ARC Giveaway Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered my ARC giveaway!

The two winners (picked by Random.org) are:  

 

Maria C. and Meagan R.

Congrats, chickadees! I'll get those books in the mail right away!

For the rest of you -- you've still got until 9/1 to enter the giveaway that Walker-Bloomsbury is hosting on GoodReads -- and they have FIVE copies. Go enter and GOOD LUCK!

Also --make sure to stop by again SOON! There are some BIG things planned in the upcoming weeks (um, starting TOMORROW!)

Contest, Author Copies, AND, a New Website

So... that happened. That's pretty much my real-time reaction to getting my author copies. (After I danced around the box and put The Schmidtlets down for an impromptu nap). In case you were wondering, YES, I DID give myself a papercut on the chin while snuggling the book.

And then I quickly put the book back in the box. Where it still sits, along with all my other untouched author copies, in the front hall of my house. It didn't even occur to me to OPEN the book until St.Matt was paging through one when he got home from work.

Guys... they're so pretty! I LOVE them! And I can't wait until you can see them too.

It's only FIVE WEEKS AND FIVE DAYS until SEND ME A SIGN hits bookstore shelves... and since FIVE is my main character, Mia's, favorite number, that means it's time for a giveaway. I'm giving away TWO Send Me A Sign ARCS. (Yes, I DO know it's odd to give away ARCS when I just got my author copies, but I had this giveaway planned out and the author copies were a Very Awesome Surprise).  

To enter, fill out the form below. I'll pick winners on August 31st.

ALSO -- I have a NEW website! (This was how I'd planned to open this blog post before the Very Awesome Surprise). Go! Click around! Explore! This post will still be waiting when you come back. MANY, many hours of stress, tears, and tweaking went into this redesign. I hope you like it! I owe a HUGE hug-accompanying THANK YOU to Courtney Summers who talked me down from my My-Brain-Can't-Handle-WordPress ledge many, many times. (Including a particularly tearful e-mail "I just don't know WHY it's not working! I've spent the past 90 minutes trying EVERYTHING" -- her response, "Tiffany, clear your cache - it's working fine." I dutifully Googled "cache" and she was right.) So, really, this whole post can be summed up as:

Welcome to the new site! I'm so glad you're here! Let me offer you prizes & please admire my pretty author copies!

 The form has been removed because the contest is closed -- thanks for entering!

YA Fest - Winners!

Since Friday the 13ths are UNlucky, can we establish a new rule that Monday the 13ths are EXTRAlucky?

At least they are for Sarah & Maddie! Congrats to you two -- beaucoup de books coming your way.

Didn't win? I'm so sorry -- maybe you'll have better luck over at GoodReads-- Walker-Bloomsbury is giving away a handful of copies of SEND ME A SIGN.

And if you're local(ish) -- come see me at PAYA in West Chester, PA on August 25th. I'll have chapter samplers, swag, smiles & hugs!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway! -- Vicariously Experience YA Fest

I spent Saturday in fabulous company – with 34 other authors, a squad of helpful “Volunteens”*, bucketfuls of wonderful readers, and the amazing staff at the Palmer Branch of the Easton Public Library.  

 It was YAFest and it was spectacular!

  

The Apocalypsies at YA Fest: Anne Greenwood Brown, Eve Marie Mont, K.M. Walton, Elisa Ludwig, Me, & Brigid Kemmerer

I cannot thank the lovely Cyn Balog and Jennifer Murgia enough for all their work arranging this event. I was lucky  to be seated with Alecia Whitaker—and the two of us spent much of the day just admiring how well organized this event was and saying how happy we were to be a part of it.

See? This is my happy look!

I loved meeting readers and other authors – and since there’s still 8 weeks and 1 day until Send Me a Sign releases, I handed out Teaser Samplers with the first two chapters. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me when teens came back up to tell me they’d read it already and they wished October 2nd would hurry up and arrive **

Aren't they pretty? The book is even PRETTIER!

And just when I thought the day couldn’t possibly get any better – I won THIS in the raffle.

It was so heavy, I needed help lifting it even AFTER I'd given away stacks.

It was almost TOO MUCH AWESOME – so I immediately began foisting books off on the other authors.  I came home with a few dozen less than were in that bin, but as soon as I walked in the door, St.Matt said, “MORE BOOKS? But we’re already DROWNING in them!”

And he’s right.

So… since all of you couldn’t be at YA Fest, let me bring some YA Fest to you –

I’ve created two prize packs with the books I brought home -- enter to win them using the Rafflecoptor below.

