Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I'm a day early, but I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving also means it's almost December, which is the perfect month to read Alice in Everville--you'll never think of a mall full of crazy Christmas shoppers in the same way again!

Mini Book Review: Last Chance Summer by Hope Ramsay

It wouldn't be summer without the Watermelon Festival, and single mom Amanda Wright is looking forward to a carefree day eating funnel cakes and sipping sweet tea. But with her inquisitive son and elderly grandmother in tow, she's not in the mood for carnival rides or the kissing booth, until she hears a charming, funny voice over the loudspeaker. 

Grant Trumbull is the new DJ at the local radio station, and his deep, booming cadence has all the ladies of the church auxillary atwitter. Even without seeing his face, Amanda can't help but wonder if he's the one for her. When she finally comes face to face with the man behind the mic, summer is about to get a whole lot hotter in little Last Chance, South Carolina. 

I was attracted to the short story Last Chance Summer by the promise of a short, sweet summer read, and this story certainly fulfilled my expectations—in fact, it exceeded them.  This is the kind of story where you can predict the outcome from the first page, the events aren’t entirely realistic, and the storyline gets a little sappy…but I didn’t care.  The story made me feel like I was experiencing a summer festival in a small town, and it put a huge smile on my face.  Ramsay’s writing was so smooth and charming, and she painted her setting and characters very well, especially considering the confines of the short story length.  I am now very eager to try out the full-length Last Chance novels!

I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Twitter Chat Update

Since I'm on the West Coast, the twitter chat next Thursday at 8 P.M. Eastern time will be 5 P.M. for me...and I was planning to take off work a little early in order to participate.  However, my boss has since adjusted our schedule so that Thursday is the day we really need to stay late and prepare for the upcoming week (I don't work on Fridays over the summer, woohoo!), so while I'll try to leave as early as possible, I'll definitely be very late for the twitter chat and might not make it at all.  This makes me feel very

However, I will be checking in on twitter as soon as I get home (I take the subway home, so even if I had twitter on my phone, which I don't, I couldn't use it because there's no cell phone reception underground.)  And the chat will still be going on with the other Pendrell authors, so you should definitely still check in!

Pendrell Author Twitter Chat

I'm going to be participating in a twitter chat with all the other Pendrell Publishing authors on July 11th.  It's my first twitter chat, and I'm excited!  I've been pretty neglectful of (read: not using at all) my twitter account, so hopefully this will get me back in the habit!

Alice in Everville Quote

So I was fooling around on Goodreads, lamenting, as usual, the fact that I'll never be able to read all the books I want to, when I saw that...

Alice in Everville has a quote up on Goodreads!  I don't know who put it up, but I kind of got a kick out of it, and it made me feel more like a "real" author.  Here it is, if you want to check it out or even "like" it! :D

The Epic Quote

Perfect Flaw Anthology

My guest post as part of the Perflect Flaw anthology book tour appeared today on Workaday Reads.  Please check it out here!

Perfect Flaw Blog Tour Begins TOMORROW

You may remember that my short story "The Bird Below Ground" was recently published in an anthology, Perfect Flaw, released by Seventh Star Press.  Well, SSP put together a HUGE blog tour for five of their new anthologies, including Perfect Flaw.  The other anthologies also looks super interesting, especially Southern Haunts!  The blog tour begins tomorrow and runs for over a month, ending on June 19th.  I have a guest post running on May 23rd, and I will link to that on this blog once it's up.  For now, you can check out the full tour lineup and follow along here.

Jamie Manning's New Books on Goodreads!

One of my favorite authors, and also one of the first authors I connected with online and a seriously cool, super-nice person, Jamie Manning has two new books up on Goodreads!  The first is Blood Revelation, the final installment of the Blood Prophecy trilogy, which you can add on GR here.  And the second is Generation Z, the first book in a new dystopian trilogy, which you can add here.  Both books will be out in 2014, which may seem a long ways away, but...it will be here before you know it!

The Devil Drinks Coffee by Destiny Ford: Cover Reveal and Giveaway!

I'm very excited to help reveal the cover for The Devil Drinks Coffee, an upcoming humorous adult mystery novel by Destiny Ford.  You may know Destiny from her alter-ego, Angela Corbett, the name under which she writes her YA novels.  Angela/Destiny has an amazing giveaway to go with the cover reveal, and I'm excited to share that as well!

The Devil Drinks Coffee
by Destiny Ford
Genre: Humorous Adult Mystery
Release Date: May 21, 2013

A cow suicide, a revolving door rescue, and the birth of a bright purple pig are starting to make Kate Saxee wonder if taking a job in her small hometown of Branson Falls, Utah, was such a great idea. As The Branson Tribune editor, Kate covers local news, which, more often than not, involves her accident-prone mom. Nothing truly newsworthy has ever happened in the quiet town until local teen Chelsea Bradford turns up dead in a Branson Falls lake. 

