WINNER of DEFY ARC + Extracted Blog Tour!

Thank you all so much for your excitement about my German deal and for DEFY in general!! It really means so much to me. I can't truly express how happy it makes me whenever anyone writes me to tell me how excited they are to read my book, or if they've read an ARC and loved it and want to tell me....it's just an absolute dream come true.

And I truly wish everyone who entered could win, but alas, only one person can get lucky on this Friday the 13th. Rafflecopter has spoken and that person is...

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PEGGY WHEELER EDDLEMAN!!!!

YAY! Congratulations Peggy!! As soon as you send me your address, I will send your signed ARC of DEFY to you! I hope you enjoy it!!

Also just one more tidbit of good news! Booklist thinks DEFY has "...grand adventure, romance, and thrilling political intrigue." I'd say that's a pretty accurate description! It's always wonderful to get a good review like that!



Now, on to the Extracted Blog Tour!

I haven't had a chance to read EXTRACTED yet but I met Tyler Jolley last year at a conference where he told me about it, and wow did it sound awesome! Here's the blurb:

EXTRACTED:

Welcome to the war. The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it. The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens--their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream. Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war. When Lex's girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It's there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back. Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both again.

Now to a guest post by Tyler!

This past May, Sherry, and I were honored to attend Book Expo America.  Naturally, we were very nervous and the normal insecurities started creep into our heads.  What if no one stops at our booth?  What if no one cares about Extracted?  What if I can’t fit into my steeplejacks?  

One of the awesome things about working with a smaller publisher is that you get actual face time with the owner and editors, and we love that.  One of the down sides is that you don’t have a million dollar marketing budget.  With that said, our publisher couldn’t advertise that we were there.  So we got creative and spent months preparing and trying to create buzz.  We were the first signing on the first day – not a lot of time to get word out at the conference.  Our plan was to hand out 3-inch mustaches on a sick that had our booth number and signing info on the back to the bloggers at the Javits Center.  Easy enough, right?  WRONG.  Trying to find 1,000 paper mustaches was next to impossible.  Then on we whim, we decided to contact a vendor on Etsy who was incredibly accommodating and made it happen.  Who would have ever thought that we’d be spending our first night in NYC attaching sticks to the back of mustaches? The next day we managed to hand out 800 in 15 minutes, and it’s a good thing we did.  We saw people sporting their mustaches all weekend.  Everyone knew who we were.

When it got close to the signing, we nervously sat down and waited for the doors to open.  Within 3 minutes we had people rushing us.  The moment we had a line I almost passed out.  The fact that my steeplejacks that were at least two sizes too small may have contributed to that.  Sherry planned a little better than me and ditched her corset for a steampunk jacket.  Smart lady. 

Meeting people who had been anxiously awaiting an ARC (advance read copy) of Extracted was one of the most thrilling moments of my life.  I couldn’t believe we not only had a line, but actually ran out of copies in 40 minutes. It was wonderful and we can’t wait to attend BEA 2015.  

Bio:

Tyler H. Jolley is a sci-fi/fantasy author and full-time orthodontist, periodontist (see: Overachiever). He divides his spare time between writing, reading, mountain biking, and camping with his family.

Sherry D. Ficklin is a full-time writer and internet radio show host with more mouth then good sense. She has a serious book addiction, but continually refuses treatment, much to her husband’s chagrin.

Tyler and Sherry met one fateful day and bonded over their love for books, science fiction, and donuts. Their first co-written novel came shortly after. Now, they still do all those other things, but also go to various steampunk conventions and events under the guise of ‘research’. They can often be found lurking on the Lost Imperials Facebook page or over on the official website, www.thelostimperials.com.

Click through to buy and make sure to enter the giveaway!

Preorder link US amazon: http://amzn.to/14JLNuA

Preorder link UK amazon: http://amzn.to/17o8zZp

Preorder link b&n: http://bit.ly/13SCJ3P

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1 Month until DEFY giveaway! (+ some AWESOME news!)

So, some of you may have seen my little teaser post on Twitter or FB about having good news to share....wanna know what it is??

I've been sitting on this news for a quite a while, so I'm pretty darn excited to finally get to tell you all that DEFY sold to Germany in an AUCTION earlier this year!!!!!!!

My book is going to get TRANSLATED into GERMAN and get a shiny German cover and everything!!! I'm so excited to have cbj Verlag  (which is part of Random House) publish my book! Now...do any of my friends sprechen Sie Deutsch? :):)

I think this calls for a little Loki celebration!!

 You're welcome.

There's no real reason why I added Thor to this post except that he's hot and I like to look at him.

That alone is worth celebrating, right? But that's not all...

There's only 1 month left until DEFY publishes (well, technically it'll be one month in two days, but that's a Saturday so I'm giving you a little jumpstart). You know what that means?? It's time for my last giveaway of an ARC of DEFY!!!

This month has gotten crazy in a hurry, so I'm making it super simple this time. Just a straightforward Rafflecopter giveaway. Do as many or as few options as you'd like, and boosh! You're entered!

