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YA Indie Carnival–Author Spotlight: Melissa Pearl!

Posted in book reviews, indie, publishing, urban fantasy, writing, young adult fiction with tags author interviews, book reviews, China, Melissa Pearl, paranormal fiction, urban fantasy, YA indie fiction, young adult fantasy, young adult fiction on April 18, 2013 by rachelcoles

Melissa Pearl is an exciting YA indie author with a very worldly flavor, which is probably an amalgam of the rich experiences she has had in her travels. Her books are interesting and complex, but easy to read and fun. And I’m very jealous because she’s lived in New Zealand, and China. I visited China once. We climbed one of the mountains in the Zhang Zha Zhe province, I’m sure I just butchered and misspelled that all in one. I wound up needing to get shoes because I’d gotten a new pair of hiking boots that had refused to break in even though I ran over them with my car, and discovered, stupidly, that hiking a mountain in China wasn’t a good place to keep trying to break them in. So I stopped in one of the villages to get a pair of sneakers. Seriously, they had to go to the men’s section to find shoes for me, giggling all the way at the Western woman’s giant boat feet. I’m 5’1″. But they were very polite and nice. It was really a wonderful experience. The people were friendly and warm, the landscape was breathtakingly majestic. The different cultures we saw, since China is not, as many people think, ethnically homogenous at all, were fascinating. We got to meet and see some of the mountain villages of the Tujia people, the ethnic descendants of the ancient Ba people. Their history is incredibly rich, and I’d never known or heard anything about them before. It was an amazing trip. We’d initially gone with the kung fu school I was part of at the time, so we got to do some really nifty things, like perform in other schools there, and meet and exchange arts with Shaolin monks.

I can see how her wide experiences and the places she’s been are firing her imagination! In her own words, here’s Melissa!

Melissa Pearl was born in Auckland, New Zealand, but has spent much of her life abroad, living in countries such as Jordan, Cyprus and Pakistan… not to mention a nine month road trip around North America with her husband. “Best. Year. Ever!!” She now lives in China with her husband and two sons. She is a trained elementary teacher, but writing is her passion. Since becoming a full time mother she has had the opportunity to pursue this dream and her debut novel hit the internet in November 2011. Since then she has produced four more books and has a YA fantasy trilogy coming out this year.

“I am passionate about writing. It stirs a fire in my soul that I never knew I had. I want to be the best writer I can possibly be and transport my readers into another world where they can laugh, cry and fall in love.”

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/melissapearlauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaPearlG

Blogs: http://melissapearl.blogspot.com/ and http://yalicious.blogspot.com/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Pearl/e/B0064I6S26/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5314516.Melissa_Pearl

Smashwords Author Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/melissapearl

Newsletter subscription: http://blogspot.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ab5a6cb228dc9203d6c179eaa&id=481344857f

Website: http://www.melissapearlauthor.com

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/melissapearlg/

Interview:

1) What is your all-time favorite book and why?

Man – that is such a tough questions. One? I’m only allowed one? LOL.

One series that I have read over and over in my time is the Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. Those books have it all – awesome romance, excellent action and tension, amazing descriptions, plus a deep message running through the books (if you’re into that kinda thing – which I am). They made me laugh, cry and fall in love. Haha Just my type of story.

2) Is there an author you could be compared to or popular fictional characters your book’s characters could relate to and why?

Hmmm – how do you answer that question without coming across as pretentious? My Time Spirit Trilogy has been compared to Twilight in the sense of an intense love story. I wouldn’t say my writing is super fancy, but I know how to tell a fast paced story with lots of emotion and tension.

3) Can you give us your favorite quote from one of your books and explain it?

Ooo – I have so many. Little moments between my characters are so precious to me. I can feel everything they are feeling and I love it. Here is a favourite of mine, which has also received some highlights. It’s a quote from Golden Blood (Book 1 in the Time Spirit Trilogy).

“How are you okay with this?” Gemma took a step back. “I can travel through time!”

Harrison shrugged and closed the distance between them. “Hey, I was cool with alien, this isn’t much different.”

“I’m a total freak!”

“Yeah.” He grinned as he threaded his fingers through her belt loops and pulled her towards him. “But you’re my freak.” His breath tickled her skin as he leaned towards her and whispered, “Face it, Hart, you’re stuck with me. I knew the second I touched you my life had changed…and you knew it too.”

It always makes me smile. Harrison’s reaction to Gemma’s revelation is perfect in my mind. Those two are made for each other and I love that he figures it out so early on.

4) What types of things/people/music inspires you and makes you want to keep writing?

I get my inspiration from all over the place. Movies are huge for me. I would love to see my stories on the big screen one day. I picture them that way in my head. I always get a tingle running through my body when I watch a movie with a really great kissing scene or an excellent action sequence… anything that makes my emotions start to bubble.

I am inspired by music as well – everything from movie scores to punk rock to country to alternative. I love it all! I even love my toddler’s music, although it’s not that inspiring, just fun to sing along to

5) Describe your typical writing day or week.

I get up an hour before my family each morning to work on my social media stuff. It takes that long to clear my e-mail, do any blog post stuff I want to do, work through my Facebook notifications and my Twitter news. Time zon wise, it’s the best time for me to do this as there is more traffic around the sites I use.

As soon as my son goes down for his midday nap, I race to my computer. Four out of five days, I spend my time working on my writing and usually one day a week or at least half of one of those sessions is used on admin type things – numbers, blogging, extra marketing stuff. I also get a two-hour sleep in every Sunday morning, so I use that time to write as well. If my husband ever goes out in the evenings, I write once the kids are in bed.

It takes every spare moment I have to keep up with my writing. Thankfully I adore doing it, so it doesn’t feel like hard work.

6) Is there a food or drink do you have to have when you’re writing?

I never eat when I’m writing. It would slow me down too much. I drink a lot of water, but if I’m really tired, I allow myself a small Coca Cola. The caffine boost can be useful sometimes.

7) Can you tell us what you’re working on right now (& possibly provide an excerpt & cover)?

I am working on a Young Adult Fantasy Trilogy. This is my first attempt into this foray and I’m having SO much fun. The first book has been edited, the second book has been written and the third book is in the planning stage. I’m aiming for June, July and August releases for the three books.

Here’s the cover and blurb for the first one:

Darkness is covering the land. As the city of Mezrah grows with power and greed, the rest of the world can only stand by and wait for their inevitable destruction. The only hope against this growing power is an ancient prophecy that people have stopped believing in.

Then a star begins to fall.

Princess Kyla of Taramon stopped believing in the power of light the day her father died. Trapped in a city she does not care for, under the watchful glare of her mother, the queen, she struggles to accept her fate.

Then a star begins to fall.

Jethro has loved Kyla for as long as he can remember. Learning that she was to marry his cousin drove a wedge between him and the feisty princess. Watching her from a distance is a torture he is unable to free himself from.

Then a star begins to fall, sparking an ember of hope and sending two seekers on a treacherous journey into the unknown.

Excerpt from Unknown (The Elements Trilogy: Book 1):

“Jethro!” Kyla slapped him on the arm and leaned against the grate, patting her chest. With narrowed eyes, she shot him a glare. “So this is how it is now? You don’t have the decency to talk to me in public, but you do take time out of your precious day to come scare the life out of me down in this foul-smelling tunnel.”

A slow, easy smile lit Jethro’s face. “Where have you been?”

“Why do you even care?”

Jethro’s brawny frame leaned against the stone wall behind him. His eyes glimmered with a knowing smile. “Let’s see, a bow slung over your shoulder, a quiver full of arrows… so not hunting then. I’m guessing target practice,” he clicked his fingers, “in the clearing by the waterhole.”

Kyla bit back a smile.

“How’d you do?”

She raised her chin. “I would have split your arrow in two.”

Jethro’s dark eyebrows jumped up with approval as he nodded his head. “Is that all you got up to?”

“Jethro, what are you doing here?” Kyla snapped.

“I just came to warn you.”

“Of what?”

Jethro frowned, making Kyla’s stomach clench.

“Queen Elaina is wondering why she saw her daughter being chased out of the forest by a guard of Ashan when she should have been studying world history with her tutor.”

Kyla stood up straight and swallowed. “My mother did not see. She’s always at prayers this time of day.”

“She was delayed.” Jethro winced.

The blood drained from Kyla’s face. Biting her lips together, she pulled the bow over her head and cleared her throat.

“You might want to present yourself to her before she has every man in the castle looking for you.”

With a child-like groan, Kyla gripped the end of her bow and rolled her eyes. “Fine.” Slumping her shoulders, she spun away from freedom and started stomping towards the dungeons.

“You may want to go past your chambers on the way. Perhaps tidy up a little?”

She came to an abrupt stop and slowly spun back to face the boy she’d known since birth. “Excuse me?”

Jethro’s lips fought with a grin as he pushed himself off the wall and sauntered towards her. “Just because you hate wearing dresses doesn’t mean she won’t expect to see you in one.” He pointed at the attire she had stolen from her brother years ago. She kept it hidden in a trunk at the end of her bed and only pulled it out when she was sneaking from the castle. If only her mother knew how comfortable they were, she wouldn’t insist on mountains of material that were impossible to run in.

“You’re already in for her wrath.” Jethro tipped his head. “You will only antagonise her more by appearing like this.”

Kyla pushed her tongue against the side of her mouth then huffed. “You know I hate you.”

“With the fire a thousand suns?”

Laughter burst from her mouth before she could stop it. “And more!” She punched him on the arm, missing the familiar banter they used to share as children. The amount of times he had driven her to screams of rage with his playful teasing, but a few punches later and they had been best friends again. She often wondered what had happened between them and wished they could return to past days.

As if Jethro could read her mind, he stepped back from her, the playful smile replaced with a new seriousness she did not care for. “You should get moving.”

Golden Blood: FREE

Gemma Hart never knows when her father is going to whisk her back in time. Her toes start tingling and she has a few minutes to find a secret haven where she can disintegrate and appear in another time and place. While “across the line,” her training and skills are put to the test as she completes a mission that will change history for the lucky few her father has selected.

