Contest and News!

***CONTEST IS CLOSED***

*Edited to add: Due to a blogger malfunction, the contest will be going on until 10PM PST tomorrow, 9/2/2011. Thank you all for your patience, and keep on guessing!*

Hey everyone!

As you all know, today is the last day of August. I might consider doing this on the last day of every month, but the idea is not 100% settled, so... don't get too excited yet!

What am I talking about, you ask? Why, a contest, of course! From today to tomorrow, I'm going to be posting four posts of different topics at random time intervals. I will probably also post some random blog news in between, and will mention to you if they do not count as one of the aforementioned four posts.

So, what is this contest? Well, I want you to comment below what you think those four posts I'm posting will be about. I will be checking the time you leave your comment, so please don't cheat by writing down your answer after the post has been posted. It might lead you to a disqualification, which I will hate to distribute. You have two options:

1) Comment on what you think post number 1 will be of ON THIS POST BEFORE post number 1 is posted. And you can do the same with post number 2. You can comment your guess then on either post number 1 or this post, but you have to put down your guess BEFORE post number 2 is posted. The advantage, if you go this route, is that you can eliminate whichever topics have already be posted off your list of possible post topics, and that way you will have a better and more educated guess for the next post. The disadvantage, however, is that you will have to always post your comment before the next post goes out, or it wouldn't count. And since I'm not announcing when the posts will be posted, it could be a tedious process to continuously check back and forth.

2) Comment your guesses for ALL FOUR post topics ON THIS POST. You have to do this BEFORE post number 1 is posted. However, let's say post number 1 has already been posted and you want to guess on all of the other topics, you can write down in the comments what you think the remaining three topics will be. You will still be awarded extra entries for each correct answer, but you won't be illegible for the extra entries that you get if you guess all four topics correctly. The advantage of this is that you won't have to check back too frequently, and the disadvantage is that you won't be able to get a good grasp on what the topics could be about and eliminate your guesses. Your guesses DO NOT have to be in the correct chronological order to be rewarded extra entries for a correct answer!

How this works:

To enter, all you have to do is comment on this status, hopefully with a guess.

You can also receive extra entries for tweeting about this, posting it on your facebook/tumblr/myspace, or sharing it on your blog (3 extra entries for blog post, 1 for the others). Post their individual links in the comments, please!

If you go with option 1, you will receive 1 additional entry for each correct guess. If you succeed in guessing all four post topics correctly in their chronological order, you will receive 4 extra entries IN ADDITION to the ones you already receive for an individual correct answer.

If you go with option 2, you will receive 2 additional entries for each correct guess. If you succeed in guessing all four post topics correctly in their chronological order... you will receive 7 extra entries IN ADDITION to the ones you already receive for an individual correct answer.

Remember, this contest will be going on today AND tomorrow. From now until 10PM PST tomorrow, September 1st. You are responsible for converting the deadline to your corresponding time zone.

Hints:
-check this blog for a good idea of past topics.
-check my twitter.
-For the posts that will be posted tomorrow, they will NOT be posted before 3 PM PST.

Prizes:
-2 signed cards by Leigh Fallon, author of (The) Carrier of the Mark.
-a Vanish (Sophie Jordan) post card.
-a Meg Cabot bookmark.
-a Desires of the Dead (Kimberly Derting) bookmark.
-a SPECIAL, SECRET prize pack at the end of this contest!


May the odds be ever in your favor! :)

*Edited to add: Contest post number 1 is up!
Contest post number 2 is up!
Contest post number 3 is up!
Contest post number 4--and the secret prize reveal--is up!*

***CONTEST IS CLOSED***

Music Monday!

Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Jena over at Shortie Says!

My favorite band: OneRepublic

My favorite song: Stay by Hurts

My favorite cover: Rolling in the Deep by Adele (Sam Tsui and Tyler Ward)

What type of music do YOU like? Leave a comment below! :)

Brilly!

Across the Universe
By: Beth Revis
Reported by: Juli Helms

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Whoever created the word "genre" obviously hasn't read Across the Universe. This book, as to quote Melissa Marr (Author of Wicked Lovely): "erases genre boundaries with a murder mystery, a budding romance, and a dystopian world gracefully integrated into a sci-fi novel that blows away all expectation."

I concur with you 100%, Ms. Marr.

Across the Universe is a stunning ride. The first time I heard of it, I went on Ms. Revis's website and read the first chapter. And I bawled. I BAWLED. Do you know how hard it is to make me bawl with a book? Really, REALLY hard. And it was with that that I bought Across the Universe and read it in one sitting. The characters were so unique, with such distinct personalities, and the setting was so realistically described that for a while, I was a passenger on Godspeed. The book was absolutely mesmerizing. And the scariest part of all? I felt like this could actually happen.

But the best part of it all was the twists. I did guess the murderer, but the other major twists in the book completely threw me off guard. If you have read my previous reviews, you know that I can guess plot lines pretty easily--which means any book that can surprise me is really, really surprising. And this book didn't surprise me once. It didn't surprise me twice. It surprised me THREE times! THREE! Wow, that's a record. I'm shocked.

However, there is something I didn't like about this book. I felt like the beginning was too slow. Yes, the first chapter was extremely compelling, but for the next ten chapters or so I was drumming my fingers and telling Elder to hurry up so he can meet Amy and the plot can start already. But when that happened, everything escalated back up to exceed my expectations, so don't worry too much about it.

P.S. The dual jacket is SO cool! I don't think I've ever seen one like it before, or have, but just didn't realize it was a dual jacket.

P.P.S. You guys do know brilly is the Godspeed word for brilliant, right?

What's the point of chocolate?

(Original here)

I'm going to admit something. Something that will make your jaw drop and shake your head and possibly uproot a tree (or maybe that's just me).

I did not like chocolate.

Notice how I said DID. Past tense.

Here's the story: From sometime in my youth, I had decided: I hate chocolate! Every time a friend offered me a piece of chocolate, I valiantly declined. And then they would stare at me like I've grown an extra head, and then they would smile, say thanks, and engulf the chocolate.

About four months ago, something happened. I was very stressed, because it was testing month. I was staying up late and reading textbooks and completing worksheets and I was a mess. One day during math, I was so bummed out that when my friend Poiema asked me if I wanted a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, I said yes. I bought it for a dollar, because I remember hearing somewhere that chocolate makes you feel better. So... I ate it, and for the rest of the day I was okay. I wasn't happy, but I wasn't feeling terrible, either. And that motivated me. With more chocolate, I slowly started to climb back up from the stacks of pressure.

Chocolate woke me up.

I stopped kicking myself (figuratively) for not reading three units of my science book in one night (which I actually did, by the way, out of necessity). I embraced the tests with open arms. And the end result? 600. Perfect score.

*toots imaginary horn*

What is the point of this? The point is, don't be afraid to try new things. Step outside of your comfort zone. Take a risk. Apply that to writing. Because no matter how deep you are in doubt, there is always a way out. Don't ever give up hope, and keep trying.

And of course, keep eating chocolate.