And the winner is. . . .

WOW! You guys are such smarties! I was sure this would be take a while. . . .

But within two hours of posting, I had the correct answer from HEATHER MUIR!!!!

Congratulations, Heather!

I guess I should have been more specific, I was only looking for the right country, but Heather also got the locations with the exception of the first one. That's actually the clock tower in Sighisoara (which is, apparently, 1,520 km from Stockholm). Her guesses were: Sinaia (which we did also visit), Snagov Monastery, and Peles Castle. Well done!

A close second was Rachel Peterson, who also guessed the same locations, and was just an hour later.

So the Grand Prize goes to Heather!

And a second prize, a signed copy of Princess of Glass, goes to Rachel. BUT ONLY IF YOU EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS ASAP!

But no one wants to guess whose toilet that is? Er, was?

Fine, I'll just tell you!

It's Vlad Dracula's toilet! Yep. In the ruins of his castle in Bucharest, the only remaining furnishing is the, ahem, throne. Ew.

Next week I'll do a more complete post on our trip, featuring Shardas eating at a restaurant with fake severed heads and blood on the walls! YAY!

Where in the World is Shardas?

Well, technically, Shardas is sitting in the bedroom with Velika. But a couple of weeks ago, Shardas, the Mister, and I took a little vacation. Nothing big, just a ten day guided tour of a faraway land that I'm going to write a book about, that's all! It was a fabulous place, rich in history, full of trees and plants and mountains and things! We saw a lot of castles, and many, many churches. Also a lot of dogs. And several dragons.


So let's have us a little contest! I'll post some pictures of Shardas' adventures, and you try and guess Where in the World Shardas Went! DO NOT POST YOUR GUESS IN THE COMMENTS! Email me directly at theauthor@jessicadaygeorge.com. Include your guess, your name, address and email, so that I can get you your prize!


(Oh, you want to know about the prize?)


How about a fridge magnet! And a bar of chocolate! AND A SIGNED COPY OF PRINCESS OF GLASS, THE OFFICIAL HARDCOVER EDITION!


And now, we bring you: Shardas on Vacation!


This is the famous city S, which is apparently 1,520 km from Stockholm.





The famous S Monastery (a different S from the city, this one is actually outside the city of B).





Shardas didn't want to be in this picture, because this is a real toilet from Ye Olden Tymes, and who knows who sat on it! (Actually, they know exactly who sat on it. And boy, is he famous! And old!)





And the amazing Castle P! The first castle ever built with indoor plumbing, central heating, electricity, telephones, and central vacuum!





Well? Can you guess? Do you know where we are?! You're welcome to guess as many times as you like. The contest will keep going until somebody gets it. If nobody guesses correctly by next Friday, May 28th, I will post more clues


Good luck!