Hunter Trial #1: Second Challenge

Join the hunt! 💀

To pass the first trial, the Rulebook says, an applicant must track and slay a nightmare without any interference from an adult.

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Thank you to everyone who participated in the first challenge! I will select 3 random winners today and reach out to you if you won!

And of course, now we begin the second challenge of the First Hunter Trial.

It’s a bit more labor intensive, but I also have…FINISHED COPIES TO SHARE WITH WINNERS THIS TIME AROUND!

Yes, you read that right. Actual. Finished. Copies. Of the book.

So read on to find out what you have to do to be entered to win—and to pass your first trial.

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SECOND CHALLENGE —

#JOINTHEHUNT AESTHETIC

Create an aesthetic for TikTok or Instagram Reels that evokes nightmares, dark forests, and hunting. See an excerpt from the book under “Assets” for more inspiration!

RULES:

• Create an aesthetic video for TikTok or Instagram Reels and share it before September 30, 2022!

• Each post must include the following:

  • Forest and hunter vibes! (See below for inspiration!)

  • The hashtags #JoinTheHunt, #TheLuminaries, #LumiNerds, #TheHunterTrials

  • Mention in the video or caption that this is for the book The Luminaries!

• You may share on multiple social outlets once per day!

  • So if you post to Tiktok one day, you can also post to IG reels for an extra entry.

  • But only one post per site per day will qualify. So if you post twice to Tiktok in one day, that will only count as one entry.

• This is open internationally!

• The more times you share, the greater your odds of winning are!!!!

• To enter, fill out the Google Form linked below.

• Optional: Share links in the comments so we can all connect with each other online!

PRIZE:

• Signed and personalized FINISHED HARDBACK COPIES of The Luminaries

  • Will include a SECRET MESSAGE hidden inside! Unique to each winner!

  • Three winners will be chosen

• Note: If you would prefer to receive ARC, I can absolutely give you that instead!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

ASSETS:

• Find free “dark forest” images on Unsplash!

• Listen to my Spotify playlist for musical ideas!

• Here’s an example of what an aesthetic reel could look like!

• And here’s an excerpt from the night of Winnie’s own first trial in the forest, in case you need more inspiration:

It is dark. Darker than Winnie has ever experienced before. Darker than a windowless room with no lights even though a waning gibbous moon flickers down. It’s as if the forest canopy presses around her, squeezes in. An iron maiden of shadows and shapes and noises unlike any Winnie has ever heard before.

It is also cold.

She stands for a time at the edge of the red stakes. A hemlock stretches skyward beside her, twice as wide as she and with grooves in the bark that glow like old scars. Two hops and she will be outside of the forest boundary again. Not safe, but at least safer, since if any nightmares chase her, the sensors will be tripped. The Thursday-night hunters will come this way.

They must be out there now, preparing for the mist that coils up from the soil. Searching for the nightmares that will form tonight or reappear from last night. There is no consistency to it, no pattern. No guessing where specific creatures will arrive or which ones might wreak death. There is only entering the forest and killing any that try to leave.

Underbrush rustles nearby. Winnie goes cold. Not the outer cold that
was already numbing her fingers and toes, but an inner cold. Like the
north wind has pushed beneath her skin and found all her organs.

Then she spots it: the mist. It is white, thick, and hungry. Moment by moment it slithers over the forest, erasing the trees from sight. In seconds, Winnie sees nothing. Not the nearby oak or balsam fir. Not even her feet, and soon, not even the hemlock.

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I hope you manage to pass trial and proceed to the next! Stay tuned for the Second Hunter Trial coming in October!

And remember: the forest is deadly for a Luminary untrained.

- Sooz 🐙

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P.S. Feel free to share this email and spread the word about the Hunter Trials! The more people we can get to join us, the better!

P.P.S. And don’t forget to leave a comment so we can all share and interact like the good ol’ days of our Twitter adventure…