In my last post, I mentioned the current charity auction that author Carrie Harris is holding to benefit the Giving Library. There are AMAZING items up for bid, including manuscript and query critiques by agents, phone conversations with authors, signed ARCs, customized book trailers...and there's even a chance to win two fantastic grand prizes!
Please check out the auction items available HERE. While you're at it, please consider bidding on the signed copy of THE LIPSTICK LAWS, which I will be sending directly to the winner. You can continue to bid on my auction item until 12 pm noon EST today (July 25)!
Thanks so much for supporting this very important cause!
As you might be able to tell from this charming picture of me, I've gotten some lovely new red highlights... and a really bad case of poison ivy. Obviously I'm severely allergic to poison ivy. I'll be fine...in time. Lots of time & ointment. In the meantime, at least I still have my smile. Okay, the truth is I'm celebrating (in style) the launch of BAD TASTE IN BOYS, a wickedly funny YA zombie book by the amazing Carrie Harris. I was lucky enough to be able to read an early draft of BTIB... and have to say it's as awesomesauce as its author! And I'm not even naturally the zombie-loving type...but this book converted me to zombieism (spelling?). So, the short of it is if you're looking for laughs, a fabulous zombie-fighting heroine, a hottie, and some good wholesome...er, maybe not so wholesome (we're talking lost body parts here, people) zombie fun, you should run and get your copy of BAD TASTE IN BOYS today!
Don't believe me about the zombie fun? Take a look at this trailer:
While you're celebrating the zombierama, you should also check out the special launch auction called NIGHT OF THE GIVING DEAD that Carrie has set up to benefit the Giving Library at the University of Michigan C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital. There are tons of fabulous items up for bid, including signed books, critiques, phone conversations with authors and agents, and two awesome grand prizes! For a full list of auction items, click HERE. If you'd like a signed copy of THE LIPSTICK LAWS from yours truly (ah-hem...me), click HERE to bid! I will give you a cupcake (free of zombie parts).
So, what are you waiting for? Start bidding & celebrating zombie-mania!
Please check out and bid on the wonderful items up for bid in support of Write Hope's mission to help raise money for Japan. If you would like to bid on the Lipstick Laws package I'm donating for the cause (picture below), please see the Day 4 Item 1 auction HERE. Bidding will end tomorrow. It is open internationally!
Write Hope LIPSTICK LAWS Auction Package Signed copy of The Lipstick Laws Lipstick beauty kit from e.l.f cosmetics Signed Lipstick Laws bookmarks Class of 2k11 bookmarks Lipstick Laws magnets Stickers (The Lipstick Laws & Class of 2k11) 3 lipsticks (lipstick, liquid lipstick & hypershine lipgloss) 2 lipstick pens 1 lip gloss key chain 1 set of wax lips candy 1 lips lollipop
I'm still planning an upcoming giveaway of my own, but decided to hold off on posting it so it wouldn't coincide with the current Write Hope Lipstick Laws auction. However, my online blog tour starts tomorrow (check out the full details HERE), and I'm planning some fun giveaways for April! More info to come soon...
Before the Split Blog Tour and Charity Auction Interview with Swati Avasthi, Author of SPLIT! Plus a Signed Book Giveaway!
Today, I'm welcoming Swati Avasthi (the fantastic author of the must-read book SPLIT) to my blog for an interview and signed book giveaway. But this isn't your typical author interview and giveaway... because Swati is also sharing the details of her upcoming book blog tour and charity auction for Domestic Violence Awareness Month starting on October 1st. Please help support the cause by reading the important info discussed in this interview, and checking out the blog tour and auction event (button links to tour & auction follow this interview). If you decide to bid on any of the auction items, you'll be helping a very important cause.
*Signed book giveaway entry details to follow this interview*
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming blog tour and charity auction? Of course. Thanks for asking!
To honor National Domestic Violence Awareness month, I'm combining a blog tour for my debut novel, Split, with a fundraiser for Family Violence Prevention Fund. I'll be on twenty-six blogs with guests posts, a contest, an animated scene, a photo essay, cut scenes, and a, 8G pink nano ipod prize. Kari Olson from Teen Book Scene, coordinated the tour and you can see where I'll be at: http://theteenbookscene.weebly.com/split-details.html. Or my blog at www.swatiavasthi.blogspot.com, for that matter. For every comment, I'll donate $1/comment with a goal and cap of $250. If I receive 250 comments, I’ll double my donation.
