JESSICA THERRIEN

From Imagination To Publication

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF OPPRESSION!

Hi everyone! The virtual launch went so well yesterday that my sales rank is up in the 200's on Barnes & Noble. Because so many of you are awesome and have been buying the e-book like crazy, I decided to offer a chance to win a signed copy of Oppression if you purchase the Kindle or Nook edition! Who knows...maybe Oppression will see the 100s soon!

Thanks so much everyone for your support! Lots of LOVE!!

Here are the buy links:

$0.99 E-Book
Amazon Kindle Edition (UK, France, Germany)


If you'd like to share this contest on your blog here is the link to the widget/code:
Link to Contest Widget

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks & Party Winners

First of all, thank you so much to everyone who participated in my virtual launch party for Oppression! It was such a blast! I had a ton of fun and did my happy dance pretty much all day long.

Oppression became a #1 Kindle best-seller for Mythology in both Germany and France. It was an awesome feeling...woohoo! I'm still not over it.

If you want to come to my actual book launch at Barnes & Noble in Fullerton, California HERE is the info.

Okay...get to the good part, right? WHO WON??!!

1. The winner of the Oppression poster is.....drum roll.....
Sana (@artsymusings)
Blog: artsy musings of a bibliophile

2. The winner of the Oppression notebook is.....drum roll.....
Karen Rought (@Karen_Rought)
Blog: The Midnight Novelist

3. The winner of the signed copy of Oppression is.....drum roll.....
Sharon (@SharonBooks)
Blog: Obsession With Books



I'll be doing another giveaway for the same prizes for my blog tour starting tomorrow. If you didn't win, come back over the next two weeks for another chance!



Like I said, thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for making my book birthday amazing!
I couldn't have done it without you :)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

OPPRESSION Virtual Launch Party!!

Oppression
(Children of the Gods #1)

There are others like her.
Many of them. 
And they have been waiting for her 
...for a long time.

Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than the average person, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's closer to eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Among so many of her kind, she should not be very remarkable--except for the prophecy. Some believe she will put an end to traditions, safeguarded by violence, which have oppressed her people for centuries. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning--and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.


$0.99 E-Book
Amazon Kindle Edition (UKFrance, Germany)

$12.99 Paperback
Amazon (US)
Barnes & Noble (US) - (Currently SOLD OUT - check back for updates)
Amazon (UK, FranceGermany, Japan)


The Virtual Launch Party Is Here!!
Get Ready for Dancing, Fun, & Prizes...

(The first two words cut out. They are, "Hi! I'm...")


Here's What You Can Win!

Grand Prize: Signed Paperback Edition of Oppression

  


Another Super Cool Prize: Lined Paper Notebook



Pretty Neat Prize: Oppression Poster

 


How Can You Win?

To be entered to win these prizes you can do any of the following:

1. Tweet about the release of Oppression using the hashtag #Book1OPPRESSION.

Example: Celebrate the release of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien #Book1OPPRESSION #YA Available NOW!
Example: Read #Book1OPPRESSION (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien today for only .99 cents! http://amzn.to/wBDtn1    

2. Facebook - tag @Jessica Therrien (Author) about the release of Oppression.

Example: Celebrate the launch of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien! The e-book is on sale now for NOOK & Kindle for only .99 cents! http://amzn.to/yidy6C
Example: Spread the word for prizes! Today is the official release of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) by @jessicatherrien
    
3. Visit any of the following Virtual Launch Party Host blogs and comment on their Virtual Launch Party posts:

PARTY HOST POSTS


Jaime Morrow
Avery Marsh
Jocelyn Rish

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Buzz: OPPRESSION Virtual Launch Party Tomorrow!

Hey! It's sort of awesome that I can post about Oppression for this week's The Buzz. If you're unfamiliar with my Monday posts, usually I write about what's hot in the YA book/movie world. Lately it's been all about The Host movie, The Hunger Games Movie, Veronica Roth's debut novel Divergent, Moira Young's debut novel Blood Red Road, and other tidbits of YA information.