The police rule Chelsea’s death an accident, but Kate suspects there’s more to the story—and she’s not the only one. Two of Branson’s most eligible bachelors are determined to help her solve the crime—among other things. But the small town social network is faster than Twitter, and gossip about Kate’s love-life is quickly branding her the Branson Falls hussy. 

As Kate learns more about Chelsea, she discovers that plenty of people are trying to cover up the real story behind the girl’s death—including Chelsea’s parents. Now Kate has to juggle work, men, her mom’s most recent disaster involving a low-speed John Deere Combine chase on the freeway, and fend off the Mormons heaven-bent on saving her soul—all while solving Chelsea’s murder. Dealing with this is going to require a lot of coffee, chocolate frosted donuts, Neil Diamond's greatest hits, and a slew of words not on the town approved imitation swear list.

You can read a hilarious excerpt here.

And here's the giveaway...


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Verse Novels I'm Looking Forward To

I don't usually do a Waiting On Wednesday type post, but I wanted to highlight two verse novels coming out later this year that I'm really looking forward to.  My next novel with Pendrell Publishing is written in verse, and I really love this form!

Author: Holly Thompson
Release Date: May 14, 2013

A nuanced novel in verse that explores identity in a multicultural world.
Emma Karas was raised in Japan; it's the country she calls home. But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, Emma's family moves to a town outside Lowell, Massachusetts, to stay with Emma's grandmother while her mom undergoes treatment.

Emma feels out of place in the United States.She begins to have migraines, and longs to be back in Japan. At her grandmother's urging, she volunteers in a long-term care center to help Zena, a patient with locked-in syndrome, write down her poems. There, Emma meets Samnang, another volunteer, who assists elderly Cambodian refugees. Weekly visits to the care center, Zena's poems, dance, and noodle soup bring Emma and Samnang closer, until Emma must make a painful choice: stay in Massachusetts, or return home early to Japan.

“With beautiful language and deep sensitivity, Holly Thompson explores the courage it takes to find your own voice.” —Patricia McCormick,author of National Book Award finalist Never Fall Down 
“Thompson’s eloquent novel speaks to us, carrying us along with Emma as she embarks on a life-altering journey from Japan to America. But it’s Emma’s inner journey that’s the true adventure—pulsing with pain and passion, with humor, heart, and hope.” —Sonya Sones, author of What My Mother Doesn’t Know and To Be Perfectly Honest

Add it on Goodreads here.

Author: Sonya Sones
Release Date: August 27, 2013

Can honesty lead to heartbreak if the truth is subjective? A compelling novel in verse from Sonya Sones.

Colette is a compulsive liar. She considers it storytelling, a fun way to make a boring life more interesting. Because when you’re stuck playing backseat to your beautiful movie star mother, and your promised vacation in France is exchanged for a middle-of-nowhere summer babysitting your little brother on location for your mom’s new movie, you’ve got to do what you can to liven things up.

Then Colette meets Connor. He’s gorgeous, funny, and totally into her. So what if she lied about her age and a few other pertinent details? Nobody’s really interested in the truth, are they? But when some of the details of Connor’s stories don’t add up, Colette begins to suspect that she’s not the only one skilled in the art of deceit. And as the dishonesty deepens, Colette will have to decide what kind of stories she really wants to tell about her life—and who she wants to tell them to.

Add it on Goodreads here.

Blood Awakening Blog Tour

I just wanted to let everyone know that my fellow Pendrell author, Jamie Manning, has a new book coming out April 23rd, and the blog tour is happening right now!  BLOOD AWAKENING is the sequel to Jamie's first book, BLOOD BORN.  I was lucky enough to read this one early, and I think it's even better than the first one!  You can find the tour schedule and follow along on Jamie's blog here.

I'm Sick!

And in addition to being sick, I also have an editing project that's making me feel...

Well, okay, it's not that bad!  But it is going to be a little longer before I get into the groove of my once to twice a week, Wednesday and/or Saturday blogging...   But it will happen!  :D

Interview with I Like These Books

So, I am so exhausted from my week of field trips that I can hardly keep my eyes open, but I just wanted to let everyone know I have an interview up at the blog I Like These Books!  Thanks so much to Britta for interviewing me, and you can read it here.