Prize Pack A includes:

• A chapter sampler of SEND ME A SIGN
• A TEMPTATION OF ANGELS by Michelle Zink
• PURE by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• DIETY by Jennifer L. Armentrout
• LEGACY by Molly Cochran
• A BREATH OF EYRE by Eve Marie Mont
• INSIDE by Maria Snyder
• MISFIT by Jon Skovron
• WHERE I BELONG by Gwendolyn Heasley
• TORN by Christine Hughes
• SOLVING ZOE by Barbara Dee
• INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser
• SIRENZ by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman
• SIRENZ: BACK IN FASHION by Charlotte Bennardo & Natalie Zaman
• CRACKED tote bag
• An assortment of bookmarks and other bookish swag 

Prize Pack B includes:

• A chapter sampler of SEND ME A SIGN
• LIES BENEATH by Anne Greenwood Brown
• ANGEL STAR by Jennifer Murgia
• BLOODSPELL by Amalie Howard
• A LONG WAY FROM YOU by Gwendolyn Heasley
• TRAFFIC JAM by Melissa Groeling
• SPIRITED: 13 HAUNTING TALES edited by Kat O'Shea
• JUST ANOTHER DAY IN MY INSANELY REAL LIFE by Barbara Dee
• FALL FROM GRACE by Charles Benoit
• THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN by Josh Berk
• INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser
• ELEMENTAL REALITY by Cesya Marae Cuono
• COMMERCIAL BREAKS: FAMOUS FOR THIRTY SECONDS by P.G. Kain
• LIES BENEATH T-shirt
• An assortment of bookmarks and other bookish swag

Since these packages are going to be HEAVY and postage gets pricey, I’m going to restrict this contest to U.S.  entries.

Good luck!

*This is my new favorite word

**YOU AND ME BOTH, CHICKADEES. 

*** As usual, the talented Tiff Emerick was in charge of photos <3>

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Schmidtlets have informed me I can't give away the Tupperware bin & tinsel -- or, as they like to call it -- their Disco Bobsled.

Photo taken BEFORE the family room exploded into a tinsel wonderland...

YAmazing winner!

If the contest had been a spelling list, I'd now be required to use all your words in sentences or a story. That would be a horrendous homework assignment and a VERY LONG spelling list. And, there is less than zero percent chance that I would have gotten the spelling of hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia or pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis or floccinaucinihilipilification correct. But I guess when there's 100+ words on the list (and awesomesauce is on there three times), it wouldn't have hurt my score too badly to skip some of your zanier choices ;)

Thank you all for stopping by, entering the race, and sharing your favorite words with me. You are ALL YAmazing.


But there can only be one winner of the YAmazing Race SEND ME A SIGN bonus contest and that person is...

*mentally insert drumroll here*

-- I guess "rediculous" is not only adorably adorable, it's also lucky! Congrats, Desiree!
 
Also!!! Did you see my BIG NEWS from last week? Did you know BRIGHT BEFORE SUNRISE is already up on GoodReads? It think it would very much like to visit your To-Read shelf...

YAmazing Race

Hello! Thanks for making it to the Send Me a Sign pit-stop on the YAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes! Since I'm not the first stop on the Exploding Flamingos, you probably know the drill by now -- This is a blog hop featuring a zillionty debut authors. We're giving away prize packs stuffed with ARCs, gift certificates, and all sorts of swag.

If you've stumbled on this post and are feeling a little lost -- skedaddle over to the Apocalypsie website where you'll find some helpful directions and links to the beginning.

Send Me a Sign by Tiffany Schmidt 

Mia Moore has spent her entire life looking for signs. A sign that she should get serious with her soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. A sign that the summer before senior year will be the best one ever.

But when Mia is diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, the only sign she wants to see is that she will survive cancer. That she will get through a summer of intensive chemo and be able to go back to being the girl she’s always been—top student, part of the A-list crowd, and dating Ryan, the hottest guy at school.

And until she’s better—meaning no throwing up, no hospital stays, and definitely no wig—Mia doesn’t want anyone to know she has cancer. She doesn’t want her friends’ pity. And she certainly doesn’t want to start feeling something more than friendship for the one person who does know what she’s going through, her best friend Gyver. But the sicker Mia gets, the more she realizes that not even the clearest signs offer perfect answers, and in order to find out what happens in her life, she will have to find the courage to live it.


