Family Size by Maria Hoagland - Blog Tour Interview

Welcome to Author Maria Hoagland

Maria Hoagland graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in English where she married her especially-devoted home teacher. She and her husband have three children and have lived in Texas, Missouri, Utah, and Idaho. Maria enjoys watching anything her children are involved in, going to book clubs and lunch groups, long-distance running, walking barefoot in the green grass, and eating raspberries from her backyard.

Website * Blog * Twitter * Facebook

Interview
Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? 
I'm excited about my next project, as I'm sure all authors are. I'm planning on playing with POV a little more, and of course, throw in another medical issue or two; but since I'm still in the researching/ outlining stage, I don't want to say specifically what I've got in mind, because I don't know if it's going to work yet.

What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen? 
In second grade, I read The Wizard of Oz six times in about as many months. As a preteen, my favorite book was Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

Can you see yourself in any of your characters? 
I would have to say there are little bits of me in all three of the main characters of Family Size, but in saying that, I hope that all of my readers will be able to relate to each of the characters at some point, and feel like I could be writing about their life.

What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year? 
I'm looking forward to the movie The Host as well as buying Les Miserables on BluRay.

If you were a super hero what would your kryptonite be? 
Chocolate. Or sleep. No, probably Facebook :)

What's your favorite season/weather? 
Summer. Definitely. I need sunshine and green grass.

What TV show/movie/book do you watch/read that you'd be embarrassed to admit? 
Well now, why would I admit it if it's going to embarrass me?

How long do you generally let a story idea ‘marinate’ in your brain before you start the book? 
While I'm writing, or usually while I'm editing the previous one, ideas come and I take notes. The one idea that sticks around longest and has the most possibilities when I finish the previous book is the winner.

Do you prefer to write in silence or with music? 
I have to have silence or I can't hear the voices in my head.

How many books are in your TRB pile? 
I have a TON of books on my Kindle that I'm waiting to read, but I get my favorite books as suggestions from friends. I've got a list going...now if I could find the time to read them all....

What one item would you eat for the rest of your life? 
Chili's Southwestern Eggrolls

What is your view on self publishing? 
My favorite song to get me in the writing mood is "Defying Gravity" from the Wicked soundtrack. Some days it's exactly how I feel about self publishing. In many ways I wish I didn't have to self publish, but there are many things I don't want to have to give up to pursue traditional publishing in the LDS market. I wish I had some way to meld the two together and I'll keep working on it. Someday I'd love to have my book in an LDS bookstore.

How do you overcome writer's block?
If I'm having trouble with a particular scene, I move on to another. So far, knock on wood, I haven't been completely at a loss because I write what interests me.

Do your characters really talk to you? 
Okay, no, they don't. But don't tell the other authors that because I don't want to be the only one.

What is your favorite part of the writing/publishing process? 
I love that just when I get sick of a particular part of the writing process, it's time to move to the next: Tired of writing? Start editing. Tired of editing? Time for cover design.

This or That
TV or Movies? Movies
Night owl, or early bird? Night owl
Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate
Regular or Diet? diet
Coke or Pepsi? coke!
Horror or Romance? romance
Action or Drama? drama
Pizza or Pasta? pizza
Summer or Winter? summer
Harry Potter or Twilight? Harry Potter
Beach or Pool? Beach
Cats or Dog? cat
Cause or Effect? cause--it's more fun
Heads or Tails? tails
Facebook or Twitter? Facebook. I can't figure out Twitter, which is not good for a writer.
Text or Talk? text
Introvert or Extrovert? previous answer should tell you :)

Family Size

Jessica loves being the mom of an ever-expanding family, but when an ultrasound throws her a curve, can she adapt with grace?

Dragged away from home, Maya feels deserted by her workaholic husband in a land of confusing accents and church cliques. What will it take to acclimate and save her marriage—or does she even want to?

Sloane is an algebra teacher and runner who would give up both to be a mom, but no matter what she does, pregnancy remains elusive. Can she adjust her thinking and find purpose in her life?

As their lives intertwine, can friendship and faith help these women hurdle expectations of an ideal family size?

Blog Tour Giveaway Enter Here: http://mariahoagland.blogspot.com/2013/02/family-size-giveaway.html

Victoria Rebels by Carolyn Meyer - Character Interview & Tour Giveaway

Welcome to Author Carolyn Meyer

Carolyn Meyer is as versatile a writer as you will find. Along with historical fiction and realistic novels for young adults she has written nonfiction for young adults and books for younger readers on topics as diverse as the Amish, the Irish, Japanese, Yup'ik Eskimos, a rock band, rock tumbling, bread baking, and coconuts. And ten of her books have been chosen as Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association. In her most recent historical novels she has dealt with the young lives of Mary Tudor, Princess Elizabeth, Anastasia, and Isabel of Castilla, Spain.

Twitter * Website

Victoria Rebels


Queen Victoria’s personal journals inform this captivating first-person account of one of history’s most prominent female leaders.

Queen Victoria most certainly left a legacy—under her rule as the longest reigning female monarch in history, the British Empire was greatly expanded and significant industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military changes occurred within the United Kingdom. To be a young woman in a time when few other females held positions of power was to lead in a remarkable age—and because Queen Victoria kept personal journals, this historical novel from award-winning author Carolyn Meyer shares authentic emotional insight along with accurate information, weaving a true story of intrigue and romance.

CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH PRINCE ALBERT

Tell us, Your Highness, about your first meeting with the future queen of England.

My brother and I were invited to Kensington Palace for Victoria’s seventeenth birthday. I knew that I would be examined carefully as a potential husband for Victoria, and I was very nervous. The visit went well, I thought, though Victoria seemed to want to dance all night and I have always gone to bed rather early. Then I came down with a bilious attack and could not leave my room. Not an auspicious beginning!

