YALL FEST Interview with CJ LYONS @yallfest @cjlyonswriter

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Describe your book in 5 words:

CJ: Girl dying of broken heart (literally)

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

CJ: The first. I’ll often return to it over and over again until I’ve sliced and diced and fine-honed it to that perfect combination of intrigue, visceral reaction, and emotional connection with the reader.

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?

CJ: Code Name Verity because it is so emotionally honest and inspiring, empowering, not to mention gut-wrenching. Really brings the era to life as well as the sacrifices made in the name of freedom.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

CJ: When I was a kid I worked summer stock theatre and was actually a theatre major undergrad before switching to pre-med.
I’ve had two hard landings in helicopters while working as a flight doc.
 I survived rampaging Cape Horn Buffalo and a pack of wild baboons, not to mention a leopard (he’s already eaten) while hiking in Hells Gate Park in Kenya.
 I’m a Capricorn.
I diagnosed my niece with the heart condition that’s at the center of my YA thriller, BROKEN.

What are you working on now?

CJ: DAMAGED, my next YA thriller, due out in 2014. It deals with the really tough topic of abuse and coercion and is the most difficult book I’ve ever tackled—there have been times while writing when I was literally in tears as I typed.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

CJ: I created my own genre of Thrillers with Heart—I love writing fast paced stories with raising stakes but centered on the emotional heart of an evolving relationship. As for reading, I read almost every genre but especially love YA, magical realism, and thrillers. As long as a story grabs me by the throat and won’t let me go because I’m too worried about what the characters are going through, I’ll read it and love it.

Giveaway DARKEST WORLDS: A DYSTOPIAN ANTHOLOGY Win $50 ! #BookBlast

Darkest Worlds: A Dystopian Anthology An anthology that explores what humans are made of when society falls to its knees. Darkest Worlds includes six original novellas by award-winning authors and best sellers of Young Adult and New Adult Dystopia. All proceeds go to Girls Write Now, a charity that promotes literacy of inner-city girls.  

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  Nessa: A Breeders Story by Katie French, author of The Breeders: Eighteen-year-old Nessa knows what it’s like to be an endangered species. Growing up in a dying world where nine out of ten babies are born male, she survives by trusting no one. When Marlin, the nineteen-year-old gunslinger, kills the man who has been keeping her enslaved, Nessa decides he might be her meal ticket. What she doesn’t realize is love is still possible, even in their decimated world.   MOON by S.K. Falls, author of World of Shell and Bone: Loyalty. Obedience. Patriotism. Moon Stewart has no doubt that the New Amanian way of life is the right way. The only way. But was there ever a time when she felt differently? In this companion novella to the dystopian bestseller World of Shell and Bone, the secrets of Moon's past are revealed, giving readers a glimpse into the mind of their favorite antagonist.   The First Unforgivable Thing by Zoe Cannon, author of The Torturer’s Daughter: When a dissident working undercover as an interrogator is ordered to torture a confession from the only girl he’s ever loved, he chooses to defy both the totalitarian regime and the resistance by helping her escape—but she has an agenda of her own...   The Keeper by A.G. Henley, author of The Scourge: a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award. Peree knows his duty as the new Keeper of the Water Bearer, Fennel, is to make sure his people get every drop of their share of the water she collects when the flesh-eating Scourge roam the forest. He will motivate her, distract her, do anything he can to keep her working. He knows his duty is to his people and his people alone. What he doesn’t know is that he's falling in love with her.   Survival Lessons by Kate Avery Ellison, author of Frost: A young Farther prisoner named Eva escapes into the monster-filled wilderness of the Frost with a band of fellow inmates, all of whom are harboring secrets...but little do they know that Eva has secrets of her own. Set in the world of The Frost Chronicles.   clean slate complex by Megan Thomason, author of the daynight series: Homeless Alexa Knight agrees to help the do-gooder non-profit The Second Chance Institute in return for medical care for her sick mother. The SCI is wooing the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes--where "everything is provided" from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there's a catch...  

Katie French

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S.K. Falls

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Zoe Cannon

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A.G. Henley

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Kate Avery Ellison

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Megan Thomason

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Girls Write Now--charity

Website

The Girls Write Now mission is to provide guidance, support, and opportunities for at-risk and underserved girls from New York City’s public high schools to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy school, career and life choices.

