YA Scavenger Hunt

Post Title:  YA Scavenger Hunt

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 Purple 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 purple 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 1, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today, I am hosting Jenny Martin on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt! Jenny Martin is an author and librarian. Her first novel, Tracked, was named one of Paste Magazine’s and Teen Magazine’s ‘Best Books of 2015’, and its sequel, Marked, will be released May 17th, 2016. Jenny is also an experienced presenter and panelist who’s appeared at events such as Texas Teen Book Festival and San Diego Comic Con. She lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with her husband and son, where she hoards books and writes new ones. And yes, she’s still on a quest for the perfect pancake.

 

Find out more information by checking out the author website or find more about the author’s book here! Jenny Martin

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

[The Fast and the Furious gets a science fiction twist in this action-packed debut!

On corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee’s legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn’t stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble. When she and her best friend, Bear, attract the attention of Charles Benroyal, they are blackmailed into racing for Benroyal Corp, a company that represents everything Phee detests. Worse, Phee risks losing Bear as she falls for Cash, her charming new teammate. But when she discovers that Benroyal is controlling more than a corporation, Phee realizes she has a much bigger role in Castra’s future than she could ever have imagined. It’s up to Phee to take Benroyal down. But even with the help of her team, can a street-rat destroy an empire?

 

Note from Jenny: Tracked’s sequel, Marked, releases May 17^th. (I can’t wait, you guys. Can’t. Wait.) This excerpt, from Chapter Five, is between my protagonist, Phee, and fan-favorite, Bear Larssen.

Enjoy!

I stand by the fire for a long time, even as most of the soldiers and their families trickle away, their tired faces still candle-bright and hopeful. Behind me, a soft hiss as an ember’s trampled. A deep, warm exhale. I turn, and Bear is at my shoulder.

“Funny,” he says. “No matter where we go, trouble finds us.”

There’s a glimmer there, in his eyes. A little piece of us, still shining.

“Trouble finds me, you mean.” I pull on an old smile. “If you were smart, you’d stay away. Ditch me altogether.” He’s quiet, and suddenly I’m wrecked. The Bear I used to know wouldn’t hesitate. Never, he’d declare. I’d never leave you. But I’m not sure I know this boy—this man—standing beside me. He turns up the collar of his jacket, scaring off the evening chill. When he finally grins, it takes me by surprise.

“Maybe,” he says. “Can’t say.”

I huff. Just a little. “Can’t say? Well, for sun’s sake, don’t reassure me or anything.”

“Hmm . . .” He strokes his chin, smiling even wider. “Ask me again tomorrow.”

I laugh, on edge. This new, cheeky self-assurance. I don’t know what to do with it.

Our eyes meet, and I mark the smaller things; the hundred little changes in him. How much shorter his hair is these days. Military cut, perfectly trimmed. But even clean- shaven, he can’t quite lose the day’s-end shadow of dark blond whiskers. They roughen him up, sharpening his once gentle face.

He coughs when the breeze sends another cindery plume our way. “Earlier, I stood in the chow line with Yamada’s daughter, Miyu. She seems all right.”

“Oh?” I strain to keep my voice light. “And what did you two talk about?”

He ignores my question. Looks me dead in the eye. “Have you decided?”

And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Kassy Tayler, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 4. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the purple team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

CONTINUE THE HUNT

 

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

 

 

A day in my life

I wrote this post for an event I did with some other authors at the Romantic Times conference a few years ago. It was fun to see, especially since my life has changed so much in the past few years since Hayes came along. Anyway, here’s a typical day in my life.

A day in the life of Cindy Holby

8:00. Wake up to the sight of a loudly purring kitty on my chest. Can’t move legs because of another kitty. Third kitty beside me. All three giving me feed me now stare.

Let dog out. Open can of cat food while cats climb my leg. Feed two cats. Spoon feed picky cat and rub her tummy. Let dog in. Let cat out. Let cat in. Let another cat out. Let first cat out again. Keep kitten from dashing outside. Stand at door for five minutes while two cats decide which one will walk in first. Let dog out. Let dog back in. Then repeat above process with cats all over again.

Send plays to all my words with friends games. Check face book, check twitter, check email.

9:00 Go to gym for cardio and weights. Tell dog how wonderful he is when I come home and he meets me at the door.

10:00 check facebook, twitter and shower. Pick up house and laundry. Keep kitten from knocking everything off bathroom counter.

11:00 Commence writing. Picky cat decided writing position is also proper I want attention position. Cat sits on keyboard directly in front of monitor. Check fb incessantly and play spider solitaire 80 million times. Remove cat from desk. Agonize over small word count. Check fb and play spider solitaire another 80 million times. Pet cat.

