The audiobook for Sovereign is here! Experience it again in a whole new light, brought to life by the wonderful and talented Corinne Bupp!
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Welcome to the Crawl!Hi, there. ER Arroyo here, co-founder of Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans (aka BOD). We have been having a blast this year at our second annual Zombie Crawl and we hope you're enjoying it too! My husband and I got married the same month The Walking Dead debuted on AMC, and it's always an easy reminder of how many seasons the show is up to, or maybe The Walking Dead is an easy reminder of how long we've been married... either way! Of course, we love - LOVE - the show. It should come as no surprise that, as an admin of BOD, I sort of live in zombie-world all year round as zombies are always a big hit in the group and almost always a regular topic of BOD conversation. For my anniversary this year, my husband took me to a place in northern Tennessee for a zombie hunting paintball adventure. We had an absolute blast. The trip was a total surprise to me, but once we were there it dawned on me we had the crawl coming up and I just HAD to document the trip for you all! Waiting in line
While waiting in line for tickets, some creatures were roaming around, suddenly RIGHT THERE. Of course, being the calm, collected individual that I am... I made sure to only take pics from afar and not to look them in the eye. LOL. I ain't skeert! (<-- pardon my southern).
First things first... Shooting Gallery
No moving targets. Good way to get our feet wet.
Zombie Hunting Paintball Hayride
This was the event's main attraction. You ride around on a hayride with your paintball gun bolted to the rails. The zombies were understandably covered in protective gear, so not too scary looking. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of zombies because I was too busy shooting them. Sorry!
I ran out of ammo before it was over... but whatever. :)
The thing we feared most... Dark Room!
Touted as an escape game... we didn't know what to expect other than darkness. Were there terrifying things hiding within this trailer's walls? Zombies? Would there be any light at all? This turned out to be our favorite feature of the entire night! We were informed while waiting in line that only one team had successfully gotten out that night. We were determined, but we didn't make it! Turns out... this one had nothing to do with zombies and everything to do with problem solving skills. We wanted to try again when our fifteen minutes were up!
Night of the Living Dead on the Lawn?
Nice touch. But ain't nobody got time for that.
Zombie Mission!
A trek through the woods with paintball shotguns, a few obstacles, and sneaky zoms to kill! These guns were much more accurate and I wished we'd had them all night! Super fun!
That wasn't so bad!
At the end of the evening we picked up our free t-shirts and headed for the exit, but first... it was time to face those scary characters from the entrance.... And no, I still wouldn't look them in the face. Ha!
If you ever get the chance, you should totally check out an event like this! We had a blast! Check out my giveaway below and I hope you enjoy the rest of the crawl! (P.S. There's a THRILLER dance contest happening at BOD. Some super cool prizes up for grabs.)
>>> Giveaway <<<
WINNER'S CHOICE
Enter for a chance to win one of three great prizes - winner's choice!
Option 1: Signed paperback copies of my YA dystopian books Sovereign and The Offering, featuring zombie-like human mutations called savages. (US Only) Option 2: A free BOD t-shirt on me! Check out our new merch store over at BingTees.com! (US Only) Option 3: $20 Amazon Gift Card (delivered via email) [International]
Don't forget to visit the other stops on the Zombie Crawl 2 Blog Party for more fun z-content and amazing prizes!
Zombie Crawl 2 - Blog PartyOctober 22 - 31, 2015
by Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans
How it works: Each day, the scheduled authors and bloggers will post awesome zombie-tastic content for your enjoyment along with a giveaway on their site/blog/page. You can hop around to all of the participating sites and enter as many giveaways as you like! If you would like to be emailed links to the new posts each day, join this Zombie Crawl Daily Digest list which will ensure you don't miss a post (or join the party on Facebook to get notifications). Make sure to leave comments and interact with the participating sites. Thanks for joining the party!
The Schedule:
OCTOBER 22 - Thursday Band of Dystopian Authors & Fans (Party & Grand Prize Host)Jo Michaels Blog (author) Rissa Blakeley (author)
To learn more about Band of Dystopian and/or to enter our Grand Prize Giveaway, visit BandofDystopian.com and don't forget to join the group on Facebook!
Excited to share this deal with you! Get Prep For Doom for half price. If you haven't read it yet, you really should! Check out these review snippets!
