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Monday, May 26, 2014

Release Day Blitz: Crane by Stacey Rourke



Crane by Stacey Rourke
Publication date: May 26th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal


Synopsis:
The Horseman is unending,
his presence shan’t lessen.
If you break the curse,
you become the legend.

Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle had no choice but to cover up the deadly truth behind Ichabod Crane’s disappearance. Centuries later, a Crane returns to Sleepy Hollow awakening macabre secrets once believed to be buried deep.

What if the monster that spawned the legend lived within you?

Now, Ireland Crane, reeling from a break-up and seeking a fresh start, must rely on the newly awakened Rip Van Winkle to discover the key to channeling the darkness swirling within her. Bodies are piling high and Ireland is the only one that can save Sleepy Hollow by embracing her own damning curse.

But is anyone truly safe when the Horseman rides?




Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21911337-crane?ac=1
Purchase:
Amazon: (will be found here come release day): http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Stacey+Rourke+crane&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3AStacey+Rourke+crane
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/435573
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/crane-the-legends-saga-book-1-stacey-rourke/1119460057?ean=2940045926997




AUTHOR BIO
RONE Award Winner for Best YA Paranormal Work of 2012 for Embrace, a Gryphon Series Novel
Young Adult and Teen Reader voted Author of the Year 2012
Turning Pages Magazine Winner for Best YA book of 2013 & Best Teen Book of 2013

Stacey Rourke lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, dogs. She loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. Mark your calendars! Her latest literary adventure, Crane, will release May 26, 2014. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of this thrilling Legends Saga, as well as other literary projects.

Visit her at www.staceyrourke.com
diaryofasemi-crazyauthor.blogspot.com
Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stacey-Rourke/
or on Twitter @Rourkewrites.


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Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Trailer Reveal: Carrier by Anne Tibbets



Carrier by Anne Tibbets 
(The Line #1)
Published by: Carina Press
Publication date: June 16th 2014
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult

Synopsis:

Twenty-two -year-old Naya has spent nearly half her life as a sex slave in a government institution called The Line. When she’s kicked out after getting pregnant with twins, she’s got no way to earn a living and a horrifying choice to make: find someone to replace her, or have her babies taken in her stead.

A doctor with a history of aiding ex-Line girls, Ric Bennett, wants to help. He runs a team of rebels that can delete Naya’s records and free her forever. But when The Line sniffs out his plan, things get bloody, fast. Naya means more to them than just a chance at fresh faces—her twins are part of the government’s larger plan.

As they hide from government search parties, Ric comes to admire Naya’s quiet strength. And Naya realizes Ric might be a man she can trust. If they make it off the grid, they could build a new life. But first they’ll have to survive the long, vicious reach of The Line.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20886571-carrier?ac=1



AUTHOR BIO:
Anne Tibbets is an SCBWI award-winning and Smashwords.com Best Selling author. After writing for Children’s television, Anne found her way to young/new adult fiction by following what she loves: books, strong female characters, twisted family dynamics, magic, sword fights, quick moving plots, and ferocious and cuddly animals.

Along with CARRIER, Anne is also the author of the young adult fantasy novella, THE BEAST CALL and the young adult contemporary, SHUT UP.

Anne divides her time between writing, her family, and three furry creatures that she secretly believes are plotting her assassination.

Find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AnneTibbetsAuthor or on Twitter @WriteforCoffee. To contact Anne, visit www.annetibbets.com and click the ‘CONTACT’ tab.


Author Links:
http://www.annetibbets.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839392.Anne_Tibbets
https://www.facebook.com/AnneTibbetsAuthor
https://twitter.com/WriteforCoffee

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Cover Reveal: Bound in Blue by H. Hamilton Senter




Bound in Blue by Heather Hamilton-Senter
(Sword of Elements #1)
Publication date: June 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:


Gods walk among us—all you have to do is See.

High school senior Rhiannon Lynne couldn’t get noticed even if she walked stark naked into the cafeteria and started playing the banjo. While tap dancing. As if that weren’t strange enough, Rhi has synesthesia—she feels in color. It takes being almost drowned by a Celtic river goddess for her to discover she’s been bound by a spell that has hidden her from the world and her own mysterious heritage.

As Rhi starts to see that her colors are connected to magic, she finds herself at the center of a conflict between gods, humans, and the lost world of Avalon. She’ll need to figure things out fast if she wants to be a player in the coming conflict and not a pawn. Each side has a claim on her loyalty, but each one could decide she’s the real threat.

Hopelessly in love with a god of thunder; deeply connected to a boy with no memory of his past; irresistibly drawn to a creature with a taste for flesh—Rhi’s choices could decide the fate of worlds, but their choices could decide hers.

Maybe not being seen wasn’t so bad after all.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22021271-bound-in-blue



AUTHOR BIO:

No author bio/photo available at this time.

Author links:
http://www.heatherhamiltonsenter.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Hamilton-Senter-author/317288951753170
https://twitter.com/HeatherSenter
www.heatherhamiltonsenter.com

Monday, May 19, 2014

Cover Reveal: The V Girl by Mya Robarts




The V Girl by Mya Robarts
Publication date: July 1st 2014
Genres: Dystopia, New Adult

Synopsis:
V for Virgin.

