Welcome to the epilogue of the Mayan Calendar, and thanks for taking part in the New Year’s Holiday Hop. I’m M. Edward McNally (but you can call me “Ed” <waves>), and this is the homepage for my Epic Fantasy series, The Norothian Cycle. Welcome, and thanks much for hopping by. 
Here is how I am working my giveway, which will be so simple a caveman could do it, assuming the caveman had internet access. Volume One of The Norothian Cycle, The Sable City, is always FREE for all e-book platforms. It weighs in at a bit over 180,000 words (I did say “epic,” right?) and it is the source of my super simple “How many jellybeans in the jar?” style question:
<<< How many characters speak at least one line of dialogue in THE SABLE CITY? >>>
Feel free to leave a guess here as a comment, along with a way you can be reached online (if you are not already posting as a facebook, wordpress, whatever profile). At the conclusion of the blog hop which runs January 11th to 14th, I will select a winner by a careful process of addition and subtraction, to calculate the closest answer to the correct number of characters who speak a line in the book. Guessing higher or lower doesn’t matter, so feel free to take a shot in the dark.
The correct or closest guess, or guesses, (ties are fine) will win THE NOROTHIAN CYCLE. That is, I will get you e-copies of the existing books in the series (Death of a Kingdom – The Wind from Miilark – Devil Town) which sell for $4.99 each, provided in any of the normal ways: Either directly via Kindle “gift,” Smashwords coupon, or just sending the apporpriate files for any kind of e-reader you may have. Whatever works for you. In addition, I will throw in the next book, Volume V: The Channel War, when it becomes available later this quarter.
That’s all there is to it, just leave a number as a guess, and do remember to check out the main page of the Holiday Hop to visit all the participating blogs, and enter for the Grand Prize packages including (drumroll) A KINDLE FIRE!
Thanks again for taking part, have a great New Year, and as I always say: Thanks for reading.
Ed McNally
Note, for my purposes, “speaking one line of dialogue” is defined as saying something “in quotation marks.” So a nameless guard who opens a door and bids Tilda to enter doesn’t count. But if he said, “Come on in, y’all,” the same nameless guard would count as a “speaking” character. 
Tasha Turner
January 11, 2013 at 5:34 am
Wow, tough question. 125 characters have a line of dialogue? Can’t wait to find out what the real number is.
Celia
January 11, 2013 at 7:15 am
Mmm … I’m guessing 66? Happy hopping
Rebecca Booth
January 11, 2013 at 7:57 am
My guess is 100 caracters!
belindaegreen
January 11, 2013 at 10:12 am
Since I have not read the book, I have no clue, so my guess is 100. Thanks for the opportunity?
Belinda G
belgre AT comcast DOT net
Anne C
January 11, 2013 at 11:05 am
I really have no idea. I just downloaded a Kindle copy but my guess will be about 48 characters.
Vera Mallard
January 11, 2013 at 11:37 am
I have no idea, but if its an epic, It must be a large number, so my guess and it is a guess 100
Shai Villanueva
January 11, 2013 at 1:17 pm
I have no clue.
I guess there are 20? Anyways, thanks for the giveaway!
shai08ph at yahoo dot com
Stacy Green
January 11, 2013 at 3:31 pm
I haven’t read the book either, but I’m going to guess 17. And I love that we are in the epilogue of the Mayan Calendar!
jeannie platt
January 11, 2013 at 4:06 pm
I am going to say 37 as I haven’t read the book but gonna put it out there… Thanks for being part of the hop and for the chance to win.
j.m.platt83@gmail.com
olgac
January 11, 2013 at 4:35 pm
I’d guess at 74.
Janice Hougland
January 11, 2013 at 6:48 pm
Since this is a “shot in the dark” guess, I’m just gonna put in my birth year: 43. And thanks for this opportunity!
Crystal Craig
January 11, 2013 at 7:25 pm
My guess would be 55 characters.
islandkayaker
January 11, 2013 at 8:17 pm
My guess is 63 characters. Can’t wait to find out the answer!
Robin Driscoll
January 11, 2013 at 8:52 pm
I’ve never seen so many different characters (well I have never had to count them anyway), I stopped counting at 27 so my final answer is going to be 65
Cheryl Bradshaw
January 11, 2013 at 9:36 pm
Good luck with your hop, Ed!
meleakua
January 11, 2013 at 9:40 pm
hi, Ed!
my guess is thirteen! thanks for the giveaway, and free download too! i need to get me either a laptop or an e-reader! 
happy new year!
you can click on my name for my e-mail!
Stacey
January 11, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Thanks for the great hop stop
I’ll guess 168!
Thanks
Stacey
staceyprice(at)gmail.com
mabledsoe
January 12, 2013 at 2:09 am
Oh boy ;your guessing games are fun…LOL
I will say 39.
