Congratulations to 24 winners!

Robot Playground Inc is happy to announce the winners to the Transcendent Giveaway.

Kidlets #1 & #2 & #3 picked out the winning numbers, and whenever I told them the names of their picks, they got all excited. I heard a lot of "That's the best name!"

You all made three little girls very happy for an hour.

Candie L. won the Grand Prize Paranormal Survival Package:

• the movie Beastly in DVD or Blu-Ray (winner's choice)
• candy & popcorn (can't watch a movie without snacks)
• paperback copy of Transcendent
• eBook copy of Tears

Ashley Lavering won the second prize: paperback Transcendent: Tales of the Paranormal


Szabina won the third prize:  paperback Tears by Rita J Webb


Trasina won the fourth prize:  paperback anthology Unlocked: Ten "Key" Tales edited by Wendy Swore and Rita J Webb


Kelly won the fifth prize: eBook Intrinsical by Lani Woodland


Gwen won the sixth prize: eBook When Kyle Comes Back by Melanie Marks


Jennifer K Clark won the seventh prize: eBook Possession by Elana Johnson


Maegan Morin won the eighth prize: eBook Sapphire Flute and eBook The Armor of Light by Karen E Hoover


Kristin Feliz won the ninth prize: eBook The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard: Two Souls are Better Than One by Karen E Hoover


Donna K Weaver won the tenth prize: eBook Blank Slate by Heather Justesen


Jaclyn won the eleventh prize: eBook Bound by C. K. Bryant


Teressa Oliver won the twelfth prize: eBook Season of Sacrifice by Tristi Pinkston


Gena Robertson won the thirteenth prize: paperback Watched by Cindy M Hogan


Christine Jensen won the fourteenth prize: eBook Watched by Cindy M Hogan


Heidi Noel won the fifteenth prize: eBook Wings of Light by Laura Bingham


Desi won the sixteenth prize: paperback The Peasant Queen by Cheri Chesley


Melissa Haggerty won the seventeenth prize: eBook The Wild Queen by Cheri Chesley


Lucia won the eighteenth prize: eBook Exiled by Rachelle Workman


Dacie won the nineteenth prize: eBook Become by Ali Cross


Francesca won the twentieth prize: ANOTHER eBook copy of Become by Ali Cross


Reagan Walsh won the twenty-first prize: eBook copy of Totally Cliché by Kasey Tross, Debra Erfert, Cathy Witbeck, & More


Eileen won the twenty-second prize: eBook copy of Four Houses by Tori Scott


Lisa won the twenty-third prize: eBook copy of Darkspell by Elizabeth Mueller


Aanchal won the twenty-fourth prize: eBook copy of Vampire Rules by K.C. Blake

Transcendent Giveaway

*drumroll* *trumpet fanfare* *shouts from a cheering crowd*

Robot Playground Inc is happy to announce the Great and Marvelous Transcendent Giveaway

• Post your name and email address
  format: name[at]wherever[dot]com
• To be eligible, sing Jingle Bells backwards. Okay, we won't require that, but it sure would be fun to try. Don't you think? Just one little try? I dare you to make a you-tube video of it. Tell me about it, and I'll post the best rendition here on Rita's World
• Deadline: midnight EST January 15, 2012
• Drawing will be held the following week. Winners will be announced by January 22, 2012.
• Each winner will receive one of the many prizes listed below.
• For other chances to win prizes, visit the blog Goddess of the Corn or the Unlocking Books Discussion Group

No Purchase Necessary. But purchases of Transcendent: Tales of the Paranormal (eBook on Kindle & Nook is only 99c) and HONEST reviews and postings on Facebook & Twitter will be appreciated. Karma, luck, and blessings will follow you wherever you go...along with little blue birds who sing your praises. And furry woodland creatures will love you.

Purchase Information:
Paperback on Amazon: Purchase Now for $10.99!
Paperback on Barnes and Noble: Coming Soon for $10.99!
eBook on Kindle: Purchase today for 99c!
eBook on Nook: Purchase today for 99c!

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Prizes:
Grand Prize Paranormal Survival Package:

• the movie Beastly in DVD or Blu-Ray (winner's choice)
• candy & popcorn (can't watch a movie without snacks)
• paperback copy of Transcendent
• eBook copy of Tears

OKAY, so that is the grand prize; now on to the rest of the prizes. And more prizes will be added before the giveaway is over.