And then what happened?

Nothing for a long while. I went back to Germany where I was born and continued my studies, and I did a great deal of traveling. But not a word from Kensington! Victoria and I are first cousins, and I had frequent reports from our uncle Leopold, who favored the match. Everyone seemed to favor the match, in fact, although I heard that the British people were not fond of the idea of their future queen marrying a German. And I had no idea how Victoria felt. Frankly, I’m not sure how I felt either.

There must have been a second visit.

Oh, there was, and it proceeded splendidly. It happened three years later, Victoria had become queen, and I think there was considerable pressure put on her to marry. But the moment I entered Windsor Castle and we looked into one another’s eyes, we knew we were in love.

Did true love run smoothly from then on?

It did not. After a few weeks I had to return to Germany to prepare for my permanent removal to England, and it was a painful separation. We argued about all sorts of things, and I saw that my future wife could be very stubborn and very insistent that she and she alone would rule. I was even more nervous when I returned for the third time, now as a bridegroom, but again, I saw a love in her eyes that burned brightly, and my eyes returned the fire.

How did you get on with your new country?

I worked devotedly for the English people throughout my life, but I don’t believe they ever fully accepted me. I was always a foreigner, a German. Victoria wanted to give me the title of King Consort, but it didn’t happen. For years I was simply Prince Albert, although eventually I was titled “His Royal Highness the Prince Consort.” And that was good enough for me.

Tour Giveaway

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V is for Virgin Blog Tour

Tour Schedule

Author Kelly Oram

Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.

Links:

Blog: http://www.kellyoram.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyoram

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelly-Oram/167476866620455

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3203095.Kelly_Oram

V is for Virgin

When Val Jensen gets dumped for her decision to stay a virgin until marriage, the nasty breakup goes viral on YouTube, making her the latest internet sensation.


After days of ridicule from her peers, Val starts a school-wide campaign to rally support for her cause. She meant to make a statement, but she never dreamed the entire nation would get caught up in the controversy.


As if becoming nationally recognized as “Virgin Val” isn’t enough, Val’s already hectic life starts to spin wildly out of control when bad boy Kyle Hamilton, lead singer for the hit rock band Tralse, decides to take her abstinence as a personal challenge.

How can a girl stay true to herself when this year’s Sexiest Man Alive is doing everything in his power to win her over?

V is for Virgin is scheduled to be released on December 11, 2012.

For those who might wonder about content based on the title -
From Kelly: The book has a great overall message and promotes good strong moral values. For a book all about sex, there's not anything even close to a sex scene in it, but because of the nature of the topic there is a lot of innuendo/sexual humor and some name calling.

Tour Giveaway

$30 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Open Internationally
Ends 1/6/13

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Also by Kelly Oram:




V is for Virgin Tour Schedule


December 11th
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer - Review
Book Passion for Life - Review & Author Interview
Emily's Crammed Bookshelf - Interview
Good Choice Reading - Review

December 12th
Parsimonious Posh - Interview
Peace from Pieces - Interview
Freda's Voice - Review
The Girls With Glasses - Video Interview

December 13th
The Reading Date - Review
Alluring Reads - Review
Tribute Books - Interview
Froze8's Blog - Interview

December 14th
The Bookmark Blog - Review
3Ps in a Pod - Review & Guest Post
A Life Bound by Books - Review & Interview

December 15th
StoreyBook Reviews - Review
YA Book Addict - Review

December 16th
Books Beside My Bedside - Review
Oh, the Books You'll Read - Review
Mera's YA Book List - Tens List & Excerpt

December 17th
Getting Your Read On - Review
Booksellers Without Borders NY - Review
Amethyst Daydreams - Review

December 18th
Laurie's Thoughts & Reviews - Interview & Excerpt
Cindy C Bennett - Guest Post

December 19th
Cuzinlogic - Interview
Emi Gayle - Interview

December 20th
Why Not? Because I Said So - Review & Guest Post
Me and Reading - Review

December 21st
My Guilty Obsession - Review
Into the Mystic - Review
Burning Impossibly Bright - Guest Post

December 22nd
The Cozy Reading Corner - Interview
The Reader's Commute - Review

December 23rd
Bibliophilia, Please - Interview
Crossroads Reviews - Review
FLY HIGH! - Guest Post

December 24th
Reviewing Shelf - Review
Bookworm Lisa - Review & Guest Post

December 26th
Every Free Chance Book Reviews - Review
Mom With a Kindle - Interview
LDS Forever Friends Book Nook - Review
The Itzel Library - Review

December 27th
Reader Girls - Excerpt
Karey White - Review
Paulette's Papers - Tens List
Reading Lark - Guest Post

December 28th
Day by Day in Our World - Review
Debbie's Inkspectations - Review
My Devotional Thoughts - Review

December 31st
We Fancy Books - Review

January 2nd
Wall-to-Wall Books - Review & Author Interview

Blog Tour: Book Giveaway The Cinderella Project by Stan Crowe

Today is the official release day for The Cinderella Project by Stan Crowe and I'm kicking off the tour for the book with a great giveaway.

But first more about Stan....

I stumbled across an interview Stan had done that was posted on Breezy Reads.  I liked what I read so I requested a review copy of the book.

Here are a few of the interview questions and answers that were posted on Breezy Reads:

How is your Romance different from most out there?Aside from the fact that no one has sex in The Cinderella Project? The most obvious difference is that it’s told from a male point of view. I’m sure that has been done before, maybe even a few times. I’m not sure how often it has been done by a man. The book gets beneath the male stereotype and reveals (scandalously!) that yes, men actually do have emotions, and that, to paraphrase Mister Bennett, “a guy likes to be crossed in love now and again.”I actively worked to keep this love focused on the commitment and the effort involved in making a relationship work in the long run, rather than on “just getting some” with the hopes that “real” love would come along before the end. I just try to keep it light, fun, and real—no chiseled abs, no heaving bosoms (and yes, that’s me stereotyping romance novels).

