Snow Queen Giveaway
I am down to my last advance review copy of The Snow Queen’s Shadow [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].
I thought about finding another reviewer to send it to … or holding a giveaway on GoodReads … or keeping it for my very own … but in the end, I decided to give it away to one of my blog readers, because I love you the most.
If you’d like to win the ARC, all you have to do is leave a comment and let me know why I should give it to you. Be as serious or as silly as you’d like. For example:
-Give it to me because my brother-in-law owns Dreamworks and I’ll sneak into his room and read it while he’s sleeping, thus planting your work in his subconscious mind.
-I’ll review your book on my blog, which gets a zillion hits a day. Also, I named my first-born daughter Danielle Talia Snow Beatrice Jim-Hines-is-Awesome Smith!
-Your book is the perfect size to complete my epic and 97% zombie-proof book fort!
I’ll pick a winner next week. I might try to choose the best comment, but knowing how creative y’all are, I may wimp out and just pick one entry at random.
Anyone can enter. Make sure I have a way to contact you (i.e., if you’re anonymous and commenting on LJ, leave an e-mail address or web site). Most importantly, have fun!
Laurisa Reyes
May 10, 2011 @ 10:18 am
Jim,
I am on my knees, my hands clasped and raised in front of you — no — I am lying prostrate in the dust, face down — Almighty Published One! I do write a blog, and I WILL review The Snow Queen, and if you autograph it for me, I will sing your praises for all to hear. I will read and I will yearn to follow in your footsteps, to do all I can to see my first published book through to success as you have done. Grant my heart’s desire, O Great and Powerful Oz (oh, wait-wrong fantasy world)and I will forever and ever be your humble servant, and fan. Amen.
UnravThreads
May 10, 2011 @ 10:58 am
Mr Hines,
Should you give me a copy? Probably not. I’ve paid for my own copy from The Book Depository, you’d have to send it to England like you’ve sent stuff before, but it’s worth a shot.
I’m a big fan of Talia, a big supporter of the way you portray women, and I just flat-out love the Princesses (Indeed, I’m rather jealous of them to some degree). I’ve also hopefully gotten a number of people into your Princess books, whether they liked them or not, and I’ll not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
Chances are most of the people who ask will be more deserving, whether they plan to do grand things with the book or just play Smaug and horde it, but I’d still like at least a chance to eventually win one of your giveaways/competitions 😉
Heather
May 10, 2011 @ 11:17 am
Why send it to me? Because my darling goddaughter, who is now 10, loves these books (as do I), and waits impatiently for me to finish them so I can pass them on to her–and, even though they’re “borrowed,” they somehow never find their way back to my bookshelves, which is fine! So the sooner I get a copy, the sooner she can read it, and you wouldn’t want to make a darling, sweet, devoted little 10-year-old fan of yours wait just a minute longer than necessary, would you?!?!!?
Jim Haley
May 10, 2011 @ 11:36 am
It will give me the background material necessary for me to put out my book next year called “The ZOMBIE Snow Queen’s Shadow”
Suzuka
May 10, 2011 @ 11:54 am
You should give it to me because I made AfterEllen aware of how awesome you are o:
Gwen Cross
May 10, 2011 @ 12:03 pm
You should give it to me, because of … The reason.
Rebecca Kettler
May 10, 2011 @ 12:09 pm
You should give me a copy because I love you and I will continue to give you a hug and tell you that every time I see you. Well I will do that even if you give it to me or not. Maybe give it to me because I really really want one?
Ali
May 10, 2011 @ 12:11 pm
Because I know something you don’t know. […] I am not left-handed. And that’s iocaine (never mind that I can’t possibly know that, since it’s odorless, colorless AND tasteless).
Er, wait. Because…I’m the Dread Pirate Roberts? No, that’s still wrong.
Because I really want to read it. But I’ll simply defer to your judgment (as you wish).
(Silly is fun. *grin*)
Rie Sheridan Rose
May 10, 2011 @ 12:12 pm
I love the Princess books. That’s not funny or creative, just true. 🙂 I always look forward to the next one. 🙂
Rie
Debi Murray
May 10, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
OMG…I really want this ARC…no, I need this ARC. I need to know how the story turns out right now. I am old and I don’t know how much time I have left. Do you want to have this on your conscience? What if I die before the release date? I’ll never know how the story ends and that would be a tragedy.
