

Caroline M. Grant is editor-in-chief of the website, Literary Mama, one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers. With her husband, Tony Grant, she directs the Sustainable Arts Foundation, which grants fellowships to writers and visual artists who are parents. She is the co-editor of two anthologies: with Lisa Catherine Harper, the new The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Stories of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat (Roost Books, 2013); and with Elrena Evans, Mama, PhD: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life (Rutgers University Press, 2008), which has been called “easily the most important piece of work to date on academics and family issues, full-stop.” She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two sons. She writes about food and family at the website, Learning to Eat (http://www.learningtoeat.com) and about all that and more on her personal website, http://www.carolinemgrant.com.

Learn about The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Stories of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat (Roost Books, 2013)

Without mantras or manifestos, 29 writers serve up sharp, sweet, and candid memories; salty irreverence; and delicious original recipes.  Food is so much more than what we eat. The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage is an anthology of original essays about how we learn (and relearn) to eat, and how pivotal food is beyond the table.

With essays from:

• Keith Blanchard
• Max Brooks
• Melissa Clark
• Elizabeth Crane
• Aleksandra Crapanzano
• Gregory Dicum
• Elrena Evans
• Jeff Gordinier
• Caroline M. Grant
• Phyllis Grant
• Libby Gruner
• Lisa Catherine Harper
• Deborah Copaken Kogan and Paul Kogan
• Jen Larsen
• Edward Lewine
• Chris Malcomb
• Lisa McNamara
• Dani Klein Modisett
• Catherine Newman
• Thomas Peele
• Deesha Philyaw
• Neal Pollack
• Barbara Rushkoff
• Bethany Saltman
• K. G. Schneider
• Sarah Shey
• Stacie Stukin
• Karen Valby

See reviews of The Cassoulet Saved Our Marriage: True Stories of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat . LINK

Listen to a radio interview with Caroline Grant talking about Cassoulet with on WGVU. LINK

I asked Caroline three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

Writing goes in cycles and right now, while I write every day, most of my writing isn’t making progress on a new creative work but spreading the word on Cassoulet, which just came out this spring. Writing these blog posts, pitches, and messages  about Cassoulet — addressing myself to potential readers and reviewers —  is an important part of my self-expression and I both take it seriously and give myself credit for it. I try not to make a distinction between “creative writing” and “promotional” writing. It’s all creative, it’s all part of putting myself and my book out in the world, and my favorite part is the response I get to this writing from new readers.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

Writing is my main form of self-expression, but right now I’m also doing a lot of radio to promote Cassoulet and that’s a great change of pace for me. I love the conversations that Cassoulet inspires; everyone has a story about a favorite family recipe, a memorable meal, or a kitchen disaster, and it’s so much fun to hear them! Because this is a book about food, and it includes so many terrific recipes, in addition to our radio interviews and bookstore events, we’re also promoting the book at farmer’s markets, farms, and book club lunches and dinners. I love this social aspect of book promotion; writing is a solitary activity, and letting people know about my book brings me in touch with a wide network of readers, editors, and reviewers. And finally, I express myself through baking: breads, cookies, muffins, what have you. Sometimes it is a useful break from writing — a time to mull over a sticky point in an essay — but I also find that the delineated guidelines (a limited number of ingredients, combined in a set order, baked a specific amount of time) are a great antidote to the open-endedness of writing and editing.

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

Every writer quotes this line from Flannery O’Connor: “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” It feels so true to me, because sometimes writing is the only way I will slow down and take stock of my life! I grab lines on the fly, scrawling my boys’ funny malapropisms or unconsciously insightful comments on the back of receipts dug out of my purse. Or at night, I take a few minutes to unload into my journal. Then I need to give myself time to shape it, to find the thread of meaning in it all. That takes ages, hours of mulling and steeping, both at my desk and while I’m running or unloading the dishwasher or waiting in the carpool line, and it all helps me make sense of my family, my life, my world.

I am lucky and grateful that right now my children are at the perfect ages to be their mother’s subjects: old enough to understand what I do, and young enough still to enjoy it. They read my piece for Cassoulet and gave me the best review I could hope for: “It’s a good essay, Mama.”

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

Do you have a favorite food? Describe what makes your favorite food special to you?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

It’s Mother’s Day month eve!

And today is the kick-off of the Writer Mama Every Day In May Book Giveaway for 2013.

Before we begin, I just want to thank everyone who is participating. This giveaway is a group effort and I am so thrilled to be able to host.

Thank you for participating and for spreading the word! Let’s do our best to tell everyone we know about all these amazing authors and all of these great books!

And now without further ado…let the giveaways begin!