Gemma’s parents are adamant that secrecy is paramount to her family’s safety. If people knew what they were capable of, they could be “used and abused”, as her mother always says. Afraid she might accidentally utter the truth and break the ancient oath of her people, Gemma spends her school days as a loner. Only one thing can throw her sheltered life askew… Harrison Granger.

Harrison never expected to talk to the strange Hart girl, but after a brief encounter he can’t stop thinking about her. He begins a campaign to chisel away her icy veneer and is met with unexpected consequences. As he slowly wins this girl over, he enters a surreal world that has him fighting to keep his newfound love and his life.

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Blood-ebook/dp/B0063N0XIM/ref=la_B0064I6S26_1_4_title_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1356158640&sr=1-4

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Blood-ebook/dp/B0063N0XIM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356158654&sr=8-1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/102113

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/golden-blood-melissa-pearl/1107485209?ean=2940032847168

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/book/id481663128?mt=11

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Golden-Blood/book-euqsycpp9UmNqJv3ntf__Q/page1.html

Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/melissa-pearl/golden-blood/_/R-400000000000000546539

Black Blood

The second book in the Time Spirit Trilogy

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Blood-Spirit-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006M6M0WC/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Blood-Spirit-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006M6M0WC/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/114579

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-blood-melissa-pearl/1108147729?ean=2940032948407

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/black-blood-time-spirit-trilogy/id492220620?mt=11

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Black-Blood-Time-Spirit-Trilogy/book-k7KgAlUAw0WT8KQ3zztPQw/page1.html?s=O6S48pQ_J0WTZeDcAXDlIg&r=5

Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/melissa-pearl/black-blood/_/R-400000000000000583025

Pure Blood

Third book in the Time Spirit Trilogy

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Blood-Spirit-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0079R4IU0/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pure-Blood-Spirit-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B0079R4IU0/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/133186

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/pure-blood-melissa-pearl/1109506315?ean=2940033065417

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pure-blood-time-spirit-trilogy/id512427248?mt=11

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Pure-Blood-Time-Spirit-Trilogy/book-_WREC1L9wU-Eq9YQ-SWd1w/page1.html?s=__ucmcQUo0q_jCjwwueUwg&r=4

Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/melissa-pearl/pure-blood-time-spirit-trilogy-3/_/R-400000000000000686822

Forbidden Territory (co-authored with Brenda Howson)

Mica and Lexy have been best friends and next door neighbours since they were eight years old. They share everything and have no secrets from each other until… Tom arrives on Mica’s doorstep – a gorgeous exchange student from England. And Lexy is smitten.

Suddenly both girls are keeping secrets. Mica is hiding news about Tom’s English girlfriend and Lexy hasn’t got the heart to tell her best friend that her brother Eli, the guy Mica is mad on, thinks of her as only a friend.

After a massive fight, the girls decide the best way to mend their friendship is to spend some quality time together. And what better way than to go camping away from their parents and why not invite along the guys they are crushing on.

So the four teenagers embark on a geo-caching expedition into New Zealand’s native bush expecting a long weekend filled with flirtatious fun; instead secrets are exposed as they stumble across a hidden marijuana crop and its gun-wielding watchmen. Forced apart they spend the next forty-eight hours racing blindly in opposite directions as they fight to find each other before the hunters do.

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Territory-Mica-Lexy-ebook/dp/B008GDW3WG/ref=la_B0064I6S26_1_5_title_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1356159408&sr=1-5

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Blood-Spirit-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B006M6M0WC/ref=pd_sim_kinc_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/177572

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forbidden-territory-melissa-pearl/1112135191?ean=2940044693180

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/forbidden-territory/id543947682?mt=11

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Forbidden-Territory/book-ucR17wO8I0ChDzDlQ76hXw/page1.html?s=QmS2aRjlzECAUFhV7fpllA&r=2

Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/melissa-pearl/forbidden-territory/_/R-400000000000000754734

Betwixt

Beautiful, wild-child Nicole Tepper is hit by a car and left for dead. But when she wakes the next morning, Nicole finds herself in bed without a scratch. Perhaps she was more intoxicated than usual, as her mother is giving her the silent treatment and her friends are ignoring her as well.

Things take a turn for the weird when Nicole soon discovers she is actually hovering between life and death. Her body is lying in the forest while her spirit is searching for anyone who can hear her. Unfortunately the only person who can is Dale Finnigan, the guy she publicly humiliated with a sharp-tongued insult that has left him branded.

Desperate, Nicole has no choice but to haunt Dale and convince the freaked-out senior to help her. Will he find her body before it’s too late? Or will the guy who tried to kill her with his car, beat him there and finish her off before anyone finds out?

AmazonUS: http://www.amazon.com/Betwixt-ebook/dp/B00A1M5NK4/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352063980&sr=1-5&keywords=Betwixt

AmazonUK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Betwixt-ebook/dp/B00A1M5NK4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1352064093&sr=8-2

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/250476

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/betwixt-melissa-pearl/1113732806?ean=9781479165919

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Betwixt/book-zJOYtWnoBEy_mCrpW6Jp0w/page1.html

Sony: https://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/melissa-pearl/betwixt/_/R-400000000000000861663

So now that you have some great new books to add to your reading list, check out the other author blogs on the YA Indie Carnival for some peeks into other author reading lists, author interviews, writing tips, or just chatting about your favorite YA novels!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

And see What’s New at the YA Author Club for up and coming new novels, cover reveals, new releases, and book events!

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YA Indie Carnival–Author Spotlight: KC Blake

Posted in book reviews, horror, indie, publishing, romance fantasy, urban fantasy, vampires, writing, young adult fiction with tags KC Blake, shifters, vampires, werewolves, YA fiction, YA indie fiction on April 1, 2013 by rachelcoles

Hi, fellow YA indie-lovers! I’m back from Puerto Rico, salty (Ahhh ocean air, I’m from dry Colorado), spinier (Poor sea urchin I accidentally stepped on, clumsy people should not wander around reefs in water shoes), and probably several pounds heavier for all the awesome food we sampled.

Today we have a treat, an up-and-coming YA author with some exciting novels: KC Blake! Her novels are fast-paced with strong, adventurous female characters, and a playful sense of supernatural.

Author Bio: K.C. Blake is a ninja on the keyboard. When she is locked away in her office, pounding out another story, no one dares disturb her. She probably wouldn’t hear them anyway. They don’t get it. They think she’s in her office, but she’s lost in another world. Sometimes she is fighting vampires or hunting ghosts. Sometimes she is running with a werewolf pack or falling in love with a misunderstood creature. Her books appeal to lovers of the paranormal. Whether you are twelve or fifty, you will fall in love with her stories.

Website: http://kasi-kcblake.blogspot.com

Twitter: @kasiblake

Vampires Rule Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vampires-Rule/184193604955442

K.C. Blake Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/K-C-Blakes-Author-Page/246146215412824

Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4809417.K_C_Blake

Interview:

1) What is your all-time favorite book and why?

City of Bones. I love the way Cassandra Clare writes, so visual that I can see it, and I love her awesome characters.

2) Is there an author you could be compared to or popular fictional characters your book’s characters could relate to and why?

I don’t think my characters are like any other characters I’ve read about. My writing is my own. I’ve been told I have a unique voice, a unique way of writing. Some people love it and some of don’t.

3) Can you give us your favorite quote from one of your books and explain it?

This is a hard one. I can’t think of one off the top of my head, so I will use one that people have put on Goodreads as their favorite. It is from Vampires Rule.

“Stop!” she screamed. “Don’t hurt him.”

“Back off!” Billy shouted.

She yanked harder on Billy’s arm.

“He isn’t a vampire anymore, idiot. Look! Do you see that big, yellow thing up in the sky? That’s called the sun. It’s shining down on him, and he isn’t exploding. His fangs are gone. He’s as human as we are. Case closed.”

Billy stared up at the sky, his jaw slack. “Not possible.”

Jack mumbled, “They don’t call me Jackpot for nothing.”

“What?” Billy blinked at him.

“Private joke.”

I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. Jack was a vampire and now he’s not, and his brother just found out.

4) What types of things/people/music inspires you and makes you want to keep writing?

There isn’t any certain thing that inspires me. Once in a while a movie or book will speak to me. Sometimes a person I know will say something that sends me into a ‘what if’ daydream. As for music, I love listening to songs while I write. What I listen to depends on what sort of scene I’m writing. I need a song that captures the emotions of the scene. Then I can picture it in my head, and I’ll listen to that song a hundred times if I have to in order to finish what I’m working on.

5) Describe your typical writing day or week.

Within five minutes of waking I am thinking about whatever book I’m working on. I might listen to music and daydream about it for a while, or I might jot down some notes. Usually I spend time on-line before pulling my book up on the computer. I check email, do some research, and play games (lol) before starting to work. Then I work on and off all day until I get a chapter finished or am too tired to keep going. I take breaks quite often. If I don’t, my eyes and head hurt so bad the next day that I can’t work at all.

6) Is there a food or drink do you have to have when you’re writing?

No. Eating and or drinking distracts me from the writing. If anything, once in a while I will have some chocolate, something I can just pop into my mouth. I’ll use it as a reward. I get one after I finish a certain amount of pages.

7) Can you tell us what you’re working on right now (& possibly provide an excerpt & cover)?

I am editing a book called Bait, the first in a new series. Here is the blurb for it:

At sixteen, Bay-Lee Bishop is not your typical girl. The last thing she wants is to be popular, but flying below the radar isn’t easy when you’re the tallest girl in the eleventh grade. She works hard to keep a steady C point average, never raises her hand in class, and avoids extra-curricular activity of any kind. The other students would be stunned to learn she’s living under an alias as she and her uncle move from town to town, just barely staying a step ahead of the monsters hunting her just because she’s Van Helsing’s daughter.

Life is weird. Then it gets worse. A reaper uses her closet to cross over with a dire warning the day before she’s whisked away to her new school. This time it’s the school she was always meant to attend, a school that trains hunters.

This is what she’s been waiting for her whole life, only it isn’t anything like she imagined. The other students hate her, something evil is killing hunters, and her mentor refuses to give her the slightest bit of help. Determined to make her father proud, Bay-Lee focuses on her training. Nothing is going to distract her. Not border monsters or wraiths or the boy with jungle green eyes.

