Cinderskella Cover Reveal

Congrats to my writer pal & friend, Amie Borst, & her talented Daughter, Bethanie, on the cover reveal for CINDERSKELLA!

This is such a cute story and I’m thrilled to take part in sharing this gorgeous cover! ❤️

***

Cinderskella Summary

It’s not just monsters that go bump in the night. Sometimes it’s skeleton-girls, too.

Cindy might appear to be your average twelve year old, but since her mother’s death she has a secret. Every night she faces a horrible, terrible curse; one that turns her into a skeleton. Yup, a boney, white skeleton.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Cindy’s own father is scared of her. Plus she has an evil stepmother who makes her do crazy chores, some of them with a toothbrush. And then there’s the wild dog with intentions of making Cindy into his midnight snack. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, the Spring Fling dance is fast approaching and Ethan, the cutest boy in sixth grade, doesn’t seem to know she exists. Cindy doesn’t think letting Ethan know she’s a cursed skeleton-girl is the best way to introduce herself. Determined to break the curse, Cindy travels to the Underworld where things aren’t quite what they seem, including Mr. Death, the strange and creepy Undertaker.

With a jar of pickled pig’s feet, a wacky fortuneteller, and an cranky skeleton mouse, Cindy is afraid this curse has really gotten under her skin.

 ***

 ***

Amie and Bethanie Bio’s

 

Amie Borst loves glitter, unicorns, and chocolate. But not at the same time. That would be weird. She’s a PAL member of the SCBWI as well as a founding and contributing member of The Mixed-Up Files…of Middle-Grade Authors, a group blog dedicated to middle-grade books. Amie lives in Virginia with her three beautiful daughters, her handsome husband, and two cute dogs named Lily and Maggie. She wishes she could travel the world in a hot pink elevator but for now, her minivan will have to do.

 

Bethanie Borst is 17 and the author of three books. When she was only 10 years old, she wrote her first book, Cinderskella. She enjoys reading, writing, and STEM. Bethanie is fluent in both sarcasm and humor and is prepared for the zombie apocalypse and/or spontaneous combustion of the world. Because, let’s face it, both of those things are totally realistic.

 

You can find Amie on her website www.amieborst.com, her blog www.amieborst.blogspot.com and Facebook 

You can find Bethanie on her joint pages: Facebook and her website www.amieandbethanieborst.com

 ***

 ***

Author Event on Sat June 27, B&N Kingston, NY!

 

If you’re anywhere near Kingston, NY on Saturday, June 27, please stop by the Barnes & Noble (1177 Ulster Ave, Kingston, NY 12401) to see me and two other semi-local, middle grade authors. 

I’ll be signing copies of my YA, The Zodiac Collector (it can cross over to middle grade), Amie & Bethanie Borst will be signing copies of Little Dead Riding Hood (Book Two in their Scarily Ever Laughter series), & Andrea Pyros will be signing copies of My Year of Epic Rock.

The signing goes from 1-3pm. There will be time for Q&A, signings, and chats. And there will definitely be some swag (including bookmarks, stickers, and magic star dust!!!!) and yummy goodies (can you say chocolate?)! 

We would love to see you! 

Here’s some more info about our books:

*** The event on Facebook ***

The Zodiac Collector

  

Little Dead Riding Hood

  

My Year of Epic Rock 

  

Hope to see you there! 🙂

Bookstock, Woodstock, VT

On Saturday, I traveled to Woodstock, VT to take part in Bookstock, a weekend festival dedicated to art and books. I joined some Spencer Hill Press peeps (author & editor Jennifer Carson, author & publicist Jennifer Allis Provost, & author & editor TJ Woolridge) and got my signing on. Since Zodiac isn’t officially released yet (it’s coming in September!), I signed ARCs. It was super fun chatting with readers & other authors (one press had turned classics like Shakespeare, Mary Shelley, Mark Twain, etc books’ into graphic novels–so cool!). I mean, who doesn’t like to talk about reading and books and writing?

My Drabbit friend, Julian, also had a fun time meeting & greeting readers. 😉

Have you been to book festivals? What’s your favorite aspect?

EDGE OF TRUTH by Natasha Hanova

Author Natasha Hanova has gone Indie by re-releasing her debut YA dystopian EDGE OF TRUTH. Congrats, Natasha!

 

 

Title: EDGE OF TRUTH

ISBN-13: 978-1497432574

ISBN-10: 149743257X

Category: Young Adult

Genre: Dystopian/Paranormal Romance

Available: Now!