Okay, so you write Romance and are a guy... Do you read any Romance?Only recently. See, I stumbled into the romance genre—there was an online contest run by a girl, and my entry into that contest was the original form of this book. Turns out, I really, really enjoyed writing it, so despite the fact that I had almost zero experience with the Romance genre, the story compelled me anyway.When I realized I actually could write a decent romance that was fun to read, it occurred to me that I’d better check out what was already out there, to get a better idea of how women felt, what they wanted in their reading, and what was entertaining to read. Let’s just say that I became a fast fan of Shannon Hale.

How does it feel being a man writing a Romance?
Well, my hands have never been softer, nor my legs so smooth. Seriously, though, in a word: bizarre.Yet cool at the same time, because I’m comfortable enough in my manhood that I can write about relationships and emotions that men do have (whether they admit it or not) and not feel emasculated. It’s definitely not a flooded field, and while Nick Sparks is awesome competition, it provides a sense of uniqueness I probably wouldn’t find writing many other genres.

You can read the rest of the interview here:
http://www.breezyreads.com/2012/05/man-has-entered-our-domain-meet-stan.html

Blog:
http://stanavenues.blogspot.com/

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/stancrowe

The Cinderella Project

Committed to saving his marriage before it starts, doctoral student Nick Cairn embarks on a project aimed at finding the secrets of everlasting love. But when Moire DeLanthe, a smart and sassy research assistant, enters the picture, his Happily Ever After is put to the ultimate test.

You can view all the tour stops on Breezy Reads: http://www.breezyreads.com/p/blog-tours.html

My review of The Cinderella Project will be posted this afternoon.

Giveaway Details:
1 copy of The Cinderella Project
Paperback open to US only, Ebook open Internationally
Ends 9/17/12


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Blog Tour Guest Post: All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

Welcome to Author Sarah Wylie

Sarah Wylie spent her growing-up years reading anything and everything she could get her hands on. One summer, she read one page of the dictionary every day. This did not make her an exceptional speller. Mainly, it took away precious time she might have spent furthering her obsession with boy bands, rereading Enid Blyton novels, and/or developing a sense of direction.
Sarah has always loved writing. One summer (a different one), she wrote a poem a day. Again, this time could have been better spent since, as it turns out, angsty poetry is not her calling.
These are a few of her favorite things:
daydreaming, Twizzlers, cloudless days, going to the movies, and that moment when a good song comes on the radio.
Sarah graduated from college in June 2011 with a degree in Neuroscience. She lives in Canada, where she now spends her summers watching too much reality TV, reading good books, and writing young-adult fiction. ALL THESE LIVES is her first novel. She is hard at work on her second.

Author Website 
Blog 
Twitter 
Goodreads


The theme of this tour is "9 Things to Love About All These Lives".
My stop is "Thing #4: Family RV Camping Trips"

Families have to be one of the most complex things in existence. Take a bunch of people – similar, but not quite – and stick them together. Make them equally passionate about diametrically opposed things. Make them skilled in discovering every last thing worth despising about each other, yet just as apt to forget all those faults when voiced by an outside party. Give them an unparalleled ability to make each other laugh, to telepathically convey thoughts, to fill the void of sadness or loneliness or failure; give them an unparalleled ability to disappoint one another, to make each other sad or lonely, to break each other’s heart.

ALL THESE LIVES is a family story. Mostly about sisters – but a family too. When something crappy happens – a loss or an illness – families (the whole, not just the parts) react. They crumble or hold each other up; they scurry off in different directions. They…rent an RV?

Dani’s family does.

In honor of their family trip, I’ve compiled a list of 9 events most likely to happen on a family vacation*.

1. Two or more people are fighting by the end of Night 1. A possible though less likely alternative: one person has figured out the previously unfathomable art of fighting with one’s self.
2. Somebody has forgotten an exceptionally important article of clothing. Including but not limited to: swimsuit, towel, hat, underwear, flip-flops, and sunglasses**. If you are of remotely comparable size to a family member who has remembered an extra [exceptionally important article of clothing], your mother will insist the vacation stores are far too expensive. End result: http://blissfullydomestic.com/wp-content/uploads/thinkbig.jpg
3. You wind up hopelessly and irreversibly lost. Cue: discussions about whether we have enough gas to be hopelessly and irreversibly lost, whose fault it is anyway, and why the next restroom is further away than the moon. See #1 for end result.
4. One family member has to provide backing vocals to whatever is on the radio from one end of the state to the other. It is vitally important.
5. Whoever is scheduled to keep the driver awake during their shift? Asleep. Oh, they’re just resting their eyes? ASLEEP.
6. In addition to [exceptionally important article of clothing], you will forget some combination of the following: camera, blank film/memory card for camera, sunscreen, bug spray, water bottles, and the address of your destination. Hopefully not a family member.
7. Your hotel room will not look nearly as swanky as it did in those pictures online.
8. Good intentions aside, you will never take as many pictures as you planned to at the start of the trip, or as many as you’ll want when you think about the trip years later.
9. You will be awed at the size of your family and/or their ability to take up space. (And the fact that your inability to understand the words “pack light” is genetic.) There’ll be more limbs and sweaters and backpacks and general space evasion than you bargained for. But in the end? You probably won’t even mind that much.

Bonus: Cleaning out the car/RV might take as long or longer than the entirety of your trip.

