Beth Revis's Blog, page 67

Across the World Tour: Angela Ackerman's African Adventure

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





If you're a writer, chances are you've visited Angela Ackerman's blog, The Bookshelf Muse, better known for having an extensive collection of Thesuari. There's the Emotion Thesaurus, the Color, Textures, and Shapes Thesaurus, a Symbolism Thesaurus (my personal fave) and now Angela's working on developing the Setting Thesaurus. Every writer should check this hugely wonderful (and free!) resource out.



Angela's represented by rockstar agent Jill Corcoran at the Herman Agency, and (in her brilliant words) "writes on the Dark and Mysterious Side of Chapter Book, Middle Grade, and YA."





Angela's African AdventureA year ago, my husband and I took stock of our lives, and as we did, a realization struck: our boys, 14 and 12, were growing up! It hit us hard. When did this happen? Where did the years go since the days of pirate-themed birthday parties and tucking teeth under the pillow for the tooth fairy? For the first time, we began to really understand just how precious the next few years would be.



One thing our family has always treasured is travel. But to date, our trips were the usual destinations--Canada, the US, Mexico. I really wanted us to experience something meaningful and life-changing together. So, this August, we embarked on a trip to the most meaningful destination I could think of: Africa.



Between planes and layovers, it took us 27 hours to get to our first destination: Arusha, Tanzania. The land was wide open and beautiful, with Massai tribes herding their cattle, Africans tending fields of maize and beans near their mud-and-stick houses, and of course, some of the most incredible wildlife in the world.







I've written for years, yet I'm at a loss at how to describe Africa. How do I articulate the feeling inside at spotting a giraffe in the distance, puffs of dry soil lifting off his hooves as he searches for the tender leaves of an Acacia tree? Or to come upon two dozen elephants as they root through the grasses and scrub, the babies too young to feed and so they mimic their elders, waving branches around in their trunks?



In Tanzania's unfenced Wildlife Parks, we saw massive herds of Wildebeests and Zebras collectively graze, tails swishing and eyes open for danger. Skittish impalas and gazelles clustered close by, trusting in their fleet legs to escape quickly if needed. As a group, they would make their way down to the water's edge, always alert, always watching for movement in the golden grass. Despite the incredible heat, these animals will only risk drinking once a day. Here at the water's edge where hooves sink in thick, sticky mud, they are vulnerable. It is here that the roaming lions will strike.







And as we watched from the safety of our jeeps, one did. The lioness' lean form emerged from the dry grass in a fluid, deadly leap. The herd bolted, their cries of warning filling the air. And amid the dust and the stampeding bodies came a shrieking cry that cut off short. The lioness was successful, bringing down a wildebeest.



This experience was only one of so many. We saw flamingos in the thousands. Hippos. Baobab trees. Hartebeests. Vultures. Eight-foot high termite mounds. Jackals. Hyenas. Dik-diks. We climbed through the rain forest of Mount Kilimanjaro, ascending to the base camp. We were invited into the dung hut homes of the Massai, and welcomed by a village hanging on the edge of poverty. We had a playful troop of baboons drop half-eaten fruit onto our jeep from their tree. We slept in permanent tents with the sound of the wilds all around us, and played with children who were captivated by their reflections in our mirrored sunglasses and at the sight of themselves displayed on our digital cameras. We visited a school and witnessed the heartbreak of one of Africa's many orphanages.



Life changing? Yes. Unforgettable? Yes. This was an adventure of epic proportion, and such an honor to see it not only through my own eyes, but through the eyes of my sons. This trip was all I had hoped for and more. It's something we'll always have, a shared experience we'll all look back on, even after my boys finish their growing and move into their own lives.







My eldest brought his video camera with him and throughout the post are videos of our trip. Some of it is a little herky-jerky from being bumped inside the jeep, and because the roads were at times a bit rocky. Our guide called it a 'African Massage.' These will give you a small peek into some of the wonders we experienced, so enjoy!

Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to Angela's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

Across the World Tour: The Laura Part of LiLa

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





I know you've heard of LiLa. LiLa is the abbreviation for Lisa and Laura Roecker. These girls are the fantastic sisters behind the blog Laura and Lisa Write (isn't that the cutest background?) and they are a part of the uber-generous WriteOnCon. Oh, yeah, AND they are the joint minds behind the new 2011 YA mystery novel, THE LIAR SOCIETY. Hey, guess what. I've read this novel. AND IT IS AWESOME. You will not guess the end. I guarantee it. THE LIAR SOCIETY is "a quick-witted mystery starring a private-school sleuth with attitude and pearls who receives an email from her dead best friend" and will be available in March from Sourcebooks Fire.



This line from their bio is so great I have to steal it word for word: "Laura watched Lisa read by nightlight and fell in love with books because her big sister said she should." Isn't that sweet? Laura got a degree in Middle Childhood Education, and I envy all her students.





Laura in Australia The summer after graduating from college, my parents surprised me with a ticket to visit my then boyfriend (now husband) in Australia. He "studied" in Sydney for 6 months with a direct view of Bondi Beach. In one word, the trip was heaven.



I remember being annoyed with my boyfriend during the 5 month separation (for multiple reasons) but pics of him with newly shaggy hair and his use of all sorts of strange Australianisms borderline put me over the edge. When he picked me up at the airport, I almost didn't recognize him. My boyfriend had been replaced with a thin, tan, long-haired surfer-dude. It was kind of scary. But I quickly learned how easy it was to embrace the culture of Australia. Everything was so refreshingly laid back. Grocery stores stocked five choices of cereal as opposed to 50, stores closed early in the evening, dads in business suits picked kids up from school, bare fee t were permitted everywhere. It was clear that Australians worked to live as opposed to lived to work. They helped me realize that there's so much more to life than a paycheck. I guess being a few steps away from Bondi Beach will do that to a girl.



On one of our adventures, we traveled to Daydream Island in the Great Barrier Reef. I'm not gonna lie. I kind of looked like a child-bride on her honeymoon, but the trip was amazing. We saw kangaroos in the wild, visited Whitehaven Beach where the sand felt like stepping on clouds, snorkeled for the first time and imagined getting married at the chapel. We felt like actual grownups and I loved every second of it.



My last adventure before leaving was learning how to surf. It's funny because now I'll barely step foot in the ocean because I'm so much more afraid of the unknown—rip currents, big waves, getting eaten by a shark. But it didn't even cross my mind then. We suited up, paddled out on boards and gave it a whirl. I was terrible. I never actually stood for longer than a second, but I laughed so hard my stomach hurt and I guess that's all that matters.



It took a lot of convincing to get me home. I changed my plane ticket a few times, but eventually boarded for the ridonkulous 20+ hour voyage back to the states and back to reality. I absolutely love living near my family and being a thirty minute drive from my sisters, but if my husband proposed a move to Australia, I think it'd be pretty hard to turn down. If nothing else, we're hoping to one day relive our adventure down under. And when we do, I'll have someone to meet for coffee! Catherine Drayton, our agent, lives and works from Sydney. I can't imagine why…





Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to LiLa's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

Across the World Tour: The Lisa Part of LiLa

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





I know you've heard of LiLa. LiLa is the abbreviation for Lisa and Laura Roecker. These girls are the fantastic sisters behind the blog Laura and Lisa Write (isn't that the cutest background?) and they are a part of the uber-generous WriteOnCon. Oh, yeah, AND they are the joint minds behind the new 2011 YA mystery novel, THE LIAR SOCIETY. Hey, guess what. I've read this novel. AND IT IS AWESOME. You will not guess the end. I guarantee it. THE LIAR SOCIETY is "a quick-witted mystery starring a private-school sleuth with attitude and pearls who receives an email from her dead best friend" and will be available in March from Sourcebooks Fire.



Lisa majored in Marketing and English Lit at Miami University...and, oh, yeah, did a bit of study abroad as well...





Lisa in LuxembourgI spent 6 months of my junior year of college living in Differdange, Luxembourg. Classes were held in a castle, I lived in a townhouse with a random host family and my two best friends and I knew approximately 30 phrases of broken French.



