YA SCAVENGER HUNT- Lisa T. Bergren

Welcome to the awesomeness that is the YA SCAVENGER HUNT, running Dec 1-Dec 4.
It's kind of surreal that I'm participating. Mainly because I'm hosting an amazing author, but also because my book hasn't even been out a week!

My own hauntingly beautiful bonus material is out there somewhere in Scavenger Hunt land, waiting for you to find it! And let me tell you, I LOVE my bonus material. Love. Love. Love. (When you find it you'll understand why.)

Here's how the hunt works...

We’ve put together a puzzle with one keyword found on each website. Complete it and you will be eligible for a fantastic GRAND PRIZE which will include signed editions of books, signed bookmarks, jewelry, and many more exclusive gifts with at least one gift from EVERY AUTHOR!

Each author is hosting another author's bonus material AND a link to the next step of the hunt. Work your way through the circuit and collect all of the 37 words in red. At each stop, enter the author's personal contest. There's lots of great stuff up for grabs.

After you've completed the circuit, unscramble the words as you proceed through the Scavenger Hunt. When you're finished, fill out the contest entry form here.

To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed puzzle before noon on Dec 4th Pacific Time. All the keywords must be in the correct place and you must include your full name and address. Entries sent in without name and address will not be considered.

I have the pleasure of hosting Lisa T. Bergren.
(Personal note: I was very excited about this because Lisa lives in Colorado Springs, and I used to live in Colorado Springs, so yay for us being kinda-like-neighbors-once-upon-a-time.)

Lisa T. Bergren is the author of over thirty books that have sold more than two million copies combined. She’s written fiction of all sorts (romance, historical, contemporary, suspense, YA), nonfiction and children’s books. She divides her time between writing, editing, traveling and co-parenting her three children (16, 13, and 8 ) with her husband, Tim. The Bergrens reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

www.lisatawnbergren.com

River of Time Series

Gabriella and Evangelia Betarrini are the daughters of Etruscan archeologists. Stuck on a hot, dusty dig site for yet another long, dreary summer—far from the nearest boys—they go exploring. They enter a forbidden tomb and find two handprints among the frescoes. And when they touch them, together, they are catapulted back in time…and into the adventure of their lives.

Get your copy of WATERFALL by clicking here.

Right now, in honor of the YA Scavenger Hunt, you can get any of the River of Time series at a special sale price! Kindle copies are currently $.99 WATERFALL, $2.99 CASCADE and $2.99 TORRENT

As part of the scavenger hunt, Lisa is sharing the book trailer for WATERFALL.

The music is epic and the books sound incredible. I've already bought my copy of Waterfall. I'm so excited to read it.

Now, while you're here, feel free to enter my

TANGLED TIDES Contest

Up for grabs: A signed and personalized (if you'd like it personalized) copy of TANGLED TIDES, a booklet of fun and pretty mermaid tattoos, a Karma card (everyone should have one) and finally, a Grow Your Own Mermaid toy (I can see you splashing with excitement from way over here.)

How to enter:

1. follow my blog (+1)
   
2. follow me on Twitter at @Karen_Hooper (+1)
3. get a friend to follow me on Twitter (+1)
4. like me on Facebook (+1)
5. Leave me a comment on this blog. (+1) (Be sure to tell me how many entries you have. And be honest. Remember the karma card!)

(Open Internationally because mermaids live EVERYWHERE!)

Ready to go to the next website on the Scavenger Hunt? CLICK HERE!

UNTRACEABLE DAY!

Untraceable by S.R. Johannes is being unleashed into the world today!

I started reading this book last night on my Kindle and I'm so hooked. It's such an exciting story.

Kirkus agrees:

"This thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance. The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page."

Over the past couple months, I've been getting to know the sweet and talented author better. (We've teamed up in a secret group that we'll talk about more in 2012.) Now, I'll give you readers a chance to learn a little more about Shelli and her book.

Shelli, give us a quick summary of your upcoming book Untraceable?

It is a wilderness thriller with a missing person, a kick butt heroine, and of course – two hot boys. What else do you need? Besides Moon Pies.

Mmmm. Moon Pies. I love celestial themed desserts! Sorry, I got distracted. Hot boys are awesome, but tell us about your MC, Grace.

Grace is independent, caring but awkward. She connects with nature more than she does with people. She’s a total introvert and would be happy alone for days at a time.

