Y.A.S.H. Fall 2019 - featuring Sara Fujimura
.....also known as Young Adult Scavenger Hunt!
Welcome! I am so thrilled to be hosting and have one of my books featured this year! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! On this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 120 hours!
Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are FOUR contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the GOLD TEAM--but there is also a red team, a blue team, a purple team, and a pink team for a chance to win a whole different set of books!
If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.
SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE
Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the blue team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).
Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.
Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by Oct. 6th, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST:
I'm pleased to be hosting author Sara Fujimura for the YA Scavenger Hunt! We just became friends because I found out she's watched a ton of Kdramas. Something like 23 titles! (hint hint) She's giving away a copy of her book TANABATA WISH to the gold team winner!
BIO:
I'm the American half of our Japanese-American family. I spend about a month each summer at my in-laws' house in rural Japan with my family. So it will be no surprise that I've written about Japanese culture and raising bicultural kids for such magazines as APPLESEEDS, LEARNING THROUGH HISTORY, EAST WEST, RAISING ARIZONA KIDS, and MOTHERING, as well as, writing travel-related articles for the book TO JAPAN WITH LOVE.
You can find out more about Sara Fujimura and her books by clicking on her website:
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT:
Behind-the-Scenes of EVERY REASON WE SHOULDN'T
Sara Fujimura
Though Olivia is the one telling the story in Every Reason We Shouldn’t, it was Jonah’s character who came to life first. Several years ago, I read eight-time Olympic medalist Apolo Ohno’s autobiography Zero Regrets. I was fascinated by his account of training hardcore to be an Olympic-level short track speed skater while also trying to be a normal teenager. I have one-in-a-million teens in my life, and I watch them struggle with this balance too. Finding time to hang out with friends is difficult when you are a high-level athlete, dancer, singer, etc. Dating is next to impossible, which is why Olivia and Jonah are eventually drawn to each other. Everybody needs that one person who can see into their heart and still understand that they might have to take a backseat to the bigger goal sometimes.
Like many writers, I like to know what my characters look like while I’m writing. For main character Olivia Kennedy, I saw singer Kina Grannis, who is a biracial, Japanese-American like Olivia. If you’ve watched Crazy Rich Asians, Kina is the one who sings “Can’t Help Falling in Love” during the wedding scene. For Speedy Boi, Jonah Choi, I saw actor Lee Hyun-Jae. Like Jonah, Hyun-Jae is 3/4s Asian (Korean specifically) and ¼ white. If you’ve watched the Kdrama Shut Up Flower Boy Band, you’ll recognize him as the drummer from the show. A bonus: Until recently, I couldn’t decide on one actress who looked like Olivia and Jonah’s aspiring roller derby queen friend, Annabelle “Mack Truck” MacIntosh. Then I saw Mae Whitman from Good Girls and The DUFF. Now, she’s stuck in my head as their sassy but loyal friend, Mack.
Music is an integral part of my writing process. I create a playlist for each of my books to inspire me while I write. Sometimes the songs act like a theme song for a specific character or set the mood for a scene or express the emotions that I would like to convey. Here are the Top 10 Songs from Every Reason We Shouldn’t:
That’s My Girl Fifth Harmony
Wings Lil Mix
Stay Rhianna with Mikky Ekko
Welcome to the Jungle Guns N’ Roses
Believer Imagine Dragons
History Maker Dean Fujioka
Hey Look Ma, I Made It Panic! At the Disco
Boy With Luv BTS and Halsey
Mirrors Justin Timberlake
Lights Down Low MAX
There are actually nineteen songs on my official ERWS playlist. Want to see the whole list? If you are on Spotify, you can listen here: HERE.
One last bit of behind-the-scenes news…if you’ve read any of my books, then you know that I’m a foodie with a horrible sweet tooth. In Tanabata Wish, Skyler and Ryouhei have Japanese melon pan. In Breathe, Virginia and Marco share lemon drops. For Every Reason We Shouldn’t, I gave Olivia and Jonah hotteok. Want to make some of these sweet Korean pancakes? Go here:
Every Reason We Shouldn’t hits shelves on March 3rd. I can’t wait to share it with you!
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To continue on the hunt, go to the next author's page!
Good Luck!