It. Was. Epic.



Technically our host family lived in Luxembourg City, so every morning my friends and I would take a bus to the train station and take a 30 minute ride out to Differdange where our classes were held.



Since we spent most nights looking like this:





We spent most mornings passed out on the train to school. One morning my classes started an hour earlier than everyone else's, so I was riding the train solo. The night before had been a late one and I was a little…sleepy. The second I got on the train I found myself a comfy seat and passed out.



I slept. And I slept. And I slept.



Until I woke up.



In Germany.



That's right. I slept so long that I accidentally travelled to a completely different country. In my defense Luxembourg is REALLY small and Germany is right next door, so I really only slept for about an hour. Either way it made for a pretty fantastic story when I showed up two hours late for French class that morning.





Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to LiLa's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

Another hint

This may be too big a hint, but if you've gathered the letters together so far, you now have enough to make one of the three words in the password phrase... (although it is the easiest word...)

Across the World Tour: Elana Johnson Unwinds at Yellowstone

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





Elana Johnson is a ninja. Or a super-hero. Possibly both. AT THE SAME TIME. How else do you explain how she organizes all the cool stuff online? Bookanistas...WriteOnCon...lecturing at real life cons...writing for the League...writing one of the best Query Letter books on the market... and, oh yeah--she's also written a Summer 2011 debut from Simon Pulse called POSSESSION. That little piece of lovely to the right? The cover. The story inside? Even better.



Elana's arguably the most well-known YA blogger in the 'sphere, and I feel totally cool to have her adventure today! And hey, guys--she thinks her adventure isn't cool enough. Totally tell her in the comments that she's a rockstar adventurer! After all, it's not where you go, it's how much cool you bring with you!





Elana Unwinds at YellowstoneOkay, well, I sort of feel like an imposter doing this, since I've never traveled outside the US. Unless you count Canada, and well, I could see the US from where I went, so I don't think it really counts. #travelfail



But Beth said I could still write something up for her amazing Across the World Tour, because she's cool like that. (I hope Kirsten Hubbard doesn't read this. I mean, the girl goes to Belize. What's cooler than that? Nothing. Even saying Belize is cooler than what I'm about to say.)



I'm gonna tell you about a little trip I took to Yellowstone National Park. If you've never been, you have to go, like tomorrow.



Why?



Because every moment is a nature moment. I try to have a "nature moment" every day of my life. A time where I simply enjoy the beauty around me, from the way the storm clouds sit on the mountains to the pink-orange of the autumn sunset.



In those moments, I can feel. Really feel. I take a breath and feel the world slow into ribbons of beauty. I can relax in that moment. Then the Earth accelerates again, and my moment's gone, and I'm fully back into the millions of things I have to do.



You know how that is.



So Yellowstone provides a backdrop where all that fades away. You can simply be. And sometimes that's the best adventure of all.



So here're some of my favorite pictures of Yellowstone that allowed my world to spin a little slower, at least for a little while.







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Yes, I wear yellow. No, I don't have shoes on. Yes, I'm fat. No, I hadn't washed my hair in days.





Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to Elana's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

Updates on Code Breaking

So far TWO people have figured out the secret code--so it can be done! But just in case you're still having trouble with it, don't worry: there are still a whole other week's clues to be given. Keep collecting the letters and then unscramble them to discover the hidden phrase!



Hope you all are enjoying this! :)

Across the World Tour: Christy Farley & the Indonesian Waterfall

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





Christy is one amazing person. She just moved back to America after living in Korea, and while she's been traveling the world, she's raised two boys, worked as a teacher, and written some pretty amazing novels. Watch out. I have every expectation of Christy's novels becoming a household name soon.



If you don't you should totally check out Christy's blog. When this girl researches, she researches. Like the time she took a class in traditional Korean archery to make sure the details were right in the story. Or the time she went to Disney's Food and Wine Festival to research...er...who cares?! It looks like a ton of fun!



Christy's Indonesian Waterfall A trip to the waterfall sounded fun. That was two miles back, sweat free, surrounded by civilization, with a trail to follow. When my friend Bethany mentioned at our lunch table there was a beautiful waterfall not far away, I was hooked. Here was my chance to get out of the stuffy classroom, away from kids and have fun while I was in Indonesia.