I will say she is impulsive and annoyingly reckless. Exactly like I was as a teen. I didn’t think about the effects of any cause. I didn’t think of consequences, I just did dumb stuff and got lucky. That is Grace. She acts and then thinks.

But no matter what she does, her heart is always in the right place.

Speaking of connecting with nature and being alone, if you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

Besides food and water - books, laptop (with great wireless plan), and picture of family.

Great answers. As you know, I'm a big mythology fan. If you could be one of the Greek Gods, which would it be and why?

Calliope – so I could be a muse to writers.

Oooh, good one.

S.R. Johannes lives in Atlanta Georgia with her dog, British-accented husband, and the huge imaginations of their little prince and princess, which she hopes- someday- will change the world. After earning an MBA and working in corporate America, S.R. Johannes traded in her expensive suits, high heels, and corporate lingo for a family, flip-flops, and her love of writing. You can find her hanging out online and visit her at srjohannes.com

Untraceable is going to be a huge hit. I just know it. Get in on the craze early by getting your copy today!

Buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon

or

Other ebook formats at Smashwords

More fun linkage:

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Blog

HUGE CONGRATS, SHELLI! Happy Release Day!

WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS

I'm a writer. However, I can't find the words to adequately express how grateful I am to everyone who celebrated my book release with me.
You guys and gals are the best ever. Ever. The best.

Friday, the Underwater Web War was awesome! So many of you blogged about it, chose a team of sea creatures, and tweeted about it. I saw so many comments from people who hadn't heard of Tangled Tides before reading your posts. I even saw some people commenting that they hadn't heard of selkies until reading about the war. I gained about fifteen new supporters in three days. Thank you so much.

Many of you retweeted about my contests, my updates, and all kinds of other supportive information. The #TangledTides hashtag flooded the Twitterverse and it warmed my heart to see it each and every time. Thank you so much.

The Twitter contest was such a hit that I ended up doing a second contest. The second one hit like a tidal wave and I ended up choosing two more winners to receive signed books. I gained about twenty-five new followers and met some amazing people because of it. Thank you so much.

Saturday, my paperback climbed the Amazon charts to a ranking of 36,790. I could hardly believe it.
Sunday, my ebook climbed the Amazon Kindle ranking to 8,668. (The lower the number, the better.) I almost passed out.
So many of you rewteeted the link to Amazon, or people ended up buying my book because of your blog posts and support. Thank you so so much.

Some of you posted reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and/or Goodreads. I made so many new Goodreads friends that I wanted to have a party. It was beyond exciting. Thank you so much.

But here's the thing I'm most thankful for: THE BEFORE.

So many of you have been blogging with me for months, some for years. We knew each other (even if only virtually) before I ever had a book deal. I read your posts, you read my posts. We laughed together, stressed together, struggled together, celebrated together, and LEARNED together. Sometimes we apologized for being too busy to read posts and comment (goodness knows I haven't been visiting and commenting as much as I'd like to lately.) But when my big day came, it meant the world to me to have so many of you there with me.

I am here because of you.

You have taught me, inspired me, encouraged me, comforted me, strengthened me, and humbled me. Writing, and the journey to publishing, is an emotional roller coaster. What fun is a roller coaster ride if you're on the coaster alone? Thank you for riding with me.
And please, don't jump off anytime soon. So many climbs and drops, and screams and laughs are still up ahead for all of us. It's way more fun if we ride together.

The success I had on my launch day was because of you.
I am well aware of that. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for you.

I am not a big-name author. I'm not on any Best Seller list. But some day, by some miracle, if I ever become somewhat big time, or if I ever make it onto an important list, I will not forget where I cam from.

I will remember how I got there.
I will remember all of the friends and supporters who helped me along the way.


Seriously, thank you so much. My gratitude is deeper than the oceans.


(I promise to post stats of the Underwater Web War soon. There are a lot of votes to tally!)

TANGLED TIDES WASHES ASHORE!

Holy mackerel! (pun might or might not be intended) It's here.
Tangled Tides is officially being released into the world TODAY.

Anyone wanna squee with me? SQUUEEEEEEEEE!

*pinches self*
Nope, still real. This. Is. Happening.
Time to get out of bed and let it sink in. (Plenty more water puns where that one came from.)
(I don't really sleep with that giant seashell, but I might really sleep with my books. And I don't brush my hair with a fork. I was only impersonating Ariel. ((See the Little Mermaid statue on my dresser.))

