Win a Signed Copy of SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN--Murderati Word Jumble

[Naomi Hirahara]

www.murderati.com

My throat starts to close and my hands get clammy whenever friends at a gathering start talking about board games. “Scramble! Boggle! I bet Naomi’s good at that,” someone usually says.

Well, quite the contrary. I stink at Scramble. I’m a little better at Boggle but not much. Crossword puzzles, not for me. It’s embarrassing to admit this, but I’m not much of a wordsmith. Nor do I produce words well under pressure. I could never be an advertising copywriter like my Murderati mate Louise Ure because 1) I’m not clever and 2) composing anything in public gives me heart palpitations.

The one word exercise I do find fun is word jumble. Maybe it’s because it’s more of a solitary activity. I also enjoy chaos, so attempting to make sense out of a mess is more my nature perhaps. (And like word search, it’s pretty darn easy.) So in subbing today (J.T.—not to mention Tony and Alex—are at Book Expo in NYC, those lucky dogs), I’m going to offer you a Murderati Word Jumble.

So this is how it works:

Each of these jumbled words needs to be rearranged into a word in a Murderati blogger’s title. You need to not only rearrange the word correctly but also note the title of the book which contains the word. (To be fair, there will be no pronouns or foreign words—especially Japanese ones!) Every single current Murderati contributor, including guest bloggers, are represented once. The bonus jumble at the end contains a word in the title of one of Michael Maclean’s short stories (you can link to his website to do a search).

If you think that you have all the answers, including the book titles, e-mail them to me by Saturday, 9 a.m. PST at [e-mail]. I will post the answers as well as the winner in the comment area later that day.

What does the winner get? A signed, first edition/first printing of the Edgar Award- winning SNAKEKSIN SHAMISEN! How about that?

And ’Ratis, feel free to join in as well. (If you win, though, no book for you—you get only my undying affection. The first non-‘Rati to answer correctly will get the prize.)

If this word jumble leaves you wanting more, feel free to create your own and post it in the comment section so we can continue to play.

After all, it’s Friday, right?

YRVE

TIGRH

GRIFCON

TEYRPT

THIHC

DYOBGEO

TIWIGNA

URASGRD

KKNNAISSE

WHIGROARN

BONUS: Maclean Madness

ATHGRTIS