Sarvenaz Tash's Blog, page 10
October 9, 2015
Go to the @simonteen booth at #NYCC to pick up one of these...
Go to the @simonteen booth at #NYCC to pick up one of these GEEK’S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE postcards!
October 1, 2015
YA Scavenger Hunt
Welcome to my stop on the YA Scavenger Hunt as a part of Team Orange. Which I’m extra excited about since not only is it seasonally appropriate, but it’s the color most closely associated with my favorite holiday: Halloween. AND the exclusive bonus material I have for you today is PERFECT for Old Hallow’s Eve (hint: it involves mummies). But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, let me tell you a little bit about the hunt itself where you can win 160 YA books and read exclusive bonus material from all of them that you can’t find anywhere else. I can tell you, for example, that my exclusive bonus material is an alternate opening to my Woodstock novel, Three Day Summer! But you’ll have to go through the Team Orange hunt to find it.
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt, including seeing the full list of participating authors and getting started on all eight legs of the hunt. And check out the rules below.
Scavenger Hunt RulesDirections: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the orange team, and 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, 2015 at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
On to the HuntI am very excited to be hosting two authors here: Leah & Kate Rooper!
Leah and Kate Rooper are sisters from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Growing up beside the Pacific Ocean and inside a temperate rainforest fed their sense of adventure as children, and nourished a curiosity for strange and distant lands. They fed this curiosity with books–lots and lots of books. After experiencing the magic of Middle-earth, they began creating their own worlds. When they’re not writing, Leah and Kate spend their time blogging and vlogging about their travel adventures and their writing journey.
The Book
Some tombs should never be opened…
Mummification was not the kind of experiment teen scientist Jane thought she’d be conducting-especially not when she winds up trapped in the Egyptian underworld. If that’s not bad enough, the snarky (but outrageously handsome) god Anubis has sworn to devour her soul. Her only ticket out of the underworld? Go back in time and steal the heart of King Tutankhamen.
Time to test that hypothesis.
Between posing as a priestess, trying to murder the intriguing young pharaoh, and being stalked by Anubis-who can’t seem to decide if he’s going to kiss her or kill her-Jane has to make a choice: do the logical thing and steal Tut’s heart, or find a way to save them both…even if it means rebelling against all the gods of Egypt.
Exclusive ContentDoesn’t that sound a-mazing and oh-so-appropriate for this month?! Leah and Kate have chosen to share an exclusive sneak peek at a chapter from Jane Unwrapped! Check it out:
Anubis
The lanterns in the room burn to low red embers, but pale moonlight spreads like a silk curtain. Jane lies beside me, her breath unsteady.
“Can’t sleep?” I murmur.
She rolls over to face me, her dark hair in tangles around her face. “I’m not very good at being alive.”
I have to smile. “From the sounds of it, you weren’t much good at being alive even when you were alive.”
“Well, I won’t have to worry about it for much longer,” she says, brushing some sand off her arm.
Her words leave me cold. “Don’t…don’t say things like that.”
“Why?” She shrugs. “My soul’s evaporating quicker than acetone.”
I don’t want to think about her soul anywhere except right here with me. I pull her against me so her head rests on my chest, and my arm curves around her—as if that could keep her soul together.
I have no idea how I kept her soul tethered here before but I do know one thing. If she starts disappearing again, I’ll use every bit of power I have to keep her with me.
I pull her tighter against myself. I wonder if she can hear my useless heart beneath my chest—beating for her. If she had one, would it beat for me?
A god can always feel when a human worships them— their prayers pulse around their soul like a beating heart. Mortals always want something with their prayers. They’d pray to me in the presence of death, wanting comfort, protection, peace… I am used to providing all these things.
But Jane, as always, is different. Her worship doesn’t feel like a prayer—in fact, it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. All of Egypt—from the pharaohs to the farmers—have worshipped me. But not like this.
Jane moves slightly, reaching for my hand, until she intertwines our fingers.
The touch is like an electric strike to my senses. My body hums.
“You can’t fade away tonight, Ez,” I say.
“Why not?”
I look down at her, my mouth curving slightly. “Because this is your last night before I devour you.”
She trembles but shifts closer to me. It’s not fear, then. “No…you won’t.”
“Is that so?” A smile tugs at my lip. She must hear the tease in my voice. Her nose brushes my chin as she looks up at me.
I move quickly, so she falls to the pillows in a fluster and I’m above her. I take her wrist to my mouth. “It really wouldn’t be that hard. A quick bite here…” My lips slide over her skin, up her arm until I reach her shoulder.
I sense her holding her breath tight in her chest. I let my lips rest on her shoulder for a moment. Then I kiss her skin. “A quick bite here.”
All the breath she’d been holding comes out in a quick gasp. I look up at her through my lashes.
She’s so beautiful, I feel compelled to take her face in my hands. My chest presses down on hers, and I can feel the heat of her skin through her silk nightdress.