* Any and all similarities to real life people or events are totally coincidental, especially #6.
** Sunglasses count as articles of clothing for our purposes.

All These Lives by Sarah Wylie

Sixteen-year-old Dani is convinced she has nine lives. As a child she twice walked away from situations where she should have died. But Dani’s twin, Jena, isn’t so lucky.  She has cancer and might not even be able to keep her one life. Dani’s father is in denial. Her mother is trying to hold it together and prove everything’s normal.  And Jena is wasting away.  To cope, Dani sets out to rid herself of all her extra lives.  Maybe they’ll be released into the universe and someone who wants to live more than she does will get one.  Someone like Jena.  But just when Dani finds herself at the breaking point, she’s faced with a startling realization.  Maybe she doesn’t have nine lives after all.  Maybe she really only ever had one.

Visit Sarah's blog to enter into her All These Lives prize pack giveaway. 

http://sarahwithachance.blogspot.com/2012/05/itsexactly-fifteen-days-until-all-these.html

She is giving away:

• 1 SIGNED copy of ALL THESE LIVES;
• 3 ALL THESE LIVES bookmarks; and
• Your choice of ANY 3 Apocalypsies books!

Visit All the Tour Stops:

5/21 – Books Complete Me
5/22 – A Good Addiction
5/23 – Reading Lark
5/24 – Frenzy of Noise
5/25 – I Am a Reader Not a Writer
5/28 – The Story Siren
5/29 – Once Upon a Twilight
5/30 – Books With Bite
5/31 – Supernatural Snark
6/1 – Portrait of a Book

Guest Post: Antony John author of Thou Shalt Not Road Trip

Welcome back to Author Antony John!


Bio:
Antony John was born in England and raised on a balanced diet of fish and chips, obscure British comedies, and ABBA's Greatest Hits. In a fit of teenage rebellion, he decided to pursue a career in classical music, culminating in a BA from Oxford University and a PhD from Duke University. Along the way, he worked as an ice cream seller on a freezing English beach, a tour guide in the Netherlands, a chauffeur in Switzerland, a barista in Seattle, and a university professor. Writing by night, he spends his days as a stay-at-home dad—the only job that allows him to wear his favorite pair of sweatpants all the time. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

Music Guest Post

Here’s a funny thing: If you had asked authors for their “book playlist” about ten years ago, they might have thought you were crazy. It’s not that authors didn’t listen to music while they wrote, just that the notion of long and carefully scripted playlists didn’t exist in the same way back then.

Well, that’s all changed now. A lot of authors I know write in coffee shops, which almost forces an author to listen to something, if only to drown out all the background noise. And since songs can affect one’s mood, even transport one to a different place or time of life, selecting just the right mix has become almost an art form.

Fortunately, when I was writing ROAD TRIP, I had a great starting point. I’d recently watched the movie, “Into the wild,” which as well as inspiring my already abundant wanderlust, also boasted an extraordinary soundtrack by Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam fame). It was atmospheric and eerie, melancholy and moving, much like the movie itself. To this day, I can’t get that movie out of my head, and 90 percent of that is because of the music.

I used Eddie’s soundtrack as the basis for my mix, and built around it. That way, even though there were almost one hundred songs in the mix, I was periodically pulled back into Eddie’s world. Those songs were like anchors. I never got too far from my vision as long as I was listening to them.

As for the rest of the songs on the playlist, I mostly went for pop and rock, because I wanted to go for a realistic, contemporary feel. (In contrast, I mostly listened to classical music while writing my new fantasy novel, ELEMENTAL, which comes out this fall, because I was trying to evoke something mysterious and atmospheric.) I concentrated on upbeat, almost humorous songs in the early stages of writing: “Do-Wah-Doo” by Kate Nash; “One of the boys” by Katy Perry; “Extraordinary” by Mandy Moore. Then, as the novel progressed, and the situations I was depicting became increasingly fraught, I preferred darker songs: “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed; “Back to black” by Amy Winehouse; “Mad World” by Gary Jules; “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead. (These are some seriously depressing songs, by the way. Don’t listen to them without a friend nearby, okay?)

But every now and then I just needed to imagine how it felt to be in that car. Just driving, thinking, arguing, dreaming. And then I’d turn to the road trip classics, from the bluesy (“Hit the road Jack” by Ray Charles) to the rockin’ (“Born to be wild” by Steppenwolf) to the nostalgic (“America” by Simon and Garfunkel) to the downright peculiar (“Road to nowhere” by Talking Heads).

I like to think that Luke, Fran, Matt, and Alex would have approved of my selections!

Thanks for having me along today, Kathy. And a big hi to your readers!

Title: Thou Shalt Not Road Trip 
Author: Antony John 
Series: None 
Publisher: Dial Books 
Released: April 12, 2012 
Website: http://antonyjohn.net/


Book Summary: 

Sixteen-year-old Luke Dorsey is sent on a cross-country tour to promote his bestselling spiritual self-help guide accompanied by his agnostic older brother and former girlfriend, Fran, from whom he learns some things about salvation.

Be sure to enter my signed ARC giveaway by 4/26/12: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/2012/04/signed-arc-giveaway-thou-shalt-not-road.html

 

Guest Post: Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

Welcome to Author Rachel McClellan


Bio:

My mind only knows how to write. Other people perform simple tasks like cleaning their house or using the bathroom without a distracting thought.

I can't.

Yesterday I meant to vacuum, but ended up scrubbing blood out of my carpet instead. The body's still in the freezer. And when I went to take a shower, a little girl in a red dress and pigtails appeared to me in the vanity mirror. Again. I wish she would go away.

See what I mean? My life is a story and the only way to stay sane is write it all down. I only hope others can find joy in my insanity.

