Renegade GIVEAWAY!

Hi lovelies!


My awesome publisher is hosting 2 (yep, 2!) giveaways of Renegade. Between the two of them they're giving away a total of 15 copies!

The first is here at Tor.com.  They're giving away 10 copies and all you have to do is email them at the provided email address.  Follow the link for more details.

And the other giveaway is here at goodreads, where they're giving away 5 copies. This contest ends Oct. 19th and all you have to do is enter through goodreads. :)

So have fun entering and good luck!

Also, next week, I'll be revealing my new website and blog!  And there will be more giveaways then and, possibly, the revealing of my street team!  :)  Hope you'll join me!

Elysium Chronicles Short Story: A Dark Grave

Hello, my lovelies! I've just gotten word that my Elysium Chronicles short story, EIN DUNKLES GRAB (A Dark Grave), is out now in Germany! And best of all it's FREE!

So if you read German, want to read German, or just like free stuff go ahead and download it! And even if you don't read German, please feel free to share this post and the link! :)

A DARK GRAVE is from Gavin's POV before he enters Elysium, so if you've read RENEGADE and were wondering just how exactly Gavin got to where he did, or you're just interested in Gavin, or want a sneak peak into the Elysium Chronicles this is perfect for you.

It's currently in the #24 slot for free kindle books and #2 for childrens at Amazon Germany.

Here's the cover blurb in German:


Nach dem Tod seines Vaters zählt in Gavins Leben nur eines: Er muss seine Mutter und seinen kleinen Bruder ernähren. Doch wie soll das in einer Welt gelingen, in der die Natur feindlich und die Ressourcen knapp geworden sind? Gavin beschließt, heimlich auf jene rätselhafte Insel im Meer zu segeln, wo es Wild im Überfluss geben soll - aber auch todbringende Geheimnisse. Als er aufbricht, ahnt er nicht, dass ihn diese Reise in ein dunkles Grab führen wird ... Wie es nach »Ein dunkles Grab« weitergeht, erfährst du im Roman »Renegade. Tiefenrausch«, erschienen bei ivi. 

Where to buy:

(NOTE: I only know the Amazon location, but will post more links when I find out if it's at any other e-retailer.)

Amazon

Also, for my German friends, I will be having a contest soon, just for you! I'm still working out the logistics, but the prizes are going to be sweet!  So stay tuned for that soon.

Renegade Launch and YOU!

Photo courtesy of Kristin Nador and WANA commons

Hi everyone! Can you believe it? Renegade's US release is in approximately 2 months! I can't believe it. I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. *wiggles*

 That being said I'm setting up my launch and signings in Florida (if you're not if Florida--I have a plan for you, too. Just kee

p reading. :]), but I've come across a little hitch. I don't know how many people want to attend a signing by poor little me. Thus, I have no idea how much SWAG to order or how many books to request the bookstores to order!

So, in all my ingeniousness (;]) I've decide to put a poll together. Now this is where I need your help. Please fill out the google form below. If you even think it's possible you'll attend a signing at a location on the poll, please check it off. You may check off more than one if you think you may attend more than one, but I'd like to keep it as close to accurate as possible.

Of course, there is no obligation to attend once you click a location. In fact, I'm not even taking names or email addresses.  In a few days, I'll set up a different form for my newsletter that you can sign up if you want to. IF you want me to send you an official invitation to the booksigning closest to you, you may fill out the comment box at the bottom of this google form (and I'll use that to send you the invitation), but there's no obligation. When I have the dates and times confirmed I'll make sure to post them on my website and here on the blog. :)

Also, all of the cities on the form are in Florida. HOWEVER, if you are in another state and want me to come to your city, please fill out the form and click of other and use the comment form at the bottom to tell me what city. If there's enough votes for your city, I'll do everything in my power to visit you!

All that being said, if you are a teacher/librarian and are interested in me speaking at your location, email me. I LOVE doing talks and presentations.

Renegade's German Book birthday!

Eee! Today is an extremely exciting day for me! It's Renegade's German Book birthday.  People all over Germany are reading my book!  And while it's extremely nerve-wracking, I'm jumping all over the place with excitement.

This version had to leave the nest a little earlier than the US version, so I'm worried about it making it in the big, scary world, but I've done all I can for it and it'll either sink or swim.  Hopefully, it'll swim and may even start doing speciality strokes! That would be extremely awesome.

