I already announced this on Twitter and Facebook but in Fall 2013, St. Martin’s will be releasing a bind-up of CUTB and SGA called What Goes Around. It will be a nice lead in to All the Rage in early 2014. Not only that, it is very cool to have Parker and Regina in one place because these are the characters I owe a lot to and I am going to tell you more about that in a second. But first, this is the cover, which I think is such a clever combination of key elements from the originals:

I’ve mentioned before that writing Cracked Up to Be was a response to agents disliking a female character in a previous (unpublished) novel I’d written. I actually revisited that novel before writing this post and noticed the male characters are just as flawed as, if not more flawed than, the female protagonist but the majority of my rejections for that novel pinpointed the unlikability issue as female one, one that needed ‘correcting.’ Then again, that old novel has a variety of problems in it, so it’s hard to say definitively that the awful expectation that Girls Must Always Be Nice at the Expense of Themselves is the reason I didn’t debut with that particular book. The rejections did make me at least consider the possibility, which made me very angry and inspired me to write a female character that spit in the eye of those expectations: Parker Fadley.

Minor spoilers ahead!
If you have read Cracked Up to Be you know that Parker is abrasive and cruel. She is foul-mouthed. She can be selfish and petty and that selfishness and pettiness causes her to make the worst mistake of her life. Initially, the reader might think that mistake is what brought her to this level of utter unpleasantness but no, they will discover she has always been this way but now she’s worse. She views her pain through a very narrow lens, one that is primarily focused on herself, even in the end. And even in the end, She is not ready for the bigger picture but she can at least acknowledge that there is one. She is a girl with a long road ahead of her. But she will probably never, ever be ‘nice.’
End spoilers!

Can I confess something to you? Even fueled by my anger and indignation, writing Cracked Up to Be was hard. So much of what Parker did made me uncomfortable and sometimes it still does. As someone who wants to be liked and thought of as Nice even, yes, at my own expense sometimes (I am working on this), the meaner I made Parker, the more I wanted to find ways to apologize for her and to convince readers that, at her core, there was a NICE girl. A nice girl that fit into a nice-shaped box. And was nice. But every time I came to a point in the book where I could make her sharp-edged existence a little softer, I forced myself not to; sometimes I even chose to make it sharper. That is not to say that there are no soft or even nice moments in Cracked Up to Be, but I wanted them to be earned, not given, and there are far fewer than there would have been if I’d just wanted you to like Parker for the sole purpose of forgiving her mistakes.

Needless to say, Cracked Up to Be gave me the tools to write Some Girls Are. I could not have written Regina and those girls if I still carried with me that need to apologize for their anger. I could have not written any of my girls–Eddie and Sloane too–if I felt the need to apologize to readers because they didn’t fit into a box of sugar and spice and other tiresome and damaginge gender stereotypes.

My site analytics tell me I get a lot of searches about how to write mean GIRL main characters or unlikable FEMALE protagonists. I have never gotten a search referral about unlikable or mean protagonists–female is always specified. It’s as if the people searching need permission to write them and they want to know, can a girl really be more than NICE?

First I think–how is this answer not obvious?

But then I think of myself at 21, feverishly typing Cracked Up to Be wondering, “Can I really do this?” I was so scared to let a girl be angry and unkind simply because she was a girl and girls are expected to. Be. Nice. I was even scared of my own anger about the whole thing because what if writing an angry girl meant she would never be read. But writing Cracked Up to Be and Some Girls Are helped me to unlearn this. And those books found their readers and I am so grateful for that.

Now I kind of think of Parker and Regina sitting on my shoulder for each subsequent novel I’ve written, reminding me that girls can be difficult and messy and angry and that they can be nice too–because of course your female characters can be nice–but on their own terms and without apology. When I get asked, and I do get asked this, about how to write female characters–likable or not–that is what I want my answer to be. Write your female characters on their own terms and never apologize for that. And don’t let anyone tell you that you should.

Anyways, the release annversaries and the bind-up announcement made me think about all this and so I wanted to share it with you.

Thanks for reading.

I am just going to SAY IT.

