Dopefiend Book Giveaway

I’m giving away a copy of my friend Tim Elhajj’s debut memoir Dopefiend. It is, as the title suggests, a drug recovery memoir, but with the added theme of of Elhajj’s relationship with his son. (And Scarlet the Wiener Dog as you can see above, is thoroughly engrossed. She just wishes she had opposable thumbs so she could hold the book herself).

I first got to know Tim Elhajj after reading his essay in the NYTimes’ Modern Love column. I googled him. Came across his blog…And then of course, we became blog friends.

Dopefiend is available now…and I’m giving away a free hard copy of the book, along with a bookmark and postcard inserts, gifted to you personally by Elhajj, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Guernica, and Brevity.

As always, I will sweeten your intrigue with the opening lines of the giveaway book, because I think readers deserve the opening lines.

Opening lines of the novel:

“After getting booted from high school three times, I joined the military. Three years into my enlistment, the Navy cut me loose. I moved back to Pennsylvania and got married, but soon after our first child was born, my wife split, taking our baby boy with her.

I was a twenty-four-year-old cyclone of poor decisions.

In time, I landed in county jail. At least nobody gets thrown out of jail. Drug treatment followed, but even that didn’t work: I went to recovery meetings high. One night a woman named Wendy R pulled me aside and hissed: “You are going to die!”

I told her the obvious, ‘We’re all going to die, Wendy.'”

Interested?

Here’s how to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can choose to tell me why you want a copy of the book, or share an anecdote in which you overcame great odds, or a time you signed up for something about which you later changed your mind. Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
2) 1 entry per person. If you tweet about this giveaway (please include/tag @czilka in your tweet so that I can track it), you get an extra entry.
3) The giveaway is open worldwide.
4) If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
5) Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
6) I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, so as to avoid confusion.
7) If you are below the age of 13, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.

The deadline to enter a comment/tweet is Monday July 30, 2012 12:00pm PST. The winner (picked at random) will be announced Tuesday July 31, 2012 by 9:00pm PST.

GOOD LUCK! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of Dopefiend soon!

UPDATE: Winner of the giveaway!

There were 13 entries in the order received–two of you tweeted the giveaway, so two of you got an extra entry. Each of you had a corresponding number as follows…

If you entered into the drawing, remember your number/s!

I used a random number generator to determine the winning number.

And *drum roll*
*drum roll*
*drum roll*

The winner is number 12!

Aka Hope Rohde, whose entry reads:

“Tim and I went to the same small high school in the same small town. I’d love to have his book not because I’ve dealt with addiction but because I work for Children & Youth and come into contact with so many youth with addictions. What a testament this book would be for local children to see how a local man overcame and became someone’s hero. Bravo Tim and blessings to you.”

Thank you, Hope (if I don’t hear from you, I’ll be emailing you for a way to contact you). Thank you *everyone* for your interest and support. I hope all of you find your way to a copy of Dopefiend soon!