For Bay-Lee, love is not an option. But try telling that to her heart.

Excerpt: (keep in mind this book is still being edited)

At some point during the night a stranger crawled into Bay-Lee’s bed while she snored softly, unaware. The mattress springs squeaked in complaint beneath the additional weight as he reclined on his side and stared down at her face in the moonlight. It bothered him that she continued to sleep. After all the stories he’d heard about this girl, exploited rumors verging on myth, he’d expected more from her. Shouldn’t she be able to sense danger?

This was Van Helsing’s daughter? She looked insignificant, vulnerable beneath the green sheet. He could snap her neck so easily—and maybe he should. The world would continue on, undisturbed, but the dark cloud hanging over his head would finally dissipate.

A fraction of moonlight filtered through partially open curtains, not enough to see clearly, but it didn’t matter because he’d seen pictures of this girl on Van Helsing’s desk. Her features were burned into his retinas. Every time he went into the office he tried not to look at the photographs, purposely pointing his gaze elsewhere.

There was something about her, something unsettling which inevitably pulled him back to stare at her reproduced image. She looked like an average girl at first glance. A pretty face framed by dark hair that nearly reached her waist, parted in the middle and layered stared back at him. Of Brazilian descent, her eyes were the darkest of browns, nearly black. They hid a mountain of secrets. She had attitude to spare and the camera caught it, recording it for future historians—if the prophecies were correct, they would want to study her.

She possessed a ‘bite me’ expression that must drive vampires crazy.

Fortunately, he was not a vampire.

Her mouth bothered him the most. Full lips haunted his dreams with a secretive smile curving the ends and a bottom lip that begged to be nibbled on. Sometimes, when he wasn’t carefully controlling his thoughts, he wondered what she would taste like. In his dreams, when he wasn’t fully in control of his mind, he kissed her without ceasing. He wondered what would happen if he kissed her in real life. Would it stir something deep in his soul? Would the prophecy come true?

Something hard lodged in his throat and he swallowed. It was a near miss, so he swallowed again. Kissing her shouldn’t even be a blip on the radar. This girl was the reason he didn’t have a home or a family. It was her fault he’d grown up on the outside looking in, her fault people whispered behind his back, and her fault he was destined to die young.

Bay-Lee stirred in her sleep. Mumbling, she pushed against his chest with two fingers. “Go ‘way.”

Cute like a box of kittens, for a second he forgot to hate her. His heart momentarily softened—not for long. The unfamiliar sensation was enough to wipe the half-smile from his face. Delivering a mental kick to his brain, he reminded himself this girl was the last person in the world he could let his guard down around. She was worse than trouble. If he wasn’t careful, this seemingly harmless meeting would lead to his total destruction.

Ready to wake her, he leaned in close and whispered her (fake) name. Like him, she was forced to live under an alias. Michelle.

Vampires Rule: FREE

They don’t call him Jackpot for nothing.

Jack has always beat the odds… until now. When a werewolf tried to kill him, vampires saved him. When he got tired of life as a vampire, another attack gave him back his mortality. Now Jack just wants to live a normal life, but what’s normal about having a hunter for a girlfriend, a brother who wants to stake him to be on the safe side, and a werewolf building an army to rule the world?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Rule-Series-ebook/dp/B004YZB8XU

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54214

Werewolves Rule: $2.99

The second book in the Rule Series

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Werewolves-Rule-The-Series-ebook/dp/B005IDV3OG/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/83046

Shifters Rule: $2.99

Third book in the Rule Series

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shifters-Rule-Series-ebook/dp/B009SFWWN6/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/246117

Crushed: $2.99

The Noah sisters rule Titan High with their beauty, brains, and magical powers.

Each year they play a secret game: Crushed. The girls pick their targets carefully and blow enchanted dust into the boy’s faces, charming them, but this year Kristen makes a grave mistake. She chooses the wrong boy and almost dies that same day. Coincidence? Maybe.

But something isn’t quite right about Zach Bevian. He doesn’t behave like a boy who’s been Crushed. He goes from hot to cold, from looking at her with contempt to asking her out on a date. She doesn’t know what to think. Does he hate her or is he truly falling for her? Is he trying to kill her, or is he trying to save her?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Crushed-The-Witch-Game-Books-ebook/dp/B005CJ8H9A/ref=pd_sim_kstore_5

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/73251

Witch Hunt: $2.99

A magical game of Hide n Seek begins.

Find the missing player and win.

The game resets, everyone forgets, and they start to play again.

Starr Hughes hasn’t believed in magic since her mother died. As a reporter for the school paper she’s only interested in cold, hard facts. When she hears rumors that the mysterious It-Squad members are about to play a secret game, she is determined to learn all about it, especially since she’s been in love with one of the members half her life. Hiding under the headmaster’s desk, planting bugs, and breaking into a fellow student’s locker are all on her to-do list.

Starr is about to discover that witches not only exist, but they need her help. Someone is using the game to steal their memories, their powers, and maybe even their lives.

ATTENTION: Although this is the second book in the series, each book has its own set of characters and can be read as a stand-alone book.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Hunt-Witch-Game-Series-ebook/dp/B007JCNEYQ/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/171249

Bait: (coming Summer 2013) FREE

If you don’t think monsters in the closet are real, ask Bay-Lee.

At sixteen, Bay-Lee Bishop is on her way to a new school, a training ground for hunters. Before she leaves she gets an unexpected visitor, a reaper with a warning: It kills you on your birthday. For years she’s dreamed of becoming a great hunter so she can avenge her mom… but school is nothing like she imagined. The students resent her, a border monster is running loose, her mentor refuses to help her, and hunters are dying on their birthdays. If she’s going to live long enough to reach her goal, she’ll have to solve this mystery before the day of her birth arrives.

The last thing she needs is to fall in love. No problem. Bay-Lee is focused and determined. She barely notices boys. Then she meets Nick Gallos, a gorgeous boy with jungle green eyes, a reckless heart, and a past darker than her own.

***

Well, this is an exciting spring reading roster! I’ll be busy! Check out some of our other Indie Author Blogs:

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

What’s New at the YA Author’s Blog: New releases, Cover reveals, etc!

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YA Indie Carnival–Goodreads: What’s Good and What’s Not

Posted in book reviews, indie, publishing, urban fantasy, writing, young adult fiction with tags book reviews, Goodreads, publishing, urban fantasy, YA fiction on March 21, 2013 by rachelcoles

Hi all,

This week’s post is about Goodreads. For people who haven’t heard of it, it’s a database/bloggersite for books. That’s the closest I can come to describing it. Pretty much any book, anywhere in the world can be found on Goodreads. And it’s more than that. Here are the goodies available for people to take advantage of on Goodreads:

Reader’s groups where people can discuss books they’ve read, sometimes book clubs

Author Dashboard where authors can manage their books, reviews, ads, etc

Reading list where readers can add books they’ve heard of to their lists that they want to read, and receive recommendations from other readers

Review areas where readers can write reviews and post them

These are among some of the cool features of Goodreads. I’ve found a great resource for the things I want to read, though I tend to forget about that one. I am notorious for making lists of all kinds and then ignoring the lists, including in my house, at the grocery store, and at work. So why would that change for anything else…

As an author, I tend to use the author dashboard quite a bit. I recently posted an ad on Goodreads, as an experiment. I’m not good at advertising and such, and Goodreads, unlike Amazon is dummy-friendly, and wallet-friendly. The feature is that you create a simple click ad with a small caption, and send it out to either authors you like or genres or both. The Goodreads team recommends both simultaneously. And from there you add the amount of money you want to spend. It is $.x per click. So you can manage how much you spend and who views it. Views are not the same as clicks. Hundreds of people can view it, but you only pay if they click on it to see more.

Another function I use a lot on Goodreads is the review section. I like to be able to write reviews and post them, about something I’ve read. Admittedly, I am spotty about this because there just aren’t enough hours in the day, but it is a great avenue to post reviews. And you can link these reviews to your Facebook page, your website, Twitter, etc., so that it shows up in multiple places. And people can friend you on Goodreads too so that they are notified any time you publish a review of a book. That being said, if you prefer publishing reviews on your website, you can also link it that way too, so that your Goodreads friends will get a notification by email whenever you’ve published a post on your website, if they click that they want to receive notifications from you.

These are all pretty user-friendly, and in my opinion, good things about Goodreads.

I don’t think there are too many problems with Goodreads. The only issue I have encountered is that they do not seem to have a very user-friendly option for giveaways. Their giveaways are structured rather specifically, it seems. It’s possible that I’m reading it wrong, but mostly, I have only been able to find where you can do a giveaway if your book is about to come out (new). I like doing giveaways sometimes, and don’t want to limit myself to one period in time. I also recall reading, for a past YA Indie Carnival Giveaway, that they only accept giveaways for paper books. I have paper books, but sometimes people want e-books. Though I love the smell and feel of paper pages. I also love being able to carry a library with me on a plane.

Please share your experience with Goodreads, things you liked, things you didn’t! And check out what other folks have said on their websites, below.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

What’s New in the world of YA at the YA Author Club? Cover reveals, new releases, giveaways?

And check out Ina Grujic’s awesome book blog for a plethora of interesting new indie authors, like Bella Forrest, Imogen Rose, Claudia Lefeve, and James Lyon! There’s a new author interview posted for Pazuzu’s Girl there also.

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YA Indie Carnival Author Spotlight: T.R. Graves!

Posted in book reviews, indie, publishing, romance fantasy, urban fantasy, writing, young adult fiction with tags book reviews, romance fantasy, T.R. Graves, Warriors of the Cross, YA Indie Carnival, young adult fiction on March 1, 2013 by rachelcoles

Happy Friday fellow indies!

