CELEBRATE W/ ME: WIN A CAMERA GIVEAWAY & MORE!

To celebrate the release of The Girl in Gray,

I'm giving away a camera!

Yes, you read that right.

And more prizes, too!

Confession: I keep wanting to call this a Polaroid, but it's technically a Fujifilm Instax Mini. Behold: 

Two of my daughters have them, and they adore these cameras!

Create instant pictures perfect for dorm rooms, scrapbooks, decorating a teen's bedroom, and more.

(Okay, they take a couple of minutes to fully develop, but still!)

Two More Prizes Will Be Drawn for Two More Winners: 

• $15 gift card
• Paperback copies of BOTH The Girl in Gray and Lost Without You.

The latter will be newly in paperback with its brand-new cover, which matches the Harvest Valley series!

For a chance to win any of those prizes, simply enter using the Rafflecopter form below! You can do a many or as few action items as you like, but the more you do, the higher your chances of winning will be.

Make sure to come back daily to stock up on the items you can get daily entries on!

The more you enter, the better your chances of getting  a prize.

And with Christmas around the corner, you know you want to have prizes to use as gifts . . . even if that means gifts for yourself!

Rafflecopter begins November 10th.

Ends on December 10th.

Winners will be notified shortly thereafter.

Additional Rules: 
Any prizes unclaimed after a week of the announcement will be forfeit. Decisions on winners are final. Void where prohibited.

Enter away! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer Splash Blog Hop!

BIG FUN is afoot at the Circle K. (Pardon the goofy Bill and Ted's reference.)

Consider this a jump-start to your fall reading list as well as a jump into the excitement for the release of my next book, Paige.

Truly, though. A boatload of writers are participating in a giant blog hop through the end of July. Each blog offers a chance to win prizes like books and other swag.

PLUS: The home blog for the hop will give out lots of GRAND PRIZES that you won't want to miss out on.

Grand Prizes Include: 

• TWO Kindle Fires
• $75 Amazon gift card
• $50 Amazon gift card
• A Kindle cover
• And signed paperbacks of something like TWENTY different novels (including a copy of PAIGE, which will be out right about the time the hop ends!)

To win one of the grand prizes, tweet about the hop.

Each tweet must have two things: (1) a link to the hop AND (2) the #SummerHop hash tag (both are needed to track the tweets to give you credit). Cool side note: The blog hop host blog post already has pre-written tweets, complete with links, for you to use. Copy, paste, and tweet. Easy peasy. (Use the link below to get there, or use the blog hop button in the sidebar.)

SO WHAT IS MY BLOG OFFERING?

I'll randomly select FIVE winners. Each will receive one of the following prizes:

• E-book of Lost Without You: Contemporary inspirational romance. A woman staring at her upcoming 30th birthday and biological clock, a widower with a young daughter, and an ex-boyfriend who decides if he can't have her, no one will.
• E-book of At the Water's Edge: Contemporary inspirational romance. A Finnish woman's decision to change her religion sets a chain of events into motion that change every aspect of her life. Work, family, home, and, possibly, her heart. 
• E-book of The Golden Cup of Kardak: Middle-grade fantasy. If there's any chance of winning the war, two siblings must find their father in the enemy's prison and bring him a magical goblet, a journey fraught with danger and adventures. 
• Paperback of Spires of Stone: Historical romance. A loose re-telling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing set in 1860s Salt Lake City.
• Paperback of Paige (Get your hands on it before anyone else!) Contemporary women's fiction, part of The Newport Ladies Book Club. A new divorcee and mother of two young boys starts over and must discover who she is as a woman rather than a wife and whether she can ever learn to trust another man again.

HOW TO ENTER HERE

TWO ways to win on my blog:
(1) Spread the word about MY participation in the hop, leaving a link to my blog. Be sure to leave comments each time you tweet or Facebook about it. PLEASE add the links so I can track them. (This is in addition to general tweeting with the #SummerHop tag.)

AND

(2) Answer any or all of the trivia questions below, but NOT in a comment. (EMAIL the answers to me. See details below.)


(1) SPREAD THE WORD
Every day from July 23 through the end of the month, you can get an entry point for linking to THIS post on Facebook or Twitter. (Don't link to my blog's regular URL. Use this post's permalink). Do it every day, and that's NINE potential entries on FB and NINE more on Twitter, for EIGHTEEN total.

