Julie Cross - Author

This Week's Contest Winner!

2012-03-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

So, the votes are in for the letter to your younger self contest! First, I just have to say how much I enjoyed reading ALL of these letters. You guys are just amazing and awesome, as is The Perfect 10 for their insight and great judging.

This week's contest resulted in a TIE! That's right...two winning letters. And here they are:

Dear Sophomore Sara,
I’m not really sure how to start a letter like this. Hi? How’s school? I don’t know. You were always (and still are) awkward like this…I know what you’re thinking right now. What’s it like being senior? Do I—we?—have a boyfriend? Good grades? Am I valedictorian? Class president? Well, I’m not going to answer any of those. Because, frankly, they don’t matter. You don’t always have to be the smartest, the best, and the prettiest. Just being your normal, dorky self is more than enough. Don’t take 4 advanced placement classes during your senior year; it’ll only add to the college planning stress. Don’t compare yourself to your friends and your sister; you shouldn’t be afraid to be your own person. Don’t compare yourself to the “popular girls;” beauty is WAY more than appearance. Please, please, please don’t forget to have fun. Your family loves you, and it’s not going to make you a weird outcast to spend a Friday night with them instead of your friends. Relax. Enjoy yourself. Smile. Laugh. And most importantly: be yourself.

See you around ;P

Love,
Senior Sara

Dear 14 years old me.

Go to study. That's my first advice for you. I now realise how important is to study hard. And maths. It won't be hard if you start studing. And staright A-s will make you proud. And happy, you should know that.

Start reading books. I know you hate the books that give you from school, they are boring, so go to the library and start reading something nice. Agatha Christie maybe?

Go and play football sometimes. Here, you're loving it but you realise you started playing it late, so you're not as good as the others.

And finally, don't dump Elena. You will never find a girl like her. ;)

Wish you all the best,
Trayche, you at 16.

Congrats to Sara and Trayche! Please email your contact info to: Juliecross1 (at) live (dot) com

Interview with Perfect 10 member: Hannah

2012-02-28T12:08:00.006-06:00

15 year old Hannah

Today, I’m interviewing, Hannah, a member of The Perfect 10 teen panel. I’ll be doing this quite a bit so all of you have a chance to get to know them. Feel free to ask additional questions in the comment section. And don’t forget the Letter to your younger self contest deadline is this Friday, March 2. Also check out the great video Perfect 10 member Loulouvoo made for last week’s winner, Kayla.

Julie: How old are you and where are you from?

Hannah: I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm 15 and a freshman in high school.

Julie: Tell us 5 interesting facts about you.

Hannah: I don’t know if these are interesting facts, but I will name some anyway: I'm a swimmer, I have a weird addiction to sausage biscuits, I've never moved, love fashion, and my favorite author is James Patterson.

Julie: A swimmer in the Perfect 10…seems so fitting. Also, I have a weird addiction to Lucky Charms. I’m convinced they help my writing. Favorite books?

Hannah: I love the Maximum ride series, the Hunger Games trilogy, the Warrior series, the House of Night series, and anything James Patterson, he's my idol!

Julie: I also LOVE the Hunger Games and can’t wait for the movie! Okay…the question no one really wants to answer…if you had to pick a cliché stereotype for yourself as a high school student, what would you be classified as?

Hannah: I don’t know what stereotype I would be. I get good grades, I swim, I have a lot of friends in different groups, I'm semi-religious, but I don't judge people who aren't, and I love to make people laugh. I guess if I had to label myself it would be as a drifter because I make friends really easy and I like to try new things.

Julie: I love that answer and I have a feeling many kids fall into that same category. Maybe we can make an acronym and start a new trend…Jock/brain/Nice girl/funny girl/golden rule follower…JBNFG…hmmm. I’ll work on that. Now I just have to, have to ask…have you read Tempest??

Hannah: I have read Tempest. I really like it! In the past I have never been interested in time travel stories, but I absolutely love the way you spun it! You took a topic that some might consider trite and used it in a way I have never read before in context to time travel.

Whenever I meet teens, now, at my old age, I automatically decide whether I would have been friends with them in high school, Hannah would have definitely been in my circle. First of all, I was also a swimmer, and somewhat of a drifter...not a great student but many of my friends were. They just accepted my underachiever status. From what I've learned about Hannah, she probably would have done the same. Plus, we totally could have spent entire sleepovers talking about books.

Anyway....

Thanks so much, Hannah for an awesome interview and welcome to The Perfect 10! And if you are a YA author and think Hannah or any of the Perfect 10 members might enjoy your book for review, just let me know and I would be happy to pass along the request.They are your target audience, after all. And young people out there, feel free to ask Hannah some more questions in the comment section, if you'd like.

