Provex City on Tour!

I hope your holidays have been full of fun, family, and fantastic food. I'm still recovering from all my family events of the Christmas holiday. I feel blessed to have such a wonderful, so I'm surely not complaining. My little one decided to start crawling three days before Christmas so she could be the life of the parties. It was pretty exciting. I can't believe it's already New Year's, with 2012 coming to a close tonight.

I am starting the new year off right, sending Provex City out on tour from January 3rd through the 25th. I have to give a special thanks to Candace @ CBB Book Promotions for putting this tour together and finding a lot of great book bloggers to host stops along the way. Below is the complete list of participating bloggers.

Provex City Blog Tour Stops

1/03/13 - Candace's Book Blog
1/03/13 - Reading and Rising With the Sun
1/04/13 - The Bookie Nook
1/04/13 - Snarky Bird Book Reviews
1/07/13 - Nazish reads
1/07/13 - Becky's Barmy Book Blog
1/08/13 - A Diary of a Book Addict
1/09/13 - I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
1/10/13 - Pages of Forbidden Love
1/10/13 - Tabitha's Book Blog
1/11/13 - Donnie Darko Girl
1/11/13 - Ivy Book Bindings
1/14/13 - Lizzy's Dark Fiction
1/14/13 - Mr. Book Wonder
1/15/13 - Mr. Book Wonder
1/15/13 - Get Lost in Fiction
1/16/13 - Oh, the Books You'll Read
1/17/13 - Book Labyrinth
1/17/13 - Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
1/18/13 - The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
1/19/13 - Reader Girls
1/20/13 - Jean Book Nerd
1/21/13 - Forever 17 Books
1/21/13 - Vy's YA Book Blog
1/22/13 - The Howling Turtle
1/22/13 - Supernatural Snark
1/23/13 - Literary Rambles
1/23/13 - Amethyst Daydreams
1/24/13 - Escaping... One Book at a Time
1/24/13 - Anatea's Bookshelf
1/25/13 - My Guilty Obsession
1/25/13 - Insane About Books

I'll be back on Wednesday for the first IWSG post of 2013. Have a safe and happy New Year's. Cheers! What are you doing to get the new year kick-started with a bang?

A Stop in the Oculus Virtual Book Tour

I am honored for my blog to be a stop on the Oculus Book Tour. Oculus is Michael Offutt's second book and the second book in A Crisis of Two Worlds series.

Goodreads Description of Oculus...

Autumn has arrived in New York, and Jordan Pendragon is a freshman at Cornell University. Gifted in mathematics, he balances life as a research assistant with that of a student athlete.

But Jordan also has a quest. He must find the Black Tower, a monolithic edifice housing a thing that defines the very structure of the universe. Jordan believes it is buried somewhere in Antarctica under miles of prehistoric ice.

October finds Jordan earning a starting position with the Cornell hockey team. But a dark cloud gathers over his rookie season. Unexplained deaths, whispers of a cannibal cult, a prophecy, and a stone known only as the Oculus, cast a shadow over his athletic ambitions. It is the start of a terrifying journey down a path of mystery, murder, and to a confrontation with an Evil more ancient than the stars.

My Humble Opinion...

Michael Offutt’s Oculus picks up where Slipstream left off. Jordan and Kathy are starting their freshman year at Cornell and have brought along their significant others, Kolin and Dylan. They know their futures are uncertain and Jordon is in search of the Black Tower, but they want to attempt normal lives for the time being. Jordan has joined the school hockey team and Kathy has joined a sorority, shooting for typical Ivy League college experiences. But the dark forces of Avalon have followed them back to Earth.

The adventure really beings when Jordan is introduced to one of Kathy’s sorority sisters, Myd, and awakens the stone on her necklace called the Oculus. Jordon discovers the mystery behind his father’s murder and Kathy gets the opportunity to speak with her dead mother, which is all part of something greater that we only get a glimpse of in this book. King Arthur, Merlin, Excalibur, and the Lady of the Lake are more than fairy tales, but secrets that Jordan and his group must unlock to uncover his ultimate destiny and aid in his search for the Black Tower.

