blog observations, YA giveaway, and five years (or close to it!)

So, if there's one thing I learned from my attempt to give YA books away via this blog it's that:

-- the role of blogs in social media has changed since I was blogging regularly. People are less likely to enter blog contest and author's blogs--or now, tumblrs--are mostly used for updates on what's happening with their latest book/promo for it. Exceptions being book reviewing sites--those are mostly unchanged since I started blogging, although there are more contests and many, many more author tours.

Also, site blogs seem to be shifting even more toward

-- personal info that the author feels like sharing/info shared re: book covers, release dates, and other book news

Therefore, I'm moving the YA book giveaway to other platforms, mostly twitter (I'm at twitter.com/escottwrites) and tumblr (elizabethwrites.tumblr.com/) **

I also do have some news to share. I will be at BEA this year, signing on both Friday and Saturday. I'm going to be at SLJ Day of Dialog on Wednesday as part of a panel discussion, so librians, I hope you'll stop by and say hi! Or better yet, do that *and* stay for the panel. It's right after Holly Black's speech...

I'm also going to be at ALA this year as well, and I'll post more news about when I'll be there as the event gets closer.

Finally, this year marks the FIFTH year in print for Perfect You, Stealing Heaven, and Living Dead Girl. It's amazing to me that all three of my 2008 releases are still in print, and that all four of my first novels (Bloom being the first, from 2007) are still in print. Kind and wonderful readers, thank you, thank you, thank YOU!

**A few people have asked if the books I'm giving away are my own personal copies, which made my mind go fuzzy for a moment because why would I give away my own books???? I'm giving away copies I bought of books I read and liked and wanted to share with YOU. My books are my own, and as much as I love sharing books I've read and liked, I'm going to give you a new one so I can keep my own :-)

In closing, what would you like to see more of on this blog?

And once again, thank YOU for reading my books. It means to the stars and past them for me.

Win: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa (ARC)

Today, Wednesday, April 24th, I'm giving away an ARC of:

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS blog entry (http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2013/04/win-eternity-cure-by-julie-kagawa-arc.html) and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Email addy, twitter handle, whatever--just make sure I can get in touch with you!

That being said, if you want to like my facebook page (facebook.com/elizabethwrites) or follow me on twitter(twitter.com/escottwrites), I wouldn't mind :-)

I'll take entries for The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa through midnight PST today, Wednesday, April 24th. After that, the winner will be chosen at random and notified.

So enter and remember to come back to see what I'm giving away tomorrow...

PS Don't forget, this contest is international!

Win: The Dead And Buried by Kim Harrington

Today, Tuesday, April 23nd, I'm giving away a copy of:

The Dead And Buried by Kim Harrington

For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS blog entry (http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2013/04/win-dead-and-buried-by-kim-harrington.html) and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Email addy, twitter handle, whatever--just make sure I can get in touch with you!

That being said, if you want to like my facebook page (facebook.com/elizabethwrites) or follow me on twitter(twitter.com/escottwrites), I wouldn't mind :-)

I'll take entries for The Dead And Buried by Kim Harrington through midnight PST today Tuesday, April 23rd. After that, the winner will be chosen at random and notified.

So enter and remember to come back to see what I'm giving away tomorrow...

PS Don't forget, this contest is international!

I've got books...and I bet you want them :-)

I've been far too quiet here for FAR too long, so I've decided to start blogging again.

The only thing is, while I've got some news, it didn't quite feel like enough. I mean, sure, news about Heartbeat is great--or at least, I hope you think it is!--but I wanted more!

And then an idea hit me.

Actually hit me.

I have so many copies of great YA novels and they all need homes. So, until they run out, I'll be giving away ONE YA novel every day, Monday through Friday, until--well, until I've gotten through them all! AND! All contest WILL be open internationally unless otherwise noted.

First: The News

1. It's true--Heartbeat ARCs are real! They are not "out" yet BUT if you are going to BEA, I'll be there signing ARCs--twice!! And if you can't make BEA, I'll also be at ALA, where I'll be...yep, you guessed it. I'll be signing Heartbeat ARCs there too!

2. Wide release of Heartbeart ARCs will happen, and as soon as I know more, I'll let you know.

3. The elusive Heartbeat cover...it will be revealed, I promise! Right now, all I will say is that Harlequin Teen is working SO hard to make it the right cover. Now, you all know I've worked with a few (!) publishers, so when I say I have never EVER seen this level of dedication, you know I mean it!

Second: The Book

Today, Monday, April 22nd, I'm giving away a copy of:

The Trouble With Flirting by Claire LaZebnik

For your chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on THIS blog entry (http://blog.elizabethwrites.com/2013/04/ive-got-booksand-i-bet-you-want-them.html) and then look for today's entry) and make sure you leave a way for me to contact you! Email addy, twitter handle, whatever--just make sure I can get in touch with you

That being said, if you wanted to like my facebook page (facebook.com/elizabethwrites) or follow me on twitter (twitter.com/escottwrites), I wouldn't mind :-)

I'll take entries for The Trouble With Flirting through midnight PST today Monday, April 22nd. After that, the winner will be chosen at random and notified.