 

  BookBlast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

 Ends 9/30/13

 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.


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Giveaway SEPTEMBER MYSTERY BOOK

WELCOME TO THE  September MYSTERY BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Here is your blurb - right from Amazon.  If there are characters mentioned, I have Xd out the names.  





What happens when you put a suicidal eighteen-year-old philosophy student, his ex-girlfriend, his best friend, and his newborn baby in a truck and send them to Grandma's house? This debut novel by Emil Ostrovski will appeal to fans of John Green, Chris Crutcher, and Jay Asher.

This book will be released on September 24, 2013



PLEASE DON'T POST THE TITLE IN THE COMMENTS - 
THERE IS A PLACE ON THE ENTRY FORM  FOR YOUR GUESS.  

WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK?
This book is an advance reader paperback
Contest is open to anyone with a US  mailing address and ends 9.30.13
Winner will be chosen by Random.org  -  Void Where Prohibited.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen
Duplicate entries will be deleted.  This giveaway is sponsored by ME!


Complete the form below!

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Giveaway THE PITCHER by WILLIAM HAZELGROVE @Rocketman46

The Pitcher

“I never knew I had an arm until this guy called out, “Hey you want to try and get a ball in the hole, sonny?” I was only nine, but mom said, “come on, let’s play.” This Carney guy with no teeth and a fuming cigarette hands me five blue rubber balls and says if I throw three in the hole we win a prize. He’s grinning, because he took mom’s five bucks and figures a sucker is born every minute. That really got me, because we didn’t have any money after Fernando took off, and he only comes back to beat up mom and steal our money. So I really wanted to get mom back something, you know, for her five bucks.” A boy with a golden arm but no money for lessons. A mother who wants to give her son his dream before she dies. A broken down World Series pitcher who cannot go on after the death of his wife. These are the elements of The Pitcher. A story of a man at the end of his dream and a boy whose dream is to make his high school baseball team. In the tradition of The Natural and The Field of Dreams, this is a mythic story about how a man and a boy meet in the crossroads of their life and find a way to go on. You will laugh and you will cry as The Pitcher and Ricky prepare for the ultimate try out of life.

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Author William Hazelgrove

 William Hazelgrove is the best selling author of five novels, Ripples, Tobacco Sticks Mica Highways and Rocket Man and The Pitcher His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly, Book of the Month Selections, Junior Library Guild Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards and optioned for the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today and other publications. His latest novel Rocket Man due out May 1, 2013 was chosen Book of the Year by Books and Authors.net. He runs a political cultural blog, The View From Hemingway’s Attic. A forthcoming novel, The Pitcher will be out Sept 1, 2013. He lives in Chicago.

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Blog Tour Schedule

  BookBlast Giveaway
 $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
 Ends 9/30/13

 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.




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Review ROGUE by GINA DAMICO @HMHKids @GinaDamico

Book Description

Release date: September 10, 2013 | Series: Croak

Lex, a teenage Grim Reaper, has the power to Damn souls, and it’s getting out of control. Her boyfriend, Driggs, is dead . . . sort of. She’s a fugitive, on the run from the maniacal new mayor of Croak and the townspeople who want to see her pay the price for her misdeeds. Uncle Mort rounds up the Junior Grims to flee Croak once again, but this time they’re joined by Grotton, the most powerful Grim of all time. Their new mission is clear: Fix his mistakes, or the Afterlife will cease to exist, along with all the souls in it. The gang heads for Necropolis, the labyrinth-like capital city of the Grimsphere. There, they discover that the Grimsphere needs a reboot. To do that, the portals to the Afterlife must be destroyed . . . but even that may not be enough to fix the damage. Things go from bad to worse, and when at last the fate of the Afterlife and all the souls of the Damned hang in the balance, it falls to Lex and her friends to make one final, impossible choice.

  About the Author


  Gina Damico is the author of Croak, Scorch, and Rogue. She received a degree in theater and sociology from Boston College, where she was active with the Committee for Creative Enactments, the country’s only collegiate murder mystery improv comedy troupe. She has since worked as a tour guide, transcriptionist, theater house manager, scenic artist, and movie extra. She lives outside of Boston with her husband, two cats, and a closet full of black hoodies. Visit her website at www.ginadami.co.

