There's something empowering about having dreams come true. In 2011, several of mine did. Some of it was luck (I bribed leprechauns to make the NY Times thing happen), some of it was hard work (editing kicks my tail). Some of it was magical (hello new friends!), some of it was shocking (book tour?! me?!), and much of it was tiring (see: editing, book tour), but there's not a single moment that I regret.

I cannot put into words how amazing 2011 was. It just was.


And now it's nearly 2012.

I'm really not much of one for resolutions. I've made too many impossible resolutions before. There were many years where my resolution was "get my book published," but, failing self-publication, that's not something you can completely control. When other people are involved in making a dream come true, some of it is out of your hands.

So instead of resolutions, I have goals and dreams. My goals are things that I can do. My dreams are things that I can only somewhat control. It's not stuff like "win the lottery!" It's more like stuff that I can work towards, but without a little luck or help from others, it won't happen.

I have three goals and three dreams.

• One of each is very personal.
• One goal will require work, but will definitely happen (unless my hands fall off).
• One goal is incredibly boring.
• One will be very, very, very hard. But it's a goal, not a dream, so I can do it.
• One dream is one I think will very likely happen. One dream is one I think might never.

Thank you all for entering my contest, spreading the word, and cheering me on. Thanks to you guys, we've raised $1,573 for World Vision.

And guys? That's pretty darn awesome, in my opinion.

But I know the question on most of your minds is: WHAT ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY?!


Well, as you know, there were 1,573 entries. And up there above is 200 prizes. With the addresses all carefully hidden from view. The point of the giveaway is to be a surprise--so if you win, it'll show up in your mailbox (for US residents, probably by the end of next week--international might have to wait a bit).

Here are some statistics for your viewing pleasure!

• By pure chance, the very first person who entered won one of the big prizes.
• At least three people that I talk to fairly regularly on Twitter won (I recognized the names as I was posting labels)
• There were a little over 30 international winners, including 2 of the big prizes
• The state with the most entries was... Texas! Washington, Virginia, and California were after that.
• The city with the most entries was... Portland, Oregon!
• The international country with the most entries was... Canada!
• Last year, an old college buddy won a prize. This year, one of my college roomies won a prize! (But sorry, Lori, it was just a postcard.)
• One of the winners was a former student at the high school I worked at, and although she wasn't in my classroom, one of her besties was, so I got to know her, too. I think she'll be surprised!
• My husband still doesn't know how much it cost to mail these out. Let's keep it our little secret, k?

A MILLION SUNS comes out in *eep!* less than a month! This is the second book of the trilogy, and you might have noticed that we've kept the title of the third book a sekkrit, even though we've known the title since ACROSS THE UNIVERSE sold.

If you're a curious sort and would like to know what the title of the third and final book is, then you're in luck!! On the very last page of the finished copy of A MILLION SUNS, there's a page about the third book, and it includes the title. Here's what it looks like:

Wait a minute...what's all that smudged out part in the middle?


*evil grin*

That, my friends, is where the title is, and you'll have to wait for A MILLION SUNS to be released to see it!

...but if YOU want to know what the title of the third book is NOW, you can check out the reveal here. (click on the BOOK 3 TITLE tab on the left)

:)

Let me know what you think! And remember for those who've read the second book: no spoilers!

There are some great contests going on right now, and I wanted to be sure no one missed them.

• You have until Monday to enter my 200-prize giveaway! We did make the 1000 entry goal, so I will be making a donation of at least $1000 to World Vision...but barring a sudden influx of a crazy number of entries, I think it's safe to say that I'll be donating a dollar for every entry, not just the first 1000. 
• Also: keep in mind that even though I've got about 1200 entries right now, there are 200 prizes...which means you have a one in six chance of winning something. Talk about your good odds!
• Speaking of good odds--make sure you enter the first year celebration over at the League. We're each giving away a signed copy of our books, so the grand prize winner will get FIVE signed books! It's super simple to enter, and did I mention the good odds you've got there?
• The AtU fansite, Secret of the Stars is hosting a blog hop with your choice of one of my books as a prize!
• Do you like puppies and kittens? Do you cry when Sarah McLachlin starts singing for the humane society on TV? Do you also like to have signed books of some of the hottest titles in YA? Then check out this charity auction. 
• After witnessing some animal cruelty, author Christine Johnson decided to do something about it, and launched a charity auction to support the Humane Society. Authors Diana Peterfreund and Carrie Ryan are matching donations, up to $1000 each. 
• It's SO EASY to help out with this auction: just go here, pick your prize, and bid.

So this happened:

We currently have over 1000 entries in the contest! Which means, of course, that there will be at least a $1000 donation to World Vision!

Check out World Vision and let me know what you think would be the best use of the donation! We can buy cows and goats and other livestock, or give micro loans to women, or put it towards share in a deep well, or...

So last year I did a contest where I gave away 100 prizes. And this year, I got to thinking...how could I make that bigger?

By giving away 200 prizes instead.


And not only that, I'm going to give $1 to World Vision, an international charity that aids those in need, for every entry (up to 1,000 entries).

But wait. I'm getting ahead of myself.

First, let me show you the kinds of prizes up for grabs.

Or, actually, let's let YouTube show you...



The video gives you a sample of what's going on this month, but here it is in a little more detail:







So, how do you win all this awesome?


At the bottom of this post, there's a Google form. All you have to do is fill it out with your address. Then, at the end of the giveaway, I'm going to plug in all the addresses into my label maker over there, and the label maker is going to spit out addresses and I'm slapping them on the packages. And that's it.


This is a giveaway, not a contest. I just want to give you guys stuff. So you don't have to do anything extra or join on Facebook or follow me or spread the word or anything (although I'd appreciate it if you did). Your fate is in the hands of my label maker.

However, please do spread the word. It's not a requirement, but I would really appreciate it if you did because I will be giving $1 to World Vision for every entry (up to 1,000). World Vision is a really worthy charity, helping families and children in both the US and across the world. I encourage you to check the link out and think about donating yourself--but either way, I would also appreciate you telling other people about this giveaway, because the more entries I get, the more I'm adding to my annual donation to World Vision.

You can spread the word in several ways:
You could blog about it. Maybe include the video above? It's easy to share. Might I suggest including the graphic? I've included the HTML code for it, too:



<center><a href="http://bethrevis.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WXYN0Naw2Ys/Tt7irZrCVqI/AAAAAAAACT8/GiosPQm-ug4/s1600/december+giveaway.jpg" width="150”" height="150" /></a></center>

Or you could tweet:
Tweet

Also: thank you to my publisher, Penguin/Razorbill! They donated a ton of the prizes above, including 20 paperbacks, all the ARCs, and the water bottles. If you want, I know they'd appreciate it if you followed on Facebook or Twitter. Again: not a requirement, just a way to thank the contributors of the prizes.

There's apparently been a few hiccups in the YA Scavenger Hunt. If you're stuck and can't figure out who you're missing for this awesome contest, go to this blog post by YASH founder Colleen Houck. At the bottom is a list of every participating author (each of whom is providing a prize for the winner of the hunt--which = nearly 40 signed books!) Still stuck? Tweet @ColleenHouck for help! (I'd help if I could, but I'm travelling!)

Did you get here from Leah Bobet's page? There's a linking error--if you got here from Leah, go instead to this website to continue the hunt.


If you are just starting the hunt or if you got here from Lisa Bergen's page, then read on for your next clue!