For those who won, the books are getting closer to the PO. I’m sending them media mail so it may take a bit of time to arrive. Happy reading!

Well, those went fast!  For those who didn’t respond quickly enough, I will do this again sometime when I have some spare books.  It was a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy the book.

And remember, I would really appreciate it if you could post a review online after you finish it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.    The book is doing very well thanks to all of you!  But I would really like to get the word out about the I,Q Series, both books 1 and 2.  Let’s see if we can get the books on the NYT Bestseller List.

Okay, the winners are (and please excuse the typos in your names if I made any)…

Teresa Evans, Megan McDonald, Tricia Rathke, Belinda Vose, Katie Johnson, Brenda Young, Amy Fetterman, Trang McGillivary, Cayla Armatti, Rachel Kissinger, Stacie Sharp, Dawn Bardo, Vicki Herndon, Heather Moate, Joann Elder, Jessica Deon, Heidi Grant, Melissa Biehl, Barbara Bollingger, Anne Kalkowski, Kira Smith, Stephanie Stahl, Mindi Crook, Janette King, Amy Louthan, Donna Sweeny, Alyson Harkins, Nancy Albritton, Terri Moore, Donna Smith, Melanie Gentzler, Jennifer Boling, Sean Capelle, Barbara Scheuter, Susan Stanley, Jodi Frye, Anita Ballester, Belinda Vose, Tammy Brightwell, Marcie Odum, Sanydlee Singletary, Helen Cologne, Teresa Garrett, Kim Nelson, Kim Hornkohl, Marge Cox.

As you can see by the photo above the books are lined up, signed, mailing labels finished, now all we have to do is figure the best way to mail them out.

Again, for those who missed out.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for the overwhelming response! What a great way to give away about 50 signed books. Now all I have to do is sign them, address the envelopes, and mail them out. I will try to do that this week.

I will list the names of those who won here on the blog later today, or early tomorrow.

For those who didn’t win, keep checking in here. I’ll do this again next time I receive some extra books. It was fun giving them away and even better hearing from my friends!

Teachers & Librarians (sorry kids this one is not for you)… I have a limited number of copies of my new book: “I,Q Book Two: The White House.” Email me your mailing address, the name of your school, and HOW WE KNOW EACH OTHER, and I will mail you a free signed copy of the novel. Supplies are very limited, so it will be on a first come basis. This is my small way of thanking you for all the wonderful things you’ve done over the years for me and my books. The only thing I ask, is that if you are so inclined, please post a review about the book on Amazon.com and/or Barnes & Noble.com. Thanks again for all of your support. I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer.

Kids if you want a free signed copy of one of my books go to my webpage and enter a contest. I’m running a contest right now. The address is: http://rolandsmith.com

Good luck!

My first book contest is up!  Just go to RolandSmith.com, find the Contest! link on the right side of the moleskine, click it, and you are there.  We are giving away a free copy of I,Q Book Two: The White House.  Good luck!

This is great news.  Congratulations to the crews and scientists.  I mean this, they worked very hard to get this done.  Unfortunately it’s too late.  This mess is far from over, but by getting it capped, even at this late date, millions of gallons of oil will be prevented from flowing into the Gulf.

I had a great time at the Lake Oswego Library yesterday.  About fifty young readers showed up to discuss “Peak” and my other novels.  A lot of them had the new I,Q in hand and several of my other novels.  (The photo is historical photo taken on the lake…and no I didn’t take it).

When I got home our daughter Niki showed up with a couple bags of Moroccan  food, which we gobbled down like hungry camels.  This might account for me waking up this morning with a bellyache, a condition so rare for me I can count the times I’ve been afflicted with it on one hand (and I’m old).  This slowed the work down on Storm Runner, but I pushed ahead anyway, and I’m glad I did.  I got an email this afternoon from my editor telling me that she has a meeting with the art department tomorrow to go over the cover for the second book in the series.  She wanted to know if I had any ideas for it.

I had  a lot of ideas that I didn’t share with her because they were unrelated to the cover. I didn’t bellyache even though I had a bellyache.  They are designing the cover for the second book while I’m working on the final edits for the first book, which I only got back from them last week.  I haven’t even started writing the second Storm Runner book, but I do have a pretty good idea of what’s going to happen.  I was able to give her a few ideas.  I’m sure they will come up with something great.  They usually do.

Oh…one other bit of Storm Runner news.  Scholastic audio is putting out a recorded version simultaneously with the print edition.  They have the narrators narrowed down to two people and I was told that they were going to ask me which narrator I prefer.  That’s never happened before. I’m usually the last person to know who narrates my books.

We will be discussing “Peak.”  Call ahead to register.

Book Discussion Group with Author Roland Smith

Monday, July 12 at 4:30-5:30 p.m

Children in grades 4-6 are invited to read Roland Smith’s Peak and then discuss with the author.  The story features exciting adventures of a boy who wants to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mt. Everest.  Sign up is required.  Please call 503-697-6580 to register.

I’m still working on the editorial revisions on the new series “Storm Runners” for Scholastic, which is scheduled to be out in Spring 2011.  I finished the draft of this first novel at the end of January while I was in Mexico basking on the shores of the Sea of Cortez.  It usually doesn’t take five months for the edits to get back to me, which is actually longer than it took me to write the novel, and I hope that never happens again.  But there is a bright side to the delay…  I haven’t read the novel, or thought about it much, since I hit the send button.  The time lapse has given me a better perspective on the story, more clarity, and less emotional attachment to the words I scratched down in the desert heat.  This makes the editorial suggestions and edits a lot easier to accept.

I actually enjoying being edited.  And my editor has done a fabulous job.  Every revision makes the story better.  The photo above is a shot of a typical page.  Some people might find these markups  horrifying.  I find comfort in all the revisions.  It’s like slashing fat and replacing it with muscle.  In the end it creates a stronger and healthier story.

I hope to have the revisions finished by next weekend, then it will be onto Storm Runners #2.  When that’s finished I’ll get back to the third Cryptid Hunter novel.