Thanks to all the readers who entered my giveaway of advance copies of THE DOOR AT THE END OF THE WORLD! I’ll be mailing ARCs to the six winners: Julia V., Kit G., Katie W., Magan, Aylea W., and Jennifer M. If that’s you, please check your email! And if you didn’t win, I hope you’ll put THE DOOR AT THE END OF THE WORLD on your list of books to read when it’s released next April. I wish I could send every one of you a copy! Whether you read the book sooner or later, I very much hope you enjoy it.

I also wanted to let you know how giveaway respondents answered the question, “What’s your favorite Diana Wynne Jones book?” Howl’s Moving Castle was the runaway winner with 7 votes, but there were 2 votes each for Charmed Life (one of my personal favorites) and The Pinhoe Egg, which I was excited to see on the list since I’m not sure quite as many people know about it. Other books that got one vote each were The Spellcoats, Archer’s Goon, Hexwood, Conrad’s Fate, A Tale of Time City, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Witch Week, and Diana’s book of essays, Reflections: On the Magic of Writing.

What’s my personal favorite? Honestly, I’m not sure how any of you were able to choose, because I’ve been trying to answer this question for days now and I still haven’t settled on one title. I love so many of the ones you all mentioned. But of the books that weren’t mentioned, I particularly like Fire and Hemlock. Oh, and Deep Secret. And The Crown of Dalemark. And Enchanted Glass. And anything that features Chrestomanci showing up somewhere in his dressing gown. I can also tell you that I’ve spent about a quarter-century wanting to eat a butter-pie from A Tale of Time City, so maybe that’s the book that’s made the greatest impact on me over the years.

Congratulations to the giveaway winners, and thanks to all of you for helping me celebrate Diana Wynne Jones! She would have turned 84 years old yesterday, August 16th, and I think she would have been thrilled to know how many readers around the world loved her books.