Anna Banks's Blog, page 5

Guys. We have a winner. (We've HAD a winner, but Blogger is the devil and ate my winner post!).  Thanks to all who voted, entered, and help spread the word about the contest. I can't tell you how awesome it is for my official OF TRITON bookmark to be completely fan-created. Not to mention by a book blogger--and book bloggers are among my most favoritest of people. :)

Freaking fantabulous! (

Now, without further ado, the winner is........(you're imagining a drum roll right now, aren't you?):

ENTRY #3!!!



Some of you may know the person behind the creator, but for those who don't, I've asked her to introduce herself. She's a bit camera shy, but please give a virtual high five to Kazhy! (And check out her website, which is majorly classy).

I'm Kazhy, a college student by day and a book blogger, well, all the time! I'm more confident with my bookmark design than with my blog, but if you'd like to check it out, it's here! You can also find me on Twitter. I was really surprised to find out that a lot of people liked my design, considering I only used GIMP to make it. Thanks to everyone who voted! :D

I'm elated to the infinite degree to be hosting this giveaway of RAVENS by Kaylie Austen. She's a very talented author pal of mine, and I'm stoooopid excited to read this YA debut. I know the dark and twisted mind that is Kaylie's and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need someone to hold me while I read it...

That said, you can (and should) connect with her on her blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

Without further ado, here is the magnificence of RAVENS!



Blurb (World Castle Publishing January 2013):

What are Ravens, and are they as the world wants us to believe—sinister and without human qualities? When abruptly taken from their world, select humans are transformed into creatures of the night with penetrating eyes and uncanny abilities that most believe are a threat to mankind. Stripped from their mundane and ordinary lives, these creatures have no choice but to stalk the night and fight back in order to survive.
            One such Raven is eighteen-year-old Liam, who uses his telepathy to communicate with Kendra in order to lure her into the transformation. It proves to be a double-edged gambit that turns into a tumultuous journey. Racing against time to save her sister, whom she believed to be dead, Kendra falls through a portal and into a parallel world where humans hunt her. She becomes a Raven with ill-controlled powers, trapped in a torrid affair with Liam, and desperately struggles to find a grip on her new reality.  Sounds intense huh? Huh??? *nudges shoulder* As a special treat, I've got an excerpt for your reading pleasure! Excerpt:
The first few times Kendra dreamt of Liam, he was a blurry ghost haunting her sleep. After the first year, he sat with her, talked to her, and consoled her.“What’s wrong with your eyes?” she’d asked.His gaze met hers until she looked away first. The intensity of those unnatural orbs sent chills down her spine. The colors were all wrong and made Liam seem dangerous, inhuman. “Our eyes change here.”“Where’s there?”He shrugged. “Another world.”“Like…the afterworld?”He laughed. “I’m not dead!”“Of course you are,” she muttered.Liam disappeared when she awoke, and every so often returned to continue the conversation.“Is Julie with you?” Kendra inquired with a bitter ache in her chest.“Yeah.”“What happened?”“You really want to know?”“Who killed you?”He laughed. “I’m not dead!”“Of course you are,” she muttered.Liam hadn’t visited in a while, but the anniversary fast approached, which meant he’d pop up again.
Giveaway:

I'm giving away not one but TWO signed copies of RAVENS. To enter, leave a comment below and tell me why you want to read this book so very much badly. Be convincing. Make me feel it. Make me want to overnight the book to you, mkay? Because that's how you're gonna win this giveaway.

So...On your mark...Get set...Wait for it...Wait...I said wait...GO!



  

Okay, so I'm pretty sure I've mentioned in passing that you guys suck in the best possible way. You've made picking the winner for my bookmark contest haaaaaard. So many great (and by great, I mean fan-flipping-tastic) entries. There were well over a hundred entries. I was almost in tears trying to pick a winner. This was supposed to be fun. If not for you, then AT LEAST for me, right? Right??

Shame. On. You.

So now I'm putting the ball in your court (cliche alert! Ew). Now you must suffer with indecision. Bite your lip bloody and raw. Drink wine from the bottle with said bloody/raw lip.

However, I have made it a tidly bit easier for you. I've narrowed the contest down to the top six entries. Instead of hundreds of entries, you just have to choose between six. Easy, yes? (Insert maniacal laugh here, then the gulping sound of drinking more wine, followed by an unladylike hiccup).

Here are the rules:

1.) Vote in the comment section. (For example: Entry one. Another example: Entry two. See how it works?) I don't feel like messing with one of those poll widget things. This also gives you a chance to give praise to the finalists.


2.) If you leave a negative comment about any entries, your vote will not count, your comment will be deleted, I will secretly consider you a bad person and possibly a poor sport, other people will know that you're a jerk, and your mother will be utterly and irretrievably ashamed of you and what you have let yourself become.


3.) You may vote only once. (Because duh).


4.) All votes must be in by midnight on February 15th. Any votes posted in the comments after that deadline will not be counted. I am not responsible for what time zone you're in. I don't even know what time zone I'm in, so good luck with that.


ENTRY ONE

    ENTRY TWO    



ENTRY THREE


   



ENTRY FOUR




ENTRY FIVE








ENTRY SIX





You guys suck, and I mean that in the best possible way. You are all so talented that I actually couldn't decide on a winner for the OF TRITON bookmark contest. That said, I need your help. Pwease.

I've got it narrowed down to my favorites, but I was wondering if you could help me decide who THE winner is? Would you be willing to vote? Would you be willing to give of yourself in that way?

In a few days, I'm going to post the top 5 choices I've made. I want you to vote for your favorite in the comment section. I do NOT want any nasty or ugly or demeaning comments about the entries I've selected. I simply want your vote. If you make a derrogatory comment, I'll delete it faster than I'd pop a zit, and then I'll secretly think of you as a bad person, and probably never have tea with you and your vote will CERTAINLY not count at all. So you just think about that.

I'm going to be contacting the top 5 finalists in the next few days to make sure it's alright to publicly flaunt their skillful swagger on my blog. After I've received the go-ahead, I'll post the images. You will be impressed. It will be difficult for you to choose. And then you will know my agony.

Stay tuned for updates on this contest.

I can't even tell you how overwhelmed I was with the huge response to this contest. There were literally hundreds of entries. And most of them, honest to God, were mind-blowing.

So, you guys really do suck. In a good way. :)

So. I assume you’ve all had a chance to see the cover for the second installment of my Syrena Legacy series, OF TRITON, yes? If not, please do avert your eyes to its glory here:
                     


I know. It’s hawt. You don’t have to tell me.

Here’s the blurb. Be excited.

In this sequel to OF POSEIDON, Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half- Breeds should be put to death.

As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?

So. I need your help.

My creative artistic abilities ended with kindergarten. However, I’ve seen just how creative my fans can be by the swag they make. Necklaces, nail polish, cookies, chocolate, rings, magnets. You guys are crazy talented.  So I was sorta kinda wondering if…

Would one of you design a bookmark for OF TRITON? Pwease?

Here’s what’s in it for the winner:

1.)    An ARC of OF TRITON.
2.)    A signed hardcover of OF POSEIDON.
3.)    The choice between a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card OR a 50 pg critique of your manuscript, plus a follow up phone call from me to discuss it.
4.)    I’ll pay to have your bookmark printed, and you will get a good supply of signed, printed copies. Each bookmark will include a credit to you as designer.
5.)    A signed poster of your bookmark.

Here are the rules:

1.)    You must be able to design the bookmark based solely on the cover image and the blurb. In other words, the cover must be used somehow in the bookmark, and the bookmark must capture the sense of the blurb somehow. Remember, draw the reader in. Make them curious about the book. Make them salivate for it. Make them…well, you know.
2.)    If you choose to use any other images, you must have legal rights to do so.
3.)    By entering, you give me permission to mass produce and mass distribute the bookmark you designed (if you win). This means your bookmark design could (and probably will) end up in countries all over the world. So by entering, you agree that’s kind of cool.

Here’s how you enter:

1.)    Design a bookmark.
2.)    Email the bookmark as an attachment to byannabanks (at) gmail (dot) com. Do it before January 31st. In subject line of the email, please put BOOKMARK CONTEST ENTRY.

The winner will be announced on February 4th, 2013.

Whataya say???

Okay, so as usual, I'm late in announcing this awesome thing that's happening for the next five days. It's called the Twitter Fiction Festival.

But first, here's how it happened:

I get an email from Emmy Laybourne (author of MONUMENT 14), and she's all "Hey peaches! Do you have a minute for a phone chat? I kinda sorta entered us into the Twitter Fiction Festival to write that YA Sasquatch Romance you're always talking about. And...we kinda sorta got picked! So um, call me mkay?"

Yeah.

So.

I call her and begin with, "What have you done?"

When she explains the details to me, and tells me how fun it's going to be, and murmurs encouraging things in my ear, then I start to calm down.

So here's what it is. Emmy (@EmmyLaybourne) and I are going to be tweeting our YA Sasquatch Romance short story, MONSTER CRUSH, from each our Twitter profiles. There are a few ways you can keep up with us. Everyday, beginning yesterday (sorry!) we'll begin tweeting the story from 4 to 5 pm (EST). If you want to follow along during that time, you should follow BOTH our profiles, because it will be told alternating between us. You could also visit the Twitter Fiction Festival landing page during that time and see the flow from both our profiles in real time.

Each day, we'll be asking for suggestions for the next day's installment. Names, places, professions, etc to use in the story. If we pick your suggestion, you will get a prize! (Yay for prizes!)

Also, Emmy and I have decided to post the installments on our websites, in case you miss a day and need, just NEED, to know what happens.

