A box of pretty hardback copes of THE IMMORTAL RULES!
Vampire chickens, the new threat to humanity.
Sooooo, of course this begs the question: what am going to do with them now?
Well, the answer is obvious, I think: CONTEST!
So, what will you have to do to win one of these shiny, signed hardbacks?
Read on...
PHOTO CONTEST for a signed, hardback editon of THE IMMORTAL RULES
Yes, a photo contest! In The Immortal Rules, the main character, Allison Sekemoto is a tough, wary, katana-weilding vampire. So, I want YOU to take a picture of yourself as a bad-ass vampire. One that might haunt the ruined, post-apocalyptcic cities of The Immortal Rules.
Use whatever you want: fangs, trenchcoats, fake blood, katanas, whatever! Create a scene from the book if you've read it. Be creative. Have fun with it. Own your awesome, vampire bad-assery. Then on April 24th, I will pick my favorite 3 and send them a signed hardback copy of The Immortal Rules.
A few rules:
1. Keep it clean. Blood and gore is fine, just remember this is a public blog and any R-rated content will be disqualified.
2. Leave me the link in the comments. Extra points for any place you share both the picture and the contest. (Facebook, twitter, your blog, etc.)
3. Contest is international. Ends April 24th.
4. Have FUN. You get to play a vampire. (C'mon you know you've always wanted to be one. I know I have.)
I promised NEWS today, didn't I? Well, you might've already heard in on Twitter, but I thought I would give it a proper post here. It is very exciting! Well, I think it is exciting.
The NEWS:
So, for those of you who lamented that the Iron Fey e-novellas Winter's Passage and Summer's Crossing were not print books, Harlequin TEEN has heard your cries.
On August 28th, for the very first time, Winter's Passage and Summer's Crossing will be available together in an anthology entitled THE IRON LEGENDS. Not only that, they will be released with a brand new novella called Iron's Prophecy, along with some exclusive additional content you can't find anywhere else. Like perhaps the first chapter of the new Iron Fey book, coming this Fall.
So there's my exciting news. Spread the word, let me know what you think, and keep checking back for cover reveals and other exciting things.
ALSO!
Check out this totally AWESOME trailer for The Immortal Rules, created by the talented folks at Mira Ink.
Way cool and creepy, yes? I love the dark, futuristic feel it has going for it. What do you think?
Annnnnnnnnnnnd the WINNER of the signed Immortal Rules arc is....
Christina Fiorelli! (ccfioriole@gmail.com)
Congrats, Christina! I will be emailing you shortly for your information on where to send le arc.
Thanks everyone who entered. All 798 of you! O.O If you're still dying for The Immortal Rules, there are several other contests for finished books going on all over the twitterverse. Follow me @jkagawa and I'll tweet them from time to time.
Thanks again, everyone! Oh, and check back here tomorrow for exciting news!
This post is all about HOT GUYS. That's right, this totally random post is the brainchild of Marni Bates and several other YA authors (including yours truly) who really just wanted an excuse to post pics of hot guys and giggle and swoon over them. And so you may giggle and swoon over them as well.
So, onward to HottiesOfLit.
WARNING: Major, uber, unapologetic geekiness ahead. You'e been warned.
Okay, so here's the thing. I'm one of those weird, geeky girls who don't really swoon over many real guys. And by that I mean living people. Barring one exception, which of course would be...
BIN BONS (aka Ben Barnes)
My love for Ben is nothing new. I've said for a long time that if I could choose my perfect Ash, Ben would be it. I mean, look how perfect he is.
Yep, that is my Ash, and there's no talking me out of it. ;)
But, other then BinBons, I really don't have any living actors or hot guys that instantly jump to mind. In fact, if you want to meet the boys who give me the most inspiration, and the ones I've swooned over, you'll have to turn away from movies and television, and look to video games and anime.
That's right. Let me introduce you to:
MY TOP SWOONIEST BOYS OF ALL TIME
Swoony boy #1 Squall Leonhart Final Fantasy VIII
I was obsessed, OBSESSED, with Final Fantasy VIII, mostly because of this boy here. Squall Leonhart, the angsty, taciturn, brooding lone wolf and reluctant hero. His story of how he went from a hostile, closed off soldier to a leader willing to sacrifice everything for the ones he loved was one of the most inspiring stories I'd ever experienced. And of course, the love story was fantastic.
More pics of Squall. It's okay, feel free to drool over a drawing.
And let me include one of the best moments of FFVIII. Final Fantasy fans, I'm sure you remember this. I'm sure you squee-ed over it as much as I did. That and the ending.
