Monday, December 30, 2013

Monday Muse: One Direction -- Story of My Life


Okay, so up until last week One Direction was only known to me as a random boy band and I only knew one song that they ever did -- which I think was their first song? Anyway, they were on TV last week and sang this song and I decided that I, at least, liked the song. So, when I went to hear it again on YouTube, I saw this video and -- me being the mush that I am -- I had to love it even more. So, this is me reconnecting with my boy-band days...or something.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Feature Friday: Robin Constantine

Robin Constantine is a born-and-raised Jersey girl who moved south so she could wear flip-flops year-round.    She spends her days dreaming up stories where love conquers all, eventually, but not without a lot of peril, angst, and the occasional kissing scene.  The Promise of Amazing is her first novel.

Interview:

A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Robin:      
Never give up.  Keep writing the story that you want to write and trust your instincts.  It’s also not enough to love writing on the ‘good days’, you have to love it on the awful days when it feels like everything flowing from your fingertips is clichéd drivel.  Those are the days you need to care about it the most – keep putting one word down after the next and be wise enough to know the magic rarely (if ever) happens during the first draft.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Robin:
 Hmmm.  This could change daily but I have to say all around I love The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  It’s a book that made me laugh and cry.  The characters in the book are amazing too, so real to me.  And Death as a narrator is just brilliant. 

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for The Promise of Amazing?

Robin:
TPofA is a mash up of so many ideas – the seed of it came from my own high school experience.  The first line of the book  “None of you are going to Harvard” is actually something a guidance counselor said to my class.  As an adult I get where she was coming from, but sitting in that classroom as a teenager unsure about the future it felt derisive.  Obviously it affected me since I was inspired to build a story around it.  And Grayson was a minor character in a different book that I ended up scrapping, but I couldn’t forget him so I introduced him to Wren and the story grew out of that.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing The Promise of Amazing?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Robin:
Writing from a dual point of view, sometimes a chapter would end on an inconvenient note as to the way the story needed to unfold.  Wren wasn’t originally in the climactic scene that takes place in Guinevere’s cottage, and I had to figure out a way to get her there and make it plausible.  At that point in the novel, when she’s aware of Grayson’s past and feeling manipulated by his friends, she decides to try and beat them at their game.  I think it’s an empowered decision on her part – but that didn’t happen in my first draft!

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in The Promise of Amazing is your favorite and why?
     
Robin:
Wow, it’s hard to pick a favorite!!  I really love all of them, even the minor (and slightly evil) ones, but I’ll go with Grayson.  He’s such a delicious mess of a person.  He makes bad decisions, speaks without thinking, and is a bit of a bull in a China shop with his feelings – he was a lot of fun to write.  I also think he’s probably the most misunderstood.  I don’t see him as an awful person.  I see him more as a teen on the cusp of adulthood who comes to realize he needs to make better choices with his life and stop blaming his actions on his past.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Robin:
A long and winding road!  I’ve always loved to write but it wasn’t until after the birth of my first child that I got serious about it. I joined SCBWI in 1996 and took a workshop in picture book writing.  My first critique group formed out of that class – which is funny, because so many of us went on to write longer works but quite a few have had picture book success, which I think is insanely difficult.

I wrote my first novel in 1998 and worked on it for about three years – changing, revising, I won a scholarship to a writing retreat with that one, but the novel is still collecting dust on my hard drive.   I took some time off from writing when my second child was born, but I always critiqued and continued to go to my writing group.  I feel like that helped me stay connected.  When my little one started school I made it my goal to finish the novel I’d been fooling around with before she was born.  I revised the novel over and over again until I felt like I had it to the best place it could be then I started submitting to agents.  I also entered a contest run by chicklitwriters.com called The Get Your Stiletto In The Door contest.  Long story short – I won.  My agent was one of the judges in my category and requested a full.  A few weeks later she offered representation. 

