I love this time of year--crisp leaves, hot lattes, football, and, you guessed it, the YA Scavenger Hunt!
If you've made it this far, I probably don't need to explain how this whole thing works. But I will say that this is the biggest round-up of YA literature in town and you definitely don't want to miss it. The hunt runs from Thursday, October 1st through Sunday, October 4th. (That's not a lot of time if you plan to enter ALL the giveaways!)
So here's how it works:
Each author on the hunt is hosting another author's bonus material (mine is out there somewhere, you just have to track it down), along with a link to the next step of the hunt.
At each step, you not only get access to that exclusive content, but you'll also collect another "clue" for the hunt. (In this case, the clues are number that you'll add up in the end.) Add up the clues and you can enter for our team's prize--one lucky winner will receive all the signed books for that team! But play fast, the contest and all the exclusive bonus material will only be available for 72 hours.
I'm
TEAM RED, but there are SO MANY OTHER TEAMS, which means more prize packs you can enter to win.
Still confused? Don't worry, if you get stuck head on over to the
YA SCAVENGER HUNT page for the official rules and instructions.
(Unofficial) SCAVENGER HUNT Instructions:
Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number somewhere. Collect all the author's favorite numbers for
TEAM RED (these are the "clues" I was talking about), and then add them up (don't be embarrassed to use a calculator!).
Then
ENTER to win by filling out the form here. Only the entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Fine Print: 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 much complete the entry form by Sunday, October 4th at noon Pacific Time. Entries without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Today, I'm hosting the amazing Aprilynne Pike. Critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times best-selling author Aprilynne Pike has been spinning tales since she was a child with a hyper-active imagination. At the age of twenty she received her BA in Creative Writing from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. When not writing, Aprilynne can usually be found out running; she also enjoys singing, acting, reading, and working with pregnant moms as a childbirth educator and doula. Aprilynne lives in Arizona with her husband and four kids; she is enjoying the sunshine.
About Aprilynne's book,
EARTHRISE (Earthbound #3):
Even with the power to create and destroy at will, Tavia Michaels couldn't save her parents. She couldn't save the boy she's loved for countless lifetimes. She barely managed to save herself from the treachery of supposed friends. So how can she save the world from a deadly plague--and the immortals spreading it? As the events of EARTHBOUND and EARTHQUAKE reach their thrilling conclusion, no one is safe--Tavia least of all!
Find out more about Aprilynne,
EARTHRISE, and the rest of her books
here!
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT:
Aprilynne is sharing a deleted scene from EARTHRISE (along with an explanation from Aprilynne):
***This is one of those scenes that I needed to write for me, but
in the end it slowed down the narrative a ton. This is a deleted scene from the
final book of the Earthbound series, so all appropriate spoiler warnings that
go with a piece of any last book in a series are hereby applied.;)***
We all nod soberly, then turn and follow the tech out the door and
through a series of hallways. I try to keep track based on the blueprints I
studied, but my head is still fuzzy from just waking up, and I give up and
focus on making sure my mind is alert instead. I conjure up a bowl of trail mix
and shove a handful in my mouth, then offer it to Benson who rolls his eyes at
me.
I keep chewing, and the chocolate chips wake me up with their sweet
sugar taste. By the time we reach a set of double doors I’ve also downed a
bottle of orange juice and am feeling much more myself.
And ready to pull off something spectacular if necessary.
The tech doesn’t stop—hardly even slows down—as he throws the doors
open and strides through them. The buzz of conversation stops instantly at the
sight of us. We’re surrounded by about fifteen people, maybe half in lab coats,
the other half in business suits, and an aura of authority is nearly tangible
in the air.
I’m oddly relieved when I find Dr. Martin’s face amid the sea of
visages, and I focus on her familiar features as the group slowly take their
seats around a huge conference table. Dr. Martin stands at the head. “Thank you
for coming on such sudden notice. I have news that is truly going to change the
world and I’ll need everyone’s help.” She takes a short breath, but doesn’t
leave them in suspense. “We have a vaccine for the Kentucky Virus.” She pauses
and I can tell by the quirk at the side of her mouth that she wants to smile, but
she must be battling a mix of shock, terror, and surely more than a sliver of
self-doubt.
The conference room practically explodes into a flurry of voices
and Dr. Martin has to hold both hands in the air and chant, “Please, let me
explain, please,” several times before the group settles down.
“Our guests came to me this morning with what I thought was an
outlandish claim that they had a vaccine, but their … their science was very
persuasive and I have, of course, run my own tests here at the clinic, to confirm
all of their claims. These people,” she says, gesturing vaguely toward our
group, “were vaccinated approximately three days ago and I took blood samples,
and my team has tested them repeatedly over the last five hours using every
strain of the virus we have samples of. Every single one was repelled.”
