Alli's World: swag

So 2013 is here in full affect! I posted yesterday on my Facebook page about some of my goals for 2013. (I don't really do resolutions because I NEVER stick to them!)

My goals include:

1. Trying/doing things I've never done or go places I've never been before. Such things include going to a swim meet and gymnastics meet (University of Georgia, lookout we're coming for you!). Also, I really want to try Indian food. Random, right? I really hope I continue to take advantage of opportunities as they are presented when it comes to new things.

I don't really have any specific plans for the following but I'd also like to attend a live ballet performance, live orchestra performance, there are several restaurants I haven't tried in my area, and I'd love to go to Freedom Weekend Aloft to see all the hot air balloons, go to a Greek Festival, Shakespeare's Tavern, Medieval Times, etc. There is just so many cool things to do! And there are places I'd love to go NYC, LA, Paris, etc. There's a BIG world out there with lots of things to see and do, I just want want to make the most of this life.

2. This year I want to read more and blog more. My to-be-read pile is OUT OF CONTROL! I really want to read some of the books I own and have been wanting to read for a while now. There are several awesome books coming out this year, which is going to increase my reading load but what a GREAT problem to have! I also want to blog about what I read, the places I go and the things I do. If nothing else I just want remember all the great moments these things provide me. And I want to share it with all of you!

3. My last goal is just to stay positive. I'm always fine as long as things go exactly as planned but the moment that things go the slightest bit awry I totally loose my cool. Sometimes it just seems like the problem in the moment is the only thing I can see. So this year, I really want to focus on not freaking out when things aren't the way I thought they'd be. I want to remember that the problems don't last forever and just because things are "perfect" doesn't mean they aren't good (and who knows, maybe even better!)

To celebrate the New Year I have a treat you from my "personal collection". I'm still new to this so I'm still trying to collect items for you guys but I have some swag I'd love to pass on to 2 lucky Alli's World readers. There are random bookmarks (at least one signed by the author!), temporary tattoos, and stickers in each prize pack. The swag looks a little something like this:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Image from Goodreads

Orphan Jack Templar has no memory of his parents and only the smallest details from his Aunt Sophie about how they died. The day before Jack's fourteenth birthday, things start to change for him. At first it's great: A sudden new strength helps him defend his nose-picking friend "T-Rex" from the school bully, and even his crush, Cindy Adams, takes notice. But then a mysterious girl named Eva arrives and tells him two facts that will change his life forever. First, that he's the descendant of a long line of monster hunters and he's destined to be in the family business. Second, that there's a truce between man and monster that children are off-limits...until their fourteenth birthday! Jack has only one day before hundreds of monsters will descend on his little town of Sunnyvale and try to kill him.

As if that weren't enough, things get even more complicated when Jack discovers that the Lord of the Creach (as the monsters are collectively known) holds a personal grudge against him and will do anything to see that Jack has a slow and painful death. To stay alive and save his friends, Jack will have to battle werewolves, vampires, harpies, trolls, zombies and more. But perhaps the most dangerous thing he must face is the truth about his past. Why do the other hunters call him the last Templar? Why do they whisper that he may be the "One?" Why do the monsters want him dead so badly? Even as these questions plague him, he quickly discovers survival is his new full-time job and that in the world of monster hunters, nothing is really what it seems.

You can pick up a copy at any of these place:

Amazon

IndieBound

Barnes&Noble

Now for a super special treat...
a character guest post from
Jack Templar's Best Friend...
Will Akers!

Hi everyone. This is Will Akers, Jack Templar’s right hand man. You probably heard about me in our book Jack Templar Monster Hunter. I say “our” book since it really could have been called Jack And Will: Monster Hunters. But I guess since Jack wrote the entire thing, he felt like going with the title he had.

I know Jack and Eva were pretty mad when the book got out to regular people. You know…non-hunters. Or, as some people at the Academy call them, Creach-bait.

But I was happy the book got out. I know, I know, everyone’s worried about how reading the book attracts monsters to the reader and inevitably drags the reader into our world of man versus monsters. You know what I say? About time.

I mean, come on. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to become a monster
hunter? It’s by far the coolest thing that’s happened to me, I’ll tell you that much.

Even when we’re being chased by a flock of mad harpies, or facing down an entire field of zombies, or being pursued by Ren Lucre, the Dark Lord of the Creach himself, I was still having the time of my life.

The way I look at it, what’s not to love? You’re doing something really important, you’re helping others, you get to use cool weapons and fight against heinous monsters. Oh, and you don’t have to go to school. As far as I’m concerned, that’s like
winning the lottery.

I guess there’s the fact that there aren’t many hunters who live past thirty. The luck runs out for even the best hunters eventually. Turns out no matter how good you are, if you try to face down a pack of werewolves or a coven of vampires on your own, it’s not going to turn out well. But I’m only fourteen. Thirty is forever away so I’m not too worried about it.

One thing I do worry about is all this talk of Jack being “the One.” Other hunters who meet him always have a weird reaction when they find out who he is. They either keep their distance like they are scared of him or they act like he’s some kind of celebrity. I mean, he’s super cool and all, but he’s just Jack. I just hope that he doesn’t start taking too many chances trying to live up to his own hype. Either way, I’ll be right next to him. As we say, Do your duty, come what may. I look at keeping Jack alive as my duty and I intend to see it through, no matter what happens.

I hope you join the fight. It’s quite a ride.
Will Akers.

Author Bio:

Jeff Gunhus grew up in Cyprus, Greece, and Saudi Arabia where there was a distinct lack of television. He quickly found books were the gateway to incredible adventures, fascinating characters and unbelievable discoveries. Now, with five children of his own (all who watch too much television, in his opinion), he has enjoyed revisiting his old books and reliving those adventures all over again.

You can find Jeff Gunhus online:

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