We worked on that manuscript for a couple of months before it went out on submission but ultimately it didn’t sell because it didn’t have enough of a hook.  It was so discouraging – to work on something so hard and have all these near misses (and it’s a story I still really love).  When I began The Promise of Amazing I had the mindset that ‘this is it’ – I don’t think I would have quit writing altogether, but I was going to pull back my focus from it for a while.   The manuscript went through a couple of rounds of revision with my agent – some slight, some really in depth.   A lot of times I wanted to forget about it – but then I’d give myself a pep talk, and get in there and just have at it.  I turned it in the week before Thanksgiving 2012.  It went out on submission the following Monday and by Christmas 2012 it sold.  I’m still pinching myself.

The thing I’ve learned the most during this pre-debut year is that getting ‘the call’ is only the beginning.   Anytime I feel like I know what I’m doing, I get thrown off balance and suddenly realize I know nothing!  There’s so much I’m still learning about my own writing process and about the publishing business.  One thing I do know is that I love being an author – the good, the bad and everything in between.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Robin:
I’m working on a companion novel for The Promise of Amazing, told from another character’s POV.  It focuses on Wren’s best friend, Madison and takes place a few months after TPofA – so it’s a completely different set of circumstances.  It’s been fun writing from such a different voice, and also getting to see Wren and Grayson a few months after they first get together.

A.L.:
What's your favorite place to eat in Jersey?  Likewise, what's your favorite place to eat down south?  

Robin:
Omigosh, I love this question! 

Hmmm…it’s less of a specific place and more like certain foods.  Whenever I visit NJ I always have a list of things I want to eat!  Bagels, pizza, Italian food, and Kohr’s frozen custard depending on the season.  Oh, and I always have to visit a diner.  Diner breakfast is such a treat!

Down south, there’s a place I like called The Flying Biscuit Café – everything comes with a biscuit and apple butter.  And they have this rather awesome Fried Green Tomato BLT that’s just delish. I’ve also come to appreciate Carolina BBQ – a favorite place for that is The Pit, in Raleigh, NC.

A.L.:
Did you move down south only because you wanted to wear flip-flops year-round or is there more to the story?

Robin:
Honest?  My husband wanted to wear shorts year round.  He hates the cold!  We do get winter down here but it’s mild compared to New Jersey.  It will snow, but then it will be gone by noon.  So it’s pretty funny what they call a snow day down here.  We also just wanted a change of scenery and a different pace of life.  Everything moves a little slower down south, and I mean that in a good way!  I also don’t have to worry about alternate side of the street parking anymore, which is really quite wonderful.  You’d be amazed at how factoring “Will I find a parking spot when I get home?” affected my decision to go someplace.

A.L.:
Why did you choose an Arthurian style catering hall for Wren's family to own?

Robin:
I worked in a catering hall in college and knew the potential for characters and funny situations was there.  As for the Arthurian theme – I wanted something that had potential to be kitschy but at one time had been popular.  The symbolism of the ideals of Camelot was also in the back of my head.  I think Wren idealizes her family and through the course of the story realizes how very human they all are so The Camelot being reinvented does subtly mirror Wren’s family life as well as the theme of not letting your past define you. 

Thank you for hosting me on your blog!!

The Giveaway:
Robin is giving away a signed copy of THE PROMISE OF AMAZING to one lucky US winner!

The Promise of Amazing:  Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she’s not popular, but not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet, “good” girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change, but doesn’t know how.

Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe’s. Star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, on a fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a “term paper pimp.” Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change, but doesn’t know how.

One fateful night their paths cross when Wren, working at her family’s Arthurian-themed catering hall, performs the Heimlich on Gray as he chokes on a cocktail weenie, saving his life literally and figuratively. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.


Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy on Amazon. 
Buy on Barnes and Noble. 


