TWITTER GIVEAWAY 2010

So, first thing's first. That giveaway that I've been promising since *cough* the end of August is FINALLY HERE. 

The giveaway is fairly simple. From September 18th to the 25th I will put up a tweet every day with the book that is up for grabs and a request for a random number. At the end of the day, I'll head over to random.org, pluck a number from the randomizer and the one closest to that number will win the book! Most of these are going to be galleys I acquired from ALA 2010, but I have a few purchased and new books that I will be giving out as well. Also, I thought it fair to mention that any books that have already been released, but that I acquired as galleys are not up for the giveaway. :) Please feel free (in fact, be encouraged) to link to this post and spread the word. The giveaway starts Saturday, September the 18th!

Secondly, my schedule is still taking some adjusting to and I've been spending every spare minute at work and at home doing school/home work. It's a little sad. AS SUCH, my blogging schedule may be a little erratic and will eventually switch to Mondays and Wednesdays since I have the most theoretical free time then. I may also post a second time today depending on how the world feels about me and I about it. 

Happy Thursday, everyone! 

SEPTEMBER 18 & 19

• To win a copy of BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS by Kami Garcia and Magi Stohl reply to @theravendesk with a number between 1 - 100. 
• To win a copy of SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson reply to @theravendesk with a number between 101- 200. 
• Winners will be drawn after 8PM EST. (The winners are @thmafi and @karlaerikacal) SEPTEMBER 20

• To win a copy of THE FRENZY by Francesca Lia Block reply to @theravendesk with a number between 1 - 100. 
• Winners will be drawn after 12AM EST. (The winner is @miahayson)

FLUIDITY IN CREATION

I really like this layout. Very, very much. And I promise I won't change it again. I promise. This layout will last at least through January. Hopefully, I'll be too busy with school and blogging and writing and trying to have a very small, contained social life to even consider going through the pain of customizing a layout into something that I like. (This one was dark and gloomy and there was no picture where those lovely little birds are, only darkness and text.)

Like I said in my last post, I've got a small (really, very tiny I hope) back log of interviews that I nabbed from super awesome writerly-friends that I'll be posting on the blog over the next few weeks. I've just got to spruce up the formatting and time the posts, and that will be done! I've also got a guest post coming up on Kirsten's blog at the end of the month, so keep an eye out for that! And finally, I am having a give away for the loot I scored at ALA this summer. I'll be reading them first and then sending them out to you guys(provided you win). All the books are October/November/December releases. Since September is right around the corner, I feel guilty giving away copies that the author won't be reimbursed for right before their books are out. So yeah. Late fall release contest - the prizes and entry details will be up in a few days.

So. So I feel there's this myth about out-liners. Once the outliner has outlined, the myth says, that's it. The story will follow the outline to it's logical conclusion and that's that. The outline is law, and it is followed to the letter.

As an outliner, I feel it's important to point out that that is wrong. An outline is just like a story: fluid. I have four pages in outline, and almost thirty pages in back story and world building notes. I have the names of barons, districts, provinces, bordering countries, and trade routes. I have royalty from other countries, events that shaped my characters' present circumstances, and hierarchies. (And for those of you shaking your head 'no, no, no' let me assure you that most of this stuff never makes it into the page - but, that's a post for another time).

But all of these things have the ability to change. Characters make decisions that don't necessarily lead to the planned outcome, or you choose to have different outcomes which necessitates a different decision. You write a character a certain way and realize that he's not the villain, but your character's future best friend and maybe even a victim, too.

Creation, and following that, creativity, is a fluid process. Things are made to change. Even if it's not at the outline stage, you expect your characters to grow and evolve. And so too can your outline. And when an opportunity for change presents itself - whether the form is in an epiphany or a snatch of dialogue or whatever - explore it, at least a little.There's usually a reason it popped up.

So what about you guys? Is the story writing process a fluid thing or a rigid, unchanging beast?

CONTEST WINNERS

*cough* Gonna be totally honest. I nearly forgot that the contest ended last night. Nearly. And then I realized it was July 5 and decided that I had to input a GAJILLION ENTRIES into a random number generator. Honestly - I have to find a better way to do this. I don't like all the counting involved. Me and numbers: we are not friends. Not even a little.

ANYWAY. If you didn't win this contest and still want a book cover by yours truly, hop on over to Mia's contest because I'm offering my services over there. Or wait until the next digital contest! AND. If you want to win some lovely books that I scored at ALA then wait a little bit and they will be up on this blog for your taking post haste.

NOW ONTO THE WINNERS.


3rd PLACE goes to JOAN.
2nd PLACE goes to VERO.
AND FIRST PLACE GOES TO KIRSTEN. 