You know that’s all a bunch of BS, but I thought I’d give it a shot. LMBFAO! Of course now I’ve jinxed my self and I’ll probably get run over by a bus….
T.J.
May 10, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
Jim,
You should give it to me because I’ll name my first-born son after you. Wait, I already have one. And his name is James. Does that count?
Erin
May 10, 2011 @ 12:19 pm
I’m not a reviewer … but I’m a big fan of this series! The characters are amazing, and your writing paints the perfect picture as you read these books. I even got my mom addicted to the series, and she really only reads true crime! If I receive this book, I’ll gladly FB post and tweet a review, if you like (not to mention a HUGE THANK YOU)! Thank you for this opportunity!
Anita K.
May 10, 2011 @ 12:23 pm
You should give it to me because… um…
If I were to have a daughter, I would name her Danielle Talia Snow Beatrice Jim-Hines-is-Awesome Smith and if I had a son I suppose I’d just name him Jim-Hines-is-Awesome Smith.
But I’m not going to have children.
So I guess you’ll have to settle for kittens, when I am able to get some of those.
And it WOULD help in my efforts to entirely insulate and zombie-proof my apartment with books. 🙂
ZombieJoe
May 10, 2011 @ 12:57 pm
Ironically I was just blogging about this situation this morning. Budgetary constraints due to a money management system my wife and I started. It works, but it has seriously limited the amount of books I can get. Also, you took the idea of the zombie fort. I mean really, why would you do that? 🙂
Short form is that I am limited to a single book a month. Worse yet, a single MMPB a month. As July offers me no chance at getting Ghost Story, I was left with choices. My Life as a White Trash Zombie won out – and not due to zombie being in the title. Well, fine… that was one of the reasons.
Honestly, if I am not chosen I will likely make my son buy it as I bought him all of the goblin books and the stepsister books so far. But who knows what a 20 year old might do in any given situation?
Mostly though, if you give it to me it would free me from having to hop in the bus and driving it over to the Milwaukee area. (hint: look at Debi’s post…) 😉
Jeannette Quirk
May 10, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
Why should you pick me?
You don’t know me from Adam;
but I like free stuff.
Most probably though,
I’d gift the book to my friend.
She is a huge fan.
She’d most likely squee
and I’d have won a contest.
It’s win-win for me!
Jennifer
May 10, 2011 @ 1:20 pm
Talia is the fierce one of all of us.
Snow shows us all the way to blush
Danielle is common with a Nobel ring.
They all together are the unstoppable three.
The Snow Queen comes from a mirror of truth
Though a twisted piece we learned in youth.
Snow is determined to gain control.
But in the end, will she keep her hold?
This is the chapter of the princesses three…
Who may fall to the end with the queen.
So why should this be a gift from thy?
I am so in love with the princess three,
I would beg and plead on bended knee.
I would run across the earth for you,
Or fight a goblin mission or two.
I would team up with Talia and Snow
And Daniel if my imagination could come true
I would be a princess too.
Please send me a copy….I REALLY REALLY want it. 🙂
Jennifer
Laura Pearson
May 10, 2011 @ 1:22 pm
You should pick me because I’ve had a really rough year. My health has been crap and my husband has been working so hard to do everything cause I can’t help him out. We’d both be reading it so giving it to me would help brighten two peoples days.
Steve Hall
May 10, 2011 @ 1:53 pm
I’ve bought all the others in the series, but that’s not why I should win. I shouldn’t, actually, unless you do a random giveaway, in which case this comment is just as random as any other. (And I simply can’t compete with the awesomeness in many of the other comments.)
Jennifer D.
May 10, 2011 @ 2:03 pm
Even though I’ve been following you here and on FB for a while, I’ve only yesterday read one of your stories. It was in the anthology “Turn the Other Chick”, and was the one about the old guard members rescuing one of the group’s grandson. I absolutely loved it!
You should pick me because I want to to see how much your skill has grown since that story was published!
(Although I have to admit, the other Jennifer’s poem was really kewl! 😉 )
JM Schott
May 10, 2011 @ 2:19 pm
Picking me as the winner will allow me to quickly create and present the last installment in my all-sock-puppet film adaptation of this series. 🙂
Becky Raine
May 10, 2011 @ 2:40 pm
Because I’m the faithful fan that brings you fond memories of your time in Elko.
