Showing posts with label YA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YA. Show all posts

06 November 2013

Love songs, Sawyer Brown and Essenced with Connie Smith

Sometimes a song just sums things up perfectly. Most likely, you know the feeling. You’re listening to a new song (or a new one for you – if you’re like me, it could be years past the moment), and as one lyric bleeds into another, you find yourself going, “Yeah! That!” Of course, if you’re alone in your car, you should probably keep that kind of declaration inside your head, or people in surrounding cars might think you’re nuts, but still.

I went to a concert a couple months ago with my best friend, who happens to be the lady letting me be on her blog for this post (hi, bffffffffffffffffffff!!!!!!!!!). We went to see Sawyer Brown. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re a country band whose lead singer was my first soul mate. If you’re curious, my current soul mate is the bassist for Hinder. Things change. Anyway. Mark Miller (lead singer of Sawyer Brown/my first soul mate) gave a bit of an intro for a song they were about to play, how his wife of however many years had been wanting him to write a romantic song for her. So he caved, and we had the privilege of hearing it. It was a real tear-jerker called “Smokin’ Hot Wife.”

I bring this up because, on occasion, those moments when songs just seem to summarize what you’re feeling might not actually be the most elegant, sweet, or emotional. Sometimes they’re just honest. He was thankful for his smokin’ hot wife, and he wrote a song about it, one that probably had his wife smiling because it fit their relationship so well.

There’s a pair of people in Essenced that are… interesting. AJ and Julius. People seem to like these two. I even had one person threaten to stab me if those characters don’t survive the trilogy. I won’t name names on the last one, but you can read her name as the owner this blog. It’s a compliment when someone’s that invested in your characters, right?

Their connection isn’t standard puppy love, sappy letters, or love at first glance across a crowded room. I mean, it really, REALLY isn’t. But the connection is there, in all of its crazy turns and weird conversations.

How does this all come together, you might ask? Perfect songs, Sawyer Brown, Essenced… It comes together because, even though they’re fictional, AJ and Julius have a song that is so perfect for them, it’s like the songwriter wrote it about them. It isn’t overly romantic, and it certainly isn’t sappy. This probably won’t bring tears to your eyes or make you start planning your future wedding vows in your head. But it fits their relationship so wonderfully that, if they knew it existed, I think it would make them smile as they proclaimed it to be their song.

It sums them up, like, “Yeah! That!”

It’s honest and real, even if the reality is a bit funny, like Mark Miller’s tribute to his wife.

It just fits.

I’ve made the comment before, but how about we make it official for everyone reading this blog to witness? This is henceforth AJ and Julius’s song:



Blurb: 

Years ago, demons were forced out of the earth’s realm by a band of supernatural fighters, banished from the place and its people in the aftermath of a horrific war. It should’ve ended there – would’ve – if not for the final demon’s claw snagging on the open portal. What felt like victory became only a reprieve, the winning warriors understanding that the tear would spread, and the demons eventually would escape exile. It was only a matter of time, and a need for future defense – a question of genetics and essences, magic and power. 

Now, centuries later, a new army must bind together – one of teenagers with inhuman potentials and abilities… 

AJ went to bed Sunday night an average teenage girl, clumsy and athletically lacking. So when she wakes up Monday morning with super-strength, she does what any rational person would do: She goes into denial. When a smoking hot guy in a suit shows up, rambling about the end of the war and demons spilling through some kind of rift, she refuses to listen, telling herself he’s insane. Except weird things just won’t quit happening, and the guy keeps popping up in her life, trying to explain the changes suddenly happening within her. Is she crazy, or is this guy… not so crazy after all?

Essenced is available at:


Find Connie at:

Blogger

Website 


05 July 2013

The Breaking Glass Blog Tour!




I'm so excited to be part of Lisa Amowitz's blog tour for her fantastic-sounding debut novel BREAKING GLASS. So I'm giving her the reins for the day and hoping you guys will continue supporting her. Plus, she's giving you a chance to win a little somethin' somethin'. Deets are at the bottom of the post.

