Welcome to the Fall 2013 YA Scavenger Hunt!

Update! The hunt is over. Thanks everyone for participating. Hope to see you next year!
 

Hello! Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-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!

I'm Liz Norris and I'm your host for this leg of the hunt. I love all things romance, food,  television, and of course books!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are TWO contests BLUE TEAM--but there is also a red team for a chance to win a whole different set of twenty-five signed books!
going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the

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 homepage.

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 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 10/6, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today I'm hosting the fabulously talented Teri Harman on my blog for the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Currently, Teri Harman's book shelf is over flowing, her laundry unfolded and her three small children running mad while she writes bewitching novels. Teri also writes a bi-weekly book column for ksl.com and contributes book segments to KSL's Studio 5 lifestyle show.

Find out more about Teri and her debut novel Blood Moon here. 

Check out the awesome cover:

 

Isn't it gorgeous? I love the classic feel that it has to it. 

Even more than that, I love the book!

Here's what Teri has to say about it:

Blood Moon started as research for an epic Halloween party at a 100 year old school house. Then it became an enchanting, mysterious tale of witchcraft, twisted bad guys and the endurance of young love. It is the first book in the Moonlight Trilogy, for older teens and adults.

It's got witches and magic and I adore Willa and Simon. 

I can't wait for Black Moon. I've already added it to goodreads--you should too.

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Teri Harman, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 13. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue 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! 

And...

BONUS CONTEST

Because I read Blood Moon before the hunt and thoroughly enjoyed it, I'm going to offer you an extra chance to win a copy of Blood Moon, a signed copy of Unraveling, and some swag. Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On Teachers, Librarians, and Free Copies of Unraveling

When I was teaching, I had a lot of students who said things like, “I hate reading” or “I haven’t read anything since Goosebumps in third grade.” (I taught high school English classes, so presumably anyone who had managed to get into Honors American Literature should have read something since Goosebumps.)

As a result I always prided myself on finding just the right book that changed their minds. Which means I know first hand how important it is for librarians and teachers to have books—and how much money it can cost (sometimes out of your own pocket) in order to maintain that.

So I’m giving away 100 FREE copies of Unraveling to teachers, librarians, or coordinators or programs that promote literacy.

Enclosed with the book will be a hard copy of the discussion guide, and I’ll be happy to personalize the book for anyone who wants it personalized. (Signed books and anything by Jodi Picoult were the most commonly stolen books from my classroom library, so I won’t take offense if you don’t want my signature.)  

If you’re a teacher, librarian, or coordinator of a program that advocates literacy, and you’d like a free copy of Unraveling, fill out this form. If you aren’t, but you know someone who is, please pass along the information!

This is first come, first serve until those 100 books are gone. But I will ship anywhere in the US. (Sorry everyone not in the US—as I’m paying for the shipping myself, I’ve got to stay in my own budget).

UNBREAKABLE PRE-ORDER PRESENTS!

It’s been almost a whole year since Unraveling was published, which means Unbreakable will be out in 36 days. (So will the Unraveling paperback).

I’m celebrating the release with Books of Wonder who is offering everyone the chance to PRE-ORDER Unbreakable and get a SIGNED book.

And the best news is, you won’t just get a signed book.

You’ll also get an EXLUSIVE Pre-Order Present.

You’ll get signed swag. And THIS:

It’s an EXTRA CONTENT BOOKLET which includes exclusive and never seen before scenes:

An Alternate Beginning
A Pivotal Scene from Ben's POV
A Pivotal Scene from Barclay's POV
An Alternate Ending

Here’s where you can pre-order!

It's Here

Undone is officially available!

Get your digital copy now.

Excerpt from UNDONE

Undone is available tomorrow! So here's a short preview, the opening page:

Certain moments in my life are imprinted in my memory.

They’re easy to recall with perfect clarify whether I want to remember them or not. Any small thing can trigger them: a phrase, a smell, a thought. It brings everything back like I’m reliving that moment, a brief scene in the movie of my life, complete with how horrible I felt at the time. And I usually felt horrible in those moments, because for some reason it’s the moments that I want to forget that stick around.

Like in eighth grade when I had my first kiss with Jane Sheriden and my arm got stuck awkwardly between her head and couch: just thinking about it still makes me cringe. Or when Ms. Wittak caught me cheating in Algebra freshman year because I’d saved the formulas I needed to remember in a fake game on my graphing calculator, and she tore up my test in front of the whole class.

