Summer Book Giveaway Winners

Thanks to all those who entered the Summer Book Giveaway contest by guessing where certain vacation photos were taken. The three winners were Mary, Charlynn, and Chelle. (I picked the winners by counting up the total number of comments and used a handy random number generator to pick three random numbers.)

Also, congrats to everyone who correctly guessed where the photos were taken. I’ve reposted the photos below with information on where they were taken along with why we happened to stop at each particular place. Enjoy!

Photo#1: Shoshone Falls, Idaho. On our way up to Boise to see my sister and her family, she suggested we stop here if we wanted our kids to stretch their legs. It's a nine mile detour off I-84 but well worth the trip.

Photo #2: Idaho State Capitol, Boise, Idaho. An unplanned stop. We were on our way to another part of Boise when my sister asked if we wanted to go check it out. Very beautiful and the entire building has been recently restored.

Photo #3: Old Idaho State Penitentiary, Boise, Idaho. Another unexpected stop and by far the most interesting place we visited. The kids enjoyed running around old cell blocks and "locking" themselves in cells. I got tons of ideas for scenes in upcoming novels and took tons of photos. The photo below was taken near the exercise yard.

Old Idaho State Penitentiary

Photo #4: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. I was surprised how popular this place was and how many touristy things there are to do in the Rapid City area. (Thankfully my sister gave us the heads up before we went there.) Fun to see and the Black Hills are gorgeous.

Photo #5: Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming. Despite living in Casper, Wyoming for two years, I never made it up to this part of the state. The sheer size of the mountain is breathtaking. Sadly, there was no secret military base on the top of the mountain.

Photo #6: Devil's Gate, Wyoming. To keep our devil-themed Wyoming trip, we stopped at Devil's Gate, Wyoming. Actually, we stopped by Martin's Cove which just so happens to be in the vicinity of Devil's Gate but thought that this was a more interesting photo. :-)

Where Am I #6

Here's the last vacation photo--probably the toughest of the bunch. If you’d like to win one of my books (your choice), feel free to take a guess where the photo was taken. If you haven't already, feel free to guess the other photos here, here, here, here, and here. Each guess will give you one entry into a drawing to win. If you guess correctly, you get a bonus entry. By the time my vacation is over, I’ll pick three random posters to win one of my books. Here’s the fifth photo. Look for the next one tomorrow. I’ll list the locations and the winners when I get back. Have fun and good luck!

Where Am I #4

OK, this one is easy. I’m on vacation for the next week or so and will be posting the occasional photo of my travels. If you’d like to win one of my books (your choice), feel free to take a guess where the photo was taken. Each guess will give you one entry into a drawing to win. If you guess correctly, you get a bonus entry. By the time my vacation is over, I’ll pick three random posters to win one of my books. Here’s the fourth photo. Look for the next one tomorrow. I’ll list the locations and the winners when I get back. Have fun and good luck!

Where Am I #3

I'm on vacation for the next week or so and will be posting the occasional photo of my travels. If you'd like to win one of my books (your choice), feel free to take a guess where the photo was taken. Each guess will give you one entry into a drawing to win. If you guess correctly, you get a bonus entry. By the time my vacation is over, I'll pick three random posters to win one of my books. Here's the third photo. Look for the next one tomorrow. I'll list the locations and the winners when I get back. Have fun and good luck!

 

Where Am I #2

I'm on vacation for the next week or so and will be posting the occasional photo of my travels. If you'd like to win one of my books (your choice), feel free to take a guess where the photo was taken. Each guess will give you one entry into a drawing to win. If you guess correctly, you get a bonus entry. By the time my vacation is over, I'll pick three random posters to win one of my books. Here's the second photo. Look for the next one tomorrow. I'll list the locations and the winners when I get back. Have fun and good luck!

Where Am I #1

I'm on vacation for the next week or so and will be posting the occasional photo of my travels. If you'd like to win one of my books (your choice), feel free to take a guess where the photo was taken. Each guess will give you one entry into a drawing to win. If you guess correctly, you get a bonus entry. By the time my vacation is over, I'll pick three random posters to win one of my books. Here's the first photo. Look for the next one tomorrow. I'll list the locations and the winners when I get back. Have fun and good luck!

The Paperback Game

Looking for a game to play at a party or when on vacation? A writer for the New York Times has what looks to be a hilarous way to pass the time while on vacation or at a party where there are lots of books lying around.

Here’s what you’ll need to play: slips of paper (index cards work well), a handful of pencils or pens and a pile of paperback books. Any sort of book will do, from a Dostoyevsky to a Jennifer Egan, and from diet guides to the Kama Sutra. But we’ve found it’s especially rewarding to use genre books: mysteries, romance novels, science fiction, pulp thrillers, westerns, the cheesier the better. If you don’t have well-thumbed mass-market paperbacks in your house, you can usually buy a pile from your library, or from a used-book store, for roughly 50 cents a pop.

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Once you’ve gathered your loved ones at the table — 4 to 10 is optimal — and opened fresh bottles of wine and perhaps put on an old Ry Cooder record, here is how the game unfolds. One player, the “picker” for this turn, selects a book from the pile and shows its cover around. Then he or she flips it over and reads aloud the often overwrought publisher-supplied copy on the back cover.

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The other players absorb these words, and then write on their slips of paper what they imagine to be a credible first sentence for Ms. Lindsey’s novel. Essentially, they need to come up with something good — or bad — enough to fool the other players into thinking that this might be the book’s actual first sentence. Players initial their slips of paper and place them upside down in a pile at the center of the table.

Meanwhile the picker — the person who read the back cover aloud — writes the book’s actual first sentence on another slip of paper. He or she collects all the slips, mixing the real first sentence with the fakes, and commences to read each one aloud. Each person votes on what he or she thinks is the real first sentence.

Here’s how score is kept: If someone votes for your bogus sentence, you get a point. If you pick the real first sentence, you get two points. (The picker doesn’t vote in this round.) Now go around the table clockwise. Someone else picks a book, and you repeat the process until a round ends – that is, until each person has had a turn at being the picker. Or you can play until the wine bottles are drained, and it’s time to go outside to gawk at the stars.

You can read the entire article here.

This would actually be a fun game to play at my parents home where there are tons of books lying about. I’m heading over there for the 4th but alas we already have tickets to a demolition derby. However, it’s something I’d like to try next time I’m at a party or hanging out with the family later this summer.

If any of you have played The Paperback Game (or something similar) I’m curious as to how much you enjoy it. According to the author you don’t have to be a book worm or a writer to excel at the game—just creative.