A Merry Life and a Short One -- A Contest

December is here and I promised a contest. I've been hunkered down for a while, writing and revising a new novel, and haven't had much time to think about the promotional things I should be doing for the release of The Dust of 100 Dogs. It's only TWO MONTHS away! To start, let me remind you, during these tough economic holiday times, that: A. Books are still relatively cheap. B. Shopping at your local independent bookstore is a pro-community act. Also, it is very unlikely you will get trampled or shot there. Or eaten by a shark, or attacked by flesh-eating robots. (If you don't have an independent bookstore nearby, many of them will take phone orders and ship. Some even have online buying options.) C. Books make a great gifts. D. Magazines and literary magazines are great gift ideas for the short fiction and poetry lovers in your life! If you buy some books as holiday gifts, go to this awesome blog and let them know. We're trying to buy 1,000,000 books! Add yours to the tally! (Pre-orders of D100D count!) NOW ON TO THE CONTEST... The Dust of 100 Dogs is about a bunch of stuff. But, I figure it's safe to say two of the main subjects are pirates and dogs. One thing pirates and dogs have in common is that their lives are generally merry and short, like the title of this post suggests. And so, after a considerable amount of obsessing, and taking into account that I *love* writing challenges, I have come up with a simple and fun set of contest rules. What do I win? An ARC (advance review copy) of The Dust of 100 Dogs and a bonus VOHG.** How do I enter? You have to write me ten words. No more, no less.

*Either a slice of pirate life in 10 words (Example: Cut off a man's ear and fed it to him.) *OR a slice of a dog life in 10 words. (Example: Chased cats, ate, pooped, fell asleep in a sun ray.) (Do feel free to deviate from these examples. Go nuts.)

Post your TEN WORD entry in the comment section along with a valid email address, and any bonus entry links (see next section). If you feel uncomfortable posting your email address, send it to my email address asking(at)as-king(dot)com and make sure you tell me which entry is yours! Only one ten word entry per person, I'm afraid...though if you have two and just can't decide, I say post them both! (But I'll only count one.) Can I get extra entries? Totally! Link this contest to your blog, send a bulletin or blog about it in Myspace, or write a note in Facebook, or any other thing you can think of to get the word out. (For Facebook & MySpace options you have to friend me first!) Post the links in your entry comment. You get one extra entry for each of them. PLEASE try to keep your entry contained in one comment, though I do understand if you have to add an additional comment if you blog/mention/link throughout the contest period. When does it end? The contest ends December 18th, 2008 at midnight (Eastern Time). ***Deadline Extended due to Girl Week*** Now ends December 19th at midnight EST. How many winners will there be? Just one. I've only got one ARC. But two honorable mentions - for the best two ten word entries - will get one of two extra D100D-related VOHGs.** Good luck, everyone! ** VOHG = Very Odd Holiday Gift