An Old Manuscript Named POSSESSION

Hey yo! I meant to post this sooner, but we had a big winter storm come through up here in MI and we were without power (and internet!) for what seemed like a really really long time. As much as I love apocalypse TV/Movies, I do not want to know what it’s like to live in one. No Netflix? No internet? NO HEAT? No thank you.

But back to business! I’m gearing up to share an old manuscript I’m revisiting and I’m inviting readers to join in the fun! It’s a paranormal romance called POSSESSION and there will definitely be hot guys involved. (Like that one ---->)

This manuscript is very dear to me. It's one of the first books I wrote (and completed) that I really fell in love with, and that I thought might be *the one*. You know what I mean. Turned out it wasn't the one, but I still feel like it has something special, despite its flaws and weaknesses. I would like to pull it out of that drawer and dust it off and maybe do something with it someday. 

To get there, I’m trying something a little bit different --- I'm using a new iOS app to share the manuscript with a selected group of readers, so you can tell me what you think before I start a round of revisions. If you're interested, I’m including the sign-up link below! Spots are filling up quickly, so if you want to join in, hit up that link before midnight on March 25^th!

I look forward to hearing what you guys think. :-)

SIGN UP HERE: mori.com/earlyaccess/possession

Jenn

A REBORN Excerpt

A while back, someone asked me on Twitter to post an excerpt of REBORN. Of course, I said yes. Because I love sharing teasers! I had planned on posting this back when that dear, sweet reader asked for an excerpt, but I've been having website issues and just now fixed it. Or it seems to be fixed. If you have any issues posting comments or navigating on here, please tweet me or email!

So to celebrate getting the site back up and running, and to do what I promised I'd do, I'm posting an excerpt of REBORN from Nick's point-of-view. This takes place early in the book, and you'll see Nick has gotten himself in a bit of trouble. I really did love writing Nick. He was sometimes unpredictable. Sometimes so kind and caring it hurt. I seriously can't wait for you all to read REBORN.

All right, here we go!

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Anna gave me a shove. "Sit down so I can take a look at your injuries." All trace of the earlier panic was gone, leaving only her exasperation, and a driving need to take care of something that was broken. Unfortunately, that something was me.

"You don't have to—"

"I know I don't have to." Her jaw tensed. "Sit down."

I closed the toilet seat and sat, feeling the ache of the fight settling into my joints. I needed pain killers. Maybe something stronger than OTC.

"Where's Sam?" I asked.

"In town, filling the gas cans."

"Cas?"

She bent down to fish out the first aid kit from beneath the sink. "He went running about a half hour ago." She unzipped the kit on the vanity top and started tearing into gauze packs. I caught her hand mid tear and she glared over at me.

"Stop," I said. "Don't waste the supplies. A rag will do."

She frowned, but didn't argue, and switched over to a rag she dug out of the closet. She wetted it down and came over to me, hunching so we were face to face.

Her blond hair was braided, and it hung over her shoulder, tied off with a black rubber band. Dark shadows painted the skin beneath her eyes. She hadn't been sleeping well lately. Flashbacks and old demons haunting her out of bed. I could relate. None of us really slept well, except for Cas. Cas could sleep through an air raid.

Anna cleaned the blood from my face, and the open wound on the side of my eye, working with the methodic confidence of a professional, even though she wasn't.

"Why do you keep doing this?" she mumbled.

I scowled. "Why do you keep asking?"

Another frown. It was her default expression with me.

"What's going on, Nick? Is it more flashbacks?"

Yes.

I looked past her at the towel hanging from the towel rack. It used to be brown. Now it was a faded mud color.

I saw a flash of a girl and I slammed my eyes shut.

I kept seeing her. The same girl. And every time I did, she was shaking. No, not shaking. Trembling.

FORGED Cover Reveal!

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

ERASED ARC contest favs!

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

by @katnipsonfire

#2
by street of mercy

#3
by mig art

#4

by sturmhond

#5

by adaamkent

#6

by @sleepsontables

#7

by Adzs

Now, get to voting! 

