Well, That was Fun!

Published October 7, 2015 by Ashley Townsend

Thanks to everyone who made the Chasing Shadows 1-Year Celebration my most successful day EVER! Huzzah!

We hit an all-time high for total views, you guys were blowing up social media with #TeamHood & #ChasingShadowsBook, and I could not believe how many entries we hit for the Rafflecopter (enter here every day through Oct 16!). You guys are amazing!

Yeah, Kates, this one is for you!

Also, the party and celebration spurred some of you to start creating fan art for the trilogy, and let me tell you, I am loving the gorgeous images that have been pouring in on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook. I pinned everything to my Rising Shadows Trilogy board for you to check out, which is slowly being re-created with the help of fans. It still pains me that Pinterest deleted years of work and inspiration from the original board at random *barf face, then quickly recovers*, but your support has been awesome! #HugglesForMyHooders!!!

Okay, so because my Hooders are just plain ol’ spectacular, I’ve decided to make Fridays #FanArtFriday. If you follow my Facebook page, you can find an entire album that I created for the fan art that started pouring in during the celebration (click here to see the album!), but a new piece—or two or three—will be released here every Friday during October in celebration of Chasing Shadows’ birth month. And who knows? Maybe there will be some fan art for Defying Shadows soon and another sneak-peak during the month.

Word to the wise: Creating your own fan art for any of the books in the series is worth 2x the points toward the social media prizes, which will increase your odds of winning. Yippee! The images you create or alter can include direct quotes from Rising Shadows, Chasing Shadows, or the excerpt you saw from Defying Shadows, famous quotes that you feel are appropriate for the series, or just images that you splice and create inspired by the trilogy. Just tag me on Twitter or Pinterest @TownsendTales and use #TeamHood, and if you want, add #ChasingShadowsBook #CSBook. You can even include a link to the Rafflecopter to help people enter the Grand Prize! http://bit.ly/1Lizfzt

So be sure to keep visiting each day, sharing, and #TeamHood -ing it up on social media! And I’m sure I’ll see you back here this week for #FanArtFriday. While you’re here, you might as well just enter again to win some free stuff. Sound good? I thought so!

Only 9 days left to enter to win the Rafflectoper (click here to enter!). You can earn entries into the Grand Prize and social media prizes every day until Friday, October 16th. I’ll announce the winners here and on social media that weekend, so be sure to check back to see if you’ve won. Good luck, Hooders! And keep #TeamHood -ing it up! ^_^

Chasing Shadows 1-Year Celebration & Giveaway!!!

Published October 4, 2015 by Ashley Townsend

HAPPY 1-YEAR BIRTHDAY, CHASING SHADOWS!

Staying in tonight? That's alright! Here are The 10 Best Things About Spending A #Friday #Night At Home! #10 is my personal favorite. :)

AND congrats to this blog on its 200th post! (yes, I did purposefully time it this way)

I cannot believe it’s been an entire year since I received the news—the day after my birthday, I might add—that “Chasing Shadows” was officially available to the world. Basically, the best birthday present a bibliophile and writer could ever wish for! I’d like to say it’s been an easy road and that there have been no hiccups along the way, but if this isn’t your first time stopping by, you know otherwise. But every time, God always came through and somehow gave me the encouragement to keep plugging along when things got tough. This series is incredibly special to me, and if you’re just now hearing about it (heads up: Will is mine), please feel free to look around the site and check out the books, spoiler-free character interviews, playlist for each story, etc. And be sure to stick around for the day because I’ll be posting fan art from “Chasing Shadows,” talking about the series, and giving special glimpses of “Defying Shadows” (TBR January 2016) throughout the day. AND don’t even get me started–yet–on the massive giveaway.

So how, you might ask, does a young author spend the Sunday after her birthday while celebrating the birthday of her infant book with giveaways and whatnot? She refuses to get out of her fuzzy socks, pajamas, and flannel, and she most assuredly has a cup of coffee with her. Although I might pull myself together to take a Barnes and Noble break before lunch (birthday gift cards rock!!!!).

Community Post: 100 "Parks And Recreation" GIFs To Celebrate The Show's 100th Episode

Oh, but enough about me—for now! We all know you’re here to win some free stuff.

The Rafflecopter link is below, and I’ll post reminders over the next couple of weeks about the giveaway and repost the link so that everyone remembers to earn entries each day. (full giveaway details here) If you haven’t heard already, there are three prizes that you can earn starting today through Friday, October 16th: the Chasing Shadows Rafflecopter Grand Prize, Most Social Hooder (my team of beta readers voted and love the name for them!), and TeamHood Winner.

The Rafflecopter prize is massive, where you can earn a paperback copy of “Chasing Shadows,” an Amazon or B&N gift card, swag from the series (it’s fabulous!!!), a special message from me, and more!

