Beth Revis's Blog, page 53

Storms

Last night was pretty scary.



Just as we were going to bed, the whole house lit up with lightning--it was as bright as day for several seconds. I rushed to the door and called the dogs inside. Just in time--moments later, hail and thunder and lightning rained down on us--hard. The power flickered, then died. Lightning lit up the sky--well over a dozen lightning bolts a minute--and the sky turned strange colors--pink, beige, a weird bright blue-green color. My husband and I listened for tornadoes; we made a hasty plan for shelter.



The storm lasted over an hour. In the end, several power lines broke and poles snapped. Dozens of trees fell. And tragedy struck.



It was a bad storm--and yet, tiny compared to the damage in Alabama and other parts of the south. Compared to Japan. Compared to other disasters around the world.



My previous post is also on the storms and what we can do to help. I was going to post something different today. But, given the weird blue-green sky in the middle of the night and lightning that is both beautiful and terrifying, and twins who will never graduate...well, I figured it was worth it to spend one more day not forgetting the terror of nature and the mercy of humans.



And don't forget: if you can, help out the victims.

Charities vs. Zombies

There's a lot of suck in the world. Storms and tsunamis and disease and lots of other sucky things that we just can't help.



But fortunately, there's a lot more good people than sucky things. I've been continuously amazed at how a tragedy leads to an outpouring of love and aid and goodwill, and the writing community is no different. So, today I want to call your attention to some charities and goodwill things happening online--and then I want to challenge you to do good--and then I'm going to link it all to zombies and a giveaway (really!).



[image error] The storms in the Southern US recently were devastating. It's sad enough when one person loses his home--but when the entire neighborhood is homeless? The entire city flooded? Great swaths of a state left eradicated?



There are currently two auctions online that seek to aid these areas specifically. Help Write Now is in full swing, and while some auctions are closed, there are more opening every day, and they are truly brilliant auctions indeed! Marketing plans, agent referrals, signed books and swag, critiques--it's a plethora of writing goodies that you wouldn't believe!



Coming soon is All 4 Alabama, another auction site dedicated to bringing as much aid as possible to a specific area. Auctions at this site will open soon, but for now they need the most help spreading the word.



Not only that, but you can also donate by just making a regular ol' book purchase:

Thanks to author Lindsey Leavitt, you can buy books AND support relief efforts!



Between May 7th-14th, use code bookfair #1048605 when making a Barnes and Noble purchase online or in store. 10% of sales using this code will go to the United Way's West Alabama chapter to help tornado relief efforts.



If we raise over $2500, the percentage goes up to 15%; if we raise $10,000, the percentage is 20%!

On a more personal level, TLC Auctions is seeking to aid two specific individuals:  Daniel, a father who was wounded in a hunting accident, and Kaylea, a young girl with leukemia. The auctions will extend throughout the month of May, and so far the items up for grabs have been going for a steal of a deal.



[image error] If you'd like to donate books instead of money, there are two very worthy charitable donations set up.



The first is being run by Guys Lit Wire. Ballou High School needs books. The shelves aren't empty, but they aren't full, either. According to the site:

So there was barely one book for each student (the ALA standard is 11:1). ...what struck me in all the efforts to help is what always hits me - people send books they have (publishers do the same) which is lovely, but not necessarily the books that the school needs or, most importantly of all, the students want. That's where we come in and why we keep doing this, and loving it, every single year.

Over on Guys Lit Wire, they've organized a whole wish list of books. Scrolling through it, I found some recent ones (like, *cough* mine) and classics that I, personally, found inspiring as a kid: A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver, and more. I challenge you to look at the list and not find a book that you would put in the hands of a kid if you could...because when you find that book you loved when you were young, or the hot new title you yourself have been longing for, how can you not do the simple thing of sending it to a library that desperately wants that exact title?



And speaking of books that people want, have you heard of RAK? Random Acts of Kindness is run by Book Soulmates, a blog that hosts RAK. Basically, if someone really wants a certain book, they list the book they wish they had. Then anyone who wants to can see the list and do a random act of kindness by sending the book to the person who wishes they had it. You can see the wish list and more info on the project here.



So, as you can see, there's lots of different ways to do something good--auctions to bid on, charities to donate to, books to share with students and bloggers--tons of ways to make the world a better place.





