BOOK GIVEAWAY!!

At some point today, California and the entire left coast is supposed to sink beneath the surly waters of the Pacific Ocean.  I awoke to some overcast skies and raindrops, but certainly no end of the world deluge, and wondered if anyone else wanted to play a game.

Playing and games are two of the bestest parts of life, I was weaned on pinball as a youngster and transitioned smoothly into the video game era as a teen.  Our house has around 50 board games stashed in various places, a cribbage board always handy and World of Warcraft for my husband.  I stopped playing WoW a year or so back, good game but I got sick of Blizzard's hubris and all the nerfing.

But Clyde, the kids and I are all vengeful gamers no matter what we play because, to us, playing is living.  So let's live on this day of prophesied doom, let's play and let's have a little fun instead.

Naming things is incredibly fun but it's also serious business.  Back when I did play WoW, I was notorious for deleting mid-level toons only because I got sick of their names.  Here's a fun Solstice fact, several character names were lifted wholesale from my toons and those of my WoW friends.   Molca, Soleila and the entire Jash family were derived from the mists of Azeroth.

A good name can get you far in this world, just ask Morgan Fairchild if you don't believe me.  Auld Andrew, my dad, mentions my proclivity for odd names in the book at every opportunity; apparently he would prefer names like Bob and Betsy, sorry Dad.

Making up names is too much fun to stop now and I would love to see what names all of you come up with. So, beginning today and running for one month is this blog's first contest, The Name Game!  The rules are very simple, just conjure up a name for a person or a place and either leave your entry in the comments section or email it to me.

The three people with the best names will each win a copy of The Last Prospector.  BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!!

The grand prize winner, the reader who submits a name of unparalleled majesty and breathtaking symmetry will be able to find that name in a future book in The Song of Solstice series.

I don't know about you, but I'm excited.  There are still only a handful of readers of this blog, but there's more everyday and I would like to meet you, to say thanks for travelling with me.  So come and play readers, there's room for everyone and I will make snacks!

It occurs to me as I write this that calling you 'readers' is kind of boring, you all need a name.

I'll work up something good if you do.