Wow! Many thanks to the nearly 160 of you who entered our A4 Habana contest. I’ve run the numbers at Random.org, and here are our four lucky winners:

• Chaunacey D.
• Jennifer B.
• Dawn L.
• Delesa W.

If your name is on this list, you should already have received an email from me, so check your inbox and get in touch if it’s not there. Otherwise, and as usual, check back soon for more giveaways…

They’re here, and I’ve seen them, and they’re broad, slim, and beautiful — three cheers for A4 Habanas!

In honor of the new size, we’ll be giving away four A4s to our lucky readers… enter by Monday, April 30th at midnight EST by completing the form below.

UPDATE: Many thanks to all who entered! I’ll be running the contest and announcing winners shortly.

Our latest Writers’ Project interview is live! This month, we sat down with Michelle Krell Kydd, who writes about the history, myth, and folklore behind different scents and flavors at her blog, Glass, Petal, Smoke, and various other outlets. It’s an unusual niche, so be sure to check it out and learn how Michelle discovered her “nose,” what she’s working on, and her love of the pencil.

While you’re there, you can catch up on some archived interviews with cookbook author Maggie Green and playwright J.D. Eames.

I haven’t seen them yet, but our A4-sized Habanas are apparently ready to ship. At the moment, they only come with blank (ivory) pages and black covers, but if they’re popular, that may change.

For those who aren’t familiar with the size, A4 is 8 ¼ x 11 ¾ inches. So these new books are bigger than our current large Habanas by a couple inches in each direction.

If you’re interested, please ask your favorite retailer! And watch this space for further updates, cause Karen has a few of these to give away…

May the best team hoist the Stanley Cup!

Leah and I are both big fans of the New Jersey Devils, so we’re hoping it will be our team! Ilya Kovalchuk said that no one can beat them when they are playing their best.  Leah and I both hope so!

Any bets on the teams in the Stanley Cup Finals?  I will bet New Jersey vs the Blackhawks.

A hearty thanks to all who entered our St. Patrick’s Day giveaway… nearly ninety names in total! We’ve run the numbers through Random.org and come up with the following winners:

• Ru-Ern C.
• Kerry A.
• Sidney C.
• Lisa V.
• David N.
• Mary Ellen D.
• Sandra H.
• Cayla A.
• Serio E.
• Melissa K.

If your name is on this list, you should already have received an email from me, so go ahead and check your inbox (and get in touch if it’s not there). Otherwise, and as usual, check back here for more giveaways…

St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow, and in the spirit of the holiday, we’re giving away ten academic planners with our new, green “Texas” covers. They’re made from an eco-friendly, PVC-free vinyl that feels a lot like suede, and contest entrants can choose from among the following formats:

1. Scholar
2. Textagenda
3. Academic Minister
4. Student
5. Principal

Academic planners start in July 2013, though impatient winners, beware: we won’t be able to ship your prizes till early-mid April, because the material is coming from France and needs to be prepared.

Enter before Thursday, March 22 at midnight EST by completing the form below.

UPDATE: This contest is now closed — many thanks to all who entered!

A quick update for those of you who are on an academic calendar and are trying to plan ahead: our academic-year planners will ship to retailers on April 1, and should be available for purchase shortly after that.

Hope that helps!

Our first Writers’ Project interview of the year is now live!

This time, we talked with Christian Patchell, or “Patch” as he’s better known, a cartoonist and designer who recently published a book on his experience with cancer.

You can check out the interview at the Writers’ Project homepage. While you’re there, be sure to check out previous interviews for more advice and inspiration!

Ok, so it isn’t a real holiday. But I still think handwriting is an important cause to promote in the age of electronics… according to the Writing Instrument Manufacturer’s Association (WIMA), which sponsors it, “National Handwriting Day is a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting.” It falls on January 23, in conjunction with John Hancock’s birthday, because “Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence and is famous for his large, bold signature.”

Interestingly, Western countries are not the only ones who struggle with this issue. According to a post on The Economist‘s language blog, computers and mobile phones have made Chinese characters much easier to read and look up, but harder to write from scratch:

In Chinese culture, good handwriting was long seen as indicative of moral fibre, knowledge of characters was synonymous with learning itself, and calligraphy was a great art. Now, the Chinese can avoid the drawbacks of the writing system while reading, but in avoiding those drawbacks, they are atrophying their ability to write their language with a pen. Writing on a computer is different – type in “wo” and Windows’s Chinese support will give you the most common character (the one that means “I”) first, along with the ability to choose many other characters pronounced “wo”. The software will usually find the most appropriate character for the context.