Last month, we played a game based on “Mad Libs.” I took an excerpt from a fantasy novella called Dreamwalker, removed a few words, and let you fill in the blanks.

The result was amazing.

Based on the comments and tweets that I received, you guys had a great time playing, so we’re going to make this a regular segment. However, we can’t call it “Mad Libs” since that’s a trademark name, so I asked you all for suggestions. Erma Gerd had the simplest suggestion with “Mad Mashup,” which a few people liked, so that’s what we’re going with. Runner-up names were “Crazy Ad Lib Crazy Novel Wacky Novel Holy Word Replacements Batman! Jen Takes Words out of a Novel and You Put New Ones In” from Brian Ronk and “Phat Phonics Dench Impromptu Dench Verses Mad Sub Verses” from John McBurney.

Mad Mashup it is!

This month’s mashup will be performed on a comic mystery called “The Ruth Valley Missing.” It’s a great book. If you enjoyed my novel, then you’ll love this—just remove the magic from my book and add a little more mystery, and you’ve basically got THE RUTH VALLEY MISSING.

Here’s my own description of the book:

Jameson Quinn is sick of the bright lights, fast living, and self-centered people of the big city. After a bad night with her jerky boyfriend, she throws in the towel and leaves it behind for a new life in the tiny town of Ruth Valley.

But first, she steals her boyfriend’s favorite shoes.

In Ruth Valley, Jameson finds more than she expected—a welcoming community, a handsome sheriff, and new friends. But not all is as it seems. Jameson discovers that the residents have a strange habit of disappearing in the middle of the night, leaving families and friends behind. As Jameson delves deeper into the disappearances, her investigation does not go unnoticed. She must solve the mystery or become the next of the Ruth Valley Missing.

It’s a fantastic book. I like it so much that I am giving away an ebook copy. If you want to win, all you have to do is post your word submission for the Mad Mashup in the comments below.

If you want to play but don’t want to enter the giveaway, all you have to do is make the (private) email address on your comment something like NoBookPleaseNoBookPlease #AT# ERMAGHERDBERK.com. Or whatever. Just make it clear by your email address that you don’t want to enter the giveaway. Please note: The Ruth Valley Missing ebook is only available for Kindle.

THE RULES

1. Your words must be PG rated. This is a family-friendly blog. Mostly.
2. There are a limited number of nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Pick one type and submit your suggestion for that type of word.
3. Once all of a category of word is chosen (say we have 5 suggestions for adjectives) then you have to pick another category.
4. On Friday, I will post the story excerpt with our goofy words inserted, and announce the winner to THE RUTH VALLEY MISSING giveaway! (The winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Numbers will be assigned in order of commenting. If someone has opted out of the giveaway, we’ll skip them and continue with the next entrant. Don’t I sound formal?)

Now remember: the only way this game is going to work is if you ignore your innate lurker tendencies and post a word below. So please participate! You can use a code name if you’d prefer not to use your own.

For THE RUTH VALLEY MISSING Mad Mashup, we need the following words:

1. Sports equipment: 2 words (all taken!)
2. Body part: 2 words (all taken!)
3. Verb: 11 words (all taken!)
4. Adjective: 2 words (all taken!)
5. Profession: 1 word (all taken!)
6. Direction: 1 word (all taken!)
7. Noun: 4 words (all taken!)

UPDATE: We have all of our words… and then some! If you still would like to enter the contest to win a free Kindle copy of THE RUTH VALLEY MISSING, post a comment below letting me know!

Post your suggestions in the comments below! Then come on back Monday, February 11, to read our RUTH VALLEY MISSING Mad Mashup!