Contest Linky

One of my favorite book reviewers, Tina Fantastic, has a contest posted to win Angel Star by Jennifer Murgia.

 I absolutly cannot wait to read this one! Head on over to Tina's blog to enter!

Teaser Tuesday!!

This is from page two of my new WIP. Hopefully, this story jump starts my writing mojo. With that being said, here's my disclaimer: CAUTION--Super, Duper Rough Draft!

As always comments, thoughts, questions...are appreciated.

Title: I Was Dead Once

Scene: Mainstreaming

SNIPPED--Thanks for Stopping By~~~Annie~~~~

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Title: Hex Hall
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Genre: Young Adult, UF

"Product Description

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her."--Amazon Discription

My Thoughts:

Sophie has to be one of the best main characters I've read in a long time. She completely drew me in. She held my attention so much, in fact, I couldn't put the book down. I stayed up all night just to finish this book, and I wasn't disappointed. It had everything that I like in a novel: likable main character, tempting love interest whose totally forbidden, and mystery. Rachel Hawkins has gained one more fan in me, and I even looked up her blog where she announced that the sequel to Hex Hall will be titled Demonglass.
 
Can't wait!!!

PS--I thought I'd share this cover with you all. Kind of reminds me of the craft, only Mean Girls style.

Flash Back Fridays: Old School Fashion

Just because I am a total follower, I'm posting a Flashback Friday because my good friend, Krista Ashe, tossed up some TOTALLY AWESOME posts at her blog and over at GotYA. So anyway the topic is 80s and 90s fashion, and because you all are cool, I'm willing to share some old 80s and 90s personal trends with you.

Ah, yes, the 80s. Time of the fabulous bowl cuts, even for girls (Thanks Mom). As you can see I was less than enthused with my fake Santa while I rocked my multicolored fish sweatshirt and I'm sure high-water pants. I'm so glad we don't "peg" our pants anymore. LOL

The 90s *Sigh*, I really can't say anything bad about these days other than they were, like, totally radical. Like most people who write young adult novels, I too loved high school, and would love to have it to do over again. Where are those dang wish granting fairies when you need them. Besides buying a hair straightener, I think I would also encourage myself to pay more attention in English class, and less time worrying about boys. If we only knew then, what we know now, right??

So now that I've shared a little personal flashback with you, anything from your past that you miss or totally wish you could do over???

Winner of The Summoning

A BIG congrats to Karla Nellenbach!!! She is the winner of a signed copy of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong!! I'll be contacting you via email!!! Thanks to everyone who enetered!!

*special hint for my followers: If you like Melissa Marr, make sure to check out GotYA tomorrow!!*

Hailey Twitch is Not a Snitch by Lauren Barnholdt

PLOT:
"Seven-year-old Hailey Twitch knows three things for sure: who she’s the boss of, how to throw a tantrum, and above all, how to get exactly what she wants. But all that changes when Hailey gets paired up with annoying Addie Jokobeck on the class project. No matter what Hailey does, she can’t seem to change her teacher’s mind.



At home, a cranky Hailey is feeling sorry for herself when – poof! -- Maybelle, a magic sprite, comes flying out of Hailey’s dollhouse. Maybelle’s on probation with the Department of Magic, and on a special mission to get Hailey to have fun.


The only problem? The invisible Maybelle starts causing a lot of trouble, and when Hailey’s teacher wants to know who’s to blame, Hailey takes responsibility. After all, Hailey Twitch is not a snitch! Now if only Hailey can convince the Department of Magic that Maybelle has reformed…"

Excerpt:

"Addie Jokobeck sits next to me in Miss Stephanie's second grade class. Right now she is moving her pencil up and down and across while we practice our words that begin with T. Her pencil is just plain blue. It does not have glitter on it. Or feathers. Or sparkles. Like mine. That's 'cause Addie Jokobeck thinks glitter and feathers and sparkles make your printing wobbly.


"Hailey," Addie whispers. "I think you should be keeping your eyes on your own paper." She smiles at me. Addie Jokobeck is really in love with rules.


"Class," Miss Stephanie says from her big desk at the front of the room. "I have a special announcement."


I sit up and pay attention. I love special announcements, as long as they are not: "Hailey Twitch, please keep your eyes right on your own paper."


"We are going to be doing a special project," Miss Stephanie says. "For School Diversity Week, you will each be making food from a different country, and dressing up as a person from that country. Your parents will be helping you, and you will be working with a partner."


Partners! I love to work in partners! It is like half the work with twice the fun! I quickly look to the front of the room for Antonio Fuerte. Antonio is from Mexico. He told me it is very hot and beautiful there. I try to catch his eye by wiggling my eyebrows up and down and giving him a look. The look says, "Me and you will be partners." My second choice for a partner is my friend Russ Robertson. This is because Russ is very easy to boss. I try to give Russ that same look. But then Miss Stephanie says, "You will be partners with the person you sit next to in class."


Miss Stephanie is a very good teacher. She has long blond hair and wears lots of dress-up pants. But she is not very good when she is telling me I am going to be partners with Addie Jokobeck who is really in love with rules. Addie Jokobeck gives me a big wide smile, so big that I can see the space of her one missing tooth on the top.