And the winner is....

2012-02-26T06:00:00.005-06:00

The vote is in and The Perfect 10 have chosen....Kayla!! Here is Kayla's awesomely disgusting, humiliating spew story:

"At the mall on a crowded saturday afternoon. lol. I had orange chicken and rice and orange juice before going(seemed like a good idea at the time....both have oranges....),and when i suddenly felt really bad and went to look for a bathroom to spew i felt it coming up, i covered my mouth with my hands and it came up and through my fingers onto the floor between the cookie stand and the pretzel stand....orange pieces and rice everywhere...floor, my shirt, my hair....spewed more in the trash,then qppoligized to the janitor lol. went home and felt alot better though lol, i'll never forgetthe stares, or the feel of it coming through my fingers...ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww~~"

Just so you know, Kayla, several members of The Perfect 10 have developed an aversion to oranges as a result of your story. Nice work :)

To read the rest of the stories or the post this contest was from click here. Kayla, email me your address[ Juliecross1 (at) live (dot) come] and any personalization you'd like for your copy of Tempest, congrats on a great story! Thanks to everyone who participated and extra thanks to The Perfect 10 for taking the time to read everyone's stories and help me choose a winner.

Our very own Perfect 10 member, Loulouvoo created this little video tribute to Kayla.

Introducing teen me: Win a copy of Tempest!

2012-02-25T12:27:00.001-06:00

First off, I'll be announcing the winner of the Spew Story contest tomorrow morning on the blog so check back then!

And guess what? There's another chance to win a personalized, signed copy of Tempest in this post, so keep reading!

In late 2010, I participated in the "Dear Teen Me" project, which is a group of authors writing letter to their younger self. The idea is full of awesomeness and since I still had the letter, I figured I'd post it today as a way to introduce the teenage version of Julie Cross to The Perfect Ten, my new teen advisory panel.

As I look back on the years that have passed between 1994 and now, I can hardly believe that was me and yet, that girl is still a part of who I am now. We all change but not so much that we can't find pieces of ourselves in former versions. I consider it a sign of personal growth to look back and think how stupid my younger self was...hopefully all of you will be able to do the same in the years to come.

16 year old me in 1996

Dear Teen Me,

Okay, so I’m approaching this letter sort of like time-travel. Which means, I’m going to try to NOT tell you too much about the future because I know for a fact you remember poor Marty McFly disappearing in that picture of him and his family. And if you vanish, so do I.

I can’t remember exactly what occupied your mind or your time in 1993, but I know it’s not school work… aren’t you flunking Math? Since you’re not exactly in the smart Math like your best friend, you really shouldn’t be failing. What about English? You read the book, why haven’t you turned in the paper?

Alright, I’ll stop sounding like our mother. So you’re riding the “C” and “D” train. I get it. I will tell you one thing–it won’t be your demise. Despite the fact that many grownups in your life have told you (daily) that if your grades don’t improve you’ll be headed to community college via public transportation because everyone knows girls who don’t pass 8th grade Math never own a car. Ever.

Since I’m from the future and all, I know the one class you HATE worse than Math. Worse than English.

American History.

What if I told you, and I’m not saying it’s true since this could all be a big elaborate scheme conceived by the school counselor and our mother, but it’s possible that a few months from now, that “D” in American History will be an “A.” Your first “A” since early elementary school, before grades were actually based on completing assignments.

And that teacher who is really getting on your nerves, jumping up and down, being all excited about Colonel Sanders in The Civil War or whatever, he will eventually become one of your favorite teachers. Someone who will make school and academics three dimensional. Alive and real. Something that will stick with you long after 8th grade, long after high school. Long after college.

It will begin like this–the cool interesting vibe he brings to US History will spark your attention one day (when you’re slightly more awake than other days). Then he’ll make a reference to World War II and you’ll answer a question correctly because you’ll remember reading Number The Stars in 5th grade.

And just by paying attention and absorbing the material in class, you’ll manage a “B” on the next test and more importantly, before he hands out the tests, he’ll read a student’s essay question aloud as an example of an answer that received full credit. That essay will be yours and believe me, it will shock the hell out of you and everyone around you. But it will feel beyond amazing. Like hope. Like maybe, just for a little while each day, you can finally be the person your parents, your teachers, even your friends want you to be. But more importantly, you can be the person you’ve always wanted to be.

