This week, we started a new series inspired by “Mad Libs.” It occurred to me, two days later, that I never explained to you what “Mad Libs” are. Most of you knew. Some of you, surprisingly, did not.
Here’s how the game is played: I pick an excerpt from a book and remove a handful of random words. Without showing you what the excerpt is, I tell you what kinds of words I need. You give me words, which I then place into the paragraph. Then you read it. If the words are good, it’s funny and we play again.
The book we used for this round is called DREAMWALKER by Angela Wallace.
I really like this fun, fantasy novella, and I think you will too—so much that I am giving away a copy. Everyone who participated in the comments section is eligible to win, unless they specifically opted out.
We assigned every commenter a number, in the order that they posted. Random.org gave us our winner… (drum roll)…
…M. Shane McNally!
Congratulations, M. Shane! Check your email because I need to know if you would like a Nook or Kindle version of DREAMWALKER.
Onto the game! The words you submitted were:
And I plugged them into the story, just so. Enjoy!
Nice work on this, everyone! The first post is now the most commented post on my blog. Yep. It even beat The Relic. Never thought I’d see that. All in all, I think this “Lib” came out rather well—and now that we’ve done our first one, I know what to do differently. Next time I’ll ask for more specific “fun” words, like animals, body parts, and the like.
Also, since “Mad Libs” are a trademark, we’re going to need to come up with our own name. You guys may have to help me out with that one. Give me some substitutes for “mad” and “libs” and we can cobble something together.
EDIT: It was brought to my attention that I accidentally omitted the action word “slaughter.” For that reason, I will use that word in our next “Lib” and Lark Midstone (clearly a code name – whoever could he be? LOL) can also submit a second word. Sorry about that.
If you would like a copy of DREAMWALKER, it is available as an ebook at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
About DREAMWALKER:
After Lexa’s comrade died saving her life, she retired from the special forces and retreated to a sanctuary in the mountains. A year later, war is brewing with the neighboring country, and Lexa discovers a threat even the army can’t stand against–a dream assassin. As the only other dreamwalker in known existence, Lexa returns to the capital of Artasia and her old post to protect her country’s leaders. But is the cocky, mysterious dreamwalker who seems to be stalking her the true mastermind? Or is something even more sinister threatening not just Artasia, but the dreamscape as well? As Lexa fights to protect those she loves, she discovers a power that can transcend worlds, and a destiny she never could have imagined.
Readers keep turning the pages for “intrigue,” “romance,” and more of Lexa and Dirk “trying to beat the crap out of each other.”
Thanks for playing everyone!
If you like what you’re seeing here at JenKirchner.com, you can subscribe for more: the RSS link is in the sidebar, and you can also connect with me on Twitter and Facebook. You can also pick up my new book about a comically bad necromancer and her talking sacrificial knives. THE FOURTH CHANNEL is available as an ebook on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
Jen Kirchner 
Best line = “Wait until I gargle blood!” LOL. Also, there’s nothing sadder than a fadded shenanigan. Ha! This is too much fun! So glad you’re going to do another one. Can’t wait!
P/S, what if you called it Mad Mashup or something like that? There, you have my cobble.
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Yeah, I had a lot of fun doing this too! Of course, it took way too long to put this together (four hours!) but now that I’ve done it once, it will go faster after this. Still, I think it’s worth it, faded shenanigan and all. 😛
P.S. I like Mad Mashup!
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As I’m thinking about it, I just realized that all they did was add an M to Ad Lib. How did I never notice that? You could substitute Crazy for Mad. Lib… That one’s harder. I’m just going to put a few up to see if they stick:
Crazy Ad Lib
Crazy Novel
Wacky Novel
Holy Word Replacements Batman!
Jen Takes Words out of a Novel and You Put New Ones In (that might be a bit long)
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Ok, that did not work right!!! That wasn’t supposed to be a single line
And Mad Mashup is good!
Crazy Ad Lib
Crazy Novel
Wacky Novel
Holy Word Replacements Batman!
Jen Takes Words out of a Novel and You Put New Ones In (that might be a bit long)
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HAHAHAHAHA Thanks, Brian.
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Wow looks like I missed a lot this week. I just finished Abraham Lincoln, Vampire hunter so this story was great to come back to! (The book is so much better than the movie) Any way I thought I would give a couple of suggestions for the name, although I like Mad Mashup as well.
Phat Phonics
Dench Impromptu
Dench Verses
Mad Sub Verses
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HAHA Phat Phonics. Too funny.
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Love it, Jen! This was hilarious, as always. 🙂
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Thanks Candice! Finish up your sci-fi book so we can Mad-Lib-Mashup-Phat-Phonics-Wacky-Holy-Word-Replacements-Batman it!
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Slithering eyes, lol. “And rather fragrant.” This was so much fun to watch. Thanks for making Dreamwalker the first in this new blog series!
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We had a lot of fun, Angela! Thanks for being our guinea pig.
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This is great!!
I like Brian’s suggestions… Holy Word Replacements Batman! probably the most, but Mad Mashup is nice too. 🙂
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I also love “Holy Word Replacements Batman,” though it’s rather long. HWRB? Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue…
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This is awesome! “His brows scurrying in appreciation…” Nice blend of a good book and some good words!
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Thanks Alina! So glad you stopped by to see how it all turned out.
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Absolutely Hilarious! And I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that mad libs may now be in the public domain… there is no definition in the dictionary, but there are TONS of sites that offer them for free. All that being said I vote for adlibs which definitely are not protected in any way. Oh and I cannot wait for the next one!
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Thanks Major! The Spouseditor and I checked and, sadly, it is a trademark. I’m small beans so I don’t think they’d come after me, but just in case, we may as well change it. Besides, it makes the game our own and not theirs, right?
So glad you enjoyed the game. I’m looking forward to many more!
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LOL! That was really funny! Awesome idea, Jen.
We could call it Tale Twisters? Like tongue twisters … but with TALES … like STORY tales …
… okay, I’m done. I need more tea. 😉
❤
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