Contest & Giveaway: Boyfriend From Hell

I need your help in choosing the cover for my new novel, Boyfriend From Hell. To entice you into helping me, I am giving away some awesome swag. The contest is easy. All you need to do to qualify is look at the three covers below and tell me in the comments section which of the three covers you like best. Easy Peasy:

Cover #1

Cover #2

Cover #3

Here's an idea of what the book is about:

Have you ever had a boyfriend from hell?

You know the kind: guy who messes with your life so much he turns it into Swiss cheese. Or maybe he was the guy who followed you home like a lost puppy, then turned into the pit bull you couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard you tried. Or maybe he was abusive.

I'm sure we've all had a bad boyfriend or two (or girlfriend in my case). My new novel, Boyfriend From Hell, is about a boyfriend from hell--literally. It's a YA paranormal like Never Slow Dance With A Zombie, but I've cut back on the comedy a bit in this one. It's the story of Megan Barnett, the fifteen year-old daughter of a 39 year-old single mom, Suze. When Suze decides it's time she had a man in her life, Megan is not happy. With good reason:

"First off, if anyone in my family should be dating, it should be me. I'm primo dating age here. How's it going to look if my mother has a boyfriend and I don't?" So Megan and Suze both set out to meet boyfriends. That's when all hell breaks loose.

Prizes: ARCs (when they are available in April) or a tee shirt. 2 prizes in all.

Open to all.

Offer ends: March 4, 2011

TO DO:

Of the three book covers above, which do you like best?

Tell me the answer and leave your email address in comments. On March 5th I will hold a random drawing of all who left comments. There will be two winners who will receive their choice of an ARC or an I Survived A Boyfriend From Hell tee shirt. I will email the winners and post the winning cover design on the blog. (photo of the tee coming soon)

Thanks for your help.

Is It Soup Yet?

That's a line from an old Campbell's soup commercial. The kid who calls out the line, runs into the house, and his mother proudly says "It's soup!" Which if you think about it is kinda dumb. It's not like she's been slaving over a hot stove all day. It's Campbell's soup for Chrissake. Open a can, pour in water, five minutes later, it's soup. Duh!

But I digress. I have been dying to see the first wave of book covers created by art director, Daniel Will-Harris, for my new novel, Boyfriend From Hell. And guess what? It's soup!

Yesterday my publisher sent me the covers. This evening he sent some revisions. I am very pleased. The question is, will you be pleased. I need your honest and unbiased feedback. And to coax you into giving me that feedback I will be revealing the covers on Friday along with a cover contest. ARCs and other goodies are promised. In the meantime, I am going to call on a few blogger friends with discriminating followers to see if they'd like to co-host this contest with me. If you'd like to co host let me know in the comments.

They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but we all do. Book covers are a very important first impression. Above is the awesome cover art for my first novel, Never Slow Dance With A Zombie. That cover helped me sell almost 40,000 books. If you haven't read it yet, I may be giving an autographed copy away in the contest as well.

Until Friday.

What?

Before I get to the winner of this week's challenge a have a bit of a rant. Sorry, but you're just going to have to listen. I don't rant often.

Yesterday I got an email (that should have gone into my spam box) with this in the subject line: Looking For A Retirement Community?

Okay *deep breath* I was cool with all the Viagra spam, and the online "dating" spam, and even all the life insurance spam. But does anyone need spam that reminds them that maybe it's time to start looking for a retirement community? Okay, I'm OLD! I get it. I don't need spam from some twenty-five year old (I'm just guessing here) reminding me of it.

So, Dear Mister (or Miss) Spam Sender, First off let me thank you not only for your spam, but for all the spam that clogs up my inbox. I don't know what I'd do with all the time I spend deleting it. And since you asked, no, I am NOT looking for a retirement community. I have two or three more good productive years in me before I am ready to be put out to pasture. But If I was looking for a retirement community, I don't think one suggested to me by an unknown spammer would be the way to go. Okay?

Thanks for listening. And now for the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge. This week's correct answer was: Bela Swan of Twilight, of course. I know, easy. This weeks winner is Dottie. Her blog is Tink's Place. Congratulations, Dottie, you will receive your $10 Amazon gift card later today.