How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, December 23, 2013

Monday Muse: M.I.A. -- Bad Girls

Cause today I'm filled with girly bad-assery. Also, it's my birthday and this is my theme song as I prowl the aisles of DSW and go watch Bilbo wake a dragon.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Feature Friday: Micah Caida

Micah Caida is the melding of two voices, two personalities and two minds, which often turns up the strangest ideas.  Micah enjoys exploring how different characters react and deal with similar situations.  Life is often filled with the unexpected – both good and bad.  While creating the Red Moon series, Micah hit upon a very unusual “what if” that exploded into an epic story filled with teenagers who face impossible odds, but are the only ones who can save the world from itself.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Micah:
I would give two pieces of advice. First, always read, read, read.  As new writers, we are so caught up in getting our story down on paper, critiqued, polished and so on that we stop making time to read. But reading is what brought you to writing (it should have), so stay on top of what readers like “today” by reading “current” books.

The second thing I would say is to finish that first book, put it aside for a month and start a second one Very few writers take this advice, but the ones who do take it generally have a better book to submit the first time.  Give each book the time needed to edit and polish, but once you’ve put it through an intense editing and are pitching it to agents and/or editors, start the next book.  Don’t treat that first book like your favorite toy and refuse to give it up.  I promise you that once you’ve written at least three books, you’ll go back and edit your first one with a new perspective.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Micah:
I’d much rather tell you my favorite movie – Star Trek (just pick one) – because picking a favorite book will put me in trouble with all my author friends. :)

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for Time Trap?

Micah:
The Red Moon Series is a collaborative effort of two bestselling authors. We brainstorm our individual, adult-targeted books together, so when we were at the end of a brainstorming session, I mentioned the seed of an idea about someone who held the key to saving the current-day world and the future.  Next thing I knew, we were off brainstorming again, but this time it was for a young adult sci-fi/fantasy series.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing Time Trap?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Micah:
Not really a snag so much as an “ah-ha” moment that resulted from an editor’s suggestion and required rewriting the entire first book.  We originally had a male protagonist. At the suggestion of changing it to a female lead, we sat down and talked about what that would do to the series. The longer we talked, the more excited we got, seeing opportunities to make this series far more powerful from a female point of view.

That meant rewriting that first book and re-plotting the other two books, because a gender change is huge when you consider everyone the protagonist interacts with and the difference between male and female reactions in every situation.  It took two months to rewrite and was worth every minute.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in Time Trap is your favorite and why?

Micah:
Rayen, by far, is my favorite. She comes awake in the middle of a desert landscape that is both familiar and strange.  She’s seventeen and alone with a sentient beast chasing her, which ends with her being arrested along with other kids who are suspected of theft and destruction.  Throughout everything that happens to her, Rayen is a strong female lead, the kind of loyal friend you hope to find at some point in your life, and yet heartbreakingly alone with no memory of who she is or where she came from – certainly not this world in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Micah:
I have always loved stories in any form from reading to plays to movies, but surprised myself when I decided to sit down one day and start writing a story I’d had in mind for a while.    I fell out of the womb a realistic portrait artist who was not afraid of heights, and that story had come to me while I was working—dangling more than a hundred feet above the ground-- hand-painting huge murals.  My first book won a Golden Heart and overall best Daphne du Maurier award, then sold to Harlequin.  It sounds easy to say I won a couple of contests and sold, but it wasn’t quite like that. The first agent I signed with almost cost me  that contract offer and I did not sell my sequel story of that book because they replaced my senior editor a month after I sold. The new editor was the complete opposite of the first one, so we never seemed to be able to find common ground for a story.  I’m a believer in “everything happens for a reason.” Not being committed to a multi-book contract with Harlequin allowed me to be available later on to co-write a New York Times bestselling series.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Micah:
My Red Moon series co-author and I are having a blast writing TIME RETURN, book 2 that will be out February 2014. The final book—book 3--will be released summer 2014.  We are so pumped about that!

A.L.:
You're a motorcycle enthusiast.  Can you tell us a little about your motorcycle and where you like to take it for weekend spins?

