To celebrate the one year anniversary of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading being in the wild–and still available in many bookstores–we’re teaming up with Stacey Jay to bring you two awesome prize packs.

Zombie Cheerleader prize pack #1:

A tote bag with original artwork inspired by MY SO CALLED DEATH
A signed copy of MY SO CALLED DEATH
A signed copy of THE GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING
One zombie emergency T-shirt (just in case)

Zombie Cheerleader prize pack #2:

A tote bag with original artwork inspired by UNDEAD MUCH?
A signed copy of UNDEAD MUCH?
A signed copy of The GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO CHEERLEADING
One zombie emergency T-shirt (just in case)

The T-shirt:

Fashionable and instructional

Here’s what you need to do to enter:

Leave a comment on this blog post, letting us know: zombies: cool or creepy?

Want an extra entry (or three)?

Post a link to the contest on your blog, Twitter or Facebook account and send us the link (geekgirlx2 @ gmail.com). We’ll give you an extra entry for each location.

Contest runs from May 8, 2010 to May 31, 2010. That’s nearly a whole month to get your entries in, so spread the word for some zombie cheerleader swag.

And since this is our one year anniversary, and as a thank you to our readers worldwide, the contest is open to readers everywhere.

Good luck and thank you!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Yeah, I know. It didn’t work for us, either.

Actually, we’ve both been writing. But stay tuned. Starting this weekend, we’ll be participating in a huge Easter Egg hunt sponsored by The Long and the Short of It review site. Check out the contest page here. They have two prize packs (one that includes a ThinkGeek.com gift certificate donated by us).

It looks like fun and we promise, our egg will not be difficult to find.

For juniors and seniors in high school.

Sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis.

This competition is open to juniors and seniors currently enrolled in high school. Three prizes of $250 each will be awarded both in fiction and in poetry. Students may send a single entry in each genre (one poem and/or one short story or novel chapter).

All entries must be typed, with the student’s name, home address, telephone number, high school name and address, and the genre (poetry or fiction) of the work on the first page.

Entries must be postmarked by March 15, 2010. Awards will be announced May 15, 2010. Please keep a copy, as entries cannot be returned.

This competition will be judged by faculty in the Writing Program at Washington University, including fiction writers Kathryn Davis, Marshall Klimasewiski and Kellie Wells, and poets Mary Jo Bang and Carl Phillips.

See the website for complete rules and mailing address. Good luck!

So … yeah, as my son would say. We got the word that The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading is a finalist in the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence contest, in the young adult category.

Since I put my home phone (and not my cell) on the contest entry form, the coordinator emailed me to tell us the news. This is maybe just as well, since for a few moments, I forgot how to type. On the phone, I would’ve been all: Dude, no way! (And really, I don’t think you’re supposed to refer to contest coordinators as dude.)

So, when I sent Darcy the news, I asked her for a squee. She saw my squee and raised me a woot.

Anyway, we’re stoked here at Geek Girl central, and check out the other YA finalists:

• Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle
• The ABC’s of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro
• Spring Breakup by Stephanie Hale
• Heartbreak River by Tricia Mills

That’s some fine, fine company to be in. Plus, I first met Tricia when we both were finalists for the Golden Heart waaaay back in 2003. It’s neat that both our debut YA novels are finalists together now.

(Oh, and to my horror, I’ve just done the 2010 – 2003 math. Oy. Apropos to yesterday’s post with Jasper Fforde.)

During the month of March, Simon and Schuster is giving away twenty sets of Deb Caletti’s books to celebrate the release of her new one: The Six Rules of Maybe.

The prize pack includes:

• The Secret Life of Prince Charming
• The Fortunes of Indigo Skye
• The Nature of Jade, Wild Roses
• Honey, Baby, Sweetheart
• The Queen of Everything

Visit the Simon and Schuster website for all the details and to enter the contest.

Good luck!

Cool contest with a very cool judge. Deadline April 30th, so you have plenty of time to pull something together.

Hunger Mountain Prize for Young Writers

The Hunger Mountain Prize for Young Writers is an annual contest for high school students. A chance for your fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction to be read by Hunger Mountain editors and guest judges!

Three first place winners receives $250 and publication!
Three runners-up receive $100 each.

There will be a first place winner and runner up in each category: fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry.

Any high school student with a piece of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction may enter.

The 2010 judge is M.T. Anderson, National Book Award winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation; Burger Wuss; and Feed.

The postmark deadline is April 30.

See the website for all the details on entering the contest.

Did you miss out on our Stupid Cupid contest? Do you want to get your hands on the next book in the series? Of course you do!

Here’s your chance. Visit Rhonda’s blog, specifically, this post, for a chance to win Flirting With Disaster. What’s the prize? Rhonda is offering up:

• a signed copy of Flirting With Disaster,
• $50 online bookstore gift card to the store of your choice

All you have to do is confess something to her. Sound easy?

Have fun and good luck!

See the NPR website for all the details, but here you go! This one looks like fun!

