Squee! I'm so excited for today'S YA Scavenger Hunt! Not only for the amazing author I'm hosting, but for the secret content that I'm releasing SOMEWHERE OUT THERE. (Go find it! Go find it!) (Also, this is the brain child of Colleen Houck, and she's awesome, so you should go check out her website too.)
Every author will have some exclusive content AND a link to the next person on the hunt. Give yourself a couple of hours to make the circuit, collect the words in red, and enter all the contests!
Today, I'm featuring Angela Corbett! (Which is especially awesome, because I have met her in person!) So let's dive in!
About Angela: As a child, Angela Corbett’s most prized possession was a set of read-along books. She used to follow along with the narrator on the stereo and dream of when she would be able to read by herself. Her childhood reading habit led her to consider her future career. However, after consulting with her parents, she realized she had already exceeded hobbit height and since fairies and dragonslayers were tricky jobs to get, she decided she wanted to create worlds of her own. She started writing poetry in elementary school and worked as a journalist in high school and college, but could never leave her love for writing fiction behind.
She is a graduate of Westminster College where she double majored in communication and sociology. She has worked as a journalist, freelance writer, and director of communications and marketing. She loves classic cars, traveling, and escaping in a good book. She lives in Utah with her incredibly supportive husband and their five-pound Pomeranian, Pippin, whose following of fangirls could rival Justin Bieber's.
Eternal Starling is her debut novel and the first book in the Emblem of Eternity trilogy.
About ETERNAL STARLING: Evie Starling has lived a relatively uneventful life hanging out with friends, gossiping about boys, and driving her 1966 Mustang. All of that changes when she moves to Gunnison, Colorado, to start college and meets two mysterious men.
For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie—but they each have their own reasons for wanting to be with her. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was. Soon, Evie finds herself in the middle of an age-old battle between the Amaranthine Society—the soul protectors, and the Daevos Resistance—the soul destroyers. With a past she doesn’t understand, and a future rife with danger, Evie has to decide who she can trust. But Alex and Emil aren’t the only ones who want Evie, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.
You know you want a copy of that! Click here to get it.
As Angela's BONUS MATERIAL today, she's giving you a sneak peek at an excerpt from the book (because ETERNAL STARLING does not come out until next Tuesday)! Lucky ducks!
Jas and Zach were waiting for us in the lobby of the restaurant.
“Hey guys!” Jas’s face lit up when she saw us.
“Hi Jas. Hi Zach,” I said.
“Hello,” Alex’s deep voice was seductive even to me. I couldn’t imagine the effect it was having on Jasmine.
Zach exchanged a head-nod with Alex and Jasmine smiled shyly. “Hi Alex. I’m glad you guys could come with us tonight.” Jas was being overly cordial and chewing her bubble gum like she was in a race. I hadn’t seen her so antsy since we were almost caught toilet papering the yard of our high school math teacher.
“Me too,” Alex said.
The hostess took some menus from her stand and we followed her to a table in the corner of the pizzeria. The smell of garlic, bread, and cheese permeated the air as we scanned the menus and placed our order. Zach immediately asked the server for a Pepsi; it was the only thing he ever drank and he was fanatical about it. Even though he wasn’t at our house much, we always kept a twenty-four pack of Pepsi chilling in the fridge for him.
While we waited for our food, Zach asked Alex all the general getting-to-know-you questions that I’d asked him when we first met. Alex reciprocated with questions for Jasmine and Zach.
The server brought our food and we talked as we ate. Alex asked Jasmine and Zach how they met. That conversation eventually led to Jasmine’s observations about my dating life.
“You’re definitely an improvement,” Jas said to Alex. His expression was curious, inviting her to go on. “Evie doesn’t have the best luck with guys,” she explained.
“Hey!” I said, trying to defend myself. “They haven’t all been bad.”
“Oh, really? Let’s see,” she raised her eyes as she thought. “There was the guy obsessed with jerky. Remember the theme card he made you for Valentine’s Day? When you opened it, it mooed.” She shuddered as she thought about it. “Or the one who asked you to prom with the stipulation that he be allowed to drive you there in your own car.” Jas leaned forward on the table looking straight at me, “And let’s not forget the holy grail of asshats: Luke,” she said, turning her attention back to Alex. “I could tell you stories about that idiot for hours. One of my favorites was when he told her he didn’t have time to deal with her feelings so she should think through her emotions and journal it, then get back to him when she wasn’t so pissy.”
