The Secondary Characters bloghop

Today is the Secondary Characters Bloghop, hosted by Rachel Schieffelbein, Theresa Paolo, Kelley Lynn, Jessica Salyer, Jenny Morris and Suzi Retzlaff. You can win critiques by participating, so get on over to the linky if you haven't already and slap your name on it! 

Now to my favourite secondary characters. It's hard to choose one or two, so I went with a larger number! And this was also just off the top of my head! So, with that said...

My favourite secondary characters (of the moment):

• Vera's dad in Please Ignore Vera Dietz - I love his little charts. The little dad interludes brought a bit of extra lightness and cuteness to what was at times a really sad story
  
  
• I could name countless awesome secondary characters from the Harry Potter books, but for now I'll just say I love Neville - he's one of those characters who undergoes an amazing transformation
  
  
• Speaking of amazing transformations, can anyone say Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Buffy / Angel? It was so amazing (and pretty tragic) watching him change from the absolute blithering weakling we first meet to a deadly, hardened warrior with serious war wounds
  
  
• Joel Tuck from Dean Koontz's Twilight Eyes (my favourite Koontz book), who is a gentle (dangerous) giant...with a third eye:
  
  
• From the TV series Medium, which I only just recently finished watching (sniffle! argh! noooo, what now?), I'm guessing Bridgette counts as a secondary character - she's the middle daughter played by Maria Lark, who was just the cutest little girl at the beginning of the series. Such a funny actress even at the age of 6!
  
  
• Neale from The Lifeguard, one of those tween scholastic books I read as a pre-teen (and still re-read sometimes these days!). Neale was troubled but sexy (and, eventually, sweet)
  
  

I think I could go on (and on, and on...), and I've probably forgotten some of my most favourite secondary characters, but this is the list as it stands in my conscious mind right now! :)

It's my...2 year blogiversary!! [+ Baby Faces]

It's been 2 years since I started this blog, and things sure have changed a lot since then. I've discovered an amazing community full of very giving, entertaining and enthusiastic writer blogger people, and I feel so very blessed to be part of this community. THANK YOU to everyone who has visited me here - I'm glad to know you!

Today I'm sharing details of a giveaway I'm hosting (see below), but first it's time for my Baby Faces post, in which I shall share with you some of my baby pics. Danette's post reminded me that I should probably include the requirements again, just as a last-minute reminder. So here they are:

What are the requirements? 

1. Between December 2nd and 3rd, post a pic of yourself as a baby, and/or;
2. Tell us a story about when you were a baby (no doubt you can't quite remember it yourself, but you've probably heard some stories from other members of your family).

You can choose to do one or the other or both, depending on your mood on the day(s). ;)

And now for my pictures! I think these were taken in a photo booth, and I know we were still living in the UK at the time. You can see my Dad's hands holding me up:

And my personal favourite...

I've always been a face puller, clearly even since babyhood. In recent years a friend told me she looks at these pics whenever she feels down, 'cause they make her laugh. ;) Okay, that's it for my baby faces post/story, but be sure to check out the other blogs participating in this hop (I can't wait to! I've seen that some of you have posted already, and I'll be there to check out your baby faces shortly!):

---

---

BOOK GIVEAWAY

I am not a great contest hoster, as most of you know already, but today I want to give something back for sure, so I am giving away these prizes:

1. 1st prize - any 1 book from my selections below, or a book of your own choice, from the Book Depository (value = $10)
2. 2nd prize - any eBook(s) written by one of our author friends who comments on this post (value = $5)
3. 3rd prize - an ebook of your choice (value = $3).

All winners can also opt to receive a Christmas card from me via snail mail, if they are interested. :)

My book choices for first prize are:

• Dean Koontz's TWILIGHT EYES (my fave DK book and one of my fave books of all time. There should have been a sequel!!)
• Rachel Hawkins's HEX HALL (book #1 in a series, just FYI)
• Jesse Kellerman's THE BRUTAL ART
• John Marsden's TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN (again, book #1 in a - completely - epic series)

These books are all ones that I've read and absolutely loved.

So, leave a comment below if you want to be in it to potentially win it, and I will draw winner(s) in a week.

In closing, thanks once again to all the folks who read my blog and especially to those who leave the occasional (or much more than occasional!) comment. I love that I've met you guys and I wouldn't have it any other way. ;)