All yours, Lisa!

Fear and Loathing in 2013---the mad year leading up to the release of BREAKING GLASS

I remember back in December how I viewed this current year with both a little shiver of excitement, but also a fair amount of trepidation, the date July 9th, 2013 looming in my mind like a red warning alert. I was ever so slightly worried the Apocalypse might deprive me of seeing the release of my first book, BREAKING GLASS, but even more worried that I would actually have to face 2013. Which, obviously, and fortunately for all of us, is what happened.

Dear Reader, you may wonder what kind of a kook would look upon such a happy event with so much fear—but let me explain. First of all, there were other equally important milestones occurring simultaneous to my book release.

First, my daughter still had yet to complete her college portfolio for admittance to one of the most selective arts colleges in the nation. My son was in his last semester of college with a bruising 22 credit semester to get through, a massive senior project to complete, and officially in freak-out mode. And I was in a panic over publicity. I knew if there were no plan to get my book into the world, how would anyone know to read it. Beyond that—what if it DID get into the world and no one liked it?

On top of this, add in my responsibilities as the Deputy Chair of the Art department at a community college. I am a full professor there, and the right-hand woman to the department chair—dealing with all matter of staffing, scheduling and student issues—sometimes around the clock!

So to say my plate was full on the eve of 2013 was an understatement. I was a ball of anxiety.

Fast forward to now—July 5th, 2013, four days before my book releases. How am I doing, you might wonder? How did I get through all that?

Well—here is how it went. I managed to set up a massive two month blog tour with the help of my colleagues at Spencer Hill Press and signed on for a book blast with YA Bound that will be starting any day now. Spencer Hill Press had an amazing book signing at BEA where sixty review copies of BREAKING GLASS disappeared in the snap of a finger. I released a free preview called SHARDS, which also will be showing up in its own blast any minute now. Additionally, I have a book launch party planned for later this month at a local book store and a major signing event at another local bookstore with some big name authors! People are starting to get the book into their hands and post reviews—most of which, amazingly, are incredibly positive.  I am bracing myself for the inevitable ones that won’t be so positive once the book is out in the world, but that’s life. So, the hard work is done. I’m getting ready for my book to drop and it’s all good.

But what about all that other stuff, you may wonder? How did that go?
On the last day of Spring Break, April 2, I believe—to be precise—a big fat envelope that said congratulations came in the mail for my daughter. On June 24, she walked down the aisle in her cap and gown. She is on her way to her future! As far as my son—the waiting for the grade that would determine if he earned his Bachelor’s degree of not was excruciatingly late—but on May 20 all the grades were in—and my son became a college graduate! As for me—my chair and I surfed through a tumultuous semester and made it to the other side, still relatively sane, and ready for it to start all over again at the end of next month.


And finally, after all the madness, I am actually writing again!



BREAKING GLASS from Spencer Hill Press, July 2013
by Lisa Amowitz

On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he’s not sure whether they’re real or if he’s losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.

ISBN: 978-1937053383

Add Breaking Glass to Goodreads
SUPPORT AN INDIE BOOKSTORE
Buy it from Barnes and Noble
Buy it from Amazon





About Lisa:

Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot.

When she hit her teens, she realized that Long Island was too small for her and she needed to escape. So she went to college in Pittsburgh. Go figure.

On leaving college, Lisa became a graphic designer living in New York City. She eventually married her husband of a zillion years, had two lovely children, and was swept away to a fairy tale life in the Bronx, where, unbelievably there are more trees and wilderness than her hometown. She can see the Hudson River from her kitchen window.

Lisa has been a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly seventeen years. She started writing eight years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children.

BREAKING GLASS which will be released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series will be released in 2014, along with an unnamed sequel in the following year. LIFE AND BETH will also be released in the near future, along with graphic novel style art.



And now, for the giveway:

Up for grabs:
(1)   custom pendant like the one pictured on the book cover

(2) signed ARCS
(1) original work of Breaking Glass related art created and signed by the author.





27 June 2013

ENDURE COVER REVEAL!

OH EM GEE, GUYS.