But that's just the start. Even better, more than 40 agents, editors and authors have generously donated cool stuff for an online auction. Nathan Bransford donated a query critique, Sara Zarr donated a 25 page manuscript critique, etc, etc. We have memberships to YALITCHAT.ORG and Children's Literature Network, a wide array of different types of critiques, personalized signed books from wonderful authors, and even some items donated by other artists, including photographer John Magruder and graphic designer/author Amy Holder (a name you might recognize). All donations should be ready to bid on on October 1st. Follow the tour, get stuff you want, and help out a great cause all at once.
Why is the cause against domestic violence close to your heart? I coordinated a domestic violence legal clinic for three years and, in that time, listened to thousands of victims. It was inspiring to watch people with so much courage leave their abuser and get an order of protection, facing down the devil they didn't know and reject the devil. It was also heart-breaking. The experience left me asking a lot of questions about the nature of love and violence and of what it would mean to grow up with abuse as a regular occurrence.
What inspired you to write SPLIT? Once a woman came in with her two kids. While she was telling me about the abuse, I interrupted her and asked her if she wanted an intern to look after her kids. She said, "No, they seen it anyway." That was one of the hardest moments in the clinic for me because I was angry at her, instead of being angry with the man who was beating her. I knew better than to victim blame, but I found it hard to reconcile how she did nothing to protect her kids with my sympathy for her. I understood, intellectually, that if she couldn't protect herself, then she couldn't protect her kids and that it was the abuser's fault, not hers. But it took the writing of Split for me to accept that emotionally.
Although SPLIT is a fiction novel, Jace's situation is all too familiar to many individuals dealing with domestic violence in real life. How can people get involved to help domestic violence victims and/or survivors? If you think you might be experiencing abuse, it's worth talking to someone. There are a number of organization that can help. For teens, call the National Teen Dating Abuse Help 866-331-9474. Or, the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-SAFE, or at www.ndvh.org who can direct you to local resources. But do remember that what you do on your computer can be tracked, so be sure to connect from a safe place.
What's something you hope readers will take with them upon finishing SPLIT? That there is a life after abuse and, even though recovery is long, it is possible because we are defined by what we do, not by what has been done to us.
Thank you so much for this amazing interview and the details about your upcoming blog tour and charity auction, Swati! Is there anything else you'd like to add before we go? Thanks so much for having me. Good luck with your book! I'm excited to read it. Also, thanks so much for your donation to the Before the Split Blog Tour and Charity Auction.
You're very welcome, Swati! And thanks for including me in your auction! If you'd like more info about Swati and her must-read book, please check out her WEBSITE and BLOG. If you'd like to order SPLIT today, here is the Amazon Link.
Watch the very cool trailer for SPLIT:
Also, be sure to check out Swati's blog tour and charity auction! The button links are below. There are some great items to bid on, and remember, you'll be helping an important cause:
Button link to go to the blog tour schedule:
Button link to go to the charity auction site for the event:
And don't forget to comment at the various blog tour stops! Your comment(s) will add to the amount Swati donates to the Family Violence Prevention Fund!!!
******************************************************* SPLIT Signed Book Giveaway Entry Details: 1) Comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of SPLIT. 2) You will receive an extra entry to win the signed copy of SPLIT with each online shout-out you give about this giveaway (tweet on twitter, facebook status, and/or blog about it). Be sure to leave links to your shout-out(s) in the comment section of this post. 3) Help spread the word and support the cause by adding Swati's Blog Tour Schedule and Charity Auction links to your blog for an additional two extra entries to win the signed copy of SPLIT. Remember to let me know where I can find the links in your comment.
*Sorry, this giveaway is open to USA and Canada residents only*
The winner of the signed copy of SPLIT will be randomly selected and announced on October 7th here on my blog. Good luck! *******************************************************
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
I'm the author of THE LIPSTICK LAWS, a young adult novel published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on April 4, 2011. I'm repped by Sarah Davies of Greenhouse Literary Agency.
