Winner of MadLib + Something Awesome!

You guys, these MadLibs were SO hysterical! I was rolling on the floor laughing.
But, we'll get to that in a minute. First, I have some AWESOME news!





DEFY was selected for the Winter 2013-2014 Kids' Indie Next List!!!




I am SO unbelievably excited and honored to have my book be chosen for this list! I've seen so many wonderful books make the previous lists, and it still seems slightly surreal that DEFY is now one of them! THANK YOU for loving DEFY and choosing it for your list!!


I also want to take a quick moment to remind you of this Pre-Order Madness post. If you've already pre-ordered DEFY, make sure you click through to enter to possibly win an awesome THANK YOU gift! And if you're still thinking about it, click through to find out how to pre-order a signed/personalized copy of DEFY from my local bookseller, The King's English! (They're awesome, so I hope you'll help me support them--and you can get a signed/personalized book of your very own, even if I don't live anywhere near you!)

Okay, now, on to the MadLibs!



This was TOUGH you guys. I had to assemble a panel of judges to decide the winner. We laughed so hard at so many. We narrowed it down to the top three, and then, finally, we found our winner....

MadLib scene from DEFY (with some verbs changed for tense):

"Nice job, Alex. Don’t DROOL to the prince. We all know he

couldn’t use a YO-YO if his life depended on it.” Rylan SNORT-LAUGHED at

me with an approving smile when I WINKED over to him and the

other men who’d been watching.

I CARTWHEELED, modulating my tone to keep the sound of my

amusement low and as BLUBBERY as possible. I’d been doing it

for so long, I didn’t even have to think about it anymore. Trying

to sound like a WHISKER was natural to me now. “When have I ever

cared what the prince thinks? The day I start taking advice about

WHIRLING from him will be the day Marcel can finally beat me.”

Rylan SHREDDED. “True. I think Marcel’s going to be feeling

that hit for a few days.”

“Well,” I replied, “it’s always good to give him a reminder of

why I’m going to beat him out for the captainship someday.” I

chucked my UNICORN through the air and Asher TICKLED it at the last second, just before it hit him in the chest.

I mean, how can you beat tickling a unicorn? We died laughing over that. Do you know who won yet? It was ANNE RILEY!! Congrats Anne! Email me your address so I can send you the signed ARC! :-)

Now, anyone curious to know what it really says in the book? Here you go! 

The real version:

   "Nice job, Alex. Don’t listen to the prince. We all know he

couldn’t use a sword if his life depended on it.” Rylan nodded at

me with an approving smile when I walked over to him and the

other men who’d been watching.

   I laughed, modulating my tone to keep the sound of my

amusement low and as unfeminine as possible. I’d been doing it

for so long, I didn’t even have to think about it anymore. Trying

to sound like a boy was natural to me now. “When have I ever

cared what the prince thinks? The day I start taking advice about

fighting from him will be the day Marcel can finally beat me.”

   Rylan laughed. “True. I think Marcel’s going to be feeling

that hit for a few days.”

   “Well,” I replied, “it’s always good to give him a reminder of

why I’m going to beat him out for the captainship someday.” I

chucked my sword through the air and Asher grabbed it at the last

second, just before it hit him in the chest.

Thanks again everyone for participating! 

2 MONTHS until DEFY ARC Contest!

Have you looked at the date yet today? It's November 7th.

NOVEMBER 7TH MEANS IT'S ONLY 2 MONTHS UNTIL DEFY IS OUT!!

*ahem* Sorry about that outburst. I'm only a *little* bit excited. 

But, hey, there's reason for you to be excited, too! That means it's time for another DEFY arc giveaway! 

This time, I'm making it much easier. This idea was submitted by Nikki Wang--congrats Nikki!! (please email me your info, so I can send you the DEFY swag you've won!) Her idea was to do a mad-lib with a scene from DEFY. So fun, right? 

Okay, here goes! All you need to do is write your answers in your comment:

For example, if the first one were a noun, I'd write in my commment: "1. Noun = (the noun I picked)" then "2. adjective = (adjective I picked)" and so on until you did them all. 

I will pick the best one, post it for your enjoyment and that person will win the arc! 

Easy, peasy right? 

Here are your options--I tried to make this easy, so hopefully everyone can participate. 

1. VERB

2. NOUN

3. VERB

4. VERB

5. VERB

6. ADJECTIVE

7. NOUN

8. VERB

9. VERB

10. NOUN

11. VERB

Remember to leave your responses in the comments. You have until Wednesday, November 13 at midnight to enter!

Also--don't forget, if you've already pre-ordered DEFY, or if you're thinking about it, you have a chance to win one of two pretty awesome THANK YOU packs--details can be found in THIS POST. (Including info on how to pre-order a signed copy of DEFY!)

Good luck everyone, and happy Mad-Libbing! (is that even a word?)