I am thrilled to death to be part of Laura Diamond's cover reveal for her new YA book, Endure. No, you don't understand. I got to beta a *much* earlier version of this book, and I was in love. So the fact that it's coming out soon has me flailing. Laura is an extremely talented author, and I think Endure is going to be her best release yet. Please check out the info, preorder if it's available (and if not, mark your calendars for July 12!), and support this talented lady!






Title: ENDURE (Book One of the Endure Series)
Author: Laura Diamond
Publication Date: July 12, 2013
Genre: YA dystopian



Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Justin's anemic blood is a blessing. Or a curse. It all depends on who you ask.

To most of the immortal Vie, his blood is a scourge: untouchable and useless. To some Vie, his blood is a drug. To Justin, it’s something that gets him in a lot of trouble. Being poisoned by a Vie is just one example. His sister getting kidnapped is another. Whether it’s being coerced by a deluded cult leader, or negotiating with Alex—an Vie scientist addicted to Anemie blood—Justin struggles to keep every mutated drop of blood he’s got.

His fight for survival gets more complicated when he meets Alex’s slave, Cara. Despite coming from different worlds, they’re both prisoners, at risk of being drained by a hungry Vie any moment. When she risks her own neck to help Justin find his sister, he's left with a terrifying choice.

Saving what's left of humanity.
Saving his sister. Saving the girl he loves.
Or sticking a stake in Alex’s chest. 
Justin can't decide which option will get him killed first.

Please visit ENDURE on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/review/new/18112776-endure

About Author Laura Diamond:

Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and author of all things young adult paranormal, dystopian, and horror. Her Young Adult Paranormal Romance novelette, NEW PRIDE, and novel, SHIFTING PRIDE, debuted late 2012 from Etopia Press. A spin off short story based on the lions of Tsavo, TSAVO PRIDE, is now available on Amazon. Forthcoming novels include EVOKE, Book Two in the ENDURE series, from Etopia Press, and a Young Adult Paranormal Romance, ZODIAC COLLECTOR, from Spencer Hill Press. When she's not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond--Lucid Dreamer and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion.

Find Laura Diamond on the web:




01 April 2013

Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

There are some things you can’t leave behind…


A broken-down camper hidden deep in a national forest is the only home fifteen year-old Carey can remember. The trees keep guard over her threadbare existence, with the one bright spot being Carey’s younger sister, Jenessa, who depends on Carey for her very survival. All they have is each other, as their mentally ill mother comes and goes with greater frequency. Until that one fateful day their mother disappears for good, and two strangers arrive. Suddenly, the girls are taken from the woods and thrust into a bright and perplexing new world of high school, clothes and boys.


Now, Carey must face the truth of why her mother abducted her ten years ago, while haunted by a past that won’t let her go… a dark past that hides many a secret, including the reason Jenessa hasn’t spoken a word in over a year. Carey knows she must keep her sister close, and her secrets even closer, or risk watching her new life come crashing down.

*I received an ARC from the author. The book will be available from St. Martin's Press on March 26, 2013.*

I'm not sure I can do this book justice. I honestly don't know. I basically cried from the first few pages and didn't stop until I closed the book. Granted, sister stories rip out my heart anyway, but this one... Holy crap, this one.

Easily one of the most heart-wrenchingly beautiful books I've EVER read, If You Find Me grabs you at page 1 and doesn't let go. We join Carey and Janessa on a journey of acceptance and self-discovery that will pull your heart in all kinds of directions. It's truly a joy to share Carey's ups and devastating to experience her lows, but the book gives Carey, and us, an opportunity to find inner-strength. She has to deal with so much so quickly--meeting the father she hasn't seen since she was younger than Janessa, trying to distinguish the lies her mother told her from the the truth her father tries to help her understand, a step-sister who fears being the laughingstock of school because of Carey's presence in her classes, and the boy she grew up with who hoped and prayed she'd come back. For a girl overwhelmed at the gestures of clean, store-bought clothes, Carey handles everything with a dignity and grace that only being Janessa's caretaker in an RV in the middle of a national park forest could provide her. Her strength is truly astounding, and her selflessness is overwhelming. She truly had to grow up ahead of her time.

