Monday, August 2, 2010

The Scorch Trials ARC Contest

As promised, today begins the official contest to win an advanced copy of the sequel to THE MAZE RUNNER. It's very simple:

I want some good to come out of this, so here's how you enter. Leave a comment telling us about a good deed you plan to do/have done this week. It doesn't have to be big or elaborate. Just something simple. Make another person's day. Make a donation. Save the world. Convince the NFL to move to 18 games. Whatever.

The contest will be open until Thursday (Aug 5) at noon (MST), at which time I'll announce the winner. Good luck!!!

285 comments:

1 – 200 of 285   Newer›   Newest»
Lydia said...

I invited some friends kids over to give her a bit of a break, and taught my and her kids how to make dried apples (healthy snack + confidence booster!)

Garrett Matthews said...

I will make a more conscious effort to get along with my brothers and sister.

Josh said...

I helped my Mom who's back in college with her math that she didn't understand. For a really long time!

emily said...

I'm going to do a little baking for a friend in need. She had a pretty rough week last week and we all know some sugar will do a broken heart good :D

T.J. said...

I intend to tweet about this contest and thus get more people to enter and lower my chances of winning. But more people can enter the world of The Maze Runner/The Scorch Trials so it all balances out, right?
Oh, and yeah, I'm really serious about that.

Anonymous said...

I helped my friends family run their garage sale and set it up because they needed extra man power. It was a success!

Kate! said...

I'm about to go drop off a big box of books to a local library and take some clothes and things to goodwill. How coincidental that this is the way to enter!

Lena1xoxo said...

I have a very hungover boyfriend that's stuck at work. On my break, I brought him the ultimate cure: a bunch of gatorade, advil and greasy food. Though I didn't save a bus full of children, it's the thought that counts :)

EEP! I want The Scorch Trials so bad, it's not even funny!

*crosses fingers and hopes*

addicted2novels(at)gmail(dot)com

Chelle said...

I'm going to make my husband a homemade apple pie. His summer session is over and he did really well. So I think some pie is in order.

Eric said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kathryn Packer Roberts said...

This is totally the best I can do: spend quality time with my inlaws trapped at a cabin with them and siblings-in-law, + kids, this weekend. (if you knew what heartbreaking efforts we have made in the past with them, then this would indeed be a heart-wrenching comment post)

I call it an act of mercy.

lora1967 said...

i would love to solve world hunger but i cant aford so i guess ill just by a gift for my doctor to show how much i thank him for all he does.i also am going to donate some of my used books to the local library.

chaarmedone1512@aol.com
book giveaway:
http://readforyourfuture.blogspot.com/

Eric said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Read for your future! said...

lora1967 said...
i would love to solve world hunger but i cant afford it so i guess ill just buy a gift for my doctor to show how much i thank him for all he does.i also am going to donate some of my used books to the local library.

chaarmedone1512@aol.com
book giveaway:
http://readforyourfuture.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

This week at the county fair, my friends and i were in line for a great ride. I was really looking forward to riding it with my friends when it happened, the lady in front of me could not get in the car with her friends because she was too large. She couldn't ride the ride alone, so she asked me if I would be willing to ride with her. My first thought was no, but i has empathy for her, so i said yes, i would. After that i felt i did a very good deed.

~THE OPTIMISTIC PESSIMIST ~ said...

Well her it goes, My sister has a crisis and of course being the good sis I am, I drove 10 hours (with a 15 1/2 year old dog) to be supportive. I listened, tried to help and then drove 10 hours back home.

Linda
Lifkdasux at aol dot com

Karen said...

My six-year-old nephew really loves pirates (and really, who doesn't?). Lucky for him, the one thing I know how to draw is pirate ships. So we drew a pirate ship together--complete with skull and cross bones flag, a ship steering wheel (which I'm sure has a way cooler name), and cannons. He has triplet baby sisters, so I think he enjoyed the attention as much as the awesome ship.

Jennifer said...

I take care of other people's kids.

Robin Armstrong said...

I'm going to help my daughter celebrate her 16th birthday this weekend. I'll also help people at the library I work at on a daily basis. Does any of that count?

Shanyn said...

This week I will buy a book I love for someone else to read! I did this last week with The Hunger Games and I'd like to do it again this week.

Angie said...

Something good ... something good ... well. I'm a school librarian who is, at the moment, attempting to mentally gear myself up for another year. The next two weeks will be spent doing a lot of planning so that the coming year will rock.

Also have family coming to visit so spending some quality time with the nieces and nephew and little brother home from first summer term at college is in order.



And if I can make myself make the time there will also be a Goodwill run in there. But that's just as much decluttering for me as helping others so it doesn't count. 8]

Yan said...

I helped a woman pick up her items when it dropped from her shopping cart (as she tended to her kid).

Bryan B. said...

I run a writing group for teens. I will use the ARC as motivation for one of them (who's very talented and loved the Maze Runner) to finish her book...

Nikki said...

This whole week I will be teaching my 20 yr old autistic brother how to drive. He just needs someone with patience and courage to help him out. I think this will really help him on his way to independence.
BTW, my son will think I'm the best mom ever if I win this copy, he absolutely loves "The Maze Runner". I would love to review "Scorch Trials" on my group blog as well.

Laura said...

I'm going to take a nice big box of books down to the children's hospital. I have some good things to share right now.

twonickelsoradime (at) gmail

I Will Stand said...

I just cleaned the Church. I promise to make dinner for my kids. Run the 3 oldest to scouts. Take the Activity day girls swimming. Do Laundry. Make beds. Wash dishes. And Just about every other mom duty I uhh do.

Eric said...

i plan to try and make my mom happy by suprising her with things she never thought i'd do, like help her with everything, so she accually has time to relax.
I've already helped my dad plenty be sending him brownies, which he will appreciate, because he is on deployment, on the other side of the world.
Lastly, i will tell everyone i know(although that isn't very many people) about this special event, where to find it, and how if they havn't yet read the maze runner, they can borrow either my copy of the book, or my ipod, which has the audiobook.

