Crossword Puzzle - June 2014 (Stingers Edition)

In celebration of the release of Stingers on 16 June 2014, I decided to do something a little different for this puzzle. Since Stingers is a story about a young boy who's constantly being bullied in school, many of the questions in this crossword will be about Stingers, or bullying in general.

Don't worry if you haven't read Stingers yet (although you really should): you should be able to find the answers to the Stingers related questions by just reading either the synopsis, or the free sample that's available on most retailers' sites.

As always, I will be publishing the answers to this blog in a month's time (in this case, on 22 July 2014). And as always, if you are the first person to contact me with your correct answers before then, I will publish your name on this blog. But this month, as a special incentive, the first person to send me their correct answers before 22 July 2014 will win a free copy of Stingers in ebook format! If you've already read Stingers, just let me know, and I'll send you one of my other books (A Petition to Magic or Heritage of Deceit) instead.

So without further ado, here is this month's puzzle. Good luck!

Across
1 The hero, Stingers (5)
4 Keep it on your shoulders (4)
8 This scrooge was a real bully before he saw his ghosts (4)
9 Bullied transgender star, Laverne (3)
10 Author, Stingers (First name) (6)
11 Protects your heart and lungs, easily broken (3)
12 Unmarried woman (4)
14 With a knife (4)
18 Mistress, married woman (3)
22 The sun will come out on it (6)
23 Her story is A Teenager's Experience with Bullying (3)
24 Not all of this is physical (4)
25 Unable to do something (4)
26 James' physical education teacher, Stingers (5)
Down
2 This can sometimes be a part of bullying (7)
3 It's often just about making people do this (6)
4 A car's horn (4)
5 A hero walks under it (4)
6 Anyone who hates another person for something they can't control (5)
7 Get out! (4)
8 Let those who have these, hear (3)
13 A knife (7)
15 Representing a stoat (6)
16 Author, Stingers (Last name) (5)
17 Bullied victims often live in it (4)
19 He came to save sinners (3)
20 A baby needs his (4)
21 A very rude thing to do (4)

Oh, one more thing. My newsletter subscribers already have a head start on this puzzle, as they received it via e-mail a few days before it was shared on my other social media platforms. If you don't want to miss out next time, simply visit my Contact page and sign up. You'll get lots of other cool info from me as well!