Wed Rabbit -- Review and Giveaway

Thought for the Day:

"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.

You need to start somewhere." 

~ Anne Lamott ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Flashbacks are tricky, but sometimes they are necessary. HERE Randy Ingermanson has a good post on just that topic. 

Anne R. Allen offers fixes for plot holes in your manuscript HERE. My favorite section is called Too Dumb to Live. 

This is a lot of fun. HERE is a post with 25 synonyms you should be using.

My daughter Maggie, who is between acting gigs right at the moment, is spending some time building a website for me. We are hoping to be able to go live in the next week or two, so changes are coming! I'm pretty excited about it and am busy sending her stuff that will make me look good. I think it's time for me to make this move. I hope I can invite you all to check it out very soon.

Last week I offered a gently-read hardback of Saturdays with Hitchcock by Ellen Wittlinger to one of you. This time our winner is Danielle Hammelef, who always shares the link to my blog a lot of places. Thanks for doing that Danielle. I will get your book out to you soon. Congratulations! For the rest of you, I have another book to give away and this one is FUNNY and has some fun fantasy as well.

When I looked over a list for review books from the Manhattan Book Review, I ran across a book called Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans. At first I thought it was a picture book, but when I looked it up, found it to be a middle-grade novel. When I saw the cover (Don't you LOVE it?), I hearkened back to Bunnicula, one of my all-time favorites, so I knew I had to have it, and I snatched it right up. I had no idea what a fun ride I was in for. Here is the review I wrote for the Manhattan Book Review.

Fidge is eleven, and she is tired of having to read The Wimbley Woos book to her four-year-old sister, Minnie, over and over. And that’s not the only thing that’s annoying about Minnie. She has annoying toys, especially Wed Wabbit, and she always gets her way even if it gets in the way of the one thing Fidge wants. Fidge is so angry and retaliates in the smallest way, but the worst thing happens. She has to stay with her scaredy-cat cousin, Graham, and during a storm both of them are transported into the Land of Wimbley Woos. Strange things are happening there, and when they find out Wed Wabbit has taken over as king, things get really interesting. They have to get Wed Wabbit and get him back to Maddie. It’s quite a challenge.

Author Lissa Evans has written the most refreshingly funny and smart book to

Lissa Evans

come out in quite a while. This is a page turner of the first order and has great messages about friendship, courage, loyalty, and much more, but the messages are well hidden in this clever, laugh-out-loud funny story. Get thee to a bookstore and buy this book!

I have a gently-read hardback for one of you. To win, all you need do is have a US address, be a subscriber or follower, and tell me that in a comment you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet, blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for each that you do.

Don't forget to check out Greg Pattridge's blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.