Possession Series Scavenger Hunt + Guest Post

Today, I'm one of the stops on the Possession series scavenger hunt! I'm glad to welcome author Elana Johnson to my blog today with a guest post about her series. The third and final book, ABANDON, hit shelves June 4! Take it away, Elana! ----------

Okay, so after I finished Possession, it was decided that the book would become a trilogy. I hadn't planned it, and suddenly I needed to know more than just a couple of cities in a couple of places. I had to know the entire country. I knew that Possession took place in the far future, after some catastrophic event, and that Vi, Jag, and Zenn lived in what used to be the United States.

So the map outline was easy. But cities had been renamed. Lost. Contained. Burned. Bombed. Ruined. The coastlines had receded, though I figured there would still be mountains, valleys, plains, deserts, and rivers. As I wrote Surrender, I expanded the world from east to west. Freedom lies on the east coast, the capital of the Association. Gunner and Raine live there, and the entire book is based on their underground dealings with the Resistance. So it wasn't until ABANDON that I got to explore the entire map of the Association. I created traveling teams, who went out in pairs to visit all the cities and bring details of how to thwart Association efforts, how to record and plant false feeds, how to live freely without anyone knowing. After all, Resisting a brainwashing government is a huge undertaking.

All my cities needed names. I am a huge believer in stealing things from what exists around me, and I'll fully admit that the city of Cedar Hills is a real place, about four minutes from my house. I inserted it into my manuscript and there it stayed! I created regions, and gave them geographic names. Other cities I started naming based on what they do in the city. So Lakehead became the name of the city surround by lakes and charged with purifying water. Harvest became the name of the city sort of in the plains, charged with producing crops. My beloved Cedar Hills houses hundreds of greenhouses, where Citizens are repopulating the earth with trees, flowers, and shrubs. My traveling teams visit these cities in ABANDON, but I needed more. For example, where has Jag been? Between POSSESSION and SURRENDER, he's gone for about 8 months. Where has he been? What's he been doing? More cities were born, and I was able to go from east to west and north to south, expanding the Association to fill the map. And you can see it below--my friend and author herself, Natalie Whipple brought my world to life. Today's scavenger hunt can begin here! Somewhere on this map of the Association is the winning city. I've mentioned here in this post, and you can find references to it in all of today's posts. (See complete blog tour here.)

When you know today's scavenger hunt city, enter it in this form for a chance to win one of six Possession series paperback packages and a $50 Amazon gift card! Continue the scavenger hunt at Book Loving Mom, where Amy has an exclusive excerpt from Raine--and another clue for today's city! As if that weren't enough, there will be a daily winner of Possession series swag! Enter in the Rafflecopter below. a Rafflecopter giveaway If you get lost, you can always go to Elana's blog to find your place. Happy hunting!