NPR CHALLENGES AUDIENCES TO WRITE “THREE MINUTE FICTION”

 ALL THINGS CONSIDERED WEEKEND CONTEST ACCEPTING

ORIGINAL SHORT STORY SUBMISSIONS UNTIL FEBRUARY 28 AT NPR.ORG

Many people aspire to write the great American novel, and NPR is offering an opportunity to take a giant baby step toward that goal by asking audiences to type an epic 600 words. NPR News’ weekend version of the newsmagazine All Things Considered appeals to listeners’ inner authors with a third round of “Three Minute Fiction” – a contest seeking original short stories that can be read in three minutes or less. Entries will be accepted beginning this weekend.

The popular “Three Minute Fiction” contest returns with a new twist after receiving thousands of entries in previous rounds. This time, All Things Considered challenges writers to come up with a story inspired by a photograph selected by the show’s staff. Prospective entrants can kickstart their imaginations by viewing the image at the “Three Minute Fiction” site: www.npr.org/threeminutefiction  Stories can be submitted now until February 28 using the site’s online form.

The winning story will be read on-air during All Things Consideredweekend and the author will also be interviewed by host Guy Raz. Preliminary judging will be conducted by students at the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, and the winner will be selected from the finalists by NPR book reviewer Alan Cheuse. Complete contest rules are available at npr.org.

By tapping listeners’ creativity and talent, “Three Minute Fiction” continues All Things Considered weekend’s effort to bring listeners into the conversation. The competition’s two previous rounds featured judging by The New Yorkerliterary critic James Wood and received more than 8,000 entries in total. A fourth round will begin shortly after the current one wraps, with judging by Ann Patchett, bestselling author of Bel Canto, The Magician’s Assistant and What Now?.

* * * Contest Time * * *

As promised, the Geek Girls are here to help you through not only Valentine’s Day, but February as well, which is somehow both the shortest and yet longest month of the year.

Here’s your chance to win a signed copy of Stupid Cupid by the fantabulous Rhonda Stapleton, but also this completely cute <3 T-Shirt from Think Geek. Simply leave a comment at the end of this entry (with email so we can contact you) and that’s it.

Now, without further ado, we bring you Rhonda and Stupid Cupid:

Felicity Walker believes in true love. That’s why she applies for a gig at the matchmaking company Cupid’s Hollow. But when Felicity gets the job, she learns that she isn’t just a matchmaker…she’s a cupid! (There’s more than one of them, you know.)

Armed with a hot pink, tricked-out PDA infused with the latest in cupid magic (love arrows shot through email), Felicity works to meet her quota of successful matches. But when she bends the rules of cupidity by matching her best friend Maya with three different boys at once, disaster strikes. Felicity needs to come up with a plan to set it all right, pronto, before she gets fired…and before Maya ends up with her heart split in three.

Interview with Rhonda:

1. The Geek Girls think labels and stereotypes are the stupidest things going but still, we can’t help being curious. If you had to put a label on your high school self, what would it be?

Totally a band nerd. haha. I loooooved band so much and identified myself with that group for most of high school.

2. While stalking, um, we mean researching you for this interview we learned that you are prone to obsessive crushes on things like actors, authors and musicians. What have you obsessed about lately?

OMG I am so prone to obsession. It’s sick. I shouldn’t admit it. I can’t help it though–wah! Don’t judge me! Anyway, I’m currently obsessed with the local indie station here in Cleveland (91.1). I never listened to it before a week or so ago, and now I love it. There’s all kinds of cool music I haven’t heard before, which is so fun!

3. Speaking of crushes, do you believe in love at first sight?

Oh, heck yeah. The zings that shoot through your body. The feeling like time slows down and you become hyper-aware of everything around you. The instant connection you feel when your eyes lock. I totally believe people are instantly drawn to each other. Some people know even just from one look if that person is right for them.

4. Step into our time machine. It’s 2011. Stupid Cupid, Flirting with Disaster and Pucker Up have all been released to great acclaim. You were the featured guest on Oprah’s very last-est show ever — where she touted your novels as the “greatest books of all time”. Stephenie Meyer recently did a prime time TV interview in which she revealed that Edward Cullen really did give Bella a copy of Stupid Cupid for Valentine’s Day. You are stinkin’ rich. How do you celebrate?

Dude, I love your version of reality. I will subscribe to that, thankyouverymuch. Ummmmm, I’m stinking rich? I go on a big fat odyssey. I visit Japan. Germany. Switzerland. Tibet. London. All those places I’ve always wanted to go. I absorb the food and drink and culture. I bring my family with me so we can all share in it!!

5. What is the one interview question you wish someone would ask?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop? (I want this one because I totally counted it out when I was a kid…I think I got up into the thousands! I’d be willing to try it again for an exact count. haha)

Thank you, Rhonda for visiting with us!

To enter the contest:

Leave a comment on this entry from now through February 13th, 2010 for your chance to win Stupid Cupid and the <3 Tee.

On Valentine’s Day morning, we’ll draw a winner from all the comments. And since we haven’t had a contest for a while, we’ll open this one up to all entries, including those outside the U.S.

Here’s the first wave in helping you survive Valentine’s Day:

We’re over at Free Book Friday this week–with four signed (by both of us) copies of The Geek Girl’s Guide to Cheerleading up for grabs.

Head on over, read the interview, and sign up to win. Free Book Friday will not give out or sell your email address, and that’s all you need to win.

Good luck!