I won't be hosting a challenge for the next few weeks because I'm putting together a few things around the new novel, Boyfriend From Hell. Stay tuned. I have some fun stuff and great contests coming soon. And if you happen to be looking for a retirement community for yourself or your parents, and you'd like a suggestion from somebody you don't know and have no idea of their taste, let me know and I will forward one to you.

Peace.

"I'll Have What She's Having"

I think last week's challenge was too easy. Seven of you entered. Seven of you got it right. The correct answer is: "When Harry Met Sally." The line was uttered by a woman in the restaurant who happens to be Rob Reiner's mother, Estelle Reiner.

While everyone got it right, there can only be one winner. This week's winner is Kryskat. Congratulations Kryskat! Your $10 Amazon gift card will be emailed to you later today.

I was a bit disappointed with the turnout, but want to thank all of you who participated. I hope you'll play again this week, and perhaps tell a friend or two about our little trivia challenge. You can cut and paste the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge button onto your blogs or websites. That might help get the word out. If you'd like me to send it to you as a jpeg, I can do that as well. Just ask.

And now for this week's challenge. This week I am doing weird romantic. My definition of weird romantic is the movie I choose will be paranormal in nature and have a romance in it. Beetlejuice Would be a weird romantic movie. Okay? The Challenge:

In what weird romantic movie did a character say: "I've never given much thought to how I would die?"

That's it. I think it's an easy one, too, but maybe not. The winner will receive a $10 Amazon gift card. You don't need to get your answers in today. You have until Sunday February 13th. I will do a drawing of all the correct answers on Monday, Valentine's Day, and post the winner here next Tuesday. If you're not sure how to play, read what follows:

There are a few things you will need to do to qualify to win, and they are:

1) Be a registered follower of this blog or
2) ...follow me at http://www.evanlowe.com/
3) leave a comment on this blog in the comment section on any of my posts anytime during the week of the current challenge.
4) send your answer to me at info@evanlowe.com
5)mention the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge either on your blog or in a tweet the week of the current challenge.

Do 1 +3,4&5, or 2 +3 ,4&5 and you are entered to win. Remember, you must do four things to win.

Good luck.

Squirrel Impossible!

This has nothing to do with writing, or reading, or books, or my life. A friend sent it to me and I thought it was pretty darn cute. And when we writer's are procrastinating writing, we look for things that tickle our fancy. This is the copy in the email I got. Read the copy, push the button, and maybe it'll tickle you, too:

This takes place in deepest East Texas, near Lovelady. The owner of the yard added each piece of the Rube Goldberg contraption slowly so that when the squirrel learned one section and got the nuts, they added another section.

Finally, it ended with what you see on the video! It took over two-weeks to get to this point.

Darn, those East Texas squirrels are something else.

Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge #6

We haven't had a trivia challenge in a while. I've been hard at work on the edit of my new book that comes out in September. But with Valentine's Day so near I thought it would be fun to have a Sweetheart's Challenge. So this week and next I will be hosting challenges in which the films will be romantic in nature.

While we call it the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge, you don't have to enter today. You have 6 days to enter. The drawing closes Sunday evening. So everyone has plenty of time to come up with a good answer. But just one entry per person will be accepted. The winner will receive a free $10 Amazon gift card. On Monday I will draw a winner from all the correct answers, and post the winner here next Tuesday.

I'd also like for everyone who enters (or even if you don't enter) to tell me the name of a favorite romantic comedy. I added some great Christmas movies to my Christmas queue because so many of you generously shared your faves. I LOVE romantic comedies, so I'd like to see if there are some good ones I've missed.

And now for the challenge:

In what famous romantic comedy did a character say: "I'll have what she's having."

And who was the character?

You have to answer both questions correctly to win.

As a reminder, and for those of you new to the challenge, there are a few things you will need to do to qualify to win, and they are:

1) Be a registered follower of this blog or
2) ...follow me at http://www.evanlowe.com/
3) leave a comment on this blog in the comment section on any of my posts anytime during the week of the current challenge.
4) send your answer to me at info@evanlowe.com
5)mention the Hollyweird Tuesday Trivia Challenge either on your blog or in a tweet the week of the current challenge.

Do 1 +3,4&5, or 2 +3 ,4&5 and you are entered to win. Remember, you must do four things to win.

Good luck. And don't forget to share a favorite romantic comedy with me.