Thursday, March 29, 2012

#BookTrailerThursdays - Spectral

Book Trailer Thursdays!

To participate, post an entry in your blog on Thursdays with an embedded book trailer of your choice (note: the trailer can be fan made but please no movie trailers of book adaptations) with your thoughts and comments underneath. It can be a book you have read, want to read or have never even come across before.

This week:

Spectral by Shannon Duffy

Convinced she's a part of the witness protection program, sixteen-year-old Jewel Rose is shuffled around the globe with her family like a pack of traveling gypsies. After arriving at lucky home twenty-seven, she stumbles upon a mysterious boy with magical powers claiming to be her guardian . . . and warning of imminent danger. Despite the obvious sparks between them, Jewel discovers a relationship is forbidden, and the more she learns about dark, brooding Roman, she begins to question who she can even believe—the family who raised her, or the supposed sworn protector who claims they've been lying to her all along.

As she struggles to uncover who her family has really been running from, she is forced to hide her birthmark that reveals who she is. With new realities surfacing, unexplained powers appearing, and two tempting boys vying for her heart, Jewel battles to learn who she can trust in an ever growing sea of lies, hoping she'll make it through her seventeenth birthday alive.

Spectral releases April 10, 2012 and will be available as ebook via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore, Smashwords, Google, and Tribute-Books.com (tribute-books.com).

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Schmooze With Bridge To Books!

I wasn't even aware that I hadn't posted the info for Bridge To Books "Schmooze" project for more info contact Bridge To Books through their website: http://www.bridgetobooks.org/

Remedying with one more left to attend!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

New Cover Reveal for The Earthquake Machine!

Via Mary Pauline Lowry:

While The Earthquake Machine has received rave reviews, several book bloggers commented that the novel'scurrent cover doesn't do the book justice.

So I asked award-winning author/photographer/cover designer Suza Scalora to create a cover for The Earthquake Machine that's as lush, enchanted, and edgy as the novel itself. And here it is!

Book synopsis:

The Earthquake Machine

The book every girl should read;
and every girl’s parents hope she’ll never read.

The Earthquake Machine tells the story of 14 year-old Rhonda. On the outside, everything looks perfect in Rhonda’s world, but at home Rhonda has to deal with a manipulative father who keeps her mentally ill mother hooked on pharmaceuticals. The only reliable person in Rhonda’s life is her family’s Mexican yardman, Jesús. But when the INS deports Jesús back to his home state of Oaxaca, Rhonda is left alone with her increasingly painful family situation.

Determined to find her friend Jésus, Rhonda seizes an opportunity to run away during a camping trip with friends to Big Bend National Park. She swims to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and makes her way to the border town of Milagros, Mexico. There a peyote- addled bartender convinces her she won’t be safe traveling alone into the country’s interior. So with the bartender’s help, Rhonda cuts her hair and assumes the identity of a Mexican boy named Angel. She then sets off on a burro across the desert to look for Jesús. Thus begins a wild adventure that fulfills the longing of readers eager for a brave and brazen female protagonist.

Author Bio:
Mary Pauline Lowry has worked as a forest firefighter, screenwriter, open water lifeguard, construction worker, and advocate in the movement to end violence against women. Due to no fault of her sweet parents, at 15 she ran away from home and made it all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. She believes women and girls should make art, have adventures, and read books that show them the way.

#TeaserTuesdays - The Earthquake Machine!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My TEASER today is...

from page 119 - Chapter Five: "The Earthquake Machine" by Mary Pauline Lowry

"She thought suddenly of Juan Diego on his knees before the hole cut in the wooden outhouse floor, looking up at her from his heaving to say, "You have to pay for your visions." And suddenly she understood. Everything."

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Get Your Short Story In Front of Major Literary Agents

Win a literary agent or acclaimed author's feedback on your unpublished manuscript for young adult or middle grade readers. This rare opportunity is being offered to the six winners of an essay contest recently announced by the literacy charity Book Wish Foundation. See http://bookwish.org/contest for full details.