1:00 Fix lunch and repeat above process of letting cats in and out. Carry lunch and cookies to office. Decide to write 10,000 words today. Check fb and play spider solitaire until 4:00.

4:00 Walk dog. Start dinner or make plans for dinner. Actually write and be under full head of steam when its time to eat/leave for dinner.

7:00 Ballroom dancing class.

9:00 Catch up on TV or write if nothing good on DVR until dog demands another potty break. Repeat cats in and out process for next fifteen minutes.

12:00 Go to bed and spend next hour in self recrimination because didn’t write enough. Repeat next day.

Cisco

Herding Cats

Herding Cats pretty much describes my life in the past year.  Since October 2011, we have had a wedding for my youngest son, and then a few weeks later we lost my dad, which was not un-expected as he’d been dealing with a lot of health issues.  In January my oldest announced his engagement and my youngest, the newlywed announced that we were going to be grandparents in September. In May our oldest broke up with his finance for all the right reasons and met somebody else.  In September my oldest announced he was getting married the end of October of 2012 and the same week, Hayes was born.  During this time I also wrote two books while promoting the release of three.

Deep breath.  Did I mention that these two books are totally different genres and published by two different houses under two different names?

If you are a writer, writing keeps you sane.  But it is also very difficult to write when your life is spinning out of control.  Writing is such a mental state, especially for women.  We are geared to take care of ourselves last, so we make sure everyone and everything else is perfect before we concentrate on ourselves and our writing. Is the house clean? The laundry done?  Then you get to the point where your realize the book has to be done and everything else has to wait whether it wants to or not.  But when your father dies or your grandchild is born the writing has to stop.

The last weekend I spent with my dad was a long one in the hospital.  I had a book due in two weeks and I had to just take a deep breath and say it doesn’t matter.  I didn’t know at the time that he would be dead within ten days.  I just knew he was in the hospital.  So I left everything behind and just went and sat with him.  He slept most of the time, but that was okay.  Every time he woke up I was there.  We watched baseball, his favorite sport, and luckily his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals was making a run for the series. I look back and have no regrets about that time I spent with him.  The book still got done, and even though I turned it in four months late, it still got published for its release date.

The same with Hayes, my grandson.  I rushed a book because I was trying to beat his arrival.  I turned it in on Wednesday and he was born on Sunday.  Holding him was more important that writing.  And I knew the book could be bettered during revisions.  And it was.  (just turned those in early even with a wedding)

We are all herding cats and burning soup.  Our lives are busy.  But take time for the important things.  My dad was proud of me and hopefully Hayes will say, hey my Mimi writes books.  But she always has time for me.

We’ll see how that works out as I keep him part time while his mom works.  Baby sitting and writing.  There are some moms who do it.  I admire them greatly.  Now if I can just find time to knit!

Cisco

You can find more info about my diverse personalities at www.cindyholby.com or www.kassytayler.com.  As Cindy Holby I write historical westerns and my latest is Colorado Heart.  As Kassy Tayler I write YA dystopian and Ashes Of Twilight is a best of November feature on Apple iBooks and Huffington Post declared it as a likely successor to Hunger Games.  You can follow my crazy life on twitter at www.twitter.com/cholby or more about my YA series at www.twitter.com/kassytayler.

I also work with animal rescue and have a blog about it. www.wordpress.com/authorsforanimals

The Birth of a Story

A lot of authors are asked, where do you get your ideas? My answer is a lot of little things contribute and come together to make a story.  But then again, sometimes the story surprises you.  Ashes Of Twilight certainly surprised me.  The decision to write steampunk came about naturally.  I write historicals as Cindy Holby and sci/fi as Colby Hodge so combining the two made a lot of sense when I was searching for a way to break back into the market place.

The dome came from an old Star Trek episode that stayed with me all these years. “For The World is Hollow and I have Touched The Sky” is the name of the episode, and the line that haunted me.  From this memory, came Wren, my heroine, and a vision of her lying on her back, staring up at a glass sky and wondering what was beyond it.

