Senior Assassin - Yay or Nay?

If you've read my YA romantic comedy Shot Through the Heart, you're familiar with Senior Assassin.  For those who aren't, it's a game played in high schools and colleges across the country--often by senior classes, fraternities, and other groups--where players eliminate each other by using water guns, nerf guns, stickers, or other means.  It was created solely for fun, though it's often used by groups as a team-building exercise.  (For more details, check out my earlier blog on the subject here.)

Yesterday, a group of teens from Thomas Jefferson High School in Pleasant Hills, PA, drew concern for their play.  You can check out an article on it here, from CBS Pittsburgh or a video from the local news station, WTAE.

What do you think?  Is it ever okay to play a game like this given the gun discussion in the United States?  If so, are there ways to make it both fun and safe?  Does your school have an event like this?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Shot Through the Heart - Cyber Monday Sale!

Big news! The e-book version of my YA romantic comedy Shot Through the Heart is on sale today, Cyber Monday, for only 99 cents. You can find the discounted price (it's regularly $4.99 for e-book, $7.99 in print) at Amazon, BN.com, Kobo and Smashwords.  If you've been waiting to get the book, now's a great time.

BTW, you don't need an e-reader to read an e-book. Digital books can be read on nearly any tablet, computer, or smartphone. All you need is the appropriate app for the device you currently own. To read Kindle-formatted books, visit Amazon's Kindle Reading Apps page to get started. To read books formatted for the Nook, visit the site for B&N Reading Apps. Either way you go, you simply choose the app that matches your device, download it, and start reading. It's very quick and easy.  Best of all, the apps are free.

Win a Kindle, Discover a New Author

To welcome July--and because it makes for a good theme--a group of authors is giving away a Kindle Fire, a Kindle, and a ton of other great prizes (including a copy of Shot Through the Heart) in an "Indie-pendence" Day giveaway.  You can check out the complete details and enter the contest on author Sybil Nelson's site.

In the meantime, I'll post interviews here on my blog with some of the participating authors.  Keep your eyes open over the next few days for those.  You might discover a new fave.

Good luck!


 

Night Swimming FREE (plus a new interview!)

Great news today if you've been looking for my YA novella Night Swimming, which was originally released as part of Scholastic's Fireworks anthology (which also featured stories from Lauren Myracle, Sarah Mlynowski, and Erin Haft):  Night Swimming is now *free* on Amazon for the Kindle.  It's also free on Smashwords as a PDF or in non-Kindle formats (such as for the Nook, Sony eReader, smartphones, etc.)

(Tip:  You don't need a Kindle to read the novella if you download from Amazon instead of Smashwords...just use the Kindle app for smartphones or your computer.)



In other news, I'm also featured today on freelance writer Sonya Weiss's blog, answering questions about Shot Through the Heart.  Sonya has an entire series of author interviews on her blog, simply click on the link on the right side of her blog page to access them all.