(2) ANSWER UP TO 5 TRIVIA QUESTIONS
E-mail me the answers to any of the following trivia questions about me. Each correct answer gives you TWO entries, for a possible total of TEN.

Find every answer with a simple blog search right here. HINT: Each question has a big-time hint in it. Just search this blog for the bolded and italicized words.

IMPORTANT NOTE: 
NO trivia answers in the comments will be accepted, or the answers will be ruined for everyone else. Comments with trivia answers will be deleted. Instead, e-mail your answers to ANNETTE (at) ANNETTE LYON (dot) com with "SUMMER HOP TRIVIA" in the subject line.



NOW FOR THE QUESTIONS:

(1) When I referred to racing stripes in a post, what was I referring to?

(2) If I'm NOT an Anne freak, who or what am I obsessed with?


(3) While blow drying my hair, I got a great idea for the story that became Tower of Strength (the creative juices were really flowing). What annual tradition kept me from working on that book for a week?

(4) In the company of weird, where was I? (A general answer is fine. No specific date or location required.)

(5) When my family decided to attack the grammar fascista, what word pair did my husband brilliantly drive me crazy with? (TIP: The answer to this question is part of Melissa Smith's scavenger hunt, which she's doing for the hop. Find the answer to this question, and you're ahead of the game when you hop over to her place!)



For the list of all of the participating blogs, and for further details about how the hop (and for a chance to win prizes!), head on over to the Summer Splash Blog itself.

Happy hopping!

Interview & Contest: Josi Kilpack

Up today: An interview with one of the coolest people on the planet, and a dear, dear friend.

I'm excited to announce two things in conjunction with her interview:

1) The release of Pumpkin Roll, the sixth book in the Sadie Hoffmiller culinary mystery series:

and

2) A contest to WIN an iPad. Fer reals, peeps.

About the author:

Josi S. Kipack hated reading until her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond when she was 13. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and credits her writing education to the many novels she has studied since then. She began writing her first novel in 1998 and never stopped. Sheep's Clothing (2007) won the Whitney Award for Best Mystery/Suspense. Lemon Tart, the first book in the Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery series, was a Whitney finalist in 2009. Josi currently lives in Willard, Utah, with her husband, four children, one dog, and a varying number of chickens.

Additional notes from me: Josi's cell phone ring is the sound of chickens, and Josi adores chocolate-covered cinnamon bears. She's also one of the four authors (with me!) of the upcoming Newport Ladies Book Club series.

***Our interview***

AL: You started your writing career with issue-driven books (prescription drug abuse, internet predators, infertility, etc.). How is writing culinary mysteries different?

JK: It’s a lot more different than I thought it would be when I started. For one thing, this was the first time I’d ever written a book with only one point of view character. There’s also specific expectations associated with Cozy mysteries—culinary mysteries are Cozies with a specific expectation in regard to story arc and character. I’ve had to learn about so many new things.


AL: Any similarities?
JK: This series is not different in regard to developing a character people hopefully care about and a plot that challenges that character to grow. AND, I still manage to work in an issue here and there :-)

AL: How do you go about approaching each new story to keep things fresh and interesting?

JK: Panic and pray and write, write, write. I write, I cut, I write some more, cut some more, and eventually mold something new. I’m mindful of trying not to repeat plot lines, motives, twists, and character types which gets harder every time but so far is working out after much stress and many Coke slurpees.

AL: With your Sadie mysteries, how do you come up with the type of murder and motivations each time?

JK: I watch a lot of TV and movies. A LOT!

AL: What research did you have to do for Pumpkin Roll in particular?

JK: I’d never been to Boston before, which made it intimidating to set a book there. I had hoped to go before my deadline, but that didn’t turn out, so I had to rely on friends, travel guides, websites, and movies and TV shows set in Boston—did I already mention I watch a lot of TV and movies? I also spent a lot of time researching ghost sightings and metaphysical beliefs and objects—lots of education there.

AL: What is your typical writing schedule like?

JK: I fantasize about a schedule. *sigh* Alas, I am a frantic writer these days. I try to plug writing in anywhere I have room. My most effective writing these days is when I can leave my family in the hands of my husband and escape to the office building of our business. I try to do this once a week and write from about 5:00 p.m. 'til midnight. I can get a lot done, and if I know I have it scheduled that week, I don’t feel as neurotic about it. In addition to my writing, I have four kids and do the bookkeeping for our business. Life is chaotic.

