Last week I reviewed the MWA anthology, The Prosecution Rests.
Toward the end of that post I said: “watch this space because some time during the week of June 1st we will shout, ‘let the raffle begin.’ ”
And so we have.
Little, Brown and Company, part of the Hachette Book Group, is offering copies of The Prosecution Rests to five lucky American or Canadian readers of the Women of Mystery blog.
To enter for a chance to win this splendid anthology, all you have to do is drop a note in the comment section of this post and tell us about you and a raffle prize. You won it. You never won it. You sold the winning ticket to someone you dislike. The prize was: silly, gorgeous, expensive, outrageous, or completely useless. You get the idea.
Comments posted before noon on Saturday, June 6, will be printed and placed into one of those big brass drums which I will vigorously churn until the entries have been tossed thither and yon. Then my personal trainer, Gilad, elated by my bicep/tricep churning prowess, will extract five winning comments.
More likely, I will sling the comments in my Irish Trifle Bowl and have some of my grandkids pull out the winners. But, hey, do you really care? Supervising the draw of comments is my worry, not yours. Your job is to enter. Hop to it.
Toward the end of that post I said: “watch this space because some time during the week of June 1st we will shout, ‘let the raffle begin.’ ”
And so we have.
Little, Brown and Company, part of the Hachette Book Group, is offering copies of The Prosecution Rests to five lucky American or Canadian readers of the Women of Mystery blog.
To enter for a chance to win this splendid anthology, all you have to do is drop a note in the comment section of this post and tell us about you and a raffle prize. You won it. You never won it. You sold the winning ticket to someone you dislike. The prize was: silly, gorgeous, expensive, outrageous, or completely useless. You get the idea.
Comments posted before noon on Saturday, June 6, will be printed and placed into one of those big brass drums which I will vigorously churn until the entries have been tossed thither and yon. Then my personal trainer, Gilad, elated by my bicep/tricep churning prowess, will extract five winning comments.
More likely, I will sling the comments in my Irish Trifle Bowl and have some of my grandkids pull out the winners. But, hey, do you really care? Supervising the draw of comments is my worry, not yours. Your job is to enter. Hop to it.
Terrie
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70 comments:
Well, I've been fairly lucky over the years winning things here and there. But by far the oddest one was the won I won without entering.
It wasn't a raffle as such, but here's what happened:
I was covering something for the local newspaper about 20 years ago. The event included several draws for smaller prizes and I barely paid attention as there was no need. Then my name was called.
I tried to decline noting I hadn't even entered. That was not considered a proper reason. Someone had put my name in anyway and that was how matters stood.
I've long forgotten the prize, but not the fact I won without trying.
I know I'm not eligible but, hey, I'm a reader, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to alert one and all to the fact that the only raffle I ever won (in fact the only time I ever won anything, not even best Halloween costume or tallest in my sixth grade class) was a huge basket of stuff (wine, bath goodies, gift certificates, lots more) provided by local merchants for a fund raiser. I'm encouraging our readers to offer their own raffles so I'll have more opportunities for my luck to change.
Once, just once, at a Cub Scout raffle, we won three of the five prizes. We were embarrassed to slink off with a doll, tkts to a Tiger game and something else (wine?). Leave it to us to win too much the only time we won at all.
df Leah,
You are the first person I have even heard of who won WITHOUT entering! Into the trifle bowl you go!!
Lois,
That does sound like a nice prize!
Patti,
If you are going to wine three out of five prizes, try for a car, a trip around the world and a year's supply of groceries---or one grand prize: The Prosecution Rests. Your comment will land in the trifle bowl for sure.
Terrie
I won an auction at last year's Left Coast Crime in Denver, CO- it was a naming in Elaine Viets' latest book, Killer Cuts, just out a few weeks ago. I am a snobby super model (a far cry from reality), and honored to be in her book.
Winner winner. Chicken Dinner. A guy can hope anyway.
It wasn't a raffle, but I was at Playland this Sunday with our houseguests (a blast!), and I won the water pistol balloon race.
Hello, Fuzzy Monkey of Destiny!
Hi Kim,
That is a super prize and you will always be a super model but NEVER a snob to me!!
Your comment goes into the trifle bowl.