And, I just realized a few days ago that this festival is an international thing. So ALL the countries can see our YA Sasquatch Romance. Someone hold me.

Mucho congratulations to the winners of my We Have a Trilogy giveaway! Here they are in no particular order:



1.) Alyssa Susanna

2.)  Jessica @ Just a Booklover

3.) Lisa @ The Young Adult Connection


Please email me your mailing address at byannabanks (at) gmail (dot) com to claim your prize(s).

Thanks to all who helped me share this exciting news!

Guys.

GUYS.

I'm so excited I can barely type this, but *deep breath take another deep breath*--Feiwel and Friends wants a third book to continue the story of Galen and Emma! So here's how it's going down:

1.) OF POSEIDON (Spring 2012)
2.) OF TRITON (Spring 2013)
3.) OF Insert Clever Title Here (Spring 2014)



And if that wasn't cool enough, they've informed me that they're planning a special underwater photo shoot for the covers! AHHHHHH!  Now, if you're anything like me, you're imagining a gorgeous male model with Galen's abs right at the moment and your mouth is possibly hanging slightly ajar and your eyes are possibly glazed over with lust...*inappropriate squeal*

I mean, I thought OF TRITON would do it for them, that it would be epic enough, but they're all "Moar moar moar!" And yet, as much as I'd love to take credit for this, as flattered as I truly am, I know the real reason they're asking for a third book: YOU.

Yes, you, YA book blogger.

Yes, you, teen reader who picked up OF POSEIDON and loved it.

Yes, you, college student who used the Syrena world to escape hellish exams.

Yes, you, mom who secretly drooled over Galen while your children were napping (this is a non-judging zone).

Your excitement and enthusiasm made this happen. Thank you thank you thank you!

So, in appreciation of the MAJOR part you played in the release of this third book, I'm holding a giveaway. There are THREE chances (three=trilogy, get it?) to win a signed, personalized hardcover copy of OF POSEIDON, plus swag. The rules for the giveaway are easy peasy schmeazy:

To enter, you must:

1.) Become a follower of my blog.

                  AND

2.) Tweet a link to this post and include my Twitter handle @byannabanks in the tweet.


This giveaway ends at midnight on November 10th. Now run along, and confetti to you all!

Okay.  So.

I've kept a secret from you. My adult sci-fi romance, DEGREES OF WRONG, released today. It's by Anna Scarlett. Anna Scarlett is me. You can check it out here. If you liked the snark and romance of OF POSEIDON, and don't mind your characters in their 20s, you'll probably love DoW.
***END SHAMELESS SELF PROMO***

For those of you wondering, my YA publisher, Feiwel and Friends, requested that I use a pen name for any adult works, so that my adult identity and YA identity are distinguished from one another. What do you think about this, hmmm? I've been getting mixed responses on the subject.

Also, book tour is OVAH! And it was...supercalifragilisticexpealidocious. If you think you're nervous to meet an author, just know that we're nervous to meet you too. Unless of course, you're high on Benadryl, like I was the entire tour. Then you're not so nervous as you are obnoxious, insane, and...charming? Hopefully?

Along those lines, I apologize in advance to all of you who are attending Austin Teen Book Fest this year, because I will be there and there is a fantastic chance I will be misbehaving as usual.

For all my writer friends, here is a juicy tidbit of advice: YES the second novel is harder to write than the first. If writing the first was like giving birth, writing the second is like giving birth to a litter of adult porcupines. I'm in editing with Of Triton now, and thankfully, the edits are minimal. But. Holy. Crap. It was harder to write. I didn't want to turn it in. I was convinced it sucked. I pushed it until deadline, in fact.

Which leads me to this point for my writer friends: When you get published, you may not want to read your reviews. Sure, you won't be able to stop yourself when the ARCs come out. But for all the great ones, there WILL BE NEGATIVE ONES. Absurdly evil ones, even. You need to decide now if this will affect you as a writer. And if it will, don't read them.

Because it affected me. I didn't WANT to write the sequel. I was convinced I couldn't do anything right. I began to doubt myself as a writer, and I didn't exactly have the confidence to spare in the first place. I began to think that my getting an agent/book deal/book tour was a freaking fluke. Yes, a freaking one. No matter how much everyone else loved it, if I came across a negative review, it hit me hard for a long time.

Which is why, even after you land an agent and a book deal, you still need to prep yourself for rejection. A writer's life is full of it, no matter who you are. Get used to it.

And keep going!

It's that time of year again for Rock the Drop. In a nutshell, it's where a bunch of crazy people get together and give away books for FREE! No strings attached. Except, well, you have to be on the look out for these books. They could be anywhere. On the subway, on a park bench, on the sidewalk. ANYWHERE.

It's in suppport of Teen Lit Day, and you can read more about Readergirlz, who started this whole mess, here.

Anyhow, here are my Rock the Drop offerings:



I'll be posting pics on Twitter today when I place them.
Happy Rock the Drop! :)