ALL THE RAGE will no longer be coming out in Fall 2013.
It will be coming out in Winter 2014.

I know.

When I release I book, this is what I want: I want to release it feeling I did the absolute best I could, regardless of how it is received, and then move onto my next story without a single look back. I don’t want to wish I had said more or less or said it differently or known deep down that I could’ve said it better. I think every author wants this, though. All the Rage has been an extremely interesting book to work on. I am enjoying it. It needs some more time to get to the place it needs to be. And because I have a incredible editor, with every draft, it’s getting closer to that place and that makes me happy.

So what more can be said about it?

Besides the fact my bookmarks now have INCORRECT INFORMATION on them.

So if you got a bookmark from me at any point, please get out a sharpie? Do you have your sharpie? Okay. Under ALL THE RAGE, please find COMING 2013, cross out 2013 and then change the year to 2014 and then underneath that write, “ED BEGLEY JR. IS FLAWLESS” all in caps*.

Now all is as it should be.

In OTHER news, I have seen the cover concept for All The Rage and it is wonderful. I can’t wait until I can share the final version with everyone. I’m also super excited to be participating in Smugglivus 2012, which you should CHECK OUT. The Book Smugglers are awesome. They’ve put together a great line-up of authors for this and I’m honoured to be part of it.

SO TO RECAP.

All the Rage is still in the works and I seriously can’t wait to share it with you when it is done.

In Winter 2014.

And Ed Begley Jr. is flawless.

Have a good weekend, Internet!

* the Ed Begley Jr. portion of this post is dedicated to Lori

(Maybe it will make me blog more?)

Aaaand a website relaunch would be nothing without a celebratory giveaway, so if you comment on this post on my website (not a feed) I will enter you in a draw! One winner will receive a signed copy of CRACKED UP TO BE, THIS IS NOT A TEST and some signed bookmarks. This giveaway is open to International readers. Comment by November 24th and the winner will be announced the 25th!

Right now, I’m between edits for ALL THE RAGE aka The Book That Ate 2012, which means I have a cold. It seems every time I hand the latest draft into my editor, something like that happens. Colds. Extreme mopeyness because what do I do with myself now. Luckly, I had something to distract me from both this weekend: I participated in The YA Apocalypse Tour with authors Megan Crewe, Lesley Livingston, Maureen McGowan and Cheryl Rainfield.

The tour isn’t over, so if you live in Ontario and there’s a stop near you, check it out! I could only be at the Belleville stop, but I had a wonderful time signing there with such a great set of authors. I’m sorry to have missed Leah Bobet, but she will be at all the other stops, so go, go, go, if you can!

I don’t do much (read: like zero) signings and whatnot, so it was very cool to step into Chapters and see this:

And even cooler than THAT was meeting the bloggers who came out! I really like talking to readers but it usually happens over the Internet so when I meet them, there’s always that strange and awesome moment of, “YOU ARE ACTUAL PEOPLE!” (Have I told you that I picture authors as their book covers so when I meet them in person, inside I’m thinking, “YOU ARE NOT A WALKING BOOK!” I know.)

Ciara, Chrystal, Emilie and Kat andIhopeIdidn’tforgetanyone are such a fun, funny, smart and enthusiastic group of bloggers–you should read and bookmark their blogs, because they’re fantastic–and that they came all the way to Belleville to say “Hi!” and get books signed meant a lot. Thank you, ladies! You can read Ciara’s event recap here, Chrystal’s here and Kat’s here.

There were also a surprising amount of Grandmas scoping out YA for their granddaughters.

Rock on, Grandmas.

WELL. That is all I have to blog about today.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

(Now enter my contest because my books aren’t going to win themselves!)

That’s what happens with deadlines. :(

On the plus side, at least I didn’t realize it on October 31st. Phew.

And because Halloween is my favourite time of year, let’s make this post a list AND A GIVEAWAY. If you are in the US or Canada–many apologies to my overseas readers–leave a comment and let me know what the scariest horror movie you have ever seen is or if you’re not big on scares, what your favourite Halloween movie is (to make it hard on you, you can only recommend one) and you will be entered to win a DVD of one of the greatest Halloween movies ever…

(Make sure you comment at courtneysummers.ca and not a feed!)

