S.A. Larsen, Award-winning author of middle grade & young adult fiction: THE BODY INSTITUTE by Carol Riggs & A Giveaway!

So today Carol Riggs is celebrating her book blitz with us. I think the book's premise is fascinating and really makes the reader think. Instead of following regular book blitz protocol, I've decided to switch things up a bit. But first, let's peek at Carol's fabulous book!

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THE BODY INSTITUTE by Carol Riggs
Publisher: Entangled Teen Release Date: September 1, 2015
Description: Meet Morgan Dey, one of the top teen Reducers at The Body Institute.
Thanks to cutting-edge technology, Morgan can temporarily take over another girl’s body, get her in shape, and then return to her own body—leaving her client slimmer, more toned, and feeling great. Only there are a few catches…
For one, Morgan won’t remember what happens in her “Loaner” body. Once she’s done, she won’t recall walks with her new friend Matt, conversations with the super-cute Reducer she’s been text-flirting with, or the uneasy feeling she has that the director of The Body Institute is hiding something. Still, it’s all worth it in the name of science. Until the glitches start…
Suddenly, residual memories from her Loaner are cropping up in Morgan’s mind. She’s feeling less like herself and more like someone else. And when protests from an anti–Body Institute organization threaten her safety, she’ll have to decide if being a Reducer is worth the cost of her body and soul…

Writers: ever make a list of all the changes made to your manuscript before it hit the shelves? Or after your umpteenth draft? Readers: ever wonder what your favorite character was like on initial creation? It can be intriguing to mull over such a list, especially for the writer. And Carol's decided to share a few changes this manuscript went through before it was finalized.

1. BOYFRIEND NO MORE. The main character, Morgan Dey, used to have a boyfriend named Aaron in the beginning of the novel—until 8 months before the book was published. He got slashed by Carol’s Entangled Teen editor. In the original version, Morgan broke up with him by walloping him in virtual paintball.

2. BEST FRIEND TWEAK. Morgan’s best friend, Blair McClure, was called Bunny in the first drafts. Blair sounds more serious and fits her better, now that she’s Morgan’s science-minded friend.

3. TITLE CHANGE. The previous title of THE BODY INSTITUTE used to be SHAPERS. This was changed by Strange Chemistry when the book was under contract with them, before they went out of business and Entangled Teen picked up the book. ET liked the new title and kept it.

4. EVEN EARLIER TITLES. Back in 1990 when the novel was just an idea, the working title was FARRADAY’S FAT FARM. In 2010 when Carol started the actual writing, this morphed into EMRT. (Electromagnetic Resonance Transfer—the process of downloading one person’s brainmap into another person’s body.) An editor at an SCBWI conference wisely suggested that Carol change this to SHAPERS. (Now the body-swapping process is more simply called ERT, which is more reader-friendly.)

5. INSTITUTE WORKERS. When the book was called SHAPERS, the weight loss was performed by workers called Shapers, instead of being called Reducers as they are now.

6. AVATARS NO MORE. In early versions, Morgan had a holographic princess warrior avatar that popped up on her phone; she used this instead of the texts and voice-to-text that appear in the final version of the book. Bunny communicated using a (duh) bunny avatar, and Krista used a slinky clown. Morgan’s ex-boyfriend Aaron was a troll.