Done?
I know your brain is packed full from all the YAmazing/MGnificent Exploding Flamingo bookstops you visited before mine -- but I hope you paid attention, because you'll need to know a factoid from the synopsis above to answer the quiz and enter to win the prize packs.

Wait!
Want more chances to win stuff? Since you're here and everything, I might as well offer you an incentive to stay... or at least come back and visit.

Complete the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win a pre-order of Send Me a Sign.

Pre-Order Contest Winner

You may have noticed that I didn’t give my Best Book Ever on the contest page, but since I made you share yours, it would only be fair if I agonized over my own.

Since this is my blog, I’m not limiting myself to one. (I notice many of you didn’t limit yourselves to one either—I approve of this mini-rebellion!)

You may also notice that almost every single book that appears on my list was mentioned in the comments. That’s because my blog readers have excellent taste.

This isn’t a ranking—narrowing it down to ten was hard enough without ranking them. And if you asked me the same question tomorrow, I’d probably come up with a different list, but
AS OF THIS VERY MINUTE, my Best Books Ever are:

1) All of Austen. (My favorite changes daily. Usually it’s Emma. Or Pride & Prejudice)
2) The Truth About Forever – Sarah Dessen
3) Hunger Games —Suzanne Collins
4) Little Women — Louisa May Alcott
5) Anna & The French Kiss — Stephanie Perkins
6) The Archived — Victoria Schwab *
7) Drums, Girls, Dangerous Pie —Jordan Sonnenblick
8) Matilda — Roald Dahl
9) Anne of Green Gables — Lucy Maud Montgomery
10) Dairy Queen — Catherine Gilbert Murdock

*Yes, I’m a big, teasing, meanie. You all can’t read this until 1/13. But it is FABULOUS.

But you didn’t come here for reading recommendations (though, it’s not a bad consolation prize if you didn’t win) – without further delay, the winner of the SEND ME A SIGN pre-order and bracelet is:

ANOTHER giveaway!

How many times have I described a book as The Best Book Ever?**

A lot.

Even more frequently since I've joined Short & Sweet Reviews' weekly blog feature of the same name.


I've loved participating in this every Thursday. And I've loved getting to know the wonderful bloggers at Short &Sweet Reviews as well as the others who share their book picks.

A related benefit is getting fabulous book recommendations every week.

Anyway -- this is a long winded way to say: Their blog is turning ONE this week and I'm helping them celebrate.

I'll be giving away a pre-order of my debut YA novel SEND ME A SIGN* as well as a Send Me A Sign bracelet. ***

Send Me A Sign - Cover Contest Winners

Thank you to everyone who made revealing SEND ME A SIGN’s cover so much fun—having a book cover is something I’ve dreamed about for forever, and this is finally starting to feel pinch-me real. I’ve spent the past week dancing around singing versions of they like it, they like it, they really, really like it.

*blows kisses & dandelion seeds*

I’m still waiting on some of my swag to arrive— it’ll be worth the wait, but it means I won’t be mailing out the swag packs for a couple of weeks. I’ll be emailing later today to request mailing addresses, so make sure to check your inboxes.

Sidenote: I’ve decided EVERYONE who enters gets a swag pack, because you are ALL simply amazing.

But while you’re waiting, check out this video of me reading a snippet from chapter two of Send Me A Sign. Hopefully it makes you EVEN MORE impatient for October 2^nd.  *cue evil giggle*

Oh, the bracelets! You probably want to know who won those!

Winners! - Breathless Reads Contest

You've all left me breathless with your enthusiasm for this contest! YA fans are the BEST.

And you left fabulous answers, too! I so enjoyed reading them all! Some of them made me teary, others left me in *gigglefits* -- and, of course, I loved seeing the names of so many YA guys on that list. Hopefully when SEND ME A SIGN comes out this October, my heroes leave some of you a little short of breath.

But you're here for the winners—so let's get to that.

This was supposed to be my project for while the Schmidtlets took their afternoon nap— but the amount of time required to type up 170! names and cut 170! slips of paper exceeded the amount of time the twins are willing to sleep.

So instead of peace and quiet, I got helpers. I put all those slips of names in The Wild Imp's sunhat -- and we had a little bit of a lesson on no, you can't wear the hat while all that paper is in it.

The Wild Imp chose a name for Prize Pack 1:

Congratulations, Jana! You've won a Breathless Reads poster, and signed copies of Across The Universe and Legend.

After stirring all the names for awhile, I finally convinced The Pip Squeak to choose ONE for Prize Pack 2:

Congratulations, Annabelle H.! I'll be sending a Breathless Reads poster and signed copies of Born Wicked and Nightshade your way.