Second Prize:  paperback Transcendent: Tales of the Paranormal

Third Prize:  paperback Tears by Rita J Webb

Fourth Prize:  paperback anthology Unlocked: Ten "Key" Tales edited by Wendy Swore and Rita J Webb

Fifth Prize: eBook Intrinsical by Lani Woodland

Sixth Prize: eBook When Kyle Comes Back by Melanie Marks

Seventh Prize: eBook Possession by Elana Johnson

Eighth Prize: eBook Sapphire Flute and eBook The Armor of Light by Karen E Hoover

   

Ninth Prize: eBook The Misadventures of a Teenage Wizard: Two Souls are Better Than One by Karen E Hoover

Tenth Prize: eBook Blank Slate by Heather Justesen

Eleventh Prize: eBook Bound by C. K. Bryant

Twelfth Prize: eBook Season of Sacrifice by Tristi Pinkston

Thirteenth Prize: paperback Watched by Cindy M Hogan

Fourteenth Prize: eBook Watched by Cindy M Hogan

Fifteenth Prize: eBook Wings of Light by Laura Bingham

Sixteenth Prize: paperback The Peasant Queen by Cheri Chesley

Seventeenth Prize: eBook The Wild Queen by Cheri Chesley

Eighteenth Prize: eBook Exiled by Rachelle Workman

Nineteenth Prize: eBook Become by Ali Cross

Twentieth Prize: ANOTHER eBook copy of Become by Ali Cross

Twenty-first Prize: eBook copy of Totally Cliché by Kasey Tross, Debra Erfert, Cathy Witbeck, & More

Twenty-second Prize: eBook copy of Four Houses by Tori Scott

Twenty-third Prize: eBook copy of Darkspell by Elizabeth Mueller

Twenty-fourth Prize: eBook copy of Vampire Rules by K.C. Blake

Purchase Information:
Paperback on Amazon: Purchase Now for $10.99!
Kindle: Purchase today for $2.99!
Nook: Purchase today for $2.99!

Sex in YA Books

When you hit thirteen, you become an adult-in-training. Puberty is the waking of sexuality. We cripple our teenagers if we try to sweep adult issues under the rug. We do them no favors by controlling their thoughts or banning books that contains sexuality.

I can’t even remember how many books I read on the sly when I was a teenager, including Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Flies, and The Eye of the Dragon. None of them were racy or evil, but they were banned from the house all the same. So I kept them in my school locker and read them during study hall.

Rather than banning books, the smarter thing to do is to read the book as well and to keep an open dialog with your kids about issues that the book raises. When it comes to sexuality, there are many topics to discuss: making responsible decisions, knowing what true love is, dealing with making the wrong decision, facing consequences, surviving rape, feeling pressured... What better way is there to learn than to face the problems through the eyes of characters in a book and learn from their mistakes?

YA writers have a responsibility to address these issues. Using flawed characters and difficult situations, writers can help YA readers learn from the characters whose worlds they travel through.

In Going Bovine by Libba Bray, Cameron has sex with a girl from his high school, and when it is over, he feels hollow inside because he never loved her. A great opportunity to learn that sex without love is not satisfying.

In Beauty Queens, also by Libba Bray, one of the girls loses her virginity but discovers afterward that she was used. From the experience, she learns that she has value. How many girls out there make this same mistake? Reading this book and talking about it with an adult would be one of the best ways to avoid making this mistake or to learn how to recover from such an experience.

In White Cat (Curse Workers) and in Red Glove (Curse Workers, Book 2) by Holly Black, Cassel must turn down the girl he has loved since they were best friends as kids. Why? Because her emotions were magically altered to make her love him, and he loves her too much to use her. To protect her from himself, he goes so far as to tell her he doesn’t love her, even when it breaks her heart—and his. Heart wrenching and beautiful.

In Speak by Laura Halse Anderson, a freshman in high school crawls into a shell, refusing to speak, finding every opportunity to hide in the janitor’s closet, failing when she used to be a straight A student, skipping classes, wearing baggy clothes, fighting nightmares. Why? Because she made the mistake of drinking at a party that summer and got raped. Nobody knows. Not the parents or teachers who think that she has a discipline problem. Not the classmates or ex-friends who shun her. Not the art teacher who encourages her. The story carries you through her road to healing. A must read for mothers to share with teenage daughters.

It was hard to make the decisions I did about the content in my book Tears. One beta-reader told me that the detail was too graphic for a YA book. There actually is no on-scene sex in my book. Not even a foreplay scene that fades to black. There are a few kissing scenes that don’t lead anywhere. But the only way readers know that Jaak and Chester have sex is because Chester gets pregnant.

What my beta-reader referred to was Aren’s admiration of Lelea and his vivid imagination about what he would like to do with her:

He would choose a warrior woman to be his mate—like Lelea. Now there was a woman, strong and shapely. She could stalk her prey, wield a knife, shoot even better than he could—she had kicked his ass—and he liked how her nipples perked up under her skintight suit.

– Tears by Rita J Webb, page 181

Aren stood behind the two girls in the doorway to the cargo bay. From his angle, he could see nothing but a gray wall and a corner of the metal door on the ceiling—and two perfect butts in tight jumpsuits. He liked Lelea’s better. Maybe because she was shorter; the right height for him to grab it.