That's why I had taken the job here, wasn't it?



For adventure.



Our group of six left early the next morning, backpacks filled with snacks, water and cameras. We hiked the trail up the mountain above our school where the mists curl through the palm trees. The trail snaked through a thatched-hut village where children and chickens raced to meet us, calling out "Mister! Mister!" We waved to the villagers dressed in their bataks, smiling as we said, "Salamet pagi."



I inhaled the smells of durian and mango and home felt a hundred years away.



Yes, I was on an adventure.



But by mid-afternoon as I cat-walked across an emerald green rice field, my feet squishing in mud, jungle stretching below and rounded hills around me, I wondered how adventurous I really was. All I could think about was ice cold water, AC and a good meal of nasi goreng. Our group's only map was Bethany who spoke fluent Indonesian. And she was relying on the occasional huts we passed to ask for directions. We had NO idea where this waterfall was.



It probably didn't even exist.



It was the farmer, dressed in knickers and a wide-brimmed straw hat who pointed out the rock cliffs below. According to him, the waterfall lay behind the cliffs. I nearly skipped through the rice patties, splashing through puddles, until our group reached the massive slab of rock. A dirt trail followed the side of the cliff and then slid into a small fissure.



This was it!



The rock walls jutted up on either side of us as we pancake-squeezed our way through the narrow passageway until it spit us out into a wide clearing isolated from the rest of the world. The wind roared, spraying me with water.



The waterfall!



It was about eighty feet high, diving into a pool below. A small group of teenage boys hovered on some rocks on the other side, but I didn't care we weren't alone. Because we found it! So what if it took us nearly the whole day to get there.



I got my adventure.



The voice of the waterfall was too loud so we mutely took pictures, ate the remaining nibbles of our granola bars, and sipped tiny swigs of water.



I was debating how much water to save for the hike back when I saw the boys approaching us.



With machetes.



And dark scowls.



My heart dove into my stomach and my mind scrambled, trying to figure out what to do. There were five of them and six of us. Maybe we had the advantage because our two guys were bigger than their five. Then again, we were just teachers.



The leader announced that this was their place. We needed to pay to be there.



But we didn't have enough money. Not the amount they were asking for. So we snatched up our bags and hurried out.



I scrapped my arms as I raced through the narrow rock walls. My muscles ached from the hike, but I shoved the pain aside as I jogged up the hill, into the rice patties. I glanced behind me. They were following us.



Our best option was to find a shop and spend the little money we had to show we were supporting the village. Maybe the shopkeepers would keep them from hurting us.



If only we weren't in the middle of nowhere.



But then I spotted a different trail and we changed our course, crossing our fingers we'd find a village.



A quarter mile down the road we discovered bamboo shacks stacked with fruits and vegetables for sale. The boys hung back, probably not as desperate as we were to run in the heat, and eyed us as we passed over the little rupiah we had to by water. I let out a long breath as I watched them turn around and head back toward "their" waterfall. Maybe they'd only meant to have some fun with us. Regardless, today had been more than I had asked for.



But then again, I had asked for an adventure, didn't I?





Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to Christy's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

Across the World Tour: Lenore Appelhans in Equador

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





Lenore is the author of the amazing book review website, Presenting Lenore. Not only does she read WAY more than I ever could, she also reads all the best stuff. There are three book bloggers online whose opinion that I trust implicitly--if they rec a book, I buy it without question. Lenore is one of those book bloggers. She's always given completely honest reviews, amazingly interesting author interviews, and and AND she has adorable cats that she posts pictures of!



Lenore is also the brains behind Zombie Chicken Ratings during her Dystopian month on her blog--if you still need a reason to check her out, go look at her list of dystopians and Zombie Chicken ratings for the past Dystopian Month!







Lenore in EquadorAt 18, I went to Ecuador for a year with AFS. I had a ton of adventures there, but the most memorable was my Mindo waterfall adventure.