Prep For Doomby Band of DystopianThe release of AVHF upon NYC’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month. Online community, Prep For Doom, has risen to the top of the doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them. From 20 authors comes an integrated collection of short stories about a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, some of whom will cross paths. Where to BuyOther LinksAbout Band of Dystopian
Band of Dystopian (BOD) is a Facebook group, blog, and company dedicated to dystopian, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic books. Our mission is to help fans of dystopian fiction find books they will love and help authors of the genre get the word out about their work. Our community of over 2,700 readers and authors has become a supportive, interactive, and insanely fun place to be. We are branching into the publishing world with our first anthology, Prep For Doom. We have over 200 authors in the group, plenty of great conversation, tons of giveaways, and the perfect place for dystopian lovers to find their next great read.
I'm thrilled to tell you about this project! Since around the new year, I've been putting insane hours into this and I'm so proud that we are almost done. Nineteen other authors and I have put together this incredible book, an anthology like none of us have seen before. A cohesive story wherein each story is a chapter, a piece of the overall tale. Check it out! From the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM - an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, few of whom will ever meet.
What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month. An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation movement. Some have written them off as crazy while others couldn’t be more serious about the safety the preppers could provide in a global disaster. But when AVHF strikes, their preparation may not be enough to save them.
Favorite Z - Show The Walking Dead **It's my favorite show, period. Favorite Z - Movie Zombieland Favorite Z - Book Warm Bodies Check out these zombie pics and enter my giveaway for a $10 Amazon Gift Card AND check out the schedule at the bottom of this post for the rest of the authors & blogs in the Zombie Crawl Blog Party! They'll be giving away great stuff too. Thanks for stopping by! Zombie Fun from beauty college back in 2011 Zombie Snow Day! Zombie Crawl Blog Party ScheduleParty Host & Grand Prize: Band of DystopianOctober 22Hope To Read | Author Jamie Canosa October 23October 24Author Christy Sloat | Author N.W. Harris October 25October 26October 27Secret Life of a Townie | The Writer’s Roadtrip Author Michael Halliday | Author Aria Michaels Imagine, Create, Share, Repeat! October 29Precious Monsters | Author Kate L. Mary Z Plan - Zombie Book Series | Author Michelle Muckley October 30Author Rhiannon Frater | Author Cameo Renae October 31limited Time SaleThe Offering (Sovereign Series Book 2) Consumed by guilt from a war she started, Cori faces the aftermath of her destruction. The Mercy colony is in shambles as infection spreads and Dylan struggles to find a cure before it’s too late. Cori’s love and loyalties are put to the test when he asks her for the unthinkable. Now faced with impossible decisions, Cori must risk her friends and everything she’s ever cared about in order to put things right. She’ll go to unimaginable lengths to save the innocent, no matter the cost. The Sovereign Series YA Dystopian/Post-Apoc Book 1: Sovereign (FREE on all major digital platforms)
Book 2: The Offering ($0.99 limited time) Short Story: Transgression ($0.99) Transgression: A Short Story (Sovereign Series) There is nothing that can drive a man like the need to be acknowledged. There is nothing as dangerous as the desire to be appreciated, if not loved. There is nothing as complicated as family. Before there was Antius, before there were mind-altering drugs, and before there was Corinne Cole, there was Nathan Burke and his colossal Transgression. Transgression delivers the must-read story of the fall of civilization through the eyes of Sovereign's most-hated villain. It is the first of three short prequels to the bestselling Sovereign Series and is best enjoyed as a sequel. Buy Transgression Want to win signed Sovereign Series Paperbacks?
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About E.R. Arroyo An entertainment junkie, E.R. Arroyo is equally passionate about books, music, and movies. Her favorite title is “mommy” and she loves to dabble in all-natural health, wellness, and homemade beauty products. Her bestselling debut novel, Sovereign, was published in 2012. She can’t wait to share more of her stories, and she loves to hear from readers! |
And then another friend read it and she told me as a young adult author, I HAD to read this book -- that it was a matter of literary importance. How could I argue with that?
So I bought the book, and I read the book, and I laughed and cried over the book. And to my surprise, I don't regret it.
Yes, it's a cancer book and it's very sad. BUT ... BUT it's not about cancer. I didn't believe the people who told me that, but it's true. It's about these amazing, intelligent, spirited, unique, and witty teens who come to love each other fiercely and in the process win the hearts of readers. And I tell you this, I have been effectively swooned by Augustus Waters.
There are so many things I could ramble about that I loved in this book. The fact that the characters were smart and quirky and they reminded me so much of myself at that age. The fact that the writing style was refreshing and wonderful -- just plain GREAT writing. The dialogue ... oh the dialogue was remarkable. THIS made me proud to be a young adult author. This showed an incredible respect for teenagers, especially those who are the exception. Teens who are smart and quirky and special. Teens who GET life even in their young, naive, and sometimes small ways.
