Strong reactions

*disclaimer* There are no plot spoilers in this post, however there ARE emotional responses discussed, so if you wish to avoid ANY possible reference to a certain third book in a certain trilogy with a main character named Tris, you may want to read this after you've finished the book. *warning over*







So I'm still in recovery mode over here today. I read a certain book last weekend, and without being too spoilery, it left me feeling a little shell-shocked. I'm sure you've heard (unless your head is under a rock or you have adamantly been refusing to look at anything online) that reactions to this book have been VERY strong, and not all of them have been positive.

As an author, my reaction is complicated. I think many reviews that I've seen have been knee-jerk reactions. But I've forced myself to sit on this for a bit, to think it through--to let the immediate strong emotions to simmer a bit. Whether you like the ending or not, there is one thing I think we can all agree on, Veronica Roth is an amazing author. If she weren't, she wouldn't have elicited this strong of a response by what she chose to do. And she wrote a fantastic (and brave) response to the questions about the ending of her series HERE.

As authors, we are constantly making choices. We are trying to stay true to the story in our hearts, and the voices of our characters in our heads. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the fact that reading is so subjective is simultaneously one of the most wonderful and terrifying aspects of being an author. No author, not even J.K. Rowling, can make every reader happy with what happens within the pages of their book. (Although she's probably come the closest of any author I've read.) But she still has the one and two star reviews, and people who were mad about one thing or another in the Harry Potter series. On the whole though, most authors don't come anywhere near the kind of universal adoration that her books received. Do we all dream of that? Probably. I think we'd be lying if we said no.

The bottom line is that both Roth and Rowling accomplished something great: they elicited very strong reactions in their readers, and that means they made us care. And not just care, but care deeply.

Here's a true confession. I don't know if it's because of my internal editor, or just that I read SO MUCH, or being a writer myself, but for some reason, it has become incredibly hard to make me cry in a book. The only two fiction novels that have done it (that I can think of off the top of my head, and excluding writing my own, which can be very emotional) in the last ten years were The Deathly Hallows and Code Name Verity. Until last weekend. So, what does that mean to me? Regardless of whether I liked or didn't like the ending, Veronica Roth made me cry, and that means she did something right.

With my own book on the verge of being released (just over two months left!!), I have both excitement and trepidation for what lies ahead. I know that not everyone will understand my story the way I intended it to be understood, and not everyone will love my characters the way I love them. That's just the nature of our jobs as authors. We give our readers our best effort, we give them a piece of us, and they take and do with it what they will. Even though I know that, I also know it will still be hard to see or hear about negative reviews. Our books are such a part of us, that of course it stings if someone doesn't "get" them, or if they did but still didn't like it. (I wrote another post about that recently that you can read HERE.) But I also know that there will be those out there who will meet Alexa and Marcel, Rylan and Damian, and they will fall in love with all of them. Maybe some of you will even come to love them the way I do. And that is what sharing my book with the world is all about.

We all have books that reached out to us, past our minds, straight into our hearts and souls. The books that transported us out of our own lives to reside, at least for a time, somewhere else. Somewhere different. Somewhere unique and wonderful, with characters who felt completely real to us. We yearned with those characters, we ached with them. We triumphed with them. We fell in love right alongside them. And we warred with the need to finish and the desire to savor the experience, as we flipped page after page after page, our hearts racing.

That's what I hope for the most. I long to have someone, somewhere experience that through the pages of DEFY. But second to that, I hope that you feel something when you read it. Whether you love it or hate it, devour it or want to throw it at the wall, my job as a writer is to make you feel. Veronica Roth did that, J.K. Rowling did, Elizabeth Wein, and so many others--and all in different ways. I could compile a huge list here of authors who I admire and whose books have touched my life and inspired me, but this post is long enough.

In the end, that's what it all comes down to, isn't it? The desire to understand each other better, to feel connected, or validated, or not quite so alone, even if it's through a boy wizard, or a WWII POW, or a girl living in factions in an experimental future society. Or maybe even a young woman forced to disguise herself and use her skills at sword-fighting to carve out the best life she can, in the depths of a jungle kingdom immersed in a brutal war against magic.

So tell me, what are some of the books that have touched you the most--or made you feel the strongest reactions?

 

And the winner is....

It was a very tight race! (Which was expected because all the covers were just WOW. So amazing!)

But there can only be one winner...


