Remember our lovely interview with Debbi Michiko Florence
?
We’ve now selected a winner in the CHINA book giveaway!
Here are the brilliant people who entered:
Pudding was supposed to pick the winner, but he ate too much sushi and didn’t feel like traveling.
So we called in a ringer.

Cornelius claimed he was totally impartial.
And he really wanted to go to China.
We warned him of the perils ahead of time:
This didn’t phase him one bit.
He immediately wiped the smile off his face and ventured forth.
He braved the Yutufat River of Chopsticks,
then scaled the Great Wall,
until he found a golden treasure:
He set to work right away, plucking fortunes by the paw,
so that he could give them names.
It was exhausting work.
Ping and Pong kindly offered him some tea.
To show his gratitude, Cornelius gave Pong the honor of the draw:
And the name that wisely appeared was —
((( BIG GONG!!)))
SUSAN WINNING!
No, that’s really her name, Winning. Honest.
Hey, we wouldn’t lie to you.
Not even for all the tea in China!
CONGRATULATIONS, SUSAN!
Please email your snail mail address to readermail *at* jamakimrattigan *dot com*.Thanks to all who entered!
Here are your fortunes:
Anne Marie: “Tomorrow will be too late to enjoy what you can today.”
Tricia: “You deserve to have a good time after a hard day’s work.”
Lisa: “Admire those who succeed, and learn from their success.”
Jo: “You will always be surrounded by those who love you.”
Azang: “Your nurturing instincts will expand to include many people.”
Debby: “You are your wisest counselor.”
Susan: “Don’t let friends impose on you.”
Kelly F: “You will get what you want with your charming personality.”
Kay: “You have keen intuition and emotional sensitivity.”
Kevin: “Today will be lucky and memorable for you.”
Kristi: “Your nurturing instincts will expand to include many people.”
Cathy: “Listen attentively. You will come out ahead.”
Becky: “Others admire your assertiveness.”
Anonymous: “You will have a chance soon to make a profitable transaction.”
What a cute way to draw names! Love the fortunes.
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Congratulations to Susan! And I love my fortune. 🙂
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Oh, my!! This afternoon I heard a squeal of delight, then Tori said, “Wait until you read jamarattigan’s post today. It’s SO funny!” Then she stood at my elbow as I read the tale aloud. Well, I laughed and laughed, all the way through the story, until I got down to the bottom and I said to Tori, “Hey, look, somebody named Susan won the book!” It still hadn’t occurred to me that the Susan who had won was actually ME!! Thank you thank you thank you ~ I am SO EXCITED. But I’m not going to smile TOO much for fear of being eaten. Thank you, Cornelius, for being so brave in your quest to find the golden treasure, to Ping and Pong for sharing their ginger tea with the intrepid traveller, and to Pong, for pulling my fortunate name. And thank YOU jama for chronicling the adventures of the CHINA book giveaway.
p.s. I bet some ginger tea would help Pudding feel better, too ~
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Thank you, Becky. The fortunes for all of us are fun, aren’t they?
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This is great–even if I didn’t win, I got a fortune! And it told me to GO WRITE.
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THAT was fun!
I have yet to see how lucky today will be…it was memorable in an exhausting sorta way (Photoshoot days are always like that)….
I guess when I think of it, I was very lucky to be part of this little “episode” here!
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Thank you, O mysterious one.
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Are you really assertive? Wish I was . . .
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Congratulations again, Susan! (You really should try to remember your own name from now on.) Smiling is definitely dangerous in the alphabet soup kitchen, especially before noon (all house guests are forewarned). Pudding thanks you for the suggestion, but being the bear that he is, he’d prefer ginger COOKIES.
Hi, Tori!! 🙂
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I love your posts – this was another fun one! Congrats to Susan! Looking forward to sending a book your way! 🙂
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Funny, I didn’t read your fortune the same way. To me, it said “Go out and play!”
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Re: THAT was fun!
Since you received your fortune near the day’s end, we’ll extend your luck until tomorrow, 4 p.m. Eastern. But if you win the lottery between now and then, alphabet soup gets 30%!
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I noted you gave out fortune cookies at the BEA signing. I did the same when Dumpling Soup first came out, even ordering special cookies containing the book title and author in lieu of fortunes!
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alphabet soup gets 30%!
deal!
but…you can’t lose if you don’t play…is my motto
oh well …it was fun anyway
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Writing IS something I enjoy!
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I did the same! 🙂 I made up fortunes (like “You will eat Chinese food” and added my URL for my web site) 🙂
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That was fun. Congrats Susan!
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You know, at first thought, I would say no, but then that’s probably thinking of myself as the shy person I was for so/too many years.
Now, if you asked my friends, I think many would say yes, when it matters. Some would probably say “assertive” is maybe the POLITE word for what I am. 🙂
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Thanks again for entering the contest! Enjoy your pickles :).
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That’s okay, Pudding, as long as they’re whole wheat ginger cookies 🙂 <– ooops, I smiled again. I just can't help myself.
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Thanks so much, Debbi!! The interview was wonderful and I’m so looking forward to reading the book. In fact, I looked kind of like your funny little icon when I heard I had won 🙂
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Thank ewe!! It was so much fun reading this post and winning the book was a happy bonus 🙂
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That picture of the bear with the sushi over his eyes is priceless.
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He was trying out for the “wake up little sushi” ad campaign.
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Thank you! 🙂 Hey, who would you like the book signed to?
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Well, your book is going to live at our house, for Tori (my daughter) and me to enjoy, and someday (way down the road) we will share it with Tori’s future children aka my future grandchildren. Along the way, we will show it to other little friends with clean fingers who want to learn about China in a really fun way. Maybe you could just surprise us with a fun message of your own choosing??
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Congratulations, Susan Winning, for being a winner! Of course, we already knew that, but still. Lucky you, to win such a fabulous prize!
I adore this whole post — the adventuresome bears, the fortunes and clever pictures…and of course, all the creative comments inspired by this entry. I feel like I’ve entered the pages of a magical picture book of Jama’s making. 🙂
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I’m thinking of changing my name to “Winning!” It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? 🙂
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Ding! Ding! Ding! What a fabulous idea!
🙂
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CHINA is on its way to you! 🙂
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Thank you!! Big happy smile on my face 😀
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