Author Blog: http://www.blackbirdinmywindow.blogspot.com/ 

Author Website: http://www.rachelmcclellan.com/

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRachelMcClellan

Book page: http://fracturedlightbook.com/ 

Teenage Garage Sale
What kind of items would we find in a garage sale of stuff from your teenage years? You can assign values if you’d like.

~Collection of my first cassette tapes, which includes Firehouse, Metallica, Gearge Michael and Maddona.
Price: Will part with them for $20.

~Collection of Blossom hats. Did I really wear those? Um, yeah, along with metal peace sign necklaces.
Price: $1.00

~Collection of sports junk – sun bleached basketball, racquetball racquet and ball, snowboard + gear.
Price: Free if buyer agrees to use all items.

~1980 Plymouth Colt. It’s white with red interior that’s only partly peeling up in every corner. The coolest thing about this car is it vibrates when you drive over 40 mph. For this reason alone I’m asking $1000.

~A full body cow suit equipped with six utters. This costume is guaranteed to turn a boring night into an adventure you’ll never forget. It worked for me.
Price: Pay what you think it’s worth.

~8mm Video Camera – Let your creative juices flow and make some amazing home video’s. I’ll throw in my old episodes of Saturday Night Life for inspiration.
Price: $5.00

~A pair of calf high Converse shoes, you know the kind where you could fold over the top half and they were a different color, like florescent pink?
Price: Priceless

Fractured Light

I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.
Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After the Vykens killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake.
As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something even bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.
In this breathtaking and romantic adventure, Rachel McClellan delivers a truly mesmerizing story that will keep you guessing to the very end.

For all the tour stops please visit: http://theteenbookscene.weebly.com/fractured-light-tour-details.html

Character This or That: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare by Melissa Jensen

Welcome to Author Melissa Jensen

I grew up in San Francisco, which gave me a love of fog and funny-colored houses. My mother is an amazing watercolorist, my father an architect. I can’t draw. Never could. But I always loved telling stories (occasionally of the sort involving passing Vegetable Fairies and disappearing sweet potatoes at dinnertime). I read lots of pretty wonderful books as a kid, but haven’t been quite the same since I was fourteen and my English teacher handed me a copy of Pride and Prejudice. I still want to be Elizabeth Bennet when I grow up. Elizabeth Bennet with a career and jeans, anyway. My husband got a second date by telling me he had once played Mr. Darcy on stage. There would have been a second date, in any case, but still…

I’ve written lots of stuff over the years, including a few novels, magazine articles, and even a syndicated newspaper etiquette column. I like dinner parties. I don’t give nearly enough of them. I love to make lists of whom I would invite if I possibly could. My fab friends aside, there’s always a spot for Jane Austen (who probably would always politely refuse), Robert Burns, and Charles Darwin. Then there’s Oscar Wilde, Eleanor Roosevelt, the Dalai Lama, and William Steig. Abigail Adams and Oprah. Orlando Bloom (anyone have his phone number?) and Julia Child. Bonnie Robinson: that long-ago English literature teacher, later my creative writing teacher, who told me that I’d better spend a lot more time in England if I was going to insist on writing about it.

My fave places in the world are London and Dublin, neither of which are as foggy as literature would have us believe. I spend as much time as possible in Ireland, often on the edge of one cliff or another. It makes my family crazy. It makes me feel like a Bronte.

Now I live most of the time in Pennsylvania, in a house old enough to have hosted Elizabeth Bennet, if she had cared to visit the Colonies. Of course, as Mrs. Darcy, she would have been very grand and my house isn’t, but then, she was all about having a curious and open mind. Not a bad philosophy. I do my best, but it doesn’t always work. Nothing will ever make me like sweet potatoes.

Website: http://www.melissajensen.com/
Blog: http://www.melissajensen.com/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Jensen/213465748691349
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/meljens

This or That with Frankie from The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
Skittles or M&Ms
M&Ms. Skittles make my teeth stick together. Have you ever tried to channel Bruno Mars without being able to open your mouth?

Night Owl or Early Bird
Please. No one looks good before 10am.

Summer or Winter
Again. Sweat versus cashmere sweater. No contest.

Black or White
Black. Ever see Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin in a white suit? Didn’t think so.

Hot or Cold
Cold. See above, “cashmere”.

Chocolate or Vanilla
Ginger.

Twitter or Facebook
Twitter. I have two good friends and not enough time for Facebook. Plus, I can be fabulously pithy in a very small space.

Sunshine or Rain
Really? Remember who you’re talking to. I don’t care what anyone says; plastic coats and rubber boots are not attractive. The only people who look good in the rain are the Irish.

Books or Movies
Books by David Levithan, Marian Keyes, and Evelyn Waugh. Movies by Richard Curtis. Vogue Hommes International.

Mac or PC
Mac. For about fifty reasons, the first being that, after Happily Ever After and a closet full of Helmut Lang, the thing I would sell my soul for is an iPhone.

Print or Ebooks
See above re: Frank and Dean. Can you imagine them with a Kindle? Totally lacks elegance.

Reader or Writer
Writer. What I have to say is usually more interesting than what other people have to say.

Christmas or Halloween
Hmm. Let me think… A holiday where I get to be reminded just how much money my family does not have, or one where I get to look fabulous in a dozen different ways…?

Coke or Pepsi
Veuve Cliquot.

Pizza or Pasta
Either, as long as it’s from Marino’s. See, here’s the thing. The Willing School is full of god-awful, stick-up-the-butt kids from Society Hill. Then there’s Ella Marino. South Philly all the way.  So smart and crazy talented and beautiful to the core. One of, oh, maybe six people in my life who make me feel like I’m perfect exactly as I am. You want to have dinner in the warmest place in Philadelphia? Go to Marino’s. Tell ‘em Frankie sent you.

