Contest shout-outs...

Thanks to everyone who visited my "Whose Line Is It?" post last week where I offered a chance to win my critique partner's hauntingly lovely YA debut from HarperTeen (click cover for excerpt):

As promised, I drew a winner from the six readers who answered correctly. But before I announce who won, I want to first give out the answers and personally acknowledge each of those readers for taking the time to play, because I didn't make it easy. They really had to work for a ballot in the drawing!

The challenge was to find three classic sentences hidden within a nonsense paragraph I'd written, and match the sentences to their famous original titles. Here's the paragraph again:


Morning light coaxes me awake. I crawl out of bed and stretch, arms spreading to the ceiling. My legs and ankles pop and snap. Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! My pet lizard watches from his terrarium, unimpressed. If only I could've been his maker. Even better, if I'd made the world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source: many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. I shudder, remembering the dream I had last night. I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room ... the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. Fears of waking to a world where my existence was of little consequence. The same world wherein I now stand.

Here are the classic quotes and the titles they belong to:

Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! - Alice in Wonderland 

A new species would bless me as its creator and source: many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. - Frankenstein

I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room ... the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. - Jane Eyre

And a shout-out to our savvy detectives, in no particular order:

Angela

mary_j_59

Cherie

Cathy

Marybk

Carly

Great job to all of these ladies! Make sure you click on their names to visit their blogs which are every bit as brilliant and industrious as their sleuthing abilities.

Now for the winner: Cathy, aka, The Total Book Nerd!

Looks like your years of being a book nerd have paid off, my well read friend! ;) Email me at anita at aghoward dot com with "blog contest" in the sub line. Include your mailing address along with who you would like the autograph to be made out to. I'll get the book sent your way asap.

Thanks again everyone who popped in and commented. Those of you who didn't win, please do order a copy of THROUGH HER EYES by Jennifer Archer. It's a must read for anyone who loves an eerie ghost story with a romantic twist. Also, drop by Jennifer's blog for a glimpse at her personal writer's journey along with some great writing tips.

Hope you all have a wonderful and productive Monday!

Whose line is it? *CONTEST*

This contest is now closed. Please check back on Monday, April 11th, when I'll announce the winner!

Before I explain my title, I'd like to announce that on Friday Kristine Carlson Asselin will be my successful QueryTracker guest. She has some interesting insights on how QueryTracker provided interaction with an agent who helped make her book "representation ready" for a completely different agent. Please stop by and give her your support!

Next, I 've been itching to have a contest. I want to do something unique that will support the launch of my crit pal Jennifer Archer's debut YA from Harper Collins (released yesterday).

So, I came up with the Whose line is it? game.

The Rules:

I'm going to spotlight sentences from three of my favorite classic novels. The twist is, I'm padding them in a paragraph with my own words. If you can find the three sentences that aren't mine and match them with their book titles (I'm providing a list below), your name goes in a drawing to win a personalized autographed copy of Through Her Eyes. And for the record, the story and writing are every bit as lovely and haunting as the cover (read an excerpt by clicking on book).

Here's my paragraph.

Morning light coaxes me awake. I crawl out of bed and stretch, arms spreading to the ceiling. My legs and ankles pop and snap. Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! My pet lizard watches from his terrarium, unimpressed. If only I could've been his maker. Even better, if I'd made the world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source: many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. I shudder, remembering the dream I had last night. I was transported in thought to the scenes of childhood: I dreamt I lay in the red-room ... the night was dark, and my mind impressed with strange fears. Fears of waking to a world where my existence was of little consequence. The same world wherein I now stand.

Whew. It's not easy trying to tie three very different voices together in a paragraph. *mops brow with hanky*

Okay, here are the title choices:

1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I'll run the contest through Thursday. If no one guesses the answers, then I'll draw names from those who leave a comment of any kind (even if you're just saying "hi") and the name I draw will win the book.

I'll announce the winner on Monday (April 11).

If you're game, copy and paste your sentence choices along with the matching titles in your comment.

Good luck!

And do remember, Google is your friend...

Why I left my first agent (or did she leave me?)...

If you'd like to know the answer to that teaser, I'm dishing the dirt (more like picking off lint balls) in a guest post over at Mindy McGinnis's blog, Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire.

Also, I'd like to announce two FABULOUS contests in the works. And no, neither of them are mine, but I hope to have one going soon...

Hmm, another teaser. Heh.

Contest one:

My crit pal, the lovely Jennifer Archer, wants to give you a brand new FREE Kindle, iPod Shuffle, leather bound journal, or an autographed copy of her ghostly YA novel...



Simply click the beautiful and mysterious book cover for details. ;-)

Contest two:

One of my new blogger acquaintances, Carolina Valdez Miller, has just signed with agent Vickie Motter. Her crit partners are generously sponsoring a contest with gifts ranging from: a $25 Amazon Gift Card, a 1st page critique from the afore mentioned agent, a Kindle and signed hardbacks of recent and popular books.



Click the champagne bottle for details.

Good luck to all who choose to participate!

And don't forget to drop by Mindy's blog for my guest post!