Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Got a New E-Reader for the Holidays? Feed it the Good Stuff...

Curl up with today's hottest YA novels!


One of the things I love about winter is I have more time to read, and with my eReader, I know new books are just a click away. So this winter pour yourself a warm beverage, snuggle up with your favorite eReader, and get lost in a new story. 

 .99 cents



Read EMBRACE today: Amazon | Barnes&Noble
How for would you go to save the people you love? 

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve.

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him.

Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own.

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover.



Read REAPING ME SOFTLY today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Ever since a near-death-experience on the operating table, seventeen-year-old Arianne Wilson can see dead people. Just as she’s learned to accept her new-found talents, she discovers that the boy she’s had a crush on since freshman year, Niko Clark, is a Reaper.

At last they have something in common, but that doesn’t mean life is getting any easier. All while facing merciless bullying from the most powerful girl in school, Arianne’s world is turned upside down after Niko accidentally reaps the soul of someone she loves. This sends them both into a spiral that threatens to end Arianne’s life. But will Niko break his own Reaper’s code to save her? And what would the consequences be if he did?



 $2.99


Read A SHIMMER OF ANGELS today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Sixteen-year-old Rayna sees angels, and has the medication and weekly therapy sessions to prove it. Now, in remission, Rayna starts fresh at a new school, lands a new job, and desperately tries for normalcy. She ignores signs that she may be slipping into the world she has tried so hard to climb out of. But these days, it’s more than just hallucinations that keep Rayna up at night. Students are dying, and she may be the only one who can stop it. Can she keep her job, her sanity, and her friends from dying at the hands of angels she can't admit to seeing?



Read EMBER today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
When Candra Ember wakes up in hospital after a dangerous encounter with a red-haired woman, she is shocked to discover that seeing a winged boy wasn't her imagination. Candra is exposed to a world of rivalry and sacrifice she never knew existed, and the aftermath of a war to save humanity thousands of years ago. Soon she finds herself relentlessly stalked by Sebastian, a beautiful and arrogant Watcher Angel and romantically pursued by his darkly seductive rival, Draven. Ultimately, dubious about her own goodness, Candra’s very existence compromises a tentative peace in the city of Acheron.



Read HOLD TIGHT today: Amazon Barnes&Noble
What’s one little spell?

When you’re new to magic, one spell can be the difference between getting what you want...and ruining the lives of everyone you love.

Sixteen-year-old Madison has just embraced her magical powers. The trick now is learning how to control them. She and her boyfriend -and fellow witch- can’t even enjoy a simple kiss without getting shocked when their powers collide. Instead of mastering her new skills, though, Madison is stuck watching her kid brother and doing chores.

But being a witch does have its benefits. With a simple spell, Madison instantly conjures the help she needs around the house. Or so she thinks. Her idea of “help” invites trouble of its own as a pair of dangerous yet enticing beings enter her life. When a classmate disappears soon afterwards, Madison discovers she's the next victim of a threat she's powerless to resist...and there’s nothing it won’t kill to make her surrender.

Caught in the crossfire between two dashing but deadly creatures, Madison must figure out which one to trust and how to rid her world of the other—before one of them destroys her and everyone she cares about.

Read IRIDESCENT (Ember Bk 2) today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Candra Ember used to dream of saving the world one person at a time. She never expected to become an angelic weapon and the last hope in the battle against ultimate darkness.

Falling for a Nephilim wasn’t part of Sebastian’s plan. Distraction is something he can’t afford when his rival, Draven, wants what Sebastian has.

Lies, manipulation, and corruption are twisting the lives of the citizens in Acheron. The Arch is missing from Heaven, and a demon is intent on claiming the city. At a time they should be growing closer, grief and paranoia is driving Candra and Sebastian apart.

If the price of restoring the Watchers to Heaven is a human soul, who deserves to be saved?


Read JANUARY BLACK today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Sixteen-year-old genius Matty Ducayn has never fit in on The Hill, an ordered place seriously lacking a sense of humor. After his school’s headmaster expels him for a small act of mischief, Matty’s future looks grim until King Hadrian comes to his rescue with a challenge: answer a question for a master’s diploma.

More than a second chance, this means freedom. Masters can choose where they work, a rarity among Regents, and the question is simple.

What was January Black?

It’s a ship. Everyone knows that. Hadrian rejects that answer, though, and Matty becomes compelled by curiosity and pride to solve the puzzle. When his search for an answer turns up long-buried state secrets, Matty’s journey becomes a collision course with a deadly royal decree. He’s been set up to fail, which forces him to choose. Run for his life with the challenge lost…or call the king’s bluff.