AL: Your career started out with a smaller niche publisher and has gone on to be with a much larger publisher and a successful series with a large fan base. What is one big thing you've learned throughout your career?

JK: That you can never stop learning and growing. Not only within your writing, but in your own personal development. If you stop experiencing life, you’ll run out of ideas, and if you at any time think you know it all, prepare to be sideswiped with something that reminds you otherwise. Writing should be a part of your life that helps makes it better, and your life should be a part of your writing that makes it better too. Every goal you reach will lead to a new goal you’ll need to set. There will always be set backs, there will always be frustrations, but the pursuit has been a worthwhile one for me.

AL: What's been the biggest surprise about the journey?

JK: The amazing people I’ve met. I never imagined that there were as many neurotic people driven by the stories in their head :-) But my best friends are people I’ve met through my writing, and it has enriched my life more than the writing ever could. If someone would have told me that before I started, I wouldn’t have seen how the connections would happen, but they’ve become a priceless part of my journey, which just goes to show you that you’ll never know where your ambitions might take you.

AL: Any advice for aspiring authors?

JK: Allow yourself failures and be honest in your evaluation of them. Find people who will tell you the truth and always look for ways to improve and grow your abilities. Keep perspective that writing should be a part of your life, but don’t stop living in the meantime. Surround yourself with inspiring people and things and work, work, work.

*****And now for the iPad contest!*****

In conjunction with the release of Pumpkin Roll, Josi and her publisher, Shadow Mountain, are sponsoring a contest for a new iPad.

To enter, simply leave a comment in the comment section of this post before
November 1, 2011. Winners will be announced and notified November 3, 2011.

For additional ways to enter (and there are many), visit Josi's website.

Get the book in paperback, audio, and Kindle formats HERE.

Tristi's Hang 'Em High Hoedown

Welcome to the Hang ‘em High Hoedown, counting down the days until the release of Tristi Pinkston’s new novel Hang ‘em High, the third installment in The Secret Sisters Mysteries.

When Ida Mae Babbitt receives an invitation to visit her son Keith’s dude ranch in Montana, she’s excited to mend their broken relationship, but not so excited about spending time with cows. Arlette and Tansy go along with her, ready to take a vacation that does not involve dead bodies or mysteries of any sort—one must have a break from time to time. But it seems a no-good scoundrel has moseyed into Dodge City and is bent on causing all sorts of trouble for the ranch. Unable to keep her curiosity in check—especially when it seems her own son is the most likely culprit—Ida Mae decides to investigate. Can she lasso the varmint and get him to the sheriff in time?

You are invited to the launch party:

When: Saturday, August 13^th, 12 – 4 pm

Where: Pioneer Book, 858 S. State, Orem

Prizes, games, Dutch oven cobbler (first come, first served)

Tristi will be joined by authors Nichole Giles, Heather Justesen,

Cindy Hogan, and J. Lloyd Morgan

To count down to this book launch, Tristi is holding a contest, and you can win a ton of great prizes!

On my blog, you can win:

Band of Sisters, winner of the 2010 Whitney Award for Best General Novel

The backliner:

When the war on terror calls their husbands to duty, five LDS women are left behind to fight battles of their own: Kim, newlywed and pregnant, frightened of what the future might bring. Brenda, struggling to manage three unruly boys and a crippling bout of depression. Jessie, secretly grappling with mixed feelings about her emotionally abusive husband. Marianne, wrestling with a rebellious teenage daughter. And Nora, the seasoned Army wife with perfect hair, an immaculate home — and an ill-tempered mother dying of cancer.

Knowing the separation of deployment is extremely difficult, Nora gathers the wives every week to share lunches and burdens. In good company, they worry over safety in the field and stability at home and offer one another counsel and comfort. But as their personal crises build, each woman faces the risks of forming deep bonds of trust. And when tragedy strikes, they must confront the painful realities of war that pull families apart and bring friends together as sisters.

EDITED TO ADD:

OR you have the option of winning Tower of Strength, my fourth temple-related book. Like the other prizes in Tristi's Hoe Down, it features a HORSE. Winner's choice. Read about Tower of Strength HERE. (You can also watch the trailer for it in my side bar.)

To enter, do all of the following:

1. Be a follower of my blog.

2. Go to Tristi’s blog at http://www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com and become a follower of her blog.

3. Leave Tristi a comment and tell her you’ve been to my blog, and tell her one reason why you’d like to win my book.

You have two days to enter the contest on my blog (all entries for my prize must be received by midnight, August 2^nd, MST), but the hoe down fun is just getting started.

