The Final Winner - After the ReDo!

So you'll have to trust me on this (which is nothing new - you've had to trust me on all of it - I'm worthy of your trust, by the way), but the new, official winner was selected after an evening session of diving. I won't make you wait too long. You should know that Padme went up against the Wookie Tarful and the Gungin General Tarpals.

It was a close competition, but a definitive winner did arise. Said winner is seen in the this photo... Not being nearly as reserved as I expected, Tarful began working the crowd.

It's possible that the time spent down under caused some damage. I'm not sure. But he did get rather wild... Still, Tarfuls pulled it off. That, I believe, means that the Dynastic Queen is our official winner. All hail the Queen! And... least anyone doubt it, this is yet more evidence that good relations with the Wookies it is advantageous to have.

Acacia UK Giveaway Results!

Finally, the winner of last month's giveaway has been chosen! And elaborately chosen at that. My kids - in honor of the fact that we just moved and now have a pool! - proposed an aquatic component to the selection process. This'll take a minute to explain...

First off, Maya and Sage were kind enough to take the plunge...


We recruited some brave volunteers to assist us... We drew from races extending throughout the galaxy, accepting both human and alien recruits. We didn't discriminate on the basis of size, sex, appearance, number of limbs, flippers, tusks or anything else. There was but one condition: they had to sink. We were looking for dead weights that weren't afraid to risk everything in the deep blue. (This condition, by the way, excluded all Stormtroopers. We've found those guys to be unsinkable. It's why we've signed them up for the Stormtrooper Rafting Team, but that's a different story...)

There were a few last minute additions and replacements, but before long we had a company, each individual stepping forward to represent one of our contest competitors. Yes, they did it for you. What, exactly, did they do? They allowed Sage to toss them into the middle of the pool, where they promptly sunk...

Maya and Sage then dove in and (with complete objectivity) they each grabbed the first four figures they could. It's hard to measure how much the figures themselves affected the outcome, but I assure you the kids were objective participants simply grasping for whatever appeared in arms reach.

The result was a collection of eight semi-finalists. It was a hardy group, including humans like Padme and Shmi, the Jedi's Anakin and Kai Adi Mundi, the Gungans Jar Jar Binks and General Tarpals, some weird blue guy and the robust Tarful. They were tossed back into the water for another round, and this time only four came back...








The four finalists were cast into the pools once more. This time, though, they went in at the deep end. That's a thousand feet of water right there...
Both Maya and Sage made repeated dives, (And I mean repeated!) finding it difficult get down far enough. (Remember the Abyss and that funky liquid oxygen they breathed? My kids were starting to look like that rat by end of this, although lacking the oxygen...) And then... then...

Did you ever see the Luc Besson film Deep Blue (Le Grande Bleu)? I remember thinking that rocked. The guy was a dolphin in human trappings! Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette, Jean Reno... Lots of blue water... It looked kinda like Maya rising with the winner.

And the winner is...


Jar Jar... Jar Jar? Oh, man... It's possible that he "accidentally" found some way to cheat, but I can't prove anything. His victory stands. Who, exactly, was Jar Jar representing? It's painful, but it's also obvious - Onebadgungan is our newest winner!

Just for the record, the contestant representation went like this (and was decided by Maya and Sage)...

Dirk - Dark Bounty Hunter Guy
Brian T Carroll - Warthog-looking Guy with tusks and robotic legs
Onebadgungan - Jar Jar Binks
Mike - Darth Sidious
GGallinThicke - Darth Maul
Bherstig - Newt Gunray
Inklings - Mas Ameda
Scott- Kai Adi Mundi
Borock - Blueface chubby guy
Gemini6toad - General Grievous
Talin - Padme
Ziggi - Yoda
Nblair - Shmi
Dynastic Queen - Wookie Warrior Tarful
Arkana - Obi Wan Kenobi
Erika Hamerquist - General Tarpals
Debbborra - Dexter Jetser
Mikejs - Ala Secura
Cal95757 - Anakin
PhoenixIce - Taun We

Contest Results Soon...

Hey, I just remembered.... Since the month of May has ended I need to draw for that free copy of the British Acacia! I’ve got the list on entrants on my Forum, and I’ll make the drawing happen as soon as I get my computer and printer up and running, etc. So they’ll be a winner soon!

Acacia UK Trade Paper Giveaway!