I raise my hand. "Maybe we should pick our own partners," I say. "That might be fun." "No," Miss Stephanie says. Then Miss Stephanie says that me and Addie Jokobeck will be doing the country of France. "Oooh, I love France," Addie says. "That's where French fries come from."


"My grandma has a French poodle," I tell her. "It's a girl dog, but she named it Stewart after my grandpa. It still goes to the bathroom a lot on her rug, even though she's had it for five whole years." Addie looks shocked. "France is not as exciting as Mexico," I say. "It is very boring in France, I think, if the best thing they have there is French fries." On the way out of school, the meanest girl in room four, Natalie Brice, twirls around and says, "I am partners with Antonio."


"That's nice," I say. Natalie Brice is not my friend because she thinks she is the boss of me. Being the boss of someone means that you are in charge of them. It means if you want them to do something you say, "You are going to do this right now," and they say, "Okay."


My Thoughts:

This is a great chapter book for kids. It jumps into some magical realism they can relate to and easily comprehend. Lauran Barnholt has done a wonderful job wording things in a way that kids can grasp what is going on without being confused by words too big for their vocabulary. I typically don't read these types of books for this website, but Lauren is such a talented YA writer, I thought I'd share this wonderful chapter book written by her. The main character, Hailey Twitch, is so funny. Her internal thought process is great and made me laugh. I think any school-aged kid who picks it up is going to enjoy it.

Win A Signed Copy of The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Thanks to my recent adventure at the Romantic Times Book Lovers Convention I have some Awesome goodies that I will be giving away over the next few weeks. I met some kick ass authors and had some pretty amazing conversations with them. They also gave me some books to give away to their fans. You can see my video of the event HERE of all the authors that could be in my next givaway.

(Amy McElfresh, Kelley Armstrong, Annie McElfresh)

So I'll start off with a giveaway on my personal blog of  a signed copy of Kelley Armstrong's THE SUMMONING. This is the first book in the series.

The first book completely sucked me in and I love, love, loved it! If you haven't read the first book in the darkest powers series, here's the plot:

From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up—"A well-written opening to a paranormal series. Chloe, 15, has the ability to see dead people, but before she can figure out what is happening, she has a breakdown, is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and placed in a group home. She befriends some of the teens at Lyle House and tries to accept her treatment. However, two of her more mysterious housemates suggest that maybe she isn't crazy. Derek tells her to look up necromancy on the Internet, and she finds out that it's the ability to communicate with the spirits of the dead. He appears to have superstrength, and his foster brother has magical powers. Chloe's roommate, who causes things to fly around the room when she becomes angry, is taken away to a hospital and never heard from again. When she returns in Chloe's visions, Chloe suspects foul play, a misgiving confirmed when the dead speak to her again and reveal that they were "supernaturals" who were experimented on, killed, and buried in the home's basement many years before. Together with her new friends, Chloe escapes Lyle House, only to be betrayed. This suspenseful novel sets up a secret underworld where some people support and help supernaturals, while others persecute them. Armstrong combines bits of horror, teen relationships, and a dash of mystery to create a page-turner. Readers will look forward to the next installment."—Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

You can find my review of the second book in the series, The Awakening, here.

A Big THANK YOU to Kelley Armstrong (twitter link) for signing for me and for giving me the third book in her series, The Reckoning. I can't wait to read it!!

Okay on to the Contest:

Just complete the form below and I will use a number randomizer to pick a winner. The winner will be announced next Wednesday and I will contact them via email, so contest entry ends next Tuesday 05/11/10 at 11:59pm.

To make it easy here are the links you will need to enter:

Fiction Flurry

GotYA

My Twitter

 Good Luck!!

Romantic Times Convention Recap!

I think the video gives you a pretty good idea of what went down at Romantic Times Conference this year. I will say the mission to get author signatures I told you guys about was a success!!! Stay tuned for some awesome giveaways at this blog and the two other blogs I am a team member of. :)

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves

Plot:
"From Booklist


After her father’s death, 16-year-old Hanna hitchhikes to Portero, Texas, the home of her mother, Rosalee, who abandoned her. Hanna is desperate for Rosalee to love and accept her, and Rosalee reluctantly makes a bargain: Hanna has two weeks to make friends and fit in at her school or she won't be allowed to stay. Hanna has never fit in anywhere, though. Struggling with manic depression, she hears voices and hallucinates, wears only purple dresses, and has a history of violence. Portero is no ordinary town, though, and Hanna learns that it is haunted by doors to other dimensions and plagued by dangerous creatures from those realms. Wyatt, a powerful young initiate in the Mortmaine, a demon-hunting organization, recruits Hanna, and together they struggle to deal with an ancient evil that threatens the town and Hanna’s future. With plenty of sex and violence, this is a book for mature teens, who will find Portero to be an intriguing world and biracial Hanna a startlingly unusual heroine with a poignant, memorable voice. Grades 10-12." --Lynn Rutan
 
My Thoughts:
I was immediatly drawn to Hanna, mainly because she has a mental illness like my main character in DEMON, and I love the elements that adds to the story. Literally, anything can happen when characters have such a major flaw.
 
The first three chapters absolutly blew me away. The tension was great and I was on the edge of my seat because my curiosity was so peaked. I won't give it away, but you will be like WHOA.