NOW LET’S DO THIS THING. Here are some movies I think you should watch for Halloween! Starting with…

THE BIRDS

Birds take back the earth! Tippi Hedren is gorgeous! But you know what’s not going to help you when birds take back the earth? Your looks. Everything about The Birds satisfies, from its clever use of (nearly) no music, to the sense of isolation that Alfred Hitchcock so expertly conveys in each frame. Bodega Bay is so painfully picturesque, it makes the whole thing that much more horrifying. Also: you can practically smell the ocean. And that ending!

THE DESCENT

I have avoided putting this on my lists in previous years because it seems pretty obvious, but you know what? It is terrifying, so there you go. The all-female cast is stellar. The sets alone are terrifying. The struggle for survival is breathtaking. The monsters are unforgettable and gross. I have never felt one way or the other about caving, but since seeing this movie I have become vehemently opposed to it. WATCH THIS MOVIE AND BECOME VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED TO IT TOO.

DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT

Is it a windy, rainy day? Do you have a nice quilt to curl up under? Is your pantry stocked with popcorn? Your fridge with apple cider? Do you want to enjoy a scary movie for Halloween without feeling like you want to die at the end of it? Then this is the movie for you. Dracula Dead and Loving It makes me so happy except for the part where it makes me miss Leslie Nielsen. I love the sets and I love the set-ups.

THE FOG

The Fog is a go-to for me because I enjoy its atmosphere. It’s so OCEANY. There is this scene where Adrienne Barbeau drives all the way to work and then walks 5,000 steps down to her lighthouse radio station and I swear to goodness you can feel the chilly ocean air. I could probably watch it over and over for that moment alone which probably makes me weird. It only teases at the worst special effects and gore that took over a lot of eighties horror (maybe because it was made in 1979?), instead relying more on a subtle, spooky undercurrent to carry it. As a creepy little ghost story, I think it delivers.

Here is the scene I was talking about, by the way:

FEEL THAT OCEAN AIR.

FRIDAY THE 13th (PART 2) and FRIDAY THE 13th (remake)

If you’re going to watch any series this Halloween, maybe you should watch Friday the 13th! But if you can’t make time for all 500 of it’s installments, I would suggest these two. Friday the 13th Part 2 is the introduction of one very special guy, Jason Vorhees, but more than THAT, it stars one of the most capable and interesting heroines in the whole series–Ginny. Amy Steel brought something really great to this role and I don’t think we’ve seen the likes of her since, which makes me sad.

And yes, A REMAKE IS ON THIS LIST. I know. For some reason, I really love the F13 remake. Maybe because Jason X was a thing that happened before it? I don’t know. A lot of what is wrong with the horror genre is in here but I liked the way it looks and I like how Jason was more animal instead of paranormal. Also Dick Casablancas.

PSYCHO

My second Hitch pick of the list. Psycho is a wonderful, moodily paced movie. If you haven’t seen it, I am secretly disappointed in you. There is a reason this film endures, so what’s the point in talking anymore about it? Even if you know the twist, Anthony Perkins’s unnervingly sympathetic portrayal of Norman Bates only gets stronger on repeated viewings. Also Alfred Hitchcock’s daughter has the best cameo ever. It makes me smile every time.

REINCARNATION

Reincarnation is about a young actress who is cast in a movie that is about a real life massacre at a hotel. The director holds the shoot at the hotel the murders took place, and soon the cast discovers they are more connected to the victims than they could ever imagine. One thing I like about the Takashi Shimizu films I’ve seen is that there is a sort of inevitability to them. You know the outcome for the characters likely won’t be good, but their impending doom is so intensely and interestingly presented that the journey stays full of tension.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012)

Earlier this year, over at The (wonderful) Readventure’s blog, I did a Book vs. Movie post about this one and I had a lot of nitpicks. In spite of them, I called it ‘serviceable.’ It’s not a perfect movie by any means but as I said over there, “there’s something extremely satisfying about a horror movie that plays to the tropes or even the cliches of the genre because despite the predictability of those kinds of scares, there’s a timelessness about them that can make them quite unnerving.” Which is my way of saying IT KIND OF SUCKS BUT IT’S SCARY TO LOOK AT. And sometimes that is all you need.

