Script Giveaway: PRECIOUS

I’ll be giving thanks on Thursday but today, I’m giving away the shooting script of Lee Daniels’s Precious, written by Geoffrey Fletcher based on the novel Push by Sapphire.

I’m certain the screenplay will receive one of the film’s multiple Oscar nominations so if Precious isn’t playing in your city yet, you can still read it and see what the buzz is about. This giveaway is open to everyone.

I’ll take entries until Monday, Nov. 30, 5 p.m. PST and will randomly draw 2 winners to receive scripts via e-mail. You must be a subscriber or Twitter follower to participate. Winners will only be announced here and on Twitter and have 48 hours to respond before alternate winners are chosen.

To enter, answer the following question:

• Who’s the most precious person in your life?

On that note, I’d like to wish my U.S. readers a very happy Thanksgiving spent with people for whom you’re most thankful.

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Video Interview with Michael Connelly & Giveaway

Yesterday was pub date for Michael Connelly‘s 9 Dragons and the beginning of his tour (complete schedule here). Despite having just gotten off the plane, in the rain, Connelly graciously sat with me for an interview before reading to an SRO crowd at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA.

He already has an informative Q & A about Dragons on his website in which he explains the name and inspiration for the book, as well as his research in Hong Kong. So, I asked about other things like Matthew McConaughey and mystery authors playing strip poker. Well, there were serious questions, too. Just watch the video below.

Afterwards, I know you’ll want to get your hands on this book, so how about I give you some? Thanks to Miriam from Hachette Book Group, I can give away 5 copies of 9 Dragons AND each winner will get a paperback of The Brass Verdict thrown in, too! Details below the video.

Eligibility requirements for the giveaway:

• be U.S. or Canada resident
• no P.O. boxes
• be an e-mail subscriber or Twitter follower (current subscribers/followers automatically get an extra entry)

To enter, leave a comment with a 9-word sentence telling me why you’d like to win these books. (Connelly recently ran a contest asking people to describe Harry Bosch in 9 words; see winners here.) If you tweet about this contest, let me know and you’ll get 2 extra entries but this completely optional.

I’ll take entries until October 22, 5 p.m. PST. Winners will be chosen by Random.org, announced here and on Twitter only, and have 48 hours to claim prizes before I pick alternate winner(s). Good luck!

Full disclosure: I stayed up until 3 stinkin’ 30 in the morning to edit this even though I had to report for jury duty at 7 a.m. And I didn’t receive one red cent for it, okay, FTC? I did it because I think Connelly is cool. The end.

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Winners of Sara Angelini’s THE TRIALS OF THE HONORABLE F. DARCY

The winners of Sara Angelini’s modern version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice are:

Jen Forbus, for claiming Austenian spinsterhood (though that term hardly applies to her nowadays!) and her passionate determination to hold out for the right man. How can I not pick her?

Patti, because I want to help alleviate her plight of possible booklessness in the next few months.

Congratulations, Jen and Patti! Please click on “contact” in the top right corner of this page and e-mail me your address. I’ll forward it to my Sourcebooks contact, who will send you each a copy of The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy.

Thanks, everyone, for entering. If you didn’t win this time but would like a chance to win another book, enter this giveaway here by sharing your nerdy stories. Have fun!

My First Blogoversary Party

A year ago today, I woke up and decided I wanted to write a blog. Never mind that I’d never read a blog or had any idea how to start one. But due to some personal circumstances, I’d been couped up in the house for a while and desperately needed a creative outlet.

So I researched blogging and, thanks to WordPress’s super easy setup, published my first post within two hours. It felt like I’d given birth to something wonderful.

I went on to write more posts, happy in my space, oblivious to the fact I was supposed to be doing things like trying to drum up followers/subscribers, reading other blogs, leaving comments, etc. I’d only researched “How to start a blog,” not “How to get people to read it.”

Imagine how I felt, then, when I looked at my stats today and saw I’ve had over 178,000 hits in the past year. HUH?! Who put acid in my coffee?! I mean, most of my own family don’t read my blog.

So I suspect I owe most of those hits to readers like you. To everyone who has left me a comment and encouraged me to keep writing, recommended or linked to my site, subscribe and/or follow on Twitter, guest-blogged, let me interview them by asking goofy questions, provided me with books and ARCs to review, and befriended me through this blog, I thank you deeply. You have expanded and enriched my life in profound ways. If you’ve been lurking and never left a comment, please de-lurk yourself, even if it’s only for today, because I’d love to meet all my guests.

I’d like to show my appreciation by doing yet another giveaway (sick of all the free stuff yet?). But this one is different in that everyone is eligible, no matter where you are! Two winners can choose their own prize(s) from the ARCs and books I’ve received from generous publicists in the past year. Most titles are in new or fine condition and I think there’s a nice variety. Click on them for more details.