Terrie
Hi Travis,
If there is any justice in the world you won a chicken dinner without lettuce. And you certainly get poetic points.
Into the trifle bowl with ye!
Terrie
Clare,
I am so jealous! The water pistol balloon race is my favorite carnival game. I was at the pistol range with you and saw your accuracy first hand, so I am not surprised that you won.
Terrie
My grandmother used to have the most amazing luck, and seemed to win everything she entered. Alas, she never bought a lottery ticket. And double alas, I didn't seem to inherit her luck.
I hear this is an amazing anthology!
Stuff that big brass drum with the name Cranmer. That's C-R-A-N-M-E-R.
Meredith,
It is an amazing anthology and perhaps your grandma's luck will catch up with your right about now. You are certainly in the running.
David,
Smart move. Of my grand kids who can't yet read, most can recognize capital letters. I bet they will be secretly hoping to pull your C-R-A-N-M-E-R right out of the trifle bowl.
Terrie
The only time I can recall ever winning a raffle prize, the experience was a major letdown. My high school had a drawing for prizes for incoming freshmen, and I just about fell over when they called my name for the grand prize. Only one problem: The grand prize was a badminton racket case donated by the school's badminton club, and I didn't own a badminton racket. In fact, with bad eyesight and equally bad coordination, I loathed badminton more than any other sport. Which is saying something. I went up and claimed my prize, to much applause, took the darned thing home and threw it in a closet. And there it sat, moldering, until the next time we moved, whereupon it was deposited unceremoniously somewhere in the middle of a very large trash pile.
It was not exactly a raffle but I won a rocking chair in a bingo game at my church bazaar when I was a teenager. That chair was still in the family living room when I had the tag sale after my father's death. It was his favorite chair all those years.
Tamara,
And you know that more than one of those incoming freshman was just drooling to win the badminton case.
Helen,
How wonderful to win something that your father enjoyed all those years.
Into the trifle bowl with both of you.
Terrie
Here's a raffle prize I won that was quite unusual: A sheet cake to feed 100 people! I guess they hoped someone with a wedding or bar mitzvah would win it. I had this huge chocolate cake made and delivered to my office, and people ate for a week.
Another cool prize I won (not via raffle): I was four years old, on a family vacation at a hotel, and I won $30 in Bingo. To this day, I love Bingo.
This was truly amazing. I once won a T-shirt with the phrase, "cool guy" on it. The amazing part is I am a cool guy.
How did they know???
A couple of years ago, I entered a raffle to win having my name be a character in Rick Mofina's Six Seconds. I won! Since so much time went by from the time I was alerted to the time the book was published, I forgot about it until an acquaintance told me that she was flabbergasted to come across my first AND last name in Rick Mofina's book. I was, and remain, Karen Dyer
Barb,
I love the cake for a hundred prize.
Sean,
I confess. I told them.
Karen,
My goodness! You are as famous as Kim a few comments above yours.
You three are in it to win it!
Terrie
Animals are very close to my heart, and over the years I've been lucky enough to share my home with several very wonderful dogs, both large and small. I've written a number of short stories featuring animals (even managed to work a dog into a Catfantastic story), and I have a ongoing series of tales about a harp-playing heroine with a dog and a horse for sidekicks. Oddly enough, I also play harp (started years after I began writing those stories), and since animals are so important to me I donate my musical services to our local no-kill SPCA. This year, at their fundraising brunch (for which I once again played harp), one of the prizes was having one's pet's portrait painted. I lost my last little dog almost three years ago at the ripe old age of seventeen, and I thought how wonderful it would be to have her portrait (I had lots of photos for the artist to work from). So I entered.
I'm very happy to say that now I have an absolutely beautiful portrait of my little furgirl, thanks to a very generous artist.
Oh, I also won a basket of kitchen goodies at the same event -- some day I might actually have to cook to use them. :)
The best raffle prize I've won in the past few years was an overnight stay at a local Colorado ranch (Chico Basin Ranch) at a localvore food event in town. My husband and I went and hiked one of the trails that skirted a water hole, where we flushed some deer, and an old schoolhouse. That evening, we star-gazed at the Milky Way which was sooo visible in the prairie night sky. The next morning we watched a couple of bird researchers banding birds they caught in nets strung on the property. We left with a cooler full of organic beef and bison meat that we purchased at the ranch. A great getaway!
