Post Title: YA Scavenger Hunt
Welcome to this October's YA Scavenger Hunt! Hi, I'm Alexandra Sirowy, author of the YA thrillers THE CREEPING, THE TELLING, and the just released FIRST WE WERE IV. I'm excited to be hosting special content from author Clara Kensie. At this hunt, you not only get access to 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 a 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 120 hours, until Sunday, October 8th!
There are SEVEN contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the PURPLE TEAM! 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 included a hidden number (hint: not so hidden). Collect the numbers of all the authors on the PURPLE TEAM, and then add them up.
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 guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Sunday, October 8th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Okay, on to the good stuff! I'm hosting Clara Kensie for the YA Scavenger Hunt! Clara Kensie grew up near Chicago, reading every book she could find and using her diary to write stories about a girl with psychic powers who solved mysteries. She purposely did not hide her diary, hoping someone would read it and assume she was writing about herself. Since then, she’s swapped her diary for a computer and admits her characters are fictional, but otherwise she hasn’t changed one bit.
Today Clara is an award-winning author of dark fiction for young adults. Her debut, the super-romantic psychic thriller Deception So series, was named an RT Book Review Editors Pick for Best Books of 2014, and Deception So Book One: Deception So Deadly is the winner of the prestigious 2015 RITA© Award for Best First Book. A little about Clara’s book DECEPTION SO DEADLY!
"Winner of Romance Writers of America's RITA© Award for Best First Book RUN.
It’s all sixteen-year-old Tessa Carson has ever known. Hunted by a telepathic killer, Tessa and her family have fled home after home, hiding behind aliases to survive. Her scars are more than just physical, and as the only one in her family without a psychic ability, she lives a life of secrets, lies, and fear. After the Carsons flee to a new hideout and take on new identities yet again, Tessa meets confident, carefree Tristan Walker. Their attraction burns fierce, but she runs from him too, knowing their love can never be true when she can’t even tell him her real name.
But Tristan has secrets as well—secrets that will either save Tessa, or destroy her. The only way Tessa can save her family—and uncover the real reason they’ve been hunted all these years—is to forget everything she’s learned from a lifetime of running away, and run straight into danger head-on."
Find out more by visiting Clara's website here!
Clara's EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
How a Bullet List Inspired the Award-Winning Deception So Series and Changed My Life!
My Deception So series is a super-romantic YA thriller about a psychic family on the run from a deadly past, and a first love that will transcend secrets, lies, and danger. The first book in the series, Deception So Deadly, is the winner of the RITA© Award for Best First Book. But I never set out to write an award-winning book. In fact, I never set out to be an author at all! Here’s how the series, and my career, came to be:
If you’re reading this and participating in the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt, you’re probably a huge reader. Me too. I even did YASH as a reader before I participated as an author! I’ve always loved reading. Some characters I love so much that I never want their book to end. I’m never ready to say goodbye to them. (Seriously, JK Rowling could write a thousand-page book entirely about Luna Lovegood going grocery shopping, and I’d read it.) A few years ago, I realized that the only way that I’d never have to say goodbye to books I love would be to write them myself. I could develop characters I love, and write and write and write their stories. I could then spend years with my characters, instead of just a few days. A perfect plan, right?
Excited by the idea that I could spend years with beloved characters of my own, I sat at my computer and made a bullet list of all of my favorite elements to include in the book:
Young adult Psychic powers Realistic heroine - not perfect, but relatable Devoted hero - mysterious and hot Sweet, knock-your-socks-off romance Dark plot – Danger – Scary villain Huge, never-saw-it-coming plot twists
I had a vague idea that it would be cool if the characters had secret identities. And that’s as far as it went. I was stuck.
A few weeks later on a cloudy November day, I was pulling out of a parking spot at the store when I was hit with a series of “what ifs:”
What if there was a teenage girl who was the only member of her family who didn’t have a psychic power?