 

Summary

Citizens who report to work on time, obey the Overlord’s laws, and stay off the Synbot’s radar, live long lives. Long, dull, monotonous lives.

It’s not a bad plan for someone with a hidden, emotion-based ability to trigger earthquakes. In a world pitted against her, sixteen-year-old Rena Moon strives for a life beyond working herself to death at the factory. Seeing an alternative, she risks selling relics from the forbidden lands at Market. It becomes the worst decision she ever made. Someone kidnaps her best friend in exchange for the one thing that would end her oppression.

Driven by loyalty, Rena and seventeen-year-old Nevan Jelani, soulful composer, green thumb extraordinaire, and the secret love of her life, plot to rescue her friend and reclaim her salvage. Still, the thought lingers whether Nevan is a true hero or another thief waiting for his chance at her loot. Events spin wildly, deepening Rena’s suspicions and pushing her limit of control. With more than her chance for freedom at stake, she must decide if she’s willing to kill to protect what’s precious to her. For once, the Overlord isn’t holding all the power, but can Rena live with being reduced to what she’s trying so hard to escape?

 

Excerpt

A transport vehicle plastered with an image of Overlord Andrick’s almost smiling face sped to the scene. A Synbot exited, picked the boy up with one hand, and tossed him in the back. Rena felt the engine rumble through the ground as it drove away. She wanted to stomp her feet and squash the lingering sensation, but resisted

“Rena!” Blaze whispered. “Move it.”

She struggled to keep a normal, non-­conspicuous pace, and even more not to hide her ring. Only guilty people tried to hide. “Did they see us?”

“Don’t think so,” Blaze whispered as she pulled off her new ring and stashed it in her pocket. “Know anyone around here?”

Warmth burned her cheeks. She stared at a blue house with a gray roof. He was inside. “Uhh… Nevan lives in that house.”

“Let’s go.” This time, Blaze did the dragging as Rena planted her feet.

“Are you crazy?” she whispered as she checked the position of the Syns, still three blocks away. “We can’t go to Nevan’s house. I’ll die.”

“Well, we can’t exactly stay outside. Do you want to get caught, too?”

The androids weren’t that close, yet. Okay, maybe they were, but knocking on Nevan’s door?

“Let’s talk about this rationally,” Rena suggested.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“This house here is closer.” She rocked side to side while raking her hands over frizzy braids. “Let’s just go there.”

“And what if the tenants alert the Syns?” Blaze peered over Rena’s shoulders. “We don’t have time for your version of rational.”

“Blaze… What if he turns us away?” The corners of her eyes glistened. Fear of detection battled for dominance over fear of rejection. “I don’t think I can handle that.” She wasn’t ready to find out the truth.

“Fine. Let’s try this house.”

Blaze lightly tapped at the door. After a few seconds, she knocked harder and took a step back. “I don’t think anyone’s home.”

“I could’ve sworn I saw someone peeking out.” Rena had actually felt foot vibrations from inside the house, but she was so used to protecting her secret, the lie came out first.

“Rena! Why didn’t you say so? We don’t have time to waste on people who obviously aren’t going to help.” She brushed past her to the blue house.

The Syns neared. One stopped to identify a pedestrian on the opposite sidewalk. The other angled toward the girls.

Blaze stood on the front porch, jabbed her finger down at the ground and mouthed the words, “Get. Over. Here. Now!”

She shuffled across the lawn to postpone the inevitable. When she stepped onto the porch, Blaze shoved her forward, then reached around her to knock.

“But, what if his parents—” she started to say, but stopped. Someone walked toward them. By the lyrical footsteps, she knew exactly who it was.

The door creaked open.

 

Buy Links

• Amazon [http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Truth-Natasha-Hanova-ebook/dp/B00K8MJZ0Q/ref=la_B00AAG48OS_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399752677&sr=1-2]
• Smashwords [https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/436757?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_campaign=hootsuite]

 

About Natasha Hanova

 

I am an award-winning author of young adult and adult dark fantasy/paranormal fiction. My short stories are published in Undead Tales 2 (Rymfire Undead, April 2012), October Nightmares and Dreams (MWCAG, October 2010) and Once Upon a Christmas (MWCAG, December 2009). I am an active member of YA Lit Chat and Novel Clique, an established critique group of professional writers. I am also the Conference Chair of the Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Inc.
Hopeless chocoholic!

Facebook
Blog
GoodReads

It’s EVOKE’s Birthday!

