Thank you Pop Sugar … @POPSUGAR
“There is no shame in watching re-runs (regularly) of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but maybe (just maybe) it’s time to move on to the next level of supernatural entertainment. Meet Tenley Tylwyth… A captivating storm of brilliant storytelling and unpredictability, Operation Tenley is a magical reading experience for lovers of supernatural drama.” @Booksparks
Hello People! Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt. I am part of the Blue Team.
Look at these books! You can win one of each by playing along. 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 see other prizes.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve hidden my favorite number somewhere. One you find it, 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)
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 October 9, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
For YASH 2016, I am hosting the lovely Brenda Drake.
Brenda Drake is the author of THIEF OF LIES (Library Jumpers #1), GUARDIAN OF SECRETS (Library Jumpers #2), TOUCHING FATE (Fated Series #1), and CURSING FATE (Fated Series #2). She grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. She hosts workshops and contests such as Pitch Wars and Pitch Madness on her blog and holds Twitter pitch parties on the hashtag, #PitMad. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment). Look for her novels, THUNDERSTRUCK, SEEKING FATE (Fated Series #3), and ASSASIN OF TRUTHS (Library Jumpers #3) coming soon from Entangled TEEN.
Check out Brenda Drake’s cool website or find out more about THIEF OF LIES here! And, can we talk about this totally gorgeous cover????
Gia Kearns would rather fight with boys than kiss them. That is, until Arik, a leather clad hottie in the Boston Athenaeum, suddenly disappears. While examining the book of world libraries he abandoned, Gia unwittingly speaks the key that sucks her and her friends into a photograph and transports them into a Paris library, where Arik and his Sentinels—magical knights charged with protecting humans from the creatures traveling across the gateway books—rescue them from a demonic hound.
Jumping into some of the world’s most beautiful libraries would be a dream come true for Gia, if she weren’t busy resisting her heart or dodging an exiled wizard seeking revenge on both the Mystik and human worlds. Add a French flirt obsessed with Arik and a fling with a young wizard, and Gia must choose between her heart and her head, between Arik’s world and her own, before both are destroyed.
Here is Exclusive Content that Brenda is giving to YASH! (translation: Lucky you!)
Hello, everyone. The below excerpt is a deleted scene from THIEF OF LIES (Library Jumpers #2). In an earlier draft of the story, there was a birthday celebration for Gia that was deleted to move the action forward quicker. From the many scenes, I choose this one. It’s when Gia, Arik, Afton, and Nick are heading for the D’Marco’s restaurant and Arik pretends to be Gia’s new boyfriend. It shows Nick and Afton’s relationship, and Arik and Gia’s playful side. I hope you enjoy it.
*****
Arik slowed his steps to walk alongside me.
“I was wondering,” I said. “Your world seems wicked brutal with those creatures and magic. Like, really, how do you sleep at night?”
“With both eyes closed.” His lips pulled into a lopsided smile, which he followed with a wink.
I smiled, enjoying his lighter side. “Real funny. I wouldn’t sleep at all.” Why was my stomach always fluttering around him? It was just like the excitement I’d feel when I was fencing and all I needed was one more touch with my foil to win a match.
He nodded at Afton and Nick, who were arguing in front of the restaurant’s door. “Not a good situation there.” His accent made his words sound like poetry. The shadows played across his sharp features—a glorious range of slopes and valleys.
“Well, ever since Afton moved here, Nick’s had it bad for her.”
As we watched, Nick kicked a barrel in front of the restaurant, dumping trash onto the sidewalk. Afton crossed her arms and stared down the street at us. Her body language told me to hurry up and rescue her from Nick’s tantrum.
I rushed ahead and stopped in front of Nick. “What exactly are you doing? Your mom’s going to be pissed. And you’re ruining my birthday celebration.”
“I’m ruining your day?” He knelt down and grabbed the trash off the ground, shoving it into the toppled can. “What about being sucked into a book and having a beast killed in front of you?” He stood and righted the trashcan. “That didn’t blow your day, but I did–“
Afton grabbed his arms. With her eyes fixed on his, she accentuated her words. “Calm. Down. Gia’s right. It’s her birthday celebration. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, but what did you expect? You surprised me. Call me crazy, but you don’t declare your undying love to someone like that.” Releasing his arms, she dug into her purse, pulled out some antibacterial wipes, and handed them to him. “Until today, well, I thought we were just . . . anyway, I haven’t had time to process it with all the scary crap messing with my mind.”
Nick’s face softened, and his deep brown eyes pleaded for forgiveness. “I’m sorry.”
“I have something to say,” Arik said, as he approached.
I sighed. “Now what?”
He slipped his arm over my shoulder. My stomach quivered and I tried to move away, but he gripped my shoulder, and pulled me in closer. “Smile. We have an audience.”
I peered into the darkened restaurant window and could only make out the silhouettes of the patrons sitting around the dining tables.
Arik squeezed my shoulder. “Since I’m supposed to be your boyfriend, shouldn’t we act the part?”
“Yes, you should,” Afton answered for me before yanking open the door. Nick quickly took the handle from her, and she walked in ahead of him. All eyes slid to us as we entered, confirming Arik’s statement about having an audience.
