Still Time to Win ARCs

There's still time to enter  my two ARC giveaways I posted Monday and Tuesday. Super Easy to enter!!! :) Just go to my Monday and Tuesday posts to sign up for both!

Musical Motivation

So I'm back on the writing train and I thought I'd share some of the songs that inspired my latest twisted, shiny, new idea. I think just from the vibe of the songs you'll get an idea of my new manuscript is gonna be like. Ready? Here goes...

Five Finger Death Punch: Bad Company


Bobaflex: Bury Me With My Guns On


Skillet: Hero


Halestorm: I Get Off


Stone Sour: Through The Glass


Blue October



Now, I've shared a few of mine, what are you listening too these days??????? Comment and share peeeeeze! :)

ARC Giveaway Day Two! Songs for a Teenage Nomad

Some of you that follow me on twitter know I am cleaning out some of my ARCs, so here's my second giveaway this week:


Title: Songs for a Teenage Nomad
By Km Culbertson
Published: (Now this is tricky) Originally in 2007 but Source Fire books picked it up and now it's pub date Sept 2010--I was shocked BTW when I looked it up on Amazon and discovered one copy from '07 was $999.99.
Special Note: Uncorrected Advanced Copy

After living in twelve places in eight years with her drifting mother, fourteen year old Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Fearful of putting down roots anywhere, but armed with her song journal, she moves to her own soundtrack through a world that bounces her between the school drama crowd, a mysterious loner, and an unlikely boy with a secret. But Calle has her own secrets. The troubling truth she uncovers about the father she thought abandoned her is the catalyst that forces Calle to face the toughest choice of her young life.

Kim Culbertson has been a high school English, Creative Writing and drama teacher for over ten years in both public and private schools. Song journaling, which is her protagonist's defense mechanism, is a technique she consistently uses in her classrooms to inspire teenagers to express themselves using something they love. Kim lives in the Northern California foothills with her husband and daughter, where she loves to drink coffee and look at the clouds.

"I can't imagine anyone not liking this book. Using music in a teen book contributes to the authenticity of the story. I think there are many, many teens that will see themselves in this book and it will help to validate who they are."-Ben Franklin Award Judge

"Songs for a Teenage Nomad will send you searching for songs with meaning for the major events of your own life."-Cindy Hudson, author of Book by Book

"Culbertson gives an independent voice to the teen genre."-Sedona Red Rock News

"Like losing yourself in the melody of your favorite songs, Kim Culbertson's Songs For A Teenage Nomad is so engrossing, so transporting, so moving, I didn't want it to end! A beautiful, lyrical read--I loved every last word of it."--Alyson Noel, #1 NEW YORK TIMES best selling author of THE IMMORTAL SERIES

To win this one, just comment with your email (so I can find you if you win) and share the contest in some format (My retweet and facebook share buttons count!). Contest closes Next Tuesday at Midnight and winner posted on Thrusday. Good Luck!!!

PS: My sister blogs are doing giveaways too!  Fiction Flurry and Got YA

***Special Note: I ship within the US only. Sorry, guys, I'm poor! LOL***

ARC Giveaway of THE DEATH (and Further Adventures) of SILAS WINTERBOTTOM

Hey gang!

I've gotten quite a few ARCs in my mailbox the past couple of weeks (doubles of some even) and I wanted to give you guys a chance to get your hands on some. Today's ARC that is up for grabs is THE DEATH (and further adventures) of SILAS WINTERBOTTOM by Stephen Giles published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. This book comes out next month, but here's your chance to win it before you can buy it!!

Product Description


And you thought your family was strange.

I am dying. . . I might get the chance to know you before death takes me...I would like you to be my guest at Sommerset

Uncle Silas has always been greedy, evil, insulting, and extremely rich! But a dying uncle with a vast fortune is definitely one worth getting to know. Even if it means spending 2 months on his secluded island home with a houseful of suspicious servants and a hungry pet crocodile.

But what is Uncle Silas really up to? Will Adele, Milo, and Isabella outlive Uncle Silas to inherit his money? And just who is that mysterious "guest" in his basement? Is it worth the money (or their lives) to stick around and find out?



About the Author

Stephen M. Giles lives near the beach in Sydney, Australia. He describes himself as a market researcher of staggering mediocrity, but these days he spends most of his time wandering around his imagination-which is where he met the Winterbottoms.

Now to enter to win just leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you and retweet it using my nifty little retweet button on the post. Thats it! I'll use a number randomizer to select the winner and post the winner next Monday.
 
***SPECIAL NOTE: This contest is open to people in the US only. Sorry guys :(***

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff ARC review

Title: The Replacement

By: Brenna Yovanoff

Published: September 21st 2010 by Razorbill

Details: Hardcover, 352 pages

Special Note: ARC Review

 

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants.

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

My Thoughts:

The entire town of Gentry knows that their human children are stolen and murdered by monsters, but they seem to be okay with the sacrifice in order to keep their town the happy place it is. This novel creates a intriguing world that is full of mystery.


Mackie Doyle is one of the creepiest main characters I've come across in a while, but I will say he is very likable and he won me over very easily. Mackie has this venerability that makes you root for him even though he's not quite human and was placed in a crib to replace a human baby that had been stolen and sacrificed. While the creatures under the hill may be evil, Mackie isn't, and strives to just be "normal". Iron, even the slight amount in blood, causes Mackie to go into a toxic shock type syndrome, which adds to the struggle to live in the human world.


This novel is a great YA mystery. The kind where you have to figure out exactly what Mackie is why these creatures under the hill suddenly want him back.


If you like creepy YA told from a male first person point of view with a little bit of romance sprinkled in, this one's for you.