Perfect Flaw Anthology Released

So of course as soon as I decide to take a blog hiatus...I have some news to share!  The dystopian anthology PERFECT FLAW from Seventh Star Press, including my short story "The Bird Below Ground," has been officially released!  Here's a look at the beautiful cover:

The ebook is only 3.99, and it's available in paperback too!  I'm looking forward to getting a copy and hopefully discovering some great new authors!  You can buy PERFECT FLAW at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Welcome New Followers

Now that the blog tour is over and Alice in Everville is out in the world, I just wanted to give all my new followers a big

I hope you'll stick around!  I have another YA novel coming out with Pendrell Publishing sometime in the near future, and I'll have more information on the cover/release date/all that good stuff as I get it.  I also have a short story in the dystopian anthology PERFECT FLAW, which I believe will actually be out by the end of this month!

My goal is to blog here once to twice a week--I'm planning on Wednesday and/or Saturday--on some topic relating to reading, writing, books, etc.  However, with the blog tour and AiE release, I've gotten behind on quite a few things...and I've just found out that because next week is Spring Break, my part-time after-school teaching job is becoming a full-time, five-major-field-trips-in-a-row job!  So do give myself some time to catch up (or, more realistically, not fall further behind), I am going to take a short hiatus from this blog until the beginning of April, unless I have some majorly exciting announcements or anything else...

In the meantime, I'll be thinking up interesting blog topics for the future...and probably drinking a lot of coffee from K. Cubrats! :D

Alice in Everville Official Release Day

So...deep breath...Alice in Everville is officially out in the world!  That means you can now purchase--not pre-order, but purchase!--the book at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Also...March is almost over already?!  Where has this year gone?

And finally, I was so excited to see Alice in Everville listed among this weeks' new releases on one of my favorite blogs, Xpresso Reads.  You can check it out here.

Alice in Everville Blog Tour Wrap-Up

Finally, it's time to announce the giveaway winners!  The winner of the 20.00 amazon card grand prize is...

PREET

And the book winners are...

LIZZI

KATIRIA R.

SANNA 

MARY P.

ASHLEY E.

MORGAN

Congratulations to the winners!  And now, the meat of this post...

I want to end this blog tour with a huge

Thank you to Jennifer from My Life With Books for working so hard to organize this tour, to Kamilla Quast for publishing Alice in Everville and working so hard for her authors, to all the bloggers who participated in the tour, and especially to all the readers who even consider picking up Alice in Everville...everyone who reads a review, buys or borrows the book, writes a review, tweets or blogs, or spreads the word about my little book in any way.  Readers are truly the people who make a writer's world go round, so thank YOU!

Blog Tour Day 11

***I apologize for getting the link wrong yesterday...it's fixed now!***

So I am SUPER late today, due to a closure of the subway which meant I didn't get home from work till super late...grrr!  Anyway, today on the blog tour we have a great review from Michelle at Book Briefs.  Thanks so much, Michelle!  You can check it out here.

Stay tuned for the final blog post and announcement of giveaway winners, happening soon right here!

Blog Tour Update

I just wanted to let everyone know the blog tour--and, most importantly, the GIVEAWAY--for Alice in Everville will be extended a few more days due to some technical issues.  The final post will be right here on my blog, and I'll be announcing the giveaway winners.  In the meantime...

If you're in need of new reading material, I did want to remind everyone that the Alice in Everville ebook is 3.99 for a limited time only.  That's less than a latte from K. Cubrats!  (You'll have to read the book to figure out that one...)  It's available on Amazon now.

Blog Tour Continues with an Interview!

Today on the Alice in Everville blog tour, I was interviewed by Haley at The Life and Lies of an Inanimate Flying Object, which has to be one of the coolest blog names ever!  Check it out here.

Blog Tour Continues!

For today's blog tour post I have a super-sweet review from super-sweet blogger Alexis at The Reading Hideaway!  Lucky me, in addition to getting a great review, I found a new blog to follow today!  Check out the review and The Reading Hideaway here.

Blog Tour Day 6

Today's blog tour stop is one of my favorites...a post on some of the classical myths and tales that inspired Alice in Everville, hosted by my author friend Jamie Manning.  Check it out here.

Blog Tour Day 5...and an Announcement!

For Day 5, we have a lovely review from Penelope at The Reading Fever, right here.  And I also just got the go-ahead to share an exciting announcement...my short story "The Bird Below Ground" will be published in an anthology of dystopian stories, THE PERFECT FLAW, from Seventh Star Press.  The list of authors included and the cover art was just released today, and you can check it out here.

Alice in Everville Blog Tour, Day 4

For today's blog tour stop, I was interviewed by Kathy at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer.  I LOVE entering book giveaways online, and Kathy has some of the best ones, so I visit her blog A LOT!  She also has great ebook deal posts, and I know those take a long time to put up, so I appreciate them a lot too.  Anyway, thanks to Kathy for the great interview, and you can check it out here.

