Merrick here...
...with a fun chance for you to score some awesome Christmas swag from our good friends over at Titan Books. Below there are twelve titles (one for each of the 12 Days of Christmas). I thought about running this contest as a one title-a-day giveaway over the twelve days leading up to Christmas, but that would've made it impossible to get these books into your hands before December 25th - which is our strongly emphasized goal. Alas, Holiday mail may conspire against us, but we'll do what we can to make this work. So, instead of Twelve Days of Christmas? We'll do Twelve Hours - 12pm CST USA to 11:59:59PM CST USA - today, December 15. Here's how to go about this: At the end of each book synopsis below, you'll find a one hour time period. Within each of these hour-long time periods, I've secretly chosen a specific time of day (all entries will be selected from Central Standard Time - i.e. you need to hit the right pre-selected time, CST, which is what's auto-stamped on the Yahoo address to which you're mailing, to win). If you want to try to win the particular book being offered in that specific hour-long block, simply e-mail me via the contest e-mail link displayed here:

THIS IS THE E-MAIL ADDRESS YOU NEED TO USE, SO CLICK IT IF YOU WANT TO MAYBE GET A COOL BOOK!!!

Whoever's e-mail hits my Inbox at, or closest to, my pre-selected time will receive one copy of the book being awarded in that hour block of time. BE SURE TO ADJUST YOUR ENTRY/SEND TIME SO THAT IT IS RECEIVED IN THE TIME YOU INTENDED (the time reflected on the titles below) - CENTRAL STANDARD TIME, USA!! We won't be held accountable if you inadvertently enter to win a title you didn't want to grab. You can CLICK HERE for a nifty, easy to use time conversion tool to help you reconcile your time zone (globally) with Central Standard Time, US. You can enter for multiple titles, all titles, or whatever - but you can only win one time (i.e. one title). Thus, if you win multiple times during this giveaway (which would be highly unlikely), you'll have to make a choice regarding which book you want to receive. So, BE SURE TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRIES FROM A FREQUENTLY CHECKED E-MAIL ADDRESS!!!! If we can't get in touch with you quickly and easily, your entry will be scratched and we will default to the next closest entry. Contest is open to international readers. IT IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND MAILING ADDRESS IN THIS E-MAIL. This information is used to expedite prize shipment only (no spams, mailing lists, etc.) and all information is summarily discarded when the contest closes. What's up for grabs?



Star Trek: The Art of the Film is a lavishly illustrated celebration of that new vision, tracing the evolution of the movie’s look through a stunning array of previously unseen pre-production paintings, concept sketches, costume and set designs, unit photography and final frames. Written by New York Times-bestselling author Mark Cotta Vaz in close co-operation with the film’s production team, and including a Foreword by J.J. Abrams, this is the essential companion to the film. (12pm-1pm CST USA)

Hammer Glamour. Bursting at the seams with rare and previously unpublished photographs from Hammer’s archive and private collections worldwide, and featuring many new interviews, Hammer Glamour is a lavish, full colour celebration of Hammer’s female stars, including Ingrid Pitt, Martine Beswick, Caroline Munro, Barbara Shelley, Joanna Lumley, Nastassja Kinski, and of course Raquel Welch (who can forget her fur bikini in One Million Years B. C.? (1pm-2pm CST USA)

Watchmen: The Art of the Film. From the New York City of an alternate 1985 to the surface of Mars, the film adaptation of Watchmen is a triumph of design, filled with unique characters and layer upon layer of arresting detail. Featuring scores of production designs, set photos, costume sketches, storyboards and other pieces of conceptual art, Watchmen: The Art of the Film is a lavish celebration of a comic book made real. (2pm-3pm CST USA)

Terminator Salvation: From The Ashes, written by Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn, is the official prequel novel to the high-octane new movie, revealing the full story leading up to the movie’s events. In post-Judgment Day LA, two lost kids named Kyle and Star keep watch for Terminators; a jaded Marine struggles to keep his rag-tag community together in the face of unrelenting danger; and John and Kate Connor assemble their Resistance team for a brutal assault on a deadly enemy. (3pm-4pm CST USA)

Shootin’ the Sh*t With Kevin Smith : The Best of Smodcast. Following on from the New York Times-bestselling My Boring-Ass Life, Kevin Smith is back! In freewheeling conversations with his friend and producer Scott Mosier (as heard on their top-rated podcast, known as SModcast), we discover — to pick just four random examples of the riches therein — the genesis of Stalin’s Monkey Soldier army, the horrifying tale of Kevin vs. Steak Tartare, how to make bukkake eggs, and how Kevin was once willing to let Alanis Morissette get mugged...Defiantly lewd, crude and hilariously rude, Shootin’ the Sh*t with Kevin Smith is a must for all his fans! (4pm-5pm CST USA)

