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Bot Wars Sequel COVER REVEAL!

Friday, November 1, 2013
I love cover reveals!

I am SO STOKED to share the cover of the next Bot Wars book, The Meta-Rise.

Ready?

It's AWESOME.

I feel like I'm blessed by the cover gods.






Here it is! 





If you've read Bot Wars, then I think you'll recognize the robot on the cover of The Meta-Rise. I love that robot. I hate him and love him. And he looks SO good in this illustrated form. The artist of the Bot Wars covers is seriously amazing, and I couldn't be happier with how this cover turned out. 

I hear I should have ARCs soon of The Meta-Rise, and when I do, I'll definitely do a giveaway. 

The Meta-Rise is scheduled for release July 2014. It seems so far away, but I know it'll be here sooner than I think!


FORGED Cover Reveal!

Friday, October 25, 2013
We are just over a month away from the release of the Altered prequel, FORGED, and I seriously cannot wait for you guys to read it. Even more so now that the cover is final and I get to share with you!






I LOVE it. Obviously. If there is a shirtless guy involved, then I'm there.

You may be wondering who it is on the cover. With Altered, Sam was on the cover. Erased, it was Nick. And with FORGED, it's Connor! The bad guy in Altered is on the cover of FORGED and I'm seriously stoked for you all to find out how he fits into Dani's story. Was Connor always the bad guy? You'll have to read FORGED to find out!

So what do you guys think? :-)

FORGED releases on December 3, 2013. Pre-order it now!

Pre-order on AMAZON
Pre-order on BARNES & NOBLE


From the Archives: The day I got an offer from an agent

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
From Livejournal, on October 9th, 2010 ----

So...I started querying ALTERED on Monday. 

Immediately, I got two requests for a full. Then three partial requests. Then two of those partials turned into fulls. And today I got an offer.

I GOT AN OFFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It doesn't seem real. Because I've been working toward this for five years. And suddenly in a matter of days I have an agent offering to represent me. And several other agents that promised to start reading immediately. 

I just can't wrap my head around this. And I always thought that once I got that offer, everything else would be a breeze. But now suddenly I'm like what if Agent A is like...you know what...I'm not sure why I ever offered to rep this girl. She's crazy! Or what if I chose the wrong agent? Or what if we go out on submission and NO ONE will buy the book. Or someone will buy the book and then I'll blow it on the revisions and no one will ever hear about the book because it'll be like Lindsey Lohan's I Know Who Killed Me that only released in like two theaters. (Can you tell I'm in total angst mode? Which is ridiculous, because this should be THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE [which it is---minus the stress]). 

So yeah...

I don't want to say too much until I make a final decision. But everyone promised to let me know by next Wednesday. It can't come soon enough!

ERASED ARC contest favs!

Monday, September 23, 2013
First, let me apologize about how long it took me to get this post together for the ERASED ARC contest. We're still in the midst of moving (I feel like I'm swimming in boxes), and Altered 3 was due today! So it's been crazy over here. 

This ARC contest is by far one of my favorite contests ever. You guys are seriously talented people, and you picked some of the hottest guys for the fan casting. It was sooooo hard to narrow it down!

For this post, I'm sharing my top 5 (actually, it ended up being 7) Altered/Erased fan art picks. You guys get to help me narrow it down to just one. There will be a poll below. Vote for your favorite one and the winner will get an ARC of ERASED! I seriously can't wait to see what you guys vote for. Because I'm not sure I could pick just one if it came down to it. 

On Friday, I will officially announce the winners of the Fan Art portion, and the Fan Casting portion (I'm picking the winner of this one), of the contest. Voting ends at 2PM EST on Friday. I will contact the winners shortly after. 

Okay, enough of me talking. Let's get to the good stuff! 

#1


#2
by street of mercy




#3
by mig art



#4


#5



#6


#7
by Adzs





Now, get to voting! 




I'm giving away TWO ERASED ARCS!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013
I have been hoarding my ARCs of ERASED for several months now. And I think it's time to give a few away. Of course, there will be many more chances to win copies, as I have a few more giveaways planned for later this fall, closer to the release date.

But I'm so excited about this contest, I couldn't hold on to it any longer. Because it involves two of my very favorite things: fan castings and fan art.

So here are the details!

FIRST WAY TO WIN

If Altered were a movie, who would play Sam? Cas? Nick or Trev? Or Anna? Put together the very best cast and post it on Tumblr, your blog, Twitter, Facebook, somewhere where I can see it. I'll be picking the very best casts (and will have some friends weigh in as well!).

