TIME FOR A LITTLE HUNTING…and the chance to WIN BIG!

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF MY PERSONAL GIVEAWAY!
CONGRATULATIONS TO:

HANNAH EKREN (FB ENTRY)

AND

ERIKA STROUP @MOONLIGHTREVIEW (TWITTER ENTRY)

A SIGNED HARDCOVER EDITION OF EMBRACE AND THE SIGNED POSTER ARE HEADED YOUR WAY!!!!!

PLEASE REPLY TO THIS EITHER THROUGH FACEBOOK/TWITTER/ OR MY CONTACT PAGE ON THIS WEBSITE TO COLLECT YOUR PRIZE AND GIVE YOUR DETAILS.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR TAKING PART!!!

The 2012 Scavenger hunt officially begins TODAY! Don’t miss your chance to get an exclusive look at bonus material from some of your favorite authors, including deleted scenes, teaser chapters, cover reveals, book trailers and more! PLUS, pay special attention along the way as, in addition to the GRAND PRIZE, many authors will be offering their own additional personal GIVEAWAY!

This fabulous sneak peek into what’s coming up in YA literature starts at noon today (pacific time), March 29, and finishes at noon (pacific time), April 1.

Because we have a startling number of 60 authors participating this year we are breaking into three groups. We have BLUE TEAM, RED TEAM, and YELLOW TEAM!

Each group is made up of 20 authors and I am on:

TEAM BLUE!

Thanks to the incredible efforts of the hunt founder: Colleen Houck and the help of Beth Revis, this year a new (click>>>) YA SCAVENGER WEBSITE has been launched that will help you navigate the hunt and show you the breakdown of the three teams. If you get lost on the hunt simply return to the hunt website and pick up where you left off.

Directions:

There are THREE contests you can enter for the Spring 2012 YA Scavenger Hunt! You can follow the one team or you can enter all three contests!

Follow one at a time and gather together the highlighted letters in that team’s color. Once you have all the letters, you have all the clues you need to create a specific phrase. That phrase is your ticket to enter for a grand prize–a signed copy of each book in that team!

For example: Let’s say you want to enter the contest for the blue team (hint hint!). Go to the website of each author in the blue team. On each author’s website, there will be a hidden blue letter. Find all the letters, and you’ll be able to figure out the secret phrase. Then go to the YA SCAVENGER HUNT WEBSITE page and enter the phrase in the form for the blue team. (And then, of course, you probably had so much fun that you’ll want to enter the contest for the red and yellow teams, too!)

Make sure you figure out the secret phrase for the contest you want to enter–because your entry will ONLY count if you get the correct phrase!

FEATURED AUTHOR:
S.R. Johannes

I am so thrilled to be hosting S.R.Johannes today. Untraceable was recently released to rave reviews and book 2 in The Nature of Grace Series, Uncontrollable, is set for release in September, 2012! On top of that, Shelli also released On The Bright Side in January this year. Amazing, right!

Let’s start by giving you a little bit of background.

S.R. Johannes is the author of Amazon bestselling Untraceable (a teen wilderness thriller) and new tween paranormal, On The Bright Side. She is also part of a teen romance anthology with 16 other authors titled, In His Eyes. S.R. Johannes was recently nominated in the YA category as Georgia Author of the Year.

She 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.

THE BOOKS:

Untraceable

Grace grew up in the woods. When her forest ranger dad disappears on patrol, she fights town authorities, tribal officials, & nature to prove he’s alive. Torn between a hot boy and cute ex, she heads into the wilderness to find her dad. Soon, Grace is caught in a web of conspiracy, deception, and murder. It will take more than a compass and motorcycle for this tough heroine to save all she loves.

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Uncontrollable (Book 2) Releases late summer 2012

Grace’s science class is chosen by Agent Sweeney at the US Fish and Wildlife Service to help with research on the new “Appalachian Gray Wolf Reintroduction Program”. While she’s excited about helping the conservation of the endangered wolves, Grace knows this means being outdoors in the worst winter recorded, partnering with Wyn (her ex boyfriend) and his girlfriend (Skyler), a girl whose idea of nature is growing silk plants and watering cacti. After fellow students are attacked, Grace continues the assignment under renewed suspicion that someone is trying to sabotage the Red Wolf program. Eventually wolves start showing up dead and Grace is determined to find out who is responsible, but little does she know, she is being hunted too. By more than one person.