I know it is for me! Heading into Denver Restaurant Week and some fun activities this weekend, making our yearly nerd costumes for upcoming Comicon. I’m going as Reverend Mother Helen Mohaim from Dune, my husband’s going as a Fremen, making his own still-suit. I swear, by the time this Comicon is over, I’m going to have had a heart attack for every time I turn around and forget that the black-suited mannequin he needs to work from, standing in the corner of our living room for lack of any other place to put it, isn’t a burglar. On the upside, that and the Legos scattered across the floor most of the time, will probably deter any real burglars. And our daughter is going as a Weeping Angel from Dr. Who. That’ll be entertaining all by itself. She made up a ‘weeping angel game’, which mainly involves waiting until her parents aren’t looking at her, and then sneaking up and scaring the crap out of us. More heart attack material…But she’ll be the cutest Weeping Angel at the Con.

Enough about our Nerd Fest weekend. I want to introduce to you a terrific and prolific young-adult fantasy writer, T.R. Graves. She writes the Warriors of the Cross series, a series with potent female characters and interesting villains. I like that her stories aren’t simple, or black and white. I think you’ll enjoy her work, and thankfully, she’s got a lot of the series out, so I won’t have to have a screaming mimi fit when I’ve finished reading the last one written and go into withdrawal for my book series addiction, like I did after finishing Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. I think I had as big of a fit as my daughter did. She literally yelled, ‘It’s not fair! When is the next one coming! NOT FAIR!” And Ms. Graves does all this while being a registered nurse. I know a few nurses, since I work in public health, and…Wow. Huge kudos for just the one more-than-full-time job, and a thought-provoking author on top of that…just…Wow.

Without further ado: T.R. Graves

T. R. Graves, Author of Warrior and Secrets Series

T. R. Graves lives along the Texas coast with her husband. Together, they raise T. R.’s beta-reading daughter and their football-loving son. Besides being blessed with a supportive family, she counts her career as a registered nurse in not-for-profit hospitals high on her list of fulfilling accomplishments.

Social Media Sites:

Spotlight Interview Questions:

What is your all-time favorite book and why?

I have a – very eclectic – three-way tie that includes The Mortal Instruments Series, The Tiger Saga, and the Fifty Shades Trilogy.

All three of these series have strong female leading characters, and they are written by authors who are amazing enough to write romance into the story in a way where it actually becomes tangible for the reader. I can’t help but love stories that make me fall in love with the characters or admire the authors who are talented enough to just that.

Is there an author you could be compared to or popular fictional characters your book’s characters could relate to and why?

My beta-reader claims I could be compared to Colleen Houck (separated at birth were his exact words). Our similarities may be the reason I love her and her books so much. He believes we both have the ability to turn situations that could easily be unrealistic into scenes that seem absolutely real.

Can you give us your favorite quote from one of your books and explain it?

In Grave Bound (Secrets), Levi Bryson journals. His writing is not traditional, perfect, or by the book, but it sweetly shows Emily how he feels about her. Something about it is charming. Below, I’ve included one of his many doodles:

Facets

Her words… sweeter than any book written, poem recited, or song recorded.

Her intentions… pure as the driven snow; a wholesome schoolgirl, and a naive child.

Her beauty… perfect as an emerald’s cut; stunning as a ruby’s color; and timeless as a diamond’s clarity.

Her essence… struck me with the force of a bolt of lightning, the power of a sledgehammer, and the command of the chosen one.

Her love… engulfed my life the way the dawn’s rays swallow the darkness, the tsunami’s waves ravage the coast, and the tornado’s funnel plows its way through a forest.

- Levi Ian Bryson

What types of things/people/music inspires you and makes you want to keep writing?

Books inspire me. Not just any book. It has to have strong characters, a mission filled with action and romance, and unfathomable consequences attached to failure.

Music inspires me. There is nothing fad-like about the artists I appreciate most. The music I listen to is embedded with so much emotion that it is palpable all the way through the song(s): Kings of Leon, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Alanis Morissette, Adele, Diana Birch, Audra Mae & The Forest Rangers, Black Eyed Peas, Eminem,….

People inspire me: My nineteen-year-old daughter worked hard through high school, graduated with both a high school degree and an associate’s degree, and she’s now trying to get into medical school. She did all of this while working and saving almost every penny of her money so she’d have a nest egg when she went away to school. That is inspiring. My eight-year-old son practices (baseball& football) four to six days a week (depending on the time of year) and turns all of that training into winning championships. He does this while maintaining A’s & B’s on his report card and without the first complaint. I can’t help but be inspired by their dedication and commitment and work ethics.

Describe your typical writing day or week.

Monday thru Friday, I’m up at 5:30, writing/reading/socializing from 6:30 – 7:30, commuting from 7:30-8:30 (or 8:45), working from 8:30-5:30 (or 6:30 or 7:30), commuting from 5:30-6:45, supper/homework/miscellaneous from 7:00-8:30, and writing from 8:30-10:00.

On Saturday/Sunday from 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., I have family, errands, reading, writing, socializing, etc.

I put in the hours I do because I’m fortunate enough to have two jobs that I’m passionate about. First, I work within a hospital system where the patients (not their ability to pay) are our priority. The nurse in me… the humanitarian in me is thankful there are still healthcare systems where curing illnesses and saving lives are the focus. Second, I’m an author. If I’m not writing, I’m planning and plotting in my mind. My goal with each new book I write is to create a great story that is thrilling, suspenseful, and romantic enough to take the reader away from their own problems/lives for a few hours. Nothing more. Nothing less.

One thing is for sure. I’d never be able to do all of this if it weren’t for my husband. He does everything around our house I can’t do, and he never says a word. He’s supports me, loves me, and cares for me. I absolutely adore him.

Is there a food or drink do you have to have when you’re writing?

Diet Dr. Pepper (preferably) or Diet Mountain Dew. I work, write, and drive so many hours a week that caffeine is a basic necessity.

Can you tell us what you’re working on right now (& possibly provide an excerpt & cover)?

I’m working on my first adult contemporary, Grave Bound (Secrets)(tentative release date of 3/1/13). At the same time, I’m writing book four of my original young adult paranormal series Dark Angels of the Cross (Warrior, #4).

Grave Bound (Secrets)

Some Secrets follow you to the grave. Others send you there.

Emily Riddle has lived her entire life inside a patriarchal commune led by her father. There are many rules, but the most important one, ‘keep it in the commune’, is the most difficult for her to follow… especially since the only people willing to champion her cause live on the outside.

When Emily learns her father has promised her to Lorenzo, a perverted man who has plans for her that extend well beyond marriage and kids, she rebels. Regardless of the consequences, she refuses to marry someone who’d rather beat her than caress her.

A day of hooky that starts out as a tiny act of defiance -sneaking out of the commune for a swim – turns into a day filled with hope. After spending time with Levi, a man camping near the lake, she finds what true romance looks like and catches a glimpse into a future that’s filled with love and admiration rather than hate and submission.

That tiny peek is enough to change the course of Emily’s existence and makes it nearly impossible for her to go back to the commune and pretend she’ll ever be able to tolerate the life chosen for her instead of the life she longs for. One that includes Levi.

Fighting to escape the commune, its leaders, and her fiancé proves to be more dangerous than Emily expected. The secrets she knows, as the leader’s daughter, will either follow her to the grave or send her – and Levi -there.

T. R. Graves’s YA Books:

Warriors of the Cross (Warrior #1)

Allison La Crosse, beginning a challenging family medicine residency, leaves the protection of her family. With the transfer, her worst nightmares come true. Her closely guarded mystical talents – those which seldom appeared before the move – unleash themselves from her confinement and reveal their presence with very little provocation.

Allison’s most terrifying power is her compulsion to cure the dying with her touch. Given her career, this gift would be valuable if she were not drawn like a magnet to the ailing person’s every symptom. Some of which are fatal.

At the hospital and surrounded by life-and-death emergencies, Allison’s inability to manage her impulse turns deadly. When it does, her mentor, Brody, rescues her from her own demise. His resuscitation ignites an exciting and tempestuous bond between them.

Desperate for a cure, they join forces and embark upon a journey to uncover the origins of Allison’s lethal curse. In the midst of their adventure, Allison exposes a secret pursued by many…known by few.

Guardians of the Cross (Warrior #2)

Allison La Crosse discovers she has several powers, including a spiritual gift to heal the dying with her touch. With the newfound awareness, she uncovers mind-boggling truths about a world, which has been hidden her whole life, thanks to her mother’s selfless actions.

The most important revelation pertains to her ordained place within The Disciples of the Cross as one of their Warriors. This position moves her even closer to her mentor, Brody Kennedy, who ends up being the only other Warrior.

Just as suddenly, it catapults her into the middle of a war between The Sect and The Disciples. Allison’s appointment to Warrior—alongside Brody—exacerbates the leader of The Sect’s malicious hunt for her.

As a result, everything about her existence is altered. With the modification of her life, she prepares to do anything necessary to save everyone loved by her… including Brody and Clark.

Enemies of the Cross (Warrior #3)

Allison La Crosse’s picture perfect world quickly becomes more of a nightmare than the fairytale she’d been expecting when she married Brody.

With enemies leading and destiny in control, she embarks upon a journey of the soul where she unearths an underwater realm that is beyond believable…beyond fantastical…beyond comprehension.

Deep within this undiscovered world, Allison is forced to battle a new breed of adversaries. Ones willing to do whatever necessary to capture her — dead or alive. While fighting for her life, she joins forces with an exceptional team of protectors. Because they are unconditionally loyal, she sees firsthand that they are prepared to sacrifice their lives in order to guard her existence and defend the purity of their world.

Love, friendships, and unforgivable actions have Allison wondering if going home will ever be an option even if home is the only place where she can have a life with Brody.

Check them out on Amazon, or on T.R. Graves blog, listed below in our indie author list!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

And see What’s New this week in the YA Author Club?

Congratulations to Heather Sutherlin on her very fun Book Scavenger Hunt! And congratulations to the winners!

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YA Indie Carnival: Smashwords and other e-books—Are they worth it?

Posted in writing, young adult fiction, indie, publishing, book reviews, urban fantasy, horror with tags Kindle, Smashwords, self-publishing, Pazuzu's Girl, indie publishing, e-books, electronic media, Beyond the Veil, Into the Ruins on February 22, 2013 by rachelcoles

Hi Indies,

The question of the week is a hot topic among both indie authors, small publishers, and big publishing houses: Are e-books worth it? And more specifically, are e-book publishing sites worth it?