Sydney said...

This week I will help my mom around the house more so she can come home and relax instead of cleaning for hours!

The name is Ashelynn said...

I'm having dental surgery on Wednesday, so for the next two days, I plan on doing the cleaning and cooking so my Stepsis has a break before having to do it all the after Wednesday.

Tami said...

I'll just be available whenever one of my kids needs something while they're out and about. I call it the iMom app. They call me and call me and call me;) And sometimes they call me Mom.

Melissa said...

I believe I already made someone's day today when I told her that she won the Linger giveaway on my site. You should have seen the excitement in her response!

In addition to that I sent a couple of thank you messages to people that I've been working with for the last couple of years for their help and support. I don't think they were expecting it, but I'm sure they liked it!

Brooke said...

I'm going to buy school supplies for kids who can't afford them. :-)

Quite looking forward to Scorch, btw!

Lula! said...

I live in the most indigent county in Virginia. The school supply list for 3rd graders (which my daughter will be this month!) is rather lengthy. When we bought her supplies last week, we purchased everything in triplicate to donate (anonymously) to her classroom. This has become our yearly tradition & my daughter and I look forward to helping out her new teacher in this manner.

Lula! said...

p.s. Some good news, James...
The Bulldogs are ranked #2 in the SEC East!!! While I'd love for us to beat FL this year, all I really care about is TN. And GA Tech. OK, and Auburn. Of course.

Kasey said...

I'm going to volunteer shelving books at my local library, like I've done every week since I was in the 7th grade.

The Lovely Reader said...

Every month, on the first Thursday, I volunteer to be a part of a jury that hears the cases of teens who have been arrested in my area. We give them a second chance because whatever they were arrested for doesn't go on their record, and some of the teens get the chance to participate in the jury once they have completed their community service. I love doing this because it gives back to my community and helps out troubled teens!

Can't wait for SCORCH TRIALS!
barbrafl737 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Leesie Jones said...

Hmmmmm....I NEED an ARC. Let's start with that.
Today, i'll get my Maze Runner BFF, (you may remember her from when we met) and have some sort of stand where we sell something, (most likely lemonade), and every time we get a sale, we will act out a scene from the maze runner. Then we will promote the book by telling our customer all about it. After a long day of work, we will donate all of our money to your choice of organization.
I hope that I csn win an ARC with all of my heart.

Lola Sharp said...

I try to do at least one Pay It Forward good deed/day. Yesterday it was to pay for the order of the car behind me at Dunkin Donuts. Today I agreed to (and competed) critique 3 chapters for a young writer, even though I'm behind on my CP's books right now, not to mention behind on my own slogging through revisions.

I'm off to tweet your contest. (I'll try to get it up on my blog later today)

~Lola

Samantha P. said...

Well, since im still a year too young to volunteer at a hospital, Im settling for baking alot of cookies and stuff and sell them, then donate that money to Haiti.

Eleni said...

What a great contest thank you!

This week I donated a few books to a library on an Native American Reserve who are scarce on YA books.

-Eleni
lafemmereaders@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

I'm going to take my niece camping this weekend because she's never been and her mom desperately needs a break.

Congrats on the ARCs, James!

Patricia said...

Growing up I had a hard time learning how to read. Now I love to read. To inspire young adults to also have and find their love of reading I loan out books to kids. I even make suggestions on other books they would like to read. We even get to talk about what we have read and what we liked about it and what we didn't. I love it.

Kristen said...

I actually am babysitting my niece all day today so my older sister can work an odd job.

Mac and Margaret said...

I helped a neighbor clean up their basement after it flooded and referred them to a carpet guy who got them a good deal on carpet.
I also carpeted my in-laws stairs.

Soft Tofu said...

I helped a couple of tourists navigate around the NYC subway system.

Melinda Barlow CZT said...

I will speak to everyone I meet in the next week, Asking them what they are reading and how it effects them. Hoping to get some nonreader to find the joy in reading.

Brooke Reviews said...

I will be mailing out extra books I have to an author and her family who lost all their books in a flood. Here's the link for others :P http://sarahhina.blogspot.com/2010/08/we-interrupt-this-blog-tour.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+blogspot/LWRx+%28murmurs%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

The Art of Kim Kincaid said...

I am babysitting my grandchildren this week and will let them play with my LOTR action figures to their hearts' delight.

numberonedashnerfan said...

Hey James,
So um, good deeds I plan to do are: help my mom get A whole bunch of stuff ready for a local groups camp- were going to and teaching some kids crafts, and finish up some graphic design stuff for orchestra council.......
TIKI TIKI DUDE
-NUMBERONEDASHNERFAN

alexandra said...

I hate driving, but I volunteered to drive some friends up to a third friend's home about an hour away this Friday. We all used to be school librarians together, but cutbacks and retirements have split us up.

Alexandra

historygirl said...

Whoops! Posted on the wrong topic...

historygirl said...

Good deed for the week: I'm going through my kids bookshelves, cleaning out the books way too low for their reading ability (keeping some that they love though) and donating them to the local daycare. :) its a win, win!
August 2, 2010 10:28 AM

greyson said...

I'm redoing my parents' deck. So far I've pressure washed off all the paint. I'm in the process of sanding, and I'll finish it up by staining the deck.

Natalie said...

My sister-in-law is having her baby tomorrow and I'll be watching her 2-year-old. That counts, right?

Eric said...

i know this may not technically count, but i am very exciter that you opened up and decided to give this advanced copy to the person who, in your mind, did the best deed over the week.and i kow that sometimes the smallest deeds get the largest rewards, but im not expecting to win. wait until my birthday, i guess. kinda funny how its the day after its planned to start selling...it would be nice to have it though. and i just keep wondering in my mind if they ever get thier memories back, that and a feeling of sadness for chuck, who just gave up his life for someone he'd known a little more than a week. sometimes it reall makes you wonder sometimes. and with the final word being from WICKED, i just dont know what to expect now. and the story seems so realistic to me now that is seems that that may accually happen, although how i wouldnt know. the book never tld us what year it was, besides that they had been there 2 years and that they had been at day 232.1.27, although now i think it was the year 2027... i wouldnt be able to tell.

