Did we say "Cupcake Contest"?! Why, yes indeed. Okay, it's not really a cupcake contest, but in an effort to gain some valuable feedback and spread the joy of cupcakes, we would like you readers (yes, you) to vote for your favorite Blue Rose Girls post from between (and including) 7/31/06 and 9/31/06.* Voting will close at midnight EST on 11/5/06 (NYC marathon day!).
You may vote only once. And we promise that our feelings won't be hurt if you don't vote for one of us. We're holding this contest so that we can better know which posts you find most helpful or entertaining, to better understand our readership. How should you judge what your favorite post is? The same way you'd judge a book. Did you enjoy reading it? Did it make you laugh? Make you cry? Make you think?
Vote by posting a comment here, or sending an email to bluerosegirls at gmail dot com. You may vote anonymously (we're using the honor system, people! BRGs, no voting for yourself...), but then you won't be eligible for the prize, and you don't want to miss out. And if your comment is snarky, we reserve the right to smush a cupcake in your face and delete your comment.
Speaking of prize, the winner will be selected from those who voted at random, and the prize will be.... (drum roll)
1/2 dozen cupcakes!!!! Baked and decorated by our own BRG and resident cupcake maker, Grace Lin (who is hinting at coconut cupcakes, but will give you a choice of two flavors). And to make things interesting, and to also give us BRGs incentive to write great posts in the future, the author of the winning post will also get 6 cupcakes! How fun is that?
Question of the week posts are not eligible.
Any questions? Post in the comment field.
Thanks. Have fun exploring and rediscovering our archives, and please help us spread the word. In order for this to be effective, we need a lot of votes!
*After conferring, the judges have decided to amend this rule so as to make things easier for our readers. Just vote for your favorite post, regardless of when it was posted. If anyone would like to change their vote in light of this amendment, you're welcome to. The goal is to get feedback, not to give homework!
27 comments:
But if i win, how will you ship them to China? ;)
-debbi michiko florence
Debbi, the prize can also be a cupcake-related item of our choosing if shipping fresh cupcakes would be too difficult. (I forgot, this issue did come up but we forgot to address it)
Hard question. After much scrolling, my choice would be Anna's 1000 hankerchiefs because I love the sneak peek into the process. I also loved the QOTW, What's on your desk? for the same reason but I know it's not an option. Keep up the good work girls, I love all of your posts!
I'm torn between Aug 9 He Kept Hoping (made me cry) and Sep 20 Seven Beginnings (made me think).
I'll go with Seven Beginnings.
Thanks!
Well I'd vote for each and every one of the Blue Rose Girls... and I think it's too much like homework to have to pick out any one post. It takes teamwork to keep up a daily blog like that!
Favorite theme? Hmmm... that changes all the time. I'm partial to the 'slog on through the hopelessness of publishing' topics... those always hit home. The photos of the slush piles... the despair at feeling like you're invisible once your book comes out. Then the inspiration ones are good too. And off topic posts are to be encouraged also, to add variety to the spice of life. (sloppy studio photos are always good)
I just re-read the Red Rose Girls book last summer, and I'd say ya'll are doing an admirable job of carrying on the tradition.
Ideally, of course, you'd need that gazillionaire country estate with ancient oak-lined drives, trellis covered patios, a carriage house out back, a pond for the swans and various groundskeepers. I always wanted to be a groundskeeper...
:0)
"How I Edit" by Alvina.
I love lots of the posts, particularly the ones that remind me that I am not alone in struggling with writing and illustration. But the author/artist hungers for a glimpse inside the editor's mind, and this is one of the rare places I have found that.
Thanks!
"A Multi-Cultural Author" by Grace Lin.
I'll choose "down to the cupcake level", Sept.25th. I love how Grace writes honestly about her own insecurities about her talents even though she is a published author/illustrator. It's a good reminder that getting published isn't the be all and end all to who you are. Everyone needs to figure that out for themselves no matter what the outside world says.Which is why I also love the cupcake theme. Grace went from not feeling her cupcakes were good enough to share with friends to running a contest where they will be the grand prize. That's really fun to see (oops, read.
But I *want* the cupcakes! ;)
Okay, I wasn't going to enter, only because it's so hard to choose just one favorite. I love the Question of the Week posts. Honestly, I really enjoy all the posts.
But if I have to choose one, I choose
"Zen Lessons" by Grace Lin on Sept 18, because the timing of that post was magical. It was just what I needed to hear that day.
debbi michiko florence
I too vote Sept. 29 "How I Edit."