Because today is release day for Renegade, Evelyn is over at the Book Goddess sharing her diary in a "Day in the Life of" post on the Authors are Rockstars tour.

For people in Germany, if you see my book "in the wild" I'd LOVE to see it. Send me pics, so I can share the awesomeness on twitter and facebook!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's sharing this awesome occasion with me. I'll hope you join me again in November for the US release.

Young Adult Giveaway Hop.

Announcing the 

Young Adult Giveaway Hop

August 8th to 14th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Reading Teen

We're officially in the double digits for RENEGADE's US release! And we're only 12 days from the German release! I'm super excited for both so I'm participating in this hop to prove it! :P  

This one is simple, all you have to do is follow my blog and then enter through the rafflecopter widget below. The prize will be a pre-order of RENEGADE (Either US or German) from the retailer of your choice and SWAG.  If you're international, though, I will be getting it from book depository.   Simple, right?

That being said, if book depository delivers to your country, then you can enter, so yes, it's International.

And, as always, here's the description and covers.

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been 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 thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come 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.

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YA Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This tri-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are TWO contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the BLUE TEAM--but there is also a red team for a chance to win a whole different set of twenty-five signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage.

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you'll notice that I've listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the blue team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!). 

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by August 5, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

SCAVENGER HUNT POST

Today, I am hosting ALEXANDRA MONIR on my website for the YA Scavenger Hunt! Isn't she gorgeous?! I have to admit I'm slightly jealous. ; ) But on top of being gorgeous, she's also insanely talented. Not only does she write YA novels, she also is a songwriter and recording artist. See below for her bio.

Alexandra Monir broke into the world of YA novels with her 2011 debut, TIMELESS. She is a singer/songwriter and recorded original music to accompany both TIMELESS and TIMEKEEPER, her second novel. She lives in Los Angeles.

Find out more information by checking out her website or find more about the her book here!  

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

"When Philip Walker appears as a new student in Michele Windsor's high school class, she is floored. He is the love she thought she lost forever when they said goodbye during her time travels last century. Overjoyed that they can resume the relationship they had a lifetime ago, Michele eagerly approaches him and discovers the unthinkable: he doesn't remember her. In fact, he doesn't seem to remember anything about the Philip Walker of 1910.

Michele then finds her father's journals, which tell stories of his time-traveling past. As she digs deeper, she learns about his entanglement with a mysterious and powerful organization called the Time Society and his dealings with a vengeful Windsor ancestor. Michele soon finds herself at the center of a rift over 120 years in the making, one whose resolution will have life-or-death consequences.

Alexandra Monir's Timekeeper combines breathtaking romance with a tale of complex magic in a sequel that will have every reader believing in the transcendent power of love.

Available everywhere books are sold on January 8th!"

And now here's an excerpt from the first chapter:



(SPECIAL CONTENT REMOVED DUE TO SCAVENGER HUNT BEING OVER):

And don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books by me, Alexandra, and more! To enter, you need to know that my favorite number is 17. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

CONTINUE THE HUNT

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author!  

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! While you're here, don't forget to enter the bonus contest I am running exclusively during the YA Scavenger Hunt.

I will be giving away an annotated ARC plus SWAG.  To be eligible to win, enter through the rafflecopter and ALSO leave a comment on this blog telling me why you should win my grand prize.

AND Alexandra has a bonus giveaway as well.  Alexandra is gifting 4 readers a copy of TIMELESS, a digital download of SECRETS OF THE TIME SOCIETY, and a CD of the original songs from TIMELESS! Send her a tweet @TimelessAlex to be entered in the contest. Prize winners will be announced on August 5th!

Don't forget that you also get an extra entry by tweeting about the hunt.

Tweet #YASH

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Cover reveal: Broken by A.E. Rought

Today I have the absolute pleasure of revealing the cover for a book from a dear friend of mine.  A book that I loved enough to blurb I might add. :)
 

It's a beautiful book. Dark. Romantic. And really kept me wanting to read even way past the time I was supposed to stop.

The book is, of course, BROKEN by A.E. Rought and is being published by Strange Chemistry the YA imprint of Angry Robot books.

Thank you, Ann, for letting me help with this reveal.

So, without further adieu, let the reveal begin...

 

What do you think?  I love the font and the creepy trees all the way in the back and the grave yard.

Here's the blurb:

Imagine a modern spin on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein where a young couple’s undying love and the grief of a father pushed beyond sanity could spell the destruction of them all.

