www.marilynbrant.com

Monday, February 22, 2010

Hank's Giveaway Winners PLUS a New Austen Challenge

Without further ado, there are contest winners to be announced! Again, thanks so much to Hank Phillippi Ryan for visiting last week and for being so generous with her books. There were supposed to be two winners for Hank's novels, but Hank writes: "In honor of AIR TIME just being nominated for the AGATHA AWARD for Best Mystery of 2009, three winners! Pamala, L.A. Mitchell and Tonya can get the TIME book of their choice! Just have them email me at hryan at whdh dot com and tell me their choice of book and their address -- or they can go to my website and click on contact." (WHOO-HOO, HANK!!!!!! CONGRATS!!!)

And congrats to Pamala, L.A. and Tonya, too! The books in Hank's TIME series include: Prime Time, Face Time, Air Time or Drive Time. And when you email her with your choice, you can add a second congrats because not only did AIR TIME receive an AGATHA nomination, but her short story "On the House" was also nominated for the AGATHA for Best Short Story of 2009! So, two HUGE nominations... Fabulous news, Hank! (You can sample the short story on her website, btw.)

Also, here's a fun new Jane Austen Challenge for the year. Thanks to Haley from The Life (and Lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object, you can take part in this 2010 Austen reading challenge at one of these levels:

**Newbie 2 books by J. Austen, 2 re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)

**Lover 4 books by J. Austen, 4 re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)

**Fanatic 6+ books by J. Austen, 5+ re-writes, prequels, sequels, or spoofs (by other authors)

Since I am pretty clearly in the "Fanatic" category, I'll be trying for that one...

My 6+ books by Jane herself are the regulars: Emma, Northanger Abbey, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Persuasion. I'm tempted to add Sanditon (her unfinished manuscript) to this list as well. It's been years since I read it closely, and I think I'd find her partial draft even more interesting now.

As for my 5+ others, this is likely to be expanded just because there are so many Austenesque books out there that I'd love to read, but for now: Jane Bites Back (Michael Thomas Ford), The Other Mr. Darcy (Monica Fairview), Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart (Beth Pattillo), Longbourn's Unexpected Matchmaker (Emma Hox) and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World (Abigail Reynolds). I still have to catch up with some of the more recent delightful mysteries by Carrie Bebris and Stephanie Barron, too...sigh. My TBR pile is enormous.

What are you all doing/watching/reading this week? Any raves??

12 comments:

Edie Ramer said...

I can't remember SANDITON. I'm going to see if my library has it. A fun challenge. I love the mysteries by Carrie Bebris and Stephanie Barron.

Congratulations to the winners!

Pamela Cayne said...

Sorry--not even close to the newbie category. Isn't there a Joss Whedon category I could use to transfer credits?

Happy Monday, and congrats to the Pamala, L.A. and Tonya!

Marilyn Brant said...

Edie~I wanna say that Austen only got about 10 chapters into Sanditon, and I haven't read it since I've been writing fiction...but an early draft of hers still has to be a work of art ;).

Pamela~LOL! A Joss Whedon category?! (Heavy sigh.) I suppose for YOU we could make this exception, but don't think I won't be pushing Jane books on you during Spring Fling. Consider yourself warned. :-)

Pamala Knight said...

WOOHOO!! Marilyn I think you are my lucky charm because I don't win anything anywhere else but here!! Thanks for entering me into the drawing and I'll slide on over to Hank's website to ask for my copy of Prime Time. Yay!

And I think we know that I stand along side you with the Austen obsession, so yes say it with me:

"Hi, my name is Pamala and I'm an Austen addict...."

P.S. Stop warning Pamela about the things that will happen to her at Spring Fling! I've already got her nervous about the Bon Jovi karaoke so let's just lure her in with promises of chocolate and whatever else her heart desires, lol.

*waves*

Marilyn Brant said...

HA!!! Pamala, you're so right...I should be less *openly* forceful about the Austen thing with our Ms. Cayne--however, you and I can whisper behind her back and plot all kinds of fun things to spring on her when she's here!! Meet me offline and we'll talk... *wink*
p.s. Congrats on winning a book!!

K.M. Saint James said...

I'm with Pamela C on the newbie category. Can I add from a few other authors, too?

Rants and raves . . . well, LA let me plot with her this weekend. When she wasn't mocking my slow writing pace -- not in a book, no, I was just taking notes on a post-it -- or she wasn't squinting at me, she was terribly useful. It's hard to hold a grudge when she's so good at twisting a plot.

Happy writing, Marilyn.

Tonya Kappes said...

Yeah! I am so excited to get one of Hank's books! Thank you.

I am reading this week. I have a couple of guest this month on my blog and reading their book is good...

I'm in the lover catagory. ONLY because I have sooo many other reads this year.
Thanks again!

Marilyn Brant said...

Sandra~so glad you had a productive plotting weekend! How fun that must have been ;).

Tonya~you're welcome, and congrats again!! Always glad to know another Austen lover--btw!!

L.A. Mitchell said...

Fantastic, Marilyn :) And thanks so much, Hank!! I'll be in contact.

Marilyn Brant said...

Congrats again, L.A. :)!!

Meredith said...

Excellent choices for the Austen reading challenge! I loved Abigail Reynolds' latest book! I also just finished Carrie Bebris's latest "The Intrigue at Highbury" and I thought it was the best one yet!! Happy reading!

Village Talkies said...

Thank you for your informative post!!!
Village Talkies a top-quality professional corporate video production company in Bangalore and also best explainer video company in Bangalore & animation video makers in Bangalore, Chennai, India & Maryland, Baltimore, USA provides Corporate & Brand films, Promotional, Marketing videos & Training videos, Product demo videos, Employee videos, Product video explainers, eLearning videos, 2d Animation, 3d Animation, Motion Graphics, Whiteboard Explainer videos Client Testimonial Videos, Video Presentation and more for all start-ups, industries, and corporate companies. From scripting to corporate video production services, explainer & 3d, 2d animation video production , our solutions are customized to your budget, timeline, and to meet the company goals and objectives.
As a best video production company in Bangalore, we produce quality and creative videos to our clients.