Read MY SISTER'S REAPER today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Sixteen-year-old Zadie’s first mistake was telling the boy she liked she could bring her dead sister back to life. Her second mistake was actually doing it.

When Zadie accidentally messes with the Reaper’s Rite that should have claimed her sister Mara, things go horribly wrong. Mara isn’t the same anymore—Zadie isn’t even sure she’s completely human. To top it off, a Reaper is determined to collect Mara's soul. Now Zadie must figure out how to defeat her sister’s Reaper or let Mara die … this time for good.




Read OPPRESSION today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Elyse knows what it means to keep a secret. She's been keeping secrets her whole life. Two, actually. First, that she ages five times slower than average people, so that while she looks eighteen years old, she's well over eighty. Second, that her blood has a mysterious power to heal. For Elyse, these things don't make her special. They make life dangerous. After the death of her parents, she's been careful to keep her secret as closely guarded as possible. Now, only one other person in the world knows about her age and ability. Or so she thinks. Elyse is not the only one keeping secrets. There are others like her all over the world, descendants of the very people the Greeks considered gods. She is one of them, and they have been waiting for her for a long time. Some are waiting for her to put an end to centuries of traditions that have oppressed their people under the guise of safeguarding them. Others are determined to keep her from doing just that. But for Elyse, the game is just beginning-and she's not entirely willing to play by their rules.


Read PRETTY DARK NOTHING today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
It’s time to choose: Love or lies, faith or fear, darkness or destiny.

Seventeen-year-old Quinn hasn’t slept a full night in twenty-three days. She’s terrified of the demons that stalk her dreams, pull her into a deep dark nothingness and whisper hauntingly of her death. Exhausted, Quinn dozes off in the school hallway, and Aaron, an amnesiac with a psychic ability, accidentally enters her nightmare. If Quinn can learn to trust her heart, and Aaron can discover the secret locked away in his fragile memory, their combined power could banish the darkness back to the underworld for good. That is, unless the demons kill them first.


Read SHADES OF ATLANTIS today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Since the death of their parents, Triona Pryor and her brother, Ben, have lived with their aunt and uncle in Camden, Maine. Now in her senior year of high school, Triona loves her family and friends, but she has always felt that she didn't quite fit in...in Camden, or anywhere else. Enter Caleb Wallace, the devilishly handsome man who has recently moved to Triona's small town. While their attraction to each other is instantaneous, it also proves to be dangerous...and deadly. When tragedy strikes, Triona flees to London for solace and to start her life anew. It's there she discovers from an unlikely source that her family has been keeping secrets from her - secrets about not only her birthright, but her ultimate destiny as well. Armed with this knowledge, Triona finds herself thrown into a whole new world and into a battle to save the lives of everyone she loves.

Read TASTE today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
At Barinkoff Academy, there's only one rule: no students on campus after curfew. Phoenix McKay soon finds out why when she is left behind at sunset. A group calling themselves night students threaten to taste her flesh until she is saved by a mysterious, alluring boy. With his pale skin, dark eyes, and mesmerizing voice, Demitri is both irresistible and impenetrable. He warns her to stay away from his dangerous world of flesh eaters. Unfortunately, the gorgeous and playful Luka has other plans.

When Phoenix is caught between her physical and her emotional attraction, she becomes the keeper of a deadly secret that will rock the foundations of an ancient civilization living beneath Barinkoff Academy. Phoenix doesn’t realize until it is too late that the closer she gets to both Demitri and Luka the more she is plunging them all into a centuries old feud.



Read UNREAP MY HEART today: Kindle | Amazon
Only a villain can save the day.

During his thousand year banishment in the Nethers, Balthazar thought of nothing but taking over the Crossroads from Death.

On the day he puts his plans into action, Balthazar finds the Crossroads on lockdown. Death has been stabbed by Brianne’s Bitterness, a blade that slowly leaches him of his powers. In order to challenge Death for his seat and prevent utter chaos, Balthazar is forced into a mission to find the Redeemer, the only being capable of pulling out the blade from Death’s chest. The only person who can identify the Redeemer is a human girl in the Crossroads whose soul is still attached to her body.
Meeting Arianne Wilson pushes Balthazar’s patience to the limit. In a deal he makes with Death, he must protect Arianne during their journey through the Underverse using all the resources available to him. He soon realizes the one he needs to protect is himself. For as much harm as it inflicts on Balthazar's body, trekking through the Underverse with Arianne is proving more dangerous for his heart and soul.