A string of suspicious deaths near a small Michigan town ends with a fall that claims the life of Emma Gentry’s boyfriend, Daniel. Emma is broken, a hollow shell mechanically moving through her days. She and Daniel had been made for each other, complete only when they were together. Now she restlessly wanders the town in the late Fall gloom, haunting the cemetery and its white-marbled tombs, feeling Daniel everywhere, his spectre in the moonlight and the fog.

When she encounters newcomer Alex Franks, only son of a renowned widowed surgeon, she’s intrigued despite herself. He’s an enigma, melting into shadows, preferring to keep to himself. But he is as drawn to her as she is to him. He is strangely…familiar. From the way he knows how to open her locker when it sticks, to the nickname she shared only with Daniel, even his hazel eyes with brown flecks are just like Daniel’s. The closer they become, though, the more something inside her screams there’s something very wrong with Alex Franks.

And when Emma stumbles across a grotesque and terrifying menagerie of mangled but living animals within the walls of the Franks’ estate, creatures she surely knows must have died from their injuries, she knows.

But that's not all. There's even a small excerpt, BUT I only have a small portion of it. There's eleven blogs who each have an excerpt so if you want to start at the beginning you'll have to go here.

Otherwise, the previous excerpt is here and the following excerpt is here.

Here's my excerpt:

Which is exactly why I hadn’t said anything. Bree might be a genius in the costume and makeup department—comes with the territory for a theater major—but she’s not a miracle worker. The longer I hedge, the less time she has to force me into being a Zombie Twin, or Bad Faery Twin, or Whateverelse Twin she’s plotting on subjecting me too. With us both being 5’5”-ish, with blond hair—mine natural, hers what my mom calls Bottle Blonde—and average curves, Bree has a lot to work with in the Twins department.

“I’ll let you know.”

“Dying of anticipation,” she says, dragging out the last word like Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

“Can we discuss this tomorrow? I’m walking and talking and can’t hardly see the sidewalk…”

“Say no more.” She takes a swig from her pop, then says, “See ya in the morning, Em.”

“Bye, B.”

Blog Tour and Housekeeping

I am now almost officially 4 months away from my release and things just turned CRAZY, y'all. It's exciting and scary and absolutely wonderful. I still kind of have to pinch myself when I realize this is REALLY, really happening.

As you may or may not have heard, I will be having a blog tour. TWO blog tours in fact.  Two wonderful blogs have agreed to host for me and yes I know I'm insane.  The wonderful Mundie Moms and a newer blog The Book Paparazzi.

The Book Paparazzi already started taking sign-ups as of last night, and Mundie Moms will be doing theirs soon, so if you don't make it into one, there's always a chance of making it in to another. And if you don't make it into either of those, I'll be putting together a street team eventually (give me time on that part).

Before I go into the housekeeping details of the blog tour, I just first want to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to every one for supporting me and wanting to read RENEGADE. I'm simply blown away and (people overuse this word a lot, but) humbled by all of you. I want to say more here, but I'm pretty sure it would just get really sappy and silly and I'm already crying so I'll stop here. :)

Now for the housekeeping details, if you're interested in signing up for the blog tour, here's how you can do it. The Book Paparazzi is taking sign ups right now. You can contact them and they'll let you know from there. I'm not sure how Mundie Moms does their blog tours, but I will post that information as soon as I know.  Please do NOT email them and ask to sign up yet. If you really, really want to be on their blog tour and can't wait for details. [:P] email me instead.

If you are selected to be on either blog tour and you were signed up for a review and you are on the ARC list for my publicist, let me know, so I can make sure my publicist knows.

I think that's it. If you have any questions, please feel free to either email me or comment below.

The button for The Book Paparazzi is below. Feel free to snag it and spread the word. I'll post the button for the Mundie Moms one when they get it to me.

I look forward to working with these two blogs and all of you. Thanks again for such a wonderful reception.  I <3 you all!  *mwuah!*

Monday Musings: ARCs

Hi again, everyone! I know I dropped off the face of the Earth for a bit, but I got distracted by first pass pages and shiny new ARCs! 

As a writer, getting ARCs is a day we patiently (or in my case, not so patiently) wait for like a kid at Christmas.  And finally being able to tear open that box, after attacking the UPS guy (which, if I'd been home, I probably would have done. I guess it's a good thing I was gone. :P), is such an awesome feeling.