As an indie author having both self-published short story anthologies, Into The Ruins, and Beyond The Veil, and having my novel Pazuzu’s Girl published by a small genre publishing house, I would emphatically say, YES, they are worth it!

As a self-published author, I have had a huge amount of fun designing covers, and the rush of clicking on the Finish buttons of both Smashwords and Kindle to finish publishing the books were nerve-tingling. Avenues such as Smashwords has afforded authors of all genres a tremendous amount of creativity and freedom to govern their works in whatever way their spirits take them, on their own timetable.

If I delve into particular publishing engines, I do find that there were different advantages to Kindle versus Smashwords. Smashwords gives you the most leeway as to how you do things like giveaways. Any giveaways you want to do are free to you, and all you have to do is include a coupon code in your giveaway. With Kindle, you have to pay as the author to gift copies of the book, and you have to deal with the whole morass of digital publishing rights which is Amazon’s proprietary hook that has booksellers everywhere fuming, understandably so.

However, that said, I am a tech moron. Smashwords does seem to take a higher degree of savvy to format successfully. Kindle is Self-Publishing and Formatting for Dummies, which gave me a measure of relief from heartburn after wrestling with Word.

As a traditionally published author also, I think that the world is moving toward electronic media. There is no turning back. As a reader, there will always be sappy old cranksters like me regaling my tech-conscious seven-year old about the days before remote control, the days when you had to spin a wheel to dial a phone, and yelling ‘You can pry my paper books from my cold dead hands, now get off my lawn!’ I love the smell of a book, I love the feel of the pages in my hand. However, we are currently being buried in good old paper books at our house. It’s starting to look like an episode of Hoarders in terms of the sheer number of books. Electronic media is elegant and efficient. It means that I don’t have to use up all of my carry-on space hauling all of the books I think I might read on the plane. I can stick my tiny little tablet with the library of books contained in it, in my purse with plenty of room for a bunch of other useless things that I imagine I’m going to use on the flight and never do. Electronic media is not going away, ever. It will only become more elegant and compact. Someday maybe, we’ll all carry data crystals that we plug into jacks in our heads. So for authors, publishing mediums like Smashwords and Kindle are an opportunity, whether self- or traditionally published, to get our work out to millions of people in the speed of an internet connection.

See what other author’s takes are on e-books!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

And here’s What’s New and Upcoming at the YA Author Blog!

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YA Indie Carnival: Author Spotlight–Laura Elliot

Posted in book reviews, horror, indie, publishing, romance fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult fiction with tags indie authors, Laura Elliot, romance fiction, urban fantasy, Valentines Day, young adult fiction on February 15, 2013 by rachelcoles

Happy Late Valentine’s Day Indie-Lovers! Or for surly crotchety people like me, Happy Anti-Valentines Day!

Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate. No matter how much I hate the explosion of hearts and flowers on every possible surface, beginning…around Thanksgiving, I’ll take any box of chocolates I can get my hands on. Valentine’s Day is just a good excuse for eating them.

Actually, I do have to credit Valentine’s Day as the first date my husband and I went on. It was supposed to be a I-Hate-This-Commercial-Crap Let’s-Share-Our-Valentine’s-Day-Misery-Together anti-date. Well, it’s almost ten years later and we’re big horkin’ hypocrits, ‘cuz we’re still married and goin’ out to dinner again for Valentine’s Day. Geek-Love.

There are many myths about how Valentine’s Day got started. Some say that St. Valentine was a Roman priest who illegally married Roman soldiers who were not supposed to be married. Most of the stories involved some version of a priest that married people in secret. I don’t know what the real truth is, as long as it doesn’t involve chubby babies with wings and plastic Walmart bows with heart-shaped arrows. But if you want to read my version of a creepy anti-Valentine’s Day story, I’ve posted my story Kisses on my Rachel’s Stories page of this blog.

And now, I’d like to introduce indie author extraordinaire, Laura Elliot. She is an innovative young adult fiction writer with original and very true-to-life-feeling endings. Her short stories are thoughtful, and well worth reading.

Laura A. H. Elliott

aura A. H. Elliott, best selling author, loves writing about enchanted road trips, shadow worlds, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. She lives in a tree house on the central California coast. After twenty-plus years as a freelance graphic designer/animator with clients including E! Entertainment Television and The Los Angeles Times, she crossed over into the world of publishing non-fiction and followed her heart to the world of fiction. She is the author of the paranormal romance Shadow Series (also availableL in audiobook format), the sci-fi romance Starjump series, and stand alone literary romance novel Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale. Her latest release is Shadow Slayer, book 2 of the Shadow Series. Moon Killers, book 3 is due out this spring. She’s also due to release her first adult title later this year. She’s happy to have been included in the new adult anthology Midnight Surrender.

Blog

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Laura A. H. Elliott’s Books:

Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale

13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) FREE Audiobook

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) Audiobook

Moon Killers (Shadow Series #3) Spring 2013

(Shadow Series #4) Fall 2013

Transfer Student (Starjump Series #1)

The Seven Caves & Other Spine-Tingling Short Stories

Winnemucca a small-town fairy tale (YA literary romance)

When fear’s as blind as love, how far would you go to find your own happily ever after?

One mistake will change Ginny’s life forever. One answer will set her free. Once upon a time Ginny’s road blood ripened, the day she got wise to love. Engaged to the high school quarterback, his quarter-carat ring and enchanting smile should have been enough for her. But, she stands him up and takes a walk where every step questions her happily ever after gone-bad and the fate of the mother she never knew. The mother her father refuses to talk about. Ginny fights to untangle her big, fat, lie-of-a-life on an enchanted road trip to Winnemucca, where she believes all her answers lie. To solve the riddle of her past, she must outrun everyone who wants a piece of her future–including a man determined to see she never has one.

Transfer Student (Starjump #1) (YA Sci-Fi Romance)

Two Worlds–Two Teens–One Wish

Rhoe and Ashley would never be friends.

Even if they lived on the same planet.

But, they’ll become so much more.

They’ll transfer.

Earthling Ashley’s world revolves around winning daily popularity contests at Beverly Hills High School and surfing competitions with sweet scholarship prizes that will finally help her break free of her control-freak mother. Meanwhile on planet Retha, Rhoe misses his dad, loves his mom’s home-cooked Glechy crag with a side of ory sauce, is desperate to heal his sick brother and wants more than anything to win The Retha New Invention Competition. But Rhoe’s invention teleports him across the universe with an unintended side effect, Ashley and Rhoe transfer. They swap lives when they make the same wish at the same time.

Popular-surfer-turned-boy-geek alien Ashley must handle life on Retha as Rhoe complete with webbed feet, low-gravity, and an obsession with Yuke, all the while being hunted by Rethan spies and resenting her hairy, flat chest. Boy-geek-turned-popular-surfer Rhoe must fit in at Beverly Hills High School as Ashley, compete in The Laguna Beach Invitational without becoming shark food, dodge boys’ affections, cool his preoccupation with Tiffany and his new body, and find the healing rocks he believes will save his brother’s life.

If only it were that simple. Some wishes can’t come true. Some have to.

(THIS ENHANCED EBOOK CONTAINS LINKS TO THE MUSIC, STORIES, PHOTOS & VIDEOS THAT INSPIRED THE STORY.)

13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) FREE (YA paranormal romance)

Roxie has the best night of her life until the popular kids decide they want to celebrate her birthday in a way Roxie never expects––in her attic, with a gift that’s out of this world, and a pact to never tell a living soul what happens next.

Twelve-year-old Roxie wants to be like Adrianne, the popular girl who gets everything she wants––a flock to prowl around the mall with; invitations to parties; and for Hayden, the cutest guy in the eighth grade to, you know, notice her. When Roxie invites all the eighth grade peacocks (code word : popular kids) to her first ever thirteenth birthday party on Halloween, they all come and give her a gift that’s literally out of this world. Roxie astral projects to Planet Popular where she becomes seventeen instantly and gets everything she’s always wanted, but nothing is as it seems. Being a high school peacock is complicated and Roxie will risk everything to be who she thinks she wants to be. Oh yeah, there’s Prom, doppelgangers, a mysterious map, and lots of bad peacocks too.

BONUS EXCERPT! Two Chapters of Shadow Slayer, Book 2 in The Shadow Series

13 on Halloween, (Shadow Series #1) is now available as an audiobook on iTunes, Audible or Amazon.

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) (YA paranormal romance)

Shadows will do anything to become human. You see their influence everyday. You say things you don’t mean or do things that aren’t like you. You look, different. Friends you’ve known forever suddenly never call.

As a freshman, Roxie just wants to fit in which is impossible because she barely runs into her friends at her huge high school. Adrianne’s disappearance and Hayden’s attention rock Roxie’s world. But nothing rocks it like the most gorgeous guy at school, Drew. And nothing is more important to Roxie than astral projecting back to Planet Popular to solve the mystery of the map. But that changes when Drew invites Roxie to homecoming. Hayden warns her that something’s wrong. Why would a guy like Drew like Roxie anyway? Drew must want something. Hayden’s right. Drew is…different. Planet Popular was just the beginning. Part of a bigger world, the Shadow World. There’s a war brewing between the world of humans and the world of shadows. When the shadow invasion begins at Roxie’s high school, she’ll not only fight for her life but the lives of her family and friends, when she discovers she’s the Shadow Slayer, the one human who can save Earth from the shadow onslaught. But, Roxie can’t even kill a spider. Oh yeah, there’s an evil English teacher, an enchanted play, a sword of Sandonian steel, a homecoming of horrors, and seven magic words too.Audible (Audiobook) |iTunes

Laura A. H. Elliott

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Laura A. H. Elliott’s Books:

Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale

13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) FREE Audiobook

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) Audiobook

Moon Killers (Shadow Series #3) Spring 2013

(Shadow Series #4) Fall 2013

Transfer Student (Starjump Series #1)

The Seven Caves & Other Spine-Tingling Short Stories

Winnemucca a small-town fairy tale (YA literary romance)

When fear’s as blind as love, how far would you go to find your own happily ever after?