Woohoo! Book Two in my YA dystopian series is available TODAY (after a minor, but heart-attack inducing technical delay). I’m SO excited (and relieved)!!!!

To my surprise, it ranked #54 in the YA dystopian category on day 1–WOOT!

EDIT: Couldn’t resist adding this screenshot–Evoke moved up to #33! *grins*

I hope you enjoy the next step in Justin’s journey. If you do like the book, please write a review on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, etc. It’s like a big squishy hug. 😉

If you’re interested in reviewing and would like a review copy, I have limited numbers, but feel free to ask!

Thanks again, to all the folks supporting me in this endeavor. I couldn’t keep going without your help. And thanks to Renegade YA for helping me polish EVOKE until it sparkled.

Happy reading!

******

Here’s the trailer in case you missed it:

Buy links:

Amazon

B&N

Omnilit

Kobo

Goodreads page (will be posting Evoke’s page soon)

******

And if you haven’t yet read the first book, ENDURE, here’s where you can purchase it:

Amazon

B&N

Kobo

Omnilit

Goodreads page (4.14 avg rating)

Buh bye 2013, Hullo 2014!

Phew, 2013 is almost over! Gotta say, it’s been a pretty tough year on multiple fronts. BUT, it’s ending on a high note–YAY!!

After several months of negotiating, I’ve started a new day job. It’s been a huge shift moving from a job where I had to juggle acute inpatient stabilization of folks, outpatient medication management, hospital psychiatric consultation, and mental health medication management in collaboration with the HIV specialists to a more focused role working with patients in the crisis intervention unit and crisis inpatient unit. It’s a different aspect of the continuum of psychiatric care and I see people in the most acute (high level of symptoms) stages of their illnesses. Since my first year of residency (8 1/2 years ago!), I knew I wanted to do Psychiatric ER work and I’m finally able to do it!

My new schedule (second shift, AKA evenings) allows me to be free of the alarm clock (except for Saturday mornings, LOL) AND I have more energy to write in the morning. After only a couple weeks, I feel much more refreshed and energized. Talk about a relief!

On the writing front, I struggled with burn out. Like SERIOUS I’m-gonna-quit-writing burn out. It was after writing and re-writing THREE novels in a FOUR month period of time. I met all my deadlines and polished up the manuscripts until they sparkled, but by the end, all my creative juices had been used up. *sad face*

Looking back, I can say the hard work paid off. But LORD, I wouldn’t want to have to do it again!

Anyway, born out of this revolving door of drafts, edits, and copyedits are:

TSAVO PRIDE (a self-pubbed, YA paranormal romance/horror short story spin-off to NEW PRIDE and SHIFTING PRIDE)

ENDURE ( YA Dystopian pubbed July 2013)

EVOKE (YA Dystopian; sequel to ENDURE; coming January 20, 2013 by Renegade YA)

THE ZODIAC COLLECTOR (YA adventure coming May 2014 by Spencer Hill Press)

 

PLUS, I have an essay in the Indie-pubbed collection titled: INDIESTRUCTIBLE: INSPIRING STORIES FROM THE PUBLISHING JUNGLE. 100% of proceeds are donated to BUILDON.org, a movement which breaks the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education.

So, what’s in store for 2014?

• I somehow got my writing mojo back in late 2013 (like Nov/Dec late, LOL!), so I’m not quitting. 😉
• EVOKE and THE ZODIAC COLLECTOR will hit the virtual shelves as E-books and paperbacks.
• SUNSET MOON, a YA novella, will go through editing and polishing for a LORE anthology.
• BEAT, a YA thriller will be drafted (hopefully I’ll finish it by the end of February).
• I *might* try querying agents again. *bites fingernails*
• I NEED to get through my gargantuan (and still growing) TBR pile.

Ok, so it’s your turn to share. How was your 2013 and what’re working on in 2014?

Watcher of Worlds (Whispering Woods #3) by Brinda Berry

My pub sista, Brinda Berry, has a new book out. Watcher of Worlds is the third in her Whispering Woods series. Read below to check it out!

Watcher of Worlds

By Brinda Berry

Whispering Woods Book 3

Novel

$5.99

ISBN: 978-1-941133-00-2

Purchase on Amazon.com

 

 

Senior year should bring fun, friends and happiness. Not portals, treachery, and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Mia Taylor, gatekeeper to an interdimensional portal, wants nothing more than to heal from her romance gone wrong. Illegally falling for her co-worker Regulus had been a huge mistake. But when Regulus goes rogue to hunt down a murderer, Mia must forget her broken heart and use her unique abilities to save him. Traveling across dimensions, she enters a strange and hostile world where a rebel faction holds the key to their escape. Her gift of synesthesia is in high demand, and a secret organization of the otherworldly kind has her in their sights. But sabotage and murder may be the least of her worries. Her ex-boyfriend wants a relationship. Her dad wants her to act normal. Her friends want her to stop moping. Who knew faking happy would be the easiest part of senior year?

