#FebruHARRY2018 Giveaways to Enter!

I know I know, #FebruHARRY2018 is coming to an end soon...but don't worry! If you haven't seen the giveaways yet, there is still time to enter! I'm sorry to say that these two are both U.S. only though!!

First off, don't forget this great deal for some HP themed cookies! Aren't they just gorgeous?!

Now - giveaway time!

Win your very own wand! There are wizard wands, flower wands, saber wands, and more! This giveaway ends February 28th so get to entering!

Win some yummy butterbeer fudge (I tried it; it's great!) AND a movie of your choice (as long as it stars someone from the HP movies...so tons and tons of options here!) This giveaway ends on February 28th too!

That's all I have for you right now, but I DO plan on doing a Twitter giveaway and an Instagram giveaway, so if you aren't following me, please do so! Leave your username in the comments below and I'll be sure to follow you back!

10 Year Blogoversary Giveaway

Hey everyone! I'm hosting a giveaway on Instagram in honor of my blog Shooting Stars Mag - August is my 10 year blogoversary! It's only open to the U.S., I'm afraid, but please check it out if you're interested or spread the word! Instagram link here.

In honor of my 10 year blogoversary, I'm doing an Instagram only giveaway! These books were sent to me by @bookcaseclub for July and August to help spread the word! Check them out- they are a genre based book subscription! ✨✨ I've read and loved three of these so those are the ones in the giveaway! Two winners get one choice from Pop Goes the Weasel, Black Eyed Susans, and Broadchurch! I really like all of these so you can't go wrong! ✨✨ To enter- follow me, like the post, and tag a friend in the comments! One extra entry if you repost this! Comment again and let me know! US only I'm afraid and the giveaway ends August 31!! ❤️📚

A post shared by Lauren Becker (@laurenashleybecker) on Aug 10, 2017 at 9:54am PDT

Favorite Things Giveaway + More

This is only open to those in the U.S., I'm afraid, but if you are interested in entering my Favorite Things Giveaway (or hosting your own) please go here.

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Also, if you or someone you know has written a YA manuscript, you can try entering this crowd-sourcing competition to get it published!

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I've been reading a lot of LGBT+ books but I need to get reviews written and scheduled out, so that sort of explains the lack of posts recently! I've just mostly been behind on things in general, so I apologize for that, but I'm still visiting, and thanks for all the comments!

Twitter Follower Giveaway!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to let you know that I finally reached 3k followers on Twitter and that means it's Giveaway time!

The prize is $25 USD paid to you through PayPal. If you have PayPal, you can enter, but if your currency is not USD, please note it might not equal the same amount.

You have until May 31 to enter and all you have to do is follow me on Twitter and RT the giveaway post (it's pinned to the top). Find me here.

Sorry for the lack of posts last week! I try and get in about three every week, if I can. I'm reading a lot of LGBT+ books at the moment though so be ready for more posts to come up!

Happy Friday: Goodreads Giveaway of Queens of Geek

Hello everyone! I'm so excited it's Friday...how are you spending this Friday the 13th?

I thought I'd share some current LGBT+ book giveaways on Goodreads, but I could only find one. Regardless, I want people to have a chance to check it out, so here we go ! If this isn't open to your country, still check it out and see if you want to add it to your to-read list.

Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

Enter to win

Open to US only

Official Summary: When BFFs Charlie, Taylor and Jamie go to SupaCon, they know it’s going to be a blast. What they don’t expect is for it to change their lives forever.

Charlie likes to stand out. SupaCon is her chance to show fans she’s over her public breakup with co-star, Jason Ryan. When Alyssa Huntington arrives as a surprise guest, it seems Charlie’s long-time crush on her isn’t as one-sided as she thought.

While Charlie dodges questions about her personal life, Taylor starts asking questions about her own.

Taylor likes to blend in. Her brain is wired differently, making her fear change. And there’s one thing in her life she knows will never change: her friendship with Jamie—no matter how much she may secretly want it to. But when she hears about the Queen Firestone SupaFan Contest, she starts to rethink her rules on playing it safe.

Due Out: March 14, 2017

October is Harry Potter Month!

Hey Everyone!

I wanted to let you know that on my blog ShootingStarsMag, October will be Harry Potter month. If you are not already following me on Twitter, please do, as I'll keep tweeting out links to the various posts and giveaways throughout the month.

I'm sharing here because there are a couple posts that I plan to write about on this blog concerning HP in honor of HP month. I wanted to make sure that you knew MORE will be posted on my other blog though, including all of the giveaways. There will be at LEAST 10 giveaways throughout the month and some are open to Canada and a couple are International, so keep an eye out!

If you would like to write something concerning HP, let me know! I'd be happy to find a spot on my other blog, or if you write it on your own blog, let me know and I'll share it!

Finally, feel free to use the graphic above to spread the word. Just link it back to my ShootingStars blog so people know where to look!

-Lauren

Two Giveaways!

I wanted to let everyone on here know about two giveaways that I'm helping with. The first is for a Pineapple themed prize pack (you can see the photo above). You get all of those items and you can enter on my ShootingStarsMag blog. It's open to U.S. and Canada, unless you are willing to pay for shipping!

The second is on the Leave a Mark Auctions blog. I'm trying to get more people to follow the blog, so you know when new auctions are posted, and to thank people for spreading the word/bidding/etc so the Auction blog will offer various giveaways. Another good reason to follow! Right now (U.S. only though) you can enter to win a Harry Potter themed solar light. It's amazing. If you can enter, I recommend you do!