Then there were memories that were more significant.

The pivotal moments that changed everything.

Those I don’t want to forget. Now that I’ve had too much time to think about them, to replay them over and over again in my mind, they’re the things I wouldn’t take back, that I wouldn’t do over.

Because of Janelle.

She saved my life when we were ten. She anchored me by being who she was, and somewhere along the line, I fell in love with her.

In just about every significant moment in my life, she’s there. Whether she knew it or not. 

(A Little More) On Undone

UNDONE, my novella set in the world of Unraveling, will be out 3/5! That’s only 3 days away.

This was a really fun project for me, but it actually wasn't even my idea. 

My editor suggested it. She asked me if I’d be interested in writing a novella from Ben’s POV and if I had any stories that I wanted to tell from his perspective. As soon as she mentioned it, I knew exactly what I wanted to write.

Only instead of just one story I wanted to write three. 

In my mind, there are three major moments that impact the series that readers could never get from Janelle's point of view because she just couldn't ever be there. Those were the stories I wanted to tell.

The first story, "Before She Knew Me" is a prequel that takes place during Janelle and Ben’s sophomore year of high school and readers will be able to get to know more about what Ben was like before the events of Unraveling.

The second story, "When I Saved Her" takes place during the events of Unraveling and is the moment, Ben realized he loved Janelle.

The third story (and my favorite!), "After I Left Her" begins after the events of Unraveling and carries into the events of Unbreakable so there’s a little overlap between the two books. 

When I sat down to write each story, I already had an outline. Because I wrote these after writing both Unraveling and Unbreakable, it was very clear what needed to happen in the stories, plot-wise. 

But my favorite thing about novellas or stories written from a different perspective is the the fact that you discover something new and maybe unexpected about the characters and the world. (For instance one of my favorites was when I read Ender's Shadow and discovered the role Bean played in Ender's Game.) 

So my goal for writing the stories of Undone was to write them in a way that would allow readers to learn something new, not just about Ben, but also about Janelle and the world of Unraveling, and of course at the same time, that meant I just had to make sure that Ben's version of events and Janelle's version of events didn't create any inconsistencies. (Thank goodness for copyeditors!)

Now that it's about to come out, I can say that I'm really excited for Ben's voice to be out there in the world, and for readers to know him a little bit better.

Add it to your Goodreads!

August Must Read Giveaway

I've been giving away the must read books each month and this month is a big one for me. It's the release of False Memory by Dan Krokos. I simply love this book. Like I love it as much as I loved Hunger Games. I also think the author is pretty awesome too.

To win this awesome book, fill out the form below between now and midnight on August 10th (EST)!

Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn’t at all surprised by Miranda’s shocking ability.

Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn’t easy—especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can't remember loving.

Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn’t seem to matter...when there may not be a future.

July Must Read Giveaway

I'm insanely excited for all the awesome books coming out in 2012, and I decided what better way to celebrate than to pick the book I'm most excited for each month and give it away.

My July 2012 pick is Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard. I heard about Susan's book probably a year ago and have been dying to read it ever since. Steampunk and Zombies in historical Philadelphia--how could that not be amazing?

There’s something strange and deadly loose in Philadelphia…

Eleanor Fitt has a lot to worry about. Her brother has gone missing, her family has fallen on hard times, and her mother is determined to marry her off to any rich young man who walks by. But this is nothing compared to what she’s just read in the newspaper—

The Dead are rising in Philadelphia.

And then, in a frightening attack, a zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor…from her brother.

Whoever is controlling the Dead army has taken her brother as well. If Eleanor is going to find him, she’ll have to venture into the lab of the notorious Spirit-Hunters, who protect the city from supernatural forces. But as Eleanor spends more time with the Spirit-Hunters, including their maddeningly stubborn yet handsome inventor, Daniel, the situation becomes dire. And now, not only is her reputation on the line, but her very life may hang in the balance.

So to win, just fill out the form below between now and midnight on July 20th (EST)!

June Must Read Giveaway

I'm insanely excited for all the awesome books coming out in 2012, and I decided what better way to celebrate than to pick the book I'm most excited for each month and give it away.

My June 2012 pick is...


Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone. It's a YA fantasy novel that I had been hearing amazing things about even before I got my hands on an ARC. As a huge fantasy fan, I'd been dying to read it ever since I first heard about it. And I know Leigh on twitter and she's totally awesome.

And of course then I did read it. And WOW. I went in with high expectations because of all the great things I'd heard, and this novel surpassed them all. The characters are amazing, the world is real and wonderful, the plot is mind-blowing. It's a book no one should miss.

Inspired by Tsarist Russia, SHADOW & BONE brings to life a fantasy world of superstition and science, saints and samovars, in which a lonely refugee must leave behind her best friend- and first love- to save her country from the growing darkness of the Unsea. But first she must contend with the dangerous and decadent world of the kingdom’s magical elite and their powerful leader, a creature of dark charm and deadly ambition.

To win a copy of Shadow and Bone, just fill out the form below between now and midnight on June 7th (EST).

Good luck!

“I have survived. I am here. Confused, screwed up, but here. So, how can I find my way? Is there a chain saw of the soul, an ax I can take to my memories or fears?” 
 ― Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak

On Casting

In honor of Unraveling's first week in the world, I'm going to cast the characters for the Unraveling movie in my mind (and by "in my mind" I mean not real). Here's who I pictures as the main characters. (And of course, I would actually have no say in the casting if it was ever something that was more than just in my mind.)

Janelle Tenner

Hailee Steinfeld: I loved her in True Grit!

Ben

Young James Franco, from his Freaks and Geeks days

Barclay

Taylor Kitsch

Now, if you were casting Unraveling, who would be in your movie?

The YAmazing Race Round 2!

Welcome to my stop on the YAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes, a crazy whirlwind blog hop featuring over 50 debut authors and prize packs featuring ARCs, gift certificates, swag, and more! If you haven’t yet been to the Apocalypsies website, please click here to start from the beginning and read the complete rules. Now on to the race!

UNRAVELING by Elizabeth Norris

Two days before her junior year, Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, her life flashing before her, then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And though it isn’t possible, she knows with every fiber of her being that Ben has brought her back to life.

But her reincarnation, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI-agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. As the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s needs to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

UNRAVELING is a gripping story of one girl’s fight to save her family, her world, and the one boy she never saw coming.

Got all that?

Store it away in your brain for the quiz ahead! You'll be able to win some awesome apocalypsie prizes.

But before you go – bonus contest! Simply leave a comment with your email address to be entered to win a signed copy of UNRAVELING!

Ready to move on? Click here to go to the next stop on the race!

May Must Read Giveaway

I'm insanely excited for all the awesome books coming out in 2012, and I decided what better way to celebrate than to pick the book I'm most excited for each month and give it away.

My May 2012 pick is Bitterblue by the amazing Kristin Cashore who is one of my favorite novels. From the description it sounds nothing short of amazing.

The long-awaited companion to New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

To win Bitterblue, fill out the form below between now and midnight on May 7th (EST).

April Giveaway

I've been doing Must Read Giveaways each month for 2012, but April is special for me. Because on the 24th, my own book, Unraveling, will be out in the world. So instead of a Must Read Giveaway this month where I give away a book by someone else, I'm going to give away a signed copy of Unraveling.

(This contest is open internationally!)

To win, simply fill out the form below between now and midnight April 20th!

February Must Read Giveaway Encore!

I'm insanely excited for all the awesome books coming out in 2012, and I decided what better way to celebrate than to pick the book I'm most excited for each month and give it away. I couldn't actually narrow it down to just one book so there's another chance to win this month.

My encore pick is Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne. For the longest time I didn't know anything about the book, but I couldn't get the cover out of my head. I mean, with this cover, it's not an easy book to overlook.

Then I read the description and just knew that this was going to have to be on my to read list. It's a psychological thriller!

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn’t expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she’s going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she’s come home. She’s even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she’s the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can’t trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her—and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

So to win, fill out the form below between now and midnight on February 21st!

On Music that Inspired Unraveling

As someone who's super inspired by music, of course I have a playlist for Unraveling. It’s pretty eclectic and some of it is a little on the embarrassing side, but here it is. The music I listened to while writing and editing Unraveling.



Create a playlist at MixPod.com

February Must Read Giveaway

I'm insanely excited for all the awesome books coming out in 2012, and I decided what better way to celebrate than to pick the book I'm most excited for each month and give it away.

