Spring 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt!

HEY HUNTERS! Today's the day where a bunch of YA authors get together and blast the internet with an epic search game where the winners get tons of books and prizes! If you're just joining me here, then this is the perfect place to start! Just read the post, enter my extra contest, jot down the number that's hidden on this page (don't worry, it's easy to find if you read the post), and click the link for the next entry.

And also: HI! My name's Beth, and I write YA sci fi and weird stuff. My first series was the Across the Universe trilogy, and since then, I've written a book about what happened on Earth while Amy and Elder were in space, a series of nonfiction books about how to write and get your stuff published, and I have a new book coming in July called A World Without You. It's about a boy who thinks he's at a school for kids with superpowers but is actually in an asylum for students who are mentally disturbed. If you're a book blogger and want to request some of my books for review, please click here!

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the RED TEAM--but there is also a red team, a gold team, an orange team, a red team, and an indie team for a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!). 

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by APRIL 3, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

About the Author:

CHRISTINA FARLEY is the author of the Gilded series, a YA contemporary fantasy series set in Korea and upcoming middle grade, THE PRINCESS AND THE PAGE, set in France. GILDED was nominated for Korea’s 2014 Morning Calm, Ohio’s 2015 Buckeye award, and 2015 Tomes It List. As a child, she loved to explore, which later inspired her to jump on a plane and travel the world. Christina’s adventures sparked her to write stories, infusing the real world with fantasy. Currently she writes from home in Clermont, FL with her husband and two sons—that is until the travel itch whisks her off to a new unknown. 

Find Christina Here:

Website

Twitter

YouTube

Facebook

Tumblr

Goodreads

Instagram

Gilded Series website

About the Book:

Find it: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads | Indie

Gilded Series’ Fan Cast


Hey guys! This is Christina. GILDED as a TV series or movie would be completely amazing, don’t you think? For a complete listing of all the characters go to The Imagine Film List here.

So you’re wondering what my dream cast would be? Here they are!

To learn more about this series, visit the Gilded Series website. Watch GILDED's book trailer here!

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by Beth, Christy, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 48. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the red team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

BONUS GIVEAWAY!

In addition to the main Scavenger Hunt, I've got a special giveaway only for the people who enter the Rafflecopter below! Your prize is a copy of the YA historical anthology I was lucky enough to be a part of, A Tyranny of Petticoats. The winner will get a signed, hardcover of the anthology, plus a special print designed for the book, plus something extra special that has to do with my upcoming novel, A World Without You that will come out in July! Open internationally, contest closes when the YA Scavenger Hunt closes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author!

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On Writing Violence

Today, I have to write a battle scene.

It necessary to the plot of the book. It's a story about war, and a war cannot be fought without a battle. And this particular battle is a turning point for my character, which means that I have make it hurt. Sacrifices will be made. I cannot sugarcoat this scene. It wouldn't be fair to the reader or the characters.

But before writing this scene, I got online. And saw the links to the terrorism attacks in Brussels.

And...I paused. I'd been plotting this scene in my head all morning, I knew just how I wanted to show it, which characters wouldn't make it and which would. But faced with the very real tragedy of Brussels--which, of course, reminded me of the other tragedies of terrorism and war throughout the world.

And suddenly this scene I wanted to write--needed to write--felt...wrong. There is so much violence in the world, real violence that has nothing at all to do with characters made of ink and paper. Part of my hesitation was in the fact that I didn't want to add more violence to an already violent world. Part of it was in the truth that I had not experienced this level of violence personally, what right did I have to tell a (fictional) version of anything so tragic?

It made me think--does the world need a book with more violence? But of course, the answer is yes. Because while my book takes place during a war, it's not about war. It's not about the violence either.

It's about surviving the violence and war and tragedy. It's about seeing the evils of the world and fighting anyway, with nothing more than the hope of a better world. It's about believing that you can make a difference, and that the price to make that difference is worthwhile.

