WINNERS EVERYWHERE!!!

Are you ready for it? Cause I am. The long-anticipated announcement of the winners of my FIRST GIVEAWAY EVER!!! 

But first, some reflections on the giveaway. Whew. That was a lot of work. OK actually it wasn't until about 15 minutes ago. But it was a really busy 15 minutes. The first 4.5 days were just plain fun because I got lots of comments (who doesn't love comments?) that were super entertaining to read. But for the last 15 minutes...well dang that was a lot of Random Number Generating and Screen Shot Taking/Editing in Paint and saving and what-not. Fifteen minutes of hard computer labor basically does me in, yall. I'm old. But it'll be worth it, right? Because yall are about to find out who WON-- and as a bonus, you'll find out a bit more about the inner workings of my mind and how I went about choosing the non-random winners!

So to review: When I posted the giveaway, I said I'd pick one random winner...and then if the Spirit led, I might pick another winner based on quality-of-comment. Well, by Friday morning, the Spirit led Colleen (author of the book we're giving away-- stick with me here, yall) to offer to give away SIX copies in all...some random, some not...just because she was loving the comments so much. So that made this even MORE fun!

So without further adieu, may I present the WINNERS of their VERY OWN, AUTHOR-SIGNED copy of the newly-released, bestselling book Elly in Bloom!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winner #1: (Not Random)

Allison of the Blogivers!!! Colleen specifically requested that you be one of the winners, and several other commenters (and myself) agreed.

Take-home message: Miscarriages are horrible and unfair and awful and a book isn't going to do anything to fix that, but might provide a few hours' distraction...so, yeah. We love you, Allison!!

Winner #2: (Random)

Commenter #13  is Susan!

I'm not sure if we'll be shipping UPS or not, Susan, but I hope you will be excited either way! Also, LOLed at "what can brown do for you" part. HA!

Winner #3: (Random)

Commenter #16 is Val!

You're welcome!! Glad all of your dreams could come true today!! Haha.

Winner #4: (Random)

Commenter #3 is Becky!

LOVE that you needed something to entertain and keep you awake while at work-- and I'm particularly curious about how you managed to find my blog first! At any rate- glad you did, and thanks for the fun comment!!

Winner #5: (Non-Random)

I picked Courtney because a) she was the FIRST to comment, and I think that should count for something, and b) she responded to every single "comment suggestion" I gave. I appreciate that kind of thoroughness in a person. In conclusion, based on these two facts I'm pretty sure we could be best friends, so therefore I select Courtney to win one of the books!

Winner #6: (Non-Random)

I picked Natasha for several reasons. For one, she also responded to every one of my comment suggestions. For two, she comments on almost every single post I write, which is amazing and admirable and worthy of a grand prize in itself. For three, SHE BRIBED ME (please see underlined/arrowed section above)-- and if she comes through with the bribe (I'll keep you posted), it might be the first mail I've ever received from Canada-- which would be awesome. Also, cookies. Awesome. So let the record reflect that I respond favorably to bribery when there are cookies involved. For four, she responded to the "favorite book" question the exact same way that I would-- and also, she spelled it "favourite," which is infinitely classier than the way I spell it. Stupid American spelling.

So there we have it-- my SIX WINNERS! Did you have any idea that a simple giveaway winners announcement post could be this long? Me either, actually-- but leave it to me to do the impossible!!

Winners!!! (Susan, Val, Becky, Natasha, Courtney, and Allison...in case you've already lost track of who you are amidst all this screenshot mess...) Please email me (mattyerika AT gmail DOT com) with the mailing address you would like your book mailed to! I would not recommend leaving that information in the comments here, what with the serial killers and all. But don't let that discourage you from leaving a comment of joy and happiness, as I know you were already planning to do. Also- if you enjoy the book, take a minute to leave a positive review on Amazon or Goodreads!

And for the rest of you who sadly did not win a copy of the book, a parting gift and a word of advice:

Parting Gift: You could go watch this video, which is hilarious and not at all stereotypical and wrong. This should keep you entertained for at least five minutes and six seconds...longer if you re-watch it!
Word of Advice: Go buy a copy of Elly in Bloom or download it onto your Kindle!