Category Archives: YASH

The Spring Young Adult Scavenger Hunt is Here!

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online through April 8th, 2018!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SIX contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the BLUE TEAM–but there is also a red team, a gold team, a green team, a purple team, and a pink team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
 
Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the GOLD 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 April 8th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Today, I am hosting Aleah Raynes! Aleah loves paranormal, fantasy, mystery, suspense, reverse harem, and anything else that hooks her from the first page. She writes new adult and young adult fiction and romance in the genres she loves to read. You can find out more information by checking out www.aleahraynes.com or find more about the author’s book here! 
 INVOKED SILENCE
 Losing a loved on kills part of your soul.
My dad’s heroic act of sacrifice to keep me alive awakened a need for revenge. Seeing him die cut deep.
My Capissian Order training has begun and my guys aren’t holding back. They push me to  my breaking point then beyond. My powers have a mind of their own. I can manage some of my abilities, but others are becoming darker and uncontrollable.

Reed is determined and believes I can use his power of creating force fields to help me focus. I’m just as determined to get him to relax and believe that no all things are meant to be controlled.

When I find out who the killer is, I’m heartbroken all over again. Now, I have to get my loves to believe me before all Hell breaks through the veil.

Find it at your favorite eBook store: https://www.books2read.com/InvokedSilence

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

Aleah Rayne’s exclusive content is an excerpt from the story:

 

From page one of Invoked Silence by Aleah Raynes, book two of the Capissian Order series.

**Please be kind. I’m still writing the story and this is an unedited excerpt**

* * *

I felt everything and nothing.

Not at the same time. The emotions came in waves. So did the tears. I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my dad carrying the bomb intended for me out of my uncle’s house. Then the explosion that took him from me.

My kidetos—my Capissian guardians assigned to me from birth—fussed over me. They wouldn’t let me be alone expect when I showered or used the toilet. After about a month, I was getting annoyed with them.

The annoyance was a new emotion, which transformed into anger when I bothered to get out of bed.

A shift in the air told me someone had entered the room. “Close the door.”

The scent lavender and powder told me someone called the Archangel Michael. Or maybe the Angel was just paying his granddaughter a visit? Not likely. He was here to give me another pep talk.

“I only speak the truth to you, Ryland.”

My bottom lips trembled at the sound of my first name and not the nick name I preferred. Dad was the only one who called me Ryland.

The mattress dipped at my back. “Are you giving up?”

I snorted. Why did he ask me questions he already knew the answer to? “I’m taking a vacation.”

“You would need to start work before acquiring vacation time. Beating your kidetos up during training doesn’t count.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. His power enveloped me like a physical hug.

A sigh slipped from my lips and I rolled to my back so I can look at him. “It’s hard to find the energy. Now I’m angry all the time and taking it out on them. I hate that. I feel their concern, their fear, and their hurt that I cause them.”

“They are hurting because you are hurting and they don’t know how to fix it. You have to direct the emotions to the enemy and focus on your training. Weapons and fighting is not what you need. John and Tyler made sure you could defend yourself.” He held out his hand.

When I placed mine in his, he tugged me up, then hugged me. I wrapped my arms around him and bury my nose into his shoulder. Magic surrounded us, warm and comforting. He was muting my grief. I wanted to believe it was because he wanted to help me cope. The reality was, he needed me to get off my ass and fight in this war.

***

 

And don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Aleah Raynes, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 9. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

CONTINUE THE HUNT
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author, Darren Groth!
BEFORE YOU GO … ENTER MY ADDITIONAL GIVEAWAY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A $25 BARNES AND NOBLE GIFT CARD (US ONLY.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FALL 2017 YA SCAVENGER HUNT

YA_ScavengerHunt_ColourLogo_CMYK-01Welcome to the YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event gives readers access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors and also the chance to win awesome prizes! Add up the clues and you can enter to win one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until October 7th, 2017!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are SEVEN contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM – GO FOR GOLD!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
 
Directions: I’ve listed my favorite number in gold somewhere in this blog post. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the GOLD TEAM, and then add them up for a grand total.
 
Entry Form: Once you’ve added 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. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
At this stop of the Scavenger Hunt, I’m hosting MARGO KELLY!!!
Margo Kelly is an award-winning writer. Her critically-acclaimed debut, Who R U Really?, was published in 2014, and her second novel, Unlocked, released in October 2016. Both titles are available through Simon & Schuster. School Library Journal has called Margo’s writings suspenseful, realistic, and dramatic. She enjoys writing thrillers for young adults and hopes her stories give readers the goose bumps or the itchies or the desire to rethink everyday things.
 
