Colleen Houck


“I took hold of that scourge -filled ship and crushed it between my limbs, hurtling it into the second sun, the red one that gave me strength. But I was too late." Terraformer

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  • Spring YA Scavenger Hunt!

    April 3, 2014


    Hello and Welcome to the 8th

    YA Scavenger Hunt!

    scavenger hunt

    Hello! I am Colleen Houck, your hostess for this leg of the hunt.

    Polish pics
    About Me

    I love tigers but I’m actually more of a dog person than a cat person.
    Chocolate is my favorite food group.
    Robert Irvine is one of my idols.
    I rock out to Bon Jovi.
    I prefer a cloudy day over a sunny day.

     

    On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each participating YA author, you also get a secret number. Add up the numbers, and enter it for a chance to win a major prize–one lucky winner will receive at least one signed book from each author on my team in the hunt! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online until noon PST on Sunday, October 6th!

    You can start right here or you can also go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage to find out all about the hunt. There are TWO contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or both of them! I am a part of the RED TEAM–but there is also a blue team and if you do the that hunt too you’ll have a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!

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    If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, see the full list of prizes up for grabs, or if you get lost along the way, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.

    Looking for my exclusive bonus content? You’ll have to keep searching. Somewhere on this blog hop, I’ve hidden a video of me talking all about my new novella, Tiger’s Promise but I may just mention a few cool things about the much anticipated conclusion to the tiger series, Tiger’s Dream, as well. Shocking reveals are just around the corner. Before you go on though, check out the amazing author I’m hosting. But, first, a few rules.

    SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

    scavenger_hunt_2

    Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the red team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!). Hint: the secret number is highlighted in

    RED

    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 6th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

    Now that all the technical stuff is out of the way, I’ll introduce the author I am hosting on this hunt.

    I am super excited to be hosting…

    CLAUDIA GRAY

     

    Claudia’s Bio: Claudia Gray is a pseudonym. I would like to say that I chose another name so that no one would ever learn the links between my shadowy, dramatic past and the explosive secrets revealed through my characters. This would be a lie. In truth, I took a pseudonym simply because I thought it would be fun to choose my own name. (And it is.)

    I write novels full-time, absolutely love it, and hope to be able to do this forever. My home is in New Orleans, is more than 100 years old, and is painted purple. In my free time I read, travel, hike, cook and listen to music. You can keep up with my latest releases, thoughts on writing and various pop-culture musings via Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, GoodReads or (of course) my own home page.

    ________________________________

    Colleen here…Now I am ashamed to say that I haven’t actually read one of Claudia’s books yet though I have several of them sitting on my shelf at this very moment. I went onto her website and at first I thought I’d counted

    17 (that’s seventeen)

    books when in fact the actual number was fifteen and each one of her books sounds cooler than the next. I will work on reading them all immediately. 

    The book Claudia is showcasing on the SPRING 2014 Hunt is….
    A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU
    Part one of the Firebird Trilogy
    COMING NOVEMBER 4th, 2014!

    Here is some info about A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU.

    As the daughter of two brilliant physicists, Marguerite Caine grew up surrounded by wild scientific theories, always encouraged to imagine the improbable or even the impossible. But when her father is murdered, Marguerite’s life is turned upside down. All the evidence points to one person—Paul, her parents’ handsome, enigmatic protege. Before the law can touch him, though, Paul uses Marguerite’s mother’s latest invention—a device called the Firebird that allows people to leap into alternate dimensions—to escape.

    With the help of another grad student, Theo, Marguerite chases Paul through various dimensions, determined to avenge her father. Her parents theorized that people who have met in one reality will be likely to meet in another…that key moments will happen over and over, in different ways. But in each new world Marguerite leaps into, she meets another version of Paul that has her doubting his guilt and questioning her heart. Before long she realizes that what happened to her father may be more complex, and more sinister, than she ever dreamed.

    Marguerite is swept into an epic love affair that feels both dangerous and inevitable in New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray’s glorious new trilogy.

    ___________________________

    Colleen Houck (claps hands)-That sounds awesome! I love alternate dimensions. So cool!

    Now for Claudia Gray’s

    TOP SECRET BONUS MATERIAL

    In this excerpt, Marguerite has chased the man she’s hunting to a parallel universe where she lives in London – and in a world more technologically advanced than our own. She’s still raw from her father’s death and the strangeness of the new world around her. But she’s not alone. Theo – one of her parents’ assistants, a young grad student – has made the trip with her. He’s always been flirtatious, but she always assumed that was just his usual brand of whimsical arrogance. Now that she’s seen the risks Theo’s willing to take to avenge her father, Marguerite has to look at him in a whole new light. And she’s never felt more vulnerable than she does when they find each other in this world, after a night of clubbing and drinking that failed to blot out the pain she’s in. She sneaks him into her room, and we pick up just as she’s gotten out of the shower —

     

    **

     

    When I step out of the bathroom, Theo’s standing at the window, arms braced against the sill. Moonlight has painted his black hair, making it gleam. It takes him a moment to turn and face me; when he does, the same electricity crackles between us, and I feel as though the T-shirt I’m wearing is see-through. But I don’t move. I just stand there, facing him.