Lee,
How terrific that you won the portrait! I wouldn't rush into the cooking thing if I were you. ;)
Beth,
What a super prize!
Ladies, you are entered!
Terrie
I'm batting 500 - in the last few years I've won 2 book raffles (I only enter raffles for stuff I actually want to win). One arrived, the other is still MIA.
I've won televisions, cruises and food. I used up the television, passed on the cruise and enjoyed the food.
However, Lady Luck has forsaken. It's been a decade since I've won anything else. I sure wouldn't mind one of those big, flat screen TVs.
When I was 8 years old, I won a Slinky Junior in a drawing. That night, my sister won 6 prizes. But none so grand as the coil of metal that worked it's way down the stairs.
Ooooh, Debra...I LOVED Slinky when I was a kid. It truly is one of the great toys of all time.
I just returned to MWA and mystery writing after 20 years. The bets lottery I ever won/lost was when I was 18, and my entire freshman college dorm was listening to the draft numbers being chosen for our birth year. Mine was 260.
Terrie is so clever!
Do NOT include my name in the drawing, please, but I wish to congratulate your initiative!
LH,
There is nothing worse than an MIA book.
Patty G.,
We'll keep you in mind when the Women of Mystery get to the flat screen TV raffle.
Debra,
You won a slinky! Lucky girl. Laura is right. Slinky is one of the great toys.
Bill,
Welcome home. I remember the draft lotteries very well. And every man of a certain age knows exactly what his number was.
You guys are all visiting the trifle bowl.
Terrie
Hi Leigh,
Well since you are one of the stellar authors of this anthology, I am guessing you have a copy or two of The Prosecution Rests stashed away.
And thanks for the compliment. I may appear clever, but mostly I just like everything to be fun.
Terrie
Oooh dfTerrie!! A prize!!
The one and only time I ever won anything by actually buying a raffle ticket was many, many years ago, when I was a skinny 16 year old. I won an enormous, filled to the brim with every imaginable variety, EASTER basket!! Chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, white chocolate, milk chocolate.... It was the first step on the slippery slope to where my weight is now. Sigh.
This anthology wouldn't make me gain weight, would it? :)
df Bag Lady,
I think we can safely say that the anthology itself is not a cause for weight gain.
Eating chocolate while reading might cause a problem, but should you have a Cadbury bar or two, never fear, I will send my personal trainer, Gilad, to help you work it off!
Hop on in to the trifle bowl.
Terrie
Sounds great
We went to a Homecoming at my uncle's church in the country when I was about 10. He bought us each tickets for the on-going raffle of all sorts of prizes.
We were among the very last to leave. The announcer had one prize left and kept calling ticket after ticket with no winner present. Finally, he said he would call 10 more numbers. If none of them was the winner, they'd save the prize for the next church function.
You guessed it: the tenth and final number was mine! I was the proud new owner of a Sunbeam electric mixer with a blender wand attachment. I think my mom still has it.
Hi Jen,
And I am guessing you want to have your comment land in the trifle bowl.
Hey AliasMo,
That is a great story. Into the trifle bowl you go.
Terrie
The only thing I've even won with a ticket is a $7 "purse" one night while bowling. Whohoo!
I've entered raffels at fundraising events, meetings, Chamber of Commerce mixers, dinners, supermarkets, online...you name it...and I've never won a thing EXCEPT the time I was a reporter covering a Chamber function and they pulled the business care I gave the people at the door for a credential. The prize...a book on increasing your business!
Michele Drier
While at a conference with my husband at a resort that is part of the Oneida Casino in Green Bay, WI, I won a raffle prize of a large lithograph by a noted Oneida artist. It is the head of a Native American (Oneida, I assume) woman that is morphing into a wolf or vice versa. Unfortunately, it is very eerie-looking and "creeps" me out. So, it stays hidden.
Margaret Franson
Did you know that you have a better chance of being hit by lightening than winning a state lottery?
Anyway that is my trivia contribution for the day :)
But I did win a 50 pound bag of chicken feed at a country raffle once! Would have been nice if I had chickens.....
I don't tend to win raffles, or hit slot machine jackpots, etc.