Hi Folks! I know we just wrapped up a giveaway a few days ago, but I think I'll go ahead and do another one...

The UK edition of Acacia just arrived! I only got two at this preliminary stage, but if you want one it can be yours. Kinda nice cover. Some heft to it. For US folks there's the cool factor of having the foreign edition, one with squiggly pound signs beside the price, etc. And there's the knowledge that you'll be getting one of the two very first copies of this book that I ever saw. One goes on my bookshelf; perhaps its twin goes on yours. (You can have the one on the right...)


The routine is the same as before. Just go over to the Forum and toss your name in the hat. They're are no downsides, and it's not like there are millions of people entering these things. You've actually got a shot at it! Ask Scott, our last winner. I've actually just mailed his book off this morning. So it's on the way, Scott.

Second Acacia Signed Hardback Giveaway...

has been decided! Thank you to everyone that joined my Forum and threw their name in the helmet. Yes, the helmet. Please view the official contest photographs, in which the process is documented...

Here we see the contestants' names, on roughly equally-sized tabs...


Here we see the vessel of the Fortune, as held by my son Sage (He of the Big Hair.)...


(The Vessel, by the way, is my old Whitewater Kayaking helmet. Still fits, right enough, although it's most used now a days by my daughter as she skateboards. She eschews pink, see. She'll have nothing to do with Princesses. She rather prefers black. I think, honestly, that I enjoyed Enchanted more than she die. Anyway...)

He of the Big Hair offers the vessel to the Judge, the Decider, the... Picker of Winners. (That's my daughter, Maya.) She approaches like an agent of doom. (You'd think it was bad thing to get free book, by the looks of her!)


She reaches for the winner...


Oh, wait!.. Sage realizes the pot has not been sufficiently stirred. (Note the focussed expression and the blurred rapidity of his stirring technique...)


And then... Maya chooses. She does so with eyes closed, using nothing but her innate Picker clairvoyance to guide her hand...


And after all that, she emerges with the winner...


His name be... SCOTT. Congratulations, Scott. I'll be contacting you soon.

Pat's ACACIA Giveaway

So here I was all proud of myself for offering up one signed edition of Acacia in a giveaway... (Nice of me, huh?)

Well, Transworld is being nicer. (Although they can't sign their copies.) They've set up a giveaway deal at Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. They're offering up five copies of the UK version of Acacia, which is pubbing in May. If you're interested, click over to Pat's and sign up!

Pat's Acacia Giveaway!

A Giveaway

In the interests of offering some Acacia-reading incentives in this Pre-Campbell Award period... I'd like to offer up a free hardback copy (signed, of course) of Acacia: The War With The Mein.

All you have to do is go over to my Forum and visit the Giveaway Thread. To play you'd have to join the Forum, but I swear that nothing bad comes of that. No emails, no public disclosures, no anything strange. I promise. If you do join, just post a note throwing your name in there, and it's done. If you're in the US I'm happy to mail it to the winner via slow mail. If you're overseas we'll have to work something out with the postage. But that's only if you win, and before that you have to play!

This is all rather informal, by the way, and the selection process is hardly scientific. Here's a photo of my son shaking up the entries last time... But it works!

Oh, I'd also be curious as to your opinions on the Hugos, the novel category in particular. I have a Forum post about that, too. It's here. There's a poll you could vote in, if you're so inclined...

Audio Acacia Contest Winner!

I'm about to head off for World Fantasy, but before I did I knew we had to have the big, official drawing for the Acacia Audiobook contest. So, documented below is the process, culminating in the winner!

Just to make sure all parties know of the procedures used, we've documented the proceedings. Thankfully, unofficial mediators - my kids - oversaw the drawing. First, we printed out the contestants names and put them on separate tickets.

Next, my son, Sage, placed the tickets into a bag...











And he shook them...
...vigorously... while making goofy faces.My daughter Maya stepped in to draw the lucky winner...















And that turned out to be...
So there you have it. Dave Bower, it's your lucky day! Kind of ironic, really, as Dave was the first person to sign up on the Forum. Well done. I'll be in touch.

Thanks to all the folks that participated. And thanks for joining the Forum to do so. Please feel free to come back to it and hang out anytime. I'm always happy to field questions there personally. Perhaps, in a little while I'll do another one of these giveaways, with some other random item...