Michelle Bledsoe
koonie2888 at yahoo dot com
Tina M
January 12, 2013 at 3:44 am
I’m going to say 32..Great Giveaway!!
Lucinda Moebius
January 12, 2013 at 5:14 am
My guess is…..are you ready for this? It’s Epic (Hee Hee) My guess is ALL OF THEM…….
Crystal Young
January 12, 2013 at 5:14 am
My guess is 32
crystaley73 at yahoo dot com
jademphillips
January 12, 2013 at 7:06 am
57. Love your book cover BTW! Good luck everyone!
lisa markson
January 12, 2013 at 3:14 pm
I would say that there is 85 characters. Thank you for giveaway.
Merisha A
January 12, 2013 at 3:36 pm
I would say about 127
Heidi Stoffel (@HStoffel)
January 12, 2013 at 4:20 pm
89. Thanks!
Author Lynn Hubbard
January 12, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Hopping by!
Bridget Hamm
January 12, 2013 at 8:00 pm
My guess is 5
Nicole Tetrev
January 12, 2013 at 8:12 pm
89 is my guess.
Books4me (@BooksForMe2)
January 12, 2013 at 9:27 pm
23 is sticking out in my mind as the lucky number!
Shadow
January 12, 2013 at 11:56 pm
Hi! My guess is 26. Thank you for the great giveaway and the awesome hop!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
Suzanne
January 13, 2013 at 12:01 am
I am going to guess 32. Interesting question for a giveaway, thanks for participating in the hop.
Suzieqsb(at)aol(dot)com
Terri Stake
January 13, 2013 at 2:06 am
My guess is 102
bn100
January 13, 2013 at 3:28 am
12
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Julie Oest (@TopekaJO)
January 13, 2013 at 4:15 am
I’ll guess 51 characters have a “line”. Thanks for the “hop”.
Bill McGovern (@BillJude56)
January 13, 2013 at 4:46 am
After conducting a series of complex and meaningless calculations, I believe the number is…31. Thanks!
mary yaroscavitch
January 13, 2013 at 5:21 am
I have not had the chance to read this book yet, but would love too!!! I think there is 61 characters have a “line”
Kai W.
January 13, 2013 at 7:42 am
Guessing…30
Ashfa Anwer
January 13, 2013 at 3:09 pm
Oh, God.. this is tough.. I’ll go with 24.
blackcapballistics(at)gmail(dot)com
Suzy
January 13, 2013 at 3:42 pm
My guess… 54
suzy.thompson@gmail.com
Rachel
January 13, 2013 at 5:44 pm
My guess is 63. That’s a totally random guess. Thanks for the giveaway!
Rachel
January 13, 2013 at 6:21 pm
Oh yeah, my e-mail is centerstagegirlyATyahooDOTcom (I’m Rachel who guessed 63, right above this)
Sherry Johnson
January 13, 2013 at 8:07 pm
My guess is 10.Thanks for the giveaway.
dragonkeep62(at)gmail(dot)com
Jessica Crawford
January 13, 2013 at 9:50 pm
17. Thanks!
jessica.crawford10@gmail.com
Virginia Herrick (@VaHerrick)
January 14, 2013 at 12:10 am
Might as well be different: I’ll guess 11.
Lynn Crain
January 14, 2013 at 12:49 am
Hi Ed,
Your story sounds interesting and I always love EPIC fantasy. Still, I just downloaded it today and this guess will totally be a shot in the dark. I guess 23.5…you never know when those short beings such as dwarves might come into play…LOL!
Hope you have a great time at the hop…you can always get me at oddlynn3@gmail.com…thanks!
Lynn
Sacha Schroeder
January 14, 2013 at 2:41 am
Hmmm. I am going with 33. sschroeder@windstream.net
Ellen Thompson
January 14, 2013 at 7:19 am
I am going to guess 15 and I am downloading the book so I can find out for myself. Thanks for the giveaway!
thompsonem3 at aol dot com
Karen Couch
January 14, 2013 at 8:03 am
Awesome idea for the giveaway!
My guess is 99 characters have dialogue.
Darlene Ysaguirre
January 14, 2013 at 2:12 pm
My Guess IS 15
lissasue25
January 14, 2013 at 3:56 pm
I would have to say 55 characters.
kathleen Yohanna
January 14, 2013 at 7:18 pm
I am going to say 26. I haven’t read the book yet but it is on my list.
mama4science
January 15, 2013 at 3:05 am
I am guessing 19
medmcn
January 15, 2013 at 2:58 pm
Thanks all who entered, I will do some tabulating and post a congrats to the winner later today.
Tina M
January 15, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Sounds good to me..You can pick me if you want to..Ha Ha
medmcn
January 15, 2013 at 4:04 pm
Sorry, Tina, looks like your guess were off by about 32 characters. (but of course if you do find you would really like to continue with the series after reading that free book but the sequels seem cost prohibitive, feel free to drop me a line and I’m sure we can work something out) – Ed