I'm hoping to save all my luck for one big Lotto score.
But that would mean buying a ticket, which I almost never do... hmm. Perhaps my plan needs readjusting.
LJ,
I hope you spent your $7 wisely.
Michele,
You have a lot in common with Leah. Check her comment at the top of this list.
Margaret,
What sounds beautiful turned out to be eerie? Too bad.
Rosemarie,
So, did you build a coop and buy some chickens?
Crabby,
The New York State Lottery motto is: You have to be in it to win it. You may, indeed, want to readjust the plan!
Your comments will all go into the trifle bowl.
Terrie
I've always been lucky at winning raffles, tricky trays and such. The biggest prize I've won was $1,000.00 in QVC dollars, a tour of the QVC studio and several Goebel dolls.
I've also won $100.00 in fuel oil, books, and gift baskets.
Now...if I could only win the MegaMillions Lottery!
Hi Debby,
You are in the trifle bowl! It doesn't sound like you need a good luck wish.
Terrie
Luck runs through the female line in our family: my great aunt Sam, mom, myself and my daughter Rachel.
Back in 1999 I bought a $20 raffle ticket to support the local church school. I bought it on what would have been my grandfather's 99th birthday but never gave the date a thought at the time. Two weeks later one of my sisters came to our door late one evening to ask if I'd bought a raffle ticket. I said yes, why? She said "you won." I thought I'd won $50. I won $3000! My husband and I used that to take a cruise, our long-delayed real honeymoon, almost 20 years late. Thanks, gramps!
Hi Blue,
That is a wonderful story. Gramps was sure looking out for you!
Into the trifle bowl!
Terrie
I've neve won a raffle in my life - but I'd like to win this one because I've heard the book is really wonderful.
I have got to be the unluckiest person here. I buy EVERY raffle ticket that gets offered to me. I think all the little kids in the neighborhood point at my house and snicker about the sucker that lives there.
Nope, never won a raffle or the lottery. I did however win $200 on a scratch off ticket I bought about five years ago.
Hi Jillian,
You heard correctly. The anthology is fabulous.
Hi Crystal,
Wow! I've never won more that $5 on a scratch-off.
Your comments go into the trifle bowl.
Terrie
I hope this qualifies since it was my son and not me, we went to his big brother's cub scout gathering when he was such a toddler and, thinking we'd increase our chances of winning (still not understanding statistics of raffles and lotteries), we threw everybody's name in the pot for the doorprize drawings. Our toddler won. A boy scout backpack that was bigger he was. He still toddled around with it hanging off his back, dragging on the floor. He's in his late 20s now, but the backpack still hangs in my garage and I smile every time I look at it.
Hi David,
Of course the story qualifies.
How could it not--the story includes not only a raffle but a cute little toddler!
You are in the trifle bowl.
Terrie
The biggest raffle I won was a share-the-pot where the winner gets half the amount. After 9/11 our office did one for the survivors and families of that dreadful day. I thought ALL the money should go to victims. I bought 6 tickets for $5 thinking it a donation, but I won, more than $275. I added my winnings to that charity.
When friends asked me why I didn't spend it on myself, I told them 'when I get in my 10 year old car, with it's air conditioning and stereo, I am aware that in some countries if I had a donkey to ride, I would be considered wealthy. My needs are met.'
Raffles are fun and having a book arrive in the mailbox can be like Christmas. Still, I haven't missed that money.
I recently won two books from blog tours (June Bug which was a fun read and another book which never arrived to me and I even had a chance to meet the author this past February but totally forgot about while I was there). They weren't really raffles per se but following the tours and leaving comments was fun.