Let's have a big round of applause and congrats for all of them and thank's to everyone for entering the contest! I loved hearing/reading what covers blew you away and even went to go look up some that I'd never heard of before.

So, yes. Winners. Please email me at sumayyah.daud(at)gmail.com and I'll let you know the details. If I don't hear from you in two weeks, I'll do another random number thing and pick a new winner to replace you.

I hope everyone had a lovely fourth of July weekend!

SECOND CONTEST EVAR

So. SO.

I have a shiny domain. If you've visited at all since Friday you've noticed that theravendesk.blogspot.com now redirects to www.theravendesk.org. WOOOO. I am very excited since I've wanted one forever. And now I have it. PLUS. I have 72 wonderful followers.

There is a lot of excited confetti throwing and sparkle exploding going on in my head. Really.

To celebrate, I've decided to have a mega contest. The last design contest that I held had two winners, two book covers and a blog banner as prizes. This one is kind of bigger. The prizes arrrreee:

• FIRST PLACE: One book cover for a manuscript (of their own) of their choosing, an original soundtrack cover (see here and here for examples), and a blog header (see above or the blog of the wonderful Kristin Otts here). 
• SECOND PLACE: Two choices of the above.
• THIRD PLACE: One choice of the above. 

To enter, fill out the form below. The contest is open internationally, so long as you have an email address where I can reach you. All prizes are digital. The contest ends JULY 4, 2010 12:00AM EST.

If you'd like more examples of my work, click on the my portfolio link at the top of the page. And good luck to everyone!

A CONTEST THAT ISNT MINE

I'm running in so quickly in the middle of revisions to let you know that Vee is having an amazing contest, and that you should run over there really fast to check it out.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my chemistry exam is over and I have revisions to complete.

A RAVENS DESIGN PRIZES

So, I finally wrapped up the prizes for the last contest. The covers for Kristin's and Emilia's are below. I'm very much happy with the result and I'm glad they both like them so much! If you guys want contests like this in the future let me know! Or if you'd like a different sort of contest, also let me know. ;) I'll be posting an interview later today, as well! Now, to finish my Arabic homework...

CONTEST WINNERS

A Raven's Design has run its course and now it's time to announce the winners!

First place goes to Kristin! Second place goes to Emilia!

Congratulations to you both! Email me at pandoras(dot)fury(at)gmail(dot)com as soon as possible so we can talk about what you want your book covers and blog header to look like. Thank you so much to everyone else for participating!

I wasn't expecting as many entries as I got, so thanks for that. If you would like me to hold this sort of contest again, or have suggestions for a different sort of contest, feel free to either email me or comment on this post with your suggestions.

Contest winners were picked through a name randomizer. 

A RAVENS DESIGN: FIRST CONTEST EV-AR!

So I have a little confession...I thought (up until four o'clock pm yesterday) that yesterday was January first and that two nights ago was the night filled with much revelry and celebration. Yes. Fail. Big fail. Epic fail. ULTIMATE fail, if you will. And then I started seeing 'Happy New Year' everywhere, and checked my laptops nifty calendar function in the task bar. This was me -> O.O' 

But, now that my head is on straight and I know that today is in fact, New Years and that I have only just entered the new year, I have a surprise. For you. Yes.

My first ever CONTEST! Yayyy! :D I actually didn't think I'd ever be able to do one of these until I graduated from college or books started appearing on my bookshelf by some form of uber-cool magic. Then I realized, I don't just have to give out books. I can give out book covers! I got such great responses to the cover of The Scion and wondered if anyone else would like their very own book cover to stare at for inspiration.

But wait! There's more!

I've been designing web graphics since forever (well, since I was 12) and I like to think I'm decent enough at it. So, not only am I willing to design a cover for two (yes! two!) lucky people, I'm also willing to design a blog header, like this (but different - every blog is different) for a lucky person. I can even help you out (html wise) with putting it up on your blog (or so goes the theory).

What do you have to do?

Fill out the form below and advertise the contest. The more you advertise the more entries you get. Behold:

The Uber Magical and Super Cool Tally Sheet (aka The Point System)

• Old Follower - +2
• New Follower +1
• Twitter Follower +1
• Twitter Post +1
• Link (sidebar of blog) +2
• Blog Post (just a mention is fine) +4
• Comment on Post +1

FIRST PLACE WINNER:  A book cover (designed by me) and a shiny blog header

SECOND PLACE WINNER: Either a book cover or a shiny blog header
Contest is open to all applicants. Contest closes January 17, 2010 12:00AM EST.

Example of cover work here, here, and here

So go forth and enter! Happy new year!