Winners can pick 1 hardcover (HC) or 2 ARCs/paperbacks (PB) from the following list:

1. Ravens by George Dawes Green (HC)
2. How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely (PB)
3. The Hidden Man by David Ellis (ARC)
4. Trust No One by Gregg Hurwitz (ARC)
5. Race for the Dying by Steven F. Havill (HC)
6. Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Deception by Eric Van Lustbader (ARC)
7. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett (ARC)
8. Laura Rider’s Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton (HC)
9. Detectives Don’t Wear Seatbelts by Cici McNair (ARC)
10. The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha (ARC)
11. The Actor and the Housewife by Shannon Hale (HC)
12. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (ARC)
13. White Witch, Black Curse by Kim Harrison (HC)
14. The House of Lost Souls by F.G. Cottam (HC)
15. The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas (PB)
16. Perfection by Julie Metz (ARC)

Now, how do you win? Share with me the nerdiest moment in your life so far and by this, I mean anything that might have been, um, awkward. Ever been caught with your zipper down during an interview? Happened to me. Ever been told on Halloween your costume was awesome while you were just wearing your regular clothes? Yup, me, too. Broccoli stuck in teeth all through a date? Check. That’s right—we celebrate nerdiness here so drag those stories out of your mental closet, share them proudly and loudly, and you might win a prize for Nerdiest Moment!

I’ll pick one winner with the funniest story and one runner-up. The winner gets the first choice of book(s). You do have to be a subscriber/Twitter follower to participate. Contest ends on Sunday, October 11, 5 p.m. PST. Winners will only be announced here and on Twitter; there will be no e-mail notification. If I don’t hear back within 2 days, alternate winners will be chosen.

Now, let’s get this nerd party started!

Who Wants Free Books?

Since you’re reading this, I’m assuming you do so it’s a good thing I’m doing another giveaway!

Photo by Lydia @ Putnam

Lydia from Putnam has generously offered me three advance reading copies of Rough Country, the latest by John Sandford, bestselling author of the Prey series with Lucas Davenport. The lead character in Country, though, is Virgil Flowers, an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. This is the third Flowers adventure, with the following synopsis from Sandford’s website:

Virgil’s always been known for having a somewhat active, er, social life, but he’s probably not going to be getting too many opportunities for that during his new case. While competing in a fishing tournament in a remote area of northern Minnesota, he gets a call from Lucas Davenport to investigate a murder at a nearby resort, where a woman has been shot while kayaking. The resort is for women only, a place to relax, get fit, recover from plastic surgery, commune with nature, and while it didn’t start out to be a place mostly for those with Sapphic inclinations, that’s pretty much what it is today.

Which makes things all the more complicated for Virgil, because as he begins investigating, he finds a web of connections between the people at the resort, the victim, and some local women, notably a talented country singer, and the more he digs, the move he discovers the arrows of suspicion that point in many directions, encompassing a multitude of motivations: jealousy, blackmail, greed, anger, fear. And then he discovers that this is not the first murder, that there was a second, seemingly unrelated one, the year before. And that there’s about to be a third, definitely related one, any time now. And as for the fourth… well, Virgil better hope he can catch the killer before that happens.

Because it could be his own.

To enter the random drawing, leave me a comment answering this question: What’s the roughest territory or environment you’ve ever been in?

For me, it was Viet Nam during the early ’70s where, if my family wanted to eat chicken, we had to grab a live one and kill it ourselves. Ain’t no KFC there.

Your experience didn’t have to take place in another country, and “environment” could just mean a setting, like a family reunion or the prom. Let’s hear your survival stories!

To be eligible, you also have to:

• be a subscriber or follower on Twitter
• be a resident of the U.S. or Canada

If you’re on Twitter, you can get two extra entries by tweeting about this (my handle is @popculturenerd) but that’s completely optional. Entries will be accepted until 9 p.m. PST, Monday, September 28. Remember, I’m giving away THREE copies so you have a good chance of snagging one!

Monday Nerd Bits

Photo © Pop Culture Nerd

Just got back from a gorgeous week in San Francisco visiting family. Didn’t get a chance to write or read much but did get to hang out with the lovely Sophie Littlefield (click here to see us misbehaving), author of the kick-ass A Bad Day for Sorry.

I promise a full week of articles ahead but for now, because the plane was delayed and I got in late, I just have a few nerd bits for you:

• The NY Times posted the first review of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. Am I the only person in the world who hasn’t read The Da Vinci Code and doesn’t really care about Symbol? I’m WAY more interested in Jon Krakauer’s new book, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, which also comes out Tuesday. Krakauer can make nonfiction read like the most heartstopping thrillers around.
• Tonight at 9 p.m. PST, I’ll randomly select the three winners of Phillip Done’s charming book, Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind, so get your entry in here if you haven’t already. I really enjoyed Done’s tales of the kids he’s taught and think you will, too.
• Within the next week, I’ll have another fantastic giveaway. This time, it’ll be the latest installment in a series by a huge, bestselling author. Check back to see who it is and enter because I’ll also be giving away three copies of that.
• Oscar season, as well as the new TV season, is ramping up in Hollywood, which means lots of screenings for the next few months. This week, I’ll be seeing Jane Campion’s Bright Star and some of ABC’s new shows like Cougar Town and FlashForward. I’ll report back on these events (the stars are scheduled for Q & A).

Have a mind-blowing Monday and I’ll see you on the nerd bus.

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