What if aliens really did land during the broadcast of "War of the Worlds," but led to an entirely different encounter? 

Embers & Dust explores this. Such a beautiful little piece of sci-fi. The father/son stuff is lovely. 

​It's that time of year again! Time to hunt across the entire internet for fame, fortune, and... okay actually it's time for the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt, where you have a chance to win up to 100 YA books! This is my fifth scavenger hunt, and I love how every time I have a chance to meet and learn about authors and books I've never heard of before. 

​A quick introduction for those of you finding my site for the first time: I'm Matthew Phillion, and I write about superheroes. The Indestructibles is a series of books about five rookie heroes--a solar powered girl, a ballerina vigilante, a boy with an alien in his brain giving him cosmic powers, a Whovian with a black hole where her heart should be, and a werewolf with confidence issues. The most recent book took them into outer space, and the next book in the series is a standalone spinoff, "Echo and the Sea," about a young heroine who finds out she might be heir to the throne of Atlantis, and must pick a side between her surface life and the one that awaits below the ocean. I mention this upcoming book because, hidden out there in the YA Scavenger Hunt, is the first-ever sample chapter from "Echo and the Sea," offered exclusively for anyone who can find it among Team Gold's authors! Every author who participates offers you exclusive content you can't find anywhere else, selected especially for the hunt. Cover art and deleted scenes, playlists and character notes, you can find it all... it's like the best Behind the Scenes bonus content you can find. 

Oh--that's right. Forgot to mention. I'm on Team Gold. Check out the other amazing books and authors on our team. There are also Blue, Pink, Purple, and Red teams out there waiting for you to discover them. One lucky winner will win a copy of a book by each team's authors. All the books, guys. Win all the books. 

How, you might ask? Here's the rules: 

First, I recommend stopping by the official YASH site to find out all the key details. You'll find a list of participating authors as well as all the potential prizes up for grabs. 

Next: 

On to the puzzle. 

Did I mention there's a puzzle? 
 
THE PUZZLE: 

Don't worry. It's a good puzzle. You'll notice that somewhere below, I've mentioned my favorite number. Find all the favorite numbers of all the authors on Gold Team (same goes for the other four teams as well--you can participate in all five games if you'd like). Then add them up. And before anyone asks: calculators are not cheating. 

ENTER:  

Fill out the entry form with the total of all your authors' numbers. 

THE RULES (ugh, rules, I know): 

Here's the basics: YASH is open internationally. Only one entry per person per team. You'll have to claim your prize within 48 hours or the prize will be re-drawn. Duplicate entries will be disregarded, as well as anyone who blatantly disregards the rules. If you have any questions,  you can email [email protected] (I will try to answer any questions in the comments section below, also). 

​You have until APRIL 9 to enter. Entries close at midnight. Only correct entries submitted through the official form will count. No purchase necessary. 

​Now, on to the fun part: 

​Before I let this run on for 7 (seven) (HINT HINT) pages, let me introduce... 

OUR GUEST AUTHOR! 

This hunt I'm proud to host author Breeana Shields. Breeana is the author of Poison’s Kiss (Random House, 2017) and Poison’s Cage (Random House, 2018).

Breeana graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in English. When she’s not reading or writing, she loves traveling, eating good food–especially if it’s pasta or chocolate–and spending time with her husband, her three children and an extremely spoiled miniature poodle.

Okay first of all: I love this cover. This cover is gorgeous. But enough editorializing by me. Let me tell you a bit about Poison's Kiss: 

"Marinda’s kiss is deadly. She is a legendary visha kanya – “poison maiden” – able to kill a man with only her lips as a weapon. Since childhood, she’s served the Raja as one of his most lethal assassins.

Until now, the men she was ordered to kiss have been strangers. Enemies of the kingdom.

But when Marinda receives orders to kiss a boy she has feelings for—a boy she knows too well to believe he deserves to die—she begins to question who she’s really working for.
​
And that thread, once pulled, will unravel more than she can afford to lose."

​to find out more about Breeana's work, be sure to check out her website here. 
 

​Breeana has provided us with an exclusive playlist to go along with Poison's Kiss. You can find the playlist that goes along with the book here: 

Playlist for Poison’s Kiss
 
Falling Awake by Gary Jules
Desi Thoughts by A.R. Rahman
Blame it on Me by George Ezra
The Chimes at Midnight by Thomas Newman
My My Love by Joshua Radin
The Final Pitch by A.R. Rahman
Like Real People Do by Hozier

​Be sure to continue on to the next author in the scavenger hunt and enter to win books by me, Breeana Shields, and eighteen other authors on Gold Team. Leave a comment below and let me know if you've participated before or if this is your first year--and if you're a superhero fan, mention your favorite character in the comments as well! 

Don't forget--my favorite number is 7 (seven). You'll need that to enter to win. 

And now let me direct you to the next author in the scavenger hunt: Selene Castrovilla, author of Signs of Life, Book 2 in the Rough Romance Trilogy. 

Good luck, and go Gold Team!