Winners of Chosen contest!

I got superlucky and had time to run the # of entrants (plus extra entries) through the generator and the "see-your-name-in-Initiation" contest winners have been chosen at random!

I feel so grateful to have had so many entries. The best part was SEEING you guys! I love putting a face to your names. You all have such beautiful names that I bet some of them pop up in future books. I mean, where better to look for names than Team Canterwood?!

Since we had sooo many fab entrants, I changed it up a little. We are going to have one main winner, as mentioned, and TWO runners up. The main winner's name will appear more frequently and will have dialogue. The runners up with make a brief appearance in a scene in the book.

So, no more torture!

The GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS:

JILL (TEAM ERIC)

~*~*~*~ Yaaaay! Jill, please e-mail (jess _ burkhart AT hotmail DOT com) me with your last initial (if you want it used). Also, I have another question for you in the email. Congratulations!!!! :)

The TWO RUNNERS UP ARE:

Jayllex M.

AND

Kacie F.

Way to go!! I'm so excited for you both to make cameos in INITIATION.

Again, thank you to all who entered and I wish I could use all of your names. I'll be holding another contest like this for a future book, so don't worry. I'm opening this posts to comments and hope if you do post that you'll congratulate the winners.

xoxo

Final entry in Chosen contest!

And we have our final entry in the Chosen contest! Here's Miss Holly S. with her copy!

(Yes, it is May 26th, but I received Holly's entry within the time limit and could not get online until now to to post it.)

I will post the winner who will have their first name and last initial appear in INITIATION as soon as humanly possible. I have 3 doctor appointments with Kate at Mayo today and she is my main focus and reason for being in Minnesota. But I'm hoping to announce the winner tonight.

I'll also be posting the winners of the Gelly Roll pen giveaway. I'll collect your names and addresses and will mail those when I get settled at home--probably the 2nd week of June.

Thank you ALL for participating in this contest! Best of luck! The winner, btw, will be chosen by a random number generator site that I use. That seems to be the most fair.

<3

Team Canterwood's been busy!

Kate and I have been getting to many well wishes, thoughts, prayers, etc. It's incredibly touching and means more than I can explain.

Team Canterwood member Kacie Ferris created this page for Kate:http://tinyurl.com/3h62gqg.

It's a very sweet "Day of Prayer" evite on 5/27 at 6pm. Whatever your belief or even if you're busy on that day and time, sending thoughts into the universe to get Kate well would be amazing. The support of Team Canterwood has been overwhelming and I thank you all.

We are hanging in there and Kate is a trooper. She's being put through endless tests and we still don't have answers yet.

On a fun note, some members of Team Canterwood have created new, cool pages!

Haley O. made this:http://canterwoodcrestfan.weebly.com/index.html

And Ashley M created this: http://canterwoodcresthorserpg.webs.com

Thank you both so much! I hope you're all getting ready for summer. I'm definitely looking forward to the warm weather.

xoxo

Team Canterwood member Carolyn!

Thanks for the fab pic, Carolyn S! :)

Update on #TeamKate at Mayo

Just a quick note to let you know that #TeamKate's stay at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN has been extended by 2 weeks. We will be here until June 2nd. Please keep Kate in your thoughts as she goes through more tests and doctor appointments. We still do not have answers as to how to get her out of pain, so we need your thoughts, karma, prayers--whatever you believe in.

We're feeling the love from Team Canterwood and we THANK YOU, all! Much love from both of us.

xoxo

Team Canterwood member Kacie F.

Here's another entry in the contest! Thanks, Kacie F. :)

Look at Jayllex M.'s pic!

Thank you so much, Jayllex M. for sending your contest entry! Your bay is gorgeous and I, you know, might be a little in love with your pink and white lead rope. :)

Keep the pics coming guys! It's making me feel so much closer to you all--to put a face to the readers I get e-mails from. It's really the coolest thing.

Kate has a big test today at Mayo. Yesterday was not a great day, but we're trying to shake it off and start fresh today. #TeamKate's running on nerves and adrenaline, I think. Or at least, I am.

We got a DVD player for the hotel room, which has been awesome. We restarted GLEE season 1 on Blueray which has tons of extra footage. We also brought 2 seasons of MAKE IT OR BREAK IT, STICK IT, BURLESQUE and a bunch of other chick flicks. :)

Kate sends her love to all of you and thanks you from the bottom of her heart for the Facebook notes and blog comments. I show her every single one. You all make her feel sparkly and special.

