Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt, Spring 2017!

Welcome to the fall 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 a few days! 



First, let's go over introductions and the hunt rules. 

I'm A.G. Howard, author of the Splintered Series, an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and RoseBlood, a modern-day Phantom of the Opera spinoff.

In a moment, I'll introduce you to Claire Lazebnik, the YA author I'm hosting today, and tell you all about her new contemporary novel!

Claire and I are a part of the PINK TEAM--but there are also RED, BLUE, GOLD, & PURPLE teams - each with 20 authors, for a chance to win a whole different set of books! If you get off track, you can visit the Unstuck page where a list of all the authors are linked up by team for your convenience. Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are five contests going on simultaneously (plus some fabulous personal giveaways), and you can enter one or all!

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 pink 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 April 9th at noon Pacific time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

MEET MY GUEST AUTHOR

Today, I'm hosting Claire Lazebnik for the YA Scavenger Hunt! 

Claire is the author of five novels for adults and five YA novels, including Epic Fail and Things I Should Have Known. With Lynn Kern Koegel, PhD, she co-wrote the non-fiction books Overcoming Autism and Growing Up on the Spectrum. She has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Self Magazine, among many other publications, and contributed a monologue to the anthology play Motherhood Out Loud. 

Find out more information about Claire by checking out her website , or go here for book ordering info. 

ABOUT CLAIRE'S BOOK

Things I Should Have Known is a story about sisterhood, autism, and first love. Chloe Mitchell is on a quest to find love for her autistic sister, Ivy. Ethan seems like the perfect match, so it's unfortunate that his older brother, David, is one of Chloe’s least favorite people.


Chloe, Ivy, David, and Ethan are soon spending lots of time together and Chloe is hopeful her plan will work, until she realizes just how much she doesn't know, both about Ivy and about herself.

And now for Claire's exclusive bonus material for Things I Should Have Known:

Ivy, Chloe, David and Ethan Write Haikus

Claire LaZebnik:

If you’ve read Things I Should Have Known, you know that the two sets of siblings spend a lot of time together. Even though this scene never took place in the book, it certainly could have.

Maybe it’s Chloe’s idea to write haikus on a lazy rainy afternoon when they’ve all already watched a movie and no one wants to leave the house. She would hope that the strict line and syllable structure would appeal to Ivy and Ethan, who both have autism and like things to be clear and literal.

So maybe they’re all sitting around with pads of paper and pencils and Chloe says, “You have five minutes to write a haiku. They’re usually about nature, but they don’t have to be. Three lines, the first with five syllables, the second with seven syllables, and the third with five syllables. Okay? We’ll write and then we’ll read them out loud.”

Ethan would probably complain that it’s a stupid idea, and David would probably tell him he’s being rude to Chloe, and then agree that it’s stupid, and Ivy would worry that hers wouldn’t be any good. But eventually they’d settle down and write their haikus, and then they’d read them  out loud.

And I think they’d end up something like this:

  

Chloe’s Haiku:

The house closes in

Just as I’m planning to leave.

Embrace or prison?

David’s Haiku:

You’re supposed to use

Five/seven/five syllables?

Screw that.

Ethan’s Haiku:

I think that Marvel

Makes a lot of good movies.

Logan was the best.

Ivy’s Haiku:

It’s raining out now.

I hear the water fall down.

But it’s dry in here.

Chloe’s Second Haiku (directed at David):

Just try to write one

Without breaking all the rules.

It wouldn’t kill you.

David’s Second Haiku (directed at Chloe):

Conform? No, thank you.

Only sheep count syllables.

I’m my own person.

And then Ethan would probably say, “This is boring,” and Ivy would say, “Let’s watch TV,” and that would be the end of haiku writing.

****

Haha. Thanks Claire! These characters have amazing chemistry. :) 

Remember, you can buy Things I Should Have Known here, and if you'd like to follow the author online, she's on twitter.

GIVEAWAY DEETS

GIVEAWAY #1 (INTL):  Enter the official hunt contest for a chance to win books by myself, Claire Lazebnik, and a ton of other authors on the pink team, pictured below:

To enter the above giveaway, you need to know that my favorite number is 7. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the pink team and you'll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize! Remember to fill out the form here. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.


GIVEAWAY #2 (INTL): My own bonus giveaway pack contains these RoseBlood / Phantom-themed prizes:

Click image to enlarge

To enter my bonus giveaway, follow the instructions on the rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author on the pink team, Kathryn Holmes!

*****

Also, thanks to Colleen Houck for hosting me today. Be sure to check out my post on her blog for a first-time online peek at Christine Daaé's secret journal entries from the B&N exclusive edition of RoseBlood!