Competitions

Okay, so I know I don’t cover it much here, but Strictly Come Dancing has just started up on BBC1. Other blogs cover it much better than I ever could, so I heartily recommend you head over to them if SCD is on your must-see list.

However, to coincide with its return to our screens – and the recent publication of Julia Williams‘ latest book – we’re running a competition in which you can win copies of Strictly Love as well as ‘dancing masterclass in a book’, Collins’ Need to Know? Ballroom Dancing.

Guilty feet have got plenty of rhythm! Kick off your shoes and snuggle up with this warm and witty new novel from the author of the bestselling Pastures New

Lawyer Emily promised her late father that she’d devote her life to good causes. So how comes she spends her days defending Z-listers, desperate to prolong their 15 minutes of fame?

Katie is obsessed with being the perfect wife and mother – unlike her own one. In which case, why is husband Charlie permanently AWOL these days?

Dentist Mark is licking his wounds after his wife walked out on him and desperately missing his kids. Can he cope with becoming a singleton again – on top of a devastating legal case against him?

Meanwhile, happy-go-lucky Jack the Lad Rob is hiding a secret tragedy!

Isabella’s dance classes give the four the perfect opportunity to forget their troubles and re-invent themselves. They can be whoever they want to be – they’ll just let their feet do the talking. Over the weeks, as they foxtrot, tango, waltz and cha-cha-cha their way into each other’s lives, they discover the truth about each other – and themselves. But will they like what they learn?

Thanks to Julia’s generosity, we have an astonishing five copies of Strictly Love to give away, as well as two copies of Need to Know? Ballroom Dancing, and all you have to do to enter is to leave a comment below by Friday 3rd October, letting us know your most memorable dancing experience ever – it doesn’t even have to have been you dancing. The two most interesting experiences (or two best recounted experiences) will win copies of both Strictly Love and Need to Know? Ballroom Dancing, while three runners up will each receive a copy of Strictly Love.

As always, entrants must live in the UK. Plus it’ll help if you include your email address when you leave the comment so we can contact you if you’ve won – don’t worry, we won’t publish it.

Time to announce the winner of the Sky+ competition.

However, we had two contestants this time. Holding remote control one was Lesley Smith who didn’t really plead at all, simply asked to be added to the list, which should technically have disqualified her from winning. However, she’s away on business right now (judging from the out of the office reply message that she’s been sending in response to the daily MINE email digest), so can’t escalate her case easily.

Holding remote control two was a previous competition winner, Ms Rullsenberg, who while making quite a good case for why she needed Sky+, didn’t officially enter herself into the competition. I gave her ’til Sunday to enter, but judging from her latest blog entry, she’s very busy right now.

Tricky, hey?

So, I’m postponing the final decision and opening the floor to you, gentle reader. The competition will remain open another couple of days. If anyone else wants to enter, you still can. But if you think either Lesley or Rullsenberg (or both) are eligible to win the prize based on their current responses, speak up now!

Bear in mind, by the way, that the voucher’s only valid until the 28th of July, so I’m going to need responses quickly!

It’s time. The deadline has passed so now I must decide who gets the Porterhouse Blue DVD. 

For once, one of the blog’s competitions has elicited multiple entries from readers, so rather than just give the DVD to the person who actually wants the prize, like Solomon I must decide which of the entrants gets the DVD – or whether I should cut it in half and send them both a perfect semi-circle of Sharpe wit.

In the blue corner is Jane Henry; in the blue with blue stripes corner is Marie. Both make excellent cases, although Jane slightly undermined hers by saying she already owns Porterhouse Blue on VHS. 

So the winner is…

Continue reading “Porterhouse Blue competition winners”