I've been using my time in the waiting room to respond to emails from Team Canterwood. I need the distraction and writing you all has been so nice. I've sent about 25 emails and have about 1005 left to go. :) I've read them all, I just haven't been able to respond because of my writing schedule.

What are you guys up to? Are you out of school yet or just about finished? What are you most looking forward to doing this summer?

<3

xoxo

PS: Have you watched THE VOICE? At first, I was like, "No way." Then I watched an episode and it's a fantastic show! I'm glad Christina Aguilera is back on her feet. She's crazy talented.

More Team Canterwood Chosen pics!

Suz C's cat, Sasha Silver!

Suz C.

Kyla G with her gorgeous horse

Another great pic of Kyla!

Kaitlin J! She was a winner in the cover flat contest.

Andrea C.

Wanted to share these awesome photos!

Hello from Rochester, Minnesota!

I've never been to Rochester before. #TeamKate (that's how I'm hash tagging it on Twitter) had some plane trouble, but made it in before 10pm last night.

I just wanted to write a quick post to thank you all sincerely for the well wishes for Kate. She's my best friend in the entire world and your support to her means so much. I knew Team Canterwood cared about me, but the overwhelming well wishes for Kate are astounding. We appreciate so much the Facebook page for her. We check it every day and she and I both carry your thoughts with us.

Just to share a little: Kate has been in extreme stomach pain since May 13, 2010. It just happened out of the blue. No warning. We've been to 29 doctors and 3 NYC hospitals. Not one doctor has been able to help to stop the pain and get her well. Kate has woken up crying for 365 days. And guys, she's TOUGH, she does not cry, and this pain (pain I KNOW I couldn't take) has made her sob.

Kate and I talk about the support she's gotten from all of you and she's asked me the same question probably three times: "Why do your readers care about me? They love you. I'm nobody to them."

I tell her the same thing every time: You all do care about me as the CC author. But I also feel like you're all my friends. I hope you feel the same way. My best friend is very, very sick and because of it, you've all embraced her because you know how much I care about her. It's what friends do for each other. Kate does not get enough support in real life, but she does from Team Canterwood. You all have become our virtual friends and we care about you guys a lot! I know when you say you're praying for Kate--you mean it. Those are not empty words. It means more than you'll ever know. I promise, some how, I will find a way to pay it forward one day.

You've also been amazing support for me. I'm grateful for it, too. Seeing your BFF sobbing and unable to leave the house hardly ever is a gut-ripping feeling. I've been living with her for a year to try and help her mentally and physically. There's been anger. Sadness. Confusion. Frustration. Hope that dwindles and rises.

The Mayo Clinic process starts tomorrow at 7am. It'll probably be a week of tests and hopefully we come out with some answers. I hope that you'll continue to keep Kate in your thoughts this week. I'll update everyone as I can.

Also, as a side-note, I've received several pictures of you with your copies of CHOSEN. Thank you and I'll post them when I get home.

Since I'll be gone all week, I'm going to extend the contest. If you haven't already, you can leave a comment on the original post. You may also send me a photo of you with your copy of CHOSEN (paperback or on an e-reader) to my e-mail (jess_burkhart AT hotmail DOT com.)

The contest NOW ends on May 25th at 11:59pm EST.

I hope you're all having a good weekend!

Much love. xoxo

Off to Mayo

All right, I'm headed to the airport with Editor K for our flight to Minnesota. I will have limited access to e-mail and won't be on the computer much if at all. Please keep her in your thoughts and I will update you with what I hope is good news as soon as I can.

Much love.

<3

Cool pix, Alicia K!

Thank you SO much, Alicia K. for these suuupercool pix of you and Sassafras! (And check out Alicia's sis, Sarah, in pink!) Plus, how could I not post her pink boots?! Love!

Go, Team Canterwood!

Here's Jenna M. with her copy of CHOSEN! Yay!

As a reminder, I'm leaving for Minnesota to go to the Mayo Clinic with Kate on Saturday. I won't be online much, if at all, but I'll blog as soon as I can.

