One highlight of my time in Denver last week was seeing my pal Mary DeMuth do her first ICRS book signing for her debut novel, Watching the Tree Limbs.

I started reading this book when I received an endorser's copy last fall, but if you recall the attempt I made to fly without wings that landed me in the hospital last October, you know why I didn't finish it. (Or if I did, why I don't remember.)

When the book hit the stands this spring, I received a copy from her publicist. But it wasn't signed. I wanted signed.

But I forgot to take my copy with me to Denver. So when Mary sat to sign books, I made sure I was first in line. That way my copy would have her signature and it would have the distinction of being the first she ever signed at ICRS. (I'm confident she will have many more in the years to come.)

Here's where you come in: I now have an extra copy that I am willing to give as a prize. So here is how I will select a winner. I want you to post a favorite quote. For every person who posts a quote in the comments section, I'll throw your name in the hat once. If the quote is funny, I will enter your name twice. If you own or operate a book store, three times. You can post as many times as you want. Then next Thursday, I will hold a drawing, and the person whose name I pull out of the hat will be announced here. I'll cover shipping, of course.

About the book: Mary received a great review from Publisher's Weekly, which is about as credible as it gets in the book writing world. Watching the Tree Limbs is the story of nine-year-old Mara, a child who has been violated by the neighborhood bully. Yet it is not a "downer." Written in lyric prose, it's ultimately an uplifting story of grace and redemption that demonstrates there's no pit so deep that God's grace cannot reach deeper. You can read more about it here.

I will start us off with a favorite quote: Winston Church about his arrogant political rival: "There but for the grace of God goes God."