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 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 eight contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the PINK TEAM--but there is also a red team, a gold team, a blue team, and a pink team for a chance to win a whole different set of 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 hidden my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the blue 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 DATE, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
Scavenger Hunt Post
And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Darcy Woods, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 16. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the pink team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!
Fans of Jennifer E. Smith and Jenny Han will fall in love with this heartfelt and humor-laced debut following one zodiac-obsessed teen as she struggles to find the guy of her cosmic dreams.
As the daughter of an expert astrologer, Wilamena Carlisle knows that truth lies within the stars. So when she discovers a planetary alignment that won’t repeat for a decade, she’s forced to tackle her greatest astrological fear: The Fifth House—relationships and love. But Wil must decide whether to trust her heart or her chart when she falls for a sensitive guitar player whose zodiac sign points to cosmic disaster.
If Wil’s fate is truly written in the stars, then this summer is about to go supernova. . . .
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YASH Fall 2017
Exclusive content – Darcy Woods
Summer of Supernovas – Inspiration Board
Hello, hello! And big shouts of thanks to Melanie for hosting me!
Creative types often draw inspiration from the world around them, and authors are no exception. Keep your muse alert and well fed, and she’ll supply you with enough words to fill a novel. Piss her off, and you’ll be treated to her silent, scornful stare and probably a middle finger. But what feeds an author’s muse depends entirely on the person. And for me, pictures are like a triple shot of creativity espresso.
So when I embark on a story, I don’t just want, I need visual inspiration! Often times a single image can be enough to help me shape the entire scene I want to capture on the page. Below you’ll see a great example of this, as I share one of the secret inspiration boards I created for SUMMER OF SUPERNOVAS. Each image cell is numbered and contains a quote below from a SUPERNOVAS scene it represents. I hope you enjoy this union of photos and words as much as I did creating it!
Darcy Woods has held an eclectic mix of professions—from refueling helicopters for the U.S. Army to recharging bodies and spirits at a spa—but her most beloved career is being an author. She lives in Michigan with her husband and two tuxedo cats (who overdress for everything). SUMMER OF SUPERNOVAS is her double RITA®-nominated debut young adult novel.
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Continue the hunt...
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author, Dawn Ius!
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Enter my bonus giveaway!
1. I tell her Mama promised on the necklace she will never, ever leave. I’m so sure she will come back. So sure. I can’t understand why this makes Gram cry harder.
2. I feel a pang of emptiness. It would be unbearable if not for the stars. Because at least they tether my mother and me in a sacred bond. A bond that transcends even death.
3. “Can you imagine? Witnessing a star going supernova in our very own galaxy? That moment a star dies and emits the most brilliant . . .” My smile collapses when I find him staring like I’ve just declared the moon made of cheese.
4. So help me, if I don’t find my match now, I am staring down the barrel of ten years of falling for the wrong guys. Ten years—or more—of heartache, heartbreak, and widespread astrological malaise.
5. “When I fell in love with your daddy, I thought it could be enough. But”—her head shook—“fate doesn’t always follow our heart. It follows this.” She tapped the paper. “Our astrological chart holds the key to all the answers. But you must listen to this wisdom, Mena—especially in matters of love."
6. I pull back and we stare at each other in wonder. It shouldn’t be wondrous. Because we are doomed. But for tonight, for one night . . . I will imagine I can rearrange the stars.
7. Carefully I take my place at the top of the water tower, letting my bare legs dangle. The early summer breeze rushes to greet them. One hundred and twenty feet stretch between me and the ground. My pulse doesn’t even flicker. I wish it did. Because heights are a perfectly reasonable fear.
8. I stare at the guitar pick and then Grant. “I can’t.” I hold it back out. Please don’t ask why. I can’t confess I don’t trust myself with the sort of closeness guitar lessons would warrant. Or how I almost burst into flames last time.
9. Carlisle Confections has been Gram’s business for over three decades. She makes delicious designer cupcakes for the overprivileged who can afford them. She’s a sort of Monet of the baking world. And, not to brag, but I know my way around a baking tin.
10. “You belong up here, Wil.” My head rests against his chest while I gaze at the setting sun. And it’s so quiet, I swear I hear the moment that great orb hits the curve of the earth, unfurling into a thousand ribbons of yellows, oranges, and reds.