    Theo breaks the silence first. “For what it’s worth, I don’t see anyone out on the street who seems to be checking the building out. Nobody was following us home from the club, either – as far as I could see.”

    “Oh, right. Good.” Why didn’t I think of that? It’s at that moment I realize that I’ve still got way more alcohol in my system than I should. I sink down onto the bed, woozy and whirling. “Do you think Paul knows we’re here?”

    “If he’s thought to check.”

    Of course he’s checking to see if anybody’s after him, I want to retort, but then I stop myself. A smile spreads across my face. “Paul doesn’t know about the other Firebirds,” I say. “You kept it a secret from everyone. Even him.”

    “Sometimes it pays to be a secretive bastard.” Theo grins back. However, I can tell he’s not totally confident. “Still, we can’t assume Paul doesn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve. We underestimated him once. Let’s not do it again.”

    “You’re right.” My rage at Paul threatens to break through once more, but I force myself to put it aside. My whole body hurts, and my mind is fuzzy and confused and not my own. I need to sleep.

    Theo’s voice gentles. “Hey. Toss me a pillow, all right? Gonna make myself a dog bed here on the floor.”

    I throw him one of the pillows; he pulls a spare blanket from the foot of the bed. We’re so quiet that I can hear the rustle of fabric on fabric. When I tuck my feet under the bedspread, he flicks off the light so that we’re once again in the dark.

    Slowly I lie down, but I’m so aware of him. My breaths quicken; my heart feels like it might hammer its way out of my chest.

    It’s stupid to be nervous. I trust Theo. There’s no reason for me to worry about him doing something.

    Then I realize – Theo’s not the person I’m unsure of. What I don’t know is what I might do.

    It would be so easy, so good, to forget everything farther away than this bed and my own skin.

    And it’s Theo. The one person in this world I can rely on, the one I want to keep closer than any other –

    My whisper is the only sound in the room. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor.”

    For a moment, the only reply is silence. Then Theo rises from his place at the foot of my bed. His body is silhouetted by the moonlight, and I realize that he’s taken off his shirt to sleep.

    Without a word he walks around to my side of the bed, then sits down, his hip against my leg. The mattress sinks in beneath him, rolling me slightly closer. Theo braces one hand near my pillow. With the other, he brushes my damp curls away from my face. I want to say something to him, but I can’t think of what. All I can do is lie there, breaths coming fast and shallow, staring up at him, both wanting him to touch me again and terrified that he will.

    Slowly Theo leans down over me. My T-shirt is slightly off one shoulder, and his lips brush me there – along the line of my collarbone. The kiss lasts only a moment. It crashes through me like lightning.

    He whispers, “Ask me again sometime, when we’re both ourselves.” Then he lifts his head, and his smile is soft. “Next time I won’t stop with your shoulder.”

    _________________________________________________

     

    Wow that was steamy!

    If you think this series is just what you’ve been looking for, you can preorder your copy on Amazon. Also a little bird told me that she’s giving away a signed ARC (that’s Advanced Reader Copy) of A Thousand Pieces of You as a special prize during the hunt!

    ___________________________________________________

    Thank you so much for visiting my website! While you’re here don’t forget to enter the DOUBLE bonus contest I am running exclusively during the YA Scavenger Hunt.

    For an extra bonus entry, leave a comment on this blog and answer the following: If you had a super power and had to go into battle against a super villain, what skill or power would you pick and why? Some ideas might be the include invisibility, speed, bullet proof, a shape-shifter, skilled with a sword, etc. Look forward to hearing your thoughts! Have fun!

    For Bonus Contest #1, I will be giving away ten copies of the first book in my series, TIGER’S CURSE!!!

    Enter the raffle copter below for a chance to win,
    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    For Bonus Contest #2, I will be giving away a grand prize giveaway inspired by my new novella, Tiger’s Promise! This contest is just for my most loyal tiger fans!  It will include: an exclusive and LIMITED printed copy of my novella, Tiger’s Promise, and some surprise goodies all inspired by the novella! You die hard fans WON’T want to miss this!

     Enter raffle copter below for contest #2, a Rafflecopter giveaway____________________________________________________

    Ready to move on to the next link in the hunt?

    LINK TO NEXT BLOG

    This entry was posted in Contest, Featuring Authors, YA Scavenger Hunt.

    117 Responses to Spring YA Scavenger Hunt!


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    Colleen Houck

    New York Times Bestselling author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include action, adventure, paranormal, science fiction, and romance. When she's not busy writing, she likes to spend time chatting on the phone with one of her six siblings, watching plays, and shopping online. Colleen has lived in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, California, and North Carolina and is now permanently settled in Salem, Oregon with her husband and a huge assortment of plush tigers.

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