And the mock cover you all chose was....


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Cover #1 by Heather Senter!!!

Congratulations Heather!!! And thank you for creating such a gorgeous mock-cover for DEFY! I hope you enjoy the book!! Make sure to email me your address and I'll get it out to you as soon as possible.

Thanks again everyone for participating! And don't forget, if you didn't win, there is a goodreads giveaway being hosted by This Is Teen that runs until Nov. 1! CLICK HERE

And I will be hosting another giveaway next month as well, so watch for that! (And this one will be much easier to to do, for us non-artistic types.)

Happy Friday and happy reading!

DEFY ARC Winner + a vote

Wow, thank you for the amazing response for my DEFY arc giveaway!! I still can't believe we're almost down to 2 months until my book is out there in the wild! But for two lucky people, they won't have to wait any longer to read Alexa's story...

Rafflecopter has spoken and the winner of the first DEFY ARC is....

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Entry 121: AMIE!!!! 


YAY!! Congratulations!!! *throws confetti*

Check your inbox! (You have one week to respond, or I will have to pick a new winner. So hurry and write back!)


And now, for the cover contest....

You guys are just too dang talented!! I am blown away by these awesome mock-covers, and honestly, I just can't choose one by myself, because I love them all!

So, here's what's going to happen. I'm putting it to a vote. Here are your choices, numbered in no particular order. Please vote in the comments, by saying which cover (by number) you like the best. The artist with the most votes by Friday afternoon at 12:00 (noon) MST, will be the winner of the second DEFY arc!!

Are you ready for this??? Here they are!

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There you have them!! Can you see why I had such a hard time?!?! Absolutely amazing and unique--every one of them!

So now it's your turn to decide the fate of our entries. Which one will win? It's up to you!  Good luck!!

3 months until DEFY comes out ARC GIVEAWAY!!

Well, it's hard to believe it, but we're down to 3 months until DEFY comes out as of today October 7!!

So, as promised, I'm doing my first DEFY ARC giveaway to celebrate! Last week, I gave you the chance to win DEFY swag by giving me an idea of what to do for the giveaway...but there were quite a few good options to choose from. I wish I could have picked them all, but there were too many. However, instead of just picking one, since there's three months left until the book comes out, I choose three!

Yep. 3.

Here's how it will work: I'm going to do a giveaway each month until DEFY releases, and each month I'm going to use one of the three ideas I picked.

First up is Nova Lee's idea to have you make a mock cover of DEFY! (Nova Lee, make sure and message me your address so I can send you the DEFY swag you won!)

Now, let me just say, I LOVE my cover. It's so perfect for my book. But her idea sounded like a lot of fun--to see what all of you amazingly talented artists/photoshop geniuses/etc. can come up with! (Especially since I have absolutely no artistic talent at all...sorry, but there won't be any cool doodles in any of my signed books. Unless you like stick figures.) However, those of you who are like me, and don't have artistic talent--don't give up yet! Keep reading until the end.

Anyone who does wish to try their hand at the mock cover contest, you will have two weeks to do it--the contest ends at midnight on October 20th, the winner will be announced the week of the 21st. I picked this idea first because it's going to take more effort, and I figured it would be better to do it before the holidays all start to hit and life gets insanely busy.

Here is the goodreads summary to help you decide how to design your cover:

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.

The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

And here is the actual cover art, to show you what Scholastic came up with: 

Oh, how I love this cover!! It's so perfect on so many levels. 

Once your cover art is ready, please post the image on your blog, or tweet a picture of it to me (@SaraBLarson), or you can tag me on a Facebook post of the cover you create. Just make sure you link to me somehow so I can see that you did it and enter it in the contest. I will pick ONE cover, the that I love the most and think is the best fit for DEFY, to win a signed ARC of DEFY!!

Now, like I said, I know not everyone has artistic talent (especially since I'm one of them), so I've decided that in order to make it fair, I'm also going to do a regular rafflecopter giveaway for a SECOND ARC of DEFY. Yes, you will all have 2 chances to win!! Just do however many options you want below, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

I can't wait to see what you all come up with!! And remember, if you don't win either ARC of DEFY this month, don't give up--there are two more contests coming up in November and December!

*(This contest is open to US/Canada residents only, as per my publisher's instructions.)*

GOOD LUCK and happy cover-making! :-)


a Rafflecopter giveaway