There are many pieces coming together that will most likely reveal a sublime picture of the Black Tower itself. From the Horcus to the cannibal cult, from the gruesome discoveries in the asylum to revelations from deceased parents, from the court of King Author to angels and demons, we are given glimpses into very exciting elements to where the series is going. The bloody climax in Hell’s Kitchen is a hell of a rush and my favorite scene in the series thus far. I am also really intrigued with the growing relationship between Jordan and Alex. With Oculus taking place solely on Earth, it may be more approachable, but there also seems to be filler scenes slowing us down from the real adventure. I want to know more about the mysteries plaguing these two worlds!

Oculus is a big setup for Caledfwlch, the third book in A Crisis of Two Worlds series. There are some great revelations in this book, but few resolutions. I think the true adventure is just beginning and I can’t wait to find out how all the pieces fit together and where Jordon’s journey ultimately leads. If you are a fan of Slipstream, then Oculus is a must-read. But if you’re just being introduced to the series, then you really should start at the beginning.

 
A few minutes with the author...

Thanks so much for joining me today! I very much appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your busy day to talk with me.

What is your dream cast for you’re A Crisis of Two Worlds series?

I’m actually not sure. I’ve drawn pictures of Jordan, so I’d want an actor that looks like the guy does in my picture. I’ll include it with this as an attachment.

Who has influenced your writing the most?

Probably William Gibson.

What is your writing space like?

I just have an office with a window that’s right off the kitchen. I use a computer with three big monitors. It’s a gaming computer with two NVIDIA GPU’s, is liquid cooled, and has an i7 processor with RAID linked solid state drives.

Which character do you relate to the most in your books?

Jordan. What he thinks about is basically what I think about.

What is your favorite scene in Oculus?

I like the climax of the book. I think I pulled that off really well, and it has a great “epic” feel to it.

What is the next book on your TBR pile? 

By the time this gets posted it will be Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor.

What book do you feel deserves more hype? 

Provex City by author Michael Pierce J Seriously, people…if you are reading this, read Mr. Pierce’s book!

What other genres would you like to write? 

Fantasy. I’m posting one on a free online website that has lots of readers. I post about 2000 words every weekend and let it sit for a few days before writing more. I like the fan mail I’ve been getting.

Can you tell us anything about the third book in the series, Caledfwlch? 

LOL sure, but SPOILER ALERT: It picks up where Oculus leaves off. We are introduced to an assassin from the same order as Kolin who goes by the name Genesis (I do love my biblical allegory). He has a neck tattoo of a red rose (Kolin’s is purple), and we find that the tattoos have a kind of magic to them (each color does something). Kolin’s gives him heightened reflexes and extreme touch sensitivity (which is why he’s so good at what he does). I go on to explain that Kolin can even feel a person’s body heat from across a dark room. I explore Kolin’s background: he’s actually a genetic experiment done in a test tube on Avalon for a project that wanted to create a perfect man and a perfect woman in order to start life over with two people that have perfect genes.  Genesis is hired by Charon to kidnap Robbie to be the vessel of the Horcus.  Robbie in the meantime has essentially gone insane because his resurrection permanently “opened a door” that allows him to speak with the dead. The only peace Robbie gets is when he’s around Jordan because ghosts are afraid of Jordan for good reasons. Additionally, Andy has changed physiologically from the Life Green he got injected with near the end of Oculus. He basically can’t die of natural causes. His skin regenerates almost instantly if cut. It also gives him a sex addiction that leads him down a destructive path of self-gratification that ends with him getting the skin off his back flayed off. It’s a very bloody scene. It regrows, but with a strange and picturesque tattoo that covers his whole back. This tattoo whispers to him of Eden driving him to bouts of painting that consume his nighttime hours. There’s very little hockey in the third book. This is intentional because it is apparent to Jordan by the end of Oculus that he cannot live a normal life, or for that matter, the life that he desires to live.