And at that there’s a deafening silence. Heads turn to us and I
wish that Dr. Martin had claimed the discovery for herself, but I realize that
even she, in her position of power, wouldn’t be able to convince the doctors in
her own clinic that she developed a new vaccine they hadn’t even heard of,
overnight. She can take the credit on a world-wide scale, but the doctors in
this building are going to need to know the truth.
Part of the
truth.
Dr. Martin continues on before the frenzied murmurs can return.
“I’m certain that, as doctors and scientists, you all have questions about the
vaccine, but we will have years in the future to study it. What I would really
like to do in this meeting is figure out how we can get this vaccine
distributed as quickly as possible.”
“Dr. Martin,” a man with lightly graying hair says, speaking up
before the others. “I just need to ask, are you sure? Are you certain?”
Dr. Martin swallows hard, then looks up and meets the man’s eyes.
“It’s a fair question, Dr. Stephenson. Twenty minutes ago I called my husband.
I asked him to leave work and go get our two children out of school and bring
them here to me. The second—the second—they
get here, I will be inoculating them myself. That, Dr. Stephenson is how
confident I am.”
Her eyes leave the now-silent man and circulate the room. “I’ve
brought our lead lab tech, Michael Hansen, along because I think every person
in this room should receive the inoculation right now. Then I’ll then be sending
him to every staff member and patient in the building, with a personal memo
from me, requesting permission to inoculate them as well. I want this vaccine
out in the world, and I want it done yesterday.”
Dr. Martin turns to me and says softly, so the rest of the room
can’t hear her, “I should have asked this before you entered the room—do you …
have more vials of the vaccine?”
“Dr. Martin,” I say quietly—this isn’t the time to pick a fight,
but she needs to understand—“I am the
vaccine.” I open my hand where she can see it, but not any of the other clinic
staff, and create five 50mL vials filled with the milky fluid.
“Thank you,” she says, laying her hand over mine and taking the
vials. I feel the depth of her gratitude settle deep in my chest and, for the
first time, I believe we can win.
“Michael,” she says, addressing the tech, “you have the syringes?”
Michael lowers his clipboard to show a box of slim syringes—hardly
the width of a pencil—and a stack of alcohol swabs. Dr. Martin walks toward
where he has laid them down on the table, and she’s already rolling up her
three-quarters length sleeve.
“It’s a very traditional vaccine, with an intramuscular delivery,”
she says, and I hear a quaver in her voice, though I can’t tell if it’s from
fear or excitement. “Anyone with the qualifications to inject any kind of vaccine can do it.” Dr.
Martin cleans a patch on her upper arm, then fills the tiny needle. “5CC’s,
just like the TIB. Poke, push, done,” she says, sticking herself and depressing
the plunger as she speaks.
A gasp sounds from the near-silent group and I can see Dr. Martin’s
fingers trembling as she recaps the syringe, hands it to Michael, then presses
a tissue to the injection site. But when she turns to the group, she’s beaming.
“I should be immune within twelve hours.”
Silence reigns. Silence and tension.
Then Dr. Stephenson begins to clap and within seconds the entire
room is clapping.
Dr. Martin quiets everyone down again and says, “As we discuss what
to do, Michael will circle the room and offer the vaccine to each of you. You do not have to accept it,” Dr. Martin
says solemnly, leaning forward over the table. “You weren’t there with me in
the lab where we performed rigorous testing, over and over again. You might
need more convincing. But I am convinced,
and I’m going to move forward with this.”
But most of the doctors are already shedding their suits and lab
coats and rolling and pushing up their sleeves.
As Michael silently approaches the first doctor, Dr. Martin speaks
again. “I need to impress up on each of you the importance of the secrecy of
this meeting. When you leave these doors, the official stance of the Mayo
Clinic is that this vaccine was developed in-house, here in Phoenix, and that
we had a massive break-through in the last few days. But in this room, it is
important that you know the truth. The vaccine was brought to me by this young
woman, and she has informed me that there is an criminal organization that will
stop at nothing to prevent this vaccine from getting out.”
I suck in a breath. She believes me.
“Who would want to stop a working vaccine from being widely
distributed?” pipes up a man from the back, echoing the same question Dr.
Martin asked me this morning.
“Who do you think?” Dr. Martin says calmly. “The same organization
that created the virus to begin with.”
The man lets out a snort of disbelief. “You’re talking about
biological warfare.”
“Damn straight I am,” Dr. Martin says, barely over a whisper.
The entire room is deathly silent.
“The trick, I think,” Dr. Martin continues in a regular voice as
though the interruption had never occurred, “will be getting supplies out to
every hospital, doctor, or drug store out there in secret, and then spreading
the word that people can come and get it from more locations than anyone can
target before the majority of the immunizations are already given out.”
“For free,” I blurt out.
Heads turn to me.
“I … we can fund the operation in its entirety if necessary,” I
say, my voice strong despite the shivers wracking my legs. “But the vaccine
must be available at no cost, to anyone
who wants. Poor, rich, black, white, young old, it can’t matter.”
“How fast can we create the vaccine?” another doctor pipes up from
the back. “That is frequently the most difficult aspect of vaccine distribution.”
“We can make as much of it as you need, as fast as you can send it
out. Trust me.” My voice is steady, but I’m quaking inside at the thought of
expending that much energy. It will be exhausting, but I feel like the last few
weeks have been good practice for me.
“If that’s the case, I don’t see why we can’t simply overnight ship
it wherever is necessary,” he says.
“That might work for the first batch,” Thomas replies, stepping
forward and drawing attention away from me so I can retreat back to my wall.
I shouldn’t have stepped forward to begin with. We could have
discussed cost later. I’ve got to remember to stay quiet and keep off
everyone’s radar.
“This all sounds a bit … like a conspiracy theory,” a man near the
front says. “No offense,” he adds, his tone surprisingly genuine.
“None taken,” Thomas says. “We’re asking you to swallow a hell of a
lot in a single day. Here’s something I’ve been considering.”
With a tricky bit of sleight of hand, Thomas moves as though
reaching into a deep pocket, and simultaneously creates a large map of the
world that he rolls out on the conference table. Luckily, everyone’s attention
is so focused on the map they don’t realize there’s no place on Thomas’ person
large for such a map to be concealed. I just shake my head and peer over the
table beside Thomas.
“Let’s say Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco,
Seattle, Dallas, Orlando, Philadelphia, Cincinnati. One cargo plane completely
full of vaccine to every city. They need to land within hours of each other and
trucks have got to be waiting to take them and go to every major hospital.
Hospitals can distribute them to doctors’ offices. But it has got to be fast.
One press release nationally to let people know they can go to their local
doctor’s office, hospital, hopefully drugstores like Walgreens and CVS.
Emphasize that it will be free.” Thomas straightens. “Hopefully we can get
several million people immunized before anyone can mount an attack.”
“An attack?” says one doctor, holding a cotton ball against his arm
from his inoculation. “You make this sound more like a military operation.”
“It will be,” Thomas says grimly. “The hope is that we can get much
of it underway before it has to be.”
“Then why not go to the government?”
Thomas lets out a bark of a laugh. “Please. And introduce all of
the red tape and check and balances that
would entail? A doctor can ask forgiveness instead of permission. The
government, not so much.”
“Although,” Alanna says; her voice always quiet now. It’s such a
relief after her awful facade. “If there is trouble—which there almost
certainly will be—the government may feel motivated to step in and help.”
“Which is fine,” Thomas says, nodding. “But the most important
thing right now is speed.”
Thomas does an enviable job of fielding questions about the
operation that was all his idea, not mine, and I let myself fade into the
background. I want as few people as possible to realize that I’m involved at
all. But after a few minutes, Dr. Martin steps over to me. “You’ve hardly said a
word,” she says softly. “Isn’t this your project?”
“You could say that,” I reply, also keeping my voice low. “This
morning I stepped forward because I needed to convince you with no scientific
evidence whatsoever. Desperate times and all that.” I turn my eyes to her. “You
must understand, Dr. Martin, without me
there is no vaccine. You needed to
know that, but no one else does, if possible. If they find me, they will kill
me. And if they kill me, everyone in the world who has not yet been immunized
against the virus will die.” My eyes bore into hers with every ounce of force I
can push behind them. “As far as anyone besides you is concerned, I’m just a
quiet, average teenage girl who happens to be the girlfriend of a brilliant
doctor’s son,” I say, gesturing vaguely at Thomas and Benson who look more like
a father-son team now than ever before.
“You’ve …” Her voice trailed off and she clears his throat and
looks out over the heads gathered around the conference table instead of at me.
“You’ve challenged everything in my life that I thought was truth and fact. I’m
afraid to even mention the things I have seen you do. I’d lose the credibility
with my peers that I’ve spent years
building up.” She turns back to me. “I suppose what I’m saying is that I have
no choice but to believe the things I’ve seen. But I’m as anxious as you to
keep it all a secret.”
I let a half smile cross my lips at the strange agreement that one
of the best doctors in the world and the most powerful goddess in existence
have just come to.
Man, I love deleted scenes!
In order to enter the contest for your chance to win you need to know that my favorite number is
4. Add up all the other favorite numbers on
TEAM RED and you'll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!!
CONTINUE THE HUNT
The next stop on your hunt is author
Christina Farley.
And because I love the hunt (and giveaways), I've decided to give you an extra chance to win by hosting an ADDITIONAL, and completely separate giveaway right here! All you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter below, and
boom! you're entered for signed set of THE TAKING and THE REPLACED, along with some super sweet swag.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