Transfer Student (Starjump #1) (YA Sci-Fi Romance)

Two Worlds–Two Teens–One Wish

Rhoe and Ashley would never be friends.

Even if they lived on the same planet.

But, they’ll become so much more.

They’ll transfer.

If only it were that simple. Some wishes can’t come true. Some have to.

(THIS ENHANCED EBOOK CONTAINS LINKS TO THE MUSIC, STORIES, PHOTOS & VIDEOS THAT INSPIRED THE STORY.)

13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) FREE (YA paranormal romance)

BONUS EXCERPT! Two Chapters of Shadow Slayer, Book 2 in The Shadow Series

13 on Halloween, (Shadow Series #1) is now available as an audiobook on iTunes, Audible or Amazon.

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) (YA paranormal romance)

Laura A. H. Elliott

Laura A. H. Elliott, best selling author, loves writing about enchanted road trips, shadow worlds, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. She lives in a tree house on the central California coast. After twenty-plus years as a freelance graphic designer/animator with clients including E! Entertainment Television and The Los Angeles Times, she crossed over into the world of publishing non-fiction and followed her heart to the world of fiction. She is the author of the paranormal romance Shadow Series (also available in audiobook format), the sci-fi romance Starjump series, and stand alone literary romance novel Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale. Her latest release is Shadow Slayer, book 2 of the Shadow Series. Moon Killers, book 3 is due out this spring. She’s also due to release her first adult title later this year. She’s happy to have been included in the new adult anthology Midnight Surrender.

Laura A. H. Elliott’s Books:

Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale

13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) FREE Audiobook

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) Audiobook

Moon Killers (Shadow Series #3) Spring 2013

(Shadow Series #4) Fall 2013

Transfer Student (Starjump Series #1)

The Seven Caves & Other Spine-Tingling Short Stories

Winnemucca a small-town fairy tale (YA literary romance)

When fear’s as blind as love, how far would you go to find your own happily ever after?

Transfer Student (Starjump #1) (YA Sci-Fi Romance)

Two Worlds–Two Teens–One Wish

Rhoe and Ashley would never be friends.

Even if they lived on the same planet.

But, they’ll become so much more.

They’ll transfer.

If only it were that simple. Some wishes can’t come true. Some have to.

(THIS ENHANCED EBOOK CONTAINS LINKS TO THE MUSIC, STORIES, PHOTOS & VIDEOS THAT INSPIRED THE STORY.)

13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) FREE (YA paranormal romance)

BONUS EXCERPT! Two Chapters of Shadow Slayer, Book 2 in The Shadow Series

13 on Halloween, (Shadow Series #1) is now available as an audiobook on iTunes, Audible or Amazon.

Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) (YA paranormal romance)

That should keep you reading for a long time! But check out What’s New on the YA Indie Carnival Author’s Page!

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YA Indie Carnival: Author Spotlight–Bryna Butler

Posted in book reviews, indie, publishing, romance fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult fiction with tags author interviews, book reviews, Bryna Butler, romance fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult fiction on February 1, 2013 by rachelcoles

Oi Fellow Indie Lovers,

This week, we are excited to present Bryna Butler, the author of the Guardian series, a series of young adult paranormal novels, and a fun set of books. I just can’t get enough paranormal. Call it urban fantasy, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, pretty much anything but normal. I like anything but normal. I live normal. If I want normal, I just wake up. I want to read about things I can’t do, like shoot lasers out my eyes, fight like a superhero, move things with my mind. That’s the whole point of nice juicy fantasies, right? And to quote the Ranger Marcus Cole from Babylon 5, “If you’re going to have a delusion of grandeur, you might as well make it a really satisfying one!”

So without further ado, here’s Bryna, fellow fantasy author and fellow Neil Gaiman fan! (*Whispering behind hand*) There’s a teaser excerpt, too, that you can’t find except on YA Indie Carnival sites! Enjoy! At the bottom, I’ve provided covers which are links to her books that you can click through and peruse to feed the fantasy in your soul!

Spotlight Interview Questions:

1) What is your all-time favorite book and why?

I adore The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Its style is like nothing else I’ve ever read. I found it to be almost hypnotic with its imagery and near poetic cadence.

2) Is there an author you could be compared to or popular fictional characters your book’s characters could relate to and why?

Because I tend to write about strong female characters, I think that one could draw a comparison with Charlaine Harris. I had the opportunity to meet her this summer and, to my surprise, she is a down-to-earth hillbilly just like me.

3) Can you give us your favorite quote from one of your books and explain it?

One of my favorite quotes comes from my newest book, Shadows Rising. In this scene, Keira faces off against the leader of a group of extremists that believe her charge is keeping her from her destiny. I think this quote is a great mix of Keira’s courage and her youth.

“You keep yapping about my charge being a distraction, but here I am dealing with you again. Leave us and my charge alone or die tonight at my hand. I mean it, jerk wad.”

4) What types of things/people/music inspires you and makes you want to keep writing?

I’m very inspired by my favorite authors. I often name characters, places and things in my stories in homage to these authors and their work. For instance, in the Midnight Guardian series there is a goth girl named Mikayla Collins whom everyone calls Mikey. Mikey is clearly named in honor of Michael Glass and Shane Collins, two of my favorite characters from Rachel Caine’s Morganville series. Her goth look comes from another beloved character in that series. Also, I’m a huge Joss Whedon fan (who isn’t?). If you look hard enough, you will find several subtle references to Buffy and Firefly sprinkled throughout my books.

5) Describe your typical writing day or week.

Just call me the “Night Writer”, not because it sounds like an insanely cool superhero, but because it is true. For me, writing typically begins after the kids are tucked into bed somewhere around 9 p.m. I grab a soda from the fridge and settle in with my laptop. Typically, I first re-read and edit the last thing I wrote before I start writing anything new. That refreshes it in my mind and allows me to move forward.

6) Is there a food or drink do you have to have when you’re writing?

I can’t eat while I write. Sounds good in theory, but it never works in practical application. BBQ sauce on the keys…melted cheese on the screen…a whole chapter about brownies.

7) Can you tell us what you’re working on right now (& possibly provide an excerpt & cover)?

Shadows Rising was released on January 18^th. In this 4th installment in the Midnight Guardian series, Keira and her friends race to rescue her charge before The Harvest and the rise of a new form of evil, the shadows.

Book 5 is well underway with the working title of Book of the Lost and an anticipated late spring release. I’ve also begun work on a young adult werewolf trilogy set in Alaska. The story centers on a girl that walks the line between two feuding werewolf packs.

2) Author Bio

After graduating with the honor of Outstanding Communications Student from the University of Rio Grande, Bryna Butler settled down with her high school sweetheart on their family farm along the banks of the Ohio River. She put her bachelor’s degree in mass communication to use, working in radio and for civic groups before starting her career as an accomplished financial public relations and corporate communications professional. Over the years, she has authored hundreds of publications and press releases.

Butler’s young adult paranormal novels feature strong female leads and are woven from elements of horror, suspense, comedy, and mystery, all in a modern, small town setting.

Butler is inspired by authors like Rachel Caine, Charlaine Harris, Lauren Kate, Cassandra Clare, Stephenie Meyer, and MaryJanice Davidson. Her work contains no profanity or explicit scenes, making it appropriate for pre-teen as well as teen readers.

Book Summaries

OF SUN & MOON (Midnight Guardian #1)

Teens are disappearing in a small river town in southern Ohio as Keira Ryan begins her freshman year. Kidnappings aside, her worries mount as she crushes on an older guy, her best friend starts dating a spoiled cheerleader, and the parents that abandoned her at birth arrive at her doorstep. And, oh yeah, she’s a tooth fairy destined to kick some butt and bring about the end of a royal line of vicious, blood-sucking tyrants. Over the years, humans have pieced together sightings and assumptions to create the myth of the tooth fairy. As it turns out, they were pretty much wrong.

WHISPERING EVIL (Midnight Guardian #2)

Keira Ryan has moved on. It’s the start of her sophomore year at Valley View High School. This means big changes like a new guardian mentor, taking (and passing) her driver’s test, dating her best friend, and figuring out how to stop the new Empress Gammen and her reign of terror. Will she survive it all or will she fall victim to the whispering evil that surrounds her?

MIDNIGHT CHILD (Midnight Guardian #3)

Join Keira Ryan as she chases her destiny in this exciting third installment in the Midnight Guardian Series. While Keira searches, her enemies draw closer. A history of trust is tested. A promise of passion turns deadly. A surviving evil creates doubt and there’s only one way to stop it…Find the Gift. Just what do you get the spoiled gremlin queen that has everything?

SHADOWS RISING (Midnight Guardian #4)

Senior year has begun. Keira Ryan should be worrying about the two boys that are vying for her heart. She should be worrying about Prom. She should be worrying about graduation. But instead of a dress, she’s choosing which dagger to carry. In this fourth installment in the series, Keira and her friends race against time to rescue her charge before The Harvest. They must hurry. Their enemies are bringing forth a new evil to sway the balance. The shadows are rising.

And now here (drumroll, please) is the exclusive excerpt!

The night was warm, even though a slight breeze stirred. Keira made her way through the soybean field. She knew the way over the uneven path, even if she couldn’t see. That was nearly the case as clouds worked to block out the moon and stars. The air was thick; the kind that always preceded the summer rain.

As the dirt started to dimple here and there, her steps came quicker. Cool drops chilled her shoulders left bare by her tank top. Steps turned into a jog as the two-story farmhouse came into sight. If she ran hard enough, she could reach his porch before the downpour.

In seconds, she covered the yard. Just a few strides more would land her on the steps where she could wait out the rain on the porch.

Maybe that’s why it happened. Keira was so focused on escaping the rain. Her sneaker slid on the wet grass. Arms circled wildly over her head, eager to find balance or support. They landed on clean, soft cloth. Her feet skittered beneath her as the man under the white robe grabbed her hair and pulled her head back.

“The guardian,” a whisper rose and echoed among the small group. “The guardian,” their murmurs above the tumbles of the strengthening rain. “The guardian.”

Hands flew to her sides and held her arms out. She pulled against them, but there were too many. “Let me go,” she screamed.

Immediately, they let go. She hadn’t expected it and fell on her knees.