And that’s all for this year! If you want to see my previous suggestions, here is 2009′s list, 2010′s and 2011′s.

More lists! Joey Comeau has posted a list of his favourite horror movies that don’t have sexual violence in them, which you should check out. You should also check out Will’s Halloween Countdown! And here is AFI’s 100 Most Thrilling American Films for good measure.

AND TO FURTHER EXTEND YOUR HALLOWEEN…

1) Scott Tracey’s paranormal YA, WITCH EYES (read and loved it!) is, for a short time, a free ebook on Amazon and B&N.

2) MarbleHornets is one of the scariest webseries of ALL TIME and you can watch it from first entry to the latest on YouTube. Once you meet Slender Man, you will never be the same. Speaking of Slender Man, you can download Slender: The Eight Pages game for free. I have watched many videos of people playing this but have not YET been brave enough to try it myself.

3) Here are three of my all-time favourite horror movies that you can watch free online because they are in the public domain: City of the Dead/Horror Hotel, House On Haunted Hill, and (of course) Night of the Living Dead.

And don’t forget my giveaway for this masterpiece!

Comment on this post recommending ONE horror/Halloween movie that you loved by October 18th. On October 19th I will draw the winner and have the movie shipped out to ASAP! This giveaway is open to CAN/US residents only but if you live overseas and have a US/CAN address I can ship it to, you can totally enter. Once again, apologies to readers based overseas but if you still want to suggest a horror movie, please do! I’m in this for the recs!

Happy October!

They brought in reclining chairs and heated blankets. They asked us if we wanted the monitors off in case the sound was too upsetting but we kept them on–wanted to keep them on. A compromise; monitors on, sound off. That weekend the ‘active dying’ had begun. That’s what it’s called. But we didn’t know, didn’t really understand until after it happened and then thought, how could we not have known? At the time, we were still thinking, rally.

Rally, even when the nurses gently suggested that the family come down.

The day after he was given weeks, we were told he wouldn’t last the night.

He didn’t.


At five in the morning, all the machines were off. We stood by his bedside and became that call no one wants to get. We drove home. A few hours after that, the oncology department of a different hospital called and said they had an opening if he wanted to come down and discuss chemotherapy options.


After my father died, I was so stuck in that final night in his hospital room that I could not remember what it was like when he was here. It made me panic. It was too hard to explain. I know he’s not here, but it was like he was never there. I don’t know what it was like when he was here. I knew he was dead but that was the problem; it felt like the only thing I knew. It’s so hard when a person you love becomes almost like this dream you had.


Just gone.


I couldn’t write easily when he was sick, but I had a deadline at the time so I had to. I struggled with words, to piece them together into sentences that meant something. When I finished, I went into his room and told him. He was the first person I told.

Look, I thought. Everything is still going. So you do it too.


The drive to the hospital to him, what would be the last drive to the hospital to him, stepping inside his room. He was hooked up to everything, struggling to talk against and be heard over the oxygen. One of the last things he said to us all:

“Thanks for coming.”

And he meant it, he was just so grateful that we were there.

As if we would be anywhere else.


After the doctors said weeks, not even realizing how soon it would be themselves, my mother and father sat together in his room, quiet and stunned. What do you say when what you’ve just been told is beyond all comprehension, when your future is rewriting itself in the most impossible way. My parents: inseparable, soul mates who always seemed to find their way back to each other no matter what.

“I would be willing to never see you again, if it meant that you wouldn’t have to go through this,” she said.

He said, “I wouldn’t go.”


Sometimes it feels like it’s been a lifetime in one year and sometimes this year feels like it lasted as long as it took me to blink and it’s only been the last few months that I see photos of him and the old reality surfaces, that first thing to go missing after he did. It’s always this soft shock.

