12 Days of Christmas Gameboard

This is our game post for the 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway 2011. Please do not comment on this post unless you are one of our 12 players. Thank you!

Reminders for players:
If possible, please post your move(s) as comments on this post. It will help everyone follow the game as easily as possibly. If you cannot post a comment, email me your choice.

On your turn:
Choose a gift to unwrap (comment as “I’d like to unwrap #X”) or steal one of the revealed prizes (comment “I would like to steal X”). Leave a comment on this post with your move.

If you have been stolen from:
Either choose a new gift to unwrap, or you can steal another revealed prize.

Rules for stealing: You cannot steal a book directly back after someone has stolen it from you. (You can steal it back later though.) Each prize will be allowed 3 steals and then it is out.

Play Order (and books currently held):
Victoria Z. - The Angel Doll: A Christmas Story by Jerry Bledsoe
Amanda (That Teen Can Blog) - The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott
Michelle (chelleyreads) -My Life as a Snow Bunny by Kaz Delaney
Andrea / Purplg8r- Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Christmas Treasury

Mary [M.A.D] - Love, Santa: A Different Kind of Christmas Story by Sharon Glassman
Lieder Madchen - Politically Correct Holiday Stories: For an Enlightened Yuletide Season by James Finn Garner
Wrighty - I'll Be Home for Christmas by Thomas Kinkade
Erica - Secret Santa by D. E. Athkinz (2 steals)
Mashal W - The Joy of a Peanuts Christmas: 50 Years of Holiday Comics
Hamwam - Last Christmas (the Private Prequel) by Kate Brian (3 steals and out of play!)
misskallie2000 -The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory (1 steal)
Patsy H. - No response to play. She can come pick from the leftovers later. :)


Presents:

Gift #1
Doing Santa's job isn't always easy, especially in New York (Novella)
It's Love, Santa: A Different Kind of Christmas Story by Sharon Glassman
Currently held by Mary

Gift #2
"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." (Anthology)

Gift #3
What will my true love give to me?  (Picture Book)

Gift #4
May this heavenly toy always bring you love (Novella)
It's The Angel Doll: A Christmas Story by Jerry Bledsoe
Currently held by Victoria

Gift #5
Christmas with the painter of light (Picture Book)
It's I'll Be Home for Christmas by Thomas Kinkade
Currently held by Wrighty

Gift #6
Guess who's coming for dinner Christmas? (Novel)
It's The Cat Who Came for Christmas by Cleveland Amory
Currently held by misskallie (1 steal)

Gift #7
"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents" (Novella)
It's The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott
Currently held by Amanda

Gift #8
I'm not skiing the big slopes! (Young Adult)
It's My Life as a Snow Bunny by Kaz Delaney
Currently held by Michelle

Gift #9
Jolly like the big man himself (Kids Anthology)

Gift #10
That's the true meaning of Christmas Charlie Brown (Anthology)
It's The Joy of a Peanuts Christmas: 50 Years of Holiday Comics
Currently held by Mashal

Gift #11
"His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!" (Picture Book)

Gift #12
Christmas stories in the modern world? (Anthology for adults)
It's Politically Correct Holiday Stories: For an Enlightened Yuletide Season by James Finn Garner
Currently held by Lieder Madchen

Gift #13
No room left at the inn (Picture Book)

Gift #14
Mini doses of Christmas cheer (Anthology)

Gift #16
Warms your heart and soul (Anthology)
It's Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Christmas Treasury
Currently held by Andrea

Gift #17
Let's take a (Christmas) quiz! (Kids anthology)

Gift #18
A holiday party with a morbid twist (Young Adult)
It's Secret Santa by D. E. Athkinz
Currently held by Erica (2 steals)

Gift #19
Symbols of Christmas (Family Anthology)

Gift #20
Morning Glory for Christmas Day (Kids Novella)

Prizes out of play (stolen 3 times):
Gift #15
I know what you did last summer Christmas (Young Adult)
It's Last Christmas (the Private Prequel) by Kate Brian
Currently held by Shana (3 steals and OUT!)

12 Days of Christmas players

I just don’t seem to have any luck lately. :( I meant to get this up this weekend, but kind of had a slight medical complication this weekend. Oh well, better late than never!

Here are our players for the 12 Days of Christmas giveaway this year. You will all be getting an email from me today with the full rules. You’ll need to respond within the next 48 hours to play. If you didn’t get your email, leave a comment here and let me know right away.

So congratuations to:
Erica
Mary [M.A.D]
Amanda (That Teen Can Blog)
Lieder Madchen
Victoria Z.
Patsy H.
Hamwam
misskallie2000
chelleyreads
Andrea / Purplg8r
Wrighty
Mashal W.

These are our players. Thank you to everyone who entered! If for any reason any of these cannot play, I’ll choose alterates to play.

Let’s get ready to win some prizes.

Rules for 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway 2011

Welcome to everyone's favorite part of A Shady Glade Christmas... the contests!

Those of you who are long time readers know that I'm always looking for new an innovative ways to do contests. So this year I'm proud to announce that we will be having a Christmas White Elephant Book Exchange!

I'm doing the rules in FAQ format this year, so they're a little easier to read. Make sure you've read all the rules, and then fill out this Google form to enter.