SECOND WAY TO WIN

One of my very favorite things in the world is fan art. I love seeing what fans make for Shadow and Bone, and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, and Teen Wolf and Supernatural. The internet is an artsy place, and I want more of it!

Create fan art for Altered and post it at any of the above mentioned places. I'll pick my top five favs and post them here, and ask the Internet to vote!

The fan art can be anything, from an Altered cover, to an altered image (see what I did there), to a song you wrote, a poem, an Altered trailer, to a poster you made with markers on your kitchen table. However you want to make it!

For some great examples of fan art, check out this and this and this and this.

THE DEETS
Wherever you post, be sure to tag it with #AlteredSeries. That's how I'll track what's posted. And if you're worried about whether or not the entry has been counted, feel free to email me at jennvrush [at] gmail [dot] com with a link to where I can find it.

The contest starts NOW! And will end September 23rd. I'll post the top five fan art entries on the 23rd. Winners will be announced September 27th.

Contest is open internationally!

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below!

Now, GOOOO! 

(I am so excited about this one you guys. SO EXCITED)





Book Photo Shoot Contest

Tuesday, September 10, 2013
I recently teamed up with Red Creative Design (read more about it here) and we're SUPER stoked to do a book inspired photo shoot with your help! We're running a contest to find out what you guys want to see transformed into a book shoot.

I'm reblogging the contest details from Red below, but the condensed version is: comment below and let us know what fantasy/paranormal (or even horror, I suppose) book you want featured. Easy as that!

Here are a few of my fav images I've shot in the past, with a fantasy/horror/paranormal vibe:








From Red:


Book Photoshoot Contest

One of the services we are really excited about offering is our Book Inspired Shoot Package! All of our photographers have done shoots for books and definitely know how to bring them to life.
To show you what a book inspired shoot would look like, we are giving away a FREE SHOOT (up to a $1000 value) to one lucky book/author.
How It Works:
Fans and authors alike can submit their favorite fantasy or paranormal young adult novels in one of three ways:

- Leave a comment below with the title- Reblog with the title and author - Tweet about the contest with #RedPhotoContest and the title of the book
Once entries are in, we will compile the top 10 and put it to a vote where YOU, the fans, will decide the winner!
Photographer:
The staff photographer for this project will be Jennifer Rush who is also an author herself. So she knows a thing or two about working on both sides of the fence.
Rules:
1. Book must be traditionally published (not self-pub).
2. Book must be already published, as we must read the book for ideas.
3. Book must be considered Young Adult.
But other than that, this giveaway is completely up to you! You submit your favorite books then we will take those titles and put them in a poll for you to vote on who wins! Easy as that!
So leave a comment telling us which book you’d most like to see brought to life through photography! Share with the authors to get them involved too! 
Feel free to tweet with #RedPhotoContest, reblog, and share this giveaway! The more excitement we have, the more shoots we can do!

An Altered 3 Teaser: Nick's Perspective

Friday, September 6, 2013
For those of you who don't follow on Twitter, I posted an Altered 3 teaser. More importantly, a Nick teaser.


When my editor suggested I try writing Altered 3 from the dual perspectives of Nick and Elizabeth (the new girl!), I was immediately terrified. 

Nick is special to me. So special in fact, I might even consider him my favorite character. And I was worried about ruining him. I was worried I wouldn't do him justice. 

Since Altered 3 is still in its early stages, I'm not sure if I am doing him justice, but one thing I can say is I am loving writing him. More than I thought I would. And its easy to write him. Maybe even easier than Elizabeth, or even Anna. Nick's voice/character has always been extremely clear to me, and I've found that writing from his POV is an amazing experience. 

I'm hoping it continues as I finish drafting Altered 3. And I hope my editor loves him as much as I do. And more importantly, I hope readers love him! 

ALTERED: THE BEGINNING

Wednesday, August 7, 2013
I have news! I tweeted about this last week, so for those of you who've already heard the news, forgive the repost.

Also, a warning, if you haven't read Altered, there *may* be spoilers in this post. I will try to highlight them as a pre-warning warning. :-)

From Publisher's Marketplace:
Jennifer Rush's ALTERED: The Beginning, a digital original prequel to the Altered series, shedding light on how the Branch came to be and how the boys, and a girl's older sister first became involved with the organization, to Pam Gruber at Little, Brown Children's, for ebook publication in Fall 2013, by Joanna Volpe at New Leaf Literary & Media (World English).