Oh. This is how it was. You were there.


& Here we are.

“Should I write something?”

“If you want to. You don’t have to.”

“I do and I don’t. But then I think this is the first year and then I think I should write something.”

Did you know without a certain video game there might not be a This is Not a Test? It’s true. I’ve mentioned in several places that writing This is Not a Test was an incredibly nervewracking and challenging experience. All of my books are difficult in their own special ways, but this time around I put a lot of pressure on myself based on what I assumed people would expect from a zombie novel written by me. I wanted to please everyone. In attempting that, I got farther and farther away from the zombie novel I wanted to write. This is one of the worst things a writer can do to themselves or have happen to them. It’s something I should’ve known better than to let happen but it did. I got so tangled up in it all, I reached a point where I hated zombies and writing about them. If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know this is a Big Deal. Also tragic.

I pulled the book.

I’d heard of that happening to authors before–entire books coming off the table because, for whatever reason, they are just not working. Long before TINAT, I used to imagine how that might feel to a writer and I figured it would suck. The reality of it was far worse than anything I imagined. Though there were seeds of what became the final book inside it, the first draft of the novel did not work. I did not know how to make it work on a level that would satisfy everyone and ended up with something that satisfied no one and every time I tried to start it over, even with that knowledge, I somehow made it worse. I lost my passion. These are all understatements. I emailed my agent and I told her I can’t write this and then we told my editor and like that, This is Not a Test was no longer to be my fourth book.

Instead of sweet relief, I felt like I’d failed everyone. And I felt stupid because I could not seem to write about a subject that I love. No one gave me the impression that I was a stupid failure, but it was how I felt. And so I tabled a new idea and got to work and…

Trying to write THAT book was so. Much. Worse. I could not see it as anything but a symbol of defeat. Like, This is What I Wrote Because Zombies Got the Best of Me. Which in turn knotted me up so badly, I just stopped writing. Which was worse. I’m trying to tell this story with a light hand but it was a very bad time. Imagine a montage of a lot of crying. I was at a loss, totally stuck, completely burnt out and in desperate need of fuel.

And then.

My laptop started acting funny.

I am extremely hard on my laptops. I guess they can be turned off and maybe you should do that every once in a while, but pft. Anyways, I needed a replacement to write (or not write as I was doing at the time) and I got one and I realized something nifty about it. My new laptop could handle GAMES. Easily. And so I decided to get myself a game. Apparently, I did not hate zombies as much as I thought because there was only one game I wanted.

It was fuel!

What I love most about Left 4 Dead (besides killing the hell out of zombies) is the story and characters. At a glance, Left 4 Dead seems light on story, but there is so much of it to glean from the government posters and notes and graffiti left by other survivors in buildings and safe houses. The green flu! Carriers! I loved filling in the blanks.

And the characters! You’d think there wouldn’t be a lot of character development in such a fast-paced shooter, but the characters reveal a lot about themselves in the way they interact with each other and their surroundings. A character remarks about not being able to get blood out of a wedding dress and “don’t ask me how I know that” and my mind is like, HOW DOES HE KNOW THAT? Over the course of the campaign, character growth is effectively rendered through dialogue alone. I’d play through so many times on so many settings just to hear them say something new. I loved the way each character’s personal backgrounds informed the way they responded to the zombie apocalypse, how the zombie apocalypse informed the way they responded to each other. I remembered that was what I loved about zombies stories–how personal stories are filtered through the apocalypse. Which was what I had been trying to do before I got too worried about everyone else. The seeds were definitely there in that first draft, I just had to dig them out of the mess.

Thanks to Left 4 Dead, I remembered that they were there. I’ll never forget playing and having the book I wanted to write reassert itself and then thinking, wait, I don’t hate zombies! I never hated zombies! I LOVE ZOMBIES!

Also I love Nick.

So that is the story of how I traumatized my editor and agent, maybe! But also it is especially the story of how Left 4 Dead saved This is Not a Test. Consequently, there are two nods to Left 4 Dead in This is Not a Test. I won’t say what they are! If you’re a fan, maybe you will catch them. I felt it was the least I could do since it saved my book.