But it wasn’t enough for Wren to be trapped in the dome; I took it a step further and made her part of a people who are trapped underground. She became a coal miner that provided fuel for the dome.  This idea came from my history.  Both of my grandfathers were coal miners in West Virginia.  I also lost an Uncle and as a result of his death a cousin to a coal mining accident.  Around the time of the conception of Ashes Of Twilight, there was a major mining accident in West Virginia.  It reminded me of the story my grandfather told me about my Uncle.  When he came home from the service he looked everywhere for a job but there was none to be had except in the mines.  He confided to his father that he knew in his heart that if he went into the mines he would die, but he had no choice. He had a wife and daughter to provide for, with another baby on the way, (Robin, who died at age two). And he did indeed die, just a few weeks after going into the mines.  So I made Wren as coal miner as a tribute to my uncle and cousin and all the others who have died in the mines.  Their names are in the front of the book as a dedication.

This blog was originally posted at Fresh Fiction.  You can learn more about my Kassy Tayler books at www.kassytayler.com  

The Next Best Thing!

I’ve been tagged by the lovely Leigh Evans to take place in this fun meme where we talk about what we’re working on and then tag another author. So here goes!

1) What is the working title of your next book?

Shadows of Glass is my next release. Remnants Of Tomorrow is the one I’m working on.  Since my editor loves the title I think it will stick!
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

Its the third book in my Ashes trilogy, where hopefully everything will get wrapped up and Wren will live happily ever after.  With who is still open to discussion.
3) What genre does your book fall under?

Young Adult Steampunk Dystopian
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? 

Shay Mitchell as Wren and Chace Crawford as Pace.  I have a pinterest page dedicated to the casting.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Wren MacAvoy didn’t mean to start a revolution, she just wanted to be free to choose.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My book is published by the wonderful people at St. Martins Press under the Griffin imprint.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Around five months.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Hunger Games and City Of Embers.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

A recent coal mining accident in West Virginia and a story my grandfather told me about my Uncle, who died in a mining accident.  Add in an old Star Trek episode and thats how it came about.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Its a story about finding your own voice in a world where having a voice is discouraged.  Its about standing up for what you believe in and realizing the consequences of your actions.  In other words, its a coming of age story.

Time to tag! I’m tagging Donna Steel who is one of my writing chapter mates.

Introducing Shadows Of Glass

There aren’t enough words in my vocabulary to describe the love I have for this cover. Shadows Of Glass will be released July 23, 2013 and its the second book in my Ashes trilogy.  

When Fiction Becomes Fact

I am very much a pantser when it comes to writing. A pantser is one who just sits down at the computer and sees what happens. Oh sure, I know the general plot of my story, but I don’t narrow it down to every little detail with outlines and notes.

When I wrote Angel’s End during the spring of 2011 I was full of optimism. After all I’d just gotten two new contracts with two different houses to write two totally different series. I’d been through a rough time with my career while trying to move to a different house and prayed every day that I would be able to continue to write. After all God had given me this gift, why wouldn’t he want me to use it? I realized when writing Cade’s story that it was about my journey of keeping the faith, even when you think God’s not listening.

I’m also very much an animal lover. I knew my heroine, Leah, would have a dog and Dodger became a very central character to the book. Also, because of the few plot points I did have in mind, I had several stray animals show up, due to their families being wiped out by a Measles epidemic. One of these was a fluffy gray kitten that I named Ashes after my young adult series, Ashes Of Twilight, which will be released this November.

Fast forward to last winter. I happened to see a random post on Face Book about a cat available for adoption at our local shelter. The cat looked just like Ashes. I had recently lost my dad to heart disease and wanted desperately to do something good in his honor. I asked my husband, who is very patient when it comes to my love of animals if he minded if I adopted this cat. His immediate response was NO! We have enough. I thought I could convince him, but Katie was put to sleep before I could persuade him. I was devastated. I’m pretty sure I poured my grief over my dad into losing Katie because I cried loud and long when I saw her picture in the put to sleep album.

But that didn’t stop me from looking at the pets available for adoption at our local high kill shelter. And looking at them got me thinking about them a lot. And thinking about them led me to going to the shelter and volunteering my time. Which led to me taking part in saving dozens of animals. I also started a blog called Authors For Animals which is about my experiences at the shelter and has feature stories about authors and their rescue pets at authors for animals 

Writing about my characters rescuing stray animals inspired me to do the same. It was never planned, it just happened, just like my stories.

I also have a coyote attack as part of the plot in Angel’s End. That part came a little to close to home in real life. Luckily for Leah, Cade Gentry was there to save Dodger, Ashes and her son Banks. Sadly, I lost two of my dear cats to coyotes. But I honored their lives by saving two more and now have two wonderful kittens I adopted from the shelter who are only inside cats now.

Everyone is welcome in Angel’s End. It’s a town of misfits and strays that all came looking for a home and found much more. I hope you find as much inspiration between the pages as I did.

