Contest Rules & Details
Deadline: Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Open to: All residents (International)
How to enter:
In the comments section, name something that leaves a mark.(for example crayons or lipstick)Please include your name and email address in the comment,so that I can contact you if you win.
That will grant you one entry into the draw.
To better your chances,you can do one or all of the following and receive one extra entry for each:
1)Post your own photograph or drawing of the mark you name(+1)(If we are sticking with the crayon example, a photograph of your two year old sister's drawing on the wall would be fab. Perhaps not so much for the house but for the contest it would work wonders!)
2)Subscribe to The Novel Emporium (+1)
-Tell others about the Make Your Mark With Some Sort of Mark contest,
via 3)Twitter(+1)(please provide username)
4)Facebook Status(+1) (please provide link)
and/or 5)Blog Entry(+1) (please provide link)
So there you have it! Everyone who comments and names something that makes a mark, is guaranteed at least one entry.
Good luck to everyone!
Smudge's Mark by Claudia Osmond Publisher: Simply Read Books Hardcover, 384 pages
Publisher's Blurb Simon is an O.W.N.O. (Orphan with No Options). He lives with his deranged grandfather and a horrible housekeeper, Griselda, who punishes him by making him trim her toenails with his teeth.Unable to remember anything about his mother or father, Simon is haunted by a dream of an eagle, a serpent and an angel that smells like bubblegum. Then one night his dreams change. The angel gives him a special object--the broken half of an enchanted key--that is still with him when he wakes up. The key is desired by man, but destined only for him, and it will change his life forever.
My Thoughts In Smudge's Mark, debut novelist Claudia Osmond, skillfully weaves together several popular and well-loved elements of the fantasy genre with unique facets of her own, resulting in an altogether fascinating read.
The setting was brilliant and certainly one of the highlights of the story. The story shifts from the gloomy neighbourhoods of a dreary town, to the eerie Grimstown Academy for Orphans and finally to the enchanting otherworld of Emogen.
I was completely enthralled by Claudia's genuine characters: from the self-conscious, stuttering Gil to the 'he's-so-bad-it's-good' villain, Mr. Ratsworth. The dialogue felt natural, the characters' personalities were distinct and their gradual transformation as the story progressed was both convincing and essential to the storyline.
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