Praises

“Grace is a spunky, independent, nature girl who doesn’t need a boy to save her. With wilderness survival, a juicy love triangle, and more twists and turns than a roller coaster, this fast-paced novel had me holding my breath until the very last page and still begging for more!” -Kimberly Derting, author of the The Body Finder series (Harper Teen) and The Pledge series (S&S)

“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.” - Kirkus Reviews

“This story starts out with a bang…it reads like the young woman were narrating it to a friend, and had the ring of a young person’s style and intensity…Good story!” - Sue Grafton, author of bestselling Kinsey Milhone series (Amazon BreakThrough Novel Judge Review)

“This murder mystery features a teenaged heroine, but she has the self assurance of a woman twice her age. The prose is very descriptive…and the dialogue is genuine. The setting of small town North Carolina and the surrounding woods is appealing. The story moves along at a brisk clip, and it feels as if we already have some important clues. We look forward to seeing what’s in the case file and what Grace and her motorbike, Luci, will be up to next.” - Sue Monk Kidd, author of Secret Life of Bees (Amazon BreakThrough Novel Judge Review)

Social Media

Blog: http://faeriality.blogspot.com/ ……… Twitter: https://twitter.com/srjohanne ……… Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SRJohannes/249888602550

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EXCLUSIVE BONUS MATERIAL:

Click on the box below for a sneak peek at the preface of Uncontrollable (if you don’t see the image, click on the ‘open publication’ link below)

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NOW: My Personal Giveaway!

For a chance to win a signed copy of EMBRACE along with a very  exclusive (only 30 in production) HUGE (seriously, it is massive!!) signed poster of the artwork that was used on the arc copies (pictured below).

All you have to do is go to  the EMBRACE THE SERIES FaceBook Page:

1. “like it” (if you’ve already liked the page in the past, go straight to step 2)

2. Leave a comment on the page about the YA Scavenger Hunt.

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And for a second entry and chance to win, go to the EMBRACE THE SERIES Twitter Page:

1. Sign up to “Follow”

2. Leave this comment: @EmbraceSeries YA Scavenger Hunt entry for Embrace by Jessica Shirvington

It’s that simple!

Ready to go to the next website on the Scavenger Hunt?

Click HERE!

It’s time to announce the final lineup of the Spring Scavenger Hunt! This year it will be bigger and badder than ever before with 60 count ‘em 60 YA authors! With fabulous prizes around every corner you DO NOT want to miss this! This is your chance to have heaps of fun collecting all the hunt clues at each site, and enter in a staggering number of giveaways – not to mention the major grand prizes!! Trust me – you DO NOT want to miss this!

Below is your sneak preview of the authors and the books they will be featuring on the hunt.

JUS ACCARDO

AMBER ARGYLE

LISA T. BERGREN

LISA BURSTEIN

SOFIE COUCH

KIMBERLY DERTING

LAURA A.H. ELLIOTT

CHRISTINE FONSECA

ABBI GLINES

CYNTHIA HAND

KAREN AMANDA HOOPER

S.R. JOHANNES

GINA LINKO

GRETCHEN MCNEIL

MIKE MULLIN

ERICA O’ROURKE

JOY PREBLE

JESSICA SHIRVINGTON

TIFFANY TRUITT

DEBBIE VIGUIE

ANN AGUIRRE

JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT

LEAH BOBET

TERA LYNN CHILDS

WILLOW CROSS

DJ DESMYTER

LEIGH FALLON

TARA FULLER

JANET GURTLER

CINDY HOGAN

COLLEEN HOUCK

ELANA JOHNSON

JAMIE MANNING

CLAIRE MERLE

S.L. NAEOLE

GREGG OLSEN

LISA & LAURA ROECKER

JERI SMITH-READY

CAT KALEN

LANI WOODLAND

JOSEPHINE ANGELINI

BRODI ASHTON

CK BRYANT

ANGELA CORBETT

GINA DAMICO

BREE DESPAIN

BETH FANTASKEY

MARLEY GIBSON

RAE HACHTON

NANCY HOLDER

TARA HUDSON

SUZANNE LAZEAR

MYRA MCENTIRE

ALEXANDRA MONIR

“Getting Started” by:

LISA NOWAK

AMY PLUM

INARA SCOTT

TISH THAWER

MAGAN VERNON

RASHELLE WORKMAN

WOW! What an incredibly huge and amazing group of authors!

A gigantic thanks to the expertise of Colleen Houck who is once again putting together this awesome event! And, to Beth Revis who has created a website just for our Scavenger Hunts! Click on the YA Scavenger Hunt image below to be redirected there. Because we have so many authors this time we are breaking into three groups. We have BLUE TEAM, RED TEAM, and YELLOW TEAM!

Each group is made up of 20 authors and I am on

TEAM BLUE!

This means that my bonus material will be found on the BLUE team. If you get lost on the hunt simply return to the hunt website and pick up where you left off. While you check out the website, don’t forget to vote on the polls, follow the site, and check out all the prizes. You can even tweet from there too!

On top of the amazing grand prizes that will be up for grabs, look out for my own personal giveaway – details of which will be posted soon!