Carolyn Twede Frank said...

This past week I painted our kitchen and family room by myself so my husband wouldn't have to pay a painter, and our house would look nice for when my daughter invited all of her inlaws over to our house for my new grandson's baby blessing.

Karlene said...

I just bought my husband a fan as a surprise. He's been complaining that the TV room is too hot. It will be set up and waiting for him when he gets home from work today. Does that count?

Enna Isilee said...

I'm going to present a free live reptile show to a cub-scout group. I'm so excited!

James! I've been trying to e-mail you, but the e-mail I have you don't use anymore. If you aren't crazy busy, could you e-mail me? I'd like to finally get that interview... from two years ago. ;)

SqueakyBooks@yahoo.com

Jackson Porter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen Pellett said...

I helped a sweet elderly woman yesterday who couldn't make the step down from the curb to the parking lot safely. Plus I am serving by teaching, working with and loving my stepsons while they visit the whole time they are here since my husband can only take one day off during their two weeks here. Not that its hard...they are awesome...but they are teenagers. Oooh and I'm actually getting the one who is a non-reader to actually read a book and (gasp) he likes it.

Jackson Porter said...

I'm babysitting my grandparent's dog while they're in Disneyland for about a week. It's like their SIXTH CHILD!



-Jackson

tapestry100 said...

I'm shipping some old books of mine off to troops overseas.

Melissa said...

I discovered that a stray cat had 3 kittens under my potting shed. With the help of my neighbours I caught the cats, had the mom spayed and the kittens are available for adoption. All of the kittens were females so we prevented a lot of future cats being born in our area.

Anonymous said...

I'm planning a bunch of plants and trees in my backyard. Also I'm cleaning out my closet for clothes to donate.

Cara said...

Last night I spent some time with my Nana who's recently had some minor surgery. Basically I let her curse about the doctor while I listened. :)

Chris Todd Miller said...

My neighbor across the street is 73 years old with two adopted teenage daughters, both of whom are mentally disabled. I mow her lawn, every week, only this week I'll be fixing a broken sprinkler head, too.

Hawkeyegirl said...

I wish I could convince the NFL to go to 18 games (sigh) but I'll have to settle for doing my fiance's laundry for him, and even folding it! Wow, I deserve a medal or a cookie or The Scorch Trials ARC :) (guess which one I really want?)

Amy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amy said...

A fellow blogger I just recently met is having some trouble getting a hold of books to read due to financial reasons. So I told him that I "won" an extra copy of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (shh...don't tell him but I bought it using a gift certificate!). And I'm shipping it out from here in Ontario, Canada to him down in Florida, USA this week. It makes me feel good to share my love of books with a fellow book lover, and I know it will put a smile on his face when he opens the package and finds the book inside!

astewart305(at)rogers.com

MARY IN SCOTLAND said...

I bought my sister a new webcam today, after hers broke and she couldn't afford another one.

I also bought my niece movie tickets to see Toy Story 3 because her parents couldn't afford to take her.

I'm crossing my fingers! I want an ARC!!

marydebastos@yahoo.com

Looksie Lovitz said...

I am 13 years older than my next oldest sibling and i babysit them all the time for free because i am just phenom like that and i think my mom would go nuts if she didnt have help.

but this saturday i am taking on the insurmountable task that is supervising a 12 yr old girls slumber party where they are going to talk about judy blume books and ask me questions like my sister does.

not to mention they want to give me a makeover. its sad that they think i need one but im terrified because my sister tried to pluck my eyebrows once and when she was done, i had no eyebrows to speak of much like whoopi goldberg. needless to say, i got bangs.

the things i do for my family amazes even me sometimes. haha.

thr33things said...

For almost 3 months now my family has fostered a total of 11 kittens, and we plan on keeping one.

I also told my gorgeous fiend who I'm pretty sure cuts herself that she truly is gorgeous : )

Steph Su said...

I'd love to cheer up a friend who's feeling down, with a simple, unselfish gesture or genuine compliment. You're right: it's amazing how something utterly small can make all the difference!

Angie said...

This week I am spearheading the ward Mother/Daughter camp out, which I hope will be a fun and relaxing time for all. I'm also critiquing for a couple of people.

June said...

Well, when I was a little kid my grandmother had this dollhouse. It was made of wood, nothing too fancy, with a bunch of wooden furniture and a family of dolls and all that. Obviously I haven't played with it in a while.
The other day I was staying over at my grandmother's house, where she is trying to clean up her garage. Since her garage has absolutely no air conditioning she had moved most of the boxes, tools, etc. into her house. I volunteered to help her get rid of some of the stuff in the dollhouse.
At first it seemed impossible. Every piece of furniture brought up another memory of me when I was little, making up stories and things like that. But after my grandmother said that she was donating the the things we couldn't keep to a children's hospital, I knew I had to let go of these memories. I ended up donating an entire box full of stuff! Whoops, I didn't mean to write so much!

Kristy said...

I will call my mother-in-law!

carltoncasaATmsnDOTcom

... said...

I go to a boarding school that's for juniors and seniors in high school. I'm one of a few seniors who moved in to the school a couple of days before the new juniors to basically get the school ready for them. They move in on Wednesday, and I get to have a group of juniors who are my custodials and so my good deed is being of help to them as they move in and get accustomed :)

Em said...

I plan to help my friend boost her English mark so she does not have to take her English exam

ps Great Contest

Unknown said...

Just helped make up ten boxes of school supplies to send to kiddos in our area!

Just finished The Maze Runner...recommending it to all my buds! Loved it!