Of course I'd have to say the most memorable thing I won (again, not a raffle but a call-in radio thing) was my Oldies But Goodies, album 5 or 6 or something like that. I was living with my grandmother that year and it was early morning (I used to wake to a clock radio) and they radio station I listened to was doing one of those - be the X caller and win a prize - I didn't even hear what the prize was. Just ran into my grandmother's bedroom and started dialing (remember this was a rotary dial phone). My grandmother of course couldn't fathom who I was calling at something like 6:30 in the morning. I dialed once, twice and third time it rang and just knew I hadn't won because of having to dial over and over. Then the DJ said "Congratulations, you have won, you are caller #(6 or 7)." I was stammering all over the place but I won. Then, he asked me if I could come to the studio and pick up my prize. Shock of shocks, getting my grandmother to take me was another story. Somewhere in my stuff, I still have my old Albums and yes, my Oldies but Goodies, volume 5 or 6 or whatever it was. (This was in 1976 or 1977) and the oldies on the album are from the 1950s and 1960s - lol.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it - lol - good luck to all who are entered - E :)
I'm a librarian who reviews mysteries for Booklist. Our budget is disappearing fast, so winning a copy of this lovely book would make our mystery-loving patrons very happy. I have won the occasional drawing for a free book at a confernce, but nothing big.
Barbara Bibel
My daughter's best friend won a trip to Germany. She invited my daughter to come with her, which was great because the hotel rooms were paid for. But we had to buy plane tickets. So the last thing I came close to winning cost me $500. But I'll be brave and enter this raffle anyway.
Susan, if that $500 was round-trip air fare - that was a good deal then. And the experience your daughter gained from that trip is probably well worth more than that $500. Hope she enjoyed herself while abroad - E :)
Won a T-shirt for a writer's conference I didn't attend, but had really wanted to go to, so now I wear the T-shirt and it looks as thought I went :)
Boots,
You have a great attitude.
Elysabeth,
Lucky girl. The only thing better than Oldies is a good book.
Barbara,
The economy has certainly damaged our precious libraries.
Susan,
Rest assured, the books will be sent postage paid, not postage due.
Colleen,
What a sharpie you are!
All your comments are going into the trifle bowl.
Terrie
It was sure fun reading all the prizes other posters have won (things they wanted, or not!!) I don't think I've ever entered a "raffle" as such, although I'm an avid reader and enter and win book contests often enough to keep me coming back for more!! Maybe this will be my lucky day!!
Hi Penny,
I am so glad you like book giveaways.
You are in the trifle bowl.
Terrie
Boston, Mass., St. Patrick's Day 1967 -- I was in second grade and absolutely adored my teacher, Miss Judy Shannon -- she was like an angel on earth to me. I entered a raffle for an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Ireland, planning to take Miss Shannon if I won! Even though some other lucky entrant got the prize, I still smile today at the memory of a teacher who brought such happiness to my life.
Nic,
That is such a sweet story and a tribute to teachers everywhere!
Did you ever get to Ireland, with or without Miss Shannon?
And your comment will go into the "Irish" trifle bowl.
Terrie
I've never won a raffle that I have entered. However, my daughter-in-law entered my name in her church raffle at Christmas and I won a Christmas decoration. I tried to give it to her but she wouldn't take it. I'm lucky enough to have a really nice daughter-in-law. That is a prize in itself!
Carol M
When I was 14, I entered a radio contest to win tickets to a concert by the Beau Brummels and the Zombies. I won! Of course, this meant my mother had to drive me and my BFF Leah over to Tampa to get the tickets, then to and from the concert, some 30 miles away. I'm sure she used a lot of gas and time to get those "free" $3.50 tickets, but at the time, Leah and I thought they were "priceless"!
Thanks to the My Little Corner blog I found Women of Mystery so even if I don't win the raffle I have gained something.
Hi Carol,
I, too, have a fantastic daughter in law. That is more than a prize. It's a great treasure.
Hi J. D.,
You mom is a terrific lady.
Hi Mack,
Welcome to Women of Mystery. I hope you enjoy it here.
Your comments are all going into the trifle bowl.
Terrie
at a recent golf outing the sponsors ran a chinese auction. for those of you unfamiliar with a chinese auction, paper bags are placed in front of the prize and you place your raffle tickets in the bag.
among the prizes were four rounds of golf for four at four prestigous golf clubs on long island. needless to say my foursome loaded the bags with our raffle tickets and we won all four prizes. we enjoyed ourselves over the next few weeks playing courses we would not necessarily get a chance to play. it was great!!
vin
Vin,
That is some lucky foursome!
Into the trifle bowl with ye!
Terrie
Hi All,
What a wonderful thread. I had a great time reading everyone's comments.
Winners will be announced in a new post that will go up around noon EST on Sunday.
Thanks for everyone's excellent participation.
Terrie
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