SOURCE:  AMAZON VINE

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

*** spoilers if you haven't read the first two in the series ***

And why haven't you read these awesome books yet?

Lex is quickly learning that she has skills above and beyond the ability to Damn and none of them are supernatural.  With Driggs being somewhere between ghost and dead-dead, she can still see him and hold him once in awhile.  As the Grimsphere is starting to collapse and might signal the end of the afterlife, Lex and her uncle Mort must contain the damage and prevent the downfall.  Armed with the Wrong Book and which is attached to the Grim Creator, Grotton, the Juniors must follow the clues to save everything for the afterlife.  Can they do it in time?


 Of course, the Junior have many tricks up their sleeves, including fast thinking and Uncle Mort's theories.  They head to Necropolis, to seal the last opening to the Grimsphere where Norwood, has already somewhat taken over.  This is such a thrilling conclusion that left me feeling a bit bittersweet.  I was so sad that Driggs was no longer corporeal but could be when he touched Lex.  I am going to miss the dry sense of humor and swift comebacks of Lex and Uncle Mort. 



These characters aren't perfect, they make a lot of mistakes and some die.  The romance between Driggs and Lex is just swoon-worthy.  These two are meant for each other even if they can't always be together.  A little more about Driggs' history is also explained and it is pretty sad.    Do yourself a favor and go grab all three books to read before summer ends.  You won't be disappointed.  Sigh, I have to get over the end of this series.  I am going to miss Lex so much. 

Disclosure I received this book from the publisher at no charge and in no way influenced my review. If you are considering purchasing this book or anything else from Amazon, please use my link above since I earn a very small percentage of the sale which helps pay for shipping my giveaways!

YALL FEST Interview with LAUREN OLIVER @YALLFest @OliverBooks

For more information:  YALL FEST 

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Coffee!

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

Honestly, neither. It’s just every single line in between that feels impossible.

Best writing tip you ever received?

Aim for truth and beauty will follow.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

I have fourteen tattoos. I can fall asleep any time, any place. I have a phobia of worms. I hate fruit. I wrote my first novel largely on my Blackberry.

Where's your favorite place to write?

In my sunroom in upstate New York.

What are you working on now?

Two different middle grade books and an untitled young adult novel that my agent described as “the most disturbing thing he’s ever read.” Oops!

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

I love realistic books that include just a hint of fantasy.

Giveaway & Trailer Reveal Dead Girls Don’t Lie by Jennifer Shaw Wolf @jenniferswolf

Welcome to the Official Trailer Blast Reveal for Jennifer Shaw Wolf’s DEAD GIRLS DON’T LIE

Rachel died at two a.m . . . Three hours after Skyler kissed me for the first time. Forty-five minutes after she sent me her last text. 
Jaycee and Rachel were best friends. But that was before. . .before that terrible night at the old house. Before Rachel shut Jaycee out. Before Jaycee chose Skyler over Rachel. Then Rachel is found dead. The police blame a growing gang problem in their small town, but Jaycee is sure it has to do with that night at the old house. Rachel’s text is the first clue—starting Jaycee on a search that leads to a shocking secret. Rachel’s death was no random crime, and Jaycee must figure out who to trust before she can expose the truth.
In the follow-up to her powerful debut, Jennifer Shaw Wolf keeps readers on their toes in another dark, romantic story of murder and secrets.

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One winner will get a signed copy of DEAD GIRLS DON’T LIE
One winner will get a signed copy of BREAKING BEAUTIFUL

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Shaw Wolf grew up on a farm in the tiny town of St. Anthony, Idaho. She spent cold Idaho mornings milking cows in the dark and attended a school where Hunter’s Education was part of the sixth grade curriculum. She’s always been a writer, whether it was sewing together books to read to her little brothers or starting an underground newspaper in sixth grade. She met the love of her life at Ricks College, (now BYU Idaho), after he dropped her on her head. She graduated from Ricks and then Brigham Young University, Provo with a degree in Broadcast Communications. Now she lives in beautiful, green, (rainy) Lacey, Washington with her husband and four kids. She loves to produce videos, ski, ride horses, and read, but really all she has time for is chasing kids and writing.

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