Friday Fabulous! (3) + Custom Designed Header Contest

Exciting things I love this week:

1. First off I want to say how thrilled I am that my new header has gotten such a great response. Daniel has agreed to design a custom header for one lucky winner! Just mention in the comments that you’d like to be entered. Check out another header he designed for our friend Steve this week (and no, I don't think that is really his baby) and his daily drawings for an idea of his style. I’ll announce a winner Feb. 9th.

2. I am very excited for next week’s launch of a new YA podcast called The Read Carpet put together by the fabulous Adele. More details soon but I can tell you that it’s going to be really cool and that I contributed a segment for the first installment where I discuss dystopian fiction.

3. I have found a fellow book enthusiast in my own neighborhood who has agreed to be a guest reviewer for Presenting Lenore. Jen is a fellow American in Frankfurt and she’s going to be perusing my TBR stacks and then contributing book reviews every once in a while. Her special area of interest is international fiction.

4. New books this week: Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher and The Fetch by Laura Whitcomb. Thanks to my Aunt Linda for the lovely belated Christmas gift!

5. Got a few more awards from fellow bloggers this week! I’m Tink Approved! I’m a frequent visitor to Ladytink’s Movieholic & Bibliophile Blog and I love this cute graphic. Thanks! I also got the Kreativ Blogger award from fellow SCBWI member Angela. I am supposed to mention 7 things I love. And guess what? This post contains 7 this week just for that reason. Thanks for thinking of me Angela! Thao of the new book blog Serene Hours also tagged me with the Happy Tag, so this counts for that too.

6. And speaking of new book blogs, I posted some advice for new book bloggers in FAQ form this week in case you missed it. Taylor of For the Love of Books is a brand new blogger that is worth checking out and she's even having her first ever contest where she's giving away 3 copies of the must read Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (see my review here and enter her contest here).

And speaking of contests, you might also like to enter Susan's contest in honor of Black History Month or Carrie's contest to win a signed copy of Saundra Mitchell's Shadowed Summer.

Oh, and here's your personal invitation to AS King's lauch party for Dust of 100 Dogs (read my review) this weekend:

Event: D100D Weekend Online Launch Party! "Games! Prizes! Fun! "

What: Night of Mayhem

Host: The Dust of 100 Dogs

Start Time: Saturday, January 31 at 12:00pm

End Time: Sunday, February 1 at 11:00pm

Where: http://dogfact9.blogspot.com/

You know I'll be there!

7. I was scratched rather deeply on my finger by a cat yesterday (that's not the part I love). You see I tend to forget that not all cats are as gentle and loving as Emmy. Emmy is so sweet that even when she plays, she knows not to bite hard and to retract her claws so she won't hurt us. And I love that.