This giveaway is open to US and Canada only.

This giveaway will run for one week, and I will announce the winner on Friday, December 13! (Do you think Friday the 13th will by your lucky day?? Better enter to find out!)

Good luck!!

Now I better get back to running around like a crazy person....


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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?)

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!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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! :-)


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On overcoming doubt...

I think one of the hardest ongoing battles we authors fight is the war against doubt.

We come up with ideas, that to us seem unique and exciting. We love our characters. We pour our heart and souls into our books. They are a piece of us. But if what we want is to get published, then we have to take all of that hope and love and blood, sweat, and tears, and package it up in a little email and hit send. All with the prayer that someone is going to read what we wrote and ask to read some more. And maybe, hopefully, love it as much as we do, and ask to represent us.

Then you get to do it all over again when your agent sends your book out to editors.

Now, in a perfect, wonderful world, you would write your book, send it to ten agents, get ten offers, and then sell at auction within a week of going on submission. Right? Ah... the dream.

The reality is that most of us get to go through this horrible little detour on our path to success called REJECTION. Over the seven years it took for me to get my publishing deal, I accumulated hundreds of rejections. HUNDREDS people. That starts to sting after a while, no matter how nicely worded they were.

Enter my old nemesis: DOUBT.

When you keep getting told no, it's hard not to doubt yourself. To not start to wonder if your story is original enough (without being TOO original, because that can be scary to publishing folks, too). It's hard not to look at this piece of your heart and soul and wonder if it isn't good enough. And unfortunately, that can bleed over into real life. At least it did for me. Oftentimes I started to wonder if I wasn't good enough.

But here's the thing: the rejection never really ends. Not even after you do get an agent who loves your book as much as you do. Not even after an editor nabs your book and showers it with love and praise. Not even if you do sell at auction and get a hundred starred reviews, and make the top of every list.  (Which I obviously didn't or haven't, but I'm using my imagination here...) There will still be those who don't like you book, who maybe even attack it--and maybe even you.

And that doubt can wiggle and worm it's way into the happiest of moments, if you let it, because there will ALWAYS be people who don't like your writing, or your characters, or you-name-it. Reading is so subjective, which is simultaneously the most wonderful and terrifying part of being an author. It means, even if one person didn't like it, someone else will. But the opposite is also true.

So how do you handle it? How do you overcome the doubts and fears and rejection and keep going?

You surround yourself with people who love you and support you. You take part in real life, not just the book world. I'm lucky enough to be friends with some authors who are much wiser than I am, who help  teach me how to deal with all of this much better than I otherwise would. In fact, I was having a conversation with Ally Condie recently about all of this--dealing with doubt/rejection/etc, and she said some things that really stuck with me. She told me that when someone says something mean about your books or writing or anything else it hurts your feelings, but when something bad happens to your kids, that's what really kills you. (And this is true of all moms, I'm sure.) She told me, "I love my books, but my books are not my babies. My BABIES are my babies." And that is the honest truth--and something that has really stuck in my mind. My true loves are my husband, my children, and my family and my friends. My books and my characters are a huge part of me, and it hurts when people don't like them. But, as the release of DEFY grows ever closer, and more and more people start reading it, I know that I am going to have to deal with both sides of this equation: the love and the dislike that is bound to come.

And on the days when I struggle with doubt, because those negative reviews are going to come, and I know it, I will go read a couple of the letters and reviews that brought tears to my eyes because they were so wonderful. I will reread the letter my editor wrote me in the front of my arc. I will remember all the rejections that got me to where I am now, and know that not everyone is going to love my book and that's okay.

And then I will go hug my real babies, and remember that in the end, I did the best I could. I wrote the best book I could. I love DEFY, I love Alexa and Rylan and Damian, and in the end, that is what matters. And then I will go play another game of hide-and-go-seek with my kids.

So what's the point of this long post? I guess this: I don't have a magic formula to make it so you never have to suffer from rejection or doubt or fear. It's always there. Even for authors who have multiple published books and all sorts of accolades. There is always the fear of rejection. There are always the doubts, the worries that this time, they're going to figure out that you are a fraud. So all any of us can do is write the best book we know how, never give up, and when the day comes that you do get published, try to focus on the good. And then go outside, go for a walk, play with your kids, talk to a friend, go to a movie or to a football game or whatever it is that you enjoy.


And if I ever get down because of a bad review, will you remind me to do the same thing? Thanks. :-)


Now, for those of you who actually made it to the bottom of this post, congrats!! Here's your reward: Next week marks the 3 month mark until DEFY comes out! So, on October 7, I am going to start my first contest to win a signed ARC of DEFY + chances for signed swag for a few other lucky people!!

Here's the catch: I'm still trying to decide what exactly to do for this contest. Give me a suggestion in the comments, and if I love your idea enough to pick it, you'll win signed DEFY swag! So put on those thinking caps, and give it your best shot! (I reserve the right to not pick anyone's if nothing feels quite right. But I have faith that you will come up with something awesome!) Good luck!