I have joined Chapters' new online community as an author and I'm holding 2 special contests for my friends there.

Get contest rules here.

WHALE SONG Fan Pics Contest:

Send me your Fan Pics of you and Whale Song! Be creative! Get crazy! Show me some wild settings!

And remember to keep them G-rated! :)

At the end of every month, I will award 1 winner with a prize package worth $50+.

Prizes will be awarded in the first week of the following month until further notice and there are no exchanges or cash value. You may enter as many times as you'd like in any given month but once a photo has been submitted you must send a different one. So show me your Whale Song Fan Pics!

Just email me a jpg pic. I should be able to see the book cover or at least tell that it is Whale Song.

The Book Mine Set blog, operated by John Mutford from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, which for those who don't know if far north, is where you can find information on this contest. There are even prizes. Very interesting ones, I can assure you.

So check out The Canadian Book Challenge, post a comment to let John know you're participating, and start reading!

Also, I found the above site and event by accident when I discovered that someone was writing about me here:

http://farmschool.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/saluting-canadian-authors/

IT’S TIME FOR THE BIG VOTE!

The voting page for 2007 BOOK COVER OF THE YEAR at erinaislinn.com is now ready, and WHALE SONG is awaiting votes.

Every voter will be entered in a drawing for the winning title.

Voting is simple, and the instructions are on the voting page at:

http://www.erinaislinn.com/BookCoveroftheYear2007.htm

Whale Song was May's Book Cover of the Month, so just scroll down to hit and click on Vote for Whale Song!

Voting will run through APRIL 15^th!

Good luck and thank you!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,

author of Whale Song

I love contests! Not necessarily entering them myself, but I sure do like giving away prizes!

In fact, I'm giving away lots of prizes in the next few months. This month, I have a contest that is open to anyone who subscribes to my monthly newsletter. And I often do spontaneous things for my subscribers and I plan to do even more this year.

Your email addy is safe with me; I don't bog you down with junk mail. My Divine News newsletter often gives you information about special events first. It's an easy way to check out what I'm doing, what novel I'm working on and more.

And it automatically registers you for special subscriber only contests.

So sign up for my Divine News newsletter now and check out this month's Subscriber Only contest!

Sign up at the top of any page on this site--in top left box, fill in your name and email addy and hit "OK".

CONTEST NOW CLOSED!

WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST!

Announcing an exciting new contest, a variation of my Become a Character contest--my Create a Corpse Contest.

And yes, I think you’ve guessed what it’s all about.

From now until January 30th, 2008, feel free to email me with the name (first and last) of someone you know. It could be your own name or the name of your boss, husband, wife, friend, or a school bully.

On January 30th, I will select one winner from all the emails I receive and use the name, fictitiously of course, in the next novel I’m working on―Divine Justice. The winner will receive an autographed copy as soon as this novel is published. Keep in mind that the ‘corpse’ character will not intentionally look like or act like the person he or she is named after, nor will the character survive. After all, 'I kill people off for a living'.

So 'Create a Corpse' and email me with their name. Good luck in the draw.

UPDATE: I received so many wonderful entries for my 'Create a Corpse' contest that it was very difficult to pick one name for one corpse. So I decided to pick 3 winners!

(I guess that kind of makes me a serial killer...)

"Deirdre Dailey" is the corpse named by...who else but Deirdre Dailey! Yes, I did have a few brave people who volunteered to "kill themselves off" for the benefit of my novel Divine Justice. Congratulations, Deirdre!

"Monty Winkler" is the corpse named by M.F., who says this "grade school bully knocked my glasses off one time after school" Bad Monty! Kudos, M.F.!

"Porter Sampson" is the corpse named by T.L. and I'm not sure if there's a story behind that name or if T.L. just likes making up names. T.L, feel free to tell us the story in the comments section!! And congrats!

Well, it finally happened. One of the most dreaded moments in an author's life.

Years ago, I heard of this terrible fate that often befalls authors who are doing book signings, and yet in 4 years, I have never had it happen. Until now.

Each year I have counted my blessings that I have not been hit with the same fate as some of my comrades--the fate of a personalized book being dumped on a shelf and never purchased.

It happened. And I have survived.

And so has the person who came to my table to buy the book and nicely asked me to sign it as a Christmas gift for their mother JANET. Of course, I did so very happily and the book made its way closer to the cashiers. But then I turned my attention to the next customer, doing what I always do--trusting.

Half an hour later, one of the bookstore staff came up to me, the copy of Divine Intervention in hand. I think I knew the second I saw it. "It's a PERSONALIZED copy, Cheryl!"

My heart sank.

You see, two of my novels are consigned to the bookstores--Divine Intervention and The River. This means that I hold all the risk. If a book is returned damaged, I take the hit. If the store sticker peels off some of the back cover, I take the hit. And if a book is returned to me signed and personalized, I take the hit. Not the bookstore. Me. And truthfully, I can't afford to take too many of these a year.

So now I'm stuck with a signed book for some unknown person named...

JANET.

And "Shameless Promoter" kicked in and I thought I would make some lemonade out of that 'lemon' and give away a book, seeing as I can't sell it in a bookstore now.

So...calling all JANETS!!!

CONTEST RULES:

The copy of Divine Intervention will go to one winner. The draw will take place on Jan. 15, 2007.

For the "Calling all Janets" contest, simply comment on this blog post at the bottom and tell me the name of a famous Janet and why they're famous...or you can also enter if your name is Janet and tell us what you're 'famous' for. Keep it clean! Please leave your email address if you want to be entered into the draw.

Good luck!

UPDATE: Winner announced! See comments!

After the review, there is a short interview, plus a CONTEST.

To enter to win a copy of Whale Song, submit a comment to the guestbook. The link is at the bottom of the interview.

The winner will be announced under Raffle Winners in the first week in January.

Good luck! :)

Prize package valued at approx. $70.00 CDN.

For contest rules, go to the Love of Reading.com Online Book Fair.