Today my news is about my own YA debut book launch! Tomorrow I'll be hosting (along with some awesome blogger friends) a Virtual Launch Party for Oppression (Children of the Gods #1). I've been waiting forever for this, so I am beyond excited (I'm jumping, flailing, singing....and of course...DANCING!). When I announced I'd be having a Virtual Launch Party I jokingly bragged that there would be virtual dancing. I do LOVE dancing. Thanks to my fellow author friend Rachel Morgan, that joke turned into a dare...SO...yes. There will be virtual dancing in the form of a video. How can you pass up a chance to see that, right?

Come back tomorrow to join in the fun and dance along with me :)

Oh, and thank you so much to everyone helping me host the party! Here's the list of hosts...check out their blogs:


Jaime Morrow
Avery Marsh
Marisa A Corvisiero
Jocelyn Rish

Okay...so I can't leave you all hanging. I know you really came here to get the latest on The Host Movie. Here it is: Enter HERE for a chance to be featured in the first trailer for the movie!

Here's the latest from Stephenie Meyer: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost_movie.html


Who's coming to my virtual launch party?

Friday, February 24, 2012

Buy Oppression (Pre-Release) For .99 Cents!!!

So the official release of my debut novel, Oppression (Children of the Gods #1), isn't until the 28th, BUT...sometimes magic happens, and then your book goes on sale early, and you look it up on Amazon (because you're obsessively checking the pre-order ranking) and there it is FOR SALE...and wait...is the e-book only .99 cents???!!!

HOLY SMOKES THE E-BOOK IS ONLY .99 CENTS!!

I discovered this last night and thanks to all of you marvelous blogger/facebook/twitter pals, the e-book became the Kindle #1 Hot New Release for Greek & Roman Mythology AND it rose to the #2 Kindle Best-Seller in the same category!!

Here's my proof:


Product Details
         Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars
  See all reviews
 (7 customer reviews)
         Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,972 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)



Thanks to everyone who has purchased the book!
If you're like...hey, I want to purchase the book for .99 cents!! What the heck man...
You still can!!


PS - The Virtual Launch Party for Oppression will still be held on the 28th! 
Get ready for some fun, prizes, and DANCING!!!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Writing World: Book Launch Announcement!

What a month! I've been thinking, breathing, and living writing world...it's non-stop, but awesome. Over the weekend I attended the annual Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego where I got to celebrate the upcoming release of my debut novel Oppression (Children of the Gods #1). A year ago at that very conference I was discovered by ZOVA Books and signed with them a few weeks later. To celebrate our anniversary, ZOVA gave me an amazing gift...I was able to sell my book in advance! We set out a table where my book sat next to other great authors' works (New York Times #1 bestselling authors Michael Blake (“Dances With Wolves,” “The Holy Road,” “Into The Stars”) and Anna Lee Waldo (“Sacajawea,” “Watch the Face of the Sky”), as well as SCWC director Wes Albers (“Black & White”), and Kirkus Star recipient Clive London (“Prince Albert and the Doomsday Device”). It was the first time I got to sign my author signature...all swoopy and cool looking ;) Thanks everyone who bought my book and supported me at the conference!

Selling my book in advance was a great feeling, it was a taste of what my official book launch will be like. That's right...book launch! Woohooo! Barnes & Noble will be hosting an official book launch for me in Fullerton, CA on March 3rd (Saturday) at 4:00pm.

Here's where I beg and plead for you to come...please please, pretty please come! I know that's borderline pathetic...ok, full blown pathetic, but this is my first book! I'm having these nightmares of sitting alone in the store with a huge pile of books. Kind of traumatizing...

If you do come, I promise it will be fun. I'll say a few thanks, read my favorite passage, and sign books. Then if I get real super famous you can say, "oooh look what I have," and sell it for a million dollars (I go back and forth between the nightmares and this, lol). Thanks in advance to everyone who comes! I'll make sure to repay the favor.