Can’t wait for the new book to magically appear in my Nook.
Hope you are enjoying spring, we are still getting snow in the Elko area. Noticed a good covering on the foothills this morning. But, as you know, that is spring for us.
Becky
KarenJG
May 10, 2011 @ 2:53 pm
I’d say you should give it to me because it’s the only book you’ve published that I haven’t got. But the truth is, I’d be happy to buy it and give you the sale. OTOH, if you give it to me, I’ll buy one and give it to my sister, who has not yet been introduced to you. Of course, I’d have to buy the whole set to give to her, so she knows the story so far. So, that would increase sales of your backlist titles, too.
OTOOH (AKA, the Gripping Hand), now that I’ve thought of it, I’ll probably do that anyway. So… um…
OK, I’m lost in my own logic now… what was the question?
Steve Buchheit
May 10, 2011 @ 3:09 pm
The book hole left on my shelf is the perfect size to slot her in. And once that hole is closed, the invasion from the other realm that sits behind and to the right of my bookshelf will be staunched.
nick
May 10, 2011 @ 3:20 pm
You should give it to me because I also live in michigan and the shipping will be super cheap!
torgeaux
May 10, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
I will do awful, awful things with this. I can’t describe them on a family website, but trust me, what I will do with this free copy will form the foundation of the ultimate “The Aristocrats” joke.
Seriously.
Mel
May 10, 2011 @ 7:24 pm
I’d like you to give me this arc because my daughter loves to read and I think she’ll love your books! Times are lean right now so I’d love to make a gift of it to her from you and me.
Thanks for the opportunity to enter!
Mel
Mike
May 10, 2011 @ 7:26 pm
I will write a review in my mind and telepathically send it to everyone in the tri-state area. Teaching them to telepathically receive it is, of course, someone else’s job.
Sean
May 10, 2011 @ 8:20 pm
spoooooooooooooon
JabberwockyPie
May 10, 2011 @ 8:58 pm
I was going to try a poem but I think with my writing abilities it would actually be a disincentive to give me the book.
How about if you give me the book, I will post pictures of my wee tiny felt Snow doll that I made? (Talia is in progress.)
Zanna Dobbs
May 10, 2011 @ 9:55 pm
A little over a year ago. Melissa Mead suggested your latest book in this series. I looked the series up and bought the entire thing. I loved it, My husband loved it, my best friend loved it, my sons boss loved it, my employees loved it, The dog next door loved it. Well maybe not the last one but if he could read he would love it. Do not know if I should get it or Melissa but would love to get it early ‘cuz you know I am going to buy it.
Bruno Rosa
May 11, 2011 @ 6:24 am
Well, you really should not give it to me, i don’t have any good reasons like some of the people here.
Actually i only have reasons against it:
1: I live in Portugal, which would mean that you would have to send it a long way (i’ll pay for the shipping cost);
2: I haven’t read any of the other books in this series yet (but i will soon);
3: I will buy it anyway with the rest of the series as soon as i’m finished with goblin war (bought all 3 of jig’s adventures);
FYI You should write another one in that amazing series. Jig is the greatest.
4: I could just be trying to get it to sell it on ebay and make some money (by the way, if i win can you sign it for me? :))
My advice, give it to someone who deserves it, like children who can’t afford books, or to some library so more people can enjoy your amazing work, i suspect everybody here will just buy it anyway.
Keep up the good work, i’ll be looking forward to the next Jig Dragonslayer adventure.
Geralyn
May 11, 2011 @ 6:37 am
hey, remember at the Penguicon signing when I tried to not accept any change? That was me secretly attempting to buy this book ahead of time…
Crap, just realized that you gave me change and I don’t have a leg to stand on;p
Eva Shandor
May 11, 2011 @ 7:32 am
Please, please, please send the copy to me! Because…
1. I will review it!
2. I will do my best to sneak it into my lesson plans – I teach Adult Literacy (and langauges), and prefer to promote books with positive messages!
3. I have not read feminist fantasy in AGES and would really like to read something new!
4. I will recommend it to the Sci-Fi society and get all my friends to by your books!
Jim C. Hines
May 11, 2011 @ 7:34 am
Bruno – Just FYI, if you win, I’ll cover shipping costs. I try to keep my giveaways worldwide as much as possible. And yes, if you win, I’ll be happy to sign it for you 🙂
Mariann A.