THANKS, VALVE! You’re the best.

So you’d think after saving my novel, Left 4 Dead wouldn’t have to do another nice thing for me ever again. But it did! It pointed me in the direction of the most awesome thing ever: more video games!

Games like Portal and Half-Life 2 helped me “see” worldbuilding. It might sound silly to you, but my books can have an intensely narrow focus and it can be hard for me to see past my protagonist. Someday, I would like to write about larger worlds, different worlds–I don’t know what kind, yet–but have always been intimidated by the idea of building them and feeding that world to the reader. I still am intimidated, but something about seeing and actively participating in these strange new landscapes gave me ideas on how to see past a protagonist, or how to feed a world to a reader through a protagonist.

I actually just finished Half-Life 2 and it was crazy good. The environments were so bleak and The Combine terrified me and the fight felt hopeless and I wasn’t sure I liked it–but suddenly you’re taking back the earth little by little and it’s like yeaaaaah! It’s that moment you realize how invested you are, like when you’re reading a book and you can’t turn pages fast enough to find out what happens next.

My favourite game that I’ve played this year so far has been L.A. Noire. Cole Phelps’s character arc devastated me. The slow build of it was brilliant. I do not want to admit how much it made me cry but when I was done crying it made me want to type millions of words.

If you had told me a year ago how much gaming would positively impact my creative process, I would be like huh. I have always liked them but their influence levels over me have been negligible unless you count the Wii Fit Balance Board disappointedly saying “Oh” every time I got on it, shaming me into rhythm boxing. I am always looking for inspiration–whether it’s a book or a movie or a song–art that is so good it makes me want to improve my own and I am totally finding that in video games.

I feel dumb I wasn’t looking at them for this sooner.

And besides that, DID YOU ALSO KNOW THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN? Amazing.

I am going to go play one now!

I will have to not blog in July just to make up for it.

THIS IS NOT A TEST’s release week was really something else. I’m still reeling from it, all tired and content. I can’t express how grateful I am to everyone who celebrated it with me. Thank you! Thank you for wanting to read it and thank you for reading it. I can’t believe I’ve already gotten sequel requests in my inbox! Wat! That’s the fastest that has ever happened. (I never say never, but for now it’s safe to assume it’s a standalone, guys!)

Also, can I just say it’s a bit strange for me to think of it as actually on shelves now, as I sometimes still have these horrible nightmares that I haven’t finished writing it yet.

Speaking of things that are strange to think of in relation to THIS IS NOT A TEST…

Sony has optioned it for a TV movie!

Here is the deal announcement! It (or something like it!) should be popping up on PM pretty soon:

Courtney Summers’s YA, THIS IS NOT A TEST about six teens trapped in their high school during the zombie apocalypse, optioned as a TV movie, to Sony, by Jon Cassir at CAA on behalf of Amy Tipton at Signature Literary Agency.

Here is a gif expressing how I feel about that!:

So we’ll see.

! :)

In other news, I’m continuing to work on ALL THE RAGE, which continues to account for over six months of unanswered emails sitting in my inbox (!!!!!). I’m just about ready to throw the manuscript out the window. If you write, you know what that means…

It’s ALMOST DONE.

And I have a gif for how I feel about that too!

I hope when people see how un-updated my blog is they assume it’s because I’m writing books. Lots and lots and lots of books. Or maybe just the same book for the last six months? But we’re not going to talk about that book. We are going to talk about this one!

It is officially out!

As of TODAY!

Here are some things about THIS IS NOT A TEST that you may or may not know!

1. It has a book trailer! (Maybe you knew that.)






2. In the first draft, there were two extra characters. They did not make it. But they live on in Grace and Harrison.

3. Sloane’s last name, Price, is for Vincent Price. Just because.
Just because Vincent Price is a dashing man, I mean.

4. There are four nods/references to certain zombie pop culture in the book. Booklist has guessed one of them. I have given one away in a blog interview. The other two have remained, to my knowledge, undiscovered.

