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! At 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 5 at noon Pacific time!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are four contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the RED TEAM--but there are also BLUE, GOLD, & PURPLE TEAMS - each with 20 authors. You can enter any or all of them 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.

Note: The hunt is also now featuring a bonus prize. YASH chooses a select group of authors who have participated in the hunt many times and fans can add up their numbers as well, to enter for a $50 Amazon gift card. The list of those authors will be included on the YASH ENTRY page.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've hidden 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!).

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. The hunt ends Sunday, April 5th at noon Pacific time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Tracy Auerbach is the author of SONS OF FIRE

I am thrilled to be hosting author Tracy Auerbach on my blog for the YA Scavenger Hunt! Her new book, Sons of Fire, looks so good! Here’s a little bit about Tracy:

Tracy Auerbach is an author of science fiction and fantasy for teens and adults. As an avid reader with a vivid imagination, she chose to study film, English, and education, and went on to teach and write STEM curriculum for the New York Department of Education. This helped to polish her writing skills and ignite her passion for science fiction and fantasy. Her first scholarly article, published in Language Magazine, was about the value of active, creative learning in science. On the fiction side, Tracy’s work has been featured in the online literary journal Micro-horror, The Writing Disorder fiction anthology, and the “(Dis)ability” short story anthology, in addition to her novels. When she is not teaching or writing, Tracy is usually reading or spending time with her family. She lives in New York with her family.

I’m so happy to welcome Tracy to my blog! You can find more about her and her books by checking out Tracy’s website.

The cover of SONS OF FIRE by Tracy Auerbach.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

Here’s a short summary of Sons of Fire by Tracy Auerbach…

When Keegan’s father, the Demon King of Fire, attempted to produce an heir, a surge of light energy interrupted the process. One tiny piece of the newly forming demon broke off. That piece is Keegan. For years, he has attempted to lay low, watching from the shadows while his monstrous brother Aidan, the true Prince of Fire, is groomed for the throne.

Keegan’s shaky status quo is shattered when one of his father’s power-plays goes horribly wrong. He is cast to Earth and forced to work with a suddenly powerless Aidan. The two brothers must cooperate to complete an impossible task and avoid being cast forever into the abyss. As if having to spend time with his beastly other half wasn’t bad enough, Keegan must adapt to living on Earth, wielding his new human vessel, and dealing with his demonic appetite without harming the human creatures for whom he has always cared.

As Keegan and Aidan work to save themselves, questions arise. What exactly was the King of Fire up to, that sparked their Master’s interest enough to cast them from the Demon Realm? Can Aidan be trusted in his new human form, complete with emotions, or is he the same unfeeling creature he’s always been? And why are so many demons suddenly invested in the outcome of the brothers’ trial? The only thing Keegan knows for certain is that whether he succeeds or fails at the task, the consequences for the Demon Realm and for Earth itself will be catastrophic.

Isn't that intriguing? If you’d like to learn more about Tracy and her writing, you can read below an interview she did with Sofiya Pasternack, all about her debut novel, Sin Soldiers.

Interview with Tracy Auerbach

1. Introduce yourself and your debut novel.

My name is Tracy Auerbach, and I’m a STEM teacher and coach for the New York City public school system. I’m also a fantasy fanatic, both in reading and writing. As an avid, insomniac reader, I read 70 books last year, most of which were fantasy. I am also mom to two human sons and a dog.

My YA debut, THE SIN SOLDIERS, is the first book in a trilogy called FRAGMENTS. Here’s the synopsis, which can also be found on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41143216-the-sin-soldiers

Red compound makes them angry. Yellow exhausts them. Blue drives them into a state of ravenous addiction. The thief Kai knows about the chemically controlled soldiers of the Eastern forces and their savage, deadly nature. When a robbery attempt at Club Seven goes wrong, Kai is captured by a handler and his bestial soldier-boy. She wakes up inside the military base with no idea what happened to her twin brother, Dex.
Things go from bad to worse when Kai is started on a drug and training regimen, and forced to take injections of blue compound. The scientists in charge plan to make her into a working soldier who will mine the mysterious power crystals beneath the desert. Kai becomes a victim of the bully Finn, a handsome but nasty soldier whose years on red compound seem to have erased his humanity. Still, she begins to pity the Seven Soldiers, including the monstrous boy who tried to rip her to shreds at the club. They appear to be nothing more than genetically enhanced, drug-controlled teenagers.
On the outside, Dex and his tech-savvy boyfriend try to crack the soldiers’ chemical code to find a weakness that will break the system. But Kai has already been drawn deep into her new world. Strong feelings for the soldiers she’s come to know have started to cloud her judgment. Can she escape and find Dex without becoming a monster herself?

