A retweet by J. Daniel Sawyer earlier this evening spawned set me to pondering. It seems that somebody on Twitter that goes by QQwill is going to give away a couple of books because he/she “liked them so much” (the books are Gail Carriger’s Soulless, which I also loved and Nicole Peeler’s Tempest, which I haven’t read (yet)).

This got me to thinking, and inspired me to run a contest here at View from Valhalla.

The rules are pretty simple. Approximately every 1/2 year, I will draw a name at random from all the people that have posted a comment to one of the reviews. Yes, even if you hated my review and left a post telling me what an idiot I was, that puts you in the running. The winner will choose a book (or something of equitable worth) from a selection of the authors/podcasters that have been reviewed during that period. I will purchase that book, and if the author agrees, get it signed and then pay the author to ship it to you. And yes, if you’re an author that posts a comment on a review of your own or another’s podcast, you get to play too.

Each time you post, your name is added again. I’m not really doing this in an effort to drum up posts, (although I wouldn’t be unhappy if that were to occur) but rather in an effort to thank those that frequent this blog. Let’s face it, at once every 1/2 year, we’re not talking about immediate gratification here.

If you have an idea how we could make this better, let me know. If you’re an author that has been reviewed (or will be) and are willing to provide your signature, please let me know- here, Twitter, email, phone, telegram, doesn’t really matter how, just get me the info.

With Podcast Review #4 dropping within the next 8 hours, you can expect the first drawing to occur (with much fanfare) around Review 26-30.

Thank you to all of you that have (and hopefully will) post.