Be sure to check Tristi’s blog every day for information about the next prize – you’re in for a rootin’-tootin’ good time as we count down the days!

So . . . Close. Help, Please.

So I entered a photo taken several years ago of my husband and one of our daughters into a contest for pictures of fathers. Winner gets a cool camera.

The finalists are voted on by the public. I'm close, but I need help to bump our picture up and win.

You can vote once a day through Sunday, so go back tomorrow, too!

To vote, write "I vote for Dad and Daughter" in the comments under the photo.

HERE'S THE LINK!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Which Chocolate Upstages an Artichoke

For those who've asked, here's me on our local ABC affiliate's morning show, Good Things Utah, from Wednesday.

This clip has more than the 5 minute segment you'll find on their site. We have bonus material! It includes all the teasers they did throughout and (best of all) the fun at the end of the show when Angel Shannon was at the table to talk about an artichoke but the hostesses were passing around the cookie batter.

And in case you haven't voted yet, yes, I'm pestering again. I have two stories in the running at the Tweet Me a Story contest. You can vote for both (plus other favorites). My group, 13, had to use the word special in a story that consists of only 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

If you've voted already, THANK YOU!!! If you haven't voted, here's a HANDY LINK!

Word Nerd Needs Your Help!

Because I'm a nerd and like a challenge, I entered NYC Midnight's Tweet Me a Story contest.

The contest: Using a word they provide, using it exactly as written (so no making it past tense, shortening it, etc.) write a story that's no longer than 140 characters, including punctuation and spaces.

In essence: A story the length of a tweet.

Writers had to register in advance, and then we were placed in groups and assigned our word. We had 5 hours to come up with our stories, and we could submit up to three.

I was in group 13. Our word: special.

Something like 1,000 stories came in. The top 25 stories in each group were chosen by judges. They're now listed where readers vote to determine which ones proceed to the next round.

Here's where I need your help: TWO of my stories made it!

(Can I hear a WAHOOO?!)

Read my stories (and the other finalists in my group) HERE.

Then help me move to the next round. To vote for both of my stories, CLICK HERE.

Thanks in advance!!!

Post Script: I was on ABC4's Good Things Utah this morning showing another recipe from the book. I'll link over to the clip when it's available.

NOW VOTE! :)

WNW: The Apostrophe Song!

This error drives. Me. Crazy.

I addressed the issue right before Christmas one year begging people to NOT use an apostrophe on their gift tags (such as, "to the Smith's") because that implies ownership. (To the Smith's what? Their dog?)

With gift tags and such, we're talking PLURAL situations. Plural.

(Say it with me. PLLLLUUUURRRAAAL.) Plurals take an S.

And they take NO APOSTROPHE. That's possessive (ownership).

Therefore, you're giving cookies to a group of people all called Smith. Hence, the Smiths.

And you go to the store to by a bunch of bananas, plural. So you don't use an apostrophe, because that would make a single banana own something.

So: NOT banana's (you're buying the banana's . . . peels?) but bananas.

I found yet another fun video that showcases a peeve. Enjoy!

In other news, Lisa Loo over at Is That a Garage Door on My Ceiling? has moved into her house FROM a garage (hence the title of her blog).

She totally rocks. In totally unrelated news, she put my blog button on her side bar. :-D

She has a new problem: since her blog name no longer fits, she needs a new one and is hosting a contest for it. Check out the details HERE.

LIST Day!

• Hail? Really, Mother Nature? On April 5th? Grrrr.
• Got my Whitney ballot turned in over the weekend! Can't wait to see the award results. (Also: Readers, be sure to nominate your favorite LDS-authored books of 2010 for next year's awards!)
• The TwHistory re-enactment of the Mormon Pioneer Trek is LIVE! Check out the media buzz it's already getting on KSL and the Deseret News!
• To follow the trek, go to THIS PAGE on Twitter and follow all of the historical figures listed there. There's a Twitter LIST with them HERE.
• (What the heck is the re-enactment, you say? Check out the home page HERE.)
• Getting the new TV paid off is a sure-fire way to ensure that an old TV will experience a sudden and permanent death.
• Using some of my husband's own work with the new Family Search, Mobile Tree has created an iPhone app. TODAY ONLY, they're offering it for FREE. It's their LDS General Conference special.
• Thanks to everyone who came to my signing last Saturday and made it so great!
• Heffalump from I Blog About Nothing reviewed Band of Sisters and talks up Flat Daddy HERE.
• Thursday evening, I'll be holing up with my computer and my fictional characters for a 4-hour write-a-thon sponsored by Precision Editing Group. Be sure to participate for a chance to win prizes! (Details on this post. Read the comments for answers to reader questions.)
• Submitted my last syllabus page for my LDStorymakers conference workshops . . . only two weeks late (ahem . . .). Can't believe we're less than three weeks out! Squee!
• Photo shoot #5 for Chocolate Never Faileth was today. Two more, and they'll be wrapped up!
• And finally, note to self: Next year, buy Easter candy that you do not like. This will prevent you from eating "just one" left over chocolate . . . twenty times a day.