An Altered 3 Teaser: Nick's Perspective

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

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! 

SIEGE AND STORM

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. 

A Finished Copy of ALTERED!

Something very special arrived today.

A finished hardcover copy of ALTERED.

I cannot adequately describe the feeling of opening the package and seeing my book in its final, printed version. All those months working on it. Revising. Revising. Copyedits. First pass pages. ARCs! And now, finally, it's done. I want to compare it to baby making, but truthfully, being pregnant was far easier than revising Altered. Being pregnant is actually a pretty charmed life if you have people who care about you. And thankfully I did. When I was pregnant with my daughter I napped a lot. Husband cooked me dinner almost every night. I napped some more. My shoulders were rubbed regularly and so were my feet. I watched a lot of TV. Read a lot of books. Napped. Napped. More napping.

I would compare revising a book to walking across a bed of hot coals, then jogging through a mountain valley with only peanut butter M&Ms and tequila to get you through the night. And then you emerge, only to realize the valley goes on and on for another ten miles and you're running out of tequila, and you have one M&M left but it's frozen solid, just like your feet, and you can't quite remember what real life felt like, you've been jogging for so long, and...don't you have a husband and kids? What do they look like? You've been buried so deep in edits mountain jogging that you can't remember.

Okay, okay, so perhaps I'm exaggerating a wee bit.

But when experienced writers warned me about the revision process, I never quite believed them. It's one of those things you don't understand until you've gone through it. And even then, it's different for every writer, and every book. For instance, Bot Wars was a lot easier to revise than Altered was, but that's perhaps a different post for a different time. This was supposed to be about celebrating!!

I opened the package that arrived on my doorstep early this AM and this is what came out ---

This is the moment where I felt like weeping. Holding the book! Seeing the little gift box and the card from my editor. I hugged the book to my chest and jumped up and down and hollered a lot. It was entertaining. 

This is what my editor sent along as a congratulatory gift ---

A tree necklace! It's absolutely perfect. Not only does it match the cover, but the tree symbolizes the tattoo on Sam's back. It's an incredibly touching/thoughtful gift, and it just served as a reminder of how lucky I am to have such an AMAZING editor. 

And then, after reading the card (and getting misty-eyed), I examined the book for what felt like forever. The dust jacket itself has a matte finish, and the branches, title and author name have a glossy, raised finish. I absolutely love that detail. You can see it better here ----

And then the spine and the back cover with all of those amazing blurbs from such amazing writers! 

Basically I was feeling the major love today. This package served as a reminder of how lucky I am, how grateful I am, to be here. I know there are unpubbed writers out there still trying to snag an agent. Or maybe you are represented, but you can't seem to sell anything yet. HANG IN THERE. It may not happen next week. Or next month. Or maybe not even next year. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN if you keep trying. 

And now, I am off to clutch the book to my chest again and pet its pretty spine work.

Darkling Issue (or Happy Birthday Leigh!)

I'm forgoing the Friday Picture Post today for something I think you will like better.

It's my friend, and agent sister, Leigh Bardugo's birthday today, and I wanted to make her something to help her celebrate.

If you know me at all, you know I lurve Photoshop, but I love hot guys even more. Put those two things together and what do you get? A fake magazine for bad boys.

That's how ROGUISH was born. And when I fell in love with the Darkling from Leigh's forthcoming SHADOW AND BONE, I knew I had to make him a Roguish cover.

So here, in all his dark and bad glory, is the Darkling issue of Roguish.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEIGH! 

I hope you have a good one, and do exotic and fun activities, like skydiving from an airplane whilst wearing an Egyptian headdress, or something.

Picture Post No. 5

And lastly, I did not take this picture, but it's nice to look at, and I DID find it online after like 37 minutes of research, so I couldn't just let it go to waste, now could I?