Can the villain remain a villain when love gets in the way? 

Read UPRISING (Children of the Gods #2)  today: 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Elyse has done everything she can to protect her friends from The Council's reach. As long as they believe she's dead, she has time to rest and train for war. And war is inevitable.

When Kara arrives with the news that Anna and Chloe have been captured, Elyse is faced with the realization that no one is safe until The Council is stopped and Christoph is destroyed. She doesn't need a prophecy to tell her to lead an army. Christoph has done the one thing that ensures she'll fight to the death. He's threatened the people she loves.

It will take more than the words of an oracle to help them fight against the most powerful Descendant alive. To break The Council's oppression and rise up against a plot so many years in the making, Elyse will need to get dangerously close to her enemy. So close, in fact, she may not survive.



More great deals!

Read ASCENDANT today: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
When I was twelve, my mother disappeared. I was the first person to never find her. I’m sixteen now and she has never been found, alive or dead. I’m not the girl I should have been.

When Charlotte Stevens, bright but failing, is sent to stay at her mother’s childhood home in Somerset England her life is changed forever. While exploring the lavish family manor, Gaersum Aern, Charlotte discovers a stone puzzle box that contains a pentagram necklace and a note from her mother—clues to her family’s strange past and her mother’s disappearance. Charlotte must try to solve the puzzle box, decipher her mother’s old journals, and figure out who is working to derail her efforts—and why. The family manor contains many secrets and hidden histories, keys to the elegant mystery Charlotte called mom and hopefully, a trail to finding her.


Read PHANTOM TOUCH today: Kindle | Barnes & Noble
Bridget White just wants to be an average girl, but the car accident that killed her sister took away everything normal in Bridget’s life. Now she spends her days talking to unhappy ghosts and helping them move on to the afterlife. But dealing with death on a daily basis is too much for one girl to handle, so when she finds a way to get rid of her supernatural sight, she jumps at the chance.

There’s just one more job standing between her and normal. When a missing local girl turns up as a freshly murdered ghost, Bridget realizes she’s the only one who can find the killer. Worse still, he’s not done killing. Now Bridget may have to sacrifice her only chance at being normal to stop him from taking another innocent life.


Read SPEAK OF THE DEVIL today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
What happens when falling in love and falling from grace collide?

High school junior Lily Tyler dies along with her two best friends in a car accident, but miraculously she comes back to life several minutes later. Unable to deal with her loss and her survivor’s guilt, she moves to her dad’s. While there trying to heal from this tragedy and come to terms with the event, she meets some people at her new school who are all too eager to help her. Struggling to fight her feelings for two of these strange new acquaintances, Luc and Mo, she finds out their true identities.

Lily must move on from the past, reconcile her feelings for Luc, and find a way to stop a divine war with the fallen angels, all while trying to pass the eleventh grade.


Read SON OF A MERMAID today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Shea MacNamara’s life just got complicated.

After a freak tornado devastates his Oklahoma farm, the fifteen-year-old orphan is whisked away to Cape Cod. Struggling to make sense of his new surroundings, he’s trying hard to deal with feelings of abandonment… and the emotions stirred by a girl he meets along the shore.

Kae belongs to an undersea world hidden from drylanders. The daughter of royal servants, she knows the planned marriage of her Princess to the foreign King should put an end to the war between the clans. But two things stand in the way of lasting peace: the ambitions of the foreign King’s regent, and rumors of the Princess’s bastard child.

Sparks fly when she meets Shea, but could the cute drylander really be the Son of a Mermaid?


Read STALKED BY DEATH (Bk2) today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Jodi knows that any slip-ups made by the Ophi--a special group of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac--will fall on her shoulders... and that Hades is just waiting for them to screw up so he can wipe out the Ophi line.

Unfortunately, Jodi has only convinced one Ophi to join her school: A hot guy named Chase who jeopardizes her relationship with Alex. Jodi loves Alex, but Chase can enhance her powers with just a touch—making her stronger than any Ophi has ever been.

Her mixed emotions send her powers surging out of control, and the dead start rising without her conscious summoning—exactly what Hades doesn't want! If she chooses Alex over Chase, she may lose the battle to Hades, leading the Ophi race to extinction. If she chooses Chase, she might be able to stop Hades for good… but lose everything else.

Jodi needs to figure things out fast--because death is stalking her at every turn.


Read TOUCH OF DEATH today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Jodi Marshall isn’t sure how she went from normal teenager to walking disaster. One minute she’s in her junior year of high school, spending time with her amazing boyfriend and her best friend. The next she’s being stalked by some guy no one seems to know.