So enter and remember to come back to see what I'm giving away tomorrow...

PS Don't forget, this contest is international!

AMAZING news!! (and yes, that means free books)

I've had to keep quiet about this for a while now but I'm thrilled to say that my next two novels will be published by Harlequin Teen!! The first one, Heartbeat will be out in September, and to celebrate, I'm giving away over a dozen Harlequin Teen novels including:

Alice in Zombieland
Speechless
Confessions of an Angry Girl
Undeadly
Temptation
Dark Angel
Pushing the Limits
The Girl in the Steel Corset
The Girl in the Clockwork Collar
The Iron Fey box set and The Lost Prince

This contest is open to US residents only (I promise, my next giveaway will be international!)

Here's how you enter:
+1 if you tweet about this contest (yes, you can do this more than once, but don't do it, like, every hour)
+2 if you mention it on fb/tumblr/pinterest/whatever new social media site I don't yet know about :-) (same as above)
+3 if you do all of the above (same rule as +2 and +1 here)
+4 if you like my facebook page, which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/elizabethwrites

Just let me know what you've done in the comments (with links, although I'll have to take you word that you've liked my facebook page :-) by this midnight EST this Friday, January 11, and the person with the most points wins!

PS Don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you :-)

PTSD and me

I don't like writing about having PTSD. I feel a constant need to apologize for having it because I haven't been in combat or the victim of a violent crime. My therapist says this is a huge part of why I refused to see what was happening for so long.

I suspect she's right.

In 2003, about a week after I'd gone from being the only allergy-free person in my immediate family to the one with more allergies than all of them combined, I had my first run-in with anaphylaxis.

The culprit?

Food.

For a few days after my trip to the ER, I would make myself something to eat, but within a few bites, I'd have to stop because I was sweating and shaking and convinced I could feel an itch forming in my throat.

Then I realized if I didn't eat, I'd be totally safe because if I didn't eat, I wouldn't die.

So I stopped eating.

I woke up two days later in the middle of the night, sweating and screaming. I passed out trying to get up. My husband and parents (who'd come up while I was in the ER) forced me to eat two tablespoons of sugar and the next morning, I found myself headed toward my parents' home, where I spent the next six weeks learning to eat again.

It was hell. I wept the first time I ate a bite of chicken. I curled up in a ball on the floor for an hour after eating half a cup of rice. I was so sure I was going to die, but as the weeks went by, I gradually realized I wouldn't die if I ate foods I wasn't allergic to.

I ate a very restricted diet for three years after that, and eventually managed to get into the high double digits of things I would eat without fear. I learned to act like I didn't care that I was allergic to so many things, and it didn't take very long for me to believe it.

It wasn't until I started seeing a therapist in 2011 that I realized I wasn't okay with what had happened. In fact, when I decided to have full allergy testing done again in early 2012 and found myself having nightmares, I kept wondering why I was so scared. I'd had the testing before. It took a while, sure, but it wasn't painful.

My therapist told me that I wasn't afraid of the testing, but that I was very afraid of what might happen afterward because of what had happened before. And after she asked me to talk about what had happened, she showed me a checklist for PTSD symptoms and I found out--nearly nine years later--that I have PTSD.

I'm not nearly as aware or as brave as Megan is, but I've come to see that when I wrote Miracle, it was my subconscious screaming at me to see what was going on inside me. I've always sworn I'd never write about myself or anyone I know, but it turns out that Miracle is the most personal thing I've ever written. It just took me a long time to realize it.

If you or anyone you know has undergone a traumatic experience of any kind, please visit http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/what-are-the-symptoms-of-ptsd.shtml to learn more and make sure you get the help you need.

Miracle is here, and Pizza Party! (and also, book signing :-)

Today is the official release date for Miracle! I can't believe it's finally here--but I saw in my local bookstore over the weekend, so it's really out there in the world. My eleventh (!!!) novel. A novel about a girl with PTSD written by someone who has PTSD but didn't know it at the time! Because of that, and a few other thing, Miracle is really the book that's closest to my heart.

Also! Thank you to everyone who talked about Miracle, or Miracle and my pre-order contest and a HUGE thank you to everyone who did pre-order the book--you all are amazing, and although I didn't hit my goal of 1000 pre-orders, it did make me realize there are a lot of utterly amazing readers out there--lots and lots of hugs to all!

Finally, this Saturday, June 9th, I'll be doing a signing for Miracle at fhe Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, Virginia. The signing starts at 2 PM and there will be free pizza for everyone because I thought it would be fun to have a pizza party so we can all eat and talk and have fun! I hope to see YOU there...