Thank you to everyone who entered! Please check back  again soon—I've got some more prizes… and A COVER REVEAL (eeep!) in the works.

Leave me Breathless...

Yeah, I know, the title* of this post makes it sound like I'm about to launch into a romance story. Not so much.

Though I do love the books I'm about to giveaway.

I was lucky enough to have the Breathless Reads tour come to my town on Sunday night. It doesn’t get much more wonderful than having four fabulous authors delivered down the street from your house.
 
Even better, I got to spend some time with fellow Apocalypsies Eve Marie Mont and Elise Ludwig 











while we listened to Beth Revis, Jessica Spotswood, Marie Lu, and Andrea Cremer share their authorly wisdom.











But I already have all their books, so these signed copies are for you.

And see that cute poster I'm holding in that photo?  I’m giving away two of those as well.

I'll choose two winners:

#1 Will receive a poster, and signed copies of Across The Universe and Legend.

#2 Will receive a poster and signed copies of Born Wicked and Nightshade.

All you have to do is comment below and let me know one thing that leaves you breathless. It can be anything, I'll even start.

Running, leaves me breathless—I'm still waiting the point when I can drop the getting from getting in shape and just be in shape.

Finn, from BORN WICKED, also leaves me a little breathless and swoony.

Feel free to enter more than once – just leave a new comment for each breath-thief and I'll count it as a new entry.

I'll choose the winners randomly on Friday during the Schmidtlets' afternoon nap.

Have fun & good luck!




*Have I dated myself with this? You DO know this song, right?

A SWEET Winner

The wonderful thing about being at a writing retreat set in a hunting lodge in the middle of the woods is… well, almost everything. There's great company, time and space to write, conversations that fuel creativity, discussion that challenge and stretch, and beaucoup laughter.

The downside of being at a writing retreat set at a hunting lodge in the middle of the woods was missing the Schmidlets. And, that every time someone entered my SWEET Giveaway, I had a new candy craving and no way to satisfy it.

·      Whoppers & Bottle Caps! I hadn't thought about them in years.

·      Twix! I used to try and convince my mother those weren't candy, but a form of granola bar.

·      Milk Duds! Delicious and a handy way to tear out fillings.

·      Licorice! I always bite the ends off Twizzlers & use them as a straw. Tasty & functional.

·      M&M's are clearly the chocolate version of Revision Skittles – Wasabi peas are the healthy version.

·      Peanut Butter Cups! I recently heard that these can be used to make S'mores – have any of you tried this? I need to ASAP.

·      Kit Kat, Almond Joy and Heath lovers – I challenge you to try S'mores with your candies of choice too – make sure to report back to me with your results.

·      And gummy-lovers (both sour and not), you people are my tribe. Let's all get together and ruin our teeth with chewy deliciousness.

Initially I had big fancy-pants plans about how I would choose a winner – writing all the numbers on gumballs and then filming the winning one coming out of the gumball machine.

But we don't have a gumball machine, I'm still in my pajamas, and am quite busy making up four days of Schmidtlet-snuggles. So, I defaulted to a random number generator.

Without further ado – the winner is: Loralie! 

Rock your Revision Skittle Boombox with pride – I highly encourage recreations of the scene from Say Anything.

Thanks, everyone, for entering and stay sweet!

A SWEET Giveaway

There are a few awesome things on my desk right now.

1)   My Edit Letter! I think this makes it official. Well, MORE official. It also makes my head spin in the very best of ways.

2)   A bag of Revision Skittles  – No, I'm not sharing. I NEED these.

3)   This fabulous Revision Skittle boombox. 

 

      And this could be yours. Well, not this one, it's mine.  But there's another one downstairs still in its box that could have your name on it.

Music plays a large part in Send Me A Sign, and Revision Skittles played a large part in my writing of it – it seems only fitting that I should pair the two and give one of these away.

The boombox is made by Terracycle  – and this is their description:

"Groove greener with this portable boombox made with up to 80% recycled materials. With its 3.5mm universal plug for you can play music from your iPod, iPhone, MP3 player, laptop, or computer. Batteries not required."

To enter – leave a comment below where you list YOUR favorite candy.

I leave tomorrow at early o'clock for the Goldblatt Agency retreat – aka Camp Barry – and let's just say that I'm having some major separation-from-Schmidtlet anxiety. Cheer me up by entering.

I'll leave the contest open until I get back and will draw a winner on Monday.

Good luck and stay sweet!