V for Valiant.

In post-apocalyptic North America, raping and sexual slavery are legal. Lila Velez, desperately wants to lose her virginity before the troops visit her town and can take it away by force. She makes plans to seduce her only friend, Rey, the most attractive man in her town. Lila does not love him but he is the only man who has shown her true affection, an affection she is willing to take as a substitute of love.

Lila’s coping mechanism to her mother’s rape and kidnapping is her secret. A secret that will bring her closer to Aleksey, a foreign, broody man, she distrusts because his links to the troops and his rough, yet irresistible appearance. He offers Lila an alternative to her plans, a possibility that terrifies her…and tempts her in spite of herself.

All the while Lila will have to find a way to live in the constant company of death, slavery, starvation, sexual abuse and the danger of losing the people she loves the most.


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21799202-the-v-girl?from_search=true


AUTHOR BIO:

I am a bookaholic and regret nothing.

I am convinced the New Adult genre has more to offer than just College Romance. The possibilities are endless and I am more than willing to explore them all.

I'll quote Mario Vargas Llosa on this.

“The writer’s job is to write with rigor, with commitment, to defend what they believe with all the talent they have. I think that’s part of the moral obligation of a writer, which cannot be only purely artistic. I think a writer has some kind of responsibility at least to participate in the civic debate. I think literature is impoverished, if it becomes cut from the main agenda of people, of society, of life.”


Author links:
http://myarobarts.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/MyaRobarts
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8108373.Mya_Robarts

Friday, May 16, 2014

Book Blitz and Giveaway: Deliver Me by Kate Jarvik Birch




Deliver Me by Kate Jarvik Birch
Published by: Bloomsbury Spark
Publication date: April 15th 2014
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult


Synopsis:

One People. One Union. One Future.

Wynne’s entire life is dictated by the Union: the clothes she wears, the books she reads, even the genes she inherited. And like every other girl in the Union, Wynne dreams of being chosen as a Carrier on her 16th birthday—one of the elite selected to carry the future generation within her womb. Wynne and her best friend Odessa are certain they will both make the cut, but when Odessa is chosen and whisked off to a life of privilege, Wynne is left behind to work as an assistant, delivering perfectly planned babies for the Union.

As Odessa slips deeper and deeper into the role of Carrier, Wynne begins to see the Union for what it really is: a society that criminalizes the notion of love, and forbids words like mother and family.

For the first time in her life, Wynne is faced with a choice: submit to the will of the Union, or find a way to escape and save Odessa before she is lost forever.


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20877865-deliver-me?ac=1


Purchase:
--Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Deliver-Me-Kate-Jarvik-Birch-ebook/dp/B00JEWY4BG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1399648947&sr=8-3&keywords=deliver+me
--B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deliver-me-kate-jarvik-birch/1119075953?ean=9781619635364


----

AUTHOR BIO

Kate Jarvik Birch is a visual artist, author, playwright, daydreamer, and professional procrastinator. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be either a unicorn or mermaid. Luckily, being a writer turned out to be just as magical. Her essays and short stories have been published in literary journals including Indiana Review and Saint Ann’s Review. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and three kids. To learn more visit www.katejarvikbirch.com



Author links:

https://twitter.com/katejarvikbirch
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7159349.Kate_Jarvik_Birch
http://www.katejarvikbirch.com/
https://www.facebook.com/katejarvikbirchbooks




Excerpt:



“And now the time for selection has come,” the Councilman said, opening an ornate leather ledger containing the nine chosen names. “When called, please step forward and take your place behind me.”

Around me, I felt the whisper of a collective breath drawn in by all the girls. We held it deep in our chests, afraid to let it go, afraid to breathe.

The Grand Councilman studied the paper in front of him, “G454-71.”

His voice reverberated through the hall, bouncing off the carefully carved stonework and the dark wooden floors. For a moment we all stood still, letting the number ricochet around inside us.

The girl who stepped forward carried an air of superiority about her that had always bothered me. I didn’t think she was any more beautiful than Odessa or me, and her hair was a strange color, tinged with a bit of orange, but she was taller by at least a couple of inches. I knew she was strong, but I also knew with certainty that she wasn’t any smarter than us. In class her answers always sounded rote and memorized, as if she didn’t really give thought to what she was saying, but had taken great care to repeat things word for word from the text book.

Maybe I was completely off base, assuming I knew what the Union wanted in their Carriers. Maybe it was all about beauty, height and strength, maybe nothing else really mattered. Maybe the rest of the test was simply a formality.

The Grand Councilman watched as the first of the robes was placed over the girl’s shoulders before he turned back to us with an expression of satisfaction on his face. The look sent a chill through me. He looked back down at the ledger in front of him and called out the next number, “G458-89.”

G458-89.