My Boring-Ass Life (Revised Edition). Anything but boring, Kevin Smith shares his x-rated thoughts in his diary, telling all in his usual candid, heartfelt and irreverent way! Kevin Smith pulls no punches in this hard-hitting, in-your-face exposé of, er, his rather dull and uneventful life… well, not always dull. In between watching his TiVo, he manages to make and release Clerks II, relate the story of his partner-in-crime Jason Mewes’ heroin addiction... and get caught stealing donuts from Burt Reynolds. Thrown in are his views on the perils of strip clubs, the drawback of threesomes, the pain of anal fissures, his love-affair with Star Wars and so much more! NOW WITH UPDATE ON THE ‘INS AND OUTS’ OF MAKING ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, AND A NEW AFTERWORD. (5pm-6pm CST USA)

Crystal Lake Memories : The Complete History of Friday The 13th. When Friday the 13th premiered in 1980, the film introduced moviegoers to a new kind of cinematic terror — shocking, visceral, graphic and relentless. Spawning ten popular sequels to date, the series has become the most successful horror franchise of all time, and the character of ‘Jason’ an icon known around the world as the first name in evil. Now, uncensored and in their own words, over 200 alumni of the series recall a quarter-century's worth of behind-the-scenes stories — the struggles, feuds, foibles, controversies and calamities. Fully illustrated with nearly 600 never-before-seen photos, rare archival documents and production materials, this huge hardback volume is the ultimate oral and visual memoir of the series - a must-have for fans and cinema historians alike. (6pm-7pm CST USA)

The Alfred Hitchcock Story. The first comprehensively illustrated look at the career of Alfred Hitchcock. In the tradition of the acclaimed The Hammer Story, it is an authoritative, film-by-film guide to 'the Master' and his work, from the early silent days of The Lodger, through his classic British period of The 39 Steps, to the Hollywood success of Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho and beyond. Packed with hundreds of stills and posters, with many rare or unseen images, and with additional features including the director's famous cameos, this is the ultimate book for the Hitchcock fan. (7pm-8pm CST USA)

The Winston Effect : The Art & History of Stan Winston Studio. For over 30 years, Stan Winston and his team of artists and technicians have been creating characters, creatures and monsters for the silver screen, from The Terminator and the extraterrestrial monstrosities of Aliens and Predator to the amazing dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and the fanciful character of Edward Scissorhands. Now, at last, he's opening up the Stan Winston Studio to collaborate on the first-ever book to reveal all the behind-the-scenes secrets of his groundbreaking and hugely influential artistry and effects work. Featuring an extensive array of sketches, production art, and photographs straight from the studio archives, this is the book his fans have been waiting for! (8pm-9pm CST USA)

Seagalogy : A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal. Vern, the self-styled ‘outlaw film critic’, is known to millions for his hilarious reviews on the Ain’t It Cool News website, and is described by Hellboy director Guillermo Del Toro as “equal parts Hell’s Angels and Pauline Kael... a national treasure!” Now Vern unleashes his magnum opus: an in-depth study of the world's only aikido instructor turned movie star/director/writer/blues guitarist/energy drink inventor — the ass-kicking auteur Steven Seagal. From Above the Law to his guest appearance on Channel 4’s Friday Night Project, his entire career is covered in Vern’s inimitable style. As Vern himself puts it, Seagalogy is “a book that will shake the very foundations of film criticism, break their wrists and then throw them through a window." (9pm-10pm CST USA)

The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made. Steven Spielberg’s Night Skies, Stanley Kubrick’s Childhood’s End, Philip Kaufman’s Star Trek: Planet of the Titans, Kevin Smith’s Six Million Dollar Man, Tim Burton’s Superman Lives, James Cameron’s Alien 5...These are just some of the legendary unmade films covered in this groundbreaking book. This fully updated edition also reveals the fascinating details of the movies that nearly were: what would James Cameron’s version of Spider-Man, or Terry Gilliam’s Watchmen have been like? How close did Ridley Scott come to directing I Am Legend starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and why was Nicolas Cage paid $20 million for not playing Superman (10pm-11pm CST USA)

Sirens. The second book of fantasy illustrations by Chris Achilleos, Sirens is a feast for the eyes, bursting with full-colour art, sketches and development drawings in everything from oil paint to airbrush and inks. Massively popular and highly regarded, Chris Achilleos’ glamour and fantasy artwork ranges from his acclaimed Doctor Who and Star Trek book covers to the erotic pin-ups that made him famous, embracing along the way Greek mythology, role-playing games, Tolkien and movie posters for the likes of Heavy Metal. With full-colour gallery shots and pin-ups, as well as pencil sketches, Sirens will delight old and new fans alike. (11pm-11:59pm CST USA)
Titan's been doing some very fine projects over the last few years and I'd easily recommend any of these publications to both causal Geeks and hardened fans. That "Grteatest Sci_Fi Movies never Made" is really quite intriguing, by the way. Highly recommended. Recipients will be announced tomorrow, which is when Titan will have winner's contact info in hand for fulfillment. Have a great Holiday season everyone, and have fun with this!
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