After the stranger, Alex, reveals himself, Jodi learns he’s not a normal teenager and neither is she. With a kiss that kills and a touch that brings the dead back to life, Jodi discovers she’s part of a branch of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus. A branch of necromancers that are descendents of Medusa. A branch of necromancers with poisoned blood writhing in their veins.

Jodi’s deadly to the living and even more deadly to the deceased. She has to leave her old, normal life behind before she hurts the people she loves. As if that isn’t difficult enough, Jodi discovers she’s the chosen one who has to save the rest of her kind from perishing at the hands of Hades. If she can’t figure out how to control her power, history will repeat itself, and her race will become extinct.



Keep them coming, pre-order today:

Pre-order BURN OUT today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
A futuristic blend of Beth Revis's Across the Universe and Lenore Appelhans's Level 2, Burn Out will satisfy the growing desire for science fiction with a thrilling story of survival, intrigue, and adventure.

Most people want to save the world; seventeen-year-old Tora Reynolds just wants to get the hell off of it. One of the last survivors in Earth's final years, Tora yearns to escape the wasteland her planet has become after the sun turns "red giant," but discovers her fellow survivors are even deadlier than the hostile environment.


Holed up in an underground shelter, Tora is alone--her brilliant scientist father murdered, her mother and sister burned to death. She dreams of living on a planet with oceans, plants, and animals. Unfortunately, the oceans dried out ages ago, the only plants are giant cacti with deadly spines, and her pet, Trigger, is a gun--one of the bio-energetic weapons her father created for the government before his conscience kicked in.


When family friend, Markus, arrives with mercenaries to take the weapons by force, Tora's fury turns to fear when government ships descend in an attempt to kill them all. She forges an unlikely alliance with Markus and his rag-tag group of raiders, including a smart but quiet soldier named James. Tora must quickly figure out who she can trust, as she must choose between saving herself by giving up the guns or honoring her father's request to save humanity from the most lethal weapons in existence.


Pre-order WANTED:  DEAD OR IN LOVE: Amazon
Impulsive high school senior Monroe Baker is on probation for a recent crime, but strives to stay out of trouble by working as a flapper at her father’s Roaring 20’s dinner show theater. When she cuts herself on one of the spent bullets from her father’s gangster memorabilia collection, she unwittingly awakens Bonnie Parker’s spirit, who begins speaking to Monroe from inside her head. 

Later that evening, Monroe shows the slugs to Jack, a boy she meets at a party. He unknowingly becomes infected by Clyde, who soon commits a crime using Jack’s body. The teens learn that they have less than twenty-four hours to ditch the criminals or they’ll share their bodies with the deadly outlaws indefinitely. 

Monday, December 30, 2013

Join me at Darkly Delicious YA

Happy Monday Morning! At my house, we're still busy eating Christmas cookies and lounging in our pjs until noon... but things are brewing over at my new hang-out,  

The Darkly Delicious crew is a fun group of edgy YA authors, all with new releases coming out within the next year. We're traditionally published authors with both large and small presses, passionate about writing suspenseful, intriguing novels for teens and adults. Our works range from contemporary, romance, paranormal, magical realism, or supernatural, but each of our novels feature a darkly delicious storyline that will leave you craving more.

Today's post is cool - a "Feed Your E-Reader" post that has all of the DDYA books and blurbs and buy links... some of the books are on sale right now, too! Need something to read on that new Kindle or Nook you got for Christmas? Check out these Darkly Delicious reads!

The official blog kickoff is in January, to start the new year off with a bang! Several of us have started posting this month, chatting about Holiday traditions, cravings and pet peeves.

My post was supposed to appear today, but apparently, the calendar got switched up and my post appeared on Sunday December 22nd... listing my "Top 5 Holiday Secrets" - although, now that the holidays are over, I don't have to lie about my Worst. Christmas. Gift. Ever. (and who gave it to me!)

Read my post here: http://darklydeliciousya.blogspot.com/2013/12/top-5-holiday-secrets-by-katie-osullivan.html

Next month, I'll be dishing about the Darker Side of Shea MacNamara from my SON OF A MERMAID series. I'm on the schedule for January 20th... but I'll remind you. Don't worry.

Friday, December 27, 2013

December Cephalopod Coffeehouse Blog Hop!

