>4 1/2 daggers and a lightning bolt!

>Hey Megiddo's Shadow just received 4 1/2 daggers out of 5 at the 3 EVIL cousins book review blog. Long have I dreamed about a 4 1/2 daggers out of 5 review! It's a great site, check it out. And they have a cool logo, too.

Oh, and I got the entries for my listserv contest. The question was "What does it feel like to be hit by lightning?" And the winning answers were:

It feels like being tickled in the ear with an anvil.

Peter in Thunder Bay

I would say it feels like a fire, but as quick as a cricket. I think the impact would feel like you've been pushed and you lose your breath along with your sight for the second you're being hit.. But this happens so quickly I don't know if you'd feel it while you're hit xD Overall I think it'd be painful.

Billi in Toronto

Having been hit by lightning, and lived to tell the tall tale, I have to say it is the most unusual feeling. I tell people it is "terribly tingly", which of course describes it perfectly. You tingle all over, in an ALMOST good way. It is quite similar to hitting your funny bone, which ALMOST tickles. The best part (read "the ONLY good part") is how discombubulated you feel afterwards. Your joints are all loose, and you almost feel like you could float. Of course, stories of my Great Uncle Skiffington (real name), who was actually hit by lighting multiple times, lead me to believe that being struck by lightning renders you unconscious, followed by muscle aches from head to toe, and a messed up memory, temporarily. Personally, I prefer my version, tall and all.

Sarah in Regina

What's it like to be struck by lightning? Wow! That's what it's like. It's like turning into a Christmas tree, it's like morphing into your favourite meal (well done), it's like becoming ... like ... supercharged with celestial energy and then drifting away in a cloud of smoke. It's like some force in the cosmos has decided that you and only you are (just like our parents used to tell us) a very very important person. You have been selected for a very special vacation by the GALVANIC CORPORATION (one way, no refunds, speedy service). What's it like to be struck by lightning? It's like glow little glow worm, sizzle sizzle. You know that song? Why, then, sing it along with me! One and a two: glow little glow worm, sizzle sizzle./ I've got a bolt that'll wet your whizzle .... That's what it's like.

Dave in Saskatoon


Great, eh. They each won a copy of JOLTED. And they're all members of my listerv. You can join, too. Membership is free...

Art

>Get Jolted!

>Dear Citizens of Somewhere,

JOLTED? No, it's not a new pop. Or a new dance. JOLTED is my latest soon-to-be released book. To celebrate the Canadian launch of JOLTED: Newton Starker's Rules for Survival, I'm giving away a copy of the book. It's not on bookstore shelves, but I've got my copies! You could have one, too. Wow. You could read the book before anyone else (except me, and my editors, my agent, and a few reviewers, the postperson, and my wife). The book will be released to the public August 19th in Canada and March 2009 in the US. JOLTED is all about a young man who must spend his life dodging lightning. He goes to a survival school in Moose Jaw to learn how. He also has a magic pig for a friend. Doesn't everyone? Here's the cover:


All you have to do to win the book is post an answer to this skill testing question (on or before August 18th, 2008): what does it feel like to be hit by lightning? Please post your answer at my other blog address: http://arthurslade.livejournal.com/The most creative answer will win. Or else I'll have my magic pig choose the answer. Her name is Josephine, BTW.

All the best,
Art

>Tag Tag Tag

>My dear, lovely, wonderful, brilliant friend, Kathleen Duey, has tagged me. I assume I did something to her in another life that has caused her to unleash this blogging Cerberus-headed nightmare (actually technically it would be a Cerberus and two thirds nightmare since I have to now tag five friends and we all know Cerberus only has 3 heads and I need two more heads to make that image work, but I digress). Yes, if you read the brackets I have to tag 5 friends. Who am I mad at today?

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.

2. Open to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Once you've posted your three sentences, tag five people and post a comment to the blog of whomever has just tagged you. Therefore I will comment on Kathleen's blog . If I tagged you, you should be posting a comment on my blog. Nothing nasty. : )


Here I go to reach, ugh, for the nearest book. Oh, it's The Alienist by Caleb Carr, this should be fun:

"It's the obvious interpretation, if you've got a body with a cut throat. But I noticed almost immediately that there was extensive damage to the laryngeal structures, especially the hyoid bone, which in both cases was fractured. That, of coures, indicates strangulation."
"I don't understand," I said.

Hope no one was in the middle of eating a burger...
It is an excellent book.

Actually that wasn't so painful. And look, I finally posted to my blog! It's been months. Want to know what's been slowing me down, then visit the good ol' Hunchback.

Cheers!
Art

>Winners and Nominees...

>Yay, I'm happy to report that
Invasion of the IQ Snatchers has been nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award for Children's Literature.

If I can work this right, I'll get a free lunch, a free dinner, and, $1500.00! Uh, that last part would mean actually winning the prize, tho. There are some lovely other books nominated.

Speaking of prizes, the free Villainology contest was won by Sandra Kasturi! Yay, a free book. Other winners too numerous to mention came from the UK, the US, and someplace called Canada. I just mailed everything today. I betcha they can't wait until their mysterious prizes arrive!

Cheers!

Art