So what happened to the 12 days of Christmas?
Well, I'm still calling this the 12 Days of Christmas giveaway. There will be 12 prizes, and the actual event will start on December 12th. So it's a little different than last year, but the idea is still there.

Do I have to have a book to exchange?
Nope! The title is a little misleading, I admit. There will be 12 prizes, all provided by me. We will be exchanging prizes as a white elephant swap. If you don't know how that works, there's a brief overview at the very bottom of this post.

So how do I enter?
You need to fill out this Google form before 11:59 PST on December 10th. Since there is only 12 prizes, we can only have 12 players. On December 11th I will randomly select 12 participants from the list to play in the exchange game. Play will commence on the 12th.  Everyone who enters will be given +1 entries.  Extra entries available are listed below. 

Who can enter?
There are only two requirements: you must be a US or Canada resident (sorry international friends!) and you must be able to respond to emails within 24 hours (very important!). I know people get busy this time of year, but we want the game to move fast (otherwise you'll get your prizes in February).

What are the prizes?
That's the other surprise. The prizes are a secret this year! But you will get a clue about each prize and what type it is (picture book, anthology, non-fiction, etc.) when our 12 players are ready to play. I can tell you that they are ALL Christmas books this year. I scoured all my sources to search out Christmas books for you guys, since last year was lacking on the book prizes.

Are there extra entries?
Yes! You can earn extra entries before you submit your form. This will give you a great chance at being picked as one of our 12 players.
+7 for submitting a guest post
+5 for grabbing the A Shady Glade Christmas button. You can find it in the right sidebar.
+1/link for posting about the contest (sidebar, blog, twitter, etc.)
+1 for following

How does a White Elephant Exchange work?
Honestly, I have no idea where the name came from. But in general, this is how it works (our players will get more detailed rules before they start playing for prizes):

There are 12 players. Player 1 will pick a prize from the list, and I will reveal what that prize is. Player 2 then has two options. They can either pick a different prize they want revealed, or they can "steal" Player 1's prize. If they steal Player 1's prize, Player 1 will need to pick a new prize to be revealed. Player 3 can either steal Player 2's prize or Player 1's prize, or choose a new prize to be revealed. If a prize is stolen, then the person it was stolen from will need to pick a new prize or steal from someone else. And so on and so forth until every player has a prize.

Now, if you're ready, make sure you've filled out the Google form to enter for a chance to be one of our 12 players.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. I will update/expand this post as needed.

Good luck!

Random 5th Blogoversary Giveaway

What's this you say?  Another 5th Blogoversary Giveaway?  But haven't we already had one? 

The answer to all of those questions is yes.  But due to some issues with the form and registration, I've admitted defeat and decided to do the giveaway a different way.  While the silent auction format was a good idea, it didn't work as well in execution as it did in planning.  Mostly because everyone was bidding on the same prizes.  So due to the fact that so many prizes went unclaimed, I am reformatting the contest, and extending it until the end of the week. 

Here's how the new contest will work.  For every prize that has not had any "bidders" (or has only 1 bidder with a 1 point bid), I will be re-offering the prizes up for grabs.  EVERYONE can enter this contest, and prizes will be awarded by random.org.  All you have to do is pick which prizes you want to enter for.  Easy, right?  So if you didn't enter before, I strongly encourage you to do so now.  Yes, you at the computer.  You know you want free books, right?

This (new) contest will be open until 11:59 pm on Friday, October 14.  To enter, simply fill out the Google form found at the end of the post.  Or you can email me your entries at shadyglade (AT) mail (DOT) com.  Of course, if you prefer to enter the old way, the forms are still open on this page.  It's a great way to increase your chances at winning a particular prize.  Otherwise, prizes are going to be awarded randomly. As before, this giveaway is open internationally.

Here is a recap of the prizes that have been reshuffled for this giveaway.  If you'd more information on these prizes, you can check out the original prize posts (one, two, and three).  Scoll all the way to the bottom for the entry form, or follow this link. 

Prizes still up for grabs:

Paranormal/Fantasy pack
Dragon's Bait by Vivian Vande Velde and Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl

Ghost set
The House Next Door by Richie Tankersley Cusick and Time Windows by Kathryn Reiss

The Edge on the Sword by Rebecca Tingle

Babymouse, Our Hero by Matt and Jennifer Holm

Handmade Pumpkin Bookmark

Tamora Pierce Prize Pack
A whole box of assorted Tamora Pierce books (Tortall books only)

The Man You'll Marry by Debbie Macomber

Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes

NERDS pack
NERDS (National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society), and the second book, M is for Mama's Boy, both by Michael Buckley

Ingo by Helen Dunmore

Graphic Novel Mystery Box
A box full of new/like new graphic novels for you to enjoy

Dark Divine Nail Polish
Two bottles, one for you and one for a friend

History Prize Pack
Historical Tweets by Alan Beard and Alec McNayr and Don't Know Much About History by Kenneth C. Davis

Lady Grace Mysteries: Betrayal by Patricia Finney

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Pride and Prejudice Prize Pack
Mr. Darcy's Dream and The True Darcy Spirit by Elizabeth Aston (both sequels to Pride and Prejudice) and a copy of Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer (Pride and Prejudice from Mr. Darcy's point of view)

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo