Hey everybody! Welcome to the YASH Fall 2015!
I am Deidre Mapstone, your hostess on this leg of the hunt, representing TEAM PINK!
I am a stay at home mom who likes to bake, sew and write! Old fashioned loves for a new age society!
I invite you to check out the #Awethors & #IndieBooksBeSeen any time over on Twitter for some amazing authors and books! Welcome to my blog, and enjoy the hunt!
This biannual event was created 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 amazing prizes! You not only get access to exclusive content from each author, but you also receive a clue to continue the hunt! Add up all the clues and you can be entered to win TEAM PINK's fabulous prize: a signed copy of each book on the team!
Don't delay! This hunt, and all the authors' bonus material will only be available for 72 hours!
Now, let's get to the rules so you can get on with the hunting!
How to Scavenger Hunt
Directions: Below you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on TEAM PINK, and then add them up (don't worry, this isn't a test, you can use a calculator).
Rules: Open internationally. Anyone under 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 4th, noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
If you have any problems or questions, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page. There are 8 contests running in total! You can go enter all of them at the Scavenger Hunt page for a chance to win a whole other set of signed books!
With all of the technical jargon out of the way, let's meet one of TEAM PINK's authors!
I am pleased to be hosting Hilary Thompson!
I’m Hilary, and I used to be such a practical girl. Then I let the stories out.
Now I create worlds, people, and problems that are grounded in real life, if you accept that real life has magic around every turn.
I was born to parents who made a habit of taking roads less traveled. But I was also a first child, and an independent, willful child, so I’ve made a habit of taking a few roads on my own.
Now I teach Creative Writing, English, and AP Literature, write whenever and wherever I can, and read as much as my eyes can handle. I play superheroes and dress up games and read books in bed with my own independent, willful children and play at homesteading and world traveling with my wonderful soulmate of a husband. I tend to ignore laundry and dirty dishes.
Deidre here - I too ignore my dirty dishes and laundry...maybe it's a writer thing!
The book Hilary is sharing with us is Balance Broken Starbright, Book Two. Let's take a look!
The world cries for Order, but she’s igniting a revolution.
One hundred years before, the Great Sickness reduced the world to three cities. Now, Asphodel no longer lingers underground, and the Starbright Maiden of Justice has returned.
Everyone has faith in Astrea’s ability to save the world – but only she knows the dark truth about her powers.
Trea teams with Stian, Lexan, and Zarea to enlist the help of Lord Hadeon of Tartarus. They hope Hadeon will aid in attacking Asphodel’s First Leader Keirna, but the Destroyer usually takes lives, not sides.
As Trea discovers life outside of Asphodel, she begins to wonder whether the remaining world is too broken to save – especially since the price of freedom just might be her own life.
Wow! Sorry, Deidre here again - That sounds amazing! I absolutely am in love with all the names! It sounds like a riveting story! And a redhead on the cover...I am loving it all already!
!*!*!BONUS CONTENT ALERT!*!*!
A special scene from the Balance Broken story!
The Destroyer Finds
Peace
A
man’s face bends closer to mine. I can barely focus my eyes, but I do notice
the darkness, and the tickling scent of oranges.
“What
do you remember, Irana?” he asks, his voice kind and calm but oddly
distressing.
I do
not want to answer the question, but he leans in closer. I try to clear the
scratchiness from my throat. “The first thing I remember is my mother, telling
me she would soon be employed by Lord Hadeon, and that there was someone she’d
like me to meet.”
I feel
the grin in his mind before it spreads to his lips. I’ve always been able to
sense things like that – satisfaction, displeasure. I try to move to adjust my
arm, which is beginning to tingle, but I can’t quite figure out how to lift it.
“The
last thing I remember is Pacem. My friend. My everything else. Being dragged
away. His beautiful brown eyes were afraid, but not for himself. For me. Afraid
of Lord Hadeon, and what he might do to us, now that Mother had fled.”
The
smile dims a bit, leaning more toward displeasure. I wish I could see the man
well enough to know who I am speaking to. I close my eyes to rest them, hoping
the burning will soon stop.
“And
do you remember how to dance?” he asks when I have been silent for a few
moments. My heart stutters, then seems to stop altogether. Only one man has
ever seen me dance: Lord Hadeon himself. The smile has returned to his face.
I
squeeze my eyes tighter, but I still see the darkness, lit by that infernal
grin. Finally, “Perhaps,” I hear myself whisper, although I’m truly not certain
if I could ever dance again.
There
is nobody left for me to dance for.