5. Night of the Living Dead is referenced–and there is a character with the last name Romero–in FALL FOR ANYTHING because I was 90% sure I’d be writing a zombie novel next. So why not!

6. Considerable angsting went into whether or not anyone should ever utter the Z word on-page.

7. THIS IS NOT A TEST is one of the hardest books I have ever written.


And finally, and most importantly to me,

8. THIS IS NOT A TEST is dedicated to my dad.

I wish he could see it.

Thank you.

If you pick up THIS IS NOT A TEST, I hope you find it worth your time.




PS: I am going to try to blog at least once a month (WHAT A CRAZY AMOUNT, I know) but just so you know, up-to-the-minute updates can always always always be found on my Twitter or Facebook.

First: I have reached a scary point in various deadlines and outstanding obligations where I can’t reply back to emails unless I have written a certain amount. DO NOT ASK ME HOW THAT IS GOING. Watch THIS IS NOT A TEST’s book trailer instead! And if you have already watched it, watch it again because why not!

“This Is Not a Test is both sexy and desolate, and it will blast a hole through your heart, yet somehow start to stitch it back together again.” – Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds and The Rivals


“Courtney Summers is a ferocious talent in YA fiction. This Is Not a Test brought me to tears, caused me to gasp in shock in public places, and almost put a stop to my heart… Summers’s voice is raw with emotion and utterly right for the impending zombie apocalypse.” – Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls


“[Courtney Summers] bleds all the perfection and simplicity that defines her writing so well with this added paranormal elements for a snappy, exciting story I just couldn’t stop reading, and then I got to the very end and realized that it was about so much more than just making it out alive.” – Julie Cross, author of Tempest

I admire these authors so much and that they gave their time to read THIS IS NOT A TEST and offer up such kind endorsements means the world to me. Thank you, Daisy, Nova and Julie!

SO, in celebration of all of these things, I think it’s time to give away a signed (personalized, if you want!) THIS IS NOT A TEST arc. They look like this:

1) Watch the trailer!
2) Comment on this blog entry (here on my site and not on a feed) saying you want to win an ARC!

BUT WAIT!

3) If you share or have shared the trailer on Twitter, your blog, Tumblr, Pinterest, Facebook or Goodreads and include the links to where you shared it in your comment so I can confirm this, you will get one extra entry per place you’ve shared. So say you tweeted it, blogged it, pinned it, tumbled it, Facebooked it or Goodreads statused it, you would get six extra entries on top of the one you get for commenting!

IMPORTANT: you only get an extra entry per place shared, not how many times you’ve shared in one place. If you tweet it 18 times, thanks! But you’d still only get one entry. I posted the trailer here on my Facebook so you can click the share button from there. You don’t have to, but then you can just say you clicked share and I should be able to confirm easily though there, provided your entry name and FB name match. Finally, if you say you’ve shared the trailer but don’t share the links to where in your comment, I won’t count those entries, sorry–and I don’t really have the time to chase after the links. Them’s the rules and it wouldn’t be fair to other entrants.

I know how frustrating it can be to have to jump through a lot of hoops for a contest, so I just want to re-emphasize that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SHARE IT IN ANY/ALL OF THESE PLACES TO BE ENTERED. All you have to do is watch the trailer and comment on this blog entry on my site. Word of mouth is such an important part of every book’s release, so every little bit helps–but you are certainly not obligated.

Anyways, contest ends April 10th. Winner will be announced in an addendum on this blog entry April 11th. (Why not the same day! Makes more sense!) Again, this contest is open to International entries. So have at it, world!

It would be so nice if you did.

(Speaking of giveaways, if you live in the US and are a member of GoodReads, they are giving away 20 copies of THIS IS NOT A TEST until March 31st. Click here. And if you live in the US and are a member of LibraryThing, they have 26 copies of THIS IS NOT A TEST up for grabs until March 26th. Click here. So many giveaways!)

Go here to find out what you have to do. (Spoiler: it is as easy as commenting on this status!).

Contest ends February 24th. Spreading the word is greatly appreciated!




This post is zombie approved: f(0_o)f