In reply to Only a hill:
> I don't do 'trawling for info.'
It was such a bizarre accusation too; I have a pretty vivid imagination but still can't really think of a good way to work the date-crucial first snowfall on the Scottish mountains into a short story, although perhaps you should try!
Now, if he had said you had come up with a fun way to get traffic on your blog/readers interested in your books - it might have been fairer; but what's wrong with that? You've offered a nice prize for a comp anyone can enter and plenty of us try to promote something we've written etc. once in a while.