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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Happy Book Birthday ARTICLE 5 and INCARNATE



Happy book birthday to two fabulous ladies and their awesome books. 



ARTICLE 5 by Kristen Simmons

 






New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC have been abandoned.
The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials and maybe worse. People who get arrested don’t usually come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. That life in the United States used to be different.

In the three years since the war ended, Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs—like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes—and how to pass the random home inspections by the Federal Bureau of Reformation. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And what’s worse, one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.


Order:


INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows:





NEWSOUL 
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
For more information on INCARNATE, visit the INCARNATE page or INCARNATE extras.

HarperTeen is giving away ten (10!) ARCs of INCARNATE on Goodreads. Add the book to your to-read list and click the “enter to win” button!

For more book news, check out HarperTeen, PitchDark, and EpicReads.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

To comment or not to comment.


Okay, so with all the goodreads reviewer/author hullabaloo lately (if you have no idea what I'm talking about that's good. Stay that way. :) ), I've learned some important lessons. 

Most of which I already knew, but it only reinforced, so...YAY for learning!  :)  But now I find myself in a bit of a quandry.  As many of you know, I've just revealed my gorgeous cover and a few of you have already put RENEGADE for your WoW Wendnesdays, which tickles me pink.  That's not my dilema--I love everyone of you who have said you wanted to read my book, or added it to goodreads, or...well, the list goes on and on really. What my question is, is this: What am I supposed to do when someone links me to their post mentioning my book--whether that post be a review, a WoW Wednesday, a cover love post, or whatever, what do I do?

We've learned from the goodreads drama that authors should never, never, never, never respond to reviews (whether they're good OR bad), but what if the person WANTS you to read it?  What if it's not a review? 

I've seen some authors who retweet every good mention or post or whathaveyou, but I've heard that's a no-no.  That you shouldn't retweet that praise yourself, that you should let others do that for you.  But I'm wondering, if because of these other authors doing that, if readers expect that and when it doesn't happen, if they feel they're being snubbed (Which is the LAST thing I want to do.)

And if someone truly wants me to know they mentioned my book (they tweeted me the link after all) I want to acknowledge them.  Just because they took the time to let me know what they did. Plus I have a personal policy to answer EVERY blog/FB comment, tweet mention, email, etc.  I WANT to have that personal connection with my readers.

But I also understand some readers may not want that personal connection. They may see my re-tweet of their post or whathaveyou as intrusive or bothersome.  Maybe they even feel like I'm reading over their shoulder.  And I definitely don't want that. 

So where is the happy middle-ground here? How do I respond to the people who've pointed me to their post?  And while I haven't come across this yet, I'm sure I will. What if that post isn't a good one?  Do I acknowledge it with a thank you? Or leave it be?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Waiting On Wednesday: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

"Waiting On Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
First, I also blogged over at the BNW blog about thinking positively as a New Year's goal.

And now my selection for this week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is: EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton.

Again, this is another book I heard about because of the apocalypsies. The cover just blew me away and, as I've stated before, I'm a cover whore. :) And, not only that, but it just sounds fantastic.





Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

And have you SEEN the trailer?!

Monday, January 23, 2012

COVER REVEAL IS TODAY!

Whoot!! It's finally the day of RENEGADE's cover reveal!  YAY!  I'm SO EXCITED!

To make things easier for those looking to just see the cover, here are the links to the FULL cover and contest.  They'll have instructions on their posts if you want to enter the scavenger hunt.


So without further adieu, the blogs hosting my full cover reveal:

Reading Teen 
Books Complete Me
Stuck in Books
Mundie Moms
A Simple Love of Reading (post not up yet)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Cover Reveal Scavenger hunt!

Whoot! Today is THE DAY!  Eee! I can't believe it's finally come.  I really do feel like a kid waiting for Christmas.  LOL.

Okay, like all scavenger hunts there's a start...and an end.  Today is the start.  Right HERE.  All you have to do today and throughout the weekend is visit each of the below blogs at the correct times and look at each of the cover puzzle pieces.  After you manage to tear your eyes from all the pretty [ ;) ]and then collect the magic word at each blog, then you'll have all weekend to try and put them together into the correct tagline.

On Monday visit the blogs that are hosting the FULL cover reveal and stare at THAT pretty.  Once you manage to stop starting at that one [ :) ] then follow the link to the contest form and fill it out.  You'll get an extra point if you can put together the tagline correctly.


I'm giving away an ARC of RENEGADE (when available), but in the meantime, I'm also giving away a copy of any 1 YA book available at the book depository (I'd like to point you in the apocalypsie direction.  Since I'll be buying/pre-ordering it at the book depository, the contest is international.

There are five people revealing the cover on Monday, but the contest link is the same for each. Remember you can only enter ONCE, no matter what blog you enter through.

I will answer any comments you leave either here or on any of the blogs, but no entries will be accepted through the comments. You'll need to enter through the form.

The contest will start the day I reveal my full cover (Jan. 23) and ends the following Monday (Jan. 30). The correct tagline will be announced with the contest winner on right here that Monday.