A muscle under Alex’s eye pulsed as he smiled in a way that said he wasn’t at all amused. “Guys like that don’t deserve someone like Evie. In fact,” he paused, as if considering whether or not to continue, “if I’d been there, I would have dumped a glass of lemonade on his head.”
My mouth fell open a little. I looked at Jasmine to see her wearing the same shocked expression as me. After a few seconds, Jasmine regained her composure. “Actually, that’s exactly what Evie did,” Jasmine said. “Only she was drinking Sprite at the time.” Jasmine assessed Alex warily. “How did you know that?”
Alex’s mouth slid into a sly smile. “Lucky guess,” he said, picking up his glass and taking a drink. When he finished, he put the glass on the table and continued his explanation, “Throwing your drink on a guy isn’t a new concept. Girls do it all the time in movies and TV shows.”
Still stunned, I flicked my eyes back and forth between Jasmine and Alex. Jasmine clearly wasn’t convinced. Alex leaned on the table and laughed, “Or maybe I’m psychic,” he said, waving his fingers to lighten the mood.
Zach snorted. “If so, I need your help with my Fantasy Football team roster.”
Alex put his fingertips to his temples like he was divining the answer. “Can’t go wrong with Drew Brees,” Alex said. He grabbed the check the waiter had left and went up to the counter to pay for our food. Zach started to follow him but Alex told him not to worry about it, he was buying everyone’s dinner.
As soon as Alex was out of earshot, Zach said, “I like him, Evie.” He nodded to indicate Alex had passed some sort of man test. “He’s a good guy.” Zach leaned back in his chair. “I’ve never heard that story. Did you really dump Sprite on Luke’s head?”
“Of course she did! He deserved every drop,” Jasmine answered for me, waving Zach off. She put her elbows on the table, directing her attention back to me like Zach wasn’t even there. “Don’t you think it’s weird Alex mentioned that?” she asked.
I shrugged, still trying to make sense of it myself.
Jas kept talking, “I mean, it’s strange he’d say something so close to what actually happened.”
Before I could answer, Alex was back. “Are you ready to go?”
“Sure.” I got up from the table. Jas and Zach followed me. Alex held my hand and we walked in silence to the parking lot.
“Thanks, for going to dinner with us,” I said to Jas and Zach. “I had a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, we’ll have to do it again soon,” Alex suggested.
“That sounds great,” Jas answered as she opened the door to Zach’s Grand Cherokee.
“I’m adding Brees to my team as soon as I get home,” Zach said. He waved and hopped into the driver’s seat.
Alex once again opened my door for me, and I got in the Audi. Alex made his way to the driver’s side, started the car, and we drove in silence for a few minutes until I couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “It was lemonade, not Sprite.”
Alex slid a glance toward me, his expression giving nothing away. “What are you talking about?”
“I dumped lemonade on Luke’s head, not Sprite. Jasmine was wrong. But you weren’t.”
Alex gave a short laugh. “Really?” he asked, paying more attention than usual to his blinker as he pushed it down. “That’s a funny coincidence.”
I widened my eyes. “A coincidence? That’s your explanation?”
As we rolled to a stoplight, he draped his hand over the steering wheel and pegged me with a hard stare. “What else could it be, Evie?”
I put my hands out in front of me, palms up. “You tell me.”
Alex shifted his eyes away from mine. “Maybe you told me about it and forgot.”
I knew I hadn’t. Unless I was mocking him with Jasmine, Luke wasn’t a subject I cared to talk about. “I have an excellent memory. And I never told you that story.”
Alex snorted. “It’s not like you remember every second of every conversation we’ve ever had.”
I lifted my shoulders, looking at him in challenge. He watched me and gave a humorless laugh. “Memory is a complicated thing. You’d be surprised at the things you forget.”
“Try me,” I dared.
Alex clenched his jaw and seemed to be thinking, but didn’t say anything. We pulled into the driveway of my house. Alex opened the car door for me—again.
We walked up to the front door and, like always, he held out his hand for my keys. Alex opened the door and flipped the living room light on. I stepped into the house; he followed me, still silent. He sat on the couch as I went to the phone to check the voicemail. I put my purse down, my back toward Alex, and played the messages. There was a call from my mom, of course—she must have gotten my email—and another from someone looking for Jasmine. I wrote the message on a pad of paper next to the phone and hit the erase button.
