Tuesday, 25 August 2015

What a Difference a Year Makes



with Marilyn Forsyth





Break out the champagne! It’s our first blogiversary and to celebrate we’re treating you to a whole week of great posts and gorgeous giveaways.







This glorious ‘I Love Red!’ prize pack, consisting of a silk kimono, 2 x blingy candle-holders, a set of coasters and a packet of heart-shaped push-pins, is up for grabs to the commenter who correctly answers all the questions at the end of the post (answers can be found on our author pages). Good luck everyone!



What have we loved to love?

First and foremost, the people who subscribe to and/or visit our blog! Even if it’s just to skim a post, we love you (although, if you leave a comment we love you even more because that’s great feedback for us). The fact is we’ve received nearly 16 000 page views over the last year, which staggers us all, and we have YOU to thank for that. Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!



We’ve also loved all our interviewees and guest bloggers: Catherine Lee, Fiona Greene, Cathryn Hein, Alli Sinclair, Nikki Logan, Suzi Love, Nicole Hurley-Moore, Maree Anderson, Michelle Diener, Cathleen Ross and Jenny Schwartz. A huge thank you to each and every one of you for contributing to our success, and you’re welcome back any time.



And let’s not forget RWA. It was their Group Grant that enabled us to hire Eleni from Helzkat Designs (contact her at helzkatdesigns@gmail.com) to design our beautiful blogsite. (Thank you Eleni!)



What have we loved to laugh at?






Usually each other, when we get together once a month to discuss the blog and all things writing. We may each write in a different genre but we share a sense of humour, not to mention a sense of the ridiculous.








What have we loved to learn?


How to create and maintain what we hope is a high-quality blog. And what an achievement that is! See, it wasn't always easy; every single one of us had teething problems to begin with, but through perseverance and hard work (we are writers, after all, so that comes with the territory *grin*) we’ve managed to present an informative blog every week (bar a short break over Christmas) for 12 months.



So there you have it—that was our year—and we're looking forward to continuing to provide more quality posts for your enjoyment into the future.

Treasure Hunt


To win today’s fabulous prize (sorry, Australian entrants only) find the answers to these questions on our author pages then email them to breathlessinthebush@gmail.com. In the event of a draw, the winner’s name will be drawn from a hat. That winner will be announced tomorrow morning, so don’t forget to check in. It could be you!
                                                       

1. Which blogger writes paranormals?


2. Who among us may have kissed a frog (purely for research purposes, you understand)?


3. Which blogger really should have been born in the 1800s but had the misfortune to be born instead in the 1970s?


4. Who’d spend all day reading if she could (and frequently does in order to bring you her thoughtful book reviews)?


5. Who among us might you tempt with a Tim Tam?


6. Which blogger, based on her experiences in the police force, wrote ‘Sinister Intent’?


7. Who has recently joined our blogging team?

29 comments:

  1. Love the questions Marilyn. I know all the answers to these but I am not eligible for this wonderful prize so I hope someone does as that Kimono is just gorgeous.

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    1. It is beautiful, isn't it? Let's hope others think so too!

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  2. Good morning all! I'm still in Melbourne, recuperating after the fabulous conference with a little retail therapy, so if my responses are a bit late, please forgive. I'd love to give this 'I love red!' Gift pack to one commenter who can answer the questions correctly (they're not hard). You could be the lucky winner!

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  3. Who doesn't love red!! It's the colour of love!! So wish I could play Mira author Marilyn Forsyth's treasure hunt and be up to win the prize pack!

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  4. Happy Anniversary Ladies!
    Just found your site and having fun looking around.

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    1. Welcome Mary Offszanka!! Happy to have you here! We've got a week of fun planned so be sure to check back every day! (Normally we only post Monday mornings but this week it's every day. Squeeee for the fun!!)

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    2. Hi Mary and welcome. So glad you are having fun looking around the blog. Do pop into our various tabs up the top as they contain the answers to Marilyn's questions and then jot them down in the comments for a chance to win that awesome prize.

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    3. Hi Mary! Great to have you visit. If you have the answers to the Treasure Hunt questions, just email them to breathlessinthebush@gmail.com and you could be today's winner.

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    4. Hi Mary. Welcome to BITB. I hope you enjoy this visit on this special blogiversary. Do come back. We have great giveaways this week and you may be one lucky winner.