– Tears by Rita J Webb, page 199

A gun belted to her waist, Lelea strapped a rifle over her shoulder and a knife to her leg. Aren liked how she carried herself. The soft, weak girl he had first met was gone. Was this the real Lelea? A soldier like Jadon?

But then he had fought her in the cave back on Lantis. It had to have been her.

She wore a bodysuit, and her nipples stood out under the cloth. He should look away, he knew, but the perfect curve of her breast…

If only the shirt hung loose, then he could see the pink nipple hidden underneath as she bent over. He imagined it hard between his teeth.

Catching his gaze, she winked. Aren glanced away, his face burning.

Her hand on his shoulder. “Never be ashamed of the wildness that makes you a man.”

His gaze darted back to hers. Her smile ignited a fire within him.

– Tears by Rita J Webb, pages 215-216

The last thing I want is to offend, so I almost cut it all out. However, I stopped to think about what it was I wanted to relate to my readers:

1) There’s no shame in healthy sexuality.

2) Fifteen-year-old men think about sex.

3) Men of all ages think about sex.

Ten years of marriage taught me that. A woman who tries to keep her husband’s balls in a jar by the bed will likely have a husband who can’t do much more than watch football and scream for the wench to bring his beer.

I really believe that if you cut away someone’s sexuality, you cut away part of their soul. You leave them crippled inside—man or woman. And so I left the offending passages as they were.

Becoming a Writer

The road to becoming a published author was long and treacherous--writing, studying writing books, reading good books to study style, writing, more writing, publishing a non-for-profit anthologies (Unlocked & Menage a 20) with friends, more writing, studying, reading, more writing. Months marched into years of sleepless nights and dreary days.

Many times I wanted to give up, but to give up meant losing all hope. I would have to admit there was nothing more to life than rushing to a pointless job. I would remember Lelea's words in my book Tears: Always choose the path that brings hope.

That became my mantra, day after day. Ha, somewhere hidden inside me is an insane person full of wisdom, and she talks to me, telling me to keep going and never give up.



Here's the excerpt:

Closing my eyes, I pull the song closer and let it fill every cell in my being. I imagine it twirling and bouncing inside me. So loud, it drowns out everything else.

Then I draw on the device’s screen, using the attached pen.

“What is it?” he asks.

A man, a woman, two children. A dark-haired girl with freckles, a blond boy with sparkly blue eyes. I paint a picture of his future.

His fingers tap in time with the music in my head. Does he hear it too?

I stop when I see the red scar on the inside of his arm. “Your army tattoo. You burned it off. Did it feel like you tore your family out of your soul?”

Muscles in his jaw stand out. “Don’t remind me.”

“Once upon a time, a man and a woman bound themselves together for life, and they would raise their children together. Your heart remembers, and that is why you left the army.”

“What would you know about why I left the army? You had the easy life, the General’s daughter, spoiled.”

“Is that what you think?” I glance down at my own arm. I never got a tattoo, and he can’t see the thousands of cuts from surgery. My flawless skin doesn’t have a scar. He can’t see the pain inside me.

“You don’t know what it was like living in the dorms.” His shoulders slump. A dark cloud presses against him, pushing him down to the table.

“I see more than you think I do, and I know what the future holds. Please believe me.”

“Girl, you’re insane.”

“How many people believe you’re insane to leave the army and the protection of the General? You ran away. You burned your tattoo off. You decided to be free.”

He opens his mouth and then snaps it shut again.

“You chose to protect the weak,” I add.

“How did you—?”

“Maybe I’m not as insane as you think I am.” Or maybe I’m even crazier. I would like to be normal, but then I wouldn’t be here.

“So you say this is my future.”

“Yes, but Jaak, she needs your love. She holds our fates in her hands, and if she doesn’t know you will protect her and your children, she will decide to defend herself at whatever cost. I can’t help her find healing, but you can.” I grip his hand. Please. Please listen to what I tell you.

He studies the picture. The black weight on his shoulders quivers and lightens before it forms claws and digs them into his flesh. Before I can stop him, Jaak snatches the device and throws it across the room.

Red smears drip from where the black claws dig into his heart. Oh my dear friend, the abuse you endured warps your understanding.

I wrap my hands around the black blob and drag it off him. It snarls and hisses at me. Its taint snatches at my soul, but the Dragon’s fire fills my lungs. With her light, I push it back.

“He’s my friend. You can’t have him.” I squeeze it tight. With a pop, it bursts and then disappears. I shiver, suddenly cold; exhaustion makes my head spin.

Jaak staggers to the floor and passes out. Retrieving the picture, I place it in his hand.

“What happened?” He wakes and heaves himself up.

“The ship rocked. You fell over and hit your head.” Maybe I’m learning how to lie.

He glances down at the device. A smile spreads across his face. “Do you really think…?”

“It’s called hope.”

“What?”

“What you feel. It’s hope.”

“Hope?”

I nod. “Always choose the option that makes you feel like this.”

My advice to you is to always follow the path that leads to your own personal hope.