And what if they moved from place to place, taking on new identities at each new hideout, because they were being hunted by a killer—and that killer had psychic powers too?
And what if that girl met a boy who was hiding some shocking secrets of his own…
It went on from there. I went home and wrote the story in a whirlwind of inspiration, being sure to include my bulleted list of favorite elements. That story became Deception So Deadly, and holy cow, it won a RITA© Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the industry! I loved the Deception So characters so much that I gave them a sequel, Deception So Dark. Now I’m writing the third book in the series, Deception So Dangerous. If I’m still having fun after that, I’ll continue the series with even more Deception So books. I’m thrilled that readers love these books as much as I do. Best of all, I’ve been able to spend years and years with the characters I love. I’ll never have to say goodbye to them.
Want a sneak peek of the book that started it all? Read the first page of Deception So Book One: Deception So Deadly by Clara Kensie
My cell phone rang, loud and shrill, shattering the classroom’s silence. He found us. He was coming.
The teacher scowled, reaching out her puffy hand to confiscate my phone as I slid it open and held it to my ear. Answer on the first ring—that was the rule.
One word, my mother’s panicked command: “Run.”
With trembling hands, I swept my American History notebook into my bag. Leave nothing personal behind—that was another rule.
Every second, he was getting closer. I stumbled toward the door.
“Maddie, where are you going?” Mrs. Landon demanded, then her voice softened. “Is something wrong?”
I rushed past her and out of the classroom, my breath coming in stuttery little gasps. Dennis Connelly was coming. How did he find us again?
I raced to my locker—the combination, what’s the combination?—and cleaned it out, stuffing everything into my bag. Flew down the stairs. Dashed down the hall, almost colliding with a girl carrying an armful of books. Sprinted past the office, reached the exit—
“Hey!” A security guard, belly hanging over his belt, grabbed my arm. “Where’s your pass?”
My brother darted over, lugging his book bag and saxophone. “Let her go,” he said, his calm and firm tone betrayed by the terror in his eyes. He pulled me away, and when I stumbled, he pushed me out the door. “Tessa, run!”
We were in public, but Logan used my real name. We no longer needed our aliases.
I glanced behind me. “Where’s Jillian?”
The doors burst open and our sister shot outside, her blond hair flying behind her like a shiny cape.
Its engine running, our getaway car waited in the pickup lane with our dad holding the back door open. We ran and dove in. Dad jumped in the passenger seat, slamming his door closed as Mom stomped on the gas pedal and sped us away.
********************** I hope you enjoyed reading the first page and learning how the Deception So series (and my career as an author!) was inspired by my bullet list of favorite book elements.
What are your favorite elements of a book? List them in the comments!
Thanks so much, Clara, for giving us a glimpse at your book! You can get your hands on Clara's book here! And thank you to all you hunters playing along.
Remember, in order to enter to win a prize pack of team purple's books, including my YA dark thriller THE CREEPING, you need to find the hidden number on each post. My third book FIRST WE WERE IV came out this year and it’s my favorite yet. Secret societies, friendship, romance, a small town mystery, and events spiraling out of control. It made this year – 2017 – one of my best yet (psst, 17 is my hidden number!). Add up all the hidden numbers of the authors on the purple team and you'll have the secret code to enter for the prize!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
To keep going on your quest, check out Aleah Raynes's blog post here!
I'm also giving away a copy of my most recent YA thriller FIRST WE WERE IV - open internationally!FWWIV is about four best friends who invent a secret society that ratchets out of control and ultimately costs one of the friends their life. To enter to win a copy, all you need to do is to take the IV challenge. Comment on this post or tweet me @AlexandraSirowy using #YASH and #FIRSTWEWEREIV with your favorite four spooky books, your favorite literary foursomes, or your favorite four secretive/shady fictional characters. I'll announce the winner in the comments below and on the YA Scavenger Hunt's site at the end of the hunt! Good luck and happy hunting!!