I have extreme guilt over the contest I announced when last I blogged here (in, um, November. Yes. I know.) in that I have yet to announce a winner. It is ridiculous that I have not yet done so, given that it’s been two months since the deadline I proposed, but I let the initial deadline pass during my Christmas insanity. Then every time I thought of it I felt stupid for not having done anything with it and wanted to avoid it some more. Don’t ask me how many other things in my life I do this with.
I had just four commenters, and I wasn’t sure whether they all intended to enter, but given the long delay, I am offering copies of Variant to all four commenters. That would be Theric, Kellie, Rosalyn, and Kerri. You’re all winners! You can get reading for the Whitneys.
And now I want to know: what is the coolest thing you have ever won? Do you enter blog contests, like the major haul Design Mom gives away each Christmas? Or that HGTV dream home giveaway? Or radio contests? Do any of you have a knack for winning things, a lucky charm? Is it a waste of time to even enter? I figure someone has to win…
I have won two cookbooks, and they are both excellent: Annette Lyon’s Chocolate Never Faileth, which I won by entering a drawing at a book signing, and Luisa Perkins’ Comfortably Yum, which I won by buying a copy of Variant and entering her contest. I have not won a KitchenAid mixer, or a $500 gift card to Old Navy, or a designer stroller, or any one of the many other contests I have attempted to win. This makes me wonder if there’s some kind of cosmic Winning Gift, and my winning two cookbooks has made it so I’m not destined to win anything else again for a long time.
Then there are contests that require actual skill, like the Whitneys, or the new Mormon Lit Blitz writing contest. Writers sent in their pieces, 1000 words or less, and the fifteen finalists are being posted, one a day, so we can all read and discuss and vote on our favorites. The winner gets a new Kindle. I am a fan of the contest, because I love any idea that makes Mormon lit fresh and exciting, and also because it’s so fun to see familiar faces there: Kathryn Soper, Kerry Spencer, Terresa Wellborn, Sandra Taylor, and Deja Earley, all of whom have published with us in the journal or on the blog. And William Morris, who runs Motley Vision and edited Monsters and Mormons. I’ve enjoyed the writing so far. That’s a contest requiring a combination of skill and charm, and I wish all the finalists well. If they ever host another one, maybe I’ll try my hand at it.
But you know, winning something unexpected, requiring only luck, is like a gift from the universe, and if the universe decides to send me cookbooks, who am I to argue? What has the universe sent you lately?
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