Congrats to Jase, who won the copy of Gay Man Seeks Same by Kim Dare!

Remember my author fan letter to Charles de Lint from a week or so ago? As a result of that post, Charles and his wife MaryAnn Harris have donated a very, very special book for me to give away to a lucky reader: a personally inscribed special edition of The Onion Girl, put out by Subterranean Press.

*pauses so we can all admire the lovely cover and I can get my fangirl squeeing under control*

“I’m not as trusting as people think I am. Sure, I see the best in people, but that doesn’t mean it’s really there.” – Jilly

The Onion Girl is set in the imagined North American city of Newford. It’s a place where magic lights dark streets, where myths walk clothed in modern shapes, where a broad cast of extraordinary and affecting people work to keep the whole world turning.

At the center of all the entwined lives of Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips – Jilly whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city’s shadows. Long a supporting character in the Newford stories, The Onion Girl is Jilly’s own story. Behind the painter’s fey charm there’s a dark secret, and a past she’s labored to forget. That past is coming to claim her now, threatening all she loves.

“I’m the onion girl,” Jilly says. “Pull back the layers of my life, and you won’t find anything at the core. Just a broken child. A hollow girl.”

She’s very, very good at running. But life has just forced Jilly to stop.

You can read about the background of this book at Charles’ site.

Excerpt

Contest Rules

• To enter, leave a comment stating that you are entering the contest. Contest closes 7 pm CDT, Monday, June 14.
• If you haven’t commented before, your comment will not be visible until after I moderate it. Please do not leave a second comment because your first doesn’t show up! The blog gnomes will decide your comments are spam and then only ritual dust bunny sacrifice will salvage your entry…
• If your comment is actually an advertisement or if your CommentLuv link turns it into an advertisement, your comment will be deleted. (Most of you do not need to worry – this refers to some pretty clever comment spam.)
• Winners will be selected by random number.
• You must leave a valid email address in the “Email” portion of the comment form.
• Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from stumblingoverchaos.com!
• If a winner doesn’t respond to my congratulations email within 48 hours, I will select another winner.
• This contest is open worldwide!

“I am a fearsome Panther Princess, lurking in this tree so I can spring on my unsuspecting prey, the wily Hot Pink Furry Mouse (HPFM)!” -Mayhem