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ALTERED Blurbs and Buzz

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
With Altered less than two months out, feedback and reviews are starting to trickle in. I am still beyond thrilled to hear that people are reading my book and even more that they seem to dig it. I continue to feel blessed to be in this position at all. And sometimes shocked that I'm a soon-to-be published author. 

I thought I'd celebrate a little, and post some of the blurbs you'll find on the final jacket, and some of the reviews I've received so far. I am particularly smitten with the review from Romantic Times. 

But first, the blurbs! This is a sneak peek of the Altered back cover. I want to throw all those wonderful writers a thank you party. I know how hard it is to read once you're a contracted writer. I've read a paltry 17 books this year, and each of those books were dragged out over several weeks, sometimes even months. So to know that all of those amazing writers took time out of their already busy schedules to read Altered pretty much makes me want to shout my thanks from the roof tops. And also fist bump them. 




The Kirkus review in its entirety isn't live yet, but here's what you'll find as an excerpt listed on Amazon.com: "Within minutes, this medical-engineering thriller will have readers glued to their seats....Riveting."

And, Publisher's Weekly:
In Rush’s action-packed debut, first in a planned series, homeschooled 18-year-old Anna Mason has a life ruled by secrecy. Her widower father works for a clandestine organization called the Branch, and four gorgeous genetically altered teenage boys live in the basement laboratory of their New York State farmhouse. Anna feels especially connected to one of the boys, Sam, even though he, like the others, has no memories of life outside his basement cell. When the Branch tries to collect “the units,” chaos erupts, and Sam, Anna, and the others take off on the run. Together, they drive across several states, decoding a trail of clues and bringing Anna and Sam closer than ever. Anna is refreshingly and realistically uncomfortable with the ongoing violence surrounding their escape. Her interactions with the boys (whose somewhat one-note personas—the leader, the smart one, the hothead, and the goofball—can’t help recalling another product of genetic manipulation, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) keep the story moving quickly, along with a steady unfolding of revelations and events.

And lastly, Romantic Times! 
"Rush keeps it fresh with this fast-paced novel, full of last-minute surprises and unexpected twists. Anna is complex, and the whole cast is well rounded. The mysteries laced throughout the action add suspense, making the moments of romance even hotter."

Making the moments of romance even hotter. I LOVE THAT LINE. Get it girl. Sam + Anna FOREVER

I hope when Altered is released, and the public gets to read it, that they have a similar reaction. After all, I would hardly write at all if it wasn't for the make out scenes. :D

Next week, I want to give a special shout-out to the bloggers and Goodreads readers who've also reviewed Altered. So many wonderful people to thank! 


#AlterMe Giveaway

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Thank you to everyone who helped create the ALTERED phonetic alphabet! Now we get to put it to use.

I posted about the giveaway (and the prize) on Monday, but here’s a reminder, just in case you forgot.




AN ALTERED ARC AND POSTER OF A DELICIOUS SHIRTLESS BOY

YESS

Ahem.

So, to win, here’s what you have to do ---

The military phonetic alphabet is used to spell out words over radio transmissions, so there’s no screwing shit up. So that’s exactly what you have to do.

Spell out your name. Or your crush’s name. Or your nickname. Or your mom’s name. Or your dog’s name. Whatever. But you have to use the Altered phonetic alphabet and you have to tweet it.

Here’s an example:

JENN = Juggle Ewok Nugget Nugget

HILARITY WILL ENSUE.

Your tweet will look like this:

Juggle Ewok Nugget Nugget #AlterMe

The hashtag is important, people! That’s how I’ll pick a random winner. So make sure you use it. And yes you can enter more than once, but it has to be something different every time! Because it’s more fun that way.

Also, if you want to, it would be cool of you to include a link back to this post so everyone else can play along as well.

http://
The contest begins today (now, or noon, or whenever you read this post, I suppose) and ends Friday 6:00 PM (I decided to extend the hours just to give people extra time to play). I’ll announce the winner Friday night!

ETA: The contest IS open internationally! 

Ready? Set. GOOO.


A... Aeroflork
B... Boondoggle
C... Caviler
D... Douchecanoe
E... Ewok
F... Foible
G... Glitter
H... Hippie
I... Icky
J... Juggle
K... Kickass
L... Lickable
M... Major
N... Nugget
O... Oodles
P... Pantaloons
Q... Queen
R... Rixatrix
S... Shirtless
T... Tango
U... Unicorn
V... Vera
W... Weevil
X... Xena
Y... Yum
Z... Zany

The ALTERED phonetic alphabet

Monday, November 12, 2012
I mentioned on Twitter last week that I thought I might do a giveaway this week of an ALTERED ARC and one of these:



That, my friends, is an ALTERED poster and I only have two left. Which means this giveaway is a big deal. For me. For you! It is incredibly hard for me to part with these things, since I want to hang one in every room. And would also like to plaster them all over the town. And possibly hang a few in my car windows. 

But, maybe that's overkill? And maybe it's only fair if I share the shirtless boys fun?

So, let's get on with the giveaway. I need help creating it. I'm sure (or at least hope) you've all heard of the military phonetic alphabet? Alpha. Bravo. Charlie. Delta. Echo. Yes?

Okay, we'll, we're creating our own phonetic alphabet and I need help filling in the letters. It can be anything, from something simple like apple for A, to something totally made up, like anafontana. And for whatever letters aren't filled in, I'll ask my son/daughter/husband/mom/dad/uncle/mailman for help. 

I'll update the alphabet here until the contest starts. And when DOES it start? Wednesday. Wednesday at noon and it'll run till Friday at noon. Winner will be announced Friday afternoon/evening! And there will be more details as to what, exactly, you have to do to win on Wednesday when the contest goes live. 

All you have to worry about for now is the alphabet. Because without the alphabet, there is no contest. Just for fun, I've filled in B to get you started. 

Ready? Go. 

A... Aeroflork
B... Boondoggle
C... Caviler 
D... Douchecanoe
E... Ewok
F... Foible
G... Glitter
H... Hippie
I... Icky
J... Juggle
K... Kickass
L... Lickable
M... Major
N... Nugget
O... Oodles
P... Pantaloons
Q... Queen
R... Rixatrix
S... Shirtless
T... Tango
U... Unicorn
V... Vera
W... Weevil
X... Xena
Y... Yum
Z... Zany

(side note: I totally forgot the W the first time around...apparently I don't know my ABCs anymore.)

ETA: If you'd like to tweet a letter, use the hashtag #alteredletter









I feel like I should apologize...

Tuesday, November 6, 2012
...for my long absence. But you all know what it's like to get so swept up in writing and deadlines and life that you forget about everything else, including blog posts. So perhaps an excuse/apology isn't needed?

With ALTERED less than two months away from release, I definitely want to update the blog more! There will be so many fun things to share --- like swag and upcoming events and giveaways! --- so stay tuned.

I'm also having the blog updated by the lovely Savannah at Oh So Pretty Designs so I can't wait to share that! I've already seen the design, and I love it.

And since I am sooo behind on Picture Posts, I thought I'd include a few recent pictures. Fall is a gorgeous time of the year for photography and I've enjoyed every minute of it.