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  5. I was a little red eyed by the time I arrived home at 2345 yesterday, so no comments were forthcoming from me, at the start of your celebratory blogging. Still, I'm here now. Besides, I hope Marilyn bought a red hat to wear to high tea whilst she undertook her retail therapy today. After all, I've arrived in time to partake in drinking tea/coffee, being tempted by dainty morsels, and enjoying bubbles. Oh, BTW, I'm wearing gloves to go with the 'rigout' I'm adorned in. After all, one must keep up appearances.

    "Red" was the bane of my life when I was growing up. The letters represented my initials and people used to call the colour of my hair... The trouble is I always wanted to wear red and bought some bright, red fabric with which to make a dress. Back then, my mother had other ideas about the clashes so that 'frock' never made it from cloth to coat hanger. However, these days my initials have changed as has the colour of my hair, and I wear red whenever I choose to do so.

    By the way, I'm not of oriental persuasion, so I didn't wear a red, wedding dress when I changed my initials, but sitting around in a silky, red kimono to read or write about romantic weddings is something with which I could identify.

    Now back to your celebrations. I'm hoping you have plenty of red lanterns to hang out, adding more warmth to the blogging room. As for a week-long celebration, methinks you're turning this into an Indian wedding! What fun. Well done, authors. An extended celebration is much better than a quick trip to Gretna Green!

    Before I close, please ensure that your staff are prepared to trim those candles, and have a taper ready to light them. It wouldn’t do to have your guests stumbling in the dark. I’m thinking of the dowager, in particular, but if she’s taken care of, then the way would be clear for other characters to fumble around or maybe take a tumble away from the candle light, before moonlight pours into the ballroom.

    Maybe I’m on the wrong track and the only red I’m seeing is in the crime scene setting. No matter what you’ve in store, I think you’ll leave me “Breathless in the Bush”.

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    1. Hi Robyn! It's lovely to have you visit the blog again. So glad you're over your red-phobia from your younger years. Are you wearing the red-heart gloves from the conference last year? And did you find the answers to the Treasure Hunt questions and email them to breathlessinthebush@gmail.com? You'll need to to be in the running for the 'I Love Red' gift pack.

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    2. Hi Robyn. Nice to see you back here for our blogiversary. Lovely catching up with you at the conference. Pity it's only a once-a-year catch-up. Loved reading of your red woes as a youngster and your continuing love as the years roll on. Do search out the answers. You'd like that red gift pack, I'm sure.

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  6. Hi everyone, I've been on your blog, and I worked with a fair few of you on Claytons one year, and I love red, so I've entered your competition. Wish me luck.

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    1. Hi Fiona. Geat to see you here. Missed yiu at the conference but that's understandable when it was a huge crowd this year. And a great time had by all! Do drop by the rest of the week. We've got lots of fun things happening. God luck with your comp entry.

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    2. Hi Fiona! Thanks for dropping by and entering the comp. Good Luck!

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  7. Marilyn,

    Of course I'm wearing the red-heart gloves. They are a status symbol! The treasure hunting is done and dusted, but that was easy for a mining fossicker like me.

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  8. Hi girls!! Just dropping by to wish you happy 1st anniversary and congratulations on a great blog. Good luck to everyone who enters the contest.

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    1. Hi Sasha! It was great to meet you at the conference. Thanks for stopping by with your good wishes and we are all looking forward to your guest post next week.

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  9. Happy First Birthday.
    What a great 12 months.
    I'm off now to go treasure hunting.
    Cheers Tracey

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    1. Hi Tracey! Great to see you here. Many thanks for the congrats.

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  10. My goodness, you're one?!! What??!!! Where has this year gone!

    To all my friends at Breathless in the Bush, Happy Blogiversary!!!! It was an honour working on your blog and it's an honour to be mentioned in it, 12 months on. Thank you!!

    Here's to many blogiversaries in future.
    - Helzkat aka Eleni

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    1. Hi Eleni! So great to catch up with you at the conference, and what a wonderful conference it was! You and the Get Fresh team did a fantastic job.
      I couldn't agree more about the past year going so damn fast. xx

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    2. We love you, Eleni! You were our midwife! xx Thankyou!

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  11. Congratulations Ladies. Wishing you another year of success.
    Cheers Ashlyn.

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    1. Hi Ashlyn. How lovely to see you here! Don't forget to drop by each day and enter the comps we have happening. Good Luck!

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  12. Happy birthday everyone. My previous posts have not appeared. Don't know why. Technology, got to love it. Joanne Austen Brown.

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    1. Hi Joanne. Great to see you here. Understand about the technology woes. They've frustrated me over the last few days but, hey, we do have to love it!

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