I’m not sure if I have enough fans yet to do this, but it’s Veteran’s Day on Friday, and I wanted to mark that hol­iday with some­thing rep­re­senting the impor­tant blend in my life between things mil­i­tary and literary.

And so … I am hosting my first give­away con­test. Readers of this blog (and my social

Symbol of my ser­vice pride.

media friends/followers) are cor­dially invited to shoot me a *short* email to myke (at) mykecole (.) com describing a vet­eran who you are close to (friend or family member) and how they’ve inspired you. Please limit your email to a para­graph or two, include your veteran’s name, ser­vice, unit and highest dec­o­ra­tion (if you know all of that — name at a min­imum) and a pic­ture of your vet­eran if you can. Your vet doesn’t have to me a member of the US mil­i­tary. I’m happy to hear about vets from other coun­tries as well.

I’ll post the top 3 win­ning entries on this blog and give out the fol­lowing prizes:

1.) An auto­graphed copy of an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of the debut novel in my SHADOW OPS series, CONTROL POINT.

2.) An auto­graphed copy of the 2012 Stephen King Desk Cal­endar, fea­turing my essay OF KNIGHTHOOD AND NOSTALGIA, as well as other essays by major writers like Peter V. Brett.

3.) An auto­graphed copy of the WRITERS OF THE FUTURE XIX anthology, fea­turing my prize win­ning short story, BLOOD AND HORSES.

Prizes!

So, let the emails fly. I’ll post win­ners on Monday, 14 November, after Veteran’s Day. I hope that this con­test will remind folks to pause and remember the sac­ri­fices vet­erans in your life have made. The informal motto of almost every unit I’ve ever run with has always been So Others Might Live. That sort of altruism is a thing that never fails to move me.

I hope it strikes a chord in you too. Happy Veteran’s Day and sin­cere thanks to every sol­dier, sailor, airman, marine and coast guard who has gone before me. On the shoul­ders of giants, truly.