**********************

Watcher of Worlds (releasing December 20, 2013), EXCERPT:

Jingle Bells
I detested planned surprises.

I could read the expectation in the air from the shimmery orange vibe that glowed like a Cheetos binge gone bad.

A few months ago, my friends had discovered my secret. The secret I’d hidden so teachers and doctors wouldn’t treat me like an amped up sensory perception freak. So friends wouldn’t ask.

Synesthesia. The condition sounded like the name of an electronic punk band. I’d made the full round of emotions about my sensory perception and being able to find portals. First, I’d hid it like you hide an ugly rash. Later, I’d learned to trust my friends with my secret. I’d even embraced it.

Now, I was back to wishing for normal.

Working with Regulus and Arizona was like playing Pop Goes the Weasel—a surprise around every corner. And did I mention I hate surprises?

Give me predictable any day. Then I could be ready. It’s why I made sure I knew the contents of every box under the Christmas tree.

*****************

Sounds fab, right?

Check out the first two books in the series:

The Waiting Booth

Whisper of Memory

Congrats on the completion of a wonderful series, Brinda!!!

*****************

 

AUTHOR BIO:

Brinda Berry is the author of The Waiting Booth (Whispering Woods #1),Whisper of Memory (Whispering Woods #2), and  Watcher of Worlds (Whispering Woods #3). She also contributed a short story to the anthology, Wild at Heart, Vol II.

Currently working in higher education administration, she spends her days thinking of ways to improve education for college students. Brinda spends her nights devising exciting tales that involve teens who might be saving the world.

Connect with Brinda on the Web:

WEB     BLOG     FACEBOOK    TWITTER   GOODREADS    YOUTUBE

Lessons from a Book Signing

Last Monday, I posted over at YAtopia. I thought I’d reprise the post here today in case you missed it. 😉

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to meet writer pal, Amie Borst, FACE TO FACE at one of her book signings for her debut novel, Cinderskella. Amie did a great job introducing her book, the story of how it came to be, and she even did voices for each character when she read the first chapter!

After the signing (I got an autographed copy!), we had the chance to chat. It’s no surprise that the publishing industry is fraught with rejection, but what we both agreed on was how important it is for writers and authors to band together. Sure, lots of writers and authors connect via social media and those relationships are invaluable, but meeting in person brings a whole new (and super awesome) aspect to the writing life. I mean, we get to know folks via their profiles, what they post on Twitter, FB, blogs, etc, but the spontaneous in vivo interaction isn’t there. When we meet in person, we get to “SQUEE!”, hug, chit chat, commiserate, and be real. It’s priceless.

What’s more? WE ALSO GET TO INTERACT WITH READERS! Seriously, how awesome is that?

I have to say, Amie inspired me that day. She showed me how important it is to get out there and be visible. She offered positive, encouraging support that renewed my conviction to continue writing. And she reminded me of the real reason I write: to share stories with others.

So, whether you are a writer or a reader, what’s your experience with book signings? Have you been? What’s your favorite part? What do you take away from interacting with the author?

Kerri Cuevas Deadly Kisses

I “met” Kerri a couple years back. We swapped writings for beta reading, so I got an early look at Deadly Kisses. I liked the characters and story then and totally love them now! Congrats, Kerri, for such a great debut!

Book Summary:

Aiden Grant is seventeen, has a killer kiss, and a boss who used to be President, back in the old days. You see, Aiden is a grim reaper and his kiss welcomes the newly dead. But Aiden’s pleasant grim reaper lifestyle is in jeopardy. And it’s not only because Honest Abe keeps throwing out history lessons with reaping assignments, just to confuse him. It’s because Aiden’s next assignment is to reap the soul of Bee, the only girl he has ever loved.When Aiden’s kiss of death fails, intertwining their souls, Bee is still very much alive and they are both in trouble. The ancients want Bee, who has special powers of her own, and they’ll do anything to get her.

Some rules are meant to be broken—even if that means Aiden must bargain with his own soul to save Bee. Who knew the afterlife could get so complicated?

