And The Free Critique Winner is . . .

Well, here are the stats and the result of my very first critique giveaway:

Nine people entered for a total of 23 entries.  I used a very high-tech method to select the winner - I cut strips of scratch paper, wrote the entrants' names on them, and placed them in my favorite winner-picking bowl.  I then closed my eyes - you'll have to take my word on that - and picked the winning name. 

And, the winner is . . .   Bernell!!!

Congratulations, Bernell!  Please save your manuscript as a pdf and send it to me at: lori@loridegman.com.

Thanks everyone for entering!  I feel bad that I could only choose one winner so I've decided to offer a free critique for each of you.  The only thing is, I may not be able to get to them in a timely manner but I promise I'll get to them before the end of May - and hopefully sooner, depending on how busy things get around here.  So, if you'd like to send a manuscript for critique, save it as a pdf and send it to the email address above.  I'll do the critiques in the order in which they're received.

Thanks again for joining in my first critique giveaway!!

Chicago Public Radio Interview

Last week I went down to Navy Pier and did a taped radio interview with Kristin Moo for the show Eight Forty-Eight on FM 95.1 - WBEZ.  The interview aired this morning during the 9:00 - 10:00 hour and will replay tonight during the 8:00 - 9:00 hour. 
Here's a link in case you want to listen and can't sit by your radio waiting :-)  I think it turned out pretty well - Kristin had asked me to read a few verses and I read them a bit too fast but, other than that, I think it was good.

Happy First Birthday To My Blog!

In honor of my blog's first birthday (and Poetry Month), I'm giving away a free critique!!  Because prose is not my thing, I'm only accepting rhyming manuscripts.  Writers of prose will thank me for this.  Here's a little poem I wrote about it:

My blog's been up for one whole year,
The time for celebration's here!

If it's a free critique you seek,
congratulations - it's your week!

So, now I bet you're asking "How?"
Just read the rules - yes, read them now!

Rules:
You'll receive one entry for doing each of the following:

• Post a comment saying you want to enter 
• Write a little poem and include it in your comment
• Post a link to this post on your blog

Entries will be accepted until midnight (CST), April 9th.  The winner will be chosen, at random, on April 10th and I'll post the winner here.

Good Luck!!

My First, and Unfortunately Not My Last, TV Interview

I had my first TV interview yesterday - it was a fantastic experience - until I saw myself on TV!!  The people at ABC were so nice and helpful and made me feel very comfortable - as comfortable as I could be doing a LIVE TV interview!!  Here's a link in case you want to watch - it wasn't perfect but it was better than I expected - I didn't faint or have a major brain freeze! 

The wonderful marketers for Cheerios put me and my two sisters up in a beautiful hotel right across the street from the studio - which we appreciated at 6:00 in the morning! 

At the studio, we waited in the "Green Room" 


My sister, Mindy, wrote, "The Grusin sisters were here" on the wall!

                                                                                                            
I was "miked" by Mike - really!

I was interviewed by Kevin Roy,
who did a wonderful job of
covering for my flubs!!

                                                       

  


The "news room" is a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  There was a small platform off to the side where Kevin and I sat for my interview.  I don't have a picture of us together because I made my sisters leave right before Kevin sat down.  I was afraid I'd look at them and start laughing so they watched in the green room! 

                  

Here's a view of the set from the sidewalk in front of the building.  The whole thing was very cool!!

      

My First (last?) Major Newspaper Interview!

My first (last?) interview for a major newspaper, the Chicago Sun-Times, came out today.  It's exciting, but a bit embarrassing - especially the gigantic picture of me!  I was a little uncomfortable with the online picture - about 2" x 2" - then I saw the picture in the actual paper -  about 6" x 6" - it's hard to hide the imperfections in a picture that big!!  Oh well, I am what I am :-)

I think Delia O'Hara did a great job and I appreciate her leaving out some of the idiotic, nerve-driven, things I babbled on about during our phone interview!

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/2114208,SHO-Books-chilit21.article