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Okay, this is a day late, but after some thought, much beer and a little coin tossing, we have the winners of the Drollerie Press Ebook anthology Needles & Bones that includes my Chicano fantasy story Memorabilia.

The original contest rules were to "compose a synopsis of what a book entitled Agujas & Huesos (needles & bones) might be about. 'Best' synopsis wins."

N.G. Rodriguez submitted: "No podia ser de otra manera. Con cara de preocupación les ordeno que le trajeran media docena de agujas, (una por cada extremidad mas una extra), y un rollo de hilo blanco. Abrieron ataúd, y Don Jose se dio a la tarea de ligar los huesos como si remendara un pantalón roto. Eran las cinco de la tarde, y hacia calor. Observando el desorden en se encontraban los huesos pensó que antes de las tres de la madrugada habría terminado de hilar el esqueleto de Domingo Rosas, eso suponiendo que no faltara ninguna pieza."

Blogger Artful Chica submitted: The dreams came in spurts, sometimes leaving Ofelia paralyzed and disoriented. She would wake up screaming and flailing at things that didn't exist. "Mama what are we going to do?"
"Go get your Abuela and hurry." Nana came running with her little black bag. Just as the old Indian woman unfurled a piece of ancient cloth that held a needle and bones. Ofelia sat straight up and screamed CHANECO!

Since I couldn't decide which was "better", both submitters win.

The following week I changed the rules to:
"Submit the names of three of Ramos's novels, spelled correctly, and I will randomly draw the name of one winner."

Out of the submissions--and here's where the coin tossing came in--the winner is . . . (insert drumroll here): Pati!

Since I don't know if I can get three copies of Needles & Bones, I'm going to see if one of the U.S. winners will accept a copy of Latinos in Lotusland instead. (Autographed by myself and Ramos, who also has a story in it.)

One encouraging thing to read in the readers' submissions was the following:
""LOVE the Blog...
"*Love, love, love* the blog as well!!!"
"Love the blog!"

We probably get more direct E-mails from readers telling us what they like (or don't) than we do Comments on the site. Maybe gente just prefer to give that personal touch, but I think I speak for all La Bloga Contributors who make this site what it is when I say that we love all feedback, but especialmente feedback left in the Comments section.

Lastly, you've only got one more week to get in on winning one of the five copies of The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas that will be provided by the Hachette Book Group. Go here for details.

Speaking of contests

Mario Acevedo, another Denverite, of vampire novel fame, is running a really stupid contest called "Man, was I dumbass!" Here's the rules:

"The contest, in 75 words or less: Man, was I dumbass! Post your submission as a comment. The contest will be judged by our panel of crack contest judges in India. (Yes, in order to reduce costs, Biting-Edge has off-shored our contest judging.) Submissions will be graded on originality, spelling, and of course, the all important dumbassness. Contest decision will be final and not subject to appeal or bribery or complaining. Contest ends Midnight, Thursday, July 16, 2009."

He's even giving away prizes, but you're going to have to do better than Mario's testament. For more details go to The Biting Edge.

4th of July

For a different take on this 4th, go to Sedano's piece.

Es todo,
RudyG

Built a contest, and they didn't come . . .

My attempt to give away a copy of the new Drollerie Press anthology, Needles & Bones, didn't produce a rush of contestants. It was supposed to officially end tomorrow, but I will invoke my right as contributor and extend it for one more week. Given that the original rules appear to have asked for too much, I'm changing those as well.

Since today's post replaces Manuel Ramos's usual wealth of literary fare, the new rules are simple: in the Comments below, submit the names of three of Ramos's novels, spelled correctly, and I will randomly draw the name of one winner. Contest ends (a la verdad) next Saturday, July 4th.

How 'bout a Latino book giveaway, instead?

While I'm in the mood to press my luck, Hachette Book Group has provided us with cinco--get that: 5!--copies of The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas.

Here's a description of the book from the publisher's website:

"Irene dos Santos disappeared at age 15. Believed to have drowned while on holiday with her best friend, Lily Martinez, her body was never found. Now, years later, she appears ghostlike in Lily's dreams, prompting a quest for the truth behind her disappearance.

"Mysteriously, Lily, eight-months pregnant with her first child, slips and falls on the same day that the statue of Maria Lionza, Patron Saint of their Venezuelan town, cracks in two. Confined to her bed, Lily is surrounded by her family and closest friends, who agree that a Novena to Maria Lionza will guide the baby's spirit safely into the world.

"Together, through their nine nights of prayer, each offers a story to entertain Lily and her baby. What emerges is a vivid picture of Venezuela during a time of revolution and uncertainty and the unraveling of the mystery behind Irene dos Santos."

To avoid the errors of my last contest, the rules this time are much simpler: in the Comments below indicate the color of the female's dress (of the cover) and what country she's likely in. I'll randomly draw five winners from the correct entries, but they will have to provide us with a U.S. or Canadian address, not a P.O. box, to receive the prize. Contest ends July 11, 2009. (Wait to hear if you've won before providing your address.)

N.B.: for the only contestant so far in the Needles & Bones contest, even if she doesn't win that, I will send a special surprise for her effort to date.

Native American Joe Montoya Receives Award

And speaking of contests, from out Califas way come this news:
Calaca Press, the Red CalacArts Collective and Red Salmon Arts proudly announce that the winner of the First raúlrsalinas Guerrilla Chapbook Poetry Contest is New Mexico writer Vernon “Joe” Montoya.