Title: The Fine Art of Truth or Dare
Author: Melissa Jensen
Series: None
Publisher: Speak
Released: February 16, 2012
Website: http://www.melissajensen.com/

Book Summary:

Pretty in Pink meets Anna and the French Kiss in this charming romantic comedy.

Ella is nearly invisible at the Willing School, and that's just fine by her. She's got her friends - the fabulous Frankie and their sweet cohort Sadie. She's got her art - and her idol, the unappreciated 19th-century painter Edward Willing. Still, it's hard being a nobody and having a crush on the biggest somebody in the school: Alex Bainbridge. Especially when he is your French tutor, and lessons have started becoming, well, certainly more interesting than French ever has been before. But can the invisible girl actually end up with a happily ever after with the golden boy, when no one even knows they're dating? And is Ella going to dare to be that girl?

Also by Melissa Jensen:

Blog Tour: Author Interview - Delivering Hope by Jennifer Ann Holt

Welcome to Author Jennifer Ann Holt.

I grew up as a farm girl in Enterprise, Utah, so I have lots of experience moving sprinkler pipe and mucking out calf pens.  I can hold my own when handling a tractor as well.  I have always loved reading and really like the power of the written word to heal, bring people together, provide comfort and understanding, and uplift. 

INTERVIEW:
What is one book everyone should read?
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. It is a wonderful story of love and redemption.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Cookies and Cream

If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose?
One of my ancestors named Tirzah Cowden. I have done a lot of research on her, and I feel like we would have been great friends!

Night owl, or early bird?
Night Owl

Skittles or M&Ms?
M&Ms

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.
Delivering Hope shows that we can find hope in the middle of trials, and happiness when life doesn't go as planned.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
I'm almost finished with a sequel to Delivering Hope. I have 3 other solid book ideas. Guess I better get busy! (:

What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?
I read Black Beauty in 2nd grade, and it was my favorite for a long time. I also LOVED Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea as I got older.

Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book or any of your characters?
From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Yours by Michael McLean is the song that always runs through my head; particularly for Ally.

Who are your favorite authors of all time?
Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling

What's the best advice anyone has ever given you?
Make your decisions carefully. Then, once you've made a decision, make it work. Don't look back. My Grandpa Huntsman (who is now 102) gave us that advice, and I try to live by it.

Who or what inspired you to become an author?
The story of Delivering Hope is what really inspired me to make writing a priority. Once the idea came to me, I couldn't let it go. It was begging me to write it. (:

Print or Ebook?
Print

Pizza or Pasta?
Both. My mom is Italian, after all.

Cats or Dog?
 Dog. A very cute little Coton de Tulear named Cody.

Delivering Hope

Olivia Spencer wants to be a mom more than anything else in the world, but years of infertility have wounded her soul and strained her marriage.

Allison Campbell is a recent high school graduate who discovers that a moment of excitement has led to an unplanned pregnancy and an overwhelming heartache.

As the lives of these two women touch, we see that deep love can pave the way for sacrifice, and we all learn the true source of hope and healing.

Delivering Hope Blog Tour Giveaway:

Jennifer is giving away 2 signed copies of Delivering Hope as well as magnets and bookmarks.

TO ENTER:
Become a follower of Jennifer's blog: www.jenshopefulwriting.blogspot.com and leave a comment on her blog letting her know you want to enter.
“Like” the Delivering Hope facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/DeliveringHopeNovel and leave a comment on that facebook page.
Watch the book trailer: www.bit.ly/peCixw and post a comment on the facebook page telling what you liked about it.

The winners will be randomly chosen at the conclusion of the blog tour and posted on both Jennifer's blog and the facebook fan page by 10:00 am on Saturday, February 11th.

Interview & Giveaway: BeSwitched & BeSwitched Witch by Molly Snow

Welcome to Author Molly Snow

Molly Snow, Founder of Breezy Reads, wrote BeSwitched when she was just sixteen. As a bestselling author’s personal assistant at age twenty, she decided to do what her boss did and self publish. At age twenty-three, BeSwitched made its debut. Snow is married to her high school crush, has a set of silly twin boys and a bob-tailed cat named Meow-Meow.

LINKS:
Blog: http://mollysnowfiction.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.breezyreads.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/molly_snow
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Molly-Snow-Author/283533731673696

INTERVIEW:

Skittles or M&Ms? 
Sour Skittles... mmm...

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published. 
A teen wrote me to say she loved my book BeSwitched so much she read it 3 times in 4 days. That made me feel validated as a writer and it was by far the most complimentary words I could have ever received as an author.

What was your favorite children's book? 
A Pocket for Corduroy and Goodnight Moon are a close tie.

If you were a super hero what would your kryptonite be?
Spicy Nacho Doritos. So good, and yet, sooo bad.

Horror or Romance?
Romantic comedies. I can’t live without comedies.

Harry Potter or Twilight?
My mom is totally obsessed with Harry Potter, but we can only agree to watch Twilight together over and over again. I also have never read a Harry Potter book. So, I guess Twilight wins. Although, what JK Rowling has done is amazing; no one can deny that.

Cause or Effect?
Cause is more important than effect, because we can either prevent something bad from happening or roll something good forward. Think before you act is a motto I like.

Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook. Twitter feels so awkward to me! No one cares what I ate for lunch and I don’t want to come across as only promoting my books. Anyone else feel the same as me?