Hotties of Literature

I'm taking part in the Hotties of Literature blog event today along with fellow hot guy enthusiasts Brigid Kemmerer and Marni Bates. Which means I had to spend over an hour Googling pictures of hot actors and models in order to write this post. Feel sorry for me.

The point of this event is to cast hot guys from any book of your choosing. Feel free to take part!

So, first up, Perry from Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. Brigid cast this book, too, but I loved Never Sky so hard, and Perry is one of my new lit crushes. I just HAD to feature him!

I pictured Perry as a hottie blond with crazy, unkempt hair. And there was no one better to fit that bill than this picture of Charlie Hunnam (which I also used for Cas from ALTERED, but whatever, he's sexy):

If you haven't read Under the Never Sky yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Next up, Luc from Erica O'Rourke's Torn and Tangled. 

Luc is a hot, sexy Cajun with magic. And he is totally going to win Mo over in the forthcoming Bound. 

Milo Ventimiglia fits my vision of Luc so well. Though, I think he'd be a bit younger than Milo here, and maybe a tad bit bigger (taller, more muscle!).

As for that other boy in Torn and Tangled, Cole or Cornelius or something like that, I picture him like this:

And lastly, I'm casting the Darkling from Leigh Bardugo's forthcoming Shadow & Bone, which also means many of you probably haven't read the book, but believe me when I say you totally want to. So when it does release, run to the nearest book retailer and pick up your copy. Then clear your schedule, and don't plan on talking to your family and friends for at least twenty-four hours. Maybe even forty-eight, because you will have a recovery time, as well.

I pictured the Darkling as sexy, but slick, and super, super dark. Obviously.

This picture of Sean O'Pry (who, yes, I've also used for other hot guy posts, but this picture is much different, and also, why not use him again and again?) looks very similar to my image of the Darkling, right down to the black trench. The hair is maybe a bit too wild, but I figure the Darkling just got through fighting bad guys in the woods with his badass powers, so he's rumpled. 

Check out the other Hotties of Literature posts over at Brigid Kemmerer's blog and Marni Bates's blog. And feel free to participate by posting on your own blog or tweeting your picks by using the hashtag #HottiesofLit. And if you DO post on your blog, tweet your link, or leave it here, so I can read your picks!

ALTERED Hot Guys: Trev

Next up on the ALTERED Hot Guys posts is Trev.

Out of the four boys, Trev is Anna's best friend. She's divulged a lot of her secrets to him, including her feelings for Sam. Though even if Anna hadn't outright told him, Trev would have figured it out himself. He's good at reading Anna, quietly, subtly, and he knows just what she needs to hear, when she needs to hear it. 


Not that he solves all her problems for her. Trev often doles out advice wrapped up in complex philosophies so Anna has to pick apart his answers for their true meanings. Trev doesn't want to make anything easy for her. 


He spent a lot of his time in the lab reading biographies, anyone from Cleopatra to George Washington to John F. Kennedy. He's a huge fan of Virginia Woolf and Mark Twain, particularly Twain's lesser known stuff like Letters from the Earth and The Diaries of Adam and Eve. He has an incredibly memory, and can rattle off a line of poetry or a famous quote at a moment's notice, and often does. 


He gets along really well with Cas, respects Sam, and doesn't give Nick much notice. He doesn't care for Nick's volatile attitude. Trev doesn't waste his time on anyone not willing to communicate properly, and Nick's communication skills are pretty much nil. 


So, now that you know a little bit more about Trev, let's get to the interview questions.

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1. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

[shrugs] An owl?

2.  Let's say you're walking down the street. You're wearing a thick coat. You have a sandwich in your hand and a $20 bill in your pocket and a frail man stops you, begging for some change. Do you give him anything?

I'd give him everything I had.  

3. You've won the lottery. What's the first thing you buy?

[ponders question for a while] My freedom

4. What's the one thing you couldn't live without?

The written word

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Next up, the incomparable NICK. I think you will like him. :D

[Trev picture is of Milo Ventimiglia]