YA Scavenger Hunt Autumn 2015!

The YA Scavenger Hunt and my giveaway have now closed! Out of 131 possible entries, random.org tells me the winner is entry number 116. Congratulations to Sandi Turla! A signed copy of THE FEARLESS will be on its way to you very soon.

Hi! Welcome to this stop on the YA Scavenger Hunt. You’re currently hunting on TEAM GREEN!

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE RULES

Directions: Somewhere in this post, I’ve highlighted my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on Team Green, then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below 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 4, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

To find out more about the hunt, see links to all the participating authors and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

There's some exclusive bonus content from me hiding somewhere on the interwebs! Somewhere on this leg of the hunt is a deleted scene from THE FEARLESS. When you find it, come back over here and enter the BONUS giveaway listed below. But first, here’s some bonus content from the fab author I'm hosting – Beth Revis!

Beth Revis is the NY Times bestselling author of the Across the Universe series. The complete trilogy is now available in more than 20 languages. Beth is also the author of The Body Electric and several short stories. A native of North Carolina, Beth is currently working on a new novel for teens, tentatively scheduled for 2016.

Beth's website

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Thanks so much for hosting me, Emma! Today I'm talking about The Body Electric, a stand alone sci fi novel that's near to my heart. This story is about Jack and Ella, two people in the futuristic society of  of New Venice. Eagle-eyed readers will see a few allusions to Godspeed and Amy and Elder from my first trilogy, Across the Universe, but here are a few fun facts!

1. A big part of my inspiration came from Philip K. Dick novels, most notably Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Total Recall. I named my main character Ella Shepherd as a nod to Dick's Electric Sheep novel.

2. The story is set on the island nation of Malta, a real island in the Mediterranean (the "boot" of Italy is kicking it). But the main city is a made-up place called "New Venice." I named it that because the city uses solar glass, an idea I'd come up with years ago while watching a glass-blowing demonstration in Venice.

3. The main boy character is named Jack, and Ella's mother is named Rose. I came up with these named after watching an episode of Doctor Who (the "Are you my mummy?" episode) which features Jack and Rose...but a lot of people think it's an allusion to Titanic!

4. One of the scientists whose name is on a placard in the labs Ella goes to is named "Martin"--the same last name as Amy's father in Across the Universe.

5. Ella's godmother is name Jadis White. This is from my favorite book, The Chronicles of Narnia because the actress who plays her in the latest movie, Tilda Swinton, had exactly the right look for that character in my book. I rarely pick actual people as models for my characters (the only other exception is Molly Quinn, who is the model I used for Amy).

Thanks for reading a few of the little clues and allusions I added to my book. I hope you check it out--and make sure to stop by my blog in the hunt for an extra giveaway!

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Read the book that Publisher's Weekly called ""addictive"" and that kept USA Today guessing until the very end. By the NY Times bestselling author of Across the Universe!

You can have the perfect past...for a price. In this exciting sci fi thriller, one girl uncovers the truth in a world where you can't trust your own memories.

The future world is at peace.

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift--the ability to enter people's dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother--to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things--images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience--and influence--the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love--even though Ella's never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing...

Someone's altered her memory.

Ella's gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn't even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella's head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.

So who can she trust?

This YA SF action and adventure book is suitable for all readers teens and up who love mysteries, thrillers, and futuristic novels. DON'T MISS THIS EXCITING YA SCI FI THRILLER!

Buy the Body Electric

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BONUS GIVEAWAY!

To win a SIGNED hardback copy of THE FEARLESS, find my hidden content somewhere on this hunt. Then come back and comment with the answer to the following question:

How many flights of stairs does Cass go down to get to her mother?

For an extra point, follow me on social media or like my Facebook page. Please tell me where you followed me (and your username on that platform) in your comment so that I can count it!

Here are the links to my twitter, facebook and instagram!

 * * * * *

And before you go, here are 3 writing-related facts about me:

My writing assistant is a crazy greyhound called G-Dog.

I wrote my first novel when I was 13, in maths lessons with my notebook hidden under my work.

My favourite writing outfit is pyjamas and thermal socks. It's all about the comfort…

Ready to move on to the next stop on the hunt? Then make your way over to CJ REDWINE!

Good luck!

Happy US Book Birthday to THE FEARLESS! + Giveaway

Today, THE FEARLESS is published in the US by Delacorte Press in a beautiful hardcover. I couldn't be more thrilled with how it looks, and I really hope that US readers love it as much as I do.