Truth or Dare?
Truth :) I love sharing embarrassing moments and secrets about myself with friends at sleepovers. Yes, I am thirty, and I just had a sleep over with a friend. And it was fun and I was giddy and stupid, like I was a teen again.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
I have had so many jobs in my life, I lose count--worst math tutor ever (asking the smart kid in class for help), medical receptionist, web designer, burger flipper, video store clerk, movie theater concessionaire, property manager, press release writer, sales woman, photo developer (There are some crazy pictures I developed at the 1-hr. Photo station 0_0), a best-selling author's personal assistant, clown race promoter (yes, you read that right), grand event planner and more.

Spontaneity or Planning Ahead?
Whenever my husband and I plan for a vacation, I just agree on the place and he takes care of the rest. It's pretty bad, because my best friend will ask me my flight schedule and I won't even care to know until the night before! I don't even get my suitcase completely packed until the morning I leave. As my husband grabs my suitcase to put in the car, I am usually throwing underwear or socks at him that I forgot to pack.

When it comes to my writing, I plan ahead. I have to write out an outline of main ideas, contemplate the characters' motives and development. Then, I allow for spontaneity. For instance, the first couple chapters of BeSwitched Witch, I tacked onto the story after I almost finished writing the end. Idis, the bombastic witch, getting thrown into a mental hospital, was such a funny thought that I just had to put it in.


Thank you for having me on your blog as a stop for the BeSwitched Blog Tour! Be sure to stop by my blog to enter to win a Kindle: http://mollysnowfiction.blogspot.com/

BeSwitched

After spending hundreds of years under the boot-heel of Idis, a frenzied witch, Surla (a magical black cat) decides to run away to find freedom, but there's one catch-- The Black Cats' Rule states it will switch bodies with a lonesome soul.
Cathy, an extremely shy teenage girl, can't muster the guts to ask her crush on a date or stand up to the three biggest snobs at school. What's a girl to do? Could being BeSwitched be the answer to her wishes?

BeSwitched Witch

Idis, a hot-tempered witch, was pronounced dead Halloween night. Her runaway cat, Surla, has a horrific premonition-come-true, when Idis escapes the morgue and then a mental hospital. These two enemies unexpectedly cross paths in the woods, triggering the curse of being BeSwitched.
A powerful opportunity comes with Surla switching bodies with her witch. She can dominate the now little black furball, giving her an education, teaching her patience and taking the shrew to the salon for a fun makeover.
The two go to high school together, when Surla passes as a teenage girl with a little help from magic. When Surla is magnetically drawn to the curious new guy, Jax Morreau, she is infatuated. Could ravens, coffins or a cursed ring keep Surla away from her invitation to the Morreau Family Reunion at Lake Sequoia? An ancient mystery will be revealed, but at what cost?

Giveaway Details:
1 copy of both BeSwitched & BeSwitched Witch
Paperback open to US
Ebook open Internationally
Ends 2/21/12


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Airel Arson Pyxis Blog Tour - Guest Post & 3 eBook Giveaway

Welcome to the Airel Arson Pyxis Blog Tour

Be sure to stop by KC Neal's site to enter for your chance to win a Kindle: http://kcneal.blogspot.com/p/airelarsonpyxis-3-book-tour.html

Welcome back to Author K.C. Neal.


Bio:

Most of K.C. Neal's days are filled with some combination of writing, reading, gardening, working, and watching stuff on Netflix with her husband and their maltipoo, Oscar. She has an irrational fixation with L.A., and during occasional trips there she pretends her life is more glamorous than it really is ("Entourage" is her guilty pleasure). She likes to surf and hang out on sandy beaches, where drinks are served adorned with tiny umbrellas.

Blog: http://kcneal.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KCNealTweets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCNealFanPage
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5163997.K_C_Neal


GUEST POST by K.C. Neal

In Pyxis: The Discovery, main character Corinne lives in the small town of Tapestry. She’s a sophomore in high school, works at her dad’s café, and hangs out with her best friend Angeline.

When Corinne uses some of her grandmother’s food dyes in her bake sale cakes, things start to get strange. The people who buy her cakes act differently toward her--paying her a lot more attention than usual-- and she suspects the colored liquids she used to dye the frosting aren’t food dyes at all. When life gets weird, you need your best friend there with you to help you figure it out, and in this excerpt, Corinne and Angeline are trying to work out exactly what’s going on.

            Ang had the pyxis on the bed, and she was peering at the bottles in it.

            “You know,” she said. “It seems like it would be a good idea to learn more about these liquids.”

            “Well, yeah,” I said. “That was the whole reason I went to see Harriet Jensen. And that pretty much blew up in my face.”

            She frowned and tapped her finger against her lower lip. “You already used the blue and the yellow at the bake sale. So we know that at least people who eat some aren’t going to die or anything. I’m just thinking maybe we should do a small experiment.”

            “Really?”

            “Harriet seems to know something about the bottles, and we’re at a disadvantage because we don’t.”

            “True. What kind of experiment?”

            “Well, first we should try to come up with a hypothesis,” Ang said. “That means you need to try and remember everybody who bought petits fours from you, which color they got, and if something about them changed afterward.”

            I snickered, and it felt good to have something to laugh at. “A hypothesis? You’re such a nerd.”

            “Whatever. Focus, this is important. Do you have a notebook or something?” She tried to look stern, but a smile crept across her lips.

            I found a steno notebook I sometimes used to write down my homework assignments, and my favorite purple gel pen. I sat next to Ang on the bed and handed them to her. For the next half hour, I strained to recall all of my bake sale customers, what they’d bought, and how they’d acted afterward. I was surprised that I came up with a decent list.

            “Okay, I’m pretty sure that’s all I got,” I said, rubbing my temples. “See anything that says ‘hypothesis’ to you?”