Our First Author is Julie Kibler

Julie Kibler began writing Calling Me Home after learning a bit of family lore: As a young woman, her grandmother fell in love with a young black man in an era and locale that made the relationship impossible. When not writing, she enjoys travel, independent films, music, photography, and corralling her teenagers and rescue dogs. She lives in Arlington, Texas. Calling Me Home is her debut. You can find her online at juliekibler.com and What Women Write http://whatwomenwritetx.blogspot.com/.

Learn about Calling Me Home, a novel, St. Martin’s Press, February 2013

Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It’s a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her thirties, to drop everything to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow.

Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle’s guarded past, scarcely hesitates before agreeing, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.

Over the years, Dorrie and Isabelle have developed more than just a business relationship. They are friends. But Dorrie, fretting over the new man in her life and her teenage son’s irresponsible choices, still wonders why Isabelle chose her.

Isabelle confesses that, as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her family’s housekeeper–in a town where blacks weren’t allowed after dark. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the utmost importance and that the history of Isabelle’s first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way.

See reviews of Calling Me Home. LINK

I asked Julie three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:

1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?

Self-expression is the way I process my experiences, my thoughts, my beliefs, my questions, and my emotions—rather them letting them stagnate or overflow the already messy closet of my mind.

2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?

It means taking the swirling mass of inputs entering my brain and organizing them into something creative that makes sense of them, such as an essay, or (very rarely) a craft, or (so rarely, I’m struggling to remember the last time) a fancy cooking or baking experiment. Most often, it means working on a novel, because the novel is my favorite creative “child.”

3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?

In the case of my novels, I hope they might not only entertain, but also facilitate the reader to think about the issues inside the story, and perhaps also to talk about them, and maybe even to make some change or take some action, big or small, that could have a lasting impact somewhere down the road.

On a more personal level, I have seen the pride my kids take in telling their friends about their mother’s work. I hope they’ve observed and learned that they, too, can take their gifts of self-expression and use them for good.

And Now, Your Turn…

You remember how this works right?

Please read the complete rules at least once!

I ask you a question.

You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.

Please just respond once, even if you make a typo.

Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).

Tell us a story about your name. Is your name right for you? Would you change your name if you could? Why or why not?

Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.

Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!

And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.

View the complete list of authors and books.

View the giveaway Pinterest board.

May is one of my favorite months of the whole year! And once you read this post, you will see why.

One thing I have learned from twelve years as a professional writer: you get back the same quality that you offer to others.

When you offer your best to the world, you get the best back.

This is why I always offer my best and ask for the best work from others.

Ready to ask yourself for your best efforts?

The payoff is in the doing. And solid, steady work can add up to a prosperous income in the long run when you understand the business of writing.

So come on by and get writing, get learning, get inspired by awesome mom writers, and start experiencing how good it feels to challenge yourself to grow your creative skills.

Here’s a quick round-up of the best of what I am offering in May.

Classes start Wednesday:

Registration is open for classes that start Wednesday. Tuesday, April 30th is the last day to register. This is the last time I am running my six-week classes until fall. I hope you can join us!

Writing & Publishing The Short Stuff Learn More

Pitching Practice: Write Six Queries In Six Weeks Learn More

Discover Your Specialty & Launch Your Platform Learn More

Micro-publishing For Mom Writers Learn More

Become Your Own Imprint: For Serial Micro-publishers Learn More

The 21 Moments Writing Challenge begins Wednesday:

Kick-start your writing in whatever genre or genres you see fit.

Or leave your options open and surprise yourself with what you write each day.

The challenge provides the structure and the inspiration and you provide the creativity.

You can get a big productivity payoff for a very low price from this writing challenge.

Bring your friends or give it to a writer friend as a gift!

Round One: Learn More

Round Two: Register

Round Three: Register

Purchase Round One For A Friend Purchase

The Writer Mama Every Day In May Book Giveaway kicks off on Tuesday, April 30th:

85 chances to win books and e-books for women in the contiguous US every day in May to celebrate mom writers. Many women look forward to participating in this event every year. If you are outside the contiguous United States, recruit a friend to forward your books to you so you can participate! Answering the questions all month long for a chance to win is a reward in and of itself.

See Da Rules

See the complete list of books and e-books

Check out the giveaway Pinterest board

Two Publication Announcements:

Write For Regional Parenting Publications For Fun & Profit comes out in multiple formats in May. Stay tuned for more details! Learn More

I’m launching my first e-collection: The Art Of Making Time For Yourself in Beta PDF just in time for Mother’s Day. Stay tuned for details on this inspiring e-book for busy moms!