Rafflecopter Giveaway (click the link and it’ll take you to the Rafflecopter form):

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/ZDBlMTQwYTE0ZDRjYzYxZDhmNmY3MThiY2E1NDljOjA=/

Author  Bio:

Kerri Cuevas was born and raised in Rhode Island. She moved to New Hampshire with her husband, three kids, cats and a rabbit named Hercules in 2005. When she’s not writing, she’s chasing chickens on her small farm or searching for the ultimate mac-a-cheese recipe.Kerri went to college for Early Childhood Education but now writes books for young adults full-time. Her storytelling stems from watching too many horror flicks as a teen, but she no longer needs to sleep with the lights on.

Author links:

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17156824-deadly-kisses

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Kisses-Kerri-Cuevas/dp/1937178323/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360607748&sr=1-2&keywords=deadly+kisses

Author website: http://www.kerricuevasbooks.com/index.html

 

My review:

Aiden’s voice is clean and clear. As a reaper, he is set with the task of bringing souls across. Carrying the guilt of his friend’s death, he takes on the yoke of a reaper’s life, denying himself heaven. It just so happens he has to reap the sister of his friend.

And it just so happens that she can see reapers.

Aiden is tossed headlong into an action-packed adventure fraught with danger and he has to choose between sacrificing himself or the girl he’s in love with. If he chooses wrong, they both may be sacrificed.

Deadly Kisses is definitely a book worth reading. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Looking forward to your next book, Kerri! 🙂

INDIE Life–It’s About The Human Experience

Time for another post on the INDIE Life!

While surfing the web yesterday, I noticed posts about the debut of Bridget Zinn’s YA fantasy, POISON. For those of you who haven’t heard, Bridget passed away from cancer in 2011–two years before her book published!

Her story, while tragic, is also inspirational. Bridget’s goal was to share humor and happiness with her teen readers. And she did just that. Now, her friends and family are picking up where she left off. They’re sharing her story. And her amazing life.

So how does this tie into the INDIE Life?

It ties in because the INDIE Life is about supporting your fellow authors. It’s about coming together as a community to hold up one another. It’s about hearing a story, feeling it on the inside, and doing something about it. It’s about commemorating the life of another author who reached her dream…even from the beyond.

Thank you, Bridget.

About Bridget Zinn

Bridget grew up in Wisconsin. She went to the county fair where she met the love of her life, Barrett Dowell. They got married right before she went in for exploratory surgery which revealed she had colon cancer. They christened that summer the “summer of love” and the two celebrated with several more weddings. Bridget continued to read and write until the day she died.
Her last tweet was
“Sunshine and a brand new book. Perfect.”

Bridget wanted to make people laugh and hoped readers would enjoy spending time with the characters she created. As a librarian/writer she loved books with strong young women with aspirations. She also felt teens needed more humorous reads. She really wanted to write a book with pockets of warmth and happiness and hoped that her readers’ copies would show the watermarks of many bath time reads.

 

 

About the novel

Sixteen-year-old Kyra, a highly-skilled potions master, is the only one who knows her kingdom is on the verge of destruction—which means she’s the only one who can save it. Faced with no other choice, Kyra decides to do what she does best: poison the kingdom’s future ruler, who also happens to be her former best friend.

But, for the first time ever, her poisoned dart…misses.

Now a fugitive instead of a hero, Kyra is caught in a game of hide-and-seek with the king’s army and her potioner ex-boyfriend, Hal. At least she’s not alone. She’s armed with her vital potions, a too-cute pig, and Fred, the charming adventurer she can’t stop thinking about. Kyra is determined to get herself a second chance (at murder), but will she be able to find and defeat the princess before Hal and the army find her?

Kyra is not your typical murderer, and she’s certainly no damsel-in-distress—she’s the lovable and quick-witted hero of this romantic novel that has all the right ingredients to make teen girls swoon.

Poison on Amazon

Poison on B&N

**********

How you can get involved as detailed on Bridget’s website:

During the week of March 11, blog about the release of your first novel (if you’re an author) or any other momentous first.

The release of my debut novel, SHIFTING PRIDE, was both thrilling and terrifying. I remember the excitement of finally being able to share my heroine, Nickie’s, story with the world. I also remember the fear that I didn’t do her justice and that people would miss what a great character she was.

At the same time, it was a milestone that demanded a celebration all of its own. Whether SHIFTING PRIDE flopped or flew off the electronic shelves, I’d accomplished a goal, a dream–I’d become a published author.

It’s a moment in my life that I shall never ever forget.