When: March 3rd (Saturday)
What Time: 4:00PM
Amerige Heights Town Center,
1923 West Malvern Avenue,
Fullerton, CA 92833
714-871-9855

I hope to see you all there!!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

OPPRESSION: Chapter One

The release of Oppression (Children of the Gods #1) is officially in seven days! ONE WEEK! Holy smokes...Breath in. Breath out. In. Out. I'm so excited I can hardly handle it. I'll admit, I've become a tad bit OCD...checking GoodReads every five minutes, email, facebook, twitter. I just want to yell the news from the rooftops of my virtual homes, "Hey, my book is out in a week!"

So, to celebrate my over-excitedness, ZOVA has allowed me to post the first 4 or so pages of chapter one. I hope you like it :)



CHAPTER ONE

IT WAS DECEMBER 12, 1973. I remember because it was my fiftieth birthday, and Christmas was coming, so the snow was to be expected. In this area of northern California, we rarely saw anything but a white Christmas. Chilcoot was nestled high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A small rectangular green sign was the only evidence that the small town actually existed: Chilcoot, California, Elevation 5000 ft, Population 58. A distracted driver could easily pass through the two-mile stretch of road that touched its borders without realizing he’d seen it.
We were on our way into the city, the closest to our house being over an hour away, and Daddy was grinning ear to ear as he drove his new forest green Cadillac Coupe de Ville into the oncoming flurries. He loved that car.
“Now, make sure the tree is sturdy, Elyse, and nice and tall,” Daddy said.
“I know, Dad. I think I’ve picked enough trees in my life to know a good one. Besides, you never let me choose it anyway,” I mumbled under my breath. I saw my mother’s cheeks lift into a smile. She must have heard me, and she knew it was the truth. We’d had this birthday tradition for the last twenty years. I was supposed to be the one to pick out the Christmas tree, but my choices hardly ever passed Daddy’s final inspection.
“Don’t you like this one?” he’d ask. “Yours is a little thin on the bottom. This one’s much better, right?”
“Right,” I would mutter mechanically.
“See, Sarah, she’s a good sport, knows a good one when she sees it.”
My mother never argued. He was too much of a perfectionist to let anyone else handle those sorts of things. It was kind of funny really, one of his little eccentricities that I overlooked in my youth.
It was two o’clock in the afternoon, but the day was dim. The sun had been swallowed up by the all-consuming white. I was gazing out the back window as it happened, trying to judge the visibility through the whiteout. I couldn’t see far, just beyond the edge of the fence that ran alongside the road.
“Richard, slow down!” my mother shouted. The words triggered the incident like she had seen it coming. The car drifted into the next lane, and I felt the loss of control as the paved road became slick ice. My body stiffened in response to the awkward gliding sensation, and I braced myself for the impact. Every second of the slow motion tumble seemed an eternity as I prepared for the last moments of life. I clung to those seconds, taking in the final images that my eyes would see, and listening for the closing lines that would mark the end.
“Ellie!”
My mother’s panicked voice rang out in the hollow silence of the cab with a sort of knowing uncertainty just before we hit.
***
It had been thirty-nine years since the accident, and still thesephotos stirred up the last memory I had of them. I stared down at the faded pictures, the delicate paper worn on the edges. I would never forget. The last words of my parents, the flickering image of a deep red that stained the snow like an open wound on the skin of the earth, and the crumpled Cadillac flipped over in the bank.
The photos were old, too old for me to be in them, but I was. My mother’s silky brown hair billowed over her shoulders, and I was glad I still remembered the toasted almond color of it because the gray and white image didn’t do it justice. The lack of color masked her would-be sky blue eyes and rosy cheeks. She was gorgeous. My father, to her left, was looking far too concentrated on the camera, furrowed brow and closed mouth. His skin, dark from working in the sun, nicely contrasted his short blond hair which he wore parted and combed to the side. I was at his feet, and we were posing in front of the tree like a typical storybook family. It was the Christmas of 1939. I looked three years old, but in truth, I was much older.
I was born in 1923 with a rare genetic abnormality. Like my mother and father, I aged five times slower than the average person. I’d been alive for eighty-nine years making me almost eighteen in the eyes of the rest of the world, and for the most part I felt young. I was living in San Francisco now. I found the city much easier to hide in than the small towns I had been moving to every five years or so since their death. In the city, I was just another face, another body in the crowd, completely invisible amongst the masses.
“We’ve gone to great lengths to live as we do, Ellie. It’s for your safety,” my father had always insisted. “Our bodies are durable and strong, but that’s a blessing and a curse. The secrecy of our identities is precious, and there is no telling what could happen if we were to be found out. People like us could not live a normal life if we were exposed.”
It was all I ever learned about myself and why I was so different, why I had to live in secret. Looking back, there was so much more I wanted to know, so many unanswered questions. What about my grandparents? What about my future? Was I destined to be alone? How did my parents find each other? Were there others? My father never went into detail. Instead, he avoided my questions, always suggesting a distraction that would divert my attention for a while.
“In time you’ll learn to live under the radar as we’ve done. For now, why don’t we get you a puppy?”
They bought me a Border Collie. She was black with white spots and white feet. I named her Sweetie, and I loved her like I had never loved anything. She went with me everywhere, and in my friendless world, Sweetie became the best friend I’d ever had. The attachment we’d formed seemed unbreakable, but as nature would have it, Sweetie died when I was nine. On that day, I fully understood why my parents had not wanted me to have friends—friends who I would love, who would age, and leave, and die.
The phone rang loud and unexpected, waking me out of my nostalgia. I returned the old photos to the small gold chest I kept them in and stumbled over unpacked boxes trying to get to the receiver. I had just moved in about two weeks ago, and the naked living room still void of furniture was a scattered mess. I picked up on the third ring, still lost a little in my own head.
“Hello?” I answered, expecting the only person who had my number.
“Ellie?”
“Hey,” I said, happy to hear from her. “I know I haven’t called. Sorry.”
I caught my reflection in the hallway mirror, still so young. My light brown hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, my cheeks wrinkle-free and rosy. I felt guilty listening to Anna’s older voice. Over the years, she’d become a woman of forty- eight, and I’d barely changed.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Writers Campaign Challenge #1