Micah:
I love my bike. I have a BMW F 650 GS, which actually has an 850 engine and is pure fun to ride. This type of bike is a “dual sport,” which means it’s built for off road or highways.  When I went to pick this one out, I didn’t care for the blue or silver one so the dealer suggested the orange one. I was like, “Ugh, no, orange is not my bike color.” Then he showed it to me and I told him that was not orange, but vermillion, which is beautiful. My husband laughed and told the dealer to not argue, because I was an artist who knew my colors. :)

 I love to ride the back roads in Georgia or thousands of miles in any direction, anything that is not constant traffic.  Interstates are fine when we need to make time, but I hate moving ten miles an hour through a series of forever traffic lights.  I’ve ridden across country, up the west coast, down the east coast and spent time this summer riding around the Great Lakes.  We’re planning a trip to Nova Scotia next year.

A.L.:
Where is your favorite place to go snowboarding?
Park City, Utah, but I’ve had knee surgery – not so much on the slopes these days.

A.L.:
Why did you combine the personalities types that you did in Time Trap?

Micah:
The personalities in this story offered the best conflict and growth for friendships put under stress. We can all be friends and supportive when life is easy, but true character is revealed when a person is put to the test.

Rayen is constantly dealing with no memory and a developing power that is a liability as much as an asset at times.

Tony believes in science and electronics, not the woo-woo world, and has a baby brother depending on him. Tony was lucky to get into this special school, and for his brother’s sake, he has to stay on track. 

Gabby has carried a tremendous burden since she was a child, because she gave voice to a secret she’d heard telepathically, and that ended with her mother’s death.
Three teens with their own agendas, their own sets of problems and every reason to distrust each other, are forced to join together to survive and save the world.  What’s not to love?

The Giveaway:
Micah is giving awat two signed copies of TIME TRAP to two lucky winners!  US/CANADA

Time Trap:  Micah Caida's stunning debut young adult book TIME TRAP is like nothing before it, according to early readers.

Time Trap, book one in the Red Moon series

Her memory is blank.
Her future's in question.
Her power is dangerous.

Waking up in an unknown world, Rayen learns only that she's seventeen and is hunted by a sentient beast. Terrified that she may never learn who she really is or find her way back to her home, she's captured in a land that is at times familiar even if the people and the structures seem alien. When local law enforcement delivers her to a private school, she's labeled as a Native American runaway, and Rayen discovers a secret with deadly repercussions. Forced into an unlikely alliance with a computer savvy street punk and a gifted oddball girl to save their world - and the future - Rayen finds the key to an identity that no person would want.


Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy on Amazon.
Buy on Barnes and Noble.


How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, December 16, 2013

Monday Muse: The 1975 - Chocolate



So, this was supposed to be the Monday Muse for like two weeks ago except I apparently forgot to set it to publish and it's been sitting here for a while without me noticing and no one felt like telling me my Monday Muse didn't go up.  :/  Anyway, it's here today! 

I have such a fan girl addiction to these guys. I want to make you listen to their whole album! LOL

Friday, December 13, 2013

Feature Friday: Jodi Meadows

Jodi Meadows lives and writes in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, with her husband, a Kippy*, and an alarming number of ferrets. She is a confessed book addict, and has wanted to be a writer ever since she decided against becoming an astronaut.

*A Kippy is a cat.

Interview:
A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Jodi:
Finish that first book. It doesn't have to be good. Just finish it. (Then revise it.)

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Jodi:
I don't have a favorite book -- singular. I have lots of favorite books, mostly in the YA fantasy and science fiction genre. Some of my recent favorites are STARGLASS by Phoebe North, DEFIANCE by C.J. Redwine, THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson, and GRAVE MERCY by Robin LaFevers. (I'm stopping there, because if I tried to keep naming books, we'd be here all night.)

A.L.:
Where did you get the idea for the Newsoul series?

Jodi:
I shook up a bottle of soda and let it spray all over the kitchen floor. I read the story in the bubbles.

Just kidding. The getting of ideas is kind of a mysterious thing. Ideas just happen. You can practice by asking "what if?" a lot; many of my ideas begin that way, and grow as I roll them around in my thoughts and more ideas stick to them.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing the Newsoul series?  What were they and how did you fix them?