Share the Launch Love

It's almost here!

Sarah M. Eden, Julie Coulter Bellon, and I are revving up for Friday's Triple Book Launch Party!

THIS FRIDAY, March 12

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Deseret Book at University Village

(East of University Mall in Orem)

Get ready for a bunch of great door prizes. (They'll be announced here soon. We've got a bunch of awesome stuff!) Friday will be a ball.

Whether you love Regency Romance, Thrillers with lots of suspense (and a little romance thrown in!), or women's fiction (or know someone who does!), you won't want to miss this event.

But WAIT! There's more for YOU.

We want to spread the word about the launch as far and as wide as possible.

Welcome to the "Share the Launch Love" drawing!

The more YOU do to spread the word, the better your chances of winning. (I'm totally not above bribery.)

THE PRIZES:

An entire FOUR-BOOK set of my temple books: House on the Hill, At the Journey's End, Spires of Stone, and Tower of Strength.

(That's a value of over $60.00!)

TWO runners-up will get a copy of my grammar book, There, Their, They're: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd.

HOW TO ENTER: SPREAD THE LAUNCH PARTY LOVE!

Be sure to leave a comment FOR EACH SEPARATE THING YOU DO so I have a fighting chance of keeping track of the entries.

-TWO ENTRIES: Put the Triple Book Launch Party button on your side bar. (The image is at the top over on my sidebar. Just copy and paste it to your blog). You must also LINK the button to the event's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=338177993233&ref=mf

HOW-TO UPDATE: For Blogger users, simply copy the image and add it to a picture gadget. There's a spot in the dialog box where you can add a URL to link the picture to. Copy and paste the FB link above, then save.

-THREE ENTRIES: Blog about the launch party, including date, time, location, and name all three authors involved, including links to all three authors (author websites or blogs).

-TWO ENTRIES: First you must do the blog post (above). In that post, include all three book covers featured at the launch. (Courting Miss Lancaster, Dangerous Connections, and Band of Sisters).

Here are the covers, just to make things really easy for you:

-ONE TO FIVE ENTRIES: Tweet the event. (Include a link to your tweet in your comment.) Receive an additional entry each time you tweet the launch (maximum once a day) between now and Friday. (Leave a comment each time, with a link for each tweet.)

-ONE ENTRY: Mention the launch party in your Facebook status or news feed. (Include a link in your comment.)

-ONE ENTRY: Follow The Lyon's Tale. (If you're already a follower, just say so in a comment; an immediate entry!)

-ONE ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter.

-ONE ENTRY: Become my fan on Facebook (use the nifty Facebook fan badge in the sidebar).

-ONE ENTRY: Follow Sarah M. Eden's blog.

-ONE ENTRY: Follow Julie Bellon on Twitter.

-ONE TO THREE ENTRIES: Link back to THIS POST (not just my blog; use the permalink) and share it via Facebook, Twitter, on in a blog post (the same blog post as above works!).

(It would also be awesome if readers would invite their Wasatch Front-living friends to attend. If they're on Facebook, go to the event page and click on "share." I have no idea how to track invitations like that, but we'd sure appreciate it!)

Drawing ENDS Friday, March 12 at 4:00 pm Mountain Time.

Winners will be announced after the launch (and, quite possibly, a long nap).

***TOTAL POSSIBLE ENTRIES: TWENTY-ONE!***

Ready . . . go!

(Hope to see you Friday!)

Exciting Things Are Afoot.

First off, time for celebration! Both of my Whitney Award ballots are submitted. Done. Finito. Woohoo! My eyeballs are ready to drop out of their sockets, but I'm done! Now we all get to wait a couple more days to find out the results. Squeeeee!

