Contest for EXPLORER X - Alpha and Poster!

Thanks to L.M. and her awesome publisher, I have a copy of Explorer X- Alpha to giveaway to one lucky person!

Here's the summary:

For most kids, a trip to space camp is a trip of a lifetime, for Aadi it was life altering. After receiving a camp immunization needed for travel to Mars, Aadi finds that the immunization is the catalyst of an insidious experiment. Lucky for him, he was engineered to survive, thrive, and dominate. Without realizing he is being trained to conquer worlds, and manipulated under the guise of a camp, he unfolds the plot too late for a change of fate. Aadi’s world is shaken upon the revelation that life before camp was not what it appeared. This solidifies his plan to save them all from the company that seeks to control him, only for his rescue to end abruptly due to a freak accident on a field trip to Mars. The full experiment is set in motion when he and his co-pilot, Eirena, crash in a distant galaxy called Shrenas, where they change and realize the full extent of their power. Holding onto his humanity, in the midst of turning into a god is Aadi's biggest battle yet. This turn of events causes him to put his childish thoughts away, forcing him to accept his change, and to decide to save a world, or to do what he was trained to do, dominate it. In the midst his struggles with his changes, his power is coveted by the warring leaders of Shrenas, and he is forced to choose sides to save a life, or to save himself. A decision that may prove just how much humanity he has left.

How to Enter:

Per L.M. Preston's  request, you have become a follower of her blog which is located here. Then please fill out the form: 

Extra Enteries:

They are continued within the form. Though, I thought that some of you may want to see them before hand, so here they are:

follower prior to the contest. (+2)

follower for the contest. (+1)

linked to this contest from Twitter, Sidebar, exc. (+1 for each time)

dedicated a whole post to this contest. (+5)

left a comment on the contest post. ( +1)

commented on L.M.'s guest post which is listed below contest post (+1)

counted up entries. (+1)

Ends:

December 7th. Is open to all United States residents, sorry international readers, though I will hopefully be having a contest for you all soon. Since, I do have over 500 followors now, which I personally think calls for celebration. =)

GOOD LUCK!!

Can Teenager's Really Fall In Love?: A Guest Post by Author L.M Preston!

L.M Preston is the debut author of Explorer X- Alpha which is coming out February 7, 2010! So, without a futher ado, here's L.M.'s guest post!

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CAN A TEENAGER FALL IN LOVE?


I was hunting around on my favorite writer’s hang out on AW (Absolute Write Forums) and the topic of teen love came up. The question alluded to, ‘Does a teenager really fall in love?’ My honest opinion, why couldn’t they? In my book EXPLORER X – Alpha I tease on some of the facets of pre-teen love as I remembered it.

QUALITIES OF TEEN LOVE

I remember being in love as a teenager only about three times. Yep, three times. Each love was so fascinating, intense, exciting, all consuming, obsessive and hurt so badly when it ended. I would write the boys name in my notebook over and over again. I would think about them every free moment of the day. When I kissed that boy, it felt as though he was the sun and the moon of my very life at that time.


If I could bottle that up and sell it, it would be called LOVE POTION #9.

QUALITIES OF ADULT LOVE

For me, love as an adult, was a lot slower to burn than teenaged love. As an adult, I only allowed myself to fall in love with one person. The difference between my teen love and my adult love was drastic. As an adult, I was cautious, skeptical, held back a lot of myself until the guy proved that he was trustworthy, worth my time, interesting enough to hold my interest, and sexy enough to keep me attracted.


Did it have the intensity of teen love? No, not because I didn’t feel the things I felt for my love as a teenager. I didn't have the hormone high that I did as a teenager, or the time to obsess on the boy I was in love with. Also, as an adult I was just too jaded, mistrustful, and too smart to let anyone consume me that didn’t show that they were truly interested. Not to mention, the end of those teenaged love affairs were just too darned painful.

MY ANSWER TO THE QUESTION

Yes, teenagers can fall in love. All love starts out as an infatuation. It starts with attraction, hunger, excitement, the chase, and hopefully ends in true love. True love, which consists of trust, passion, comfort, attraction, bonding, and most of all friendship, is worth the ride whether it ends badly or last forever.


In my case, a teen love became my adult love. As teenagers we broke up, but stayed friends. As adults we found that were a good match, and laughed at our antics in our relationship as teenagers. What ever happened to the boy I fell madly in love with at fifteen, broke up with, and stayed friends with? He is now my husband of seventeen years. Yes, at times I do allow myself to feel all those things for him I did as a teenager, but my adult ways still makes me cautious to let it totally consume me.

REFLECTIONS ABOUT LOVE

My motto is and will always be, live your life and enjoy the adventure of it all. That means whenever love is lost or you stumble along the way. Get up, dust off, plaster a smile on your face and focus on the exhilaration of the experience of love, of life, of failures, of pain, of recovery, and the adventure and experience of being able to live, learn, and to have loved.
 
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Thanks so much, L.M.!