Hey, there, time once again for the Coffee House Book Chat, hosted by The Armchair Squid. The last Friday of each month, you can hop around the virtual coffeehouse to read reviews of lots of different books, in many genres, lengths, styles... a little bit of everything. The idea being that each participant posts a review of "the best" book they've read (or reread) that month.

Oh, and I have to mention that because of this blog hop, I found the perfect book to give my sister for Christmas! I read the review of TALKING WITH MY MOUTH FULL by Bonnie Wolf of NPR, back in November on HUNGRY ENOUGH TO EAT SIX. Thank You! My sister loved it!

Next week I'm participating in another kind of book review, where each participant posts the top 3-5 books they've read for the whole year, either covers or short blurbs as to "why." Rachel Firasek is hosting the New Year's Reading Resolutions Blog Hop - -  Click the link on my left side bar to find out more from Rachel's blog, and maybe sign up to participate.

Now, as for the best book I've read this month, I'd have to say it was....

SAVOR, a New Adult hot paranormal romance by Kate Evangelista. It has some of the same characters as her debut YA novel, TASTE, which came out early in 2012, which is the only reason I know definitively that it's in the paranormal genre, because there's not a lot of supernatural stuff going on, except in the background. I'm participating in a blog tour for this book in early January, but I can't wait to post the review because IT WAS THAT GOOD. (I'll just report it for the tour.)

Here's the Goodreads blurb:


Mature and explicit content. Not recommended for readers below 18-years-old. Yup, you've got to be that old to read my story. Consider yourself warned.

I'm Dakota Collins, a tough talking, eye patch wearing, workaholic photography student. Why am I important? Well, maybe because I get to spend an entire month with Vicious, only the sickest indie rock band out there.

You see, I needed a subject for my Spring Showcase introspective in order to graduate. During a chance encounter at a club I'd been sent to cover for the Daily Gossip, our ironically named college paper, the features writer I usually teamed up with introduced me to the band--by accident, I might add. It involved a run in with a scary, bald bodyguard. Anyway, long story short, I signed a contract to take pictures of Vicious.

I should have known their handsome yet way too serious for his own good bassist, Luka Visraya, wouldn't be able to keep his hands to himself. He's gorgeous and all, but the way he smiles spelled trouble with a capital L. I'm in for a long month with him around.

Crazy stuff happens and then some I can't explain. So, if you want the skinny on Vicious and the events revolving around my stay at Lunar Manor, read my story.

MY TAKE:

Remember reading books when you were younger and being totally immersed in the story and the world, not wanting to surface from the book's "reality" into the "real world"? As if the book were a drug and you were high on the written word, not able to get enough or put it down or stop yourself?

That's how I felt when I read this book.

Now, maybe I was just ripe for needing a little escapism after the current hecticness of my "real" world, but this book was like a drug, pulling me under and blurring out the world around me until there was nothing left but Dakota's words and her world. I haven't felt this way about a book in a while - not just a chapter or a scene or a climax, but the whole book. Totally sucked in.

Dakota Collins is in her final year of college, working on a degree in photography with dreams of being the best in the world. The story is told in first person POV, and from the start we hear her feistyness, her snark, and her inner drive. We also hear a touch of her insecurities about her disability - an eye patch she wears like a protective shield against letting people get too close.

On assignment for her school newspaper, she encounters Vicious, a break-out hot new rock band who're on an unscheduled break from their world tour and happen to be playing the college club the newspaper is covering. Dakota is instantly drawn to the bass player, Luka Visraya, and boldly asks for permission to take their pictures for her senior project.

In TASTE, Ms. Evangelista introduced us to the world of the Visraya family, so if you've read her prior book you know more about them and their complicated back story than she lets on in this book. While I loved TASTE, this book shows how the author has matured as a writer, and truly embraced the New Adult genre with tons of sexual tension and innuendo, and a handful of scorching hot scenes between the main characters.

Ms. Evangelista lets the story unfold organically, staying right in Dakota's head the whole time. There's no annoying backstory dump, although the reader is left wondering what caused Dakota's injury, a horror story that unfolds slowly through nightmares from which the main character awakes screaming.

The ending is totally unsatisfying, as it's a lead in to the next book and leaves EVERYTHING unresolved. Think Hunger Games book one ending, and you'll feel my pain. I know some readers aer turned off by this sort of thing, so be warned. You might want to wait to read this until book two is available so you can dive right into the next one. But it didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying this book and Dakota's story. And I totally can't wait for the next book in the series!
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Find SAVOR on Amazon or BarnesandNoble.com

And come back here Wednesday January 8th to read an official excerpt from SAVOR.


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas to All, and to all a Great Week!