Another aspect of this book that I feel is worthy of praise is this: Hazel and Augustus have great parents. So often in YA, the main characters are often victims of dysfunctional families and/or absentee/neglectful parents. That's no insult to other authors -- I've done this often myself. But it's rare and beautiful to see teen characters fall in love without sneaking around to grope each other while their parents are none the wiser. Not so in this case. Hazel's parents were great. Gus's parents were great. That alone made the story so incredibly uplifting despite its obvious sadness. As a new parent myself, this meant so much to me to see in a YA book. You CAN be a remarkable teen -- a remarkable main character -- without your parents being villains or missing in action. I love that. Thank you, John Green, so much for that.
Gus and Hazel are flawed and beautiful, and depict so perfectly the notion of soul mates because this is real life: you fight, you screw up, you have goals that aren't realistic, you might be naive, things matter to you that shouldn't. But that one special person, with all their equal and parallel faults, will still GET you and LOVE you come hell or high water -- come cancer and dying. And that's beautiful.
I want love like Hazel and Gus, though I'd like mine to last quite a while longer.
So far, we have had some awesome discussions and we've learned about some great dystopian novels. Hoping for much more to come!
Join the group and use it however is comfortable for you. You can engage in the discussions or simply peruse for your next great read.
We are open to readers, bloggers, reviewers, and authors.
Authors, if you want to know more about what's to come and how to get involved, please join the group and reach out to me via private message. We'd love to have you all.
Visit THIS POST to enter.
The Offering went on a small tour this week and got some wonderful reviews AND there's still plenty of time for you to win this awesome handmade bookish necklace. So check out these reviews and enter the giveaway! Open until May 31st. |
Giveaway
Pick Your Prize Extravaganza
I am so excited to share these character teasers with you. The incredible Najla Qamber has helped bring Cori, Tyce, and Dylan to life -- Thank you so much Naj! The unveiling of the three characters who have dominated so much of my life for the last two years calls for a lot of fun and prizes! I'm holding a massive contest on Facebook that I invite you all to come over and participate in! Check out all the details on the contest here. |
It is my great honor to present .... the cast of The Sovereign Series.
Nicole Fancher's headshot for the Cori promo! Check out Samantha's website.
Buy Now! |
Thank you!!!
Look for The Offering March 25th!
Want to be a part of my Street Team and help spread the word about The Sovereign Series? Check out (this link) and fill out the application if you're interested.
Valentines day is coming up and I don't know about you, but I'll be spending it with my two main squeezes, my awesome husband and son. Still, I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk about my favorite fictional Romances! Here are the 'official' ER Arroyo YA Romance Awards ::: smirk ::: | (Photo Credit: ponsuwan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net) |
Best Triangle: Katniss / Peeta / Gale of the Hunger Games #teampeeta
Sweetie Pie: Peeta | Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Pure HOTness: Adam | Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
Best Male Character Voice: Day | Legend series by Marie Lu (I seriously love this guy)
Best Bad Boy: Warner | Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
Toughest Boyfriend: Four | Divergent series by Veronica Roth
Most Intriguing: Ink | Indelible by Dawn Metcalf
Guilty Pleasure: Jacob | Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer (admit it, you love him too)
Favorite YA Romance: June & Day | Legend series by Marie Lu
In other news, book two is getting VERY close to completion (first draft), and you can look for the cover reveal in a few weeks! Stay tuned, and don't forget to subscribe to my newsletter for updates.
I'm so grateful for all the love and support Sovereign is getting. I'm one happy writer. Thank you, thank you.
ER
"1. When I was growing up ... we always had dogs. Now, I'm allergic to their saliva. It's tragic." ...read more
Sovereign was my debut novel, and it was actually the first novel I completed. For many years I focused mostly on..." ...read more
You can now get Sovereign updates delivered directly to your inbox! That's right, ERArroyo.com now has a newsletter. Sign up now by filling out the form on the sidebar. --->>
It really sounds like there's a lot of great stuff happening in the sidebar. :) Because there is!
Thanks for stopping by my blog. As always, feel free to comment and share!
ER
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Enter to winYesterday, I was discussing my characters/plot with a close friend, and I realized there was something I was going to have to do with the story that brought me to tears! And I just knew, that's what I have to do. So I had a little cry, dried my eyes, and got back to writing.
I am so excited to share this story with you all! There was a time when I wasn't sure there was any story left, but these characters have more to say. And they get to say it... in book two!
Stay tuned for some news next week! :)
E.R. Arroyo
Author of Sovereign
Editor of Prep For Doom
Co-Founder of Band of Dystopian Authors and Fans
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