I am BEYOND thrilled to continue writing in the Altered world, especially when it dives even deeper into the past of the characters and the Branch. [SPOILER] The "older sister" mentioned in the summary is Dani, Anna's older sister. I wrote Dani's origin story way back before Altered sold, and I couldn't wait to share them with the world. Originally we had considered putting them in the back of the Altered paperback, or the Erased hardcover, but at the time, the Dani pages were only about 2,000 words or so, and I knew her story was so much more than that. Furthermore, some of what is revealed in those original pages are revealed in Erased. And I didn't want to repeat what readers might already know. [END SPOILER]

I told my agent and editor that I wanted to do a novella in the Altered world earlier this year, and thankfully Little, Brown was on board! It all happened fairly quickly, and before I knew it, I was drafting the novella at lightning speed so it would be ready for release this year. I turned in the first draft last month, and my equally lightning fast editor already returned first round edits. Which are brilliant! No surprise there!

When I announced the news on Twitter, I received a few questions about the project, so I'm going to answer a few of them here.

What's the release date?
December 3, 2013, the same day as the Altered paperback!

How long will the story be?
I've drafted the story, but it hasn't gone through edits yet, so it will definitely change. As of right now, the story is 11,000 words, which I think roughly translates to 55 pages. 

When will the novella take place?
Far, far before the opening of Altered.

Will there be hot shirtless boys? 
OH YOU KNOW IT.

Will you have to read Altered first in order to understand what's going on in the novella?
No. Definitely not. But I think it would only add to the fun of reading the novella if you did. :-) Furthermore, if you read the novella first, a few things will be spoiled for when you read Altered. And I hate spoilers. I'm sure you do too! 


[ALTERED SPOILER FOR SURE]
Will we see Dani and Sam's relationship begin?
Kind of. Sort of. I don't think I can say more than that!

Will Anna be part of the story?
No. Anna will only appear in Dani's thoughts. 
[END SPOILER]

I can't wait for everyone to read Altered: The Beginning. I had a ton of fun drafting it (especially the Altered style twists and turns!) and I'm looking forward to revising over the next month or so to whip it into shape! 



How to change default font in Scrivener

Tuesday, August 6, 2013
I bought Scrivener last summer after I heard so many writers praise it for drafting and editing, but at the time, it seemed too daunting to learn, and I had a lot of deadlines to meet. Using Word was just easier, but I've decided to give it a shot again.

I've been playing around with it for months. And it IS a lot to learn. As a matter of fact, I've been trying to figure out how to change the default font and line spacing settings for eons. EONS. I honestly was ready to give up on using it, because I did not want to have to change the font every singe time I added a new scene.

So then I asked Twitter for help today, and Twitter, as usual, came to the rescue.

 had better luck than I did at Googling the info and she came up with this tutorial: http://kaitnolan.com/2012/05/07/how-to-change-the-editor-font-in-scrivener-for-windows/ 

Unfortunately, I think it's for an older version of Scrivener, because the steps didn't match what I had on the app. 

 helped too, by tweeting this: Tools -> Options -> Editor -> click blue "A" for fonts. 

So, I kinda sorta knew what I was looking for, thanks to these two lovely ladies, and the tutorial. And I finally found it! HALLELUJAH. So I took some quick screen grabs for anyone as frustrated as I was. I do think Scrivener is a valuable tool for writers, and I can't wait to finish drafting Altered 3 with it. 

Screen grabs below! 











In which I admit I have an addiction...

Wednesday, July 10, 2013


...to graphic design.

You maybe already know this. I’ve been designing book covers for a few months now. I’ve also had TONS of fun designing fake magazine covers (like, here and here and you can see more of my work here). I already have three different business card designs that I use in rotation, with countless others stored on my computer for future use.

But here’s the thing --- I will probably never ever make it through the 800 or so business cards I currently have printed.

So then I started thinking --- why not design business cards for other people? It’s a win-win! I get to keep designing cards, and nothing goes to waste, and lots of awesome people get fancy new business cards.

So, if you’re interested in a business card design, email me and let’s chat!



Below you’ll find some samples that I’ve designed for myself, and for fun. These are the ones I wish I could have printed if I had a bazillion dollars and a need for a bazillion business cards.  

If you’d like one of the pre-made cards, I’m offering those at a discounted rate of $30. Here’s how it works: pick out the card you like, email me your info (what you’d like on the card: website, twitter, email, etc.) and I’ll fill in the blanks. I’ll email you the business card in a PDF file, that you can do with as you please. Note: I can recommend the best, and most cost-effective places to have them printed if you’d like.

If you’d like a custom business card designed for you, email me and we can discuss style/options. Custom designed cards are $50.

I’m also offering bookmarks for $50, since those are just as fun to design! You can see the Altered bookmark I designed here and the front of the Bot Wars bookmark here

If you have any other questions, comment below, or email me!

I’m TOTALLY looking forward to this, you guys. TOTALLY. Let’s make some cards, yo.