The release day of my debut definitely calls for a celebration.
With that being said, the characters of Tangled Tides are magical, and some of them can be very loving, helpful, and kind most of the time. However, almost all of them are also badasses in some shape or form, and they aren't afraid to fight dirty to protect their kind. Therefore, this celebration can't be all rainbows and glittery starfish. We will be celebrating with a war.

That's right. Today is Black Friday, Tangled Tides Day, and...
Underwater Web War Day!!!

Tangled Tides contains battling merfolk and selkies, plus meddling sirens and vengeful gorgons. Someone has to triumph, or none of the sea creatures will ever return to their world--or survive in ours. War has been declared and YOU must choose a side.

Don't know enough about merfolk, selkies, sirens or gorgons to choose a team?

Here's a chart to help with your decision...

MERFOLK: of the sun, need warmth, gifted singers, can control water. Fun fact: in my story merfolk are ranked by color. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet (yes, the rainbow. And yes, my MC makes fun of it.) Each rank has a designated role and duties to their kind. Also, they must smoke C-weed to survive. You'll have to read the book to find out what C-weed is.

SIRENS: of the sun, need warmth, seductive singers, can control the weather. Fun fact: There are 3 siren sisters, one for each of the original gorgon sisters who were eternally banished to the dark and cold gorgon grotto. The sirens fly and swim between the worlds doing the gorgon sisters' dirty work, but the sirens evolved to be feisty rebels who do whatever they want most of the time--including stealing memories from humans.

SELKIES: of the moon, need cold, phenomenal dancers, can control human minds. Fun fact: selkies need the cold to survive but they're trapped in warm FL weather, so they hang out at Jack Frost's, a bar that is freezing cold and everything (seats, tables, walls, etc) are made out of ice. Their chic fur coats also help keep their bodies cool. They smoke seagarettes and have lots of scars that are invisible to humans.

GORGONS: of the moon, need cold, slithery dancers, can control the sea creatures (the original 3 gorgon sisters are like the gods of their world). Fun fact: Just like Medusa, the gorgons can turn any living thing to stone, but they aren't the heartless evil monsters that are portrayed in most legends. They are wicked smart, fast, and powerful. The male gorgons are tough as rock.

~~~~~~~~~~

I'm giving away a signed copy of my book and some other sea creature themed prizes. To enter, join the Underwater Web War on Twitter. Tweet which sea creatures you’re rooting for and why. Include the hashtag #TangledTides and you could win!

And, just so it's easy for others to see which side is winning, please leave a comment telling us which sea creatures you're fighting with.

Some awesome and badass human bloggers have already joined the war. They are posting their favorite sea creature image to show their support, so go check out their post today and see who they're siding with. They might even tell you why. (Insider tip: This knowledge may win you a prize on Twitter later!)

Alexandra Shostak
Ali Cross
Alison Miller
Amanda Johnson
Becca Brown
Cambria Dillon
Christa Desir
Christy Trujillo
Copil Yanez
CYP
DL Hammons

Elle Strauss
Erica Chapman
Garrett Powell
Harley May
Heather McCorkle
Jen Daiker
Jessica Love
Kelly Lyman
Kristin Rae
Matthew MacNish
May-Day Aura
Medeia Sharif
Michelle Argyle
Natalie Bahm
Patricia O'Brien
Sara McClung
Sarah Ahiers
Shannon Messenger
Simon Larter
Steena Holmes
Tere Kirkland
Tiffany Reisz
Zoe Rain

Wanna show your favorite sea species some love? Post your choice on your blog, sidebar, or on Facebook or Twitter, and earn extra entries in the contest. Feel free to snag one of the pics from below. (These were created by the amazing and talented Alexandra Shostak--AND 3 of the four images appear in the book!)

Fantasy SIRENS Tangled Tides SELKIES young adult MERFOLK romance GORGONS

What's that, you ask? Who am I rooting for?
I am the author. Therefore, I get to root for all of them. ;) Merfolk, selkies, sirens an gorgons FTW!

Thanks so much for stopping by to celebrate my big day.
My gratitude is deeper than the oceans.
Help yourself to some cake! :)


LINKAGE:

ebook at Amazon (Read the first few chapters for free!)
Ebook and sample also available at Barnes & Noble.com

Paperback at Amazon

Rhemalda Bookstore

Barnes & Noble