Announcing the winner of my Editor-for-a-Day contest

Perhaps the most exciting contest I've ever held came to an end at 11:59 PM last night.

Who will be my first ever Editor-for-a-Day? Congratulations to... (drum roll, please)

Chris Dalton!

Chris built a healthy lead in the early weeks and held on for dear life as Cheryl Salzman closed quickly, trimming a lead of over 500 visits to less than 50 in just a week. Congrats Cheryl on closing strong and making Chris sweat his hard-fought victory.

As my exclusive Editor-for-a-Day, Chris will read my latest manuscript, The Seventeen Second Miracle, provide input and edits, and see his name in the acknowledgments.

Thank you to the hundreds of entrants who made this one of the most successful contests I've ever run, and congratulations to our top 25 finishers:

1. Chris Dalton (1,576 visits)
2. Cheryl Salzman (1,529 visits)
3. Stephanie Shirts Robinson
4. Patty Byrd
5. Lisa Kuper
6. Liz Frederick
7. Nancy Greenhouse
8. Sherry Booher Derby
9. Melissa Glad
10. Tabitha Andree
11. Jody Ayres
12. Lisa Sullivan
13. Jana Oomrigar
14. Sarah Van Dam
15. Liz Shoop
16. Christal Burnett
17. Dana Harold
18. Helena Reidhead
19. Paula Bryant
20. Sharen Clarke
21. Molly Edwards
22. Aimee Baldwin
23. Linda Evans
24. Tina Rinker
25. Larene Garlock

The winner of Jason's Snowmageddon Super Bowl Snow Prediction Contest is...

The measurements are in, the numbers crunched, the highly scientific yardstick analysis complete. Under my watchful eye, my trusty assistant Jadi measured three spots in the front yard, and the average was:

26.0 inches!

That means our winner is shaunnab18, who guessed 25.9. Honorable mention goes to MarySue, Patty, IndianaRaven and Michleatherman, all were very close as well.

Congrats to our winner! Please drop me a note and I'll get your address for your box of goodies.

And stay tuned for another contest, perhaps sooner than you think...

Predict the snow totals, win The Cross Gardener on audio

Snowmageddon is here! One of the biggest storms in the history of the Shenandoah Valley is upon us. Since we had so much fun with our last snow prediction contest, it would be a complete travesty to let an even bigger storm come and go without an even bigger contest!

Here's the scoop:

In the comments below, predict how much snow I will have in my front yard at 10:00 AM tomorrow (Saturday) morning. (entries due by 8:00 AM, EST). Closest to the actual total (without going over) wins a free copy of The Cross Gardener on CD three weeks before it goes on sale.

Entries must include at least first name and last initial, plus your snow prediction.

Winner will be revealed at 10:00 AM, then a second contest will be announced.

Good luck!

We have a winner in the Wednesday Letters drawing (at last!)

After some technical glitches we finally have conducted the Wednesday Letters drawing. We had thousands of entries and one grand prize winner will have dinner with a guest and yours truly in their hometown. (I really hope they live in Hawaii!)

Watch the drawing as it happened in this fun clip: