Sympathy for the Devil: The Competition

Here's a message from Justin Gustainis, about the competition you can enter after reading Sympathy for the Devil. It's a tricky one!

In this context, “Easter Egg” refers to a popular culture reference made in passing. The reference can’t be explicit, or it’s not an Easter egg.

Here’s the difference: there’s a reference in the book to Jill Kismet (used by permission of her creator, Lilith Saintcrow). Since Jill is mentioned explicitly by name, it’s not an Easter egg. On the other hand, a character says he took some classes at UVA with “that chick Clara something, the one who joined the FBI and later shot that killer Buffalo Billy.” That’s an Easter egg, because it indirectly (if not very subtly) references Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs.

There are at least thirty Easter eggs within the pages of Sympathy for the Devil. The reader who identifies the most wins First Place in the contest; second most Easter eggs takes second place, ditto for third.

The first place winner (as determined by me) wins a $50 Amazon gift card and I will name a character after him/her in the next Morris & Chastain novel. Second place is a $25 gift card and Third Place gets a $10 Amazon gift card.

Keep your listings brief – something like this: “The woman named Clara who shot Buffalo Billy (p. 98) is a reference to Clarice Starling.”

One entry per email address, and you don’t get to amend your entry once you’ve sent it in. Send your entry – in the body of your email, not as an attachment – to justingustainis@yahoo.com. Entries will be acknowledged. In the event of a tie for First, Second or Third Place, duplicate prizes will be awarded.

Deadline is midnight (Eastern US time) on Halloween (October 31, 2011). Winners will be announced by December 1st.

-Justin Gustainis

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