Eric said...

as a person who is waiting for The Scorch Trials, know what everybody is going through. but as for what to do about it, i am dumbfounded. if all there people want one boo, it is kind of hard to tell who wants it most, who wants it most. who needs it. as a person who knows what everyone is going through, i reccomend trying to make copies, or asking for more copies of the advanced reader copy to give to the people that accually care enough to want it. and i feel that if you do the right thing-i know you will-more that one person will have a ARC in thier posession. and that would be nice. of course, you dont have to do that. but it would be nice for all the people that accually cared enough to awnser.

Christina / Book Addict said...

I recently donated to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation's Reading For a Cure program. For every book I read January- June, I donated money. I blogged recently about it as it such a worthy cause.

I can't wait for Scorch Trials!

chris327@mac.com

Francesca said...

I've offered a Teddy Bear Paddington to my friend Lisa. She wanted one since 10 years and she has never been in London. :)

Matt Hayes said...

Well, my mom was in pain after her 13-mile run the other day and I catered to her every whim :p Gave her Aleve, tea, water, and even handed her some oatmeal cookies.

NFL should move to 18 games. I like the games, but sometimes it's just kinda funny.

Maddy and Megan said...

I got my friend to try a new thing that she was sure she wouldn't like (going to a baseball game), and we had a blast. Then, I helped her with her summer homework.

Stephanie R. said...

I have seen three women this past week and what I did was to take the time and listen as they expressed the sorrow,frustrations and heartaches they were feeling.

Stephanie

Lindsay said...

I'm babysitting my nineteen-month-old goddaughter on Saturday. My friend is a single mum, and doesn't get to go out a lot. A friend of hers gets married in two weeks so I volunteered to watch the little one. That way she doesn't have to rush home early, and can have a lie in on Sunday.

Shallee said...

Awesome contest! And awesome books as well-- I loved the Maze Runner, and can't wait for Scorch Trials!

I'm currently raising money for five kids I volunteered with in Ghana to go to high school! (http://reachforthestarsghana.blogspot.com)

Amy Lundebrek said...

Next time I go for lunch, I will pay for the person's food who is behind me in line.

Bonus: After I finish reading my ARC, I will ship it for free to someone else who wants to read it.

Unknown said...

I spend most evenings at my grandparents, helping them around the house, running errands for them, etc.

Barbarian Librarian said...

I'm babysitting my friends' baby for free so they can have a night out!

Katie said...

I'm helping my mom watch my niece and nephew tonight so my sister can go get her computer fixed. I've also been volunteering at my church with my old youth group, helping mentor the teenagers. We've got our last event this week, and I've been planning it. So fun working with teens! :)

jpetroroy said...

I'm buying a present for a friend who just got a new job.

a flight of minds said...

I've spent a considerably large amount of time with my five year old sister, playing with her and holding her when she got scared while watching Toy Story 3. Today I spent an hour calming her down and coaxing her to go out- to a water park, no less. It's not easy having a little sister.

Kayla :) said...

I'm volunteering at a local daycare because they're shortstaffed this week.

Britt said...

I took my grandma to see Inception. She didn't understand much of it, so she kept falling asleep. I continualy woke her up saying "¡Abuelita, estás jalando a compartir en sus sueños!" Which is Spanish for "You're sucking me into your dreams!" Maybe it was the language barrier that kept her from understanding... hmmm... At any rate, I'm taking her again tonight.

Magenta said...

Oh no! 90+ people entered here before me! >_< Drat! How can I possibly compete?!

Well, my sister and I were going to give a birthday card to our friend at out Toastmasters club tomorrow (her b-day is on the 5th. Coincidence! ^_~), but it turns out she's going to be absent, and we don't know her address. So we'll just email her a birthday message, I guess.

I ought to come up with something better though, because I really want to win this thing! ~,~ I'll come back later when I've got a really good deed.

Good luck picking a winner, by the way. 0,o

Sab H. said...

This was last week, but I returned a $20 bill to this old man who dropped it.

And this week, I dont know, I guess I could try to be more patient with my 4 yo daughter. :)

Tina G said...

I convinced my husband to buy a $600 Jato Rocket Car. Now your probably thinking that this isn't a good deed. But really it is.
My hubby works hard for his money and yet all he does with it is take care of his family, put food on the table and pay the bills.
He would NEVER spend that kind of money on a toy. SO, I convinced him to buy something that he's always, ALWAYS wanted for himself.
We got one life to live, you might as well be happy:)

Tina(mybella)

Anonymous said...

This week i was heading to the supermarket and while my husband was driving i saw this teenager picking on an older Chinese women who couldn't speak English so i made my husband stop and tell the kid off. My husband told him that he shouldn't be doing that. I hope by confronting this kid he will think twice before picking on people. I thought it was a pretty good deed. Good Luck everyone!!

jo53ray@yahoo.com

Alden said...

two words - laundry & ironing!

Kim said...

I'm donating $25.00 to our local police fund to help buy Christmas gifts for the less fortunate. Hopefully they will remember I did that the next time I'm pulled over for speeding- not that I speed very much:-)

Unknown said...

I am going to do something nice for my 100 year old great grandpa, who recently was admitted to the hospital because he had severe stomach pains. They don't know what it is yet, only that he is old :) I would bake him a cake, but I'm not sure that would help the stomach problem. I think I am going to make him a card, write a message in it, and tell him I love him.

Also, our friends' husband/father recently passed away, and I am planning on helping the family through this tough time by being as supportive as I possibly can and not being too pushy at the same time.

Emily Hyte said...

I intend on taking dinner over to my neighbor that just had her 5th! baby.
PS Loved Maze Runner! Will be reading the sequel even when I don't win the advanced copy =)

Unknown said...

Today I baked 24 purple vanilla cupcakes with purple vanilla icing for a bake sale my mom's company is hosting. All the proceeds from the bake sale go to support relay for life.

J.N. Future Author said...

A friend of mine wants me to send her a handwritten letter. I'll write it and send it back (If I can find stamps)

Let the fight for Scorch Trials begin! ^.^

Okie said...

Great contest.