Merry Christmas!

I won't be posting this week as I take time to catch up on my holiday baking and relax with my family. Oh, except for my regular Cephalopod Coffeehouse post on the last Friday of the month - which is the end of this week. I'll be participating in that blog hop. (But no other posts, so don't ask me, lol)
 
I wish all the best to you and yours ~ and will return for real on December 30th, just in time to kick off the coming New Year! 2014 should be a great year, with two new books on my horizon and lots of new adventures to be had! Have a wonderful holiday and see you soon!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Guest Author, Heather Topham Wood


Please join me in welcoming Heather to my blog today, as she talks about her journey to publication! 

Her new release THE MEMORY WITCH is available now online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com.

The Guts and the Glory of NaNoWriMo
by Heather Topham Wood

If you’re involved in the book world in any capacity, then NaNoWriMo is likely familiar to you. National Novel Writing Month comes every November and forces many authors to buckle down and get that novel done. Last year was the first time I attempted NaNoWriMo and I can’t rave enough about what an awesome experience it was for me.

Preparing for NaNoWriMo should take place at least a few weeks in advance. I’m not much of a plotter and my preparation for last year’s event consisted of writing down a few basic ideas on scraps of paper. I already had a series I was working on, but I decided to take the month to try something completely new. This gave birth to the idea of a YA paranormal romance series that begins with The Memory Witch.

The thing about NaNoWriMo is that meeting your daily word count becomes a game. And if you have a competitive personality like I do, you don’t want to lose. My house may have been a disaster for a month and we may have eaten takeout every night, but I did meet my word count goal every single day.

You also receive a ton of encouragement along the way. I met a lot of new authors through NaNoWriMo and it was great to cheer each other along. I swapped excerpts and asked for help when I got stuck.

What else do I love about NaNoWriMo? You feel bad *ss after. You can’t beat the feeling of knowing you wrote an entire book in a month. The book may not be polished or near being publishable, but you have 50,000 more words than you had November 1st. The months following NaNoWriMo is when you can take your time reviewing and revising everything you wrote.

My advice is not to rush off queries once November 30th rolls around. Get the book completely ready before approaching agents and publishers about your manuscript. The great thing about my NaNoWriMo piece is I was able to find a publisher. A year later and The Memory Witch is now being published through Crescent Moon Press.   

About the Book:
Ten years ago, Quinn Jacobs’ mother made a bargain with a local witch—steal away Quinn’s memories from the first eight years of her life and in return, Quinn would spend a year in servitude to the witch.
On Quinn’s eighteenth birthday, she’s forced to leave her home and friends behind. For the next year, she’ll live at the Chadwick House, learning everything she needs to know about being a spellcaster. As her powers grow, Quinn begins to unravel the secrets of the past and the reason her mother was so desperate to conceal the horrifying truth.
About the Author:
Heather Topham Wood’s obsession with novels began in childhood while growing up in a shore town in New Jersey. Writing since her teens, she recently returned to penning novels after a successful career as a freelance writer. She’s the author of the paranormal romance Second Sight series and the standalone The Disappearing Girl .

Heather graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2005 and holds a bachelor's degree in English. Her freelance work has appeared in publications such as USA Today, Livestrong.com, Outlook by the Bay and Step in Style magazine. She resides in Trenton, New Jersey with her husband and two sons. Besides writing, Heather is a pop culture fanatic and has an obsession with supernatural novels and TV shows.



Friday, December 20, 2013

Join me at Avery Olive's Christmas Celebration!

Today I'm the Guest Author over at Avery Olive's blog, where she's been hosting a Christmas party all month long! She's got a great Rafflecopter Giveaway with tons of prizes from some great authors - if you haven't been over there to enter, what are you waiting for?

And today I'm her guest, so scurry scurry! My topic: What do you Give a Mermaid for Christmas? As a Christmas bonus, I've posted a special excerpt from BLOOD OF A MERMAID, the second of my mermaid series, where Shea gives a gift to his special mermaid... what did he give her?

Join us and find out!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Book Excerpt from PORTALS by Maer Wilson

Yesterday I chatted with author Maer Wilson about her latest book, PORTALS. Today I have a special treat - an excerpt to share from the book, courtesy of the author.

Excerpt from PORTALS, by Maer Wilson, 2013

That night Parker had popped in to wake us at two in the morning to tell us our best friend, Reo, had been shot. The young ghost was distraught and panicked.

“They're on the back porch! You have to go help.”

“Where is he?” I asked groggily, as I jumped out of bed.