Cindy Holby
http://www.cindyholby.com

Just some news

I’m giving away an ARC of Ashes Of Twilight here.

Also my Prism award winning time travel Twist is available on Kindle and Nook. I just love the new cover.  

Busy writing the second book in the Ashes trilogy. The title is Shadows Of Glass and its expected release date is sometime next summer.

Where an author asks why?

It’s been two years since I’ve had a release.  Two long years of trying to keep my career alive in the every changing marketplace. I am thrilled to be writing for a new publisher and excited about my new series, Angel’s End.  The only thing that doesn’t excite me is figuring out how to promote my book.  The problem is publishers have expectations.  They expect you to have thousands of twitter followers.  They want you to have 5000 likes on your fan page.  They want you on all of the social media outlets, they want you to do blog tours, and they ask you to do it all by yourself while you are trying to write the next book.  What’s an author to do? 

My question is, as readers, what do you respond too?  Besides being just another author tweeting buy my book! several times a day, what can an author do to get you to pick up her latest release and give her a try?  What drives you to an authors fan page and gets you to click the like button?  As a reader, I know what I like and don’t like, and I usually check out the books that final in the contests every year to find new authors.  That’s exactly how I found my auto buys.

everything is better with kittens

As long as you’re here and pondering that question, check out my new series Angel’s End.  It’s a story of redemption and forgiveness and its set in a fictional town in Colorado in the late 1800’s. It also has a kitten because it my opinion, everything is better with kittens. I included the kitten, Ashes, along with a stray dog, Lady, because of my work with animal rescue. And if you can take the time to like my facebook page, www.facebook.com/cindyholbybooks or follow me on www.twitter.com/cholby  I would appreciate it so very much. I don’t say buy my book that often but I, like very other author, say it occasionally.

A do-over

I’ve done a few other blogs during release month and thought I’d post them here in case my readers missed them in the internet wilderness.  This one was featured on Mia Marlowe’s blog.

You’ve heard the saying desperate times call for desperate measures?  Well that’s exactly where I found myself two years ago.  In very desperate times.  After writing fourteen books for the same publisher I suddenly found myself orphaned when the same publisher went out of business.  I wasn’t exactly making a living either as the same publisher had quit paying me around five years ago.  Broke and homeless, that was me, and if something didn’t happen soon I was going to have to go out and get a real job, one where you have to put on dress clothes and leave the house. I had submitted to several different houses at the same time publishing was going through its crisis and the economy was tanking.  It was a very sobering time for a lot of us.

But then I realized something.  I could have a do-over. I had a  chance to start fresh and new with a new series and new characters and hopefully a new publishing house. And the town of Angel’s End Colorado was born.  It’s a lovely little town nestled against the Rocky Mountains. It’s a place for new beginnings even though it was the end of the road for an angel statue that was abandoned by someone who realized that it would slow them down in their trek over the mountains. The town grew up around the statue that is forever standing in the middle of town, welcoming any and all who come in hopes of a new start. 

My hero, Cade Gentry gets a do-over also.  He’s wasted his life up to the point where the story starts and has spent a lot of time blaming other people for his circumstances.  Its not until he winds up wounded in the town of Angel’s End, Colorado and meets the sheriff’s widow, Leah Findley,  that he realizes that he desperately wants to start over again and this time make the right decisions.

The only problem is he’s already made the mistake of lying to everyone in town.  You see, they think he’s the new minister.  At least that’s who they were expecting and when the townsfolk find a wounded man lying at the foot of the stone angel statue during a blizzard they think Cade is Pastor Timothy Key.  Especially since Cade has Timothy’s letter of introduction in his pocket.

It also doesn’t help that Cade is seriously attracted to Leah, and adores her son Banks.  What’s an outlaw to do but pretend he is the pastor until he can heal up and be on his way?  But the longer he stays, the deeper in love he falls and the bigger the lies become. Now Cade has to decide if he should cut and run or admit to his lies.  All he wants is another chance.  A chance to do things right this time. But are his lies too much for Leah to forgive?

I hope you enjoy my fictional town of Angel’s End, Colorado.  It’s full of people like Cade, who are all looking for another chance. Just like me.

Angel’s End is from Berkley Publishing and is out May 1 2012. The sequel, Colorado Heart will be out this November.

You can find Angel’s End on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Berkley-Sensation-Cindy-Holby/dp/0425248410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335805005&sr=8-1

Barnes&Noble  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/angels-end-cindy-holby/1104879518?ean=9780425248416

My web site  www.cindyholby.com

Facebook  www.facebook.com/cindyholbybooks

Twitter  www.twitter.com/cholby