Second, two of my bestest writer friends are featured in this month's issue of Mormon Artist magazine, Julie Wright and Robison Wells.

Julie is one of those people I call when I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to vent to, and she's always in your corner, cheering you on. Everyone deserves a Julie in their lives. (Plus, she's a great writer, to boot.) I don't remember when I first met Julie, but I can honestly say that she's one of the brightest spots in my life. Any time I see her, I can't help but smile, because I know I'll get a big hug and that she'll just ooze love.

Rob is in my critique group. He's another great writer, and he keeps us grounded. Among other things, he's great at big-picture problems and making sure our men don't act like girls. I'll never forget one of the first things he said about a scene of mine. "This scene isn't funny. In fact, it's egregiously unfunny." Awesome. (He was right, by the way. Humor is tough to write.) He's also the Whitney Awards founder and president. I found out things about him in this interview I never knew. It's fascinating.

Read both interviews (linked to at their names); they're worth it.

Finally, some fun for those attending the Storymaker's writers conference in April. For Friday night's dinner, the organizers have some special guests (among them: David Farland, Jessica Day George, James Dashner, and singer Shawn Barrows).

Attendees may get a chance to sit at one of the tables with these guests if they simply help spread the word about the conference a bit: blog about it, tweet it, become a Facebook fan, put up a badge on your sidebar that says you're coming (like the one I've got up saying I'm speaking), and the like.

For all the contest details, visit Make Me a Story, conference co-chair Jaime Theler's blog.

The Link! The Link!

As promised, I'm posting the link to the annual Funds for Writers essay contest, which I won. (Yippee!)

HERE IS THE LINK. CLICK HERE TO READ MY ESSAY!

I recommend subscribing to the Funds for Writers newsletter and blog. (You can do that from the link above as well.) Both are great resources for writers.

Now I have to decide how to spend the prize money. Hmm . . .

WNW: Answers and Winners

First, the answers to the quiz, because I just KNOW you're dying to find out, right? Right?

**crickets chirping**

I'm telling you anyway. :)

1. Which of the following languages have I NOT studied?

a) German

b) French

c) American Sign Language

d) Finnish

e) Russian

Answer: GERMAN

I took a year of French in 4th grade and another in 8th. ASL was my language in college, and I got pretty darn good at it, to the point that I almost entered the interpreting program (but got sidetracked by that marriage thing). I obviously studied Finnish while living in the country, and I took two years of Russian in high school.

2. In what grade did I take my first language class?

a) 2nd

b) 4th

c) 6th

d) 8th

Answer: 4th

Sort of answered that already, huh? :)

My elementary school started up a new language program then with 30-minute language classes before regular school hours. My sister and I signed up with French. She was in 2nd grade, and I was in 4th.

3) What was the first language I studied?

a) German

b) French

c) American Sign Language

d) Finnish

e) Russian

Answer: French. Beating a dead horse now.

4) Why did I pick that one?

a) I heard it was easy.

b) My friends were taking it.

c) My grandpa is from a country that speaks it.

d) I wanted a challenge.

e) My parents picked it for me.

Answer: My grandpa is from a country that speaks it.

My paternal grandfather immigrated from Switzerland, which, by Swiss law, made my father a dual U.S. and Swiss citizen by birth, which made me a dual citizen as well. I figured it would be a cool thing to take a language spoken in that country. (Granted, French is spoken there less than other languages, but it is spoken there, and that was my primary motivation for picking it.)

5) Probably the biggest factor in my becoming a Word Nerd is that:

a) I took a class about the history of English and loved it.

b) Dad is a linguist.

c) I worked at a library.

d) I learned to read at a young age.

e) I used to read the encyclopedia for fun.

Answer: B) Dad is a linguist.

Hands down. If it weren't for our dinner table conversations about etymologies and other weird word nerdy stuff, I wouldn't care about language like I do. It helped that I had great English teachers in high school and college.

I was a Word Nerd way before that History of the English Language Course in college, which should have been the coolest thing ever but was a nightmare because of the teacher. (Note to the BYU English department of 1993: don't have non-linguists teaching language courses. Save the literature professors for literature courses.)

6) While living in Finland and attending public school there, what language class did I attend?

a) Swedish

b) French

c) English

d) Russian

Answer: C) English

This may sound counter-intuitive, but attending English class helped me learn Finnish. Think about it: if I had to take the same quiz as the Finnish kids did, translating words from Finnish to English or vice versa, I had to know what the words were in Finnish to pass. If I didn't know that "talo" meant "house," I was up a creek. By taking the English class, I learned Finnish much quicker.