Write a Tweet about Oculus that readers can copy, paste, and Tweet (and RT)! 

I’ll just ask anyone who reads this to tweet this post by clicking on the twitter button. That’s probably easiest.

Thank you again, Michael! It has been a real pleasure to be a part of your tour. Below are links to Michael's blog, Goodreads, and Twitter, and links to get Oculus and Slipstream for yourself. Thank you for reading and be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the Oculus tour (click on the tour badge at the beginning of the post).

Michael Offutt writes speculative fiction books that have science fiction, LGBT, and paranormal elements. His first book, "Slipstream" has received some critical acclaim and was published by Double Dragon in the spring. The sequel, "Oculus" came out in November 2012. He has one brother, no pets, and a few roots that keep his tree of life sufficiently watered. By day, he works for the State of Utah as a Technical Specialist. By night, he watches lots of t.v., writes, draws, and sometimes dreams of chocolate.

Michael Offutt graduated from the University of Idaho in 1994 with a Bachelor's degree in English.

Website: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/books.html

Art relating to books: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/my-artwork.html

Blog: http://slckismet.blogspot.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3099632.Michael_Offutt

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelOffutt

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slipstream/164452693676933

CLICK HERE to Download Oculus on Amazon!

CLICK HERE to Download Slipstream on Amazon!

End of the World Giveaway Hop!

December 14th to 21st
Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & My Life With Books

The Mayan calendar ends! Does it mean the world's going to end, too? Probably not, but just in case, which books would you like to save in the end? If the world is still here on December 22nd, then I'll be excited to offer a lucky winner one of the books listed below that I can't live without!

The summer holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of the school year. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and there are spells to be learnt, potions to be brewed and Divination lessons (sigh) to be attended. Harry is expecting these: however, other quite unexpected events are already on the march ...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling

Here is the highly anticipated second installment of Philip Pullman's epic fantasy trilogy, begun with the critically acclaimed The Golden Compass. Lyra and Will, her newfound friend, tumble separately into the strange tropical otherworld of Cittàgazze, "the city of magpies," where adults are curiously absent and children run wild. Here their lives become inextricably entwined when Lyra's alethiometer gives her a simple command: find Will's father...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman




A modern classic, "Carrie" introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction -- Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time. Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is..."Carrie"
 ~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Carrie by Stephen King

 



Forgive me, but I had to save my own book, too! :)

Fifteen-year-old Oliver Grain begins his school year fighting off bullies, learning about the boy who committed suicide in his room, and trying to understand why his history teacher, Mr. Gordon, has taken such a personal interest in him.

Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe you can make bullies simply disappear? Do you believe you can walk through walls?...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Provex City by Michael Pierce



Here are the official rules/guidelines for the giveaway:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. Just click the Join this Site box below "Followers" on the sidebar.
2. You can gain extra entries by following me on Goodreads, Twitter,"liking" my Facebook fan page, tweeting about this giveaway, or leaving a comment below.
3. This is open to international followers. (Only if The Book Depository ships to your country; please check this link to see if your country's included.)
4. This contest runs from December 14 - 21.
5. The winner will be selected on December 22nd via Rafflecopter random selection and announced in this post. You will have 48 hours to respond or I will draw another winner. 

***As the winner, if you are just dying to get another YA book, then you may substitute one of the books listed above for another of similar value from The Book Depository***

Thanks Again & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Also, make sure to check out the other blogs participating in this Giveaway Hop, too!

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest!

Welcome to the “Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest.”

Thank you to Mark Koopmans, Morgan Shamy, David Powers King and Stephen Tremp for hosting this blogfest, which runs from December 10 - 12. And thank you to Capt. Ninja Alex for being such a good sport!