             She chewed her lower lip and scanned her notes for a few seconds. “Well, some of the guys who bought the blue ones were definitely being weird toward you. Andy and Jordan, obviously. Then the other guys at the cove who were totally checking you out the whole time. But there are just as many who bought the blue cakes and didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. That we saw, anyway.”

            I groaned and looked at the ceiling. “This isn’t helping us at all. What about the yellows?”

            “Not much better,” Ang said. “Hannah and Genevieve were the only ones who stood out as being weird, with their sudden love of your hair and your baking skills.”

            She giggled, and I snorted a laugh.

            “And it’s totally possible that Sophie put them up to it and it was all fake,” I said.

            “I still think we should do a test.”

            “The experiment?”

            “Yes.” Ang flipped to a new page and started jotting some notes. “I think we should keep making observations about the people who are acting weird. But we should also make a few more cupcakes or something with the blue and the yellow, and pick people to give them to.”

            “Are you serious? I can’t believe you want to do this.”

            “I know.” She sighed heavily. “I don’t feel good about it at all, but it just seems like we need to gain an edge here. I mean, we don’t know anything about these bottles, or the list of names, or Harriet Jensen. And … all this is kind of scaring me.”

            “So it’s like a necessary sacrifice?”

            “Exactly.” She narrowed her eyes.

Another important person in Corinne’s life is Mason, a guy who’s been her friend since they were five years old. They don’t know it yet, but their destinies are closely tied together. Here, they begin to understand that they share something they can’t quite explain.

            “I had some messed-up dreams the last few days I was in Africa,” Mason said. “They were really horrifying, not like usual nightmares. They were … I don’t know, more real, somehow.”

            His eyebrows were pinched together in a frown. He actually looked scared. A knot of dread began to curl up in my middle. I’d managed to forget what he’d said in his e-mail about his dream of the cove.

            As he searched my face, I saw realization dawn in his eyes.

            “You’ve been having them, too.” There was no question in his voice.

            I nodded. Echoes of the terror I’d felt in the dreams shot through my mind like shards of ice, and I wrapped my arms tightly around my ribs as I looked at him. Even through my anxiety about the dreams, I couldn’t help noticing how good his hair looked longer. He should have worn it that way all along. “How’d you know?”

            “I don’t know how I knew. But I knew.” His stared at me with wide eyes.

            “The … the black fog?” I asked, dreading his answer.

            “Yeah.”

            “Last night, did you dream of—”

            “Your grandmother’s house,” he finished.

            “I just can’t … How could this be?” I started shivering, little quakes rippling through my body every few seconds. “How are we having the same dreams? Are we crazy?”

            He chuckled, the tension leaving his face for a moment. “Maybe. You, definitely.”

            I didn’t feel up to laughing at his jokes at the moment. I shivered harder. My teeth were actually chattering a little. “They’re just s-s-so awful. I’ve never been so terrified in my life. Do you think we should tell someone?”

            He reached for the throw blanket draped over the back of the sofa and handed it to me.

            “I guess we could.” His forehead wrinkled with doubt. “I’m not even sure what I’d say, though. Or what anyone could do about it. Our parents would probably just send us to a shrink or something. Somehow, I don’t think that would help.”

            “Yeah, you’re probably right.” I was positive he was right, but it was scary to admit that no one else could help us. I unfolded my legs and stretched them alongside Mason’s, and then I spread the throw over both of us. After a moment, I shopped shivering.

            I yawned. “God, I’m exhausted. But, lately, I’m scared to fall asleep.”

            “I know the feeling.” He adjusted the pillow behind him.

            The warmth of his leg alongside mine comforted me. For reasons I couldn’t articulate, I felt safer than I had in a long time. After a few minutes, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. As I started to lose consciousness, I heard Mason mumble something.

            “I’ll keep you safe. I’m the…” his last word was garbled, but I thought it sounded like he said shield. Odd choice of words, I thought as I fell into a blessedly peaceful sleep.

I hope you enjoyed these teasers, and you’ll check out Pyxis as well as Airel and Arson. Thanks so much for hosting us!





PYXIS by K.C. Neal

Corinne lives an average teenage life working at her dad’s cafe, hanging out with her best friend, and trying to forget a falling-out with her almost-boyfriend Mason. Things take a strange turn when she uses her late grandmother’s food dyes for a bake sale, and her customers suddenly find her irresistibly alluring. Then she discovers she and Mason are haunted by the same dreams of a dark force that consumes everything in its path. Pursued by shadowy figures and a crazy woman with secrets from the past, Corinne must find out who her grandmother really was. In her quest to unravel her family’s history, she learns she is destined to protect this world--and the dark world of her dreams. She races to find the answers she seeks before her nightmares break free.

ARSON by Estevan Vega

Arson Gable feels like a freak. He can create fire. He never asked for it. He never wanted it. But he can't shut it off. Before now, three things were true: he both loved and despised his grandmother; his life was going nowhere; and he was alone. But when a strange girl--who feels more normal behind a mask than inside her own skin--moves in next door, Arson hopes to find something he's never had: purpose. Using what he fears most about himself, Arson must face his consuming past and confront the nightmare that is his present as he walks the fine line between boy and monster.

AIREL by Aaron Patterson & Chris White

Airel is a story about an angel who falls so deeply in love with a woman that he chooses to fall from heaven to be with her. She gives birth to a daughter in Arabia, 1250BC. The girl is pursued ferociously, relentlessly by an enemy in the deepest darkness. In present day Boise, Idaho is just a girl: Airel. She's just your average high school student...who turns out to be anything but average. It's because of who she is, because of her ancestry, because of her lineage. Past and present crash in on each other in the final pages as what has been twisted comes dangerously unraveled.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
1 winner will receive an ebook copy of all 3 books.
Open Internationally
Ends 2/19/12


a Rafflecopter giveaway