You earn one entry towards the two social media prizes (books and gift cards!) each time you Tweet, share, blog about the giveaway/series, and whatever the heck else you can do online. But creating your own fan art (example: quotes from the series) and tagging me in it with #TeamHood on Pinterest will earn two entries for each pin you create, though repining with these same tags will earn one entry, as well.

Just make sure to tag me (@TownsendTales) and use any of the following tags online: #TeamHood #ChasingShadowsBook #CSBook. If you’re reblogging or creating a fresh post, make sure it pings back to me or that you leave your name and the link in the comments section below. I’ll calculate total entries once the giveaway ends on the 16^th, and there will be one winner with the most social media shares and one randomly selected winner for the runner-up prize—more shares equals more entries, which increase your odds of winning. So share away!

What are you waiting for?! Follow the link below and enter to win the Grand Prize each day until October 16^th. And as always, don’t forget to share this link with your friends who enjoy free stuff…. What am I say? Who doesn’t enjoy freebies?! Good luck, Hooders, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Ben Barnes ... and ... William Moseley. LOL!!! The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/efc81f6e1/?

1-Year Celebration Giveaway Details

Published September 24, 2015 by Ashley Townsend

After much deliberation and some serious use of the ol’ noggin (and also picking my sisters’ brains), I pulled together all of the prize details and entry rules for the Chasing Shadows 1-Year Celebration, which begins Sunday, October 4^th, 2015. I extended the timeframe (the 4^th to the 16^th of Oct.) to give people more time to earn entries, but don’t forget to stop by on that Sunday when it begins, because I’ll be posting behind the scenes info about the series, sharing my favorite quotes from Chasing Shadows, and giving special glimpses Defying Shadows *squeal of delight*. I’m also adding a Rafflecopter for the Chasing Shadows Grand Prize and switching up the two social media prizes, as well—all of the details and conditions are below. And don’t forget that you will earn entries toward the Most Social Hooder Grand Prize by sharing about the celebration on social media. We want as many people as possible to have the chance to enter!

Tag @TownsendTales

Use #TeamHood

#ChasingShadowsBook

#CSBook

All 3 winners will be announced on here, Twitter, and Facebook on Sunday, October 18^th, 2015. If your name is announced, you must email me at ashleytownsend.author@yahoo.com within 72 hours of announcement to claim your prize package, otherwise a different winner will be selected.

Rafflecopter Grand Prize:

1 (one) entrant will receive the Chasing Shadows Grand prize from the Rafflecopter giveaway.

Package details:

—1 signed paperback copy of Chasing Shadows

—1 $20 Amazon e-gift card

—goodies & book swag

—a never before seen sneak peak at Defying Shadows

—a special message from me!

Rafflecopter goes live October 4^th (Sunday). You can enter each day until it closes at 11:59pm (PST) on Friday, October 16^th.

Most Social Hooder Grand Prize:

The Hooder who shares and has the most mentions of the giveaway celebration on social media will be selected. 1 (one) winner will be chosen for this prize after all entries are counted.

Package details:

—1 signed paperback copy of Chasing Shadows

—your choice of 1 (one) $10 Amazon OR $10 Barnes & Noble e-gift card

Begin earning entries now through October 16^th (11:59pm PST)!

TeamHood Winner:

1 (one) winner will be randomly selected. Your odds increase the more you share/reblog and mention the giveaway using #TeamHood.

Package details:

— 1 ebook copy of Chasing Shadows

—your choice of 1 (one) $5 Amazon or Barnes & Noble e-gift card

Begin earning entries now through October 16^th (11:59pm PST)!

Social media:

Let’s get this party started by letting people know about it before it begins Oct. 4^th! You’ll earn one entry toward the social media prizes each time you mention the giveaway celebration online. To receive credit, tag @TownsendTales and use #TeamHood #ChasingShadowsBook and #CSBook.

Blogging:

You can also earn entries toward the social media prizes by creating posts about the giveaway celebration and reblogging posts from friends and myself that contain #TeamHood, starting now through the end of the celebration on October 16^th at 11:59pm (PST). Each fresh or reblogged post earns one entry. Make sure that you leave you first name, last initial, and social media handle (if applicable) in the comments section on my blog, either on the post you reblogged or any of my posts that contain #TeamHood (when you create your own or reblog from somewhere else). If I don’t know who you are, I won’t know to combine your entries!

Note: Liking doesn’t count toward bonus entries—you must reblog directly from www.ashley-townsend.com or from someone else who blogged about it, or you can create your own eligible entry. Posts that contain #TeamHood anywhere in the text and link back to the giveaway are eligible.

Conditions: All entrants must live within the continental United States (no Alaska or Hawaii residents—sorry!). Social media prizes are open to all ages, but you must be 13 and older to participate in the Rafflecopter Grand Prize.