I stood in front of the phone, wondering if Alex would continue our conversation. I took a deep breath, then turned around and gasped. Alex was inches from me, waiting. I hadn’t even heard him walk over. I should have at least felt that he was behind me. I was generally so good about knowing when someone was in my personal space.
I looked into his eyes—they seemed to be on fire, not with anger, but something else. Suddenly our lemonade / memory discussion seemed a lot less important. Alex grabbed me around my waist, slowly guiding me until my back was pressed against the living room wall. He placed his hands palms down on the wall next to both of my shoulders. Even if I had wanted to move, and I didn’t, it would have been impossible. I could smell his rustic cedar scent as he shifted his head toward mine and moved his right hand to the back of my neck. As he leaned into me, he whispered something that sounded like, “Let’s see if you remember this.” Before I knew it, his lips, the lips I had dreamed about every day since we sat together at the mountain lake, were on mine, pressing hard against my mouth, merging with his. The kiss was aggressive, but still gentle, his lips soft and warm, and my back tingled with a familiar heat that was quickly getting a lot hotter.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!
As an extra bonus we’ve put together a puzzle with one keyword found on each website. Complete it and you will be eligible for a fantastic GRAND PRIZE which will include signed editions of books, signed bookmarks, jewelry, and many more exclusive gifts with at least one gift from EVERY AUTHOR!
Scavenger Hunt Puzzle Directions: Copy and paste the words below onto a document or print it out and unscramble the words as you proceed through the Scavenger Hunt. Search for keywords, one on each website that will be highlighted in RED. When you are finished, fill out the Google form here.
Rules: To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the unscrambled words before noon on Dec 4th Pacific Time. All the keywords must be in the correct place and you must include your full name and address. Entries sent in without name and address will not be considered!
As if that wasn't cool enough, you can also win a personalized, signed copy of POSSESSION right here, right now on my blog! Give it as a gift, whatever. I'll sign and personalize to whoever you want, and ship it anywhere.
To enter to win, you need to subscribe to my newsletter. It's easy and fast and I don't send out too much stuff too often. Click here to do that.
Ready to go to the next website on the Scavenger Hunt? Click HERE!
Okay, so today is the Scavenger Hunt of all scavenger hunts. Thus the capital letters. There is some exclusive one-day only material right here on my blog, and there’s a link at the bottom that will direct you to the next stop on the hunt.
First, since there’s likely to be some new visitors here, I’m going to introduce myself. This feels weird on my blog, but whatever. My name is Elana Johnson, and my debut novel, POSSESSION, just came out in June. It’s a dystopian novel set in a brainwashed society, where one fifteen-year-old girl doesn’t like other people telling her what to do. (I have a new widget with links to pretty much everything you need!)
As part of this Scavenger-Hunt-of-Awesome, I’m offering a contest here on my blog today. You need to fill out the form here to enter to win a POSSESSION prize package (detailed in the form). You'll need to hunt for my secret content in order to complete the form. I'm very excited for my exclusive content, so go scavenge!!
Also on this hunt you will be able to gain access to exclusive bonus material, sign up for giveaways, and get an all access pass to top secret insider information. This fabulous sneak peek into what’s coming up in YA literature is for one day only!
As an extra bonus we’ve put together a puzzle with one keyword found on each website. Complete it and you will be eligible for a fantastic GRAND PRIZE which will include signed editions of books, signed bookmarks, jewelry, and many more exclusive gifts with at least one from EVERY AUTHOR!
Scavenger Hunt Puzzle: Directions: Search for keywords, one on each website that will be highlighted in red, and insert them into the puzzle. Then fill out the Google form here.
Rules: To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit this filled in puzzle before midnight on August 1st Pacific Time. All the keywords must be in the correct place, and the form must be completely filled out. I've put the puzzle below so you can start working on it.