“We wish you no harm, guardian. We have come for the midnight child. Trust that this is for the best,” a tall man said. His mouth barely moved, unmarked by expression or emotion of any kind.

Rain began to pour over them. Keira scanned the group to etch every face into her memory; two eager young men, perhaps twins, with strong chins and light coloring; a plump, young woman with red curls falling out of her hooded cloak; a buxom brunette with a permanent sneer; and a mustached brute with a nasty scar through his left eyebrow.

Then, her eyes flickered back to the leader, a bald man with soulless black eyes. Him she knew. It had taken her only a moment to realize he was the one that crashed Jumper’s last Halloween party. He had come for her charge that night too.

“You know that I will never allow you to take him.”

“Your loyalty is misplaced with the Hayes family,” the bald man answered with a voice that chilled her to the bone. “Allow us to remove the distraction so that you may fulfill your true destiny.”

“He is not a midnight child. He is my charge.”

“He is of no consequence.”

A crack sounded, causing everyone to look up. A dark figure stood on the edge of the roof. He stepped forward and landed softly on the ground. He stood tall beside Keira.

Brun’s voice was heavy with anger. “You heard her. The child is not to be touched.”

“But…” the leader of the group started.

His dispute was not heard because Brun was behind him in the next second. The shine of Brun’s short sword glistened at the man’s ear.

“If you will not listen, perhaps you do not need this ear,” Brun growled. “From this day forward, let it be known that the guardian and I both protect this child. Whoever dares to approach him will succumb to the full wrath of the Empire and Elsted. You will leave now…ahhh!”

The leader wrenched his dagger out of Brun’s side. Blood dripped from the dagger’s edge. Brun stumbled back, his face a mixture of disbelief and horror.

End Excerpt

Upcoming!

Social Media Sites

Blog: www.brynabutler.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/mogdocnews

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorBrynaButler

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/brynabutler/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/thebutlerwroteit

Click on this to access her books!

See what the other YA Carnies are up to this week!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

And now, see what’s new here. There are lots of exciting books coming out soon!

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YA Indie Carnival: Where Do You Escape?

Posted in book reviews, mythology, urban fantasy, writing, young adult fiction with tags book reviews, David Brin, fairy, Greek mythology, Harry Dresden, indie, Irish mythology, Jim Butcher, Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan, writing, young adult fiction on January 25, 2013 by rachelcoles

Hi fellow indie book-lovers! In this day and age of a million kinds of crazy, writers, and people in general love to escape for a while, out of life, out of bills, out of work, out of the house or the world, and into someone else’s world for a while. Some things we read because they are recommended and something important that we ‘should’ read because they have an interesting thought pertinent to the world today. Other books we read simply because they are somewhere we can duck out of the fray for a while. Sometimes those two kinds of reading experiences are in the same books but not always, or at least they don’t have to be.

Lately, I have favored books that are like a bag of movie popcorn. I might get some nutritional value from it if you count popcorn as a vegetable and butter-flavored product as dairy. But I’m not eating it for nutrition. I’m eating it and reveling in the sheer artery-clogging joy of stuffing my face with something that tastes good. Likewise, the books I seek out lately I’m not reading for the intellectual content, whether it has those qualities or not. Some do. They’re like those tasty fruit juices that actually have veggies in them, or broccoli cheese soup. It’s a bowl of molten-lava cheese that happens to have some florets of superfood snuck in, that don’t taste like vegetables because they’re drowned in cheese. What’s not to love?

Books I am reading/have read lately:

Cold Rain (Harry Dresden series) by Jim Butcher

Mark of Athena (read to daughter) by Rick Riordan

Glory Days by David Brin

I devoured Cold Rain in a day and a half. It was like your bag of Halloween candy that you try to space out over the course of weeks, or even a single week, but if you have zero self-restraint like me, you wind up sitting down on the couch and before you know it have wolfed down the entire bag and are left sitting there with a ring of chocolate around your mouth and a guilty look when you realize it’s 3 in the morning and you have to get up for work in 3 hours. It was constantly entertaining, witty banter the whole way, which I can’t get enough of. It was picturesque and fascinating, with his descriptions of faery and the Wild Hunt that were visual and tactile. It was so action-packed that when Harry never catches a break, neither do you. I finished it feeling like I had run the Tough Mudder. But it was also thoughtful, portraying a hostile force in a different light that just re-enforces the sense that there is no black and white, no pure evil or good, that things just aren’t that simple. Those kind of stories are like crack to me. I love reading them and I love writing them.

I am currently reading Mark of Athena to my daughter, having just finished Son of Neptune. We’ve been having fun with the whole Heroes of Olympus and Percy Jackson series’. It revitalizes a mythology that had previously been done to death. I liked his explanations and how he fit everything into the modern world. I am highly entertained by anachronistic writing, taking something from the past and sticking it in the modern world. It’s just fun. The only thing I didn’t like was his portrayal of the god Hades. I don’t know why. Maybe I was too much of a gothy chick in high school, but Hades was one of my favorite Greek gods, and portraying him as a psychotic megalomaniac who spawned the leaders of the Nazis struck a bad chord with me, being Jewish. From my recollection of myth, Hades was relentless and grim, even cruel, but not evil. And I know that he wasn’t really portrayed as evil in the series either. But the comparison was too jarring for me. Perhaps that is my cultural perception of the cadre in charge of the Holocaust which makes me twitch, though I’m sure it wasn’t the first time someone has referred to such people as sons of Hades figuratively. I do like Riordan’s way of writing from different points of view in the Heroes of Olympus series, using different chapters. I have always written from different points of view and have looked for better ways of doing it. So he is influencing my writing as well, in that I am working on breaking things like that into separate chapters, or on being able to portray action for another character better through a different character’s eyes, so that I can keep the same perspective for a while.

From all of these candy and popcorn munching sessions, I get dual benefit: I get to disappear for a while into a world where I can be a fairy or a wizard or a demi-god, instead of a grown-up who has to pay the mortgage and make sure that this or that mundane detail of life gets done. And I get inspiration and tips on how to do things better for my own novels.

Where do you like to escape to, what kind of books do you devour? And what do you get out of it, in your life or in your writing? How do they inspire you?

For other ideas or other reviews of authors, visit the other carnies at the following links!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

And see what’s new and upcoming from the YA Indie Carnival!

Leave A Comment »

Author Spotlight: Suzy Turner

Posted in book reviews, indie, publishing, romance fantasy, urban fantasy, writing, young adult fiction with tags author interviews, romance fantasy, YA fantasy, young adult fiction on January 17, 2013 by rachelcoles

Hiya fellow Indie-lovers,

Starting this week, the YA Indie Carnival will be featuring an up and coming Indie author every other week to showcase, for some great reading! This week you’ll get to know Suzy Turner, author for December Moon. Her books are a fun and action-filled read. So to get to know Suzy, here are some burning questions we want answers to:

1) What is your all-time favorite book and why?
Ooh it’s so tough to just have one book. But I’d probably go with The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I studied the book at college and totally fell in love with it. I guess it was because it was so different to anything I’d ever read. Perhaps the dystopian side of it also appealed. I’m not sure. Strangely though, I’ve never read anything else by Margaret Atwood. Not sure why!

2) Is there an author you could be compared to or popular fictional characters your book’s characters could relate to and why?
Recently, my newest series (The Morgan Sisters) was described by a book blogger as ‘possibly the next Harry Potter’. Clearly this made my decade and I’d love to be compared to the Great Almighty JK, but I would never compare myself to another writer. I’d like to think my writing is my own… kind of unique, you know?

3) Can you give us your favorite quote from one of your books and explain it?
My favourite quote? That’s a toughie, hmmm. How about this…
‘She could hear her heart beating, feel it thudding in her chest. She couldn’t open her mouth; it was too dry. All she wanted to do was scream but she couldn’t even do that. Please God don’t let me die, she thought.
A sudden massive gust of wind took her feet from beneath her and she was forcefully pushed from the top of Carlton Point, falling silently and peacefully to the rocky hills below.’
The reason I like this scene so much is because I have such a vivid image of it in my mind. When you read on to the next chapter, you’ll see that she didn’t actually fall. That image of Lana slowly floating, almost in slow motion, reverberated with me. Almost like a scene from Alice in Wonderland.

4) What types of things/people/music inspires you and makes you want to keep writing?
I am particularly inspired by places. For instance, my first series (The Raven Saga) was inspired by the awesome mountains and forests of Western Canada. My new series (The Morgan Sisters) was inspired by places I’ve been to in London (as well as by a London actor I met last year).
I think the UK is perhaps one of the most inspiring countries I’ve ever been to. Every time I visit (although I’m English, I currently live in Portugal), I am blown away by its capacity to inspire me… with its historical buildings and heritage. I’m actually selling up and moving back to England. One of the reasons why we chose England is because of its hold over me with my writing. I can’t wait! (Anyone wanna buy a villa in the Algarve?)

5) Describe your typical writing day or week.
When I have deadlines, I write every morning until I’ve reached my target (if I’m in the zone, I’ll write a lot more) and then I chill out with my favourite TV show and a nice cup of Rooibos tea

6) Is there a food or drink do you have to have when you’re writing?
Just Rooibos tea and water.

7) Can you tell us what you’re working on right now (& possibly provide an excerpt & cover)?
I’m about to start the second novel in The Morgan Sisters series but it doesn’t have a title yet!