So, today, I want to challenge you: Do something good. It can be anything you like--one of the auctions or charities I've listed here, or do something on your own. Help a neighbor out. Spread the word about the charities. Heck, just smile at someone. There's a lot of suck in the world. I challenge you to make a conscious effort to do at least one thing today to decrease world suck.



Here's my theory: The thing that separates the good people from the zombies is the ability to do good (as opposed to eating brains). And the reason why I bring up zombies is because in order to encourage you to make an effort to decrease world suck today, I'm going to be giving away a signed copy of Carrie Ryan's latest novel, THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES.





Want to prevent the world from becoming a Dark and Hollow Place? (see what I did there?) Want to prove that you're not a zombie? Do one good thing today. Not just a typical thing you do every day anyway--go out of your way to do one extra good thing toady.



And when you do, sign up here.



Giveaway details:



Open internationally
Sign up by Sunday, May 15th
Winner announced Monday, May 16th 
One entry per person
You must be at least 13 years old to enter
You don't have to tell me your good deed. I trust you. It's all good.
I'd take it as a kindness if you'd help spread the word on this.




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Bookanista Feature: PJ Hoover's SOLSTICE

You can go ahead and be jealous of me now--I got a chance to read SOLSTICE as a beta reader, and thus already got to experience the awesome world of Piper and her two hot leading men!



But luckily for you, this ebook is going to be available THIS MONTH.



That's right--ebook. PJ Hoover is represented by the Andrea Brown Literary Agency,  and "SOLSTICE is the first front-list novel to be independently published by an Andrea Brown Literary Agency author. SOLSTICE will be available on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords in May." This is a really neat idea, to release a book independently online. I know I, for one, am going to be keeping a close eye on SOLSTICE's success!



While the novel itself isn't released yet, here's the video trailer to whet your appetite:







My favorite part? I love the tagline: "Where mythology and dystopia meet." That's just brilliant.



And also, I wanted to draw your attention to that cover. Isn't it beautiful? I love the decoration on the "O" in SOLSTICE (I'm a sucker for that sort of thing), but the really interesting part to me is the dried, cracked earth on the bottom of the cover. The top part of the cover represents the mythological world; the bottom reminds us of the dystopian world. It all blends nicely with the solar flares in a way that ties the whole cover together, bringing together two seemingly disparate ideas in one unified picture. Very very cool.



You can find extras on the novel, including the first five chapters and a very cool card game, by clicking here. A Q&A about SOLSTICE (love the reason the setting is in Austin!) can be found here.



Find out what the other Bookanistas are raving about here!







Shelli Johannes-Wells gives us THE ROYAL TREATMENT
Elana Johnson hosts a blog tour stop for 101 SUCCESS SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS with a giveaway
Shannon Messenger adores THE DAY BEFORE plus a giveaway
Carolina Valdez Miller is passionate about POSSESSION and gives away an ARC
Beth Revis shares some SOLSTICE cover love
Lisa and Laura Roecker and Stasia Ward Kehoe marvel over MOONGLASS
Megan Miranda and Veronica Rossidelve into DIVERGENT
Shana Silver shows her desire for DEMONGLASS
Carrie Harris is PUTTING MAKEUP ON DEAD PEOPLE
Sarah Frances Hardy wants to be just LIKE MANDARIN
Christine Fonseca is in love with DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES with a giveaway

Linkspam: Places to Go Other than HERE!

Today I'm directing you to other places! YAY!





Go HERE to read the first two chapters of Elana Johnson's book, POSSESSION. Click it. Go on. You know you want to. 
Go HERE to read the first chapters of Nova Ren Suma's book, IMAGINARY GIRLS. Also very clickable.
Go HERE to see the latest YA auction for charity--Help Write Now, in support of the victims of the storms in the South. As a Southerner, this charity is especially close to my heart. You should start watching is NOW as there are some very big names coming up in the auctions. Also: every single person who bids on my auction will get a prize. Every. Single. One.
Go HERE to watch a video about how your good taste makes you think your own work sucks, and how that's okay. This was pretty cool.
Go HERE to show your love for Southern Independent Booksellers.
Go HERE to see MTV's pick for Tuesday in its Dystopian Week (hint: it's ACROSS THE UNIVERSE! Squee!)
Go HERE to check out the schedule for the new Smart Chicks Kick It Tour. Oh look at that...two stops have ME. SQUEE!!!

