I just published my first book, 101 Riddles, How To Write Them & Use Them In Your Show ( http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/11605 ).

To celebrate, I will post 10 riddles from it, and if you are the first to answer any of them, you win a free copy of the book.
We will start with an easy one:

"Finding food shoreward - I always take a pinch.
Don't go back or forward - but sideways is a cinch."

I will post the next riddle once this one has been answered.

Well that is obviously a crab.

I just PMed you

Now that things are started, I'll make the second one a bit harder:

"An army of trillions, a squad for a fee.
In my death, I kill those who buy me.
An assassin in your home invited.
I carry out my mission burnt or lighted."

Matches.

Cigarettes

Cigarettes is correct. Matches are also very close though, the main difference being that they kill people when misused, while cigarettes kill people by being used for their intended purpose. Even so, it's so close, I have PMed both of you

Third riddle:

"Hollow I am - and I do not inflate.
I'm always a gram - but have no weight."

Hologram?

Great job! I just sent you a pm

Fourth riddle:

"You command and we obey.
Yet are lashed 20,000 times a day.
We come in many colours, and often match.
Feeding on light when you open our hatch."

Eye(s)

Correct! I messaged you on how to get your copy of the book

Half way through:

"The opposite of God am I.
Beneath the ground, I place pieces of those that die."

Dog. These are pretty easy, though.

Correct! I tried not to make the riddles in the book too hard, as I think it's better if most people can get it if they really think about it. Plus that way, if they don't get it, when they hear the answer, they think how obvious it was, rather than complaining that it isn't fair

Next riddle:

"Spinning where I'm placed.
In squares I'm spaced.
They argued which way I'm faced.
Shrinking as I raced.
Dealing with waste.
I vanished and was replaced."

OK, I'll play. Is it toilet paper?

It is I just sent you a copy.

7th riddle:

"Tightrope walkers in a set.
We get time off when it's wet."

That riddle almost makes me think of windshield wipers, but the only way they get time off when it's wet is by throwing your schedule off because you're driving in the rain.

While that isn't the correct answer, it's a good guess!

If it helps, there are usually quite a few of them in a set.

Cloth pegs?

/Tomas

Great job! I just PMed you.


8th riddle:

"Sometimes people and I are together.
But when we are apart, they are missed.
Wearing my finest feather - my enemy I kissed.
Taking no bow at the end - Instead I leave it.
I do not bend - but he on whom I sit."

Is it an arrow?

That was fast - great job!!

9th riddle:

"Though so close, I must confess.
Listen to us, and you hear less."