Sunday, May 25, 2014

Home! (And a Contest!)

We're home! In some ways it feels like we were gone for ages, and in others it feels like we blinked and it was over. We met a lot of great people, visited a lot of wonderful stores, saw some beautiful places, and learned a lot.

The best part was meeting "Sammiacs." I can't even describe how wonderful it was for me to meet y'all.

For you Northies who have been asking for info about the fall loop through northern states, we'll get information to you as soon as we can.  For now, I still have to unpack!

But before I do, I want to present a contest!

I know I said I wasn't going to have one for the ARC of Sammy Keyes and the Kiss Goodbye, but how about the final book? I never said I wouldn't give one of those away! So when my author copies come in (usually a week before they're available in stores), I'll turn around and mail one out to the contest winner.

Excited?

Here are the directions:

Send me an e-mail at : mail@exercisetherighttoread.org
In the Subject line, type: KISS GOODBYE CONTEST
In the body of the e-mail :

  1. give me your guess for the number of miles our van traveled on the "Southern Loop" tour. Please round to the nearest mile. (The map image above is meant to be a helpful guide. It is not perfect or 100% accurate, but it is pretty close with the exception of not showing a beginning/end location. From things I've said here and on social media, you should be able to get in the infield.) 
  2. finish this sentence: Sammy Keyes is... (and just put whatever she is/means to you--not a, you know, review description--write something personal, and only one sentence!)
  3. give me your name and the mailing address where I should mail the book, should you win the contest
Thanks to everyone who followed along on tour with me, here and on Facebook and Twitter. It really was great to have you involved. And for those of you came out to an event (or drove ridiculous distances to meet me), I will always cherish meeting you.

Now get busy and give the contest a shot! Your deadline is Saturday, May 31st at midnight!



13 comments:

Kylie said...

I am so glad to hear that you guys are home safe and sound. I saw the tweet of yours that said you guys made it home and it was an instant relief. After your horse post I was slightly worried because you sounded really tired. And it is not a good idea drive when tired, but I am so glad that you both are home safe.

I am having trouble deciding if I want to enter this contest. Because I don't want to get the book before it is released just because I don't want to read it because once I read it is is over. No more Sammy Keyes and gang. But I also really want to read it because I really want to know what happens. I think I am going to enter, although I am terrible at guessing distance, and if I don't win then I wasn't meant to read the book before the release, but if I do I was. If that makes any sense. So I am going to enter.

I can't wait to find out more about the fall tour dates! I am so hoping that everything will work out and I will get to meet you both. Be prepared for a lot of books to sign!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Kylie

Jessica said...

Glad the trip was awesome and you made it home safely.

In elementary school, they had a "guess the jelly beans" competition, and I counted the number on the bottom, then the number of "rows" and was about 5 short of the actual number. But the competition was "guess without going over" and my friends convinced me somehow that I was way off, so I cut 100 off my guess and only ended up in 3rd place.

I'm assuming we can go over since you didn't expressly say we couldn't. I will definitely be entering -- though I get Kylie's hesitation; that's how I felt when I saw the ARC.

Gabrielle said...

It must be nice to be back home!

I'm really excited about this contest! But I suck at estimations. But it would still be fun to enter! Good luck to whoever enters!

Happy Memorial Day!!


Gabrielle

Wendelin Van Draanen said...

Oh, just enter, all of you! By the time I get a book and turn it around to you, it'll be release date anyway! And don't listen to those same friends, Jessica :-) You know what you're doing :-) And it's the closest number, over or under doesn't matter.

My previous post was during my adjustment to a high altitude. It took me about 3 days to stop having a headache, nausea, and fatigue. A waste of beautiful time in Colorado, but the last day there I was feeling much better and got to appreciate it. So,yeah, sorry for the previous downer post.

I'm presently sifting through mail. Good golly Miss Molly, we get a lot of mail, most of it junk (or our health insurance company informing us of changes and new rates and, and, and...! GO AWAY!!!)

Enjoy your Memorial Day, everybody--talk to you soon!

Jessica said...

Wendelin, you promised us that we would get to feel what it was like on the road so we could live vicariously through you, and we knew it wasn't all going to be sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows (a great road trip song, by the way...). That horse story perfectly captured that feeling we've all had when we've been on the road and -- no matter how much fun we're having -- just want to run home (which I think I get every time I leave the house...). I'm glad you were able to enjoy the rest of the trip even while you were chomping at the bit for home.

I need to get started trying to scientifically deduce your mileage; I think this might take me a while.

Kylie said...

I entered, but for my guess I used the distance from where I live to Arizona as my judging distance for it all so I don't know how accurate it will be.

I agree with Jessica you promised us the full experience and the last post was defeintly the FULL experience. I am glad that you got to enjoy your last day because better one than none right?

Jessica said...

Another question. Is that midnight, the start of Saturday, or midnight, the end of Saturday? Because that makes a big difference in how much time I have left.

Mark said...

Jessica - That's midnight, at the END of Saturday. (And don't spend all day on this - part of the result will be guesswork, regardless, as no one knows our exact routing or any of the little side-trips we took.) :)

Yusa said...

do we include like just the paths shown or from where u started and returned also as a general guess?

--Yusa

Mark said...

Yusa - We're looking for your general guess as to the total miles we logged, starting from when we left our house until we rolled back into the driveway seven weeks later. :)

Jessica said...

Oh, I wasn't planning on spending a full day or anything, but I just needed to know if I should get it done tomorrow evening after work or if I'd have some time on Saturday to work on it. Thanks for the clarification.

(I plan to use my jellybean strategy, using as much info as I can gather to make my estimate. Aided by technology to do the math for me.)

Yusa said...

I submit an answer that is probably far off but crossing my fingers for my luck to kick in right about now!

Ah as you guys recover from your travels, I leave on a plane to pakistan in around 6 hours. I thought i should submit my answer since i'll probably be at an airport when the deadline passes.

Cant wait for the other half of the tour so I hope you recover quick and well!

Ah so i am exhausted but hopefully see you soon!

--Yusa

Jessica said...

I hope everyone got their guesses in. I just submitted mine. Work got really busy in May and I had to stop following the Road Trip, so I got sucked into reading all of Wendelin's and Mark's adventures on Facebook and Twitter. I really need to get out and see more of this country. And the world.

Yusa, safe travels with lots of adventures.

P.S. I can't wait to read all the books inspired by this trip.