Difficulties Writing Authentic Autistic People + Book Giveaway

A Bouquet for Adam: Difficulties Writing Authentic Autistic People

By K.T. Spence

In "A Bouquet for Adam," my co-author, A. J. Marcus and I dove into the deep end when it came to writing a person with autism. For me, this had both simple and complex attributes.

My nine-year old daughter, N, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder when she was 5. For two years prior to that, she spent time in occupational and speech therapy including hippotherapy (therapy on horseback) and a play-based therapy called Floortime. 

I felt well-versed in autism. At least, enough to write this character, Adam.

However, the longer A. J. and I wrote, the more I began to question the authenticity of the character. After all, I only have a nine-year old and I was trying to expand what I knew about autism from her behaviors into a thirty-year old male. 

We knew that if we didn't get the character right, the book wouldn't work. Adam had to know what he was doing -- Trent couldn't just "come on" to Adam; he had to know that Adam was gay. We wanted to completely avoid anything that would give the impression that Trent was taking advantage of Adam's innocence, yet we still wanted to show that Adam was awkward in social situations, that he was still on some type of a schedule (as in the beginning when he was driving home from work), that he was mostly dependent upon his mother (who was his rock, or, to use another apt phrase, his port in the storm). 

Our beta readers included some of A.J's normal betas, but I added one more. During the time we were writing the story, I had been introduced to another writer in our local writing group who happened to not only be a psychology professor but who also happened to be autistic as well. We asked him to read the first draft with an eye towards authenticity -- did Adam sound realistic? More importantly, did Adam sound his age? His notes were invaluable to us in getting Adam to sound right.

I hope readers enjoy the book -- on top of that, I hope they learn something from it. Yes, people with autism are "different" in some ways from neurotypical people, but they're not all that different. I know that my daughter has been the greatest joy in my life and I can't imagine what she would be like without the autism. It's not something you can simply separate out and say, "Oh, that's the autism speaking." It's simply an aspect of who they are. 

Now, let's give away a book! For one of the commenters below in the next week, I'll give away one book from A.J. Marcus's back list on Dreamspinner Press!

I'd love to hear any comments you might have, regarding writing, autism, or anything else you'd like to discuss.

#ReadProud Reading Challenge for Pride Month

In honor of Pride Month (the month of June), author Julia Ember is hosting a really awesome LGBT+ reading challenge! I'm going to do what I can to take part in this throughout the month, so I thought I'd share it here and see if any of you wanted to join in! It might be a good way to find some LGBT+ books. You can go to the blog page to introduce yourself and learn all the rules! I'll share some of the details below:

This is a 4-week challenge. Each week will have 2 categories. You can participate on two levels:

(1) GOLD:  Read two books per week, one from each category, totalling 8. 

(2) SILVER: Read one book from one category a week, totalling 4. 

Successful completers of the challenge will be entered in a prize draw: 

GOLD: $100 Amazon Gift Card (or B&N/Waterstones if preferred!) 

SILVER: $50 Amazon Gift Card (or B&N/Waterstones if preferred!)

Rules:

1) You must read in the weekly categories to be eligible. However, you do not have to read the suggested books. You may find your own reads in the relevant categories. 

2) You must post your reviews on GoodReads and at least one retailer website. You shoud link these in the comments on the relevant week's post (on this blog). These reviews can be negative or positive. 

3) These reads must be new reviews. This means you can't recycle old reviews or old Arc reviews. You need to post the review in the relevant week. 

4) Post in the comments to introduce yourself and your blog/twitter handle! 

Week 1: May 29-June 5

Category A:  TRANS YA  ** fiction or non-fictional 

CATEGORY B: GAY CONTEMPORARY, NA or ADULT.

Week 2: June 5-12

Category A:  LESBIAN SPECULATIVE

Category B:  LGBTQ Middle Grade or Younger

Week 3: June 12-19

Category A:  AUTHORS OF COLOUR

Category B:  LESBIAN CONTEMPORARY 

Week 4: June 19-26

Category A:  GAY YA

Category B: WILDCARD 

Again, please visit Julia's blog for more details. She gives you the book she'll be reading under each week/category as well as other suggestions in case you need help finding something to read for say "Lesbian Speculative" or "Authors of Colour." If you read two books a week - one from each category- you are entered to win $100 gift card, and you are entered to win a $50 gift card if you read one book a week from ONE of the two week's categories. I'm going to try and do both categories a week, but we'll see!

Remember, if you write on Twitter, use the #ReadProud to see all the other posts/updates! 

Goodreads Giveaways: Find New LGBT Books

Goodreads Giveaways- here are some more LGBT books that are currently up for giveaway on Goodreads. Click the link and scroll down a bit - you should see where you can enter!

A Little Bit Langston by Andrew Demcak - add to goodreads

Tearing Us Apart by Amanda Clay - add to goodreads

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Would you read any of these? I think both sound really good! Did you enter the giveaways? Let me know! 

Win a Copy of Queer Greer by A.J. Walkley

not my picture

Over at my other blog, Shooting Stars Mag, I interviwed author A.J. Walkley about her newest release, Queer Greer. I figured all of the readers over here would be interested, though, so I thought I would pass along the information...especially since you can win a digital copy of the novel. Giveaway ends on May 5, so enter soon, and please spread the word to your readers!!

Again, I'm going to try and start posting on this blog more, but it's often hard to keep up with one blog...let alone more than one, so I hope you understand! If you would like to see anything in particular, please let me know. I'm more willing to try a bit harder if I know people are reading, so leave your thougthts. I always comment back!!