August & September Contest Winners

I am remiss in announcing contest winners from the past two months. Apologies for the delay — it’s been rather hectic lately, both in real life and on the blog. Without further ado, here are the winners from our August and (most of our) September contests:

The Devil You Know Cover Reveal Contest

We were SO excited to be part of the cover reveal for Trish Doller’s new book. The winner of this contest receives an ARC of The Devil You Know, plus copies of Trish’s other books. The winner is: Kira Budge

If I Stay Movie Contest

o celebrate the theatrical release of the If I Stay movie, we offered up an AMAZING prize pack. The winner is: Dinorah Gonzalez

The Maze Runner Movie Contest

To celebrate the release of The Maze Runner in theaters, we offered up an exciting prize pack for all you Gladers. The winner is: Wild Orchid

The Bridge from Me to You Poetry + Prose Writing Contest

For this contest, we asked you to write a 250-500 word piece of flash fiction that combined poetry and prose. The winner receives a copy of The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder. Two runners-up each receive a bookmark & signed bookplate from Lisa.

The winner is Kelsey Leigh Kicklighter and here is her winning entry:

Peter holds my arm down, working the ink through my skin. I let out a sigh that makes the little curls around my forehead dance. I want a cigarette. I don’t smoke, I just feel restless. My fingers twitch. Peter pulls the tattoo gun back from my arm for a moment. “Be still. We almost halfway through. All downhill from here.” His voice is soft and lyrical despite the heavy German accent.
He’s lying. This is just the outline. The outline doesn’t hurt much, doesn’t show much. It’s just a glimpse. It’s the shading that matters, that defines it. The shading is a bitch though.

The needle burns,
but my favorite things
always do.
Sunlight, bonfires,
tattoos, whiskey.
And you.

This isn’t the first time
You’ve left your mark on me. The first
Was in the summer after I turned seventeen
And my mother told us not to stay out too late.
We didn’t,
But I came home with my hair down
So she wouldn’t see exactly
Where your lips had been.

The second was the ring you put on my finger,
A promise.
And after I took it off again
It was the white band
That whispered to me about you.

The third was more of an absence,
The empty space I had saved for you,
The hole in my plans, in my heart.

Now this
Although admittedly self-inflicted
(or Peter-inflicted, really)
I can only hope that it will remind me
Not to answer your calls again.

Listing it all out like that, it doesn’t seem like much. But that’s only the outline. The meaning, the depth, and the reasons are all in the shading. Shading can be a bitch, though.

Our runners-up are Stephanie Parke and Sophia Hu.

Congrats to all our winners!