Arik took my hand. “How is your father with displays of affection?”
I leaned closer to him. He smelled of leather and autumn air. “You could lose a limb.”
He dropped my hand at seeing Pop’s stern glare on us.
Now, don’t wait even another 7 seconds to enter! Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue team and you’ll have the secret code.
Check out the next author… Elizabeth Briggs! Her book, Future Shock, just made the NYT Bestsellers List! What? Yes, you read that correctly. Have fun and good luck on the Hunt!
The best middle grade sandwich.
We would love to see you tonight, 7 pm at {Pages} Bookstore in Manhattan Beach for Operation Tenley‘s book launch.
I am thrilled to have Alane Adams, the award-winning author of The Red Sun and Kalifus Rising, on my Deleted Scenes Blog today. Besides being the kindest, most sure-I’ll-help-you-promote-your-book-est writer ever, (Alane gave me an awesome blurb for Operation Tenley before I even knew her… what?), she’s also brilliant. She’s developed a mobile game for her Legends of Orkney series. I mean come on, that’s smart. I’m going to ask her to come back and talk about BattleKasters at a later date. For now, get ready Kalifus Rising fans, because below Alane is showing us how she “killed a darling” (translation: parts of a book a writer loves, but must kill off for the sake of the story) and didn’t even cry about it – on the outside. Read on!
Deleted Scene: Kalifus Rising
Keely’s mouth fell open at the sight that appeared around the bend.
It was a dwarf. From the shoulders down he looked as broad in the girth as Rego and dressed just as poorly in burlap and ragged pants. It was the head that had her gaping—or rather the pair of heads sprouting from a thick neck.
One head was capped in a sheaf of red hair, the other brown. They were arguing with one another.
“I say we go this way,” the brown-haired head said.
“You heard the whistle—we have a customer,” the red-haired one snapped back.
“I’m not in the mood for customers today.”
“Well, I say we need the money.”
They came to a stop in front of Rifkin. The one on the right gave them a big scowl. The one on the left, the redhead, smiled.
“I’m Norri,” the redhead said.
“Don’t tell them who we are,” the other blustered, swiveling his head to stare at his twin.
“Come on, Snorri, they look nice.”
“Oh, now you told them my name, idiot.” Snorri reached up and slapped Norri on the side of his head.
“I’m not an idiot. You’re the idiot.”
They began slapping each other across the face. Keely couldn’t help it. She giggled, putting her hand over her mouth to cover it.
“Oy,” Rifkin shouted, interrupting them, “we need a ride across the loch. You lot interested or not?”
They spoke simultaneously.
“No.”
“Yes.”
The dwarf’s right hand came up and covered the mouth of Snorri.
“Ignore him. I always do. We’ll take you across as soon as you pay.”
Rifkin flipped him a gold coin he had taken off Grizzle.
The dwarf caught it with his other hand and nipped it with his teeth.
“We’ll take you,” they said together. This time they both smiled.
Why did this sentence/paragraphs/pages need to be deleted/rewritten?
This scene is actually part of an entire chapter that got deleted! It was such a fun scene, where Keely is being taken across a loch by this crazy two-headed dwarf and she is knocked overboard and dragged underwater where she meets a ghostly Eifalian princess. I ended up deleting the entire chapter because as fun as it was to write, it didn’t advance the story line enough to be relevant. In hero’s quest stories like the Legends of Orkneys, often your characters are on the move trying to reach their goals. You want to make their journey challenging, but each hurdle has to move them further along their arc, and be relevant to the overall plot. This scene, while an interesting backstory of Orkney’s history, wasn’t relevant enough to the overall story to be vital, and simply delayed my character from reaching her goals.
Whose idea was it to delete/rewrite them (agent, editor, spouse, dog)?
It was actually my decision. I can be brutal with my rewrites! There are some scenes I love so much I don’t want to let them go, but a wise editor once told me never to throw those scenes away but to simply file them away for another story. That definitely makes it easier knowing someday you might pull that scene back out! Also, I knew once I reviewed the final manuscript that I had made the right decision. I was handling multiple POV storylines with four characters going in different directions so keeping their journey streamlined and focused made for a tighter overall story.
Did you cry when you deleted/rewrote them?
Not actual tears, but the writer inside me was sobbing! There were several chapters like this one I ended up cutting out. I’d actually like to release them one day and share them with my readers. Maybe I’ll call them the Lost Files of the Legends of Orkney!
(Yes please, Alane!)
Connect with Alane here.
There’s a goodreads giveaway for Operation Tenley.
Giveaway ends September 27, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Thank you Teen Reads for the shout-out! This is an incredible list to be on.
This month’s Cool & New roundup includes OPERATION TENLEY, the first book in a new series from Jennifer Gooch Hummer in which a teen has the power to produce weather…http://www.teenreads.com/features/cool-new/september-2016
https://www.bookstr.com/article/10-middle-grade-reads-to-add-to-your-list/2302
Brimming with soul-stirring adventure and unpredictability, Operation Tenley is the can’t-miss thrilling adventure to embark on this fall — Bookstr