Welcome fans of young adult literature! Don’t forget to _______ up in time to join our special event! In ____________ you roll the dice and, like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. Our scavenger hunt is very similar. Surprises wait around every corner. Turn one page and you’re chasing a _________ through a _________ _____________. Turn another and you are being ________ by a _______ which leaves your heart ________. YA ________s are full of ___________ heroes who must ___________ themselves for the greater good. Some of the characters travel through ______ or have a _________ __________. If there is one thing YA books have taught us, it’s that if you leave your ___________ keep an eye out for a patrolling ________. They’re very dangerous. Maybe not so frightening as a ____________, but still you should be careful. Also beware lest you become __________ by vampires. ______________ one is a different story. Just remember that bite has ___________ ramifications and that afterwards the sun can ______ you unless you get bitten by a glittering type. Whether you like dark, paranormal, romance, fantasy, ___________, Sci-Fi, or a combination of those, we’ve got something for you.
We think that each fan is a __________ and we love you all!
As if that weren't enough, I'm hosting Sophie Jordan (squee!) who is here to reveal some exclusive content about her newest book, VANISH (coming on September 6).
First a bit about Sophie: Sophie Jordan grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she's also the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Avon historical romances. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she's not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes and Diet cherry Coke preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with true-crime and reality-TV shows. Sophie also writes paranormal romances under the name Sharie Kohler.
And a little about VANISH (which I've read, and holy cow, people! It's fantastic!!): To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will's memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family's. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride's heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
In New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's dramatic follow-up to Firelight, forbidden love burns brighter than ever.
Sophie has delivered for you today, an excerpt from VANISH! Enjoy!
Sometimes I dream of falling.
Of course, I start out flying in these dreams. Because that’s what I do. What I am. What I love. A few weeks ago, I would have said it’s what I love most in the world, but a lot has changed since then. Everything, really.
In these dreams, I’m racing through the sky, free as I’m supposed to be. And then something happens because suddenly I’m descending in a tailspin. I clutch air, my screams eaten up by angry wind. I plummet. A human without wings. Just a girl, not a draki at all. Powerless. Lost. I feel that way now: I’m falling, and I can do nothing. I can stop none of it. I’m caught up in the old nightmare.
I always wake before I hit ground. That’s been my salvation. Only tonight I’m not dreaming.
Tonight I hit the ground. And it’s every bit as painful as I expected.
###
I rest my cheek against the cool glass of the window and watch the night rush past me. As Cassian drives, my eyes strain through the motionless dark, skimming over rock yards and stucco houses, searching for an answer, a reason for everything that’s happened.
The world seems to hold its breath as we slow for a stop sign. My gaze drifts to the dark sky above us. A deep, starless sea beckoning, promising sanctuary.
Mom’s voice drifts from the backseat, low and crooning, as she talks to Tamra, trying to coax a response from her. I peel my cheek from the glass and glance over my shoulder. Tamra shivers in Mom’s arms. Her eyes stare vacantly ahead; her skin, corpse pale.
“Is she okay?” I ask again, because I have to say something. I have to know. Did I do this to her? Is this, too, my fault? “What’s wrong with her?”
Mom frowns and shakes her head at me like I shouldn’t speak. I’ve let them both down. I broke the unbreakable rule. I revealed my true form to humans—worse, hunters—and we will all pay for the mistake. The knowledge presses on me, a crushing weight that sinks me deep into my seat. I face forward again, trembling uncontrollably. I cross my arms, pinning my hands at my sides as though that might still them.
Cassian warned me there would be a reckoning for this night’s work, and I wonder whether it’s already begun. I’ve lost Will. Tamra is sick or in shock or maybe something worse. Mom can hardly look at me. My every breath is misery, the events of the night burning inside my eyelids. Me, shedding my human skin and manifesting in front of Will’s family. My desperate flight through crackling dry air to reach him. But if I hadn’t manifested—hadn’t flown to Will’s side—he’d be dead and I couldn’t bear that thought.. I’ll never see Will again, no matter his promise to find me, but at least he’s alive.
Cassian says nothing beside me. He did all the talking he needed to do to get Mom in the car with us, to make her understand returning with him to the home we fled is the only viable option. His fingers hold tight to the steering wheel, his knuckles white. I doubt he’ll relax his grip until we’re free and clear of Chaparral. Probably not until we’re safely back in the pride. Safe. I strangle on a laugh—or it could be a sob. Will I ever feel safe again?