Oh, and speaking of ebook deals...the Alice in Everville ebook is already out, and it's only 3.99 right now!  Just thought I'd mention it... :D

Thanks to everyone who's been following along with the tour.  I really appreciate it!

Blog Tour Day 3!

For today's tour stop, Jessica at Books: A True Story hosted my guest post about why I love shorter books, and why I tend to be a little obsessive about word counts!  (Hint: I am a sloooow reader as well as writer!)  Check it out here.

Alice in Everville Blog Tour, Day 2

For Day 2 of the blog tour, I was interviewed by Misty at The Book Rat, and she asked some great and unique questions.  Also, I think she loves pumpkin pie as much as I do!  You can read the interview, and of course enter the giveaways, here.

Alice in Everville Blog Tour, Day 1!

So because of my job and because I'm on California time, it will be late, but I will be posting a daily update on the blog tour here!  If you're still awake, you can head over to My Life With Books and read a review and enter to win an ARC of the book or a 20.00 amazon card!  Jen, the blogger behind My Life With Books, also organized the blog tour, so I have to offer her a huge thanks!

Alice in Everville is Coming...Very Soon!

Today's date is February 20th, and about halfway through the day I realized that means Alice in Everville's official release is LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY!  (The book is releasing on March 19th.)  But in fact it feels like AiE is coming even sooner...because the blog tour is beginning on FEBRUARY 27TH!!  That's right, just seven days from now!  This makes me feel kind of

and kind of

...but mostly the former!  So stay tuned for lots of updates on the AiE blog tour, where you can win copies of the novel and an amazon gift card too!

I also wanted to remind everyone that I'm giving away a copy of Alice in Everville every two weeks on goodreads through the end of March.  You can enter the current giveaway here!

Who the Heck Is Sylvie Plate?!

In my book Alice in Everville, a poet named Sylvie Plate plays a very important role in the plot, and while she doesn't actually appear in the story, we do get to read "her" poems between chapters.  Most readers will probably recognize Sylvie Plate as a reference to the famous poet Sylvia Plath, and some people may wonder why I didn't just use the real Sylvia in my story.  Well...I'm going to tell ya!

The first part of it is completely nonsensical: I actually had a dream in which a girl--sort of me, sort of not, in that way dreams are--believed she'd found a secret code in the poems of "Sylvie Plate."  Yes, the name in the dream was Sylvie Plate, not Sylvia Plath.  I couldn't get the dream out of my head, and from that one strange name, I came up with the idea of a book set in this slightly surreal world where everything has a different name.  So, in Alice in Everville there's a Never 22 instead of a Forever 21, a Flowering-Vale department store instead of a Bloomingdale's, and many more...

But more than that, I needed to create a fictionalized poet for my story to work.  The real Sylvia Plath, of course, did not leave any kind of coded message in her poems (as far as we know!).  By creating a fictional poet, I was also able to write my own poems that followed the "code" and insert them into the story, and I was able to explore themes in these poems that also occur elsewhere in the story.

One reason I wanted to address this topic is...while I tried to make the poems in Alice in Everville as good as possible while still adhering to the code, I realize that my poems are absolutely positively not even in the same league, or universe, as Sylvia Plath's work!  So if you don't like the poems in my novel, please don't write off Sylvia Plath's poetry as well.  Just to prove it to you, here is one of Sylvia's earliest published poems, written while she was in college.  Yup, she was a genius, and definitely an inspiring figure while I was writing Alice in Everville!

Mad Girl's Love Song

"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan's men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you'd return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)"

ALICE IN EVERVILLE Is in RT Magazine!

So I was at Barnes & Noble on Saturday, browsing through magazines like...

When I just happened to see a copy of Romantic Times Book Reviews and decided to leaf through it....

I turned straight to the Teen Scene on page 42...

And lo and behold, OMG, there was a review of ALICE IN EVERVILLE!  The reviewer gave it four stars and called it a "treat" and other things I can't quote at the moment, since I'm so broke I didn't even buy a copy of the magazine!

Okay, so that's not exactly how it happened...actually, my fellow Pendrell author DJ deSmyter told me about the review and that I could find the magazine at B&N, and I'm so grateful, because otherwise I might never have seen it!  But anyway...ALICE IN EVERVILLE got its first review in a major publication, and it was a positive one!  Squee!

Interview and Giveaway!

The lovely Megan of the blog Reading Away the Days interviewed me as part of her 2013 Debut Author Event, and you can check it out here!  I'm also giving away an ARC of Alice in Everville, so be sure to enter.  Thanks again to Megan for organizing the event and inviting me to participate!