Note to Self - Review and GIVEAWAY

Keeping a journal is easy. Keeping a life-altering, soul-enlightening journal, however, is not. At its best, journaling can be among the most transformative of experiences, but you can only get there by learning how to express yourself fully and openly...

Let's face it. We’ve all attempted it at one point or another in our lives. You know what I mean - keeping all of our most personal thoughts written down in some form of a book. Sometimes, it might be a diary, kept under lock and key. Or maybe a journal, where we have tried and perhaps failed to write about what matters most. Often, it has succeeded for a time, only to peter off and be left to collect dust.

Help has arrived! It's called Note to Self: On Keeping a Journal and Other Dangerous Pursuits by author Samara O'Shea.

Samara herself has described it for you...watch!

This is actually Samara's second book, the first one being For the Love of Letters, a book about the seemingly long-lost art of letter writing. Wow, right up my Mom's alley! Note to Self, however, focuses on something a little closer to my heart -- writing journals and blogs. This book inspires you to write, and if that's not enough, she also gives you some ideas on how to journal and examples from her own journals and from the journals of others.

There is even a section here for bloggers, since blogging is really just another form of journaling for many. How cool is that?! As O'Shea says, blogging is more structured than a journal entry, but really, not quite an article. Since Samara is a blogger herself, she understands what it takes to be a blogger, and to be blogged about. Make you feel good to have someone not only understand our position as bloggers but to put it to paper.

Seriously though, one of the best parts of this book is that it encourages you to make mistakes. To play with words even if you know that grammatically it is not even close to being correct. Overall, she inspires you to be a better writer overall, for no one but you.

• Write in a stream of consciousness: Forget everything you ever learned about writing and just write. Let it all out: the good, bad, mad, angry, boring, and ugly.
• Ask yourself questions: What do I want to change about myself? What would I never change about myself?
• Copy quotes: Other people's words can help you figure out where you are in life, or where you'd like to be.
• It takes time: Don't lose faith if you don't imme­diately feel better after writing in your journal. Think of each entry as part of a collection that will eventually reveal its meaning to you.

I really think you will find her book inspiring! You can pick up a copy of Samara O'Shea's Note to Self at Amazon or your local book seller.

Please Note: Samara has a sparkling personality that shines through in the pages. She also has a very no nonsense approach and has entries that may not be suitable to younger readers. She includes talk about substance abuse and cheating on her comedian boyfriend in the text so use your discretion when purchasing for a teen.

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Win it!

The Prize: I have a copy of Note to Self that I'm willing to giveaway to one lucky reader!

How You Can Win:

Leave me a comment about your experience with a journal/diary - good or bad! That's it!

Would like to up the odds of winning?

To earn more entries, you may do one or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra entry. Please leave a separate comment for each one.

• Subscribe to my feed.
• Add me to your Technorati Favorites and I will do the same in return.
  
• Mention this giveaway and Book Week on your blog with a link back here.
• Place my button in your sidebar.

This giveaway is open to US addresses only. Good luck!

Who is eligible:

You must have a US mailing address. You don't have to be a blogger to win, just supply a valid e-mail address. Make sure to leave me that email address though because if I cannot get a hold of you, you cannot win!

When the giveaway ends:

The giveaway will run now through October 8th at 11:59pm CST. I'll pick the winner using Random.org as soon as possible after that. You may choose to check for your nickname at Prizey.Fetch, a cool site that compiles winners in one convenient place:



Winners will have 3 days to reply before another winner is selected.

Bonne Chance!!

Be sure to check out my other blog, 3 P's in a Pod!
Journals+O'Shea