Okay, first let me start out by saying this was HARD. I had no idea when I came up with this little contest idea that I'd get such a big response, which is so cool. There were more than 100 entries, and I have to narrow the winners down to 4 (2 for the cover, 2 for the description). I wish I had like 100 ARCs to give out, seriously.
But, there can only be 4.
Plus 6 runner-ups, who will not receive Hallowed ARCs (boo), but who WILL receive any other kind of Unearthly-related stuff I can scrounge up, like bookplates and bookmarks and maybe Clara's favorite Halloween candy.
So, without further ado, the winners:
For the cover contest:
an entry by Jessica M. I thought this was gorgeous, first of all. And I liked how she incorporated the quote from Unearthly but gave it a whole new and devious meaning. Awesome. Congrats. An ARC of Hallowed is yours.
The other ARC will go to Roberta Mansfield, for this image:
This made me laugh out loud. Tucker's dismembered head was such a nice touch, and changing the name to Hollowed and having a hollowed-out space in Clara's chest. Classic. Plus fire and black wings and blood. Wow.
And now the runners up, who won't get an ARC but some other cool stuff:
Priscilla Peters, who sent me this lovely image:
Priscilla sent me 5 different entries, and they were all beautiful, but in the end I went with this black and white one. It was just . . . creepy. Bravo.
Christina Rose:
This was the first entry I received that really made me sit back and go, WOW. So Halloweeny. I loved it. I swear Clara's been looking a bit thin lately.
And last, but not least, Katie Kelly:
This was so beautiful and eerie and cool. I loved it.
Maybe this is torture, but I also want to mention Alexandra Torres, Ashley Ferguson, Faithe Maher, Kaylee Maddox, and Olliver Hood (Olliver's had this quote: "Simply brilliant"--The Devil, which also made me laugh out loud.) You guys made my top 10.
And on to the book descriptions.
Winner #1, funkelstein17, with this:
She´s waited such a long time for this day. It was October 31. Halloween. Night of demons and vampires. Her night. This was the night to finally fulfil her purpose. Clara Gardner, supernaturally beautiful and pale faced vampire, who had the ability to switch between dimensions - has trained for this day for years, mentally and physically. It was the darkest night of this year too, no moon, no stars, just blackness. Together with her mate Christian Prescott, scarred and red-faced king of demons, she´d do it tonight. Standing on top of a mountain near Jackson lake she´d raise her hand and with her high pitched scream a gap in space and time would appear like tongues of flames out of nowhere. Through the tunnel-like flame hole she would be able to see right into Cynthia Hands home, watching Cynthia writing at her desk while she was being completely oblivious to what was coming for her. Christian Prescott writhed in agony as he read Clara´s thoughts: Tonight Clara would torture Cynthia painfully to death if Tucker could not be her boyfriend anymore in the next book. He was determined to avert this, he was supposed to be her soulmate for eternity…
I was highly entertained by the idea of Clara torturing me to death if I separated her from Tucker.
Winner #2:
Mimi Valentine
Clara Gardner wasn't dead.
But every zombie hunter wished she was. Dubbed the legendary Severed Hand because of her missing right arm, Clara was one of the most notorious undead beings to haunt the Earth. She ate hearts and stole hands, as if to compensate for the she'd lost; according to rumors, she didn't even chew before she swallowed. There wasn't a single hunter who had managed to stop her wrath.
Until Tucker. Gorgeous, golden, and absolutely determined, Tucker Avery was one of the best zombie hunters out there... except he was dead too. As a zombie-hunting zombie, he was trusted by neither the dead nor the alive. Not that it mattered much to him. After watching his family die at the hands of a zombie and then being infected by the same guy, Tucker's only goal was to rid the world of all undead beings -- and then himself.
So it was natural that he'd take it upon himself to destroy the one-handed girl who haunted the boonies. Only problem? There were some things about the mysterious Severed Hand that not even the gory stories told.
Like the fact that, once upon a time when they were both alive, Tucker and Clara had known each other.
And she remembered him.
I picked this because, well, it was just an excellently written description. I want to read that book. And nothing says Halloween like Clara and Tucker as star-crossed zombies.
Runners up for this were Shannon (my agent liked this one!), Sara, and Gabi. Bookplates, bookmarks, and fun stuff for you!
If you didn't win, never fear. There will be more giveaways and contests in the future, and some not as difficult, I promise.
Whew. This was SO fun. Thanks for all the support for Hallowed.
Unearthly comes to PAPERBACK tomorrow! Tell your friends!
And now I'm off to trick-or-treat with my kiddos.
XO
C