You could win a manuscript critique from:

Laura Langlie, literary agent for Meg Cabot

Nancy Gallt, literary agent for Jeanne DuPrau

Brenda Bowen, literary agent and editor of Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal winner Out of the Dust

Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the Universe

Francisco X. Stork, winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award for The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

Cynthia Voigt, winner of the Newbery Medal for Dicey's Song and the Newbery Honor for A Solitary Blue

All that separates you from this prize is a 500-word essay about a short story in Book Wish Foundation's new anthology, What You Wish For. Essays are due Feb. 1, 2012 and winners will be announced around Mar. 1, 2012. If you win, you will have six months to submit the first 50 pages of your manuscript for critique (which means you can enter the contest even if you haven't finished, or started, your manuscript). You can even enter multiple times, with essays about more than one of the contest stories, for a chance to win up to six critiques.
Building libraries and supporting literacy in Darfuri refugee camps.

If you dream of being a published author, this is an opportunity you should not miss. To enter, follow the instructions athttp://bookwish.org/contest.

Good luck and best wishes,

Logan Kleinwaks
President, Book Wish Foundation

About Book Wish

Book Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity providing high-impact reading aid for people in crisis, with a current focus on refugees from Darfur and AIDS orphans in Ghana. We give some of the world's neediest readers the books they wish for, taking requests for specific titles and subjects. This helps ensure the books will be matched to the needs of the readers, and appropriate for their reading level and culture. We typically do not accept generic book donations from the public because they do not match the requests we receive. We do not hold book drives. The books that are most useful in a refugee camp might not be best-sellers in New York.

The populations we aid have very limited resources and are facing immense challenges for the foreseeable future. For them, books can play an especially large role in education, mental health, and job training. We search for the readers who will get the most out of our books because they have so little to begin with.

Maximizing the impact of books also means maximizing the number of readers, so we will provide reading glasses, vision screenings, support for literacy programs, solar-rechargeable lighting where there is no electricity, or any other aid that can effectively increase the audience for our books.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

SLJ Trailee Awards Voting Open NOW!

NEWS From the School Library Journal:

Make your voice heard by voting for your favorite book trailer. The second annual SLJ Trailee Awards are underway, recognizing the important role book trailers play in promoting books and encouraging reading.

Six judges have narrowed down more than 75 submissions to four finalists in six categories. Check out the amazing trailers here and start voting for your favorites. The deadline for voting is December 16, 2011, 12 PM EST, and the winner will be announced at the American Library Association's midwinter meeting in Dallas, TX, January 20-24.

Enjoy the show!

...if the embedded link above doesn't work:
http://reg.accelacomm.com/servlet/Frs.frs?Script=/LP/51468603/reg&Context=START

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Local Book Signing Events - LA & Orange County!

Lisa Desrochers, Jeff Marriotte, Gretchen McNeil, Heather
Brewer, Cindy Pon, Inara Scott and Katie Alender at the OCCBF

Check out the top bar on the blog and you will see I have added a new feature!

Click the link that says "OC/LA: Events/Book Signings" - October is filled with places to go and authors to meet!

From the Orange County Children's Book Festival to Becca Fitzpatrick's release of the third book in the Hush Hush series to the "Pen Fatale Tour" and the "Dark Days of Supernatural Tour" and at the end of the month Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl present book number 3½ in The Caster Chronicles with Beautiful Chaos!

...and don't forget you have three opportunities to meet Laini Taylor and pick up an autographed copy of her latest book "Daughter of Smoke & Bone" - this is probably the most eagerly awaited book of the year.

"Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a lush, sweeping, romantic marvel of a book. Taylor's writing is a revelation, masterfully blending an intricate fantasy world into our own, with an artist's flair for exquisite details. Funny, devastating, delightful, unforgettable. Pure storytelling perfection."

Kiersten White, author of the Paranormalcy series

It has received four starred reviews and was recently featured on Entertainment Weekly's "Must List" and a glowing review in the Los Angeles Times. Laini went to high school in Orange County, so it's a bit of a homecoming for her in the midst of her 9-city tour to appear at the below events.

I think I'm going to combine seeing the new Mysterious Galaxy Books location in Redondo Beach with picking up a copy! Hope I run into some of you!!!