Note
from Suz: Today is excerpt day! I've got a short excerpt
for you from Flashpoint. Note: For those of you who don't
want to read an excerpt, I've put many lines of space (aka spoiler buffer
<g>) between the answers to Trivia Quiz #1 and the excerpt, which is down
below!
First things first -- the winners and the answers to the trivia quiz!
The winner of Trivia Quiz # 1: Troubleshooters Incorporated is:
Susan Silverman
Susan answered all eight questions correctly, as well as came closest to the tie-breaker number!
I've also got a special prize going to the one and only Marianne for her recognition of the fact that there sometimes can be more than one right answer to any question. (Scroll down to the end of today's countdown page for her Author Approved alternative answers. Or if you are one of those excerpt weenies (not that I don't love you, because I do, really...), click here so you don't accidentally read the excerpt. And, for the love of God, once you get there, scroll down, not up! <g>)
Honorable Mentions! The following people (in random order, probably according to email received <g>) answered questions one through eight correctly! Good job, everyone!
Beki Keene, Pam
Grimm, Chef Stacey,
Mary Frances Graham, Ivette Vignau,
Jade Lim, Lisa Lewis, Priscilla Chan,
Anne Dierkes, D. Daufenbach
Congratulations!
Huh? What? You actually want to know the answers to Trivia Quiz #1???
Okay, okay. I guess I can do that!
TQ #1 went something like this:
Troubleshooters Incorporated is
a. a video game arcade
b. a civilian team, specializing
in personal and corporate security
c. a computer repair shop
Troubleshooters Incorporated is owned and run by Tom Paoletti, the former commanding officer of U.S. Navy SEAL Team Sixteen. What was his rank when he resigned his commission? Lt. Commander (GTF)
Okay! Time for the first Countdown excerpt from Flashpoint!
Excerpt
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Except
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Excerpt
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Sophia had her eyes closed -- it was always easier with her eyes closed -- when the earthquake hit.
At first she too, like Bashir and his men, thought they were under artillery attack.
It certainly felt like some kind of bombardment, the way the building shook and windows rattled.
Everything happened so quickly.
A half dozen guards burst into the room.
Bashir shoved her roughly aside and she fell onto the tile floor, her head hitting with a jarring crack.
It felt as she'd imagined it would, only unlike Dimitri, her head was still attached to her neck.
Bashir shouted to the guards as he scrambled for his clothes, ordering them to sound the alarms, and they rushed back out of the room....
Leaving her alone with the warlord, whose back was to the table beside his bed. It was the same table upon which he'd put his sword after demonstrating to her just how razor-sharp it still was.
She'd lived through a massive earthquake before in Turkey, and unlike Bashir, who was convinced he had an enemy to repel, she suspected that was what this was. But bombardment or quake, it was the break for which she'd been waiting two long months.
Sophia grabbed the sword.
Here are Marianne's alternative answers to Trivia Quiz #1:
1.
Trouble shooters Incorporated is
a. a video game arcade
b. a civilian team, specializing in personal and
corporate security
c. a computer repair shop
Answer:
d. none of the above. Intensive research on the world wide web (see
www.troubleshooters.com) reveals that TroubleShooters (R) is a company devoted
to helping consumers solve problems with their computer operating system, car,
or small household appliances. (You're on your own with the large household
appliances.) Reassuringly their website declares 'Anyone can troubleshoot.'
2. Troubleshooters Incorporated is owned and run by Tom Paoletti, the former
commanding officer of U.S. Navy SEAL Team Sixteen. What was his rank when
he resigned his commission?
When
he resigned his commission he no longer had any rank. (That was the trick
question you mentioned, right?)
3.What did Tom's wife, Kelly, originally think his new company should be called?
Paoletti
International Personal-computer Plus Small Appliance-fixers. PIPPSA.
(Kelly's previously undisclosed dyslexia means she spells this PISPPA.)
4. Who is the XO (executive officer or second in command) of TS, Inc.?
The
first guy through the door. It was an easy interview: -
"What experience do you have that would help you fill this position?"
"What qualities are you looking for?"
"it doesn't really matter. Anyone can Troubleshoot (R)."
"I'm someone."
"You're hired. Lunch is one to two, the toilets are through those double
doors and on the right, and remember, we don't do fridge-freezers."
5. Tom has friends in high places, including an admiral connected to the
SpecWarGroup. What is that admiral's complete name (first and last?)
In
my (British) edition, he's Admiral Morton 'Call me Crisp' Crowley.
6. Tom comes from a long line of military men. Both his father and
grandfather served and made the ultimate sacrifice. What were their names
and in which wars did they die?
This
is in the 9th March excerpt isn't it? I don't know. Weep, wail, gnash teeth,
pointlessly flick through TUH just one more time. It's not fair.... even the
haikus were easier than this. My working theory is the family are profoundly
unimaginative OR deeply sentimental and uncaring that different generations with
the same name make life hideously confusing for amateur genealogists, and
they're all called Tom. Tom Snr., Tom Jnr, and Tom once-more-with-feeling. Tom
Snr. died at Anzio, which is WW2, and I have come to believe that Tom Jnr. took
part in top secret experiments for the military in the 1960's into time-travel,
and was accidentally transported back to 1337 and spent the rest of his life
fighting the Hundred Years War, dying on the field of battle in Gascony at the
ripe old age of 72.
7. In 30 words or less, why did Tom Paoletti choose his current XO over former
SEAL Sam Starrett?
Someone
else got to the interview first. (Extra points for brevity?)
8. Will Sam Starrett and Alyssa Locke appear in future Troubleshooters
Incorporated books?
a. Yes
b. Hell, yes!
c. How could they not?!?
d. All of the above
Answer
e. no. I've checked the range of publications available from Troubleshooters (R)
and while there are many merry tomes to help you battle with LINUX or solve your
difficulties with your Braun cordless curling tongs (you're on your own with the
high-pitched noise the washing machine has started to emit at the end of the
spin cycle) there's nothing forthcoming about Sam or Alyssa. Inexplicable.
9. Would you prefer an ARC or a mass market paperback copy of GONE TOO FAR?
How
kind of you to ask. I'll have the ARC. Thank you.
10. Tie breaker: Pick a number from 1 to 100...
67.
The age I felt after rereading the entire series in the forlorn hope of finding
Tom's grandfather's name.
Marianne
That's all for now! Be sure to come back for tomorrow's installment in the Countdown to FLASHPOINT!
See you tomorrow!