Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Spring 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt Fun!! #YASH


Hey! Welcome to my stop on the YA Scavenger Hunt Trail!


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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 NINE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the TEAM GREEN –but there is also a red team, a gold team, an orange team, a teal team, a purple team, a pink team, a silver team, and a blue 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.

***THE SCAVENGER HUNT FINE PRINT***
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve hidden my favorite number in the post. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the indie 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.

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LET THE HUNT BEGIN!


~MEET RACHEL SHANE, AUTHOR OF RHYTHM AND CLUES~

Rachel Shane is the author of YA books ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH, KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD, and RHYTHM & CLUES, plus the New Adult Romance series that begins with PREMATURE EVACUATION. She's been a computer animator, an ebook creator for a publisher, and now she works as a Project Manager for a software company where she enjoys telling people what to do. She lives in NJ with her husband, young daughter, and a basement full of books. Visit Rachel at www.rachelshane.com for more!

~ABOUT RHYTHM AND CLUES~




Seventeen year-old “Moxie" Crane's mother ruins her social life without ever stepping foot into her school. As if driving away her father and lying about it all these years isn't enough, Moxie's classmates discover her mother moonlights as a stripper, branding virginal Moxie with a reputation she can never live up to. Instead of getting upset, she gets tough, owning her outcast status and putting up a care-free front. But loneliness and a band audition advertisement lead her to Gavin Tully, a teen homeschooled for mysterious reasons who defies his parents’ strict rules to secretly start a band.

They each have something the other wants: he's enamored by her free-spirit life, and she’s jealous of his overprotective, yet supportive family. Moxie teaches Gavin how to rebel and Gavin makes her feel like part of his family…until his parents catch them and force him back under their prison-like rules. Desperate to be a free spirit like Moxie, he takes the rebellion too far and runs away from home, leaving behind a breadcrumb trail of clues only Moxie can decipher.

But when Moxie discovers his parents aren’t just strict…they're in hiding from a dangerous enemy, she sets out to find Gavin and rescue him the way he saved her.



~Deleted scene from RHYTHM AND CLUES~


The hotel clerk reaches under her desk and pulls out a box of tissues. “Calm down. What’s your brother’s name?”

Sabrina grabs a tissue, then blows her nose. She abruptly stops crying, peering at the clerk over her tissue. “Gavin Tully.”

The clerk types away at a computer. She purses her lips. “It says he checked out yesterday.”

Sabrina’s eyes widen. “Wait. What?”

“Oh.” The concierge taps a few more keys. “What’s your name?”

Sabrina gives it to her. The clerk bends underneath the desk. She places a puffy envelope on the counter and slides it toward Sabrina. “He left you this package.”

Sabrina snatches it from the counter and waves for us to follow her. My heart thumps as we leave the hotel and crowd around Isla’s SUV. Sabrina tears open the envelope, exposing Gavin’s audio recorder.

His mp3 recorder? I lean against the car to keep my balance, my nerves rocketing. He would never give up these precious items unless he had a good reason.

Predictably, a post-it note covers the front of the audio recorder. It says: Play the files in order. Don’t let anyone else hear. And be careful. If you got this envelope, it means this whole thing is up to you now.

Panic climbs up my spine. If this is all up to us now…did that mean Gavin was in trouble?




Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on Team Green and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize! I've always been pretty good at keeping secrets.
I could probably tell you 8 secrets right now. ;)


Sunday, March 20, 2016

Happy Spring!

I'm so glad winter is over! This one sucked, big time. I just want to get out and see some flowers and grow some tomatoes finally. I'm getting a new greenhouse, so it's only a matter of time until I can.  Whee! Happy Spring peeps :)









Crossroads and Character Building in Your Writing




Everyone of us makes choices. Every day we make probably a dozen small choices, so small we may not even realize we're doing it. But every now and then we look up and find ourselves at a crossroads, faced with a  major life choice that will tip the balance of our fate one way or the other and have repercussions for many years to come.

Do I go to college or go directly to work?

    Do I finish high school or drop out?

          Do I have kids? Do I get married?

     Do I follow my dreams into the unknown or do I stick with the tried and true?

               Do I allow others to dictate my choices or do I go my own way?

It's said our choices make us who we are. The same is true of our favorite fictional characters. Every main character should have a pivotal choice to make in your story, and that choice should make all the difference in how the events unfold.



In Vessel, Alana is a slave, but she makes the choice to free the prisoners that help her escape too. If Alana never made that bold choice, the story would not have come to pass and she would have died a slave. Certainly not as thrilling as striving for something more, is it?

What is the major crossroads your character starts at and how will their choices make or break the story?