So, here are my answers to these questions four:

1.      In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like? Like any good ninja, Alex is a master of disguise. One day he’s clean-shaven, with long hair, and the next he dons a straggly beard and nose prosthetic.

2.      In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead.) Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting.

3.      In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of? Robin Williams from Good Will Hunting. He’s the lovable mentor.  

4.      In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:

·         Cavanaugh

·         Ninja

·         IWSG

·         Cosbolt

·         Guitar

Cavanaugh & the Ninja

The ninja pushed open the batwing doors and strolled into the saloon. Conversations stopped and everyone except Cavanaugh looked over. The musician in the corner put down his guitar, leaving the bar in sheer silence.

Cavanaugh continued to sip from his Cosbolt. He couldn’t hear the ninja approaching, but he could feel him—feel him drawing closer.

The sharp sound of unsheathing steel rang through the quiet saloon.

“IWSG!” a lady in a crimson dress screamed.

Cavanaugh eyed her suspiciously. She’d had more than her share of Cosbolts.

“I mean, OMG!” she said, correcting herself and flushing the color of her dress.

The ninja was now just a few steps away with his blade raised and gleaming.

“This ends now,” Cavanaugh growled, slid his hand to the revolver on his hip, and finally turned to face the masked man.

For Bonus Points:

In +/- 40 words, leave a comment for Mrs. Cavanaugh.

Thank you, Mrs. Cavanaugh, for sharing your husband with us crazy blogging folks. I’m sure it’s hard at times to pry him away from the computer, from his countless adoring friends and fans. The blogosphere wouldn’t be the same without him!

IWSG Wednesday: Year End

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

So a month ago I had just submitted SUSY Asylum to my editor. I guess it's safe to say I've been more than a little anxious. Well, he finished over the weekend and I will get the manuscript back this week. I spoke with him briefly about general stuff, and his overall critique was thankfully positive!

Judging by the corrections and suggestions I received for Provex City, I'll have plenty of work to keep me busy for the next few weeks. One suggestion I already received that I'm rather excited about is trashing the present preface for a new idea. I love the one I wrote, but the new idea is undoubtedly better. Now I just need to write it. That happened to me with Provex City, too. The original prologue is still sitting on my desk top, replaced in the available book by a new prologue that was the last thing I'd written for the book.

I feel like I've learned a lot this year with releasing my first book, finishing my second, and creating a blog. My time has been spread thin, promotion's been a challenge, and words have been hard to come by at times. But I'm still here and still going. I have high hopes for 2013, starting the year off with a blog tour for Provex City, releasing SUSY Asylum, and getting into the thick of book three. Thirteen's my lucky number; we'll see if that remains true.

Are you ready for Christmas yet? Care to share a New Year's resolution? As always, thank you for reading!

Before they were Famous

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. It's always hard to get back into the normal routine after a long weekend. But Christmas is fast approaching, and it will be nice to have a few more days off. This is my second year since high school that I've been out of retail and can actually enjoy the holidays. I can't express how good that feels. I love Christmas again!

I ran across this video while internet surfing a few weeks ago and found it really interesting. It is Guns N' Roses in May of 1986, playing a small club in Hollywood. This a year before Appetite for Destruction came out. Nearly two years before they exploded into the mainstream, pop culture, and rock n' roll history.

I found this video interesting for two reasons (other than just being a big GN'R fan). One, Don't Cry was released in 1991 on Use Your Illusion 1. I never knew that it was written so much earlier, and it seems like this acoustic version would have been a great additional track on GN'R Lies. And two, listening to all the people in the bar talking over the music. In about 2 years, this band will be one of the biggest bands in the world, and very few people in the bar seem to care. Everyone's not mesmerized because they're not yet famous. This isn't one of GN'R's early songs that has since been forgotten like Reckless Life and Move to the City. This is a song that will be one of their major hits, the first of their trilogy of big production videos (followed by November Rain and Estranged) and played regularly before stadiums of people.