Jodi:
Nothing that seemed really insurmountable. INCARNATE was my seventeenth completed manuscript, so by that time, I sort of knew what I was doing, and that if I messed up something, I could always revise it into shape.

Though, while I don't think it was a mistake, exactly, I did write the second and third books before I finished editing the first, which meant by the time I was ready to edit book three, so many things had changed in the plot and worldbuilding that it was just easier to trash the entire first draft and start over.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in the Newsoul series is your favorite and why?

Jodi:
Oh I don't have a favorite. It's like choosing favorite children or pets! But, of course, Ana and Sam have a special place in my heart, since they're the two main characters.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Jodi:
As I mentioned above, I'd written sixteen manuscripts before I wrote INCARNATE, so as you can imagine, my journey to publication was, ah, long. Or it seemed very long. I started writing in 2003, got an agent in 2007, left that agent by the end of the year, and began searching for a new one. I wrote INCARNATE at the end of 2009 and got a new agent in the beginning of 2010, and sold INCARNATE that summer.

So all in all, it was really only a few years, but it it was my full-time job that didn't pay, and pretty difficult for me to get over all that rejection. (I have a pile of over 400 rejections.) But, I'm glad it happened. It gave me perspective and experience. I think I'm a better writer for the journey.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?  Maybe some interesting tidbits about The Orphan Queen?

Jodi:
Right now, at this very moment when I'm answering these questions, I'm taking a short break while I wait for my edit letter on THE ORPHAN QUEEN. Before this, I was working on the first draft of its sequel. And any day now, I'm going to get my edit letter for OQ. So, to keep from having to trash the entire first draft of the second book (haha, remember when I did that with INFINITE? Yeah, good times), I'm taking a break, now that I know all the things I need to know to foreshadow properly in book 1.

Tidbits . . . The main character really likes office supplies. Specifically paper and dip pens and fancy inks.

A.L.:
You love to create yarnish things!  What's the most fantastic thing you've spun/knit/crocheted?

Jodi:
Oooh, I don't know. I really like the lacy shawl I'm working on, but I've been working on it for well over a year now -- and when I say working on, I mean I stopped working on it because it started demanding too much attention as it grew.

Um. I have some really pretty silk I spun. I like spinning silk.

A.L.:
I know it's super hard to choose just one of your ferret underlings, but if you had to feature just one of them today, who would it be and why?  What would this ferret say to the good readers?  (we like pictures)

Jodi:
Todd seems to be the most popular ferret, but Hiro has a pretty solid fan base. I don't think I could choose just one. In fact, I refuse! Here's a blurry picture of both of them together.

A.L.:
What are your feelings about the Newsoul series coming to an end?  Are you a little bittersweet or excited to move on to another chapter in your writing career?

Jodi:
Ahhh, both. I'm sad to leave Ana and Sam and the rest of the reincarnation gang, but their story is finished. I'm really, really excited to share THE ORPHAN QUEEN and all the fun people living in that story!

The Giveaway:
Jodi is offering a swag pack -- bookmark, stickers, signed bookplate -- internationally.

Infinite:  DESTRUCTION
The Year of Souls begins with an earthquake—an alarming rumble from deep within the earth—and it’s only the first of greater dangers to come. The Range caldera is preparing to erupt. Ana knows that as Soul Night approaches, everything near Heart will be at risk.

FLIGHT
Ana’s exile is frightening, but it may also be fortuitous, especially if she can convince her friends to flee Heart and Range with her. They’ll go north, seeking answers and allies to stop Janan’s ascension. And with any luck, the newsouls will be safe from harm’s reach.

CHOICE
The oldsouls might have forgotten the choice they made to give themselves limitless lifetimes, but Ana knows the true cost of reincarnation. What she doesn’t know is whether she’ll have the chance to finish this one sweet life with Sam, especially if she returns to Heart to stop Janan once and for all.

With gorgeous romance and thrilling action, the final book in the Incarnate trilogy offers a brilliant conclusion to the compelling questions of this fascinating world, where one new girl is the key to the lives of millions.


