The sad incompatibility between wanting fame and fortune and being shy about the self-promotion part

I'll admit it--I should have done this at least a month ago, but I always feel weird about metaphorically yelling LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! and waving my arms like mad from the back of the room. However, it is true that some of you might like to know about this, so:

LOOK! LOOK! I HAVE TWO NEW STORIES OUT!

( Lots of links ahead! )

Now the contest!

Last time I had a free book contest I chose the winner from the first person who commented with their name and address. This time I'm going to be a little more creative. The theme for Tesseracts 14 is "Strange Canadian Stories". In honor of that, one trade paperback copy of the Tesseracts 14 anthology will go to the person who, in my most humble opinion, comments with the niftiest anecdote about a real-life strange thing that's happened to them. The runner up will receive a trade paperback copy of the Myths and Magic anthology. (This isn't because I think the Tesseracts 14 book is better than Myths and Magic, but because I only have one Tesseracts 14 book to give away.)

The next two runners up will each get an eBook copy of the Myths and Magic anthology (unfortunately, Tessaracts 14 is only available in trade paperback format).

Awright! Anyone got a strange story to tell me? :D