Comment Contest: Unbearable Excitement

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Byron the quokka is about ready to jump out of his skin with excitement. Well, he does take these things to heart. Ever since I made him in charge of the comment contest, he can hardly sit still.

There are a mere 127 comments left to go before someone posts No. 44,000 and wins the contest–and an autographed copy of The Temptation. Byron keeps checking because he wants to make the announcement. Unfortunately, the bicycle he wanted to give away as a prize belonged to someone else who has since gone home with it.

Everyone can play and all comments are eligible, with only these exceptions: comments abusive of anybody on this site; comments containing blasphemy or f-bombs; commercials disguised as comments; and, of course, comments too blindingly stupid to be published. Other than that, anything goes!

Byron the Quokka: ‘Excerpts, Anyone?’

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I’m always looking for ways to get readers more involved with my books and this blog. This morning Heidi had an idea that appeals to me: post excerpts. Revisit favorite characters and incidents, etc.

Now, I don’t have time to be poring through the books, looking for excerpts. But what I can do is post excerpts requested or nominated by readers. It might drum up interest in the books. It might be fun for everybody.

Some parameters immediately suggest themselves:

Make ’em short excerpts, just a paragraph or so.

Avoid posting things that will spoil the book’s ending.

When you request an excerpt, make sure to include the book’s title, the page number, and the first couple words of the desired paragraph or passage (so I can find just the one you want).

I have delegated this project to Byron the Quokka, who’s been tugging at my pants leg, demanding a greater role in our proceedings. “I can do it, I can do it!” he chirps. And squeals.

So… let’s give it a try and see how it works out. I’m not committing myself–after all, there’s always the chance that hardly anybody will be interested and almost no one will participate. Who knows, maybe it’ll turn out to be fun.

P.S.–I don’t have a car this week, it’s still raining, and tomorrow I’ll be collecting cobwebs in the eye doctor’s waiting room. Byron will be here to process your requests. If he doesn’t eat them.

P.P.S.–If you click and visit “Books,” you will find the opening chapter of each book provided as a sample. So in a way, we’ve been doing this all along. It’s just that no one noticed.

Comment Contest: Less than 500 to Go

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Byron the Quokka is concerned that the comments aren’t coming in as fast as he anticipated. So he has decided to up the ante.

Now the prize will be that wonderful bicycle you see in the picture behind him. I don’t know how a quokka goes about obtaining a bicycle. I don’t see how Byron’s feet can reach the pedals.

But whoever posts Comment No. 44,000 will win either an autographed copy of my new book, The Temptation, or that really nifty bike that somehow fell into Byron the Quokka’s opportunistic little paws. “The wheels actually turn!” he claims. We currently have 43,539 comments, so that leaves a mere 461 to go.

So come on, out there–think of something witty, pithy, or unforgettable to say and post it as a comment!

Just hurry up and do it before whoever that bike really belongs to shows up and takes it away.

I think there’s a future, though–don’t you?–in offering other people’s property as prizes in my contests. There’s gotta be a political theory that goes along with that…