Find out more information by checking out Margo’s website and her latest book, UNLOCKED.

17-year-old Hannah is losing her grip on reality, which is affecting not only her but her friends and family too. She wrecked the car when bugs crawled over her hands, but were the creepy things even real? Now someone is moving Hannah’s possessions around in her room, or is she imagining that also? Why does she feel like she isn’t in control of her own brain anymore? Hannah is terrified she’s headed for a horrible life in and out of the mental institution, just like her dad.

When her friends bail, Hannah is left floundering. Her boyfriend, Manny, doesn’t believe her wild stories, and new girl Chelsea is practically replacing her at school. Only artsy outsider and self-proclaimed occult expert, Plug, agrees to help Hannah discover the truth, but even he can’t help Hannah reclaim her mind from whatever is taking over. She’ll have to do that on her own, especially if she wants to save her friends, her mom, and herself.”

 

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT:

Do Demons Really Exist?

–         by Margo Kelly

For the plot of her novel, UNLOCKED, Margo Kelly researched mental illness, hypnosis, the occult, and demons. These topics have the potential to twist and intertwine around each other, and scary things can happen when they are unlocked without warning.

We’ve all heard people use phrases like:

“What possessed you to do that?”

and / or

“The devil made me do it.”

These phrases bring us to a basic yes or no question:

Do demons really exist?

The answer is not simple, and before we can even begin to explore it, we must understand the definition of the word demon.

Dictionary definitions:

  1. A demon is a supposed evil spirit
  2. A demon is a personal fear or anxiety that torments someone

So … which is it? Do you believe that a demon is a supposed evil spirit? Do you think a demon is a personal anxiety that torments someone? Or do you think it’s both?

By choosing the definition you agree with, you acknowledge that demons do in fact exist.

Yes, demons do exist.

Now, we might disagree on the precise definition, but we agree on the existence.

Stereotypically, there are two schools of thought regarding demons. Religious and secular.

RELIGIOUS

 

If you’re religious or spiritual to some extent, you probably believe demons are evil spirits that whisper in your ear, toy with your emotions, or to an extreme, possess your mind.

According to psychiatrist and born-again Christian, M. Scott Peck, “the distinction between ‘human evil’ and ‘demonic evil’ is crucial” (1) And according to an article in Psychology Today, “The Roman Catholic Church’s official diagnostic criteria for discerning genuine demonic possession … includes speaking in tongues … supernatural physical strength, and visibly negative reactions of the victim to prayers.” (1)

However, secular psychiatrists will argue that many of these symptoms can be “seen in the most severely [mentally] disturbed patients.” (1)

For example, some of you might remember the Andrea Yates case from 2001. She claimed that she was possessed by Satan himself and he compelled her to drown her five children. “In her second trial, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity…” (2) Was her demon a personal anxiety that tormented her? Did she suffer from a mental illness such as postpartum depression? Schizophrenia? Or was she possessed by an evil spirit?

SECULAR

 

If you lean more to the secular side, one that’s not as concerned with religious aspects, then you probably agree more with the psychiatrists who explain that these so called demons are actually your own inner fears and anxieties that have not been dealt with properly.

Dr. Leon Seltzer wrote, “If you’re tightly ‘in the grip’ of something, it’s really a recessive part of your own being that’s ensnared you and it’s probably a part so foreign to how you’d prefer to see yourself that you can hardly withstand the temptation to see it as not really you at all.” (3) “The consensus of mental health professionals today is that the source of most—though certainly not all—so-called ‘evil’ thoughts and behaviors is linked to growing up in a seriously dysfunctional family.” (4)

Either way – religious or secular – an evil spirit or an unresolved personal anxiety – a demon can torment and endanger your sanity.

And the bottom line is: Yes, demons do exist.

[Margo Kelly extensively researched mental illness and demons for the plot of UNLOCKED. Feel free to leave a blog comment with your opinions on the topic.]

Sources:

1)    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/201201/the-devil-inside-psychotherapy-exorcism-and-demonic-possession (page 7)

2)    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/201201/the-devil-inside-psychotherapy-exorcism-and-demonic-possession (page 8)

3)    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201506/enough-about-inner-demons-already (page 2)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolution-the-self/201506/enough-about-inner-demons-already


Thanks to Margo for offering this exclusive content!

Don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books. To enter the scavenger hunt, you need to know that my favorite number is 10. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the GOLD TEAM and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

CONTINUE THE HUNT
 
To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author, Austin Aslan by clicking here!

And before you go, don’t forget to enter my separate contest for a chance to win a gift card to buy even more books!

a Rafflecopter giveaway