My host brother, Alex, had a close group of guy friends who went camping together in various locations around the country. They had never invited a girl to go with them. I started dating one of these friends, Santiago, the guy who would be become my first long term boyfriend. Santiago and another guy from the group, Pato, decided to go on a camping trip to Mindo – a subtropical rainforest area, not too far from Ecuador's capital Quito, known for its great bird watching. I begged them to take them with me, and they finally agreed. With one caveat: I was not allowed to complain and I had to do everything they did. If I couldn't hold to this agreement, they would never invite a girl along on their trips again.



Getting to Mindo



Early one December morning, the three of us took a bus going west and hopped off at a dirt road that led to central Mindo town. We were soon met by a guide who showed us a photo album full of Mindo's attractions, the highlight of which was a monster waterfall. He showed us pictures of various people happily jumping from the top of the 15 meter high waterfall, and told us that he would lead us there himself so we could jump too. My response: "Umm, no thank you!" My companions' response: "That sounds awesome, of course we'll ALL do it!" Uh oh…



Through the woods and over the slippery bridge...



The hike to the waterfall area took about 3 hours and was fairly easygoing. When we arrived, I discovered that I would have to cross over the river (that turned into the waterfall about 20 meters down) using a bridge made out of a felled tree! It looked slippery and although there was a handrail, it was broken. I was deathly afraid, but nevertheless, crawled across slowly (It would be even more dangerous the next day, I soon learned).



Check out the bridge, the guide (with the green backpack) and the guys…



The waterfall of doom



Once we deposited our backpacks at the hut, it was time to face the waterfall. It was slow going across the COLD river to a big rock at the head of the waterfall, due to the slippery rocks and the strong current. Once we made it, the guide instructed us to climb down a rope to a flat place in the rock from where it would be safe to jump.



Santiago went first. His hands gripped the rope, but his feet slipped from the rock, leaving him hanging. The guide told him just to let go, and so he did, dropping down the waterfall and plunging into the river below. It took what seemed like forever for him to surface, but finally he did. We breathed sighs of relief.



Pato was next. He made it to the ledge without slipping and jumped. He also took a long time to surface.



Then it was my turn. I couldn't go back, so there was only one way down. But I was afraid I would also slip, and did not want to use the rope. The guide said I could just sit and propel myself forward, as if I were on a waterslide. So I pushed off, sliding a bit before falling down the 15 meters and hitting the water. I struggled to surface. The weight of the water coming down was preventing me from coming up for air, and it was stronger than the current that could pull me to safety. I was drowning. I saw my life flash before my eyes. At the last possible second, I pushed my way out of the water and breathed in air, beautiful air.





The guide apologizes



After the guide jumped (and also almost drowned), the four of us exchanged our near-death experiences. The guide admitted that no one has ever jumped during the rainy season, and in fact, he supposed it really was too dangerous due to the massive volume of water and he wouldn't recommend it anymore.. Umm.. thanks!



The guide went back to town, and we stayed overnight in a lovely jungle hut, occasionally commenting on the abundant bird life, but mostly shell-shocked.



It rained the whole night. We awoke with the sunrise and packed up to go back to town. The fallen tree bridge now was now extremely slippery. One false move and we'd fall into the river, heavy backpacks and all, and be swept over the waterfall. This time we'd likely not make it.



Somehow though, we got over the bridge without incident, and proceeded through the forest on the trail. Unfortunately, the dirt trail had turned into deep, slimy mud. The mud sucked my shoes right off of my feet so many times, I just decided to go barefoot. By the time we made it back to town, I was covered in mud up past my knees. The guide was surprised to see us. He said he figured we probably died, and he was about to hike out there to see. Thanks again.



Getting back to Quito



We caught the 9 am milk truck that could take us back to the highway. The road was rather bumpy, so by the time we reached the highway, the milk from the large open containers had sloshed all over us.



The next task was to hitch a ride, rather difficult considering we were covered with mud and milk. But two military guys let us ride in the back of their pick-up, along with about 13 native Quechua people. I shivered the whole way.



The first thing I did when I got back to Quito? Take a shower.