For February 2012, I actually couldn't decide between two awesome debuts, so there are two chances to win. The first chance is for Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood. It's an alternate history about witches, all I keep hearing about it are fabulous things, and again the cover is beautiful.

Everybody knows Cate Cahill and her sisters are eccentric. Too pretty, too reclusive, and far too educated for their own good. But the truth is even worse: they're witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it would mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave.

Before her mother died, Cate promised to protect her sisters. But with only six months left to choose between marriage and the Sisterhood, she might not be able to keep her word . . . especially after she finds her mother's diary, uncovering a secret that could spell her family's destruction. Desperate to find alternatives to their fate, Cate starts scouring banned books and questioning rebellious new friends, all while juggling tea parties, shocking marriage proposals, and a forbidden romance with the completely unsuitable Finn Belastra.

If what her mother wrote is true, the Cahill girls aren't safe. Not from the Brotherhood, the Sisterhood—not even from each other.

To win, fill out the form below between now and midnight on February 7th, and check back on the 15th for another February Must Read Giveaway.

Unravelling with Two Ls

I'm so excited. When I got home the other day, waiting on my doorstep was a package from HarperCollins. It felt "bookish" so I knew it was the best kind of package.

I might have let out a squee when I opened it up. Inside was a copy of the ARC of the Unravelling UK edition! (Note, it's spelled "Unravelling" with two Ls, so it's not a typo :)

Here it is, hanging with my other copies

The Cover Gods definitely smiled on me. I have not one, but two amazing covers that I love. They're both so different, but they both manage to really represent the book.

Here's the fabulous Unravelling cover 

(which will be in UK, Australia, and New Zealand)

My favorite thing about it, is the countdown numbers on the front--it's an important moment in the book! 

It's a Real Book

Well, almost a real book. It's officially one step closer.

Unraveling officially feels like a real book. Before the end of the year, I finished my first pass pages.

And thanks to my fabulous editor, I got a couple copies of the official jacket.

After looking through my home library for the hardcover book with the right number of pages, I managed to snap some pictures.

Of the cover

Of the back 

And with the other books on my shelves

The jacket is around Blood Red Road, which I haven't read yet, but I've heard is amazing. 

On the Inception of Unraveling

Like most of the crazy stories in my life, this once starts with “So I met this guy…”

Only, I didn’t actually “meet” the guy in a traditional sense—I became friends with him over the internet. He was a friend of a friend, funny, intelligent, charming. We traded meaningless comments or jokes with friends, but the more I got to know about him, the more it seemed we had in common. We liked the same movies and television shows, we both loved to read and to write, and we just seemed to be on the same intellectual wavelength. We recommended books to each other and we could talk about anything and everything.

And somewhere along the line, I realized he had become my best friend—and then we met, and it just felt like we belonged together (I’m a hopeless romantic, I know). Of course, he lived in another state and neither one of us had any ambitions to ever move so we started muddling through a long distance relationship, making up our own rules and trying to figure out what worked best for us.

Which got me thinking about long distance relationships. They’re hard—flawed and tragic. Most of them are doomed from the beginning. The emotional highs and lows in that type of relationship add an intense stress to even the most calm lives.

In June 2010 (during one of those emotional lows), I thought about how universally unfair it was, that I’d finally found this guy who was perfect for me, who really belonged with me, and yet he actually also belonged somewhere else. And that was the moment of inception of UNRAVELING. Because at its heart, it’s a star-crossed love story. Janelle and Ben are from different worlds, and in their darkest moments, they find each other.

I am also a huge science fiction and fantasy nerd, and I hate the perception that science fiction just has to be space operas (though I like those too) so I wanted UNRAVELING to be accessible to people who don’t know a lot about science or who don’t normally read science fiction. I spent about two months thinking about the plot and writing down character ideas in a notebook while riding the subway, and then I started writing pieces of dialogue and a few key scenes.

Then in December 2010 I wrote the first 100 pages. Unsure whether I should finish or set it aside, I shared those pages in a writing workshop in early 2011 and in March I reluctantly sent them along with a synopsis to my agent.

 The day the book sold, I was at lunch with three friends. Near the end of lunch my agent called and said “where are you?” When I told her she said “Come to my office. Don’t even pay your bill. Just get up and leave.” I did and when I got there she told me about the offer.

And I promptly called that guy who inspired it all.