This is more than a good grade, more than a class, more than school. The experience you’re about to have will shape how you view yourself. After your essay is chosen as the perfect model and suddenly you have answers other students don’t, the world begins to turn. Flip upside down is probably more accurate. But when you walk into that classroom, for that semester and a half you have left of 8th grade, suddenly the words: loser, slacker, underachiever won’t exist. No one will be yapping about you not reaching your so-called “potential” because you’ll be there, riding that wave and loving every minute of it. Finally. Success is an amazing thing. So much better than potential.

I’ll leave you with one last tidbit of the near future. At the end of the school year, every teacher will sign your yearbook.

Two will actually write, “Wish you came to class on time more often… better luck in 9th grade.” Another will write, “Julie, you’re a smart girl. Hope to see you apply yourself in high school.” Your gym teacher will write, “Don’t forget your PE uniform next year!” An unnamed teacher will scribble a favorite message, “Wake up and pay attention, you might learn something on accident!”

But that one teacher that is driving you nuts with all his enthusiasm and ideas… he’ll write, “I expect great things from you in the future,” and he’ll mean it. And both of us know that no one ever says things like that to you.

One of the only regrets you’ll have, is not saying, “thank you.” Even years and years later (like when you’re 31) you’ll wish that you had said more.

So if you could, for me, take a minute away from the end-of-the-year excitement and tell your favorite teacher how much you appreciate what he does. Not just for you, but for everyone. It matters more than he could ever realize.

Thank you to all the teachers who followed this one. Every one of you has impacted my life in a way that left me with no regrets. Not everything went perfect, far from it, but every step was important. So younger me, enjoy the moment and soak in the success that you will see again someday, I promise. Even if it takes a while, it will happen.

Love,
Your 31 year old self

CONTEST!

Okay, now for the contest! I'm going have this one just for the younger crowd, however International is fine...so Middle School, High school, or College (University) kids only. Write a short note, 250 words or less (and yeah, I know mine is much longer than that) to yourself, two years ago. Just a little bit of advice for that younger you. What would you change? What advice would you give him/her? Paste your note in the comment section of this post.

For this one, I'll give you guys all the way until next Friday, March 2 at Midnight. I'll announce a winner on Sunday, March 4. The Perfect 10 will be sharing there own notes in the comments.

5 worst places to be when you're about to spew

2012-02-22T14:30:00.005-06:00

Yes, you read it correctly...I've actually decided to devote an entire post to vomit. It's quite possible publication, for me, has caused insanity. Possible, not probable. Anyway, with the help of my brand new teen panel, The Perfect Ten, I plan to give a little insight into the world of spewing...not the empowering kind as in the movie Stand By Me...that was all kinds of awesome. We should all learn from this movie and face bullying and harassment with gallons of cheery pie vomit.

But today, I'm paying tribute the embarrassing, unplanned moments and more importantly, to John Green's, Looking For Alaska. A book I recently had the pleasure of reading.

Looking For Alaska

And yeah, I realize I'm several years late but to my credit, this was my third John Green novel. I just didn't read them in publication order. I adored this book with a capitol A. It reminded me a lot of Catcher In The Rye...especially the main character, sixteen year old Miles. It was so funny and heartbreaking to walk through these embarrassing and life changing moments with Miles as he tried to shake the nerd from his image and failed miserably. And yet he was beyond cool in so many ways, not too mention one of the most relateable (not a word?) characters I have ever read in a YA novel.

Any of you who have read this book will remember Miles' first "almost date" with Lara which is supposed to be followed by his first "almost hook up." Unfortunately, this turns out to be one big epic fail after Miles is knocked over by a basketball at a school game, hits his head on the gym floor, and in his concussed state, he spews all over the lovely Lara's shoes.Charming. I know.

Does life get any more humiliating than that? Hard to say. But I asked my super awesome teen panel what they thought were the worst places to be when you're about to spew, concussed or not, this has happened to all of us...so here we go:

#5-A bus or public transportation

#4-Crowded swimming pool

#3-A motorcycle

#2-During a stage performance

#1-School Cafeteria

I'm feeling the heavy waves of humiliation just from typing this list! Oh man...I can't even imagine. Now we want to hear from you...in fact...tells us your most embarrassing, completely true spew story in the comment section and The Perfect 10 and myself will choose the story containing the highest level of humiliation and award that person with a personalized signed copy of Tempest, by yours truly.

We'd also love to hear what you thought about our featured YA novel, Looking For Alaska and a few of The Perfect 10 will be giving their short reviews in the comment section as well. It seems I'm not the only one inspired by the awesome writing of YA author, John Green.

DEADLINE to enter giveaway is Friday, February 24 at Midnight (CST)!

double dare: actual photos of my very first dare

2012-02-20T17:19:00.002-06:00

As a result of my online game of truth or dare, a game I'm using to initiate members to my very own exclusive author club, teamTEENauthor (learn more here), I have completed my very first DARE.

**side note-if you don't qualify for teamTEENauthor but still want to do your own truth or dare post, go for it! the more the better. Just copy the exact questions from my post, answer them or say: DARE. Put the link in the comment section of my truth or dare post and I'll add you to the list of bloggers completing the truth or dare challenge on this page.

My first dare came from K. Turley and this is what it said:

"Take a picture of yourself wearing a pair of jeans inside out in the dining room of any fast food chain of your choice."

I chose Burger King and I should also note that this picture was taken today, only hours after getting my wisdom teeth out. So, its not my best photo ever in without the inside out jeans. But here you go...Dare Complete...score one for Julie Cross

Julie Cross at Burger King with her jeans inside out

Also at Burger King with inside out Jeans

I should also note that I'm writing this blog post while on pain medication. This may or may not enhance the quality.

truth or dare: teamTEENauthor challenge

2012-02-17T11:32:00.007-06:00

Complete Steps to hosting your own Truth or Dare Challenge

This is the post in which Google provides the top Truth or Dare questions and I reveal my answers...and if you want to play along...answer one of the questions in the comment section, then it's your turn to give me your very own truth or dare option.

teamTEENauthor membership badge

In order to kick-start my blog rebirth after it's long drawn out death, I'm challenging my fellow YA author friends to create an identical Truth or Dare post and let their readers pick a TRUTH question or a DARE in which we swear to provide photographs, video footage or some evidence of performing said DARE...in the case of a "DARE FAIL" the author will post the photo shown below on their blog for no less than one week regardless of whether it matches the blog's color scheme. This game could be your ticket into my exclusive club, teamTEENauthor. If you aren't a soon-to-be published or already published teen writer, you can still play your own game of truth or dare on your blog. Post the link to your own post in the comment section and I'll add you to my list of dare devils who took the challenge.

MOST COMMON TRUTH OR DARE QUESTIONS

1) If your significant other said it was alright would you cheat on them?

No! and if your significant other says this to you, something is wrong with your relationship...just sayin.

2) What is there about your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse) that embarrasses you?

He's way, WAY smarter than me.

3) What is more important than money?

Family, the feeling of self made accomplishments, being in love...not necessarily in that order.

4) When have you loved some one who has not loved you back?

I'm not sure this has happened to me...not real love.

5) When was the first time you had your heart broken?

6th Grade...Skateland....my boyfriend decided to moonlight skate (holding hands) with one of my best friends. I spent 2 hours crying in the bathroom. It was a horrific combination of heart break and humiliation, the kind where you can't tell where one feeling ends and the other begins.

6) When is it alright to mix love and business?

Well, I'm gonna have to say anytime, considering how I met my husband. It was the day I moved into my dorm in college. He was supposed to be my sophomore "Student Life Adviser." He took full advantage of that business type situation and I totally let him.

7) If you were given a chance to become invisible for one day, what would you do with this ability?

Possibly watch a favorite top secret recipe being made

8) If you could see 24 hours into the future what would you do with this ability?

I'd find out which celebrity was about to commit a major scandal and be the first to gossip it.

9) Who was your first crush with?

My first real crush was in 7th grade and it was the boy-next-door...and he was very close (in proximity) because I lived in a townhouse. We shared walls. He was also 16 and super nice, but patted me on the head in an affectionate, aren't-you-such-a-cute-little-kid kinda way. Needless to say, I was not happy with that reaction and gave up eventually.

10) When is it alright for your boyfriend/girlfriend to lie to you?

This answer is all about timing. It is NOT okay to drop a giant bomb (and I mean a metaphorical bomb not the other kind) on your boyfriend/girlfriend at a moment that is not going to allow them time and space to absorb the information. In other words, you're a jerkface if YOU spill the truth when it's convenient for you, to make YOU feel better. Don't use the lame excuse, "I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't tell you I kissed _____ last night." So, lying temporarily to allow good timing in delivering bad news is okay. Otherwise, don't lie. It just gets too messy.

11) If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

I would be semi-buff with an awesome guy metabolism and the ability to consume 20,000 calories in a day. Then I'd go somewhere with awesome food, like New Orleans and eat everything in sight. And if I had washboard abs, I would spend a lot of time feeling them.

Wanna Join My Game?

So, you want to play in my game? Here's what you do, answer one of the above truth questions in the comment section the it's your turn to ask me...or offer a DARE. For a perfect example of this, see K. Turley's comment below.