EXCERPT – THE GHOST OF JOSIAH GRIMSHAW
Lightning shattered the darkness. Not even Emma’s thick purple quilt could shut out the light as it filtered through to her closed eyelids. A low echo of rumbling thunder made its way across the North Sea towards Andilyse Island and she shivered. Suddenly something landed on top of her head and she shrieked.
The sounds of laughter emanated from the bed across the room.
‘Lana, you cow,’ shouted Emma as she threw back the covers and tossed the pillow back at her sister who just shook her head and giggled.
‘It’s only a storm. There’s nothing to be scared of.’
‘There is everything to be scared of,’ she replied as she cowered beneath the quilt again.
‘Oh come on, Sis. We’re quite safe in here. This house has been standing for hundreds of years, it’s not like it’s going to collapse is it?’
‘It nearly did the last time,’ Emma croaked.
‘That was like sixty years ago, Em, and none of the houses collapsed. The only thing that took the brunt of the storm was the pier.’
‘And the church.’
‘Exactly. None of the houses. Stop being such a coward. You’re fifteen! It’s a storm, it’s rain, it’s not the end of the world.’
‘It was for all those poor people.’
‘Oh stop being so dramatic. Things were different back in the 50s, Em. We’re safe, now stop worrying.’
The sound of the front door slamming downstairs made both girls jump. Emma glared at Lana before they both hopped out of bed and ran to their bedroom door which they opened, looking down over the banister.
‘Dad?’
Peering up at them from the bottom of the stairs stood an attractive grey-haired man in his early 50s, taking off his soaking coat.
‘Shhh, we don’t want to wake Greg and Lucy,’ he said as he summoned them downstairs.
‘Oh Patrick, they should be in bed too,’ whispered a voice from the kitchen as the two girls skipped down to find out what was going on.
‘You know what they’re like, Audrey,’ he said as he hung his dripping coat on the stand in the hallway. Tutting, his wife promptly removed it and placed it in the sink in the downstairs cloakroom before going back to give him a kiss.
‘What’s happened, Dad?’ asked Emma as she sat huddled up to her sister on the bottom step. A clap of thunder made her jump and she shivered, her eyes wide open with apprehension. Lana rolled her eyes and put her arm protectively around her sister.
‘Let’s have a cup of cocoa,’ Audrey said, recognising the look on her husband’s face. There was bad news.
While they waited for the milk to heat up on the stove, Lana went into the lounge looking for candles as the lights continued to flicker, constantly threatening to go out for good.
‘I’ve found some,’ she said, setting them down on the kitchen table with a box of matches, ‘just in case,’ she smiled. ‘So what’s going on, Dad? Why did you have to go out so late?’
‘He’s the Chief Constable… it’s his job,’ answered their mother as she poured steaming milk into the four mugs, before stirring them as quietly as she could.
Lana stood beside her, adding a spoonful of sugar to her own mug before passing the calming drinks to her family, who stood sipping the chocolatey goodness silently for a moment.
Rubbing his forehead, Patrick put his cocoa down on the table just as the rain began to clatter loudly on the roof tiles.
‘Oh no,’ whispered Emma as she pulled her feet up towards her bottom and rocked back and forth in her seat.
Patrick put his hand on her shoulder, ‘it’s okay sweetheart. It’s just a storm, it’ll pass. Everything will be all right.’
‘Well then why did you have to go out in it, Dad?’ she asked.
‘I was called out to the old Grimshaw farm… Josiah was seen wandering close to the pier again.’
‘What? In this weather? Does he have a death wish?’ said Lana without thinking as her mother tutted, glancing towards Emma. ‘Did you find him? Is he okay?’
‘I’m afraid he’s nowhere to be seen. And in these conditions, it’s impossible to send out a search party. We can’t send out the lifeboat without risking the lives of everyone else, I’m afraid. He’s a silly old man, he should never have been left alone in this storm. Everyone on the island knows how it affects him.’
Audrey patted her husband’s hand, ‘there’d be no stopping him, love. He’s just looking for her.’
‘Well, maybe he’s finally got his wish.’
‘Daddy?’ said an innocent child’s voice from the stairs.
‘Oh we’ve woken the kids,’ said Audrey as she stood up and went to check on her two younger children.
‘Hey sweetheart. Sorry we woke you. Come on, let’s go back to bed,’ she said to her family. ‘There’s nothing we can do now. We should all try and get some sleep.’
SOCIAL NETWORKS:
website: http://suzyturner.com
Blog: http://suzyturner.blogspot.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Suzy-Turner/e/B0050BSH1I
Facebook: http://facebook.com/suzyturnerbooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/suzy_turner
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/suzyturnerbooks
SUZY’S BOOKS
Raven (FREE)

The Raven Saga Part I: Raven

After the inexplicable disappearance of Lilly Taylor’s parents, she has no choice but to move to Canada where she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets… Her whole life had been based on a lie. Lilly had grown up in a loveless home with a father who she had barely ever seen and a mother who was… well, not very motherly. After they mysteriously disappear without a trace, Lilly is sent to Canada where she finds a whole new way of life. A life filled with love and people who care for her. But that’s not all she discovers, Lilly also finds out that she isn’t who, or what, she thinks she is. Lilly has a very special ability and it’s just a matter of time before her true self starts to shine. And when it does, her life will never be the same again.
December Moon

December Moon (The Raven Saga)

On her 15th birthday, December Moon discovers she is the descendant of a family of witches, kept in the dark her entire life in an effort to protect her. But when Lilly, her best friend, finds herself in danger from one of the world’s most evil vampires, December will do everything in her power to stop him.
The Lost Soul

The Lost Soul (The Raven Saga)

December and Lilly have got their work cut out for them. Not only are they desperately trying to figure out the identity of the Lost Soul, and track him down, they’ve also got to investigate why Powell River’s newest resident has got all of their men falling at her feet.
But when they learn that the Nephilim might be involved, it becomes clear that they’re all in extreme danger…
The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw
A Morgan Sisters novel

The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw (The Morgan Sisters)

Adopted sisters Lana Beth and Emma Jane are polar opposites, but when the same strange ‘tattoo’ suddenly appears and winds its way up their bodies within days of each other, they soon realize there’s more to their relationship than they could ever have imagined.
Sent off to London for two weeks of ‘work experience’, the Morgan Sisters soon find themselves being initiated into the ancient Praxos Foundation, one that protects the innocent while fighting evil, both human and supernatural.
At the same time, Lana Beth and Emma Jane must also investigate why the sweet but sometimes pesky ghost of Josiah Grimshaw just won’t leave them alone.

Daisy Madigan’s Paradise (FREE)
A Morgan Sisters novella

Daisy Madigan's Paradise (Morgan Sisters)

When tragedy falls upon 15 year old Daisy Madigan, she escapes to the only place she feels safe, the cemetery of Abney Park. There, in the company of the dearly departed, she realizes she is changing, growing stronger and faster by the day. But in the darkness lurks a terror even she can’t imagine facing.
Daisy Madigan’s Paradise is a Morgan Sisters novella. Check out The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw, the full length first novel in the series.
AUTHOR BIO
Suzy Turner has worked as a journalist, assistant editor, features editor, magazine editor and has even been the Script Supervisor for a full length feature film. Early in 2010 however, she began writing full time and has since completed a trilogy for young adults, The Raven Saga (the first of which is FREE) and started a brand new series, The Morgan Sisters. The first full length novel in this series, The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw is now available, as is a shorter novella, Daisy Madigan’s Paradise which is FREE!
Although Suzy is a Yorkshire lass at heart, she left her home town of Rotherham, UK, to move to Portugal with her family when she was ten. For now, the Algarve continues to be her home, where she lives with her childhood sweetheart and husband of 14 years, Michael.

Here are the covers to some of her books. They will link right to her Amazon pages.

What else is new to see in the YA Indie Carnival?

And check out some of our other carnies and their blogs for some great writing insight! We have a new carnie: Healther Sutherlin, YA fantasy writer, so be sure and stop by her site!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy

4 Comments »

YA Indie Carnival: End of The World

Posted in book reviews, indie, publishing, urban fantasy, young adult fiction with tags end of the world, Mayan calendar, young adult fantasy, young adult fiction on December 14, 2012 by rachelcoles

Well, 12/21/2012 is coming up, and ‘it’s the End of the World as we know it’, insert REM melody here. Or is it? In answer to that, I am sharing cartoons I got from Facebook:

We anthropologists can be evil. I recently heard a very funny suggestion to leave the date 12/21/12 graffiti and carvings everywhere to freak out future generations. Except that I don’t want to encourage vandalism for the sake of an evil archaeological joke. When I was on a dig for an internship years ago, we took a core sample from a swamp. When the tube was down in the swamp, someone dropped a penny down there, that irresistible urge to mess with people’s perception of time. And I do think it’s really fascinating to watch different people’s reactions to the Mayan calendar. Some people spout off terrible jokes, like me. Other people use it as an opportunity to do things they always wanted to do but never did, like stand up to a horrible boss, or ask a girl out, or take a vacation they never took. One thing is sure, despite my snark about it, ‘the end of the world’ is a great excuse to get courage to do something I’ve been putting off, and a great reminder to me to live each day as if it really was my last, which could be true. I could get hit by a bus…or a meteor…or maybe a flaming toilet seat from a Russian space station, if you have ever watched Dead Like Me.

That being said, what would you do if it were the end of the world? Akin to the ageless ‘What if you were trapped on a desert island’ question, what movie, book, song would you want to go out watching, reading, singing, as you kiss your ass goodbye while drinking a beer?

If you post on any of the YA Carnie sites here, or listed below, and you visit and post on the YA Author central website, you are eligible to win a prize package of books! Just enter your name in the rafflecopter.

In addition, I am giving away an e-copy of my book Pazuzu’s Girl, to anyone who posts as long as you get me your contact information so I can send the link to collect the e-book.

See what other Carnies think about ‘The End of the World’!

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long \| Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy

3 Comments »

Rachel Coles. Geek Mom.

Archive for the book reviews Category

YA Indie Carnival–Author Spotlight: Melissa Pearl!

YA Indie Carnival–Author Spotlight: KC Blake

YA Indie Carnival–Goodreads: What’s Good and What’s Not

YA Indie Carnival Author Spotlight: T.R. Graves!

YA Indie Carnival: Smashwords and other e-books—Are they worth it?

YA Indie Carnival: Author Spotlight–Laura Elliot

YA Indie Carnival: Author Spotlight–Bryna Butler

YA Indie Carnival: Where Do You Escape?

Author Spotlight: Suzy Turner

YA Indie Carnival: End of The World

Rachel Coles

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Rachel Coles

Author Contact Information

New Release Novel!

Email Subscription

What Fears Become: Horror Anthology

My Stories: Beyond The Veil

My Stories: Into The Ruins

Pages

Blogroll

Meta

Follow “Rachel Coles. Geek Mom.”