May 11, 2011 @ 9:53 am
I’d love a copy! I got hooked since The Stepsister Scheme and I’ve been waiting eagerly to read the next novel.
I’ve always loved fairy tales and the way you mix and twist them together is truly fantastic!
Plus, as you know I’m a LEGO artist. I’ve seriously considered building a scene or two from the books. 😉
Sarah
May 11, 2011 @ 9:55 am
I am not a writer, so I cannot say anything nearly as clever as most of the people posting before me. But I do read your blog regularly and have enjoyed all of your published works. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this next installment and would love to have an advance copy! I would review it on goodreads and continue to pass the series on to all of my friends and family. I’m a poor soon-to-be graduate student, but even if I don’t win I will be purchasing the book. So I may not be the most deserving, creative, or even most enthusiastic person posting here, but I am a huge fan and would love to get an advance copy so that I can help promote your book to my friends!
liz
May 12, 2011 @ 12:31 am
You should give it to me because I punched a boy in 3rd grade for calling me ‘lizard breath’ and never thought that I could still be a princess despite that until you told me. But also because your books are awesome and like any fan I want to be one of the first to read the newest one 😉
Seriously now, my cousin has had a series of bad events happen one on top of the other. I love her dearly and I gave her a copy of SS. because I wanted her to learn that she is truly a princess in every way. And to not take these horrible things that have happened and let them fester in her heart. I even emailed you to ask for a signed copy. Generously you sent me a book plate, and my gratitude for that has yet to cease. Needless to say she loved it! Not only that, she lent it to her mother who also needed to learn that being middle aged and going through a divorce doesn’t negate your princess-hood. I am amazed and impressed that a male author can teach so much about being a woman To women. Please know that this isn’t flattery, this is truth that I have been trying to tell you. It is why I follow your career and read your blog and every once in awhile leave comments. You love your fans? We love you for what you give us; entertainment that makes us better people, whether we realize it or not.
I’m going to hit ‘submit comment’ now before I lose my nerve or all this sentimentality makes me puke.
Jim C. Hines
May 12, 2011 @ 8:35 am
Thanks, Liz. I very much appreciate it, sentimentality and all 🙂
Janet Weber
May 13, 2011 @ 1:11 am
You should give me the arc for several reasons: First, I am polite. For example, I would like to appologise for not saying Mr. Hines, PLEASE give me the arc. Second, I NEVER get picked to be given the arc(insert world’s smallest violin here), and given the ammount that I read, and the ammount of arc contests that I enter, that is really pitiful. Thirdly, I wouldn’t promise to name my firstborn “Danielle Talia Snow Beatrice Jim-Hines-is-Awesome Smith,” because I have learned from your books that making a deal relating to one’s firstborn is a dumb idea, which proves that I have read your books. (Plus if the kid was a boy, think of the therapy!) Fourthly, I would like the arc because I love your books, and it would mean the world to me to own a signed arc of the next princess one. (Otherwise I’d merely buy it, but it would mean a lot to me.)Fifthly, it would make me smile like this. 😀 Totally worth it.
So all in all, please send me the arc.
Jim C. Hines
May 13, 2011 @ 10:33 am
“I have learned from your books that making a deal relating to one’s firstborn is a dumb idea, which proves that I have read your books.”
Ha – nice!
Christine
May 13, 2011 @ 1:29 pm
You should give it to me because otherwise my disappointment at not being picked will send me into a Slough of Despond (I actually work in Slough, so I know what I’m talking about), creating such a negative environment, the universe will implode around me…
On a sidebar, I just wolfram-alphaed “Slough” and I don’t think there’s another town named Slough in the world? Go figure, John Betjeman.
meallanmouse
May 16, 2011 @ 10:39 am
I’ll be honest – I can’t do the “Give it to me, because” deal. I always feel guilty for some reason, because I have so much already, because I have access to things people in general don’t (specifically: just being in the game industry, for example!)
So… I’ve never received an ARC before, but you know, many haven’t. Your stories touch me, in a “hey, I’m a woman and those frustrations the character faces – I can relate to that, oh yeah” way, which again many do. I could go on.