All this without one complaint from me. I proved myself, and therefore was invited along on further "guy only" trips. But the stories from those adventures are for another day.





Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to Lenore's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

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Across the World Tour: Kirsten Hubbard's Almost Adventure

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer





I want to be Kirsten Hubbard when I grow up. The fact that Kirsten's 2 years younger than me is not to be mentioned. Y'all know that I love travel. Heck, this Across the World tour is evidence of that. But I'm a casual traveler compared to the awesome Kirsten. She has "hiked ancient ruins in Cambodia, dived with wild dolphins in Belize, slept in a Slovenian jail cell, and navigated the Wyoming badlands" (read more). Not only that, but Kirsten has also written a beautiful contemporary YA, LIKE MANDARIAN, coming March 8, 2011 from Random House. LIKE MANDARIN is about a girl who wants to be beautiful like the dangerous girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Mandarin. Her next book, WANDERLOVE, (Delacorte, Spring 2012), in which a girl rides a motorboat through a Central American rainstorm and is also not struck by lightning, is already on my shortlist.





My Almost Adventure Over the course of my travels, I've had a lot of almost adventures. We're talking, Wow! That would have been really insane and scary if THAT had happened! Like the bed tarantula, or the scary men in the café, or every time my chicken bus swerves away from a herd of cattle (happens more often than you'd imagine). Typically, "that" never happens -- I've been lucky. Especially during the trip on which I discovered that Yes, Kirsten, lightning can strike a boat.



I mean, of course it can! Why couldn't it? But when Michelle, Jenny and I boarded the tiny motorboat in the rainstorm, we convinced ourselves otherwise. We were trying to get to Belize from the funky Guatemalan village of Livingston, and unless we wanted to backtrack up the rainforest river, the only practical way was by sea.



We wrapped our backpacks in a tarp, and ourselves in another. As the boat driver steered us into the solid, endless waterfall pouring over that corner of the Caribbean, we had no choice but to endure. Oh, it was miserable. The rain poured through breaches in the tarp. Our speed was reduced to land sloth. Thunder and lightning crashed right overhead, the flash and boom simultaneous. I didn't peek out to check, so as not to risk lightning bolt in the eye, except lightning doesn't strike boats, right?

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It went on so wretchedly long I started questioning reality. "Is this a dream?" "Have I always been here?" "Am I even alive?"



At long long last, the boat bumped against the dock in Punta Gorda Town. We climbed out and ushered ourselves through the customs shack, then headed to the bus station for the all-day journey that would deposit us on the island of Caye Caulker, soaked but not really that freaked out, because it's not like lightning strikes boats anyway, right?



So here's where the story gets extra crazy. Michelle and I had been planning on diving Belize's Blue Hole, which is exactly what it sounds like: an insanely deep sinkhole way out in the Caribbean, swarming with things like hammerheads and mermaids. We visited a dive shop and discussed it, and discussed it, and finally, mournfully, decided against it – the excursion was $200 and we were on a backpacker budget, the boat ride was hours long, the dive was a little too deep for us, and mermaids are really sort of freaky, you know? We signed up for a humble reef dive instead.



All night, we heard the storm roaring from our hostel beds. The next morning, sun gleamed in the puddles as we headed to the dive shop for our dive. It was closed. Confusedly, we stopped by another dive shop and found the divers milling around, spooked beyond belief. Turns out, the dive boat to the Blue Hole had been struck by lightning before it even reached the reef. And the Divemaster had been gripping a metal pole when it hit.



By the end of the day, we found out he died at the hospital in Belize City. His death rocked the tiny, close-knit island, and hit us pretty hard. I mean, I can't even call it a near-miss, exactly. But it was still way too close for comfort, considering the dive boat we were almost on, and the motorboat we rode through the storm.



It definitely makes me thankful most of my adventures have been almost, instead of otherwise.





Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to Kirsten's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!

Across the World Tour: Angie Smibert's Nuclear Adventure

What Is All This?

To celebrate the launch of Across the Universe on 1-11-11, we're going Across the World with guest posts of adventures from all over the world! This is all a part of the Across the World Tour. First, read the world adventure below. Then, click through to the adventurer's blog to find a letter.