THE SIN SOLDIERS debuted July 23, 2019.

2. What’s the most surprising part about your debut journey so far?

The most surprising part of my debut journey so far has been how utterly blown away I am by how supportive other authors are! I’ve joined up with several Facebook groups for authors, including Novel Nineteens, and so I have not had one question left unanswered, one victory left uncelebrated, or one vent left unvented. It truly is an amazing community of people. I thought that my debut year would be a much more solitary experience, so this is a very pleasant surprise.

3. What inspired you to write this book?

I love thinking about human nature, and the crazy psychological things that go on with our weird species every day. I started to think about using these qualities (addiction, passion, rage) as weapons. What would happen if super soldiers were created – if a war was fought by players who pressed buttons on people to push vice and virtue to their limits?

In the beginning, I had this image in my head of a thief running through the sand, being chased by a monster, and then I thought to myself: well, what if the monster caught her, and that’s the beginning instead of the end?

4. How long did it take you to write this book?

Years! This book existed in two previous drafts before I had a true handle on the plot. Before that, it was the characters and the world just drifting around in my head. But once I thought of this version of the story, it all flowed out onto the page within a couple of months. I did a lot of editing, but the meat was there.

5. Who is your favorite character?

Charlie! He’s such a hot mess of an id-monster, and so driven by his flaws, that it’s hard to not relate to him. But I also have soft spots for Tessa and Dex.

6. What advice would you give to a new writer?

Keep writing. If you’re in it to write, because that’s what you love, then you’ll never be disappointed. It won’t matter how many rejections or poor reviews you accumulate, because once you’re writing, you’re a writer. You don’t need other people to validate it.

On the flip side of that, don’t forget to be open to taking advice. I’ve scrapped so many books or reworked them entirely because they just weren’t going anywhere. If one of my beta-readers doesn’t like something, I make it a note. If more than one of them dislikes that same thing, I make it a change.

7. How do you select character names?

I usually choose names that seem to work for the characters, and then look up the meanings. In THE SIN SOLDIERS, all of the characters’ surnames are tied into their character or plotline. See if you can catch it! For another book, SONS OF FIRE, that I have coming out next winter, my main character is a fire demon. I looked up names that meant fire and got ‘Aidan.’ That simple!

8. Describe your writing space.

My writing space is the laundry room in my house, where I’ve set up a desktop computer and chair. There’s also a small bathroom and a filing cabinet. I am frequently interrupted by my dog stealing socks or my family yelling for me, or walking in to use the bathroom.

9. What book or author has most influenced your own writing?

I have a huge author crush on Holly Black! Her characters just always seem so fresh and vibrant, and I love the way her stories weave themselves together. My goal is to write that well. I’m also tremendously impressed with Brandon Sanderson, and I strive to world-build the way he does.

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I want to thank Tracy for letting me host her for the YA Scavenger Hunt! I hope you’ve enjoyed learning more about her and her books!

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of books by me, Tracy Auerbach, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 99. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the Red team and you'll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

ENTER MY PERSONAL GIVEAWAY

Would you like a chance to win a hardcover copy of my latest book, Crown of Oblivion? Then use the Rafflecopter below to enter! I'm excited to offer this giveaway to add to the prizes you can win in the YA Scavenger Hunt. Crown of Oblivion is a standalone dystopian fantasy that was released by HarperTeen November 12, 2019. Plus, this giveaway is international!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONTINUE THE HUNT

Thank you so much for visiting my site! To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author. It's DANIELLE PAIGE! You can go to her stop on the hunt by clicking here.