All of the CHOSEN cover flats have been mailed to the winners, so be on the lookout for those. :)

xo

Canterwood fan-made video

Two suuuperawesome members of Team Canterwood are making videos! I love them so much! You've gotta check them out. Thank you, Caitlin and Braes.

http://kodsterpony.glogster.com/?friend_remove=6164278&hash=f024b4a0fb2d3083dcf7de6114272bfc

I can't believe the incredible amount of hard work you put into this--it shows! :)

Supercool UC fan art

Made by the awesome Sam! I heart it!! Thank you, Sam! :)

More pics of Team Canterwood!

McKenna V.

Grace Z.

Liza K.

You guys are the best--as if I didn't already know that! ;)

Here are some of our fellow Team Canterwood members who sent in pics for the Initiation contest. I love them all!

Thank you

Quick early morning post:

I wanted to offer my sincerest thank yous to those who created the "A day of Prayer" page for Kate on Facebook. It . . . I can't even describe what that means to me. I've always had the overwhelming support of Team Canterwood, but to have you all back my best friend in the same way is something I'll never forget.

I'm going to be away for a while starting May 15 as I'll be in Rochester, Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic with Kate. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I'll have my BlackBerry so I'll have access to e-mail and I'll probably take my laptop, so I might be blogging to update you all from there.

Also, I hope to get to the post office tomorrow or Monday to mail the Chosen cover flats. Bear with me as I will not leave Kate alone during the day if it is unsafe to leave her. So, the flats will be mailed as soon as I can.

Next week is gonna be crazy busy as Kate and I prep for Mayo--lots of hotel, flight, packing, paperwork, etc., to finalize. Traveling is so hectic and I'm hoping it'll be as stressful as possible for Kate.

I'm planning on bringing warm clothes (I'm ALWAYS) freezing, but I better look up the MN weather, too.

On a much happier note, we got HBO so we can attend Lady Gaga's Monster Ball tomorrow night at 9! I am so. freaking. excited. I'm DVRing it and will probably play it a zillion times, especially when I write. Hopefully, that'll be soon. I was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, which is kind of a fancy name for tennis elbow. On top of my already bad carpal tunnel, I get these stabbing pains in my elbow and my fingers can't hold a pencil when it's really bad.

I'm really supposed to be off of the computer for at least two weeks, but I couldn't help but blog tonight.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

xo

Canterwood Crest scrapbook! Love!

Aren't these SUPERCOOL?! These are just a few pics of the lovely and amazing Canterwood scrapbook that Ashley and Iris sent me. The two 11 year old besties sent me this as a farewell gift to Sasha and I'm in love with it. I wanted to thank them both for creating this beautiful memento that I'll treasure always.

So. Sweet.

Here's Caty C!

Caty's my Facebook friend and she let me take this from her album. <3 it!

More Team Canterwood pix!

Molly G.

Team Canterwood is on a roll! Here are two more FAB pics! I looove them and thank you, girls!













Caroline H.

Yaay! Another Team Canterwood pic!

You guys are so awesome! Here's another pic for two extra entries in the "see your name in INITIATION" contest. Thank you soo much, Sam N. for e-mailing this! :)

Team Canterwood member pic with Chosen

Here's the first member of Team Canterwood to submit a photo of herself with Chosen! Connie L. 's mom e-mailed me the photo (with permission to post it on my blog) and Connie gets two extra entries in the contest below. Yay! I love seeing pics of you all with Chosen! :)

Happy reading!

xo

Happy Chosen release day & last contest!

I'm soooo excited that my first Super Special is hitting all stores TODAY! As a kid, I *loved* super specials and having my own is beyond my wildest dreams. I hope you all like it and have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

*throws confetti sparkles in the air*

In honor of this Super Special, I'm doing a final SUPER contest for Chosen!

How would you like YOUR first name and to appear as a minor (with the possibility to turn into a major character . . . you never know!) character in INITIATION? If you like, you can also include the first initial of your last name like "Sasha S." And I'll make up the last name.

Here's what to do:

This is open to EVERYONE--US and international--yay! Leave a comment here with your first name (and optional last name first initial) and tell me what you'd do if you saw your name in a CC book. :)

Want *two* bonus entries? Send me a photo of YOU with your copy of Chosen! It must come from your parent's e-mail address and they have to give the okay for me to put the photo on my blog. I will NOT use your name. I just want to share the photos with Team Canterwood!

The contest is open now and you have TWO WEEKS to enter. It closes Tuesday, May 17th at midnight. I will be out of town that week, so it might take me a week or so to announce the winner.

Good luck to everyone! :)