Videos!

I have for your viewing delight two awesome videos that have both MUSIC and SCI FI! The first also features a cute British boy: here's YouTube sensation Charlie with a new song on Doctor Who:







Second, reader April made a fan video trailer for ACROSS THE UNIVERSE using SIMS characters (wow!) and it is jaw-droppingly cool:







She also made a different one using different music--click here for it.



Thank you so much, April!!!

Fear of the Unknown

Do you watch DOCTOR WHO? If not, please get on that now, kthx.



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For those who haven't yet discovered the Doctor, here's a super brief run-down. Actually--let me let Neil Gaiman tell you about it:

There's a big blue box. It's bigger on the inside than the outside. It can go anywhere in space and time, sometimes where it is supposed to go. Something will go wrong, and there's some bloke called The Doctor who'll make it all right because he's awesome. Now sit down, shut up and watch Blink.

Which does pretty much sum up the wonderfulness of this show. A lot of people get intimidated by DOCTOR WHO because there seems to be so much you have to catch up on in order to watch it. Honestly? You could start with last season (the season that starts with Matt Smith) and be fine. Although, like Gaiman, I do think you'd be missing out if you missed the episode entitled "Blink."



So: the short of it is that this show is amazing, and you should definitely watch it.



But that's not my point with today's post. Today, I want to talk about this:



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The season opener and the sequel to it aired recently, and I still can't get over how awesome it all was. I'm going to try to not spoil anything because I know several of you don't get BBC or BBCA and have to watch the series on Netflix.



The monster of the week was that ugly mother up above, known as the Silence. And I don't want to tell you what he does...but it's terrifying. Truly scary. I was on the edge of my seat last night, watching the episode, and I truly didn't know what was going to happen next.



DOCTOR WHO is a show that can be funny and tragic at the same time, romantic and adventurous, and, yes, horrifying. The brilliance of the show lies in the way it blends genres--you never know if you're going to get a love story or if by the end of the episode you're going to be curled up on the couch weeping.



But for me, the best episodes are the ones that scare me. That make me afraid to turn around, that make me reach for the light in the middle of the night.



This has got me thinking about what fears us, and what drives a story forward. A story needs a conflict, and when that conflict is something terrifying, the emotions are ramped up even more.



I am working now on a story--it's just an idea, but I'd like to turn it into a book. But while I have an idea for a resolution, I still need a big bad. I've asked many of my friends: "What scares you the most?" And most of the answers have been spiders or public speaking or something like that. I've been brainstorming ideas, and I thought about the reason why the monster on DOCTOR WHO always tend to be so frightening.



It's because they're unknown.



Our most basic fear is the thing that goes bump in the night. We know this as children. We turn the night light on and ask our parents to check under the bed. But when we grow up, we learn to tell ourselves there's nothing there. No monster in the closet, no reason for the nightlight.



DOCTOR WHO goes back to the thing that goes bump in the night. And when you turn the lights on, it shows you the monster you thought wasn't there.



So that's what I'm doing now, as I brainstorm a new book idea. I'm figuring out what's hiding in the dark.

And the WInner is...not that ugly pink hat

I have to admit: I personally thought I would crash somewhere around 4:00 or 4:30. But they kept WAITING and WAITING to show the effing dress! And everyone on Twitter kept zapping me with a cattle prod (read: kept calling me a wimp if I crashed before the dress) that I FORCED my eyes to stay open. And so, I didn't crash until 6:14am.



And one person's bid was only ONE SINGLE MINUTE off from that! So, congratulations to



ANNI!

who guessed 6:13am. Holly guessed 6:15am, which is also super-close....but I only have one book to give away, and when I started to type in Twitter that I was crashing, the clock actually said 6:13:46...so by mere SECONDS, Anni was closer.



Thank you, everyone! Hope you enjoyed playing along and watching (or ignoring) the wedding with me! If you missed it, Kate's dress was tasteful and beautiful, but the veil stole the show.



