Shades of Earth Blog Tour

Today we're celebrating the upcoming launch of SHADES OF EARTH, the third and final book of the NY Times Bestselling Across the Universe series by Beth Revis.

Fueled by lies.
Ruled by chaos.
Almost home.

"A tense and delicious ride--one that satisfyingly brings the series full circle." --The Examiner

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They’re ready to start life afresh–to build a home–on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn’t the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who–or what–else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together.

 But as each new discovery brings more danger, Amy and Elder will have to look inward to the very fabric of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses?

 Then everything they have sacrificed–friends, family, life on Earth–will have been meaningless.

And in order to celebrate the launch, Beth has a special surprise for us! Not only can you enter to win one of five sets of her books, signed, but you can also read a free exclusive novella set on the generation spaceship Godspeed. Fans of the books will definitely recognize characters--including the star of the novella, a girl named Selene, who was mentioned in the background of both of the first two books. What happened in her past influenced both Amy and Elder's futures, although neither of them realized it. This tragic story sheds light on many readers' favorite character--Harley--as well as the most-hated character of all: Luthor. If you ever wondered what life was like on Godspeed before Amy woke up, and just how far Eldest was willing to go to maintain the peace on the ship, you'll find the answers in this novella!

Every day this week, a new section of the novella will be revealed. For the full schedule, check Beth's website. You can read today's selection below--and don't forget to enter the drawing at the bottom of the post!

Want to pre-order SHADES OF EARTH before the release on January 15? 

• GoodReads
• Indie Bound
• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-a-Million
• The Book Depository
• Would you like a signed copy? Contact Malaprops.

As They Slip Away, Part 4 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner!

Congrats to Jennifer who won the Comic Con giveaway!!! (For those wondering: Batman, Robin, Hulking, Wiccan, The Flash, Red Hood, Red Robin, Impulse or Kid Flash all would have gotten extra entries.)

Where in the World is Beth Revis!?

Well everyone, we are 97 days out from the release of Shades of Earth and 42 days out from the release of A Million Suns in paperback.  Beth is heading out over the next two months to a number of signings and events!

She will be at Books of Wonder tomorrow night at 6 PM for the launch of the anthology AFTER, which she has a short story in.  You can find out more on the Books of Wonder website.

This weekend, the 12th through the 14th, she'll be at New York Comic Con (I am so jealous!) for panels and signing Shades of Earth ARCs.

Now, recently, my family began discussing Family Vacations.  When my kids, ages 5 to 8, were asked if they would rather take a trip somewhere for the week in the summer or go to New York Comic Con in October- they unanimously chose Comic Con.  They already know what characters they want to cosplay there.  We've decided that 5 is too young so we're planning to start the yearly tradition when the twins (who are 5) turn 8.  So, we have 3 years for them to really get used to coplaying and to decide what brand of nerd they each are.  In honor of the amazing Beth Revis going to Comic Con this year, we're doing a little give away.  From today until the end of the month, you can enter to win a pre-order of Shades of Earth.  The giveaway is open to everyone that the Book Depository can ship to.  Now, to make it more fun, there are two questions that you MUST ANSWER IN A COMMENT to enter.

1-  What is your favorite superhero/sidekick and why?

2-  If you were to attend Comic Con, what character would you cosplay as?

Cosplay is dressing in a usually homemade costume and in that costume you try your best to accurately portray that character.  Many people cosplay as characters from comics, movies, books, cartoons, manga, anime and TV shows.  You can click here to see some great examples.

Now, I will be giving extra entries to anyone whose favorite hero/sidekick is on my favorites list.  But no fair trying to guess!  Just answer for yourself and hope that we both have good taste.  You should be sure to leave a way to contact you in your comment such as: an email address in this format- blahblah at email dot com or a Twitter username.

Winner must be at least 13 years of age or have their parents' permission to enter and must be able to receive a package from the book depository.  Entries will be open until October 31 at midnight.  We plan on doing a Read Along for A Million Suns in the next few months as we prepare for the release of Shades of Earth.  I hope you'll join us for that too.