Even Guns N' Roses wasn't noticed immediately.

 

Oh, How I Miss You Blogfest

I want to thank Capt. Alex, Andrew, and Matthew for hosting this blogfest. The title says it all.

As soon as I saw Alex's announcement for this blogfest, I knew who I wanted to highlight. I miss my friend Rane. She is a fellow young adult writer and had created a successful blog called The Lit Express last year. She is the one who got me started blogging--after discussing it for about six months. I was really nervous to jump into the blogosphere. But I finally did it, and Rane helped me get started. She was even my first follower!

Soon after my blog launched, life got it the way of Rane's blogging and writing (which I can totally relate to). She stopped posting and began revamping the site. But never finished. It's been sitting lonely and under construction for most of the year. I check it regularly with the hope of seeing a glorious relaunch. Maybe in 2013.

Thank you, Rane, for pushing me into starting my blog. I've learned a lot and met great people along the way. Life has been getting in my way recently, too, but that's just how if goes sometimes. I can't do everything, only my best at this moment in time.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for commenting.

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you!!!

Oculus by Michael Offutt Released!

I am proud to help spread the word of the release of Michael Offutt's second book, Oculus. It is the second book in his A Crisis of Two Worlds series. Michael announced on his blog that it came out yesterday.

Blurb for Oculus from Goodreads

Autumn has arrived in New York, and Jordan Pendragon is a freshman at Cornell University. Gifted in mathematics, he balances life as a research assistant with that of a student athlete.

But Jordan also has a quest. He must find the Black Tower, a monolithic edifice housing a thing that defines the very structure of the universe. Jordan believes it is buried somewhere in Antarctica under miles of prehistoric ice.

October finds Jordan earning a starting position with the Cornell hockey team. But a dark cloud gathers over his rookie season. Unexplained deaths, whispers of a cannibal cult, a prophecy, and a stone known only as the Oculus, cast a shadow over his athletic ambitions. It is the start of a terrifying journey down a path of mystery, murder, and to a confrontation with an Evil more ancient than the stars.

Be sure to add Oculus to your Goodreads TBR list, if you have not done so already.

Oculus is currently available at:

AMAZON KINDLE - $4.79 on sale 

AMAZON UK - £3.08

KOBO- $4.99

DOUBLE DRAGON PUBLISHING - $5.09

I've picked up my copy, have you picked up yours?


Visit Michael Offutt on his blog HERE.




And if you haven't yet read Book 1 in A Crisis of Two Worlds, Slipstream, then you best start there. Click HERE to find all the places Slipstream is currently available.

IWSG Wednesday: Off to the Editor!

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!

I haven’t been online much in the past few weeks, but that was due to powering through my editing of SUSY Asylum. And I can emphatically say: I did it! Okay, well it’s not done, but I sent the manuscript to my editor this weekend so he can finally work his magic. It is out of my hands for a few weeks so I can try to think about other things for a change. SUSY Asylum, the second book in The Lorne Family Vault, has been my obsession for most of the year. And now it’s time to start the third book. I’ve been in full editing mode for the past three months. It will feel good to start writing again.

So far I have about a fourth of my outline for the third book complete. I’ll start writing before I’m completely done because I change the story throughout the writing process anyway. Why wait until the very end? Getting back into the heads of my characters while they sprint through their continued adventure will help my ideas develop. When I try to set aside time for outlining, I usually come up blank. The big ideas emerge while I’m working on other things, forcing me to jot down notes to save for later. And then I plot out the next leg of the adventure and work through the inevitable holes.

It’s exciting to start thinking about and planning a new project, but I’m also plagued by a great fear of the unknown. Will my ideas run out with this one? Is SUSY Asylum the best I can do? I love the story, but I hope not. I hope my best story is yet to be written. Time will tell and all I can really do is keep writing.