7) What is my favorite language "toy"?

a) Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, by David Wilton

b) Word Nerd: More than 17,000 Fascinating Facts about Words, by Barbara Ann Kipfer, Ph.D

c) The Oxford English Dictionary

d) The Write Express Rhyming Dictionary

Answer: C) The Oxford English Dictionary

If you've been here very long, this was an easy one. I could have been more specific and said my OED on CD. It's a joy to behold and "play" with. Um, I mean do research with.

As a side note, my father was the linguist behind the coding for the Write Express Online Rhyming Dictionary. You can search not just for rhymes but for ANY phonetic sounds in words. It's a great tool for language teachers of any kind. It's way cool. My little sister and I spent a summer being beta-testers on it. That's a blog post of its own I should do some time.

8) What language did I study in high school for 2 years?

a) French

b) German

c) Russian

d) Japanese

Answer: C) Russian

Oops. Already gave this one away answering #1. I have no clue why I didn't stick with French after junior high and what on Earth possessed me to take up Russian, but I did and had fun with it for two years. I still get a kick out of sounding out the Cyrillic alphabet.

9) Who was my favorite professor at BYU?

a) Dr. Snyder

b) Dr. Oaks

c) Dr. Thayer

d) Dr. Crisler

Answer: B) Dr. Oaks

In all honesty, I loved all of these teachers. They were each great in their own way.

(I have a hysterical story about Snyder. Oh, and another about Thayer. And I'll say that, crimeny, Crisler scared the heck out of me. He pushed me to the limit and challenged me to go farther and deeper than I thought I could. But I thank him for that! He was tough. In a good way.)

That said, Dr. Oaks impacted me and my Word Nerdiness in huge ways, and if I could sit in on his classes again, I would in a heartbeat. His cannibal jokes alone would be worth it.

10) What high school teacher do I credit for my understanding of punctuation?

a) Miss Drummond

b) Miss Jarmon

c) Mrs. Oldroyd

d) Miss Winn

Answer: A) Miss Drummond

Again, I really did have all these teachers, and they were all good, but Miss Drummond was in a league all her own. She's living proof that you can teach punctuation and grammar and have it make sense and stick with a student for life.

She's also the person I credit with first teaching me the basics of writing. I purposely didn't take the AP English class, instead taking her College Prep English class because I thought she'd prepare me for test better than the actual AP teacher could. I challenged the test and got a 5 (the highest possible score). I give her the credit. She was amazing.

Miss Drummond is in the unique position as the only person who had intense educational contact with my family as both a student and a teacher:

• She took a class from my dad on transformational grammar. Don't ask what that is. I don't even know.
• She had my brother as a student. (He swears she was the first and only teacher he ever had who could explain grammar so it made sense--see? It's not just me!)
• She had my older sister as a student.
• Then she had me as a student. Twice. (Sophomore and senior years.)
• And I was her TA one year too (junior year).

To say she had an impact on my family would be a mild statement.

So there ya go: my history as a Word Nerd.

Now for what you really want to hear . . . the winners:

The person with the most correct answers (a whopping 9 of 10!) was Amber Lynae!

You might not believe this, but the random drawing winner, using Random.org picked Amber Lynae again.

Seriously. BUT . . . I didn't think that was fair, since the point was to have two winners getting two books. (Sorry, Amber Lynae!)

So I made the executive decision of having Random.org picking another winner, and that person is Jami!

Both winners: Please contact me directly via e-mail in the next two days so I can find out which book you want and so I can get your shipping information. (Remember, it can even be one that's out of print, so you've got 7 to pick from.)

In the meantime, for all my readers, try this mind bender on for size:

(Please, if you've heard it before and know it, don't ruin the fun for everyone else in the comments. Thanks in advance!)

Do you know what the following sentence means?

Maresy dotes'n doesy dotes'n littel amsy divie.

Say it aloud if it helps to figure it out.

Next time, we'll discuss what it means and how (and why) it messes with your brain.

Reminder: Win a Book!

Today is the last day to make your guesses on my WNW quiz for a chance to win a book.

UPDATE: I've decided to have TWO winners instead of just one!

1) The person with the most correct answers

AND

2) One randomly drawn name.

So it's worth taking a shot at the questions even if you have no clue what the answers are.