So instead… how about this – give it to me, because you can pick another person off this list right after me, and when I am done with it – if you’re ok with this – I will pass it on to that person as well. And hopefully, that person will too, if that’s what you want. I’ll write a note in it somewhere, stating which moment touched me the most, why I loved the story, point out something I don’t want the next person to miss if they devour the story too fast. And so should the next person, and the next. And maybe even after the book is published, the ARC will be going around and one day, it will come back to you, with all those notes from all your readers. I like the idea that maybe a many of us, as opposed to only one of us, could share in this joy – and then let you know, directly, how much your stories touch us.
Miss Lynx
May 16, 2011 @ 12:28 pm
I nominate myself for it because – well, to explain why I will have to admit to something dreadful. I love fairy tales, especially twisted revisions thereof (have written several myself), and feminism, and fantasy, and your blog posts, I have actually not yet gotten around to reading any your princess series.
I have been meaning to for quite some time, but it keeps not happening, in part due to a somewhat chaotic life, and in part due to a low level of disposable income coupled with not having been able to find the books anywhere in the public library system of my city (other than as reference-only copies in a special SF collection that you are not allowed to actually check out, which has always seemed to me like kind a cruel tease: “You can come in and look at the books, but you can’t actually sign them out and read them! Ha ha! Take that, nerds!”).
So why, you might be thinking, would I want the last book in the series, if I haven’t read the ones before? It’s simple: because I know my own psychology, and I am constitutionally incapable of either (a) jumping into a series partway through – I have to start at the beginning – or (b) not reading an interesting-sounding book that is taunting me with its physical presence in my environment.
And that means that if the last book in the series descends upon my doorstep, I will be absolutely compelled to run out and buy the others no matter what, because otherwise I will not be able to concentrate on anything, because my entire brain will be going “OMG BOOK BOOK BOOK but I can’t read it until I’ve read others but OMG BOOK BOOK BOOK but must read the others first but OMG BOOK BOOK BOOK” and so on until I either experience a cerebral core meltdown or buy the other books.
Also, just in case that sounded pathetic rather than entertaining, which I realize is a distinct possibility, I will prove my own devotion to the cause of altered fairy tales by listing some of the ones I have had to tell my almost-4-year-old son at his request:
What happened to Hansel and Gretel after they found their way back home again with all the treasure from the witch’s cottage (I decided that they started a food bank to help all the other people affected by the famine, and sent their dad to a therapist so that the next time he got married, he’d be able to stand up for himself a little more).
A version on Hansel and Gretel where the witch turned out to be nice (apparently he’d decided that the whole eat-the-kids part was too scary, so this version of the witch taught them about gardening and how to talk to nature spirits to help the plants grow, and then sent them home to teach the rest of their village so they wouldn’t keep having famines).
A Goldilocks/Batman crossover (he’d already decided that Goldilocks had superpowers, because of the way she kept breaking stuff by accident – obviously she has super-strength, right?).
This eventually led to a Goldilocks/Batman/Lego/Thomas the Tank Engine/Tango (from And Tango Makes Three, about the penguin with two daddies) crossover. With dragons. There might also have been ninjas – can’t recall offhand.
Miss Lynx
May 16, 2011 @ 12:29 pm
Oops – I guess numbered lists are not on the list of acceptable HTML here. That would have made the list of stories easier to read – sorry!
Jim C. Hines
May 16, 2011 @ 2:39 pm
“What happened to Hansel and Gretel after they found their way back home again with all the treasure from the witch’s cottage (I decided that they started a food bank to help all the other people affected by the famine, and sent their dad to a therapist so that the next time he got married, he’d be able to stand up for himself a little more).”
Heh. Your version is much nicer than the one I came up with for the opening scenes of Snow Queen 🙂
Chris
May 16, 2011 @ 5:45 pm
Because I’ve got Jig tattooed on my thigh! And Jig is just one letter from Jim. (On that note, my analogy is done…)
Miss Lynx
May 17, 2011 @ 3:43 am
“Heh. Your version is much nicer than the one I came up with for the opening scenes of Snow Queen.”
Well, I was telling it to a three-year-old… When I write fairy tales for grownups, they aren’t always quite that nice. 🙂
Jim C. Hines
May 18, 2011 @ 7:52 pm
I drew the winner at random, but the tattoo is an awfully persuasive argument 🙂