How has your writing (or editing) been going over the past month? The holidays are nearly upon us. Any fun plans to share? As always, thank you for reading!

Dystopian Giveaway Hop

November 1st to 7th
Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & My Shelf Confessions

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my giveaway! I'm so excited for the opportunity to participate in this blog hop and offer a lucky winner one of the YA dystopian books listed below.

On to the books...

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Divergent by Veronica Roth

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn't want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry



 

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents--unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers--that grow stronger by the day...
 ~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Gone by Michael Grant

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Matched by Ally Condie







Here are the official rules/guidelines for the giveaway:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. Just click the Join this Site box below "Followers" on the sidebar.
2. You can gain extra entries by following me on Goodreads, Twitter,"liking" my Facebook fan page, tweeting about this giveaway, or leaving a comment below.
3. This is open to international followers. (Only if The Book Depository ships to your country; please check this link to see if your country's included.)
4. This contest runs from November 1 - 7.
5. The winner will be selected on November 8th via Rafflecopter random selection and announced in this post. You will have 48 hours to respond or I will draw another winner. 

***As the winner, if you are just dying to get another YA book, then you may substitute one of the books listed above for another of similar value from The Book Depository***

Thanks Again & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Also, make sure to check out the other blogs participating in this Giveaway Hop, too!

Letting Go Bloghop

When I was young, my family moved around a lot. By the time I turned 16, I had been through eight moves through five states. I learned not to get too attached because we'd soon be moving on. I had to learn to let go because I could only bring my own stuff with me. My friends had to stay. The house that I thought was my home had to stay. What I could box up was all that was coming with me. And with each move, each new house and another lost home, I threw a few more things away.

My father was climbing the corporate ladder, which I can understand now. But at twelve years old, I didn't understand why I had to keep changing schools and making new friends. Everyone else got to stay. Why couldn't we? Why couldn't he just get a new job nearby like everyone else's dad? I didn't want to move across the country, to California. That's where all the crazy people lived.

But we ended up in California, nonetheless. And two years came a went. It was time to move again, but we weren't moving. I felt the urge to keep my distance and not get too attached, in order to make it easier when the news would inevitably come. But it didn't this time. We stayed, and as I grew older and moved out, I stayed. Now I've been in southern California for nearly twenty years, started a family, and can finally say that I am home.

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Kyra Lennon's novella, If I Let You Go, is currently available on Amazon. And as a special promotion, it is free to download today!

Goodreads blurb of If I Let You Go:

Madison Connor is about to lose it. Her job, that is. For three years, she’s taken care of Dominic Hartley’s five year old daughter, Tilly, but her world is flipped on its head when Dominic tells her his latest promotion is taking him to New York. With Tilly having a meltdown over the move, Madison and Dominic get into a fight that changes the entire nature of their relationship, causing Madison to ask herself a big question. Can she let him go?

Add to you TBR list.
Download your copy from Amazon.
Visit Kyra on her blog.

Thank you, Krya, for organizing this bloghop!

Did I Notice Your Book Blogfest

Today I'm participating in the DINYB blogfest, hosted by the blog-tastic Ciara Knight and Alex Cavanaugh.

I found Jenni Merritt's Prison Nation awhile back during a bloghop giveaway and first noticed the cover on her blog. When I looked a little more into it, I found that she was a self-published debut author just like me, so I clicked on the book's Amazon page to learn more about it. Prison Nation was the first self-published book I read, and if you've been looking for a new young adult dystopian, then it's definitely worth a read.

Prison Nation Goodreads Blurb:

In the Nation, no one is innocent - not even the children born behind bars. Millie 942B has spent her entire life locked away with her criminal parents and countless other inmates. She believes in the Nation, in its strict laws and harsh punishments.

But when Millie is released on her eighteenth birthday, she finds things are nothing as she was taught. People vanish, never to be seen again. Lies cover every word. Trust is as fragile as ice.