My good deed for the week was to help some poor little kids on the train find their family.

Missy said...

My best friend had surgery on her ankle and she's not supposed to be on her feet. That's hard to do when you have a two-year-old and a four-year-old. So, I took MY two-year-old and four-year-old to play with hers, and I cleaned her house, organized things as best I could so that when I'm not available she can at least have some things close, changed diapers, made the meals and did some laundry. Hopefully she will be alright without me tonight so that I can take care of my house, and I will be back tomorrow.

Kellee said...

I am a teacher and during this summer I have been volunteering at a primary school in a high poverty level in downtown Orlando. During my time there, I work with a class (14 or so kids and 2 teachers) and we work on reading, math and writing. The summer program is 4 weeks long and completely voluntary. The kids there want to learn more and I was inspired to help.

Missmagic188 said...

oh boy, I'm glad you asked, this week, I donated all my ap prep books to the library, participated in the book drive at my local Borders bookstore to donate books for the local elementary school. Think it's called Westlawn something something.

But I'm most proud of myself for giving away all my one dollar bills that I could find in my car (yes, I do leave money in my car just in case) to a homeless person at at Seven Corners, VA.

One week.

Mitchel said...

I worked really hard this past year to pay my best friend's and i's way to the new Harry Potter theme park in Orlando. It's his 20th bday today (mine in a month) so i wanted us to really have fun

Eric said...

definatly worried now. i know i wont get the book now, only a .009 chance that ill get the book...and that is what really worries me. but i guess this isnt really based on mathematics, but on your personal preferance. i guess that if yu wanted, you could choose anybody for it,from a 13 year old, like me, to a 100 year old. it all matters on you. but i just wonder how many ARCs you have. one, o a lot?i know that the wait until thursday will be exasperating, but i guess ill survive. i dont have much of a chance now, anyway.

Band Class TV Series said...

Since everyone is visiting this blog so often, wow, 110 comments already. This is Jackson Porter by the way, www.jacksonporter.blogspot.com,

I thought I might as well promote my newest one. www.bandclasstv.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I have personally sold over 40 copies of Maze Runner to my customers since last Fall. I was writing reviews for it since I read it Spring of 2009. I LOVE IT!!

Chelsea Hansen said...

I am currently helping my Mom unpack boxes she brought from my grandparent's house. Both of my grandparents passed away a few years ago, so when they cleaned out the house she came home with dozens of boxes. I know she wants to get them all done soon, and it goes by so much faster with the two of us.

Unknown said...

I just dropped off a whole bag full of YA/MG books to be donated to our local library. As much as I love to see my personal library grow, I've learned that if a book isn't being read, it isn't alive. It makes the book (and me) much happier to read than to be sitting on a shelf like a trophy, collecting dust.

Lon Young said...

I helped my mom clean the house and make dinner when she was really stressed. My siblings weren't any help at all, but my mom and I worked hard and succeeded in getting all the work done.

kate5047 said...

This week I plan to do a bunch of yard work for my grandparents, because I mean when you're old and have a broken back, that stuff isn't so fun.

Unknown said...

I helped my mom clean the house and make dinner when she was really stressed. My siblings weren't any help at all, but my mom and I worked really hard and eventually got all the work done in time.

Jess (Gone with the Words) said...

I bought a gift certificate for my best friend to get a massage. She just had a baby a couple of weeks ago and a little relaxation will be good for her. :)

Scott Pollack said...

We had out-of-state-friends stay with us for 3 days with their three kids. Add that to my two, and we had a par-tay...but also a mess. My wife is 4 weeks into pregnancy, and working a full 7 hour day, so starting at 9am I did the dishes, started the laundry (first of 8 loads), cleaned 3 bathroom counters, washed two bathtubs and bathroom floors, vaccumed the upstairs (did downstairs yesterday), cleaned/re-set both my kids bedrooms, weed-wacked a .25 acre yard, hunted for frogs with my son, made lunch for my kids, put my son down for a nap, mowed the yard, took out the garbage, went to the store for dinner goods, made dinner, cleaned dishes, carried all laundry upstairs and put it away, and swept the downstairs floor...
...all so my wife can relax and watch a barbie movie with my two kids for the last 45 minutes.

If that ain't giving...I don't know what is.

Unknown said...

I explained to my cousin the immense importance of strawberry jam.

Unknown said...

My brother is out of the country, and the person who's managing his business is way behind on orders. We run the same kind of business, so I'm canceling all my plans for this week to make an emergency flight out of state--AND AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!!! FROWNY FACE!!!--and get things caught up.

Now I know this entry will win, but since I've already got an ARC coming thanks to a source of...questionable legality...hehehehe...you can pick someone else, James. It's okay.

Natalie Whipple said...

I'm currently teaching a 12-year-old how to draw (for free). It's been a lot of fun.

tim said...

Right now I'm boxing up used ink/toner cartidges I collected & I'm cashing them in as part of a fundraising program for the public school my daughter attends....We do it year round....

Bella@BeguileThySorrow said...

my mom just had surgery, so I've taken over preparation of meals for the month :)

Cait said...

I donated to the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation (Love of Reading), which provides books to needy schools across Canada.

I'm so excited for The Scorch Trials!!

Travis said...

I'll try to treat my brother like an actual human being, even though I'm pretty sure he's not.

spongyman1026@yahoo.com

Ray said...

I'm living in austria and people here are very grumpy. An american told me that befor she came her to study she made an austrian-culture-crash-course and they told her to never ever smile at someone you don't know because people will think you are mental or they'll get pissed off.
sadly, that is quit true but still, i try to smile at everyone, still try to be friendly to everyone and people are always super nice to me and seem to have the need to talk to me so i think i'm doing something right.
but my "special" good deed this week is giving a friend the money of my holiday job because she is heavily indepted and hasn't got any family to help her. it's not much but still i hope it will help her. and i would only use it for new clothes or something stupid like that so it doesn't matter.

oh and i promised my little sister(12) to go to the cinema with her and she want's to see eclipse! :'(((((( wäääh (i shouldn't have promised her without knowing with movie she likes to watch)

And yesterday i finished reading narnia to my little brother!

and i washed the dishes at my mothers place...?

and i use public transport!

and yesterday there was a 3 year old girl in the washroom with me and yeah... she had some BIG bussiness going on so i helped her...

and i brush my teeth in the morning?

ok i think i'll stop now but as you can see i'm like the pope! and i fell in love with your book because they are- as a certain author would say-"brilliant".