Why a letter? Because the letters--when unscrambled--form a password. And the password opens up the secret page (LOOK for it above). And on the secret page is lots of goodies--secret information about the origins of the book, hidden Easter eggs, and...a entry form to win a prize of a signed ARC of Across the Universe, star swag, and MORE.

Today's Adventurer



Angie Smibet has my dream resume. Dude. She's worked at NASA. The Kennedy Space Center!! HOW AWESOME IS THAT?



On top of that, Angie's written a new dystopian novel, MEMENTO NORA, that's about a girl who lives in a world where one pill can erase all your bad memories. When Nora decides not to take the pill, though, she has to pay the price of keeping her memories.



When you're done reading about Angie's nuclear adventure, make sure to click on through to her blog and find the first letter to solve the password!







My Nuclear Adventure [image error] I've never really considered myself the adventurous sort. Sure I've gone whitewater rafting, driven cross country, and moved somewhere without knowing a soul (not all on the same trip), but I'm no thrill seeker. I have had a few adventuresome jobs, though. I spent 10 years at the Kennedy Space Center, which did involve going to the launch pad, shooting video in the Mobile Launcher Platform, and dodging the occasional alligator or wild pigs roaming the parking lot. But when Beth mentioned this idea to me, the adventure that came to mind was a trip to the Nevada Test Site.



[image error] You see, before I worked at NASA, my job involved writing publications and planning meetings for the Department of Energy—for the environmental restoration program, in particular. That meant lots of travel, but mostly to places where the DOE (or its predecessor) had screwed up the environment or—even more fun—was planning to store nuclear waste. Manhattan project kind of places.



On one such trip, we were running a meeting in Las Vegas. We always liked to pair those meetings with a tour of a facility. Well, the Nevada Test Site is about 70 miles from Vegas. NTS is, as you can guess from the name, where the US tested nuclear devices above ground until 1963 (when we and Soviets signed a treaty saying we wouldn't do that anymore.)

[image error]

So we piled the participants, DOE and others, into a bus out to the test site. It was an hour plus ride from the hotel to the gate. Then it was another 40 minutes or so to the little town of Mercury, where the main buildings were. Did I mention that the NTS is humungous? Over 1,300 square miles of desert and mountains.



In Mercury, we picked up the obligatory radiation badges and water and set off in smaller buses. Driving across the desert was a little bit like I imagined driving across the moon. Or a nuclear landscape. It's very barren, though we did spot a few coyotes and some mustangs up in the moutains. We drove across Frenchman's Flat, aka Ground Zero, where the first nuke was tested in 1951. The eeriest thing, though, is the houses. Or what's left of them. They were built to test what building materials could survive a nuclear blast.



[image error] One of the most memorable stops on the tour was Sedan crater. This mile-wide crater—which you can stand on a platform and look across—was created by a shallow underground nuclear test conducted in July 1962 as part of Operation Plowshare. It is one big-*ss hole in the ground. This program was all about figuring out how to use nukes for mining and other civilian purposes. Thankfully, Operation Plowshare didn't go too far. There was even a plan to blow up a piece of coastline in Alaska to make a harbor.



We also went up to the top of Yucca Mountain, which was then (and now still) the proposed site of a nuclear waste depository inside the mountain. The State of Nevada has fought DOE on its location for decades. From the top of the mountain, you can see the desert floor beyond is dotted with calderas.

When we were coming back down from Yucca Mountain, though, we must have taken a wrong turn. Or the driver was confused about our itinerary. We pulled up to some facility on the side of some mountain. (You got me where.) Some guys in uniforms greeted us, all prepared to take us on a tour of this mystery facility—until they realized we didn't have the proper clearance. Then we got hustled right out of there and sent on our way back to Mercury. Guns may have been involved. It happened so fast.



We all made it back to Vegas eventually.



Go Across the Blogosphere!The adventure's not over yet! Go to Angie's site to find the first letter in the password to the secret page. Collect all the letters in the first two weeks of November for a chance to win a signed ARC, star-swag, and pin-buttons!