If you have trouble viewing the images below, let me know and I'll email you the full portfolio for a closer look. 




SIEGE AND STORM

Monday, June 3, 2013
In case you guys didn't know, my friend Leigh Bardugo's 2nd book, Siege and Storm, releases tomorrow. I an giddy. GIDDY. I had the good fortune to read it a few months back, but I'm already dying to read it again.

To celebrate the upcoming release, I wanted to make Leigh a little present. You might have seen the Darkling and Mal Roguish covers floating around the internet. I came up with Roguish magazine several years back after I made a fake magazine for zombies. And if zombies can have a magazine, then why not bad boys?

Behold. (Don't tell Mal, but the Darkling's cover still makes me swoon more. Sorry Mal! I still <3 you!)


You might have heard there is a new swoon-worthy character in Siege and Storm. A privateer by the name of Sturmhond. He's bold and charming and extremely handsome, and I may or may not have developed a teensy tiny little crush on him. (No one can hold a candle to my Darkling, however. I WILL JOIN HIS DRUM CIRCLE SOME DAY. MARK MY WORD. AND BY "DRUM CIRCLE" I MEAN HIS BED.) 

So, with that said, the present I made Leigh --- A Sturmhond Roguish cover!




Now, run to the bookstore and camp out until they shelve Siege and Storm and BUY IT IMMEDIATELY. You will love Sturmhond, ladies and gentlemen. 


Nick's Book Q&A

Thursday, May 16, 2013
Since I posted the news about Nick's book (my 3rd YA), I've gotten a lot of questions about it and the future of the Altered world. So I thought I'd try to answer as many of those questions here, for anyone who is curious.

++ When will Nick's book be released? 
If all goes as planned, I imagine it'll follow the same release schedule as Altered and Erased, so January 2015.

++ Will it be told from Nick's perspective, or Callie's?
When I first envisioned this book, I only saw it from Callie's POV, but that may change. It will definitely be told from Callie's first person perspective, but there may or may not be chapters from Nick's POV. That didn't really answer the question at all, did it? ;-)

++ When does Nick's book take place?
The summer after Erased.

++ Will Anna, Sam or Cas make an appearance?
Definitely. Nick will be on his own for much of the book, but I do plan to have the others pop in at least once. How could I not? ;D

++ Will the other boys --- Cas and Trev --- have their own books too?
This is a question I can't really answer, yet. A lot has to happen first for it to be a possibility. Most importantly, I have to write Nick's book first, then come up with the framework for Cas's and Trev's stories before finally submitting those ideas to Little, Brown.

I do have origin stories written for all of the boys (and Dani), so we might do something with those in the future. And I also have a loose summary of a Trev story that takes place between Altered and Erased.

++ Will Nick's cover follow the same design as Altered and Erased?
I'm not sure. I, personally, would love to see another neon, shirtless boy cover!

If I haven't covered something here that you're curious about, comment below and I'll do my best to answer. I hope this Q&A cleared up some curiosities! And, let me say again, I am SO happy to hear you all are excited to read Nick's book. I seriously cannot wait to write it.

The Who and What of my 3rd YA

Friday, May 10, 2013
A lot of people have asked me in the last few months whether Altered is going to be a trilogy or not. And the answer is no. Well, sorta no.

Anna's story definitely wraps up with Erased. In a lot of ways, so does Sam's. But, the cool thing about the Altered world is that there are still a lot of question marks about the other characters' histories that I couldn't possibly pack into one story or even two.

When Altered sold, it was in a three-book deal, but we knew from the start that my 3rd book would be decided later on down the line, that we didn't necessarily have to spread Anna's story into three books. And after finishing Altered, I knew I wanted to end her story with book 2.

But, there was someone else from that world that I wasn't quite ready to let go. I'll give you a hint.

For those of you who don't know, that is Sean O'Pry, my Nick in real life.

MY THIRD YA WILL BE NICK'S STORY!!

I am BEYOND thrilled that Little, Brown dug the Nick pitch enough to say, YES. And I'm even more thrilled that they loved Nick enough to give him his own story, beyond even Erased. I've mentioned before that Erased delves deeper into Nick's character, and his past, and how that factors into Anna's past, but there is so much more to learn about him. 

As of right now, my 3rd YA will be told from the point of view of seventeen-year-old Callie who had a run-in with Nick before the farmhouse lab. She remembers him, but his memories of her are still murky. 

I can also tell you that Nick will definitely be the love interest of this story. So there will be more shirtless Nick scenes, and some kissing too.

And, as promised, here's an excerpt from Erased, that gives you just a sliver of a glimpse inside the third Altered book. 

**Excerpt taken from the Erased ARC, some text may be different in the final copy**



"Gabriel" is the alias Nick used during the mission where he met Callie. She doesn't know him as Nick. At least not yet. ;-)

I am so excited to dive into this story and learn even more about Nick. I'm also excited to write the kissy scenes. AS USUAL. 

So, my dears, are you excited for Nick's book? Are you sad to leave Anna and Sam behind after Erased? Talk to me in the comments! 






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I Want To Be Me

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
I just had an email exchange with someone wherein I mentioned how crappy I'd been feeling physically (and because of that, emotionally) lately. In the email, I said, "In the past, I've always been okay with myself, no matter what I looked like, but this winter has been hard on me..." Because I write full-time, I don't have to leave the house as often as I used to. And if you know me, you know I hate winters. Which means, I hibernate. And this winter, I hibernated mega hardcore. And I ate A LOT OF FOOD. And drank A LOT OF MOUNTAIN DEW.

Mountain Dew is my weakness! Tell me I'm not alone?

Directly after that email exchange, I went through the rest of the new emails that had popped in overnight. I signed up for a photography newsletter several months ago and the girl always puts out new videos every Tuesday that focus on business and marketing. But this particular video was about image and being real and confident in yourself.

And I realized something.

We all have our weak points. The things we are embarrassed about. The things that take our self-confidence down a notch or two.

We are all marvelous, weird, silly creatures and I am not alone in feeling awkward or lame or overweight or dorky at moments in my life.

To attest to that, I decided I wanted to share some images I'd taken in the last year or two---images that, to an outsider, looked like fine images, but to me reminded me of my double-chin, my chipmunk cheeks when I smile, my freckles, the weird dent in my nose. Images that show just how dorky I can be. How I don't always get my concept shoots right the first time.

Are you ready? Because I am. And it's all right to laugh at them. ;-) Because I did.


My husband helped me take my author photos last summer. And it was quite a hilarious experience. He's learning about photography, and lighting, and props. But sometimes I giggle too much while he's snapping pictures. Especially when he asked me to put this freshly picked daisy in my hair. I am not a daisy-in-the-hair kind of girl, but I realized, looking back on this image, to my husband, I am that girl. A bit carefree. Big-hearted. A pretty girl.

Moments later, he snapped this picture of me "posing". Maybe this should have been my author photo? ;-)


This next image is from a few months before the author shoot. I tried setting up a scene to take some pictures of my daughter. I wanted to have "laundry" billowing in the wind behind her. She didn't want to have any part of it. She wanted to chase the dog around the yard instead. So my husband grabbed the camera while I took down the "laundry" and he snapped this photo. I hated all of them in this set. I thought I looked fat. I thought my chin looked too big. But I'm smiling. And I'm happy. And my husband is making me laugh. And that's what makes this image something more than just an image. It's the kind of image I will carry with me as a memory. 

Last summer, I had this photo concept I wanted to try out in the water. Since we live so close to Lake Michigan, the husband and I planned to spend a few hours there trying out a few different things. I wanted to take some simple images of a figure floating in the water. In this instance, I am that figure, because I couldn't come up with a model on such short notice. My husband snapped I don't know how many images. And I hated all of them. I liked the water. The vibrant colors of the sun set in the background. But I hated the model. Here you can kinda see the dent in my nose. The dent! I've always hated the dent. But my husband has always loved it. Why, I often wondered? "Because it's cute," he said. And this is why I <3 the guy.


I like playing around with the concept of levitation in my images. This one was shot late last summer, I believe. This is the result of the shoot ---


In order to get that effect, I lay back on a stool, which I later photoshopped out. But have you ever tried to balance on a stool while whipping your hair around? It's hard work!

Which is why this happened:



This is me, falling off of said stool, caught on camera by the husband. 

And, again, on another levitation shoot. Husband wasn't quick enough to snap the actual falling this time!

Looking through these images today reminded me of something --- when I look at them, I hate them because of flaws I see in myself, but when we took the images, we were laughing. We were happy. I didn't care how I looked while taking the pictures. 

So if I take anything away from this day, from this post, it's this: I want to live more in the moment, rather than in the after-moment. The place in my head that picks apart everything about myself, my apperance. That somehow forgets the joy felt while taking the image, while creating those memories. 

I don't want to waste anymore time worrying about what I look like, or what people will think when they look at me, or images of me, or even images taken by me. 

I want to be me 100% of the time and no one else. 

And if you made it this far (I hope you did!), I'll leave you with a bonus image. Some of you may have seen this already, but it makes me giggle every time. 

My husband's blue steel look. Enjoy. ;-)