Kim said...

My partner's cat got sick on the bed this morning, and I cleaned up the mess and laundered the sheets instead of, as I have done in the past, simply placing a paper towel over the mess and leaving it for her to clean up when she got home. I used to suck, but I'm getting better. :-)

Unknown said...

I taught another person today to never give up and to always reach for the stars because that's exactly where your goals are located!!! I'm a Director of Personal Training, so it works everyday here...but this is the one life lesson that gets us everywhere in life! Plus it works for me because I strive to be a writer. Hopefully one day, people like you will be reading and sharing the books that I write! Only time will tell.

Unknown said...

I taught my mom how to download her songs and create playlists for her new iPod.

Mrs. Heise said...

I'm working on getting books into every one of my eighth-grade students' hands by finding every way possible to get books into my classroom - and lending them out to anyone who needs them from my classroom library. I hope this is one of those ways to help get more!

A. J. Spindle said...

I plan on leaving my change in the vending machines at school for someone to find, making their day extra special :)

Magenta said...

I'm back! I think tomorrow I'll phone a friend that I haven't been able to call in weeks and weeks. That'll cheer him up to no end, I expect. ^_^

Andrea said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Andrea said...

For my good deed, I'm going to go into the yellow pages and pick out a random address and then I'm going to write the person an anonymous letter to hopefully make their day just a little bit brighter.
Everyone needs to hear that they matter, even if it does come from a stranger.

jesmck319 said...

I'm setting my brother up with piano lessons.

Jenny N. said...

I won a two night hotel stay and I'm going to be taking my cousin with me. We're staying in the penthouse suite too. She's super excited about it.

jen4777[at]hotmail.com

The Novelist said...

I took my daughter and her friends fishing. I HATE fishing. They love it. I stayed for 4 very long hours. They were incredibly happy and content afterwards!

lilanne9 said...

I am a 29 year old wife and mother. I stay at home and take care of my twin 4 year old boys. I have a very bad habit of getting myself addicted to different book series. I only say its bad because I drive myself crazy waiting for the next book! I loved The Maze Runner and would be so happy to receive The Scorch Trials early.
I left an hour on the parking meter today for someone else to use, as I often do. I have parked too many times and had no change for the meter, so I usually put extra money in. My hope is to make someone elses day by giving them a free parking space surprise!
Oh and I agree with you about Inception! Amazing! Or brilliant if you will...

Beck~ said...

I am going to help my mom around the house. and clean out our very messy garage.. :)
I cannot wait for this to come out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FieryIceFantasy said...

I baked for the homeless.

cass184 said...

I was at a self check out in jewel and I looked down and I found a hundred dollar bill that someone left so instead of keeping it I turned it into the front counter! True story I just hoped the person came in for it...

Peggy said...

I made sure to thank someone who made a difference in the life of one of my kids.

Anonymous said...

One of my good friends is moving to the city on Friday. Tomorrow I'm throwing a party for her with ice cream, pizza, and a movie. Probably The Pelican Brief. I'm going to miss her!

maclarson at cableone dot net

Alison said...

Woah, an ARC of the Scorch Trials?! I legit just freaked. I loved the Maze Runner, so thank you very much!

The other day, my family went to a flea market to meet up with some family friend's. I'm a teenager, and because I've been to flea markets before, I tend to get bored. So I was wandering around just to look and I ended up looking at this display with a bunch of stuffed animals and Disney toys. There was a little boy there around 5 or 6 and he was playing with one of the toy cars but he looked kinda lonely. I know how it feels to be bored while everyone else was occupied. So I smiled at the kid and said hi. For the next 15 minutes I ended up talking and entertaining this little boy with the toys in the place. When I left, he looked happy. So I'm glad to say I brightened up someone's day !

You brightened up my day just by giving us a chance to win this ARC! So thank you very much :D

~Alison
lostinbelieving(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anonymous said...

I made and brought dinner to my neighbor who just had a baby.

theclarkster said...

I made cookies for my wife!

Alexis Lampley said...

My new coworker just got engaged. She isn't going to hire a planner because she can't afford it. I planned my entire wedding myself (and pretty much created everything myself- even decorated my cake. No lie). So this weekend I put together a binder of every list I had and wished I had during that time. I looked up all the name change, blood test, marriage license info and put that in there for her, too. I gave her my *pile* of wedding magazines and samples of everything I made. I told her I'd help her with whatever she needs throughout the engagement & I mean it. She's considering taking on two jobs to afford her wedding, so as long as I can help her avoid even half the stress I went through, and show her where she can save money, I know she'll have a great wedding day! :)
Yey!

p.s. Dashner, you rock :)

hannah said...

I donated photography services to the United Way :)

Anonymous said...

I volunter at The Carl Sandburg Home in NC, that's one of the major homes of history around here. I decided that i would want to help out. No one can know too much about there history right? :) So every one of my Saturday afternoons I go to remind people of our history. Though it's hardly volunter work, i am usually rewarded by the looks of "wow" on theese people's faces!!

Ray said...

oh, oh, oh i forgot something!
i haven't said that i love your books have i? my english isn't perfect-i know-but after reading the maze runner i was looking for similar books- something as exciting, confusing, shocking, gripping, unbelievable, brilliant,... i just don't know enough adjectives but anyway i hope you get the point and i couldn't find anything! i never ever read a book where even !months! after i read it i'm still thinking about it! and because of it i started reading more books in english. now i only read books in english and i can understand everything even though i have prolems to write stuff down. you did a really good deed for me by publishing this book so i will try to get give something back to you especially. i try to get at least 5 people to read the maze runner. to preorder the book on amazone or something. i will tell you if it works! but if it works i really earned myself scortch trial, right?

o_O said...