Of course I recognized the number. It was imprinted in my mind, the digits as clear in my memory as they were tattooed into the soft skin of Odessa’s forearm. The breath of air I’d been holding escaped my lips and I turned to my best friend, pushing her forward to the podium.

Odessa, beautiful Odessa.

I knew she would be called. Maybe she hadn’t been first, but she was close. Pride pushed at the inside of my chest and I suppressed a cheer. If only we were allowed to clap at least, but the selection was a sacred moment and I had to keep my emotions contained. Later tonight I could tell Odessa how proud I was of her.

On the podium, one of the elegant Carrier robes was being placed over Odessa’s shoulders. From somewhere deep inside my head a low humming had begun. My fingers and toes felt strange, tingly.. I rubbed my hands together, trying to concentrate on the Grand Councilman’s words.

Six more numbers were called and progressively, as each girl took her place on the stand, I began to see the panic setting in on Odessa’s face. Normally, she would have caught my eye and made a funny face to break the tension, but she hardly looked like herself up there. The color still hadn’t returned to her cheeks and a bit of perspiration had sprouted on her forehead. In her eyes I saw the look of someone desperate, someone hungry. Only one more number left to call. Around me some of the girls were weeping silently, maybe it was because they were overcome with the pressure of it all, or maybe they realized their dreams of being a Carrier were dying out, merely the flicker of a flame remaining.

The last robe hung limply on its form. Beneath the other selection robes the bodies of eight lucky girls fidgeted, waiting to see if one of their friends would be called. I caught Odessa’s eye and tried to smile, but my lips stuck to my teeth, tight and dry. The moments clicked slowly by, an eternity of waiting. What sort of future would I have if it wasn’t as a Carrier?

Finally the Grand Councilman spoke, “The ninth and final Carrier is…D456-06.”

Odessa covered her face with her hands, but I couldn’t move; my body was completely numb.

It wasn’t my number. It wasn’t. My number hadn’t been called.

For a moment things slowed around me. Sixteen years had brought me to this point in time and here I was completely unprepared. The air seemed to vibrate, my mind racing to catch up with the real world. I could almost see the split before me. In one direction was the future I’d imagined, in the other lay the hazy reality I’d stepped into.

I didn’t get to say goodbye to Odessa. One minute she was behind the podium and the next she was gone, swept away from me.


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Thursday, May 8, 2014

Fast Draft

So of my many ambitions for the summer (including my extensive reading list found here, my plans to start working on a comic with my friend, and working full time) I want to finally finish a manuscript. I know, I know. You guys have heard it all from me before. But I will make this time better. My goal is by the end of summer I will be either working on the second draft of an ms or starting on a second story. I want my first draft to be finish by the end of June, before I leave for vacation over the Fourth of July. This will give me time to let the novel sit before diving into revisions.

To help me on my way, I am hoping onto a Fast Draft with some buddies from the New Adult Authors United group I am in on Facebook. In the  fast draft group we all have different goals, but we will all be working on a two week deadline. Now this is a lot more challenging than my usual failed attempts at NaNoWriMo, but I think since I won't be doing school work simultaneously, it may work out better.

My goal is to write 20,000 words during these two weeks. That is an average of a little less than 1,500 words a day. Way more than I usually write. But I really want this to be a time I push myself beyond my limits, creating new limits to later push myself beyond. So you guys should all root for me. If I can meet my goal, I will tell you all a little about what this story is about. (Just a hint it is New Adult fantasy with almost no romance!)

I'm starting the Fast Draft on May 10th, so Wish me Luck!!!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Summer Reading List

So most of you know I am an English grad student and I am excited that my semester is almost over. I just have a little less than a week and three papers standing in my way to freedom. In preparation (and to distract myself from the papers I have to write), I have created my Summer Reading List. It's definitely an ambitious list, including over 15 academic texts and classic novels, and seems to be growing everyday. Over the summer I plan to read:


  • Anna Karenina
  • Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life
  • Bohemians
  • Brave New World
  • Comics and Language: Reimagining Critical Discourse on the Form
  • Fangasm
  • Interview With the Vampire
  • Jet Set: The People, the Planes, the Glamour, and the Romance in Aviation's Glory Years
  • Lolita
  • My Life in France
  • Out in Africa
  • Reading Joss Whedon
  • Reading Style: A Life in Sentences
  • The Fan Fiction Studies Reader
  • The French Lieutenant's Woman
  • Wonder Woman Unbound
  • The Hobbit
  • Les Miserables
  • The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray
  • The Hound of the D'Ubervilles

Plus to add to this, the library called me to pick up Insurgent, which I forgot I requested a few months ago. Now, I'm the type of person who can't walk out of a library with only one books, so I also picked up Beloved, Uglies, and A is for Alibi. And I know I will end up reading a lot of side novels, but will try my best to stick with this list.

I've already started reading Wonder Woman Unbound and My Life in France and I will be attempting to finish Les Miserables, The Hobbit, The Hound of the D'Ubervilles and Interview With the Vampire from when I started reading them before. Maybe that means I can actually finish this list, or at least most of it.

If I am not a total scatter brain I will try to keep you guys updated with how the list is faring.