There's already been some great reviews coming in. The School Library Journal called it 'A fast and fun read… Action packed' and Publisher's Weekly said 'Pass (ACID) creates a vivid post-apocalyptic world, subverting several familiar zombie tropes.'

Also, I'm going to be taking part in a fantastic blog tour, arranged by my fab publicist at Random House. There's interviews, guest posts and giveaways galore, and it starts on Monday 20th May. Here's the full lineup:

All this is worth celebrating, methinks. So I'm giving away 5 signed copies of the book right here on the blog - all you have to do is enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below!

Please note - the giveaway is US-only and ends on Tuesday 12th May at 12am Eastern Time.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Award! #UKYAExtravaganza! Patron of Reading Stuff! Etc!

Hello!

Oh dear, I'm not doing too well with this blog, am I? *Blows away cobwebs* *flicks feather duster around* Lucky it's not a Tamagotchi or it'd look a bit like this…

Anyway. Happy 2015 plus three months, everyone! What have you been up to? What have I been up to? Lots of things. So much has happened, in fact, that I think I'm going need to use subheadings. Here goes…

An Award for ACID
Very excitingly, the audiobook of ACID has been named as one of YALSA's (the Young Adult Library Services of America) 2015 Top Ten Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults. This is brilliant news, and testament to the amazing team who brought the book to life. In the words of YALSA: "Unique ACID reports and recordings read by [Nicholas Guy] Smith and [Fiona] Hardingham's excellent pace combine with her authentic teen voice to highlight this exciting story." Hooray!

The UKYA Extravaganza
Back in October, I did a panel and Q&A session with Kerry Drewery and Zoe Marriot at Waterstones Lincoln. Afterwards, Kerry and I said to each other, 'Wouldn't it be great to do this again? Maybe we could get a few more authors – maybe 5 or 6 – and a few more people to come along…'

Little did we know what we were embarking upon. 4 months later, at Birmingham High Street Waterstones, our initial idea had turned into 33 authors and over 100 book bloggers and readers gathering for the UKYA Extravaganza, tickets for which had sold out within 24 hours. To say Kerry and I were stunned is probably an understatement…

Books!

Cakes!

Authors!

The day was incredible and the amount of Twitter-love afterwards almost broke the internet (check out the #UKYAExtravaganza hashtag to see for yourself!).

I think this is my favourite tweet, as it completely sums up what Kerry and I were trying to achieve with the day:

But if you missed it this time round, never fear – we're doing it again! There's going to be another UKYAX in October in Nottingham, date and venue TBC. We're also launching a website and Facebook page very soon, so look out for those, and if you're on Twitter you can follow @UKYAX for the latest updates.

And of course, a huge thank you to all the Waterstones staff for letting us gatecrash, and to everyone who took part and came along to support the event!

Patron of Reading Visits
I've done quite a few school visits this year already, including two to my Patron of Reading school, Titus Salt in Yorkshire. The first, at the beginning of February, was to help launch an exciting literacy project. I worked with students from various years to help them write stories based on the school's core values, Together, Resilient, Ambitious and Caring, using different creative writing exercises as inspiration. The stories will be turned into short animated films during a residential weekend this summer, which I'll be accompanying the students and staff on. I can't wait!

My second visit was last week, over two days to help celebrate World Book Day. On Thursday I raced around the school, gatecrashing lessons to give short readings from THE FEARLESS and play Bananagrams (which I was rubbish at - I blame the fact that I kept getting loads of 'N's and 'X's, and no vowels!).

Then, on Friday, I was crowned Empress Pass of Poetopia. Year 7 had been separated into factions and sent to the Arena (the school hall) where they had to compete to win my favour in order to be given resources which would help them survive. I love being a writer anyway, but when I get to dress up in a cloak and tiara and order people about? Well, I REALLY love it. It was so much fun!

The Fearless

Finally, a quick reminder for my US readers – THE FEARLESS is being published by Delacorte on 14th April! The School Library Journal called it "a fun and fast read that will appeal to lovers of zombie invasions as well as books that feature strong females in dystopian settings." If that sounds like your sort of book, you can preorder it here.

Annnnd I think that's it! Over and out…

Giveaway Winners!

I have consulted random.org and it tells me the winners of the signed copies of THE FEARLESS are…

@_Sandra_R_ and Laura Mary! Hooray!

Congratulations to both of you. Please email me at emmapassauthor@emmapass.com so I can arrange to send them to you.

