Want to be a guest blogger?

Hi, folks, have I got an offer for you! (Well, maybe.) The Children's Museum of Manhattan is having a big Wizard of Oz-themed exhibit, starting next week. And they very kindly invited me to a preview on September 23. Since I live nearly three thousand miles away, I had to decline. However, I have been authorized to transfer my invitation to someone else.

Would you like it?

You have to be able to get to the Children's Museum of Manhattan at 10:00 a.m. next Thursday, September 23. You have to write something up about it for this blog as soon as you can afterwards (a picture or two would be nice as well, but not required). And you have to let me know by this coming Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. PST. Just tell me you're interested in the comments, and give me your real name and a valid e-mail address. I will draw a random winner and an alternate, and let them know ASAP Monday morning. I will need contact information that I can pass on to CMOM, so if I don't hear back from the winner by Monday night at 11:59 p.m., the alternate gets to go, so pay attention to your e-mail!

We have another winner, at last!

After not hearing back from my first random drawing winner, I tried again, and struck gold this time. So congratulations to Jessica DeCandia. Her calendar should be on its way to her today or tomorrow.

We have a winner!

I'm still waiting to hear back from the winner of the random draw so that I can announce who it is (and send out the calendar, for that matter). But I suppose there's no harm in my telling you now who won the essay portion of the contest. Not really a surprise, it's Ruth Berman. Ruth is a longtime Oz fan; in fact, she is one of the original sixteen charter members of the International Wizard of Oz Club. In her winning entry, she not only wanted to visit, she wanted to do some research! But here, let her tell her own story right here:

What I'd like to do in Oz — well, having a fondness for the Munchkin Country as the part of Oz we first met, and considering the various questions that the books leave unanswered about Munchkin appearance and government, I think I'd like to spend the year wandering around the Munchkin Country. I could: find out if all Munchkins adults are no taller than children (of whatever age Dorothy was when she landed) or only some; find out if the kings of Seebania and Sapphire Island are cousins to each other and represent a family argument over which one had the best claim to rule all the Munchkins, or whether their lines were originally kings of two countries, North Munchkins and South Munchkins, with both lines trying to unite the two countries under one line's leadership; and (most important?) find out if Munchkinland is the east or the west quadrant of Oz. Oh, and if the Yellow Brick Road does as per the movie start in a double-spiral with a red-brick road for the second spiral, I could see if the red-brick road goes only to the town stables, or if it would go to some interesting previously unrecorded Munchkin townships (and maybe curve into the Quadling Country?).

Sad to say, Ruth doesn't get to go to Oz for a year to find out the answers to these burning questions, so she'll just have to settle for the 2010 Wizard of Oz wall calendar, courtesy of the fine folks in the publicity department at Andrews McMell Publishing. If you'd like to spend a year in Oz, too, just follow the yellow brick road this link.

We have winners!

Just in case anybody was wondering, yes, I have picked two winners in the "Win a Year in Oz" calendar giveaway contest. I'm just waiting to hear back from them before I post their names, and the winning essay. So if you entered, check your e-mail, already!

Only one more week!

Just a reminder, kids: We've only got one more week to go in our contest! Yes, you could win a free 2010 Wizard of Oz (movie) calendar, thanks to our friends at Andrews McMeel Publishing. We have two copies to give away, so send in your answer to this question:

How would you spend a year in Oz

The best answer gets a calendar, and the other entrants (and yes, there are some now) will be thrown into a hat and another random winner will be pulled out. Just send your entry to me at contest@thewizardofoz.info by midnight Pacific Standard Time, December 11. I'll do my best to get the names of the winners out over that weekend, and get them into the mail so you'll get them before the new year begins.

You can still win a year in Oz!

Hmm. I still don't seem to have any entrants for my little contest to win a 2010 Wizard of Oz calendar, thanks to the nice folks at Andrews McMeel publishers. So, I'll mention again that all you have to do is send me a little notice about what would you do if you could spend a year in Oz. It could just be a quick sentence or two, or a more elaborate story or poem or song or video or however else you want to express yourself. The best entry gets a calendar, and a random drawing of the other entries will result in someone else getting one. So don't worry if you don't think your answer is any good, you still have a chance. Deadline is December 11. Send your entry to me at contest@thewizardofoz.info.

Win a year in Oz!

Well, okay, not quite. But the nice folks at Andrews McMell Publishing sent me a few copies of the 2010 Wizard of Oz calendar, and I'm going to give two of them away here on this very blog. All I need from you is a short answer to this question:

What would you do if you could spend a year in Oz?

The best answer — the one that's the most fascinating or intriguing or original or just makes me laugh the loudest — gets one, and the names of all other entrants I'll throw into a hat and pull out the other winner that way. I'll also publish the winning entry here on this blog, and any others I particularly like, with the writers' permission. The deadline is December 11 (that gives you just one month), I hope to announce the winners on December 13, and I should be able to get the prizes out to you in time to use them on the first day of January (unlike some other Oz calendar publishers I could name — yes, I'm looking at you, International Wizard of Oz Club). Please do not use the comment ares of this blog to submit your entries. Instead, send them straight to me at contest@thewizardofoz.info. Along with your entry, please send me a legitimate name and e-mail address. Trolls, flames, spams, and anyone sending multiple entries will be disqualified. So get those creative juices flowing!