Read Goodreads reviews.
Buy on Amazon.
Buy on Barnes and Noble.

How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winner via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, December 9, 2013

Monday Muse: Idina Menzel -- Let It Go

Because I'm now obsessed with Frozen. I vote Idina over Demi any day, so that's why we get the official voice actress version and not the closing credits version. Also, the can we talk about the opening song?! O.O Hello Pure Moods!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Feature Friday: Ednah Walters

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, was released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN.

Ednah also writes New Adult paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. IMMORTALS (book 2) was released three months later. GRIMNIRS (book 2.5) is the bridge between book 2 and 3. Ednah is presently working on book 3, tentatively titled SEERS.

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published five more books in this series. She's presently working on book seven.

WEBSITE: http://www.runestheseries.com/
Interview:

A.L.:
What piece of advice would you give to a budding author?

Ednah:
Read in the genre you are writing and write from your heart. Write what you are passionate about
and readers will see it, feel it, and love it. It doesn’t matter if it is about the boy next door, aliens,
zombies, or mythology. Force yourself to write according to what’s trending and it will show in
your work. Also keep in mind that trends come and go. By the time you finish your book, a new
trend could be starting, so don’t follow trends.

A.L.:
What's your favorite book and why?

Ednah:
I don’t know if I have one. If I were to choose, I’d go with City of Bones. I love Cassie style of
writing and without reading TMI, I would never have thought of reading more on runes.

A.L.:
Where did you get the ideas for the Guardians and Runes series?

Ednah:
Guardian Legacy started with the dagger, the Kris Dagger. I can’t remember what I was
researching when I came across this magical Indonesian dagger. Then I started thinking about
who could wield it and went back to beings that have always fascinated me—Nephilim—part
human and part fallen angel. The fallen angel Azazel showed humans how to create weapons, so
of course he’d also created this special dagger.

As for Runes, after reading City of Bones, I started researching runes. When they led me to
another area that has always fascinated me-Norse mythology-I knew I had to write the series.
The best part was not a lot of authors were writing about Norse mythology, so I had/have room
to play with the back story. With each book, I find something exciting and new to add.

A.L.:
Did you hit any snags while writing these two series?  What were they and how did you fix
them?

Ednah:
Not really. From book one, I always knew Lil would one day unite the Nephilim and so I knew
the direction the Guardian Legacy series would go. How they’d get there is another story. My
characters tend to lead the way once I start writing.

As for Runes, my characters keep surprising me. When I finished book one, I wasn’t sure what
Raine was. I just knew the Norns wanted her, but not why. When I started to write book 2, I
still had questions about the Norns’ motive. The revelation at the end of book 2 was perfect and
opened the door to book 3.

A.L.:
Which one of the characters in each of these two series is your favorite and why?

Ednah:
I hate to be bias, so I can’t choose. What’s not to love about Torin? And we’ve barely scratched
the surface on what makes him tick. Echo… Oh man, he’s been through so much and is still
cocky and funny. Andris has a story to tell that will shock readers and Blaine with his love for
Mortals is not your typical teenager (if he’s even a teenager). And don’t get me started on the
girls… Love them all.

A.L.:
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey as an author?

Ednah:
I started as a stay-at-home mom who needed an outlet. Being a stay-at-home mother is about the
hardest thing ever, so I wrote short stories at first to read to my kids, then I moved on to nursery
rhymes and added my twist and finally tried writing adult romance. I published three adult
romance books under a different name, got burned by the publisher, decided to drop that name
and use a different one. By the time Awakened, Guardian Legacy book one, was published, I had
three adult romance finished and couldn’t find a home for them. Rejection is part of a writer’s
journey, so I didn’t let the letters bother me. By the time I found a home for my GL series, I was
already considering self-publishing. So while I let a publisher take over the GL series, I self-
published my adult romance.

A.L.:
What are you working on now?  Sequel?  Something new?