Murdoch ends the book on a purposeful cliffhanger. Not one that makes you wish and pray for a second book (though I certainly would not argue if we got a sequel), but one that makes you think. Really, it ends at the perfect place--Carey has finally come to terms with basically her entire life now. She almost has this zen moment after she confesses the mystery of the "White Star Night" that she mentions here and there throughout the story. It was a strange feeling of completion for me as a reader, almost like letting out a breath that was held for too long.

If You Find Me is not for everyone. It is a hard, sometimes brutal, read. However, if you're willing to put in the emotional effort (and full box of tissues) I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this book.

Check out If You Find Me at Goodreads.

Available at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

29 December 2012

Review: Shifting Pride by Laura Diamond

All month long, bloggers have been celebrating the release of Laura Diamond's newest release, Shifting Pride.


Here's the blurb:
 
Sixteen-year-old Nickie Leone has proof that her missing (presumed dead) father is still alive. Receiving his watch in the mail is the first in a line of clues brining her closer to discovering his whereabouts.

But clues aren’t the only new thing in Nickie’s life. There’s the Memorial Banquet her mother insists she help prepare for … there’s the new kid/hottie, Xavian, and … well, the growth of whiskers and a tail!

Filled with secrets and a new love of tuna fish, Nickie must partner up with Xavian (don’t you know he’s a shapeshifter too?) to rescue her dad before she loses him forever. Oh, and she need to figure out how to be a cat, too.


I loved this book, and I was sad when I read the last words. Diamond has created such an interesting world, complete with complex pack politics and an engaging mystery, and nestled it so neatly within our own. I feel like I could walk out my door and find a new shifter friend, or enemy. What I appreciated most about Shifting Pride is the care Diamond takes in interspersing shifter info and lore into the story, be it with a book Nickie finds or folklore other shifters share with her. Diamond is very thorough in her world-building and it definitely adds to the overall realism of this shifter tale. 

Diamond does a fantastic job keeping the pace snappy. She gives us just enough information without overloading the reader or making her plot predictable. With each new revelation, I was anxious to see how she manipulated the information and was not disappointed. I kept hanging on to each word, each sentence, each paragraph, each page, hoping right along with Nickie that she would soon be reunited with her dad.

Shifting Pride is a must-read for anyone who enjoys an engaging story. Even if one strips away the shifter element, we’re still left with a great book about a daughter who will stop at nothing to bring her missing father home. 

Also to celebrate, Laura's publisher, Etopia Press, is giving away a free download of the prequel novella New Pride.


A shapeshifter without a pride, Richard Leone strikes a tenuous friendship with power hungry, Derek, from an unstable, rogue group.

On a hunt in the forest, they encounter a gorgeous brunette, Molly, partying with friends around a campfire.

Derek tells the rogue pride and they bristle at humans trespassing on their territory. Richard risks life and tail to protect his secret and the humans – especially Molly – while simultaneously trying to win her heart.

When Molly is kidnapped, he faces taking on the rogue pride alone, but quickly finds he has to put his trust in Derek, not only to rescue his new love, but to ensure the rogue pride doesn’t wreak havoc on his new town.
 



About the author:

Laura Diamond is an author of all things Young Adult (YA): paranormal, dystopian, and horror. As a board certified psychiatrist, Diamond knows how people react and pulls out the emotions, not only from the characters but also the reader. She approaches each book differently usually beginning with a single character – envisioning what they look like, how they perceive their world, what challenges they have to navigate, and who’s with them along the way, whether it be a friend or foe.

Diamond likes writing Young Adult (YA) because it’s during a time in life that is rife with challenges and intense emotions. The paranormal interest comes in because Laura has always had an affinity for magical creatures and dark worlds.

When she's not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond --Lucid Dreamer, where she helps writers “shrink-wrap” their characters, and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion. She is also full-time staff member tending for her four cats and a Pembroke Corgi named Katie.