I moved out of my home and I am allowing an unemployed single mother and her daughter live there while I am being foreclosed upon. ---- I have now moved back in with my own mother to take care of her. She is a diabetic with heart-disease who is on Dialysis. She is recovering nicely from her open-heart surgery from 2 summers ago. ---- Meanwhile, I was told last week that my company is downsizing and that my job is affected. ---- During these tough times I have found solace and comfort in many great books. Sometimes, I, too, feel like I am running in a maze where all the walls constantly are changing.

Chloe said...

I will try to save people some money in concessions at the movie theater I work at!

Llehn said...

I'm taking my neighbor's kids out for a fun Saturday so their parents can rest.

Reading Guy Chris said...

I spent the day with my cousin who has Muscular Dystrophy just hanging out with him and letting him act like a normal teenage instead of someone that is helpless and stuck in a wheelchair. Its the little things in life that make him feel good.

Kellie said...

I took brownies and a folder full of information about our area to a new family in our neighborhood to help them feel welcome.

Anonymous said...

I'm learning how to drive right now so things get a little tense in the car. I'm going to try to stop arguing with my parents so much while I'm driving. :)

Fun With Ali and Hayden! said...

I will be donating about half of my closetful of clothing that no longer fits to a local clothing swap.
I will read to my son every night! (he's only 3 so I can't read this to him, yet!)
I am also preparing for yet another year of teaching, and am helping a brand new teacher get her classroom ready, along with moving myself from one room to another.

RaShelle Workman said...

I'm going to take my sweet children swimming everyday the rest of the week and NOT complain about it. =D

Vanessa M. said...

My sisters Ashley and Halie like me to read to them so I will try to read more to them.

BTW, the book I am on right now happens to be A Door In The Woods, which happened to bring Halie out of her shell and read more and Ashley is fairly interested in.

Kara said...

I'm going to donate money to the Jesus Rocks Campaign, because have people near my age who make music in honor of Jesus is amazing!

Ben Wallace said...

Well for one thing my mom really wants me to clean my room so i will work on that as much as i can. Whatever I find that I don't use anymore, like clothes, books, movies and such, I will donate to goodwill or D.I. I will try to be better in my church by inviting less active members to come, including mutual, and working on my Duty To God book and scouts. and of course inform more of my friends about the awesomeness of your amazing books...and anything I am able to think of while I'm at it. :D

flashkid said...

Give free copies of The Maze Runner to my classmates.

Sarah said...

Well, there's stuff around the house that has to be done. I was going to work on that so my dad doesn't have to worry about it.

Brubblez said...

There is a kid at my school with autism. Everybody is afraid to talk to him because he is different.
He is my best friend, I am going to show him how much I care by reading a series of books that he enjoys so much so that we can have something to talk about every lunchtime.

cheyanna said...

I would give somebody a piece of toast.? Because who doesn't like toast

Rue said...

I have some friends who are having a rough week. She's a nurse and is in the middle of switching shifts. He's the youth pastor at church and has lots of end-of-the-summer/when-did-it-become-almost-fall planning stuff going on. I'm planning to make them a meal...big enough for the two of them and some leftovers for a few lunches and including home made waffle cones and a pint of coffee ice cream. It's not a lot but hopefully it will make their week a little easier and mean that they can spend some time together enjoying the meal.

ruthann (dot) francis (at) gmail
(dot) com

Unknown said...

After my shift at work I stayed late to dry all of the cutlery so the waitress could go home early.

Anetta said...

The rest of the week I'm going to volunteer at the library. I usually stay there 3-5 hours. The library has to cut 50% of its staff to make ends meet, so volunteers are really important right now. On Friday and Sunday I'm going to the nursing home also to volunteer and help residents on the computer as well as doing things with the alzheimers and dementia. I will be head over heels in work, but since I can't drive, my parents have to drive me. I will make sure to help them more around the house or give them something special.
One last note: Volunteering isn't about wanting to help someone for your own benefit, but for theirs. I know I'm going to be crazy tired this week, but I really don't care, because I'll be thinking back to all the smiles and thank-you's I've gotten.
P.P.S. I already had this planned before you announced this contest. I <3ed The Maze Runner, and I can't wait until Scorch Trials comes out! Thanks for taking the time for reading these!

Rebecca T. said...

I spent extra time with a customer helping her find just the right gift. Yeah, I got paid to be there, but I went out of my way to give her extra help because she wasn't sure what to do and she was very grateful for the help.

I just finished The Maze Runner and I am SO looking forward to the second one! I've been recommending it to everyone!

Random Sonshine Thoughts :D

Tamara Hart Heiner said...

I hope you are not too busy to read these comments! I tried to send you an email. If you didn't get it, can you send me an email at tamara at tamarahartheiner dot com? I know that's a lot to ask...please? :)

californiameaghan said...

yesterday we were at borders buying a book and they asked if we wanted to buy a kids book to donate to underpriveleged children in the area. so we did. i think they will enjoy curious geroge, don't you?

buttercup said...

A high school football player was killed in a car accident this past week. His father is currently unemployed and they had no insurance to pay for the funeral. The local snow shack donated all the proceeds from their sales yesterday to the family to help pay for the funeral. The line was a block long all day long! We went and waited an hour in line for our snowcones so we could help this family out and teach our children the importance of taking care of others. It was a really great experience. Our community has supported this family in so many amazing ways.

Taffy said...

I have friends who always keep change ready to buy lemonade/kool-aid/sugar water at any neighborhood stand.
So I decided I will keep money available to buy books from the authors who in the store, selling and signing their books (and trying to keep a smile on their face). I tried it at the mall and my son LOVED the book I bought.

Half Masked said...

I hosted a 5k and all the proceeds are going to primary childrens medical center :)

(loved the maze runner!!!!)