Ednah:
I am working on Forgotten, the next GL book, then I’ll be on to book 3 of Raine and Torin. I’ve
also started a NA. We’ll see how that goes.

A.L.:
You write for YA, NA, and adult readers.  What's your favorite age group to write?

Ednah:
Each genre is fun to write in its own way. Most of my adult books have suspense and so are my
YA series. However, there’s something about the way teenagers view the world and love, and
their search to find themselves and how they fit in the universe that I find fascinating and fun to
write about. I also think I’m going to enjoy writing NA because it is the in-between stage in a
woman’s development. We’ll see.

A.L.:
What drew you to the Nephilim for your Guardians series and Norse mythology for your
Runes series?

Ednah:
I love superheroes, especially those with powers. Anyone who knows me will tell you Thor is
my favorite superhero, followed by Loki and Incredible Hulk. Iron man and Captain America
come a distant third and fourth. So needless to say, I love writing about beings with powers.
Guardians and their ability to control elements are perfect superheroes because they have
powers over elements. As for Norse mythology, Asgardians use magic. I love that any humans
can become a powerful character in Norse mythology. The connection between magic and
witchcraft, which have been practiced by various groups throughout the history of the world, and
Norse mythology, makes the pieces in each story gel nicely.

A.L.:
Can you tell us, as concisely as you can, what the core mythological concepts are for the
Guardians and Runes?

Ednah:
In Guardian Legacy series, the myth behind the series is that some of the Nephilim were
left behind to watch/guard humans when the world was destroyed after Noah built the ark.
Unfortunately, some went rogue and decided to go after humans. These are the demons in most
religious books and myths. The Guardians’ job is to stop them.
In the Runes series, the myth is Asgard is real and Valkyries are still reaping souls of the dead
and taking them to Asgard for the final battle between the gods and the evil giants. Older
Valkyries also recruit future Valkyries from among humans, making them immortal by using
runes, which were first given to Odin and their knowledge passed on to other gods and humans.

To read more on the GL and Runes background, check out my websites at
www.ednahwalters.com and www.runestheseries.com

The Giveaway:
Ednah is giving away a signed copy of Grimnirs (US) and an e-copy (INT).

Grimnirs:  Straight out of the psych ward, Cora just wants her life to be normal. She doesn’t want to see souls or the reapers collecting them. The guy she’s loved from a distance for years moves away without saying goodbye. So yes, she’s nursing a serious heartbreak. It’s no wonder love is the last thing on her mind when Echo storms into her life.

The chemistry between them is mind-blowing.The connection defies logic. Even better, the souls leave her alone when he is around.

Too bad Echo is the poster boy for everything she hates in a guy—hot, beautiful,and cocky. He is also a soul reaper. A Grimnir.
The very beings she wants out of her life. Maybe normal is overrated because Cora wants it all. Answers. Love. A life.



Get your copy today!
http://www.amazon.com/Grimnirs-Runes-Ednah-Walters-ebook/dp/B00H15YMJW/ref=la_B00821G2ZQ_1_15_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385975594&sr=1-15http://www.amazon.com/Grimnirs-Runes-Ednah-Walters/dp/0983429790/ref=la_B00821G2ZQ_1_2_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385975648&sr=1-2https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/383542

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18339548-grimnirs


How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter) for each shipping territory (US or INT -- make sure you enter yourself in the correct one). I will contact the winners via email.

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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Debut Author Giveaway/Hop

Be sure to enter my giveaway of A SLEEP SO DARK (ends 12/6).
Enter my giveaway of GRIMNIR by Ednah Walters (begins 12/6).
Be sure to enter in my book tour giveaway (ends 12/12).

2013 was a good year for debut authors (including myself, LOL)!

The Giveaway:
One lucky winner will be able to pick from the list of books below!

For Your Heart:  Experience THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN like you’ve never read it before…

It has been seven years since Jeanette Sauderheim followed her best friend into Carver Hall Park...and came out alone. Jeanette has never gotten over his mysterious disappearance nor has she gone back into the park. While that traumatic night still haunts her, Jeanette distracts herself by balancing her time between trying to pass Spanish, hanging out with her friends, and reading the latest manga.