Signed prettiness!

The #FearlessHalloweenGiveaway is now closed!

Thanks to everyone who entered. I'll be announcing the winners on Monday, so watch this space.

In the meantime, dear blog readers, please could you send some good thoughts to G-Dog? He's pulled a muscle in his back and is feeling a little sorry for himself. He's a lot more mobile today, though, so hopefully it won't be long before he's back to his usual silly self!

Also biscuits. Biscuits would be good.

The Blog Lives! And a FEARLESS Giveaway

Hello!

A while ago, I announced I was moving this blog to Tumblr. I really like the format and the immediacy of that platform, but having dipped my toe in the water, so to speak… I've realised it's not for me. I don't have time to keep up with it – like Twitter and Facebook, you have to post and interact there regularly for it to be worthwhile. So I've decided that, just in time for Halloween, I'm bringing this blog back from the dead! [insert spooky ghost noises here] And I've given it a bit of a facelift, too - what do you think?

What have I been up to while this blog has been in stasis? Well, several exciting things have happened. I'm still sworn to secrecy about two of those things, but I'll share when I can. What I can tell you is that THE FEARLESS has been nominated for the 2015 CILIP Carnegie Medal - my second nomination in two years. To say I'm thrilled is an understatement.

I'm also working on some new book ideas, but again, they're top secret at the moment. I'm fairly superstitious about my new ideas, and always think if I talk about them too much it will jinx them, so I'm keeping quiet for now. Sorry!

In between writing and the day job, I've been doing plenty of workshops and events - this week, I ran a teen writing workshop at Wirksworth Library, and also took part in a panel discussion and author Q&A at Lincoln High Street Waterstones with Kerry Drewery and Zoe Marriott. Despite suffering from a horrible cold, I had the BEST time. Fellow authors Kendra Leighton and Rebecca Mascull came along to cheer us on and it was so lovely to meet and chat to everyone. One girl told me that THE FEARLESS made her cry all the way through, and another that ACID is the book that's made her want to write dystopian. Sometimes, when I'm struggling through my first (or second, or third, or tenth…) draft, wondering if anyone will ever want to read the words I'm trying to get onto the page, writing can feel like a lonely and frustrating business. To hear such passionate responses from readers really makes me feel like it's all worth it!

A big thank you to Giles, Kirsty and all the staff at Waterstones Lincoln for looking after us so well. BTW, they have limited amounts of signed stock AND swag from all three of us, so if you're in the area, hurry down and grab some before it sells out!

Finally, to celebrate the blog revival and Halloween, I'm giving away two signed copies of THE FEARLESS. It's dark and gruesome and simply perfect for this time of year, so if you want to win a copy, leave me a comment below and/or follow me on Twitter and tweet about this post with the hashtag #FearlessHalloweenGiveaway. The giveaway is international and entries close on Friday 14th November.

Happy Halloween!

THE FEARLESS is here!

Publication day for THE FEARLESS is here! I've already had tons of lovely messages on Facebook and Twitter, and it's only 9.30am. Thank you so much, everyone!

For the next couple of weeks I'm going to be doing a trek round the internets (wearing sensible boots, post-apocalyptic style). Today, I've got a post about the fear, the horror, the terror… of writing a second novel over at the fab Kate Ormand's blog, and a post about what inspired some of the settings in the book over at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books.

And to whet your appetite for THE FEARLESS (although I wouldn't recommend you read this book while you're eating your dinner), here's a sneaky extract from the beginning:

From inside the house there was an animal-sounding howl, and then a gruff shout: ‘It’s locked!’ I wrenched the gate open and ran out into the lane, Mum staggering after me. Pure terror sang through my veins; I could hardly breathe. When I looked over my shoulder I saw Mum clutching her knife in one hand, the other pressed against her bump, her hair hanging in sweat-soaked strings around her face.

‘Keep going,’ she gasped. ‘Don’t worry about me.’

            I heard that howl again, echoing up into the trees, and crashes as the Fearless tried to break down the front door. I tried to run faster, but my legs felt weak; I wasn’t sure I could keep going. Acid burned up into my throat, nearly choking me.

Behind me, Mum moaned and fell to her knees on the track.

I ran back to her. Another shout – ‘There’s something in front of the door!’ – and more crashes drifted towards us. ‘Mum, get up!’ I said, frantically tugging on her arm. She shook her head. She’d dropped her knife. ‘You go, Cass. Run. Get to Sol’s.’