A soft
flutter wakes me, followed by a light tapping on my stomach. I open my eyes
slowly, noticing the light, and the scent of houseplants. Something is
glinting, moving on my stomach, and I close my fingers around it tightly,
meaning to crush its robotic life from it. But it is not one of Hadeon’s
machines, I realize.
Machine,
yes. But I can immediately feel the balance of its parts – peace instead of the
hectic grinding and clicking of the Destroyer’s creations. I bring it closer to
my face.
A bird
– made of metal? Its head tilts, pin-point black eyes helping to focus and
straighten my vision. Its beak opens and a red light blinks on, then off. The
belly splits apart and the smallest scrap of paper is discharged. I grasp at
it, and my heart leaps in my chest as I see the writing.
11
This
is the number Pacem and I share – it is ours alone, and insignificant to anyone
but us.
It
means he is alive, and he knows where I am.
Tears
wet my still-burning eyes, and it is only then that I begin to see where I am.
A pure white blanket covers my legs, and a white tent, supported by golden
filigree panels and arches curve above me. But not far above – the top is
actually quite near. The space is egg-shaped and barely wider than my
outstretched body.
Unease
begins to spread through my limbs as I struggle to move fingers and toes, one
by one. I push up, wondering at how weak I’ve grown. I have no idea how long
I’ve been here, or where here really
is.
Just
then the tent begins to rise around me, leaving the arches and panels. I
swiftly tuck the bird under the blanket. Swallowing around the lump in my
throat, I can see now that I am in a cage. Lord Hadeon stands before me,
sunlight glinting behind him, throwing his face into shadows.
He sleeks
his black hair and smooths his hands over his white tunic, fingering the golden
fringe along the edges of his sleeves.
“Where
is my mother?” I ask, because I can’t bear to ask the location of anyone else.
“She
is no longer with us, I’m afraid,” Hadeon answers, his face grave. I lower my
eyes and wait for the feelings of sorrow, but instead I feel soothed. Peaceful.
My mother was never well – not in her body, and not in her mind. Death may be
kinder to her than life.
“And…and
where are we?” I ask, again hesitant to ask the only question I truly need the
answer to – where is Pacem?
“In my
throne room, of course. This is an antechamber, but through that lovely screen
is the very room where we first met.”
“What
do you want from me?” I ask, my mind spinning with every horrific story I have
ever heard about Lord Hadeon of Tartarus, the Destroyer of Lives.
He
steps closer, his eyes shining with blackness. “You, my dear, are the first
glorious piece to the puzzle which the whole world is trying to solve. You are
the maiden of Peace, are you not?”
I’d
like to tell him I’m not, but he’s right, and there’s really no sense in
denial. “I am.”
“Well,
then Eirênê, welcome to Tartarus.”
He smiles and spreads his arms wide, as though to grant me the kingdom.
Suddenly I feel very un-maidenly, and decidedly the opposite of peaceful.
“You
may call me Irana, and I already know exactly what Tartarus is. And who you
really are.”
His smile
spreads even wider across his beautiful dark face, as self-delighted as a demon
who has escaped the fire. “Will you stay with me?”
I
glance around at my golden cage, eyes narrowed in disbelief. “I am not a
prisoner?”
“No.
Peace cannot be forced. Only chosen. So sayeth the Prophets.”
“What
is your bargain, then?” For there is one. There is always a bargain, where the
Destroyer is concerned.
He
claps his hands lightly three times, and a screen slides apart behind me,
opening what I had thought to be a blank wall.
I
breathe in too quickly and nearly choke when I see what the screen has been
hiding.
It is
Pacem, but it is not Pacem.
Not
the way I once knew him.
His
beautiful brown eyes are no longer brown, but a glittering, glassine blue. His
fine pale skin is covered over with metal sheeting, and his joints creak like
those of the bird I still have clutched beneath the blanket. His steps stutter
across the floor, uncertain as a newly-made child.
My
Pacem, my everything else, is barely more alive than my little robotic bird.
Yet I know without thought that while he is here, I will be as well.
Hadeon
clears his throat gently. “I’ll ask again, then. Do you remember how to dance?”
I nod
without hesitation this time, and a sweet, peaceful music begins to play as I
rise shakily to my feet, and Pacem is led away.
Oh, my aching heartstrings! I don't think I could go another 10 days without knowing what will happen! I don't know about you, but I am hooked! Stalking now! Feel free to join me:
Hilary's website
Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! It's been terrific having you! Because I love to give more than I receive, I am having a separate Rafflecopter giveaway below! Show the love and enter! Tell me in the comments when you're done, and how much fun you are having! What books are you looking forward to digging into?
What? You're still here? Oh, you need to head over to the next page to continue the hunt! Good luck, and have fun!