Rule reminders:

• Answers are accepted through today only, Tuesday, August 18.
• Either leave your answers in the comments or e-mail them to me: annette at annettelyon dot com
• Both winners will be posted tomorrow, Wednesday, August 19th.

Up for me today: an early-morning soccer practice, final school shopping (yes, I still have some to finish up, if you can believe it--cutting it very close), a grocery store trip, an orthodontist appointment, two school open houses, a soccer game, and two possible youth activities, one hinging on whether we make it to the soccer game and find the field in some obscure park in another city.

If my family eats, has clean dishes to eat off of or clothes to wear, it'll be a miracle.

But they'll have clean underwear. So that's something, right?

WNW: A Quiz and a Giveaway

After last week's post and excitement over Grimm's Law, I promise to get back to it . . . just as soon as the kids are back in school .

(That means I'll need to consult my university notes and talk to Dad to refresh a few things in my mind and such, which means I'll need some time and likely several posts to do it justice. Time. I don't really have that right now.)

Anyhoo, in the meantime, I sort of blew past my third bloggy anniversary in July.

Um, yeah. Whoops.

I meant to do something really cool for my three-year mark. Something really neat and amazing, like a huge giveaway with a big sponsor or . . . I don't know, something. And then I posted something else on the actual anniversary and realized it a week later that it was over and . . . well, yeah..

So. . . let's all pretend that we're celebrating three years of The Lyon's Tale with a Word Nerd quiz . . . about me! (Because I'm going to be vain and pretend you all care.) Some questions you'll just have to guess at. Others you may know if you've been reading here long enough. Just give it a stab regardless. There are only 10 questions--it's worth trying for, right?

You can either leave your answers in the comments or send them to me via e-mail at annette at annettelyon dot com.

The person with the most correct answers gets a copy of There, Their They're: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar from the Word Nerd, OR a copy of one of my novels, their choice.

That includes the first two (non-historical) ones that are out of print, because I was smart enough to buy some copies before it was too late. (Yay for me, I was on-time for something.) So basically, the winner gets whatever book of mine they want that's currently in my house. (No waiting for a new book to come out next year, because I KNOW I'll forget to send it to you.)

If there's a tie, then both winners will get to pick one. Or maybe I'll let one of my kids draw a winner, and the runner-up gets something chocolaty, since I've been cooking up chocolate all over the place for that darned cookbook. (Haven't mentioned that in my Writing Journey yet, have I? I'll get there soon.) Anyhow, I'll cross that bridge if we get at tie.

So here's my Word Nerd quiz:

1. Which of the following languages have I NOT studied?

a) German

b) French

c) American Sign Language

d) Finnish

e) Russian

2. In what grade did I take my first language class?

a) 2nd

b) 4th

c) 6th

d) 8th

3) What was the first language I studied?

a) German

b) French

c) American Sign Language

d) Finnish

e) Russian

4) Why did I pick that one?

a) I heard it was easy.

b) My friends were taking it.

c) My grandpa is from a country that speaks it.

d) I wanted a challenge.

e) My parents picked it for me.

5) Probably the biggest factor in my becoming a Word Nerd is that:

a) I took a class about the history of English and loved it.

b) Dad is a linguist.

c) I worked at a library.

d) I learned to read at a young age.

e) I used to read the encyclopedia for fun.

6) While living in Finland and attending public school there, what language class did I attend?

a) Swedish

b) French

c) English

d) Russian

7) What is my favorite language "toy"?

a) Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, by David Wilton

b) Word Nerd: More than 17,000 Fascinating Facts about Words, by Barbara Ann Kipfer, Ph.D

c) The Oxford English Dictionary

d) The Write Express Rhyming Dictionary

8) What language did I study in high school for 2 years?

a) French

b) German

c) Russian

d) Japanese

9) Who was my favorite professor at BYU? (If you've read enough WNW posts, this one should be easy. Oh, and I really did take at least one class from each of these teachers.)

a) Dr. Snyder

b) Dr. Oaks

c) Dr. Thayer

d) Dr. Crisler

10) What high school teacher do I credit for my understanding of punctuation? (Again, if you've been reading this blog long enough, you should know this.)

a) Miss Drummond

b) Miss Jarmon

c) Mrs. Oldredge

d) Miss Winn

(Answers will be accepted through Tuesday, August 18th, MDT, so I can announce the winners on the next WNW. Have fun!)