As part of Rachael Harrie's Platform-Building Campaign we've been given our first flash fiction challenge. The Challenge is:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count. 
If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:
  • end the story with the words: "everything faded." (also included in the word count)
  • include the word "orange" in the story
  • write in the same genre you normally write
  • make your story 200 words exactly!

The Other Side


     Shadows crept across the wall. It was him.
     “I know you’re here.” My voice cut through the silence of my empty bedroom.
     Every night he’d been coming. Invisible, but present, his silhouetted form the only proof I wasn’t crazy. I clicked on my bedside lamp. He couldn’t hide in the orange glow.
     I gasped as the light outlined his shaded figure.
     He moved quickly, away from me.
     “Don’t go,” I shouted. “I want to come with you.”
     He stopped, came closer. I reached for him. The way the air warmed where he stood was both terrifying and exciting. He was real.
     I felt the warmth on my face, his hand.
     “I know it’s you, Jack,” I said, tears wetting my lashes. I’d never loved anyone else. He’d died too soon. “Please take me with you.”
     The warmth moved to my lips, and I breathed it in, the familiar scent of sage and earth.
     “Please.”
     His invisible hands found my neck, gently at first. The pulse of my heart quickened beneath the heat of his fingers.
     “Do it.”
     The loss of air was startling, but I wanted this. I couldn’t live without him. I smiled with closed eyes as everything faded.

If you liked my story, you can give it a thumbs up here. I'm #47.