Kristen Callihan's Winterblaze, book 3 in her Darkest London series, is on many readers' must-buy-get-outta-my-way-no-really-move-it shopping lists this week, and to celebrate the release, she and her publisher, Hachette, have put together a really spiffy prize pack.
Here, have a look:
The winner will receive:
- 1 pink fan (this one can NOT be used for beheadings)
- 1 bottle of Sephora by OPI nail polish in “Shiny Dancer” (dark silver)
- 1 leather notebook (such as the one Winston used to tell his story)
- 1 sterling silver necklace and topaz snowflake pendant
- A set of the Darkest London books signed by Kristen Callihan
The items are all related to various characters in the series – and I rather covet that pendant.
Plus five runners-up will receive a complete set of the four books in the Darkest London series in digital format, including the prequel novella, which is digital only:
To enter, leave a comment sharing your favorite or funniest unexpected weapon (and if it's a fan, awesome!). I'll select the winners at random on Friday 1 March.
Standard disclaimers apply: void where prohibited. Open to international residents to the extent permitted be law. Must be over 18 and ready for some kind of battle to win. Measure twice, cut once. The film may have been modified from its original version to fit your screen. Do not write below this line.
Good luck!
I’m going to have to go old-school Victorian and say walking cane. A good Holmes fan always has room in her heart for Bartitsu!
I would go with a grapefruit. Horribly unexpected.
My favorite accidental weapon has to be the dead marlin in one of Carl Hiaasen’s books…
a lipstick gun- I saw it in the spy museum in Washington, DC and thought that it was cool.
Sam’s frypan in Lord of the Rings!
Brace yourself, this is a weird two-fer; the banana-in-the-tailpipe that killed Taggart and Rosewood’s car in Eddie Murphy’s 1984 movie, Beverly Hills Cop, and the Potion-y Potion in Streep, Hawn, and Willis’ 1992 movie, Death Becomes Her.
Because, c’mon, a car-killing banana and a life-giving-death-giving pink potion TOTALLY claim the One Weapon To Rule Them All title! (Er…two.)
A praying mantis.
Long story short- Weird guy was hitting on me at the beach while we sat on adjacent benches. Out of no where a praying mantis sprang onto my lap; I freaked and brushed it off as fast as I could. It ended up on the guy’s arm. He got up as he freaked trying to brush it off…and just kept going. So maybe the mantis wasn’t exactly a weapon but it did defend and protect me.
Best unexpected weapon would have to be the poisoned dress the pope’s assassin used to try and kill Queen Elizabeth I in the movie ‘Elizabeth’, though the use of poisoned clothing has also been referenced in Greek mythology and Indian folklore. Stealth and pretty at the same time!
Monkeys flinging poop, of course!
A Golf Ball.
I was in high school, had just started dating my now husband. We had gone golfing…or rather he attempted to show me how to golf and I ended up driving the cart 🙂
We drove back to my parents place and were hanging out on the basketball court. My husky was running around chasing the golf balls we would bounce on the cement, all cute and funny. Until I bounced one (a GREAT bounce mind you), it came down and hit my man on the side of his head. Down he went like a tree. Freaking out, slightly, I ran over to check on him. He was dazed but never blacked out, or so he claims.
So far in my life, best weapon ever = golf ball.
When I played World of Warcraft, one of the weapons you could get in-game was “Cookie’s Tenderizer” – it was a rolling pin. I wanted it.
Iocaine powder. Double points for building up a tolerance over the past few years.
Amelia Peabody’s umbrella has to be my number one chioce!
A plate of stinky tofu. 🙂
Cast iron skillet in the movie “Fried Green Tomatos.” Even better because it was wielded by an elderly woman.
I love the pen-as-weapon in the Bourne Identity.
Beach ball – one was thrown at my sister and she ducked to avoid it and ended up knocking out her front teeth on the car…
Clearly nothing makes a better weapon than a paperclip and some duct tape…(it would also help if you had MacGyver handy…)
I’m all for a beautiful stiletto to the eye, ala Single White Female. But Poppy’s fan would, naturally, be a lovely accessory to double the deadliness.
I love the music box as weapon, Ms Phryne Fischer
A cast-iron skillet is the traditional bridal shower gift in our family.
Legos scattered around the floor like little land mines. Speaking from experience here, those things HURT! Limping for days.
For something slightly more unexpected (and certainly lacking in menace, hence funny if you threaten someone with it) possibly a crochet hook, one of the tiny ones meant for doilies made out of thread, I can also attest that those are really quite painful.
A dozen eggs.
Messy, but not really effective.
Yeah, the frying pan from Tangled is pretty awesome!
Clive Owen, Shoot ‘Em Up.
A pen. Back about a decade ago, I was watching an episode of Port Charles, the spinoff to General Hospital, and a psychotic serial killer (Julie Devlin) stabbed one of the other doctors (Eve—I don’t remember her last name) with a pen, nearly killing her. I was about 13/14 at the time and I just couldn’t believe that a pen could be a deadly weapon.
Also, Ms. Gwen’s parasol from The Pink Carnation series.
Attack cat!
Favorite unexpected weapon: either a Canada goose, a rolled-up magazine used to stab someone through the heart, or raw potatoes.
I love Rapunzel’s cast iron skillet in Tangled! 🙂
Frying pan of doom! I also always remember one of the Oz books in which the Emerald City is invaded by an army of women whose weapons are bejeweled knitting needles (which, IIRC, they keep in their hair when not in use….)
(also, fantastic prize pack!)
I was rather fond of Alexia Tarabotti’s parasol myself!
Backpacking through Europe, a woman tried to mug me as we exacted a large empty metro elevator. I turned swiftly and nailed her with my outsized backpack while fleeing up the stairs.
Fire-retardant Christmas tree spray from Bedtime Stories!
I love any time Buffy breaks a nearby wooden object for makeshift stakes.
My favorite weapon? A witty riposte. Disarming with words. After all, “the pen is mightier than the sword.”
I think my favorite would be the poison lipstick. I’m still unsure how it doesn’t effect the person wearing it!
We’re doing a James Bond retrospective at our house. I’m loving the whacky 60s Q weapons. “Now this may look like an ordinary tie clip…” Classic!
Weapon of choice in my household is a golf club… I think my unexpected weapon would quite possibly be Legos on the floor 🙂 Those things hurt!
My favorite is a magazine: from the first Bourne movie when Matt Damon beats a guy with a magazine in the middle of a fight—that was hilarious.
A particularly stale baguette 🙂