Her worship is so strong, pulsing in my ears. The world fades away. My only focus is her face: eyes closed, chin tilted up, her lips slightly parted. I’m overcome by intoxicating want, and as every moment passes, I give in to it. My fingers slide into her hair, my other hand trailing across the soft curves of her body.
Her worship is not for comfort, protection, or peace. It’s for me.
She wants me. And I am terrified, knowing how much I want her back.
“And then,” I say, finding my voice again, “I’d just open my mouth and devour you.”
I lean down toward her. I want to kiss her. I want to be with her, without any barriers between us. What harm ever came from a god loving a mortal?
My heart slams against my chest like a mallet, and I shoot away from her, rolling as far to the edge of the pillows as I can manage.
There are more reasons than the stars why I cannot have her. But even if I were to ignore all the dangers, I can’t ignore her feelings. I don’t understand them, but I do know a god can get drunk on that sort of love.
This palace was built on that worship—and both the king and god went mad from it.
I turn my head to look at Jane. She’s talking, in that fast way she does, face flushed and words flustered.
I finally steady my breath and turn to her, almost laughing. “Come on, Ez, I’m not your pharaoh.”
She turns to me, face falling as if I offended her. “No, of course.”
I bite my lip. Even a hapless, whiny pharaoh like Tutankhamen is better for her to love than me. I shouldn’t have let it get that far.
Hesitantly, I whisper, “You should go to your body tonight.”
Her soul is weak, and it’s probably my fault.
She looks up at me with a half-lidded gaze. “Will you stay with me?”
In all the eons I have lived, amid the most beautiful queens and courtesans to grace the earth, never did I imagine the pinnacle of my existence being asked this question by a firefly of a girl. A flicker, and she’s gone.
“And here I thought you knew the answer to everything.”
She turns away, and I pull her against my chest. I can be selfish in the dark. But I can’t help but think: if a king went mad from the light of the sun, the stars only know what horror could befall loving a god of darkness.
Mortals and gods and pharaohs and romance…isn’t that deliciously unique?
So now’s the part where you can go on to win a copy of Jane Unwrapped along with 159 other books (including my Three Day Summer). To do so, you need to know that my favorite number is 8. Add up all of Team Orange’s favorite numbers to get the code to enter our leg of the contest here.
AND I’m hosting my own contest below for a signed copy of Three Day Summer. Check out the rafflecopter to enter that.
Continue the HuntTo continue the Team Orange hunt, check out author Cecil Castellucci’s site!
Enter the Three Day Summer GiveawayAnd here’s a separate chance to win a signed copy of Three Day Summer! Just click into the Rafflecopter link below.
August 28, 2015
Love this uber summery display at the Vancouver Public...
Love this uber summery display at the Vancouver Public Library!
・・・
Just because it’s a rainy day in #vancity, doesn’t mean that summer is over - there is still time for an #ultimatesummerread!
#vancouverpubliclibrary #teensatvpl #thegoodgirls #sarashepard #threedaysummer #sarvenaztash #thestartofmeandyou #emerylord #yalit #yabooks #summerreads #bookstagram #pinkbooks #librarybooksVancouver
August 7, 2015
Cover proofs for THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE as...
Cover proofs for THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE as modeled by a copy of THREE DAY SUMMER in disguise! The pictures don’t do it justice because there is foil and shininess and all sorts of other amazing things going on!
July 13, 2015
I can hardly believe (and am feeling extremely grateful that) I...
I can hardly believe (and am feeling extremely grateful that) I now have three amazing book covers to my name! #bookstagram #books
July 12, 2015
It's live!! Cover Reveal: The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash + Giveaway (US Only)
Check out the geektastic cover for this book and enter to win!
Here’s your chance to win the very first ARC of The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love (when it become available this winter…)
July 10, 2015
Celebrating all things SDCC with THIS: the cover and jacket...
Celebrating all things SDCC with THIS: the cover and jacket reveal for my next book, The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love (pitched as Pretty in Pink goes to Comic Con), coming on June 14, 2016 from simonteen!
About the book:
Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy…
Archie and Veronica…
Althena and Noth…
…Graham and Roxy?
Graham
met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight
years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into.
Graham has been in love with her ever since.
But now they’re
sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share
more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious
love of comic books.
When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Althena Chronicles,
is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows
he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with
the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got
three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of
superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is
who they appear to be…even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize
fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones.
July 9, 2015
The Weasley clock I ordered from Etsy came in this packaging and...
The Weasley clock I ordered from Etsy came in this packaging and my first thought was: Hogwarts acceptance letter? YES, IT’S IN A THICK ENVELOPE!!
July 2, 2015
How about a little Three Day Summer for your three-day weekend?...
How about a little Three Day Summer for your three-day weekend? Because what’s more patriotic than
American history, romance & rock ‘n’ roll?!
July 1, 2015
Love this bookstore display celebrating all things ‘60s in honor...
Love this bookstore display celebrating all things ‘60s in honor of the Grateful Dead farewell shows and Three Day Summer!