But, when a promise to a friend drives her back into the park, she's forced to re-live the memories of that night. Lost and confused, Jeanette crosses paths with Tamrin, whose violent reaction to her provides yet another reason to avoid the park.

Tamrin, a knight of the Summer Court, has been sent to Earth to guard a garden of roses that hold special meaning to the queen of the Summer faeries. When his distraction at meeting Jeanette leads to her picking one of the Summer Queen’s roses, Tamrin vows to right his failure to do his duty.

However, the equivalent of one of the queen’s roses is a human heart and Tamrin’s reluctance to readily exact the sum from Jeanette sets in motion a spiral of love, betrayal, and magic that could mean damnation for them both.


Splintered:  This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.


The Madman's Daughter:  In the darkest places, even love is deadly.

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.


Level 2:  In this gripping exploration of a futuristic afterlife, a teen discovers that death is just the beginning.

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost-family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian-a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life-comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.


Another Little Piece:  The spine-tingling horror of Stephen King meets an eerie mystery worthy of Sara Shepard's Pretty Little Liars series in Kate Karyus Quinn's haunting debut.

On a cool autumn night, Annaliese Rose Gordon stumbled out of the woods and into a high school party. She was screaming. Drenched in blood. Then she vanished.

A year later, Annaliese is found wandering down a road hundreds of miles away. She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she got there. She only knows one thing: She is not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon.

Now Annaliese is haunted by strange visions and broken memories. Memories of a reckless, desperate wish . . . a bloody razor . . . and the faces of other girls who disappeared. Piece by piece, Annaliese's fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape—unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past.


These Broken Stars:  It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

--

A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.


Pretty Dark Nothing:  It’s been twenty three days since Quinn has slept for more than minutes at a time. Demons have invaded her dreams, stalking her, and whispering of her death. The lack of sleep and crippling fear are ruining her life. Energy drinks and caffeine pills don’t make a dent. When Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. The demons are determined to keep them apart, and Aaron from discovering the secret locked away in his memory. Together, they could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.

The Rules for Disappearing:  She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.


How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winners via email.

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Make sure to check out the other blogs participating in the Giveaway Hop! 

Monday, December 2, 2013

FOR YOUR HEART tour giveaway

Because it's just easier to put the giveaway on here so that you guys don't have to go hunting for the blogs.  (Even though they're right here)

The Giveaway:
A $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card, FHY swag/book, and a secret YA novel book pack.


For Your Heart:  Experience THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN like you’ve never read it before…

It has been seven years since Jeanette Sauderheim followed her best friend into Carver Hall Park...and came out alone. Jeanette has never gotten over his mysterious disappearance nor has she gone back into the park. While that traumatic night still haunts her, Jeanette distracts herself by balancing her time between trying to pass Spanish, hanging out with her friends, and reading the latest manga.

But, when a promise to a friend drives her back into the park, she's forced to re-live the memories of that night. Lost and confused, Jeanette crosses paths with Tamrin, whose violent reaction to her provides yet another reason to avoid the park.

Tamrin, a knight of the Summer Court, has been sent to Earth to guard a garden of roses that hold special meaning to the queen of the Summer faeries. When his distraction at meeting Jeanette leads to her picking one of the Summer Queen’s roses, Tamrin vows to right his failure to do his duty.

However, the equivalent of one of the queen’s roses is a human heart and Tamrin’s reluctance to readily exact the sum from Jeanette sets in motion a spiral of love, betrayal, and magic that could mean damnation for them both.

*This is an Upper YA paranormal romance novel with NA and contemporary fantasy appeal.


How to Enter:
Enter the giveaway using Rafflecopter. Hit the arrow buttons, follow the prompts, and hit the enter buttons when you're done. (You may have to log in using Facebook to do this). There will be one winner (selected by Rafflecopter). I will contact the winners via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway