Guest Post: Author Shelly Crane

Maggie is a seventeen year old girl who's had a bad year. She was smart and on track, but then her mom left, her dad is depressed, she's graduating - barely - and her boyfriend of almost three years dumped her for a college football scholarship. Lately she thinks life is all about hanging on by a thread and is gripping tight with everything she has.
Then she saves the life of Caleb and instantly knows there's something about him that's intriguing. But things change when they touch, sparks ignite. Literally.
They imprint with each other and she sees their future life together flash before her eyes. She learns that not only is she his soul mate, and can feel his heartbeat in her chest, but there is a whole other world of people with gifts and abilities that she never knew existed. She herself is experiencing supernatural changes unlike anything she's ever felt before and she needs the touch of his skin to survive.
Now, not only has her dad come out of his depression to be a father again, and a pain as well, but Caleb's enemies know he's imprinted and are after Maggie to stop them both from gaining their abilities and take her from him.

Can Caleb save her or will they be forced to live without each other after just finding one another?

 

Top 25

 

1) First, I'm a paperback addict. Like a real one. I need meetings. It's bad. But I love it.

 

2) I could watch Kitchen Nightmares reruns all. Day. Long. I'm obsessed.

3) My favorite color is Teal. (Go Jags!)

4) My absolute favorite place to be is a balcony at the beach.

5) I eat green olives out of the jar.

 

6) My uber favorite band right now is Imagine Dragons. But my all-time favorite is Snow Patrol.

7) I love mushy, gushy, ooey-gooey books. If I can find real YA books that focus on the love story, I'm hooked!

8) I've read Vampire Academy, The Host, and Callum & Harper like fifteen times.

9) My two boys are hilarious and lots of times give me book ideas without even realizing.

 

10) I'm a very quiet person, which usually surprises people b\c I'm not really that way online.

 

11) I get in full-blown panic when I have to speak in front of a group of people.

 

12) Black licorice makes me gag.

 

13) I have a deep, deep love for turtle cheesecake.

 

14) My curly hair has been the bane of my existence since birth.

 

15) My body wakes itself up at 7 every morning. No idea why.

 

16) I wrote Significance in three weeks.

 

17) I would rather eat playdough than do dishes.

 

18) Speaking of playdough, it's fun. It was my fav thing to do with my boys when they were little.

 

19) I was chased by a deer once.

 

20) I was also chased by a cow. I only survived by my mad running skills.

 

21) I served Brett Micheals at Sonny's BBQ in Jacksonville where I worked 12 years ago.

 

22) First day at a new school, freshman year, I fainted in gym class because I didn't eat lunch. Go me.

 

23) I wanted to be a cop when I was a kid. That stuck until junior year of high school.

 

24) The thing I most want for my boys is to know how to treat a girl with respect and don't settle. The right person is out there for everyone if you'll just wait for them.

 

25) I believe in love at first sight. I believe in destiny and fate. I believe in Santa Claus.

 

About the Author:

 

 

 

Shelly is a New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author from a small town in Georgia and loves everything about the south. She is wife to a fantastical husband and stay at home mom to two boisterous and mischievous boys who keep her on her toes. They currently reside in everywhere USA as they happily travel all over with her husband's job. She loves to spend time with her family, binge on candy corn, go out to eat at new restaurants, buy paperbacks at little bookstores, site see in the new areas they travel to, listen to music everywhere and also LOVES to read.
Her own books happen by accident and she revels in the writing and imagination process. She doesn't go anywhere without her notepad for fear of an idea creeping up and not being able to write it down immediately, even in the middle of the night, where her best ideas are born.

 

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Guest Post: Jodi from Touch of Death by Kelly Hashway

Jodi knows that any slip-ups made by the Ophi--a special group of necromancers born under the 13th sign of the zodiac--will fall on her shoulders... and that Hades is just waiting for them to screw up so he can wipe out the Ophi line.

Unfortunately, Jodi has only convinced one Ophi to join her school: A hot guy named Chase who jeopardizes her relationship with Alex. Jodi loves Alex, but Chase can enhance her powers with just a touch—making her stronger than any Ophi has ever been.

Her mixed emotions send her powers surging out of control, and the dead start rising without her conscious summoning—exactly what Hades doesn't want! If she chooses Alex over Chase, she may lose the battle to Hades, leading the Ophi race to extinction. If she chooses Chase, she might be able to stop Hades for good… but lose everything else.

Jodi needs to figure things out fast--because death is stalking her at every turn.

 

Jodi Marshall and the Men in Her Life

 

There really aren’t any words to describe the men in my life, but I’ll give it my best shot. Alex is probably the best boyfriend any girl can ask for. Does he get jealous? Of course. He’s a guy. But he puts up with a lot, which sort of comes with the territory when you date the Chosen One. We met under weird circumstances considering he stalked me and then tore me out of my life to bring me to the Ophi school, but he saved my mom’s life and I think I suspected all along that he wasn’t trying to hurt me or be creepy. He’s just not good around humans, and knowing what I know about his past, I can understand why. So even with his flaws, he’s perfect in my eyes.

 

Next there’s Chase. Ugh. I can’t even begin to tell you how much that guy makes me want to punch him. He’s manipulative and controlling, yet my blood is drawn to his. It’s so unfair. I can’t help thinking having him in my life is punishment for all the bad things I’ve done—even if I didn’t do them on purpose. Chase is wicked hot, too, which makes it all that much worse.

 

Speaking of wicked hot, let’s move on to Hades. He’s the only guy I know that’s worse than Chase. Hades hates the Ophi and wants us all dead. Let me tell you, having him for an enemy is just as good as a death sentence. Good thing I’m a necromancer. (Yes, that was a really poor attempt at a joke.) If you ask me, Hades only hates the Ophi because he feels threatened by us. We aren’t gods, yet we have so much power and can steal his souls from the underworld. You can bet that gets his boxers in a bunch.

 

Looking at my guy issues, it’s no wonder that I had an absentee dad growing up. But I’ve come to find out that wasn’t his fault. You can’t exactly be around for your kid when you’re dead. Well…that’s not entirely true since I’ve raised my dad’s soul more than once. But while I don’t really know my own father, I have Tony. He’s more than just a teacher at the Ophi school.  He’s a friend and the closest thing to a dad I’ve ever known. He looks out for me and always has my back.

 

So those are the guys in my life. They all complicate my life in some way since I’m the one in charge of the Ophi, and that means I have to find a way to live with them. And Alex’s solution of just locking the two of us in a room and ignoring everyone else forever isn’t going to work no matter how many times he tries to tell me otherwise.

 

About the Author:

 

I write for children of all ages from picture books up to young adult. I am proudly represented by Lauren Hammond of ADA Management. My debut YA, TOUCH OF DEATH, releases January 15, 2013 through Spencer Hill Press. Also look for my other upcoming YA novels: STALKED BY DEATH (Spencer Hill Press, July 23, 2013), THE MONSTER WITHIN (Spencer Hill Press, April 2014), THE DARKNESS WITHIN (Spencer Hill Press, TBA), and INTO THE FIRE (Month9Books, spring 2014). My debut MG series CURSE OF THE GRANVILLE FORTUNE releases fall 2014 through Month9Books.

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Countdown: December 2013

 

 The holidays are almost here and for me, it's always a crazy busy time of year, as it is for a lot of people.  But with all the craziness also comes a lot of fun.  There are family get togethers, friends celebrating left and right, the wrapping of packages (which my family has made an art form) and the giving of gifts.  As much as I love to receive presents (I mean who doesn't?) I actually love giving them even more.  Picking out the perfect present for someone, wrapping it up to make it even more personal, and seeing the faces of loved ones open up a great gift that they'll love is the best ever!  While I do try to find perfect presents for everyone on my shopping list, I also tend to throw in a book along with whatever else I've found them.  Bibliophiles or not, I enjoy helping to add or create a library/collection of great books for everyone on my list.  Here are a few coming out in December that I'd love to receive and might possibly throw in for some friends and family as well.

Countdown Pick #1:  Ink is Thicker Than Water by Amy Spalding (12/03/2013)

For Kellie Brooks, family has always been a tough word to define. Combine her hippie mom and tattooist step dad, her adopted overachieving sister, her younger half brother, and her tough-love dad, and average Kellie’s the one stuck in the middle, overlooked and impermanent. When Kellie’s sister finally meets her birth mother and her best friend starts hanging with a cooler crowd, the feeling only grows stronger.

But then she reconnects with Oliver, the sweet and sensitive college guy she had a near hookup with last year. Oliver is intense and attractive, and she’s sure he’s totally out of her league. But as she discovers that maybe intensity isn’t always a good thing, it’s yet another relationship she feels is spiraling out of her control.

It’ll take a new role on the school newspaper and a new job at her mom’s tattoo shop for Kellie to realize that defining herself both outside and within her family is what can finally allow her to feel permanent, just like a tattoo.

I'm not sure that I've read or heard anything that sounds quite like this one, and different is usually a good thing.  Especially when you find yourself following a good deal of series, and sticking within the same types of genres a good deal of the time.  A change of pace, and a revisit with Spalding's great writing style sounds like a great plan for December.

Countdown Pick #2:  These Broken Stars (Starbound, #1) by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (12/10/2013)

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

The first in a sweeping science fiction trilogy, These Broken Stars is a timeless love story about hope and survival in the face of unthinkable odds.

I think science fiction is going to making itself into a strong presence towards the end of this year and moving into the beginning of 2014.  Everywhere I turn there seems to be another new title that fits the bill that I find myself wanting to add to my list and this one is no different.

Countdown Pick #3:  The Initiate: A Divergent Story (Divergent, #0.2) by Veronica Roth (12/17/2013)

With no description available from the publisher for this novella quite yet, all I can say is that even with the third and final installation coming out in the Divergent trilogy back in October, I don't think anyone is ready to say goodbye quite yet.  So each and every bit Roth and the publishing house is willing and ready to give readers, I think we'll all take it with no complaints, am I right?  This will be the second novella in what I've heard will be out of four total.  So at least with this one's release right around the corner, we still have another two to look forward to checking out.

Countdown Pick #4:  Ashes to Ashes by Melissa C. Walker (12/23/2013)

If I Stay meets the movie Ghost in this first book in a teen duology about a teenage-girl-turned-ghost who must cling to the echoes of her former life to save the people she left behind.

Ashes to Ashes is author Melissa Walker's sweeping, romantic, and emotionally rich story about the things that torment and tempt us, even from the Great Beyond. This book is perfect for fans of Die for Me and Imaginary Girls, and its breathtaking ending will leave readers anxiously awaiting the series conclusion, Dust to Dust.

When Callie's life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven.

Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.

If this is even close to Gayle Forman's If I Stay, I'm sure I'll love it.  That book stayed with me long after I finished the last page, and I still recommend it to everyone every chance I get.  This one seems to have put a unique spin on the afterlife that I'm anxious to read more about.

Countdown Pick #5:  Strykers by K.M. Ruiz (12/24/2013)

250 years after nuclear war, the dregs of humanity fight to survive on a ruined Earth while the rich and powerful plan to secretly ascend to another planet. But the enslaved soldiers of the elite rulers are a deadly new kind of human who are desperate for freedom and plan on fighting back against their masters.

Threnody Corwin, a psion with the ability to channel electricity like lightning through anything she touches, is a soldier for the human government. On a suicide mission, Threnody and her team of Strykers are recruited by an unknown enemy: Lucas Serca, one of the most powerful psions alive, who is masquerading as human. Forming an uneasy alliance, the two groups escalate their fight with the ruling government and worldwide chaos ensues. When a new kind of psion power is discovered that could reshape the wasted planet, the renegades must race to save society before it destroys itself, but the cost is high and in the end, there is no such thing as compromise.

In this novel from K.M. Ruiz, there is only survival.

Survivalist stories will never get old.  Much like the good majority of us out there can't resist rooting for the underdog, watching/reading about characters that are forced to survive obstacles and situations that we may or may not have had any experience with is addicting.

In My Mailbox (117)

This is a meme that I first heard about from Kristi over at The Story Siren and immediately wanted to jump on board. I'm always picking up new books, because I never tire of reading, but the other thing I like about this meme is that it gives everyone an opportunity to check out what other book fanatics, bloggers, etc... got for themselves. I've gotten great recommendations from this meme and hope that keeps up in the future.

Here's what I got, what did you guys get this week?

For Review:

Beautifully Broken (Spellbound, #1) by Sherry Soule (Thanks to Sherry)

 

Thirteenth Daughter. Heritage Witch. Demon Slayer.

They say every town has its secrets, but that doesn’t even begin to describe Whispering Pines. The townsfolk are a superstitious lot and the mystical disappearance of a local teen has everyone murmuring about a centuries old witch’s curse.

Sixteen-year-old Shiloh Ravenwolf is a heritage witch from the Broussard family, a family both destined and cursed. When she takes a summer job at Ravenhurst Manor, she discovers a ghost with an agenda. That’s where she meets the new town hottie, Trent Donovan, and immediately becomes spellbound by his charms.

Finally, Shiloh's met someone who is supercute and totally into her, but Trent may be the next victim on the supernatural hit list. And Shiloh is the only person with the power to save him. Complicated much?

It sucks to have a destiny, especially since Shiloh would rather spend her summer being a normal girl who worries about clothes and boys, not the supernatural. But she’s never been normal and the stranger things become the more her own magical senses awaken.

With cryptic messages from a pesky wraith, she will begin to understand the mysterious significance of the strange mark branded on her wrist and decide how much she's willing to sacrifice to protect the other teenagers in town.

Unfortunately, for Shiloh, not all ghosts want help crossing over. Some want vengeance.

Shattered Silence (Spellbound, #2) by Sherry Soule (Thanks to Sherry)

Dark Magick. Town Curses. Dangerous Secrets.
Shiloh Trudell wishes she were an ordinary girl. But for as long as she can remember, she has seen demons—otherworldly creatures that prey on the innocent—including her classmates.

Sure, she loves shopping, gossiping with her friends, rebelling against her parents, and her overwhelming attraction to the one boy that seems to ‘get’ her. Yet deep down, Shiloh knows she isn’t like other teenage girls. There’s the gift of Sight (Yes, she can see dead people), the new magical powers—oh, and the lessons on demon hunting.

With the clock ticking and the body count rising, Shiloh resolves to learn more about the deadly curse inhabiting the town of Fallen Oaks, as well as the ominous shadows that seems to follow just a few steps behind Trent Donovan, local hottie and Shiloh’s current crush. For reasons, she can’t explain she’s inexplicably drawn to Trent and the haunting world of Craven Manor.

It seems the secrets infused within the town have long tendrils, infiltrating Craven Manor as well as its inhabitants and the other townspeople. Even Shiloh and Trent—especially Shiloh and Trent—are not immune from the darkness. And she knows Trent’s hiding something, but he’s not the only one with a dark secret.

Someone in Fallen Oaks has put out a supernatural hit list on the teenagers in town, and now it’s up to Shiloh to face her worst fears, and then fight like hell…

Cover Reveal: The Last Child of Hamelin by Ray Ballantyne

Sixty years have passed, and the people of Hamelin have yet to heal from the loss of their children to the Pied Piper. Pieter has grown up in a town without joy, without hope, without music. Yet his heart is full of songs and tunes he cannot express.

He often escapes to the side of Koppelberg Mountain, the very spot where the children disappeared, and there he can hear what he thinks no one else can—the notes of the Piper’s song still floating on the air. But there is another who hears: Old Simon, who as a boy, was left behind.

Pieter’s musical gift creates a connection with the piper of legend, but will Pieter be able to control the magic of his music or will it control him, as it did the Pied Piper?

Title: The Last Child of Hamelin
Author: Ray Ballantyne
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
ISBN: 978-1-937053-55-0
Release Date:  August 2014
Formats: Paperback, e-book

 

 

 

Author Interview: Amy Spalding

For Kellie Brooks, family has always been a tough word to define. Combine her hippie mom and tattooist stepdad, her adopted overachieving sister, her younger half brother, and her tough-love dad, and average Kellie’s the one stuck in the middle, overlooked and impermanent. When Kellie’s sister finally meets her birth mother and her best friend starts hanging with a cooler crowd, the feeling only grows stronger.

But then she reconnects with Oliver, the sweet and sensitive college guy she had a near hookup with last year. Oliver is intense and attractive, and she’s sure he’s totally out of her league. But as she discovers that maybe intensity isn’t always a good thing, it’s yet another relationship she feels is spiraling out of her control.

It’ll take a new role on the school newspaper and a new job at her mom’s tattoo shop for Kellie to realize that defining herself both outside and within her family is what can finally allow her to feel permanent, just like a tattoo.

Ink is Thicker Than Water is coming out soon. How does it feel? What's your favorite part of the process been so far?

It's exciting to have my second book coming out, and a bit of a relief after my first book. I've already been through the process so it seems easier and less stressful the second time around.

What's your best advice for someone that wants to be a writer?

Write what you love, work hard, develop thick skin or good coping mechanisms!

Name three things you loved about writing Ink is Thicker Than Water?

1. Writing about my hometown.
2. Writing about tattoo shops.
3. Writing Kellie's POV.

What's in your reading pile right now? Any recommendations or ones we should steer clear of?

Right now I'm reading Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, which I'm enjoying despite how devastatingly sad I'm finding much of it.

You're both a writer and a digital media planner, as well as a Longform Improv performer. How do you juggle and manage it all?

It's hard and I end up stressed out a lot, honestly. It really comes down to time management, which I'm not great at, but deadlines exist and I just have to make them. Performances happen and I have to show up. So, somehow I get through it!

How did you get into performing Longform Improv? What's your favorite thing about it?

I thought I might want to include a plot about improv in a book I was working on (not currently in the works) and so I took a class. I ended up loving it and continuing in the program. I'm convinced improv builds better writers and better people. "Yes-and" as a concept makes you a better friend, coworker, collaborator, etc.

Out of all your tattoos, do you have a favorite? Why and was there a specific inspiration behind the ink?

Most of my tattoos have very personal symbolism, but my favorites are the swallows on my wrists, my Betsy-Tacy half-sleeve on my left arm, and the Hair quote on my right bicep.

If you could travel anywhere you wanted, where would you go and why? If you could only bring three things with you what what they be and why?

I'm happy to go anywhere that I wouldn't have to be on-call for work, so basically some kind of fantasyland. I'd need coffee and my phone and lip balm.

About the Author:

 

Amy Spalding grew up outside of St. Louis. She now lives in Los Angeles with two cats and a dog. She works in marketing and does a lot of improv.

 

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Touch of Death Series Trailer

 

Having fallen at the hands of Hades, Jodi's enduring torture like she never imagined. Worse, she has to watch her Ophi friends suffer along with her--the punishment doled out by the very people she'd sentenced to life in Tartarus. Hell. This is one reunion Jodi hoped would never happen, but now she must find a way to free them all.

Except the underworld is nearly impossible to escape.

Jodi's one chance may rest in raising the human soul she killed when she drank Medusa's blood.

But splitting her human soul from her Ophi soul means living a double life: One as an Ophi experiencing unspeakable torture and the other as the human she could have been if she never came into her powers. With her two worlds colliding, Jodi will have to make the toughest decision she's faced yet. 

 

And as a special bonus we've got the link for Curse of Death, a free short story set in the same world.

 

Title: Face of Death (Touch of Death, #3)
Author: Kelly Hashway
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
ISBN:  978-1-937053-92-5
Release Date: 1/7/2014