Becca said...

I gave a toddler a favorite book from my childhood. "Ferdinand" by Munro.

Becca Rackley

Lindsey Johnson said...

My church has a house and hosts homeless people who are trying to get their lives back together. I go there to read to the kids and hang out with them!

jennygranola said...

I would like to nominate my husband to win. He is a fan of yours (as am I) we often argue over who gets to read a new hardback first. In this case, I'd like him to have it. We've had a hard week. I've had a very tough physical illness and my normally very busy husband, who has a very demanding job with lots of meetings and important people to see and placate, took yesterday and today off to take care of me and the children. I know that it is not easy for businessmen to switch from office mode to full time Mr. Mom but he's been an absolute saint and made my illness so much easier to bare. Yes, we would have survived if he'd chosen to go to his meetings and dinners. There's always the tv babysitter and I can lock the doors so no one can escape should I fall asleep, but he chose to put in a first class effort to take care of us. He deserves much more, but this would be a nice start. I don't know what I'd do without him and his service.

WonderGirl12 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
WonderGirl12 said...

My grandparents are moving a couple hours away thid weekend, unfortunately. But I'll give them all the help they need in order to move because deep down I know they'll be happy. Even if I won't see my Gran for long periods of time. :(

I'll also try not to scream if I happen to win this ARC because that would cause some ears to bleed. :)

Espe said...

I cleaned my sister's garage :)
I also joined a parent group at my kids' school!

Hailey said...

My good deed is that this summer i volentered 26 hours at my local library to help with the childrens reading program.

Leesie Jones said...

Oh my...so many people have commented...HOLY TOLEDO! This means that my chances of winning just dropped to 12.7%.
I feel sad.
Good luck picking Dash!
Good luck...

MH said...

I rescued a dog :)

Can't wait for THE SCORCH TRIALS!

Lisa R.D. said...

We had some neighbor friends over so their mom could run some errands in peace.

By the way... I finished The Maze Runner and watched Inception on the same day last weekend... I checked out your blog when I was finished and felt all sorts of excitement to find out about the ARC contest!

Unknown said...

Dear James,
At this time, there are currently 184 other hopeful people who have entered this contest to win your amazing book. I'd like to win, but not to have the book for myself. I want it for my twin brother. He goes on your blog EVERYDAY so that he may learn more about you, the author, and the books you write, such as The Scorch Trials. He also carrys The Maze Runner around with him, but he only does that with his favorite books. Anyways, the good deed I did was that I helped my church make and deliver quilts to people without homes. The smiles on their faces made all the work worth while. Please let me do one more good deed and let me win this book for my brother.

Lexi said...

I would lover to read Scorch Trials-I really enjoyed The Maze Runner.

Tonight, I'm watching my younger sibilings so my parents can go out to dinner. Not huge, I know, but my parents appreciate it. :)

E. BrienThompson said...

I just helped a fellow teacher get her computer, projector, and doc cam set up for school on Monday.

Unknown said...

Because reading is my biggest stress relief and I loved the maze runner so much I'm gonna give this contest a shot.

My mom's been kind of struggling with things since she is single and trying to study for school while working full time. I could tell that she has been stressed out about getting my sister what she needed for school. So yesterday I surprised my lovely sister and took her to the mall and let her pick out the backpack and shoes she wanted so she would be set. My mom was sooo happy when my sister got back and showed her what she had picked out. I know it's probably not much but it made me feel good inside to help ease her burden as a mother.

Valarie said...

There is a couple in our neighborhood who usually have a beautiful yard, they are always taking care of it, he is quietand seems shy, she is not a really nice lady.She even threatens to kill our dogs if they bark at her when she walks by our house.We just found out her husband has cancer and is really sick,the yard looked horrible.We gathered about 20 neighbors and spent 3 hours weeding, mowing and finding out this lady is really nice, just bad circumstances. They could not believe that so many people would do this for them Free of Charge!

Anonymous said...

I donated money to the American Cancer Society.

Matt Hayes said...

Um...this probably won't count, but I asked my friend if he was okay after he busted back at the park.

Oh, and I checked the mail for my mom even when I had strep.

Heather Lassley said...

We have about 20 new teachers coming into our building. I went to our PTA and athletic coordinators and they both donated t-shirts for the newbies. I was also able to go get them some supplies so they do not feel so overwhelmed on their first days.

Heather Lassley said...

Something else that is going on is that we have a teacher (and a close friend of mine) who just found out he has cancer. I am working on getting a dinner calendar going for his family and also getting him an iPod for those long chemo sessions.

melissa @ 1lbr said...

I know this isn't quite as awesome as some of the things others are doing, but I've given a few students the chance to redo a paper for my class and get a better grade. I think I'd have loved that as a student :)

Gavin Chatterley said...

I cleaned off the table without being asked and shared my Reese's Pieces with my mom.

Sky said...

I want to throw my best friend a going away party (she's moving out of state for college in two weeks). She just broke up with this loser boyfriend of hers and I'd really like to throw her a party so that she'll remember all the good times and good friends she has here at home in Seattle!

Tasha Seegmiller said...

My husband and I are coaching or helping coach three AYSO teams for the U6, U8 and U10 divisions.

Kara Rhees said...

I had a picnic with my little brother.

Aliah E. said...

A while ago a lady did something nice for me, and so I said,"Thank you ma'am." This was the very first time I had ever said ma'am and I was really nervous(I know that's silly but I was). After I said it my cousin turned to me and started laughing. I, just a small bit hurt by her verbal grafitti on the shiny metal plaque of my accomplishment asked her, "What, what did I do?"
"Are you like, from the fourteenth century or something?" She guffawed.
I frowned and turned away, a blush rising to my face. Ever since then I have never been brave enough to say 'sir' or 'ma'am'. However, this contest encouraged me to go back to the path of etiquette and start being polite again. In other words, I now refer to adults as 'sir' and 'ma'am'.

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 285   Newer› Newest»