Violence in real life is senseless and tragic and evil. Violence in fiction doesn't always have to be. Because the story I'm telling isn't about the story of war. It's not even the story of a soldier. It's the story of a person. And if I can show through fiction how wrong violence is, and that it's people who live through it and die by it, not random, faceless numbers, but people, then I have done what I can do with words to change the way the world is.

So I'm off to write my scene. And I write it with the knowledge of what's happened in the world, and the hope that one day, terrorism will only exist in ink and paper.

Attention Book Bloggers! How to Get Free Review Copies

Hey guys! I've got two books that are currently available for free to book bloggers! If you review books (even just on GoodReads or Amazon), you're welcome to sign up and try to get a copy--it costs you nothing but a second of time.

A World Without You is my first contemporary novel...but you guys know me, and I promise you it's weird and awesome and there's kissing but also a lot of tragedy and not everyone makes it out alive and maybe super powers are real and maybe they aren't, you have to figure it out for yourself.

It's about a boy who thinks he can travel through time, and he needs this power to save his girlfriend, trapped in the past. It's about a girl who thinks her brother is having mental delusions and is getting help at a school for emotionally disturbed kids. It's about the two of them--brother and sister--and the way their family is broken but also the way it's tied together.

It's a strange little book, but it's one of the most important things I think I've ever written, and I hope you like it.

TO REQUEST A REVIEW COPY OF A WORLD WITHOUT YOU, CLICK HERE.

My Paper Hearts series has also been selected for a short run on NetGalley, a program designed for reviewers to read copies for reviews. The first book, Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice is currently available for download!

My Paper Hearts series came about because so many of my readers also wanted to be writers. You guys probably know my (ridiculously long) journey toward publication. These are the books I wish I'd had before I was published, and they're the result of answering questions, posting articles, and joining discussions in the lit community for the past five plus years.

The first volume is all about the craft of writing, and it's less straight-instruction and more philosophy and advice. Nothing in writing is a simple answer--there is no right way to write--but there are methods that may be able to help, and standards to the business if you're seeking publication.

TO REQUEST A REVIEW COPY OF PAPER HEARTS, VOLUME 1: SOME WRITING ADVICE, CLICK HERE.

A Tyranny of Petticoats: Girls Kicking Butt in America!

It's March, which is Women's History month! It's also the month that A Tyranny of Petticoats comes out! This awesome collection of short stories--edited by the amazing Jessica Spotswood--follows women in America throughout history in fifteen awesome short stories.

This is seriously a collection not to miss--the stories are simply fantastic. One thing that struck me was the way women have often been ignored throughout history, and yet they quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) get things done. My own story is about a teacher on the frontier in the Wild West, and there's no doubt that the women who took a similar role had an integral part in shaping the West and, indeed, all of America. We don't know their names, we only know their legacy.

One of my favorite quotes is by Virginia Woolf: "For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." Not every important person in history is remembered, and most of the ones who are forgotten are women.

• The author of the first novel in the world was a woman
• The first computer programmer was a woman
• The first orphanage in America was established by a woman
• Women fought in the American Revolution and the Civil War
• Women played an integral role in abolishing lynching and establishing civil rights
• Without a woman, Lewis & Clark would totally have died, let's be real
• The most badass pirate ever was a woman
• A woman could struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
• A woman revolutionized India
• A woman used her skills as a runner to advocate for tribal peace
• A woman started a campaign to plant trees throughout Africa, affecting global environmentalism
• A woman's bravery changed the face of education for girls world-wide--despite the point-blank range bullet shot in her head by the Taliban in a failed effort to stop her 
• A woman helped shape Burmese history and democracy

How many of these women did you know? I have to admit--I learned a lot just by looking for more names to add to my ever-growing list of women to admire. And most of these women--despite changing the world--are forgotten. 

That's what I love so much about A Tyranny of Petticoats. While there are real-life women portrayed, it also shows the stories of women throughout history that are forgotten, nameless, but there. 

A Tyranny of Petticoats comes out March 8th, and if you pre-order from One More Page bookstore, you'll get a very limited edition print by Simini Blocker (which you can see to the left here). It's beautiful--don't miss out on this!