You can also get extra entries (for a grand total of 5 entries) for spreading the word: tweeting using the #renegade hashtag, blogging, facebooking, etc. 

Below is your map of places and times.  Enjoy, have fun, and good luck!  I hope you love the cover as much as I do.  Remember all times are EST.

  7 AM: Woven Myst
  9 AM: Writer's Ally
10 am: The Oasis 
11 am: Fire and Ice
 1 pm:  Confessions of a Bookaholic
 3 pm: Jessie Harrell-The Daily Harrell 

The other blogs participating in the full cover reveal for Monday:

Reading Teen 
Books Complete Me
Mundie Moms
A Simple Love of Reading
Stuck in Books

And if you want to add RENEGADE to your Goodreads list, click here.
Ready...Set...Go!

Monday, January 16, 2012

YAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes



Welcome to my stop on the YAmazing Race with MGnificent prizes, a crazy whirlwind blog hop featuring over 50 debut authors and prize packs featuring ARCs, gift certificates, swag, and more! If you haven’t yet been to the Apocalypsies website, please click here to start from the beginning and read the complete rules.

Although this post is up and ready to go, REMEMBER THAT THE RACE DOESN’T OFFICIALLY BEGIN UNTIL NOON-EST!

Now on to the race! Make sure to read the blurb carefully, you'll need to know it in order to answer the quiz!  :)


RENEGADE by J.A. Souders

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium.  Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she's believed that everything is perfect.  Her world. Her people. The law. 

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into Elysium's secluded little world, Evelyn comes to a startling realization: Everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren't under her own control.
And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb...and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

Ready to move on? Click here to go to the next stop on the race: the fabulous Joanne Levy!

Add RENEGADE to your goodreads shelf! 

**Don't forget about my COVER REVEAL SCAVENGER hunt, which starts here on FRIDAY at 7am EST!**

Friday, January 13, 2012

I haz a cover!



Yes, you saw that right. I have a cover and it is GORGEOUS!  I love it with every beat of my heart. But no, I'm not going to share it yet. :(  And I know I'm teasing you a little with this post, but how else am I going to get the word out, right?  LOL.

Anyway, I've been lucky enough to have the help of some absolutely fantastic blogs and I'll be working with them to do a scavenger hunt puzzle for the reveal. In exactly one week, starting on Friday, January 20th a group of blogs will be posting a puzzle piece of the cover along with a word from the tagline.  Then on Monday, January 23rd, a few other blogs will be posting the ENTIRE cover and hosting a contest to win an ARC of RENEGADE (when available) and a YA book of their choice from the book depository. (Might I recommend one of the fabulous apocalypsies that are already out--or I can even pre-order the one you're most looking forward to.)

More details will be available on the blogs on Friday January 20th. 

And, so you can mark it on your calenders, this will be the scavenger hunt schedule (All times EST):

7 AM: Woven Myst
9 AM: Writer's Ally
10 am: The Oasis 
11 am: Fire and Ice
1 pm: Confessions of a Bookaholic
3 pm: Jessie Harrell-The Daily Harrell 

For the final cover, on that following Monday (1/23) visit one or all of the following blogs:

Reading Teen 
Books Complete Me
Mundie Moms
Simple Love of Reading
Stuck in Books 

A special thanks to ALL of the blogs who are helping me share the awesomeness of my cover and a HUGE thanks to the art department at Tor for giving me the perfect cover.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Young Adult Fantasy and Faeries Giveaway Hop


Happy New Year, Everyone!  I hope you all had a marvelous holiday no matter what you do or do not celebrate and that you have a marvelous new year.

This year will be really exciting for me, and I thought I'd pass along some of that excitement by participating in the Young Adult Faeries and Fantasy Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am a Reader, Not A Writer and vvb32reads.

Since this giveaway is all about the faeries and fantasies I didn't want to giveaway a book people already have, so I thought why not let y'all pick? 

All you have to do is enter through the rafflecopter widget below. ( I'm trying this out for the first time, so I'd love if you'd give me your opinions on it.  So far it's really easy to set-up and I like it, but I want your opinion as well. )  Then when the hop is over, I'll announce the winner and they'll have 48-hours to respond to me with their book of choice. The winner will only receive ONE (1) book. (Preferably from the list, but if you know of a fantasy or faerie book that's not on the list, I'll be happy to see about getting that one to you instead.)

Winners will be chosen at random using the rafflecopter widget (I think they use random.org) and will be announced on this post and it's own separate post sometime on January 12, 2012.

I'll be using the book depository to purchase said book, so the contest is open internationally as long as they ship to your country.

As always the rules are simple. You must be a blog follower, and there are two other optional entries.  Following me on twitter. And tweeting a message about the contest. ( It should be simple because you can do all that from the rafflecopter widget.  :))

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

List of available books (choose 1 book from the below list. For ease of time and  space I have listed series', but I'm only offering 1 book, not the entire series.)

Fantasy List:

TWILIGHT series
Hush, Hush series
Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices series
House of Night Series
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Soul Screamers Series


Faerie List:

Iron Fae series by Julie Kagawa
Wicked Lovely series by Melissa Marr
Any of Holly Black's fairy stories
Iron Witch