THE YA SCAVENGER HUNT BEGINS THURSDAY MARCH 29TH AT NOON PACIFIC TIME AND ENDS SUNDAY APRIL 1ST AT NOON PACIFIC TIME! THAT GIVES YOU ONLY 72 HOURS TO COMPLETE THE HUNT!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

So, I know I have been pretty focused on the US release of Embrace over the last month, but I haven’t forgotten all the amazing readers in Australia who have been supporting the series since the very beginning. So a big shout out to you all!

And … I have some really exciting news for those that haven’t yet managed to get their hands on a copy of Embrace because my fab Aussie publishers, Hachette, are about to release a new stunning all black edition of Embrace.

Beautiful, right??

I’m totally in love with this new cover, which is also in a soft touch finish!

So if you don’t already own a copy – look out for this one -

AVAILABLE IN STORES FROM MARCH 13 AUSTRALIA WIDE

I love it how she has the tattoo’s in this version!

Let me know what you think.

Because Embrace is now officially for sale in the US and Canada!

Yay!

Here is some of the exciting feedback the books has already received in America:

“Shirvington’s debut is smart, edgy and addictive—and sure to leave readers clamoring for the rest of the series . . . The story is rife with action and romance. A must-read for paranormal fans young and old.”—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED

“One of the best YA novels we’ve seen in a while. Get ready for a confident, kick-butt, well-defined heroine. She is a woman who will let nothing?get in her way. And the heroes! Oh my.” —RT Book Reviews

“This absorbing debut, the first in a series, features an appealing, well-written protagonist; diversely drawn characters; intricate . . . mythology; and an exploration of free will versus destiny. . . .Fans of otherworldly stories will likely enjoy this edgy, suspenseful romance and anticipate its follow-up.” —Booklist

“If angels are the new vampires, then “Embrace” is a worthy follow-up to “The Twilight Saga.”” —LA Times

Here is a small run down on the book:

Violet Eden is dreading her seventeenth birthday dinner. After all, it’s hard to get too excited about the day that marks the anniversary of your mother’s death. The one bright spot is that Lincoln will be there. Sexy, mature and aloof, he is Violet’s idea of perfection. But he’s never given a hint of wanting to be more than just her friend and kickboxing trainer.

That night he gives her the world’s most incredible kiss — and then abandons her on her front doorstep. Violet is determined to get some answers, but nothing could have prepared her for Lincoln’s explanation: he is Grigori — part angel and part human — and Violet is his eternal partner.

Without warning, Violet’s world is turned upside down. She never believed in God, let alone angels.  And now she’s supposed to accept that she’s some mythological soldier protecting humanity from heaven’s exiled angels? And sacrifice all of her hopes for a normal life forever?

But there’s no denying the strange changes in Violet’s body…or that Lincoln has betrayed her. He had a plan for meeting her, getting to know her and training her — without ever telling her the truth. How could she ever trust him again?

Enter Phoenix. He’s intense and enigmatic, but at least he never lied to her. As an Exile, he is not to be trusted, yet he’s the only one there to pick up the pieces and protect her after Lincoln’s lies. In a world of dark and light, he is all shades of gray. And he’s inspiring feelings that might just push her over the edge.

As Violet gets caught up in a world where angels seek vengeance and humans are warriors, she must choose her path. She’s always been strong, but will she be strong enough? Lincoln vs. Phoenix. Angel vs. Exile. Which will she…Embrace?

Click here to read the first two chapters now!

It doesn’t mean I use everything I research, in fact, I use very little. But it helps me make educated decisions with a little more background awareness. I also find that when I am in the flow of writing, small forks in the road appear where a choice needs to be made. There are thousands of them (a color, a phrase, the weather, a power selection, a setting, a dream sequence) in any story and I often find that I make these choices based on something I have researched. To the reader it is relatively unimportant to the story, but for the confidence of the story as a whole, I believe it makes a difference.

One of the big sections of research I have committed myself to is the sourcing and selection of quotes that lead each of my chapters.

Originally, I made this decision because I kept coming across amazing quotes or verses from the bible that I thought could apply to parts of my story – and sometimes with a very eerie result.

I’ll just say this: using quotes in this kind of quantity is a group effort. I never realized just how much work would be involved in having a small quote at the top of each chapter. Boy, was I wrong! First I find them – and since I obsess about them being just right, some quotes can take weeks to source – then with the help of the publishers, they must be checked, sourced, verified, and a multitude of copyright issues addressed. But I love having them there and I hope my editor will agree they are worth the hassle!

So with that in mind, I have jotted down a few of the quotes that I love the most from Embrace. I hope you find yourself as drawn to them as I was.

1. “Outside, among your fellows, among strangers, you must preserve appearances, a hundred things you cannot do; but inside, the terrible freedom!” Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. “This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you.” Jeremiah 13:25

3. “Yet he was jealous, though he did not show it, For jealousy dislikes the world to know it.” Lord Byron

4. “If it is nothingness that awaits us, let us make an injustice of it; let us fight against destiny, even without hope of victory.” Miguel De Unamuno

5. “One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get it.” Sidney Howard

6. “You know that when I hate you, it is because I love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul.” Julie De Lespinasse

On her 17th birthday, everything will change for Violet Eden. The boy she loves will betray her. Her enemy will save her. She will have to decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice.

In stores in the US & Canada March 6, 2012!

I hope you all love it as much as I do!!!

Deciding on the definitive markers of a story is very difficult. It’s not unlike a song – you need to have build ups to the climax and to do that, there must be a range of tempo and emotion throughout. It’s all about timing, the right amount of scenes to create the most believable reading, the carefully selected dramatic elements. So much goes into making a plot point stick.

Of course, when I first started writing EMBRACE, I didn’t care about the plot points at all. How could I? The most important thing to do was first discover my characters. So it was a matter of just sitting down and starting to write. I gave myself a general scene and started putting people with names into it. Gradually I dressed them, gave a tone to the dialogue, and quietly as I was writing – the important stuff started to happen. The little quirks. The gestures. The sigh that could give away an inner thought. The glance that betrays a hidden feeling. The cast down eyes that deceived a character’s strength. It is only through writing and putting characters into scenes and conversation that these quirks can be discovered.

None of these original chapters ended up in the story of EMBRACE, but elements of them did and more importantly, it was in these chapters that I discovered Violet, Lincoln, Phoenix, Steph and Violet’s father, James.
Once I had my characters, plotting and research became a focus. So I wrote a general chapter breakdown, which concentrated on the positioning of my main plot points.

Then the real writing began.

About half way through I realized, I was working with more than one plot line. The story arc was there and happening the way I had planned, but what I didn’t realize was that the emotional arc had become just as important to me. It wasn’t just about injecting emotional scenes and circumstances for my characters, but for my heroine, Violet – her emotional story was a complete structure on its own. Sometimes it ran alongside the story arc, but more often than not, it was independent. The emotional arc had its own 3-point stages and resolution and I value it just as much as I value to the story arc. This story would not be anywhere near the same without the emotional plot and the fact that it runs out of line with the main story arc is what, in my opinion, gives more believability; Violet cannot be expected to come to terms with, or make, the big long term decisions at the very moment of the action climax. She can act, but the emotional recognition and devastation at what is happening hits her at different stages. (If that makes sense)

Now, as I have gone on to write more books in the series, the emotional arc has played front and center, its importance always on my mind. I think this is always there for authors of any genre, but I do believe that in YA there is a unique opportunity to focus on the emotional plot line since many coming of age characters are facing first-time questions of the heart, future, independence and of sacrifice. It is why I love YA so much.

As a writer, I will always approach a manuscript with an equal focus on the story arc and emotional arc. The two rely on each other too much to let one, or the other, slide.

I’m interested to see what everyone else thinks. Is the emotional arc as important to you as the story arc?

Hi everyone!

I’m so excited to let you all know that Entertainment Weekly will be hosting the exclusive reveal of the new EMRACE book trailer today!

To be one of the first to see it, go to Entertainment Weekly’s dedicated online book site:

SHELF LIFE

It will be live online – Monday, 20th September, from 9 a.m. (EST)

I hope you all love it as much as I do, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!!

Books carry intricate plots and dramatically emotional events that often boarder and indeed cross into the unbelievable, but at the same time there is a certain simplicity to the relationships that play out on the page in comparison to real life. Perhaps that is because we like it that way, or that it is simply impossible to cater to all of life’s interruptions; work, money, past experiences, family politics, world politics, current news – if we took into account all aspects of life in every novel – books would be tedious affairs!

So, for whatever reason, we escape into fictional worlds and relationships and are invited to adjudicate.

Often I find myself wanting the heroine to go in one direction with a love interest and have been known to scream aloud – OPEN YOUR EYES! I want them to put everything on the line – say the one thing that puts it all out there because in the end, I have faith in the relationship on the page to prevail. I am confident enough that he will step up – be the man – that true love will win against all odds.

But would I scream the same words to my best friend and be confident that the “real world” man would step up and that love would conquer all … … …?

I’m a romantic at heart. I love big gestures and the idea of fighting tooth and nail for the one you love. But I’m not one hundred percent sure I could tell my best friend to risk it all like I can demand it of characters in a book. Perhaps that’s a shame. Perhaps I should have more faith in the “real world”. Perhaps that’s why I read and write so much!

I wonder how many amazing relationship fall by the wayside because we are too careful – too concerned with taking a chance.

Okay … So I already admitted I’m a romantic!

What do you think? Is real life love missing some of the risk taking we read about in our favorite books?

If you are in the US or CA, check it out and register for a chance to win!

Follow this link to register:

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/2…

Good luck!!