I cried, laughed, hugged the books, then cried some more.  I felt like a mama bear with cubs. Every time one of my family picked one up to look closer, I wanted to snatch them back and yell, "MINE! NO TOUCH!"

 But I kept my hands firmly fisted in my t-shirt, so I wouldn't.

And while I didn't actually sleep with my ARC, I set it on my bedside table, so I could look at it every time I woke up during the night. Which was often.

I told everyone I could. I cried some more. I stared at it.

Then reality sunk in. This meant people were reading my book. People I didn't know. And I think I said something like this. "People are reading my book!"

Think about. "Oh crap! People are reading my book."

Instantly become nauseated and lightheaded and sit on the ground before I pass out.

My BIL, husband, and son were there when that happened and they laughed at me.

"Well, yeah, they're reading your book. Isn't that what you want?" my husband asked, still laughing.

"Yes! No! Oh, God, I don't know!" I bury my face in my hands and cry again, but this time I cry so much I can't breathe and freak out the hubby who decides the best thing to do is hide my ARCs.

LOL. 

After a bit, I calmed down, but thinking about so many people I don't know reading Renegade still makes me feel a bit sick. I'm SO EXCITED that people are reading my book, but all my doubts and worries are flying up to hit me in the face.

What if I didn't explain this enough? What if I explained too much? Did I give this away? Is it boring? What if they don't like it? What if they do? Oh, God, what am I going to do when I get my first negative review? What will I do when I get my first positive one? What about all the things I fixed in the first pass pages? Will people remember that things change between the ARC and the final?

It was kind of like when I had my babies. I was SO EXCITED to be pregnant. I couldn't wait to see my little ones, but then I went into labor and went into full out panic mode.

Of course, ALL of this is out of my hands. And there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about it. And I wouldn't change it for the world. But it still scares the bejeebers out of me. Every time someone emails me, or @s me on Twitter, telling me they have my book. I'm 2 parts excited and 1 part scared out of my mind.

Don't get me wrong, though. I love it. I love hearing that people are reading my books, or wanting to.  I love hearing how excited they are to get my ARC. Or how disappointed they were to go to the Tor booth at ALA, but all my ARCs were gone. It's a fantastic feeling to know people aside from me, my editor, and agent are excited about Renegade.

While I admit it's a little unnerving going from feeling almost euphoric down to mind-numbing terror in just a matter of a few seconds, it's also breathtaking. Like sitting and watching the sunrise at the beach.

I hope I never lose this feeling. I want to be like this EVERY. Single. Time. one of my books release.

Does this make me insane?  :P

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett Jacket reveal + giveaway

I have a treat for you guys today. A cover reveal! Whee!

Yesterday Tor.com revealed The Nightmare Affairs' front cover here along with all the covers it took to get to the final product.

Here it is again, by itself.

Isn't it gorgeous?  I LOVE the phoenix and the purple color.  And the silhouette of the girl. I'm just totally in love with this cover.

BUT today I, and a few other blogs, have something even more awesome to show you.  We are revealing the rest of the jacket!

I'm so excited!

Okay, here's the jacket without the jacket copy:

And here's the finished version:

You can click on the pictures to make them larger.

Aren't they just gorgeous! And LOOK! The spine is a TREE!  How freakin' awesome is THAT!

Jacket Copy:

16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare.

Literally.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough, but when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing.

But it does.

Eli is dreaming of a murder. The setting is Arkwell.

And then his dream comes true. Now Dusty has to follow the clues—both within Eli’s dreams and out of them—to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target…

And here's a bit about Mindee, who's just awesome in her own right. :)

Mindee Arnett lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats.  She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic and the macabre.  Her short stories have appeared in various magazines, and she has a Master of Arts in English literature with an emphasis in Creative Writing. She also blogs and tweets, and is hard at work on her next novel in the Arkwell Academy series.  Find her online at www.mindeearnett.com.

And now onto the best part. The contest!

The book is due out March 5, 2013, but in the meantime, we’re celebrating with a giveaway. The first winner will receive an Advance Readers Copy of Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake as well as a signed ARC of The Nightmare Affair when they come available in October. The second winner will receive an ARC of my book, RENEGADE, as well as a signed ARC of The Nightmare Affair.  The contest will run for a week.

Just fill out the widget below and Mindee will announce and alert the winner next week. 

Contest Code:

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