The town flies past, houses thinning out as we near the edge of town. We’ll be gone soon. Free of this desert and the hunters. Free of Will. This last thought claws fresh the already bleeding wound in my heart, but there’s nothing to be done about it. Could there ever have been a future for us? A draki and a draki hunter? A draki hunter with the blood of my kind running through his veins.
That part of it all still stumbles through my head, refusing to penetrate. I can’t close my eyes without seeing the flash of his shimmering purple blood in the night. Like my own. My head aches, struggling to accept this terrible truth No matter how valid Will’s explanation, no matter that I still love him, it doesn’t change the fact that the stolen blood of my kind pumps through his veins.
Cassian exhales slowly as we leave the city limits.
“Well, that’s that,” Mom murmurs as the distance grows between us and Chaparral.
I turn to find her looking back through the rear window. She’s leaving all her hopes for a better future in Chaparral. It’s where we were making a fresh start, away from the pride. And now we’re headed back into their midst.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” I say not just because I should, but because I mean it.
Mom shakes her head, opening her mouth to speak, but gets nothing out.
“We’ve got trouble,” Cassian announces. Straight ahead, several cars block the road, forcing us to slow.
“It’s them,” I manage to utter past numb lips as Cassian pulls closer.
“Them?” Mom demands. “Hunters?”
I give a hard nod. Hunters. Will’s family.
Glaring headlights pierce the dark and illuminate Cassian’s face. His gaze flicks to the rearview mirror and I can tell he’s contemplating turning back around, running for it in the other direction. But it’s too late for that—one car moves to block our escape and several figures step in front of our car. Cassian slams on the brakes, his hands flexing on the steering wheel, and I know he’s fighting the impulse to mow them down. I strain for a glimpse of Will, sensing him, knowing he’s there, among them somewhere.
Hard, biting voices shout at us to get out of the car. I hold still, my fingers a hot singe on my bare legs, pressing so deeply—as though I were trying to reach my draki buried underneath. A fist bangs down on our hood.
Cassian’s gaze locks with mine, communicating what I already know. We have to survive. Even if it means doing only what our kind can do. That very thing I already did, that got us in this jam tonight in the first place. And why not? It’s not like we can reveal our secret more.
Nodding, I move, climbing out of the car to face our enemies.
There you go! I know this was a very, very long post! I hope you enjoyed the exclusive content from VANISH author Sophie Jordan.
I hope you caught the word in red...
I hope you copied and pasted that purple paragraph up there, and that you'll visit all the blogs and websites today, looking for the red words to complete the scavenger hunt. When you do, you'll find my exclusive content somewhere...
And then you can enter to win the grand prize that will include something from every author in the hunt!
Don't forget to enter to win a POSSESSION prize package (detailed in the form)--it's as easy as finding my exclusive content out there on the hunt, and then filling out the form.
Not the WriteOnCon awesome, because we already announced that whole win-$1000-thing. You missed it? Click here.
Not any of the awesome that was last week, what with all those ARC giveaways. I mean, that was cool, but... oh, I still owe you a winner for THE NEAR WITCH, yes?
Yes.
Okay, the winner is: TheJay2xA
Congrats! Email me at elanajohnson(at)gmail(dot)com with your email address and I'll get this in the mail.
And now onto the awesome that will be taking place next Monday, August 1. Colleen Houck, author of THE TIGER'S CURSE, has organized a scavenger hunt where YA authors are going to be unlocking the vault on some exclusive material for one day only. (Click here to see more details on Colleen's blog.)
That's right. 24 hours of awesome.
You'll get the day to go around the Interwebz and find all the cool stuff. Many authors are giving away prizes and books in conjunction with this amazing scavenger hunt, so be sure to come back here on Monday, August 1, and you can start the hunt from my blog.
You can also start the hunt from any of these author's blogs: YA authors Josephine Angelini, Angela Corbett, Andrea Cremer, Kady Cross, Heather Davis, Bree Despain, Clare Dunkle, Marley Gibson, Abbi Glines, Colleen Houck, Tara Hudson, Alexandra Monir, Lisa Nowak, Gregg Olsen, Amy Plum, Beth Revis, Lisa and Laura Roecker, Inara Scott, Sophie Jordan, Lani Woodland and more!
I'm not going to tell you what my super-sekrit part of the hunt will be, but I will say that there will be a POSSESSION-related prize!
So, guesses as to what my secret content will be? What "extra" would you like to see from authors?(Not just me.)