Swoony boy #2 Cloud Strife Final Fantasy VII
Yes, its another broody angsty FF boy! Seriously, though, this game is what started my obsession with Final Fantasy. From the second Cloud leaped off that train, I was hooked. And when THAT moment came (FF fans, you know the one I'm talking about, the one with a certain flower girl and a one-winged devil) I screeched in shock along with the rest of the gaming world. More on THAT swoony man later. But here is Cloud, in all his angsty glory.
Sob along with me, now. Oh, Aerith. *sniffles* The ending of Advant Children KILLED me. Ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It was absolutely glorious.
Cloud being a bad-ass, because he is.
Swoony boy #3 chaos Xenosaga
chaos isn't the type of boy I usually go for. He's not angsty, hostile, brooding, or tormented. He's the exact opposite, actually: kind, helpful, sweet, caring. He never complains, keeps his own council, and hangs back in the shadows, giving everyone else the spotlight. But he was the most mysterious character of the entire Xenosaga series, and the secrets he carried were staggering. (Seriously, once you knew who he really was, you were like WHAT?!?) He was a stoic and could appear melencholic at times, though he never burdened anyone with his secrets and always helped whenever he could. I fell hard for his character, which is why he earns a special spot in my swoony boy list, as the only one who is not a typical bad boy.
A tiny hint as to chaos really is.
HOT BOYS OF ANIME
Oh, ho, you thought we were done, didn't you? Nope, my list of swoony boys doesn't just include video games. I love the boys of manga and anime, too. Here are a FEW of my favorites.
(Note: I love most of these boys because of the stories that surround them, not just because they're nice to look at. Okay, so there's that, too.)
Tamahome Fushigi Yugi
One of the most epic love stories in anime. (Even though the "Miaka!" "Tamahome!" got a little grating after a bit.)
Heero Yuy Gundam Wing
"Omae o korosu."
Uchiha Sasuke Naruto
Vash the Stampede Trigun
Love and PEACE!
Sesshomaru Inuyasha
Yeah, he's a villian and a (literal) demon, but he's so much more elegant and refined then that hot headed brother of his.
Tooya Ayashi no Ceres
A few pics of him and Aya, because they're adorable together.
And, we come to the special mention of this post. The swoony hot guy who is probably the most infamous yet sexy villian in all of gamer-dom. He's so infamous, he has popped up not only in his original game, but a movie that came after it, and several other games, as the ultimate unbeatable bad guy. And he is sexy, there is no denying it.
Of course, I'm talking about...
The infamous Sephiroth. Final Fantasy XII, Advant Children, Kindom Hearts, other
Sephiroth was the inspiration for the villian in The Iron King. Ever wondered what Machina looked like? Wonder no further.
Yup, Sephiroth is a bad ass and he knows it.
So that is my incredibaly geeky post on my favorite swoony boys of video games and anime. Its not the whole list, of course, because then we would be here all week. But these are a few of my standouts, the boys and the stories who inspire me, who make me sigh and laugh and sob and write heartbreaking, tragic endings to my novels. I hoped you had as much fun reading as I had writing this, and be sure to check out some of the other participating blogs and the hashtag #HottiesofLit on twitter for more pics of swoony hot guys.
Also check back later tonight to see who won the signed Immortal Rules arc!
Today I took the girls out and let them run around the office for a bit. I scattered some grass clippings about so they could have something to peck at, but they seemed much more interested in the bag of wood chips in the corner. It was so cute watching them run around in a little flock, like schooling fish. Or, chickens.
Chickies having fun:
Chickie closeup
Ooh, what's THAT?
Office chicks.
Aren't they cute? I wish they could stay this size forever. I also wish my office had tile or linoleum instead of carpet. Messy chickies!
These little guys, sorry little girls, will be for eggs only. And maybe spider eaters. The hubby and I have a nice coop for them when they're big enough, but for now, they're staying in one corner of my office, peeping. LOUDLY. Who knew something that small could produce such an earsplitting noise? Ah well, the joys of animal husbandry. Here are those pics I promised.
New arrivals. A six pack of peepers, lol.
In their new home.
Close up.
2 Chicks on books, LOL! (This is for you, Jamie and Patricia.)
Oh so fluffy! I think my days just got a lot more interesting. ^__^ What do you think?
Edit:
So, it seems one of the six chickies has decided that I am her mother. If I put her in the box with the others, she peeps and tries to leap out (which is hilarious as she can only jump an inch and a half). But if I take her out, she settles down and is happy.