In a close contest, judged by University of Minnesota Chicano Studies professor Louis G. Mendoza, Ph.D, Red Salmon Arts Executive Director Rene Valdez and Calaca Press publisher Brent E. Beltrán, Mr. Montoya edged out runner up Jonathan Gomez of East Los Angeles. By winning the first raúlrsalinas Guerrilla Chapbook Poetry Contest Joe Montoya will have his work published in chapbook form by Red CalacArts Publications and Red Salmon Press, receive 100 copies of the chapbook, a $500 honorarium and travel to and from book release readings in San Diego, California and Austin, Texas.

Joe Montoya’s poetry reflects the heartbreaking realities of life on the rez. Though pain and loss are a recurring theme his work also presents the beauty and joy of being Native in 21st century America. “We are proud to have him join our Calacaverse,” said Brent E. Beltrán of Calaca Press. “His voice is an important voice that needs to be shared with all.” Vernon “Joe” Montoya is a young Native American poet and short story writer born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and raised on the Santa Ana and San Felipe Pueblos. He was incarcerated on drug offenses and used his time in prison to read and write poetry. Joe has won several slam competitions and reads, lectures and teaches workshops in jails, prisons, juvenile facilities, middle and high schools. He is currently a student at the University of New Mexico and works with youth as a drug preventionist.

Calaca Press and Red Salmon Arts looks forward to publishing this talented young voice. The untitled chapbook will feature cover art by San Antonio, Texas artist Gerry Quetzatl Garcia. Stayed tuned for publication date and chapbook release reading information.

The raúlrsalinas Guerrilla Chapbook Poetry Contest was created to honor the lifework and interests of Xicanindio poet activist raúlrsalinas (1934-2008). By organizing this contest Calaca Press, the Red CalacArts Collective and Red Salmon Arts hope to inspire a new generation of activist writers to carry on the work of raúlrsalinas. The contest is supported in part by the Ford Foundation, JP Morgan Chase and Southwest Airlines through a grant from the NALAC Fund for the Arts. .

(Calaca Press is a Chicano family-owned small publishing house dedicated to publishing and producing unknown, emerging, and established progressive Chicano and Latino voices. With a commitment to social justice and human rights Calaca Press strives to bring about change through the literary arts.)

Ours is probably the only household on the block with no cell phone and cable or satellite TV. Our Internet service clunks along at DSL speed--which means slow--although we did succumb to wireless, which is great for early Sat. mornings out on the patio, surfing the Web.

Consequently, much of 21st Century tech has bypassed me. No apps for an IPhone I don't have, etc. So, when I got word from Drollerie Press that my short story Memorabilia had been accepted for their anthology Needles & Bones, this segment made me realize how behind the times I was: "N&B will be available in PDF, Microsoft Reader format, Mobipocket format, ePUB, Sony Reader, and HTML reader for Windows."

My ignorance began after the word PDF. Drollerie's editor Deena Fisher asked which format I wanted. I didn't know what to tell her, nor which format might one day be of use to me.

Anyway, here's where you, the La Bloga reader, can become the beneficiary of my technological uncouthness. I'll run a contest for a week and the winner will receive a copy of Needles & Bones in whatever format he, she or it desires. Before I explain the contest rules, here's a bit about the book so you can decide if it's your copa de té.

Blurb from the publisher:
"Needles & Bones is a collection of poems and short fiction by a double handful of brilliantly creative artists-with-words. It begins gently, with fairy tales, but its tendrils of surreality spread from the stories of our childhood, into our adult world, and on to places beyond our own. We visit heaven, and hell, and places we might never imagine, peopled by creatures who are only sometimes like us."

There's also a link about the authors, and you'll find that these are twenty-two contributions from a great pool of talented and well-published novelists, poets and short story authors. To get a better idea, you can read two excerpts if you go to Drollerie's website. Or you can buy it for the strange price of just $8.46.

My story Memorabilia uses a premise from the epilogue:
“Surely all material things have a form of sentience, even the inorganic: surely they all exist in some subtle and complicated tension of vibration which makes them sensitive to external influence and causes them to have an influence on other external objects, irrespective of contact.” [from “Edgar Allan Poe”, Studies in Classic American Literature, by former N.M. resident D.H.Lawrence, 1923]

If that doesn't pique your interest, I'll say Memorabilia is the crazy story of Tomás Chaneco Martinez, a near-immortal Aztec shaman-sorcerer, who finds himself in contemporary, rural, northern New Mexico. He's gotta clean out decades' worth of knick-knacks that somehow found their way into his adobe. It seems that his nemeses, some ancient dragons, have taken possession of the things and are threatening to disturb more than his sleep. What starts out as a spring housecleaning turns into a series of fantastical encounters that Harry Potter would never have survived. Anyway, if you enjoy fantasy, dragons, azteca lore, No. New Mexico, and maybe a little humor, I expect you'll like this one.

Now for the contest:
Compose a 50-word (more or less, but not much more) synopsis of what a book entitled Agujas & Huesos (needles & bones) might be about. Everything is up to you--any genre, any authors you want to include, any hyperbole you care to wield. Do it scholarly, humorous, satirical, in Spanish--whatever. "Best" synopsis wins. Post your entry by clicking the Comments section below. Must be posted by Friday, midnight, June 26th, 2009. No more than two entries per person, please.

P.S.: In the event my fellow La Bloga contributors enter, they won't be destined to win.

Rudy Ch. Garcia