YA Scavenger Hunt & Shades of Earth Secrets!

Beth Revis is taking part in the YA Scavenger Hunt that is going on NOW!  When you find your way to the Kristi Cook's page which features Beth, you will find 3 secrets about Shades of Earth!  If you aren't going to hop along the whole scavenger hunt, you can find it here.  Otherwise, please check out the scavenger hunt as it is a great way to learn about new books and authors AND the grand prize is BOOKS SIGNED BY ALL PARTICIPATING AUTHORS!! You can find all the rules and instructions here!  Happy Hunting!

Exciting Anthology News from Beth Revis!

It sounds like Advanced Review Copies of Shades of Earth will be coming soon! Beth has also been busy working on some short stories for a few anthologies. I LOVE anthologies because you can experience so many amazing and different writers and stories in one book. My favorite anthology last year was Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions. It was just amazing and Beth is working on some similar looking anthologies this year.

Shards and Ashes is a YA Dystopian Anthology edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong. Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong are two of my favorite authors and I have a feeling that this anthology will be simply amazing. Beth's story is called "Love is a Choice" and focuses on Orion before Elder is born.  Other authors involved in this anthology are: Kami Garcia, Veronica Roth, Rachel Caine, Nancy Holder, Margaret Stohl, and Carrie Ryan.  You can click here to find this anthology on Goodreads.

Defy the Dark is an anthology edited by Saundra Mitchell.  Beth's story in it is called "Night Swimming" and it is about Kayleigh, Harley and the night Kayleigh died.  Just reading the preview blurb made my heart ache.  I love Harley and my heart breaks for him every time I think about what he lost when he lost Kayleigh.  The other authors involved in this anthology are: Sarah Rees Brennan, Carrie Ryan, Aprilynne Pike, Rachel Hawkins, Malinda Lo, Courtney Summers and Sarah Ockler.  You can click here to find this anthology on Goodreads.

After: Nineteen Stories of Apocolypse and Dystopia is the third anthology that Beth Revis has a short story in this year.  Her story in this anthology is called "The Other Elder" and shows how life on the Godspeed ended up like we saw it in Across the Universe.  The story also shows how the Elder and Eldest system worked on the ship.  The editors of this anthology are Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.  The authors involved in this anthology are: Genevieve Valentine, Carrie Ryan, N. K. Jemisin, Katherine Langrish, Carol Emshwiller, Mathew Kressel, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Sarah Rees Brennan, Jeffrey Ford, Richard Bowes, Gregory Maguire, Steven Gould, Nalo Hopkinson, Jane Yolen, Carolynn Dunn, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Garth Nix and Cecil Castellucci.  You can click here to find the anthology on Goodreads.

This news is so very exciting!  Remember that you should also head over to NPR and vote for Across the Universe in their top teen books survey!

News from the Across the Universe Facebook Page

This was posted to the Across the Universe:

For those wondering when the new covers for the Across the Universe series will be available--the AMS cover is for the paperback, which comes out November 21, 2012. The ATU cover in the new style will also be available in paperback around that time (up until then, the ATU paperback will be available in its current look). The Shades of Earth cover will be on the hardcover edition of Shades of Earth, which comes out January 15, 2013. Hope that helps!

So, it sounds like the first two books with this cover will be paperbacks and, of course, Shades of Earth will release in hardcover.  I have to say that I'll miss the old covers.  They were so pretty and they were what brought me to the series to begin with.

Razorbill reveals Shades of Earth cover!

The cover for Shades of Earth, the third book in the Across the Universe series has been revealed!! 

That's right.  A new cover design.  There has been some information coming from Penguin that the other books will be re-released with these covers:

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What do you think?  Like the new covers?  Liked the old ones better?  Annoyed that your set will not match?  Will you be buying new copies of Across the Universe and A Million Suns???

Here is the blurb for Shades of Earth:

The final book in the trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis! Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But as each new discovery brings more danger, Amy and Elder will have to look inward to the very fabric of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been meaningless.

The official release date currently stands as January 15th of 2013.

Please be sure to add it to your Goodreads !