Welcome to the Spring 2020 YA Scavenger Hunt! It’s that time of year again and I am so excited to be participating in the YA Scavenger Hunt yet again.
Since the world has currently gone a bit crazy, I hope this hunt offers a bit of #stayhome fun while you’re waiting for the pandemic to pass.
I’m your host for this stop on the RED TEAM hunt.
Are you looking for my exclusive bonus content? Well, you’ll have to keep hunting. It’s hiding somewhere in the pages of the RED TEAM…
The Rules
Directions: In the post below, you’ll find my favorite number (highlighted in RED. Collect the favorite numbers for all of the RED TEAM authors, and then add them up.
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up the numbers, fill out the entry form to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries with the correct number will be counted.
Rules: Open internationally to anyone 13 or over. If you’re under 18 you need a parent or guardian’s permission. To be eligible, you must submit the completed entry form by SUNDAY, APRIL 5TH, at noon Pacific Time.
There are FOUR contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all. I’m a part of the RED TEAM, but there are also BLUE, GOLD & PURPLE teams.
Find out more about the hunt, get links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs on the YA Scavenger Hunt website.
Now, on to the hunt…
The Author
Today I am thrilled to host author LARA FANNING!
Lara Fanning is a 27-year-old Australian author who writes fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy novels. She attempts to present thought-provoking themes in a unique manner, and enjoys including ideas revolving around the wilderness, science, technology, and human spirit and strength. Lara has been writing novels since she was eight years old and has a huge love of creating characters, lands, and new worlds. She completed a Bachelor of Zoology in 2018, and a science honours degree in 2019, majoring in animal welfare science. In her university years, she focussed her attention on environmental and animal welfare studies. Aside from writing, her passions include horse riding, animal training, hiking and swimming, drawing, and ice skating.
Check out her book, RED FOX!
In the not-so-distant future, Earth faces strings of severe natural disasters which lead to infertile farming soils, pollution of waterways and oceans, and eventual economic collapse. In a desperate attempt to regenerate nature and save humanity, the people of Australia vote a new naturalistic government into power, the Biocentrics. At first, the Biocentric regime mends the mistakes of humankind and saves nature. However, the Biocentric’s true plans for humanity come into question when every Australian citizen is called to rally in the centre of their hometowns. People are divided into four groups:
The As. The Bs. The Cs. The Ds.
Welcome to the crumbling world of Freya Walker, protagonist of the Red Fox series.
In the 1950’s, a Siberian scientist began an experiment with one goal in mind – to breed a domesticated variation of the red fox. After ten generations of breeding the scientist had reduced the adrenalin levels in the animal and created a tame creature named the Silver Fox. Decades later, the Australian government use this knowledge to devise a shocking plan that will end humanity as the world knows it.
When Freya Walker and her family are ordered to attend a town meeting by the ruthless Biocentric government, Freya is certain something horrible will occur.
The people of her town are split into four groups of people: As, Bs, Cs and Ds. Freya is the only one placed into the mysterious Bs group and transported to a ring in the bushland where she must survive a fortnight without food, water or weapons with her new companion and fellow Bs member, Whilliam Cliff.As Freya and Whil begin to unravel the truth behind the Bs group, fighting for their freedom becomes a key part in overthrowing the Government and putting an end to their heinous plans for humanity.
To enter the big giveaway, you need to know that my secret number is 11.
Time for the bonus content…
The Bonus
Today I am so excited
Given some of the events in Red Fox are very alarming, people often ask where my inspiration for the novel came from. I am a very energetic and upbeat person, so when friends read the novel, they are surprised to find quite dark and morbid themes appearing. In general, I draw my inspiration from many sources: the wilderness, wildlife, scientific concepts that can be twisted into something extremely interesting! However, the idea for Red Fox, specifically, came to me during time I spent working on a dairy farm. People do not know a huge deal about dairy farms, but calves are removed from their mothers at birth and cows are sorted into various groups so that farmers can best care for them. For example: As for healthy; Bs for sick: Cs for calving. I wondered what tremendous kind of outcry there would be if we did the same with humans and from that one idea, Red Fox took form. Additionally, my little sister who was an aspiring actress at the time I was contemplating Red Fox (she is now quite a successful film producer!) asked me to write a book that would feature her as the main character. Freya is, in essence, a wilder version of my little sister.
Sometimes it is difficult to imagine what characters in novels look like. Luckily, the main characters in Red Fox, Freya and Whil, were heavily influenced by people I know, so I had the opportunity to create some character concept art especially for the YASH event. Here is the first attempt to visualise Freya Walker and Whilliam Cliff while they are wandering through the iconic colourful snow gums of the Australian alps after being thrown into the wilderness to survive for a fortnight.
I am quite terrible at being present on social media, and so many of my readers do not know whether I plan to continue writing and publishing in the future. Let me say that writing is my biggest passion! If I have a spare few minutes, I will be writing. I think I write, on average, at least 2-3 hours a day. Unlike some authors who seem to struggle to know what words to use or how to phrase something, I find writing as natural as breathing. And, of course, it is only natural then that I should have many unpublished titles waiting on the shelf! I have three original novels waiting on the sidelines and am deciding which to publish first! Likely, this decision will be made by my readers in a public poll! The three novels include:
- A modern fantasy novel set in England. I have re-writen this particular novel about three times now, as it has been in development since I was nineteen!
- A science-fiction novel that I wrote in the middle of my science degree at university. It has some very whacky concepts and characters, and was a blast to write!
- A stand-alone mystery-suspense novel set in colonial Australia. I am, personally, most excited for this novel!
Do you have any preference? Please leave a comment if so!
Thank you everyone for joining the Young Adult Scavenger Hunt! And a big thank you to Tera Lynn Childs for hosting me here on her blog! I hope all of the readers and writers out there have enjoyed themselves and found some amazing content so far! Good luck and happy hunting!
Learn more about Lara on her website, connect with her on Facebook, and find out more about RED FOX right here!
NOW don’t forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of print books by me, Lara, and many more. To enter, you need to write down my favorite number, find all the other numbers on RED TEAM add them up, and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize.
Need help?
The Giveaway
In addition to the copy of Pretty in Pearls that I’m giving away to the RED TEAM winner, I’m also giving away a free copy of When Magic Sleeps (the first book in the Darkly Fae series) to everyone!
This giveaway is open internationally.
To continue on the RED TEAM hunt, you’ll need to visit… MELINDA R. CORDELL.
Good luck and happy hunting!
Thank you so much for hosting me, Tera! It has been a pleasure to work with you and learn from you, and I can’t wait to see how the hunt goes! I am looking forward to reading Pretty In Pearls, and all of your other amazing looking novels!
Happy hunting everyone! : )
Happy to host you, Lara! Hope your YASH was a success. 🙂
how do I get copies of some of the books you wrote? I have looked everywhere and can not find them. like the ones from the Finns series, the Ursula series and the goddess series. it says there are Novellas to these but where?
You can find details and buy links for all of my books at teralynnchilds.com/books (and you can filter by series, so you can see all the titles in each one). Hope that helps! xo