This is hardly fair. You know that I have an incurable cupcake-obsession and here you are wafting the scent of finely honed cuppy-cakes right in my face.
As it happens, I have no longer term memory. Therefore, the post I've enjoyed the most recently was Meghan McCarthy's, "How Much Does Our Appearance Matter?" which is everything a good blog posting should be. It is fun. It is funny. And it brings up some jolly good points that I hadn't considered before.
Hi fuse#8!
Unfortunately, October posts are ineligible, all posts before are though. Would you like to vote again?
No! She's voted for mine, darn it! No! She can't vote again! Noooo!
I'm just kidding. Go ahead... vote again... I won't cry too hard.
meghan (who is making her own cupcakes for a new award she's made up for the person who can push a car the farthest. She will win, of course. Then the cupcakes will be hers)
Dang. I really liked that post too. Well, in that case I too will have to put in a vote for "How I Edit". I know it's been voted for before, but I love any post that shows a process. That and I have a secret weakness for posts beginning with the words "How I".
Cupcakes now, please?
I believe the new BRG consensus is (correct me if I’m wrong ladies) that you can vote for any post you'd like. I mean, the winner is picked at random, right? So who cares which post you vote for! Well, that's what I say. So continue on fellow friends! Go with your gut!
meghan aka gloria the fabulous
I could have sworn that I already commented, but I can't find it, so perhaps it got lost in the ether. I also vote for "How I Edit," because I love learning from other editors about their process and the books they work on, and there aren't many chances for someone in Seattle to connect with other editors the way it might in New York (I imagine). But I like the other posts, too. Plenty of good stuff.
Since I can't choose a question of the week, I'm going to have to vote for "Seven Beginnings." It was interesting. I don't know why.
I, like Betsy, must not have much of a long term memory because the most recent posts are standing out in my mind. I'm going to have to choose Wilbur, Olivia, Mercy Watson, Porky, Pigling Bland? Naming Characters posted on October 17th by Libby. I have always agonized over naming characters and when I guessed all of the names right (but Anthony, who I thought was a girl) it reinforced why character names are important; they conjure up an involuntary picture in our minds.
Hey, I want the cupcakes, too! Not for me, for my girl coming up on her first birthday away from home at M.I.T. in Cambridge (What a coincidence! How handy! Hint, hint.) I like the posts that peek into working processes; but that's a lot of them. (The thousand Handkerchiefs, Rate of Consumption, How I edit...) For an official vote I have to pick one? O.K. Cupcake Dreams. Because, because , because. (What did you expect? If I was a logical person I'd be working a job with a retirement plan, or benefits, at least...)
I liked Meghan's artwork in progress.
Laura
www.LauraLudwigHamor.com
Yummy idea for a contest!
We posted about it on competizione. We're a clearing house for contests hosted by bloggers.
Hope you get lots of responses! :-)
I can't remember the last time I had a cupcake. Really.
I don't have a real answer to the question--it's like being forced to choose one favorite book--but I'm willing to make something up for the chance to win cupcakes. (Alaska's not as far away as China.)
I'll pick Meghan's What Makes Us So Qualified To Write Kids' Books? post. I could explain that I picked Meghan's over Alvina's because I'm a writer, not an editor, and I could explain that First Books/Relationships was also a contender just because...well, that's why it didn't make the cut: I didn't want to admit why. But that's a slippery slope. So I won't.
I like the question of the week posts- my favorite was August 27,
'What outside influences do you use to keep yourselves focused ?'
This was one of the first posts I read and I was hooked to your blog after that! Anything that shows pictures or talks about the processes that artists go through is always good. :) I also loved Anna's post about the bird handkerchief and Meghan's crowd scene.
Is voting closed off yet? I liked Grace Lin's "Zen Lessons" post. It resonated with me, and it really helped me get a perspective on certain things in my life.
My favorite was Alvina's "How I Edit" post from September 29. But I also loved Elaine's Poetry posts. And her poetry. :) But I'll go with "How I edit".
I love the posts that include something of your lives related to your work. So, yes, Alvina's post on editing or Meghans post on attending the opening of the Original Art Show or Grace's post today (complete with pictures - yay!) of attending the event in Washington DC.
I like to learn how you think about the making of books and I love to learn what makes you laugh. Meghan's post #2 on hidden things made me laugh out loud and I encouraged at least 4-5 other persons to visit your blog as a result.
I think it is similar to a good speech. Little personal stories related to our shared interests. That's what I love best.
Katherine Tillotson
Pretty cool site you've got here. Thank you for it. I like such topics and everything connected to this matter. I would like to read a bit more soon.
Truly yours
Darek Wish
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