And then there is Reed. Born and raised outside the Prison walls, his dreams and thoughts cause Millie to doubt everything she has ever believed.

What is truly worth fighting for? If she pushes too hard, she could lose her freedom. If she stays silent, she could lose herself. The clock is ticking, and Millie must find the truth before it is too late.

Add Prison Nation to your Goodreads TBR list.

Purchase Prison Nation on Amazon.

Thank you, Ciara and Alex, for organizing this blogfest! Now, please help me in spreading the word that I noticed Jenni's book because I can't tell her. She needs to find out by following the bread crumbs through the web of socal media, leading back here. We shall see!

Fall into Fantasy Bloghop Giveaway!

October 16th to 21th
Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & The Write Path

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my giveaway! I'm so excited for the opportunity to participate in this blog hop and offer a lucky winner one of the fantasy books listed below.

On to the books...

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle's hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Times are hard in the mountain city of Fellsmarch. Reformed thief Han Alister will do almost anything to eke out a living for for his family. The only thing of value he has is something he can't sell - the thick silver cuffs he's worn since birth. They're clearly magicked - as he grows, they grow, and he's never been able to get them off.

One day Han and his clan friend, Dancer, confront three young wizards setting fire to the sacred mountain of Hanalea. Han takes an amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard, to keep him from using it against them...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

 In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change...
 ~Go to the entire Goodreads description of Graceling by Kristen Cashore

What if every time you made a choice that had a significant consequence, a new, alternate reality was created — the life that would've been? What if those new Realities were in danger? What if it fell to you to save all the realities?
Atticus Higginbottom, a.k.a. Tick, is a regular thirteen-year-old boy living a regular life until the day a strange letter arrives in his mailbox. Postmarked from Alaska and cryptically signed with the initials "M.G.," the letter informs Tick that dangerous — perhaps even deadly — events have been set in motion that could result in the destruction of reality itself...
~Go to the entire Goodreads description of The 13th Reality by James Dashner


Here are the official rules/guidelines for the giveaway:

1. You must be a follower of this blog. Just click the Join this Site box below "Followers" on the sidebar.
2. You can gain extra entries by following me on Goodreads, Twitter,"liking" my Facebook fan page, tweeting about this giveaway, or leaving a comment below.
3. This is open to international followers. (Only if The Book Depository ships to your country; please check this link to see if your country's included.)
4. This contest runs from Oct 16 - 21.
5. The winner will be selected on October 22th via Rafflecopter random selection and announced in this post. You will have 48 hours to respond or I will draw another winner. 

***As the winner, if you are just dying to get another YA book, then you may substitute one of the books listed above for another of similar value from The Book Depository***

Thanks Again & Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Also, make sure to check out the other blogs participating in this Giveaway Hop, too!

The Faerie Guardian Cover Release!

This is my third post of the week, which I haven't done in awhile. But it's for an exciting event: the cover release for Rachel Morgan's The Faerie Guardian! I'm honored to be a part of the cover release party and so excited for Rachel. And I love the cover!

* * * * *

Title: The Faerie Guardian
Author: Rachel Morgan
Release Date: 5 Nov 2012
Add to Goodreads

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamour follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? Not when you factor in evil faeries, long-lost family members, and inconvenient feelings of the romantic kind. Vi is about to find herself tangled up in a dangerous plot—and it’ll take all her training to get out of it alive.

[This novel was originally published in four separate parts: Guardian, Labyrinth, Traitor and Masquerade. It includes bonus scenes at the end.]

Giveaway Time!

The bonus scenes at the end of the book are NOT written from the main character's point of view. If you'd like to win a $10 Amazon gift card, all you have to do is guess whose point of view these scenes are written from! Head on over to the cover reveal post at Rachel Morgan Writes and fill in the Rafflecopter form. There's a list of characters there that you can choose from. Good luck!