Thulu was instantly awake beside me, although he didn’t seem any more alert than I did.

“Back porch.” Parker enunciated each word in slight exasperation. “Go, please!”

Thulu looked at me, and I told him what Parker had said. Thulu can read lips, but even with a night light the room was too dark.

Thulu threw off the sheet and we both ran from the room. I was briefly glad we’d been wearing PJs.
Heart pounding, I took a few precious seconds to check on our three year old son, Carter. His night light showed him blissfully unaware of anything. Whatever happy dreams he was having made him smile slightly in his sleep. I sighed in relief that he wasn’t having another of his nightmares.

Downstairs, Thulu had turned on the kitchen and porch lights. In spite of the panic moments before, none of the three people on the porch seemed frantic when I joined them.

Thulu looked relieved, Reo was on the floor, but seemed stoic, and Sloane knelt beside him, brow furrowed only slightly in concentration as he dealt with the wound.

My heart rate slowed down and my own fear started to slowly dissipate. My heart gradually dropped from my throat back to its accustomed place in my chest. Still my hands were shaking, and I felt the slight chill from outside. The porch was screened in, and the late August day had been hot, but the night brought a cool breeze that made its way along my arms.

The scent of flowers from the backyard didn’t quite mask the smell of the blood that pooled on the porch floor around Reo. Sloane, his partner and an elf, had already removed Reo’s jacket and shirt. A bullet lay on the floor, and I could see the shoulder wound was already healing and closing up. In a few moments, only the blood would remain as evidence that he’d been shot.

Reo's face was white. The strain showed around his brown eyes and his handsome face had the sheen of sweat on it.  His short brown hair that was usually spiked, lay damp and flat against his head, but he gave me a shaky smile.

“Bastard ruined my favorite jacket.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

You can find Maer and her books online in the following spots:

Maer’s Website: http://maerwilson.com/
Maer on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MaerWilson
“Ghost Memory” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #1) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5W1W2Y/
“Unwanted Ghost” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #2) - http://www.amazon.com/Unwanted-Ghost-Thulukan-Chronicles-Story-ebook/dp/B00FYACAZO/


Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Chatting with... Maer Wilson and her new release PORTALS

I'm thrilled to have Maer Wilson back visiting with me today as my guest.
I first met and interviewed Maer back in May 2013, when her first book RELICS was released. You can read my May 7 interview HERE.

Today we're celebrating her newest release, PORTALS, the second full book in the Thulukan Chronicles series. (She's had two novelettes in the interim, both set in this world.) Her books are urban fantasy detective novels, with a detective agency that deals exclusively with supernatural clientele.

Maer, why a supernatural detective agency? What originally sparked the idea?

Hi Katie, and thanks for hosting me. I actually have no idea where that came from! As soon as I had their names, so much became clear about them. I knew what they could do as far as their special abilities. So I just started writing and the agency itself evolved as I did. It came very fast and rather easily because I knew right off they dealt with the dead and other supernatural beings.

Your first book was set firmly in one location in California, but this new book takes the reader to other cities and entirely different worlds. Was it fun to invent new places?
Oh my, yes! I had a blast with Phaete and Neva. I didn’t have to worry if something didn’t actually exist. With the scenes in San Francisco, I try to be true to that awesome city and not put in something that isn’t or couldn’t be there. However, it was liberating to be able to make up these other worlds and do whatever I wanted with them.

Tell us a little about PORTALS.
PORTALS is a very transitional book in the arc of the series. In the beginning of PORTALS, everything seems to be settling down with regards to the return of magic. However, as time goes by we see how everything is actually in flux. The repercussions of magic coming to Earth are felt world-wide, and not just on Earth. Here’s the back cover blurb:
For supernatural detectives Thulu and La Fi, “normal” is a relative term. La Fi is a medium, Thulu is a finder, and their usual clients are already dead.
 But when their friend Reo is shot, and a group of stranded angels show up at their house for help to find a missing child, things are striking too close to home.

And now the portals that let the magical races return to Earth have started opening on their own.
With trips off-world, a kidnapped psychic and changes to their own abilities, Thulu and La Fi are hit with a lot more than they usually handle. Of course, their magical friends are there to help, but even they may not be enough to save an increasingly unstable Earth.
Okay, now for a few fun questions. It's the Holiday Season, so I have to ask. What's your favorite Holiday Tradition?

I absolutely love getting together with my family and just hanging out. Sometimes we play games, or sit and chat for hours. I often have mulled wine or cider at home during the season, too, and I love how it makes the house smell, with all the different spices.

