Okay, you guys. To provide a distraction here, I'm running a contest over the next few weeks. Because, politics and the state of the world aside, I am a writer and I do have a book coming out in February -- February 3rd, for those of you keeping track. (Though don't expect me to give up political/state-of-the-world rants and raves while we do this.) So here's the deal: I have 10 Advance Readers' Copies -- known in the trade, sneakily, as ARCs -- of THE SHANGHAI MOON to give away. I'm going to be asking questions, some related to my work, some not. You send in your answers. I pick the answer I like best -- because it's most right, funniest, most filled with esoteric knowledge, however I feel at the moment. Each winner gets an ARC of THE SHANGHAI MOON. The catches:

1. You can't sell the ARC or pass it on. If you hate it, throw it in the recycle bin, but if you like it, tell absolutely everyone you know, blog on it, etc., so people go out and buy it so I can make a living so I can keep writing books for you to like.

2. Whether or not you like it, and however much, you have to promise to post a review on Amazon.com by February 5. The level of review activity on Amazon has all kinds of commercial repercussions beyond the ken of mortals like us. But I was only able to shake these ARCs from my publisher's tree with that promise.

3. Keep in mind, these are made from the first-pass galley pages. Meaning, unproofread. If you find booboos, cut us some slack, okay?

So, question one, something that's been bugging me lately: I've been served "Egyptian chamomile tea" twice in the past few days. Chamomile, though, is an alpine flower, growing in high, cold places, like, well, the Alps. And Alaska, where the governor probably thinks they use it in witchcraft. Anyway, this being the case, what's the story on Egyptian chamomile? Where do they grow it, and why is it supposed to be so great?