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But in all honesty, towards the end, I spent most of my time focused on the gosh-awful HATS. You guys may recall (or probably not care at all) but at the beginning of the whole night, I was gushing about how, if nothing else, this whole wedding might made the world pay attention and love hair fascinators. Hair fascinators are something of a cross between a HUGE barrette and a tiny hat, many times with flowers or feathers or stuffed whole animals or whatever other ridiculous thing people want to put on their heads. Now, usually, I think hair fascinators are BEAUTIFUL. Proof:



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But the guests at the royal wedding quickly dissolved from interesting and beautiful to odd and just plain freaking weird. There is NO WAY EVER that THIS pink monstrosity is anything other than RIDICULOUS.



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I mean, honestly? HONESTLY? That's just STUPID. I made similar things when I was in kindergarten with Play-Doh, but even when I was FIVE, I didn't think it was a good idea to stick it on my head.



Ah, well. I guess that's what separates me from the royals. The HATS. (Yeah, that's it.) Meanwhile, if you'd like more on the fashion with MUCH better (and snarkier) commentary, go here!

I crashed...

....at 6:14am.



Will examine the bids and figure out the winner once I wake up! Now to bed! It was great fun!

Apparently, There's A Limit to Your Tweets....

....and apparently I hit it at midnight. *growls at Twitter* I'm hoping that I'm only going to be locked out for a little bit--but as SOON as I can get back on Twitter, I'll be continuing with the contests!

A Royal Book Giveaway!

[image error] I missed Princess Diana's wedding. On account of not having yet having been born, but still. I wanted to see this shiz! And I missed it!!!!!



You may or may not have heard (it's been on the news a teeny, tiny bit) but there is another royal wedding happening.



AND I AM SO GOING TO BE THERE.



(By "be there," I mean: "be on my couch watching BBCA on television" but THE CONCEPT IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME.)



(sort of)



ANYWAY, the point is: I am staying up for this wedding. I know it is going to be aired like all day, and I know I could just TiVo this shiz, but I. Do. Not. Care. I am GOING to be watching this NO MATTER WHAT.



Now, coincidentally...I happened to also get a big box recently of the UK version of my book. It looks like this:



And it is paperback, not hardback, but the inside is still the same (what with being English and all) and I think it's pretty cool to see a foreign version.



But I have more of these than I need.



So, I thought to myself...here I have a stack of UK versions of my book...and here's this big UK wedding going on....let's combine the two!



I have available to give away SIX signed copies of the UK version of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. I also have a whole stack of brand-new-shiny bookmarks and pin buttons to give away. Let's let my dog model the goods:





He was so unimpressed by the whole situation.




The bookmarks are black with the ship logo in shiny silver.

They don't photograph well, but they are GORGEOUS.
How do you win? Well, if you check out the television schedule (here's the one from BBCA) you'll see that the wedding doesn't actually happen until 3:00 am Eastern Standard Time. That's...er...late. And I'm not 100% sure I can make it.



In order to enter for one signed copy of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE plus signed bookmarks and a pin button, leave a comment in this post telling me what time you think I will crash. I do plan on drinking coffee and Red Bull, but I get notoriously grumpy the longer I go without sleep, so I honestly don't know when I will throw in the towel and just go to bed.



Post your guess as to what time I'll fall asleep in the comments to this post.
All times are assumed EST--let's not mess with time zones, people, my math is bad.
The contest IS open internationally.
If two people guess the same time, the person who guessed the right time first wins.
I'm going to post a comment to this as an example for you.
You must enter your time guess before 9:00pm on Thursday, EST. I plan on starting to watch the BBCA coverage around then, so post your guess before then.
Only one guess per person.
Remember: be specific! If you say 4:30ish, I'm counting that as 4:30...but 4:32 would beat that if I actually crash at 4:35.




But there are FIVE more copies of the book to give away! To win one of those five books, stay up with me!! I am going to be on Twitter all night long, tweeting about the awesomeness of the royal wedding. (I will also, btw, be writing then, too...so if you hate royal weddings, why not spend the night writing or reading with me instead?) Anyway, all night long (until I crash) I am going to be tweeting...and occassionaly, I'm going to tweet something like "The first person to tell me what they think of Kate's dress wins a copy of AtU!" or "The fifth person to @reply me wins a copy!" Stuff like that. So, to enter for this, all you have to do is follow me on Twitter and play along! 





Enter! Now! Just leave a guess of when you think I'll crash now in the comments...and then start drinking coffee and play along with me on Twitter Thursday night/Friday morning!