‘No, I’m not leaving you!’

I heard the sound of glass breaking. It sounded as if the Fearless had given up trying to get out of the front door and were smashing their way out through a window instead. I pleaded with Mum to get up. Then I heard another sound from the top of the lane.

A car.

It was coming towards us, fast.
Headlights burst out of the darkness, so bright they blinded me, and the shriek of the engine filled my ears. There was no time to get out of the way. I flung a hand across my eyes, screaming, hearing Mum screaming too, time seeming to slow as I waited for the car to slam into us, and wondering how much it would hurt.

The Fearless Blog Tour!

It's exactly ONE WEEK until THE FEARLESS invades the shelves – eek! And to help celebrate its unleashing, some writer/blogger friends have offered to host a blog tour for me. Two whole weeks of posts, interviews and giveaways! I'm so grateful to everyone who's helped me out with this, so a huge thank you to everyone, and also to Harriet Venn at Random House Children's Publishing for designing me a fab blog tour banner!

Here is where I'll be and when (click to enlarge):

See you in a week!

Ouch!

Hello lovely blog readers! I know, I know, it's been a while again. In my defence, I've been rather busy doing school visits (LOTS of school visits) and preparing for the publication of THE FEARLESS, which is out in ten days. Eek! It's all very exciting in a nerve-wracking kind of way.

Yesterday was pretty exciting too – for all the wrong reasons. I managed to slice a chunk out of the end of my finger and it wouldn't stop bleeding, which meant I had to go to A&E to get patched up. Luckily I got seen quite quickly, as when I went to the desk the admitting nurse misheard me and thought I'd cut my finger off (shudder), but, yeah. I'm going to be staying away from sharp objects for a while…

At least I can do some impressive pointing for a while… 

Anyway, you didn't come here to listen to me moaning about my hurty finger. Let's get back to THE FEARLESS.

First of all, there have been some amazing reviews coming in - hooray! If having a debut out in the world is scary, having your second book published is doubly terrifying, because what if everyone thinks it's a letdown? What if you're just a one-hit wonder and, actually, you can't do this all over again? Luckily, these reviewers seem to think otherwise (click on the links for the full reviews, I'm just going to quote my favourite bits here):

From World of Children's Books:

I love that we’ve got a strong YA writer using dystopian Britain as a backdrop, especially when it’s writing about local areas that I recognise… It’s a different type of dystopian feel to ACID, which is good, because it means there isn’t any re-treading of previous steps, and shows Emma’s breadth of writing ability. She’s got a damn fine imagination, and a damn fine way of making me skip back a few lines just to make sure I read her correctly, such are the OMG moments that regularly crop up… I’ve not read a virus-esque dystopian thriller this good, ever.

From Donna's Room for Reading:

The latest offering from Emma Pass had me gripped from the very first page… I knew it was going to be brilliant and I was not disappointed… something Pass excels in is writing a kick-ass heroine… THE FEARLESS is a fantastic read, in my opinion for ages 12+, maybe a little older depending on the child and definitely on into adulthood!

From Goodreads (thanks, Marta!):

This is a fresh take on zombie fiction… I live in England and have visited several of the places mentioned in this book but the newly named area in Sheffield had me laughing out loud! No spoilers here but those like me who've traveled to that part of the uk will surely get the joke and that surprised me if honest. Amidst all this chaos the author still managed to bring a lighter touch and we even get a canine companion whose bravery will melt the hardest heart.

And there's this one, too (thank you, Beth!):

Thrilling UKYA dystopian/post-apocalyptic combo with very scary zombiesque creatures, a worthwhile (but highly dangerous) quest and some brilliant characterisation (including a lovely hound). Definitely recommended for lovers of YA thrillers, dystopias and the post-apocalyptic.

*happy dances*

With publication day fast approaching, some wonderful author friends have offered to host a blog tour for me. Once I have my blog tour banner I'll post it here, so keep an eye out for it. There'll be guest posts, interviews and giveaways galore! I'm also going to be guest blogger over at Totally Random Books in May, which I'm really looking forward to.

I've also got a couple of VERY exciting pieces of news (not book deal-related, but equally smile-worthy!) which I'm hoping I can share soon.

And tonight, if you're on Twitter, join me for one of Project UKYA's #ukyachats at 7pm, where I'll be the featured author. Search for the hashtag to keep up with the chat, and if you want, you can follow me @EmmaPass.

Hope to see you there!