What's on your Wish List for 2014? 
I have several projects I’ll be working on. Hopefully, I can finish them all. I’m planning at least one event in 2014 and likely several more, including a party for the release ofr Book 3 and at least one more short story in The Thulukan Chronicles. I have a Biography/Memoir I’ll be doing and a new series I plan to start in 2014. Then there’s this Historical Fantasy I started a year or so ago and I really want to get back to that one, too. Cross your fingers I’m able to stick to my schedule. J

Thanks so much for a fun interview, Katie. I appreciate you letting me be on your blog!

Along with this blog tour, Maer is giving away some fun stuff! Enter the Rafflecopter below for your chance to win one of these great prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find Maer and her books online in all the best places...  

Maer’s Links
Maer’s Website: http://maerwilson.com/
Maer on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MaerWilson
“Ghost Memory” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #1) - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E5W1W2Y/
“Unwanted Ghost” (A Thulukan Chronicles Story, #2) - http://www.amazon.com/Unwanted-Ghost-Thulukan-Chronicles-Story-ebook/dp/B00FYACAZO/

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Book Review: MY NAME IS RAPUNZEL, by K.C. Hilton


As a host for LRT Tours, I was given the opportunity to read and review MY NAME IS RAPUNZEL. I love fairy tales, and all manners of re-tellings! Here's my review...

MY NAME IS RAPUNZEL
By K.C. Hilton

Published 2013

About the book: (from GoodReads)

My tale has been told again and again, and I’ve heard each one. Except for my hair, I barely recognize the pitiful renditions. Muddled versions, crafted to entertain laughing children…but the children wouldn’t have laughed if they’d known the real story. It wasn't their fault. They didn't know the truth. Nobody did.

My name is Rapunzel. I will tell you my story. I will tell you the truth.


MY TAKE:

This past summer, my daughter was in a theater production of Rapunzel, so when I was offered an ARC of a new retelling I jumped at the chance to read and review. And, I mean, look at that gorgeous cover. It just begs the reader to pick it up and enjoy. I wasn’t disappointed.

MY NAME IS RAPUNZEL, by K.C. Hilton, is a retelling of an old fairytale which starts in 1763 and continues into 2013, bringing the story of Rapunzel to life and all the way into the modern age.

I enjoyed this story a lot. I felt like I stepped back in time to when dragons and witches were real, with first person narration to bring the action up close and personal.

Told in first person POV, the author lets Rapunzel tell her own story. Although there are many different versions of the fairytale, in this story Rapunzel is cursed with eternal life. The reader gets to see Rapunzel adjust through the years to the wonders and horrors of our changing and modernizing world – from the advent of indoor plumbing to the wonders of internet shopping. In the end, she wasn’t the same naïve girl she was at the beginning of the story.

The witch, Gretta, was scary and deceptive and manipulative, although I must admit that as I was reading I was totally picturing the wonderful actress who portrayed the witch in my daughter’s summer stock play. That witch thought she loved Rapunzel and thought she was doing what was best for the girl, and did a wonderful job of portraying that twisted obsessive love - and I may have transferred some of that acting brilliance into this character as I read. The author does stress a few times throughout the story that Gretta seems just as much a prisoner as Rapunzel.

The love interest, Prince Henry, wasn’t as fully fleshed out as he might have been. There were maybe three chapters that we got to see from his point of view, which helped me to understand his character, but he wasn’t totally swoon-worthy, which was a little disappointing to me.

In the end, though, this is Rapunzel’s story. The tale of a young girl who was cursed because of love, and took 250 years to grow up to be strong and worthy enough of that love to break the curse.

* 4 out of 5 stars *

About the Author (from Goodreads):
K.C. writes:
“Born and raised in Aurora, Illinois I spent my childhood climbing trees and playing street games with the neighborhood kids. I was a proud tomboy, until the day I didn’t want to hike the land to an old graveyard. From that point forward I was considered a “girl”.

At the age of seventeen I moved to Kentucky and eventually began to raise a family of my own. Having worn several “hats” my life has been an adventure all on its own. Still, to this day, I yearns to be a mechanic and own a pink toolbox with pink tools.

I can usually be found updating my website, reading great books, watching awesome movies or creating videos for my YouTube channel. Most days I craves Diet Coke, pizza and chocolate, in no particular order.

I don’t read scary books or watch horror movies… I’m way too scared! Lol.”

Find K.C. online:
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MrsKcHilton

And there's a Rafflecopter Giveaway with this tour!

a Rafflecopter giveaway